Between Magic and Science

The truck sped along the hillside overlooking Tanktown, which was just barely visible through the horde of Raiders and the swarms of Changelings attacking the city. Nexus was at the wheel, doing his best to avoid the gunfire and missiles being thrown his way. Several Raider vehicles had taken chase to his own, and were slowly closing the distance. A fighter jet flew overhead, the roar of it’s engines distorted by the speed it was traveling at.

“There’s Whirlwind!” Cee Flat pointed at the jet and it’s escorts above, heading towards the same dark cloud that they were.

“They’re doing their job,” Nexus told him, “You gotta keep an eye out for anything else coming our way!”

In the truck bed, Powerjack had taken a defensive position in front of Fluttershy, bullets harmlessly bouncing off of his hardened metal armour. It had no communication link to the others, so they had given him a radio that strapped to his back, near his oxygen tanks. It was long range and durable, but it was only one way, meaning he couldn’t reply to anyone talking to him.

Vinyl Scratch had been using Powerjack for cover, firing her handgun over his shoulder.

“Hey, they’re throwing everything they got at us back here!” She called to Record Wrex, who was busy firing his own weapon, a Machine Pistol, off at incoming Changelings in the sky.

“Missile incoming!” Powerjack shouted, watching a Raider stick his torso out the window of the truck, and aiming a launcher at them. Vinyl took a shot, but she missed and hit the side mirror. The warhead flew towards them, giving Powerjack only a few seconds to grab Fluttershy and jump off of the truck. A loud explosion flipped their vehicle, and as the ringing in his ear subsided, Powerjack heard screaming, and then some gunfire. He was on his back, tightly holding the small, petrified Fluttershy close to him. His focus was shaken, his thoughts hazy and unclear, and all he could do was protect her.

As the impact shook the vehicle, Nexus shifted his weight onto his shoulder and rolled on the ground, successfully landing on his knees. He looked back as the Raider vehicle responsible for shooting them down had not considered that they would driving in front of a smoldering heap of metal, and plowed right into the wreckage. He spotted Vinyl Scratch, laying under a piece of the truck, what seemed to be part of the engine. Her shields flickered as it burned above her. She attempted to push herself off the ground, but was weighed down.

“Vinyl!” Nexus ran to her side, pushing the engine off of her. She was unharmed, her shields had absorbed the impact as well as the crushing weight of the burning metal.

“That was... ugh...” She shook her head clear, and sprung to her feet.

“Are you okay?” Nexus put a hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine, just need to walk it off,” She looked around, “Where are the others?”

“I’m not sure, but we better find them before more of them show up.” He looked up as spoke, noticing the Changeling swarms had lost interest in them. They flew on towards Tanktown. Nexus heard Rarity’s voice.

“Charlie team, report! Are you okay?” she asked.

“Charlie 1, reporting. Vinyl and I made it, but I’m not sure about the others...”

“I have all of their signals, save Powerjack, and they are all still alive.”

“Why don’t you have Powerjack’s signal?”

“It’s his suit, dear, don’t you remember?”

“Oh, right.” Nexus remembered that Powerjack’s suit was not linked to the communication network like the rest of theirs were. He saw movement on his motion tracker. Glancing to the left, he saw a figure in the distance. He was on the other side of the wreckage, and moving towards them.

“Wrex, that you?” Nexus waved a hand, and the figure waved back, running over to meet him.

Nexus could see him better now, it was Record Wrex. His helmet had fallen off, probably after crash, but his chestplate still had the emblem of the cracked CD. His dull sapphire hair had just came down to his orange shades, like they normally did. Vinyl seemed to find something off, and she approached him.

“Hey, Wrex, didn’t you leave your shades back at the armoury? I thought we had both taken ours off to put our armour on...” She inquired, causing the other DJ to look around nervously. Nexus heard a deafening crack, as he saw the front part of Wrex’s face explode into a shower of lucid, green blood. His body suddenly changed into that of a Changeling as it fell to the ground, twitching.

Behind them stood another man, in the same power armour, with the same cracked CD on the chestplate. In his extended arms was a revolver, it’s barrel smoking. His helmet was on, but that only meant Nexus could see the marker above him identifying him as ‘WREX’.

“I was fooled there for a minute,” Nexus said, still trying to get the ringing out of his ears. “Don’t shoot that thing so close to me next time.”

Wrex shrugged, holstering the revolver at his hip.

“Where’s Cee?” Vinyl asked, “Or Powerjack and Fluttershy?”

Wrex only shrugged again, waving a thumb in the direction he came from.

“Oh yeah, you can’t talk,” Vinyl mumbled, “Sorry.”

Wrex waved it off, and was about to make a gesture, when he heard Rarity speaking to them.

“Charlie team, you have multiple hostiles moving in on you from the east. I’d recommend heading towards your target now,” she said, then suddenly realized the position they were in.

“Yeah, Overwatch?” Nexus said, “We’ve got a bit of a problem.”

“I’ll see what I can do for you, sit tight, Charlie.”

Peaceful Pride had slowly made his way towards the portal, calling out targets for Pinkie Pie to shoot down. She was surprisingly serious, and adept, at her task, firing with precision and focus. There were too many Changelings in the way to actually keep up with the jets- not that their helicopter could keep up with them- but it was also their job to clean up what they had left behind.

Rarity’s voice had came in over the radio. “Bravo 1-2, this is Overwatch Base, come in, over.”

Pinkie answered before Pride could. “This is Bravo 1-2, Overwatch base, go ahead!” Her cheery voice sounded strange using such standardized terminology.

“You two aren’t near the portal yet, are you?”

“Negative, but we’re making progress, over.”

“I’ll need you to move in to assist Charlie team. Get them to their objective, over.”

“Copy, Overwatch base, awaiting coordinates, over.”

Killjoy ran towards the edge of the rooftop, his shields flaring as gunfire struck his body. They were taking the majority of the city, but it wasn’t over until every last man had fell. Killjoy looked down at his squadmates, fighting in the city streets. Nova Burst had taken cover in an alleyway, firing his shotgun around the corner from time to time, but he let his sentry gun do most of the work. Buttercrust was with him, supplying him with materials needed to repair it. Before long, the Raiders realized that they would need to think of a plan that was better than running in front of the gun.

That was the reason that Killjoy had ran to the rooftop. He’d use his rocket launcher to take out anyone who was using the alleys to bypass the sentry’s range, and deal with anyone who thought they’d use the roofs as well.

When the Changelings arrived, things had changed quite a bit. The sentry was too busy firing at the Raiders, so Applejack had to keep them busy. Killjoy could see her standing behind the sentry, firing her handgun into the swarms above. A glint of light caught his eye, and he looked up to find a Raider on the building across from him, aiming a scoped rifle in his direction. Two other Raiders were below him, rushing to take out the sentry while it was distracted with Changelings.

Killjoy took aim at the sniper, but heard yet another noise behind him. He quickly glanced back to see that three Changelings had landed, and without thinking, he jumped from the roof.

Nova Burst turned the corner to fire, but only saw Killjoy, falling a few feet above the Raider’s heads, his rocket launcher pointed at the ground below him. With an burst of smoke and flames, Killjoy was sent soaring back up into the air, propelled by the force of his weapon. During mid-flight, he turned around and fired another rocket at the Changelings he left behind, who were stunned at the feat he had just performed. Turning around again, Killjoy’s feet buried themselves into the sniper’s chest, and crushed him into the roof of the building.

“Hate to spoil your moment of badassery, Commander,” Nova Burst said, “But we’re losin’ this fight. We need some backup, is there anyone else you can call?”

“Hold on,” he said, changing his channel to that of Overwatch. “Overwatch Base, this is Delta team, come in.”

“I read you, Delta, go ahead,” Rarity said.

“We’re losing this battle, we need backup! Is there anyone else you can send?”

“Charlie’s been delayed, and Bravo is moving to assist them. I’m afraid you’re on your own... unless...” Rarity paused, in thought, “Standby Delta.”

“Sorry, Nova. We’re on our own for now.”

“Hey, Killjoy?” Applejack’s voice reached his radio, “Where’s that Deadshot fella you were talkin’ ‘bout? We could sure use a hand right about now.”

“He’s at the shopping district with the Wrong Brothers, holding off the Raiders there.”

Applejack reached out and fired her tow cable, effectively turning it into a lasso. She roped several Changelings out of the air as Buttercrust shot them down with his handgun. A small group of men, dressed in tattered blazers and ripped up jeans, turned the corner, wielding various handguns and rifles. Applejack and Nova Burst raised their weapons to fire, but Killjoy raised his hand to stop them.

“What are you doing down here?” He called from the rooftop.

“The Wrong Bros. sent us down here to tell you that we’ve lost the shopping district, and are falling back to Town Square,” one of the men reported.

“Alright. We’re losing our hold of the streets here as well, come on with us.” Killjoy was about to jump from the rooftop again, but was kicked in the back by a Changeling landing, and the Commander tumbled from the rooftop. He hit the ground hard, his visor cracking. The shields had broken after the kick, so he had nothing to break his fall but the cold, hard street.

Killjoy heard the thump of the Changeling hitting the ground next to him, but after that, everything was silent. His vision faded for a split second, and when he opened his eyes again, all he saw was the Heads Up Display of his helmet. Everything else was dark. The vitals showed red on the left arm and leg, and were yellow on the rest of the body. His head, however, had gone dark, which was not a good sign. His visor had been cracked, an annoying fracture impeding his left side. He saw an image of Rarity in the corner.

“Delta 1, respond!” There was urgency in her voice. “Killjoy! Are you okay! Talk to me!”

“Ugh... I’m okay...” He said, flipping the night vision setting of his helmet on. He had no problems with his vision, the problem was that his immediate area was pitch black. The green shade of his night vision had revealed he was in some sort of dark cavern, hanging upside down from the ceiling.

“I lost contact with you for a few hours, Killjoy. The others said that you had been captured by the Changelings...”

“I... what?”

“I did manage to get the town support, though. Where are you?”

“I’m in some sort of cavern... there is this weird stuff on the walls here, like some sort of sap or something. Myself, I’m stuck in what appears to be a hardened form of this sap...”

“They’ve set up a hive...” Rarity mumbled, “You’re still human, right?”

“Yeah, why, do I turn into one of them eventually?”

“No, it’s just... they’ve set up a hive here, in this world. They’re using you to give them energy to build.”

“How do I get out of here?”

“Well, you haven’t been completely covered in that icky substance yet, right?”

“Right.”

“Follow my every instruction, and I’ll get you out.”

Tanktown had been overrun. Nova Burst had set his gun down in Town Square, as the others regrouped.

A figure holding a sniper rifle stood, waiting.

“Took you long enough,” he said.

“Deadshot?” Applejack approached him. Deadshot noticed the icon on her chest plate.

“Yeah, that’s me. You’re that apple girl, right?”

“Name’s Applejack.”

He looked back at two men behind him, nodding for them to help out Applejack. The shorter of the two looked up at his taller companion.

“You ready, Dexter?” he said, his accent reflecting his many years in the mafia.

“Let’s a-go!”

“Applejack, meet the Wrong Brothers. That’s Dexter, that’s Deft.” Deadshot pointed to each, in order.

“Howdy,” she said, nodding her head.

“Pleased to meet ya,” Deft, the shorter of the two replied.

“The Wrong Brothers are at your service! Just tell us where you need the a-fightin’ done!”

“Applejack,” Rarity said, “You’ve got reinforcements on route to your location.”

“What? Where'er they coming from?”

A loud crash signaled the arrival of the Raider tank that had just barrelled through the gate that led to Town Square.

“Aww crap,” Deft Wrong looked as the tank was passed by several Raiders on foot. “That’s the reason we lost the shoppin’ district!”

“Come, comrade,” Deadshot said, “They only have but a single tank.” Deadshot ran off towards the battle with his men, and the two brothers followed with their own men.

“How’re we gonna stop that thing?” Applejack followed after them, noticing Nova Burst and Buttercrust hastily repairing the sentry.

“Well...” Dexter started, “We don’t a-have enough firepower to break a-the armour...”

“Hey!” Nova Burst waved to them as gunfire broke out, “Wouldn’t reckon y'all'd like to give me a hand over here!”

Buttercrust rolled to cover behind a building out of sight from the battle, and motioned for Nova Burst to follow.

“Thanks, Butters, didn’t see that spot ove-” Nova Burst was cut off as the one he had believed to be Buttercrust brought a knife down on his chest. He fell over, a trying to remove the knife in his chest armour. It was one of Buttercrust’s knives, designed to penetrate heavy armour, but he knew that his friend wouldn’t just suddenly betray him. Wincing as the knife came out, her rolled onto his stomach to see that the masquerader was strapping a device to his sentry. It crackled with electricity, then the Sentry suddenly stopped firing.

He coughed, trying to form words. “Sappin’... my Sentry!” He whispered into the radio.

Applejack heard him, and looked over to see him in the act. She charged over to the Buttercrust impersonator, throwing her body weight into his. It fell to the ground, returning to it’s normal state; a Changeling. It rose to it’s feet, and tackled Applejack, tearing off her helmet and touching the tip of the horn on his head into her neck. There was a green glow, and Applejack suddenly felt still. She couldn’t get her body to move. Her eyelids felt heavy, she wanted to sleep. Yes, sleeping would-

BANG!

The Changeling fell off of her, dead.

BANG! BANG!

Two more fell over in the corner of her eyes, obviously ready to take her down if she tried to get up. She felt someone pull her up, and feeling returned to her body. Buttercrust, the real Buttercrust, stood before her, her helmet in hand. She thanked him and put it on.

“Over... over here...” Nova Burst called to them.

They ran over to him, and flipped him over on his back again.

“I’ll be fine... my sentry...” He pushed himself to his feet the best he could and slowly stumbled to his beloved gun, clutching his chest in pain. The device was still on it, so he just slammed his fist into it. As it fell off, the sentry whirred back to life and began shooting at the nearest target.

“Heh, sorry about that,” Buttercrust said, “They took my electro-sapper.”

“Rarity said that we’d be getting ourselves some backup here, so we just gotta hold out.” Applejack said.

“I heard, but where do you think they’d be coming from?”

“I’m afraid I can’t say...” She said.