Chapters Welcome To Mars
Red Faction: Equestria
''He said I was Red Faction.''
''Like it or not, Mason, you are now.''
*** *** ***
My name is Alec Mason. I came to Mars from Earth to help out with the operation the civilians were running. That is until I found out there was a war unravelling in the process. The group I became a part of, the Red Faction, were unlike anything I have seen. Ordinary people and friends and families fighting beside each other against the ones who now own Mars: The EDF.
My brother, Dan Mason joined them not long ago. Of course, that didn't last all that long. The EDF killed him the day I first came to Mars to help. From that day forward, I joined the Red Faction. Not like I had a choice...but what else could I do? I wanted revenge, and revenge I got.
One day, I was in Parker, talking to our weapons engineer, Samanya, when one of the Red Faction members came running in, blood and sweat matting their clothes and hair, telling us about an EDF assault on a small house just a short ways east of the safehouse. So grabbing my assault rifle and sledgehammer, I went after the EDF. Oh, and took my car that I had Samanya put machine guns on front.
At the location of the assault, I was could see several small EDF cars outside, troops on guns and turrets, armed with Peacekeepers and assault rifles. Thee building wasn't too big, and for that I was thankful. It usually meant not too many EDF, and that sometimes changes when they get reinforcements to come after us. Leaving my car behind, I took out my assault rifle and advanced forward. By time I was close enough, I saw a couple troops escorting out a few people with their guns to their backs, the families hands raised in the air as they slowly walked out before being placed on the ground on their chests.
Bringing my rifle up and aiming for the soldier's head, I gently squeezed the trigger, the projectile going straight through the back of his head and out his eye socket, shattering his orange visor and splattering blood across the floor as he fell down, the others immediately being alerted by my presence.
The soldier next to the one I put down started firing on me, the bullets missing me by mere inches and battering the metal crate I was hiding behind. Bullet by bullet, mag by mag, I dropped them. In total I had killed about fifteen soldiers. I moved for the restrained family and carefully undid their bindings. Once each of them was freed, I allowed them to take my car and head back to the safehouse.
Looking back to the house, I checked it for any more soldiers or civilians, but after finding none, I went back outside and found myself a seat on a dead EDF soldier's torso. Placing my assault rifle beside me, I looked up at the dusky-orange sky.
When I was about to go back, a bright purple flash erupted before me, and thinking the blast was from an enemy's gauss rifle, I instantly grabbed my assault rifle and pointed it in the direction of the sudden eruption of blinding light. When the flash subsided and my vision wasn't white as a sheet, I saw six silhouettes in front of me. When they came into focus, I could of sworn my heart stopped.
There, in front of me were six ponies. Two unicorns, two pegassi and two normal-looking ponies. (for the most-part, anyway...).
I must of been staring in disbelief at them for hours at least, and they looked back at me, looking like they wanted to scream, and scream they did. I too would of screamed, but I was too deeply into disbelief at what I was seeing.
I put the rifle down, still staring and finally asked: ''What the hell are you?''
At my question the purple unicorn with a two-toned purple and pink mane looked at me with wide eyes.
''You talk?!'' She exclaimed almost as if she is in fear - which she probably was.
''You talk?!'' Alright, getting a bit creeped out, now... ''Either I'm dreaming or I'm going mad!''
''I think we're the ones going mad! I haven't seen anything like you! What are you, anyway?'' The rainbow-maned, cyan Pegasus asked me in a raspy voice.
''I'm a human, and I could ask you the same thing.''
''We're ponies. Haven't you seen a pony before? I actually thought it was obvious what we were?'' The purple unicorn asked, this time seeming more comfortable.
Before I could answer her, another EDF car came flying around the bend, the gunner on top intent on killing me. The truck halted with a screech of the tires in front of us and the troops inside, excluded the gunner on top got out, pointing their guns on me.
''Alec Mason, you are under arrest! Surrender now, or we will open fire!'' One of them shouted at me.
Grabbing my assault rifle, I pointed it at them, ready to fire. I looked to the ponies who now had an even more scared look on their faces, especially the yellow pegasus who was cowering behind the cyan pegasus.
''Get out of here, you lot. Move it, quick!'' I ordered to them, and almost as quickly as they moved, the EDF fired on them, and thankfully none of their bullets hit them. Quick as I could, I started picking them off, and as I did so, the gunner on top managed to hit me in the arm and chest a couple of times. It hurt to say the least, but I was at least thankful that Samanya had armoured my clothing while I was at the base.
The first one I killed was the gunner on the turret, the bullet going through his neck. The remaining four were a tough bunch to kill, but I got them in the end. Bleeding from my wounds, I clenched my chest, trying to apply pressure, despite the pain the bullets inside me send blasting through my body. Turning to see the ponies hiding in the building, I saw them look at my wounds and the dead EDF, and it wasn't hard to tell they were concerned.
Going towards them, the yellow pegasus asked me, ''Are you alright? You're bleeding...''
''Yeah, I'm fine. Just a scratch, I'll be alright.'' I reassured her, still clutching my bullet wounds with my now blood-soaked hand. ''Don't worry about me.''
''You...you killed them...why?'' The purple unicorn asked.
''They are EDF. Things here are bad, alright? They were going to kill a family who live here, so I came, killed the EDF and freed them. Welcome to Mars, ponies. Its a rough life.'' Walking away, I took a seat in the EDF's car and motioned for the ponies to come join me.
''Come on. I should probably get you all back to the safehouse. We can talk some more there.''
Of Red Faction And Ponies
Back at the base, I had allowed the ponies to come with me so we could talk and get to know each other. After all, I didn't really see a different alternative to this one. It was either leave them there and let them figure things out on their own and possibly get captured or killed by EDF. But anyway, as I was saying, I was getting my wounds checked at the safehouse by Samanya.
Out of all the Red Faction I knew, Samanya seemed to be the most sensible asset to talk to about a matter such as this one. As for the Commander, lets just say he won't like them being around, seeing as how rough things are at the moment with the EDF.
We were inside the small shack of a maintenance station Samanya had set up, and surprisingly, she was pretty cool headed about the ponies being there with me.
''So, you just say they just came from nowhere, Mason?'' Samanya asked me, applying more bandages to my arm and torso.
''Yeah. One minute, I'm all alone, the next, there's a bright, purple flash and then they appeared!''
''Interesting...'' Sam said before she walked off towards the purple unicorn, kneeling down to her level. ''...So, is that true what Mason said?''
The unicorn nodded, ''Yes. It is.''
''Right. And the purple flash?''
''Ah, that.'' She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly with her hoof. ''To tell the truth, I have heard of alternate universes containing alien life, and wanted to see if it was true. In theory, according to another pony I know called Lyra, she theorized that there were beings such as yourself that exist, and after I heard about it, as well as from her as my books. I had to give it a lot of thought for the spell to work, and even though I knew there were circumstances of doing such a powerful spell, I did it anyway.''
''What kind of circumstances?'' Sam asked her with her usual, friendly smile. But the ponies faces seemed to turn a bit sad.
''We can't go back.'' She frowned, ''I mean, ever. I didn't even know where it'd teleport us to!''
''So...what are your names, then?'' I asked, now a bit curious.
''I'm Twilight.'' She said motioning a hoof to herself, and then to her companions as she introduced them, ''And this is Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.''
''I'm Samanya, but you could just call me Sam. And I'm sure you've already met Mason.'' Sam said as she motioned a hand to me. ''Welcome to Mars.''
*** *** ***
After we were all introduced, Sam and me were showing off some of her work that she'd built from the salvage I brought her in the past. And being the one who likes using these particular weapons, who better than me to demonstrate how they work? The first thing I'd shown to them was my assault rifle. They may of already seen me kill EDF with it, but its nothing compared to the other weapons available to use against them. After showing them my rifle, I picked up my favourite weapon: the rocket launcher.
Asking them to follow me outside, I aimed it at a small target used for other members of Red Faction to practice shooting and after steadying my arms, I fired a rocket. At first it propelled from the barrel and then the delayed fuse let off, blasting it forcefully into the target and blowing it to metal shrapnel, as well as taking things down around it in a rain of chunks of concrete.
''That was awesome!'' Rainbow Dash said, hovering just above the ground before touching down again. As for Fluttershy and Rarity, they seemed to cower back a little bit. Honestly, I didn't blame them. Anything that goes 'boom' gives you the right to shit yourself, especially if its me holding a rocket launcher.
After a few short demonstrations with a couple other weapons, I got a call on my communicator from the Commander.
''Mason, some of the Red Faction are about to go into a raid with the EDF, they need your help! Get over there as soon as you can and help them!''
Sighing through my nostrils, I grabbed my satchel charges and my sledgehammer and made for my car. Sam came up to me before I could drive off, and stopped me.
''Mason, where are you going?''
''The EDF are about to raid some Red Faction soon, the commander contacted me to go help them. I'll be back soon.''
''No, wait!'' She said, grabbing the car door before I could close it, ''Don't you think you should take them along? You could use some help.''
Sighing I nodded as the six ponies came towards me. ''Fine. But don't blame me if any of them dies. I didn't ask them to come along.''
Hopping into the car with me, I handed each one a pistol. For a short while, they stared at it like they were unsure of why I gave them one. Wasn't it obvious what it was for? After all those demonstrations? Whatever their reason, it could wait. Closing all doors, I turned on the engine, and then we drove down the road, and into battle.
** *** ****
At the site of the raid, the Red Faction were setting up barricades for cover and gathering in small groups, in hopes of making their survival easier. When I got out to help them, assault rifle in my hands as always, some of the Red Faction exchanged glances at me and the ponies following in tow. Normally, I'd be doing raids alone without any company other than the ones already engaged in battle, but for once I had no idea why they were with me. They were completely inexperienced in combat, and from how they looked at the weapons I gave them, completely unsure of how to use such a weapon. But if one dies, Sam will be the one who takes the blame in their deaths, seeing as she insisted they come with me, and I really couldn't see why she wanted them to.
Me and a couple other Red Faction took cover behind some of the cover the others had put up for the fight. The fight being moments away from starting, I tried to come up with a plan, and with little thought, I took a couple charges and planted them below a small bridge, ready to be detonated, should EDF decide to come under that bridge. Either way, I could tell this raid would cause a lot of damage. Beside me, Applejack and Rainbow Dash huddled beside each other, struggling to hold the pistols in their hooves. How can a pony even hold a pistol in their hooves anyway? Ugh, why did I even give them a pistol instead of a melee weapon?
Taking out my sledgehammer, I nudged Applejack's shoulder, catching her attention. She raised a brow at me when I motioned to my sledgehammer. When I gave it to her, I was actually surprised to see she didn't struggle with it. For her size, she doesn't look all that strong, but holding that sledgehammer that weighs a ton, that was more than impressive.
''EDF INCOMING!''
A female voice balled over the communicator in my ear, making me wince a bit. I could already hear the small amount of panic and fussing as the Red Faction readied themselves to fight, and I could definitely hear engines of their cars coming louder and louder. They were definitely nearby...
''Get ready! They're coming!'' I told the ponies beside me, mounting the bottom of my assault rifle on the barricade, awaiting a target to come into view.
BOOM!
The wall of the building behind us exploded and a few EDF troopers emerged from within, spraying bullets in our general direction, some just missing my already shot-up and bloody arm. I fired back, getting him through the chest and making him fall over with a dull thud. The next one didn't hesitate to go for Applejack, and she didn't either. She forcefully swung the sledgehammer into his chest, knocking him to the floor grunting in pain as he clenched his chest. Obviously, the strong blow had shattered his rib cage. Not bad, Applejack. Not bad...
As he lay there squirming behind that black-grey helmet and orange visor, I decided to end his misery and shot him in the head, silencing him. The shot and the blood made both Applejack's and Rainbow's eyes go wide as they watched the bullet blast through his skull. As for the others, they just looked shocked.
All around the battlefield, fires and explosions transpired, and of course, there always had to be an EDF soldier on a gauss turret. Aiming at me...
I ran from cover and tried to dodge his blasts of purple-blue energy and the strong blasts blew up the cover I was behind like it was nothing! It pretty much just vaporized it! Luckily, his gun overheated and started to crackle with purple-blue electricity, and now it was my turn to return fire. I grabbed a grenade from a dead EDF's uniform and threw it at the gunner, and then it exploded with a blue light, destroying the truck and blowing the soldier's torso in half, his blood splattered all around the floor and magled remains of the car.
Behind me, I could hear a scream that didn't sound all too familiar to me, but I could guess who it was. Running back where I came from, I saw an EDF soldier grab Fluttershy by the throat, strangling her. Panic running through me, I charged at the soldier and threw him down to the floor, punching him in the head repeatedly as I pinned him down. Despite my strength, he threw me off, mere seconds before I kicked him in the chest, causing hi to stagger and be trapped between me and the wall. Grabbing his shoulders, I drew him back and slammed him into it, and before he could hit me back, I knocked him down with a headbutt.
I turned to see Fluttershy, whom was crying a little from the assault. I knelt down to her level, holding her shoulder gently.
''Fluttershy? You alright?'' I asked her, concerned. She whimpered before she slowly shook her head. For a moment, her eyes widened in fear, and turning around, I was met with a forceful blow to my face, sending me to the floor like a ragdoll. My head throbbed and my eyes were having trouble focusing on whatever had hit me. I held my aching head with a gloved hand, and looking back at it, I saw it was all bloody. I tried to get up, but my legs wouldn't allow it, so instead I fidgeted on the floor, the pain seeming to get worse.
From in front of me, I could make out Applejack not too far away. She spotted me, and her eyes looked into mine with alarm, and in almost a second she came running towards me. But instead of helping me get to my feet, she came to my side and I heard a dull sounding 'THWAK', followed by the groan of an EDF soldier as he fell down. Seconds later, I found myself being helped to my feet by Fluttershy and Applejack.
''Y'all alright? You're bleeding!'' She asked me, motioning to the gash in my head.
''Not really, no.'' I looked at the downed EDF soldier laying one the floor beside where I was. ''Thanks for that, Applejack. I owe you one.''
''Ya don't owe me nothin', Mason. Thanks though.'' She smiled at me, and I smiled back.
My vision coming back, I took possession of my rifle and took down the last few EDF. All around me, I could see more dead EDF than Red Faction, and of course, with some of the population taken down on a small scale, morale was definitely going to go down, as well.
And then my communicator announced:
''Everyone run for it! The charges are set! Its gonna be a big one!''
''Uh-oh. Run! Its gonna blow!'' I shouted as I ran with the ponies in pursuit of me, getting to a safe distance before the main building on the left side of the area gave way in a series of massive explosions. The debris from the room was blasted into the air and the walls started to give out, layer after layer until the building collapsed in on itself, sending up a pile of dust.
The ponies looked on at the devastation in front of them in shock as many Red Faction survivors cheered in victory while others watched the scene before them. I turned and got into my truck, leaning back in the seat as my head still throbbed from that forceful blow I took. Applejack sat with me in the back, looking on in concern at the rate at which I was bleeding.
''You feeling okay? Your starting to look a little pale, there.''
''I'll be fine, Applejack. We should probably just get back to the safehouse, now. I need to get my head looked at before I pass out.'' I said as I got up and moved to the drivers seat, strapping myself in as I turned the engine on. When the others got themselves back into the truck, I headed back towards the safehouse.
I haven't been Red Faction for long, but already, I'm seeing how tough it is. First I'm in a fight with EDF and get shot, and to top all that off, six ponies just appeared into my life. I never even thought such beings could exist, but apparently they do. I know with them being here with us will possibly make things harder, but more Red Faction right now would be a great help in the fight we have with the EDF.
I had gotten my head stitched, and now I was outside the garage at the base, next to my car, leaning against it, both Sam and the six ponies staring at me in concern. Was I mad? Of course I was. I didn't like being on Mars any more than I did being on Earth. Red Faction were right: EDF take everything from you and strip you of your sanity to the bone in the process. They kill and torture and intimidate civilians, families and friends. They are relentless, merciless killers. They have to go, one way or another.
''Mason? What are you planning on doing?'' Sam asked me, looking dead into my hate-filled eyes.
''Sam, the EDF need to go, and we can't just sit around and let them terrorize us! If we don't stop them, who will?'' I said, not hiding my pissed-off mood in my words.
''We can't just push them out, although I wish it were that easy, but it isn't. You need to understand that, and until you do, we can't move forward. The Red Faction need you, Mason. You're out best chance at driving them off the face of Mars.''
I scoffed, moving myself from the side of my truck to the drivers seat, still facing her in the eyes, trying to ignore the gaze of the ponies.
''Look, I know you're mad about what the EDF did but-''
''Don't even go there, Sam!'' I snapped at her, not wanting her to finish that sentence. The last thing I need is a reminder of that day.
''Mason! Just stop beating yourself up about what happened! Things happen, you just have to get used to it, that is the only way you can ever move on! If not, you are just going to stay miserable for a very long time. We need you to stay focused!''
''Just leave me alone about the whole situation, Sam! Nothing will ever bring Dan back! He's dead, and I know he's dead! He was my brother, and those bastards killed him! I'm not going to stop until every one of those EDF arseholes are dead!''
Exactly as I expected - the ponies gasped. So now I'm going to have them all over me about the whole ordeal? Great.
''You can't do it alone, Mason, we need you. If you die, the Red Faction will fall apart.''
''Then they'll have to find a way to cope without me. Goodbye.''
Not wanting to talk any further, I slammed the door shut, and drove off. There are some EDF in Parker that are going to be put down tonight...
*** *** ***
Shooting and killing as usual. EDF were doing yet another house arrest on another innocent family. It made my blood boil to say the least, and as I came up the path, I aimed the guns on my truck just right, taking fire, the rapid-firing projectiles tearing through their armour as their blood splattered the walls. I forcefully pushed down on the handbrake, spinning the truck around and kicking up massive pockets of dust.
Grabbing my sledgehammer and assault rifle, I hoped out the truck, gun at the ready for any missed targets. Upon finding none, I quickened my pace and entered the small building. On the floor, tied up were two adults, one male and the other female and a kid about the age of sixteen. They all looked at me with hopeful yet fearful expressions. I told them to keep calm while I untied them, and they complied with it. Now that all were untied, they each took an assault rifle from the EDF I killed outside, and when I was about to go join them, I heard what sounded like wings above me.
I looked up, seeing nothing. When I went outside, I saw Rainbow land in front of me, looking up at me with a small worried expression.
''Rainbow? How'd you find me?''
''You just left without saying much, and I got worried about you, so I came after you, and now I have, mind telling me what you're doing?''
''Look, don't worry about me, Rainbow. I should be worried about you and your friends. In case you haven't realized, EDF are all over the place, and if they see any of you, they'll more than like try and kill you or capture you all.''
She huffed, blowing her mane up with a soft snort, and not to mention that when she did it, she looked kinda cute.
''Heh, we'll be fine. Nothing can keep me down! I'm Rainbow Dash!'' She pounded her chest with her hoof, posing herself proudly.
''Yeah, keep saying that. At least your confident about the whole thing.'' I said, trying not to sound annoyed or anything in between.
Engines could be heard in the distance, and in moments, EDF troops arrived in APC's and tougher-looking EDF soldiers in snow-white barding marched out from the back with deadlier-looking weapons than usual. They took aim at us, and started firing. One of the white EDF soldier's weapon fired and instead of a bullet, it fired a thick purple-blue line of hot plasma energy, streaks of purple and blue smoke twisting around the energy line, and most shocking of all, from the cover I was behind, it melted a hole straight through the concrete and out the other side, barely missing my arm!
I peeked up from the cover and found at least four white soldiers and thankfully no more of them. But I did however, get a better look at them weapons that shoot plasma energy - They looked like a sniper but only more bulky and advanced. Rainbow looked just as shocked as me. She looked at me, horror visible in her rose eyes. I picked out my pistol from my jacket and slid it across the floor to her. She nodded her head at me as she picked it up in her mouth and dropped it into her hooves and held it, barrel facing towards the EDF.
At first I wondered how she could hold it like that without fingers, but then shook off the idea as I saw an EDF soldier go for her. I called to her, and as she fumbled around with the gun, trying to fire it, she dropped it and the gun fired into the soldier's leg, making him collapse as he held his bleeding limb. I aimed my gun at him and pulled the trigger, the bullet blasting through his orange visor and going through his eye socket, silencing him in a split second.
I looked over to Rainbow and quickly scurried over to her side, taking cover with her.
''Rainbow, you need to listen to me, alright?'' I said as I locked eyes with her, gripping her shoulders, ''Don't try flying away, they have snipers and will be able to shoot you down, no matter how fast you are. I need you to get into cover before you get killed in the fight. Got it?''
She nodded once in understanding, but I could see the doubt in her eyes.
''But what about you?''
''Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'll see you back at the safe-house when its all clear.''
She hugged me softly and before leaving, she said, ''Don't die, okay?''
*** *** ***
It was getting dark and I've been shooting for around three hours, trying to keep them down, but there were simply too many, and the only reserve ammunition was that of the bullets I took from dead EDF soldiers. In the time I had been shooting, I had gotten a few scrapes from bullets and luckily no fatal wounds, and to make things easier, some Red Faction who saw the fight joined in to help me.
As for Rainbow, she didn't really seem too keen on fighting with weapons, and I know she was scared, but she still managed to take down at least a couple, and being fast, she barely even got shot once. Most impressive indeed...
At the moment, there were only a few soldiers remaining, and thankfully not the heavily armed ones. All that was standing now was me, Rainbow a dozen Red Faction with assault rifles and around five or six EDF. Instead of trying to surrender, they pressed on, doing their best to try kill us, but the odds weren't good in their position. I aimed at them, firing my last clip, taking care to hit them all successfully and like that, it was over.
The Red Faction cheered in celebration of the success and as they did, Rainbow looked some bit relieved that it was now over. I went up to her, seeing how tired she was. I picked her from the floor, getting her on all four hooves and brushed her mane from her eyes.
''You alright, Rainbow? Did you get hurt?''
''I'm fine, Mason. Just a little tired. That all of them?''
I looked around, chuckling a bit at all the bodies lying around the place.
''Yep, I think so.'' I said as I looked back to her, ''So, wanna get back now? The others are probably worried about us.''
She smiled at me, ''Yeah. Lets.''
We walked to the car, waiting for a couple Red Faction to get in, and then we were on our way back to the safe-house.
All that fighting had tired me out, as I found when I got back, I was already half asleep. The other Red Faction members, Commander, Samanya and the ponies were relieved to find we were alright and back in one piece. I just sat in the drivers seat, falling off into sleep, that is, until the Commander came up to me and knocked on the door of my truck, watching me with a worried yet determined expression.
''Mason? Got a minute? I need to talk to you.'' He said, and to my nod, he opened the door to the passenger side, sitting next to me. ''Mason, I'm worried about you. I know its hard coping with the loss of a loved one, but what you did was unnecessary, and could of gotten both you and Rainbow killed.''
I held up my hand, forcing myself to stay awake, ''Now, wait a second, Commander, will you? I spent three hours killing EDF, and in my opinion, that's three-hours less of arseholes to get rid of from our planet. I don't really see a problem with that.''
''Yes, thanks for that, by the way, but I don't want you going off and doing something like that again, especially on your own. What were you thinking?''
I sighed. Out of all the times I could of been asked, why now? All I want to do is sleep. ''Commander, with all due respect, I had to do that. I needed it to take my mind off what the EDF did to my brother. I just had to get it out of my system.''
''I understand that, Mason. Just don't do it again and all will be happy.'' He turned, opening the door and was about to get out but then turned back to me. ''And one more thing, Mason. The Red Faction has a plan to liberate Parker. We'll be attacking the EDF at mid-day, so be prepared for it. We only have one shot at this.'' And then he got out of the car, closing the door behind him.
Liberation of Parker? Oh, great. Don't suppose it means I'm involved in one of the tasks, maybe one of the most important ones? Probably...
But tomorrow? God, will it ever end?
