Altair quietly adjusted the sleeves of his fatigues, his new Sergeant stripes had just been sewn on and it was taking some getting used to. It had been two weeks since the Equestrian attack, they had tried to attack again, but had been stopped before they could get far from their portals. Parts of Canterlot were in ruins, it was where the new recruits were being given their orientation, to remind them of what they were fighting for. Altair meanwhile was marching with the rest of his unit in the fields that surrounded Canterlot mountain. Airships loomed overhead, an entire fleet that blotted out the sun at times, entire tank divisions were being brought out of the reserves, lining up in their own areas and fields.

It was, put simply, a staging area. Altair and his unit would be the first of many to invade the enemy dimension. However, Altair had a different mission than the rest of his unit. He and a squad of men would be making their way deep behind enemy lines, they would be searching for civilians that had been kidnapped by the enemy and helping them escape. He would also take out any targets of opportunity, and earn a reputation with the enemy, to help with psychological warfare. Altair would become a name whispered in hushed tones, something the Equestrians told their children about to keep them in line…

That was why Altair had been training his men so hard, he needed to make sure that they could handle extended periods of foraging and sleeping in the wilderness. The orders had given him the authority to pick who would be in the squad, as such he had hand picked what he thought was the best in his unit. His squad consisted of Finn as his second in command, then there was Private Reese. Reese was from Manehattan, an expert in explosives. He had had a juvenile record for setting fires, but it had been expunged… Of course, when you’re son of the Imperator, somethings can still be found out.

Reese had thick black hair like Altair’s, but he was shorter. He had a bulky frame despite that, and intense blue eyes. He had his own little quirks, like humming show tunes when he was bored, something that had thoroughly gotten on Finn’s nerves. The fourth member of the squad of soldiers was Private Rook, he had shaved his head clear of any hair and walked with a bit of swagger in his step. He had tan skin, as before he had enlisted he had worked on a farm on Terra. His specialty was ranged combat, a skill that he had picked up hunting in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Altair’s mother had recommended him highly, and considering she was considered one of the greatest snipers in history, Altair was inclined to agree.

The last member of their merry warband was a woman, Private Patterson, daughter of Doctor Patterson and an equally gifted field medic. She hadn’t originally wanted to take the assignment, but after seeing the carnage that had resulted from the Canterlot attack her mind was changed rather quickly. All of them had some training in special ops, but Finn and Altair were the only ones who were certified Fallschirmjager, jump training for one mission would’ve taken too long, so they would make a tandem jump while one of the squad members was walked through a rudimentary jump procedure. They had yet to draw straws for who would get that unenviable task.

The group was fully kitted out as they marched closer to their barracks, this would be their last training session before they shipped out with the rest of the invasion force. The sound of marching music echoed from their building, meaning someone inside was likely listening to the military radio channel. The five of them fell in step with the march music, their boots thudding imperiously against the dirt.

Altair quietly thought to himself about the two ideologies that would be going to war, Onorussians were Utilitarian Imperialists by nature, while the enemy was like the Crystal Empire… Monarchists. It was true, the Onorussian people had elected his father to rule for the foreseeable future, but Onorus still had a congress and representation of the people… He knew from personal experience that his leader drove the same car that many other people drove, ate the same food, slept in the same kind of bed… Monarchists treated their leaders like, well… Royalty.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Altair ordered as they stopped outside the barracks. “Let’s head in and get cleaned up, I’m sure we all have places we want to go before tomorrow.” The others sighed in relief and unslung the backpacks and helmets they’d been wearing. “Hey, I know it sucks, but at least you get a shower after this. In the field we won’t have that luxury.”

“He’s right, you’ll be wishing we’d had time to do more.” Finn added with a chuckle as they walked to the doorway. Altair pushed the door in and stepped inside, not really taking notice of who else might’ve been inside the barracks. At least, not at first. Only once everyone was inside did Altair see a mountain of a man standing near the radio with his back to the door, he wore an olive drab dress uniform and had the smell of cigars around him.

“Atten-hut!” Altair suddenly ordered, everyone snapped to attention. The man chuckled faintly as he turned down the radio and turned around, Finn, Rook, Patterson, and Reese all went wide eyed when they saw his face. It was none other than the legend himself, the man that had taken on a Redwood Wolf, he who had pulled an entire nation into existence by his bootstraps, voted sexiest man of the year seven times running… Imperator Dominic Occisor.

“At ease, please.” He said, the five of them relaxed slightly. “Really, as you were. I just came to talk to my son.”

“Your son? I don’t think he’s here…” Rook said with a bit of surprise, Altair stepped forward quietly.

“Father.” He said respectfully, the Imperator walked forward and wrapped his arms around the newly minted sergeant. Then, much to the surprise of everyone on the room, he proceeded to lift the six foot five man off the ground and hug him like a bear. “D-Dad! Dad! Air! Air!”

“Hahaha! I still got it!” Dominic said with a grin, all the others had moved to their bunks and removed their heavy gear, only to go back to staring at the two of them. They couldn’t believe they hadn’t seen the resemblance before. “I just came to tell you you’ve got a pass, and I’ve got a chopper waiting. You should come home and spend some time with you mother’s before tomorrow.”

“I… I had made plans with Cassidy, I had already told Mom and Mother. They said it was fine.” Altair replied, his father put a hand on his shoulder.

“You’re less than a day away from jumping behind enemy lines, you really think they’re ‘Fine’ with not getting to see you?” His father said in a deadpanned tone, Altair paused and looked at the floor. “Look, it’ll take two hours, three tops. You’ll still have plenty of time to get ready for your date with Cassidy. Come on, do it for your old man.”

“Alright.” Altair replied, he smiled faintly and shrugged his shoulders. “To be honest, I kinda wanted to visit them too.” Patterson and the others let out a little aw… but quickly shut up when both Occisor’s turned to look at them. It was hard enough seeing that stoney glare on the Sergeant’s face, but seeing it from Dominic as well made it really quite terrifying.

“Let’s go then…” Dominic said as he started walking with Altair towards the door, he paused for a moment. “Oh, before we go, anyone here need a lift to Canterlot?” No one replied. “No? Okay then, nice meeting you all!” With that the two Occisors stepped out the doorway.

[♠]

Altair sighed quietly as he laid next to Cassidy under the blankets in their bed, his arm around her soft bare shoulders. The two of them were covered in sweat and stark naked, they had just made love for the first time. Altair pulled his girlfriend closer, allowing her to rest her head on his chest and drape her arm over him. She looked up at him and noticed his expression had shifted to one of worry.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Did you not like it?”

“Huh?” Altair asked. “No! No, I loved it! Are you kidding?” He said quickly before he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m just thinking about tomorrow…” Cassidy scooted up closer to him so that she could better hear what he had to say. “Cass… I’m scared…” The man looked at her with an expression of shame. “I know I’m supposed to be strong and tough, but…”

“You don’t need to ‘be’ anything.” Cassidy said firmly. “You just have to pretend to be, and hope the others believe you.” The woman sat up, making sure to keep her chest covered by the blanket. “I’d be worried about you if you said you weren’t nervous about jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft.” The woman leaned a little closer. “Your Mom told me that your dad had the same feelings, so don’t think it’s just you. Okay?”

“Okay...” Altair said with a slight nod. “Now that I’ve got that little bit of nervousness out of the way… Want to go for another round of hot chocolate?” Cassidy scoffed slightly, then began giggling.

“Hot chocolate? How long have you been working on that one?” She asked incredulously.

“‘Bout a week, week and a half.” Altair replied with his own grin, Cassidy leaned in quietly and kissed him on the cheek. The man smiled faintly as he turned his head so that his lips met hers, bringing his hand up to caress her cheek. His pale skin contrasted heavily with her milk chocolate brown, but he didn’t much care about that. They had endured a lot of static from others because of that, but it only made Altair love her more. She was the light of his life, the one he looked forward to seeing every day, and dreaming of every night… “Cassidy… I need to ask you something.”

“No no no…” Cassidy replied, as if she knew what was going through his head. “Don’t ask me a thing, not until you come back safe. Okay?” Altair stopped himself, then nodded dutifully.

“As you wish.” Altair said softly.

“Oh, now you’re pulling things out of the Princess Bride?” Cassidy asked, Altair smirked even wider, prompting Cassidy to kiss him once again before she rolled on top of him. Before things could go any further though, there was a knock on the door.

“Sergeant! You told me to tell you when it was an hour to midnight!” A voice from outside yelled, Altair and Cassidy sighed at the same time before Cassidy rolled off of Altair’s chest. The man got out of the bed and quickly pulled on his boxers, then began to put on the rest of his clothes. Cassidy watched him closely, unsure of what else there was she could say, she desperately wanted to hear what he was going to ask her, desperately wanted him to stay by her side, but she knew that wasn’t possible… Not at the moment. Altair finished putting on his clothes, then quietly walked to his desk near the window. He picked up a pen and began to write on a piece of paper.

”Revered Father and Mothers. I go now to fulfill my destiny. I hope it is a destiny that will bring honor to our family… If it requires my life, I shall sacrifice it gladly to bring glory to our proud nation.” Altair wrote, short and simple, just as it needed to be. Altair stood up straight and grabbed something from the corner of the desk before he adjusted his fatigues, he then turned to face Cassidy.

“I have to go now…” He said quietly, Cassidy nodded. “I love you. I promise, I’ll send you letters whenever I can.”

“You just come home safe to me. Don’t you worry about any damn letters, I don’t want letters, I want you.” Cassidy replied firmly, Altair nodded respectfully before he slowly walked to the door. He stopped for a couple seconds before he opened the door and stepped outside. He looked at the object he had grabbed, a picture of him and Cassidy together… He tucked it into his pocket and looked around. His father was standing across the hall with his arms folded.

“Was wondering when you’d come out.” Dominic said as he leaned against the wall, Altair walked towards him with an uncertain expression. “I know, you’re probably wondering why I’m here. Well… It’s pretty important to me, alright? I need to give you some things.”

“What? Did I forget something?” Altair asked, his father shook his head. Altair could see he was holding a bag, the man reached inside and withdrew the first item. A pair of mirrored sunglasses that looked like they’d been made twenty years ago.

“These were yours, but you lost interest in them when you were a kid… Your mom hung onto them for you though. She wanted you to have them back.” His father said as he handed them to Altair. “They’ll fit you better now that you’ve grown into them.” Altair remembered them, he had found them in the wreckage of an old B-17 with his mom while they were hunting… He’d almost forgotten completely about them. His father withdrew another item, this one Altair didn’t recognize. “This is Taffington’s top hat. Remember Taffington? Your Mother would summon him up and she would do the funny voice?”

“Yeah! I remember him!” Altair said as he took the tiny felt hat and looked it over. “How did mother get his hat though? I thought he was magic.”

“Your mother can move the fucking stars, you think a hat is gonna be a problem for her?” His father said in a deadpanned voice, Altair shrugged in understanding. He tucked the little hat into his pocket, then put the sunglasses in his breast pocket. “And lastly, something from me… Two things, actually.” His father reached into the bag and withdrew an old black revolver, it was inscribed with faded gold lettering. “My father’s revolver, my revolver… Now, your revolver.”

“Father… This is… This is your most cherished thing from Terra…”

“No, son. You. You are my most cherished thing from Earth. You’re the result of so much that I love… Don’t ever think I love something more than you.” Dominic said, his eyes getting a little misty as Altair took the handgun and reached to his holster. He removed his luger and handed that to his father, then slipped the revolver into its place. “Now… Before I bust out the water works, the last thing I wanted to give you.” Dominic reached into his bag and withdrew something old and made of leather, it was battered and had been stitched back together numerous times… Altair had seen it in tons of historical pictures, but never in person… His father’s long black jacket. “Wear it well… With this, you can carry us with you.”

“I won’t let you down, Father.” Altair said as he took his father’s jacket and slipped it on. It fit perfectly, and gave him plenty of extra pockets. With that one motion, the torch had been passed from father to son. “Promise me you’ll take care of Cassidy… If something should happen to me.”

“I promise.” Dominic said as he hugged his son. “But it doesn’t matter, because nothing’s gonna happen to you.” Altair nodded as he finished the hug. “Now… Go get those sons of bitches.”

“Don't worry, I’m going to make them wish they had never heard the name Occisor.” Altair said dutifully, his father nodded proudly and gave him a pat on the back as Altair began walking away. His fears had melted away, replaced by a drive to add his name to the history books as a great soldier like his father. He would carry out his mission, strike fear into the heart of the enemy, and when it was over he would come home to the woman he loved. In nature, the strong survived, and Altair was nothing if not strong. It was time for these Equestrians to face the wrath of the Onorussian people.

Author's Note

Here's another chapter for you lovely dovelies! I'm just so excited for this, you know? It's hopefully gonna really get rolling soon after this chapter, so hold onto your butts. As for the thing with Cassidy and Altair, I didn't write a sex scene because it would've felt out of place in this chapter, and I wanted to keep to a sort of tone. Don't worry, the next one will be extra juicy to make up for this.

I kinda already put a link to the song that inspired parts of this chapter in the story above, so I'll put the other song I used for inspiration down here, as this is the one that inspired me more. At least, the beginning minute or so, the rest of the song is 'eh' at best.