She Comes When The Rain Falls
It was a rainy day on Tarsonis; unfortunate weather for Axon since he hated the rain. The main reason he lived in his particular neighborhood was because it seemed like clear skies all year round. His brother didn't share his sentiment and instead insisted on residing in the same neighborhood they had grown up in; an area known for bad weather. Axon did his best to schedule his visits on days that the weather would be calm, but even in this day and age of technology, no system was one hundred percent accurate. The purple earth pony sat in the rain next to his little brother, gazing up at the sky, letting his mane soak up the water while he drank himself into a stupor. The rain always reminded him of one thing or another. The day he graduated, the day he met his wife, the day his father passed away, the day his family was broken, and the day they were reunited.
"Big news Rust," said Axon as he looked down at his brother. "Hay Seed is pregnant. You're going to be an uncle. If its a colt, we're going to call him Rust. I'm sure you can appreciate that right?" In truth, Axon should have been home with his wife, but he'd been avoiding home as of late. Ever since his father died, he began to drink excessively. His drinking had been the cause of many problems between him and Hay Seed lately. Axon didn't seem to care though, he just needed to get away from his problems at the moment.
Axon looked down at his brother, waiting for a reply that he knew wasn't coming. "You are just jumping with excitement today aren't you?" Axon patted his hoof against the grave stone as if he were brushing his little brothers mane. "Don't worry. One of the first things little Rusty is going to do is visit his uncle. You'll see him, I can promise you that much."
The rain began to intensify, and Axon knew he would catch a cold if he stayed out here much longer. He sighed at his brothers grave. "I'm sorry to cut it short Rust, but Hay Seed will have my head if I get sick out here again. Trust me, you do not want to upset a pregnant mare anymore than you have to." Axon struggled to raise to his feet. His rear right leg had suffered an injury many years back, and was never able to fully recover. With some effort, he managed to bring himself to all fours. "I'll be back alright? I promise next time I'll bring an umbrella."
Axon turned around only to find himself staring at the visor of an Imperial medic. She was in a suit of thick white power armor and currently on all fours. Her face was hidden behind a cracked, yellow tinted visor. Her armor was covered in blood stained claw marks as if she had been stabbed repeatedly. Axon knew who she was and quickly fell back in fear. The medics suit shifted into a bipedal stance. In this stance, the suits two front hooves turned into a pair of robotic hands. Near each hand was a wrist mounted syringe, which Axon was sure she was going to use to inject him with. Axon began crawling away from her, but with his crippled leg, he couldn't out pace the mare. "Why can't you just leave me alone?!" he shouted. Like his brother, Axon knew the mare was not going to respond.
Rust and Axon Highground de Steelwing stood in formation with the rest of their fellow graduates. Like many of the other recruits, they both swelled with pride knowing that in a few seconds they would join the ranks of the Equestrian Royal Guard. There were many military branches in the Koprulu Sector, but the Royal Guard was the oldest of them all, and the only one that could trace it's origins all the way back to ancient Equestria.
Behind the rows of recruits, the audience was watching the ceremony. Among them was Axon Highground de Steelwing senior, proud father of the twins. Every family within the de Steelwing house always had at least one child serving in the military, and this stallion could proudly claim to have two. The red earth pony was Royal Navy himself, so having two guardsmen for sons to continue the military tradition was extremely satisfying.
The commanding officer was standing in front of a podium facing the recruits, as well as the audience behind them. "Proud sons of Equestria. You came here as willing citizens, answering the call of duty to Celestia, and the Equestrian legacy. Know that you are about to be apart of something much bigger than any single pony in the Confederacy. Today you join your brothers as part of the oldest fighting force in the sector. As guardsman, you will continue the honors and traditions of the Equestrian Royal Guard. You will fight for and defend the true citizens of Equestria against the traitors and heretics that were once our country men. And you will carry out the eternal will of Princess Celestia. While she many reside thousands of light-years away on the Canterlot throne, know that she smiles upon you today, in gratitude of the service and sacrifice you will make in the defense of her subjects. Citizens of Equestria, these stallions who stand before you today are no longer just your peers, but the defenders of your way of life. Welcome them now as guardsmen of the Equestrian Royal Guard!"
As the commanding officer granted them the title of guardsman, the entire audience exploded in a roar of applause. With the ceremony complete, the newly pronounced guardsmen were finally allowed to greet their eager families. The brothers made their way towards the audience and met their father in an embrace. They had to enjoy it while it lasted. It wouldn't be long before they would be sent off to one world or another to battle against the Imperials, their former countrymen. "I'm proud of you boys!" he said as he squeezed the life out of the two of them.
"Thanks dad. Not sure if mom would agree with that sentiment though," said Axon.
"Axon don't. Not today please. Let's just enjoy this for what it is," suggested Rust. Axon adhered to his brothers request. The three stallions needed to enjoy what time they had together while it lasted. Rain clouds began to form over head, and a shower quickly followed. Axon could see the face of a familiar purple earth pony filly smiling at him.
"Axon, are you alright?" asked his father. He too looked in the direction Axon seemed to be staring towards, but saw nothing.
"Yeah... it's nothing. I'm fine," he said as he smiled back at the silent filly in the distance.
Despite his injury, Axon was able to quickly get to his feet. He limped his way over to his vehicle and tried to open the door, but a cold robotic hand caught his hoof. Now he was face to visor with his pursuer. To his relief, the clouds began to part. As the rain disappeared, her form vanished. Axon face was drenched in rain, sweat and what he thought might even be tears.
He got back in his vehicle and started making his way home knowing it would be a several hours long drive. Naturally he was driving as quickly as possible in an attempt to get out of this particular region. Unfortunately it was too fast, and it didn't take long before law enforcement pulled him over. To make matters worse, once again a downpour commenced. The alcohol on his breath wasn't going to help the situation either.
The officer stepped out of his vehicle and made his way towards him. With the rain picking up, he was feeling rather nervous and wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. "Do you have any idea how fast you were going?" asked the officer.
Axon suddenly noticed the medic appeared again in the distance as she began walking towards him. He quickly gathered his license and registration. "Let's skip to the end shall we? Here is everything, just give me the ticket so I can get going." Fear continued to take its toll as the armored mare approached.
The officer smelled the alcohol on his breath. "You been drinking today?" asked the officer, but Axon didn't pay attention. Sweat began to drench his coat again as the mare approached closer and closer. With his pursuer mere feet away from his vehicle, Axon turned on his engine and drove off as fast as he could.
He didn't care that he had just driven off on a ticket, or that the officer was now in pursuit behind him. All he cared about was getting away from his pursuer. "You can't keep running you know?" said a voice from the back seat. Axon looked in the mirror and couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was a purple earth pony filly. She used to be the one who visited him during rain storms. Unfortunately ever since the day his brother died, she had been replaced by the Imperial medic instead.
"It's been a long time, why are you here now?" he asked while ignoring the sound of the police siren.
"Because you can't keep doing this anymore Axon. If you don't stop now, you'll ruin your life," she replied. "You're about to be a father, and that won't be an easy task from behind a jail cell."
Axon began a response, "But if I stop she'll-"
"You can't outrun her," interrupted the filly. Axon suddenly saw the medic standing in the middle of the road not too far ahead of him. He quickly made a wild right turn steering off the road, crashing his vehicle into a ditch, and knocking himself unconscious.
Outfitted in power armor, Sergeant Axon Highground de Steelwing was rushing to his drop pod, preparing to capture the Imperial city below. His suit was in its bi-pedal form, which added extra support to his hind legs, allowing them to properly support his weight. This freed up his front legs to be used as arms. In his bi-pedal form, the suits hooves on the "arms" turned into mechanical hands which allowed Axon to hold and operate his rifle. His rifle was a large gauss weapon far to massive to carry using his own strength, fortunately the power armor provided the extra strength needed to wield the weapon.
While he didn't stop for even a moment, just outside the windows was an awe inspiring sight. Confederate scorchers were in orbit over the planet, bombarding the surface from above. The siege machines were a type of living creature known as a zerg. Bred for war, the zerg were mutated, weaponized monsters that came in many different breeds, large and small. Some like the zeglings resembled dogs, while others like the massive ultralisk looked like elephants, though several times larger. There were many kinds of zerg in the Confederate war machine, but all were breed for a single purpose: to destroy the enemies of Celestia.
The scorchers resembled that of giant jelly fish as they floated in orbit, though they were covered in a thick brown carapace, and had a number of eyes on their side. While they were living creatures, they also had a number of mechanical alterations to both enhance their combat effectiveness, as well as keep them obedient to their Equestrian masters. Dark purple void energy surged through the tentacles of the creatures, and discharged as beams that poured Celestias justice on the Imperials below. A number of projectiles shot up from the planets surface into orbit attempting to destroy the scorches. One by one, the creatures rived in pain as the enemies Kraken Slayer cannons fired slugs into space that punched holes into the attacking scorchers. The losses didn't matter; the zerg were breed to be used in massive numbers, and their lives were forfeit. Every time a zerg fell, another would take its place and continue the bombardment.
Confederate ships of the Royal Navy, along side a number of zerg monsters, fought against the Dominion Armada in orbit around the besieged world. There was almost a grim beauty of the sight as zerg bleed, and ships burned. Axon did his best not to think of all the ponies dying on those ships, and focused on his mission instead.
Axon was now secured in his drop pod, awaiting deployment to the surface. While Axons modest transport was being used to transport a few hundred ponies, floating beside them was a much larger zerg hive ship. The hive ship was a capital ship turned into a living organism by the zerg who had infested and mutated the inside. The converted vessel was used for carrying hundreds of thousands of zerg warriors for planetary invasions. The zerg would be used as the invasion forces vanguard, shock troopers and cannon fodder, while the guardsmen followed up the attack to take designated objectives. As always, the zerg were deployed ahead of the guardsmen to soften up the defending Imperials.
Axon heard a voice come from the ships loud speaker. "Guardsman platoons one through three prepare to drop in three, two, one." No matter how many times Axon did this, that initial shock as the drop pods released always got to him.
Another voice came into his power armors radio as the drop pods descended towards the surface; it was the voice of his brother, Staff Sergeant Rust Highground de Steelwing. "Listen up guardsmen! Our platoon is being tasked with disabling three KS cannons throughout the city. The Lieutenant will lead squads one and two and join our zerg forces in a push from outside the city. They will destroy the two outlying KS cannons. Sergeant Highground, I will be in command of your squad. We will land directly inside the city, and proceed to capture or disable the KS cannon located in the inner city. With the cannons down, our scorches can clear out the rest of the city from orbit."
Axon didn't like the sound of that plan. Though the majority of the first wave of zerg landed inside the city, which should hopefully keep the Imperials busy for a while, they would still be surrounded on all fronts with no way out if they didn't take the objective. "Staff Sergeant," said Axon. "Isn't that suicide?"
"Probably! But if you don't like those odds, you were born to the wrong house!" replied his brother. A round of laughter could be heard coming from the radio. It was typical for members of the de Steelwing house to take on the more dangerous missions. Of the nine houses of the Confederacy, house de Steelwing was known for being one of the more militaristic. Warriors born, the de Steelwings were always expected to succeed at what no other sane pony would even attempt. It was only pride, and a warrior legacy that kept Axon strong in the face of overwhelming adversity.
Axon shook violently in his drop pod at the force of the sudden deceleration. It would only be seconds now before that pod opened. The doors unlatched and dropped. Axon quickly ran out to find some cover, and hopefully regroup with the rest of his squad. To his relief, his drop pod had smashed inside of a relatively safe structure. Unfortunately it had also landed on top of the family huddling inside the building for cover. Though tragic, now was not the time to mourn their deaths, not while he still had a job to do. His visors HUD (heads up display) informed him eleven out of thirteen ponies in his squad were still showing good vitals, and weren't far.
Axon made his way from street to street trying to avoid direct confrontation while looking for the rest of his squad. The zerg for the most part had succeeded in forcing the Imperial defenders deeper into the city. Unfortunately they also left hundreds of dead civilian in their wake; stallions, mares and children alike. Being soulless killing machines, the zerg didn't discriminate between combatant and civilian, and if it weren't for the augmentations, they wouldn't discriminate against the guardsmen either.
Axon had just about reached the rest of his squad when he approached a window to see three marines manning a turret at on building roof top. With their superior position and weapon, they were mowing down zerg by the dozens. Axon fixed his rifle on the turret then opened fire. His massive rifles bullets easily tore the turret to pieces, killing the gunner. He quickly ran for cover as the remaining two marines returned fire in an attempt to avenge their comrade. But with the turret destroyed, the menagerie of rampaging zerg quickly scaled the walls and overran their position. A number of screams could be heard from inside the building as zerg began to rush inside. Axon then saw many civilians rushing out of the building now that their protectors had been overwhelmed.
The two marines fought desperately to hold off the zerg while the others escaped. One of them was quickly over powered and ripped to pieces while the remaining marine tried to hold his ground against the tide of death. The lone marine managed to shoot down at least half a dozen zerg, but they eventually surrounded him. As one of the creatures bit down on his power armors leg, the desperate pony shot the creature off in response. With the suits leg damaged, his hopes of escape were nil. Another zerg leapt at him, and the marine bashed it aside with his rifle, only to be tackled by a third zerg. Within seconds the zerg were chomping and crawling away as his power armor, eventually reaching the vulnerable flesh underneath. The zerg had no concept of mercy, and showed none as the unfortunate pony screamed in agony as his armor and body were being torn apart. Not willing to view anymore, Axon put a round through the marines head to end his torment. There wasn't much he could do for the others though as one by one, the slowest of them, mostly children, were tackled. Fortunately the rest managed to escape as a result of the slower ponies "sacrifice."
he proceeded across the block and eventually his brothers voice came over the radio. "Sergeant Highground, we're across the street inside the building to your right. Move now, we have you covered!" Axon rushed across the street to meet up with Rust; the zerg ignoring him completely. He was pleased to see the majority of his squad had managed to regroup. "That was the easy part guardsmen," said Rust as he looked towards the Imperial Kraken Slayer cannon that was firing slugs into the sky. Every now and then a beam would strike it, but it's shields were protecting it from energy attacks. Missiles were also ineffective because of a series of point defense lasers that would shoot them down before they could make contact. The only way to take it down was to get inside and shut off its defenses, allowing the orbital bombardment to do the rest.
The assault continued, but the Imperials were not going to be routed simply by some ground zerg. They were fighting to defend their homes and family from the monstrosities, and they certainly weren't going to give any ground without a hard fight. A number of larger zerg were also being used in the assault, but their heavy hitters were assaulting the city from the outside, so Axons squad would have to make do with what they had.
Rust peaked out a window and saw an Imperial tank, as well as a number marines. They were currently holding off zerg attack waves, so they weren't yet aware of the guardsmen's presence. "We need to clear the way." Rust points towards one of the guardsmen and orders him to get to the window. "Set up over there and paint the tank for bombardment." The guardsman obliged and made his way to the window to paint the tank. Though the scorches continued to assault from orbit, they would need a pony on the ground to guide the bombardment if they wanted to make a precision attack. The guardsman activated the laser pointer on his rifle and pointed towards the enemy vehicle. Within seconds, beams began to crash down on the defending imperials. Unfortunately the guardsmen at the window was spotted and shot down by one of the defending marines. With the tank destroyed, the rest of the squad opened fire, killing or routing the remaining marines.
Another guardsman was killed in the fighting leaving nine in the squad. Many of the remaining Imperials, military and civilian alike, retreated towards to the final cannon, as it was one of the few places left in this part of the city that was still holding its own against the zerg. It was obvious that they could not take the cannon with only nine guardsmen. Rust heard the voice of his Lieutenant come over his armors radio. "Staff Sergeant Highground, we've taken out KS cannons one and two. What is the progress on KS cannon three?"
"The remaining marines are hulled up inside sir. Request that you redirect the next wave of zerg near our position," replied Rust.
"Roger that Staff Sergeant. Paint a target and you'll have your reinforcements," said the Lieutenant.
Rust ordered one of his guardsman to mark an area near the cannon. Axon stepped up and used his rifle to paint the cannons firing platform. If he could drop the zerg directly on top of the Imperials, they would be locked in hand to hand combat allowing his squad to easily deal with the remaining defenders. Within the minute, dozens of zerg "drop pods" came crashing down. Unlike the metal drop pods the guardsman used that carried only one soldier, these large pods were nothing but hardened carapace filled with mucus and a thick soft inner membrane for padding, holding dozens of zerg. Anti-air craft fire filled the sky in a doomed attempted to shoot down as many pods as possible, but there were simply too many. Even though only half the pods landed successfully, it was more than enough. The cannons firing platform turned into a massacre as the zerg emerged from their drop pods, and proceeded to indiscriminately attack the Imperials. The marines did their best to defend the civilians and the cannon, but there were simple too many zerg. Seeing this was their best chance, the guardsmen opened fire.
As the fighting continued, ponies and zerg alike were dropping dead left and right. Somewhere in the fighting, Axon felt a surge a pain shoot through him. He looked down to see blood seeping out of his power armors right leg. Axon retreated back into the building but took another shot through the same leg. With the suits leg disabled, and his real leg probably not doing much better, he fell to the ground. Assuming this was his final hour, Axon rolled on his back, and began firing everything he had at the Imperials. Some rounds hit marines, some hit zerg, and others hit civilians. Rust however ran up behind him, grabbed his suit and dragged him into the building.
Before he could thank his brother, a message came over the radio that neither side wanted to hear. "Nuclear Launch Detected." With so much of the Imperial population dead or dying, the Dominion no longer had any qualms with activating their nuclear capabilities. They would rather see their city in ruins than fall into the hands of the Confederacy. Axons squad needed to find cover fast. Their suits gave full NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) protection, but they would need deep cover if they wanted to survive the initial blast.
Rust dragged his brother to the buildings basement. Imperial and Equestrain citizens alike who were living on border planets usually built shelters under their homes and business in the very likely event of bombardment. Since time was of the essence, Rust threw Axon into the shelter. Fortunately the armor did absorb the impact for the most part as he hit the floor, though the pain in his leg intensified. Rust rushed back up stairs to gather what was left of the squad to lead them to the shelter. Before Rust or any other pony joined him downstairs, Axon felt the shaking of the earth, followed by the sound of a blast so loud, he thought for sure he would go deaf.
Axon awoke in the back of the police officers car; the rain was still pouring outside. "I see you're finally awake. I didn't think you would be drunk enough to try something that stupid. What were you thinking driving into the ditch like that?" asked the officer.
Axon didn't reply. He looked outside the window and for a moment saw the medic once again staring at him from the outside of the moving car. Caught off guard, he quickly jumped away from the window. He looked to the front to see the driver was now gone. Even though the car was in motion, the medic still stood outside somehow, staring at him through the window. "What do you want!" he shouted.
"The same thing I want," said another voice behind him. He turned around to see the purple filly in the back seat with him. "We want you to move on."
Axon continued to tremble at the sight of the medic. "Do you have any idea about the things I did? The ponies who died because we used the zerg as a weapon?! The pony while I just stood and watched?"
"Would the result had been any different if you weren't there?" she asked. "The zerg would still have been used, the bombs would still have been dropped, and the dead would still be dead. Your new family isn't dead yet, you can still be there for them. But first you have to leave the past behind you."
The rain once again stopped, and both the filly and the medic disappeared. "You sure are fidgety back there" said the officer. "Bad memories I take it?" he asked.
"Yeah," replied Axon. "Very bad memories."
Axon had passed out from the pain in his leg for an unknown number of hours. His suit did work to successfully stop the bleeding, but his leg was still too injured for him to stand on it. Fortunately his suit was protected against the EMP from the nuclear detonation, so Axons HUD was still active. It showed another guardsman in his squad was still alive, though his vitals were weak; it was his brother. Axon dragged himself up the stairs and out of the shelter in hopes of rescuing Rust. With much effort he made it back to the surface with his rifle in tow.
There was a heavy downpour over the city now. The nuke seemed to have gone off a good distance from their location, but many of the buildings still lay in ruin. Radio transmissions suggested the battle was still in progress, though with no clear winner yet, and at the moment Axon didn't really care. He followed his brothers signal only to find his black and charred armor laying on the ground. An Imperial medic in white power armor kneeled over his body. Her back turned to Axon, she was not yet aware of his presence. She had opened Rust's visor, but Axon couldn't tell what she was doing to him. She may have been a medic, but she was also the enemy. After all the damage they had done to the city, Axon wasn't sure she would be in the mood to help out a guardsmen. Rust reached out an arm, placing it on the medics shoulder. He was saying something to her, but Axon couldn't tell what. The medic then injected something into his neck through the open visor, and Rust vitals faded.
It was the final protocol, a fatal drug medics would give to dying marines to ease their passing. In this case, it was given to the enemy. If Axon were in the right state of mind, he would have realized she just showing him a final mercy. Unfortunately in his current state of mind, all he saw was an enemy combatant who had just killed his brother. Axon still had his rifle with him, and was fighting the urge to avenge his brothers death. But he also knew the sound of rifle fire could attract unwanted attention, and with his bad leg, he would be in no position to put up a good fight. As far as he knew, he could be the only remaining guardsman in a city filled with hostels.
His dilemma would soon be solved for him though. As the medic continued to kneel along side the fallen guardsman, one of the doglike zerglings jumped out of the ruble, pinning her down and began to slash away at her armor. "Someone help me!" she shouted. Axon pointed his rifle towards the zerg and considered his next course of action. He could easily shoot the zerg off of her, but he was enjoying the sight of his brothers killer screaming in pain and terror as slash after slash made its way into her armor, eventually drenching the zerg in Imperial blood. Finally the medic was able to use the wrist mounted syringe to inject the zerg with a dose of final protocol as well, ending his attack. Using his rifle as a crutch, Axon got on his legs and limped through the mud towards her. He wanted to look into the eyes of his brothers killer, so he could witness her last painful moments of life.
What he saw was far worse than anything he could have imagined. The cracked visor opened to show a familiar purple coated mare. Axon was frozen in shock as he watched the rain wash away the mares blood. She stared into his eyes and uttered one final word. "Axon?"
The officer helped Axon out of the back seat into the station. Axon didn't bother trying to resist, he wouldn't be able to with his crippled leg anyway. The officer allowed him to make a phone call to his wife, then escorted him to his cell. All he could do now was wait for his wife to come and pick him up. He couldn't help but wonder what she would be more upset about; the totaled car, or having to pick up her intoxicated husband from a jail cell once again. He laid down on the cot and decided to try to get some rest.
As he closed his eyes, a jolt of panic began to fill Axon with dread. There was a noise coming from the roof. Raindrops. Axons eyes shot open only to once again be met with the visor of the Imperial medic staring at him. As she reached her hand out towards him, Axon was certain she was going to use the wrist mounted syringe to inject him with the final protocol, just as she had his brother.
For some reason, Axons cell door was open. He didn't question it, he just ran. He ran as fast as his crippled leg would take him while the medic followed.
The rain began to pour harder than ever now. As Axon ran by cells that were previous empty when he first entered the prescient, he noticed they were now filled with the walking dead; the stallions, mares, fillies and colts who been torn apart by the zerg he helped to unleash. One by one, the cells opened as the angry dead joined in on the medics pursuit. Axon ran for the door to exit the cell rooms, but the door was locked. He was now cornered as the dead surrounded him.
A tear filled family prepared their final good byes at a newly annexed Confederate starport. The gloomy clouds and heavy rain complemented the situation well, as one of many families was about to be ripped apart. It was an unfortunate event, but the fragile peace on the neutral world had finally ended. It was now completely annexed by the Confederacy, and a new confederate mandate demanded all Imperial soldiers leave the planet or face imprisonment. Though she had left the service long ago, her record as an Imperial medic had marked her for part of the purge. The mare would be forced to leave behind her family, and return to Dominion space.
"Mom! Please don't go!" shouted Rust as he hugged his mother.
The purple pegasus returned the hug, embracing her earth pony son. "I'm sorry Rusty. But mommy isn't allowed to stay here anymore. You have to be strong for me, be strong for daddy ok?"
"But I don't want you to go!" shouted Rust.
Axon was also crying, but he did not join in the display. He had already told his mother everything he had to tell her. His only concern now was in trying to talk some sense into a certain purple earth pony filly. "Raindrop, you don't have to go. You're an Equestrain citizen. Just stay with us, please!" pleaded Axon.
"Axon, it's her decision to go or stay. She has as much right to go with her mother as she has to stay with us." said Axons father. He turned his attention to his daughter. "But are you sure about this Rain Drop? If you leave now, the Confederacy will never let you return."
"I know daddy. But I don't want mommy to be alone. You have Rusty and Axon, she doesn't have anyone. I can't leave mommy by herself," explained Rain Drop. "I promise I'll write though. I'm sure you're still at least allowed to get mail from me right?"
"I'll hold you to that," said the red earth pony stallion as he embraced his daughter for what he was sure would be the last time. "I love you so much honey," he said.
"I love you too daddy," said Rain Drop as she returned the hug. She then approached her brother and hugged him as well. "I'm going to miss you Axon. Write back ok? And make sure Rusty does too!"
Axon returned the hug, and forced a smile on his tear filled face. "I will, I promise. I'm going to miss you too," he said to his sister.
The legion of dead ponies surrounded him, but did not attack. Instead they parted and made a hole for the medic. Axon stared at her cracked visor which finally lifted open. He looked into the eyes of his sister, her face still covered with the cuts and slashes of the zerg he refused to save her from.
The purple filly once again returned to his side. "It's time you face her Axon," she said. The filly, and all the angry dead disappeared from the room, leaving him alone with his dearly departed sister.
Axon tried to begin a sentence. "Rain Drop... I... I..."
"Why are you ruining your life Axon? You survived the war, you have a family, and you're throwing it all away. Why did you turn to drinking?" she asked.
"I was angry alright! I lost my sister, my mother, Rust as well... Dad was all I had left!" shouted Axon. He was visibly crying now, not even trying to hold it back. His voice shifted from an angry shout, to a lowly wimper. "When he died... I was alone... I was scared."
"You're still scared, but you were never alone," said Rain Drop.
"What do you want? Revenge?" he asked. Axon exposed his neck to her. "Take it."
Rain Drop lifted her hand towards him. Instead of injecting him, she slapped him across the face. "Are you that selfish? You're going to be a father, you don't get off that easily!" she shouted. "You have a new family now, and they're going to need you! It's time to stop being scared! It's time to let go of what happened and move on!"
"But... I wasn't there for you," he replied. "I wasn't there for any of the people who needed my help! Do you think you were the first one I just sat back and watched died? I've ordered zerg to be dropped on civilians! I saw entire families ripped apart, and I just treated it as another days work! Do you really think I deserve to live after that?!"
"We've all had to do things we regret Axon," said Rain Drop. "You can't bring me back, and you can't bring any of them back either. That family is gone, but you can still be there for the family who needs you now. You can either be the father and husband you are supposed to be, or you can keep feeling sorry for yourself and continue to let your life fall apart. It's your choice." Rain Drop removed the syringe from her wrist, and placed it next to Axon. Like the rest of the dead, she too faded into nothingness.
Axon looked down at the syringe. It would be an easy way out, a way to make the memories go away. He picked it up, shut his eyes and pressed it against his neck. A small trickle of blood could be felt running down his coat. A tiny bit of pressure now and it would all be over. As he was about to press harder, he began to think about what his sister had told him. He began to think about Hay Seed and just how much she loved him, how much she needed him right now. How much his child would need him. "No," he said to himself. "Hay Seed. I'm coming home."
It had been day's since the battle had ended in a victory, if you can call it that. It had also been a bad week to be an Imperial. When the Dominion Armada was finally forced to retreat from the planets orbit, the marines and civilians on the planets surface were left to the tender mercies of the zerg. There wasn't much of the population left to salvage by the time the zerg were through.
Axon had just finished recovering at one of the few remaining hospitals in the city he had helped to capture. The Confederacy had sent down food and medical supplies to aid the surviving population, but after all the damage they had inflicted, it was to no one's surprise the Imperials weren't too receptive of their Equestrian conquerors.
The rain had started to pick up again, and with the water contaminated, no one could step outside without an NBC suit. Axon looked outside hoping to see his little sister standing out in the rain again. But why would she be? Why should she after he had just let her die? To his surprise, she was still out there. But now she stood in her armor, visor up, and face covered in wounds, staring at him with what he was sure were resentful eyes. Axon did his best to ignore it, he didn't want everyone thinking he was crazy.
He made his way through the hospitals hall ways while wearing a new suit of power armor. The doctors told him his leg had been permanently crippled, and he would probably never be able to walk properly without the armors support again. He was still able able to walk patrols to keep the refugees from turning violent, but would probably be medically discharged soon. Even with the support of his power armor, with his crippled leg he wouldn't be very useful as a guardsman anymore.
He never did like to stay behind to see the aftermath of the battles, few ponies did. All around him he could hear the sounds of ponies screaming in pain, or crying in sorrow at the loss of loved ones. Not many had injuries inflicted directly by zerg, as the zerg weren't known for leaving prisoners. Most had been injured in the bombardment, or were suffering from radiation burns after the nuke had gone off. Others were dispossessed and had no where else to go. While no one was particularly happy about getting nuked by their own government, everyone also realized it would not have come to that if the Confederacy had never invaded in the first place.
Axon felt particularly horrible for his role in all of this. During the battle, all he was concerned with was completing his objective and coming home alive. He didn't stop to think about the ponies he would hurt. After the adrenaline had subsided however, the horrifying reality of the aftermath set in. He was a murderer through and through.
Axon ignored the comments as best he could while he continued his patrol. Naturally he was bombarded with insults; "Murderer! Butcher, Zerg cuddling bastard!" were just a few of titles given to him. Occasionally an angry Imperial would throw something at him, but Axon let it slide. It's not like it could hurt him while he was still in his armor. Axon couldn't really blame them either. He couldn't imagine he'd feel any different if the situation were reversed.
"Guardsman! Do you have any water? One of the patients needs water or she won't make it through the night, and most of our water supply is contaminated," said a hospital nurse. Unlike the other Imperials, this mare didn't seem very involved in the anti-confederate hate. She only seemed interested in helping as many patients as possible. Axon removed one of the small hydration tanks from his armor, and gave it to her. "Thank you!" she said. "Listen, we're really understaffed right now, and these people need all the help they can get. I know you aren't very popular at the moment, but if you can do anything to help..."
"I've been trained in first aid," said Axon.
"Good! You can help with some of the less critically injured. Try to bare with their resentment, they've been through a lot today," said the mare. Axon was surprised she didn't add a snide comment at the end of that sentence.
"I'll do what I can" replied Axon. "By the way, I'm Sergeant Axon Highground de Steelwing. You are?"
"Nurse Hay Seed Reneema," replied the mare.
Axon pulled the syringe away from his neck and opened his eyes to see it was dusk. He was back at the graveyard again. At one point he must have passed out in the rain, and was now drenched and freezing. However long he was out for, he seemed to be sober now. The syringe he had been holding was now a broken liquor bottle, with a few drops of blood on the edge. Axon could still feel the blood trickling down his neck, but the wound was minor and would be nothing life threatening.
Cold and wet, he picked himself up and made his way to his vehicle. He checked his phone and found Hay Seed had left him a number of messages. Naturally he called back.
"Hello?" said the mare on the other line.
"Hay Seed it's me," said Axon.
"Where the hell have you been?! I've been calling you all day! You had me worried sick! I almost called the police! Have you been drinking again?!" she shouted.
As Axon was about to answer, he noticed a familiar purple filly was sitting next to him on the passenger seat, smiling up at him. "I was at an intervention," said Axon. "I'm getting help, you won't ever see another bottle in the house again," he promised.
"Oh," was the only word Hay Seed could get out. "That's good to hear."
"I'm coming home alight. I love you," said Axon.
"I do too," replied Hay Seed. "One more thing. I don't think we'll be calling him Rust. I just got word from the doctor, it's going to be a girl."
"That's wonderful," replied Axon.
"Any ideas for a name?" asked Hay Seed.
Axon looked over again at his little sister who nodded her head. "How about Rain Drop?"
Author's Note
This is my first attempted at a serious story. Please let me know what you think in the comments.
This is based on the Koprulu Sector universe, a StarCraft MLP cross over. The Story of the Confederacy, the Dominion and the Highground de Steelwing family continues there.
Another story can be found called "the tale of an Exile," which also greatly focuses on the de Steelwing family lineage specifically.
