Starbound Ascension: The Next Generation

Chapter Four: Familiar Foes on Foreign Lands

A week had past by and the crew of the Joint Strike Force was bored and aimlessly rifted through space around their home planet of Equus. Captain Ship played around with her chair to twirl and whirl with a blank stare off into the distance out of boredom. She sighed.

“When are those new recruits coming in? Prelude is still a cripple and I need those soldiers to fill in the gap,” she revolved her chair around randomly with her joystick. Once she let go however the chair started to flop and flail the stick and send it jerking back and forth, “Okay! Whoa! Hey! No! Noo!”

Nelly was asleep using her brother's back as a pillow in the corner. Sagittarius was also sawing logs. Nelly stirred into a half conscious state as the beeping rang from her control console.

“Hmm... Jet put the snooze off,” she tapped a limp hoof onto the space bar and brought up a hologram of one of the new recruits.

“Yes hello!” the red pegasus stallion with split yellow hair and neon green highlights was on screen, “Comrade Ship we are here as you requested.”

“Oh um!” Ship continued to fumble in her chair, “Sorry about that Lieutenant Red! My chair is on the fritz! I sincerely welcome YOU! Oof! To the Next Generation Joint Straa! Strike Force! Waa!”

Ship jumped off and tried to screw her head back on, “Welcome my Stalliongrad friend! I will meet you in the hangar shortly.”

“Spasibo Captain,” the hologram faded as Ship hung up the video chat. She whistled loudly to wake Nelly and Sagittarius.

“Hey! New recruits are here maggots. Shape up!”

Nelly jumped and tumbled onto her brother. They both jerked awake and stood to salute, “Yes ma'am!”

“That includes you too Mac! Uh Mac Book?” Ship looked to Mac's work station to find him watching anime with full headsets on blocking out all sound, “MAC!”

Ship pulled him away and dragged him off into the hallway, “Let's go dude.”

“Captain! That was the best part! I have to know what happens next to Ere-” he was cut off by a slap to the face.

“You, be social and meet these new recruits. We can't have the JSF be so unprofessional with the new guys coming on.”

“MA RIDE KO SANG CARABAO!” Jump Jet managed to somehow smuggle a full sized water buffalo to ride inside of the ship as he strolled down the hallways parading it, “WOO!”

“Mother of all fucks...” Ship slid her face into her hoof, “Where in Luna's asshole did you get that water buffalo?”

“Tita Fluttershy and I went to the Fillypines that's where,” Jet smiled bluntly.

“Will you please stuff that thing in a closet or something? The new recruits are here.”

“Oh shit! I didn't know it was today! I gotta look the part!” Jet whipped the reigns of his beefy steed, “YIP YIP!”

The beast charged through the hallway and knocked over some shelves.

“I'll clean that later! Woo!”

“Seriously, it said professional on his list of key traits. Why did I hire him onto the team anyway?” Ship glared into the distance.

“He's a skilled fighter pilot with a heart of gold and constantly pushes himself and the squad to do things better. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have come along too,” Nelly injected an ounce of reasoning.

Ship sighed, “I guess you're right. Still, gather up all the team we need to welcome the recruits!”

A few minutes later the whole NGJSF gathered in the hangar to greet the new arrivals. Even Jet was in formal attire having flipped the switch in his head to full military discipline. Ship started the introductions.

“Next Generation Joint Strike Force. I have gathered you all today to welcome our newest members. Due to the recent wounded we've taken I have decided to request Equus for these fine new soldiers. Welcome them all! Let's start with you Lieutenant Red October.”

“Spasibo. Hello comrades, I am Lieutenant Red October of Stalliongrad. Captain Jump Jet your mother may know of mine,” Red spoke in a deep Slavic accent. He saluted with both a hoof and his neon yellow wing that contrasted with his red body.

“Oh yeah! You're Nuke's kid huh? Son of the chief nuclear researcher of Equestria I see. Welcome aboard! Say, nice AK,” Jet shook his hoof.

“Ah! The fine Kalash twelve. Carbine version with my very own nonstandard improvements. I see you have an eye for weapons my friend!”

“And maybe some vodka for later?” Jet smirked.

“Ho ho! Now that is a party! I prefer Simonov brand for the finest distilled flavor.”

“Woo! Welcome to the team!” Jet brohoofed Red and the rest of the team greeted him as well.

“I'd also like to welcome Flip Flash and Water Wings. Flip why don't you go first?” Ship encouraged him forward.

“Um, thank you Captain!” he gulped nervously. Jet eyed him.

“So fresh meat, what can you do for the team?” Jet put on his war face.

“U-Um! I am a Master Sergeant Medic sir! Proficient with energy based firearms and I always pull through for the team sir!” Flip shook.

“Hmmm...” Jet was skeptical, “I dunno Captain Ship. You think we can weed this one out?”

“Well if you need to Captain Jet, feel free to try his luck on the range over there,” Ship agreed. They could see the fear in Flip's eyes.

Jet tossed him a UPF ARP-5 pulse rifle, “Show me what you got rookie. I want to see your all.”

Flip took a deep breath and steadied himself. He bought a few seconds to familiarize himself with his new rifle and looked down the makeshift range.

“Pop up targets! Don't tell me you're scared of those rookie,” Jet took his place at the controls.

“I'm not sir!” Flip readied his rifle and whispered to himself, “Come on Flip you can do this.”

“READY!” Jet yelled, “Go!”

Flip combed his short light brown mane and shouldered his rifle. His aim was adequate as he had no trouble hitting the targets, only occasionally missing a few. This wasn't enough to impress Jet or Ship to the light blue pegasus with short white wings.

“Come on! Harder! Pretend we're fucking dying over here and it's all on you!” Jet pushed him harder.

Suddenly a switch flicked on inside Flip's head. His eyes turned from quaking to zealous. He channeled his fear into zealous rage as he went on full overdrive to let loose fully controlled bursts of accurate fire on the fast popping targets. His eyes darted back and forth from his ammo counter to his iron sights. He jumped the crate that served as his firing platform to advance onto his static enemy now popping up ever sooner. With a rapid single click his rifle ran dry and he pulled his pistol from the holster, still continuing to fight on as the targets popped up more frequently. With all his ammo exhausted he turned to his blade and began to knife each one that dared to pop up. He alternated with knife swings, bucks, and unarmed strikes to finish off the session.

“Sir! How'd I do sir?!” he saluted breathing heavily with stoic and unmoving stance.

Jet nodded his head, “That will do nicely.”

He went up to him and grabbed his hoof to bump it to his chest, “Welcome to the team Rookie. Don't mind if I call you that as a nickname?”

“Sir, I wouldn't have it any other way,” Flip felt welcome. Jet patted him on the shoulder.

“Please, feel free to call me Jet. You look rather unique with that white stripe on your muzzle.”

“Thank you,” he saluted and returned back to his place in line with the others.

“Next we have Water Wings. Say hello!”

“Hello everypony!” the watery blue pegasus mare smiled as she raised a hoof, “I'm a, diver with two years of service with the Equestrian Navy. Oh, what else can I talk about? Um, I excel at underwater operations and stuff. I also know how to pilot minisubs and things like that. Sorry if I am being awkward. I should just show you what I can do.”

Water Wings pulled out her laptop and projected a hologram of a video to the team. The video started off at the Equestria Games as an announcer introduced her.

“Ladies and gentleman, fillies and gentlecolts of all ages! We are excited to see the finals of the competitive endurance swim featuring Equestria's every own Water Wings! This is the story of the year folks as this up and coming star swims her way into the record books like no other pegasus before her. With one bronze medal already on her belt you can see the passion in her face as she bravely swims across the Manehatten harbor in first place! Look at her go! Will she be the first to the finish?”

“Looks like the Stalliongradi Lydia Volga might be giving her a run for her money as the two OH! That was a photo finish ladies and gents! Let's take a look at the replay!”

She cut off the clip and smiled to them, “I got the gold that day. But I remember it more for what happened after the games. When I faced Lydia again she was bitter and broke me down. I was broken as she said all those insults to me.”

“Da, da. I remember that too. She was using steroids that day too. I never liked her as much as glorious comrade Vladmir Vostok! Won fourth place that day for the pride of the great Stalliongrad!” Red preached on, “sorry, I got carried away.”

“I started down a depressive spiral. I wanted to quit my love of swimming and throw all my awards away. I wanted to give up. Then something called to me like a ghost of someone I never knew. It pulled me into the military, the navy. I was frantic and depressed. I joined and they taught me so much. They lifted me up and I became a combat diver. I became tough and no longer was I a weak stream but a raging torrent. I guess that is all I guess...” she awkwardly repeated here and there.

“You're good. We could use that endurance of yours. Welcome to the team!” Jet saluted to her. She saluted back with an awkward smile, “Take it easy okay?”

“Yes sir!”

“By the way, are you trained to use those underwater assault rifles Equestria fielded recently?”

“You mean the Special Dual-medium Assault Rifle? Of course I'm proficient with the SDAR. Oh! I forgot,” she pulled out a pin from her saddlebag and presented it to Jet, “Equestrian Navy Seals. Thanks to my endurance and affinity for water I got out of my training at the top of my class.”

“Well good on you!” Jet smiled, “We really needed a combat diver. Maybe you can show us a thing or two about underwater warfare!”

“In due time sir.”

The alarm to be mission ready sounded. They all looked up to the intercom as SUSAN announced in her robotic voice.

“Priority Mission! Distress call inbound from Alpha Harobed VI system.”

“To anyone who reads this! This is the United Equus Space Force outpost on Alpha Harobed Six! We are currently under attack by unknown forces magical in nature! Dammit! They've breached the outer bulkhead! Get Chancellor AnY and Miss Kim to the panic room! Oh sweet Luna they're coming out of the walls! They're coming out of the Celestia damned walls!” the voice of the marine cut out with a bloody spatter and a cry of pain followed by static.

Ship nodded, “Well Jet you call the shots. Pick your team and get down there ASAP!”

“Roger ma'am!” Jet pointed to his picks, “Avia, Tough, Rush, Flip, and Red you guys are with me! Sorry to field you on your first day but let's get you out there for some hands on training!”

“I'm going with you too!” Nelly stepped forward, “That was my mom they were talking about.”

“As am I,” Iron Cross nodded stoically, “My father as well.”

Jet smiled in agreement, “I figured you wanted to come. That's why I only picked six.”

“Can we stop jibber jabbing and get down there? I've already got the dropship fired up,” Blossom took the initiative to ready her dropship for departure.

“To the armory! Lock and Load bitches! We're going into a bunker complex so let's skip the 3D maneuver gear and just use our jump kits,” Jet ordered to his squad.

They all gathered their weapons and equipment. They each called out their weapons for their role.

“I got my pulse rifle!” Nelly turned to Jet with her UPF ARP-5C carbine.

“Smart Pistol for me like always,” Avia smiled.

“Spitfire LMG sir!” Tough Heart turned his head to Jet as he packed on the magazines of his machine gun.

“Whoa there Cross. Whatcha got?” Jet threw his R101C assault rifle on his back.

“AnY Corporation MX Marksman rifle. It's an old family favorite,” Iron Cross brought his personal rifle from his room. The odd firearm looked like a cross between a real life ACR and an XM8 only in DMR form.

“Dronies for me Jet!” Rush packed his robots as well as an R97 SMG.

“Yo Rookie! Don't scratch that rifle. It's expensive you hear?”

“I won't Captain Jet!” Flip still had the Federation ARP-5 full sized rifle from before, “What mags does this thing use?”

“Electron Charge Packs! They're in the UPF ammo locker! It pays to have the UPF as allies. Their guns, medicine, and plane parts are top notch,” Jet directed him to the ammunition locker filled with all sorts of foreign UPF munitions.

“I need 5.45 millimeter for my Kalash!” Red October called to Jet.

“We file that under the 'Other' ammo since we don't see much Stalliongrad made weapons around here. Which would you like? Thirty, forty five, or sixty round casket mags?”

“Quad stacked all the way comrade,” Red picked the thick sixty round casket magazine for his AK-12U out of the neatly arranged ammunition locker.

“Alright squad! Burn cards?”

A few of them gathered to together as Jet pulled out his lighter. In his roof was one for an amped R101C. Avia had one for a regenerating supply of arc grenades to be dispensed out of her magic storage pouch. Nelly pulled one of her own she saved for a this special occasion. It was the HUD Highlights given to her by one of her Avali raptor friends. Her visor now highlighted enemies in line of sight to aid her snap onto targets. Jet gathered the two new recruits as well.

“You guys get these. These are what we call Burn Cards. You light them up and you get a favor,” Jet and the others lit their Burn Cards and magic charmed their respective equipment. Jet's rifle was replaced with one much more finely crafted and factory fresh.

“Okay,” Red leaned in to light one on fire but Jet stopped him.

“Save these when you really need them. I suggest you burn your Pay Raise Burn Card for more cash towards your weapons and upgrades.”

“Okay comrade. Whatever you need,” Red did as he was told and lit the Pay Raise card on fire. The embers lifted and nothing else happened at the moment.

“Sir! I'd like to use this!” Flip came forward with his own. It was a card for Regenerative Biofoam, a UPF issued card, “I'm convinced we might need it.”

“Better safe than sorry I guess,” Jet touched the card with the flame. Magically packs of the substance appeared in Flip's medical bags for a one time use, “Ready up! It's go time bitches!”

“Yes sir!”

They rushed to the hangar and boarded their dropship. Blossom took off into space and used the ship's short range jump drive to quickly enter the atmosphere of the nearby planet. They wasted no time and within a few seconds they deployed onto the ground by jumping out of the dropship. They softened their landing with a pulse of their jump jets.

“Command we are on the ground. Proceeding with mission,” Jet

“Solid copy Jet. Camera link established,” Mac Book came up on his display.

As they neared the entrance of the bunker they saw the signs of forced entry. The blast doors had been pried open by the claws of many creatures trying to find a tasty meal inside. There were dead ponies and destroyed military vehicles that littered the outside.

“Holy shit,” Nelly examined the scene, “These were MBT-72 Kumas. How can anything on a threat level one planet cut through our most advanced tank armor with such ease?”

The main battle tanks that guarded the bunker were torn into and rendered with claws and melting energy weapons.

“Stay sharp team. Whatever did this might still be around,” Ship advised to them.

“We're entering the facility. Somepony get out their motion tracker,” Jet ordered to his squad.

“I got it sir!” Rush pulled out a portable radar that could track moving objects even through walls.

“Switch to night vision,” their visors lit up green to highlight their vision in the pitch black of the bunker interior. Red emergency lights flickered on and off as the whole power was cut from the base. They trotted onwards finding more signs of death around every corner. They started to feel unease as they passed dead body after dead body. One of which fell onto Nelly from the ceiling. It was cut in half.

“AAAAAHHH!” she screamed as she jumped onto Jet, “OH CELESTIA HE'S CUT IN HALF!”

Jet embraced her, “Don't look. Hey command are you getting all this?”

“Je-you're bre-ing up!” his radio started to turn to static, “Som-ing is jamm-the signal! Mac ca-you-”

It cut out and they were left in the dark. Jet tapped his headset radio, “Hello! Hello! Restore the com link! Hello!”

There was nothing but static.

“Anyone else having trouble?” Jet comforted Nelly as they hid the body. A few of them puked from all of the blood stains, organs, and bodies that littered the base.

“I got nothing,” Flip tried his luck.

“Nothing on my end either,” Rush quivered.

“This sounds a lot like a horror movie cliché. Since the blue ponies always die first we all stick together. Since most of us are blue and/or shades of violet,” Jet looked back and forth keeping aware of his surroundings. The still whistle of wind and the sparks of an empty hallway were all the sounds around them aside from their metallic clip clop of hooves.

“This is creepy,” Tough covered all lines of sight with his friends.

“When I was a little silly and the sun was going do-” Rush stopped singing his mother's song as he was overcome with fright, “Uh... Guys! I thought I heard something!”

“I heard it too,” Jet looked forward, “Motion tracker! Now!”

Rush looked to his motion tracker as it pinged with a green friendly blip not part of the group. It was followed by a bloodcurdling scream and the dot replaced with red on the trackers screen.

“HILF!”

“That wasn't ours,” Jet's eye's widened to the size of dinner plates as his team froze in place with fear, “C-come on! We need to check it out!”

They stacked up on the door that led to the infirmary.

“Red, you breach!” Jet ordered.

“Da! Stand back!” He bucked the door open and the eight pony team filed in to secure the room. It was covered walls to ceiling with blood, “Der'mo, what could have done this?”

“Captain, take a look at this,” Flip shined a flashlight to the only dead body in the room followed by a suspicious opened air vent that was somehow clawed open. Fresh and dripping with blood. He examined the body as the team watched the entrance and air vent, “This doesn't make sense. He looks like he's been dead for a week. Even more perplexing is the cause of death. It looks like something burst out of him.”

“Sounds like-” Jet recoiled, “Chryssalids... Those things killed my father.”

“Jet, stay focused,” Avia came forward, “Cross and Nelly's parents are still in here. They might still be alive.”

“Look at this,” Cross took a gander at the body, “He's part of AnY corporation. German.”

“We know that, come on. My sister is right we gotta find out what happened here.”

“HILFA!” another voice resounded deep within the base. Cross gasped.

“That was my father! We have to help!”

“Let's go then!” They all rushed out of the room to follow the sound of the voice.

Down the hallway to the left and past a sealed blast door they pried open was a large warehouse room they heard the scream come from. The wide open room was pitch black as their night vision somehow turned to static.

“I got no visuals!” Flip tried to reboot his visor.

“Me neither!” Avia did as well.

“Something's not good...” Jet backed up into a kill circle with all of them as they all turned on their weapon mounted flashlights. There was nothing odd about the storage room. It was oddly free of blood and damage.

The lights came on and with it came a menacing laughter mechanical and organic in nature like a twisted monster made of metal and flesh. Which it was and it was all too familiar.

“My my my...” the evil seductive, biomechanical voice called from the shadows, “You're all grown up now.”

The voice gave a low chuckle as Jet and his team were quickly engulfed with chitinous cocoons that shot out of the floor. The glowing slimy pods sealed them in their place as hordes of deformed Changelings stepped forward to surround them. Among them was their queen. The black chitin, perforated legs, and thin insectoid wings were all glowing with some sort of circuits that melded into the flesh. Even the holes on their legs were hexagonal in nature and their manes were replaced from a dull, dark grey to more of a color of cobalt. Their queen stepped forward in full view, a mangled and oddly graceful mess of melded machine and insect.

“It's been so long since I've seen your parents. Tell me Jump Jet how is your mother, Rainbow Dash, doing?” Queen Chrysalis stoked a hoof onto Jet's chin to level his head to her eye level. Jet spit onto her face.

“Fuck you! My mother isn't involved in this!” Jet boiled in anger, “I can't! MOVE!”

“Pity she did a terrible job teaching her son good manners. I wasn't going to kill you had you not done that,” she bled an aura of superiority. Her face had glowing trails of cobalt blue circuits.

“I'd like to see you try!” Jet was stubborn and growled.

“Oh, how cute. This little pony thinks he can overpower the one being that almost took over Equestria in her rule. How lovely. Of course I have no such need for that now with a whole planet to call my own and my subjects free from our once inherent design flaw.”

“What is it that you want from us?” Nelly squirmed and screamed.

“Oh ho! I've just wanted to reclaim something near and dear to my heart. A fellow subject of mine lost in Equestria for a long time,” Chrysalis moved out of the way as Iron Cross' father stepped out from behind her. AnY's eyes were reverted to a glowing red with his fur replaced with a layer of brown colored chitin.

Cross gasped, “Father!”

“Come now my son,” AnY beckoned his son with one hoof filled with holes. The cocoon that wrapped him disappeared into the ground as he tried to go back to cut out his friends.

“Don't worry mein friends! I will! ARGH!” he stopped to cup in head in pain.

“My queen. I cannot influence him alone.”

“I see that AnY. He just needs a little... Motivation,” Chrysalis' horn glowed a cobalt blue as Iron Cross writhed with agony.

“What the hell are you doing to him?!” Jet yelled, “Cross! Buddy! Stay with us now!”

“I! Can't! Something's happening!”

Tufts of fur started to drop from his body and his eyes darted back and forth and changed color to red. Holes started to form on his legs, mane, and tail as his body morphed and contracted to tear his uniform and unleash his unknown potential as a Changeling drone. His transformation was complete.

“Oh goody. I do say your son looks very dashing as one of us wouldn't you agree AnY?”

“Oh yes my queen. Cross, to my side my son,” AnY beckoned again.

Cross slowly inched forward, “Y-yes... father.”

“Holy shit! Cross was a Changeling all this time?!” Avia recoiled.

“Well duh! His dad is half Changeling. I just thought they all melded into Equestrian society after the wars,” Jet looked on. All their electronics were being jammed by the Changeling horde, “Shit! Why can't I call for help?”

“Do you like our next step of evolution? We have found the perfect symbiotic relationship with a biomechanical parasite that now infects all of us. Well, mostly all of us, except for my dear AnY and Cross over here. But no matter,” Chrysalis droned on, “You see, once our universe could travel back and forth between the two I had cleverly implanted spies in all of the nations. It was then that I came across something interesting within the Lylat system. With my spies to infiltrate their labs I managed to get hold of a few samples of Aparoid cells. Luckily for me and the rest of my subjects the infection served to better us and now we and our parasites combined to cure our defects. I am terribly sorry for painting this place with blood but such my subjects no longer have a need to consume love so organic matter serves as the next best substitute.”

“But what about the dead bodies that we found that have burst open?” Flip asked, morbidly curious.

“Another interesting development. With our bodies melded with flesh and machine we are able to assimilate the organic matter we consume. Chrysalid is rather delicious I might add,” Queen Chrysalis messaged her chin.

Jet rolled his eyes, “Can't argue with that there. I try to eat them every chance I get to get even for my dad.”

“But it does not matter. I shall end your lives with one swift strike,” Queen Chrysalis stepped forward and eyed her prey like a wolf ready to finish off its weakened prey. She laughed with superiority, “I think I'll eat you first my dear.”

Nelly screamed as Queen Chrysalis dislocated her jaws filled with rows of razor sharp and bloody teeth. Viscous and acidic saliva oozed from her mouth as her eyes darkened to a glowing red. A mutated second mouth chomped viciously close to her skull. Nelly could only watch and squirm in futility as her own body was overtaken with fear. For a moment the hiss of one of the blast doors opening distracted Chrysalis and she glanced over. As the blast doors parted large metallic thuds could be heard as a giant robot approached. The unarmed industrial grade power loader titan was piloted by none other than Nelly's mother, Kim.

“Get away from her you BITCH!” she back handed Chrysalis with one of the titan's vice-like arms. Chrysalis hissed as her feral form took over. The Aparling queen lunged at her but was intercepted by another well placed blow that knocked her into a pile of shipping crates, “Come on! Come on!”

Chrysalis tried to grab the mech but Kim pinched her head in place with the vice grip of the power loader. She kept her chomping mouthparts at bay from the opened cockpit. The queen's tail morphed into a long and prehensile blade which she used to try and impale Kim's head. She missed by a few inches as Kim ducked her head to the side. Meanwhile Cross and AnY set to work freeing the rest of the NGJSF with Chrysalis distracted.

“Cross, you!” Jet was stopped and shushed by Cross.

“You will see. But promise me you will NOT shoot at my queen,” Cross winked.

“I can't just-” he was stopped again.

“Trust me,” Cross cut him free and moved on to help the others with his father.

Queen Chrysalis reverted back to her sentient, tactically thinking form, “ENOUGH!”

She exploded with an electromagnetic pulse that disabled the power loader. Kim was stuck inside her own tomb as the queen violently ripped the cockpit cage open and flung her onto a wall. Her pained grunts were futile as she got up to meet the overwhelming form of the evolved Aparling queen.

“Now I can enjoy my meal in peace,” she was about to strike down with her bladed tail to impale her only to be stopped by Cross, “Prince, what is the meaning of this?”

“My queen. Although I am under your full control there has to be another way. They are still my friends after all.”

“Yes, I do believe we should reconsider my queen,” AnY stepped forward as well, “We could use their help.”

A round of weapons being cocked and pointed right to Chrysalis was heard from behind her. The NGJSF now had her surrounded and the other changelings in the room stood by.

“Wait, what's going on?” Avia stared at the scene before her.

Jet glanced over, “Changelings still retain their freedom of thought even when controlled by their queen. That's what you get when you mix a fully sentient mind with a hivemind.”

“YOU! You all betrayed me?!” Chrysalis hissed with anger.

“Not quite. You see my queen I am still under your complete control. I have lived among the ponies of Equus and I have a proposal I am willing to share to better our species,” Cross went to work with his diplomatic skills while still being in Changeling form, “You've always wanted the best for your subjects my queen and I, we, can help you prosper.”

“Listen to my son my queen. Let us let go of our tyrannical ways and embrace peace. Force is not the only option and this may be our chance,” AnY contributed.

Their queen calmed to reason, “Perhaps... Tell me.”

“This whole invasion was a misunderstanding. Yes it was a careless slaughter of innocent lives but I, as a diplomat and representative for Equus can pardon this mess. What I propose is that we work together with Equus to establish our new empire. In exchange I can gather the many changelings integrated within Equestrian society to come back to your fair and even hoofed rule,” AnY and Cross bowed down.

Their queen stroked her chin in thought, “I never thought about it in such a way. Is this the beginning of our new empire to redeem our race back to the Insect Kingdom of yesteryear?”

AnY and Cross nodded, “...And more our sweet queen... Promises of riches and bounties untold beyond the stars.”

Chrysalis melted with guilt as she turned all the lights on in the base, “Oh my... All this death... At my hooves?”

“My queen, it does not matter. You are forgiven,” AnY comforted his ruler, “I can dismiss this as my company's accident and I will take full responsibility.”

Chrysalis cried, “Ever since my beautiful Insect Kingdom was taken from me centuries ago I have been force to live a cruel and hated existence as an ugly beast, a monster.”

“Rest assured my queen our empire will raise again to the stars above with the help of our Equestrian friends,” Cross bowed.

“Well, that settles that,” Jet held out a hoof, “Sorry I spit in your face then Queen Chrysalis.”

The towering insect queen smiled and shook his hoof, “I am sorry as well for trying to hurt you. All these years of pain and twisted existence terror was the only option I knew. My subjects come first... Do you know what it is like for your kingdom to crumble? Everything you've worked hard for vanish in the blink of an eye?”

“Not really,” Jet looked down, “But... I never knew my father and he was a legendary stallion who helped to send us to the stars. That is the type of loss I feel.”

“Then you and I are not so much different after all. We long for something gone. It makes us angry, hurt, and confused.”

“I know what you mean. It was never quite the same after my father died. My mom used to be the courageous, outgoing mare that loved to race. Now she's overly cautious and paranoid at times. Soarin is helping, but like I said: it was never quite right.”

Chrysalis sighed, “Well I guess I have to clean up this mess.”

“Just gather the bodies, we can take care of it from here,” Jet radioed out to Ship, “Captain! Captain are you there?”

“Jet! Thank Celestia you're alive! What happened down there?” Ship came out clear and unjammed by the Aparling EMP.

“Let's just call it an accident and speak nothing more of it. Some Changelings skirmished the base and attacked AnY corporation mercs. It's a case of friendly fire. We are cleaning up the bodies and we have Kim and AnY secured. General AnY, report in to my superior.”

Jet allowed AnY to radio in, “This is General AnY of the United Equus Space Force. Captain ship I order you to cover up this mess with an airstrike.”

“Roger that General. Blossom! You're up for a bombing run!”

Jet received his radio back, “And can you make it the biggest one we got? I want no evidence.”

“Got it! One bunker busting thermonuclear GBU-57 coming right up! SQUEE!” Blossom was rather giddy on the microphone.

“Let's get out of here,” Jet turned to his squad.

“Let me do the honors,” Queen Chrysalis gave her horn a magic glow with the rest of her subjects. They instantly teleported out of the base and onto a mountain several miles away to observe the explosion.

“Wow, impressive magic!” Avia commented to the Queen.

“Thank you. These Aparoid parasites augment so much of our abilities.”

“Ship, we're out of the base and have teleported with the help of some new allies. We're well within safe distance. Drop it in!”

“Roger that Jet. Get back here ASAP with the HVTs.”

“Oh yeah, and Ship?” Jet asked.

“Yes Jet?”

“We don't happen to have space for a couple thousand or so Changelings and Queen Chrysalis do we?”

“Um, I don't think so. Are you feeling okay Jet?” Ship linked her camera to his headset.

“Yeah,” Jet looked at Chrysalis and turned his camera to her, “And she is too. She's our friend now.”

“It is an honor to meet you Queen Chrysalis,” Ship projected herself as a hologram.

“And to you as well,” she bowed in respect. The massive bomb hit what was left of the bunker and the ground beneath their feet shook violently as a massive mushroom cloud climbed in the distance.