Defangedby Left The FandomChaptersThe Apex PredatorVoodoo 1... Where the hell am I?Houston, We have Contact Pt. 1The Apex PredatorTwilight sighed, pulling back the soft ornate red and gold curtain, only revealing a storm of white. This winter so far had been a viscous one, and much to Twilights dismay they were more than likely going to be snowed in post storm, meaning at least half the things she needed to get done had to wait. Letting go of the curtain, Twilight watched it fall back into place as the chattering of her friends voices in the other room seeped from under the door to her ears. She could only chuckle and shake her head, a game of truth or dare is what they had been playing before she left to check the outside conditions, and it looked like the little hangout of theirs was going to turn into an overnight. Although Twilight, while headed to reunite with her friends, turned back to the window, she could only help but feel like such a nice night was going to be ruined by something from the blue... Twilight shook the though off looking at the ground. "TWILIGHT! GET YOUR FLANK IN HERE! IT'S YOUR TURN!" Shouted a raspy, tomboyish voice from the other side of the door. Twilight smiled. "Oh Rainbow..." She muttered pushing open the door and being greeted with all her friends stares, "Well girls, Good news and bad news." Twilight said plainly. "Good news first please..." said a soft silky voice, coming from a butter colored Pegasus, sitting meekly. Twilight looked up at her, Fluttershy was never the type to take bad news well, with her anxiety and all, but the bad news in essence wasn't truly bad Twilight thought to herself. "Well the good news is we're gonna be able to hang out all night, the bad news is why we're gonna be able to hang out all night. It's because we're probably going to be snowed in in the next few hours or so." Twilight stated, and before any of them could react the high pitched chirp of a pink party ponies voice exploded into being. "OH OH OH ITS A SLEEPOVER," Pinkie gasped, "I DIDN'T EVEN BRING ANY SNACKS!" The eccentric pony shouted, a look of shock upon her face. The reaction elicited a chuckle from the orange pony sitting across from her. "It's not funny Applejack! I need to go get some!" A rainbow maned pegasus spoke up after this. "And miss Twilights turn in truth or dare? C'mon Pinkie you can get snacks later, either way this eggheads getting my best question or my craziest dare!" The ponies tomboyish raspy voice seethed in excitement. Twilight rolled her eyes. "I'm not taking a dare from YOU Rainbow Dash, that would be the least logical thing anypony has ever done!" The lavender alicorn commented. "So truth then?" Rainbow asked. "Yes Rainbow, I'll take truth." Twilight responded plainly. "Have you ever seen an alien?" Rainbow asked shooting Twilight a suspicious look, raising her chin. Twilight laughed. "What kind of question is that Rainbow?" Twilight said giggling. "Oh c'mon we all know Celestia shows you the secrets of Equestria! And all that stuff, has she ever shown you like an alien?" Rainbow said, sounding entirely serious. At this point the entire group (aside from Fluttershy) had broken down into complete laughter. "Oh guys c'mon you have to be at least a little curious!" Dash said sounding frustrated at her peers reaction to the question. "Dash ah'll bet mah life this has something to do with those darn comics you've been readin about those brain eating aliens!" Applejack said, before giving another snicker. Dash shot her a look. "Does not!" The cyan pegasus denied, crossing her hooves. Suddenly the click of another pair of hooves came from the stairs nearby, and an exhausted looking Starlight rounded the corner into the room. "Can you keep it-" She yawned loudly, "down, I'm trying to sleep." The unicorn said meekly. Right as Twilight began to speak up there was a crash outside and the room became silent as the wind whipped and roared violently outside as whiteout conditions touched down. The room was so silent in fact, one could hear the drop of a pin, as they all listened for another noise. "Twilight what was that...?" Starlight asked quietly. Twilight looked at Starlight, then the rest of the group, who were frozen in place except one... where was Pinkie- "OH MY GOSH IT MUST BE AN ALIEN FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION WITH A GIANT ROBOT THAT CAN FLYYYYYY!" The Pink earth pony yelled appearing from out of nowhere startling the group so much they didn't even ask about what the hell she was talking about. Suddenly Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Bah I bet it was nothing you chickens!" She said dryly relaxing again. No one else responded. "Oh come on guys! Twilight you still haven't answered your question!" Twilight stood up headed for the door. Everypony else in the room looked at her dumbfounded. "What? We need to go see what the was! First of all something crashed outside, and it sounded like metal, but no amount of metal falling has ever made a noise like that before! Plus what if somepony was hurt?" Twilight said looking at her friends disappointed. "Twilight right girls, ah' bet someone needs help out there." Said Applejack rising to her hooves, and joining Twilight. Slowly but surely the group assembled. "I-I think I'll just stay here..." said Fluttershy looking at the ground playing with her hooves. Dash craned her neck with an irritated look on her face. "Nice try Fluttershy you're coming with us." She hissed, grabbing her friend and dragging her over to the group. Now that the 7 we're ready they trudged out of the castle. The door was a pain to open but the group managed. Out into the snow they went without a word however nothing seemed amiss. As the group searched around, they failed to miss the red glowing eye towering behind them slip into the darkness... 5 Minutes Earlier.... The Northstar class titan landed with a crash, seemingly deactivated, when suddenly its eye flickered with life, as snow rained down upon its chassis. The war mech rose to its feet, and sensed its pilots heartbeat inside the cockpit, meaning he was still alive. The titans main priority now was to protect the pilot and figure out where they were. The AI scanned the surrounding environment, seeing nothing but primitive structures and... a large castle, shaped like a tree? Its bottom half appeared to be crystalline, but it's upper half appeared to be that of a normal castle. Such a crude structure had never been constructed on the frontier, and only a few records and ruins of castles still floated around on Earth. The Titan began to pick up footsteps... no hoof steps... akin to those of a horse, and they were emanating from near the large gold door. The Northstar shifted gears, slipping behind the castle swiftly, moving into the shadows. The only thing visible was it's red glowing eye, curious as to see what emerged from the castle. Much to its surprise, a group of seven horses emerged from the structure, looking around bewildered. They must've heard the crash when they hit the ground... but horses? The Titan AI concluded it would need further study as it slipped into the shadows. As the 20 ton robot turned to head for cover in the forest, its optical sensors failed to pick up a large log laying underneath the blanket of snow. CRAAAAAACK! The Titan stopped dead in its tracks, calculated in seconds, the Northstar deduced the horses it had seen only a few minutes ago had definitely heard that, and had also probably discovered the trail of footprints. "Girls this way!" Shouted a feminine voice, and the Northstar turned silently, spotting the group of horses skidding to a halt. The mechanical being had its back twisted so its eye could face them, and all the ponies could see was the dark silhouette of the war mech in the flurry, and its piercing red eyed gaze. "Uh T-Twilight what is that?" Asked Starlight, taking a step back. Twilight gulped, trembling slightly, looking directly into the things gaze. It seemed to tear into her soul. After what felt like an hour of silence, Twilight answered. "I-I'm not sure..." The Alicorn replied, and suddenly Rainbow Dash chimed in. "Whatever it is we gotta kick its flank!" The cyan Pegasus shouted flying in at blinding speed and kicking the thing. A loud clang echoed through the air with a resounding "OWWWWWW" from Dash. The metal creature stumbled forwards from the sheer unexpectedness of the blow before turning fully around. "Hostiles detected. Protocol 3. Protect the pilot." The metal giant said in a low gravelly voice, pulling something off of its back. "Ah' girls ah' dunt mean to alarm you but ah' think that things gon' try an kill us." Said Applejack snapping the group from their trance. Dash still hadn't recovered and was mid air holding her back hooves rocking back and forth saying ouch under her breath silently. Suddenly a bright flash and a loud BANG sounded and quicker than someone could blink a magenta shield formed around the group as something slammed against it shattering the magic in one hit, which seemed to bring Twilight great physical strain. They scattered as the monster brought up its fist and slammed where they had been previously standing before catching them off guard sweeping low with a slender leg reaching far. Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy (carried by Applejack frozen in fear), Starlight, and Rarity managed to hop over the low swipe, but Twilight still shaken from her magic being shattered without any preparation was in a prime position to be struck and it almost connected but Dash swooped in just in time and scooped her up. The metal giant saw this as its opportunity and pushed off with its legs faster than the group could comprehend, and took off towards the tree line. As the seven regrouped, Rainbow wasn't too terribly keen on losing the behemoth. "Quickly! It headed this way!" She shouted taking off, before one of her hind legs was restrained by a lasso. "Dash wait! Ah swear on Celestia if you don't get back here!" Scolded Applejack letting go of the lasso as Dash hesitantly flew back, the mech disappearing into the trees. "Twilight is hurt!" The farm pony said, turning and facing Twilight who despite the bitter cold had collapsed into the snow. Her horn was sparking, and she appeared only half awake. At this image Dash was enraged, whatever that thing was had just shown up and then hurt Twilight, probably via a concussion, and then taken off into the treeline like it was nothing. She was going after it one way or another... but not yet, Twilight and her friends needed her. Dash begrudgingly turned her vision back to them an away from the trees as they helped Twilight to her hooves to bring her to the hospital. She would go after it, but not yet... Voodoo 1... Where the hell am I?Everything seemed to form around him, it felt so surreal? It was like a thousand pounds weighed on his shoulders but he could move freely and weigh nothing at all. Everything felt so strange. Suddenly out of the blue, his environment shifted to the burning wreck of the Draconis, but he was standing on the air above it. His mission. He was currently watching his "mission", his objective numero uno burning before his very eyes. For the first time in a very long time Viper felt rage and shock. The emotions came crashing down onto the normally calm, collected, and professional mercenary. Viper took a step back raising his arms in caution, as he began to realize where he was. Was this hell? Was watching your greatest failure burn in a heap hell? No. No it wasn't because like glass the world broke around him and he fell, before hitting the ground hard... Viper was stunned but pumped himself with his last stim reserves shoving himself to his feet. What the fuck was happening? He looked around not recognizing where he was... or did he? Upon further inspection of the environment around him he realized that he was standing on planet Typhon, somehere on Typhon anyways.... "Thou has caught our-" In less than three seconds the mercenary pulled his wingman and fired a shot at the source of the noise. Whatever it was never had contact with the bullets and slipped into a dark glittery vapor reforming into a solid shape, Viper kept his gun trained on the thing, his finger began to get heavy... and there it was. Standing at about two heads shorter than him was a unicorn covered in dark navy blue fur, and a mane that swung in a breeze that the Apex Predator couldn't feel. It shone like the night sky, very pretty, but Vipers gun was still trained on whatever the hell it was. "As We were saying..." the creature said, with a frustrated undertone. Viper could conclude this unicorn... wait it had wings too... This hybrid creature was a female, and of a very regal background. She began to continue her sentence. "Thou has caught our attention, I am Princess Luna of Equestria, and thou is...?" The horse waited for an answer patiently. The merc shifted, tensing his grip. "Why should I tell you?" "Because thou needs us if thee wants to survive thee's time in Equestria. My patience runs thin as does your time here." The so called Luna proclaimed. Viper couldn't be too sure if she could be trusted, but if she were telling the truth, and she was a princess of whatever this land was... "Viper." The pilot said, lowering his gun, but not putting it away. The hybrid horse smiled closing her eyes taking a sharp breath before opening them and speaking. "We are Princess Luna of Equestria." She said, "And we are an Alicorn, thou is a... human? We could sense thee's confusion." Luna said, watching Vipers gun intently. Viper made no move except responding by nodding, before asking, "Where are we?" Luna chuckled. "Isn't it obvious to thou? Thou art in the dreamscape!" The royal Alicorn shouted, flaring out her wings to indicate the shifting environment. It was stunning but Viper had no interest in it. "The dreamscape? Am I asleep?" The human asked finally turning his head to look at the environment. Images of different places were scattered on the deep bluish shattered glass looking shards floating around. He grabbed one looking at it waiting for an answer. "Indeed, however your time here dwindles. We hope to see thy soon, human." Suddenly much to Vipers inward panic his body began to break into a million pieces and sudden when it seemed like it would disperse it was dark. With no words Viper jolted awake, grabbing the safety railing on the inside of his Titan. The cockpit was dark aside from a few green and red lights shining above certain switches and indicators. His breathing was low and controlled, his legs clenched as if he were flying. Viper was silently, finally letting go of the railing. His visuals to his front were simply of the shittily padded hatch, and a few small switches above it. "Welcome back Pilot." The Titan OS voice boomed inside the cockpit worsening the headache he didn't even know he had. Viper grumbled in annoyance, removing his helmet, and scratching the itchy mesh head piece pilots were required to wear since most couldn't afford proper padding inside the helmets themselves due to their price, his helmet however did have padding, but the mesh had become some sort of unspoken, annoying, and itchy rule that no pilot liked. Viper moved his shoulders around sitting straight up and placing his helmet back on. "Where are we?" He asked his Titan, the bumping of the giants walk cycle stopped as he felt the cockpit move around, like the Northstar just scanned the environment. Then it began movement once more. "A swamp located just south of our initial arrival location, clearly untouched by the snowstorm only a few miles back." The Titan OS responded as it continued on its way. Viper pondered this for a considerable amount of time, before speaking up. "Where are we going?" "I'm not sure Pilot." Those words stabbed Viper like a rusty Data-Knife, if he didn't know what to do, his Titan did, but neither of them knew what to do. He was silent, but remained calm, thinking for a long time. Hours passed before any other form of communication was had, that was until the Titan spoke up. "Settlement detected 756 ft away. Should we investigate pilot?" The War Mech commented, interrupting the pilots thinking. Viper pondered this for a minute before nodding. "Yes, we should, night will be falling again soon..." Viper said, suddenly realizing they had been traveling for almost an entire day. Wherever they were, they had been there for almost 24 hours... Viper shook his head. The steady thud of the Northstar run cycle began to slow into a walk as the pair got closer to the settlement, as to not alert the inhabitants to their presence just yet. "Where is the closest IMC controlled planet" The walking stopped abruptly, and the silence seemed to last forever before the Titan replied. "Pilot we may not be in the same universe that we once resided. ARES Division had been looking into inter-dimensional travel with the early models of simulacrum "Phase-Shift" pilots. They could travel to alternate spaces of reality for short periods of time, pocket dimensions or universes. This answer is currently 98.6% probable, as it appears I cannot pick up any IMC controlled planet in my 117,572,507,463,672.154617 Mile or 20 lightyear radius." Viper snarled angrily, before taking a deep breath regaining his composure as the Titan began walking again. Vipers best hope was this settlement, and if it couldn't help him, than sans else would... Houston, We have Contact Pt. 1"Voodoo one, do you copy?" "I repeat, Voodoo one do you copy?" Vipers voice seemed to echo inside the Northstar Titans cockpit. Out of pure desperation he had been trying for the last 25 minutes to contact help. The town, had been backwater and made of of tiny technicolor ponies, just like the other one his Titan informed him. Viper seldom had any ideas of how to get off planet. Except for that so called princess... Viper shook that though off. Just a dream, a strange dream... Meanwhile the flying war mech had been studying the residents from above them, on a small cliff face, and somehow they were none the wiser. Viper was still going, calmly asking if Voodoo one copied, but there was a hint of dread in his voice that only the Titan could detect based off of speech patterns and tone fluctuations that most organic beings would be not able to detect. "Pilot, I have discovered there are three species of these ponies." "How does that help me." "Flight will not be a viable option, the first group I encountered while you were unconscious were a mix the three different variants, one of them had wings, and was nearly as fast as us while we are in flight. That information helps you, does it not?" "Fair enough." Viper said silently. "So Twilight, its just a concussion, however, you need to rest for a few days before you can resume normal activities. If any other symptoms aside from a splitting headache and dizziness occurs, I want you back here immediately, okay?" The doctor said, writing the last few things down in his small blue composition notebook. "But Doc... I need to be out there with my friends while we track that thing down..." The Alicorn countered, "Can't I just heal myself or something..." She said drearily. The Doctor sighed. "Twilight since this is a concussion caused by not properly being prepared for Magic to shatter or break, your magic is also significantly weaker meaning it may not heal properly or even manage to start a faster recovery process." He explained, "Now get some rest, your friends are waiting for you, they'll get you home safely." Twilight sighed as she shakily wobbled to the door and was greeted the faces of all her friends. They were generally silent, especially Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be brooding and wrapped up in her thoughts. Twilight could tell she was angry, but lacked the energy to say something. Pinkie continually asked if she was okay, concerned. 'Regular old Pinkie...' Twilight thought to herself. It wasn't long before the group reached Twilights castle. Time had passed so fast, as the sun was already well in the sky but it felt as if none had passed to the princess of Friendship, due to her dreary wish wash state. Rarity so gallantly offered to get Spike for her, so she didn't have to yell. Fluttershy helped her into bed, and proceeded to go make her something to eat. Eventually all her friends left to rally for the hunt on their strange assailant. Seemingly as Twilights eyelids began to feel heavy something that slipped her mind returned, rendering her wide awake. "Spike!" She said with a low voice, the young dragon looked up from his comic book on a chair nearby. "Yeah Twi?" "I need you to write a letter..." "Now..?" Twilight nodded her head, and the dragon begrudgingly fetched a quill and paper, "Alright... go ahead." Viper had re-embarked and was scaling down the cliff face slowly as to not make too much noise, not wanting to alert the inhabitants of the nearby town. The town vaguely reminded him of something from his childhood... Like he had seen the style of the town before. And then it hit him, it was... a Wild West looking town. Viper had had a book as an infant about cowboys, and it didn't last more than two years against the baby as it was an old book from earth that was handed down in his family until he tore it apart in his toddler years. Fond memories filled his head, about his young life, filled with reckless adventures, stupid pranks, and most importantly his racing phase while he was a teenager. One of the fastest and most daring on his planet, and then came IMC Project "Pegasus". Years of harsh training, and here he was now. "Shit!" He cried out as he accidentally kicked off a boulder from the side of the cliff. 'I need to pay more attention,'. The pilot closed his eyes underneath his helmet and took a deep breath, realizing what was to come. No reason to be quiet now, was Vipers sentiment as he leapt down from the cliff face in his Titan, landing skillfully. The inhabitants of the town were frozen stiff, their eyes locked on the metal behemoth. "Now wht' in the heck is goin out her-" A voice spoke, but stopped mid sentence. Viper looked over, seeing a small brown pony dressed as a sheriff with brown hair and a black mustache who had walked almost to the center of the dirt path, before stopping. The equines blue eyes widened exponentially at the sight of the Pilot and his mech, its red gaze freezing the resident law enforcer in place as all the other ponies had taken shelter looking out between shutters and nearly closed windows. A tumbleweed rolled by in the silence that seemed to last forever to the Apploosans. Suddenly the hatch opened on the giant, revealing a much smaller creature, that hopped down landing silently before striding over to the sheriff pony. The ponies who were watching didn't blink, until the creature spoke up. "Where am I?" "S-sir a'ahm gonna have to a-ask you tah' t-take a step back..." The Sheriff responded, sweating bullets, head back slowly moving away from the two legged creature. It didn't budge but rather crouched down to his level, and leaned into his face, the visor letting off warmth that the sheriff could feel. "Where am I?" "APPLELOOSA! YOUR IN APPLELOOSA! Y-your in Appleloosa, a town in Equestria...." The sheriff shouted in terror, covering his head with his hooves, a puddle of piss forming beneath him. Viper scoffed at the terrified earth pony, before turning back to his Titan. "Search your files, anything you can find on a place called Equestria." The Pilot said to his titan, spinning his Wingman Elite on his finger. The Sheriff pony began to slowly back up before breaking into a full on sprint away and into the cover of a building. Viper scoffed again. "Nothing found on search term 'Equestria', 0 results generated from database in 000000000.89 seconds." Boomed the robot, standing idle. "God dammit... Try again-" "PILOT GET DOWN!" Celestia yawned as she finally stood from her throne, the last representatives exiting the castle. It had been a long day accompanied with a busy draining meeting amongst the leaders of Equestria and beyond, but the Gryphon king had refused to show for some reason Celestia didn't care much about. In a few long strides the Solar Princess was out of the throne room as some of the servants in the castle picked up and moved the chairs and tables set up for the yearly meeting. As she strode down the halls towards her chambers, a delectable and unmistakable smell touched her nostrils, cake. Celestia hesitated for a moment, looking at herself. Was Luna right? Was the cake making her fat? No, it couldn't be. One slice wouldn't hurt, Celestia reassured herself, oh how she loved her cake... Celestia sat near her window surveying the land below her. Such peace. Celestia gained pride in the knowledge she and her sister lead such a peaceful and friendly nation, even amongst the worse of monsters at times. Of course her Royal Guard and her sisters Lunar Guard were all perfectly capable of defending the Nation if need be, they were some of the best trained warriors in the whole of the known world. Interrupting her thoughts a scroll burned into existence from green flame. It was always a pleasant surprise to receive a letter from her ex student, and the contents were usually pleasant. She unfurled it, letting loose its contents, a wall of lettering, Dear Princess Celestia, As of last night me and my friends came into contact with a creature I believe to be foreign to Equestria. It's exoskeleton seemed to be made of metal, and it had a single red eye that glowed brighter than the brightest star in the sky filled with malice. It carried what I can only assume to of been a large staff, and assaulted us. It used its staff to fire a form of magic I've never seen even in books about the unknown. Had it not been for my quick reaction I fear me and my friends would've died, as the magic bolt on impact, shattered my barrier. I am sending this from my bed, resting due to a magic concussion. The others are all gearing up to search for our attacker, and to stop it before it can harm anypony else. Your Faithful Ex-Student, Twilight Sparkle Celestia had to re-read this a few times. The creature Twilight described was unlike any Celestia and Luna had ever encountered, even during their younger years where the exploration of Equestria was their life. This would need further study. Celestia finished her cake and proceeded to leave her chambers, her first stop was to consult Luna to see if she had come across any strange creatures in the dreamscape. Instead of walking, Celestia instead flew down the hallway to her Sisters chambers, landing gracefully in front of the heavy metal doors engraved with two large crescent moons parallel to one another. The Solar ruler gave a heavy knock, before speaking up. "Sister! It is urgent!" Celestia knew Luna did not like being awoken during her resting period unless it was urgent. The shuffling of sheets was heard in the room, then the clicking of hooves towards the door, before it finally opened revealing a frowning Luna with a frazzled mane that flowed against all odds. She looked dead tired with an aggravated spark in her eyes. "This better be good, dearest sister." Luna seethed, stretching her wings inviting her older and only living relative into her chambers. Celestia entered an uncomfortably dark room for her tastes, the candles seemed to give off little to no light, and combined with Luna's love for blackwood furniture the room was difficult to see in. Luna Yawned, "Well, get on with it, or thou will fall back asleep..." the Lunar princess replied bored and indifferent. "Right..." Celestia said awkwardly realizing she had simply been looking around the room, "Have you encountered any strange creatures in the dreamscape recently? Twilight sent me a letter describing a large monster with a metal exoskeleton that attacked her and her friends." She asked. Luna looked puzzled for a second before replying. "No dear sister, however we did encounter a human not to long ago, only last night to be precise." The princsss of the night said matter of fact'ly. Celestia's face grew into concern. Luna became confused. "What is the matter Tia?" Luna asked, before freezing, realizing something. "Tia you don't think..." "Get your armor on and meet me in the courtyard in twenty minutes, this is too dangerous for the elements." Viper hit the deck as he watched his Titan flip something over it. This didn't last long as the giant creature used its legs to propel itself forwards and slam into his titan. Viper shoved himself to his feet and finally got a good view of the monster as it and his Northstar wrestled. It seemed to be an oversized black and white bear with multiple arms, and a pointy bee sting her accompanied by the unmistakable wings of an insecta. Once again the Apex Predators Titan triumphed the struggle and this time body-slammed the bugbear before them, clearly stunning it. Viper began to sprint to his titan. "Pilot I suggest you embark." The OS spoke, Viper leaping into the cockpit without hesitation. "Two steps ahead of you." He said to himself as the hatch closed and the optical sensors faded to life, "You're barking up the wrong tree you... Bugbear." Viper said as he pulled the Plasma rail gun from his back, planting his feet into the ground as he and his Titan became one. The Bugbear crawled in a circle going low and this time leaping up at an angle it's stinger aimed at the eye of the metal behemoth below it. Viper dodged the sting and instead grabbed hold of the barbed stinger swinging the beast and tossing it, the creature came crashing down on a building that vacated cartoonishly fast before the BugBears impact. Wood splintered everywhere and the Bugbear snarled in anger. Viper beckoned it to charge. The monster obliged as it recovered and flew at a newfound blinding speed towards Viper, sending him and his giant metal shell sprawling back into another house, the front caving in like a seat. A few casualties may have been suffered... Viper nor the Bugbear payed any mind to this. The hybrid beast leapt upon the Titan, Viper barely holding it above the hatch as it snarled and chomped and clawed desperately, just out of reach of mangling the hull of the Titan. With visible difficulty Viper placed a foot on the belly of the creature and with a powerful push launched it a good few feet away, as it ate the dirt rolling comedically to a stop as Viper aimed down the sights of his Plasma Railgun. The gun rattled in the Titans iron grip as it heated up to a bright burning orange, and the Bugbear finally got to its feet only to cry out in pain as an object lodged itself in its eye. Viper was surprised the shot didn't pass all the way through and began to charge the railgun again, but the Bugbear was quicker this time and slapped the railgun from Vipers hands with blinding speed and backhanded the mech to the ground. Viper was stunned but the Bugbear was far from done. Viper rolled over onto the front of his mech to stand from hands and knees, but the Bugbear leapt onto the titans back and began clawing at it. "Son of a bitch." Said Viper unnervingly calmly, as he rattled around in his seat in the cockpit. Suddenly the thrusters on the back of the Northstar fired to life. The Bugbear screeched as its face was burnt by thruster flames burning hotter than thermite. Alongside the creatures bleeding oozing eye with exposed bone it was a bloody scene. The Bugbear clawed at its new burns in agony, giving Viper time to stand up. The Bugbear snapped its head toward its combatant, expecting them to be standing there. Instead the creature got a shock as it was tackled, but instead of driving into the ground hard it felt itself fly upwards as the battle went skywards. The Bugbear tried fighting back only to be snatched by one of its arms and swung in a wide arc before being tossed further up. Before it could catch itself with its wings, a barrage of pain hit the monster. Explosions surrounded its body blowing chunks away revealing vital organs and creating gruesome wounds as blood rained down from the skies. The creature fell limp as it plummeted towards the ground, crashing onto another building completely crushing it. Viper sat hovering in the sky, "Should've been faster than that, speed is life."
The Apex PredatorTwilight sighed, pulling back the soft ornate red and gold curtain, only revealing a storm of white. This winter so far had been a viscous one, and much to Twilights dismay they were more than likely going to be snowed in post storm, meaning at least half the things she needed to get done had to wait. Letting go of the curtain, Twilight watched it fall back into place as the chattering of her friends voices in the other room seeped from under the door to her ears. She could only chuckle and shake her head, a game of truth or dare is what they had been playing before she left to check the outside conditions, and it looked like the little hangout of theirs was going to turn into an overnight. Although Twilight, while headed to reunite with her friends, turned back to the window, she could only help but feel like such a nice night was going to be ruined by something from the blue... Twilight shook the though off looking at the ground. "TWILIGHT! GET YOUR FLANK IN HERE! IT'S YOUR TURN!" Shouted a raspy, tomboyish voice from the other side of the door. Twilight smiled. "Oh Rainbow..." She muttered pushing open the door and being greeted with all her friends stares, "Well girls, Good news and bad news." Twilight said plainly. "Good news first please..." said a soft silky voice, coming from a butter colored Pegasus, sitting meekly. Twilight looked up at her, Fluttershy was never the type to take bad news well, with her anxiety and all, but the bad news in essence wasn't truly bad Twilight thought to herself. "Well the good news is we're gonna be able to hang out all night, the bad news is why we're gonna be able to hang out all night. It's because we're probably going to be snowed in in the next few hours or so." Twilight stated, and before any of them could react the high pitched chirp of a pink party ponies voice exploded into being. "OH OH OH ITS A SLEEPOVER," Pinkie gasped, "I DIDN'T EVEN BRING ANY SNACKS!" The eccentric pony shouted, a look of shock upon her face. The reaction elicited a chuckle from the orange pony sitting across from her. "It's not funny Applejack! I need to go get some!" A rainbow maned pegasus spoke up after this. "And miss Twilights turn in truth or dare? C'mon Pinkie you can get snacks later, either way this eggheads getting my best question or my craziest dare!" The ponies tomboyish raspy voice seethed in excitement. Twilight rolled her eyes. "I'm not taking a dare from YOU Rainbow Dash, that would be the least logical thing anypony has ever done!" The lavender alicorn commented. "So truth then?" Rainbow asked. "Yes Rainbow, I'll take truth." Twilight responded plainly. "Have you ever seen an alien?" Rainbow asked shooting Twilight a suspicious look, raising her chin. Twilight laughed. "What kind of question is that Rainbow?" Twilight said giggling. "Oh c'mon we all know Celestia shows you the secrets of Equestria! And all that stuff, has she ever shown you like an alien?" Rainbow said, sounding entirely serious. At this point the entire group (aside from Fluttershy) had broken down into complete laughter. "Oh guys c'mon you have to be at least a little curious!" Dash said sounding frustrated at her peers reaction to the question. "Dash ah'll bet mah life this has something to do with those darn comics you've been readin about those brain eating aliens!" Applejack said, before giving another snicker. Dash shot her a look. "Does not!" The cyan pegasus denied, crossing her hooves. Suddenly the click of another pair of hooves came from the stairs nearby, and an exhausted looking Starlight rounded the corner into the room. "Can you keep it-" She yawned loudly, "down, I'm trying to sleep." The unicorn said meekly. Right as Twilight began to speak up there was a crash outside and the room became silent as the wind whipped and roared violently outside as whiteout conditions touched down. The room was so silent in fact, one could hear the drop of a pin, as they all listened for another noise. "Twilight what was that...?" Starlight asked quietly. Twilight looked at Starlight, then the rest of the group, who were frozen in place except one... where was Pinkie- "OH MY GOSH IT MUST BE AN ALIEN FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION WITH A GIANT ROBOT THAT CAN FLYYYYYY!" The Pink earth pony yelled appearing from out of nowhere startling the group so much they didn't even ask about what the hell she was talking about. Suddenly Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Bah I bet it was nothing you chickens!" She said dryly relaxing again. No one else responded. "Oh come on guys! Twilight you still haven't answered your question!" Twilight stood up headed for the door. Everypony else in the room looked at her dumbfounded. "What? We need to go see what the was! First of all something crashed outside, and it sounded like metal, but no amount of metal falling has ever made a noise like that before! Plus what if somepony was hurt?" Twilight said looking at her friends disappointed. "Twilight right girls, ah' bet someone needs help out there." Said Applejack rising to her hooves, and joining Twilight. Slowly but surely the group assembled. "I-I think I'll just stay here..." said Fluttershy looking at the ground playing with her hooves. Dash craned her neck with an irritated look on her face. "Nice try Fluttershy you're coming with us." She hissed, grabbing her friend and dragging her over to the group. Now that the 7 we're ready they trudged out of the castle. The door was a pain to open but the group managed. Out into the snow they went without a word however nothing seemed amiss. As the group searched around, they failed to miss the red glowing eye towering behind them slip into the darkness... 5 Minutes Earlier.... The Northstar class titan landed with a crash, seemingly deactivated, when suddenly its eye flickered with life, as snow rained down upon its chassis. The war mech rose to its feet, and sensed its pilots heartbeat inside the cockpit, meaning he was still alive. The titans main priority now was to protect the pilot and figure out where they were. The AI scanned the surrounding environment, seeing nothing but primitive structures and... a large castle, shaped like a tree? Its bottom half appeared to be crystalline, but it's upper half appeared to be that of a normal castle. Such a crude structure had never been constructed on the frontier, and only a few records and ruins of castles still floated around on Earth. The Titan began to pick up footsteps... no hoof steps... akin to those of a horse, and they were emanating from near the large gold door. The Northstar shifted gears, slipping behind the castle swiftly, moving into the shadows. The only thing visible was it's red glowing eye, curious as to see what emerged from the castle. Much to its surprise, a group of seven horses emerged from the structure, looking around bewildered. They must've heard the crash when they hit the ground... but horses? The Titan AI concluded it would need further study as it slipped into the shadows. As the 20 ton robot turned to head for cover in the forest, its optical sensors failed to pick up a large log laying underneath the blanket of snow. CRAAAAAACK! The Titan stopped dead in its tracks, calculated in seconds, the Northstar deduced the horses it had seen only a few minutes ago had definitely heard that, and had also probably discovered the trail of footprints. "Girls this way!" Shouted a feminine voice, and the Northstar turned silently, spotting the group of horses skidding to a halt. The mechanical being had its back twisted so its eye could face them, and all the ponies could see was the dark silhouette of the war mech in the flurry, and its piercing red eyed gaze. "Uh T-Twilight what is that?" Asked Starlight, taking a step back. Twilight gulped, trembling slightly, looking directly into the things gaze. It seemed to tear into her soul. After what felt like an hour of silence, Twilight answered. "I-I'm not sure..." The Alicorn replied, and suddenly Rainbow Dash chimed in. "Whatever it is we gotta kick its flank!" The cyan Pegasus shouted flying in at blinding speed and kicking the thing. A loud clang echoed through the air with a resounding "OWWWWWW" from Dash. The metal creature stumbled forwards from the sheer unexpectedness of the blow before turning fully around. "Hostiles detected. Protocol 3. Protect the pilot." The metal giant said in a low gravelly voice, pulling something off of its back. "Ah' girls ah' dunt mean to alarm you but ah' think that things gon' try an kill us." Said Applejack snapping the group from their trance. Dash still hadn't recovered and was mid air holding her back hooves rocking back and forth saying ouch under her breath silently. Suddenly a bright flash and a loud BANG sounded and quicker than someone could blink a magenta shield formed around the group as something slammed against it shattering the magic in one hit, which seemed to bring Twilight great physical strain. They scattered as the monster brought up its fist and slammed where they had been previously standing before catching them off guard sweeping low with a slender leg reaching far. Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy (carried by Applejack frozen in fear), Starlight, and Rarity managed to hop over the low swipe, but Twilight still shaken from her magic being shattered without any preparation was in a prime position to be struck and it almost connected but Dash swooped in just in time and scooped her up. The metal giant saw this as its opportunity and pushed off with its legs faster than the group could comprehend, and took off towards the tree line. As the seven regrouped, Rainbow wasn't too terribly keen on losing the behemoth. "Quickly! It headed this way!" She shouted taking off, before one of her hind legs was restrained by a lasso. "Dash wait! Ah swear on Celestia if you don't get back here!" Scolded Applejack letting go of the lasso as Dash hesitantly flew back, the mech disappearing into the trees. "Twilight is hurt!" The farm pony said, turning and facing Twilight who despite the bitter cold had collapsed into the snow. Her horn was sparking, and she appeared only half awake. At this image Dash was enraged, whatever that thing was had just shown up and then hurt Twilight, probably via a concussion, and then taken off into the treeline like it was nothing. She was going after it one way or another... but not yet, Twilight and her friends needed her. Dash begrudgingly turned her vision back to them an away from the trees as they helped Twilight to her hooves to bring her to the hospital. She would go after it, but not yet...
Voodoo 1... Where the hell am I?Everything seemed to form around him, it felt so surreal? It was like a thousand pounds weighed on his shoulders but he could move freely and weigh nothing at all. Everything felt so strange. Suddenly out of the blue, his environment shifted to the burning wreck of the Draconis, but he was standing on the air above it. His mission. He was currently watching his "mission", his objective numero uno burning before his very eyes. For the first time in a very long time Viper felt rage and shock. The emotions came crashing down onto the normally calm, collected, and professional mercenary. Viper took a step back raising his arms in caution, as he began to realize where he was. Was this hell? Was watching your greatest failure burn in a heap hell? No. No it wasn't because like glass the world broke around him and he fell, before hitting the ground hard... Viper was stunned but pumped himself with his last stim reserves shoving himself to his feet. What the fuck was happening? He looked around not recognizing where he was... or did he? Upon further inspection of the environment around him he realized that he was standing on planet Typhon, somehere on Typhon anyways.... "Thou has caught our-" In less than three seconds the mercenary pulled his wingman and fired a shot at the source of the noise. Whatever it was never had contact with the bullets and slipped into a dark glittery vapor reforming into a solid shape, Viper kept his gun trained on the thing, his finger began to get heavy... and there it was. Standing at about two heads shorter than him was a unicorn covered in dark navy blue fur, and a mane that swung in a breeze that the Apex Predator couldn't feel. It shone like the night sky, very pretty, but Vipers gun was still trained on whatever the hell it was. "As We were saying..." the creature said, with a frustrated undertone. Viper could conclude this unicorn... wait it had wings too... This hybrid creature was a female, and of a very regal background. She began to continue her sentence. "Thou has caught our attention, I am Princess Luna of Equestria, and thou is...?" The horse waited for an answer patiently. The merc shifted, tensing his grip. "Why should I tell you?" "Because thou needs us if thee wants to survive thee's time in Equestria. My patience runs thin as does your time here." The so called Luna proclaimed. Viper couldn't be too sure if she could be trusted, but if she were telling the truth, and she was a princess of whatever this land was... "Viper." The pilot said, lowering his gun, but not putting it away. The hybrid horse smiled closing her eyes taking a sharp breath before opening them and speaking. "We are Princess Luna of Equestria." She said, "And we are an Alicorn, thou is a... human? We could sense thee's confusion." Luna said, watching Vipers gun intently. Viper made no move except responding by nodding, before asking, "Where are we?" Luna chuckled. "Isn't it obvious to thou? Thou art in the dreamscape!" The royal Alicorn shouted, flaring out her wings to indicate the shifting environment. It was stunning but Viper had no interest in it. "The dreamscape? Am I asleep?" The human asked finally turning his head to look at the environment. Images of different places were scattered on the deep bluish shattered glass looking shards floating around. He grabbed one looking at it waiting for an answer. "Indeed, however your time here dwindles. We hope to see thy soon, human." Suddenly much to Vipers inward panic his body began to break into a million pieces and sudden when it seemed like it would disperse it was dark. With no words Viper jolted awake, grabbing the safety railing on the inside of his Titan. The cockpit was dark aside from a few green and red lights shining above certain switches and indicators. His breathing was low and controlled, his legs clenched as if he were flying. Viper was silently, finally letting go of the railing. His visuals to his front were simply of the shittily padded hatch, and a few small switches above it. "Welcome back Pilot." The Titan OS voice boomed inside the cockpit worsening the headache he didn't even know he had. Viper grumbled in annoyance, removing his helmet, and scratching the itchy mesh head piece pilots were required to wear since most couldn't afford proper padding inside the helmets themselves due to their price, his helmet however did have padding, but the mesh had become some sort of unspoken, annoying, and itchy rule that no pilot liked. Viper moved his shoulders around sitting straight up and placing his helmet back on. "Where are we?" He asked his Titan, the bumping of the giants walk cycle stopped as he felt the cockpit move around, like the Northstar just scanned the environment. Then it began movement once more. "A swamp located just south of our initial arrival location, clearly untouched by the snowstorm only a few miles back." The Titan OS responded as it continued on its way. Viper pondered this for a considerable amount of time, before speaking up. "Where are we going?" "I'm not sure Pilot." Those words stabbed Viper like a rusty Data-Knife, if he didn't know what to do, his Titan did, but neither of them knew what to do. He was silent, but remained calm, thinking for a long time. Hours passed before any other form of communication was had, that was until the Titan spoke up. "Settlement detected 756 ft away. Should we investigate pilot?" The War Mech commented, interrupting the pilots thinking. Viper pondered this for a minute before nodding. "Yes, we should, night will be falling again soon..." Viper said, suddenly realizing they had been traveling for almost an entire day. Wherever they were, they had been there for almost 24 hours... Viper shook his head. The steady thud of the Northstar run cycle began to slow into a walk as the pair got closer to the settlement, as to not alert the inhabitants to their presence just yet. "Where is the closest IMC controlled planet" The walking stopped abruptly, and the silence seemed to last forever before the Titan replied. "Pilot we may not be in the same universe that we once resided. ARES Division had been looking into inter-dimensional travel with the early models of simulacrum "Phase-Shift" pilots. They could travel to alternate spaces of reality for short periods of time, pocket dimensions or universes. This answer is currently 98.6% probable, as it appears I cannot pick up any IMC controlled planet in my 117,572,507,463,672.154617 Mile or 20 lightyear radius." Viper snarled angrily, before taking a deep breath regaining his composure as the Titan began walking again. Vipers best hope was this settlement, and if it couldn't help him, than sans else would...
Houston, We have Contact Pt. 1"Voodoo one, do you copy?" "I repeat, Voodoo one do you copy?" Vipers voice seemed to echo inside the Northstar Titans cockpit. Out of pure desperation he had been trying for the last 25 minutes to contact help. The town, had been backwater and made of of tiny technicolor ponies, just like the other one his Titan informed him. Viper seldom had any ideas of how to get off planet. Except for that so called princess... Viper shook that though off. Just a dream, a strange dream... Meanwhile the flying war mech had been studying the residents from above them, on a small cliff face, and somehow they were none the wiser. Viper was still going, calmly asking if Voodoo one copied, but there was a hint of dread in his voice that only the Titan could detect based off of speech patterns and tone fluctuations that most organic beings would be not able to detect. "Pilot, I have discovered there are three species of these ponies." "How does that help me." "Flight will not be a viable option, the first group I encountered while you were unconscious were a mix the three different variants, one of them had wings, and was nearly as fast as us while we are in flight. That information helps you, does it not?" "Fair enough." Viper said silently. "So Twilight, its just a concussion, however, you need to rest for a few days before you can resume normal activities. If any other symptoms aside from a splitting headache and dizziness occurs, I want you back here immediately, okay?" The doctor said, writing the last few things down in his small blue composition notebook. "But Doc... I need to be out there with my friends while we track that thing down..." The Alicorn countered, "Can't I just heal myself or something..." She said drearily. The Doctor sighed. "Twilight since this is a concussion caused by not properly being prepared for Magic to shatter or break, your magic is also significantly weaker meaning it may not heal properly or even manage to start a faster recovery process." He explained, "Now get some rest, your friends are waiting for you, they'll get you home safely." Twilight sighed as she shakily wobbled to the door and was greeted the faces of all her friends. They were generally silent, especially Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be brooding and wrapped up in her thoughts. Twilight could tell she was angry, but lacked the energy to say something. Pinkie continually asked if she was okay, concerned. 'Regular old Pinkie...' Twilight thought to herself. It wasn't long before the group reached Twilights castle. Time had passed so fast, as the sun was already well in the sky but it felt as if none had passed to the princess of Friendship, due to her dreary wish wash state. Rarity so gallantly offered to get Spike for her, so she didn't have to yell. Fluttershy helped her into bed, and proceeded to go make her something to eat. Eventually all her friends left to rally for the hunt on their strange assailant. Seemingly as Twilights eyelids began to feel heavy something that slipped her mind returned, rendering her wide awake. "Spike!" She said with a low voice, the young dragon looked up from his comic book on a chair nearby. "Yeah Twi?" "I need you to write a letter..." "Now..?" Twilight nodded her head, and the dragon begrudgingly fetched a quill and paper, "Alright... go ahead." Viper had re-embarked and was scaling down the cliff face slowly as to not make too much noise, not wanting to alert the inhabitants of the nearby town. The town vaguely reminded him of something from his childhood... Like he had seen the style of the town before. And then it hit him, it was... a Wild West looking town. Viper had had a book as an infant about cowboys, and it didn't last more than two years against the baby as it was an old book from earth that was handed down in his family until he tore it apart in his toddler years. Fond memories filled his head, about his young life, filled with reckless adventures, stupid pranks, and most importantly his racing phase while he was a teenager. One of the fastest and most daring on his planet, and then came IMC Project "Pegasus". Years of harsh training, and here he was now. "Shit!" He cried out as he accidentally kicked off a boulder from the side of the cliff. 'I need to pay more attention,'. The pilot closed his eyes underneath his helmet and took a deep breath, realizing what was to come. No reason to be quiet now, was Vipers sentiment as he leapt down from the cliff face in his Titan, landing skillfully. The inhabitants of the town were frozen stiff, their eyes locked on the metal behemoth. "Now wht' in the heck is goin out her-" A voice spoke, but stopped mid sentence. Viper looked over, seeing a small brown pony dressed as a sheriff with brown hair and a black mustache who had walked almost to the center of the dirt path, before stopping. The equines blue eyes widened exponentially at the sight of the Pilot and his mech, its red gaze freezing the resident law enforcer in place as all the other ponies had taken shelter looking out between shutters and nearly closed windows. A tumbleweed rolled by in the silence that seemed to last forever to the Apploosans. Suddenly the hatch opened on the giant, revealing a much smaller creature, that hopped down landing silently before striding over to the sheriff pony. The ponies who were watching didn't blink, until the creature spoke up. "Where am I?" "S-sir a'ahm gonna have to a-ask you tah' t-take a step back..." The Sheriff responded, sweating bullets, head back slowly moving away from the two legged creature. It didn't budge but rather crouched down to his level, and leaned into his face, the visor letting off warmth that the sheriff could feel. "Where am I?" "APPLELOOSA! YOUR IN APPLELOOSA! Y-your in Appleloosa, a town in Equestria...." The sheriff shouted in terror, covering his head with his hooves, a puddle of piss forming beneath him. Viper scoffed at the terrified earth pony, before turning back to his Titan. "Search your files, anything you can find on a place called Equestria." The Pilot said to his titan, spinning his Wingman Elite on his finger. The Sheriff pony began to slowly back up before breaking into a full on sprint away and into the cover of a building. Viper scoffed again. "Nothing found on search term 'Equestria', 0 results generated from database in 000000000.89 seconds." Boomed the robot, standing idle. "God dammit... Try again-" "PILOT GET DOWN!" Celestia yawned as she finally stood from her throne, the last representatives exiting the castle. It had been a long day accompanied with a busy draining meeting amongst the leaders of Equestria and beyond, but the Gryphon king had refused to show for some reason Celestia didn't care much about. In a few long strides the Solar Princess was out of the throne room as some of the servants in the castle picked up and moved the chairs and tables set up for the yearly meeting. As she strode down the halls towards her chambers, a delectable and unmistakable smell touched her nostrils, cake. Celestia hesitated for a moment, looking at herself. Was Luna right? Was the cake making her fat? No, it couldn't be. One slice wouldn't hurt, Celestia reassured herself, oh how she loved her cake... Celestia sat near her window surveying the land below her. Such peace. Celestia gained pride in the knowledge she and her sister lead such a peaceful and friendly nation, even amongst the worse of monsters at times. Of course her Royal Guard and her sisters Lunar Guard were all perfectly capable of defending the Nation if need be, they were some of the best trained warriors in the whole of the known world. Interrupting her thoughts a scroll burned into existence from green flame. It was always a pleasant surprise to receive a letter from her ex student, and the contents were usually pleasant. She unfurled it, letting loose its contents, a wall of lettering, Dear Princess Celestia, As of last night me and my friends came into contact with a creature I believe to be foreign to Equestria. It's exoskeleton seemed to be made of metal, and it had a single red eye that glowed brighter than the brightest star in the sky filled with malice. It carried what I can only assume to of been a large staff, and assaulted us. It used its staff to fire a form of magic I've never seen even in books about the unknown. Had it not been for my quick reaction I fear me and my friends would've died, as the magic bolt on impact, shattered my barrier. I am sending this from my bed, resting due to a magic concussion. The others are all gearing up to search for our attacker, and to stop it before it can harm anypony else. Your Faithful Ex-Student, Twilight Sparkle Celestia had to re-read this a few times. The creature Twilight described was unlike any Celestia and Luna had ever encountered, even during their younger years where the exploration of Equestria was their life. This would need further study. Celestia finished her cake and proceeded to leave her chambers, her first stop was to consult Luna to see if she had come across any strange creatures in the dreamscape. Instead of walking, Celestia instead flew down the hallway to her Sisters chambers, landing gracefully in front of the heavy metal doors engraved with two large crescent moons parallel to one another. The Solar ruler gave a heavy knock, before speaking up. "Sister! It is urgent!" Celestia knew Luna did not like being awoken during her resting period unless it was urgent. The shuffling of sheets was heard in the room, then the clicking of hooves towards the door, before it finally opened revealing a frowning Luna with a frazzled mane that flowed against all odds. She looked dead tired with an aggravated spark in her eyes. "This better be good, dearest sister." Luna seethed, stretching her wings inviting her older and only living relative into her chambers. Celestia entered an uncomfortably dark room for her tastes, the candles seemed to give off little to no light, and combined with Luna's love for blackwood furniture the room was difficult to see in. Luna Yawned, "Well, get on with it, or thou will fall back asleep..." the Lunar princess replied bored and indifferent. "Right..." Celestia said awkwardly realizing she had simply been looking around the room, "Have you encountered any strange creatures in the dreamscape recently? Twilight sent me a letter describing a large monster with a metal exoskeleton that attacked her and her friends." She asked. Luna looked puzzled for a second before replying. "No dear sister, however we did encounter a human not to long ago, only last night to be precise." The princsss of the night said matter of fact'ly. Celestia's face grew into concern. Luna became confused. "What is the matter Tia?" Luna asked, before freezing, realizing something. "Tia you don't think..." "Get your armor on and meet me in the courtyard in twenty minutes, this is too dangerous for the elements." Viper hit the deck as he watched his Titan flip something over it. This didn't last long as the giant creature used its legs to propel itself forwards and slam into his titan. Viper shoved himself to his feet and finally got a good view of the monster as it and his Northstar wrestled. It seemed to be an oversized black and white bear with multiple arms, and a pointy bee sting her accompanied by the unmistakable wings of an insecta. Once again the Apex Predators Titan triumphed the struggle and this time body-slammed the bugbear before them, clearly stunning it. Viper began to sprint to his titan. "Pilot I suggest you embark." The OS spoke, Viper leaping into the cockpit without hesitation. "Two steps ahead of you." He said to himself as the hatch closed and the optical sensors faded to life, "You're barking up the wrong tree you... Bugbear." Viper said as he pulled the Plasma rail gun from his back, planting his feet into the ground as he and his Titan became one. The Bugbear crawled in a circle going low and this time leaping up at an angle it's stinger aimed at the eye of the metal behemoth below it. Viper dodged the sting and instead grabbed hold of the barbed stinger swinging the beast and tossing it, the creature came crashing down on a building that vacated cartoonishly fast before the BugBears impact. Wood splintered everywhere and the Bugbear snarled in anger. Viper beckoned it to charge. The monster obliged as it recovered and flew at a newfound blinding speed towards Viper, sending him and his giant metal shell sprawling back into another house, the front caving in like a seat. A few casualties may have been suffered... Viper nor the Bugbear payed any mind to this. The hybrid beast leapt upon the Titan, Viper barely holding it above the hatch as it snarled and chomped and clawed desperately, just out of reach of mangling the hull of the Titan. With visible difficulty Viper placed a foot on the belly of the creature and with a powerful push launched it a good few feet away, as it ate the dirt rolling comedically to a stop as Viper aimed down the sights of his Plasma Railgun. The gun rattled in the Titans iron grip as it heated up to a bright burning orange, and the Bugbear finally got to its feet only to cry out in pain as an object lodged itself in its eye. Viper was surprised the shot didn't pass all the way through and began to charge the railgun again, but the Bugbear was quicker this time and slapped the railgun from Vipers hands with blinding speed and backhanded the mech to the ground. Viper was stunned but the Bugbear was far from done. Viper rolled over onto the front of his mech to stand from hands and knees, but the Bugbear leapt onto the titans back and began clawing at it. "Son of a bitch." Said Viper unnervingly calmly, as he rattled around in his seat in the cockpit. Suddenly the thrusters on the back of the Northstar fired to life. The Bugbear screeched as its face was burnt by thruster flames burning hotter than thermite. Alongside the creatures bleeding oozing eye with exposed bone it was a bloody scene. The Bugbear clawed at its new burns in agony, giving Viper time to stand up. The Bugbear snapped its head toward its combatant, expecting them to be standing there. Instead the creature got a shock as it was tackled, but instead of driving into the ground hard it felt itself fly upwards as the battle went skywards. The Bugbear tried fighting back only to be snatched by one of its arms and swung in a wide arc before being tossed further up. Before it could catch itself with its wings, a barrage of pain hit the monster. Explosions surrounded its body blowing chunks away revealing vital organs and creating gruesome wounds as blood rained down from the skies. The creature fell limp as it plummeted towards the ground, crashing onto another building completely crushing it. Viper sat hovering in the sky, "Should've been faster than that, speed is life."
