Dead Air

"We're gonna have a bit of a problem once we leave the dome." Firebright stated, standing between us and the powered ship. "So rule number one." She regarded the lot of us coolly. "Under no circumstances, are you allowed to take off the armor once we leave the ship. Especially the helmet. I designed it so no sound gets in, and none gets out. Call it audible quarantine." She grit her teeth, looking down for a moment. "It'll be a challenge, but we'll only be able to communicate with each other through body language."

"This isn't a good design." Flame jumped in with intent to argue, judging by his tone of voice. "Did it occur to you that one of our best senses for survival is hearing? I won't deny that the situation is complicated, and sound is a weapon against us now. But did you not think about linking-"

"Yes, Flame." She emphasized in annoyance, clenching her jaw. "I thought about radio communications. Hundreds of years ago. But it is out of the question. The Cetera hold all radio signals around them in their voice. It takes only one to infect a broadcast. Radio waves inside your suit would seal your fate indefinitely."

The two of them fell silent as he hung his head down in defeat.

She raised a brow. "Does that... satisfy your curiosity?"

He sighed and shook his head in response. "Damn it..."

She exhaled sharply before turning to the rest of us again. "He does make a point, though. And I saw to it that the matter would be dealt with. You may not be able to hear your surroundings. But you will feel the proximity of your enemies and the Cetera's screams."

"Like echo location?" Firefly asked with a curious tilt of his head.

"Ehhh... sort of." Firebright smiled softly. "Your suit will point to the source of the sound as it's happening in real time, as will it point to any enemies in the area in the form of a vibration."

"Smart." Polarity spoke. "That helps even the odds."

"Definitely." I filled in with a comfort that this plan could work.

"I guess that explains why no technology or metal was allowed through the gateway." Flame said.

"Spot on." Fire replied with a nod. "That's another thing. The Cetera haven't left the dome, despite the gateway being open. I'm a top priority to them, it seems. So... when we break out of the core, it's gonna get bloody fast. I'm sorry, but... we can't stop to save the others. We're gonna have the Cetera hot on our tail."

"Question." Polarity said plainly, catching Fire's attention. "If we're wearing these suits as protection, which are no doubt made of sophisticated metal, then why can't we help others?"

Fire's eyes dropped as if hurt by the idea.

"This armor is mostly to protect you all from the dangers of the Humans and their machines, in terms of physical contact. But the Cetera have ways of ripping you out of it... It might hold them off for a little while, but it won't stop them..." She paused for a moment, pondering to herself.

She turned toward the ramp that ascended through the bottom of the ship. "Are there any other questions?"

The four of us looked at one another; the majority of us shrugging or shaking our head. Firefly still refused to acknowledge me...

"No, I think that's it..." Polarity spoke as we all turned to her.

She sighed softly to herself, muttering something. I wasn't sure if we were supposed to hear it, but I did.

"The hardest part is always saying goodbye..." She proceeded to step up the ramp in a slow saunter. As she ascended, her voice, now spoken aloud and in a variety of odd pitches, began to echo through the ship's hull. "Don't know where... Don't know when... But I know we'll meet again some sunny day..."

Just as she vanished from our sight, her hooves disappearing into the confines of the vessel, one final word left her lips.

"Someday..."

<>

"Strafe thrusters online." Fire said as she sat at the controls, flicking a variety of switches, both fore and overhead.

The lot of us, save for Taurus, were strapped in in the cockpit. Firefly sat in the center, and Flame took the left; I the right. Polarity in the front, alongside Firebright.

Before each of us was a console with no controls. But instead, was a holographic projection unit to accompany.

"Reverse thrusters online." She continued as the engines began to roar with jet fire. "X, Y, Z Axis is responsive. Main thrusters online. Main batteries online. Secondary batteries online."

A 3 dimensional projection flashed into view before Firefly, Flame, and I. It was that of the hangar.

"Targeting systems online. Shields online... All systems green. Standby for launch..."

Black claws of smoke emerged from her hooves, dancing around a sphere of light that brought itself before her. Sliding her claws up the mass slowly and with ease, the ship began to raise off the ground.

"So... how exactly do we use these?" Polarity asked, looking at the simulated view of projection before the ship.

"Steer, aim at the triangle that appears over your targets, and fire. It's like your suits. Your minds are connected to the system. If you have a desire, the computer will act on it." She looked back at us with a sharp grin and winked. "Nekkra tech, baby. It's the finest." She spun back around and flicked another switch overhead, to which a klaxon blared from outside, above us. Light poured into the dark tunnel we ascended.

I looked at my battery's point of view before blinking once. Not even the Humans had tech this advanced... It was almost hard to believe. I wouldn't have...

But upon wanting to look right, the view shifted to such. I was only greeted with more, steel wall.

"Whoa..." Firefly grinned. "Okay, this is cool..."

Firebright chuckled softly as we arose from the ground. The klaxon shut off soon after.

We emerged on the other side of the puddle opposite of the building Firebright had been inside.

Lucisco stood tall at the end of the dome, staring at us as we advanced on his location.

Fire stayed at eye level with him, hovering several dozen feet away.

"So this is it, then..." Lucisco spoke with undeniable sorrow... and fear.

"I suppose it is..." Fire said in turn. "I love you, Lucisco."

"And I, you. Mother... Firebright..." He scoffed and looked down for a moment, before facing her once more. "It's been an honor..."

"It certainly has..." She whispered.

"In silence, we part..." He spoke softer.

"But only temporarily..." Fire choked. "This isn't goodbye... I won't let you suffer..."

He nodded, and she pulled a handle down from the overhead controls, to which a synthetic voice spoke through the system.

"External frequencies muted."

At once, the sound of the jets outside went deadly quiet. Only the sound of my breath, and the humming of the internal engines at work ensued.

Lucisco closed his eyes, turning to the dome wall.

And the shell began to fade...

"Wait, what's he-"

"Focus." Firebright snapped. "It's his choice, that's all you need to know." She wiped a claw over her face, shuddering.

She pulled the ship back, and through the cockpit window, as the barrier faded out of existence, the city it resided in came into view. With it, lights of millions stared back at us, waiting...

For this moment.

I spun my battery around, facing ahead once more and keeping my focus solely on the imminent danger. I could assume by the silence among us that the others were too.

Lucisco spread his wings seconds before the dome ceased to be. It was then that I noticed it wasn't just this shell. It was also the one that held the mural. The way out was revealing itself to us far off in the distance.

Dragons, pegasi, griffins, thestrals, changelings... All wingbearers, even those that escaped my knowledge, flew down from the ceiling, eager to collect.

Both domes were gone, and simultaneously, everyone reacted to its disappearance with a set goal.

Lucisco pushed forward to protect. The Cetera pushed back to control. Firebright pushed in for escape. And my friends and accomplices opened fire on the population to survive.

With one swipe of a shadowed claw, a great number of the land bound Cetera were removed, though not without first dimming his ability to fight from their song.

In my projection, a reticle in the shape of a red triangle appeared over every hostile in sight. But as they moved, the reticles advanced faster, staying in front of them at a certain distance that depended on how far they were, and how fast they went.

The computer assisted greatly in our efforts. We stood a chance after all... But not all of us...

Streams of gatling fire branched off from the vessel, completely eviscerating prisoners of the Cetera. We were doing them a favor. No more pain, no more torment. The Afterdeath granted peace.

Or, at least... that was the idea. There was so much more I didn't understand...

The lights of the Cetera's eyes were starting to fascinate me by mere glances. There was something about them that... just pulled me in. A beauty like that of stars...

"PHOENIX!"

The world came rushing back in the speed of the ship Firebright operated, and instinctively, I shook myself back in the reality of the situation.

I turned to Flame, but he was back on his gun before I had time to look.

I turned back to my controls as airborne deceit flew in for the kill of both Lucisco and the ship we resided in. Lucisco stayed by our side as we pushed through the city, leaving behind a torrent of black fire to wash over the wide corridor, and any surface dwellers that were in the area.

Right... back to work.

The ship grew deadly quiet as we worked tirelessly to fight them back.

In my peripherals, did a hologram overlay the pilot's window. Several flashing red dots descended toward a certain point.

"Firefly, eyes on the sky!"

"I see it!" He blurted.

I spun the battery up just to get an idea of what was closing in. I really wish I hadn't done that...

Several dragons dived on us, roughly the same size as Lucisco, if not bigger. Fear grabbed hold of me. Fear and... something else...

Stars...

Stars in their eyes...

Beautiful stars with a philosophy... An idea... A purpose... A mission...

Lucisco swept into view, tackling one of the many and sinking his teeth into the neck of the beast.

The others rounded on him, forgetting us for a moment. I wanted to help him so bad... tell Firebright to turn back and help him. But... this was his choice... I hated that I had to let it happen, but... he had a choice. Something I never had until recently. It was his to make... He was doing it for us...

The ship dived down to the corridors between the tall buildings.

I aimed behind us at the swarm that were in pursuit. Flame and Polarity seemed to be on the same page, while Firefly still focused on what was above.

Gatling fire of three batteries trailed behind us, removing variables of our problem by the dozens in second's pass.

The dragons seemed to be completely focused on overwhelming Lucisco and conquering his body. It seemed we weren't the only priority...

He roared in what I could very well imagine was agony as he tore one of them off his form. They all screamed, though I couldn't hear any of it. I didn't want to...

He ripped it in half, pouring blood and intestines over the surface, over the land dwellers, before throwing both ends to the side.

"We don't have much longer." Fire stated quickly, racing for the opening far off in the horizon. "He'll fight for as long as he can, but once he joins them, we had better be far away from him. A full Nekkra form infused with Cetera is a horrible mix."

"Nothing like what we've had to deal with so far?" Flame asked, to which she nodded.

"Yep."

Upon reaching an intersection, several more red dots appeared on the overlay, moving in from the right.

I spun my gun around, and at the last second, before a tower obscured my view, I detected a swarm of pegasi, changelings, griffins, and thestrals moving in. Beyond them was another swarm, racing us to the edge of the city.

"We got a group trying to flank us." I said quickly as I swung back to rear, resuming fire. "Trying to beat us to the edge of the city."

"Noted." Fire replied as she increased speed. "Hope you're strapped in tight, cause it's gonna be a bumpy ride."

Firefly's battery projection flickered off, to which he stared for a moment in silence. He began tapping the module.

"What happened?"

"Roof battery is gone." Firebright stated, swinging down lower to the ground. "They're tearing their way through the hull."

"Fuck!" Flame shouted after his projection went offline. "They're taking out our defenses!"

I spun back to my gun and unleashed a merciless fire against the Cetera that closed in on us.

In the distance, Lucisco rose to the sky, coming to our aid. Tendrils spewed out from him in a disturbed, mangled motion. The dragons that had attacked him were back in pursuit of him.

There was something different in the eyes... Something that pulled me in... welcomed me...

Something beautiful...

The feed glitched and cut out, and Fire shouted.

"Damn it! Polarity, it's all you now! Side guns are out!"

I blinked rapidly as I looked down, slouching and putting a hoof to my temple.

"You alright...?" Flame asked, to which I met his concerned regard.

"We'll see..."

Just as we were coming to another intersection, did the group rush in from the right, blocking our path.

Fire steered a sharp left; an alarm blared as a red light flashed over her head. The ship rumbled as the AI voice repeated two words.

"COLLISION WARNING."

She screamed in anger as she pulled the ship from the side of the building it grinded against, but by the time she was clear, a diagram of the ship revealed a red, flashing, right rear thruster. Furthermore, there were three guns in the same predicament.

"One of the thrusters are down!" She shouted in a panic.

"How about something a little more reliable?" Flame smirked. The look in his eyes said it all. He had a plan, and it was stupid...

"Doesn't work like that." She said quickly. "One thruster is the equivalent of five suits."

"So we make due with what we got. You don't have much choice."

She spun right of the next intersection as several black, smoky tendrils crashed through a building from the left.

"What's he talking about?" I asked, looking from him to her to him again.

"Your suits have thrusters built into them." Firebright stated abrasively. "Fine. But don't get killed. Polarity, protect them."

"Them? Wait, wh-"

"Yes, them! He's not doing it alone!" She snapped as the vessel shook. "Three of you, suit up!"

Flame smacked a hoof to his chest, and as the armor formed around him, he turned to me with a cocky grin. Seconds before his face was masked, he winked.

The fucker winked at me...

What the fuck did he sign me up for!?

"Stay in your seats, and get ready." Fire continued as Firefly suited up. "I'll eject you."

With the roll of my eyes, I tapped a hoof to my chest and sat still as the armor shaped around me.

"And if either of you start getting hypnotized out there, I'm gonna zap you. There's shock collars in your suits." Fire glanced at me for a split second, glaring.

"Alright, I get it!" I waved my now armored hooves in the air, glaring back. "Don't be a-" My head was now encased by the helmet, and even though she couldn't hear me, that didn't stop me from finishing my sentence. "-Bitch about it!"

In an instant, without warning, the floor fell beneath me, and with it, the seat I was strapped to.

I slid down a tight space that was about the equivalent of a vent. Steel in all directions, before shooting out into open air.

My suit buzzed violently against my back, and it only grew stronger.

I quickly undid the safety belts around my body and kicked myself off the chair, and at the wish to fly, flames burst from the bottom of my hooves. A pressure grew in my back as I was launched forward, lingering underneath the rear of the ship as Flame and Firefly did.

They seemed to be getting the hang of it a lot better than I.

I noticed on their back, two thrusters jutted out where the wing base of a pegasus would be.

A trail of black smoke was left behind in the wake of the damaged thruster of the ship.

Flame and Firefly disappeared in the pollution.

A simple desire to see behind me had two screens appear in my peripherals to my left and right, leaving the center of my vision vacant for what was ahead. Two screens of my rearview that was no doubt built into the helmet.

Lucisco and the dragons that took his body smashed through buildings to get to us. Hundreds of tendrils came from him, snaking toward us, seeming to know no end of their extension.

The smaller Cetera units traveled in packs that broke off for another flank attempt.

I looked ahead, and with my hooves pointed behind me, pushed forward along the pillar of smoke, nearing its source. The jet fire from Firefly and Flame's suits beaconed my destination through the thick.

I was so close...

But crossing another intersection, Fire swerved right as my entire left half buzzed.

Firefly and Flame struggled with maintaining hold of the vessel, and as a result, the ship slammed against the side of another building. Through the confusion, I had to back off. I didn't have enough time to go back and chase after them, or even slow down. I was on my own...

I looked to my left to find more pegasi and Lucisco's tendrils smashing through structures like a volcanic explosion.

Towers crumbled to the grounds below, falling against one another for a chain reaction.

Then my front buzzed.

I spun my head around to see yet another swarm. I may have been cornered, but I still had one last trick.

I lunged to my right, crashing through the window of the building beside me. My body tumbled down the stretch of corridor as I fought to gain control again. There was light at the other end, but it stretched on endlessly.

My body rolled as the thrusters shut off to my demand. I wasn't going to recover like that.

Before I could come to a stop, I jumped back on my hooves and ran for the other side, looking in the rearviews to see the numbers that my suit kept reminding me about.

The tower began to shake as tendrils crumbled the structure, breaking through to reach me.

I looked back to what was ahead and leapt up off the ground mid-canter.

The thrusters under my hooves burst back to life, slamming me through the ceiling to the next floor. Had the thrusters in my back not activated, I would have escalated to the next floor. And the next. And the next, and so on.

I bolted down the length of corridor, and despite my velocity, it felt like the window only grew bigger at a snail's pace. Leaving miles between me and the exit...

Doors on either side of me flung open with Cetera bursting through. My whole body was feeling their proximity. They were everywhere.

A huge chunk of the tower was ripped away ahead of me as the structure shook, and in its place was Lucisco, staring back at me.

Several tendrils of smoke shot out like a torrent of fire from his outstretched maw, pushing through the corridor as a wall of black. The integrity of the building fell away.

I darted right, obliterating a wall in the process.

On the other end was a Cetera, that of which immediately clung to my form, screaming in my face. Thestral.

I kept my eyes away from its gaze, pushing across the room with the utmost haste.

It gnawed and pounded at me, but my armor was holding its own for now.

Tendrils and Cetera smashed through the wall behind me with terrifying ease as I crashed through window, bursting into open air again.

Despite my race across the gap between the two structures, the tower behind me grew closer in a tilt...

Ah, shit... I was about to get crushed...

The thrusters of my forehooves shut off just before I grabbed a hold of the Cetera that fought with me, bringing them outward before me.

Rubble and debris rained down on us as a shadow crept into the land.

I smashed through a window of the next tower, and upon flying through the room, glass dug into the Cetera's hide.

The wall of the unit behind fell apart, and with it, floor, ceiling, and anything that resided here. In its place was a collapsing tower; the likes of which was still vastly infested with Cetera and Lucisco.

I smashed through the door on the other end, using the thestral as a battering ram.

Its head burst, staining my entire front half. My vision was red as I crashed through the next door across from it in the tight corridor. But only for a moment. My sight was restored to normal before it became a problem as I raced across the next unit. The wall of destruction gaining speed in pursuit of me, I angled my forehooves after dropping the body and hit the thrusters again, gaining as much speed as my suit was able to provide.

I burst through the next wall, as there was no door. I couldn't afford dead ends.

My sides buzzed as I crossed the corridor, and a brief glance in both directions, one of which was through the rearview, before smashing another door into oblivion, showed Lucisco's tendrils rushing for me. Seconds away from meeting their target.

I launched across the unit and out the window at the end just as the building began to collapse for good.

I swerved left and continued my race through the Cetera sky; the building of the housing complex beginning to loom over me from the weight of the other.

Tendrils of shadow stretched across the surface and snaked up buildings, tearing them down. The city was getting devoured, and I was still in it...

As I looked down at the pitch black waves, the rearviews showed Lucisco... or rather, what was once Lucisco.

He - it - stayed high up above the city as a giant orb of smoke. Hundreds, if not thousands of tentacles had dropped down, again, reaching no limits to their reach.

My eyes were back on the exit of the planet's core.

With my sensor going berserk, there was no means of figuring out if any flying Cetera were close to reaching me. Nice one, Firebright. Found a design flaw...

I began to cross another interse-

"AGH!"

Something big rammed into the right side of my body, to which I began to roll up and over its mass.

"Motherfucker!" I screamed in more shock than pain.

In split second time, I saw Firebright and Polarity wincing as they looked up at me, sliding up the ship's nose and over the roof.

I was so glad I didn't feel the pain behind that hit...

I tumbled over the top of the speeding vessel and soon enough rolled off the back, to which I hastily got in position, gained control of my momentum, and raced after it.

Flame and Firefly were still acting as the right rear thruster.

Behind us, several dozen more tentacles crashed through the city in pursuit of us.

I caught up to the back end, carefully navigating my way to the others.

Flame looked at me for a moment and nodded to the broken thruster, where the two of them held onto the lip of the jet's output. They used the thrusters on their back and rear hooves to push and steer from what I gathered.

I grabbed hold, shutting off my fore thrusters. At once, my hooves became magnetized to it, so as to keep me from slipping. Buildings fell all around, and Firebright's maniacal piloting through it all had us constantly slamming into one another just trying to keep things in order and work with her flight trajectory.

Massive tentacles crashed down on the city, both forward and behind.

The ship rocketed up for evasive action, and the three of us complied with her request.

Buildings caved in all around us, pluming up dust and detritus. The system in my suit, like all the desires I had since wearing it, detected the strain to my eyes, and as a result, everything was highlighted in a neon blue, granting me some semblance of sight once more.

We bolted out from the city, facing the falls that we had run to earlier. My vision returned to normal once we were clear of the dust, and Firebright eased right. With smooth motion, we positioned ourselves to fulfill the task.

For a moment, I wondered why we were given no training with this tech. This seemed like a horrible idea at first. But now I saw...

We were trained as we went. We were smart enough to figure things out on our own and adapt to it.

The suits seemed to have it all.

I looked to our right as we rushed for the exit to find the Cetera were still in pursuit. We lost them for about half a minute, but half a minute was the only leeway we were given.

Lucisco was still expanding...

Furthermore, the gunships and Warhorse units were flying in through our exit.

And the Cetera...

They were more than one mind now. They charged from the city ruins as one body. A goliath bigger than Lucisco. A titan half the size of what the city once was...

Tentacles burrowed deep in the ground, then came back up miles away from their dig site, before digging deep again, like a sewing needle. They were gaining on us at an alarming rate...

Within the tendrils were hints of their light. One peek at it sent my head spinning, and so I closed my eyes in attempts to collect myself again.

There was no knowing if the screams lingered, but I wasn't going to take the chance to find out.

When I opened my eyes, Polarity's gun was blasting away at the pursuer. It was then that the sky itself trembled like a cough trapped in the lungs. The cavern ceiling glowed bright with fire and smoke, spreading out across the core at a much faster rate than the Cetera and Lucisco combined.

Had we not been magnetized to the thruster, I was certain through the consistent crashing of one another that we would have lost control entirely and lost our grip.

I gaped up at the mass of heat above us...

And down came the sky, falling on our heads. One boulder half the size of our ship. Five more through the thick smoke, each varying in shape, but around the same mass as our vessel.

Beyond hundreds more, dropping down like bombs the size of the dome that once kept Firebright contained...

... And then...

The sky grew brighter than the explosion. Something crept forth through the ashen curtain. Lava falls poured down in mass with the downpour hail of rocks.

Polarity's gun ceased. Upon looking ahead, the gun stayed fixed in place; undamaged. She was doing something.

Beyond the gun, the gunships spun back around to where they had taken off, bolting back for the safety away from the imminent cave in. If my judgement was correct, what with the planet core exploding and collapsing within itself, there was a global evacuation order put into place.

The Warhorse units, however, continued pushing forward; their visors glowing red.

Two of them had turned and chased after the gunships that retreated.

A hefty suit of grey, steel armor unlike ours bolted underneath me, before coming back around and regarding me behind a black visor.

The chestplate had a white, pointed sword pointing up through several cogs, but over that was a hammer and wrench crossing paths.

What struck me as surprise was that I knew the history behind that suit, who was in it, and who originally owned it. As if I had always known, despite never knowing it even existed.

I was absorbing Firebright's memory. I was a part of her now.

The suit was her brother's, though some modifications were evidently made to it, such as the thrusters in her hooves, and the two caliber barrels over each fore.

She raised her hooves as she backed away, then pointed ahead. Polarity soon joined her side with the same calibers over her hooves.

Flame released his grip. Then Firefly. Then me.

The ship had already begun its descent for the ground below. Pebbles and detritus were already raining down on us.

The lot of us pushed forward together; Firebright in the lead.

Our fore thrusters were good for speed, but if we had to fight, which looked unavoidable at this point, we'd have to turn them off.

I noticed Taurus' head had been dismantled from his body and attached to Fire's back. His visor was shut off, implying he was offline. That was for the best, given the situation. If he picked up the Cetera's signal...

Flame tapped my shoulder, which came to me as a buzz, and looking over, he brought a forehoof between us to reveal the same caliber guns slide out and manufacture from both, starting with a base. He then pointed at the Warhorse units ahead, then slid the tip of his hoof along his throat, before pushing forward to catch up to Firebright. Firefly followed his lead, readying his guns.

Here we go...

Two caliber guns constructed themselves on each forehoof in less than a second, side by side. I pushed towards my allies as the remnants of the city were flattened by massive chunks of rock. Lucisco - or rather, his intruder - went with it.

Our ship crashed, burning as it rolled along the ground. Before it could come to a stop, the Cetera rammed through it, obliterating the vessel completely.

And I meant completely...

I couldn't see any sign of it anymore.

Fire's fore thrusters shut off just as she brought them forward, blasting away at the Warhorse units that fired back in turn.

Pulses of a bright, light blue launched from their pulse cannons as flechettes bounced off our armored form.

While their pulse cannons fired more lethal shots, they traveled at a slower rate than the flechettes. Even then, not by much. Still, it gave us a decent chance to evade from this distance, albeit, a closing one.

Bigger rocks began to hail down on us. Just another good reason to get the hell out of here.

The group dispersed as the shots of the pulse cannons were near.

Their flechette rounds thankfully weren't able to penetrate the armor we wore, but in turn, we weren't doing all that much either. No more than dents to their armor.

Obstacles of bigger mass came down. Obstacles that were more troublesome now. Obstacles that could crush us.

Several of these obstacles had halted the progress on the Cetera's gain on us. That was our silver lining.

A Warhorse unit swept in for me with the intent to pummel. Just before it could strike, did I swerve to the left. It's wing made an attempt at my side, from chest to flank, but my armor kept it away from my flesh with its resilience.

Regardless, I felt it. Not as a pain, but a disturbed tingle through the trail it attempted to make red.

In the rearview, it began to make a turn in pursuit of me. I spun my body around and shut off the back thrusters temporarily as my rears kept my momentum. Pointing both fores at the unit, I peppered him with Tungstian munitions.

Firebright's knowledge of how this tech worked was coming to me, it seemed. I had never heard of Tungstian before. Only Tungsten.

It seemed that my suit was manufacturing the ammunition from the carbon I exhaled; altering its compounds to take a solid form of its choosing and utilizing it as a means of defense.

Nekkra technology was far more superior than anything else I've ever seen... though that wasn't saying much, seeing as I hardly knew about about the universe to begin with.

Most of my shots simply bounced off the armor of the robots, but a few slipped between the cracks. Breaking through the thick, black, silicone suit that housed their inner workings and burrowing deep into its back.

It spasmed as it spiraled out of control, diving to the ground below.

One down...

I swung back around and hit my back thrusters. The others had been busy while I was disposing of just one.

Firebright was going through a whole rampage. I turned just in time to see her tear one of the units in two with her hooves, all while blasting its innards with hot Tungstian steel. She discarded the malfunctioning machine and darted to the side as a pulse cannon fired at her relentlessly.

A boulder triple the size of the mech that fired at her dove down mere inches from where she was.

Without a second wasted, she slammed her forehooves against its passing surface and hit her thrusters, launching off it and zooming past me. In turn to her action, the boulder flung the opposite direction, destroying six of the units before inevitably hitting the ground.

The Cetera behind us were crushed from the fall of rocks, and as each second passed, the situation here got more dicey. We needed a way out, and fast. But through all the evasive action, that proved to be a problem.

Firebright launched forward from behind, and as she passed over me, struck the back of my head with a hoof. A vibrating jolt lingered in the place she hit, and after a momentary head drop, I looked up at her to find she was looking back at me, pointing up at a boulder that plummeted down in our flight path ahead. She then shoved her two fores in the direction of our destination, before rushing off to the aid of my friends, who were finishing off the last of the Warhorse units in the area. However, there were more ahead.

I charged forward, keeping a watchful eye on the descending boulder.

As it obstructed my path, I rammed my fores against it as my rear and back thrusters went to full power.

The boulder launched forward from the impact; my forehooves digging fractured craters into its surface.

Lava washed down and engulfed the land behind, becoming an ocean of certain doom. The falls were close to reaching us.

Polarity struck the surface left of me. Then Flame to the right. Firefly below, and Firebright above.

Together, we put the strength of our suits against the boulder, increasing its speed. It was by no means anywhere as fast as the ship, but it was a good shield against any incoming attacks from the Warhorse units ahead, allowing us to travel in a straight path.

A boulder crashed down on ours, causing it to collapse to the doomed ground below.

The lot of us backed off from it, but in an instant, Firebright leapt to action, bolting up to the boulder that had impacted ours and recruiting it as our next battering ram.

The rest of us joined her side without a second to spare. The falls were too close now, and judging by the suit's proximity warning, we wouldn't survive it.

During all this, I noticed Fire was bobbing her head, swaying it left to right occasionally. There was something cheerful about it, but I couldn't quite...

... Wait...

Her memories. Song. Music. Dancing. Not the way Flame's dancing was to be executed, but genuine dancing. It was a sign of fun. Enjoyment. Just having a good time. Even so much as a head bob or a rhythmic tap of the hoof was a sign of enjoyment...

Firebright was listening to music through all this!?

She was enjoying this!?

How the fuck!?

By the stars, she was a psychopath!

In the rearview, the remains of the city were devoured completely by molten lava. Lucisco launched out from the rubble as a black orb of tendrils, writhing and presumably screaming as the substance ate away at his body.

It was then that the extra collective that chased after us through the field shot up from the boulders that pinned it. It's body disintegrated, as if connected to Lucisco's pain.

By a few dozen feet, a boulder shot down behind us, blocking us of any view of what was happening on our six. We were lucky enough to not have been hit by it...

We were then jolted down by another impact with a boulder, and after backing off from it, we adopted the new one with haste. The plan was working, that's all that mattered...

Upon looking in the rearviews once more, once the boulder behind us was gone, so was the Nekkra-Cetera hybrid. And Lucisco.

Below us was the portal Flame and I had opened to get in here. The start of our adventure.

It felt so long ago now... even if it wasn't.

Firebright backed off from the boulder, but continued to stay behind it at a close proximity. The lot of us released it too, and with a nod, she slowed her speed. We followed her lead.

On the other end of the boulder, as I peeked around, a battleship began to take off from the other various spacecraft.

The ground floor was pure chaos. Warhorses advancing on subjects and Humans alike, pinning them down behind a red gaze. Getting close to their face as they cried out in pain...

Their eyes bursting...

White light pouring through...

The units were working with the Cetera's frequency now. They picked up the signal...

Several units laid a heavy barrage against the battleship's engines as it sought to escape the disaster.

The bottom half of the vessel began to disappear behind the boulder. Before it could entirely, the giant hunk of rock threw it against the wall of the pit, sandwiching it and the units that assaulted it. Fire and explosions ensued in its destruction.

Firebright launched up, as did the lot of us follow close and behind. Going as fast as our suits would allow us.

Pulse energy chased after us as the Warhorse units did. Flechettes bounced off our armor.

They seemed fixated on shooting me in the ass, judging by the nerve wracking vibration...

Damn it all, this was sending me into a frenzy... There was a time and a place, and this was NOT it!

Behind a soft moan, I shouted as I spun around.

"Fuck! OFF!"

With all thrusters still active save for my back, I aimed my guns down at them and let it rain Tungstian.

Rounds either bounced off their armor or dug into their neck, expiring them. One of them burst into fire before exploding, taking two others with it.

Further down, coming at a much faster rate, were Silence units...

Moving in for the kill.

I wasn't sure how well this armor would do against energy damage such as theirs...

Firebright swept in front of me, catching my attention with a wave of her hoof between us. Between the two caliber barrels on both fores, another base popped out, and a serrated blade stretched out, about a foot in length. Small gaps of black were evenly spaced from each other; steel separating their contact, like the units we were fighting were designed to allow easier motion.

The others opened fire on the incoming attackers; blades now protruding from their forehooves.

With a simple desire, my hooves carried the same feature. The lot of us fired below. Their advance was frightening. This was the first time I had ever seen the Silence units in action. They carried more armor than the Warhorse units, yet they moved so much faster than them.

Their armor seemed more resilient too, as if speed wasn't bad enough.

The closest of the group received a full barrage of Tungstian rain, but the guns didn't seem to be doing much in the way of damage against them.

Their horns began to glow red as hard light holographic blades. Two others shot out on either side of their head the way the Warhorse units had their guns built over their ears.

As it came to, Firebright swung her arms around, and her blades whipped around, one of which wrapped and tangled around the unit's neck.

It lunged for her, to which she bolted to the left in a twirl, swinging it against the jagged rock wall. She rammed into its back side, pounding against the back of its head mercilessly.

The other units, having caught up, went for all of us. Two on Firebright.

I swung the blade of my left hoof out against a unit, to which it darted back. In my recovery, it lunged forward again, throwing my against the wall.

A sharp drill of pressure ran through my entire back to the extent of pain. Pressing two barrels against the underside of its chin, I fired repeatedly, screaming from the burning sensation that grew in my body. Still, it didn't let up...

My other hoof pressed firmly against its neck as it tried swinging its blades to my face.

A bladed tendril whipped around its face from behind, inches from hitting mine.

At once, the unit was ripped off me, and thankfully, with the grip it had on me at that moment, I was pulled off the wall.

Flame grabbed a hold of it and dug a blade into its neck between the plating. He fired into its circuitry as it fought with him. After the fourth shot, it went limp.

He threw the body around to his rear as another mech rushed in, dismissing the attack with a tumble of the machine. It spun wildly for a second, but as it recovered, I rammed into it, slicing both blades along its neck. It's circuitry, now exposed, sparked as the unit fell to the growing inferno below.

Firefly and Polarity were in my rearview, using the blades as whips to make quick, lethal jabs at the units that dared approach them. It took longer to take them out, but it was working.

I turned to Firebright seconds before she threw a Silence unit in my direction with her whip, preoccupied with the one she drove into the wall. It's body twitching and sparking to her cause.

The Silence struck me, but thankfully, I wasn't thrown off into a state of disorientation from it.

I dug both blades into its neck and fired three shots before it faced expiration. I dropped the mech and turned to Firebright once more, just as she ripped the head off of the unit and let its body plummet. With a toss of the decapitated head, and a push off the wall, she spun in a twirl, holding her forehooves out.

Her bladed whips spiraled around her as more swept in for their target.

I raced for them, firing at the machines. The rounds just kept bouncing off, despite my best efforts to save her...

She stretched her arms out wider, spinning faster and lifting her head up to the sky. Her guns fired repeatedly...

Sparks flew along her whips, and a red energy lashed out from the tips, striking and immediately disposing of the Silence's all around her. Literally melting them... All in one fell swoop...

What the fuck...?

She raced past me before the mechs - or what remained of them - could even begin falling, and upon another squad in pursuit, she waved her forehooves around in intricate patterns, twirling this way and that, darting left, right, up, down, forward, back. And all while she did these random assortments of actions, her guns fired, and more sparks became red death for the machines.

She was fucking dancing... and kicking ass doing it! It was... beautiful! It was almost like the dances I imagined Dancing Flame did in the past. She moved like a zebra... Or, at least, I think she did. Flame seemed to have some fascinating patterns in his movement that I could see were similar to hers.

It was breathtaking.

Something grabbed a hold of me from behind, and before I could react, a sharp pain grew in my shoulder. A pain beyond any I felt before...

I gasped from the shock, looking down at the red holographic light pouring out of my shoulder.

I was then thrown back to the wall...

I didn't want to scream, cry, or fight... I didn't want to move...

The Silence that stabbed me swept in and grabbed another hold of me. All I could was stare...

It jolted its head down to mine with no time to waste...

...

... And went rigid, inches from meeting me.

The body fell with a burning hole in its back.

In its place, Firebright rushed to me and grabbed a hold, putting my injured foreleg around her shoulder and rocketing up.

I wasn't feeling any buzzing anymore.

We soon reached ground, but upon my hoof meeting the surface, I collapsed, wincing.

"Fuck, ow..."

"Damn it, Phoenix..." Fire said exasperatingly.

Just then, did I notice sound had come back. I guessed we were safe here for now.

"I appreciate you liking the show, but be more attentive. This is fight or die!"

"Is she going to be alright?" Flame asked, stepping up and looking down at me.

"She'll live. It'll take some time, but her suit will patch her up." She looked back down at me and leaned her head in. "You can't freeze up like that. When there's danger, you eliminate it. Pure and fucking simple. I lost everything for you. I gave up everything I loved for you! If you die, then it was all for fucking NOTHING!"

"Firebright..." Polarity stepped in with Firefly draped over her back. I wasn't the only one injured I guess... "We were slaves..."

Firebright's head shot up. Not of anger, but realization. She turned to my sister as she continued.

"We've never known how to fight. It's incredible we're alive at all with what just happened... Give her a break..."

Fire sighed and shook her head, hanging it down. She dragged a hoof along the powdered land, kicked some dust up, then looked at the tower complex in the distance.

"What is it?" Flame asked.

She turned to him, and then down at the ground again, kicking more dust up.

"This is... the first time I've been up here since the Humans took over..." She shifted some of the red powder around in a circular motion, almost as if digging for something. "I feel... so much... blood... beneath our hooves..."

Black oozed out from her suit's hooves, leaking and stabbing into the ground.

"Bones of the many, turned to dust and scattered with the winds of time. Yet... I hear their screams, I see their battles of the past. They tremble beneath our steps eternally, hidden by falsities. Blood of the fallen, it stains the dry plains of greed. Death of the many lie around us in numbers no mortal could ever see..."

She hunched her back, bending her head to the ground as she gasped and cried out in pain. Her bones... were... snapping... I could hear it, even under the heavy plating of her armor.

"B-But now, they will rise for a final just... It is time for my children of old to rise. You have paid more than your dues, and the many may rest once home is home once more. R-rise... My children... Rise from the dreamless slumber of death and be born again..."

A shadow began to darken the land next to me, and in a panic, I rolled to the side, crying out from the pain in my joint. I stood up on three legs and looked around frantically. Shadows and pits began to form across the landscape for as far as the eye could see.

"Be the justice you sought so long ago, my children. And I assure you, you will all get the rest you deserve when this is all over. Your revenge is here..."

Shadowed smoke of various shapes and sizes crawled out from the ground, bearing the same white glow of eyes that Lucisco had.

They huddled up close to us by the millions, completely surrounding us.

The place was silent...

"W-what is this...?" Polarity asked, tripping over her words as she looked around frantically, as I did.

"Long ago..." Firebright huffed, slowly rising up to stand straight in a heavy pant as the tendrils in her hooves ceased production. "I had a utopia... Every race got along with another. Everyone was truly equal. I helped them with advanced technology, and we all worked together to build great things." She reached a hoof out and brushed it against what looked like the bottom of a filly's chin. The filly tilted her head to her curiously and blinked.

"We sent out signals for the stars in hopes to find alien life. More specifically, a certain civilization that I was told by my benefactor would help me bring you to existence. Thing is, they weren't so... civil..." She waved a hoof to the tower. "My inhabitants fought long and hard, but the Humans were stronger. For a time, anyways... The remaining survivors joined me at the planet core, carved the mural around it, sealed ourselves away. Lived as happy as we could, given the situation. But we never stopped loving each other. We were..." Her voice cracked, to which she paused for a moment, until finally clearing her throat. "We were perfect. I lived among them. Not as a Goddess, or a queen, or even a planet, but as someone that simply existed. As a pony. As a friend. As family..."

"So what happened?" Polarity questioned. "To the core, I mean?"

She hung her head down and sighed. "The Humans... weren't the only one that got our signal. The Cetera found out of the Nekkra and went straight for us, skipping the Humans and... well, thankfully all of you. Slipped in through the core just before we closed it off and waited. They had to of. There's just no other explanation."

"Sounds like something they'd do. But... waited for what?"

Firebright turned to my question.

"They were cataloguing, is my best guess. Getting record of every inhabitant, their patterns, keeping track of who was where, and determining the right time to strike. If they got a hold of me... well, you saw what Lucisco became... I'd be much worse..." She turned to the Nekkra that surrounded us. "Well... it's time to right a deep wrong... One more battle... And like many times before, alongside my people. Alongside my family..."