Gears of War: Homefrontby Helljumper206ChaptersAt the start of all places.Hot LabsHighway trobleLetter to Home #1Letter from home #1Highway rescue Prt,1Highway rescue Prt,2Down we go.New frends.Back Underground.CaptivityAt the start of all places.Sera, Halvo Bay. Onyx Guard Academy. Abby's POV "Celesta damn it, Twilight." I heard Starlight cursed. "Yea, of all the places on Sera Twilight, could have sent us, she sent us here of all places," I express with an annoyed sigh. Starlight was the next to speak. "But is it really so bad here? I mean at least you know where we are and this places could have supplies we need and armor for me to wear right?" Starlight said trying to lighten the mood. Which in truth did help a little bit but wasn't shown cus of my masked helmet. So I let out another sigh before bringing my Lancer up in a ready position. "That's true at least. We could head to the schools' dormitories to see if my old room there, I did have a spare of an older set of armor you can use. Should be about your size..." Looking at her friends bare naked frame a blush that was hidden by the helmet mask, "Come on, can't have you walking through a new world with nothing but your skin." We moved forward across the once famed Enfield bridge while keeping an eye out for any signs of hostiles. As I looked around, I couldn't have avoided the dried up remains of Onyx Guard soldiers that once defended the school. Looking behind her, I saw that Starlight was keeping close to me as we made their way across with the chain sword in hand. Corpses of human and Locust littered the bridge. I even saw the remains of a pair of Reavers laid out along the bridge. I didn't remember my classmates taking those two down during the fighting. Must have been the air force that did it. Taking another glance back at Starlight, I saw the girl was scared out of her wits as she stuck close to me like glue. Couldn't blame her really, Just by coming to this world for not even for three minutes and she sees more signs of death then her entire life. Turning back to where I was going a few memories were starting to pop up in my mind from days long past. The sounds of gunfire pounding at my ears, screaming echoing off the walls, a few grenades going off here and there. It may have been over a decade from when I was last here, but still could never forget what happened here. The old remains sure weren't doing anything to help me in any way. A happy thought did come to me that there may be some of Professor Elliot's secret stash of booze still hidden in the R&D labs. 'That may be worth a look.' Passing by a rusting gun emplacement, we walked around the massive hole that took out it took out three-fourths of the bridge. Everywhere we turned more and more bodies of both Gears and Locust littered the ground. Admit there was more Locust then there was human, which gave me a happy thought of making the grubs work for who they were attacking. Reaching the school steps, I took one last look around before entering the school through its front double doors. Aside from the water going under the bridge and the wind blowing a few storm clouds in, all was quiet. I also looked down at the remains of the corpses noticed a few things about all the bodies. One that they have all been decomposed to the point of being skeletal. Two, all of them still have armor and weapons on them, rusting away from being exposed to the elements for so long. There were the Locust Hammer bursts and Mark one and two Lancers scattered with all over the place with their owners. Then the realization hit me; all these guys had been lying here for over a decade, and no one has come to scavenge this place. I must have been standing still for too long as I felt a hand on the shoulder that snaps me out of her thoughts. "Hey, are you ok?" Starlight asked, her voice laced with concern. "Y-yeah, yeah I'm all right, just realized a few things is all," I replied assuredly. "Like what?" She asked. "Like no one has been here since we lost this place nearly fourteen years ago. No looters or scavengers to scavenge for their weapons. No stranded to take up residence inside. I just don't understand it." I explained to her friend. Looking up at the double doors she put a hand on the door nob and pushed the door. It door's hinges creaked as the door opened, possibly for the first time in a decade. "With how vital this place was back in the day and the amount of military hardware they had built into this place. One would think about how much they spent here for then COG's best military academy wouldn't have been barely touched in so long. Not even to collect stuff from the tech labs or weapons from the armories something not right about that." Upon entry, I saw piles of rubble in all the corners. The door leading to the courtyard was also blocked by debris. A quick look around showed the hallway to the security station was still open. Turning to I stopped at the sight of the dozen skeletal remains of my former comrades. A gasp from behind me indicated that Starlight was looking at what was in the hallway as well. "Come on; let's get to the commons. It's just on the other side of the courtyard outside," I pushed onward down the hall and into the security station. Looking around I spotted and walked over to the three wall lockers and opened up the first one. Inside held a pair of Bolo grenades. "Well that's useful," I commented and pocketed the explosives. Opening up the next one revealed nothing but a backpack and a bunch of papers. The bag also was full of documents as well so nothing of use there. The last Locker opened up to reveal a long brown trench coat hanging from the rack. Grabbing the trench coat, I handed it off to the naked Starlight, "As much as I like seeing you like this, I prefer you wear something while we're out here so this should help cover you." Putting her chain sword aside and dropping her pack, Starlight put her arms through the sleeves and button the coat up. She then picked up her backpack and gray chain sword. "Thanks, it's a bit drafty out here." "I don't blame you," I replied. Before the conversation could continue a thunderclap sounded off outside, singling out the noise of a rainstorm coming. "Let's get to those rooms before that rain storm hits; I don't want to be outside when it gets here." I then moved to the door that was past empty gun rack. Opening the door, I saw a Boomshield on the ground next to the remains of a Mauler. Looking around I saw the remains of at least two more Maulers by the stairs to the right. "There must have been another firefight because I don't remember those being here when we retreated from the courtyard," I commented as we walked past the dead Locust. Crossing the courtyard, we looked around and saw the sign for the Sci/Tech Institute that led to the labs below. I made a note to make a sweep of the labs before we leave here. Despite everything here being over a decade old, COG tech was built to last. So something useful must still be down there, right? Reaching the doors to the school dorms, we pushed opened one door and entered into the lobby. I was a little more at ease at the sight of no more corpses in the area. With no activity as far as I could see, I waved my hand forward to motion Starlight to come. Closing the door behind me, we stood inside for a moment before the sound of rain pouring down could be heard from outside. "Talk about timing it right," I joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit. It got a small giggle from the pony turned human. "Yea, he. Still, can't believe your people don't control the weather in this world." Starlight commented as she looked at her friend. "You kidding me? When Rainbow Dash pushed that one cloud and made it ran in front of me to prove that ponies can control the weather, I had thought my mind was on drugs or something." I said with a laugh. "Come on; the stairs are just over there. We can go to my old room up on the third floor and camp out there till the storm passes. Let's hope my armor is also still there." "Umm, you think it's still there after all this time?" Starlight questioned. "Oh yeah, if it's like the rest of this place then it should still be there if looters hadn't touched this place." Making our way up the steps at a steady pace. I was half expecting Wretches or Tickers to pop out any second now from any of the doors or halls. "You know I bet my personal stuff is still here too, I was a little peeved that I couldn't grab any of it when the academy was under attack," I commented as we reached the third floor. Passing by another Locust body and a pair of human remains on the staircase, we exited into a hallway disgruntled hallway. "Well this brings back memories," I commented as we walked down the hall. "like what?" Starlight asked as she followed behind. "Like the first time I had to lug my stuff up here. When you get inside the academy, they give you all the supplies and gear you would be using and training with for all the classes we had. And I came on a day where the elevators were shut down for maintenance." I explained. "It took me six trips to get everything that was both my personal stuff and training items up those stairs. It was painful." I sighed at that memory. We walked a ways down until we stopped at our attended destination. A simple dorm room like all the others, this one with the number '315' at the center. Looking down at the mechanical lock on the door I had to think back at what the combo was. Unlike most entries that had key locks on the doors, the dorm rooms were exclusive mechanical locks, each hosting a five number button system from one to five. They also didn't need power from the building to operate so getting in was a cinch. Putting my hand up to it, I pressed down number two button then pressed the one and four buttons at the same time. Twisting the doorknob, I raised my weapon and searched my old room for any signs of hostilities. Seeing none, I waved Starlight in and closed the door behind her. To make sure nothing just comes in by a kick of the door, I pushed a nearby wardrobe over to block it. Relaxing slightly I turn around and take a look at her old room that she hasn't been to in ages. As I remembered, it was a pretty decent sized dorm. Two beds on the opposite ends of the room, a nightstand next to each of them. A pair of desks at the foot of each bed and the other wardrobe by the door. The with other one belonging to her. I saw Starlight over at the bed brushing off the dust that had settled there. Slinging my Lancer on my back, I took off my helmet and walked over to Starlight's side. "Hey, you alright?" I asked. Starlight just responded by sitting down on the bed and before taking a heavy breath before answering. "I don't know Abby, I was confident before coming here, but seeing all that outside and you telling me what to expect, I thought I could handle it all... Guess not, and I haven't even seen a living Locus yet, and I feel exhausted. Some Gear I am..." She expressed as she looked at the ground. "Don't count yourself out yet, all you have seen is the aftermath of the battle, not the actual thing. So don't you worry about that right now." I assured before setting my helmet down on the nightstand. Taking a moment to look around I smiled at the fun times that I had in this room. One particular memory came to mind put a smile on my face before turning to a more sinister one, "You know, my roommate at the time had a thing for smuggling stuff into school. Her father worked at a bar in the naval yard, and she had a thing for alcohol like he did." Standing up, I went to her old roommate's bed, lifting up the blanket and sheets to the old mattress underneath. In the middle of the mattress was a zipper that held the mattress springs and stuffing. Unzipping it, I plunged my hand inside and felt around to find what I was looking for, "Where are... There you are!" I happily pulled out a brown bottle from the stuffed bedding. "Here we are, one bottle of fishermen brewed whiskey, aged and ready to drink." I showcased, before twisting the cork off and taking a mouthful of it. With a loud sigh of satisfaction, and enjoying the crimson burning feeling of real alcohol. I tried the Equestrian version of alcohol thanks to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and I was a bit disappointed at the strength of it, but it had a pleasant aftertaste. Handing the bottle off to Starlight, "My roommate was saving this for the last day we were here since that never happened I don't think she would mind if we popped the cork on this one and take a swig." Taking hold of the bottle, Starlight sniffed the rim of the bottle before jerking back at the whiskey's strong scent. "Just take a sip, that stuff isn't like what you'll find in Equestria." Taking my words under advisement, Starlight did just that. But even a sip caused her to recoil and started choking on spit and whiskey. Taking a seat next to former unicorn, I put a hand on Starlight's back and rubbed small circles along her back. "Told you, it's not what you find in Equestria," I said with a giggle. Taking the bottle from her, I went over and made my way over to the old wardrobe and pulled out multiple pieces of blue and black crimson armor, along with a black bodysuit and packs. "This is just a standard issue set of COG armor, the old mark one suit," I announced before making several armloads over and setting them down on the other bed of where my friend sat. I took one the solid black but pack and stuffed the bottle of whiskey inside and sat it behind her under her weapons. "This armor has all the necessary coverings, and protection one needs when in a firefight. This here is obesely the female variant to help fit you better, so you shouldn't have too much to worry there." I explained. Looking back over at Starlight, I saw her looking over the armor. "Why is it a different color than the one you're wearing now? Is it because of the unit or is it something else?" Starlight asked' "Good question and the answer is yes. My armor was from back in my days in the Onyx guard. This armor here has the standard color scheme for standard infantry. So don't feel left out about color combos." I explained as I went to one of the shelves in the wardrobe and picked up out a plain t-shirt, a sports bra, and some underwear. "I never thought I have to teach a grown woman how to dress properly, but since you don't know how humans dress will start at the top." I began. Then for the next ten minutes, I had to teach a Starlight how to dress like a human. What the purpose of what a sports bra does and how to put on panties. Another thirty minutes later, I fitted Starlight with her new armor. Going over the parts and their functions, testing the armor's magnetic holsters, and the helmets filtration system. "And there you go... One complete set of COG standard armor, how does it feel?" I asked while tightening the last strap on Starlights chest piece. Starlight twist and turned her body getting a feel for her new armor, "Feels a little constricting, like I'm wearing one of Rarity's tight dresses she asked me to wear. Will this actually protect me from weapons, like your Lancer?" "Yes actually. This armor will give you some protection but will not hold forever, that's why taking cover is important. It's the golden rule in combat," I said. "Another thing is that Locust weapons are more high powered than the Lancer you've seen me use. Their rate of fire is also slower than ours so we can move around better as long as we continue to avoid their fire." A thunderclap sounded off outside making us jump at the sound. Glancing out the window showed that the storm wasn't going to let up. "Looks like we might get some razor hail," I sighed at the dark storm clouds. Starlight looked at me with a raised eyebrow like I just spoke in another language, "What?" "It's a new development in the weather... And before you ask no, I don't know how it happened." I told her. "We just recognized the signs for them." A stream of falling ice sickles soon filled the view outside. "Razor hail is exactly as it sounds and what it looks. Think of it like raining knives made out of ice." "... Is this whole planet trying to kill us?" "Maybe... Whelp, can't go anywhere with this weather. Wanna see the schools R&D labs?" I offered. "Since coming here, I've wanted to check them for anything of use." That perked up Starlight interest. "Sure, Twilight wouldn't forgive me if I didn't see how different your science is from ours." I then took my chain sword and was about to put it on my back when I noticed something. On the tang at the bottom of the handle, there was a button of some kind. Feeling curious I pressed it with a finger and watched the chain swords blade fold in on itself down to the point where only the handle and guard remained. It was so sudden and fast that it caught me entirely by surprise. Looking up at Starlight for an explanation, she looked at me in wonder before she saw my expression. "The royal guard often use spells on their weapons to make them more compact and readily use at a moments notice. I've never seen it done myself, but now that I've seen it I'm impressed that it works in this world." She demonstrated this by brining up her own sword and watch as it collapsed in on itself. "If the magic in this thing works in my world, do you think that your magic works here too?" I wonder. Starlight cupped her hand to her chin and had a thoughtful look on her. "Maybe, my magic is mostly tied to my emotions so if I feel something strongly while I try casting a spell then I guess, but I don't know what I can use as a focal point to center my magic without my horn." Grabbing on her new helmet, Starlight took a moment to stare at the front before turning it around and sitting it on her head. I was happy I put on the helmet as well, looking at my friend I felt mixed reactions as I watched Starlight ready herself as she continued taking. "With my horn, I don't know if my magic would be of any use to us." "Well be sure to let me know if you do, that shield spell could provide a lot of advantages for us if we needed it." I felt a small measure of pride when I looked at Starlight as she turned into what she is now. On the other hand, I felt guilty at turning the former unicorn student into a Gear. Reaching down I pulled out the snub pistol on my side and offered it to her, "Don't know what may be lurking around, I rather not chance it." Taking it from her Starlight tested it in her hand, "You think anything might be around?" "Intel we get you some decent weapons that aren't rusted to all hell from the elements, I rather you not chance it... Come on, the labs aren't far from the dorms, and we can go through the classrooms to get down there." I began moving the wardrobe out the doors way into the hall. When that was done something in the wardrobe caught her eye making her stop dead in her tracks. The action didn't go unknownst by her peer. "Abby? Abby, what is it?" Starlight asked, but have I ignored her. I reached up to the door of the wardrobe and grabbed a photo that was stuck to the wall. On it was a younger version of herself and an older copper red hair women with green eyes and brown freckles. I didn't know how long I stared at it but long enough for Starlight to come around and peek at it, "Who was she?" "My mother... I hadn't had a picture of her when I escaped the academy. I could only recall her in memory before..." Holding my emotions deep; I didn't want Starlight to see me like this. But it was winning as I was starting to shake in place. An Action that Starlight saw. I suddenly found herself in a hug with my armored companion. Being hugged by someone in armor while wearing armor was somewhat of a new experience. Sure I have been grabbed before by other Gears to be pulled out of the way of something. But a gentle hug like this was new to me. "Thanks, Star," I said. Feeling a little better. "Anytime... If you feel like talking about it, I'm here for you; you know that right?" She assured her. Putting the photo in her chest pocket, I took off my helmet and looked at her friend. Showing off my possibly reddened eyes, like she was about to cry. Starlight did the same with her helmet and showed off a supportive smile. I just grabbed Starlight by her collar and brought her in close to and locked lips with her. Starlight gave a squeaked in surprise at my action but quickly relaxed at what was happening and pushed in returning the kiss. After a minute of kissing, we broke off to come up for air. I looked at Starlight and gave her a warm smile. "Despite what little time we've known each other, I'm thankful that you're here with me Starlight." Sporting a red blush, Starlight smiled back, "A-as do I since meeting you I felt more confident in myself. Just like in the changeling hive, and at the ceremony." "If you didn't show up I would have gone to Twilight and stayed her student forever long that may have been. I couldn't be happier for the friendship you've given me... And the opportunity for something more." She answered as they held each other hands. Breaking contact, I unslung my Lancer, "Come one let's get out of here if we continue this line of thinking we won't move on from this spot." "Doesn't sound so bad to me," Starlight teased. "Yes and no, we would be here longer then the storm would be, and I don't want to be caught with both our pants down if anything does happen to walk in," I answered as she before putting her helmet back on. "And I rather we do in a semi-safe place where we won't have to worry enemies coming through the door while we're fucking on my old bed." Starlight blushed harder before putting her new helmet back on and drawing her pistol and followed her example before she got behind me. Putting my Lancer out front, I checked both directions of the hallway for any surprises that might have found their way in, "Alright let's go; the labs are down past the classrooms on the first floor and down in the sub-basement." Making our way back to the stairway we start their descent downwards back to the lobby. Continuing onward we avoided the doors to the courtyard. As long as it was raining razor hail, then I wasn't going anywhere near those doors. The signs of battle were everywhere we went. Craters covered the floors from grenades or boom shot shells. Lots of damage from long-dead fires could be there in some areas. What's worse was the shell casings of that littered the floor. Some of them might have been hers when she was last here. "Well this brings me back," I commented as I looked on at the displays of carnage that we passed. Ignoring the bodies of Locust and human along the way. Seeing a gleam of silver catching her eye, walking over to one of the down Gears, I reached down and grabbed hold of a set of tags that were showing and read them out loud. "Johnson, Rayland .D 770R-909-221P. Ostri." "Did you know him?" Starlight asked. "No... But he died after shooting all his ammo at the enemy. Rest well, Johnson." I said before pocketing the tags and moved on. Rounding around past the last of the destroyed classrooms, I recognized our destination. "We're here." I said as I pushed open the metal door to a lightly lit hallway. "Well would you look at that, the lights still work. That means the lab's power grid is still up. That's COG tech at its finest." Walking in, they made a turn around the first corner, passed by some more skeletal remains of my former comrades and down the flight of stairs. In the end before putting a hand on the door, "Now, let us see what goodies are down here." Author's Note There BACK Re-done. No more editing on this chapter. THATS IT! I apologize for any spelling and grammar mishaps From now on, this story is going to be switching POV's from Abby and Starlight for more on how Starlight will feel about human world of Sera. Also I'll be linking in things and places from the GOW word down in the authors notes. If you have a request on places and events please comment down below. Halvo Bay Halvo Bay Military Academy Onyx Guard Bolo Grenade Hot LabsSera, Halvo Bay Onyx Guard Academy Abby's POV After seeing all the destruction and damage, the school endured from the attack and the test of time from of the elements outside. I wasn't expecting too much from the labs below the school. Like more shell casings covering the floors, a body here of an old college or Locust there. Maybe a crater or two somewhere around for the extra damage. What I found was something I was not expecting. "What the hell..." I said as she looked around. Wondering what was I looking at, I also wasn't alone in her thinking pattern as Starlight voiced the same thing. "Um... Shouldn't this place be like you know, wrecked?" Everything was undoubtedly not wrecked, everything was clean. Not pristine clean like the day this place was built but clean nonetheless. The walls were still littered with bullet holes from varies weapons. But the guns themselves and their owners were nowhere to be found. The hallway that the girls entered expected it to be destroyed like everything else was. Instead, it was clean. It unnerved me. Something was up, and I didn't like. "Someone is here," I said. "There isn't a speck of loose dirt here, and unlike the hallway we passed back there, this place has all its working lights. Someone is here taking care of certain parts of the academy while leaving the rest out to decay, and I like to find out who?" Proceeding down to the labs, I had to think back to the first lab that was behind the door. "If memory serves, behind this door is the robotics lab. Let's see who, or what is inside..." Pressing the 'open' button for the door, it slid up into the ceiling, revealing the lab. Like the hallway, it to was crisp and clean looking. Minus the bullet holes and the grenade crater on the corner, it was clean. "No bodies, no blood splatters, little traces of battle? It's like somepony just cleaned the place up after all the fighting. Well, most of it?" Starlight said as she looked around the room before looking closer at the crater. I was about to call off this scavenge and return upstairs to my old room when something catches my ear. Turning to the source, it came from up the steps. Towards the schools firing range maybe or one of the other labs? Whichever one, we were going to find out, "Star, get behind me and ready your weapon." I said as we went up the steps. Passing through a massive door, we head down the hall to a three-way intersection. The noise that she had been hearing came from beyond the door ahead of them. Looking back at Starlight, she readies her weapon to show she got my back. Reaching out, I opened the door and swept the room. The room turned out to be the school's garage. I had maybe been inside only once or twice to get a teacher back in her school days. I never really been in here to look around. Inside had to be the shiniest Armadillo APC I'd ever seen. The six-wheeled armored trucks I've seen before were usually well used and covered in mud while this one looked like it was in mint condition. "Well, who's ever here. I hope they don't mind if we use their Truck." Starlight POV I couldn't stop staring the strange six-wheeled armored carriage. The thing was bigger than the four-wheeled armored wagons that were parked outside. The humans of this world were truly remarkable in their feats of engineering. In almost two hours of being in Abby's world, I had witnessed many kinds of technology that could advance pony kind by decades. Now there's this. "What is that, Abby?" I asked with wonder. "That's an armored personnel carrier, Starlight or APC for short," Abby said. "Specifically, an Armadillo APC. And she's beautiful." I didn't know what to think about the six-wheeled beast. It was big, almost twice my height, covered in thick plates of armor on all sides that would give any awhile to penetrate through There was also gun turrets on its right and left sides that were bigger than Abby's Lancer. "Um, could we use it?" "Oh yeah. If the thing runs and has fuel, then it can get us to where we need to go." I was about to reply back but stopped when we heard a strange sound. Not knowing what it could, I raised the snub pistol I received from Abby earlier and pointed it in the direction of where the noise came from. There floating above the floor was an oddly shaped ball, There was little to describe it in my opinion, other than the strange blue light coming from its one eye. "A geobot?" "A what?" I asked. "A geobot, they are man-made robots used for geological surveys, some of them can be programmed for using small tools to repair and fix stuff. It looks like we found our culprit in what's been fixing up the labs. I am rather impressed and disturbed it was able to do all this." Abby commented. While I just looked at it in amazement. This little this was doing jobs that a blacksmith and a maid would do, and has been work for who knows how long, extraordinary. Humanity just continues to be more exciting the longer I stay in this new world, and it hasn't even finished on the first day! "Say Abby, do you think I could take this 'geobot,' and send it back to Equestria? I just know Twilight would love nothing more than to study this." "Go ahead, but right now lets-"She was then interrupted by the sound of more 'beeps,' turning to the side. What floated by was another robot, this one was vastly different. It was maybe four times bigger than the geobot and looked more like what I expected from a robot. It hovered in the air using some sort of blue propulsion to keep it in the air. The most notable feature that I saw were its four eyes that looked at Abby and me. It then let out a few more beeps in a rapid sequence that made it sound happy, before flying close to her friend. "Well I'll be, this explains everything.." Abby said with a happy tone in her voice. "A JACK bot. Must have come from the APC I'm guessing." "What is it?" I asked in wonder. Abby turned her head to face me. "This is called a 'Jack-of-all-trades' bot, or 'JACK' bot. These guys are handy and can perform multiple tasks and duties thanks to the simple AI that runs it. It must have been working that geobot to repair and restore everything around it." Abby explained before turning back to the bot, "The COG use to issue these guys to a lot of Gears. But due to shortages in recourses, they have been fewer and fewer as the years went by. Only being assigned to command teams and Gears on high-risk ops." "But if he was being worked on here before the Academy was attacked, then whoever was working on him must have done a few upgrades to him. So... Bill, what can you do?" Abby questioned the bot while I looked at her with a weird look. "Bill?" "It's painted on his side see," Abby pointed out. Turning my head the name Bill was painted in white letters on the side of its 'head.' I just internally shook my head at the odd name and just went with it. "Ok, so what can you do Bill?" I asked the floating robot. 'Bill' made a few quick beeps before its sides opened up and a pair of arms dropped out. One looked like a blowtorch while the other had a two-finger claw with two smaller fingers on each finger. "Alright, a standard grabbing claw and with a cutting torch, that's always useful for getting through doors and gates. Always useful." The arm's retracted in its small body and then came back out with a different set of limbs. On one held a small knife while the other had a sharp pincer. Like the kind, a doctor would use in surgery. "Oh, I didn't see that coming," Abby said in surprise. "What?" Starlight questions. "There's some sort of rotating mechanism that looks like it can cycle through sets of arms for different tools. That's extra handy, literally." Abby examined and laughed a little at her joke before looking at the new set of instruments, Bill showed. "That would be useful, a medical kit. That will help if either of us gets shot." Abby explained. "It's programming must include some basic first aid functions." Bill put its arms up back into its body and again out with yet another set, this looked like it was holding a pair of cylinders. "A universal hacking module and repair welder. So you have everything for front mechanized warfare. Well, that's good for me. Do you have a long-range communications uplink too?" Abby asked. Bill shook its head no with a few negative beeps. "Damn. Well, it was worth a shot." "So we can't contact the COG?" "Yep, but these com units we have only have a range of over five hundred miles. And the broadcast range of the nearest active com's array is not for another fifty miles. But it's been inactive for awhile luckily for us this truck could get us there." I watched as Abby took Bill to inspect their mode of transportation. I didn't know how such a massive thing like this move on its own without magic. Such things were impossible back in Equestria. Since I wasn't there anymore, I couldn't wait to start traveling and learn more. "Let's get a quick look around for supplies and check on those doors. Would be a shame if we got this truck but can't go anywhere in it due to some door." Abby said. I nodded in agreement and started to look around, wondering what else was around. Everything was arranged in orderly rows. Screwdrivers, wrenches and all sorts of tools laid on the workbenches along the wall. Spools of wire and rubber hoses hung coiled up on hooks on iron hooks over them. "Find anything useful?" I heard her friend ask. "Nothing but tools over here, how about you?" "Same over here... With some progress, Ha," Abby said excitedly. Looking over at the Onyx glad Gear Abby held up a pistol in her hand. This one was different than the snub pistol that she had in her hand, "A Boltok, how this got in here I've got no clue now do I care. This baby is coming with me," Abby said before the cylinder in its middle opened up, "And look, it's still loaded, sweet." She then holstered the new pistol in the empty gun holster on Abby's leg. "Is that gun different from the one you gave me?" "Oh yeah, big difference. Different bullet, different ammo capacity and, unlike the snub that was made by the COG and humans. The Boltok pistol was manufactured by the Locust." Abby told her. I was slightly taken back by that last piece of info. "Why are you using such a weapon that was made for killing your own people?!" "It's got better acracy and power to it then the snub, Starlight. Nowadays a lot of Gears prefer to use these for protection due to its immense stopping power its got to it." Abby lectured. Those reasons were good points to make a note of; it would differently be useful for stopping an opponent quickly. I put it down on her mental list of things to get when I find one for herself later. Going down the sets of workbenches I found the unmistakable look of a Lancer on one of them, assembled and showed signs of modification. Hosting my pistol, I picked up the weapon off the table. "Hey, found a Lancer over here." "Good job," Abby said from across the shop. "Bring it over here so I can check it over for you, make sure its working and all." Walking over with the Lancer I handed it over to Abby and began inspecting it. "That's neat. Someone put a bit of love into this baby, some padding in the back for cushioning against the recoil, a tactical light on the side for dark places and the hand grip feels more conferrable while shooting. Excellent find Star," Abby praised the weapon before handing it back to me. "Let's find some ammo for this baby, and you'll be ready to fight." "You don't want it?" Abby shook her head, "Finder's keepers Star, you found it you keep it." I followed Abby to a nearby workbench and began disassembling it. I watched with interest as my friend strip the custom Lancer down to spear parts into sections. Abby then started to bring each section up to eye level and insect for any damaged parts before putting them back down. She did this with each piece that was on the table. Then reassembled the weapon and flipped the switch that activated the chainsaw bayonet. I watched Abby rev-up the chainsaw a bit before she handed it back to me. "There you are, one perfectly functioning Lancer ready for service. Don't you lose it now." Abby gave it to me for which I let it hung in my hand loosely. A little more scavenging later we found some ammo for my new Lancer and began to fill our pouches with it. Abby also found herself a new Lancer to strip and replace the parts that were still covered in sap from the timber wolfs. With her new Lancer bayonet firing up like it was brand new. I could see the satisfaction that beamed off of Abby. With the help of their new found helper, Bill led the pair over to the Armadillo and opened the front hatch to them. "Bill, start up the Armadillo and prep the gun turrets, Starlight, get in and pick a seat. I'll go and try to figure out how to get the workshops doors open." Following her friend's instructions, I picked the Armadillos left gun turret and sat in its gun seat. I then spotted what looked like a booklet on the side. Picking it up, I saw that it was an Armadillos manual. Opening up the manual I began to flip through the pages. Reading over the index, I saw that it had information on everything about the truck. Flipping the pages to the section that had information on the gun turrets. Figuring if I may want to know how to use them if necessary. Looking at the diagrams and the instructions. I then focused my attention on the heads up display and joystick. Finding the 'on' button, the screen illuminated to reveal the outside. my eyes widen in wonder at the COG tech in front of me. Looking at the screen, I noticed a few things right away about it. In the middle, there spotted a big X. From the manual that she read, it must be the Targeting radical. So whatever the gun shoots that's where it was going. On the top right of the screen held a number, eight hundred, that showed how much ammo that the gun I was operating held. On the top left, held a much smaller number that held an 'm' at the end, meaning distance. Grabbing hold of the joystick I pulled back to see about moving the turret upwards. The gun did just that, thou it didn't go straight up, it did go at a high angle. When I turned the gun to the side. I made a surprised 'eep' that her seat moved with the weapon. I was about to continue exploring more on what the turret when the unmistakable sound of gunfire reached my ears. It didn't sound like weapons that Abby demonstrated before; this one sounded rougher then Abby's Lancer. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of her friends Lancer going off. I was about to go out and help when said Onyx guard friend jumped through the open hatch. "Star, strap in and hold tight!" Abby ordered as she reached the driver's seat. "Whats going on out there, who are shooting at us?!" I asked as before flinching as bullets ricocheted off the Armadillos armor plates. "Locust patrol, a big one and they were right outside!" "How many?" "Too many to fight ourselves, strap in and hold tight. This is going to be ugly!" Abby had said before stepping on something down on something that was on the floor, making me fall back as g-forces pushed me back into her seat at the gun turret. I was about to get my first taste of real combat against humanities greatest enemy. Author's Note Here are some links to help those who don't know what some of the items in the story. Armadillo JACK JACK (model) Geobot Highway trobleOnyx Guard Academy Halvo Bay, Sera Abby's POV ... A few moments earlier... I had just left Starlight and the 'JACK' bot called 'Bill' in the Armadillo to open the workshops main doors. I couldn't believe the luck of scored a working JACK. They had been starting to become very few within the COG after the first year of the war. Mainly reserved for the commando teams that go on high risked missions or higher ranked squads that like fighting on the front lines. So having one for themselves like this with a bot that has multiple functions for multiple situations is just plain awesome. Sure the lack of the long-range comms antenna that all the other JACKs have is a little letdown. But something like that could be installed when they reach Jacinto. Walking to the side of the door that held the doors switch, I hit it to get them open. Nothing happened, "Shit, power must be out." Following the power cable that's connected to the switch. Led to what I was looking for in the form of a small running generator. Taking a moment, I looked it over and saw that the plug that led to the door controls was loose and not in all the way. Pulling out the plug, I angled it correctly before placing it back in. "Alright, let's try those controls again." Backtracking to the door once more, I reached out and pressed the button to open the door again. The door squeaks from the rust but opens to the outside. Taking a few steps out, I instantly regretted opening it. For right there in front of me stood a Locust Drone that was looking right back at her. My expression from seeing the Drone must have told me that it too was surprised to see me just I was shocked to see it. Acting first, I let the years of instinct take over, activating the chainsaw on my Lancer. I swung it over and down on the Drone's collar resulting in a brutal display of rippling teeth meeting solid muscle. The Lancer did its job as it shredded the screaming Locust to pieces. Before I could celebrate my first grub kill in months, a bullet grazed my helmet to the point that her head to jerk back at the force. Looking back outside was a bunch of other drones huddling under varies overhangs, protecting themselves from the razor hail. 'But that won't hold them back forever. We need to get out of here,' I thought quickly. Taking cover by the door, more Locust fire peppered the wall I hid behind. Looking back at the Armadillo that we found I knew what had to come next. Jumping through the open hatch, I saw Starlight in the left side turret and Bill floating towards the cubby for 'JACK's.' "Star, strap in and hold tight!" I ordered before jumping into the driver's seat. I looked around and found the ramp controls and the ignition. Starlight leaned over to look at me, "Whats going on out there, whats shooting at us?!" Starlight pleaded, her voice slightly muffled to her from the Locust rounds hitting the Armadillo. "Locust patrol, a big one and they were right outside!" "How many?" "Too many to fight ourselves, strap in and hold tight. It's about to be ugly!" I announced before flipping the control switch to close the open hatch. I then slammed down on the accelerator, giving the ABC a bunch of gas. The Armadillo drifted a little before it's tier's gripped the ground sending us off. Turning the wheel, the APC rushed out the workshop and into the elements. The Locust could only continue to fire their weapons at them as they ride around in the open. "What do I do?!" Yelled a panicking Starlight. "You're in a gun turret, shoot back?!" That got Starlight to look at where she was at, but I was paying more attention to the courtyard they were now. From my observation, there were only drones in this group. No Boomers that I could point out with all the hail of gunfire that was coming at us. The sound of a muffled machine-gun started going off, 'Guess Starlight didn't need help how to fire the weapons on that thing.' I thought with a small smile on my face as I looked for a way out and saw a few Drones going down. After making another turn, I saw the remains of an Iron gate leading to another bridge that existed to the city. "Hang on!" I said. I drove the Armadillo forward, smacking into an overhang that sheltered a trio of Drones. The sound of the Armadillos tires made a deep squishing sound as they made their 'intentions' to the Drones. A few bumps later we crashed through the iron gate and made our way towards the city that use to be Halvo Bay. I had to drive at a below average speed to see through the hail storm and avoid the abandon cars that littered the road. Even without taking my eyes off the road the damage to the once proud city broke my heart. Halvo Bay use to be the home to many, and almost a second home to her for a time. Now the former military themed town was a crumbling ruin, with all its former glory. The sound of heavy breathing made its way to her ears over the roar of a running engine. "How are you doing over there Star, you still with me?" I asked her friend. "I-I don't know?" Starlight replied with a shaky breath. "T-that just happen so fast I," "Take a breather Star; it's just nerves. You've seen me fight the Changelings back in Equestria, but you never had to lift your hoof in the fighting. Now that you're in the middle of it, your body is trying to make up for the lack of reaction with adrenalin. Now take a deep breath, count to five, exhale count to five. Repeat if necessary." I told the former pony. "I'm sorry your first engagement with the Locust turned out to be such a surprise like that. I was kinda hoping it to be us doing an ambush on a small Locust patrol. Not... Whatever we just did." "It's alright, Abby" Starlight replied. "So, those were Locust? They don't seem so terrible; you even drove over a few of them, and I got to shoot at one of them." "Did you kill it?" Abby asked. "Yes, maybe. They fell back when I shot it," Starlight replied. "Well, if he wasn't moving afterward then congrats on getting your cherry popped then. If not then theirs always next time." I said trying to lighten the mood with a bit. I didn't hear a reply instantly but could imagine the blushing face her friend having. To avoid any further embarrassment, I decided a change of topic was in order. "So did Twilight send any messages through the magic book thingy yet?" I asked. Driving around a massive tanker wreck and some destroyed Centar tanks she turned onto the exit ramp leading West, A sign on the highway read what she wanted to see. 'Endeavor Shipyards 15 miles.' I internally sighed in relief at that, with luck maybe we could find a working boat to take back to Jacinto instead of having to drive over seven hundred miles around mountains and deserts to reach the outskirts of Jacinto Plateau. Thinking back, the old shipyards should also had one of the COG's comms array for this regen. If the comms array is still functional and just turned off, we could find it and just call Jacinto command for an EVAC chopper, then that would be even better! Rather be up in a KR than some stupid boat anyway. "No, Twilight hasn't written anything yet. You would think that she would, with how much that mare likes to check up on ponies." Starlight replied. "But it's part of her charm I guess, might as well write her just to ease both her mind and mine. "That probably be best. Tell Twilight and them I said hi, will you?" "Sure." "Thanks, but be quick on the letter. I'm going to need your eyes up, on our surroundings. We are still in unknown territory right now, and we don't know what will pop up." I told her. "Alright, it will just be quick." Starlight assured. Focusing on the road ahead my eyes widen at the site in front of me and instantly hit the breaks of the Armadillo and stared out in front with a neutral expression at the new situation we were about to walk into. Starlights voice soon reached me in a questioning voice. "Why are we stopping, we can't already be there already?" "Nope," I replied. "But we got company," I told her, not taking her eyes off the pair of humans that stood in front of her not fifty feet in front of me. "Put away the book, for now, Star, you can contact home later," I said as I looked closely at the two soldiers in front of her. Both were giving me mixed reactions. The one on the right looked the like the older of the two. He was very intimidating looking, with his big built and heavily scared look he had. If that wasn't enough, then the old set of UIR combat armor that he wore sure did. Not much like what Gears wore, it was heavily armored from the bottom up. He didn't wear a helmet, so I got a good look at his face. No doubt he was old judging from the silver hair he had for the buzz cut he had. He even carried a Markeza in his arms. Haven't seen many of those over the years, even from the Gorasni's that formed the last of the UIR remnants that the COG rescued didn't have many of them. Choosing to use the surplus equipment that the COG gives them rather than be short-handed. The other sparked a more significant reaction out of me. The other stood a woman in a similar set of armor to my own. She was just a little Shorter than her male counterpart by a few inches. Her most noteworthy feature is the dark copper red hair that showed on her head. It was familiar to me but couldn't place it. She was also wearing the summer set armor version of her armor, and that it was Onyx too was also not comforting in the least. Her arms were crossed, that showed authority over everything, meaning she was mostly leading this fiasco. Looking at the location they were in wasn't very desirable for them. They were right under an overpass on the highway. Looking around I spotted multiple five-story building not far away that could be a perfect setup for a sniper's nest. Also, wouldn't pass up the chance for not throwing a few grenades over down on us on the overpass either. "We are about to be ambushed Star, and this is a perfect place as any to do so," I replied. "Judging by their stance, they're going to demand something of us. So be ready to fight at a moment's notice just in case." "But they're human? Like you, don't they know that we aren't their enemy?" Starlight asked. "Their Stranded, Starlight," I replied. Watching the armored pair now walking towards them. "They fly under no country's flag and only looking to survive by any means necessary. That's including killing other humans that cross them. They also don't have much love for the COG since they burned the world, so stay behind me and don't start firing unless they shoot first. Don't want to spook them into doing anything, and don't feel like being put in a needless firefight." I said to my friend. Getting a node from the pony girl as she sat back and readied the assault turret. Turning back to the other two, they stopped around twenty feet or so from them. The scared UIR soldier was the one that spoke first, and spoke up in a clear, commanding voice, "I know you can hear me there, COG soldiers. Exit the vehicle, and we won't blow you up." He then pointed a thumb up to the overpass. Taking a chance, I lucked up and saw what he was referring too. Both to the left and right of where they were parked was a group of soldiers, each having a mortar pointed right at us. My attention was then back to the soldier as he was talking to us again. "We give you ten seconds to comply, or we will be forcefully 'open' your doors to properly talk to you. Ten... Nine." "Abby, what do we do?" Starlight asked sounding panicked. "Eight... Seven." "I'm debating on either just humoring him and risked getting us killed or try out running them mortars they got," I replied back. "Five... four." "Can we?" "We could." "Three..." "Oh fuck it," I said, before pushing the button that unlocked the clams to the main hatch and slowly opened the door. "Might as well meet the locals and make some friends right. I know Twilight would approve,"I said in a joking manner in a vain attempt to lighten the mood. "Also leave your helmet, these kinds of folks like to put a face to the voice that they are talking too." I finished, taking my helmet off and sat it down dark the driver's seat and walked on out. Taking that first step out, I now got a better look at the two armored soldiers in front of her. The UIR guy was the most scared individual than I have ever seen. Haft the guy's face was just one huge scar. To avoid any awkward starting, I just looked at his companion, as if I was saying "This one's on you." Like I saw from a distance, the red was indeed wearing a summer's version of the Onyx Guard armor. It also looked like it had been through the ringer a time or two. Looking up at her face, her blue eyes met mine and saw a sense of shock at her. Seeing her like this, I decided to ask the first, "Well you stopped us, now what are you, SV?" "SV?" The redhead said in confusion. "Stolen Valor," I replied. "It should still mean something. Did you earn that armor or stripped it off the body that did?" I said while giving the scarlet women a glare. From the way the copper red heads reaction from my little insult, it got her pissed. Pissed enough to draw the Retro Lancer off her back and pointed at her while the UIR soldier did the same with a Snub pistol from his holster. Starlight ducked back in the APC and drew her Lancer at the two while I just stood there and stared the pair down. Not breaking eye contact with the redhead's pretty blue eyes that seemed somewhat familiar to her. 'Those eyes, where have I seen those before?' Widening her gaze of the women, I took a more in-depth look at the redhead with breaking eye contact. Aside from additions to the armor the women had to her armor and the old Lancer. Her stance spoke to me about who this woman is. Legs and shoulders at facing her with her Lancer in the ready up position. Standard firing position for all soldiers fluent in necessary marksmen, plus she has the safety off on that old thing. A lot of new boots these days have trouble trying to find what the damn thing looks like so she is a former COG soldier or was trained by one, leaning more to the latter than the former. She also had the 'by the book' vibe going for her, similar to Twilight and her brother Shining. Then something clicked in her mind about the scared UIR guy next to her. Baking eye contact she took another look at the burned man. Then it hit me, "Garron Paduk." The pair was visibly taken back as I assumed to have taken them by surprise. Good, I was getting somewhere now. Now I remembered the pair, the Kilo trial that was conducted by the late Col. Loomis back when Locust first attacked Halvo Bay. 'So many lives lost for that stupid trial.' "From your looks, I right aren't I? I remember you now. I saw the file for the Kilo trial." I said before shaking my head at tibit of stupidity. "The reasons for that trial were stupid, unreasonable and unlawful to the four of you. Not only that but Loomis sacrificed over two companies just to listen to your testimonies." I said before casually walked up to the old man. "I learned that it was kilo that launched the missile that saved our asses over at the airport." "You were one of the soldiers fighting the seeders that were blocking all the coms?" Asked the redhead. Now that she thought about it recognized the AWOL soldier. "Not at first no, me and a bunch of others that had escaped the Academy had only arrived minutes before you launched the lightmass missile, former Cadet Hendrick," I said looking back at the redhead, further surprising her before asking another question. "You escaped the Academies destruction! How?! When we arrived Karn, and his Locust had killed everyone there!" "I and a bunch of others got away along with most of the civilian staff and locals that took shelter got out using the back ends of the school." She replied back. "More would have followed if the hallway didn't collapse separating schools docking area in the river from the Academy." "Being the senior Cadet that was in the group, I led what was left of us and told them to get in the boats that were still docked, using the boats that were there, we got them out while the Locust we're focused on the Academy. Upstream towards the airport that was under attack. We had just gotten there a little under haft an hour before you guys dropped the bomb next to us." I told them as she looked the scared UIR man in the eye. "After I had learned it was your team I made a promise to my self." Paduc was now locking eyes with me, a hit of curiosity was behind them I could tell with no shortage of suspicion. "And what would that promise be COG soldier?" The old man asked. I just bought up an empty hand to the old man and gave him a genuine smile. "To shake the hand of everyone on that team." From the expressions on the pair's faces said it all, they were once again taken back by my forwardness and didn't know how to respond to that. Taking the cue, I continued to what I was going to say next "I had already met up with Baird and Cole sometime ago," As if hearing their friends names, a pair switches had flipped, snapping them out of the shocked stupor. Hendrick was the next one to talk, "They're still alive?" I replied with a nod before answering. "They were still kicking ass the last time I saw the two almost a few months back fighting in the outer western districts of Ephyra." "I knew those two were alive after we left the COG, I didn't know if they were still fighting." Hendrick let out a small breath as if a little weight had now being lifted from her mind. Paduc looked at my still razed hand before raising his own and took it, giving it a tight squeeze and giving it a single shake before letting go. I could tell that the former UIR soldier was not very convinced of my motives. 'Oh well, can 't win them all,' I thought before turning to Hendrik. "Have you met 'The Cole train?' I only know of one other person that could match that guy's hyper attitude," I told them. 'Well pony really, but Pinkie could still beat Cole by a mile in the moral department, but they don't need to know that,' I thought happily, 'That pink ball would do anything for attention if it meant to make everyone put a smile on their face.' My statement gave me a few gruffled sounds that sounded like a suppressed laugh from the Paduk and a few giggles from Handrick. Feeling the tension lifted of the matter, I continued to then shake Hendricks hand before addressing the next problem. "So? What is it that you guys want? Food? Weapons? Well, I'll tell you two now we ain't got much of either. And we just got this thing out of the shop so please don't take it from us." I pleaded, hoping that we wouldn't have to fight against a bunch of hardened Stranded in an up hilled battle with just herself and Starlight. I might have a few scratches out of it, but Starlight? She's still a greenhorn in all of this and not ready for this level of odds. "Well, we haven't seen the COG in these parts for nearly four years, not since we heard about the COG losing Ephyra," Answered Hendrik. "Care to enlighten us on whats been going on?" "I've got no problem; I spare you the details on the small stuff, but I'll tell you what I know from up to a few months ago, granted I've been out of contact with them in that time. Been stuck out here." The deserter pair eyed each other, looking like they were having a silent conversation between each other before Paduk gave a nod of acknowledgment before the couple looked back at them. "Alright, what do you know?" Paduk questioned. "A couple of months ago, I got separated and trapped underground by a locust force. Sometime later I got a garbled transmission about a Lightmass bomb and got taped underground. By some stroke of luck, I got found by some Stranded I guess you can call them that; they were really a bunch of Tribbles I'll tell you. No fooling, they have names like 'Rainbow Dash' and 'Big Macintosh,' Don't believe me, then meet my socially awkward friend, Starlight Glimmer!" I lied then gestured to her friend that from the look of her had been sweating bullets while she had been doing all the talking. "Say hi Star." "Umm, hi?" She replied awkwardly. "We became good friends after a few life-threatening and socially awkward situations. Sence then I've been helping them find a nice secluded place in the to the south in the mountains to hide from the Locust for a time and anyone else that want to do them harm." I explained. Sofia looked satisfied by this, but Paduk didn't, looking closely at the poor girl. He got up close to the girl and eyed her closely, making her sweat bullets. "You should have stayed with them; might have lived a bit longer. I remember back their some reports of a few tribes that ran around Gorasnaya, trying to stay alive. It's good to know there are still around. But why are you here instead of being where you belong?" "Don't bother," I intervened. "I've tried to get her to go around and stay home but, to her, she wanted to see the world and didn't want to lose a friend," I answered with giving Starlight a reassuring smile. "So she's been my trainee for the last few months, getting her prepared for the world as we make our way towards the Jacinto Plateau and back to Jacinto itself. We were on our way to the COG's communication array in the naval shipyard down the road to radio in and see if the COG can send in a Raven to pick us up." "I wouldn't do that. The area around Endeavour has a heavy Locust presence right now," said Sofia. "Several Locust outposts are chained together along the coast that runs along from the old shipyards that continued along the coast to the mountains with a large air force that regularly patrols along the most of the surrounding area. With just the two of you, you wouldn't have gotten close to the shipyards with having a bunch of Revers breathing down your neck. And if that doesn't stop you then the army of drones that are there would. The place is a Locust stronghold now; you're better off with driving inland and make a break towards Lima city then going to Endeavor. Not to include the inclement weather that's been coming off the coast for the coming season," Sofia finished. I just sighed in irritation at the news we were just given. I had hoped that we would only have to deal with a few Locust on the route to and at the shipyard. If there is a substantial Locust present in Endeavor then reaching the comms station with just myself and Starlight was out of the question. Meaning we might have to take the long ride back by doing what the former Onyx guard suggested and headed straight towards Lima city. It was the closest city from where they are now, and going through the mountains was not an option for her with the narrow roads that would be a tight fit for the Armadillo, and she didn't want to have to walk all the way back to the COG. That not including the Locust patrols that were also mentioned. I just sighed again when her hand met her face, "Why can't things be easy for once." Author's Note Love that editing UIR Sofia Hendrik Garron Paduk Letter to Home #1Dear Princess Twilight It's now the second day for me leaving Equestria and coming to Sear. Things are just like what Abigail said. The air here taste like the Everfree forest, and even when we were in the ruined city, it still smelled like we were deep in the woods somewhere. Wild and untamed. She told us that her world didn't have any forms of magic like our's do and with what I have experienced these last two days of being on the road. I've got no doubt about it being untrue from what I see out the windows of the self-propelled armor transport that Abigail calls 'The Armadillo,' we found on the first day of us coming here along with finding me a set of unused armor and a new unique companion oddly named 'Bill.' An artificially created robot that the humans have made to help humanity. This one specifically used to help soldiers in combat, like opening doors and talking to others via radio. Like the com pieces that Abby showed you. Also, Princess, I have had my first encounter with the Stranded and the Locust. From the Stranded, they are a bunch of scavengers that don't want any business with any government and just want to fend for themselves. Abigail even knew a few of them as being former military heroes that did their time before leaving on their own accord to help other survivors that are out there. After all the destruction I've seen, I could not blame them for their decision to do so. As for the Locust, they are nothing like what I imagine them something similar to what changelings are like, how wrong I was their worse. I no matter how much Abby prepared me and trained me. Nothing could make me ready for the amount of force these things could make. She warned me of the dangers that the Locust possessed and just brushed it off. We have been fortunate enough to avoid the Locust these last few days as we make our way to the COG HQ on the 'Jacinto Plateau' as Abigail calls it. I have also been a bit worried about her for the last two days. She's been driving this thing for awhile now. Only to stop at places, she called a 'gas station,' to fill up the Armadillo with fuel for its combustion engine. You should see this thing in action Princess; this thing is about as big as a train engine but can go anywhere without any metal tracks. I already read the manual Abby gave me from cover to cover. So when I get back, we're going to be kind of busy in the lab. Anyway off track from Abby, she's barely said a word about anything unless I ask her something about from what I saw on the road. She just drives on all day till we find someplace to settle down for the night for rest and we take shifts sleeping in the Armodilo's cramp seats in our armor. Abby doesn't want me to take it off and tells me to get used to wearing it at all times, so I am ready to fight at any time. I suspect it must have been when we first exited the portal. The portals entrance ended up sending us to a place where Abigail was not happy to see. It was the Academy Abby said she attended to become an Onyx guard. She did show me around for a bit, seeing the dorms where she slept and the classes and labs where she worked, which was where we attained my armor, weapons and our robot friend came from. Abby said we're almost in communications range of the COG. Soon we'll be around more humans. There I can learn more about what's been going on to help Abigail and humanity win the war against the Locust. So close now. I hope everyone is doing alright back home. I already miss everyone. I plan to return home as a hero with Abigail coming with me. She plans to go back and help us with protecting Equestria, saying that it's a place worth protecting. Also, she wants to retire in our world and help bring new technology's from her world to ours, and move our world forward in a new age of discovery for us. I'll let you and everyone else know more of whats going to happen when I have a moment to myself. Right now it's about the end my shift so I need to wake Abby up so I can get some sleep. Hope to hear from you soon. Your friend Starlight Glimmer Author's Note Just a shot to keep the ball rolling for the story for me, as wall as motivate me into moving this story along before the college semester start for me. Letter from home #1Dear Starlight. I hope you are well cause I can't say you are safe on account of the dangers you're facing with Abigail. Possibly while I am writing this to you, you may be fighting for your life. Which scares me greatly. From what you've described in your letter is most freighting Starlight. I can only speculate what your going through. The Locust, The stranded, and Abigails old school. Tell Abigail I'm sorry about that. I have no idea the portal's exit would send the both of you to a place that was personal to Abigail. I'm glad everything worked out and you got out of their when you both faced the Locust. I worry about you, as does everypony else. But this was your decision, and I hope you return to us in one piece soon. Spike's been holding on to the journal from me, so I don't try and write to you every minute of every day trying to make sure you're alright, ha, ha. Anyway in other news, with you no longer in Ponyville. Trixie moved on, believing there was little reason for her to stick around and has set off to rekindle her on the road magic show. She seemed pretty determined to "do things the right way," as she puts it. She's so different now than the first time I met her a few years ago. Trixie even stopped referring herself in the third person if you can believe that. She even asked for 'help' from 'Discord' of all ponies. I don't even know what to think about that. Just thinking about it makes my fur stand up. For me, I've been trying to stay busy. Princess Celestia has asked me to take charge of studying the "Longshot" rifle Abigail left for us. It's design and functions are so easy to look over, If not done correctly it wouldn't work at all. The position and craftsmen of it is truly remarkable. My brother, Shinning Armor wants me to try and recreate it to use for the non-unicorns in the royal guard. Rainbow wants me to me her one for the Wonderbolts to show off. I almost shot her down when Applejack of all ponies asked me for one as well as well, with her giving a better reason with wanting to defend her farm and family from timber wolves. I've haven't given them any promises yet to their requests right now seance I've just got the basics of what human weaponry is like and haven't come up with any blueprints for anything. But yeah we all miss you and hope you come back from this scary war you went to fight in. No doubt Pinkie has a party planned for the both of you when your return. As for Abigail living in Equestria, wanting to live in peace from a life of war. I'm in full support of the idea of letting her stay in our world, as was Princess Luna. Celestia was hesitant about the notion of her, but Luna talked her around into agreeing. She may have to do a few written tests to gain a full citizenship. But that shouldn't be a problem for her. I'll let you go now, and please write often. I'd like to know more of the adventures you two are having together. In fact, tell Abigail to write in the journal too sometime. We would love to hear how she's doing, being back in her home world in all. As our friends here will do the same for the both of you. It's the least we can do for saving us from Chrysalis. I let you know more of what's been going on later when you have more time to read, instead of fighting. Be smart, Starlight, Abigail. Your friend, Twilight Sparkle Author's Note Getting letters from home while fighting in a war zone is a big moral boost. Just ask any member that's served in a combat environment. Stay tune. The next chapter is almost done before editing so I'll probably have done before the coming weekend. Hopefully See you then Highway rescue Prt,1Western Highway, Sera Starlight's POV "So tell me again why you didn't mention this place to me? I thought you were driving us to Lima city, not this Tollen place." I asked, starting to question if my friend knows where she's going. Not seeing her face but from the sound of her voice, I could tell my friend was a little irritated and slightly jittered. "We were, but when I saw that sign back there for the road that leads to Tollen. I remembered that Tollen gots road leading through the mountains that lead up to Jacinto faster than the road we were just on. By taking this route through Tollen, we could be in Jacinto by this time tomorrow afternoon rather than be driving another three days." "So all of this just came to you when you saw that sign back there?" I asked. "Yes," Abby confirmed. "And you're sure it's the fastest way to the COG?" "I am." "Bill, do you believe that?" I asked our robot companion who stayed in his mobile compartment. His head popped up and nodded in confirmation. "Why are you asking him?" "Just making sure we are not lost, due to your driving." "Is there something wrong with the way I drive?" "Oh no, there isn't, only that you seem to hit every bump in the road." I said with a slight tease. Missing humor part of her voice due to the roar of the engine, "It's not my fault that there's so many of them, besides. The Armodilo's suspension needed a light workout after being in that vehicle bay for so long. And it's not like we have people to spare to fix the roads all the way out here to do so. "Anyway, we should be getting close to Tollens radio broadcasters now, from there it's just us using our com pieces to transmit and bounce off to reach COQ command, won't be long now till we should start seeing Locusts patrols as well so keep an eye out while I talk to them." I heard Abby say over the roar of the Armadillos engine. "You can listen in but don't say anything unless asked too." This was the start of her third-day I have been in Sera. I'd hadn't told Abby, but I could slowly get a sense of dread, anger, and fear the closer they got to the city. Whatever thoughts I'd had of going back home were pushed to the back of my mind. We were too far away from the portal to return and would just make us too much of a target if I left Abby now and walked back into a still unknown world to her. The safest place I could be is by my friend's side and support her for when she needs her. "Let's try radioing in again, I know we should be in comms range by now. Let see if we can raise command." I then watched Abby puts her finger up to her head and pressed down on the transmit on her comm piece and proceeded to speak, "Command, this is Sargent Terrell, call sign BRAVO two-two. Identification code Six-three-six whiskey tango four-four-eight-nine. Are you receiving me?" A pregnant pause was then followed as was only met with static, hope soon soured as an unknown male voice came over mine and Abby comm pieces. "Call sign and identification confirmed," The male voice sounded old rough and reminded me of the royal guard trainers. "Sargent Terrell, where Sam's hell have you been? You've been missing in action for over a month now with your platoon declaring you dead, and without any radio check in's or other signs of communication. Now whats your status and location so we can send a retrieval unit to pick you up. I want to hear from you, why it took you so damn long for you to get back." The old man's voice did not sound very friendly but was most likely in a seat of power. I then heard Abby let out a small laugh before answering back, "It's great to hear your voice again Colonel Hoffman sir. I'll be sure to debrief you once we arrive and you've got a moment." "We? Who's with you, Sargent?" "Made a new friend with some of the old tribes out in the UIR territories on my little adventures colonel, she's a recruit that I've been training myself from out in the boonies. Anyway, we are northbound about to enter Tollen area on the old Skyway. We've been lucky enough to have not encountered any Locust forces on our way here and should be crossing the front lines soon and see the city any moment. Is there any operations going on in the area that I need to know to lend any support or should be made aware of to avoid?" A moment of silence answered her friend before the colonel's voice came back over the com's in heavy static, but the message was clear, "Sargent, Tollen is gone." "... Come again, command? It sounded like you said Tollen was gone, did the town fall, sir?" Abby said into the mike. I took a look outside down the road aways. Up ahead appeared to be a colossal stone dame next to a lake at its base that looked dirty and had had a bunch of homes that sat at the edge of its shores. Something made my eyes blink again as I lean closer to the window, getting a closer look at the water. 'There's a lot of wood and dirt floating around in there for some lake' I thought to myself before spotting something in the water that made my face pale. Turning to my friend I raised my voice to shouted at her. "Stop the Armadillo! Now!" Hearing my shout, the armadillo came to a dead stop in the middle of the road. Grabbing my Lancer, I slammed my hand on the door hatch switch, opening the troop door out front. Ignoring my friend's protest, I ran ahead, there from what I saw made my blood run cold. Reaching the side of the road, I got a better view of what was left of the human town. It was flooded and sunken under its waters. I could only look out in horror at the destruction before us. Stone masoned buildings were slightly peaking at the surface of the water, sharp rigged and broken rocks stabbed upwards along the water line. Wood and other debris floated aimlessly around whatever surfaced. The sky quickly darkened overhead, giving the town a darker feel to it. This was Tollen, and off to the side held towns welcome sigh. In big white bold letters on a faded blue rectangle, she head Abby read aloud. "Tollen, Population fifteen thousand, two hundred seventeen... What the hell happened here? Command this is Bravo two-two, we made it to Tollen. What the hell happened to this place, sir?" "..." "....." "Command, do read me?" "....." "......." The static was all we could hear out of our com pieces as Abby kept trying to raise them. But I didn't care about that, all I wanted now was to know what could have done something so horrible. Back in Equestria, a town of this size being destroyed to avoid the point that looks like this hasn't been recorded since before the unification of the three tribes. The more I looked at the destruction, the more fear that was beginning to fill her, like a rock in the stomach. I wanted to throw up but didn't want to look weak in front of Abby. I felt a hand on my shoulder tore me away from unhealthy thoughts and back to reality. Looking back at the hand's owner, Abby held a serious face on her before she spoke. "Somethings jamming long-range communication, which means we got a big problem here." "What is it?" I asked if things couldn't get any worse Abby looked away and around them and scanned the sky before stopping at the unusually black clouds coming overhead, "Seeders." I raised an eyebrow at that, "Seeders? What the hey are seeders? I don't remember you telling me about those back in Equestria." "I've only seen a few of them in my time in this war. Seeders are some type of giant animal that the Locust breed that shoots out that inking fog-like substance that fills the air." Abby said as she points to the sky towards the mountains. "It also shoots out another kind of creator we call a 'Nemeses,' that act like living bombs for defense. They are also huge and are a real problem for scouting teams that are on missions, messing with communications." Abby summarized. "And for them to be out here this close to Jacinto, that's bad, right?" "Worse, the lines have moved inland closer to the city itself. Like I said we are only a days drive away from the city. While the city itself is heavily fortified by heavy fortifications and mountains, it could only hold out for so long against a siege. Now that Tollen has fallen, and with no running power towards the munition factories that supplied the cities defenses." she told me. I felt confessed in that second part. "Plus, with seeders in the area, we got to watch the skies just as much as the ground. "What are you talking about the munition factories?" Abby just answered me by sticking her finger out in the distance. "Over there past the town, you can see that big wall that's the Tolland Dam. It's a hydroelectric power plant; it uses the water's current from the river and converts it to electrical energy for the nearby towns. From the looks of it, the water has been redirected elsewhere, with the water redirected to somewhere else, theirs no more power running the factory lines. Which means no ammo running to our guns." Looking to where Abby was pointing. I saw the massive wall of gray stone in the distance when they first drove up to the town. Kind of hard to miss. It stretched up to the sky between two mountains making a bridge between them. Among them were four faces that marked along the bridge, some of the nation's rulers maybe, I didn't know. "With the factories out of commission, I don't know how long the COG will last. Heck, it might just be smart just to turn back now and make a run for Equestria..." When Abby finished that last sentence, my mind was in a fury of emotions. I thought that I could help her friend's people and fight this terrible enemy. I had been told it was dangers and what she may have to do. Ignoring all the warnings, I took heart still pressed forward with what I'd thought was right. By using the same determination from when she wanted revenge on her teacher Twilight and her friends for taking her town. I felt that I could help repay her friend by helping defend humanity and defeating the Locust. By now I couldn't stop the doubt and fear that poured into my mind. My mind was jolted back to reality when the sound of the radio crack in her earpiece with a different male's voice coming out. "Hello, iz anyone receiving thiz tranzmizzion? This is MAKO zix actual, You out there?" The voice was indeed a male's voice, and he had a stalliongawd draw to it from the way the radio sounded to Starlight. Looking up at Abby, my friend was already acting with the pronatalism I'd seen her do before. "This BRAVO two-two, whats your status and position MAKO, over?" "About damn time we heard a familiar voice. We thought we were lozing our mindz when we ztarted to hear your tranzmizzion. We're up zhit creek without a paddle right now, and the zituation is getting worse. There's a bunch of Zeederz in the area, and they're zending a bunch of Nemeszez in the air. They are creating a huge radio blackout net izolating the whole valley from the dame outward from the outside world. If we can hear you, then that means that you're inzide the net. Tell me are you able to mount any kind of rezcue to zave our collected lovable azzez? We're held up in Speyer's radio tower. Its location was the only place we could make any lazting defenze." Mako explained over the radio. Having barely studied the facial reactions of humans, I could tell from her friend's face that a bunch of thoughts was going through her head before replying back. "As much as we like to that's a negative MAKO. We were in the same boat as you not long ago and just barely got out ourselves," Abby explaind MAKO. MAKO was silent before answering back. "I zee... That's a damn zhame. Kinda let down our hopez right there." "I'm sorry, there's only two of us out here and with not much in the way of supplies either." Then Abby's eye's then hardened. "What supplies do you have left, and the strength of the Locust presents? We may not be able to do much, but I'll be damned if I'm going to leave you all to die like this without doing something." Abby declared. I suddenly felt pride swell up in my chest from Abby's speech. Like back in the hive. Her confidence in being steadfast against danger and rescuing others. In a way, it reminded me of Abby's cutie mark. An old beat up book with a heart protected by a shield. It made my heart flutter at why she got so close to her friend over the time she spent in Equestria. MAKO's voice snapped me out of my thoughts again, explaining the situation to them. "Zhit, don't know what you can do with just two of you. You'd be better off taking your Zelf and make your way to Jacinto. Then again I can't Ztop you from doing anything even if I wanted to." MAKO said sounding amused. "As I said, we're in the town of Zpeyer, held up in the town'z radio tower. As for the Locuzt, their forcez are just a bunch of dronez and a few boomerz that got us zurrounded. They can't get near us on account of us having made a kill zone just outside using a pair of heavy fixed machine guns. We've been holding them back now for zix days and lost most of my men. My guys are tired, minorish and running on old coffee. And we're almost out of coffee. How zoon can you get to us?" "We are just outside of Tollen. We can be in Speyer area within an hour if you know of a safe route to you? Also, I hate to say this but how many are you? I say this because we only have enough room for six or seven extra people we can squeeze in our Armidilo." She told the man. We didn't hear a reply back after several seconds. "Our little-held garrizon of two hundred and fifty; when we pulled back to the radio tower we were brought down twenty-five, now there'z juzt four of uz left..." I covered my mouth with a gloved hand to stop her self from gasping. They were slowly getting killed by the advancing hoard that surrounded them. Watching one by one of their friends falling in battle, and over the course of several days? If this happened with her losing Twilight, Trixie, and Abby, in the same way, I wouldn't probably break at that point. "We'll come up with an extraction plan for you, give us a few minutes to figure ourselves out." "Hell, you coming out there coming to our rezcue we will be ready for whatever crazy plan you couped up," he replied "Stand by a minute while we figure out something on our end, and for god's sake don't die when we make up one." "Not on my thingz to do, keep us pozted, MAKO out." The transmission then went dead. I was the first to speak, mainly due to wanting to find out kind of plan her friend has up her sleeve, "How are we going to play this like you just said we don't have much in the way of supplies and not really in a place to do much." Abby then looked to her left and started talking to the thin air as if someone was there. "Bill do you have their location?" Then right out of thin air, our third party member the JACK bot Bill appeared. "He can become invisible?!" I yelped in shock. "Yes he can, didn't I tell you about that?" Abby asked, looking a bit confessed. "NO, you did not tell me your robots can cloak like a changeling!" I replied with an angry glare. "Sorry, thought I told you they were used in recon missions." "Yea, you did. Not become like ghosts and disappear whenever they like." I said with a disapproving look. "Oh, anyway moving on from this rather off topic. Bill there location please." Abby asked as she turned away from me and back at the floating robot, slightly irritating me in the process. Bill opened a lower compartment and a glass plate popped forward displaying a bunch of lines and letters along them with a red dot centered in the middle. "Now plot a route from our current position." Bill let out a few beeps and wins as the screen changed slightly to include a blue line along the road. "Mmmm... Alright, looks to be pretty straightforward but I'm concerned about going through these towns. While I'm not all against making a run for it if we run into trouble, it's how much room we're going to have." "How big are these road?" I asked. "Just single-lane roads. It's going to be tight for the Armadillo when we enter the town. There may be a few abandon cars that we can drive around, but once we get into town, there's no guarantee we can get close if the town indeed blocked off." "Is there any way they can get out and meet us someplace where there isn't so much stuff blocking the road?" Abby just looks at you and smiles, "That's a good idea lets ask." She then puts a finger up to her ear, "MAKO, this is BRAVO come in, over." "Thiz iz MAKO, go BRAVO." "Is the roads in your area blocked by any chance. We're trying to see if we can do a snatch and grab on you but not sure what the route in your area is like." "Da. The roadz in our local area are indeed blocked due to our hazty fortificationz againzt the Locuzt; now the grubez have them and are uzing them against uz." "Is there an opening you can exploit to get out of town and onto the towns main roadway? That way we could it be easier for all of us to get out quickly." "Well... now that you mention it there iz an ally way not too far from us that can lead out to the central road that goes'z ztraight through town. But it's got several gun emplacementz that we zet up and if they are ztill usable..." "They would be used against us, brilliant." Abby gowned in announce. "Will just have to hope for the best that they aren't then. You guys better be there because will only have enough time for one shot at this. Otherwise, the Locust will know what we're doing." "Now start punching hole's in their defenses and get out, we're coming at you hot and ready," Abby commanded over the radio before to the armadillo. "Muzic to my ear'z, you heard the lady move like you got a purpoze! " The man yelled over the mike. Taking her finger off her radio, Abby looked at her with a small smile. "Alright rooky let's get moving, don't want to be late for your first mission," Abby said before putting her helmet on. Author's Note Speyer Tollen Dam Thank you all those who has been supporting and following this story sense its beginning and those who recently found this story. For the next chapter I'm going to be doing something a little different for the next chapter in the story. That's right I'm turning this next part of the story be decided by you! The readers. Commit below or message me on which two seens want to happen in the up coming chapter. Seen 1. The girls make it through to the center of town by running over everything in their way, only to face with a triatic horrible sight when they get there and make things complicated on their way out. Seen 2. Our two lady's get stopped when a Bremak blocks their way in (or Out) and have to find another way into (Or out of) town to save the doomed Gears. Which so happens to be a draw bridged that someone will need to stay behind to cover their escape..... Seen 3. The road leading to where they need to pick up the Gears is blocked by abandon cars and cant be passed through by the Armadillo, by can be on foot. Do they risk a messy two women assault on foot? And What horrible price needs to be paid when their leaving? That's for you to decide readers, from the time till this chapter is posted to February 20 I will counting up the votes on witch seen do you want to play out. In the meantime see you all on the web, Highway rescue Prt,2Author's Note This was the longest chapter yet and took a lot of planning to do. I like to thank DarkShadowClaw for submitting his OC of Captain Gavin Nickoli To thank The-Black-Knight for pointing out my major flaw that I have with my writing style. Which is why I'm going to re-due my writings for the better. So yea I've said this before and starting this week I'll be taking all the chapters off my last Gears story. I'll be both Adding and editing it so its less like a third person view and more first person. Oh yea try and find the clue I put to give everyone a hint on where they end up next. Only real GOW fans will figure it out. So yea enjoy, stay tune and I'll see you all over the web Highway rescue Prt,2 Town of Speyer, Sera Starlights POV "Umm, Abby." "Yes, Starlight." "What in the name of Celestia is that?" I politely pointed out. "That my friend is a pile of shit," Abigail answered. Due to the makeshift roadblocks that led to the town where the trapped gears were holed up. The pair had been traveling towards Speyer to rescue a team of Gears that they made contact with only for them to be redirected around the town to avoid Locust patrols around the edges of town, making this stop number three. The drawbridge that leads into town, the way seemed to be clear for the moment, and there was no sign of Locust nearby, except for the only way in was having to drive through piles of eight-foot hight by fourteen-foot long leftovers of a walking monster that remained unseen. "I see," I said. "And what made them?" "Bremaks, pray you never see one. Good thing our helmets filter out smoke AND stink otherwise we would probably say hello to our breakfast from this morning." My friend answered before she walked around to examen the area ahead. "Aw shit, it looks like we're walking from here." "Why?" "This bridge is littered with this shit, look." I looked past the brown pile to dozens more of the disgusting monster feces littering the bridge. "The stuff is too soft for the Amadilo to drive through without getting stuck in this shit," Abby cursed. "Will just have to go ahead on foot and meet with them before things get too much for MAKO." Agreeing with her friend, I took the Lancer off her back and followed my friend around the mounds of crap across the bridge. I walk to the bridge's edge and saw a roaring stream of water flowing underneath. With my curiosity satisfied and with no sign of the Locust, I hear Abby touch her mike to call MAKO again, "MAKO this is BRAVO over." she said. "Go ahead BRAVO." "We're inside the town and just crossed the drawbridge on the northeast side of town. We had to go in on foot due to a bunch of blockages that the Locust put in our way." Yea blockage, that's an excellent way of putting it. I mused. "Plan hasn't changed though; we'll cut a path too you and meet us somewhere in between." "Roger that, looking forward to meeting you face to face BRAVO." "Same here, BRAVO out." Cutting the comm, she turned to me. "Let's go Starlight, stay alert and watch yourself." "Got it." Staying close to Abby, I raised my gun and scanned the buildings we wormed through. All looked like they've seen better days, some more then others depending on if they had a blown out wall or crumbling rooftop. What made the sightseeing worse had been the number of dead bodies that littered the ground. Both Locust and human piled over each other on makeshift barricades. The Locust boodies I could see had been riddled with holes from all the gunfire that the Gears had fired on them. Their weapons left and discarded by there sides. When we climbed through the blown out hole in the COG fortification, my body became stiff as a bored at what laid before me. Blood, blood everywhere on everything. Not only blood but the owners of said blood were all over the place. Severed arms and legs spewed out away from their owners, and some even lost their heads that rolled off somewhere. Their armor that once held the shiny blue cover like the one I am wearing were splashed over in crimson, as blood dried over them. What made it worse, is that there were more dead Gears then Locust on this side of the barricade. "Sweet Celestia," I gasped, as I could not tear my eye's away from what lad before me. A good thing I wasn't alone, as my friend brought me back to reality. "I know, this is why I didn't want you to come to this world. It's full of monstrosities like this, just keep moving Star. Nothing we can do for them now. All we can do now is save those we can and make the ones who did this pay for it. Mourning now will only cost us time, time which MAKO doesn't have." Abby comforted. Shaking my head out of it, I went back on mission, "Right, right save the ones that are still alive, take down the bad guys, then break down when not in a place that has enemies lurking around every corner." I said before raising my weapon up to a nearby alleyway. I heard Abby laugh a little before speaking again. "Now you're getting it." We continue down the ruined street, passing by abandoned cars and dispair buildings. Our progress halted when the road had a collapsed building blocked our path. "We're going to need to find an alternate route. Come on let's check that building there." Abby gestured to the building on the left. It reminded her of some of the apartments that made up the middle-class homes in some of the big cities she had been before. Walking up to the front door Abby jungled the door nob to find the door locked. She then took a step back and kicked it making it fly open and making the building accessible to us. "knock knock," Abbu said jokingly before stepping inside with me following behind her. The inside was just as fabulous as the outside; wallpaper was peeling everywhere, the ceiling was cracked and crumbling. Everything was just dandy. Navigating through the halls while ignoring deteriorating walls and old furniture, they climb a set of stairs to the next floor. There they find the roof partially collapsed revealing the sky above. They quickly navigate the halls to were the sounds of gunfire echoed the air. "That must be Mako; they sound close," Abby said. The fighting got loader when they reached the other side with no problems. Looking out the windows, they witness a firefight escalating in front of them. A team of four gears racing down the street while being pursued by a big Locust force. Drones and Boomers, from the description Abby told her, fired down the road at the retreating humans. "MAKO six actual this is Bravo, is that you I see running down the road?" Abby called out over the radio. Looking down at the fleeing group, I saw that the four gears stopped and slid to any nearby cover and started firing back with what weapons they have. "Thiz iz MAKO, good to hear from you BRAVO, What iz your pozition over?" MAKO called back over the radio. "Were to your eleven o'clock up on the second floor, fall back we'll cover your escape." "Got it, when we're clear will meet up nearby." He said before he cut is radio and joined the others. "Starlight, focus fire on the Boomers. There the biggest threat to them." Abby ordered before sticking her Lancer out out the window releasing several bursts of fire on the Locust, catching a few of them off guard as bullets rained down on them. But the shock was gone after a moment as their guns trained on us. Ducking down from the incoming fire, Starlight watched through her helmet as bullets flew over her and embedded themselves into the wall behind them. "Feel free to join in at any time Starlight," Abby snapped while firing her weapon. Hearing her friend pull her back to the current situation. I lifted my gun and sighted on one of the Boomers before letting loose on them with small bursts of fire. Now She was by no means a marksman with her Lancer. Back before she entered this word, Abby's been teaching me on the fly on how to use ballistic weapons. Teaching her how to clean them, test fire, and when should you use it. Along with a crash course of the necessary tactics and battle drills, and when she got to this world, Abby has been reviewing everything in my new body. So when shed squeezed that trigger, she felt a rush of adrenaline hit her. As if time had slowed I watched as my shots fly at the enemies below. Abigails POV Finally hearing Starlights weapon going off I refocused on the nearest Locust Drone. Seeing the closest one was still charging at the grounded Gears, she needed to be taking care that one fast. Letting a few rounds go off I watched as my shots hit the Drone in multiple locations along its body before going down. I then went to the next Drone, this one a Grenadier taking pot shots with a shotgun. When its head popped up, she introduced it with a few bullets making its head crumple up from the meeting. That went over and over for all the enemies that came out. After the tenth enemy that I took down, I saw MAKO had successfully escaped a few blocks away and was now the center of attention for the Locust. "Starlight, MAKO's clear let's pack up and get out of here!" I ordered. "Don't have to tell me twice!" Starlight replied. They moved back into the inner sections of the apartment building to shelter themselves from the increase gunfire that the Locust was poring over the area they took cover at, and a good thing too, when we ran around the next corner a multitude of explosions that went off behind them. Looking back I knew that this wasn't going to be the last they see of that particular hoard of Locust; with as many that they were holding off back there it was only a matter of time till they meet again. With Starlight right behind me, we continued onwards through the halls till we reached the road they exited earlier, this time on the other side of the collapsed building that we stopped. Sweeping the area for any hostiles, and seeing none in sight. I motioned Starlight to follow me out and made our way in the direction that MAKO went. 'Hopefully, we can catch up to them and get the hell out of this rundown town before they run into any more trouble.' Abby hoped as we moved. As we moved down the street, we came upon a checkpoint with its defenses breached and its defendants slain. "We should be close to MAKO, take a moment to look around for ammo. We both wasted a bunch of it back there." It was true; we didn't have much when they first entered the town, now we had a few mags between Starlight and herself. "Find what you can salvage, guns, grenades, whatever that can find to be useful." Even though she can't see her face under her helmets mask, she could tell the former unicorn wasn't very comfortable with scavenging from the dead. But she nodded in understanding and went to the nearest fallen soldier. I will always feel terrible for doing this, but with how low resources are and how little remained after the Hammer Strikes. Filling up my pouches with ammo to the brim. I also picked up a fallen gnasher shotgun that a grenadier had. Now she was fully armed and ready. She now eight magazines for her Lancer and two dozen shells for the shotgun. Looking over at my companion, I saw that Starlight had her lancer on her back and had a new weapon in her hands. One that she hadn't seen in a while. "Where did you find that?" Starlight looked up and shrugged her shoulders. Whether it was confusion or a simple, 'I don't know' look was her guess. "It was over here by this guy," She said while she gestured to the dead Gear next to her. "I thought it looked interesting, so I picked it up. It also had the same knife like the one you have on your shoulder, is that where you got yours?" Glancing down at her chest, she did have the same knife like the one on the old weapon. "That's right, What you have right there is Mark 1. Retro Lancer. The generation before the one you have on your back. You don't see them too often nowadays." "Why's that? Do they performance issues or something?" "Oh no, they still work great even after all this time. Veteran Gears that served back in the last war continue to use these old Lancers despite the fact that of certain disadvantages it has when fighting Locust." "Like what?" Starlight asked as she looked at her new weapon. "It was made during a time when the COG was fighting another nation, the UIR. Fighting in a more ground and open warfare. So it was great when fighting other humans, but against Locust, the falts became quickly recognized pretty quickly." "What were the falts? It looks like any other deadly weapon out here." Having heard that from my friend I probably walked up to her and smacked her upside the head. Making her shoulders jerked up at the surprised contact. "Starlight Glimmer, as both your combat instructor and your friend I am ashamed to hear you say that. For fuck sake, after all, I told both you and Twilight about gun safety I figure you'd understand the different purpose of each of my weapons I demonstrated to everyone back in Equestria." And what a time that was indeed. -- Ponyville, Equestria one week after the changeling attack Abigails POV "CAWPOW!!!" "OW, my nose!" Looking downrange, she saw that the tin can that she set on the fence was still intact. Not long after the award ceremony for defeating the changelings and killing Chrysalis once and for all. Starlight made the desition to return to her homeworld to fight for her friend's people. And since I couldn't talk her friend out of this, no mattered how many times I tried to persuade the unicorn not to come back with her wouldn't hear any of it. So I took it among herself to at least train her in the ways of modern combat and firearms safety. When word got around for this Twilight brought Spike and her friends out for the weapons demonstration. Rainbow Dash even brought along a few VIB members of a flyers group called the 'Wonder Bolts,' that's part of the ponies military. A captain Spitfire and a lieutenant's Fleetfoot and Soarin. I thought the three of them were ok in her book; Spitfire reminded her of a female Hoffman with the way her voice acted out. Like what a drill sergeant's voice at basic training would sound. After a twenty minute briefing on firearms history and safety. I used my snub pistol on a few cans do demonstrate its effectiveness, followed by the Lancer and Longshot. Having never really seen my weapons in action they were both in awe, and a bit scared at how dangerous my guns can be. The Wonder bolts too were impressed, primarily when I demonstrated the Lancers chainsaw bayonet to saw through wood. I then asked if anyone would like to use any of them. Both Starlight's and Rainbow's hoves went up in an instant, followed by all the Wonder Bolts. With having a limited amount of rounds left after the assault on the changing hive. There was just a single magazine worth of Lancer ammo, two clips of pistol rounds, and a handful of Longshot shots that I was using for this set. Having prepared the string, I used back at the hive for the non-unicorns in the group. I let Spitfire go first and fire three single shots from my Lancer and missed the cans that were set up for her. The Captin was a little surprised by the kick that the weapon gave off after each shot but liked the power that it gave off. I was a little nervous about letting Rainbow Dash use the Lancer next, but to everyone's surprise, she hit one of the cans. Then proceded to gloat over how awesome she is. Then came Starlight, her pupal as it were, using the Longshot. Only with one problem, she held it in magical grip in front of her face. So when the weapon fired, it flew out of her grasp and smacked her in the face. Now Starlight was on her back with her forelegs clutching her face. Holding back on how humerus that was, unlike some members of the audience. Looking down on my little student of warfare I gave her a little smug grin. "Rule one, don't assume all guns are the same. Rule two, don't put the but of the weapon in front of your face unless you want a shinner like the one you'll have tomorrow." Present Abby's POV "My nose still feels sore from that day." said the but hurt ex-unicorn. "To answer your earlier question. The difference's between the two is pretty straightforward. The newer mark 2. Lancer has a chainsaw instead of the bayonet like the mark 1. The reason being that Locust skin is thicker then most creatures have, and it is known to break during battle when put through enough stress. Another difference is the rounds they fire. The older model fires a bullet that's twice the size than newer Lancers." I explained. "Wouldn't that be better in a firefight? Bigger the shots fired at the enemy with a better of a chance to kill them." She asked before she turned the weapon on its side to give it a look over. Nodding in agreement with what I was saying. "It's that reason why traditional Gear's still favored them, each round acts like a sharp hammer hitting them each time. It's handy when fighting bigger targets and does a solid amount of damage to armor. But those rounds come with a few drawbacks by themselves." "The clips hold fewer rounds due to their size, and it gives off a harder recoil. Making close corners combat not very fun or when facing multiple enemies. So are you keeping it?" I asked my friend. "...Yea, I think I will. If at least to help me when I run out of ammo on my other Lancer." She replied before she switched back to the newer one. "Alright your choice then, just make sure you have plenty of ammo for it. You'll run out before you realize it if you're not careful." I said to which she got an affirmative nod. Before another word could be said, I felt a familiar tremor from under her followed by hearing pavement cracking. Looking to where the cracking was coming from, a ring of dust burst out of the ground before the ground collapsed under itself. Leaving behind a while ten-foot hole in the road, when my eyes saw the dust fly up panic and adrenaline filled her senses. "E hole!" I shouted as we readied for action. "Starlight, take cover!" I ordered her friend as the two of them got behind the checkpoints barricade. During this, the first drones came up from the depts. Looking breathly over their cover I spotted three drones emerge from the ground and ready for a fight. All armed with Hammerbursts. Having seen us, they roared off their war cries and begun firing. Hearing the challenge, I rose up and started shooting back with Starlight doing the same. Within seconds of their combined fire shredded the closest drone. Upon doing so, they took cover as the other two drones fired back. Peeking back over she saw that another two drones were about to climb out of the emergence hole. "We got to plug that E hole, or they are just going to keep on coming!" Starlight gets up and fires a few rounds before getting back down and looks in my direction. "How do we do that!?" She shouted over the sound of the gunfire. "Tose a grenade in there. That will seal it." I replied. Looking at their options for her plan she needed to work fast. "Keep them suppressed! I'll flank right to get in close, toss one in and seal it up!" "Alright, got you covered!" Raising back up, Starlight fired her weapon at the nearest drone And receiving multiple bullet holes to the face killing it instantly. Seeing her opening, I vaulted over the barricade and ran along the sidewalk. Jumping from cover to cover it didn't take me long to reach a spot that allowed a secure position for a toss. It also didn't take long for the Locust to realize what I was doing and began focused attention on her. But they were too late as I had armed one of my grenades. Seeing the hole within throwing distance, then saw another Drone about clime out of the hole. I wouldn't give it a chance and let my grenade fly. It bounced once on the pavement before falling into the hole. A moment later an explosion overtook the hole and sealed it up. With the hole now sealed, I began focusing on the remaining Locust. I counted four Drones that were still kicking that needed to go down. The drones became furries that the hole was sealed up and began to pour more fire on the two of them. One Drone got close to her and tried to gun rush me, getting my hand on the Lancer handle I waited till it got close before pulling the handle back preparing to rev up the chainsaw. As the Drone got closer to me, it was still spewing shots at my cover trying to keep her down. Then I'd overheard the distinct click of a gun going empty. Having heard that, I revved up the chainsaw and charged in its direction of my attacker. There only a few feet of distance between herself and the Drone in question in the prosses of reloading. So the gap was quickly crossed as I brought down the Lancer on her foe. The Drone tried to block my attack with its arm but proved fruitless as the Lancer went through its arm effortlessly before carving into its chest. The Drone whimpered in pain before clasping on the ground and drowning in its blood. With the deed done, I turned towards her other aggressors. While there were three Drones left standing it didn't take long for both Starlight and Me to put them down. Starlight would fire bullets forcing them to take cover, and she would flank them and finish them off up close. When the last drone fell back dead, I regrouped with my friend. Walking up to her, I could see Starlights shoulders shake. Probably from being in her first firefight and having participated in an actual combat situation instead of sidelining it. I caught her looking at the dead drone in front of her, her first kill. Looking back and forth between Starlight and the Drone, I hunched down on the drone and did a little work. When I stood back up, I waved for her to come closer. "Come here Star I got something for yea." Having gotten her attention, she walked over to her. I then presented a gift to her. "Why are you giving me that? Don't I have enough weapons on me." I just smiled, even if she cant see me under the mask. "This is a reminder of your first. So you know that you have the choice to take a life or not. I was watching your shots back at the apartments, and you didn't make one kill. That here is proof that you can overcome such obstacles like this and use it to protect others. Because I can guarantee by the time you return to Equestria, your going to have more notches on your belt. Now turn around so I can equip this properly." Starlight did as I instructed and turned her back to me. I now had a proper look at what I was dealing with, on her right thigh held the Snub pistol she gave her to use as a backup weapon from the first day. Not the right side of her back had the Retro Lancer she picked up from the checkpoint. On her left thigh had a grenade pouch with her grenades and her communications book from Equestria. Seeing nowhere else, I strapped Boltok holster and pistol on her belt, angling it so she can access it from her left side. It was somewhat unique too, while most Boltoks had a bronze finish this one didn't and instead had a silver finish. "There, now you're ready to for whatever comes next," I said with a smile. 'THUMP.' My smile vanished. 'THUMP...!' Her eyes widen in fear at the vibrations in the earth. 'THUMP!' Starlight had turned around to look at me in suspense. I couldn't see it, but I knew that fear was showing through the blue-lit eye holes. 'THUMP!' "Raarrr" Turning to where the growl came from my face paled at the monster just a few city blocks behind her. There a thirty-meter tall Bremak stood eyeing the pair of them like they were a tasty snack. "Except maybe that, RUN!" We then went into a dead sprint down the road just as the armored monstrosity gave a bellowing cry. It's twin heavy guns on its arms rain death on us as they ran for our lives. Taking hold of Starlights arm, I pulled her out of the line of fire behind checkpoints barricade. We huddled close as death rained around us. I knew we needed to get out of the open but could not see. Looking out, I couldn't see any decent cover nearby that they can be utilized against the Bremak. I felt hopeless in the situation they were now in, and she had hoped that the two of them would avoid against something like that. If she had a few more Gears with some heavy weapons, then I'll feel better about the situation. As if the heavens above had opened up and answered her prayers, the guns of the Bremak suddenly halted as sounds of explosions filled the air. Looking behind us, I saw the Bremak getting pelted with bombs and gunfire from across the street. It was MAKO; they came back for them! Relief filled her at the sight of them. I then hear one of the Gears call out to us. "Hey, wanna live?! Get the hell off the street!" "Wait for us!" I called back. Before turning my attention to Starlight, "Come on Star we got to move." We broke out of our coverage over to where MAKO was firing from, which turned out to be an old corner store that use to sell everyday consumables. As soon as we were in, the six of us rushed inward into the store and out the back door into a narrow alleyway. The four Gears that found us lead us around the building till we reached an empty factory assembly line area. Starlight and I were breathing heavily from the continued rush of adrenalin that was leaving our bodies. Now that the moment was cooling down, I finally got a look at the Gears we were here in the first place. The man in front of her had no helmet on so I could make out his facial features easily. He was an old gear for sure; his skin was light brown male and his built made pretty tall, his sported black goatee and black braids along his head. There was also his hazel brown eyes and the look that he carried him. The look that every veteran Gear held that showed that he saw too much much in life which confirmed her suspicions. I saw his primary weapon of choice to be a Retro Lancer, on his back carried a gnasher shotgun and his sidearm a boltok pistol. In the years of war, I had been in you can tell a lot of a man just by his looks and weapons. Turning on her heads-up display for the IFF tags, she read out load for she was addressing an officer. "Captain Nikoli, MAKO Actual I presume? Sargent Terrell sixty-six highlanders BRAVO two-two, this is privet Glimmer and bob." I introduced me, my friend and the bot the decloced making everyone jump back for a sec before relaxing.. The man smiled as he looked us, "Da, glad to meet Zargent, privet." He replied in heavy Gorasni accent. "I am Captin Gavin Nickoli of the twenty-first wester coast regiment; I was the second in command here under Major Smith. Thoze with me are all that left." He points to the three men behind him. My HUD picks up all three of there IFF tags. The one on the left was, Privet D. Tompson, he wore first generation blue armor, similar to what I gave Starlight, and carried a Lancer in his hands a Boomshot on his back. The tag in the middle read Sargent J. Rushton. He wore the same armor as the privet, he also carried a Lancer but had a Longshot on his back. He looked to be a little short for a Gear, but since he and I shared the same rank, then he must have done something right to which I gave a nodded gesture of a fellow NCO to which he returned. The last one was a bit of eye candy for me, a tall Privet C. Carmine. He was tallest of the four, about a head and a haft more on Rushton, and wow did he have a gun show. And I wasn't talking about the Lancer in his hands of the Boomshot on his back. But the Two he had for arms, he was wearing summertime armor, which wasn't that odd to me. Seasons could change fast depending on where you get sent. What did interest me was the decal in the center of his chest plate. It was a big gear with the words "Grub Killer," in the middle. One doesn't do that unless he's done something to make himself known for it. But those arms, you crack nuts with just a flex I bet. I wonder what his thighs look like? Maybe he has abs that you can grind meat off of. I was so in-depth of ogling the tall privet that I didn't hear the first words that came from Captin Nickoli. Something about her helmets HUD from the sound of before I started listening again. " - didn't know that there was any Onyx guard still around. I thought you all died off or on zome zecret mission. But thoze or queztionz for another time. One'z best zaved for when we leave thiz infested town." He finished to which I agreed with the usual nod of understanding. "Agreed sir. We parked our ride not to far from here we can be there before the lunch rush if we hurry." She answered. "Zounds like a plan, where you park at?" "It's on the other side of the drawbridge that near here." "Alright then, lead the way, Sargent. We got you-" His speech was interrupted when a sniper shot went off and impacted against Rushton. The Sargent's body jerked back, a spray of blood painted the wall behind him. I cursed under my breath at their misfortune. I, Starlight and Carmine quickly took cover behind assembly line while the Captin and Tompson drag Rushton with them back to an office to the other side of the assembly, Bob just reclocked to avoid being a target. Looking across the factory, I spotted several Locust taking up firing positions along the second story catwalk. Looking right I see a set of stairs leading up, I then motioned for Starlight and Carmine to follow me. "Head upstairs and clear them out," I ordered. The tall Gear took up position in front of me before turning back, "I got this sarge, I've got a bit of pet up aggression that needs some release." He said to me before he took his Boomshoot off his back and fired a shell at a pair of Drones. I watch the Boom shell arc up and impacted head-on on one Drone, turning him into several chunks of burning red meat. The other Drone was pushed up into the air off the catwalk and landing hard on the ground. Maybe the "Grub Killer" has some weight with this guy. Climbing up the stairs, we began to desk hop two of us would shoot at the Drones while the third would go from cover to cover and got closer to the enemy and giving us a better firing position. When I saw the three of us in good positions, I signaled them to lay waste on them. Standing up straight, the three of us engaged against three separate Drones. Mine and Carmine's drones became quickly riddled with bullets while Starlight's Drone retreated out the double doors from which they came in. Keeping my eye on the doorway, I rounded up the two that was with me and headed back down to the ground floor of the assembly line to meet up with the others. Reaching the office that the others had taken shelter in we came upon a grim sight. Tompson was walking away from the scene, Rushton sat against the wall with his head hang low with blood coating his armor. Captin Nickoli was there standing in front of Rushton with a set of COG tags dangling from his hands. Which only meant their company was down to five. From the reactions, I can see from those around me. Nickoli was stoneface, having to live longer than another Gear he commanded. Carmine muscles stiffened up; his hands clenched into fists. If I hadn't spent time in a world of magic for a time, I swear he was just radiating in anger. But I was more worried about Tompson and Starlight. Starlight for her well being and Tompson with the symptoms of the shakes, most likely from PTSD after continues days of fighting. The Captin was first to recover from the moment and turned to address the situation. "We need to move, to many have died under my watch and I'll be damned if I'm going to let them die in vain." His eye's then settled on me," Sargent lead us out." I replied back by giving him a firm salute before answering, "Yes sir." Turing on my heels, I lead everyone out the nearest exit. Looking down the street, I made a note to keep an eye out for that Bermak. Despite its size, that thing could just pop up and mow us down if given a chance. Seeing nothing, for now, we made our way down the street till we reached the blocked road from earlier, showing that we were on the right track. However, before we could make our way around, a high-pitched scream from behind us It was so loud I thought that my ears were about to bleed. Turning to face the advisory, I spot a single wretch on top of a ruined car down the street. It didn't take long for dozens more to suddenly pop up everywhere. Wretches, the lowest form of annoyance us Gear have to face. I certainly didn't miss these guys when I was Equestria. Maybe If I remembered them back then, then I would have stayed in pony land. Maybe become an instructor for the princesses guard. Whip those pony boys into real soldiers instead of just decoration like what the ones I saw in Canterlot. As one, we all pointed our weapons and began to unload on them. With Starlights lack of formal military training, I could quickly see how unprepared she was when facing multiple enemies. She was having trouble deciding which wrench to shoot at as she kept switching between targets and missing. I took a spot next to her to keep them off her and protect the team's flack. Seeing me fighting beside her must have given her some confidence back as her shots were connecting to her targets more often. The others were no pushovers either. Captin Nickoli and Carmine were mowing down enemies with ease with their weapons. Nickoli had switched to his shotgun for the ones that got to close to him while he stood by Tompson and Carmine. Taking down another wretch that hoped up on the car in front of me they were starting to get to close for comfort. When I felt my mag ran dry, I switched to my shotgun instead of reloading. Flicking the safety switch, I blew the next wrenches head off with little sense of satisfaction. Looking past my just kill I can see there was only a few more left. After claiming more two kills, the what seemed like an endless hoard of annoying troubles stopped. Seeing the fighting had slowed to a finished, I fished my pouches for ammo and began reloading my weapons. I then heard call out to everyone if we're alright. "Are you all alright? Soundoff!" "I'm up" I replied. "Ready for more sir," Carmine said eagerly. "I'll live sir," Tompson responded. "I'm good," Starlight replied shakenly. "Alright, we should be close to that bridge, let's move." He ordered. When he finished, a door burst opened and a pair of grenadiers popped out and started shooting at us. Raising my weapons up, I and everyone else opened fire on the duo and turning them into mincemeat before they took five steps out the door. Two against five in the open, not very smart are they. With the two of them down and the open door in front of us, we made our way in the building. We quickly made our way through the halls and rooms till we made it to the back alleyway that hid behind the building. There we caught the interest of a few drones that had taken up residence and engaged them. Taking up position behind some dumpster with Starlight right next to me, we fired at a couple of drones that set themselves up on an emergency fire escape staircase. With them having no cover what so ever. They were quickly taken down. While we were doing this, the others were engaging their set of targets on the ground. When the ones above-taken care of, Starlight and I focused our efforts on the ones on ground level. Our weapons at the mixed we quickly took another two down. When there was just one left it tried to make a break for it down the alleyway behind it. It didn't get far as a bullet entered its leg and it was brought down to a crawl by Carmine. He then walked up to it kicked it's side, making it turn on its back facing him now. He then brought his boot up and smash its head into the pavement as blood and bone stained the ground. "Damn, those muscles aren't just for show are they?" My words must have caught him at just the right time as his back straighten up in surprise as my voice hit home. He quickly looked back behind him and saw that I was watching him. "Not bad on the execution, if you had added a one-liner at the end there then I would be impressed. Oh well, better luck next time." I then quietly walked past him, swaying my hips making sure everyone got an eyeful. "Then you can prove if you are a 'Grub killer.'" Oh god, it's good to be an NCO. Going through the alleyways unhindered by the Locust and around the next set of buildings we eventually made it to the towns water edge. Looking to my right, we were only about a hundred meters or so from the drawbridge, our ticket out of here. "There it is, that what we need to cross." "Good," said Captin Nickoli. "Let's hurry; I don't want to be here any more than necessary at this point." Nothing more was needed to be said as we went down the waterline till we reached a closed up staircase up. The stairs were sealed up by an iron gate with an old rusted chain and lock. I walked up and grabbed the gate and jerked my head over for Carmine unlock it for everyone. Pulling the gate to expose the chain, Carmine wordlessly revved his Lancer up and cut through the chain, allowing us access to the bridge above. Now we were on the bridge looking across the fairway. I could quickly make out the Armadillo as it sat exactly where I parked it. "HUMANS!" The hissing roar let off. I turn around only to face the most damnable sight. Locust Drones and Boomer running right towards us. There were dozens of them! On instinct, I raised my weapon and let out a spray of bullets into the oncoming hoard. It wasn't long before everyone else was joining with me. Our combined fire took down a token of their forces before they started firing back. We all took cover on anything that was near us. Starlight was next to Tompson behind a ruined car, Captin Nickoli jumped behind a concrete barrier in the middle of the street. Carmine and I went behind an overturned box truck. Raising my weapon, I stepped out a bit and started firing my gun at the nearest enemy, taking him down to the ground and making his buddies nearby duck for cover. When the Locust began to target me, I hid back into cover. During so everyone else picked up my slack and started firing. When they started to get shot at, I would pop back up from cover and redirect fire on me. This tactic had the desired effect I like. We were widdling down the enemy as they came but more seem to pop up after we kill a few. "They just keep coming!" Tompson shouted out. "What do we do?!" "Captin Nickoli answered, "Just hold them, we can do this!" Checking my pouches for another magazine for my lancer, I realize I was down to my last two. I then called out my issue"Sir, we're running low on ammo, whats the plan here!" "Just keep firing!" He replied as he fired his Retro Lancer. Looking behind us between the Armadillo and us was a lot of ground to cover in an open space. Even if we started running now, the hoard would just follow them. "Bremak!" Tompson shouted to everyone. Turning to look further down the road, I can see it a few city blocks away. Now there was no way the had the ammo we had on hand would hold that off. "Sir!" I called out getting Nickoli's attention. "Get Tompson and start up the Armadillo, will cover you!" He nodded in understanding before turning his attention to the Privet. "Tompson! Fall back to that Armadillo man its guns and provide covering fire for everyone else." With that said the duo moved across the bridge. With those two on the run, I refocused my effort on a Gatling welding Boomer that was getting to close for comfort for me. Emptying the magazine in it brought it down for me, now I'm down to my last mag. "Last mag, tell me those two are made it to the APC?!" Carmine was the one that answered me. "They are climbing into it now!" "Good! When they start firing fallback!" My senses became disordered by a loud explosion coming from behind us. Looking in the direction of the destination, so did my hopes. The Armadillo was up in flames. And so were our hopes of escaping. "What the fuck happened to the Armadillo?!" Shouted Carmine. "Locust must have gotten to it and set a trap for us!" I replied. "Captin Nickoli and Thompson were inside that thing! Abby, what do we do?!" Starlight shout to me. Looking at Starlight and Carmine, then the ever-growing force of destruction that was approaching us. I could easily see how little the chances were if we stayed where we are. We could try to make a run for it across the bridge and try to lose them somewhere along in the forest. But they would run just run us down a mile or so down the road. We could double back down the waterway but will be boxed in the town with a large enemy force on our heels. With each second that past by our chances of surviving was dwindling. I focused on Carmine shooting another shell from his Boomshot, killing a pair of Drones that got close. Looking over to Starlight, she was looking back at me waiting for me to say something to get us out of here. The presser of it all weighted down it down to me. Whatever decision I could think of could only delay the end outcome,"I don't know..." It was the one sentence I hoped never to say. Before anyone else could be said, our radios turned themselves on, and a new voice reached our collective ears. "This is KR-five four, calling any colation personnel, are you receive me over. I say again; any COG ground units are hearing me over." Hope filled me once more from hearing that call, keying my radio I began taking over the net. "KR- five four this is BRAVO, your timing couldn't be any more perfect. We need an emergency evac; we got a large Locust force coming down on our position. Can you assist?!" A moment later KR- five four responded back. "Roger that BRAVO, Coronal Hoffman sends his regards. Where you want... never mind we see you, coming at you from the northwest now." Turning to the Northwest, I spot a pair of King Ravens flying low and fast. "I see you have a Bremak problem," said KR-five four. "Let's fix that, KR-five six think you can help them with that?" "I reckon I can; you guys better run for it. I'm about to strafe the whole street your on." "Just avoid the bridge and burn everything else! Bring the rain!" "Bringing it!" "Everyone across the bridge NOW!" I shouted. Breaking from cover the three of us put everything we had into running for our lives. With Carmine being the biggest he was ahead of Starlight and me by a few strides. As soon as we got to the middle of the drawbridge, the Locust had chout up and started to occupy the positions we were at; it was then that the King Ravens made themselves known. What I assumed was KR- five six launching missiles and shooting its chain guns. I couldn't see it, but I could certainly feel the explosions going off behind us. While he was doing that, KR-five four hovered at ten meters with its door guns out and laying down cover fire. When we reached the other side of the bridge, the Raven lowered itself down to the ground. "Get on board, now!" I ordered. Carmine was the first to board the transport, followed by pushing Starlight on board with me following in. "Were on board, get us out of here pilot!" "Roger that!" We then began to rise and turn from the ground, giving all of us a good view of the Armadillo that brought Starlight and me pushed across the country in, now a burning tomb for Captin Nickoli and Tompson. Quickly rising in altitude, we sped off the ground and watched the countryside disappear before us as we made our way to the heart of the COG. What happens next was anyones guess. Taking my helmet off, I let down my cherry blond hair down. Looking over to Starlight she did the same and took her helmet off to and let her purple with turquoise stripe hair out for all to see. The look in her eye told me lots of things. But mostly it said to me she was tired which I could relate wholeheartedly. I grabbed her hand and gave her an understanding look. She understood me by leaning up against me and drifted off to sleep. Looking across from me I see Carmine with his head up against the wall, most likely had fallen asleep. I felt sorry for the guy, he just went through hell and became the only survivor. The stress of everything was now building up, and it didn't take long for me to follow everyone's example with sleep. After a quick call to the pilot to let us know when we're near our destination. I fell into a dreamless slumber and hoped for better days ahead. Down we go.Jacinto Plato, Sera Fifty miles outside Ilima City Starlight POV Feeling the light hit my face, I blinked a few times before letting a groaned from uneasy nap I took. Blinking out the blurriness from my eye's, I saw the unmistaken form of our new companion, Carmine sitting across from me. His head, still covered by his helmet, rested up against his seat as the Raven shook steadily as we flew over the land. Abby was doing the same next to me as she had her and my helmets off to the side. Looking around, I took in the marvel of technology that carried them. Flight without levitation or a team of Pegasus pulling is such a amazing achievement. "You look like never ridden Raven before?" The unknown voice snapped me away from my on looking to the another two Gears on board with them. They were both wearing the standard blue combat armor and sat on both sides of Carmine as they had their hands on the heavy machine guns. I looked at the two for a sec then realized one of them had asked me a question. "Oh, umm... Well, no I haven't." "Really? Not even in basic?" The one on her left asked with his head tiled to the side. "I just joined shortly after meeting Abigail here." I replied. "... You met the sergeant here and just joined in?" The other Door Gunner on her right asked. "More like she and her friends rescued me from being buried alive." Replied Abby before I could answer. Looking to my friend I saw she was wide awake. "I was suck underground in the Hollow due to a sudden sinkhole swallowed me. Spent a bit of time running and gunning from Locust patrols till I came across a her tribe." "Tribe?" The Gears and Carmine said at the same time. I looked at the large Gear and saw him looking at us. "Carmine, sorry if we wake you. How are feeling?" I asked him. Worried about the big guy after what happened to him after the events at Speyer. "I'm fine... A little hungry after fighting for that long." He answered. "Will get you something when we get back to Jacinto. Anyway yea, Starlight here from nomad tribe of people that immigrated here during the early days of Pendulum Wars to get away from the UIR." "Your name is Starlight?" The left door gunner Gear asked. "Starlight Glimmer is my full name." I said. Abby continued on her made up explanation to the three about me. "They don't interact with people outside the Tribe vary often so their mostly forgotten with the war and were completely forgotten when the Locust appeared." I nodded along with the lie and added my two bits in. "Most still prefer to use our native language due to how we isolate ourselves from everyone. But those like me that know your language fluently are still needed to make sure we are getting certain things, and because were always on the move and not rooted in place we give less chances for the Locust to pop up under us." "So like the Stranded in a way but you all are more well off then most?" The right Door Gunner said to which I nodded. "Well how about that. Their might be some hope of us after all in all this." "Is it just the two of you that's traveling with us?" I asked. "Na, the rest of Charly nine is over on the other Raven," The right door man said. "Why was you guys out this far? You guys couldn't have gotten out here quick enough if you cam from Jacinto." Abby asked. The Gear nodded in agreement. "Your right Sargent. We were tasked with escorting Drilling Rigs for Operation Hollow Storm." That got some reactions out of both Abby and Carmine. "Wait a sec," Carmine said. "Are you implying that we're striking down at where they live?" The Gear nodded his head. "The operation has already started earlier this morning when we escorted rigs over to Landown to use Grindlifts to get to the Hollow. They were dropping a lot of Gears down there to hit them where they live. Command has been pushing this for a while now, but I'm glad I didn't go down there. I'd rather fight out them out under the sun instead of a dark cave where Wretches don't pop out and eat you." "I get that. Anyway," Abby said before calling into her ear set. "Pilot, what's are ETA to Jacinto?" "Going to have to wait on that, Sargent. We don't have the fuel for Jacinto so were diverting to Ilima City for a resupply and refuel before we can get you to Jacinto HQ." The Pilot respond back on the radio. I watch as Abby sigh before talking in her radio. "Roger that. What's are ETA to our fuel point?" "Were close around ten mikes out," The Pilot answered. "Contact!" Shouted the pilot of KR- five-six. "Reavers coming at our nine 'o'clock Five four!" Abby then took charge of the four of inside, "Open those doors and man those gun's you two!" She ordered she ordered the door gunners. Without answering back, the two opened the Ravens door's exposing us to the rushing open air out side. "Pilot, angle us so we can have a clear shot at them!" Abby ordered. I felt the world shift as I looked out the Raven. Looking over the horizon I spot several dots in the distance. "There! Shoot'um Gears!" The machine gunner along with Carmine fired at the Reavers as they got close. Our Raven weaved as the Revers returned fire. I reached down to but put on my helmet when our weaved to the side to doge an attack. I watched as both mine and Abby's rolled off over the edge. "Crap, Abby our helmets just rolled off!" I said to her. Abby looked over to where our helmets were and saw that they were gone. "Shit," Abby cursed. "I like that helmet damn it!" Our Raven swerved again as it dodged another wave of incoming attacks. I look out see the squid like creature of a Reaver. Pulling out my Snub pistol, I fired at the thing as the door gunner fired off a stream of shots. The flying monstrosity cried in pain before it fell to the earth with a cry along with its screaming riders. "Good job back there, do that to the rest of them!" Our pilot called out to us. "Watch out! Incoming mortars!" The pilot of KR Five-Six called out. The raven swerved around as black objects flew past us. The two door gunner Gears leaned out slightly with their big guns to try shooting them out of the sky. While me, Abby, and Carmine held on for dear life. After what seam like forever a rough explosion happened in the air. "This is KR Five-Six, I'm hit! Rear rotor unresponsive! I ca-" Five-Six signal was suddenly cut off as their chopper must have crashed landed. "This is KR Five-Four, KR Five-six is down! Were going to circle around and what the hell?!" The pilot shouted. We all looked out over Ilima city as suddenly buildings, roads, and whole plazas start to fall into the earth. "What is this?" I hear Abby as I see her face pale at what she was seeing down. "This is exactly what happened at Tollen! Their sinking the damn city!" Carmine shouted. Before anyone could comment more on the situation. Another mortar came flying at us and hitting our Ravens side. The force of the mortars blast wave rattles us before the Raven begins to suddenly twist and descend rapidly. I catch a glimpse of one of the door gunner Gears of Charlie nine falling out of one of the choppers side doors. I felt a hand grab hold of my arm as we fall from the sky. Looking out, I see the sight of building at the edge of steep wall, and realized that we were falling into one of Ilima's sink holes. Over the sound of the chipping rotating blades I can barley hear the call the Pilot was yelling out. This is KR Five-Four! I'm hit, I'm..."Then everything went black. Author's Note Just a short chapter to show everyone I'm still alive and kicking. That's right! I'm not dead New frends.Ilima City, Sera Ilima Sinkhole Abigail's POV I think I should have stayed with the ponies. The first I felt was someone shaking my shoulder. Opening my eyes felt like pushing open a pair of metal shutters. Blinking away the blurriness that occupied my vision, I see the big form of Carmine above me. "Hey there, good see you not dead Sarg." "Carmine? What happened?" I said groggily. "Raven got hit and crashed down into a big sinkhole. Lost the guys from Charly nine with us on the way down and the Pilot died when he was retrieving some stuff from the Raven when it went up. He did throw a green smoke grenade before going through." Carmine summarized. "What about Starlight?" I asked. Getting an arm under me, I didn't feel solid metal but hardwood. Looking around I saw we were in a destroyed building. Over to the side, a fire was consecrated around the crashed Raven we flew in on. Carmine was kneeling by my side when my eyes landed on the other blue armor laying on the ground. Springing into action, I was by Starlight's side in an instant prying to whatever god out there in the hope that Starlight wasn't dead. "Starlight?! You best not be dead, or Twilight is going kill me?!" I watch as Starlight's face scrunches up in irritation before I see her eye's opening as she blinked a few times. "Abby?" "Good to see you're still among the living, Gear. I would hate to tell your family back home of you dying after coming this far," I then grabbed her hand and hoisted Starlight up on her feet. Starlight was shaking like a leaf from the shock of the near-death experience as Carmine, and I led her to the nearest wall. We let her rest against the wall for a moment. Giving her a moment of rest while I get a better view of the situation at hand. Checking my stock, I saw I had my Lancer, the Boltok pistol, and collapsed chain sword with me, but lost my shotgun. Carmine looked like e lost his Boomshot too but still had his Lancer at the ready. While Starlight still had her Retro Lancer, her special Boltok and chain sword, but looked like she lost her other Lancer and Snub pistol. We were still low on Ammo from the recent fighting, but I did see an ammo crate nearby. Walking over and bringing the container over I began to distribute it among the three of us. In the distance, I could hear a firefight getting closer to where it was happening just outside the building. "We got company coming, get in defensive positions around that entrance." I pointed. Carmine went over to the right behind some desk while Starlight and I stood further back in the room behind some pillars. We all waited patiently for the enemy to come and it wasn't till we heard them enter the room. Pinking from behind cover I saw three Gears walking into the room. "Damn we're too late," I heard one of them say. "Actually your right on time," I said from my spot spooking the three of them. It was then I got a better look at our rescue team. One had on the standard blue Gear armor, another I instantly commando Dominic Santiago, That made me glad to see he's still alive and kicking. The last one killed my good mood with a bit of anger and a side order of rage as I looked at the last member of their rescue party. "Marcus Fenix..." When the man in question saw me his shoulders slag a bit. "...Aw shit," He said. "Abigail? You're alive?" Dominic said in surprised to which I nodded back. "Nice to see you too Dominic, "I greeted before turning to face to the direction to the others, "Starlight, Carmine. Come out and welcome our rescue team," I called out. "Clay?" The third guy on Fenix's team said kind of sounding like Carmine for a sec. Carmine looked at the guy for a moment, and I swear his eyes grew when he looked at the other. "Benjamin?" "Clayton, Your alive?!" The Gear, now named Benjamin express as he and up and hugged "Clayton" like they were brothers or something. "When I was told Tollon had been sunk in a giant sinkhole and then flooded I feared you'd died. I'm so glad your alive big brother." Well, that answers that. Before the heart filled reunion could continue, we all hear the roar of a Locust right above us. "Ambush!" Shouted Dom as he razed his Lancer and fired a burst at the balcony above. "Everyone fine cover!" Marcus Shouted before taking behind a pillar. While doing so, Starlight and I hid behind some debris while the brothers hid on the opposite side of the room providing supporting fire on the enemies above. Lifting up my Lancer I provided my own support and was rewarded with a dead drone done. But I quickly ducked back down as the Locust fire was drowned to me forcing me back behind cover. "They're closing in!" The younger Carmine said in a panic as I saw him raze his Longshot before firing at a nearby Drone. "Good shot Ben," The older brother brazed before firing his Lancer at the enemies above. Crouching down behind cover I watch across from me as Dominic trade fire with a pair of Locust Drones and Marcus with a Longshot sniping on a Grenadier. Said Grenadier's head was now nowhere to be seen a second later. She couldn't believe her eye's though. She remembered Marcus's trial, hell she was in the courtroom when it all went down. She had no problem with him abandoning his post to try and save his father, hell she would have done the same if it was her mother. No, what she loathed about him was he took the Laser designator for the "Hammer of Dawn" with him. Leaving the dozens of squads of Gears to face off against an unrelenting hoard of Locust on them. Hell, she and one other Gear from her squad beardly made it out alive along with a few others from other teams. Without the support from the Dawn that Fenix took with him they lost the Capital. "Keep hitting them Delta! Control, this is Delta, we backup ASAP!" Marcus radioed in before he sighted another before firing. "Good to see prison hasn't dulled your aim Fenix!" I jabbed as I stood before squeezing a few bullets at nearby Grub. "Neither has yours after you were declared MIA!" He jabbed back. More Locust soon started to pile in and take up more of the balcony above adding their fire down on us. A few nearly hit Starlight as she was forced down into cover besides me. "There's too many of them!" Dominic said as he fired at the ones that just enter. Taking one of them down. "They just keep coming!" Dom called out. "Then we just keep on killing!" My Carmine said as he and his brother fired at the enemies above. Firing at the enemies above I felt the distinct click of my Lancer going empty, I reloaded and realized I was down to my last clip. "Fenix! You better get me some dame support here quick. We're running low on ammo here!" I saw give off a pissed off scrawl before call out over the coms again. "Mayday, mayday, mayday! This Delta, we're caught off and trapped in the Ilima sinkhole. Any squads in the area, mayday!" The fighting went on for a few more seconds went by after that as bullets flew between our two groups till suddenly an explosion accrued from above killing three drones. Soon more and more of the attacking drones fell making me and the rest of our two teams stop firing to wonder what was happening. That was when I heard shouts and taunts hit my ears. "Oh yeah! Take that all, baby! Yeah! Come get some! Come get some! Yeah, Coles here, baby!" "Marcus, is that?" "It gotta be!" Marcus answered. "Oh boy," I muttered. A roar of a chainsaw bayonet followed by a few more gunshots and another explosion in rapid succession. The dark-skinned thrash ball superstar Cole Train stood for all of us to see with a joyous face while bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Nobody play's this game like me! NOBODY!" Cole proudly proclaimed. "Cole!" Dominic said happily. "Haha, in the flesh, baby!" Cole then raised a finger telling us to hold one for a sec before disappearing. A few moments later the unmistaken sound of a Lancer's chainsaw bayonet roars behind a nearby wall. Said wall soon had a few saw cuts go through it before the wall was kicked down. "Tried to tell you to stay away from that chopper man! Sounds like shit got think for you!" "It did, thanks for the assist, Cole." Marcus greeted as he Cole bumped Lancers. "Where's the rest of your squad?" "Here's my squad.." Cole replied as he pulled out serval COG tags. "Except for Baird and Tanner. We got separated after the drop. Their last message came from nearby." "Sounds like we got a new objective." "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find your friends." Starlight said openly. Catching Coles attention was drawn to the rest of us for the first time. "Well thank you. What's your name girlfriend? Haven't seen you before in the Gears, I'm Cole." Cole greeted in a friendly manner. "Nice to meet you, Cole, I'm Starlight." Starlight greeted back. "Likewise girl, where'd you from?" "Later Cole lets get your friend first before we play twenty questions with my rooky later." I stopped in suppressing Cole. "Abby?!" Cole said in a surprised voice. "You're alive!" Cole quickly pulled me in a hug as he laughs out in joy. "I was told that you bought the farm when your team said you fell in a sinkhole. Should have known better than that! Sorry that the COG gave up on you." "It's fine, Cole. You know as well as I that the COG doesn't have the manpower for rescue operations in the Hollows." I responded with a smile. "Besides, did get to meet some new friends along the way." As I looked at Starlight and Clayton. "But enough for now, Marcus you might want to cancel that Mayday." I said turning everyone's attention to the other NCO. Marcus nodded nod in response before turning on his radio. "Control, this is Delta. Cancel Mayday. We've grouped up with the Abigail along with two survivors of Five fours crash sight and are regrouped with Cole. Baird and Sigma are MIA. We're assisting with the search." He explained as he walked away from us to a JACK bot appeared. "Regrouped?! Is that what you call it when I saved your ass?" Cole complained. The JACK then dropped a small TV monitor and a blond women wearing a gray officers uniform. "Roger that, Delta. We have additional squads moving in to secure Ilima." "Roger, control. We'll keep you posted. Delta out." Marcuse finished as the JACK bot disappeared under its cloak. Once it did, I stepped up to my fellow new NCO. "I noticed that Control didn't say anything about us three so will be following behind you guys. Mostly to watch you." I pointed Marcus. "Me?" He asked in confutation. "Which reminds me." I then as quickly as I could, I surprised him, and I guess everyone else that was behind me with a left hook to Fenix's face knocking the Gear on his rear. "That was from me to you for the idiotic move you pulled back in Ephyra." Dom was by his friends' side and started picking him up. When he looked back at me with those cold eyes of his, I didn't even flinch. "You were hanging on to that one, weren't you? Out of everyone I know, didn't expect you to hold a grudge. When I was the one trying to save my father." He told me just before spitting out a glob of blood. "Oh, you misunderstand Fenix. I would have done the same thing for family." I replied, which caused him and Dom to look at me in confusion. "I was pissed off that you took the damn 'Hammer of Dawn' Laser designator with you instead of passing it off to someone else before going off on your personal mission. Doing that wouldn't cost us the damn battle and losing the damn city along with all the ground, Gears, and equipment we lost. That's what I got against with you. So as of this moment till I'm told otherwise, I'm going to be watching over you till I figure you won't abandon any missions." I can only imagine my little lecture was like a slap to the face the way Marcus and Dom's looks were giving me. Dominic was the first to break from his stupor. "So you're coming with us even if we don't like it?" To which I nodded. "Yep, now we're wasting time lets go find your friends Cole," I said before turning to stun dark man as I walked past everyone out of the building. I then heard Dom sigh before him and everyone else followed behind me. "Welcome to Delta, Abby.." I heard Marcus said with disdain knowing that I outrank him. While also knowing from experience of working together on several ops how stubborn I am. 'This is going to be fun I thought evilly. Author's Note Sorry for the long wait, but now I'm back. Not much hear but I promise more to come later on. Next chapter, firefights, a annoying Gear, and BUGS!!! Back Underground.Ilima City, Sinkhole Starlight's POV Following my friend out of the building, I look around in wonder and horror at the level of destruction the Locust brought to the human city. "Woah... This is... horrible..." I said in as I looked around the crumbling building and streets. "This is exactly what happened in Tollen, only without the river flowing into it afterwards," Clayton responded as we exited the building. "Clay, wasn't Dalton stationed in Tollen?" His brother Ben asked. That question made the big stop in his tracks before he looked over at his younger brother before giving him a nod. "Oh, god... Dalton, no..." Ben said in despair. To which the older brother went over, and the two hugged. The rest of us heard the news and decided to give the two a moment to mourn. "Damn..." Dom broke the silence. "That's rough." "Yeah, and another name that'll go on the roster when this war ends," Fenix grunted. It was then Abby brought back to our current objective. "Cole, do you know where our men at?" "Yeah, their last message came from up that way." He said, pointing past a nearby cemetery to a big open cave. "Towards that tunnel." "Then let's check it out." Marcus then took point with Dominic, Cole, and Abby following behind, leaving me with the brothers. I turn to the two others with me and having to hate myself for having to break their moment. "Come on guys, I hate to do this, but this isn't the kind of place for that. More Locust could be nearby, and we should really keep moving." I said in a respectful tone. "*Sighs...*Stars right Ben. This ain't the moment let's get going and kill some Grubs together and make them pay for what they did to our family!" Clayton said as he readied his Lancer. "I've got your back, brother," Ben replied with his own before the three of us moved in behind Abby and the others as they walled in the Cemetery. A moment passed after we entered before the view of the tunnel was clear to us. Before suddenly, a lough sneer echoed all around us before a flying squid came down from above. "Reaver!" Abby calls out as we all spread out and took cover behind individual gravestones before we all opened fire. Rising my Retro Lancer, I focused my shots the squids face. I felt my aim go slightly off with how big the recoil the Retro gave me compared to its younger brother. But my rounds still entered the big squid as it tried to aim the big cannon on its shoulder at us. I Quickly ducked down as several of its shots exploded against the stone slabs we hid behind. I soon hear it cry out in pain, peeking out from cover I watched as Abby and Cole flanked it from one side while Marcus and Dom flanked it's other and were firing at it in its sides in a cross pattern. I watched in awe at the teamwork they pulled off just before the Reaver gave off one more cry before falling over dead. I gave load "Yes!" at what we just accomplished before more Locust Drones appeared ahead of them across a bridge leading into the tunnel. "We ain't done yet Star keep firing," The older Carmine said he fired at the Locust Drones rushing towards them. I joined him and several others as more drones ran across the wooden bridge, only for them to get cut down before they made to the end. I then heard a crackling sound in the air, it was then I saw new kind of Locust I have yet to see before. It stood taller than the others by a full head and wore different attire then the others. While others wore armor this one wear something like robes and to her opinion a silly headdress. It was also pointing a really unusual pistol at them." "Kantus!" Clayton called out as he and his brother fired at the monster followed by everyone else. In just mere moments the 'Kantus" was now just a pile of meat with holes. "Clear," Abby called out before we all moved across the wooden drawbridge. When I passed by the Kantus, I couldn't help but wince a little bit at the mess but any comments to myself as we entered the massive tunnel. "Damn they dig some big-ass tunnels down here! " Cole said allowed as I couldn't help but agree with. A tunnel of this size seems to be a little overkill for moving around ground troops. "It's the worm," Marcus replied back to Cole. "Huh?" Myself, Abby and Cole replied at the same time. Thankfully Dom quickly explained. 'Some kind of massive worm is making all these tunnels. It's what sinking the cities, too." "You've got to be kidding!" Cole exaggerated. "I wish," Marcuse replied back. "That's some crazy shit boy... But I guess the whole world's gone crazy, right?" "I've heard and seen some crazy stuff before, but this will make it to the top five," Abby said allowed. As we followed, the worm made a tunnel to a one that looked more natural. Up Ahead I spotted what looked like a wall of iron bars overlapping each other in a square grid pattern. "Well, that doesn't look ominous," Clayton joked. When we got close, we saw what looks round giant pod-like things. "Marcus, what are these things?" Dom asked his friend which papers to be on everyone's mind. Upon closer inspection on one of them appeared to be open and the remains of dead Gear leaning out of it. "That's not Baird, is it?!" He said in a panic to which Cole went up to the Gear body and checked it. "Na, it's his jump mate. Rest in peace Tanner. Damn" Cole said respectfully before reaching down and removing Tanners COG tags. "So what they're capturing people now?" Abby asked as she looked at the other. "Seems that way," Dom replied. As we moved on passing by more of the Locusts cages. As me and Cole walked by some of the cages, a voice reached out to us from one of them. "Hey is that Cole?! Cole! Get me out of here man! Can you hear me?!" "Over here!" I called the other others over. "I hear you Baird!" Cole replied back his friend as everyone approached the man's cage. "Then get me the hell out of here!" The man in the cage demanded. Cole waved me over, and together, we took hold of one side and with a little strength, pulled the cage door open. A second later, A Gear wearing the same kind of armor she was wearing stumbled out. He lacked a helmet, so he showed off his spiked blond hair but also wore some kind of welding goggles that covered his forehead. "About time *Cough.* What the hell took you guys so long?" "Your welcome." Marcus deadpan as he handed the former caged Gear a Lancer that was nearby. "What the hell are the Locust doing taking Prisoners?" "They're locking people up in these things, taking them further into the Hollow," Baird answered as he pointed at a tunnel behind us at where they were taken. "They were going to possess me, man! Whatever that means..." Beard finished. "Boy I'll give these bitches some process!" Said an angry Cole. "Come on we need to check this out," Marcus said. "Agreed, let's find where they're taking our people," Abby said to which Baird took notice of who else is with us. "Abby! Holy Shit, your alive?!" "Yeah, I'm getting that a lot lately." Stepping in next to my friend, "It's probably going to keep happening till everyone you know knows you're back." "Ha," Abby said with a small laugh. "Most likely. Anyway, let's move, and keep an eye out for any more prisoners " She directed the others as Marcus took point again while we followed. "I didn't think the Locust took prisoners," Cole commented as he stuck to Baird's side as the two looked behind us as the rear guard. "Guess they do now," Dom said solemnly. His face not betraying any emotion on how he felt of this development. From what Abby educated her back in Equestria, there haven't been any reports of Locust taking prisoners in the last decade. This made her wonder what change them to this? Something like this happening from the get-go doesn't happen with a reason. So that means there is an alternative motive up in the Locust command structure. "I think we're not thinking about this the right way?" I said aloud. I said this as soon as we entered a new chamber with cages as what I said stopped everyone in our group before turning to me with raised eyebrows and confused faces. "What?" Marcus question to what was on everyone's mind. "Sorry... I'm thinking out loud here and probably said that wrong." I said in slight embarrassment. "Its okay girl tells us what you think," Cole said, trying to encourage me. To which Baird scoffed at. "Yeah, let's let the girl that looks like a hippy with the highlights from back Pendulum Wars explain this." He was then head slapped by Clayton as a means to shut up. "Go ahead, Star. Floors yours." Abby said. Taking a quick moment to gather my thoughts, I spoke my mind. "Ok, just bear with me with an open mind, alright... From what we know about the general knowledge we have about the Locust is that they kill any human they come across in the last decade and then move on. Am I wrong so far?" I asked those around me. "Na, your right," Cole answered. "Now they taking prisoners. After years of wholesale slaughter by the Locust to anyone, they've come across. One of two things come to mind on what has happened that can explain this new behavior they are exhibiting." I explained to them. "Ok, I'll bite what do you think the Locust got going on," Baird asked. Allowing me to continue. "Ok, first being they might be a change in leadership," I said, catching some of the groups' attention. Mainly Marcus and Dom from the way of interested they were looking at me. "From what I've seen of the Locust and what I've been told. It's a caste system similar to that of a military, like a private all the way to a general. Someone higher up either died or got replaced with someone else and they put forward a new plan they have for us, and this is it. Capturing people instead of killing them and keeping them for some long-term purpose." "And the other thing?" Ben asked. "This was their plan from the beginning." Those words did not sound so good, judging by the looks on everyone's faces. Before anyone could comment, a loud shriek vibrated off the walls. Turning to the direction of the sound. Large pale legs appeared connected with some metal section that would make better suet on a cargo ship out of Filly in the tunnel ahead of them. Just with creepy little legs on its side to make it look more like a tick, gross. Baird was quick to explain what we were seeing because I was looking scared, just looking at it. "That's them! The beast barges. That's how they're transporting everyone. I believe they are also torturing them in there too." "Star we're going to have to put this chat on hold for now on Locust futures other then us killing them. Marcus, Baird take point! Were boarding that thing and rescuing anyone still alive on board, let's move!" Abby ordered. The two Gears rushed forward with no complaint with the rest of us following behind with raised weapons. Around the next corner, the torture barge docked over to a nearby platform. We soon come across some Drones there and fired back at them, forcing them to duck behind some cages. "Boomer!" Ben called. I watched as everyone took cover behind some other empty cages and quickly joined them. Just in time too as the Boomer fired a Boom shot at our cover. Looking to my right, I saw Dom jerking his head to the up. With that, we both raised from our cover and filled the nearest Drone with holes before dropping back behind cover. Peeking over I watched as Cole rushed forward like he was a hoofball player into the last Drone before pushing his Lancer into its stomach and letting it loose. I then watch as Abby and Marcus shoot at the Boomer killing it with concentrated fire much to Cole's delight. "Haha. You know how the Cole does it baby! The bigger they are, the better the kill!" "'The Cole,' ego much?" I whispered over to Dom. To which he gave an amused laugh. With the defenders dead we quickly boarded the torcher bug. But not before Clayton scooped up the Boomshot from the fallen Boomer that he lost when we crashed. As soon as everyone was on board, the thing started to move. Making both the Carmines cuss out loudly. Then we heard a cranking sound coming from the rear of the ship. I then see a lift coming down from above to which a Boomer Locust with a different gun in its hand. Not knowing what to expect due to inexperience I quickly ducked behind some crates. "Grinder!" Dom called out as everyone else had the same idea and took cover themselves. The thing then let loose a substantial stream of machine gun fire over us. With most of our cover being in the middle of the transport, it made it challenging to shoot back. Soon the firing stopped making everyone get up, bring forth a wave of lead at the big Locust. Turning it into a big hunks of meat in just a few seconds. "Alrighty then. Let's head on up. Marcus, Dom your up first." Abby ordered. Without a word. The two got on the lift and were risen up. Then and an empty lift was lowered back down to which Cole and Baird got on. When they were going up, I noticed Clayton pick up the heavy machinegun the 'Grinder' carried. Soon me and everyone else was up, and I saw the cells inside. At the sight of inside the first cell, I imminently started to gag and dry heave at the smell coming out of it. Inside every square inch of the graded floor was covered in blood. Not wanting to linger here any longer, I rushed up a nearby ramp to get away from that stench. Not realizing where I was going, I almost ran head-on into another Drone. My sudden appearance also must have surprised it too. Acting fast, I swung my Retro at it. The bayonet sliced into the creatures face, making the thing cry out in pain. Running back, I saw Abby, Dom, Marcus, and Cole rush up the ramps I went up and started shooting at the Drones bring them down. "Don't go rushing ahead of your team Rooky! We don't need you dying on us just to add more blood that's under this goddamn thing." Marcus shouted at me. Making me wince at his commanding tone. "Yes, Sargent," I replied. He grunted before moving on without giving me a second look. Abby then was right by my side. "I told you before you weren't going to like what you were going to see in this world. Next time don't run off without anyone with you understand." Abby commanded to which I nodded in agreement. Abby did try to deter me from coming, and now by every minute I'm here the more I wish Twilight hadn't destroyed the time traveling spell I modified to go back in time. I would have slapped myself stupid for not listening to Abby then. "Revers!" Dom's cry of the incoming flying squids drew me out of my thoughts and back into combat. As it was getting more intense by the second as a pair of then appeared flying behind the barge. We all ducked behind cover as the two launched a couple of rockets at us as they passed us by, impacting harmlessly against out cover before they disappeared out of sight. Abby was the first to speak again. "They're gone for now. I see a few of these torcher barges up ahead. Someone find something to move this and get us over to one of them." "Found it," Dom called out as I see him pulling a lever located in the back. The effect was instant as a pig poker above them started prodding the big bug sending us forward in. Clayton pointed out from behind us. "They're coming back!" As more Revers appeared. "Someone get on that Troika! Cut them down!" Abby ordered as she everyone else fired at the incoming Revers. My shots kept missing their marks due to how fast those squids were and how unactual they turned and banked from side to side with ease. I wish I had my magic, My Retro not doing it for me against these guys. I thought before dropping down to reload, I find I was down to my last two magazines. But I won't be any help to anyone if I don't get more ammo soon. It was then the Troika at in back came alive with the big loud mouth operating it. "Oh, it's game time baby! Swatting flies all day long!" A random thought of Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, that one stallion Cheese something and this guy at a party came to mind. And an uncontrolled shiver went down my spine at that thought. No one should ever have to bear witness to such an event. Meanwhile in a random dessert in Equestria. A simple earth pony stallion wearing a brown sombrero and poncho with a rubber chicken riding on his back. When suddenly he received a vibration sense in his left back leg, followed by an itch over the third rib on the right side of his chest and a twitch over just a smug over his freckle past the hair over his eyebrow. "Boneless..." The stallion known as Cheese Sandwich said to his rubber companion in a seriousness tone to which no one has ever heard from the stallion. "I-I feel a feel... the sense the trigger for the party to eclipse all parties. It calls for me." He looked out into the setting sun, a twinkle in his eye of determination. "It bids me to take my place among them." Meanwhile in Ponyville "Look, Twilight. I say this as a friend but wait for Starlight, or Abby contacts us first." Rainbow Dash said to Twilight. "They could be in the middle of a fight for all we know, and they don't need the distraction of you calling them every hour for questions." "But Dash! I need to know that my student is ok! And with all the dangers Abby told us of all the dangers in her world, Starlight still went with her back to that dangers place." Twilight replied back. It had barely been a week since their departure, and already she was worried about her former enemy/student. She was still working up plans, and the handling of the Longshot Abby gave her along with the nonlethal methods that she came up for it to give to Royal guard units that weren't unicorns. But right now her friends Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were trying (For the fifth time this week) to calm the princes down. "Don't worry Twilight, I'm sure Abby and Starlight are beating up all those nasty Grubies and will be back so I can give them a big p-Par-t-y!!" Pinky said before shaking frantically. The other two backings away realizing it was one of the 'doozy's.' When the shaking stopped, no pony spoke as the fur on Pinkie darkened by two shades, her puffy curly hair sharpened into a messy spiked pattern, and a look of pure determination look onward into the sky. "I have been called..." She said in an unusual deep stallion voice that would better suit Big Mack before turning to the other two ponies in the room. "I... must prepare to answer. " Pinkie then walked out the Friendship Castle in a way that reminded the Princess and Wonder Bolt if she was some sort veteran of war. When she was gone, the two were stunned to silence, for neither of them had ever seen this happened to there friend. Twilight then walked over to a nearby wall and bang her head against it while repeating in her head of not questioning Pinkie. Back on Sera "Now everyone put fire on that Troika!" Marcus ordered as he and several of the others from Delta rose from their cover and fired at the single Drone that operating the gun on the other barge. Peeking over my cover the barrage of gunfire hits the Drone in multiple places. With him down the barges soon collided with each other, allowing everyone to board the other barge. Abby then took control of the opportunity. "There! Everyone board and clear the deck. Then search this grubby tub! for survivors." On the other barge, I spotted at least three more Drones shooting back from their cover. "I count three!" I called out to the rest of my team as I let a few shots at them. "Dom put a grenade on them!" Marcus ordered. "On it!" He pulled out a frag grenade, reared back and tossed it over. It bounced off a steel beam before landing behind the enemies cover. The Locust could only cry out in a sharp panic before detonating turning two of them in bloody messes. The third Drone was quickly mowed down with bullets leaving the deck clear of hostiles. "All clear," Clayton called out. Moving in, we secured the room. Marcus went over and pulled down the lever to open the cells. I watched as all the cells open at once letting everyone see inside them. One was occupied. "Tai, is that you?" Marcius said in surprise. Turning to the guy that the Sergeant addressed saw, I couldn't help but gasp in shock. The man that hobbled out the cell was big. Big as the Clayton and with tattoos on his face and shoulder. He was shirtless and dirty as dried blood and grime covered his body. He looked like he stepped out of the worse horrors imaginable. His mane was styled in a similar way I had seen the Zebra of the Everfree, Zecora. But it was his face that spoke volumes. To summarize it all the emotions I can see on Tai's face in one word, broken. "Marcius, we got more Locust on the way!" Dom called out from his position on the ramp. "Tai! Let's go!" Marcius said as he tossed his shotgun over to the man. To which Tai caught it and had a sad look and defeated look on his face. A feeling sprung in me that did not sit well with as I looked at the scared man as Tai eyed the weapon he was given. Pushing that feeling aside I slowly walked up to the man, ignoring any orders that Abby or Marcus were giving the others and softly rested a hand on his shoulder making the man lift his head with and looked at me with wide glossy eyes. It was then I got a good look at Tai's back, which made me want to puke in horror. His whole back side looked like it was raked by dragon claws and there were a few places where Iron rings were pierced under his skin. "What have they done to you?" I whispered in horror. "Star?" Looking behind me, I saw Abby right behind me as she looked between Tai and me. Looking at Tai, she saw rage build upon her friend's face and nodded in understanding. "Clayton!" Abby said, getting everyone's attention. "Stay back and provide support for Star here while she provides escort for Tai. The man isn't a hundred present and is going-" *BANG* The shot cut any further discussion as the body of a broken Gear falls to the floor. "Tai! NO!" Marcuse cry's out as he watches his friend leaves for the next life. I stood in silent shock at Tai's dead body from what I just witness. I've seen death but never had I'd witness someone take their own life, and in such a gruesome fashion. "I told you their breaking people I could hear them screaming from the docks!" Baird said in a fit. "Oh man," I heard Clayton said as he and everyone else now saw what they did to their fellow Gear. "I can't believe that they did that to Tai... he... he services everything. Doesn't he?" The other Carmine spoke in disbelief. "Let's just get the hell out of here..." Marcuse responded with little emotion behind his voice. I watched as he reached and retrieved a set of COG tags from the headless body before walking away. I felt a hand grab me on my shoulder and saw that it was Abby. She had a rag and started wiping off something on my face and hair. Looking at it I saw that it was Tai's blood. Feeling a gut retching feeling, I dubbed over to the side and empty out whatever contents I had in me. Author's Note Sorry about the lack of updates to all you dedicated readers. Hey fun fact that I didn't know about. Calendar of Sera Storm, 37 days Gale, 36 days Hail, 36 days Frost, 31 days Ice, 32 days Thaw, 30 days Rise, 37 days Bloom, 37 Days Bounty, 36 days Harvest, 37 days Heat, 36 days Haze, 37 days Brume, 35 days (So around 457 days total to Eques 360 days) Each month contains 10 day weeks Seasons of Sera Fall, (Brume, Storm, Gale) Winter, (Hail, Frost, Ice) Spring, (Thaw, Rise, Bloom) Summer, (Bounty, Harvest, Heat, Haze) CaptivityIlima City, Sera Ilima Sinkhole Abigail's POV With Clayton's help, we helped Starlight away out of the torturing deck. I patted her on the back to free up her airways. "Keep coughing it out," I advised, "Will find a toothbrush later so you can get the acid out of your mouth." "~Thanks~" Starlight said after her coughing fit. The sound of gunfire reached our ears just then. "More Locust!" Clayton readied his Mulcher. "*Cough* Let's do it!" Starlight said as she readies her Retro Lancer. Regrouping with the others, I spotted a draw plank lowering down with a few Locust trying to board. "Take them down!" Marcius ordered. We all fired our Lancers nailing them as they tried to force their way on board. Four Locust tried running down the ram only to be mowed down with a wall of led. "Grinder!" Clayton warned everyone just as it let lose a substantial stream of machine-gun fire over us. While its fire focused on one side, the other raised and nailed it repeatedly with gunfire. When it down, I waved for Marcius Ben and Dom to advance. "Marcius, take Dom and Ben up and engaged them. Everyone else covering fire!" The three Gears ran up the wooded ram while everyone else fires at the remaining troops. "Area cleared," Marcius sounded off. Soon me and everyone else ran up the ramp and back into the caves. I watched Clayton stop for a moment over the dead Boomer and relieved it of its ammo for his recently acquired Mulcher. We moved on past the dead Locust and across a natural rock bridge. Further ahead, I could hear growls and hissing of Locust. "Kantus!" Marcius called out. When we reached the other side, I see the Kantus rallying a few Locust troops in a coordinated fire back on us. Before I could call them out, I spotted a pair of Tickers going to do some damage. Aiming my Lancer at them, I was rewarded with twin bursts of explosions. With that threat neutralize, I refocused on the Kantus to find a pair of Bloodmounts backing the Kantus. Signaling the older Carmine. "Clayton, focus fire on the Bloodmounts!" Pointed at the Locust. The big Gear complied and unleashed a carnage of bullets into them, with the first becoming a pile of meat in seconds followed quickly by the second. Then the group shifted fire right to hit a few Locust troops trying to push forward. "Grenade!" Ben Carmine warned everyone as an ink grenade exploded, making everything dark and hazy while also hard to breathe the poison fumes. Rolling out of cover, the first thing I spot is Dom and Baird revving their chain saws on one Kantus. Moving on a bit more, Marcius put a finger to his earpiece. "Control, I don't know what the hell's going on, but Locust tactics have changed. They're taking Prisoners, touching them." His gaze met mine. "Hell, we don't know what else." "I'm getting similar reports, Marcius. It's horrible...did you find Baird?" Control responded and asked. My brow slightly at the question. A Control Operator that's sympathetic? That's a new one. Typically they're emotionless bastards. "Yeah, we got Baird...we also found Tai... he didn't make it," Marcius responded sorrowfully, which was shared by everyone. "Roger that Delta..." Control responded. "I've got a Raven in route. You've got a new objective. I'll tell you more on the way...and about Tai." Control stopped for a moment. "I'm sorry, Marcus. He was a good man." "Yeah, he was...Thanks, Anya. Delta out," Marcus ended the call before hefting up his weapon and moving on. I stood behind and watched the whole conversation play out and admit it was interesting to see the two's interaction. An outsider would think the former commando and Control operator had a history. Then a realization hit her halfway through their conversation, that was Ayna Stroud. It made sense. The Strouds and the Fenix have shared history together that dated back to the last war. It's not well known to the standard solder today, but to those that paid attention to class back in the academy. Putting the history lesson to the back of her head, they continue on down the tunnel. Facing several more Locusts soldiers with Bloodmount support. After killing off a Kantus, we left the caves and were back in another sunken part of the city. What came next was a series of firefights in the fallen city. Even after witnessing it and fighting down in it, was hard to process. Storefronts, apartment buildings, fuel stations, hell, whole damn street blocks had fallen nearly an eighth of a mile down. And in between, Locust troopers, Bloodmounts, tickers, Reavers, and more! The worse was its former tenets, the Stranded that were left out here. A few Gears, too; some either went down fighting or just fell down along with the city. "Marcus, Abby," Dominic snapping me out of my slight depression of the city. "We can get a safe LZ on that roof." I looked up to see what he was talking about and gazed over the rickety hotel. Looked stable, but what building is after falling into a giant hole. I looked over and met Marcuse's eyes and nodded. Better than nothing. Getting my confirmation. "Good call, let's move!" We go around the corner into a burning hallway with a stairwell at the end. I held my breath as we passed through smoke, which still stung my eyes. Making me really want my helmet back. We followed the stairs up till we reached the roof the top floor with no obstruction. I watched the younger Carmine toss the smoke grenade in the open for a clear signal. "Smokes out, Sarge! Hope the Raven finds it before the Locust." "Ben!/Private!" The older brother and I said at the same irritating time. Making the younger brother look back and forth between us. "What?" He asked. Very confused. Luckily Baird was there to clear things up. "C'mon, man, don't jinx us...idiot." We all took defensive positions behind whatever we could find. Overturn tables, crumbling walls as we waited for our ride. Starlight took cover next to me as we waited...but not long as we heard the familiar sound of foot stomps. "Look's like the jinx worked!" Dom said as he pointed his Lancer at one of the stairways where the stomps were coming from. Baird slapped Ben across the head. "Great! Nice one." Making the younger Carmine winced. "Bring it on. I'll take on all yea bitches." Cole said without a lack of confidence. The first pack came rushing up and met a hail of gunfire, killing the first two and wounding the third with the fourth ducking into cover. Ducking down to reload, I see Marcus toss a frag and land over the enemy's cover positions. A moment later, the boom left behind two trails of blood splatter. "Where the hell's that chopper?" Baird complained as he pegged one Locust in the head. More Locust came running up, this time from the way we came up here. Starlight and I shifted positions to meet them head-on. I see Starlight crouch back into cover and fumbling with reloading her Retro Lancer in the corner of my vision. "Come on, Starlight, we can do this!" I said in an attempt at encouragement. The humanized unicorn did not look encouraged in the least. "Easy for you to say. I'm still learning this, horse apples!" The fighting continued as we gunned down more Locust that ran up. Then the distinct sound of air chops filtered through the gunfire. "Delta, this is KR one-nine. I have eye's on smoke." A Raven pilot sounded off. "Roger KR one-nine. Delta's ready for pickup." Marcus replied. "Bout time!" Clayton shouted before taking a Grub's legs off with a Gnasher shotgun. I glanced up and searched the sky for our right. There, just over the edge of the sinkhole, I spot the Raven coming to circle around. Looking for the right angle to set her down. "Ground walker!" Shouted a Drone. Snapping back to the fight. I get back just in time to see a Locust Drone slap the Lancer out of my hands. "Shit!" I cursed as the Drone was going to rush me. Rather than driving for my fallen Lancer, I throw a straight jab to his face, stunning it. I then grabbed my chain sword off my back and swung! The chainsaw belt roared in my hand before it met skin. The Drone scream in pain as it ripped and tore through its flesh and nerves before grinding its spine. Its two haves then landed on the floor with twin flops. I heft the chain sword up in appreciation. "Shining, you magnificent bastard." "Whoa..." I turn to my right to see the two brothers staring at me. "Where can I get one of those, Sarge!" Clayton asked, excitement dripping off his voice. The younger brother nodding his head in excitement. I smiled smugly. "Got it from a magical unicorn," I said. Which was true. Recovering my Lancer, the Raven now came closer into view. All of Delta was firing at any Locust that was encroaching us. Taking out another Drone, I suddenly felt the floor quake under me. Then I hear the sound of multiple buildings crashing in the distance. Glancing at Marcus, I see him glancing through at a destroyed wall that showed the outside. Following his gaze made my jaw drop and what I saw. A worm. The thing that Delta mentioned was the size of a damn battleship! "Awe shit!" Marcus cursed. "One-nine, prepare for extraction now! On the DOUBLE!" I ordered. The Raven descended down onto them before landing on the roof. I reached out and pulled the door opened. "Pile it in, move, more!" Baird and Cloe were the first to hop in, followed by Dom and Clayton. Finally, Fenix jumped next while turned to the last two men out. "Star, Carmine, come on!" I shouted at them as I provide covering fired as Starlight came in, but the younger Carmine was still fighting. "Damn it, Carmine. Get over here!" "Rookie! This ain't the big game yet. Save your ass for the playoffs!" Cole shouted off. Ben looked back before running to them. I jumped in the Raven and pulled Starlight with me, and backed up into Clayton. We look up just in time to see Ben take one in the chest. "Ben!" I Clayton cried out before going to the door gun. Marcus, Starlight, and Cole dragging him in while the older brother shoots the big chaingun. "We're in!" Marcus calls out to the pilot. I see Clayton killing a pair of Drones before turning to his kin and see him lying on the floor with Starlight with her hand-holding. "You alright there, little brother?" "I'm fine, Clay," Ben grunted out in relief. "I can believe we made it!" The Rave launched into a sudden spin as several rocks us. I grabbed the railing out of instant. The two Rookies didn't have that. I watched in morbid fascination as Ben and Starlight fly right out of the chopper. "Carmine!/Ben/Starlight!" We all shouted as we watched the two fall into the mouth of the giant worm. The Raven spun one more time and gave us the perfect view of inside the worm's mouth as it closed in on us. The only thing we could do in response. Scream... Author's Note Oh yeah...back in the game baby! Whoo! Long over due chapter for this story that many want to see back. been playing the Gear's of War recently and decided to look back on this. Been busy with school before before going into working two jobs then writing non-MLP stories for the last few years. This story still on the back burner on what I'm planning to do with it but I'll try to come back to it.
At the start of all places.Sera, Halvo Bay. Onyx Guard Academy. Abby's POV "Celesta damn it, Twilight." I heard Starlight cursed. "Yea, of all the places on Sera Twilight, could have sent us, she sent us here of all places," I express with an annoyed sigh. Starlight was the next to speak. "But is it really so bad here? I mean at least you know where we are and this places could have supplies we need and armor for me to wear right?" Starlight said trying to lighten the mood. Which in truth did help a little bit but wasn't shown cus of my masked helmet. So I let out another sigh before bringing my Lancer up in a ready position. "That's true at least. We could head to the schools' dormitories to see if my old room there, I did have a spare of an older set of armor you can use. Should be about your size..." Looking at her friends bare naked frame a blush that was hidden by the helmet mask, "Come on, can't have you walking through a new world with nothing but your skin." We moved forward across the once famed Enfield bridge while keeping an eye out for any signs of hostiles. As I looked around, I couldn't have avoided the dried up remains of Onyx Guard soldiers that once defended the school. Looking behind her, I saw that Starlight was keeping close to me as we made their way across with the chain sword in hand. Corpses of human and Locust littered the bridge. I even saw the remains of a pair of Reavers laid out along the bridge. I didn't remember my classmates taking those two down during the fighting. Must have been the air force that did it. Taking another glance back at Starlight, I saw the girl was scared out of her wits as she stuck close to me like glue. Couldn't blame her really, Just by coming to this world for not even for three minutes and she sees more signs of death then her entire life. Turning back to where I was going a few memories were starting to pop up in my mind from days long past. The sounds of gunfire pounding at my ears, screaming echoing off the walls, a few grenades going off here and there. It may have been over a decade from when I was last here, but still could never forget what happened here. The old remains sure weren't doing anything to help me in any way. A happy thought did come to me that there may be some of Professor Elliot's secret stash of booze still hidden in the R&D labs. 'That may be worth a look.' Passing by a rusting gun emplacement, we walked around the massive hole that took out it took out three-fourths of the bridge. Everywhere we turned more and more bodies of both Gears and Locust littered the ground. Admit there was more Locust then there was human, which gave me a happy thought of making the grubs work for who they were attacking. Reaching the school steps, I took one last look around before entering the school through its front double doors. Aside from the water going under the bridge and the wind blowing a few storm clouds in, all was quiet. I also looked down at the remains of the corpses noticed a few things about all the bodies. One that they have all been decomposed to the point of being skeletal. Two, all of them still have armor and weapons on them, rusting away from being exposed to the elements for so long. There were the Locust Hammer bursts and Mark one and two Lancers scattered with all over the place with their owners. Then the realization hit me; all these guys had been lying here for over a decade, and no one has come to scavenge this place. I must have been standing still for too long as I felt a hand on the shoulder that snaps me out of her thoughts. "Hey, are you ok?" Starlight asked, her voice laced with concern. "Y-yeah, yeah I'm all right, just realized a few things is all," I replied assuredly. "Like what?" She asked. "Like no one has been here since we lost this place nearly fourteen years ago. No looters or scavengers to scavenge for their weapons. No stranded to take up residence inside. I just don't understand it." I explained to her friend. Looking up at the double doors she put a hand on the door nob and pushed the door. It door's hinges creaked as the door opened, possibly for the first time in a decade. "With how vital this place was back in the day and the amount of military hardware they had built into this place. One would think about how much they spent here for then COG's best military academy wouldn't have been barely touched in so long. Not even to collect stuff from the tech labs or weapons from the armories something not right about that." Upon entry, I saw piles of rubble in all the corners. The door leading to the courtyard was also blocked by debris. A quick look around showed the hallway to the security station was still open. Turning to I stopped at the sight of the dozen skeletal remains of my former comrades. A gasp from behind me indicated that Starlight was looking at what was in the hallway as well. "Come on; let's get to the commons. It's just on the other side of the courtyard outside," I pushed onward down the hall and into the security station. Looking around I spotted and walked over to the three wall lockers and opened up the first one. Inside held a pair of Bolo grenades. "Well that's useful," I commented and pocketed the explosives. Opening up the next one revealed nothing but a backpack and a bunch of papers. The bag also was full of documents as well so nothing of use there. The last Locker opened up to reveal a long brown trench coat hanging from the rack. Grabbing the trench coat, I handed it off to the naked Starlight, "As much as I like seeing you like this, I prefer you wear something while we're out here so this should help cover you." Putting her chain sword aside and dropping her pack, Starlight put her arms through the sleeves and button the coat up. She then picked up her backpack and gray chain sword. "Thanks, it's a bit drafty out here." "I don't blame you," I replied. Before the conversation could continue a thunderclap sounded off outside, singling out the noise of a rainstorm coming. "Let's get to those rooms before that rain storm hits; I don't want to be outside when it gets here." I then moved to the door that was past empty gun rack. Opening the door, I saw a Boomshield on the ground next to the remains of a Mauler. Looking around I saw the remains of at least two more Maulers by the stairs to the right. "There must have been another firefight because I don't remember those being here when we retreated from the courtyard," I commented as we walked past the dead Locust. Crossing the courtyard, we looked around and saw the sign for the Sci/Tech Institute that led to the labs below. I made a note to make a sweep of the labs before we leave here. Despite everything here being over a decade old, COG tech was built to last. So something useful must still be down there, right? Reaching the doors to the school dorms, we pushed opened one door and entered into the lobby. I was a little more at ease at the sight of no more corpses in the area. With no activity as far as I could see, I waved my hand forward to motion Starlight to come. Closing the door behind me, we stood inside for a moment before the sound of rain pouring down could be heard from outside. "Talk about timing it right," I joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit. It got a small giggle from the pony turned human. "Yea, he. Still, can't believe your people don't control the weather in this world." Starlight commented as she looked at her friend. "You kidding me? When Rainbow Dash pushed that one cloud and made it ran in front of me to prove that ponies can control the weather, I had thought my mind was on drugs or something." I said with a laugh. "Come on; the stairs are just over there. We can go to my old room up on the third floor and camp out there till the storm passes. Let's hope my armor is also still there." "Umm, you think it's still there after all this time?" Starlight questioned. "Oh yeah, if it's like the rest of this place then it should still be there if looters hadn't touched this place." Making our way up the steps at a steady pace. I was half expecting Wretches or Tickers to pop out any second now from any of the doors or halls. "You know I bet my personal stuff is still here too, I was a little peeved that I couldn't grab any of it when the academy was under attack," I commented as we reached the third floor. Passing by another Locust body and a pair of human remains on the staircase, we exited into a hallway disgruntled hallway. "Well this brings back memories," I commented as we walked down the hall. "like what?" Starlight asked as she followed behind. "Like the first time I had to lug my stuff up here. When you get inside the academy, they give you all the supplies and gear you would be using and training with for all the classes we had. And I came on a day where the elevators were shut down for maintenance." I explained. "It took me six trips to get everything that was both my personal stuff and training items up those stairs. It was painful." I sighed at that memory. We walked a ways down until we stopped at our attended destination. A simple dorm room like all the others, this one with the number '315' at the center. Looking down at the mechanical lock on the door I had to think back at what the combo was. Unlike most entries that had key locks on the doors, the dorm rooms were exclusive mechanical locks, each hosting a five number button system from one to five. They also didn't need power from the building to operate so getting in was a cinch. Putting my hand up to it, I pressed down number two button then pressed the one and four buttons at the same time. Twisting the doorknob, I raised my weapon and searched my old room for any signs of hostilities. Seeing none, I waved Starlight in and closed the door behind her. To make sure nothing just comes in by a kick of the door, I pushed a nearby wardrobe over to block it. Relaxing slightly I turn around and take a look at her old room that she hasn't been to in ages. As I remembered, it was a pretty decent sized dorm. Two beds on the opposite ends of the room, a nightstand next to each of them. A pair of desks at the foot of each bed and the other wardrobe by the door. The with other one belonging to her. I saw Starlight over at the bed brushing off the dust that had settled there. Slinging my Lancer on my back, I took off my helmet and walked over to Starlight's side. "Hey, you alright?" I asked. Starlight just responded by sitting down on the bed and before taking a heavy breath before answering. "I don't know Abby, I was confident before coming here, but seeing all that outside and you telling me what to expect, I thought I could handle it all... Guess not, and I haven't even seen a living Locus yet, and I feel exhausted. Some Gear I am..." She expressed as she looked at the ground. "Don't count yourself out yet, all you have seen is the aftermath of the battle, not the actual thing. So don't you worry about that right now." I assured before setting my helmet down on the nightstand. Taking a moment to look around I smiled at the fun times that I had in this room. One particular memory came to mind put a smile on my face before turning to a more sinister one, "You know, my roommate at the time had a thing for smuggling stuff into school. Her father worked at a bar in the naval yard, and she had a thing for alcohol like he did." Standing up, I went to her old roommate's bed, lifting up the blanket and sheets to the old mattress underneath. In the middle of the mattress was a zipper that held the mattress springs and stuffing. Unzipping it, I plunged my hand inside and felt around to find what I was looking for, "Where are... There you are!" I happily pulled out a brown bottle from the stuffed bedding. "Here we are, one bottle of fishermen brewed whiskey, aged and ready to drink." I showcased, before twisting the cork off and taking a mouthful of it. With a loud sigh of satisfaction, and enjoying the crimson burning feeling of real alcohol. I tried the Equestrian version of alcohol thanks to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and I was a bit disappointed at the strength of it, but it had a pleasant aftertaste. Handing the bottle off to Starlight, "My roommate was saving this for the last day we were here since that never happened I don't think she would mind if we popped the cork on this one and take a swig." Taking hold of the bottle, Starlight sniffed the rim of the bottle before jerking back at the whiskey's strong scent. "Just take a sip, that stuff isn't like what you'll find in Equestria." Taking my words under advisement, Starlight did just that. But even a sip caused her to recoil and started choking on spit and whiskey. Taking a seat next to former unicorn, I put a hand on Starlight's back and rubbed small circles along her back. "Told you, it's not what you find in Equestria," I said with a giggle. Taking the bottle from her, I went over and made my way over to the old wardrobe and pulled out multiple pieces of blue and black crimson armor, along with a black bodysuit and packs. "This is just a standard issue set of COG armor, the old mark one suit," I announced before making several armloads over and setting them down on the other bed of where my friend sat. I took one the solid black but pack and stuffed the bottle of whiskey inside and sat it behind her under her weapons. "This armor has all the necessary coverings, and protection one needs when in a firefight. This here is obesely the female variant to help fit you better, so you shouldn't have too much to worry there." I explained. Looking back over at Starlight, I saw her looking over the armor. "Why is it a different color than the one you're wearing now? Is it because of the unit or is it something else?" Starlight asked' "Good question and the answer is yes. My armor was from back in my days in the Onyx guard. This armor here has the standard color scheme for standard infantry. So don't feel left out about color combos." I explained as I went to one of the shelves in the wardrobe and picked up out a plain t-shirt, a sports bra, and some underwear. "I never thought I have to teach a grown woman how to dress properly, but since you don't know how humans dress will start at the top." I began. Then for the next ten minutes, I had to teach a Starlight how to dress like a human. What the purpose of what a sports bra does and how to put on panties. Another thirty minutes later, I fitted Starlight with her new armor. Going over the parts and their functions, testing the armor's magnetic holsters, and the helmets filtration system. "And there you go... One complete set of COG standard armor, how does it feel?" I asked while tightening the last strap on Starlights chest piece. Starlight twist and turned her body getting a feel for her new armor, "Feels a little constricting, like I'm wearing one of Rarity's tight dresses she asked me to wear. Will this actually protect me from weapons, like your Lancer?" "Yes actually. This armor will give you some protection but will not hold forever, that's why taking cover is important. It's the golden rule in combat," I said. "Another thing is that Locust weapons are more high powered than the Lancer you've seen me use. Their rate of fire is also slower than ours so we can move around better as long as we continue to avoid their fire." A thunderclap sounded off outside making us jump at the sound. Glancing out the window showed that the storm wasn't going to let up. "Looks like we might get some razor hail," I sighed at the dark storm clouds. Starlight looked at me with a raised eyebrow like I just spoke in another language, "What?" "It's a new development in the weather... And before you ask no, I don't know how it happened." I told her. "We just recognized the signs for them." A stream of falling ice sickles soon filled the view outside. "Razor hail is exactly as it sounds and what it looks. Think of it like raining knives made out of ice." "... Is this whole planet trying to kill us?" "Maybe... Whelp, can't go anywhere with this weather. Wanna see the schools R&D labs?" I offered. "Since coming here, I've wanted to check them for anything of use." That perked up Starlight interest. "Sure, Twilight wouldn't forgive me if I didn't see how different your science is from ours." I then took my chain sword and was about to put it on my back when I noticed something. On the tang at the bottom of the handle, there was a button of some kind. Feeling curious I pressed it with a finger and watched the chain swords blade fold in on itself down to the point where only the handle and guard remained. It was so sudden and fast that it caught me entirely by surprise. Looking up at Starlight for an explanation, she looked at me in wonder before she saw my expression. "The royal guard often use spells on their weapons to make them more compact and readily use at a moments notice. I've never seen it done myself, but now that I've seen it I'm impressed that it works in this world." She demonstrated this by brining up her own sword and watch as it collapsed in on itself. "If the magic in this thing works in my world, do you think that your magic works here too?" I wonder. Starlight cupped her hand to her chin and had a thoughtful look on her. "Maybe, my magic is mostly tied to my emotions so if I feel something strongly while I try casting a spell then I guess, but I don't know what I can use as a focal point to center my magic without my horn." Grabbing on her new helmet, Starlight took a moment to stare at the front before turning it around and sitting it on her head. I was happy I put on the helmet as well, looking at my friend I felt mixed reactions as I watched Starlight ready herself as she continued taking. "With my horn, I don't know if my magic would be of any use to us." "Well be sure to let me know if you do, that shield spell could provide a lot of advantages for us if we needed it." I felt a small measure of pride when I looked at Starlight as she turned into what she is now. On the other hand, I felt guilty at turning the former unicorn student into a Gear. Reaching down I pulled out the snub pistol on my side and offered it to her, "Don't know what may be lurking around, I rather not chance it." Taking it from her Starlight tested it in her hand, "You think anything might be around?" "Intel we get you some decent weapons that aren't rusted to all hell from the elements, I rather you not chance it... Come on, the labs aren't far from the dorms, and we can go through the classrooms to get down there." I began moving the wardrobe out the doors way into the hall. When that was done something in the wardrobe caught her eye making her stop dead in her tracks. The action didn't go unknownst by her peer. "Abby? Abby, what is it?" Starlight asked, but have I ignored her. I reached up to the door of the wardrobe and grabbed a photo that was stuck to the wall. On it was a younger version of herself and an older copper red hair women with green eyes and brown freckles. I didn't know how long I stared at it but long enough for Starlight to come around and peek at it, "Who was she?" "My mother... I hadn't had a picture of her when I escaped the academy. I could only recall her in memory before..." Holding my emotions deep; I didn't want Starlight to see me like this. But it was winning as I was starting to shake in place. An Action that Starlight saw. I suddenly found herself in a hug with my armored companion. Being hugged by someone in armor while wearing armor was somewhat of a new experience. Sure I have been grabbed before by other Gears to be pulled out of the way of something. But a gentle hug like this was new to me. "Thanks, Star," I said. Feeling a little better. "Anytime... If you feel like talking about it, I'm here for you; you know that right?" She assured her. Putting the photo in her chest pocket, I took off my helmet and looked at her friend. Showing off my possibly reddened eyes, like she was about to cry. Starlight did the same with her helmet and showed off a supportive smile. I just grabbed Starlight by her collar and brought her in close to and locked lips with her. Starlight gave a squeaked in surprise at my action but quickly relaxed at what was happening and pushed in returning the kiss. After a minute of kissing, we broke off to come up for air. I looked at Starlight and gave her a warm smile. "Despite what little time we've known each other, I'm thankful that you're here with me Starlight." Sporting a red blush, Starlight smiled back, "A-as do I since meeting you I felt more confident in myself. Just like in the changeling hive, and at the ceremony." "If you didn't show up I would have gone to Twilight and stayed her student forever long that may have been. I couldn't be happier for the friendship you've given me... And the opportunity for something more." She answered as they held each other hands. Breaking contact, I unslung my Lancer, "Come one let's get out of here if we continue this line of thinking we won't move on from this spot." "Doesn't sound so bad to me," Starlight teased. "Yes and no, we would be here longer then the storm would be, and I don't want to be caught with both our pants down if anything does happen to walk in," I answered as she before putting her helmet back on. "And I rather we do in a semi-safe place where we won't have to worry enemies coming through the door while we're fucking on my old bed." Starlight blushed harder before putting her new helmet back on and drawing her pistol and followed her example before she got behind me. Putting my Lancer out front, I checked both directions of the hallway for any surprises that might have found their way in, "Alright let's go; the labs are down past the classrooms on the first floor and down in the sub-basement." Making our way back to the stairway we start their descent downwards back to the lobby. Continuing onward we avoided the doors to the courtyard. As long as it was raining razor hail, then I wasn't going anywhere near those doors. The signs of battle were everywhere we went. Craters covered the floors from grenades or boom shot shells. Lots of damage from long-dead fires could be there in some areas. What's worse was the shell casings of that littered the floor. Some of them might have been hers when she was last here. "Well this brings me back," I commented as I looked on at the displays of carnage that we passed. Ignoring the bodies of Locust and human along the way. Seeing a gleam of silver catching her eye, walking over to one of the down Gears, I reached down and grabbed hold of a set of tags that were showing and read them out loud. "Johnson, Rayland .D 770R-909-221P. Ostri." "Did you know him?" Starlight asked. "No... But he died after shooting all his ammo at the enemy. Rest well, Johnson." I said before pocketing the tags and moved on. Rounding around past the last of the destroyed classrooms, I recognized our destination. "We're here." I said as I pushed open the metal door to a lightly lit hallway. "Well would you look at that, the lights still work. That means the lab's power grid is still up. That's COG tech at its finest." Walking in, they made a turn around the first corner, passed by some more skeletal remains of my former comrades and down the flight of stairs. In the end before putting a hand on the door, "Now, let us see what goodies are down here." Author's Note There BACK Re-done. No more editing on this chapter. THATS IT! I apologize for any spelling and grammar mishaps From now on, this story is going to be switching POV's from Abby and Starlight for more on how Starlight will feel about human world of Sera. Also I'll be linking in things and places from the GOW word down in the authors notes. If you have a request on places and events please comment down below. Halvo Bay Halvo Bay Military Academy Onyx Guard Bolo Grenade
Hot LabsSera, Halvo Bay Onyx Guard Academy Abby's POV After seeing all the destruction and damage, the school endured from the attack and the test of time from of the elements outside. I wasn't expecting too much from the labs below the school. Like more shell casings covering the floors, a body here of an old college or Locust there. Maybe a crater or two somewhere around for the extra damage. What I found was something I was not expecting. "What the hell..." I said as she looked around. Wondering what was I looking at, I also wasn't alone in her thinking pattern as Starlight voiced the same thing. "Um... Shouldn't this place be like you know, wrecked?" Everything was undoubtedly not wrecked, everything was clean. Not pristine clean like the day this place was built but clean nonetheless. The walls were still littered with bullet holes from varies weapons. But the guns themselves and their owners were nowhere to be found. The hallway that the girls entered expected it to be destroyed like everything else was. Instead, it was clean. It unnerved me. Something was up, and I didn't like. "Someone is here," I said. "There isn't a speck of loose dirt here, and unlike the hallway we passed back there, this place has all its working lights. Someone is here taking care of certain parts of the academy while leaving the rest out to decay, and I like to find out who?" Proceeding down to the labs, I had to think back to the first lab that was behind the door. "If memory serves, behind this door is the robotics lab. Let's see who, or what is inside..." Pressing the 'open' button for the door, it slid up into the ceiling, revealing the lab. Like the hallway, it to was crisp and clean looking. Minus the bullet holes and the grenade crater on the corner, it was clean. "No bodies, no blood splatters, little traces of battle? It's like somepony just cleaned the place up after all the fighting. Well, most of it?" Starlight said as she looked around the room before looking closer at the crater. I was about to call off this scavenge and return upstairs to my old room when something catches my ear. Turning to the source, it came from up the steps. Towards the schools firing range maybe or one of the other labs? Whichever one, we were going to find out, "Star, get behind me and ready your weapon." I said as we went up the steps. Passing through a massive door, we head down the hall to a three-way intersection. The noise that she had been hearing came from beyond the door ahead of them. Looking back at Starlight, she readies her weapon to show she got my back. Reaching out, I opened the door and swept the room. The room turned out to be the school's garage. I had maybe been inside only once or twice to get a teacher back in her school days. I never really been in here to look around. Inside had to be the shiniest Armadillo APC I'd ever seen. The six-wheeled armored trucks I've seen before were usually well used and covered in mud while this one looked like it was in mint condition. "Well, who's ever here. I hope they don't mind if we use their Truck." Starlight POV I couldn't stop staring the strange six-wheeled armored carriage. The thing was bigger than the four-wheeled armored wagons that were parked outside. The humans of this world were truly remarkable in their feats of engineering. In almost two hours of being in Abby's world, I had witnessed many kinds of technology that could advance pony kind by decades. Now there's this. "What is that, Abby?" I asked with wonder. "That's an armored personnel carrier, Starlight or APC for short," Abby said. "Specifically, an Armadillo APC. And she's beautiful." I didn't know what to think about the six-wheeled beast. It was big, almost twice my height, covered in thick plates of armor on all sides that would give any awhile to penetrate through There was also gun turrets on its right and left sides that were bigger than Abby's Lancer. "Um, could we use it?" "Oh yeah. If the thing runs and has fuel, then it can get us to where we need to go." I was about to reply back but stopped when we heard a strange sound. Not knowing what it could, I raised the snub pistol I received from Abby earlier and pointed it in the direction of where the noise came from. There floating above the floor was an oddly shaped ball, There was little to describe it in my opinion, other than the strange blue light coming from its one eye. "A geobot?" "A what?" I asked. "A geobot, they are man-made robots used for geological surveys, some of them can be programmed for using small tools to repair and fix stuff. It looks like we found our culprit in what's been fixing up the labs. I am rather impressed and disturbed it was able to do all this." Abby commented. While I just looked at it in amazement. This little this was doing jobs that a blacksmith and a maid would do, and has been work for who knows how long, extraordinary. Humanity just continues to be more exciting the longer I stay in this new world, and it hasn't even finished on the first day! "Say Abby, do you think I could take this 'geobot,' and send it back to Equestria? I just know Twilight would love nothing more than to study this." "Go ahead, but right now lets-"She was then interrupted by the sound of more 'beeps,' turning to the side. What floated by was another robot, this one was vastly different. It was maybe four times bigger than the geobot and looked more like what I expected from a robot. It hovered in the air using some sort of blue propulsion to keep it in the air. The most notable feature that I saw were its four eyes that looked at Abby and me. It then let out a few more beeps in a rapid sequence that made it sound happy, before flying close to her friend. "Well I'll be, this explains everything.." Abby said with a happy tone in her voice. "A JACK bot. Must have come from the APC I'm guessing." "What is it?" I asked in wonder. Abby turned her head to face me. "This is called a 'Jack-of-all-trades' bot, or 'JACK' bot. These guys are handy and can perform multiple tasks and duties thanks to the simple AI that runs it. It must have been working that geobot to repair and restore everything around it." Abby explained before turning back to the bot, "The COG use to issue these guys to a lot of Gears. But due to shortages in recourses, they have been fewer and fewer as the years went by. Only being assigned to command teams and Gears on high-risk ops." "But if he was being worked on here before the Academy was attacked, then whoever was working on him must have done a few upgrades to him. So... Bill, what can you do?" Abby questioned the bot while I looked at her with a weird look. "Bill?" "It's painted on his side see," Abby pointed out. Turning my head the name Bill was painted in white letters on the side of its 'head.' I just internally shook my head at the odd name and just went with it. "Ok, so what can you do Bill?" I asked the floating robot. 'Bill' made a few quick beeps before its sides opened up and a pair of arms dropped out. One looked like a blowtorch while the other had a two-finger claw with two smaller fingers on each finger. "Alright, a standard grabbing claw and with a cutting torch, that's always useful for getting through doors and gates. Always useful." The arm's retracted in its small body and then came back out with a different set of limbs. On one held a small knife while the other had a sharp pincer. Like the kind, a doctor would use in surgery. "Oh, I didn't see that coming," Abby said in surprise. "What?" Starlight questions. "There's some sort of rotating mechanism that looks like it can cycle through sets of arms for different tools. That's extra handy, literally." Abby examined and laughed a little at her joke before looking at the new set of instruments, Bill showed. "That would be useful, a medical kit. That will help if either of us gets shot." Abby explained. "It's programming must include some basic first aid functions." Bill put its arms up back into its body and again out with yet another set, this looked like it was holding a pair of cylinders. "A universal hacking module and repair welder. So you have everything for front mechanized warfare. Well, that's good for me. Do you have a long-range communications uplink too?" Abby asked. Bill shook its head no with a few negative beeps. "Damn. Well, it was worth a shot." "So we can't contact the COG?" "Yep, but these com units we have only have a range of over five hundred miles. And the broadcast range of the nearest active com's array is not for another fifty miles. But it's been inactive for awhile luckily for us this truck could get us there." I watched as Abby took Bill to inspect their mode of transportation. I didn't know how such a massive thing like this move on its own without magic. Such things were impossible back in Equestria. Since I wasn't there anymore, I couldn't wait to start traveling and learn more. "Let's get a quick look around for supplies and check on those doors. Would be a shame if we got this truck but can't go anywhere in it due to some door." Abby said. I nodded in agreement and started to look around, wondering what else was around. Everything was arranged in orderly rows. Screwdrivers, wrenches and all sorts of tools laid on the workbenches along the wall. Spools of wire and rubber hoses hung coiled up on hooks on iron hooks over them. "Find anything useful?" I heard her friend ask. "Nothing but tools over here, how about you?" "Same over here... With some progress, Ha," Abby said excitedly. Looking over at the Onyx glad Gear Abby held up a pistol in her hand. This one was different than the snub pistol that she had in her hand, "A Boltok, how this got in here I've got no clue now do I care. This baby is coming with me," Abby said before the cylinder in its middle opened up, "And look, it's still loaded, sweet." She then holstered the new pistol in the empty gun holster on Abby's leg. "Is that gun different from the one you gave me?" "Oh yeah, big difference. Different bullet, different ammo capacity and, unlike the snub that was made by the COG and humans. The Boltok pistol was manufactured by the Locust." Abby told her. I was slightly taken back by that last piece of info. "Why are you using such a weapon that was made for killing your own people?!" "It's got better acracy and power to it then the snub, Starlight. Nowadays a lot of Gears prefer to use these for protection due to its immense stopping power its got to it." Abby lectured. Those reasons were good points to make a note of; it would differently be useful for stopping an opponent quickly. I put it down on her mental list of things to get when I find one for herself later. Going down the sets of workbenches I found the unmistakable look of a Lancer on one of them, assembled and showed signs of modification. Hosting my pistol, I picked up the weapon off the table. "Hey, found a Lancer over here." "Good job," Abby said from across the shop. "Bring it over here so I can check it over for you, make sure its working and all." Walking over with the Lancer I handed it over to Abby and began inspecting it. "That's neat. Someone put a bit of love into this baby, some padding in the back for cushioning against the recoil, a tactical light on the side for dark places and the hand grip feels more conferrable while shooting. Excellent find Star," Abby praised the weapon before handing it back to me. "Let's find some ammo for this baby, and you'll be ready to fight." "You don't want it?" Abby shook her head, "Finder's keepers Star, you found it you keep it." I followed Abby to a nearby workbench and began disassembling it. I watched with interest as my friend strip the custom Lancer down to spear parts into sections. Abby then started to bring each section up to eye level and insect for any damaged parts before putting them back down. She did this with each piece that was on the table. Then reassembled the weapon and flipped the switch that activated the chainsaw bayonet. I watched Abby rev-up the chainsaw a bit before she handed it back to me. "There you are, one perfectly functioning Lancer ready for service. Don't you lose it now." Abby gave it to me for which I let it hung in my hand loosely. A little more scavenging later we found some ammo for my new Lancer and began to fill our pouches with it. Abby also found herself a new Lancer to strip and replace the parts that were still covered in sap from the timber wolfs. With her new Lancer bayonet firing up like it was brand new. I could see the satisfaction that beamed off of Abby. With the help of their new found helper, Bill led the pair over to the Armadillo and opened the front hatch to them. "Bill, start up the Armadillo and prep the gun turrets, Starlight, get in and pick a seat. I'll go and try to figure out how to get the workshops doors open." Following her friend's instructions, I picked the Armadillos left gun turret and sat in its gun seat. I then spotted what looked like a booklet on the side. Picking it up, I saw that it was an Armadillos manual. Opening up the manual I began to flip through the pages. Reading over the index, I saw that it had information on everything about the truck. Flipping the pages to the section that had information on the gun turrets. Figuring if I may want to know how to use them if necessary. Looking at the diagrams and the instructions. I then focused my attention on the heads up display and joystick. Finding the 'on' button, the screen illuminated to reveal the outside. my eyes widen in wonder at the COG tech in front of me. Looking at the screen, I noticed a few things right away about it. In the middle, there spotted a big X. From the manual that she read, it must be the Targeting radical. So whatever the gun shoots that's where it was going. On the top right of the screen held a number, eight hundred, that showed how much ammo that the gun I was operating held. On the top left, held a much smaller number that held an 'm' at the end, meaning distance. Grabbing hold of the joystick I pulled back to see about moving the turret upwards. The gun did just that, thou it didn't go straight up, it did go at a high angle. When I turned the gun to the side. I made a surprised 'eep' that her seat moved with the weapon. I was about to continue exploring more on what the turret when the unmistakable sound of gunfire reached my ears. It didn't sound like weapons that Abby demonstrated before; this one sounded rougher then Abby's Lancer. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of her friends Lancer going off. I was about to go out and help when said Onyx guard friend jumped through the open hatch. "Star, strap in and hold tight!" Abby ordered as she reached the driver's seat. "Whats going on out there, who are shooting at us?!" I asked as before flinching as bullets ricocheted off the Armadillos armor plates. "Locust patrol, a big one and they were right outside!" "How many?" "Too many to fight ourselves, strap in and hold tight. This is going to be ugly!" Abby had said before stepping on something down on something that was on the floor, making me fall back as g-forces pushed me back into her seat at the gun turret. I was about to get my first taste of real combat against humanities greatest enemy. Author's Note Here are some links to help those who don't know what some of the items in the story. Armadillo JACK JACK (model) Geobot
Highway trobleOnyx Guard Academy Halvo Bay, Sera Abby's POV ... A few moments earlier... I had just left Starlight and the 'JACK' bot called 'Bill' in the Armadillo to open the workshops main doors. I couldn't believe the luck of scored a working JACK. They had been starting to become very few within the COG after the first year of the war. Mainly reserved for the commando teams that go on high risked missions or higher ranked squads that like fighting on the front lines. So having one for themselves like this with a bot that has multiple functions for multiple situations is just plain awesome. Sure the lack of the long-range comms antenna that all the other JACKs have is a little letdown. But something like that could be installed when they reach Jacinto. Walking to the side of the door that held the doors switch, I hit it to get them open. Nothing happened, "Shit, power must be out." Following the power cable that's connected to the switch. Led to what I was looking for in the form of a small running generator. Taking a moment, I looked it over and saw that the plug that led to the door controls was loose and not in all the way. Pulling out the plug, I angled it correctly before placing it back in. "Alright, let's try those controls again." Backtracking to the door once more, I reached out and pressed the button to open the door again. The door squeaks from the rust but opens to the outside. Taking a few steps out, I instantly regretted opening it. For right there in front of me stood a Locust Drone that was looking right back at her. My expression from seeing the Drone must have told me that it too was surprised to see me just I was shocked to see it. Acting first, I let the years of instinct take over, activating the chainsaw on my Lancer. I swung it over and down on the Drone's collar resulting in a brutal display of rippling teeth meeting solid muscle. The Lancer did its job as it shredded the screaming Locust to pieces. Before I could celebrate my first grub kill in months, a bullet grazed my helmet to the point that her head to jerk back at the force. Looking back outside was a bunch of other drones huddling under varies overhangs, protecting themselves from the razor hail. 'But that won't hold them back forever. We need to get out of here,' I thought quickly. Taking cover by the door, more Locust fire peppered the wall I hid behind. Looking back at the Armadillo that we found I knew what had to come next. Jumping through the open hatch, I saw Starlight in the left side turret and Bill floating towards the cubby for 'JACK's.' "Star, strap in and hold tight!" I ordered before jumping into the driver's seat. I looked around and found the ramp controls and the ignition. Starlight leaned over to look at me, "Whats going on out there, whats shooting at us?!" Starlight pleaded, her voice slightly muffled to her from the Locust rounds hitting the Armadillo. "Locust patrol, a big one and they were right outside!" "How many?" "Too many to fight ourselves, strap in and hold tight. It's about to be ugly!" I announced before flipping the control switch to close the open hatch. I then slammed down on the accelerator, giving the ABC a bunch of gas. The Armadillo drifted a little before it's tier's gripped the ground sending us off. Turning the wheel, the APC rushed out the workshop and into the elements. The Locust could only continue to fire their weapons at them as they ride around in the open. "What do I do?!" Yelled a panicking Starlight. "You're in a gun turret, shoot back?!" That got Starlight to look at where she was at, but I was paying more attention to the courtyard they were now. From my observation, there were only drones in this group. No Boomers that I could point out with all the hail of gunfire that was coming at us. The sound of a muffled machine-gun started going off, 'Guess Starlight didn't need help how to fire the weapons on that thing.' I thought with a small smile on my face as I looked for a way out and saw a few Drones going down. After making another turn, I saw the remains of an Iron gate leading to another bridge that existed to the city. "Hang on!" I said. I drove the Armadillo forward, smacking into an overhang that sheltered a trio of Drones. The sound of the Armadillos tires made a deep squishing sound as they made their 'intentions' to the Drones. A few bumps later we crashed through the iron gate and made our way towards the city that use to be Halvo Bay. I had to drive at a below average speed to see through the hail storm and avoid the abandon cars that littered the road. Even without taking my eyes off the road the damage to the once proud city broke my heart. Halvo Bay use to be the home to many, and almost a second home to her for a time. Now the former military themed town was a crumbling ruin, with all its former glory. The sound of heavy breathing made its way to her ears over the roar of a running engine. "How are you doing over there Star, you still with me?" I asked her friend. "I-I don't know?" Starlight replied with a shaky breath. "T-that just happen so fast I," "Take a breather Star; it's just nerves. You've seen me fight the Changelings back in Equestria, but you never had to lift your hoof in the fighting. Now that you're in the middle of it, your body is trying to make up for the lack of reaction with adrenalin. Now take a deep breath, count to five, exhale count to five. Repeat if necessary." I told the former pony. "I'm sorry your first engagement with the Locust turned out to be such a surprise like that. I was kinda hoping it to be us doing an ambush on a small Locust patrol. Not... Whatever we just did." "It's alright, Abby" Starlight replied. "So, those were Locust? They don't seem so terrible; you even drove over a few of them, and I got to shoot at one of them." "Did you kill it?" Abby asked. "Yes, maybe. They fell back when I shot it," Starlight replied. "Well, if he wasn't moving afterward then congrats on getting your cherry popped then. If not then theirs always next time." I said trying to lighten the mood with a bit. I didn't hear a reply instantly but could imagine the blushing face her friend having. To avoid any further embarrassment, I decided a change of topic was in order. "So did Twilight send any messages through the magic book thingy yet?" I asked. Driving around a massive tanker wreck and some destroyed Centar tanks she turned onto the exit ramp leading West, A sign on the highway read what she wanted to see. 'Endeavor Shipyards 15 miles.' I internally sighed in relief at that, with luck maybe we could find a working boat to take back to Jacinto instead of having to drive over seven hundred miles around mountains and deserts to reach the outskirts of Jacinto Plateau. Thinking back, the old shipyards should also had one of the COG's comms array for this regen. If the comms array is still functional and just turned off, we could find it and just call Jacinto command for an EVAC chopper, then that would be even better! Rather be up in a KR than some stupid boat anyway. "No, Twilight hasn't written anything yet. You would think that she would, with how much that mare likes to check up on ponies." Starlight replied. "But it's part of her charm I guess, might as well write her just to ease both her mind and mine. "That probably be best. Tell Twilight and them I said hi, will you?" "Sure." "Thanks, but be quick on the letter. I'm going to need your eyes up, on our surroundings. We are still in unknown territory right now, and we don't know what will pop up." I told her. "Alright, it will just be quick." Starlight assured. Focusing on the road ahead my eyes widen at the site in front of me and instantly hit the breaks of the Armadillo and stared out in front with a neutral expression at the new situation we were about to walk into. Starlights voice soon reached me in a questioning voice. "Why are we stopping, we can't already be there already?" "Nope," I replied. "But we got company," I told her, not taking her eyes off the pair of humans that stood in front of her not fifty feet in front of me. "Put away the book, for now, Star, you can contact home later," I said as I looked closely at the two soldiers in front of her. Both were giving me mixed reactions. The one on the right looked the like the older of the two. He was very intimidating looking, with his big built and heavily scared look he had. If that wasn't enough, then the old set of UIR combat armor that he wore sure did. Not much like what Gears wore, it was heavily armored from the bottom up. He didn't wear a helmet, so I got a good look at his face. No doubt he was old judging from the silver hair he had for the buzz cut he had. He even carried a Markeza in his arms. Haven't seen many of those over the years, even from the Gorasni's that formed the last of the UIR remnants that the COG rescued didn't have many of them. Choosing to use the surplus equipment that the COG gives them rather than be short-handed. The other sparked a more significant reaction out of me. The other stood a woman in a similar set of armor to my own. She was just a little Shorter than her male counterpart by a few inches. Her most noteworthy feature is the dark copper red hair that showed on her head. It was familiar to me but couldn't place it. She was also wearing the summer set armor version of her armor, and that it was Onyx too was also not comforting in the least. Her arms were crossed, that showed authority over everything, meaning she was mostly leading this fiasco. Looking at the location they were in wasn't very desirable for them. They were right under an overpass on the highway. Looking around I spotted multiple five-story building not far away that could be a perfect setup for a sniper's nest. Also, wouldn't pass up the chance for not throwing a few grenades over down on us on the overpass either. "We are about to be ambushed Star, and this is a perfect place as any to do so," I replied. "Judging by their stance, they're going to demand something of us. So be ready to fight at a moment's notice just in case." "But they're human? Like you, don't they know that we aren't their enemy?" Starlight asked. "Their Stranded, Starlight," I replied. Watching the armored pair now walking towards them. "They fly under no country's flag and only looking to survive by any means necessary. That's including killing other humans that cross them. They also don't have much love for the COG since they burned the world, so stay behind me and don't start firing unless they shoot first. Don't want to spook them into doing anything, and don't feel like being put in a needless firefight." I said to my friend. Getting a node from the pony girl as she sat back and readied the assault turret. Turning back to the other two, they stopped around twenty feet or so from them. The scared UIR soldier was the one that spoke first, and spoke up in a clear, commanding voice, "I know you can hear me there, COG soldiers. Exit the vehicle, and we won't blow you up." He then pointed a thumb up to the overpass. Taking a chance, I lucked up and saw what he was referring too. Both to the left and right of where they were parked was a group of soldiers, each having a mortar pointed right at us. My attention was then back to the soldier as he was talking to us again. "We give you ten seconds to comply, or we will be forcefully 'open' your doors to properly talk to you. Ten... Nine." "Abby, what do we do?" Starlight asked sounding panicked. "Eight... Seven." "I'm debating on either just humoring him and risked getting us killed or try out running them mortars they got," I replied back. "Five... four." "Can we?" "We could." "Three..." "Oh fuck it," I said, before pushing the button that unlocked the clams to the main hatch and slowly opened the door. "Might as well meet the locals and make some friends right. I know Twilight would approve,"I said in a joking manner in a vain attempt to lighten the mood. "Also leave your helmet, these kinds of folks like to put a face to the voice that they are talking too." I finished, taking my helmet off and sat it down dark the driver's seat and walked on out. Taking that first step out, I now got a better look at the two armored soldiers in front of her. The UIR guy was the most scared individual than I have ever seen. Haft the guy's face was just one huge scar. To avoid any awkward starting, I just looked at his companion, as if I was saying "This one's on you." Like I saw from a distance, the red was indeed wearing a summer's version of the Onyx Guard armor. It also looked like it had been through the ringer a time or two. Looking up at her face, her blue eyes met mine and saw a sense of shock at her. Seeing her like this, I decided to ask the first, "Well you stopped us, now what are you, SV?" "SV?" The redhead said in confusion. "Stolen Valor," I replied. "It should still mean something. Did you earn that armor or stripped it off the body that did?" I said while giving the scarlet women a glare. From the way the copper red heads reaction from my little insult, it got her pissed. Pissed enough to draw the Retro Lancer off her back and pointed at her while the UIR soldier did the same with a Snub pistol from his holster. Starlight ducked back in the APC and drew her Lancer at the two while I just stood there and stared the pair down. Not breaking eye contact with the redhead's pretty blue eyes that seemed somewhat familiar to her. 'Those eyes, where have I seen those before?' Widening her gaze of the women, I took a more in-depth look at the redhead with breaking eye contact. Aside from additions to the armor the women had to her armor and the old Lancer. Her stance spoke to me about who this woman is. Legs and shoulders at facing her with her Lancer in the ready up position. Standard firing position for all soldiers fluent in necessary marksmen, plus she has the safety off on that old thing. A lot of new boots these days have trouble trying to find what the damn thing looks like so she is a former COG soldier or was trained by one, leaning more to the latter than the former. She also had the 'by the book' vibe going for her, similar to Twilight and her brother Shining. Then something clicked in her mind about the scared UIR guy next to her. Baking eye contact she took another look at the burned man. Then it hit me, "Garron Paduk." The pair was visibly taken back as I assumed to have taken them by surprise. Good, I was getting somewhere now. Now I remembered the pair, the Kilo trial that was conducted by the late Col. Loomis back when Locust first attacked Halvo Bay. 'So many lives lost for that stupid trial.' "From your looks, I right aren't I? I remember you now. I saw the file for the Kilo trial." I said before shaking my head at tibit of stupidity. "The reasons for that trial were stupid, unreasonable and unlawful to the four of you. Not only that but Loomis sacrificed over two companies just to listen to your testimonies." I said before casually walked up to the old man. "I learned that it was kilo that launched the missile that saved our asses over at the airport." "You were one of the soldiers fighting the seeders that were blocking all the coms?" Asked the redhead. Now that she thought about it recognized the AWOL soldier. "Not at first no, me and a bunch of others that had escaped the Academy had only arrived minutes before you launched the lightmass missile, former Cadet Hendrick," I said looking back at the redhead, further surprising her before asking another question. "You escaped the Academies destruction! How?! When we arrived Karn, and his Locust had killed everyone there!" "I and a bunch of others got away along with most of the civilian staff and locals that took shelter got out using the back ends of the school." She replied back. "More would have followed if the hallway didn't collapse separating schools docking area in the river from the Academy." "Being the senior Cadet that was in the group, I led what was left of us and told them to get in the boats that were still docked, using the boats that were there, we got them out while the Locust we're focused on the Academy. Upstream towards the airport that was under attack. We had just gotten there a little under haft an hour before you guys dropped the bomb next to us." I told them as she looked the scared UIR man in the eye. "After I had learned it was your team I made a promise to my self." Paduc was now locking eyes with me, a hit of curiosity was behind them I could tell with no shortage of suspicion. "And what would that promise be COG soldier?" The old man asked. I just bought up an empty hand to the old man and gave him a genuine smile. "To shake the hand of everyone on that team." From the expressions on the pair's faces said it all, they were once again taken back by my forwardness and didn't know how to respond to that. Taking the cue, I continued to what I was going to say next "I had already met up with Baird and Cole sometime ago," As if hearing their friends names, a pair switches had flipped, snapping them out of the shocked stupor. Hendrick was the next one to talk, "They're still alive?" I replied with a nod before answering. "They were still kicking ass the last time I saw the two almost a few months back fighting in the outer western districts of Ephyra." "I knew those two were alive after we left the COG, I didn't know if they were still fighting." Hendrick let out a small breath as if a little weight had now being lifted from her mind. Paduc looked at my still razed hand before raising his own and took it, giving it a tight squeeze and giving it a single shake before letting go. I could tell that the former UIR soldier was not very convinced of my motives. 'Oh well, can 't win them all,' I thought before turning to Hendrik. "Have you met 'The Cole train?' I only know of one other person that could match that guy's hyper attitude," I told them. 'Well pony really, but Pinkie could still beat Cole by a mile in the moral department, but they don't need to know that,' I thought happily, 'That pink ball would do anything for attention if it meant to make everyone put a smile on their face.' My statement gave me a few gruffled sounds that sounded like a suppressed laugh from the Paduk and a few giggles from Handrick. Feeling the tension lifted of the matter, I continued to then shake Hendricks hand before addressing the next problem. "So? What is it that you guys want? Food? Weapons? Well, I'll tell you two now we ain't got much of either. And we just got this thing out of the shop so please don't take it from us." I pleaded, hoping that we wouldn't have to fight against a bunch of hardened Stranded in an up hilled battle with just herself and Starlight. I might have a few scratches out of it, but Starlight? She's still a greenhorn in all of this and not ready for this level of odds. "Well, we haven't seen the COG in these parts for nearly four years, not since we heard about the COG losing Ephyra," Answered Hendrik. "Care to enlighten us on whats been going on?" "I've got no problem; I spare you the details on the small stuff, but I'll tell you what I know from up to a few months ago, granted I've been out of contact with them in that time. Been stuck out here." The deserter pair eyed each other, looking like they were having a silent conversation between each other before Paduk gave a nod of acknowledgment before the couple looked back at them. "Alright, what do you know?" Paduk questioned. "A couple of months ago, I got separated and trapped underground by a locust force. Sometime later I got a garbled transmission about a Lightmass bomb and got taped underground. By some stroke of luck, I got found by some Stranded I guess you can call them that; they were really a bunch of Tribbles I'll tell you. No fooling, they have names like 'Rainbow Dash' and 'Big Macintosh,' Don't believe me, then meet my socially awkward friend, Starlight Glimmer!" I lied then gestured to her friend that from the look of her had been sweating bullets while she had been doing all the talking. "Say hi Star." "Umm, hi?" She replied awkwardly. "We became good friends after a few life-threatening and socially awkward situations. Sence then I've been helping them find a nice secluded place in the to the south in the mountains to hide from the Locust for a time and anyone else that want to do them harm." I explained. Sofia looked satisfied by this, but Paduk didn't, looking closely at the poor girl. He got up close to the girl and eyed her closely, making her sweat bullets. "You should have stayed with them; might have lived a bit longer. I remember back their some reports of a few tribes that ran around Gorasnaya, trying to stay alive. It's good to know there are still around. But why are you here instead of being where you belong?" "Don't bother," I intervened. "I've tried to get her to go around and stay home but, to her, she wanted to see the world and didn't want to lose a friend," I answered with giving Starlight a reassuring smile. "So she's been my trainee for the last few months, getting her prepared for the world as we make our way towards the Jacinto Plateau and back to Jacinto itself. We were on our way to the COG's communication array in the naval shipyard down the road to radio in and see if the COG can send in a Raven to pick us up." "I wouldn't do that. The area around Endeavour has a heavy Locust presence right now," said Sofia. "Several Locust outposts are chained together along the coast that runs along from the old shipyards that continued along the coast to the mountains with a large air force that regularly patrols along the most of the surrounding area. With just the two of you, you wouldn't have gotten close to the shipyards with having a bunch of Revers breathing down your neck. And if that doesn't stop you then the army of drones that are there would. The place is a Locust stronghold now; you're better off with driving inland and make a break towards Lima city then going to Endeavor. Not to include the inclement weather that's been coming off the coast for the coming season," Sofia finished. I just sighed in irritation at the news we were just given. I had hoped that we would only have to deal with a few Locust on the route to and at the shipyard. If there is a substantial Locust present in Endeavor then reaching the comms station with just myself and Starlight was out of the question. Meaning we might have to take the long ride back by doing what the former Onyx guard suggested and headed straight towards Lima city. It was the closest city from where they are now, and going through the mountains was not an option for her with the narrow roads that would be a tight fit for the Armadillo, and she didn't want to have to walk all the way back to the COG. That not including the Locust patrols that were also mentioned. I just sighed again when her hand met her face, "Why can't things be easy for once." Author's Note Love that editing UIR Sofia Hendrik Garron Paduk
Letter to Home #1Dear Princess Twilight It's now the second day for me leaving Equestria and coming to Sear. Things are just like what Abigail said. The air here taste like the Everfree forest, and even when we were in the ruined city, it still smelled like we were deep in the woods somewhere. Wild and untamed. She told us that her world didn't have any forms of magic like our's do and with what I have experienced these last two days of being on the road. I've got no doubt about it being untrue from what I see out the windows of the self-propelled armor transport that Abigail calls 'The Armadillo,' we found on the first day of us coming here along with finding me a set of unused armor and a new unique companion oddly named 'Bill.' An artificially created robot that the humans have made to help humanity. This one specifically used to help soldiers in combat, like opening doors and talking to others via radio. Like the com pieces that Abby showed you. Also, Princess, I have had my first encounter with the Stranded and the Locust. From the Stranded, they are a bunch of scavengers that don't want any business with any government and just want to fend for themselves. Abigail even knew a few of them as being former military heroes that did their time before leaving on their own accord to help other survivors that are out there. After all the destruction I've seen, I could not blame them for their decision to do so. As for the Locust, they are nothing like what I imagine them something similar to what changelings are like, how wrong I was their worse. I no matter how much Abby prepared me and trained me. Nothing could make me ready for the amount of force these things could make. She warned me of the dangers that the Locust possessed and just brushed it off. We have been fortunate enough to avoid the Locust these last few days as we make our way to the COG HQ on the 'Jacinto Plateau' as Abigail calls it. I have also been a bit worried about her for the last two days. She's been driving this thing for awhile now. Only to stop at places, she called a 'gas station,' to fill up the Armadillo with fuel for its combustion engine. You should see this thing in action Princess; this thing is about as big as a train engine but can go anywhere without any metal tracks. I already read the manual Abby gave me from cover to cover. So when I get back, we're going to be kind of busy in the lab. Anyway off track from Abby, she's barely said a word about anything unless I ask her something about from what I saw on the road. She just drives on all day till we find someplace to settle down for the night for rest and we take shifts sleeping in the Armodilo's cramp seats in our armor. Abby doesn't want me to take it off and tells me to get used to wearing it at all times, so I am ready to fight at any time. I suspect it must have been when we first exited the portal. The portals entrance ended up sending us to a place where Abigail was not happy to see. It was the Academy Abby said she attended to become an Onyx guard. She did show me around for a bit, seeing the dorms where she slept and the classes and labs where she worked, which was where we attained my armor, weapons and our robot friend came from. Abby said we're almost in communications range of the COG. Soon we'll be around more humans. There I can learn more about what's been going on to help Abigail and humanity win the war against the Locust. So close now. I hope everyone is doing alright back home. I already miss everyone. I plan to return home as a hero with Abigail coming with me. She plans to go back and help us with protecting Equestria, saying that it's a place worth protecting. Also, she wants to retire in our world and help bring new technology's from her world to ours, and move our world forward in a new age of discovery for us. I'll let you and everyone else know more of whats going to happen when I have a moment to myself. Right now it's about the end my shift so I need to wake Abby up so I can get some sleep. Hope to hear from you soon. Your friend Starlight Glimmer Author's Note Just a shot to keep the ball rolling for the story for me, as wall as motivate me into moving this story along before the college semester start for me.
Letter from home #1Dear Starlight. I hope you are well cause I can't say you are safe on account of the dangers you're facing with Abigail. Possibly while I am writing this to you, you may be fighting for your life. Which scares me greatly. From what you've described in your letter is most freighting Starlight. I can only speculate what your going through. The Locust, The stranded, and Abigails old school. Tell Abigail I'm sorry about that. I have no idea the portal's exit would send the both of you to a place that was personal to Abigail. I'm glad everything worked out and you got out of their when you both faced the Locust. I worry about you, as does everypony else. But this was your decision, and I hope you return to us in one piece soon. Spike's been holding on to the journal from me, so I don't try and write to you every minute of every day trying to make sure you're alright, ha, ha. Anyway in other news, with you no longer in Ponyville. Trixie moved on, believing there was little reason for her to stick around and has set off to rekindle her on the road magic show. She seemed pretty determined to "do things the right way," as she puts it. She's so different now than the first time I met her a few years ago. Trixie even stopped referring herself in the third person if you can believe that. She even asked for 'help' from 'Discord' of all ponies. I don't even know what to think about that. Just thinking about it makes my fur stand up. For me, I've been trying to stay busy. Princess Celestia has asked me to take charge of studying the "Longshot" rifle Abigail left for us. It's design and functions are so easy to look over, If not done correctly it wouldn't work at all. The position and craftsmen of it is truly remarkable. My brother, Shinning Armor wants me to try and recreate it to use for the non-unicorns in the royal guard. Rainbow wants me to me her one for the Wonderbolts to show off. I almost shot her down when Applejack of all ponies asked me for one as well as well, with her giving a better reason with wanting to defend her farm and family from timber wolves. I've haven't given them any promises yet to their requests right now seance I've just got the basics of what human weaponry is like and haven't come up with any blueprints for anything. But yeah we all miss you and hope you come back from this scary war you went to fight in. No doubt Pinkie has a party planned for the both of you when your return. As for Abigail living in Equestria, wanting to live in peace from a life of war. I'm in full support of the idea of letting her stay in our world, as was Princess Luna. Celestia was hesitant about the notion of her, but Luna talked her around into agreeing. She may have to do a few written tests to gain a full citizenship. But that shouldn't be a problem for her. I'll let you go now, and please write often. I'd like to know more of the adventures you two are having together. In fact, tell Abigail to write in the journal too sometime. We would love to hear how she's doing, being back in her home world in all. As our friends here will do the same for the both of you. It's the least we can do for saving us from Chrysalis. I let you know more of what's been going on later when you have more time to read, instead of fighting. Be smart, Starlight, Abigail. Your friend, Twilight Sparkle Author's Note Getting letters from home while fighting in a war zone is a big moral boost. Just ask any member that's served in a combat environment. Stay tune. The next chapter is almost done before editing so I'll probably have done before the coming weekend. Hopefully See you then
Highway rescue Prt,1Western Highway, Sera Starlight's POV "So tell me again why you didn't mention this place to me? I thought you were driving us to Lima city, not this Tollen place." I asked, starting to question if my friend knows where she's going. Not seeing her face but from the sound of her voice, I could tell my friend was a little irritated and slightly jittered. "We were, but when I saw that sign back there for the road that leads to Tollen. I remembered that Tollen gots road leading through the mountains that lead up to Jacinto faster than the road we were just on. By taking this route through Tollen, we could be in Jacinto by this time tomorrow afternoon rather than be driving another three days." "So all of this just came to you when you saw that sign back there?" I asked. "Yes," Abby confirmed. "And you're sure it's the fastest way to the COG?" "I am." "Bill, do you believe that?" I asked our robot companion who stayed in his mobile compartment. His head popped up and nodded in confirmation. "Why are you asking him?" "Just making sure we are not lost, due to your driving." "Is there something wrong with the way I drive?" "Oh no, there isn't, only that you seem to hit every bump in the road." I said with a slight tease. Missing humor part of her voice due to the roar of the engine, "It's not my fault that there's so many of them, besides. The Armodilo's suspension needed a light workout after being in that vehicle bay for so long. And it's not like we have people to spare to fix the roads all the way out here to do so. "Anyway, we should be getting close to Tollens radio broadcasters now, from there it's just us using our com pieces to transmit and bounce off to reach COQ command, won't be long now till we should start seeing Locusts patrols as well so keep an eye out while I talk to them." I heard Abby say over the roar of the Armadillos engine. "You can listen in but don't say anything unless asked too." This was the start of her third-day I have been in Sera. I'd hadn't told Abby, but I could slowly get a sense of dread, anger, and fear the closer they got to the city. Whatever thoughts I'd had of going back home were pushed to the back of my mind. We were too far away from the portal to return and would just make us too much of a target if I left Abby now and walked back into a still unknown world to her. The safest place I could be is by my friend's side and support her for when she needs her. "Let's try radioing in again, I know we should be in comms range by now. Let see if we can raise command." I then watched Abby puts her finger up to her head and pressed down on the transmit on her comm piece and proceeded to speak, "Command, this is Sargent Terrell, call sign BRAVO two-two. Identification code Six-three-six whiskey tango four-four-eight-nine. Are you receiving me?" A pregnant pause was then followed as was only met with static, hope soon soured as an unknown male voice came over mine and Abby comm pieces. "Call sign and identification confirmed," The male voice sounded old rough and reminded me of the royal guard trainers. "Sargent Terrell, where Sam's hell have you been? You've been missing in action for over a month now with your platoon declaring you dead, and without any radio check in's or other signs of communication. Now whats your status and location so we can send a retrieval unit to pick you up. I want to hear from you, why it took you so damn long for you to get back." The old man's voice did not sound very friendly but was most likely in a seat of power. I then heard Abby let out a small laugh before answering back, "It's great to hear your voice again Colonel Hoffman sir. I'll be sure to debrief you once we arrive and you've got a moment." "We? Who's with you, Sargent?" "Made a new friend with some of the old tribes out in the UIR territories on my little adventures colonel, she's a recruit that I've been training myself from out in the boonies. Anyway, we are northbound about to enter Tollen area on the old Skyway. We've been lucky enough to have not encountered any Locust forces on our way here and should be crossing the front lines soon and see the city any moment. Is there any operations going on in the area that I need to know to lend any support or should be made aware of to avoid?" A moment of silence answered her friend before the colonel's voice came back over the com's in heavy static, but the message was clear, "Sargent, Tollen is gone." "... Come again, command? It sounded like you said Tollen was gone, did the town fall, sir?" Abby said into the mike. I took a look outside down the road aways. Up ahead appeared to be a colossal stone dame next to a lake at its base that looked dirty and had had a bunch of homes that sat at the edge of its shores. Something made my eyes blink again as I lean closer to the window, getting a closer look at the water. 'There's a lot of wood and dirt floating around in there for some lake' I thought to myself before spotting something in the water that made my face pale. Turning to my friend I raised my voice to shouted at her. "Stop the Armadillo! Now!" Hearing my shout, the armadillo came to a dead stop in the middle of the road. Grabbing my Lancer, I slammed my hand on the door hatch switch, opening the troop door out front. Ignoring my friend's protest, I ran ahead, there from what I saw made my blood run cold. Reaching the side of the road, I got a better view of what was left of the human town. It was flooded and sunken under its waters. I could only look out in horror at the destruction before us. Stone masoned buildings were slightly peaking at the surface of the water, sharp rigged and broken rocks stabbed upwards along the water line. Wood and other debris floated aimlessly around whatever surfaced. The sky quickly darkened overhead, giving the town a darker feel to it. This was Tollen, and off to the side held towns welcome sigh. In big white bold letters on a faded blue rectangle, she head Abby read aloud. "Tollen, Population fifteen thousand, two hundred seventeen... What the hell happened here? Command this is Bravo two-two, we made it to Tollen. What the hell happened to this place, sir?" "..." "....." "Command, do read me?" "....." "......." The static was all we could hear out of our com pieces as Abby kept trying to raise them. But I didn't care about that, all I wanted now was to know what could have done something so horrible. Back in Equestria, a town of this size being destroyed to avoid the point that looks like this hasn't been recorded since before the unification of the three tribes. The more I looked at the destruction, the more fear that was beginning to fill her, like a rock in the stomach. I wanted to throw up but didn't want to look weak in front of Abby. I felt a hand on my shoulder tore me away from unhealthy thoughts and back to reality. Looking back at the hand's owner, Abby held a serious face on her before she spoke. "Somethings jamming long-range communication, which means we got a big problem here." "What is it?" I asked if things couldn't get any worse Abby looked away and around them and scanned the sky before stopping at the unusually black clouds coming overhead, "Seeders." I raised an eyebrow at that, "Seeders? What the hey are seeders? I don't remember you telling me about those back in Equestria." "I've only seen a few of them in my time in this war. Seeders are some type of giant animal that the Locust breed that shoots out that inking fog-like substance that fills the air." Abby said as she points to the sky towards the mountains. "It also shoots out another kind of creator we call a 'Nemeses,' that act like living bombs for defense. They are also huge and are a real problem for scouting teams that are on missions, messing with communications." Abby summarized. "And for them to be out here this close to Jacinto, that's bad, right?" "Worse, the lines have moved inland closer to the city itself. Like I said we are only a days drive away from the city. While the city itself is heavily fortified by heavy fortifications and mountains, it could only hold out for so long against a siege. Now that Tollen has fallen, and with no running power towards the munition factories that supplied the cities defenses." she told me. I felt confessed in that second part. "Plus, with seeders in the area, we got to watch the skies just as much as the ground. "What are you talking about the munition factories?" Abby just answered me by sticking her finger out in the distance. "Over there past the town, you can see that big wall that's the Tolland Dam. It's a hydroelectric power plant; it uses the water's current from the river and converts it to electrical energy for the nearby towns. From the looks of it, the water has been redirected elsewhere, with the water redirected to somewhere else, theirs no more power running the factory lines. Which means no ammo running to our guns." Looking to where Abby was pointing. I saw the massive wall of gray stone in the distance when they first drove up to the town. Kind of hard to miss. It stretched up to the sky between two mountains making a bridge between them. Among them were four faces that marked along the bridge, some of the nation's rulers maybe, I didn't know. "With the factories out of commission, I don't know how long the COG will last. Heck, it might just be smart just to turn back now and make a run for Equestria..." When Abby finished that last sentence, my mind was in a fury of emotions. I thought that I could help her friend's people and fight this terrible enemy. I had been told it was dangers and what she may have to do. Ignoring all the warnings, I took heart still pressed forward with what I'd thought was right. By using the same determination from when she wanted revenge on her teacher Twilight and her friends for taking her town. I felt that I could help repay her friend by helping defend humanity and defeating the Locust. By now I couldn't stop the doubt and fear that poured into my mind. My mind was jolted back to reality when the sound of the radio crack in her earpiece with a different male's voice coming out. "Hello, iz anyone receiving thiz tranzmizzion? This is MAKO zix actual, You out there?" The voice was indeed a male's voice, and he had a stalliongawd draw to it from the way the radio sounded to Starlight. Looking up at Abby, my friend was already acting with the pronatalism I'd seen her do before. "This BRAVO two-two, whats your status and position MAKO, over?" "About damn time we heard a familiar voice. We thought we were lozing our mindz when we ztarted to hear your tranzmizzion. We're up zhit creek without a paddle right now, and the zituation is getting worse. There's a bunch of Zeederz in the area, and they're zending a bunch of Nemeszez in the air. They are creating a huge radio blackout net izolating the whole valley from the dame outward from the outside world. If we can hear you, then that means that you're inzide the net. Tell me are you able to mount any kind of rezcue to zave our collected lovable azzez? We're held up in Speyer's radio tower. Its location was the only place we could make any lazting defenze." Mako explained over the radio. Having barely studied the facial reactions of humans, I could tell from her friend's face that a bunch of thoughts was going through her head before replying back. "As much as we like to that's a negative MAKO. We were in the same boat as you not long ago and just barely got out ourselves," Abby explaind MAKO. MAKO was silent before answering back. "I zee... That's a damn zhame. Kinda let down our hopez right there." "I'm sorry, there's only two of us out here and with not much in the way of supplies either." Then Abby's eye's then hardened. "What supplies do you have left, and the strength of the Locust presents? We may not be able to do much, but I'll be damned if I'm going to leave you all to die like this without doing something." Abby declared. I suddenly felt pride swell up in my chest from Abby's speech. Like back in the hive. Her confidence in being steadfast against danger and rescuing others. In a way, it reminded me of Abby's cutie mark. An old beat up book with a heart protected by a shield. It made my heart flutter at why she got so close to her friend over the time she spent in Equestria. MAKO's voice snapped me out of my thoughts again, explaining the situation to them. "Zhit, don't know what you can do with just two of you. You'd be better off taking your Zelf and make your way to Jacinto. Then again I can't Ztop you from doing anything even if I wanted to." MAKO said sounding amused. "As I said, we're in the town of Zpeyer, held up in the town'z radio tower. As for the Locuzt, their forcez are just a bunch of dronez and a few boomerz that got us zurrounded. They can't get near us on account of us having made a kill zone just outside using a pair of heavy fixed machine guns. We've been holding them back now for zix days and lost most of my men. My guys are tired, minorish and running on old coffee. And we're almost out of coffee. How zoon can you get to us?" "We are just outside of Tollen. We can be in Speyer area within an hour if you know of a safe route to you? Also, I hate to say this but how many are you? I say this because we only have enough room for six or seven extra people we can squeeze in our Armidilo." She told the man. We didn't hear a reply back after several seconds. "Our little-held garrizon of two hundred and fifty; when we pulled back to the radio tower we were brought down twenty-five, now there'z juzt four of uz left..." I covered my mouth with a gloved hand to stop her self from gasping. They were slowly getting killed by the advancing hoard that surrounded them. Watching one by one of their friends falling in battle, and over the course of several days? If this happened with her losing Twilight, Trixie, and Abby, in the same way, I wouldn't probably break at that point. "We'll come up with an extraction plan for you, give us a few minutes to figure ourselves out." "Hell, you coming out there coming to our rezcue we will be ready for whatever crazy plan you couped up," he replied "Stand by a minute while we figure out something on our end, and for god's sake don't die when we make up one." "Not on my thingz to do, keep us pozted, MAKO out." The transmission then went dead. I was the first to speak, mainly due to wanting to find out kind of plan her friend has up her sleeve, "How are we going to play this like you just said we don't have much in the way of supplies and not really in a place to do much." Abby then looked to her left and started talking to the thin air as if someone was there. "Bill do you have their location?" Then right out of thin air, our third party member the JACK bot Bill appeared. "He can become invisible?!" I yelped in shock. "Yes he can, didn't I tell you about that?" Abby asked, looking a bit confessed. "NO, you did not tell me your robots can cloak like a changeling!" I replied with an angry glare. "Sorry, thought I told you they were used in recon missions." "Yea, you did. Not become like ghosts and disappear whenever they like." I said with a disapproving look. "Oh, anyway moving on from this rather off topic. Bill there location please." Abby asked as she turned away from me and back at the floating robot, slightly irritating me in the process. Bill opened a lower compartment and a glass plate popped forward displaying a bunch of lines and letters along them with a red dot centered in the middle. "Now plot a route from our current position." Bill let out a few beeps and wins as the screen changed slightly to include a blue line along the road. "Mmmm... Alright, looks to be pretty straightforward but I'm concerned about going through these towns. While I'm not all against making a run for it if we run into trouble, it's how much room we're going to have." "How big are these road?" I asked. "Just single-lane roads. It's going to be tight for the Armadillo when we enter the town. There may be a few abandon cars that we can drive around, but once we get into town, there's no guarantee we can get close if the town indeed blocked off." "Is there any way they can get out and meet us someplace where there isn't so much stuff blocking the road?" Abby just looks at you and smiles, "That's a good idea lets ask." She then puts a finger up to her ear, "MAKO, this is BRAVO come in, over." "Thiz iz MAKO, go BRAVO." "Is the roads in your area blocked by any chance. We're trying to see if we can do a snatch and grab on you but not sure what the route in your area is like." "Da. The roadz in our local area are indeed blocked due to our hazty fortificationz againzt the Locuzt; now the grubez have them and are uzing them against uz." "Is there an opening you can exploit to get out of town and onto the towns main roadway? That way we could it be easier for all of us to get out quickly." "Well... now that you mention it there iz an ally way not too far from us that can lead out to the central road that goes'z ztraight through town. But it's got several gun emplacementz that we zet up and if they are ztill usable..." "They would be used against us, brilliant." Abby gowned in announce. "Will just have to hope for the best that they aren't then. You guys better be there because will only have enough time for one shot at this. Otherwise, the Locust will know what we're doing." "Now start punching hole's in their defenses and get out, we're coming at you hot and ready," Abby commanded over the radio before to the armadillo. "Muzic to my ear'z, you heard the lady move like you got a purpoze! " The man yelled over the mike. Taking her finger off her radio, Abby looked at her with a small smile. "Alright rooky let's get moving, don't want to be late for your first mission," Abby said before putting her helmet on. Author's Note Speyer Tollen Dam Thank you all those who has been supporting and following this story sense its beginning and those who recently found this story. For the next chapter I'm going to be doing something a little different for the next chapter in the story. That's right I'm turning this next part of the story be decided by you! The readers. Commit below or message me on which two seens want to happen in the up coming chapter. Seen 1. The girls make it through to the center of town by running over everything in their way, only to face with a triatic horrible sight when they get there and make things complicated on their way out. Seen 2. Our two lady's get stopped when a Bremak blocks their way in (or Out) and have to find another way into (Or out of) town to save the doomed Gears. Which so happens to be a draw bridged that someone will need to stay behind to cover their escape..... Seen 3. The road leading to where they need to pick up the Gears is blocked by abandon cars and cant be passed through by the Armadillo, by can be on foot. Do they risk a messy two women assault on foot? And What horrible price needs to be paid when their leaving? That's for you to decide readers, from the time till this chapter is posted to February 20 I will counting up the votes on witch seen do you want to play out. In the meantime see you all on the web,
Highway rescue Prt,2Author's Note This was the longest chapter yet and took a lot of planning to do. I like to thank DarkShadowClaw for submitting his OC of Captain Gavin Nickoli To thank The-Black-Knight for pointing out my major flaw that I have with my writing style. Which is why I'm going to re-due my writings for the better. So yea I've said this before and starting this week I'll be taking all the chapters off my last Gears story. I'll be both Adding and editing it so its less like a third person view and more first person. Oh yea try and find the clue I put to give everyone a hint on where they end up next. Only real GOW fans will figure it out. So yea enjoy, stay tune and I'll see you all over the web Highway rescue Prt,2 Town of Speyer, Sera Starlights POV "Umm, Abby." "Yes, Starlight." "What in the name of Celestia is that?" I politely pointed out. "That my friend is a pile of shit," Abigail answered. Due to the makeshift roadblocks that led to the town where the trapped gears were holed up. The pair had been traveling towards Speyer to rescue a team of Gears that they made contact with only for them to be redirected around the town to avoid Locust patrols around the edges of town, making this stop number three. The drawbridge that leads into town, the way seemed to be clear for the moment, and there was no sign of Locust nearby, except for the only way in was having to drive through piles of eight-foot hight by fourteen-foot long leftovers of a walking monster that remained unseen. "I see," I said. "And what made them?" "Bremaks, pray you never see one. Good thing our helmets filter out smoke AND stink otherwise we would probably say hello to our breakfast from this morning." My friend answered before she walked around to examen the area ahead. "Aw shit, it looks like we're walking from here." "Why?" "This bridge is littered with this shit, look." I looked past the brown pile to dozens more of the disgusting monster feces littering the bridge. "The stuff is too soft for the Amadilo to drive through without getting stuck in this shit," Abby cursed. "Will just have to go ahead on foot and meet with them before things get too much for MAKO." Agreeing with her friend, I took the Lancer off her back and followed my friend around the mounds of crap across the bridge. I walk to the bridge's edge and saw a roaring stream of water flowing underneath. With my curiosity satisfied and with no sign of the Locust, I hear Abby touch her mike to call MAKO again, "MAKO this is BRAVO over." she said. "Go ahead BRAVO." "We're inside the town and just crossed the drawbridge on the northeast side of town. We had to go in on foot due to a bunch of blockages that the Locust put in our way." Yea blockage, that's an excellent way of putting it. I mused. "Plan hasn't changed though; we'll cut a path too you and meet us somewhere in between." "Roger that, looking forward to meeting you face to face BRAVO." "Same here, BRAVO out." Cutting the comm, she turned to me. "Let's go Starlight, stay alert and watch yourself." "Got it." Staying close to Abby, I raised my gun and scanned the buildings we wormed through. All looked like they've seen better days, some more then others depending on if they had a blown out wall or crumbling rooftop. What made the sightseeing worse had been the number of dead bodies that littered the ground. Both Locust and human piled over each other on makeshift barricades. The Locust boodies I could see had been riddled with holes from all the gunfire that the Gears had fired on them. Their weapons left and discarded by there sides. When we climbed through the blown out hole in the COG fortification, my body became stiff as a bored at what laid before me. Blood, blood everywhere on everything. Not only blood but the owners of said blood were all over the place. Severed arms and legs spewed out away from their owners, and some even lost their heads that rolled off somewhere. Their armor that once held the shiny blue cover like the one I am wearing were splashed over in crimson, as blood dried over them. What made it worse, is that there were more dead Gears then Locust on this side of the barricade. "Sweet Celestia," I gasped, as I could not tear my eye's away from what lad before me. A good thing I wasn't alone, as my friend brought me back to reality. "I know, this is why I didn't want you to come to this world. It's full of monstrosities like this, just keep moving Star. Nothing we can do for them now. All we can do now is save those we can and make the ones who did this pay for it. Mourning now will only cost us time, time which MAKO doesn't have." Abby comforted. Shaking my head out of it, I went back on mission, "Right, right save the ones that are still alive, take down the bad guys, then break down when not in a place that has enemies lurking around every corner." I said before raising my weapon up to a nearby alleyway. I heard Abby laugh a little before speaking again. "Now you're getting it." We continue down the ruined street, passing by abandoned cars and dispair buildings. Our progress halted when the road had a collapsed building blocked our path. "We're going to need to find an alternate route. Come on let's check that building there." Abby gestured to the building on the left. It reminded her of some of the apartments that made up the middle-class homes in some of the big cities she had been before. Walking up to the front door Abby jungled the door nob to find the door locked. She then took a step back and kicked it making it fly open and making the building accessible to us. "knock knock," Abbu said jokingly before stepping inside with me following behind her. The inside was just as fabulous as the outside; wallpaper was peeling everywhere, the ceiling was cracked and crumbling. Everything was just dandy. Navigating through the halls while ignoring deteriorating walls and old furniture, they climb a set of stairs to the next floor. There they find the roof partially collapsed revealing the sky above. They quickly navigate the halls to were the sounds of gunfire echoed the air. "That must be Mako; they sound close," Abby said. The fighting got loader when they reached the other side with no problems. Looking out the windows, they witness a firefight escalating in front of them. A team of four gears racing down the street while being pursued by a big Locust force. Drones and Boomers, from the description Abby told her, fired down the road at the retreating humans. "MAKO six actual this is Bravo, is that you I see running down the road?" Abby called out over the radio. Looking down at the fleeing group, I saw that the four gears stopped and slid to any nearby cover and started firing back with what weapons they have. "Thiz iz MAKO, good to hear from you BRAVO, What iz your pozition over?" MAKO called back over the radio. "Were to your eleven o'clock up on the second floor, fall back we'll cover your escape." "Got it, when we're clear will meet up nearby." He said before he cut is radio and joined the others. "Starlight, focus fire on the Boomers. There the biggest threat to them." Abby ordered before sticking her Lancer out out the window releasing several bursts of fire on the Locust, catching a few of them off guard as bullets rained down on them. But the shock was gone after a moment as their guns trained on us. Ducking down from the incoming fire, Starlight watched through her helmet as bullets flew over her and embedded themselves into the wall behind them. "Feel free to join in at any time Starlight," Abby snapped while firing her weapon. Hearing her friend pull her back to the current situation. I lifted my gun and sighted on one of the Boomers before letting loose on them with small bursts of fire. Now She was by no means a marksman with her Lancer. Back before she entered this word, Abby's been teaching me on the fly on how to use ballistic weapons. Teaching her how to clean them, test fire, and when should you use it. Along with a crash course of the necessary tactics and battle drills, and when she got to this world, Abby has been reviewing everything in my new body. So when shed squeezed that trigger, she felt a rush of adrenaline hit her. As if time had slowed I watched as my shots fly at the enemies below. Abigails POV Finally hearing Starlights weapon going off I refocused on the nearest Locust Drone. Seeing the closest one was still charging at the grounded Gears, she needed to be taking care that one fast. Letting a few rounds go off I watched as my shots hit the Drone in multiple locations along its body before going down. I then went to the next Drone, this one a Grenadier taking pot shots with a shotgun. When its head popped up, she introduced it with a few bullets making its head crumple up from the meeting. That went over and over for all the enemies that came out. After the tenth enemy that I took down, I saw MAKO had successfully escaped a few blocks away and was now the center of attention for the Locust. "Starlight, MAKO's clear let's pack up and get out of here!" I ordered. "Don't have to tell me twice!" Starlight replied. They moved back into the inner sections of the apartment building to shelter themselves from the increase gunfire that the Locust was poring over the area they took cover at, and a good thing too, when we ran around the next corner a multitude of explosions that went off behind them. Looking back I knew that this wasn't going to be the last they see of that particular hoard of Locust; with as many that they were holding off back there it was only a matter of time till they meet again. With Starlight right behind me, we continued onwards through the halls till we reached the road they exited earlier, this time on the other side of the collapsed building that we stopped. Sweeping the area for any hostiles, and seeing none in sight. I motioned Starlight to follow me out and made our way in the direction that MAKO went. 'Hopefully, we can catch up to them and get the hell out of this rundown town before they run into any more trouble.' Abby hoped as we moved. As we moved down the street, we came upon a checkpoint with its defenses breached and its defendants slain. "We should be close to MAKO, take a moment to look around for ammo. We both wasted a bunch of it back there." It was true; we didn't have much when they first entered the town, now we had a few mags between Starlight and herself. "Find what you can salvage, guns, grenades, whatever that can find to be useful." Even though she can't see her face under her helmets mask, she could tell the former unicorn wasn't very comfortable with scavenging from the dead. But she nodded in understanding and went to the nearest fallen soldier. I will always feel terrible for doing this, but with how low resources are and how little remained after the Hammer Strikes. Filling up my pouches with ammo to the brim. I also picked up a fallen gnasher shotgun that a grenadier had. Now she was fully armed and ready. She now eight magazines for her Lancer and two dozen shells for the shotgun. Looking over at my companion, I saw that Starlight had her lancer on her back and had a new weapon in her hands. One that she hadn't seen in a while. "Where did you find that?" Starlight looked up and shrugged her shoulders. Whether it was confusion or a simple, 'I don't know' look was her guess. "It was over here by this guy," She said while she gestured to the dead Gear next to her. "I thought it looked interesting, so I picked it up. It also had the same knife like the one you have on your shoulder, is that where you got yours?" Glancing down at her chest, she did have the same knife like the one on the old weapon. "That's right, What you have right there is Mark 1. Retro Lancer. The generation before the one you have on your back. You don't see them too often nowadays." "Why's that? Do they performance issues or something?" "Oh no, they still work great even after all this time. Veteran Gears that served back in the last war continue to use these old Lancers despite the fact that of certain disadvantages it has when fighting Locust." "Like what?" Starlight asked as she looked at her new weapon. "It was made during a time when the COG was fighting another nation, the UIR. Fighting in a more ground and open warfare. So it was great when fighting other humans, but against Locust, the falts became quickly recognized pretty quickly." "What were the falts? It looks like any other deadly weapon out here." Having heard that from my friend I probably walked up to her and smacked her upside the head. Making her shoulders jerked up at the surprised contact. "Starlight Glimmer, as both your combat instructor and your friend I am ashamed to hear you say that. For fuck sake, after all, I told both you and Twilight about gun safety I figure you'd understand the different purpose of each of my weapons I demonstrated to everyone back in Equestria." And what a time that was indeed. -- Ponyville, Equestria one week after the changeling attack Abigails POV "CAWPOW!!!" "OW, my nose!" Looking downrange, she saw that the tin can that she set on the fence was still intact. Not long after the award ceremony for defeating the changelings and killing Chrysalis once and for all. Starlight made the desition to return to her homeworld to fight for her friend's people. And since I couldn't talk her friend out of this, no mattered how many times I tried to persuade the unicorn not to come back with her wouldn't hear any of it. So I took it among herself to at least train her in the ways of modern combat and firearms safety. When word got around for this Twilight brought Spike and her friends out for the weapons demonstration. Rainbow Dash even brought along a few VIB members of a flyers group called the 'Wonder Bolts,' that's part of the ponies military. A captain Spitfire and a lieutenant's Fleetfoot and Soarin. I thought the three of them were ok in her book; Spitfire reminded her of a female Hoffman with the way her voice acted out. Like what a drill sergeant's voice at basic training would sound. After a twenty minute briefing on firearms history and safety. I used my snub pistol on a few cans do demonstrate its effectiveness, followed by the Lancer and Longshot. Having never really seen my weapons in action they were both in awe, and a bit scared at how dangerous my guns can be. The Wonder bolts too were impressed, primarily when I demonstrated the Lancers chainsaw bayonet to saw through wood. I then asked if anyone would like to use any of them. Both Starlight's and Rainbow's hoves went up in an instant, followed by all the Wonder Bolts. With having a limited amount of rounds left after the assault on the changing hive. There was just a single magazine worth of Lancer ammo, two clips of pistol rounds, and a handful of Longshot shots that I was using for this set. Having prepared the string, I used back at the hive for the non-unicorns in the group. I let Spitfire go first and fire three single shots from my Lancer and missed the cans that were set up for her. The Captin was a little surprised by the kick that the weapon gave off after each shot but liked the power that it gave off. I was a little nervous about letting Rainbow Dash use the Lancer next, but to everyone's surprise, she hit one of the cans. Then proceded to gloat over how awesome she is. Then came Starlight, her pupal as it were, using the Longshot. Only with one problem, she held it in magical grip in front of her face. So when the weapon fired, it flew out of her grasp and smacked her in the face. Now Starlight was on her back with her forelegs clutching her face. Holding back on how humerus that was, unlike some members of the audience. Looking down on my little student of warfare I gave her a little smug grin. "Rule one, don't assume all guns are the same. Rule two, don't put the but of the weapon in front of your face unless you want a shinner like the one you'll have tomorrow." Present Abby's POV "My nose still feels sore from that day." said the but hurt ex-unicorn. "To answer your earlier question. The difference's between the two is pretty straightforward. The newer mark 2. Lancer has a chainsaw instead of the bayonet like the mark 1. The reason being that Locust skin is thicker then most creatures have, and it is known to break during battle when put through enough stress. Another difference is the rounds they fire. The older model fires a bullet that's twice the size than newer Lancers." I explained. "Wouldn't that be better in a firefight? Bigger the shots fired at the enemy with a better of a chance to kill them." She asked before she turned the weapon on its side to give it a look over. Nodding in agreement with what I was saying. "It's that reason why traditional Gear's still favored them, each round acts like a sharp hammer hitting them each time. It's handy when fighting bigger targets and does a solid amount of damage to armor. But those rounds come with a few drawbacks by themselves." "The clips hold fewer rounds due to their size, and it gives off a harder recoil. Making close corners combat not very fun or when facing multiple enemies. So are you keeping it?" I asked my friend. "...Yea, I think I will. If at least to help me when I run out of ammo on my other Lancer." She replied before she switched back to the newer one. "Alright your choice then, just make sure you have plenty of ammo for it. You'll run out before you realize it if you're not careful." I said to which she got an affirmative nod. Before another word could be said, I felt a familiar tremor from under her followed by hearing pavement cracking. Looking to where the cracking was coming from, a ring of dust burst out of the ground before the ground collapsed under itself. Leaving behind a while ten-foot hole in the road, when my eyes saw the dust fly up panic and adrenaline filled her senses. "E hole!" I shouted as we readied for action. "Starlight, take cover!" I ordered her friend as the two of them got behind the checkpoints barricade. During this, the first drones came up from the depts. Looking breathly over their cover I spotted three drones emerge from the ground and ready for a fight. All armed with Hammerbursts. Having seen us, they roared off their war cries and begun firing. Hearing the challenge, I rose up and started shooting back with Starlight doing the same. Within seconds of their combined fire shredded the closest drone. Upon doing so, they took cover as the other two drones fired back. Peeking back over she saw that another two drones were about to climb out of the emergence hole. "We got to plug that E hole, or they are just going to keep on coming!" Starlight gets up and fires a few rounds before getting back down and looks in my direction. "How do we do that!?" She shouted over the sound of the gunfire. "Tose a grenade in there. That will seal it." I replied. Looking at their options for her plan she needed to work fast. "Keep them suppressed! I'll flank right to get in close, toss one in and seal it up!" "Alright, got you covered!" Raising back up, Starlight fired her weapon at the nearest drone And receiving multiple bullet holes to the face killing it instantly. Seeing her opening, I vaulted over the barricade and ran along the sidewalk. Jumping from cover to cover it didn't take me long to reach a spot that allowed a secure position for a toss. It also didn't take long for the Locust to realize what I was doing and began focused attention on her. But they were too late as I had armed one of my grenades. Seeing the hole within throwing distance, then saw another Drone about clime out of the hole. I wouldn't give it a chance and let my grenade fly. It bounced once on the pavement before falling into the hole. A moment later an explosion overtook the hole and sealed it up. With the hole now sealed, I began focusing on the remaining Locust. I counted four Drones that were still kicking that needed to go down. The drones became furries that the hole was sealed up and began to pour more fire on the two of them. One Drone got close to her and tried to gun rush me, getting my hand on the Lancer handle I waited till it got close before pulling the handle back preparing to rev up the chainsaw. As the Drone got closer to me, it was still spewing shots at my cover trying to keep her down. Then I'd overheard the distinct click of a gun going empty. Having heard that, I revved up the chainsaw and charged in its direction of my attacker. There only a few feet of distance between herself and the Drone in question in the prosses of reloading. So the gap was quickly crossed as I brought down the Lancer on her foe. The Drone tried to block my attack with its arm but proved fruitless as the Lancer went through its arm effortlessly before carving into its chest. The Drone whimpered in pain before clasping on the ground and drowning in its blood. With the deed done, I turned towards her other aggressors. While there were three Drones left standing it didn't take long for both Starlight and Me to put them down. Starlight would fire bullets forcing them to take cover, and she would flank them and finish them off up close. When the last drone fell back dead, I regrouped with my friend. Walking up to her, I could see Starlights shoulders shake. Probably from being in her first firefight and having participated in an actual combat situation instead of sidelining it. I caught her looking at the dead drone in front of her, her first kill. Looking back and forth between Starlight and the Drone, I hunched down on the drone and did a little work. When I stood back up, I waved for her to come closer. "Come here Star I got something for yea." Having gotten her attention, she walked over to her. I then presented a gift to her. "Why are you giving me that? Don't I have enough weapons on me." I just smiled, even if she cant see me under the mask. "This is a reminder of your first. So you know that you have the choice to take a life or not. I was watching your shots back at the apartments, and you didn't make one kill. That here is proof that you can overcome such obstacles like this and use it to protect others. Because I can guarantee by the time you return to Equestria, your going to have more notches on your belt. Now turn around so I can equip this properly." Starlight did as I instructed and turned her back to me. I now had a proper look at what I was dealing with, on her right thigh held the Snub pistol she gave her to use as a backup weapon from the first day. Not the right side of her back had the Retro Lancer she picked up from the checkpoint. On her left thigh had a grenade pouch with her grenades and her communications book from Equestria. Seeing nowhere else, I strapped Boltok holster and pistol on her belt, angling it so she can access it from her left side. It was somewhat unique too, while most Boltoks had a bronze finish this one didn't and instead had a silver finish. "There, now you're ready to for whatever comes next," I said with a smile. 'THUMP.' My smile vanished. 'THUMP...!' Her eyes widen in fear at the vibrations in the earth. 'THUMP!' Starlight had turned around to look at me in suspense. I couldn't see it, but I knew that fear was showing through the blue-lit eye holes. 'THUMP!' "Raarrr" Turning to where the growl came from my face paled at the monster just a few city blocks behind her. There a thirty-meter tall Bremak stood eyeing the pair of them like they were a tasty snack. "Except maybe that, RUN!" We then went into a dead sprint down the road just as the armored monstrosity gave a bellowing cry. It's twin heavy guns on its arms rain death on us as they ran for our lives. Taking hold of Starlights arm, I pulled her out of the line of fire behind checkpoints barricade. We huddled close as death rained around us. I knew we needed to get out of the open but could not see. Looking out, I couldn't see any decent cover nearby that they can be utilized against the Bremak. I felt hopeless in the situation they were now in, and she had hoped that the two of them would avoid against something like that. If she had a few more Gears with some heavy weapons, then I'll feel better about the situation. As if the heavens above had opened up and answered her prayers, the guns of the Bremak suddenly halted as sounds of explosions filled the air. Looking behind us, I saw the Bremak getting pelted with bombs and gunfire from across the street. It was MAKO; they came back for them! Relief filled her at the sight of them. I then hear one of the Gears call out to us. "Hey, wanna live?! Get the hell off the street!" "Wait for us!" I called back. Before turning my attention to Starlight, "Come on Star we got to move." We broke out of our coverage over to where MAKO was firing from, which turned out to be an old corner store that use to sell everyday consumables. As soon as we were in, the six of us rushed inward into the store and out the back door into a narrow alleyway. The four Gears that found us lead us around the building till we reached an empty factory assembly line area. Starlight and I were breathing heavily from the continued rush of adrenalin that was leaving our bodies. Now that the moment was cooling down, I finally got a look at the Gears we were here in the first place. The man in front of her had no helmet on so I could make out his facial features easily. He was an old gear for sure; his skin was light brown male and his built made pretty tall, his sported black goatee and black braids along his head. There was also his hazel brown eyes and the look that he carried him. The look that every veteran Gear held that showed that he saw too much much in life which confirmed her suspicions. I saw his primary weapon of choice to be a Retro Lancer, on his back carried a gnasher shotgun and his sidearm a boltok pistol. In the years of war, I had been in you can tell a lot of a man just by his looks and weapons. Turning on her heads-up display for the IFF tags, she read out load for she was addressing an officer. "Captain Nikoli, MAKO Actual I presume? Sargent Terrell sixty-six highlanders BRAVO two-two, this is privet Glimmer and bob." I introduced me, my friend and the bot the decloced making everyone jump back for a sec before relaxing.. The man smiled as he looked us, "Da, glad to meet Zargent, privet." He replied in heavy Gorasni accent. "I am Captin Gavin Nickoli of the twenty-first wester coast regiment; I was the second in command here under Major Smith. Thoze with me are all that left." He points to the three men behind him. My HUD picks up all three of there IFF tags. The one on the left was, Privet D. Tompson, he wore first generation blue armor, similar to what I gave Starlight, and carried a Lancer in his hands a Boomshot on his back. The tag in the middle read Sargent J. Rushton. He wore the same armor as the privet, he also carried a Lancer but had a Longshot on his back. He looked to be a little short for a Gear, but since he and I shared the same rank, then he must have done something right to which I gave a nodded gesture of a fellow NCO to which he returned. The last one was a bit of eye candy for me, a tall Privet C. Carmine. He was tallest of the four, about a head and a haft more on Rushton, and wow did he have a gun show. And I wasn't talking about the Lancer in his hands of the Boomshot on his back. But the Two he had for arms, he was wearing summertime armor, which wasn't that odd to me. Seasons could change fast depending on where you get sent. What did interest me was the decal in the center of his chest plate. It was a big gear with the words "Grub Killer," in the middle. One doesn't do that unless he's done something to make himself known for it. But those arms, you crack nuts with just a flex I bet. I wonder what his thighs look like? Maybe he has abs that you can grind meat off of. I was so in-depth of ogling the tall privet that I didn't hear the first words that came from Captin Nickoli. Something about her helmets HUD from the sound of before I started listening again. " - didn't know that there was any Onyx guard still around. I thought you all died off or on zome zecret mission. But thoze or queztionz for another time. One'z best zaved for when we leave thiz infested town." He finished to which I agreed with the usual nod of understanding. "Agreed sir. We parked our ride not to far from here we can be there before the lunch rush if we hurry." She answered. "Zounds like a plan, where you park at?" "It's on the other side of the drawbridge that near here." "Alright then, lead the way, Sargent. We got you-" His speech was interrupted when a sniper shot went off and impacted against Rushton. The Sargent's body jerked back, a spray of blood painted the wall behind him. I cursed under my breath at their misfortune. I, Starlight and Carmine quickly took cover behind assembly line while the Captin and Tompson drag Rushton with them back to an office to the other side of the assembly, Bob just reclocked to avoid being a target. Looking across the factory, I spotted several Locust taking up firing positions along the second story catwalk. Looking right I see a set of stairs leading up, I then motioned for Starlight and Carmine to follow me. "Head upstairs and clear them out," I ordered. The tall Gear took up position in front of me before turning back, "I got this sarge, I've got a bit of pet up aggression that needs some release." He said to me before he took his Boomshoot off his back and fired a shell at a pair of Drones. I watch the Boom shell arc up and impacted head-on on one Drone, turning him into several chunks of burning red meat. The other Drone was pushed up into the air off the catwalk and landing hard on the ground. Maybe the "Grub Killer" has some weight with this guy. Climbing up the stairs, we began to desk hop two of us would shoot at the Drones while the third would go from cover to cover and got closer to the enemy and giving us a better firing position. When I saw the three of us in good positions, I signaled them to lay waste on them. Standing up straight, the three of us engaged against three separate Drones. Mine and Carmine's drones became quickly riddled with bullets while Starlight's Drone retreated out the double doors from which they came in. Keeping my eye on the doorway, I rounded up the two that was with me and headed back down to the ground floor of the assembly line to meet up with the others. Reaching the office that the others had taken shelter in we came upon a grim sight. Tompson was walking away from the scene, Rushton sat against the wall with his head hang low with blood coating his armor. Captin Nickoli was there standing in front of Rushton with a set of COG tags dangling from his hands. Which only meant their company was down to five. From the reactions, I can see from those around me. Nickoli was stoneface, having to live longer than another Gear he commanded. Carmine muscles stiffened up; his hands clenched into fists. If I hadn't spent time in a world of magic for a time, I swear he was just radiating in anger. But I was more worried about Tompson and Starlight. Starlight for her well being and Tompson with the symptoms of the shakes, most likely from PTSD after continues days of fighting. The Captin was first to recover from the moment and turned to address the situation. "We need to move, to many have died under my watch and I'll be damned if I'm going to let them die in vain." His eye's then settled on me," Sargent lead us out." I replied back by giving him a firm salute before answering, "Yes sir." Turing on my heels, I lead everyone out the nearest exit. Looking down the street, I made a note to keep an eye out for that Bermak. Despite its size, that thing could just pop up and mow us down if given a chance. Seeing nothing, for now, we made our way down the street till we reached the blocked road from earlier, showing that we were on the right track. However, before we could make our way around, a high-pitched scream from behind us It was so loud I thought that my ears were about to bleed. Turning to face the advisory, I spot a single wretch on top of a ruined car down the street. It didn't take long for dozens more to suddenly pop up everywhere. Wretches, the lowest form of annoyance us Gear have to face. I certainly didn't miss these guys when I was Equestria. Maybe If I remembered them back then, then I would have stayed in pony land. Maybe become an instructor for the princesses guard. Whip those pony boys into real soldiers instead of just decoration like what the ones I saw in Canterlot. As one, we all pointed our weapons and began to unload on them. With Starlights lack of formal military training, I could quickly see how unprepared she was when facing multiple enemies. She was having trouble deciding which wrench to shoot at as she kept switching between targets and missing. I took a spot next to her to keep them off her and protect the team's flack. Seeing me fighting beside her must have given her some confidence back as her shots were connecting to her targets more often. The others were no pushovers either. Captin Nickoli and Carmine were mowing down enemies with ease with their weapons. Nickoli had switched to his shotgun for the ones that got to close to him while he stood by Tompson and Carmine. Taking down another wretch that hoped up on the car in front of me they were starting to get to close for comfort. When I felt my mag ran dry, I switched to my shotgun instead of reloading. Flicking the safety switch, I blew the next wrenches head off with little sense of satisfaction. Looking past my just kill I can see there was only a few more left. After claiming more two kills, the what seemed like an endless hoard of annoying troubles stopped. Seeing the fighting had slowed to a finished, I fished my pouches for ammo and began reloading my weapons. I then heard call out to everyone if we're alright. "Are you all alright? Soundoff!" "I'm up" I replied. "Ready for more sir," Carmine said eagerly. "I'll live sir," Tompson responded. "I'm good," Starlight replied shakenly. "Alright, we should be close to that bridge, let's move." He ordered. When he finished, a door burst opened and a pair of grenadiers popped out and started shooting at us. Raising my weapons up, I and everyone else opened fire on the duo and turning them into mincemeat before they took five steps out the door. Two against five in the open, not very smart are they. With the two of them down and the open door in front of us, we made our way in the building. We quickly made our way through the halls and rooms till we made it to the back alleyway that hid behind the building. There we caught the interest of a few drones that had taken up residence and engaged them. Taking up position behind some dumpster with Starlight right next to me, we fired at a couple of drones that set themselves up on an emergency fire escape staircase. With them having no cover what so ever. They were quickly taken down. While we were doing this, the others were engaging their set of targets on the ground. When the ones above-taken care of, Starlight and I focused our efforts on the ones on ground level. Our weapons at the mixed we quickly took another two down. When there was just one left it tried to make a break for it down the alleyway behind it. It didn't get far as a bullet entered its leg and it was brought down to a crawl by Carmine. He then walked up to it kicked it's side, making it turn on its back facing him now. He then brought his boot up and smash its head into the pavement as blood and bone stained the ground. "Damn, those muscles aren't just for show are they?" My words must have caught him at just the right time as his back straighten up in surprise as my voice hit home. He quickly looked back behind him and saw that I was watching him. "Not bad on the execution, if you had added a one-liner at the end there then I would be impressed. Oh well, better luck next time." I then quietly walked past him, swaying my hips making sure everyone got an eyeful. "Then you can prove if you are a 'Grub killer.'" Oh god, it's good to be an NCO. Going through the alleyways unhindered by the Locust and around the next set of buildings we eventually made it to the towns water edge. Looking to my right, we were only about a hundred meters or so from the drawbridge, our ticket out of here. "There it is, that what we need to cross." "Good," said Captin Nickoli. "Let's hurry; I don't want to be here any more than necessary at this point." Nothing more was needed to be said as we went down the waterline till we reached a closed up staircase up. The stairs were sealed up by an iron gate with an old rusted chain and lock. I walked up and grabbed the gate and jerked my head over for Carmine unlock it for everyone. Pulling the gate to expose the chain, Carmine wordlessly revved his Lancer up and cut through the chain, allowing us access to the bridge above. Now we were on the bridge looking across the fairway. I could quickly make out the Armadillo as it sat exactly where I parked it. "HUMANS!" The hissing roar let off. I turn around only to face the most damnable sight. Locust Drones and Boomer running right towards us. There were dozens of them! On instinct, I raised my weapon and let out a spray of bullets into the oncoming hoard. It wasn't long before everyone else was joining with me. Our combined fire took down a token of their forces before they started firing back. We all took cover on anything that was near us. Starlight was next to Tompson behind a ruined car, Captin Nickoli jumped behind a concrete barrier in the middle of the street. Carmine and I went behind an overturned box truck. Raising my weapon, I stepped out a bit and started firing my gun at the nearest enemy, taking him down to the ground and making his buddies nearby duck for cover. When the Locust began to target me, I hid back into cover. During so everyone else picked up my slack and started firing. When they started to get shot at, I would pop back up from cover and redirect fire on me. This tactic had the desired effect I like. We were widdling down the enemy as they came but more seem to pop up after we kill a few. "They just keep coming!" Tompson shouted out. "What do we do?!" "Captin Nickoli answered, "Just hold them, we can do this!" Checking my pouches for another magazine for my lancer, I realize I was down to my last two. I then called out my issue"Sir, we're running low on ammo, whats the plan here!" "Just keep firing!" He replied as he fired his Retro Lancer. Looking behind us between the Armadillo and us was a lot of ground to cover in an open space. Even if we started running now, the hoard would just follow them. "Bremak!" Tompson shouted to everyone. Turning to look further down the road, I can see it a few city blocks away. Now there was no way the had the ammo we had on hand would hold that off. "Sir!" I called out getting Nickoli's attention. "Get Tompson and start up the Armadillo, will cover you!" He nodded in understanding before turning his attention to the Privet. "Tompson! Fall back to that Armadillo man its guns and provide covering fire for everyone else." With that said the duo moved across the bridge. With those two on the run, I refocused my effort on a Gatling welding Boomer that was getting to close for comfort for me. Emptying the magazine in it brought it down for me, now I'm down to my last mag. "Last mag, tell me those two are made it to the APC?!" Carmine was the one that answered me. "They are climbing into it now!" "Good! When they start firing fallback!" My senses became disordered by a loud explosion coming from behind us. Looking in the direction of the destination, so did my hopes. The Armadillo was up in flames. And so were our hopes of escaping. "What the fuck happened to the Armadillo?!" Shouted Carmine. "Locust must have gotten to it and set a trap for us!" I replied. "Captin Nickoli and Thompson were inside that thing! Abby, what do we do?!" Starlight shout to me. Looking at Starlight and Carmine, then the ever-growing force of destruction that was approaching us. I could easily see how little the chances were if we stayed where we are. We could try to make a run for it across the bridge and try to lose them somewhere along in the forest. But they would run just run us down a mile or so down the road. We could double back down the waterway but will be boxed in the town with a large enemy force on our heels. With each second that past by our chances of surviving was dwindling. I focused on Carmine shooting another shell from his Boomshot, killing a pair of Drones that got close. Looking over to Starlight, she was looking back at me waiting for me to say something to get us out of here. The presser of it all weighted down it down to me. Whatever decision I could think of could only delay the end outcome,"I don't know..." It was the one sentence I hoped never to say. Before anyone else could be said, our radios turned themselves on, and a new voice reached our collective ears. "This is KR-five four, calling any colation personnel, are you receive me over. I say again; any COG ground units are hearing me over." Hope filled me once more from hearing that call, keying my radio I began taking over the net. "KR- five four this is BRAVO, your timing couldn't be any more perfect. We need an emergency evac; we got a large Locust force coming down on our position. Can you assist?!" A moment later KR- five four responded back. "Roger that BRAVO, Coronal Hoffman sends his regards. Where you want... never mind we see you, coming at you from the northwest now." Turning to the Northwest, I spot a pair of King Ravens flying low and fast. "I see you have a Bremak problem," said KR-five four. "Let's fix that, KR-five six think you can help them with that?" "I reckon I can; you guys better run for it. I'm about to strafe the whole street your on." "Just avoid the bridge and burn everything else! Bring the rain!" "Bringing it!" "Everyone across the bridge NOW!" I shouted. Breaking from cover the three of us put everything we had into running for our lives. With Carmine being the biggest he was ahead of Starlight and me by a few strides. As soon as we got to the middle of the drawbridge, the Locust had chout up and started to occupy the positions we were at; it was then that the King Ravens made themselves known. What I assumed was KR- five six launching missiles and shooting its chain guns. I couldn't see it, but I could certainly feel the explosions going off behind us. While he was doing that, KR-five four hovered at ten meters with its door guns out and laying down cover fire. When we reached the other side of the bridge, the Raven lowered itself down to the ground. "Get on board, now!" I ordered. Carmine was the first to board the transport, followed by pushing Starlight on board with me following in. "Were on board, get us out of here pilot!" "Roger that!" We then began to rise and turn from the ground, giving all of us a good view of the Armadillo that brought Starlight and me pushed across the country in, now a burning tomb for Captin Nickoli and Tompson. Quickly rising in altitude, we sped off the ground and watched the countryside disappear before us as we made our way to the heart of the COG. What happens next was anyones guess. Taking my helmet off, I let down my cherry blond hair down. Looking over to Starlight she did the same and took her helmet off to and let her purple with turquoise stripe hair out for all to see. The look in her eye told me lots of things. But mostly it said to me she was tired which I could relate wholeheartedly. I grabbed her hand and gave her an understanding look. She understood me by leaning up against me and drifted off to sleep. Looking across from me I see Carmine with his head up against the wall, most likely had fallen asleep. I felt sorry for the guy, he just went through hell and became the only survivor. The stress of everything was now building up, and it didn't take long for me to follow everyone's example with sleep. After a quick call to the pilot to let us know when we're near our destination. I fell into a dreamless slumber and hoped for better days ahead.
Down we go.Jacinto Plato, Sera Fifty miles outside Ilima City Starlight POV Feeling the light hit my face, I blinked a few times before letting a groaned from uneasy nap I took. Blinking out the blurriness from my eye's, I saw the unmistaken form of our new companion, Carmine sitting across from me. His head, still covered by his helmet, rested up against his seat as the Raven shook steadily as we flew over the land. Abby was doing the same next to me as she had her and my helmets off to the side. Looking around, I took in the marvel of technology that carried them. Flight without levitation or a team of Pegasus pulling is such a amazing achievement. "You look like never ridden Raven before?" The unknown voice snapped me away from my on looking to the another two Gears on board with them. They were both wearing the standard blue combat armor and sat on both sides of Carmine as they had their hands on the heavy machine guns. I looked at the two for a sec then realized one of them had asked me a question. "Oh, umm... Well, no I haven't." "Really? Not even in basic?" The one on her left asked with his head tiled to the side. "I just joined shortly after meeting Abigail here." I replied. "... You met the sergeant here and just joined in?" The other Door Gunner on her right asked. "More like she and her friends rescued me from being buried alive." Replied Abby before I could answer. Looking to my friend I saw she was wide awake. "I was suck underground in the Hollow due to a sudden sinkhole swallowed me. Spent a bit of time running and gunning from Locust patrols till I came across a her tribe." "Tribe?" The Gears and Carmine said at the same time. I looked at the large Gear and saw him looking at us. "Carmine, sorry if we wake you. How are feeling?" I asked him. Worried about the big guy after what happened to him after the events at Speyer. "I'm fine... A little hungry after fighting for that long." He answered. "Will get you something when we get back to Jacinto. Anyway yea, Starlight here from nomad tribe of people that immigrated here during the early days of Pendulum Wars to get away from the UIR." "Your name is Starlight?" The left door gunner Gear asked. "Starlight Glimmer is my full name." I said. Abby continued on her made up explanation to the three about me. "They don't interact with people outside the Tribe vary often so their mostly forgotten with the war and were completely forgotten when the Locust appeared." I nodded along with the lie and added my two bits in. "Most still prefer to use our native language due to how we isolate ourselves from everyone. But those like me that know your language fluently are still needed to make sure we are getting certain things, and because were always on the move and not rooted in place we give less chances for the Locust to pop up under us." "So like the Stranded in a way but you all are more well off then most?" The right Door Gunner said to which I nodded. "Well how about that. Their might be some hope of us after all in all this." "Is it just the two of you that's traveling with us?" I asked. "Na, the rest of Charly nine is over on the other Raven," The right door man said. "Why was you guys out this far? You guys couldn't have gotten out here quick enough if you cam from Jacinto." Abby asked. The Gear nodded in agreement. "Your right Sargent. We were tasked with escorting Drilling Rigs for Operation Hollow Storm." That got some reactions out of both Abby and Carmine. "Wait a sec," Carmine said. "Are you implying that we're striking down at where they live?" The Gear nodded his head. "The operation has already started earlier this morning when we escorted rigs over to Landown to use Grindlifts to get to the Hollow. They were dropping a lot of Gears down there to hit them where they live. Command has been pushing this for a while now, but I'm glad I didn't go down there. I'd rather fight out them out under the sun instead of a dark cave where Wretches don't pop out and eat you." "I get that. Anyway," Abby said before calling into her ear set. "Pilot, what's are ETA to Jacinto?" "Going to have to wait on that, Sargent. We don't have the fuel for Jacinto so were diverting to Ilima City for a resupply and refuel before we can get you to Jacinto HQ." The Pilot respond back on the radio. I watch as Abby sigh before talking in her radio. "Roger that. What's are ETA to our fuel point?" "Were close around ten mikes out," The Pilot answered. "Contact!" Shouted the pilot of KR- five-six. "Reavers coming at our nine 'o'clock Five four!" Abby then took charge of the four of inside, "Open those doors and man those gun's you two!" She ordered she ordered the door gunners. Without answering back, the two opened the Ravens door's exposing us to the rushing open air out side. "Pilot, angle us so we can have a clear shot at them!" Abby ordered. I felt the world shift as I looked out the Raven. Looking over the horizon I spot several dots in the distance. "There! Shoot'um Gears!" The machine gunner along with Carmine fired at the Reavers as they got close. Our Raven weaved as the Revers returned fire. I reached down to but put on my helmet when our weaved to the side to doge an attack. I watched as both mine and Abby's rolled off over the edge. "Crap, Abby our helmets just rolled off!" I said to her. Abby looked over to where our helmets were and saw that they were gone. "Shit," Abby cursed. "I like that helmet damn it!" Our Raven swerved again as it dodged another wave of incoming attacks. I look out see the squid like creature of a Reaver. Pulling out my Snub pistol, I fired at the thing as the door gunner fired off a stream of shots. The flying monstrosity cried in pain before it fell to the earth with a cry along with its screaming riders. "Good job back there, do that to the rest of them!" Our pilot called out to us. "Watch out! Incoming mortars!" The pilot of KR Five-Six called out. The raven swerved around as black objects flew past us. The two door gunner Gears leaned out slightly with their big guns to try shooting them out of the sky. While me, Abby, and Carmine held on for dear life. After what seam like forever a rough explosion happened in the air. "This is KR Five-Six, I'm hit! Rear rotor unresponsive! I ca-" Five-Six signal was suddenly cut off as their chopper must have crashed landed. "This is KR Five-Four, KR Five-six is down! Were going to circle around and what the hell?!" The pilot shouted. We all looked out over Ilima city as suddenly buildings, roads, and whole plazas start to fall into the earth. "What is this?" I hear Abby as I see her face pale at what she was seeing down. "This is exactly what happened at Tollen! Their sinking the damn city!" Carmine shouted. Before anyone could comment more on the situation. Another mortar came flying at us and hitting our Ravens side. The force of the mortars blast wave rattles us before the Raven begins to suddenly twist and descend rapidly. I catch a glimpse of one of the door gunner Gears of Charlie nine falling out of one of the choppers side doors. I felt a hand grab hold of my arm as we fall from the sky. Looking out, I see the sight of building at the edge of steep wall, and realized that we were falling into one of Ilima's sink holes. Over the sound of the chipping rotating blades I can barley hear the call the Pilot was yelling out. This is KR Five-Four! I'm hit, I'm..."Then everything went black. Author's Note Just a short chapter to show everyone I'm still alive and kicking. That's right! I'm not dead
New frends.Ilima City, Sera Ilima Sinkhole Abigail's POV I think I should have stayed with the ponies. The first I felt was someone shaking my shoulder. Opening my eyes felt like pushing open a pair of metal shutters. Blinking away the blurriness that occupied my vision, I see the big form of Carmine above me. "Hey there, good see you not dead Sarg." "Carmine? What happened?" I said groggily. "Raven got hit and crashed down into a big sinkhole. Lost the guys from Charly nine with us on the way down and the Pilot died when he was retrieving some stuff from the Raven when it went up. He did throw a green smoke grenade before going through." Carmine summarized. "What about Starlight?" I asked. Getting an arm under me, I didn't feel solid metal but hardwood. Looking around I saw we were in a destroyed building. Over to the side, a fire was consecrated around the crashed Raven we flew in on. Carmine was kneeling by my side when my eyes landed on the other blue armor laying on the ground. Springing into action, I was by Starlight's side in an instant prying to whatever god out there in the hope that Starlight wasn't dead. "Starlight?! You best not be dead, or Twilight is going kill me?!" I watch as Starlight's face scrunches up in irritation before I see her eye's opening as she blinked a few times. "Abby?" "Good to see you're still among the living, Gear. I would hate to tell your family back home of you dying after coming this far," I then grabbed her hand and hoisted Starlight up on her feet. Starlight was shaking like a leaf from the shock of the near-death experience as Carmine, and I led her to the nearest wall. We let her rest against the wall for a moment. Giving her a moment of rest while I get a better view of the situation at hand. Checking my stock, I saw I had my Lancer, the Boltok pistol, and collapsed chain sword with me, but lost my shotgun. Carmine looked like e lost his Boomshot too but still had his Lancer at the ready. While Starlight still had her Retro Lancer, her special Boltok and chain sword, but looked like she lost her other Lancer and Snub pistol. We were still low on Ammo from the recent fighting, but I did see an ammo crate nearby. Walking over and bringing the container over I began to distribute it among the three of us. In the distance, I could hear a firefight getting closer to where it was happening just outside the building. "We got company coming, get in defensive positions around that entrance." I pointed. Carmine went over to the right behind some desk while Starlight and I stood further back in the room behind some pillars. We all waited patiently for the enemy to come and it wasn't till we heard them enter the room. Pinking from behind cover I saw three Gears walking into the room. "Damn we're too late," I heard one of them say. "Actually your right on time," I said from my spot spooking the three of them. It was then I got a better look at our rescue team. One had on the standard blue Gear armor, another I instantly commando Dominic Santiago, That made me glad to see he's still alive and kicking. The last one killed my good mood with a bit of anger and a side order of rage as I looked at the last member of their rescue party. "Marcus Fenix..." When the man in question saw me his shoulders slag a bit. "...Aw shit," He said. "Abigail? You're alive?" Dominic said in surprised to which I nodded back. "Nice to see you too Dominic, "I greeted before turning to face to the direction to the others, "Starlight, Carmine. Come out and welcome our rescue team," I called out. "Clay?" The third guy on Fenix's team said kind of sounding like Carmine for a sec. Carmine looked at the guy for a moment, and I swear his eyes grew when he looked at the other. "Benjamin?" "Clayton, Your alive?!" The Gear, now named Benjamin express as he and up and hugged "Clayton" like they were brothers or something. "When I was told Tollon had been sunk in a giant sinkhole and then flooded I feared you'd died. I'm so glad your alive big brother." Well, that answers that. Before the heart filled reunion could continue, we all hear the roar of a Locust right above us. "Ambush!" Shouted Dom as he razed his Lancer and fired a burst at the balcony above. "Everyone fine cover!" Marcus Shouted before taking behind a pillar. While doing so, Starlight and I hid behind some debris while the brothers hid on the opposite side of the room providing supporting fire on the enemies above. Lifting up my Lancer I provided my own support and was rewarded with a dead drone done. But I quickly ducked back down as the Locust fire was drowned to me forcing me back behind cover. "They're closing in!" The younger Carmine said in a panic as I saw him raze his Longshot before firing at a nearby Drone. "Good shot Ben," The older brother brazed before firing his Lancer at the enemies above. Crouching down behind cover I watch across from me as Dominic trade fire with a pair of Locust Drones and Marcus with a Longshot sniping on a Grenadier. Said Grenadier's head was now nowhere to be seen a second later. She couldn't believe her eye's though. She remembered Marcus's trial, hell she was in the courtroom when it all went down. She had no problem with him abandoning his post to try and save his father, hell she would have done the same if it was her mother. No, what she loathed about him was he took the Laser designator for the "Hammer of Dawn" with him. Leaving the dozens of squads of Gears to face off against an unrelenting hoard of Locust on them. Hell, she and one other Gear from her squad beardly made it out alive along with a few others from other teams. Without the support from the Dawn that Fenix took with him they lost the Capital. "Keep hitting them Delta! Control, this is Delta, we backup ASAP!" Marcus radioed in before he sighted another before firing. "Good to see prison hasn't dulled your aim Fenix!" I jabbed as I stood before squeezing a few bullets at nearby Grub. "Neither has yours after you were declared MIA!" He jabbed back. More Locust soon started to pile in and take up more of the balcony above adding their fire down on us. A few nearly hit Starlight as she was forced down into cover besides me. "There's too many of them!" Dominic said as he fired at the ones that just enter. Taking one of them down. "They just keep coming!" Dom called out. "Then we just keep on killing!" My Carmine said as he and his brother fired at the enemies above. Firing at the enemies above I felt the distinct click of my Lancer going empty, I reloaded and realized I was down to my last clip. "Fenix! You better get me some dame support here quick. We're running low on ammo here!" I saw give off a pissed off scrawl before call out over the coms again. "Mayday, mayday, mayday! This Delta, we're caught off and trapped in the Ilima sinkhole. Any squads in the area, mayday!" The fighting went on for a few more seconds went by after that as bullets flew between our two groups till suddenly an explosion accrued from above killing three drones. Soon more and more of the attacking drones fell making me and the rest of our two teams stop firing to wonder what was happening. That was when I heard shouts and taunts hit my ears. "Oh yeah! Take that all, baby! Yeah! Come get some! Come get some! Yeah, Coles here, baby!" "Marcus, is that?" "It gotta be!" Marcus answered. "Oh boy," I muttered. A roar of a chainsaw bayonet followed by a few more gunshots and another explosion in rapid succession. The dark-skinned thrash ball superstar Cole Train stood for all of us to see with a joyous face while bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Nobody play's this game like me! NOBODY!" Cole proudly proclaimed. "Cole!" Dominic said happily. "Haha, in the flesh, baby!" Cole then raised a finger telling us to hold one for a sec before disappearing. A few moments later the unmistaken sound of a Lancer's chainsaw bayonet roars behind a nearby wall. Said wall soon had a few saw cuts go through it before the wall was kicked down. "Tried to tell you to stay away from that chopper man! Sounds like shit got think for you!" "It did, thanks for the assist, Cole." Marcus greeted as he Cole bumped Lancers. "Where's the rest of your squad?" "Here's my squad.." Cole replied as he pulled out serval COG tags. "Except for Baird and Tanner. We got separated after the drop. Their last message came from nearby." "Sounds like we got a new objective." "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find your friends." Starlight said openly. Catching Coles attention was drawn to the rest of us for the first time. "Well thank you. What's your name girlfriend? Haven't seen you before in the Gears, I'm Cole." Cole greeted in a friendly manner. "Nice to meet you, Cole, I'm Starlight." Starlight greeted back. "Likewise girl, where'd you from?" "Later Cole lets get your friend first before we play twenty questions with my rooky later." I stopped in suppressing Cole. "Abby?!" Cole said in a surprised voice. "You're alive!" Cole quickly pulled me in a hug as he laughs out in joy. "I was told that you bought the farm when your team said you fell in a sinkhole. Should have known better than that! Sorry that the COG gave up on you." "It's fine, Cole. You know as well as I that the COG doesn't have the manpower for rescue operations in the Hollows." I responded with a smile. "Besides, did get to meet some new friends along the way." As I looked at Starlight and Clayton. "But enough for now, Marcus you might want to cancel that Mayday." I said turning everyone's attention to the other NCO. Marcus nodded nod in response before turning on his radio. "Control, this is Delta. Cancel Mayday. We've grouped up with the Abigail along with two survivors of Five fours crash sight and are regrouped with Cole. Baird and Sigma are MIA. We're assisting with the search." He explained as he walked away from us to a JACK bot appeared. "Regrouped?! Is that what you call it when I saved your ass?" Cole complained. The JACK then dropped a small TV monitor and a blond women wearing a gray officers uniform. "Roger that, Delta. We have additional squads moving in to secure Ilima." "Roger, control. We'll keep you posted. Delta out." Marcuse finished as the JACK bot disappeared under its cloak. Once it did, I stepped up to my fellow new NCO. "I noticed that Control didn't say anything about us three so will be following behind you guys. Mostly to watch you." I pointed Marcus. "Me?" He asked in confutation. "Which reminds me." I then as quickly as I could, I surprised him, and I guess everyone else that was behind me with a left hook to Fenix's face knocking the Gear on his rear. "That was from me to you for the idiotic move you pulled back in Ephyra." Dom was by his friends' side and started picking him up. When he looked back at me with those cold eyes of his, I didn't even flinch. "You were hanging on to that one, weren't you? Out of everyone I know, didn't expect you to hold a grudge. When I was the one trying to save my father." He told me just before spitting out a glob of blood. "Oh, you misunderstand Fenix. I would have done the same thing for family." I replied, which caused him and Dom to look at me in confusion. "I was pissed off that you took the damn 'Hammer of Dawn' Laser designator with you instead of passing it off to someone else before going off on your personal mission. Doing that wouldn't cost us the damn battle and losing the damn city along with all the ground, Gears, and equipment we lost. That's what I got against with you. So as of this moment till I'm told otherwise, I'm going to be watching over you till I figure you won't abandon any missions." I can only imagine my little lecture was like a slap to the face the way Marcus and Dom's looks were giving me. Dominic was the first to break from his stupor. "So you're coming with us even if we don't like it?" To which I nodded. "Yep, now we're wasting time lets go find your friends Cole," I said before turning to stun dark man as I walked past everyone out of the building. I then heard Dom sigh before him and everyone else followed behind me. "Welcome to Delta, Abby.." I heard Marcus said with disdain knowing that I outrank him. While also knowing from experience of working together on several ops how stubborn I am. 'This is going to be fun I thought evilly. Author's Note Sorry for the long wait, but now I'm back. Not much hear but I promise more to come later on. Next chapter, firefights, a annoying Gear, and BUGS!!!
Back Underground.Ilima City, Sinkhole Starlight's POV Following my friend out of the building, I look around in wonder and horror at the level of destruction the Locust brought to the human city. "Woah... This is... horrible..." I said in as I looked around the crumbling building and streets. "This is exactly what happened in Tollen, only without the river flowing into it afterwards," Clayton responded as we exited the building. "Clay, wasn't Dalton stationed in Tollen?" His brother Ben asked. That question made the big stop in his tracks before he looked over at his younger brother before giving him a nod. "Oh, god... Dalton, no..." Ben said in despair. To which the older brother went over, and the two hugged. The rest of us heard the news and decided to give the two a moment to mourn. "Damn..." Dom broke the silence. "That's rough." "Yeah, and another name that'll go on the roster when this war ends," Fenix grunted. It was then Abby brought back to our current objective. "Cole, do you know where our men at?" "Yeah, their last message came from up that way." He said, pointing past a nearby cemetery to a big open cave. "Towards that tunnel." "Then let's check it out." Marcus then took point with Dominic, Cole, and Abby following behind, leaving me with the brothers. I turn to the two others with me and having to hate myself for having to break their moment. "Come on guys, I hate to do this, but this isn't the kind of place for that. More Locust could be nearby, and we should really keep moving." I said in a respectful tone. "*Sighs...*Stars right Ben. This ain't the moment let's get going and kill some Grubs together and make them pay for what they did to our family!" Clayton said as he readied his Lancer. "I've got your back, brother," Ben replied with his own before the three of us moved in behind Abby and the others as they walled in the Cemetery. A moment passed after we entered before the view of the tunnel was clear to us. Before suddenly, a lough sneer echoed all around us before a flying squid came down from above. "Reaver!" Abby calls out as we all spread out and took cover behind individual gravestones before we all opened fire. Rising my Retro Lancer, I focused my shots the squids face. I felt my aim go slightly off with how big the recoil the Retro gave me compared to its younger brother. But my rounds still entered the big squid as it tried to aim the big cannon on its shoulder at us. I Quickly ducked down as several of its shots exploded against the stone slabs we hid behind. I soon hear it cry out in pain, peeking out from cover I watched as Abby and Cole flanked it from one side while Marcus and Dom flanked it's other and were firing at it in its sides in a cross pattern. I watched in awe at the teamwork they pulled off just before the Reaver gave off one more cry before falling over dead. I gave load "Yes!" at what we just accomplished before more Locust Drones appeared ahead of them across a bridge leading into the tunnel. "We ain't done yet Star keep firing," The older Carmine said he fired at the Locust Drones rushing towards them. I joined him and several others as more drones ran across the wooden bridge, only for them to get cut down before they made to the end. I then heard a crackling sound in the air, it was then I saw new kind of Locust I have yet to see before. It stood taller than the others by a full head and wore different attire then the others. While others wore armor this one wear something like robes and to her opinion a silly headdress. It was also pointing a really unusual pistol at them." "Kantus!" Clayton called out as he and his brother fired at the monster followed by everyone else. In just mere moments the 'Kantus" was now just a pile of meat with holes. "Clear," Abby called out before we all moved across the wooden drawbridge. When I passed by the Kantus, I couldn't help but wince a little bit at the mess but any comments to myself as we entered the massive tunnel. "Damn they dig some big-ass tunnels down here! " Cole said allowed as I couldn't help but agree with. A tunnel of this size seems to be a little overkill for moving around ground troops. "It's the worm," Marcus replied back to Cole. "Huh?" Myself, Abby and Cole replied at the same time. Thankfully Dom quickly explained. 'Some kind of massive worm is making all these tunnels. It's what sinking the cities, too." "You've got to be kidding!" Cole exaggerated. "I wish," Marcuse replied back. "That's some crazy shit boy... But I guess the whole world's gone crazy, right?" "I've heard and seen some crazy stuff before, but this will make it to the top five," Abby said allowed. As we followed, the worm made a tunnel to a one that looked more natural. Up Ahead I spotted what looked like a wall of iron bars overlapping each other in a square grid pattern. "Well, that doesn't look ominous," Clayton joked. When we got close, we saw what looks round giant pod-like things. "Marcus, what are these things?" Dom asked his friend which papers to be on everyone's mind. Upon closer inspection on one of them appeared to be open and the remains of dead Gear leaning out of it. "That's not Baird, is it?!" He said in a panic to which Cole went up to the Gear body and checked it. "Na, it's his jump mate. Rest in peace Tanner. Damn" Cole said respectfully before reaching down and removing Tanners COG tags. "So what they're capturing people now?" Abby asked as she looked at the other. "Seems that way," Dom replied. As we moved on passing by more of the Locusts cages. As me and Cole walked by some of the cages, a voice reached out to us from one of them. "Hey is that Cole?! Cole! Get me out of here man! Can you hear me?!" "Over here!" I called the other others over. "I hear you Baird!" Cole replied back his friend as everyone approached the man's cage. "Then get me the hell out of here!" The man in the cage demanded. Cole waved me over, and together, we took hold of one side and with a little strength, pulled the cage door open. A second later, A Gear wearing the same kind of armor she was wearing stumbled out. He lacked a helmet, so he showed off his spiked blond hair but also wore some kind of welding goggles that covered his forehead. "About time *Cough.* What the hell took you guys so long?" "Your welcome." Marcus deadpan as he handed the former caged Gear a Lancer that was nearby. "What the hell are the Locust doing taking Prisoners?" "They're locking people up in these things, taking them further into the Hollow," Baird answered as he pointed at a tunnel behind us at where they were taken. "They were going to possess me, man! Whatever that means..." Beard finished. "Boy I'll give these bitches some process!" Said an angry Cole. "Come on we need to check this out," Marcus said. "Agreed, let's find where they're taking our people," Abby said to which Baird took notice of who else is with us. "Abby! Holy Shit, your alive?!" "Yeah, I'm getting that a lot lately." Stepping in next to my friend, "It's probably going to keep happening till everyone you know knows you're back." "Ha," Abby said with a small laugh. "Most likely. Anyway, let's move, and keep an eye out for any more prisoners " She directed the others as Marcus took point again while we followed. "I didn't think the Locust took prisoners," Cole commented as he stuck to Baird's side as the two looked behind us as the rear guard. "Guess they do now," Dom said solemnly. His face not betraying any emotion on how he felt of this development. From what Abby educated her back in Equestria, there haven't been any reports of Locust taking prisoners in the last decade. This made her wonder what change them to this? Something like this happening from the get-go doesn't happen with a reason. So that means there is an alternative motive up in the Locust command structure. "I think we're not thinking about this the right way?" I said aloud. I said this as soon as we entered a new chamber with cages as what I said stopped everyone in our group before turning to me with raised eyebrows and confused faces. "What?" Marcus question to what was on everyone's mind. "Sorry... I'm thinking out loud here and probably said that wrong." I said in slight embarrassment. "Its okay girl tells us what you think," Cole said, trying to encourage me. To which Baird scoffed at. "Yeah, let's let the girl that looks like a hippy with the highlights from back Pendulum Wars explain this." He was then head slapped by Clayton as a means to shut up. "Go ahead, Star. Floors yours." Abby said. Taking a quick moment to gather my thoughts, I spoke my mind. "Ok, just bear with me with an open mind, alright... From what we know about the general knowledge we have about the Locust is that they kill any human they come across in the last decade and then move on. Am I wrong so far?" I asked those around me. "Na, your right," Cole answered. "Now they taking prisoners. After years of wholesale slaughter by the Locust to anyone, they've come across. One of two things come to mind on what has happened that can explain this new behavior they are exhibiting." I explained to them. "Ok, I'll bite what do you think the Locust got going on," Baird asked. Allowing me to continue. "Ok, first being they might be a change in leadership," I said, catching some of the groups' attention. Mainly Marcus and Dom from the way of interested they were looking at me. "From what I've seen of the Locust and what I've been told. It's a caste system similar to that of a military, like a private all the way to a general. Someone higher up either died or got replaced with someone else and they put forward a new plan they have for us, and this is it. Capturing people instead of killing them and keeping them for some long-term purpose." "And the other thing?" Ben asked. "This was their plan from the beginning." Those words did not sound so good, judging by the looks on everyone's faces. Before anyone could comment, a loud shriek vibrated off the walls. Turning to the direction of the sound. Large pale legs appeared connected with some metal section that would make better suet on a cargo ship out of Filly in the tunnel ahead of them. Just with creepy little legs on its side to make it look more like a tick, gross. Baird was quick to explain what we were seeing because I was looking scared, just looking at it. "That's them! The beast barges. That's how they're transporting everyone. I believe they are also torturing them in there too." "Star we're going to have to put this chat on hold for now on Locust futures other then us killing them. Marcus, Baird take point! Were boarding that thing and rescuing anyone still alive on board, let's move!" Abby ordered. The two Gears rushed forward with no complaint with the rest of us following behind with raised weapons. Around the next corner, the torture barge docked over to a nearby platform. We soon come across some Drones there and fired back at them, forcing them to duck behind some cages. "Boomer!" Ben called. I watched as everyone took cover behind some other empty cages and quickly joined them. Just in time too as the Boomer fired a Boom shot at our cover. Looking to my right, I saw Dom jerking his head to the up. With that, we both raised from our cover and filled the nearest Drone with holes before dropping back behind cover. Peeking over I watched as Cole rushed forward like he was a hoofball player into the last Drone before pushing his Lancer into its stomach and letting it loose. I then watch as Abby and Marcus shoot at the Boomer killing it with concentrated fire much to Cole's delight. "Haha. You know how the Cole does it baby! The bigger they are, the better the kill!" "'The Cole,' ego much?" I whispered over to Dom. To which he gave an amused laugh. With the defenders dead we quickly boarded the torcher bug. But not before Clayton scooped up the Boomshot from the fallen Boomer that he lost when we crashed. As soon as everyone was on board, the thing started to move. Making both the Carmines cuss out loudly. Then we heard a cranking sound coming from the rear of the ship. I then see a lift coming down from above to which a Boomer Locust with a different gun in its hand. Not knowing what to expect due to inexperience I quickly ducked behind some crates. "Grinder!" Dom called out as everyone else had the same idea and took cover themselves. The thing then let loose a substantial stream of machine gun fire over us. With most of our cover being in the middle of the transport, it made it challenging to shoot back. Soon the firing stopped making everyone get up, bring forth a wave of lead at the big Locust. Turning it into a big hunks of meat in just a few seconds. "Alrighty then. Let's head on up. Marcus, Dom your up first." Abby ordered. Without a word. The two got on the lift and were risen up. Then and an empty lift was lowered back down to which Cole and Baird got on. When they were going up, I noticed Clayton pick up the heavy machinegun the 'Grinder' carried. Soon me and everyone else was up, and I saw the cells inside. At the sight of inside the first cell, I imminently started to gag and dry heave at the smell coming out of it. Inside every square inch of the graded floor was covered in blood. Not wanting to linger here any longer, I rushed up a nearby ramp to get away from that stench. Not realizing where I was going, I almost ran head-on into another Drone. My sudden appearance also must have surprised it too. Acting fast, I swung my Retro at it. The bayonet sliced into the creatures face, making the thing cry out in pain. Running back, I saw Abby, Dom, Marcus, and Cole rush up the ramps I went up and started shooting at the Drones bring them down. "Don't go rushing ahead of your team Rooky! We don't need you dying on us just to add more blood that's under this goddamn thing." Marcus shouted at me. Making me wince at his commanding tone. "Yes, Sargent," I replied. He grunted before moving on without giving me a second look. Abby then was right by my side. "I told you before you weren't going to like what you were going to see in this world. Next time don't run off without anyone with you understand." Abby commanded to which I nodded in agreement. Abby did try to deter me from coming, and now by every minute I'm here the more I wish Twilight hadn't destroyed the time traveling spell I modified to go back in time. I would have slapped myself stupid for not listening to Abby then. "Revers!" Dom's cry of the incoming flying squids drew me out of my thoughts and back into combat. As it was getting more intense by the second as a pair of then appeared flying behind the barge. We all ducked behind cover as the two launched a couple of rockets at us as they passed us by, impacting harmlessly against out cover before they disappeared out of sight. Abby was the first to speak again. "They're gone for now. I see a few of these torcher barges up ahead. Someone find something to move this and get us over to one of them." "Found it," Dom called out as I see him pulling a lever located in the back. The effect was instant as a pig poker above them started prodding the big bug sending us forward in. Clayton pointed out from behind us. "They're coming back!" As more Revers appeared. "Someone get on that Troika! Cut them down!" Abby ordered as she everyone else fired at the incoming Revers. My shots kept missing their marks due to how fast those squids were and how unactual they turned and banked from side to side with ease. I wish I had my magic, My Retro not doing it for me against these guys. I thought before dropping down to reload, I find I was down to my last two magazines. But I won't be any help to anyone if I don't get more ammo soon. It was then the Troika at in back came alive with the big loud mouth operating it. "Oh, it's game time baby! Swatting flies all day long!" A random thought of Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, that one stallion Cheese something and this guy at a party came to mind. And an uncontrolled shiver went down my spine at that thought. No one should ever have to bear witness to such an event. Meanwhile in a random dessert in Equestria. A simple earth pony stallion wearing a brown sombrero and poncho with a rubber chicken riding on his back. When suddenly he received a vibration sense in his left back leg, followed by an itch over the third rib on the right side of his chest and a twitch over just a smug over his freckle past the hair over his eyebrow. "Boneless..." The stallion known as Cheese Sandwich said to his rubber companion in a seriousness tone to which no one has ever heard from the stallion. "I-I feel a feel... the sense the trigger for the party to eclipse all parties. It calls for me." He looked out into the setting sun, a twinkle in his eye of determination. "It bids me to take my place among them." Meanwhile in Ponyville "Look, Twilight. I say this as a friend but wait for Starlight, or Abby contacts us first." Rainbow Dash said to Twilight. "They could be in the middle of a fight for all we know, and they don't need the distraction of you calling them every hour for questions." "But Dash! I need to know that my student is ok! And with all the dangers Abby told us of all the dangers in her world, Starlight still went with her back to that dangers place." Twilight replied back. It had barely been a week since their departure, and already she was worried about her former enemy/student. She was still working up plans, and the handling of the Longshot Abby gave her along with the nonlethal methods that she came up for it to give to Royal guard units that weren't unicorns. But right now her friends Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were trying (For the fifth time this week) to calm the princes down. "Don't worry Twilight, I'm sure Abby and Starlight are beating up all those nasty Grubies and will be back so I can give them a big p-Par-t-y!!" Pinky said before shaking frantically. The other two backings away realizing it was one of the 'doozy's.' When the shaking stopped, no pony spoke as the fur on Pinkie darkened by two shades, her puffy curly hair sharpened into a messy spiked pattern, and a look of pure determination look onward into the sky. "I have been called..." She said in an unusual deep stallion voice that would better suit Big Mack before turning to the other two ponies in the room. "I... must prepare to answer. " Pinkie then walked out the Friendship Castle in a way that reminded the Princess and Wonder Bolt if she was some sort veteran of war. When she was gone, the two were stunned to silence, for neither of them had ever seen this happened to there friend. Twilight then walked over to a nearby wall and bang her head against it while repeating in her head of not questioning Pinkie. Back on Sera "Now everyone put fire on that Troika!" Marcus ordered as he and several of the others from Delta rose from their cover and fired at the single Drone that operating the gun on the other barge. Peeking over my cover the barrage of gunfire hits the Drone in multiple places. With him down the barges soon collided with each other, allowing everyone to board the other barge. Abby then took control of the opportunity. "There! Everyone board and clear the deck. Then search this grubby tub! for survivors." On the other barge, I spotted at least three more Drones shooting back from their cover. "I count three!" I called out to the rest of my team as I let a few shots at them. "Dom put a grenade on them!" Marcus ordered. "On it!" He pulled out a frag grenade, reared back and tossed it over. It bounced off a steel beam before landing behind the enemies cover. The Locust could only cry out in a sharp panic before detonating turning two of them in bloody messes. The third Drone was quickly mowed down with bullets leaving the deck clear of hostiles. "All clear," Clayton called out. Moving in, we secured the room. Marcus went over and pulled down the lever to open the cells. I watched as all the cells open at once letting everyone see inside them. One was occupied. "Tai, is that you?" Marcius said in surprise. Turning to the guy that the Sergeant addressed saw, I couldn't help but gasp in shock. The man that hobbled out the cell was big. Big as the Clayton and with tattoos on his face and shoulder. He was shirtless and dirty as dried blood and grime covered his body. He looked like he stepped out of the worse horrors imaginable. His mane was styled in a similar way I had seen the Zebra of the Everfree, Zecora. But it was his face that spoke volumes. To summarize it all the emotions I can see on Tai's face in one word, broken. "Marcius, we got more Locust on the way!" Dom called out from his position on the ramp. "Tai! Let's go!" Marcius said as he tossed his shotgun over to the man. To which Tai caught it and had a sad look and defeated look on his face. A feeling sprung in me that did not sit well with as I looked at the scared man as Tai eyed the weapon he was given. Pushing that feeling aside I slowly walked up to the man, ignoring any orders that Abby or Marcus were giving the others and softly rested a hand on his shoulder making the man lift his head with and looked at me with wide glossy eyes. It was then I got a good look at Tai's back, which made me want to puke in horror. His whole back side looked like it was raked by dragon claws and there were a few places where Iron rings were pierced under his skin. "What have they done to you?" I whispered in horror. "Star?" Looking behind me, I saw Abby right behind me as she looked between Tai and me. Looking at Tai, she saw rage build upon her friend's face and nodded in understanding. "Clayton!" Abby said, getting everyone's attention. "Stay back and provide support for Star here while she provides escort for Tai. The man isn't a hundred present and is going-" *BANG* The shot cut any further discussion as the body of a broken Gear falls to the floor. "Tai! NO!" Marcuse cry's out as he watches his friend leaves for the next life. I stood in silent shock at Tai's dead body from what I just witness. I've seen death but never had I'd witness someone take their own life, and in such a gruesome fashion. "I told you their breaking people I could hear them screaming from the docks!" Baird said in a fit. "Oh man," I heard Clayton said as he and everyone else now saw what they did to their fellow Gear. "I can't believe that they did that to Tai... he... he services everything. Doesn't he?" The other Carmine spoke in disbelief. "Let's just get the hell out of here..." Marcuse responded with little emotion behind his voice. I watched as he reached and retrieved a set of COG tags from the headless body before walking away. I felt a hand grab me on my shoulder and saw that it was Abby. She had a rag and started wiping off something on my face and hair. Looking at it I saw that it was Tai's blood. Feeling a gut retching feeling, I dubbed over to the side and empty out whatever contents I had in me. Author's Note Sorry about the lack of updates to all you dedicated readers. Hey fun fact that I didn't know about. Calendar of Sera Storm, 37 days Gale, 36 days Hail, 36 days Frost, 31 days Ice, 32 days Thaw, 30 days Rise, 37 days Bloom, 37 Days Bounty, 36 days Harvest, 37 days Heat, 36 days Haze, 37 days Brume, 35 days (So around 457 days total to Eques 360 days) Each month contains 10 day weeks Seasons of Sera Fall, (Brume, Storm, Gale) Winter, (Hail, Frost, Ice) Spring, (Thaw, Rise, Bloom) Summer, (Bounty, Harvest, Heat, Haze)
CaptivityIlima City, Sera Ilima Sinkhole Abigail's POV With Clayton's help, we helped Starlight away out of the torturing deck. I patted her on the back to free up her airways. "Keep coughing it out," I advised, "Will find a toothbrush later so you can get the acid out of your mouth." "~Thanks~" Starlight said after her coughing fit. The sound of gunfire reached our ears just then. "More Locust!" Clayton readied his Mulcher. "*Cough* Let's do it!" Starlight said as she readies her Retro Lancer. Regrouping with the others, I spotted a draw plank lowering down with a few Locust trying to board. "Take them down!" Marcius ordered. We all fired our Lancers nailing them as they tried to force their way on board. Four Locust tried running down the ram only to be mowed down with a wall of led. "Grinder!" Clayton warned everyone just as it let lose a substantial stream of machine-gun fire over us. While its fire focused on one side, the other raised and nailed it repeatedly with gunfire. When it down, I waved for Marcius Ben and Dom to advance. "Marcius, take Dom and Ben up and engaged them. Everyone else covering fire!" The three Gears ran up the wooded ram while everyone else fires at the remaining troops. "Area cleared," Marcius sounded off. Soon me and everyone else ran up the ramp and back into the caves. I watched Clayton stop for a moment over the dead Boomer and relieved it of its ammo for his recently acquired Mulcher. We moved on past the dead Locust and across a natural rock bridge. Further ahead, I could hear growls and hissing of Locust. "Kantus!" Marcius called out. When we reached the other side, I see the Kantus rallying a few Locust troops in a coordinated fire back on us. Before I could call them out, I spotted a pair of Tickers going to do some damage. Aiming my Lancer at them, I was rewarded with twin bursts of explosions. With that threat neutralize, I refocused on the Kantus to find a pair of Bloodmounts backing the Kantus. Signaling the older Carmine. "Clayton, focus fire on the Bloodmounts!" Pointed at the Locust. The big Gear complied and unleashed a carnage of bullets into them, with the first becoming a pile of meat in seconds followed quickly by the second. Then the group shifted fire right to hit a few Locust troops trying to push forward. "Grenade!" Ben Carmine warned everyone as an ink grenade exploded, making everything dark and hazy while also hard to breathe the poison fumes. Rolling out of cover, the first thing I spot is Dom and Baird revving their chain saws on one Kantus. Moving on a bit more, Marcius put a finger to his earpiece. "Control, I don't know what the hell's going on, but Locust tactics have changed. They're taking Prisoners, touching them." His gaze met mine. "Hell, we don't know what else." "I'm getting similar reports, Marcius. It's horrible...did you find Baird?" Control responded and asked. My brow slightly at the question. A Control Operator that's sympathetic? That's a new one. Typically they're emotionless bastards. "Yeah, we got Baird...we also found Tai... he didn't make it," Marcius responded sorrowfully, which was shared by everyone. "Roger that Delta..." Control responded. "I've got a Raven in route. You've got a new objective. I'll tell you more on the way...and about Tai." Control stopped for a moment. "I'm sorry, Marcus. He was a good man." "Yeah, he was...Thanks, Anya. Delta out," Marcus ended the call before hefting up his weapon and moving on. I stood behind and watched the whole conversation play out and admit it was interesting to see the two's interaction. An outsider would think the former commando and Control operator had a history. Then a realization hit her halfway through their conversation, that was Ayna Stroud. It made sense. The Strouds and the Fenix have shared history together that dated back to the last war. It's not well known to the standard solder today, but to those that paid attention to class back in the academy. Putting the history lesson to the back of her head, they continue on down the tunnel. Facing several more Locusts soldiers with Bloodmount support. After killing off a Kantus, we left the caves and were back in another sunken part of the city. What came next was a series of firefights in the fallen city. Even after witnessing it and fighting down in it, was hard to process. Storefronts, apartment buildings, fuel stations, hell, whole damn street blocks had fallen nearly an eighth of a mile down. And in between, Locust troopers, Bloodmounts, tickers, Reavers, and more! The worse was its former tenets, the Stranded that were left out here. A few Gears, too; some either went down fighting or just fell down along with the city. "Marcus, Abby," Dominic snapping me out of my slight depression of the city. "We can get a safe LZ on that roof." I looked up to see what he was talking about and gazed over the rickety hotel. Looked stable, but what building is after falling into a giant hole. I looked over and met Marcuse's eyes and nodded. Better than nothing. Getting my confirmation. "Good call, let's move!" We go around the corner into a burning hallway with a stairwell at the end. I held my breath as we passed through smoke, which still stung my eyes. Making me really want my helmet back. We followed the stairs up till we reached the roof the top floor with no obstruction. I watched the younger Carmine toss the smoke grenade in the open for a clear signal. "Smokes out, Sarge! Hope the Raven finds it before the Locust." "Ben!/Private!" The older brother and I said at the same irritating time. Making the younger brother look back and forth between us. "What?" He asked. Very confused. Luckily Baird was there to clear things up. "C'mon, man, don't jinx us...idiot." We all took defensive positions behind whatever we could find. Overturn tables, crumbling walls as we waited for our ride. Starlight took cover next to me as we waited...but not long as we heard the familiar sound of foot stomps. "Look's like the jinx worked!" Dom said as he pointed his Lancer at one of the stairways where the stomps were coming from. Baird slapped Ben across the head. "Great! Nice one." Making the younger Carmine winced. "Bring it on. I'll take on all yea bitches." Cole said without a lack of confidence. The first pack came rushing up and met a hail of gunfire, killing the first two and wounding the third with the fourth ducking into cover. Ducking down to reload, I see Marcus toss a frag and land over the enemy's cover positions. A moment later, the boom left behind two trails of blood splatter. "Where the hell's that chopper?" Baird complained as he pegged one Locust in the head. More Locust came running up, this time from the way we came up here. Starlight and I shifted positions to meet them head-on. I see Starlight crouch back into cover and fumbling with reloading her Retro Lancer in the corner of my vision. "Come on, Starlight, we can do this!" I said in an attempt at encouragement. The humanized unicorn did not look encouraged in the least. "Easy for you to say. I'm still learning this, horse apples!" The fighting continued as we gunned down more Locust that ran up. Then the distinct sound of air chops filtered through the gunfire. "Delta, this is KR one-nine. I have eye's on smoke." A Raven pilot sounded off. "Roger KR one-nine. Delta's ready for pickup." Marcus replied. "Bout time!" Clayton shouted before taking a Grub's legs off with a Gnasher shotgun. I glanced up and searched the sky for our right. There, just over the edge of the sinkhole, I spot the Raven coming to circle around. Looking for the right angle to set her down. "Ground walker!" Shouted a Drone. Snapping back to the fight. I get back just in time to see a Locust Drone slap the Lancer out of my hands. "Shit!" I cursed as the Drone was going to rush me. Rather than driving for my fallen Lancer, I throw a straight jab to his face, stunning it. I then grabbed my chain sword off my back and swung! The chainsaw belt roared in my hand before it met skin. The Drone scream in pain as it ripped and tore through its flesh and nerves before grinding its spine. Its two haves then landed on the floor with twin flops. I heft the chain sword up in appreciation. "Shining, you magnificent bastard." "Whoa..." I turn to my right to see the two brothers staring at me. "Where can I get one of those, Sarge!" Clayton asked, excitement dripping off his voice. The younger brother nodding his head in excitement. I smiled smugly. "Got it from a magical unicorn," I said. Which was true. Recovering my Lancer, the Raven now came closer into view. All of Delta was firing at any Locust that was encroaching us. Taking out another Drone, I suddenly felt the floor quake under me. Then I hear the sound of multiple buildings crashing in the distance. Glancing at Marcus, I see him glancing through at a destroyed wall that showed the outside. Following his gaze made my jaw drop and what I saw. A worm. The thing that Delta mentioned was the size of a damn battleship! "Awe shit!" Marcus cursed. "One-nine, prepare for extraction now! On the DOUBLE!" I ordered. The Raven descended down onto them before landing on the roof. I reached out and pulled the door opened. "Pile it in, move, more!" Baird and Cloe were the first to hop in, followed by Dom and Clayton. Finally, Fenix jumped next while turned to the last two men out. "Star, Carmine, come on!" I shouted at them as I provide covering fired as Starlight came in, but the younger Carmine was still fighting. "Damn it, Carmine. Get over here!" "Rookie! This ain't the big game yet. Save your ass for the playoffs!" Cole shouted off. Ben looked back before running to them. I jumped in the Raven and pulled Starlight with me, and backed up into Clayton. We look up just in time to see Ben take one in the chest. "Ben!" I Clayton cried out before going to the door gun. Marcus, Starlight, and Cole dragging him in while the older brother shoots the big chaingun. "We're in!" Marcus calls out to the pilot. I see Clayton killing a pair of Drones before turning to his kin and see him lying on the floor with Starlight with her hand-holding. "You alright there, little brother?" "I'm fine, Clay," Ben grunted out in relief. "I can believe we made it!" The Rave launched into a sudden spin as several rocks us. I grabbed the railing out of instant. The two Rookies didn't have that. I watched in morbid fascination as Ben and Starlight fly right out of the chopper. "Carmine!/Ben/Starlight!" We all shouted as we watched the two fall into the mouth of the giant worm. The Raven spun one more time and gave us the perfect view of inside the worm's mouth as it closed in on us. The only thing we could do in response. Scream... Author's Note Oh yeah...back in the game baby! Whoo! Long over due chapter for this story that many want to see back. been playing the Gear's of War recently and decided to look back on this. Been busy with school before before going into working two jobs then writing non-MLP stories for the last few years. This story still on the back burner on what I'm planning to do with it but I'll try to come back to it.
