Life is unpredictable, and by the time you know something is going to happen, it is usually too late to act. That was the case for 26-year-old James Cutter and his teenage daughter Abigail Cutter, as they were walking home after celebrating her fifteenth birthday with dinner at her favorite restaurant. The two of them were laughing, chatting away, having a great time, then, just as they were crossing the street, there was a screech of tires, a horn, flash of bright light, then... nothing. Darkness soon crept into their vision and they drifted off.
That was all James could remember as feeling returned to him and he became more aware of his surroundings, as well as the form that was laying off to his side, “ABIGAIL!” The man staggered to his feet only to collapse back to his knees, where he started to crawl to the girl's side, worry ever present in his eyes. Being former military had its benefits as he pulled out a small pocket flashlight he always had on him and checked for injuries, and finding none, he breathed a sigh of relief. Her pale skin had no cuts or bruises, the pupils of her jade green eyes were responding correctly, indicating no concussion, and her breathing and heart rate were normal.
“I could have told you that she was alive.”
James shot up in an instant, hands up in a defensive posture and eyes glaring at the source of the voice, but he saw nothing, quite literally as he could barely see anything. The room, at least he assumed it was a room, was pitch black, with a multitude of shapes visible in the darkness. Suddenly, one of the walls to his right started to split along its length and opened to a starry sky, high above the ground and overlooking a vast forest, “What the... there aren't any forests this size near home.”
“That's because you're not at home.” A figure made of orange light suddenly appeared before his very eyes, the one that had been talking to him if he had to guess. The stranger took the form of a young woman, no more than thirty, wearing a white tank-top over a brown shirt and khaki trousers bloused over a pair of black work boots. She was not short by any means, but he was definitely taller, standing at a solid 1.8 meters in height compared to her shorter 1.7. Her messy red hair and unblemished fair skin gave the woman an appearance that was pleasing to the eye, but Cutter was more focused on the plethora of questions that were buzzing around his mind.
“Who are you,” he demanded hotly. “What is this place?”
The woman walked over to a nearby table, its surface lighting up with a multitude of information, some of which made no sense to his eyes, “My name is Isabel. I am an artificial intelligence, created to monitor the functions of the airship you and your daughter are on, the Spirit of Fire, a Phoenix-Class Aerial Habitation Ship, modified as a support ship for the former Human Republic, now United Holy Human Empire.”
James could only look at her in bewilderment and disbelief, which only grew as she continued, “I see you were not aware, so allow me to clarify. This planet is Equis Terra, home of a multitude of species that are both familiar and unfamiliar. Beings that humans from your world once though of as myth, such as griffons, unicorns, pegasai, and more familiar creatures, such as dogs, cats, and so on. But, the inhabitants of this world are intelligent, to some degree, with those on par with human understanding being almost human in shape, but maintaining their mythological components. Life for them was good here, but then came an evil, one of which that the Traveler himself brought.”
“Who's the Traveler,” entered a familiar voice, and both turning to see a now awake Abigail leaning against a control station, trying to keep herself steady.
“Abby,” James breathed out, relieved that his child was up. He walked over to her, careful to maintain his own balance, and embraced her in his arms. She too returned the gesture, before they both turned back to the machine given form.
“The Traveler,” Isabel began, “is an entity, unlike anything we will encounter here. His kind are powerful, able to command space, time, matter, and energy at will. Entire universes are their play things, and the Traveler as he calls himself has taken an interest in this world. He brought a large number of humans from your world here, long before your people grew into their current state of mentality, and built an empire that was technologically and numerically superior to any other on this world, and they soon spread from there. One by one, the individual nations and species fell to them, becoming little more than cattle, toys, and a disposable work force for the ever growing human population. They now control a major portion of the world, with only the Griffon Kingdoms, Dragons, and Changelings being able to remain independent. The rest were either killed or turned into slaves.”
“What does that have to do with us,” the younger Cutter interrupted. “Why are we here.”
“He wants us to fix his problem,” answered James. “That is either because he is unwilling or unable to do so himself, correct Isabel?”
“Yes,” she answered. “His kind have certain rules about meddling in the affairs of 'lower lifeforms'. Those they choose as their 'champions' or 'pawns', whichever you prefer, have to either be a single, large group of people whose disappearance would go unnoticed, or a small group that could also have their fate be hidden. You two fit that criteria, you most of all, mister Cutter. As you are a military veteran, you have the training, combat experience, and leadership skills necessary to take on this endeavor, and should you be successful, he will return you home if you desired.”
“And if we fail, we aren't going anywhere, correct?”
Isabel's reply was a curt nod. Knowing that he needed to process the information they had just been given, James walked over to the large window at the front of what he was assuming to be the ships bridge and stared out at the forest below. This was a habit he had developed when he needed to think carefully about anything. Isabel was right about his past, as he had served two tours as a Marine before retiring so he could use the skills and college he earned while in to better support his daughter, who had been begging him to leave and come home for good. He finally did after months of internal debate, but had decided to enlist in the reserves so that he could still get some benefits from them. That was pretty common knowledge one could find anywhere if they wanted to look, but what was convincing him the most was the events before waking up here, the car that was trying to swerve to avoid hitting them. He remembered the horn, the smell of burning rubber, and the screeching of the tires as the car came closer. He remembered holding his little girl in his arms as he was about to shove her to the side, in an attempt to save her, but never got the chance to before he blacked out, just as the car was inches from them.
They should be dead, and he knew it wasn't a dream. That wasn't all. He could clearly see that the technology around them was far beyond what Earth had, and the hologram, as that was the only thing he could think of that would even explain Isabel's form, was also beyond the current models. There were experimental ones, projections on walls, but never anything this detailed or lifelike. It was all pointing to one thing; this was real, and his choice to help or not may be the difference between freedom for this world or dooming it to a fate that is arguably worse than death, as well as eliminating their only chance at getting home.
He felt a hand grasp his arm, and turned to meet Abigail's green eyes, ones that knew what he was thinking and conveyed understanding at what he planned to do. No words passed between them as they turned back to Isabel and James spoke once more, “Isabel, get me a full situation report. I need to know what I'm up against if I'm to help these people.”
A bright smile lit up the A.I.'s face as she snapped a crisp salute, “Yes sir!”
Author's Note
Hey! Thank you for reading my first chapter, and I hope you liked it. Next time, we delve a little more into the past of this world and then we get to finding out the soon-to-be revolution's first target. Please leave a comment, and happy reading!
A week had passed since their arrival on Equis, and in that time, the father daughter duo had taken to getting to know their new home, as well as try to grasp the state of the world in greater depth than Isabel's quick history lesson. Just as she said, humanity controlled a large portion of the world, with only a handful of nations and very small communities remaining independent of the empire. Those who weren't in those communities and nations were dead or in chains. It made James' blood boil with every image he saw, every report Isabel sent him. For the first two days, he tried to reign in his emotions enough to think clearly, before he began to get acquainted with the equipment they were given and their new mobile home.
The gear itself was an impressive sight; internal construction bays housed all the equipment necessary to equip their soon to be army, the hangars were filled with aircraft of various types and designs, and the ships weapons loadout was impressive to say the least. It was perfect to start a revolution, but it had a problem; they had no resources to build or supply their army once the currently built items were depleted. They would need bases to produce the metals, fuel, and food needed to wage this conflict and people to operate the machinery. Thankfully, they had plenty of candidates to choose from. Their current location, to the south of what used to be a major highway of the former nation of Equestria, a road that connected to all of the major cities, saw an endless supply of slave traffic, some of them recently captured from one of the free settlements that had been discovered and taken. They had been tracking one particular village that was just attacked and would be making its way through the perfect ambush site. After rehearsing the ambush in holographic simulators aboard the Spirit, he was now lying in wait for the approaching caravan.
James had decided to don an armor set that was all black and had a fully enclosed helmet with polarized face shield. On the ground next to his perch on a rock outcropping was a large rifle that was taller than him, the same shade as his armor, and fired rounds that looked powerful, but seemed like over kill for a bunch of slavers, but as it was the only long range weapon they currently had, and no substitute at the moment, it would have to do. James leaned against the stone that served as his hiding spot and looked down into a ravine that enclosed the road on either side, an explosives detonator lying beside the rifle and several magazines of ammunition. The worst part about the mission he was on was the wait, so to pass the time, he had been reading more information Isabel gathered, as well as watching his daughter roam through the images several aerial drones they had deployed.
The teen had insisted early on that she wanted to help in the revolution, but James had been adamant in denying her request, until Isabel offered the suggestion of “Tactical Adviser”. Abigail would use the drones and holotable on the ship to update him and anyone else in the field about changes in the area, or whether or not they were about to walk into an ambush. Thankfully, James was the one ambushing today, “Abby, how long until they are here?”
“Not long,” replied the teen as she stepped closer to the camera. She had decided to forgo her previous attire for a grey t-shirt, green trousers, and a pair of black boots, the same clothing he had begun to wear as it was all they had, for now. “They will be in sight right...about...now!”
As if on cue, the small convoy of two trucks, each with trailers attached, came down the road, just as planned. The security was as they had seen it before; two open aired trucks with four men each, armed with automatic weapons, that Isabel identified as M7 submachine gun, and M6 handguns. No threat to him.
Cutter went prone on the ground and shouldered his rifle, looking at the display that showed him were his bullet would hit. Seeing that the wind had picked up since the last correction, he adjusted the sights again and centered it on the driver of the first vehicle. He slowed his breathing, waiting for the right moment between his breaths, and with one smooth motion, he launched the first bullet in the new war.
Down below, in the trailers that housed the survivors of the village, taken to be made into workers in construction, on massive farming plantations, or worse in the case of females, and even a few males. They were a mixed group, mostly Earth Ponies that had managed to escape from the farming towns in the area with their families and the odd Pegasus or Unicorn, but their was only one Griffon in the village, and that was Gilda. Once a citizen of the Griffon Kingdoms, she had immigrated to Equestria in hopes of getting away from her father, who was a wealthy businessman in the province they lived in. She had though it a great choice then, but now regretted it. They had parted under less than ideal words, and she now wished she was back home. To say that she was regretting what she said, would be an understatement.
Her father said that it wasn't safe to be traveling, not with the threat of a human invasion likely to happen. That was when she was nineteen and too stubborn to listen, and it was the year that the Human Empire laid siege to the world. The fighting only lasted a month, human technological innovation catching the less equipped armies unaware and taking whole nations in months, some in mere days. The Dragons stayed free due to their incredible size and ferocity, a human cruiser being needed to handle one adult, the Changelings hid in their caverns, and the Griffons fought, being more closer to human technology than any other nation, but still losing some land to the enemy. It had been a year of hell for them all.
Two small forms pressed into her side, a small whine entering her ears as she looked down to see a small filly and colt, twins, hugging her. Their pale blue coats and white manes dirtied and unkempt, their clothes in even worse shape. The colt had his shorts and shirt torn in many places, but his back was the worst of it, having suffered from a brutal lashing at the hands of one of the more sadistic slavers. The girl was arguably in worse shape, as she had nearly been forced to indulge in one of the men's... fantasies. The leader had put a stop to it, saying that “damaged merchandise was bad for business.” She had still caught the pervert looking at both the filly and her, beginning to wish that they would all suffer, preferably in agony. Little did she know that her wish had just been granted.
The faint sound of buzzing was heard by her sensitive hearing, then the sound of an impact and a spray of red coming through an over head, barred gap and landing on her and several others, forcing them into a panic at what was on them. At the same time, the shouting started and another buzzing, followed by another impact, and their transport veered sharply, sending them all to the ground. The crunch of metal against rock echoed in the air, as did a mighty roar and what sounded like an rockslide.
Outside, it was chaos. Men were falling one after the other, the rest shouting and shooting blindly into the dust filled ravine, hoping to hit what was attacking them. Their efforts proved fruitless, and as quickly as it began, it had ended. Silence reigned in the air, leaving all in the trailers to wonder what had just happened.
Time seemed to stretch by, an the silence seemed to go on forever, until the crunching of boots against stone and loose rock echoed in their confinement and a banging against the large door at the back. The huddled at the back, hoping to stay as far from what had caused all of the chaos outside, before the doors swung open, and light flooded into the dark space. A figure in black armor stood there, looking at them and holding a menacing rifle that put most of what she had seen humans carry to shame. Looking past, they could make out the remains of the second truck, its windows and side stained with the same red liquid that covered some of them. Beside it an arm lay holding a weapon, but there was nothing attached to it. They all stared at the armored being, fearful that he would do to them what he had done to their captures, but were shocked when he offered his hand and spoke, “If you want freedom, come with me.”
Author's Note
HEY! Thanks to everyone for the views and the support! I really appreciated it.
Now. The gear. These are the images of the gear James was wearing, along with the slavers' weapons and James'. It will all be halo tech, and I don't think I'll add anything else. So leave a comment, and thanks again for the support.
M7 SMG:
SRS99C:
M6:
ODST/ ADST Armor:
