Year 35xx, the war planet Ares

OST

Running....that's what we've been doing for the past hour. Trying to find a reactor in a bunker the size of a small island is not easy. It's even harder when you got Nightstalkers chasing you, "MOVE DAMN IT!!! THEY"RE RIGHT ON US!!!" Captain Zero, the CO of the mission, shouts.

The Nightstalkers are walking horrors, standing at 8ft, lurking in darkness since they burn to death in the light, bodies made to be weapons with their claw like digits and armor like skin, add that to the fact that they can scale any terrain and you got the perfect stealth monster. Our enemies, The Legion, created them to be the perfect bunker guards, using many strains of animal and humanoid DNA.

"JACKLE, WE NEED A FLASH BANG NOW!!!" Lieutenant Rex, our heavy weapons specialist, roars over to our tech specalist.

"ONE FLASH COMING UP!!! FLASH OUT!!!" Corporal Jackle, our tech specalist, throws a flash bang behind us and as the stalkers run over it, it blows, killing at least 10, if not 15, of them.

"Hopefully that'll as least slow them down, but I'm not holding my breath!" Lieutenant Drake, our long range specalist, looks back at the damage. "The charred bodies seem to be blocking them for now, so we got some breathing room now."

We stop in a large room, about the size of war room, to catch our breaths. Well, they do, I just stop to let Saphira catch her breath. "Jackle, I want those doors sealed, and these open, got it?" Zero barked.

"Sir!" Jackle says as he works on the doors we came from.

Saphira looks at me, wearing a white night gown as this was a rushed mission, staring into my helmet that covers my entire head, "Daddy, I'm scared. Are the monsters gonna get us?" I can feel my blood boil in anger at the thought of those bastards touching my 12 year old adopted daughter. I shake my head to tell her 'no' and she seems happy about it. I knew taking her with us was a bad idea, but if we left her in the ship, they might have tried to take her to use her against us.

"Hey, Shadow." I turn to my left to see Commander Neon, Zero's XO, walking up to me, "How're you two holding up? That was a rough ride back there."

I nod to tell him 'we're fine' and to agree with him. He shakes his own, "Still not the talker type, huh? Well that's okay, once we blow this place sky high, we'll have a lot to talk about. So, how're you doing, Saphira, keeping your dad out of trouble?" He sports his cocky grin, making Saphira giggle.

"Yea, he's still doesn't talk, but he plays with me a lot and always tucks me in at night!" She gives that angelic smile that can melt any heart, no matter how cold.

"We got a problem!!" Jackle calls to everyone. "I can get these doors open, but I can't shut them without someone on this side!!"

Neon walks over to him, "Are you sure, what if we used explosives, wouldn't that work?"

"No, that'll just fry the controls. The only way this is closing is if someone stays behind." Everyone is silent at that.

"How fast do those doors close and how much force is needed to keep them open?" Rex asks, as his plan is obvious.

"That won't work either, there's a failsafe to prevent that kind of plan, at most, it can only be held a few seconds, and can only held open for about half a foot." It sinks in, someone has to die.

"I'll do it." We all look at Rex in shock. "I got biggest guns, so I'll last longer than any of you guys."

"Are you sure, we can find another way, Rex." Zero asks him, not wanting to lose another friend.

"I'm not the smartest guy around, but I've never been more sure in my life." Rex replies with a straight face.

"All right, open the doors Jackle." Zero ordered. Jackle obeyed, if a bit hesitant, understandable, Rex and Jackle are like brothers.

The doors open and everyone files through, that is, everyone, but Rex and me. He looks to me, giving me his dumbass grin, "You better get going, you got a little girl to take care of." I offer my arm as a sign of friendship, one he takes gladly, "It's been nice knowing y-"

I tighten my grip and, in one swing, throw Rex, and his weapons, through the door way. I rush to the terminal and destroy it making the doors shut, but not before I hold them open. I need to see my baby girl one last time.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Rex's outburst alerts everyone. They see me holding the doors, and I see Saphira looking at with pleading and confused tear filled eyes.

I need to tell her now!

"Saphira." They all look shocked at the deep sound of my voice, "I love you, for all time."

As soon as I said that, the doors slam shut, locking me in to my death. I can hear her screaming, begging me to come back, but I can't. I turn at the sound of doors bending. They're coming, and I'm ready for them.

The door burst open to reveil a horde of Nightstalkers, ready to tear my flesh apart. Funny thing about them, guarding bunkers wasn't the real reason for their making.

They were made to kill me.

"GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" I let out a battle cry as I charged at them, claws out, ready to die.

They swarm me. I kill one by tearing out it spin and use it to kill another coming from behind me. As another slashes my back, I bury my taloned boot in it's heart, killing it, and turn to one that jumped in the air, trying to kill me from above. I take it out by slashing it's throat as it passes me.

I keep killing until the floor is covered in corpes, yet they don't stop, they'll never stop, like zombies. They start dogpiling on me as I try to get them off. I'm not going to last, so I do the only thing I can at this point.

Set my suit to self destruct.

I hold them off long enough to set the suits core to overload, and wait. Seconds later and all I see is white.

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I feel cold, like I'm in space, but I can breathe. I think that this is what the afterlife is like, but I feel something else. Something wet, like a.....tongue? I open my eyes, and to say I'm dumbstruck would be an understatement.

Wolves that look to be made of wood are licking my wounds. I guess even wooden wolves see me as one of them. I slowly get up to advoid as much pain as possible, only to find that aside from my visable wounds, I'm perfectly fine. I stand to my full hight of 6'10" and see that the biggest wolf reaches my chest, while the smallest only reaches my thigh.

I pet the alpha, or the one I believe to be the alpha, and take in my surroundings. I'm in a dense forest where the trees seem to intentionally block out sunlight, a small pond of clear water is nearby, and a cave that I guess in the wolves' den.

Before I can see inside the cave, I catch a wiff of the scent of blood. Turning to where it's coming from, I bolt to find who or what is bleeding, praying that, if it's a innocent, I'm not to late.

POV change

Could things get any worse?

First, I wake to find that I'm in the old castle where the Elements of Harmony were kept. Then I find that my powers are near gone and I can barely make a body, much less move it. Now I'm being attacked by three manticores that see me, ME, as easy meal?!

I didn't somehow survive the Elements just to become a snack, but it seems I don't have much say in the matter. "Well, what are you waiting for? Do it."

I know I can't escape, but I can at lest drive one off before I'm killed. They start to circle, waiting for the perfect time to strike. They didn't wait long, as one crept closer to me, getting ready for the charge. But just before it did, it was stopped.

By a small blade at it's foot.

I looked to where the blade came from and I was in awe.

Standing on an old spear was a large bipedal creature made of pitch black metal, even more pitch than my coat, with silver clawed arms that reached up to it's elbow, a pure crimson eye in the shape of a very spred out V, taloned feet which look like they can tear stone and metal like paper, and a very wide and thick barrel chest...and....muscles....and......*drool*

I snap out of my very strange trance and focus on an out stretched arm, leading me to think that it threw the blade as a warning and it's giving the manticores a chance to run before it strikes. And of course, what do they do?

They ignore it's threat and charge at me. Not that they get far.

The biped lept from the spear, shattering it in the process, and landed in between the manticore and me, cutting them off. They change their prey from me to him (I assume it's a male from it's build) and attack all at once.

The closest manticore is the the first to die. It swings it's paw to knock the metal beast down, only to pass through said beast. He then fades out like a ghost and lands on the manticore's back. He grabs the wings and, with no effort what-so-ever, rips them off as if they were leaves. The now wingless beast roars in pain and anger, then tries to kill him with it's stinger, tries to is the key phrase.

As the stinger hits, a loud clang and a quiet snap is heard. I can guess what made the clang, but I don't see what made the snap until the manticore howls in pain, then it's clear. The stinger tip was snapped off when it hit the bipeds metal back at full force.

He then grabs the tail with one hand and with the same effort as with the wings, tears it off too, and then swings it like a club into another manticore's face, then throws his fist into the back of the first one's head, and comes out through it's face. The dead monster slumps in a heap and its killer jumps off and turns to the remaining two.

I can smell the fear coming off them and I'm pretty sure that he can too. He walks to them slowly, making them shiver more with each step.

He comes to a stop dead in front of them, and I can see that he's 2ft smaller than them. For the first time in my life, I feel sorry for manticores. Then he does something that takes me by suprise; he speaks.

"Begone, or die."

They don't need any more convincing, as they're already running for the closest exit. He then turns to me and I can feel a slight anxiety creeping in me. He walks over to and kneels to my eye level.

He holds out a clawed hand.

"Are you alright, can you stand?"

The question caught me off guard as my mind is all over the place, 'Why's he helping me? Didn't he fight them off to have a meal to himself?'

As if sensing my unease, he picks me up and holds me in his strong, but gentle arms, his left arm holding the base of my neck and the other right over my cutie mark. Before I can protest, he bolts at speeds I didn't think were possible. Not fast enough to break the sound barrier, but far faster than any thing I've seen, and this is just with him holding me, I can only imagine how fast he can really be.

"My name is Shadow, what's yours?" He says with no effort in his voice, leading me to imagine just how strong he really is. It takes awhile to find my voice.

"Nightmare Moon."

Author's Note

This is just the first chapter, I wanted to make it not as long as my other story's first chapter.

The future chapters will be longer and better.