The Mark of Duty

There are a million and one ways to prep for a mission. There is the sullen silence of a looming battle. No small talk or chit-chat polluting the air, each soldier calmly checking their gear of fiddling with personal items. There's the milk run setup, where each person is laughing an joking, most of the group worrying more about what they're going to do when they get home. Until now, I had never been involved in a post-business meeting mission prep. I was fitting my combat vest with all my various miscellanea I took into a fight. A few spare mags of my little .45 which I had strapped to my chest. My spare mags for my bolter, a few cheap smoke grenades that were meant for fireworks shows. Other such nonsense. Alice was waving her hands, navigating various menus from her helmet while speaking. "So in other words, the deal actually got a bit sweeter, we got a bit more of an interest rate, but since we're paying it off in full this month that's fine."

I nodded, racking my bolter and hooking it to my back, before pulling my chainsword free of its sheath. "Indeed. Are there been any other details to the deal? Post-purchase riders on our contract or other such drivel?"

Alice shook her head, dragging a finger gun until it rested over my head. Her thumb lowered quickly, and she nodded at something I couldn't see. "Okay, we're set up for my tech stuff. Gimme a bit to check hardware and I'll be golden."

A glance at the clock confirmed that we had another twenty minutes until go time. I thumbed the switch on my chainsword, watching it idle for a moment before powering it down. "I am prepared and ready. By the Omnissiah I hope we won't need any of this." I slid the blade home with a single click. It took only a single mere movement for the whole array to be fitted to my waist. After a brief moment of thought, I moved to the entertainment center. Opening a drawer I saw the bag of various markers and items that I could use to some other displaced. I reached in, holding one up. A can of hair gel with a smiling minotaur giving a thumbs up. As I held it a voice entered my mind. Yo, Tsubaki here. The great delinquent of justice is ready to pick a fight with all those who stand in her way. Call if you're in a good scrap and you need the home run of justice I nodded, slipping the tin in an empty soft case before turning back to Alice. "I'm ready, you good?"

Alice slid the action of her smg, hooking it to her thigh. "Oh, I was born ready big guy, Sunset safe?"

I looked at her bedroom, locked with Clint on the other side. I nodded and began walking to the door. I grabbed my helmet from the side-table and threw it over my face. We were silent as I opened the door, walking to the street in full gear. As soon as we touched the pavement of the road there was a small sound of displaced air behind us, and a blue dome surrounded our area. I looked to Alice who was resting a hand on her smg, but otherwise remained calm. I looked over the street. "PALE PONY! I AM CRUCIUS MARX, FORMER VASSAL OF THE MARES OF SUN AND STAR! CURRENT VASSAL OF HIMSELF! BY THE REIGNS YOUR MASTER HOLDS I HAVE COME TO SPEAK, SO APPROACH! FEAST A MEAL FROM ME TO SATE YOUR HUNGER AND HEAR ME OUT, OR WOUND THE PRIDE OF THE FINAL MASTER OF ALL!"

I heard a strained gasp from down the street but didn't move to look. I heard the clip-clop of hooves to my right and turned my head as it approached. A horse of stark white approached me, it's head turned slightly as if curious at my visage. I nodded my head, stretching a hand towards it. "You recognize this face? The face that stood in a hundred battles, with tenfold killed on the edge of its blade. A face long lost from the very realm we each came from." The horse nuzzled into my hand, and I could feel something flow from my hand to it's body. It stood still as my body grew tired. Five minutes later it stepped back, and I nodded. "You have eaten your fill then?"

The horse nodded at me, and I patted its neck. "Excellent, then I shall endeavor not to waste your time. First, do you truly know who I am? Do you know what I have done in Equestria, and what I could do here if driven?" The horse nodded again, and I patted it again. "Excellent, then I only need to tell you one thing. The girl that you and your rider have been watching is my battle-sister. If anything were to happen to her, I would get her back, or get even. If you and your rider made a move against her the other night, would you have known what you had done?" The horse shook its head. I stepped back, crossing my arms. "Then this last question is the most important then. Are they going to do anything tonight that will make me stand against them?"

The horse paused a moment, glancing at the rear wall of the dome. I followed its sight, noting the dome fell behind mt house. I turned back to the horse, and it nodded. I began rubbing my helmet, trying to stop the headache before it came. "And can you at least give me a hint?" There was a loud pop, and the world shuddered. The dome fell, showing we were no longer on my sleep street. Large white walls surrounded us, as well as an unhealthy amount of armed guards. I sighed, looking to the pale pony. "Gather your rider and run friend, I am about to cause a scene." Without fanfare the pony began sprinting away, grabbing Chrysalis from somewhere in the group and making quick headway to the rear of the building. I turned my head slightly. "Alice, there's a good chance Sunset was brought here as well. If anything goes down, your primary objective is to find her and keep her safe. Understood?"

There was a soft crackle from her helmet. "Got it, I'm loaded and ready."

I rested my hand on the .45 on my chest, looking over the group. "You have made a grave error today friends. I am giving you one chance. Release us, take us home, and never cross my path again. Do all this, and you shall get to retain your lives. Any other action will lead to your death."

One of the armed guards rapidly gestured to the ground. "ON THE GROUND! NICE AND EASY!"

A sigh escaped my lips and I shook my head. "Ah, the cocky nature of youth." I drew my sword, looking it over, before shouting myself. "FINE THEN! BRING FORTH YOUR GREATEST MASTER OF BLADES! BY THE ANCIENT LAWS I CHALLENGE THEM TO A DUEL TO DECIDE THIS!" I leveled my blade at the group and was only answered by several more rifles pointing my way. I clicked my tongue against my teeth. "Fine then, we'll do this the hard way." I drew my pistol with my left hand, grimacing behind the sight picture. That was when the world erupted. My enhanced reflexes felt as if the trigger finger on each soldier was making an impossibly long trip to the release. My pistols action wasn't up to snuff for what I was about to try, so I opted for my blade. I ran forwards, moving as quickly as I could. I closed with the group instantly, the rifles barely keeping up as I slammed the blade into the chest of the nearest guard. Two flicks of my thumb set the blade to run, and the ceramite made quick work of whatever armor the guard was wearing. Blood and viscera splattered my vision as the guard fell quickly.

My grace period was over, and the first rounds were fired. Most whizzed by, and I heard as a few hit something metal behind me. I ducked low, disrupting the aim of anyone looking at me before my blade rose into another guard. They were already backing up, but one had been too slow. He had backed up with textbook grace, small steps to maintain balance and keep his rifle on me. Unfortunately, those small steps left him in easy reach. My blade revved, the sound of the Omnissiah's nuclear heart overpowering any gunfire and letting the roar of my god tear through the room. It never truly impacted. My blade slid easily through him, and in the chaos of battle, I found the artist spark that left me long ago. The way his body split in two and slumped to the ground was peaceful. The blood and death around me and this dead soldier fell in two separate heaps that dropped onto the complete sides. The bodies looked peaceful. If not for the blood on the floor, the looked almost like sleeping brothers, slumped into the ground.

Then I heard a feminine shout, and the peace collapsed. A slammed the pistol back in its holster, diving into a crowd of guards to use them as meat shields while I reached into the soft pouch on my chest. The tin of gel rolled into my fingers, and I slashed behind me, hearing a scream as I glanced a guard who had been coming behind me with a knife. I tore open the tin with my teeth and a bright pillar of light appeared around me. The gunfire stopped, the room becoming still as a gruff feminine voice spoke up. "Well, I was just now getting to relax." Above me, a small rift opened. From the rift, a single person fell out, landing on two feet. She wore a bright red turtleneck with a leather jacket draped over her shoulders. There was a design of a smiling pony leaned against a baseball bat, with the letter H repeated in triplicate above it. She looked around for a moment and nodded. "So let me guess. You got caught in some massive shitstorm and called on me for a hand, so now I've gotta fight a ton of mooks to get back to my cartoons." She turned to look at me, a ridiculous foot long pompadour dangling from her head. "Sound about right?"

There was another pause, this one pregnant as I looked over the guards. "That depends. Do we still have a problem, or do the remaining guards want a chance to live?" I was answered with a few staggered reloads, and a few more thrown weapons hitting the ground. I smiled as I strode forward. "To all those who threw down their arms, head to the far wall, I would hate to hurt you."

I hoisted my chainsword up to my shoulder casually flicking blood and innards behind me. "So, I take that to mean the rest of you are still hankering for an ass-kicking?" I turned to the girl with the pompadour, pointing a finger at her. "If you would be so kind, there is a teenage girl and a woman in power armor somewhere near us, could you guard the young one?"

The pompadour girl's eyes instantly flared. "They're targeting a kid, why didn't you say so? The Happy Horse Hierarchy never leaves a kid hanging." She lowered her body, a small orb floating behind her head-turning black as the darkest night. "BLAST OFF!" She kicked off the ground, and flew through the air, watching the crowd. A second later her jacket and clothes turned solid black, a helmet forming around both her and her hair, and she became a living suit of solid darkness. I was struck speechless as a few rounds sounded off towards her, only to fly back, sending a small number of guards to the grounds with streaks of red following them down. My shoulder sent a dull pain to my brain, and I turned to find a guard with a rifle aimed at me, and I dove back into the fight. Rounds impacted me, sending dull feedback to my brain. They had expected a normal human, maybe even a bit augmented. They weren't ready for an angel to descend upon them with the wrath of heaven.

I strode forward, dodging rounds and closing the gap as naturally as breathing. The first guard never knew what hit him as I scalped him, rolling with the swing to avoid a volley of fire from behind. The rounds sparked against the far wall, sending a group a guards diving down. They still held their weapons, and so as I drew my pistol I never hesitated. My old pistol barked repeatedly, sending each combatant to an early grave. There was a cry of rage behind me, and the world felt... different. I turned to face it, and found the guards behind me moving slowly, even the ones diving through the air inching forward in defiance of physics. I stared at the living darkness as it stared forward, both Alice and Sunset watching in wonder as she stepped forward. "YOU UTTER FUCKING ASSHOLES! THIS GIRL IS CRYING!!" She stepped forward again, and her helmet dissolved, showing a grim mask of determination. "NO MERCY! FEEL THE TRUE FORCE OF MOTHER NATURE!" The world warped around her, the room seeming to blur towards her as she cracked her knuckles. "BLACK HOLE!" The ground beneath me began grinding as I was sent towards her. The guards were less lucky, flying towards her. As quickly as it started it ended, but momentum spoke in its universal tongue the guards flying towards her as she began to ruthlessly pummel any and all who landed near her.

There was no refinement to her combat style, any and everything was a weapon near her. I saw rifles picked up and used as clubs, guards picked up and thrown to their friends, and all the while the little orb beside her began to glow brighter and brighter. HEr orb flashed, and she smirked. "Who wants to touch her now? Huh?" Her feet lit up like flares, and she turned into a flash of light. The ground where her feet touched turned to a holy flame I hadn't seen for millennia. The light of the sun itself. She skidded to a stop right where she began, a circle of fire surrounding Sunset and Alice. "I AM TSUBAKI DASH, THIRD IN LINE OF THE HHH! NONE IN MY HOME DARE STAND AGAINST ME, WHO HERE'S GOT THE SACK TO FIGHT ME HERE!"

My grin turned to a smirk as I turned around, only to meet a pistol barrel square in my vision. A lone thought passed through my head as I noticed it. This will hurt, won't it? With a flash, I was proven right. My forehead blossomed into an exquisite flower of pain, my whole mind focusing on it as my head snapped back. My body didn't follow, standing resolute despite the pain. I lowered my head back down, a splatter of red running down my visor. I clicked my tongue, reaching up and throwing my helmet off my head, my pistol following it onto the ground. It clattered to the floor as I reached up to my head, ignoring the person before me as I grabbed the small bit of lead embedded in my skull. I ripped it out, breaking through the small wall of blood that has already coagulated into a scab. I looked at the person in front of me. She was a guard like the others, a streak of strawberry blonde hair peeking over her goggles. I flicked the round at her, glowering into her eyes. "If you think a weapon like that can fell a servant of the Omnissiah you have much to learn."

Before I had decided how to respond to her attack, her pistol pointed towards the sky. She waved her hand and the guards all lowered their weapons, a few clicks heralding that their safeties were on. My newest friend shouted from the back. "What the hell's going on? Did we win yet?"

I looked to the woman in front of me as she looked back at me through tinted goggles. Her hand raised slowly, sweeping her hair back under her helmet. She spoke in a measured voice, as calm as the ocean. "It appears our superiors did not do adequate recon. We should talk before this whole operation ends in a containment breach." She turned to one of the guards and nodded. "Go send word to the O-3, we have to use secondary tactics." The guard turned around, only for the pompadour menace to appear in front of him, faster than even my eyes could see.

There was a pause as she looked at him, and then she raised her hand. "Question. What the fuck?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "Apologies friend. I assumed this would be a fight until the end. It appears it only took a show of force to get them to the negotiation table." I raised my sword, wiping it clean with the crook of my elbow before re-sheathing it. "I thank you for your assistance. I am Crucius Marx, champion of the Terran Elms."

The lady looked at me and the guard before stepping to the side. "Sweet always liked working with some chill killers. I'm Tsubaki, ready to rev some engines and scrap some junkers."

I had no clue what that meant, but she seemed a powerful ally, and one not to be dismissed for something so small as confusion. "Well met then." I turned to the female guard. "So, what type of negotiation are we partaking in? Is it a ploy for reinforcements? Or perhaps something in good faith? I am fine with either, though one will end in enough blood to drown this facility and stain the soul of all who ever stepped foot in this accursed place."

She shook her head. "Neither, I was hoping that offer to challenge the commander to one on one was still open."

My eyes widened. "Truly? Do you have no regard for your own life?" She glared at me, but I didn't let it faze me. "Then yes, it is still open. Then it shall be blade on blade combat until one combatant is unable to fight, whether from death or injury matters not. The winner will take whatever is fair. Though there will, of course, be restrictions."

The guard nodded, looking me over. "And what restrictions are those?"

I maintained eye contact, despite the mirrored goggles hiding her own eyes. "If I lose Sunset will remain comfortable for the rest of her days. You will not harm or maim her in your care. I would ask you to try and allow her to live normally, but that I not a requirement, as it may be asking too much if you manage to beat me." I rubbed at my newest bullet wound for a moment. "If I win you will not hold us. I will allow an agent to keep tabs on us, be it in daily check-ins or weekly I care little. But you shall not attempt to 'contain' us."

She nodded, sighing. "Alright, that sounds... acceptable. May I have a moment?" I nodded and she walked back a few paces, holding a hand to her helmet. I ignored her words despite still being able to hear them. It was only polite. I turned to Tsubaki. "I apologize for the sudden request of aid, and I thank you from the depths of my heart for coming to my aid." I rose a hand to my chest and bowed, dropping my head in deference.

Tsubaki shook her head, raising her hands. "Nah, this shit wasn't a problem. Always happy to help when a kid is in danger. But it was weird getting dragged out of my chill time for it. I was shooting the shit with my bro when pop, suddenly I'm in a major dust-up. It was wild man."

I smiled, raising myself up. "Indeed it was. I haven't been in such a battle for longer than a mortal draws breath,. By several magnitudes I imagine." Tsubaki instantly looked confused, and I rushed to fix my words. "I mean, it's been a while since I got into a proper scrap."

Tsubaki nodded. "I know the feeling. Thought I got out of the game once, and then boom! Get accused of murder right in my home town. Shit was stupid annoying."

Before I could respond the guard walked up again, a hand resting on her waist. "Alright. We find your terms acceptable. When can we start?"

I shrugged, reaching for my blade before Tsubaki jumped up. "Hey lady! We were talking! Interrupting is rude as shit, at least say excuse me or some shit."

I raised an eyebrow as the guard moved her head in such a way to make it clear she was rolling her eyes. "Of course, I'm sorry for interrupting small talk with the business you're actually here for."

The sarcasm was thick enough to smother a man to death. Tsubaki appeared to take absolutely no notice. "Good, it's alright then, Imma go check on the girl." Tsubaki raised her fist to me, which I tapped with my own. "Aight, Marx, you owe me a drink. Or twelve." She spread her arms wide. "Hell, just let me get pass-out drunk and we're even." I watched as she walked towards Alice and Sunset. Both of them were fussing over a small hole in Alice's leg armor, a canister of something getting jammed in it and foaming into the hole. I paid it little mind as I turned back to the guard.

Another guard ran up, [assing a European style longsword to her, which she held correctly in her grip as she leveled it in front of her. She inspected the blade without a word. I rested my hand on my own blade. "I would remove your armor, it won't stop my blade, and while the minor assistance it does give may prove to be of minor worth, being a hair faster would probably be safer."

She stared at me for a moment before slowly nodding. "I guess you aren't wrong." She glanced to the bisected guard a few meters away. She took off her helmet and goggles, revealing a short bob of Strawberry blond. Her goggles quickly followed her helmet, dropping to the ground to reveal blue eyes, deeper than the chasm and holding a spirit as strong as flint. I decided to follow suit, stripping the armored vest of my body. To be honest it was there in the same vein as batman's insignia on his suit, a big target to aim at that would annoy me less than rounds to my actual body. By the time I was done she had removed her own vest, revealing a simple black combat shirt, which wrinkled as she bent down to remove her shin guards, but she kept the kneepads on. She rose quickly, picking up her blade from where it rested on the floor.

I drew my blade, clanking it against the white shirt of my chest. "By the ways of the Omnissiah, I shall begin. I am Crucius Marx, champion of the Terran Elms. Wielder of the blade with no name. It's ceramite christened in the blood of heretics and engine powered by faith and steel. I offer a challenge to this organization for the freedom of me and my sisters."

The guard lowered her stance, the blade held in front of her and slightly off her center. "Then I am the leader of the response team Beta-3, known as the Quick And The Dead. My name is Red Ruby, and I accept your challenge and all terms decided." We stared at each other for a moment, before I smirked. With that, she began to step towards me, and the duel began.