As Ellis walked into the newly established command center in Canterlot Castle, he saw Chase and Daniel working with the maps alongside Twilight and Ashra. Then, he received a comms hail from the Baron.

"Captain, you there?" Came the voice of Lt. Barry.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Ellis replied.

"We've got IMC movement towards the ocean. We suspect the attack is imminent."

"Copy that. have all our Grunts and Spectres combat ready. We can't be caught off guard this time." Ellis said. "What's our engine status?"

"We've got power restored and engines are booting up. Give engineering a little more time, we'll be airborne."

"Good. Keep me posted."

"Got it. Lt. Barry out."

Ellis walked over to Chase and Daniel, who were studying maps of the shore.

"What's up, Captain?" Daniel asked.

"The Baron is almost flight-capable." Ellis replied. "Problem is, we've got IMC movement."

"Our shore defenses are almost set up." Twilight replied. "We've set up several chokepoints."

"it won't be enough." Chase said. "We need heavy firepower to have a hope in hell of dropping any IMC armor. Having dragons on our side helps, but we need more units."

Twilight nodded. Then, the Grunt attending the radio gasped.

"What is it?" Ellis asked.

"See for yourself." The Grunt replied, displaying the radio screen.

INCOMING MESSAGE-CMDR SARAH BRIGGS, MCS MACALLAN II

"Patch her in!" Ellis yelled. The Grunt nodded and set to work.

"Got it!" he yelled.

"Captain Ellis, you there?" Came Sarah Briggs's voice.

"We're here, Commander." Ellis said.

"I knew you were still alive, you old dog." Briggs said. "How's the Baron?"

"Almost flight ready." Ellis said. "My forces are ready to go."

"Good. I've got three more ships behind me. We need a place to land. You got one?"

"The plain south of my location." Ellis said. "Be advised, we have IMC contact imminent."

"Confirmed." Sarah replied. "We'll be on station shortly."

"Good." Ellis said. "Can't wait to see what we've missed."

"You'll be surprised. Briggs out."

Ellis ended the comms, and he smiled.

"I take it your message was found?" Twilight asked.

"Yes. Sarah Briggs, the M-COR commander, found us and we have four ships full of reinforcements ready to land." Ellis said. "And just in time."

"Great." Daniel said. "Let's head outside. The show's about to begin."

============

As Princesses Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Ashra, along with Ellis, Daniel, and Chase watched, four Militia ships descended from the skies. As they landed and set themselves down on the plain, a Crow dropship flew out of the James MacAllan II and set down in front of the balcony. Sarah Briggs disembarked, followed by a Grunt Squad, Barker, and Gates.

"Good to see you, Captain." Briggs said.

"You too, Commander." Ellis replied. "The Angel City Elites and the 6-4? You didn't tell me you were bringing them out to find us."

"We can't afford to lose anyone else." Gates said. "My pilots are ready."

"And so are mine." Barker said.

"Good to hear it." Ellis said. "Let's get introductions and briefing started. Then, we can worry about the IMC."

"Sounds like a plan." Briggs said. As introductions went around, Gates walked over to Chase.

"I've heard a bit about you, Scarecrow." Gates said, noting the dark spot on Chase's helmet where an IMC patch once was. "Seems you did the right thing."

"Maybe." Chase said. "You're Gates, right? Leader of the 6-4?"

"That'd be me." Gates said. "Let's get situated, shall we?"

"Let's." Chase said as the group headed towards the command center.

======

"We're fucked." Was all Barker had to say of the Equestrian defense plans.

"We can fight, Commander." Celestia said.

"You've never fought the IMC." Briggs responded. "They don't hesitate to execute prisoners. Most likely, they'll do everything in their power to break your morale and then move in for a kill blow."

"We're ready to fight." Twilight said. "With all due respect, this is OUR WORLD, and we're not going to let some business-suit IMC humans take it away from us!"

Briggs sighed.

"Listen, Princess. When was the last war that was fought on this planet?"

"A thousand years ago." Celestia said.

"And that thousand year gap is why you're FUCKED." Barker replied. "Your "Best troops" are still using MEDIEVAL weaponry, when even a newly recruited Grunt could kill them before they get into melee range!"

"Listen...I know that we are in a desperate, dire situation." Ellis said. "But we simply CANNOT let bickering and mistrust drive us apart! That's what the IMC wants us to do! We need to focus and get ourselves ready for war, no matter the cost."

"...You're right, Captain." Briggs said. "And I think I know who can help."

"Who?" Twilight asked.

"Grunt, get Rom3-RO in here." Briggs said.

"Yes ma'am!"

A grunt walked out, and was son replaced by a Spectre. Only Spectres didn't wear a pilot's Jumpkit and gear and had a basic holographic face on their head. He also had a small ponytail on the back of his head frame.

"Yo, bios. What can I do for you?" Rom3-RO asked.

"Who the hell are you?" Twilight asked.

"Glad you asked. I'm Rom3-RO, Recon operational military robotic operative. Most folks call me Rom3-RO, or Romero. I may be a sentient machine, but I have feelings you know. I'm also a pilot." Romero said.

"I didn't know you had him in store, Commander." Ellis said.

"He's fresh from development." Briggs said. "The techies say it took quite some time to get the Neural nodes needed for Titan combat functioning with him, but they did."

"Quite true." Romero said. "Though, I'm not as devilishly handsome that everyone thinks I should be, I'm quite a looker."

"That's high praise coming from a machine to himself." Briggs said.

Romero gave a shrug.

"Anyway, let's get to work with those bloody IMC." Romero said, looking at the map.

Author's Notes:

Yep, Cayde-6 from Destiny as a pilot is how I would describe Romero.

His design is The Stim pilot from Multiplayer.

His titan is a Tone, KV-0617.

And he's a snarky, wisecracking goofball. That's exactly why I put hiim in, by the way.