Redemption

Past: Frix(Pre-sentience)

It was the middle of the night, shortly after 2 in the morning, the forest was silent, no crickets sang, no owls glided through the trees, something wasn't right. Frix moved forward with his 'pack', trained to move from tree to tree, cover to cover, his pack moved as quietly as possible.

The pack beta, a large human wielding a 15 pound war-hammer, his body covered in scars where it wasn't covered in armor, led the way, snarling at anypony who got too far forward, or made too much noise.

His 'pack', a 15 human team, had been dropped off a few miles back, while their handlers stayed in the base-camp, monitoring their progress over their mental link with each human. His own alpha murmured words of encouragement and occasional caution as he moved along, following the beta's lead.

'Half a mile to the last known location of the patrol,' she whispered in his head, more to herself than to him, the words moving through his consciousness without being acknowledged. His attention was shifting over the foliage, something whispering in the back of his head. Something was wrong, but none of his instincts were triggering. He didn't know how to handle the feeling, but adrenaline was flooding his system all the same. Moving forward, he stopped next to the beta, catching a snarl in response, but he held his position stubbornly, looking around.

"Vine, what's up with your human, get him in check!" an unknown voice echoed through his consciousness as he felt his alpha's worry spike, causing his adrenaline to start spiking.

'Frix, down, cover Frix, cover,' she whispered in his head, causing him to back away from the beta and crouch down into the shadow of a nearby tree, his eyes still sweeping the surrounding forest. 'I don't know what's wrong, but something's, got him spooked,' her voice whispered back to somepony else.

That's when he heard it. Unnatural voices, whispering on the wind, the sound set the hairs on the back of his neck on end and brought a silent snarl to his lips. 'Hey guys, anypony else hearing that?' His alpha asked, he ignored her. Focusing on the sounds, he sniffed the air, his pack tensing up and watching him, while the beta started to shuffle his way aggressively.

'Vine, get your human under control, now! Ice, have your human stand by to suppress, we haven't got time for this.' Something inside him clicked, and he silently turned to look at the beta with a blank face, his snarl gone as he just stares. 'Vine! What's going on with your human?' The voice echoed through his consciousness. The Beta stopped approaching, and settled back as his alpha redirected him to the fore.

The voices were getting stronger. He glanced at the beta before looking around and settling closer to his tree deeper into the shadow, his breathing accelerating. 'Can't anypony else hear that?' Her voice asked again.

'Hear what?' another voice responded.

'I don't know, voices of some sort, but they're not . . . ' she paused, obviously at a loss on how to explain just what he's hearing.

Out of time, the voices nearly upon them, Frix snarled and dropped, the rest of the pack minus the beta dropping as well.

The beta turned and moved towards Frix, his weapon held up in both hands as he moved to assert his authority.

Glancing at him, Frix tensed, the urgency of the feeling driving him as he rose up silently and shot forward.

The beta didn't have time to react before a hand took hold of his weapon just below the head and a hand like a steel clamp latched onto his throat, his eyes having time to widen before Frix pivoted and slammed him into the tree stunning him as the humans all freeze.

Then, between the trees on their left emerged several dark shapes stepping forward into sight. They appeared to be quadrupeds, standing on four legs. In the dark it was impossible to see their coloration, but the telltale holes in their limbs were just barely visible, prompting a quiet gasp from his alpha as Frix sat there frozen.

After a few tense moments the dark shapes turned towards their destination and strode off. The humans stayed frozen in place, watching after them as the voices in Frix's head slowly died down. Stepping back and releasing the beta, Frix stares off in the direction the two beings had come from, something calling him. Looking back at the beta, their eyes met and Frix tossed his head with a chirp. The beta growled, but also moved off in the direction the two shadows had come from, the rest of the pack moving to follow.

'Let them have their head, lets see what's happening.' The other voice whispered.

Ghosting forward, Frix continued forward, sticking just behind the Beta, occasionally glancing around at his surroundings, the general feeling of unease still there. As they creep forward, a smell reached his nostrils, causing him and most of the others to tense up. Reaching back, he nervously touched the handle of his bastard sword.

Reaching a shallow dip in the ground, most of the pack stopped, spreading out into various positions of cover, as the beta, Frix, and another pack-mate moved forward. Coming to the lip, they looked down impassively at the pile of corpses. All ponies, many still wearing their armor. The patrol had been located.

Crouching down, Frix stared at the bodies, his eyes sweeping over them as his alpha retched quietly in the background. 'We'll have her too,' the voice states coldly in the back of his head, causing his eyes to widen as he stood up. Spinning in place, he reached up and tore his sword from its sheath as he leaped forward at the shadow creeping upon his pack-mates.

Somepony impacts my mental barriers forcing me to awaken.

Present:Redemit

My eyes popping open, I draw a shuddering breath in as I slowly rise, checking my surroundings. Finding nothing immediately wrong, I shake off most of the after affects of the dream, a small feeling of unease and dread clinging on stubbornly. Standing, I stretch, my muscles semi-stiff from sleeping still suited up, then shuffle slowly to the window. Peeking out around the edge, I watch the sky for a moment noting the time of day.

It was still marvelous daylight, but the sun is heading for the horizon. It will be time to move soon. Sitting back, I take a moment to consider. While not exactly the most pleasant, that dream hadn't exactly been shaping up to be one of the worst nightmares I've had to deal with. Rather, the fact that somepony or something had tried to enter it was a disturbing thought, more so than the night I'd first achieved sentience and my first brush with the Swarm.

Glancing back at the window, I shrug as I briefly consider consuming part of another nutrient bar, but decide it isn't the time nor is it worth the effort. However, I do pull out a protein tab and pop it in my mouth, swallowing it with half a swallow of water. I also adjust my alarm to tell me when it's time to try calling base again. That out of the way, I glance at the window again, activating the scanning equipment again to check for any magical spies. While I detect somepony scrying over the city, it doesn't seem to be close, but rather on a sweeping pattern. Shrugging, I move to the window. Checking the alleyway, I ease my way out and seal the window behind myself.

Returning to the mission that brought me here, I detach myself from the wall and fire my jets, moving off down the alleyway on my way to the structure I'd seen previously. Coming to the edge of the property, I find the building to be still active, even with nightfall appearing imminent.

Looking around, I find a sheltered spot to bide the short time before nightfall. A few minutes later, the sun moves below the horizon, revealing the night sky in all its splendor. Taking a moment to admire it, I return my attention to the task at hand. Moving to the mouth of the alley, I note numerous guards posted around the building, and a sizable number of ponies moving in, with no humans in sight.

Not knowing what to make of it, I shrug, and start circling, seeking a less active portion of the structure. Swinging around the back, I am somewhat chagrined to find it fenced in as a semi-obvious back entrance that had minimal activity. Probably should have thought to check that earlier.

Shrugging again, I'm doing a lot of that today, I move forward across the street shooting over the fence and rolling into the shadows. I check the area over; with the lack of light, most everything is reduced to black and white, but appears otherwise uninhabited. Looking up at the building, I consider the structure, before making my way up to a ledge, and from there wall-running and jumping from various parts of the building, I work my way up, occasionally stopping to scan the sky for passing patrols.

Reaching the highest point of the building that won't have me standing on windows (Not a good idea in 200+ lbs. of gear), I stop. I take a moment to flatten myself out into the available cover, and set myself up to wait. With the lack of activity, I have time to think, and instantly start worrying.

Trying to take my mind off the possible what ifs, I leaned over to the bit of window closest to my location to peer in. What I saw somewhat surprised me: I was above a large room with a surprising number of seats (most of which are occupied) facing a large stage. Taking a moment to consider this, I watch the ponies on the stage playing various instruments.

My curiosity piqued, I loose the seals on my helm. Without the additional insulation, I can hear the sounds coming out. Music. Hmm, so that was how it was made. Putting my head up against the glass to hear better, I sit there silently entranced. I have never really experienced anything like this before. I've heard plenty of musical recordings, because Vine Bloom loves to play them, but I'd never seen what must be an amphitheater before.

I don't know how long I stand there entranced, it was in hindsight a poor move and I'm incredibly lucky naught came of it, but I am awakened from my stupor two hours past nightfall to the soft chirps of my alarm going off warning me it is time. Tearing my eyes away from the display going on inside, I sit up and trigger my helmet, sighing quietly as it cuts off the music. I'll have to tell Vine about it later.

Putting two fingers to the side of my helm, I once again trigger the command channel. "This is Echo Two-Four calling HQ, please respond." Sitting back I wait, staring up at the night sky. After about a minute with no response, I try again. "Echo Two-Four calling any command elements, do you copy?" Closing my eyes, I sit there waiting as an overpowering feeling of dread fills my heart.

After another thirty seconds with no response, and my dread quickly rising, I switch to the Night Guard's frequency before trying again. "Echo Two-Four calling any surviving Night Guard Elements, I'm stuck in a local city and cannot raise command, Any active elements, copy?" Swallowing thickly, I stare at the sky unseeingly. "Echo Two-Four to any surviving Night Guard elements, please respond."

I sit there silently praying that somepony, anypony, would answer. After another 20 seconds and no response, I switch to my last resort, the open channels generally used by civilians, and try again. "Night Guard Private Redemit calling any surviving refugee elements, please respond." Silently rocking in place with head bowed, I stare at the chronometer, watching seconds tick by, each one its own slice of eternity. After another twenty seconds have passed, I close my eyes in silent dread. Night has fallen, and with it so too have my brethren. I am alone, and somewhere out there Vine Bloom is in danger, and I'm not there to watch over her as I'd promised.

My resolve hardens into a silent blaze within me. Standing, I bring up my suit diagnostics, starting a scan for the Alpha site's beacon. I stand there waiting as it scans the area, silently praying. Eventually it returns a positive match. Nodding I set it to my objective, and orient on the source, my energy levels reading a solid 100%.

Scanning the sky with some haste, I spot no nearby patrols, and spread my wings, each one unfurling to my side. Taking a running leap off the edge of the building, I flap my wings several time before gliding along the avenue, using the thermals from the cobblestone streets to allow myself to quickly glide towards the edge of town. Eager to travel, still I stay below rooftop level as much as possible to reduce my chances of being seen.

Using this method, I traverse at least half a mile, taking a moment to marvel at the size of the city. Once I see the city's edge approaching, I angle off from the city gate ahead of me and head for a less populated section of the city wall figuring I'll take my chances of losing pursuit with a speedy egress method. Unfortunately, I have underestimated the capabilities of the city's defenders, and it almost costs me.

I am almost too close to divert when my suits proximity alarms scream, causing me to pull to my right in a tight banking maneuver, skimming the now-visible barrier. My proximity causes a slight ripple to form along my path, and my antics plainly don't go unnoticed, as I hear quite a few shouts below me. Shortly, my proximity detector shows me several airborne objects in hot pursuit. Buck.

With my antics at the barrier, I can almost certainly count on a speedy response. I'm spitting in the dark, but I figure I have about two minutes before specialized reinforcements arrived. While tough, my armor is meant to fight swarmlings, not other sentient beings. If they start throwing magic around, life is going to head downhill, fast. I have to end this, now. Hopefully, the barrier doesn't extend to the gates, but either way I'm about to find out. First, though, I have some pegusai to discourage.

Pulling away from the barrier, I skim over the rooftops, flapping my wings to give the impression I am trying to pull as much speed as possible, then dip down into a deserted thoroughfare. I take several curves and turns, forcing the pegusai hounding me to tighten up as they continue following me. Rounding a particularly hard left turn, I trigger my jump jets to throw away my forward velocity, and attach myself to the wall just inside the turn, waiting.

I am not disappointed when several pegusai take the turn, the one on the inside having only a moment to squawk before I had him by his chest armor. Dropping off the wall, I put him in a sleeper hold, feeling his frantic bucking quickly slow and stop. I lay him down as gently as possible, and stand back up to confront the others, as they have managed to turn around and come back toward me.

Not giving them time to prepare, I leap up and run along a wall at them as they in turn try to pull up or away from me. As luck would have it, one of them manages to find a solid wall in his antics, which, with a sickening crunch, puts him out of play. I wince, and silently hope he is alright, but I can't afford to stop now. Leaping forward in an accelerated trajectory, I slam into another pegusai, and the impact with my armor stuns the poor guy. Slamming to the ground below, I cradle the limp body, but am a little too busy to determine much beyond a strong pulse and steady breathing. I drop him into a handy dumpster, as I once more take off down a side alley.

I need to find a gate, preferably one that isn't alerted yet. This means I need to move. I am probably too late already, so the time for subtlety is done. Opening my wings once again, I take to the air. Most of the airborne pegusai give me a wide berth as they wisely choose to shadow me rather than try to apprehend me.

Flapping my wings with smooth, strong pulls to achieve as much altitude as possible, I am actually surprised to see most of my pursuers falling behind steadily. Shaking my head, I note the gate I've just failed to get out near and cast my eyes along the wall, scanning for the nearest alternate exit. It's not long before I find one, which appears to be a train yard.

My time ticking by steadily, I decide that will be my next objective. Flipping around, I close my wings most of the way and orient myself on the train yard. I feel the wind whip by me as I quickly accelerate downwards. This will be tricky, but I feel confident I can pull it off.

As I fall towards the earth below me, I take a single moment to revel in the feeling of the air whistling past me, while I will always feel most at home on the ground, there is always something about being free in the air. But playtime was yester-year, and I have a gate to crash. Seeing a personnel access point set into the gate itself, I fix my targeting systems on it, planning a swooping flight that will terminate at the door. The seconds tick by, and my airspeed accelerates until it finally maxes out. I have achieved terminal velocity.

As the moment of truth gallops closer , I deploy my tower shield, pumping energy into my body until it feels like my very flesh is afire. Just as I am about to impact the ground just in front of the gate, my wings shoot open with a muscle wrenching snap and my tower shield snaps forward into ready position. The protective runes on its face light up like a second sun for an intense sliver of time before I impact on the gate and the world explodes.

When I can see again, I'm laying on my back staring at the night sky through a telltale ripple of the protective dome covering the city. Raising my head, I'm greeted by the site of a gate with a sizable hole in it. This would be a good thing generally, except I didn't know about the portcullis behind it, which managed to stop my weakened forward velocity. Admittedly, there is a rather sizable dent as well as a sizable chunk of the gate itself in the crossbars that it is formed of, that sucker is going to have to be cut out before the gateway is functional again. But for my needs, it might as well be whole and untarnished.

Glancing up, I still have company, but they seem mostly disoriented at the moment. Good, I have a short time to work with.

Groaning, I stand up shakily, eyeing my power levels: sitting around 35%. I shake my head and move forward. Reaching the gate I step into the space between the gate and the portcullis, giving myself a good defensive position while I work. I draw my white sword and briefly consider the obstacle in my way.

Most of the cross-linked bars making it up have been twisted and stressed severely. What this means is that an operation that SHOULD have taken hours and more energy than I currently have available just MIGHT be possible with the time and energy I do have. My sword sure won't appreciate this, though.

Shrugging and stepping toward the still smoking bars, I heft the white blade before me, and start pumping magic into it. After a moment, it heats up to the point where the blade itself starts to glow. I bring it down in a short vicious swipe, feeling gratified as several of the bars give a sharp *snap* and part before me. Taking a step back, I again repeat my performance, while listening to a number of shouts calling out behind me. My proximity sensors still show the immediate area as being clear, but my time is short.

I have time for a couple more swipes, freeing most of the stressed bars and bringing freedom so close I can practically taste it. Unfortunately, I see blips closing in on me, fast. Stepping back to the ruined gate and drawing my second blade, I ready myself in the 'doorway' as several ponies rush my location. Waiting until they are just about on my position, I rush out with both blades surging with energy. Taking the closest target first, I cross my swords and scissor his spear between my blades, cutting the head off. Stepping to the left, I deliver a punch to the side of his head as momentum carries him past me.

Turning to the next target, I bring my white blade down to force the sword he has grasped in his mouth down. At the same time, I thrust my storm blade forward along his back, too high to cut, but close enough for tiny arcs of energy to ground through his body. He drops to the ground and slides past me as the electrical shock convulses his body. Spinning toward the next two, I bring my swords across my body aiming for their weapons, a spear and sword respectively. I knock the spear aside and ground my storm blade into the sword. I wince internally as I hear the snap of a tooth as yet another poor guard manages to grind his teeth into the grip on his sword in his convulsions. Focusing my attention on the spear wielding pony, I lash out with a wing, slamming it into his flank and throwing him a couple feet to the right where he lands on his side, gasping for air as he lays on the ground cradling his chest.

Turning to the remaining guard, I can't help but chuckle slightly as he stares into my 'eyes' and quakes in place, his spear held up more as an after-thought than any kind of serious defense. "Stand down. I'm not going to harm you, but I can't afford to delay, either. Attack me, and you'll join your friends on the ground. At least one of them needs a medevac, so I suggest you take care of that," I state in an even tone of voice, trying not to bust out laughing as he shakily nods before dropping his spear and shuffling to his comrade on the ground holding his chest. I feel a certain amount of respect for the poor stallion for not running away screaming his head off, but rather moving to assist his comrade.

Shaking off those feelings, I move back to the hole in the gate, finally noticing the body of the first pony I'd addressed laying on the ground before the portcullis. His impromptu meeting with the wooden remains of the gate embedded into the aforementioned portcullis actually seemed to loosen most of the remaining bars, leaving almost enough space for me to slip out. Stepping forward, I pick up the poor guard's body, he's still breathing thankfully, and set him down to the side as I consider the gate and my power levels sitting at 10%. Maybe I won't have to use magic after all.

Drawing back an armored boot, I slam it into the weakened bars, making the gate shake and causing the tear to widen slightly. I draw my foot back again and slam it forward as I hear more shouts and footsteps approaching. Drawing my boot back again for one more kick, I decide I'm out of time and brace my hands in the gate. Feeding a whisper of power to the chest plate's strength rune, I manage to squeeze myself through the rent gate and turn to confront the outside world.

Surprisingly, I don't see anypony particularly close to me, leading me to question my knowledge of this world's communications ability. Being used to near instantaneous communications, I probably could have taken the time to open the gate and raise the portcullis. Oh, well, I'm sure they can take it out of the pay I don't think I'll be seeing for a very long time.

Chuckling at my own weak satire, I sheath my blades and move off. Following the base of the wall while staying out of sight as much as possible, I make my way steadily towards the cliff-side the city rests on. Reaching a handy launch point, I again consider my power levels: 17%, not bad. While I do draw more magic in than my jump jets can use, I don't exactly pull much more, so any time I don't have to use power will possibly be the difference between failure or success. but speed is of the essence, so speed is definitely warranted.

Taking a deep breath, and glancing out into the night, towards the source of the signal, I whisper softly, "Hang in there Vine, I'm coming!" I run forward and take a jump-jet enhanced leap forward off the cliff. The wind whistles past me as I slowly open my wings, turning my downward descent into a swooping dive. I work to convert as much of my downward velocity into forward momentum as possible with strong measured strokes of my wings.

Glancing back, I see various signs of activity over the city, but from my angle I can't see much. Hopefully, I'm far enough away that they can't see me either against the dark mass of the forest. Glancing down, I flinch momentarily. Recovering, I stare in awe at the dark majesty of the forest spread beneath me, something about it speaking of a wild untamed will.

Shaking my head, I dismiss the feeling as I look forward, the signal was pretty weak. I had a long trip ahead of me, and with my power depleted, it was going to take awhile.

Several hours later: Redemit

Circling a particular spot of unbroken canopy, I find myself resisting the urge to face-palm. 'Of course there's nothing here! It's in a CAVE,' I think with a withering amount of irony in my self-addressed tone. Banking away from the site, I slowly begin circling the area, my eyes probing the darkness of the forest below me, because I'm totally awesome and expect to see something through the frikkin' canopy. With no larger landmarks making an appearance, I have no choice but to start looking for a potential entrance through the canopy that won't involve breaking stuff. While I'm personally confident I could heal, my power levels are only sitting around 65%.

A further thought that causes me to groan with even more self-condemnation is to try contacting somepony on the ground. Keying my crystal, I again call out on the command channel. "Echo Two-Four calling any active command elements, over." Glancing around, I spot a small break in the foliage. It's large enough I should be able to land, but getting back out would be impossible. Filing it under 'Bad Alternatives' I continue circling the site, calling out again, "Echo Two-Four calling any surviving command elements, do you read? Over."

Sighing and shaking my head, I take stock for a moment. My only major complaint is my wings letting me know in no uncertain terms that several hours in the air, in full Heavy Kit, AND with no rest, is NOT a good thing. Grimacing, I continue to consider my options. I'm not going to be flight worthy for awhile after this. That hole in the foliage is looking better all the time, but first, one last try.

Flipping over to the Night-Guard Frequency, "Echo Two-Four to any surviving guard elements, do you copy?" I speak out, sweeping the horizon as I wait. "Echo Two-Four to any surviving guard, I'm over the Alpha site marker, the surface appears to be covered in a large forest. No visible entrance, moving to the surface to scout on foot." Closing my eyes for a moment, I offer up a prayer for my comrades. I open them again and move in to approach the hole in the canopy, sweeping my wings back at the last moment to let my armor take the brunt of the entry, and then I flare them slightly just before touching down onto one knee in the beam of moonlight.

Rising from my knees, I flare my wings fully, tensing up and flexing the muscles before I slowly close them. I hiss briefly from the pain as I fold them up behind myself. A minimal expenditure of magic numbs the worst of the pain, and they fold neatly. They may not feel good, but they aren't damaged. Looking around the forest before me I nod as the light gathering capabilities of my helm combine with my own eyesight to show me a slightly grayed-out cathedral of trees surrounding me in all directions.

Taking a deep breath, I place a waypoint on my current position on the map, and then proceed to circle the location where the signal seems to originate from below the ground. Finding nothing in the immediate area, I start circling outward sweeping the ground for any sign of an entrance. The occasional snap or whisper of sound indicates the presence of additional life, and glancing up, I see several shadows moving through the trees. I ignore them for the moment until they decide to make trouble, pulling my storm blade to be ready.

A few minutes later, my preparations prove well founded as one of them, obviously not the most intelligent, decides to try and surprise me by running at what it thought was a free meal stumbling through the darkness. Grumbling, I step aside and grasp it by the neck as it passes me, only to start in surprise when I feel and hear the snap of several wooden sticks in my hand before the body in my grasp twitches and stops moving and then collapses to pieces on the ground. This leaves me standing there, my right eyebrow developing a nervous tic as I stand there stupidly going, 'What the buck?'.

My actions being taken as aggressive, the rest of the pack of wooden creatures decides at this point to join in the fun, rushing to encircle me, my only response being to ready my blade as I clench and unclench my left hand, standing at the ready. As they consider me, working up the resolve to attack, or trying to intimidate me with some growls, not really sure which, I take the initiative by charging one of them and ramming my blade up its muzzle. Stabbing it cleanly only to have it mirror its pack-mate in falling to pieces around my blade leaves me even more confused, and I idly catch the one charging from my left by the muzzle and shake its body like a rat before tossing it into a tree. I swing my blade out to my right and slice the top of another's head off as it too, collapses to nothing but wood.

"Okay, this is getting weird," is the first thing that comes out my mouth. Not my finest moment, but come on, they're made of WOOD! Who makes a golem out of wood, then leaves it out in the middle of a forest? Unless they're not golems? I turn and consider the surviving creatures as they circle me. Four legs, slight build, built for speed and agility, pack aspect, excellent group coordination, long muzzle, lots of teeth. Wolves? Timber Wolves? I'd heard of those, but if this was they, they weren't exactly living up to the tales I'd heard. Either way, time to end this.

Cranking the exterior speakers up to max, I yell out, "Get out of here! Ha!" The crushing sound of my voice has the desired affect, causing the remaining wooden wolves to slink away. Filing them away for further consideration, I turn back to my surroundings, only to notice a small hill in the distance, hidden beneath the trees.

Making my way over slowly, I crank my proximity sensors to max, sweeping the surrounding foliage for any possible threats or defensive measures. If this was the alpha site, the entrance should have been secured, with at least 2 point teams providing cover. From the fact that the foliage doesn't look like it's been fed through a cheese grater, I'm forced to decide that nothing appears untoward on the surface, beyond the fact that there's NO PONY THERE!

Moving closer, I come to the entrance, only to see partially assembled sandbag walls that should have been fully assembled and manned. I close my eyes briefly as my feelings of dread surge, making me almost physically ill. I open them again and stare out at the world with cold, dead eyes, my feelings falling away as I consider the tracks on the ground: plenty of ponies, nothing else that doesn't look older than should matter.

Raising my gaze to the dark cave mouth, I enter in. The darkness swallows me, like an old friend, or a tomb.