It Was a Pleasure to Burn

It Was a Pleasure to Burn

Fire washes the skin off the bone and the sin off the soul. It cleans away the dirt. And my momma didn’t raise herself no dirty boy.

I - A Frozen Hell

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A lone firebat trudged miserably through the deep snow on Braxis. It wasn’t that there was a battle taking place there, or going to take place, or expected to take place, or anything. In fact, now was the first period of peace and quiet the Koprulu sector had seen in decades. With the defeat of the Queen of Blades on the Zerg homeworld Char, one could finally breathe easy knowing that they would not have to look at the night sky in fear that an alien menace could descend at any moment and massacre all life on their home planet.

Just like Tarsonis, the firebat thought to himself. Despite being closely associated with neurally resocialized criminals, mass murderers and psychotic pyromaniacs that the flamethrower-wielding firebats were known for being--himself simply being a volunteer to the corps--he still shuddered whenever he thought of Tarsonis’ fate.

Tarsonis was once the seat of power of the Confederacy, a strong standing yet corrupt government that had been struck down when the Zerg invaded en masse. Not a single Terran was left alive after the onslaught, thus the once powerful Confederacy met a sudden and gruesome end. At least, people thought it was an invasion. If the audio recording that was broadcasted throughout the sector by the alleged terrorist group "Raynor's Raiders" was anything close to legitimate, then Emperor Mengsk of the Dominion had summoned the Zerg to Tarsonis to do his dirty work in destroying the Confederacy for him.

The firebat chuckled to himself at the thought. Deep in his heart of hearts he had always been anti-Dominion ever since its conception. For that matter he had always been anti-Confederacy as well. They had both been corrupt and exploitative to the majority of the people under their control. The Dominion, however, was a different story. They were not only corrupt, but they also had the gall to justify the things that they had done through propaganda and straight up lies. To see a government like that put in the hotseat by a simple radio broadcast was extremely satisfying to the firebat. It reminded him of his history lessons about the Russian revolution on Old Earth: a small group of idealists overthrowing a faulty government, only to replace it with something just as bad, if not worse.

Even though Mengsk had lost the hearts and minds of his subjects, he was still in control of the military. Or more accurately, General Warfield was still loyal to him. While the firebat hated the Dominion and everything it stood for, it was still the only real stable government in the Koprulu sector, so he decided to stay rather than go rogue. More than that, he was loyal to the General himself. Regardless of his poor choice of government to support, the man was still a brilliant leader and had almost never lost a battle where he was in command. Plus, he had a robot arm that could transform into a cannon. How many people could do that?

But now that there was a moment of peace, Warfield had decided to establish a base on Braxis again for re establishment in the future. The icy planet had once held a Dominion stronghold, but the world had since been “purified” by the Protoss, wiping what Terrans there were from the face of the planet. It was only now that the Dominion had taken interests in the frozen wasteland again.

And so, here we find our quite literally fiery hero, patrolling the outermost perimeter of the base.

Why? Why has it got to be snow? It wasn’t so much that the firebat disliked the snow, and more so that it reached up past his knees. That, coupled with the enormous, bulky, three and a half thousand pound suit he was wearing, made walking unpleasant at best and excruciating at worst. In fact, he actually quite liked the snow. He had many fond memories of he and his friends playing in some of the intense snow storms of Tyrador VIII. Building snowmen, sledding, having snowball fights of epic proportions... the firebat was so distracted by the memories that he nearly missed his checkpoint for where he was supposed to deliver a status report.

"Patrol seven-nine to command, no contacts at rally point sigma, over," he said hurriedly.

*Roger that patrol seven-nine, continue on to the next one,* the man on the radio said in a bored tone.

"Don’t sound so excited," the firebat teased, opting to forgo protocol for a moment.

*Oh, up yours,* the radioman said, abandoning radio protocol as well, *At least I'm not freezing my ass off out there with you, Caulk.*

"Speak for yourself, Archie. My suit keeps my ass nice and warm."

*Thank you for keeping me updated on the status of your ass. Wanna hear ‘bout mi-*

The firebat grinned as he broke the call before Archie could finish his sentence. Caulk. That was the name all the other firebats on station called him. The CMC-660 Heavy Combat Suit was known for having the volatile gases and liquids from their Perdition flamethrower tanks seep into the operator compartment, the fumes giving the pilot a drug-like high. Since most firebats were notorious for being psychotic pyromaniacs, they enjoyed the fumes, and let them go ahead and seep on through. Caulk, on the other hand, was not a psychotic pyromaniac, so he, like most other volunteers, of which there were precious few, had "caulked" the inside of his suit by spraying a rubber sealant all over the inside surface, thus keeping the noxious chemicals out. Being the only firebat on station that had done that, the others named him accordingly. Amusingly, he was also the best firebat on the station as a result of his sobriety.

Caulk continued the arduous trek on his patrol route. This next point brought him up to the mouth of a dark chasm in a cliff that drew close to the base camp. One could only see about a hundred meters into it before their visibility was brought to zero from the shadows. Each time Caulk looked down the chasm a chill went up his spine. He was not much of a superstitious man, but no one would deny that there was some kind of an evil spirit in that trench, and he had even been on the hell that was Char without getting the same feeling. Even the reapers on site, criminals whose minds were so twisted that not even conventional neural resocialization could tame, felt slightly perturbed, to speak nothing of some of the faint-hearted SCV pilots.

Despite the fear Caulk harbored of the chasm, something in the back of his mind made him want to explore it. He feared the unknown as everyone does, but he also wanted to find the truth of the matter so that there would be nothing more to fear. Regardless, he still could not work up enough guts. As Caulk neared the mouth of the chasm he could feel his heart beat faster and his breathing accelerated.

Maybe I could just walk straight on past it, he thought, I could just tell them there was nothing there.

But no, that was the coward’s way out. Caulk had a job to do and he was going to do it well, even if it meant his demise or insanity, whichever came first. He couldn’t help but think that his stubbornness was going to win him a medal, either via combat valor or a purple heart in his death... or both.

Casting the morbid thoughts to the side, Caulk arrived at the mouth. It was just as dark as it always was, and no matter how hard he strained his eyes he could not see more than those hundred meters. Also as always, there was nothing of notable interest in the area he could see. After a few moments, Caulk noticed a slight increase in the wind. He turned and looked at the sky and saw dark clouds that heralded the near apocalyptic cold temperatures, hurricane force winds and epic blizzards that Braxis was known for off in the distance. He would need to hurry his patrol to avoid the storm, as not even the mighty Crucio siege tanks could withstand such extreme weather.

Just as Caulk was about to deliver his report back to base, he looked back down the chasm and saw, just barely, a bipedal figure looking back at him. They both stood there, neither making a move for what seemed like half an hour. At which point, the figure turned back into the chasm, being obscured by shadow once more.

Caulk simply stared dumbstruck for a few moments before he came back to his senses. Who was that? Or more importantly what was it? Caulk could not make out more than the basic shape, so for all he knew it could have been a Terran, Protoss or some new strain of Zerg. Infested Terran, maybe? He certainly hoped not: if the Protoss discovered Zerg infestation spores on Braxis they would no doubt glass the planet. They had done it before, particularly on Chau Sara, and later on Mar Sara. At least they had given the Terrans time to evacuate from the latter; Caulk prayed that they would be so generous again.

Realizing he was starting to panic a bit, Caulk calmed himself down to think through this properly. It was highly unlikely that it was an Infested Terran, as the weather of Braxis was harsh even by Zerg standards, and they never would have been able to make it here in their disorganized state. Caulk thought he could also rule out another Terran, as he would have been informed of anyone heading into the chasm, especially through rumors if they made it over the fear they all held of it. As for Protoss... he knew that this world was once a Protoss colony, but they had since abandoned it when the global temperatures dropped like a block of depleted uranium thrown out of a battlecruiser in high orbit. Whatever it was, Caulk wanted to know.

"Patrol seven-nine to command, I have encountered an unknown entity at rally point tau. Requesting permission to pursue, over." There was a momentary pause, which Caulk assumed was Archie consulting the Colonel.

*Patrol seven-nine, you have permission to pursue. Be advised you have at most four hours to get back to base before that storm hits,* then, as an afterthought, Archie added: *Watch yourself out there, Caulk. Command out.*

Ho boy, Caulk thought, Here we go.

Caulk's first steps into the chasm where halting at first, but steadily became easier. Soon he reached the point where the darkness obscured everything entirely and promptly turned on his suit’s chest-mounted lights. He realized that the chasm never split into multiple paths, in fact it hardly even turned at all. He walked for what seemed like hours, but eventually he finally arrived at the end of the chasm, only to find that there was a wide cave opening at the end. Unsure of what to make of it, he realized that there was nowhere else to go but through the cave, much to his chagrin.

Well, I made it this far, Caulk thought, I can keep going.

Tentatively, Caulk entered the cave and was soon enveloped in a chilling darkness. As with the chasm, he walked for what seemed like hours yet again. After a time, he realized that the walls, ceiling and floor were all smooth and made of what appeared to be a strange alloy of metal.

This cave isn’t a cave, Caulk realized with excitement, Who built it? Was it the Protoss?

As if in answer to his question, the tunnel opened out into a vast chamber that Caulk could not see the walls to. Upon his entry, however, the chamber was illuminated with a bright, white light that forced Caulk to squeeze his eyes shut. He quickly turned off his suit lights and slowly opened his eyes, only to gape at the venue before him. The opposite wall was about a hundred meters from where he stood and the chamber stretched nearly a kilometer both left and right. Lining the walls that he could now see were about two hundred raised, circular platforms, each with a short stairway on the front and what looked like a large ring stood up on the platform. Everything Caulk saw had a sleek design with a gray or black coloration and glowing blue trim. Caulk recognized the architectural style as being of Xel'Naga origin. The Xel’Naga were an ancient race that created both the Protoss and the Zerg, as well as numerous artifacts of untold power. They were... the gods of their time.

So if this is all made by the Xel'Naga, then what are all these things?, Caulk wondered, utterly awestruck. He could practically feel his pupils turn into credit signs. This place could potentially be worth billions.

Having been born and raised on Tyrador VIII, known for its centers of higher learning, Caulk new quite a bit about the Xel'Naga. He racked his brains trying to think of what the devices might be as he looked around the room. His attention was then drawn to one of the platforms on the opposite wall and far to the right, as it was glowing a bright white in the area bounded by the ring. At the base of the steps Caulk spied a shadowy, bipedal figure that he immediately identified as the figure he saw in the chasm. It was still too far away from Caulk for him to describe it, but he could still see a pair of evil-looking, glowing red eyes on what he assumed to be its face... and it was looking directly at him.

After another round of dumbstruck staring, the figure broke eye contact and strode up the steps, across the platform and into the glowing ring, where it promptly vanished in a flash of light.

Warp gates! The realization hit Caulk harder than a Vulture bike gang on acid. Aw man, I've gotta report this. These gates could take us anywhere in the galaxy! But there's no way I can get in radio contact from down here.

With that, Caulk ran as fast as he could back to the mouth of the cave, which wasn't very fast what with his enormous suit. When he arrived at the mouth of the cave, Caulk cursed himself for forgetting about the storm. He could hear the wind roaring like a Crucio shock cannon over the chasm, as well as seeing the enormous snow drifts coming down.

"Patrol seven-nine to command, do you read me? I have been trapped in the chasm located at rally point tau, over."

*...Bzzzzzzt...*

"Command, please respond, over!"

*...Bzzzzzzt...*

Caulk's blood ran cold. He was now not only stranded in this chasm until the storm blew over, but had no contact with the base. Worst of all, he had no food or water, and the giant storms of Braxis were known to last well over a week before beginning to subside.

With a loud CLUNK! the lone firebat sat down, hard, on his rear. His usual energetic and playful demeanor evaporated now that he was faced with his own mortality. He sat in a brooding silence for a long time, thinking about all the coulda-shoulda-wouldas in his life. Suddenly a thought occurred to him that brought a grin to his face again.

I'm not entirely stranded here.

With a flash, Caulk sprang to his feet and ran as fast as he could--which again, was not very fast--back down the cave and into the chamber of warp gates. He steadily approached the still active warp gate that he had seen the shadowy figure enter, but hesitated as he reached the base of the steps.

Did he really want to do this? Who knew what waited on the other side for him? If he went through there was no guarantee he could go back. After a moment’s thought he came to the conclusion:

I'm going to die if I stay here anyway. I might have a chance if I go through... Alright. Let's do this.

And with that, Caulk went up the steps, across the platform, and into the warp gate.

~~~

Princess Celestia's sun beat down on her as she rode on her chariot back to Equestria's capitol of Canterlot. She had just left the small town of Appleloosa where this year's Summer Sun Celebration had taken place. The town had only been established about two years ago, and the huge masses of ponies gathering for the celebration had brought it much needed business and helped it grow significantly. Celestia smiled as she thought back to the whole spiel of her personal student, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends trying to make peace between an angry herd of Buffaloes and the equally angry residents of Appleloosa.

Her student and her friends had never ceased to amaze her with their abilities to solve conflicts of nearly any scale with only a few well-chosen words. It was a perfect reflection on how Celestia's efforts to transform Equestria into the land of peace and harmony had influenced each of its residents.

Celestia watched the small town grow smaller and smaller as their distance from it grew. Eventually it faded from her sight, when at that point she sensed a strange new presence in her "sixth sense" as it were. Being the powerful magic user that she was--being powerful enough to move the sun around in the cosmos--Celestia could feel the very life forces that every pony possessed at all times, in effect allowing her to "watch" her subjects at all times. She wasn't able to control the ability, it was intrinsic to the point where she hardly noticed it unless she made a conscious effort to do so. This new aura was not significant in that it was particularly powerful, in fact it was actually very weak in comparison to ponies, dragons, gryphons and every other race that existed in the world. No, what made it profound was that it was vastly different from anything she had ever encountered, like a black sheep in a herd of white sheep. But whatever this new presence was, it was very close.

She swiveled her head around, trying to get a good fix on the entity's location. There it was: almost directly to the right.

"Turn to the right!" Celestia shouted, as she had to make her voice heard over the wind, "There is something down there that I want to see."

The pegasus guards pulling her chariot simply grunted an affirmative and slowly banked to the right, dropping altitude all the while.

The faint pinpoint Celestia was watching brought her to a large outcropping of rock after only a few minutes of flying in their new course. As they neared it, Celestia noticed a wide cave opening at the base of the bluff.

"Bring us down there," she ordered her guards as she indicated the cave opening.

As they descended and the distance shortened, Celestia could tell that the cave was not a natural formation. It had smooth edges at the mouth that had clearly been excavated by some ancient, intelligent force. What that force might have been, she had no idea, but had a suspicion that whatever she was sensing was one of said entities.

The chariot shook as it hit the ground with a jolt. Celestia winced as it did so. She couldn't help but feel that that particular maneuver put a tremendous amount of strain on the chariot. She always had to remind herself that these chariots were specifically designed for this task, and would withstand the impact entirely.

Celestia stepped off the chariot the instant it stopped moving and was about to waltz straight into the cave before one of her guards stopped her.

"Ma'am, with all due respect, I think one or the both of us should go with you. Whether or not you know what's down there, we don't want to leave you unprotected."

The Princess of the Sun frowned inwardly. She had been so excited to see what was within this unnatural cave that she had almost thrown caution to the wind. She really did not know what exactly was down there, only that it was something never before seen in Equestria. Yet, that alone was reason enough for her to be cautious. Whatever was down there had every potential to be a threat to her and her subjects.

"Of course," Celestia said in agreement, "In fact, I want both of you to come. In all honesty I do not know what is in there."

No sooner had those words left her mouth had her guards unbuckled themselves from their harnesses and were standing in front of her at attention, waiting for her to lead the way. Celestia smiled: these guards would gladly give their lives if it meant saving the Princess. Loyalty like that demanded respect and admiration.

Turning to the cave entrance, Celestia was able to observe it in its entirety. It was a hexagonal shape that was about two and a half times taller than she was. Other than that, there was nothing particularly significant about it. All it appeared to be was an artificially made cave.

Realizing that she was just standing there staring at the cave, Celestia steadily entered, her guards matching her pace and staying close to her sides. The first thing Celestia noticed was that it immediately became so dark she could not see her own hoof in front of her face, and had to illuminate the cavern with light from her horn. The second thing she noticed was that the tunnel was starting to angle downwards at a steep decline, meaning that it was now taking them into the bowels of the earth.

They were walking down the steep corridor for so long that Celestia had lost track of the time. Even one of her guards, in all his hardened demeanor had struggled to stifle an audible yawn. Usually, a lapse in their stoic manner while on guard duty would cause them to be reprimanded by their commanding officers should they hear about it. Fortunately for the guard, Celestia did not plan to report it, as even she was starting to wonder if the tunnel would ever end.

As the three descended, they started to notice that the air was becoming difficult to breathe.

We're going to need to turn back soon, Celestia thought to herself with concern, or else we will suffocate here.

The moment she completed this thought, the tunnel leveled out and opened up into a hemispherical cavern about twice as tall as the tunnel they had just been walking through. The first thing Celestia noticed as she entered was what resembled a large, circular stage that plays would be performed on with a row of steps at the front, and a large, thick hoop turned on its side that was sitting at the back edge of the "stage." The area inside the hoop looked to have an opaque pane of glass that was glowing white and appeared to be moving like looking down at a lake from above. The "stage" itself was a dark, polished gray and had glowing blue lines spider-webbing across its surface. As Celestia observed it, the white field in the hoop started to flicker, and after a few seconds faded into oblivion, allowing Celestia to see the wall behind where it had been.

"What," one of her guards spoke up, "is that?"

"I am not sure. It almost looks like some kind of stage, but I do not know what a stage would be doing down here..." Celestia trailed off as she looked down at the base of the steps and realized what the guard was referring to.

"No, no, that thing on the ground there."

Lying on the ground at the base of the steps was what appeared to be a massive heap of orange machinery. Celestia approached it warily to observe it and she could sense her guards tense next to her. Its design appeared to be alien in origin and was far more advanced than anything Celestia had ever seen before. Whatever the pile was, it was emanating that faint but strange aura she had sensed earlier on the flight back to Canterlot. There was no way the mound of metal could possibly be alive, so Celestia chalked it up to the fact that it was simply so advanced it had its own aura of energy from whatever powered it.

As Celestia came close to it, she found that it was actually some kind of bipedal automaton. It had incredibly thick, stocky arms and legs. Its legs ended in a pair of massive metal feet that were as long as Celestia's leg. Its arms ended in huge, five digit hands with one opposable thumb and four fingers. On its forearms were gigantic gauntlets that covered the top of its forearms and hands, as well as an extra pair of large cylinders resting on either side of its forearms. Protruding from each of the gauntlets were two large cones that almost resembled claws, only they were tipped with wide openings instead of points. Attached to its back were two large, cylindrical tanks that were longer than Celestia was tall, and as wide as one of the wheels on her chariot. Running from the bottom of each of the cylinders on its back were very thick, black, flexible tubes that connected to the back of its gauntlets. Covering its shoulders were massive plates of metal that would have crushed a pony if one could be pried loose. The only "small" part of the machine was what appeared to be its head. It had an almost comical, spherical shape and she could only see the cap of it, as the rest was covered by the colossal solid piece that made what appeared to be its torso.

Celestia reached out with a golden-shod forehoof and gently poked it. The machine made a profound lack of movement with the touch. She pushed on it again, this time attempting to make its arm shift position. Not only did the machine remain immobile, she also found that it was completely immovable.

"I have no idea," Celestia said in response to the guard that had asked what it was, "I only know that it is not from here."