It was something that all soldiers hated when it came to the mobile infantry. Being Idle. It was an excruciating ache that made me want to cause trouble for the sake of not being in a confined bedroom all by myself.

Like all the other troopers, I was given my own room, it was fancy i’ll give it that. I hate it. I hate how it makes me feel more important than the normal citizens. The room was painted blue with a king sized bed sitting against the wall. Paintings had been hung on the wall, but they were all of fruits and vegetables.

If I had to list the most uncomfortable situations I have ever been in, this would be second. It was late at night, and I was still awake. Flashes from the war have been haunting me since the orb showed everyone the Klendathu strike.

I started to drift down memory lane for a while. I began to remember things that would haunt me forever, or wouldn’t escape my thoughts even while I was talking to Calaeno, or Twilight. After tonight Twilight and her friends will be leaving the castle and going to their own homes, but Twilight was saying how she had other plans before she went home. I tried to fall asleep, and it worked.

“Are you ready to begin your new training?”. An all to familiar voice said to me. I turned to look at a woman who was assisting me. “Yes ma’am! Ready to test the armor.”. I said. She looked pleased. She had red hair with brown eyes. She wore a grey and orange uniform that wasn’t zipped all the way up. The color scheme had said that she was an engineer. ‘Jessica’ I thought to myself.

“Good to hear ‘Marauder’.” she said in a slightly teasing voice. “Please don’t call me that.”. I said as I began to look at my surroundings. It was grey and technological. There were lights every which way that made it kind of hard. This was the new addition to the fleet. “The Hail”

The Hail, was a ship that housed a new kind of soldier the Marauder. The marauder armor was still in development, though the egg heads were able to make the roots for the full fledged armor.

As of now, the armor is just an upgrade to the Mobile Infantry to help reduce casualties. Equipped with a slightly bulky armor that the bugs strength couldn’t tear through without enough damage, and a smart hud built into the helmet as well as a personal radio to keep the Marauders aware of everything happening around them.

They also have built in flash lights, and a small device that can hold countless weapons and ammo. The armor also comes with a shield system. This was only an upgrade for the current armor that us normal troopers use. Although the idea for the armor is frowned upon by many squads in the Infantry. The armor is very heavy, and encourages suicide missions against bug armies.

I came to a stop to admire the armor I was going to be putting on. Jessica stood next to me and just chuckled. The armor was clad black and grey with a copper colored visor. On the suit were two straps crossing each other in an ‘X’. The flashlight was on the far side of the helmet. It was small but it was strong enough to give off quite a bit of light.

“Well what are you waiting for? Put it on!”. Jessica had shouted. I hurried over to the glass casing and I place each individual piece of the armor on my body. The straps had been, strapped from the shoulders to the gauntlet. The helmet had a lock feature that locked itself on my head. The armor was heavy, but not as much as I was expecting.

“Why is this so light?”. I asked Jessica. She gave a proud smile to me. “The armor has built with receptors to mimic your muscle movements. When you move your legs, the suit moves its legs. It's barely noticeable to.”. I gave a nod. She then walked over to a desk that was on the other side of the room. “Alright let's test some of these features on the suit. Hmm?”. She said.

I awoke in a bead of sweat. I haven't thought of Jessica in over a year. Not a dream, nor a thought had crossed me. I suddenly felt teary eyed. I took a quick breath and looked towards the clock on the wall. “7:30” the time read.

I got up from my bed. My shirt was off, and I only wore my pants. I walked over to the chair that had my federation shirt, and I quickly put it on. I considered putting my armor on, but thought against it. It's not as if I’m going to need it right now. I wandered into the bathroom that was attached to my room.

I had showered the night before so I just brushed my teeth. I then I cleaned my face with the sink water. This world may not have the same technology as ours, but it has the same concept of those… dark ages in our world. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to live without flying cars.

I wiped my face off and I came out of the bathroom. I then went to the bedroom door and I quickly opened it. The halls greeted me. There were fancy vases, and there was the long as hell red carpet. There were also several windows on the wall. Each one barely had any space from each other.

I heard other doors open. Natasha came out of the room next to mine, and everyone else had come out of a room that was further down the hall. I walked up to Natasha. “Morning sleeping beauty.”. I said. She turned to me and chuckled. “Morning. How'd you sleep?”. Natasha asked me. I only shrugged. “You?”. I said in response.

Before she could answer I heard another door open. Celaeno came out of her room which was next to Natasha's. She looked a bit slumped and she had a bottle of ale in her clutches. She yawned pretty loudly, before finishing whatever was in the bottle. She then looked down the bottle, shrugged and threw the empty bottle backwards into her room.

“Mornin.”. She said as she passed by. Her feathers were a bit ruffled, and she seemed to have been in the middle of her hangover. I could only chuckle. Lucky she was out of earshot of that.

“Lets go get breakfast hmm?”. Natasha had asked. I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thought you would never ask.”. I said, as we started going the opposite way Calaeno went.

“We had to ask for directions four times!”. Natasha blared at me. “I’m sorry! This place is bigger than a bug nest.”. I replied. As we entered we noticed that everyone was already here. Even the rest of the platoon. How they got here before us, I have no idea but they’re here.

“Welcome to the dining hall you two.”. Princess Celestia had said with a smile. “Thank you ma’am.”. Natasha said as she took a seat. Everyone wasn’t wearing armor, just like me and Natasha. Although my shirt was actually full black compared to everyone else's dark grey uniform.

Twilight had thought it was strange that my uniform was darker compared to my brothers in arms. “Hey Damien?”. She called out. I looked at her. “Whats up Sparkles?”. I said. She had a raised eyebrow when I said sparkles but shook her head.

“Why is your uniform darker compared to the rest of the platoons? Does it represent class, or rank?”. She asked. I sighed. “Uniform color shows what you are. Dark grey, or grey indicate foot soldiers, orange shows that your an engineer, and white means your a medic.”. I explained.

“But what does black mean?”. Applejack asked. “It means I'm a marauder class.”. I said simply. There were only raised eyebrows at the table, except for the platoon. “What's a marauder?”. Pinkie had asked. I sat back in my seat.

“Soldiers who use a special suit of armor that gives you the power to wipe out an entire bug army.”. I explained in the most flat voice I could muster. A few jaws were dropped. Namely from the princesses. “How could it have differed from your normal armor?”. Twilight asked.

“It had a built in shield system, the armor moved along with you, you could carry eight weapons at a time as well as max ammunition for all of them, a built in flashlight, and a heads up display.”. I said with a cocky smile.

I saw Celestia mumble something to herself. I could only make out a few words. ‘Potential, armor, found’. I was about to question her about what she had said, but Calaeno had already asked me something.

“Why weren’t you wearing your armor? If its as powerful as it is then why were you not wearing it when you arrived to our world?”. She asked. Ah how I loved it when your armor is covered in plasma from inside and out. “My armor was covered in plasma. It was all in the joints, the outside of the armor and it was just messing with the systems. It had to be thoroughly cleaned.”. I said.

As I finished that sentence a bunch of chefs came by and began to place down plates of food. Everyone was happily surprised to see pancakes on the plates. We didn’t need to wait to start eating what was placed in front of us.

Syrup, and butter was passed around the table as if it were on a train. It was a good meal compared to the dehydrated meals we had to eat on a daily basis outside of the ships. The fleet would provide us with alcohol, and other things to help us have a good time after a successful mission while waiting for pickup.

As we all had our share of breakfast we had asked to go to the armory and begin our daily workout in order to stay on top of ourselves.

There were guards that joined us and even Captain Shining Armor joined in. to say the least when we saw the obstacle course we were not at all impressed. We gave our own recommendations that made the cadets sweat and made Shining Armor Cringe.

“What kind of barbaric boot camp did you go through?”. He asked us. We just said standard military. We couldn’t get our recommended training course so we had to make do with what we had.

We mostly had lifted weights, and compared to what shining armor had started to bench press, we had the upper hand in strength. I looked to my left to see Shining was bench pressing five hundred pounds. It was not as impressive as what we were forced to lift.

We gave him a run for his money when we each lifted seven hundred and forty five pounds. Again were there jaws dropped. The only ones who actually picked up anywhere close to Shining’s Weight were the earth cadets.

“You aim to impress?”. I heard Calaeno say. I was finishing up a last bench press when she and her crew walked in and started to use the equipment as well. “You know me. Gotta stay on top of things.”. I say as I put the weights down where they belong.

I then get up, and use a towel to wipe the sweat from my face. “How's it going captain?”. I said with a grin. She chuckled a little. “Things are ok for now. Hangovers gone.”. She said.

“That's good to hear.”. I say. I then walk up to some dumbbells. The sound of my robotic arm rang through the air as I gripped them, and started to raise them towards my chest, then back down again.

“It’s always good to hear that someone's pain is gone.”. Calaeno added. She then walked over to the sparring ring and watched as Natasha was up against one of the cadets.

I had started to watch from where I was. As I had expected the cadet got knocked the fuck out with just one or two good punches. I placed the dumbbells down and walked towards the ring. I stepped inside with confidence.

Natasha looked at me before chuckling. “You sure you want to do this again?”. She asks. I actually wasn’t sure now. Every sparring match we ever had ended with her knocking me down or knocking me out. Though it was too late to turn back now, so fuck it.

“Lets go Nat!”. I said in a challenging voice. She replied by charging at me. She was about to go for a punch to the face, but I had countered by gripping her arm and slamming her to the ground. I put some distance between us, as she got up. She slowly advanced this time. The thing about Natasha was that she learned from her mistakes quickly.

She was in striking distance now. I went for a punch to the gun with my right hand, she had reacted by going for a punch to the face. As I had hit her in the gut I knocked the wind out of her, though she did get me in the face. She needed to suck some air back in her quick, or I would win. I was able to shrug off her punch faster than I thought I would. I had done a complete turn around and used some newly gained momentum to dash at Natasha.

She had just recollected herself and was able to jump out of the way of my next punch. She then kneed me in the gun, then gripped me by the chest and back. She followed by slamming me onto the floor of the ring. I was completely out of breath. She was about to be victor but I rolled to the other side of the ring and got to my feet. I gulped a huge breath of air, and saw a fist coming for my face. Again, I had no Time to dodge it. It was coming too fast to counter it to.

When it landed against my face I flew out of the ring. I passed out only for a few seconds before getting up, with a sting on my face. Natasha was still on the ring getting cheers from the audience we had gathered. She then stopped and came down. “Nice work. You almost had me! Though you didn't finish me when you had the chance.”. She said as she walked away to get some water for herself.

The foul taste of blood entered my mouth. I spat out a few small droplets of blood. I was about to follow Natasha’s example and get water but Calaeno’s laughing got my attention. I turned towards her. “I’m sorry!”. She exclaimed in between laughs. “It's not her beating your ass. It's the bruise on your face!”. She yelled.

I turned towards the mirror that was in the room and cringed. The bruise on my face was big and in the shape of a heart. “How did she get me a bruise like that?”. I asked myself. I shook it off and grabbed a cup of water. I drank the whole thing in just a few gulps before crushing the paper cup, and throwing it in a trashcan.

It's been four days since the ring incident. I have mostly seen Calaeno drinking during her stay here in the castle. I tried some of the ale to see what was up, and I gotta say that it's almost as good as the stuff the fleet provides.

Princess Celestia seems to be going through an emotional time. She apparently met up with someone while we were sleeping, and now she barely comes to greet us in the morning.

I was in the gardens. It had been a long day, and I wasn’t ready for bed yet. Not ready for our princess’s mission tomorrow. I sat on a bench and looked at the stars. They formed all kinds of shapes, and for some reason, Lines were in the sky drawing the pictures in the night sky. It was actually beautiful. I don’t care how many planets are blowing up, or how many lives are getting destroyed because of this. I am content in watching this little light show in the sky forever.

“Mind if I join you?”. I looked and saw Calaeno standing there. “Not at all.”. I said. I scooched over a little and looked back over, I could hear Calaeno sit down next to me. “So what brings you here?”. I asked. “I enjoy the night sky.”. She said as she looked up at it with a smile.

“I love it and I hate it.”. I said with a chuckle. Calaeno looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Can’t see the bugs very well in the dark.”. I explained. She chuckled at my explanation and looked back up. “Ive been meaning to ask.”. I said. She turned to me. Her attention on full alert. “How’d you lose your leg?”. I asked her.

Her head drooped a little. “A few years ago me and a friend went exploring for treasure and loot on an old island.”. She said. “The island was known for being inhabited by Manticores.”. She started to slow down. “We didn't find anything so we tried to get back to the boat, but one of the Manticores got the drop on us. It got a hold of my leg.”. She started sniffling. “I was screaming. I don’t like to admit it but I was crying to. Then it stopped, and my best friend was screaming. The crew had come over to see what the commotion was. They found me reaching out for them, and the Manticore playing with Feather like he was nothing but a chew toy!”. She had lost it by then.

“That was his name wasn’t it? Feather?”. I asked. She nodded. I placed my left arm on her left shoulder. “Let it out.” I whispered. She lunged at me in a hug and started bawling her eyes out. “It was my fault!”. She yelled. She began to repeat those words over and over.I held her tighter.

An hour had passed, and she had calmed down. We didn’t talk much because of her break down. I knew that it was best to just let her let it all out. I should know. I blamed my brothers death on myself up until Natasha helped me.

“Does it still hurt?”. She finally asked. I turned to her. “The arm I mean.”. She followed. I looked at my prosthetic and clutched it, opened it, then opened it again. “Sometimes. The process of wiring this into your nerves will hurt on occasion, and the mental pain is even worse.”. I explain.

“How so?”. She wondered aloud. “Its really uncomfortable to go around with a robot hand and expect people to not stare at it.”. I say. She smiles a little. “Yeah I get that a lot from my crystal leg. Everyone gets one glimpse of it and they want me because they think i’m rich.”. She explains with a laugh. “Well at least people aren’t looking at you hoping to god you aren’t going to tell a war story.”. I say. We both started to laugh.

“So Natasha. What does she mean to you?”. She asks me. I was slightly taken aback by her question. “She’s like an older sister. Sometimes she’s the younger sister that's just a bit older.”. I respond. She laughs, as do I.

I noticed it was getting late and I was going to need my rest for tomorrow. I got up to leave when Calaeno gripped my hand. “No!”. She yipped. She looked me in the eyes and I did the same. “I want you to stay…”. She couldn’t finish what ever she was about to say as our lips had met. Her eyes closed and so did mine. I felt something. Something I haven’t felt since Jessica died. I wanted to feel more of it. I held onto her wing/hand and we refused to separate from each other's embrace.

It was a dark and moist cave. Green ooze was sliding down the walls, of the cavern. Bugs of all shapes all shapes and sizes were preparing for an attack. Although they must first feast.

The Changelings were all rounded up by the arachnids except for a select few. Crowds of hungry bugs wailed on and on as they looked at the defenseless poor excuse of a bug. Chariot bugs were carrying the arachnid leader. The Brain bug.

‘Where is Chrysalis?’ it spoke in telepathic form to its most loyal bug. The Royal.’ She had escaped by an unknown means your highness.’. The brain bug read the Royals thoughts. ‘No matter. We still have more than enough to feed what we have here.’. The massive worm like bug had spoken.

It then used the chariots to escort the brain bug towards the Changeling general. A long straw like tube emerged from the bugs mouth. The general didn’t have any chance to react as the brain bug slammed its straw like tendril into his head and began to suck the brains out of his skull. All that was left was the corpse.

The brain bug did this to every single last changeling and left the corpses for his army to feed on. They savagely fed on the bodies. Pulling them apart, or hogging one all for themselves.

Queen Chrysalis was forced to watch all of this unfold. She had escaped using a secret tunnel, and she had a good view from the crevice she was in. she broke down in tears as she was forced to watch her children get fed to these monsters. She then knew that she needed help. She could only hope that princess Celestia would Listen. She followed the path she was on until she was outside. She then began to run like hell.

Author's Note

I would like to thank everyone who supports this. I know my writing isn't as good as the next guys but I think that I am up there some where. I got more info on personality on important characters for this fic such as Calaeno. I will be doing some editing on the other chapters soon to match this so it doesn't seem off, but for now all I can say is thank you to everyone who Favorited this, liked this, and even had the time to read it. this is the third story I have show dedication too, and because of what I have planned . All of My Fics will get the same treatment as The Last Star-ship Troopers

I hope you all continue to be apart of this with me.

(last but not least) I am doing a shout out for every chapter I write. Write a sill comment, or write an answer to a question I write an you'll get a chance to get called out.