Twilight, Soldier of War

Twilight stared down at a map of the old city of La Sierra, or as people have come to call it the City of Sorrows. Surrounding her where the other five members of her squad, all eyes were on Commander Cotreau as he shuffled pages around in a folder. Finding the one he wanted he laid a photo down on the table; the photo was a headshot of a man with slightly puffy cheeks. Twilight noticed that his brown hair was longer than most males she had seen, although she couldn’t see quite how long in the photo.

“This is Dr. Rolland Carafe,” said Commander Cotreau. His aged face gave him natural deadpan look. His exo battle armor, like the other members of her squad, was heavily plated with overlapping heat resisting armor. It was a dark brown with the sharp edges colored red; his shoulder bore an emblem of twin stocks of wheat. “In approximately sixteen hours Central Command will be pulling the front lines back twenty miles from La Sierra.”

Nadia through her arms up, her face contorted with frustration. “Commander Sir, with all due respect, does Central have their heads up their ass? This makes the third time we’ve pulled the front line back; what’s the excuse this time?!” Nadia was the only other woman on the team, unlike Twilight she kept her blond hair short just past her ears.

Twilight hadn’t been on the team long but was already growing use to Nadia’s outburst and Commander Cotreau didn’t even seem to bat an eye at it. “With the mountains to the north Command plans to dig in on the southern line; they already constructed a few miles of trenches. Anyway, as I was saying.” Cotreau pointed to the photo “This is Dr. Rolland Carafe; three days ago he was denied permission to scavenge the ruins of La Sierra, for some old documents. After which he manage to convince an entire platoon to escort him there. Since then we have had no contact with him or the platoon.”

“How did he manage to convince someone?” asked Nadia.

“Probably with some spill about how they would be helping Osana win the war. And how their names would go down in history, he’s rather charismatic,” Davis said a sense of amusement in his tone.

Commander Cotreau cleared his throat regaining their attention. “In his report he claimed documents of Dr. Bevan, also known as the godfather of power armor, could be located at the National Library, seeing as it's one of the few places that could have survived the orbital blast.” He circled the location on the map in red. “Any questions?”

“Do we have any information about the documents he’s after?” Twilight asked her hands resting behind her back.

“Not a lot, Dr. Carafe believed it to be research notes and prototype blueprints things of that nature.

“Do you think we will encounter much enemy resistance?” Teagan asked in a clear deep voice. Teagan was a good head taller than Twilight, and it reminded her of how she always had to look up to Princess Celestia when speaking with her. His short black hair was starting to look a bit shaggy and would likely need a cut soon.

“The Commonwealth is bound to notice the retreating forces, so prepare for some resistance. But with any luck we will be gone before they get too curious.”

“Here’s a question,” Said Skyler. The second in command, who was currently sporting what he told Twilight was called a ‘Crew cut.’ “Dr. Carafe took an entire platoon so why is Command sending a single squad?”

“Short answer,” Said Cotreau. “We drew the short straw.”

“Well it’s good to see Command is as affectionate as ever.” Nadia quipped.

“I like to believe,” said Davis. “That sending us to near death situations is Commands way of showing love.”

Cotreau continued ignoring their banter. “Twilight, I know this will be your first real engagement just remember: don’t play the hero, don’t stick your ass out for the enemy to shoot, and follow orders. If you can do that you should be fine.”

“Yes Sir, I will remember that,” Twilight said.

Skyler walked over by Twilight “Tell me Twilight, are you the religious type?” Cotreau let out a sigh and shook his head before heading out the door; the others just seem to be giggling under their breath.

Twilight had read about many of the religions humans practiced. Osana alone had five different ones, they were ‘colorful’ to say the least. Equestria didn’t have any official religion but Twilight knew that someponies worshiped Celestia, much to Celestia’s annoyance. She had always seen Celestia as more of a motherly figure than that of a goddess. “No I’m not the religious type, why do you ask?”

Skyler smiled, “Because on the battlefield there is only one god and that god is Murphy. You give him the chance and he will make your life a living hell.”

Twilight had heard that name in passing usually associated with some law. She had assumed he was a lawmaker in Osana. “Who’s Murphy?” The rest began filing out of the room. “I would really like to know who that is…anyone…oh come on!”

***

Twilight pressed herself against a dilapidated stone wall as plasma fire pinned her and the rest of her squad down. She peeked over the wall; she could see several heavily armored figures running between the ruined buildings, while more laid down fire from behind fallen pillars. Her helmet’s HUD outlining them all with a red tent. She felt a force fling her back on the gravel as an explosion of green energy impacted where her head once was.

“If you’re not returning fire do not make yourself a target!” Said Cotreau. He walked alone the wall almost oblivious to the green streaks of energy that shot over his head.

“Yes sir, sorry sir,” Twilight said crawling back over to the wall, she could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She took slow deep breaths and gripped her rifle tighter.

“Sub-Lieutenant, how many are we dealing with?” Said Cotreau.

Skyler stopped returning fire and ducked down next to Twilight. “At least a dozen heavy infantry.

Cotreau took a spot next to Skyler and said, “This is what we are going to do—” A piece of the wall exploded; Teagan let out a scream and fell onto his side. “Damit!” Cotreau rose placing his plasma rifle to his shoulder and fire round after round. Twilight glanced over the wall to see one of the armored figures hit the ground.

Davis slid next to Teagan sending rocks sliding across the ground. “Where are you hit!?”

“My shoulder, but I feel fine,” Teagan said sitting up.

“How is he!” Cotreau called out before returning fire.

Davis examined his shoulder and the cracked piece of armor, “The wall took most of the impact, his shoulder plate is cracked but he’ll be fine.”

“Teagan can you still fire your gun!” Cotreau yelled.

“Yes Sir!”

“Good,” Cotreau raised a hand to the side of his helmet, indicating he was using his radio. “Nadia how much farther!”

A distorted voice came over his radio “thirty seconds!”

“Teagan grab your gun, you and I will be making a dash too that building.” He pointed to a building thirty feet away. It was a box looking building that may have once been a store, it looked unstable as the stones were worn and cracked, and the wall that faced them had already fallen away. “The rest of you I want suppressing fire until we’re in position”

Twilight, Davis and Skyler pressed themselves to the wall, waiting for the signal. “Hey Spotlight,” Skyler said. “Try not to think of them as people.”

“It's Twilight, and what do you mean?”

“Think of them as moving targets, only targets that shoot back. It should help.”

Twilight knew she would be required to kill once she became a soldier, and she accepted that, but the thought of seeing living creatures as nothing more than a target made her uneasy.

“On three!” Cotreau called. Twilight held her rifle close as she focused on keeping her breathing even. Plasma impacted the debris around them filling the air with dust. “THREE!” They jumped up, like tightly wound springs, Davis and Skyler fired relentlessly. Twilight looked down the sights of her rifle and aimed for the one making a dead run at their line.

You know what’s most fascinating about humans? It’s how simple they make war. A pegasus has to learn how to fight with multiple weapons both on land and the air. But humans, they made this simple device called a gun and once you pull the trigger whatever it points at dies.

Twilight pulled the trigger hitting the charging soldier in the chest; he hit the ground clenching his smoking chest plate. She fired another round at the soldier and then another, until he stopped moving.

“Down!” Skyler cried. They dropped behind the wall as a new wave of enemy fire hit them. Skyler brought his hand to his radio “I could use a guardian angel right about now!”

The radio came to life, “One guardian angel coming up.” A blast rang through the sky; Twilight came out of cover just as one of the enemy soldiers flew back from an unseen impact.

Twilight fired at a group in cover as two more blast rang out. Plasma rounds fired out from the crumbling store, straight into the group in cover. The pinned soldiers returned fire into the building but were quickly cut down as they came out of cover. The return fire all but stopped as the enemy forces retreated.

“That’s right run!” Skyler yelled, firing another round in their direction. “Nadia, come rejoin the rest of us.”

“But I just got over here.” Nadia’s distorted voice spoke.

“Then you know the way back, double time.”

The squad regrouped in the remains of the store. They sat near the walls drinking from canteens to help fight the heat. Nadia stood by the wall with a rifle as long as she was leaned against her. “Well at least we got the hard part out of the way first,” said Nadia.

“You wish,” Cotreau quipped.

***

“Maybe that’s enough for now,” Twilight said. Looking at the group around the table each of whom seem to have lost a bit of color, they stared at her with a look of unreal disbelief. Twilight wasn’t even sure if Pinkie Pie was listening anymore. Her mane was flat and coat color seemed to have dulled; she slowly peeled the wrapper from a cupcake before setting it with a group of others. Twilight wanted to slap herself for not telling them the water down version like she had planned, but when she started talking it just spilled out. A pair of hooves wrapped around Twilight, she glanced down to see Fluttershy her face pressed against the cold steel of Twilight’s breast plate.

“It's ok,” Fluttershy whispered. “We couldn’t be there for you then, but we’re here for you now.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak but she had no words. More hooves wrapped around her as everyone joined in. Rainbow Dash flittered above the others settling with just resting her hoof on a shoulder.

“Thank you…everyone.”

“Come on everypony! I thought this was supposed to be a party!” Pinkie Pie yelled, from the center of the room on her custom made party cannon. With the pull of a string she rained confetti down on the room.

The next hour flew by in a blur as the group ate food, danced to the music of one of Pinkie’s DJ friends, and played pin the cutie mark on the pony. Twilight set out for most of it choosing to simply watch and enjoy one of the sweetest cupcake she had ever tasted.

“Tell me how have your lives been over the last ten—no, I mean three years?” Twilight ask Rarity and Rainbow Dash, who had joined her at the table. The others took turns dancing with Spike.

“Well isn’t it obvious,” Rainbow said waving a hoof over her outfit.

Twilight placed a hand under her chin and gazed intensely at Rainbow. “I see, you’ve taken up stage acting.”

“Very funny,” Rainbow deadpanned. “I joined the Wonderbolts and not just as one of the reserves but an official member.”

“That’s great, Dash, I know you earned it. With all your training did you ever find time for a special somepony?”

A blush flashed across Rainbows face “I’m, well…that Is…”

“Oh, Rainbow, darling,” Rarity interrupted. “There’s no point in being shy about it, everypony already knows.”

Rainbow grimaced, “Well if you put it like that. I’ve been dating Soarin for almost a year now.” Rainbow could see the gears in Twilight’s mind trying to place the name. “He’s one of the Wonderbolts .” Twilight smiled and nodded.

“Sadly my love life has not been as fulfilling as Rainbows,” said Rarity. “I did meet one stallion a while back, I thought he loved me but it turned out he was only interested in my name.”

“Sorry to hear that, Rarity.”

“It's ok dear, I did get something good out of it…” The audience hall doors open in a burst as, speak of Discord, Soarin flew in.

“Soarin!” Pinkie Pie cried, trotting over. “You came for the party.”

Soarin landed next to Rainbow Dash. “Sorry, Pinkie, I’ll have to get a rain check.”

“What’s going on?” Rainbow asked.

“Spitfire sent me when you didn’t show up to meet with the rest of us.”

“Oh pony feathers, I completely lost track of time.”

Soarin let out a laugh, “Yeah Spitfire thought as much, especially with everything going on. She said it was fine to sit out this time, we can just use one of the reserves.”

“No I can make it…I mean.” Rainbow looked over to Twilight with pleading eyes.

Twilight sighed. “Go on Dash, I’ll be just fine.”

Rainbow smiled “Are you sure?” Twilight nodded.

Wait!” Pinkie called, stopping Rainbow and Soarin before they could take off. She handed them each a chocolate frosted cupcake. “Have fun on your trip.” They plopped the cupcakes in their mouths and flew out the door.

“I suppose I should be getting back home; I told Sweetie Belle I would be back before it got late,” said Rarity. “But Twilight once the party is done come by the boutique and I can make you something better to ware then…that.”

“What’s wrong with my armor?” Twilight asked looking herself over.

“Well for starters it’s not clothing, and for another it’s rather intimidating. Is there a reason you have to wear that?”

Twilight considered telling Rarity about the statistic she had gathered on the death to life ratio for those who were armor during recreational activity. But Twilight had the feeling that a logical arguments was fruitless when it came to Rarity and fashion. Twilight toyed with the control pad on her left forearm switching through the different visual modes, it was pointless without a helmet but it bought her a few moments while she thought of a more simple reason.

“I would just rather keep it on for the time being.”

“I guess if that makes you more comfortable,” said Rarity. “But you still must come by, you can’t wear that all the time now can you.”

Twilight thought about arguing at she could, in fact, where her armor all the time and that she has been doing so for some time now but thought better of it. “I’ll be sure to stop by.”

***

It was strange seeing Ponyville again. It was the place Twilight saw every time she closed her eyes, but somehow it felt less real than in her dreams. Perhaps it was the fact that Ponyville had changed, not by much, but enough that the differences stood out: new houses here, a new coffee shop there. Many of the older building seemed just a bit newer, more than just a fresh coat of paint, but the first steps away from its small village roots and in line with those of manehattan. It made Ponyville feel a little off.

Twilight wasn’t surprised that everyone in the market district recognized her, from what she had been told her first day was rather memorable. She was just glad no one ran at the sight of her, instead the worst she had to deal with were ponies suddenly deciding to walk on the other side of the street, or the hush whispers from ponies as she walked by. She ignored it, far too focused on the sun the shined brightly down without the scorching heat she was so use to, and the subtle breeze the carried the scent of fresh produce.

“Twilight, is that you?” Twilight swiveled around to a young orange filly, going on mare, sitting behind an apple stand. Applebloom was looking much like her sister, her red mane hung loose underneath her own stetson.

“Hello Applebloom,” Twilight said, walking over.

“Can’t believe the rumors are true, you got turned into a hairless diamond dog.”

“Human,” Twilight corrected. “Not a diamond dog.”

“So are you stuck like that?”

“I’m not sure, I’ll need to talk to the princesses about it. But how have you been?”

Applebloom’s face lite up “Well for starters Ah got my cutie mark.” She turned to the side and showed off the mark, it was a heart within an apple within a multi colored shield. “Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo got their marks the same time as me, for helping other ponies understand their cutie marks. Now when Ah’m not in school or helping out on the farm we’re off crusading helping others with their marks.”

“Somethings never change.”

“What brings you out here? Applejack said they were havin’ a party for you at the castle?”

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. “I slipped out to get some air; I was actually taking the long way to Rarity’s boutique when I got turned around, so much for seeing the sights.”

“Oh well Ah can point you the rest of the way, just head down the north road here aways and you can’t miss it,” Applebloom said, pointing a hoof past Twilight.

“Thanks, Applebloom, I should get going.”

“Here, catch.” Applebloom called out tossing an apple to Twilight. “That one's on me. Welcome back, Twilight.”

Twilight’s teeth dug into the shiny red apple, savoring the sweet juices. Sweet Apple Acres apples were as she remembered, the best apples in all of Equestria.

Twilight stepped through the door of Rarity’s boutique; a soft chime of a bell announced her entrants. “I’ll be right there,” Rarity called out from the other room.

Twilight looked over a rack of dresses each one more elaborate than the next. “Oh Twilight, I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” said Rarity, trotting into the room.

Twilight shrugged. “I was out so I thought I’d go ahead and stop by.”

“Marvelous, I was just thinking of different designs I could make for you. Now just give me a moment and I’ll get your measurements.” Rarity used her magic to bring out a measuring tape. “Um Twilight, if you don’t mind I’m going to need you to remove your armor, unless you want your clothing to be rather large.”

Twilight gave a quick glance at the door before nodding and removing each individual piece, placing them on a small round table. Rarity bought the measuring tape around her waist, up her thigh, down an arm, and over her chest.

“Rarity, I would prefer just some pants and a shirt, I don’t really need a dress,” said Twilight.

“But darling,” Rarity grimaced, rolling up the tape measure. “That’s just so plane.” Twilight gave a halfhearted smile. “Very well then, give me fifteen minutes. I’m sure you want to get out of that dirty outfit of yours.”

Twilight looked at the many stains that littered her jumpsuit, she couldn’t remember the last time she washed them. Rarity trotted off to her back room and within moments she could hear the sewing machine working.

She stepped up to the three way mirror, looking at the different angles of her reflection. She stepped closer to the center mirror when she noticed a red dot near the bridge of her nose and moved to wipe it away, only to smear a dark red mark down her cheek. The smell of blood wafted from her dark red hand and her breath increased as she tried wiping it off with her other hand but only succeeding in spreading it further. And spread it did. The blood seem to take on a life of its own as it consumed both her arms before overflowing and dripped to the floor.

Twilight covered her face with her hands; the smell was suffocating. “Not real, not real, not real!”

***

“Hey Twilight,” Skyler called. “You still with us.”

“What…oh yes, I just wasn’t expecting all of this,” Twilight said. She looked out at the ruin fill plaza in front of the National Library; dozens of commonwealth soldiers laid dead among the blackened rubble. Several armored cars and even what was left of a tank lay burning, made more ominous by the backdrop of the setting sun.

The National Library had seen better days, like most everything it had a burnt black look, most of the left wing seemed to have collapsed in on itself. Two four foot tall window panes stood on either side of the front entrance and out of the four pillars that once stood at the front only one was now standing.

“Looks like we have a welcoming party,” Nadia said, pointing at the library roof to see a small figure waving.

The library’s large double doors stood open with a plasma turret fixed at the threshold. Its operator waved Twilight and her squad in as they approached. Rolls of ceiling high shelves lined the walls of the two floors, shelves that once stood in the center of the lobby now laid fallen, their burnt books littering the floor. A trio of battle armor soldiers greeted them; the one in the center removed his helmet and saluted. He had black rings under his eyes, and brown hair just past his ears. “Lieutenant Delsin Healy, glad to see someone not trying to kill us.”

Cotreau returned the salute “Commander Len Cotreau, who’s in charge here?”

“That be me,” said Delsin. “Colonel Levitt died in the last attack.” He motioned toward the far wall to a massive armored body sitting next to the wall with a hole the size of a bowling ball in its chest. If it was standing it would easily be ten feet tall, completely encasing the pilot in armor that makes the exo battle armor look like paper.

Skyler held a look of shocked delight “Your Colonel was a Berserker, I thought they were all stim addicted, uncontrollably psychotic killing machines?”

“Oh they are, Colonel Levitt was just good at keeping himself under control.”

“What’s your situation here?” Cotreau asked.

“I’m sure you saw it outside, the Rats have been hitting us nonstop. Out of the forty in our platoon only eight are left, and to top it off our portable artillery cannon on the roof gave out on us and that was the only thing that saved us in the last wave. That and the Colonel taking out the tank.”

“Is Dr. Rolland Carafe still alive?”

“He’s alive, he’s been down in the basement archives since we got here; looking for something. We’ve been debating on whether or not we should tie him up and make a run for it,” Delsin laughed.

“Teagan,” said Contreau, turning to him. “Head up to the roof and give them a hand with the artillery. I will be heading to the basement to have a chat with our runaway doctor. The rest of you get comfortable, I have a feeling we are going to be here for a while.”

“And I would stay out of the faculty lounge if I were you, it's where we’re keeping the dead,” Delsin warned.

Twilight made her way to a pile of crates that seem to hold what supplies Delsin and his men had left. She took off her helmet and set it down, picking up one of the few nutrient bars that lay about and bit it in half. Her face scrunched up at the taste, or lack thereof, as she forced herself to swallow. “Wow, that’s awful.”

“That’s nutrient bars in a nutshell, all the vitamins and minerals the body needs with the good ol' taste of ass,” said one of the soldiers walking over. His hair was thin and as dark as his skin, and his face had a rough complexion. “The name’s Sam.” He extended a hand.

Twilight took it. “Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twilight? Is that one of those Islander names?”

“That it is.”

“So I guess it’s true you Islanders all name yourself after plants and stuff. Is it also true you guys shun technology?”

“More or less,” said Twilight. The Islands, from what Twilight had read, where a group of islands a few hundred miles from the Osana mainland. Its inhabitants were famed for their insistent on living with nature; it had made the perfect cover for Twilight.

“Hey Sam,” the turret operator called out. “It’s your turn on the gun, move your ass.”

“I’m coming!” Sam shouted back. “Can’t be nice for five damn seconds before…” his words trailed off into mumbling as he walked away.

Night had fallen. Twilight and the rest of her squad took over guard duty for the fatigued soldiers. Twilight stood at the second floor window looking out over the plaza, her eyes watched the fire from the tank dance as it fought to stay alive. A soft moaning filled the night air that snapped Twilight to attention. She peering down the sight of her rifle but saw nothing. Another moan whispered on the wind.

“At ease Spotlight,” said Skyler walking up from behind.

“Sir, I heard something out there.”

Skyler chuckled “That’s just the ghost. And drop the Sir crap, Skyler is just fine.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, lowering her rifle. “Ghost?”

“Some say it’s the cries of those that died here, hints the name City of Sorrows.”

“And the truth?”

“Winds blowing through underground pipes that got knocked loose in the orbital strike.”

Twilight turned back to the window. “Why? What could justify this much killing? What started this?” her arm waved out to the street.

Skyler let out a long sigh, “I don’t know about justifying it, but as for what started it, well do you remember hearing about the Colonization Effort?” Twilight stared with a blank look. “Right, Islander my mistake. The Colonization Effort was humanity's first attempt at colonizing another planet, they had a nice planet all picked out a few systems away, and thousands of people volunteering to go. But then Osana and the Commonwealth started bickering over who would get the mining rights on the better parts of the planet. Those two had a lot of bad blood even before then and the mining rights just sent them over the edge. And then the Commonwealth destroyed La Sierra and started this war.”

Twilight’s voice was quiet as she spoke “Does that make any of this right?”

“Right and wrong are for the victors to decide.”

Commander Contreau stormed back from the basement his helmet under his arm. He looked to the upper floor locking eyes with Twilight “Twilight front and center.” Twilight raced over taking the winding stairs two at a time.

Delsin walked over. “So how’s Dr. Carafe?” he asked humor clear in his voice.

Contreau scowled. “He’s lucky we have orders to bring him back. Do you have any explosives?”

Delsin deadpanned. “Commander, our colonel was a Berserker, they practically shit explosives.”

“Good, I want the entire archives rigged to blow within the hour, better to burn than fall into the hands of Commonwealth. Twilight head to the archives and help Dr. Carafe fine the documents, whether you fine them or not, in one hour we are getting the hell out of here. Delsin, any progress on the artillery?”

“From what I understand the power cell burnt out so their trying to convert the cell from the Colonel’s power armor, no luck as of yet.”

Twilight entered the last door to the basement archives her rifle slung over her back. Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped. The archive was filled with eight feet tall square cabinets and they were lined up by the hundreds, spaced just far enough apart to walk between them. Twilight examined the first one she came to; it had locked doors with engraved names that ran along the length of each side. Twilight walked between the cabinets, the sound of her metallic sole clinked with each step on the linoleum floor. “Dr. Carafe, are you here?”

“Yes, yes I’m here, now go away I’m busy,” A voice echoed. Twilight followed the sound to the far side of the room. A round man in a simple bullet proof vest set on his knees; he fiddled with a set of keys before finding the one he wanted. He unlocked the bottom door and pulled out a long container, and quickly opened it and shuffled through the documents inside. With a frustrated huff he pushed the container aside. “Not this one either.” He glanced up to Twilight. “Are you going to help me look or what? I assume that’s why you’re here.”

“Oh, Um, of course where do I start?”

Dr. Carafe rolled his eyes, “you’re looking for documents containing Dr. Bevan’s research.” He removed a key from a ring and handed it over. “This is a master key don’t lose it. You’re looking for a door labeled as Dr. Bevan or one of his many pin names.”

“I don’t know any of his pin names.”

“Nor do I, he was a very paranoid man. I’ve already searched most of this room but there are still six more rooms just like this one, start with one of them.”

It had been nearly thirty minutes, she wasn’t sure as it was hard to keep track of time there, but she had seen a few others setting up explosives and heard Dr. Carafe’s rather loud protest. She manage to get through one cabinet but she had no idea what she was looking for, most of what she found was random history trivia. From the look of it the floor in a section of the room had fallen in, taking a few of the cabinets down with it; she really hope what she needed had not fallen down there.

If she just had her magic she could cast a simple locator spell. She ran a hand through her hair. ‘How I miss my magic,’ she thought. ‘Locator spells are not even complex you just need a few details about the object in question, or at worst information about the one who hid it. The only thing I know about this Dr. Bevan is that he was famed for his work with power armor…Now that I think about it he was really only famous for that, out of everything I read about him, his name always went hand in hand with one power armor in particular, but what was it?’

Twilight raced passed the cabinets and out the room. Dr. Carafe had moved onto another roll of cabinets and was in the middle of shifting through the contents of a container. “Dr. Carafe.” Twilight said. He stopped and glared at Twilight not trying to hide a bit of his annoyance. “What was that armor Dr. Bevan was so famous for?”

“The Mako Frame why do you ask…” Dr. Carafe face lit up as realization hit him. Without another word he bolted up and raced out the room, Twilight followed close behind him. “Of course, why didn’t I see it earlier!” He looked from one cabinet to the next as he move down the line, until finding the one he was after. His hands shook has he inserted the key into the door marked Mako, he pulled the container free and set it on the ground. Slowly he opened it and took out the first folder inside, Twilight could see what looked like power armor blueprints and underneath that was a stack of pages bound together titled Teleportation Theory.

“What is this?” Twilight asked pulling out the bound pages. She flipped through it, a few pages had crude drawings of a platform with an overarching beam shooting lighting down.

Dr. Carafe took one look at the title. “Dr. Bevan was known to tamper in other fields, but there is a reason he’s only known for his work on power armor.”

Twilight activated the radio in her helmet “Commander, this is Private Twilight come in.” Static. “Commander Contreau, do you read me?” static was her only answer. “I can’t get a signal we should head up.”

“You go ahead I just want to read over this for a moment.”

Not wanting to argue Twilight headed out the room and up the three floors of stairs. She had nearly reached the door when she heard the gunfire and felt the shaking of the building. Skyler was standing in the lobby as she entered, reloading his plasma rifle. “Good of you to join us, Twilight.”

Twilight took her rifle off her shoulder strap, gripping it with both hands “How many?”

“Enough, get to the front entrance and help take some heat off the turret.”

Along the upper floors soldiers fired from every window, but the return fire was relentless. A few had resorted to sticking their rifles out the window and firing blind. Twilight did her best to focus as she ran past but she still saw one of Delsin’s men fly back as a plasma round impacted his helmet. TShe through herself next to the window on the right side of the turret. Davis was at the window across from her with Sam at the turret, only a thin energy shield separating him from the oncoming fire. The turret glowed red from the endless fire; Twilight fired out doing her best to mimic the turret. Even with night vision enabled and targeting assist pinging enemy soldiers with a red outline, she wasn’t sure if she was hitting anything.

“Dammit, there’s too many of them!” Nadia called out from the upper floors, her rifle perched on a table for support as she fired her ballistic rounds, pushing Twilight's noise dampeners to their limit. “They’re going to overrun us at this rate!”

Skyler took a spot near Nadia. “Just hold them off a little longer, the Commander went to check on the artillery.”

Sam cried out in pain and hit the floor with a loud thud, gripping his side. Without thinking Twilight dropped her rifle and raced over to him. She grabbed his shoulders and drug him away from the entrance and behind a fallen bookshelf for cover. “Twilight get his helmet off,” Davis said, dropping down next to them. Twilight wordlessly complied unlocking the seals on his helmet and pulling it over his head. Davis used an emergency release and broke off the front of Sam’s chest plate, and with a knife he cut away his red undershirt. Sam’s left side was bleeding profusely, the parts not covered in blood were burnt black. The sight alone made Twilight want to gag. Davis gripped Twilight’s hand and placed it on the wound. “Keep pressure on it,” He instructed. Twilight nodded; she pressed both hands into the wound but it was too big, blood kept seeping through her gloves and running over. Davis maneuvered a white cloth over the wound careful not to have Twilight fully remove her hands. He pulled an injector gun from his bag and pushed a vile into its back, “Talk to him, keep him distracted.”

Sam was grinding his teeth; Twilight gave him her best reassuring smile. It took her a moment to realise that she was still wearing a helmet, with one hand she awkwardly unclasped the helmet and removed it. “Y-you’re going to be just fine.”

Sam let out a laughing cough “Now I know I’m fucked.” He winced in pain as Davis inserted the injector into his chest. “You know I had planned to go to the Islands when the war was over, get away from the technology and all. Never been there myself, what’s it like.” He looked at her with half closed eyes.

Twilight recalled everything she had read about the Islands, “It’s beautiful, filled with tropical rainforest and the settlements were built to be in harmony with nature. Some homes have trees growing straight through them.”

“Twilight,” Davis spoke softly.

“And the ocean is so clear some mornings you could see all the way to the bottom.”

“Twilight!” Davis said more firmly. “He’s gone, Twilight.” Twilight could only stare, a protest stuck in her throat. Davis reached over and closed Sam’s eyes, “Come on, the battle's not over yet.” Davis rose, picked up his rifle and headed back to the window he once stood at.

Twilight picked up her helmet twisting it around in her hands, she noticed a bit of blood on the visor and tried to wipe it off, but only managing to smear it more. ‘Oh that’s right,’ Twilight thought. ‘My gloves are covered in blood. I guess I should clean them with something.’ she picked up one of the ruined books and ripped out a wad of pages, and wiped off her gloves. The paper quickly became a nasty mess. She tossed it away grabbing another wad of pages until she could see the black underneath. She repeated the process with her helmet until she had a clear circle in the center. ‘I wonder what my friends would think of me destroying a book? I bet they be shocked.’ she slipped the helmet over her had; much of the vision was smudged and tinted dark.

Twilight heard Delsin’s voice call out, “Rat armor incoming!”

Skyler leaned over the rail looking down at Twilight. “Twilight, our radios are being jammed. Get to the roof and tell them we need that artillery!”

“Understood!” Twilight rose from her spot and raced down the hall. A collapsed section of the ceiling made a natural ramp up to the roof. Teagan and one of Delsin’s men were kneeling next to the cannon while Contreau looked out over the edge.

“Let me guess,” Contreau said, without looking back. “They want to know the status on the artillery, well, Teagan?”

“One minute!” Came Teagan’s reply.

“That may have been possible before the tank and the six Commonwealth Juggernauts showed up.”

Between the crumbling buildings rolled a tank with three Juggernauts flanking it on each side. The Juggernauts were like the Berserker Power armor, only the Juggernauts were larger and each one carried its own cannon. The building around them exploded, sending chunks of the building falling as the Juggernauts took notice of their location. Twilight ducked behind a wall, but Contreau just watched even as a round detonated mere feet from his head. “Sir, you should take cover,” Twilight cried.

“That is the Anti-Tank Electrothermal Accelerator Cannon, also called the Anti-Tank Railgun,” Contreau began. “It can obliterate a man with a single hit or punch a hole right through an unshielded tank, but it’s got shit for accuracy.”

“Commander,” Teagan said standing up. “We’re ready.”

“Fire at will.”

The artillery cannon spun to life as it charged with energy; it jerked back each time it fired. Twilight couldn’t see what it fired until it impacted on the plaza consuming two of the Juggernauts in a blue plume of plasma, but one of the Juggernauts stumbled back to its feet. “Looks like they upgraded the shields on those things,” Contreau said. The artillery cannon managed to get off another round before the power cell began shooting out sparks and caught fire. Contreau pulled the other man away from the flames, “Well we’re not holding this place, you said there was another exit in the basement?” He asked looking over at the man.

“Yeah, one of the rooms has a breach in the floor, if the old maps are right it leads into the city’s subway system.”

They made their way into the lobby and the fighting was still raging. Contreau took a breath, “Everyone fallback to the archives! I repeat, fallback to the archives!” No one needed to be told twice and they raced to the basement door, staying down to avoid plasma fire. “Delsin,” Contreau said stopping him as he passed. “Are the explosive set?”

“Set and waiting.” He handed Contreau the detonator “Figured you wanted to do the honor.”

“Good, this should cover our retreat.”

Contreau waited by the door as everyone piled through; Twilight couldn’t help but glance back at Sam still lying there unmoving. She shook her head trying to focus herself then step through the door.

***

Twilight hands were shaking, her breath rabid, she couldn’t see the blood anymore but she could still smell it. Her knees gave out on her and she collapsed down. She fiddled with her jumpsuit’s zipper pulling it down, and retrieving the metallic box. Her hands were shaking so bad she nearly dropped the injector gun, she turn the dial down to the lowest setting and inserted the blue vile. She didn’t even feel the needle has she plunged it into a vein, but in moments she felt the release of the Anizon as it coursed through her system. Twilight took slow deep breaths; her hands stilled, her breathing and heart rate slowed. She placed the injector and vile back into its case and tucked them away into her inner pocket.

“Twilight are you ok!?” Rarity cried. As she entered the room two garments suspended in her magic.

Twilight held a look of complacency as she turned to meat Rarity’s look of worry. “Don’t worry Rarity, I’m fine.”