Crashlanded Phoenix

Object C-04 "Rex"
HIM Phoenix Crash Site

I watched as the fires caressed the meat, making the fat in it sizzle and the flesh itself gain a darker green colour. My head meanwhile was full of thoughts, thoughts about what to do next. This...attack dashed all my hopes of staying here and just waiting things out. The first animals have found my "camp" and now only more will come as time goes on. I had to choose, do I stay here in the middle of this lush jungle or do I move out of my camp.

I pushed those thoughts aside for a moment as I had decided that the insect meat looked cooked enough. I held the branch up to my mouth and eagerly took a bite out of it. The previously present sweet taste was now much milder and reminded me of caramel. Damn...when have I last ate some proper caramel...or even candy. I ate my bug steak while looking at the flames, there was something relaxing about them, something I couldn't quite put my finger on...

I repeated this process a few more times, eating myself full of freshly cooked meat and in the meantime deciding that leaving would by far be the best option. I didn't know when I'd get another chance to eat so well and travelling on an empty stomach is a bad idea. An hour must have passed by the time I finished my last cut of meat. I stood up and looked towards the crashed ship. "I'm sorry friend, I'll have to leave you here. Maybe I will come back here someday to check on you..." I sighed and dumped the rest of wolf wood into the campfire, causing the green flames to jump high into the air.

I retrieved the horn trophy I took from the corpse of the fallen insectoid and put a thin vine through it, then tied it around my neck like a necklace. It wasn't much, but every little success should be celebrated. I used this moment to remove the vine that tied my unresponsive arms to my body, as it was quite damaged from the fight, then grabbed a brand new one from the vine pile, which I then used to tie my arms back to my body. Lastly, I picked my sharp metal piece up and cut the vines which kept the bug hanging on the tree. I threw a quick glance at my water collecting contraption, a small part of me had hoped that some water was in them and that I'd be able to at least wipe the blood off of my face. Alas, that hope has been dashed.

Deep within the jungle

I slowly moved in the direction in which I went out for my hunt and stopped right before the clearing above me ended. I turned my head and looked back at my camp for the last time. I frowned slightly and turned my eyes towards the depths of the jungle. I made up my mind and I had to follow through now. Taking a deep breath, I began to walk, following my path back to where I killed the insectoid.

I kept my head lowered as I closely backtracked my steps, looking at the barefoot prints in the ground. Occasionally I encountered slightly dried drops of green blood on the ground. I stopped at one of the bigger ones and kneeled to get a closer look. Perhaps the smell of blood attracted those...creatures... They didn't look like they could smell though... I sighed and stood up once more. I looked straight ahead and continued my journey.

The blood trail grew more visible and around a couple hundred steps later I arrived at the scene of the hunt. It looked almost exactly the same as when I left it and this is where my steps ended. "Hmmhh..," I thought out loud. "Where could you have come from?" I said while looking around for a track I could follow. I looked around for a minute and found something. "Aha! There you are," I exclaimed and looked at hoofprints in the ground. They were the size of the insectoid's leg and led me into the bushes where it came from. I smiled and eagerly proceeded to follow the track.

I kept following the hoofprints, which at times proved to be harder than I anticipated. Sometimes they disappeared only to reappear behind some fallen log or huge bush, as if that creature was hiding or running from something. Although...that would be impossible, insectoids I know don't know any kind of fear and fight until the last drop of blood in their veins. Maybe they....no, that couldn't be possible at all, I shouldn't think too much about this.

I heard something move through the jungle. I felt my hearts skip a beat. I swiftly jumped back and got down on the ground behind a log. The sounds came closer with every passing second. Was it another one of those wolf things lured here by the blood? Have I brought something bigger upon myself? I swallowed my saliva and listened closely. My left ear twitched as it caught more movement. This thing wasn't here alone. I remained low and waited with bated breath for what's to come.

I heard leaves being crumpled as the things came closer...their steps growing more audible. Soon enough I saw a black figure...no, two black figures walk past me. They must have not noticed me hiding here, so I grabbed a nearby rock with my right hand and carefully stood up. I hid behind a tree and peeked out. Turns out that those things were more insectoids, looking almost exactly the same as the one I got earlier. "What were they doing here?" I asked myself in my thoughts while clutching the rock in my hand.

I noticed that the insects stopped, I hid behind the tree again and looked up at it. An idea popped up in my head, I dropped my metal piece and I began to carefully climb up the trunk. Synth arm first then the feet while the other arm held onto the trunk itself. I made my way up the tree at a steady pace while trying to remain quiet. I pulled myself up onto a thick branch and looked at the insects from above where I saw them looking at the ground, roughly where I followed the track of my prey. This was a perfect opportunity for me. I walked to the beginning of the branch and got myself a running start before jumping high and at them.

"Nghaaaaaah!" I screamed while mid-air, causing these insects to look up at me, only for them to witness me crashing into one of them. I wasted no time and held the bug I crashed into down by the throat. It wiggled and squirmed, trying to get me off while throwing its hooves at me. I responded by bashing its head with the rock. The insectoid's chitin yielded and it began to bleed, but I didn't stop. It took a few more bashes until it was completely motionless.

I immediately turned my focus to my other target and saw just in time that it was running away from me. I rushed to get up, but tripped over the corpse underneath me and landed face first in dirt. I looked up and saw that insectoid gaining more distance, a quick look at the ground made me realise that it was running back towards its hive. I scrambled to my feet and got up shortly after to chase after it. I sped up and gradually decreased the distance between myself and my target, I tried to run faster...but my legs wouldn't let me. Nonetheless I easily caught up and chucked my rock at the bug. It tumbled to the ground with a wound on its side.

I swiped the rock from the ground as I ran and pounced on the fallen bug, landing partially on it. I held my rock and turned the bug to face me. "You aren't going back to your hive this time." It stared at me then my rock with a mixture of animal fear and desperation as I lifted it up high above my head to deal the fatal blow. I swung down with full force.

"Please...don't...kill...me,"

The rock crashed down into its head, the force of impact crushing chitin and bone indiscriminately. Its blood covered my hands and lower part of my torso while the body itself squirmed for a moment afterwards. I let go of the rock and looked at what I've done wide-eyed. Did...did that thing just speak? It couldn't be possible, insectoids don't speak our language! They are just...mindless monsters! But it...this one did and...I had just killed it.

I stood up and felt a strong sense of guilt wash over me like a torrential downpour. "If this...thing...could talk- No... I...," I quietly said to myself as I stared at the lifeless body. Its blood puddled around the head and I began to feel sick to my stomach. I shook and backed away step by step. It was at this moment that I realised...that I killed sapient creatures...for no reason...and ate one! "W-what have I fucking done?!" I exclaimed loudly.

I felt myself back into a tree as the world began to spin. I felt nauseous and instinctively covered my mouth with a hand. But it wasn't enough and I puked all over the jungle ground, emptying my stomach of everything I've eaten today, now in half-digested form. I caught a glimpse of the green flesh of my first victim, it reminded me of how much joy I felt when I first bit into it...now it was replaced with guilt and disgust. My body felt heavy, my legs gave in and I weakly slumped down on the ground with my back against the tree. I raised my bloodied hands and looked at them then back at the corpse. They were covered in blood, not just my own, but theirs... I've killed before...but this...this was murder...this was cold blooded murder...and I did it without as much as a second thought... I felt nauseous again and laid down on the ground, shaking and breathing heavily from the shock.

Feldleutnant Flügel
Everfree Infiltrator Camp

I sat hunched over at my desk, looking at one of the first entries of my journal, back when I cared more about our actual task than just surviving this place. Several plans describing possible ways of infiltrating Ponyville were scribbled across the pages. A memory flashed back in my mind, a memory of one of the first meetings around the camp to discuss what we were going to do, until one day we just stopped. We remained here in hopes of someone reaching out to us, I haven't lost anybody until today...

I sighed then got up and left my tent, a part of me hoping to see my soldiers back around the campfire, huddled close, doing small talk and laughing as the fire crackles. Instead I found silence and a gloomy mood...they knew... they felt something was wrong, most of them haven't even left their tents. I felt it too, a tingle...an itch in the back of my head, that gut feeling that the worst thing imaginable is going to happen. I walked past a pair of changelings and went through the flap to the quartermaster's tent.

He sat there at his desk, reading the same book over and over again. He glanced up at me as I entered his tent.

"Sir? Have you come for an ink refill? I'll have it right here in just a second." He put his book down and reached around the back into one of the many wooden crates.

"That's...not what I came here for, Andreas," I approached his desk.

He turned around and looked at me with a curious expression.
"I need something to soothe my nerves," I responded and rubbed my head with a hoof.

"You are lucky sir, I have something that just might help you," The quartermaster reached into a crate beside his desk and placed a half-empty bottle of Equestrian whisky on his desk.

I took the bottle from him and took a swig from it. I swirled it around in my mouth before swallowing and setting the bottle back on the table.

"You have to do something, sir," He suddenly spoke up. "Everyone's mood went down the drain and they can feel that something is out there. If you don't, then it will just get worse. They might even-"

"Are you suggesting that they might desert?" I glared at him with a raised eyebrow.

He shook his head. "I wouldn't even think about that, sir," He took the bottle from the table and put it back in the crate. "I was going to say that they might take matters into their own hooves,"

"Hmmh...that...would be an issue..," I sighed. "Get out the guns and ammunition," I continued firmly. He got up from his desk and saluted, then turned around and began going through the crates. I left him alone in the tent and looked around. The pair from earlier was now sitting over their ration cans by the unlit campfire. I walked to the centre of the camp and cleared my throat.

"ATTENTION, YOU LAZY SODS, GET YOUR FUCKING ASSES OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!" I shouted and the reaction was immediate. Changelings rushed out of their tents and formed a single line in front of me.

"Now listen carefully, because I will NOT be repeating myself. As we all know, our comrades should have returned by now, which means that something has happened, something is out there in this forest, jungle or whatever this fucking cursed place is! We will not be staying here a single day longer. I do not care, if I will get court martialed for desertion or insubordination, I do not want anymore of you turning up missing. Thus, I order ALL of you to retrieve your weapons and uniforms from the quartermaster this instant and to be combat ready in no more than FIVE MINUTES. We will march out as soon as they return or the sun sets. Dismissed!"

They saluted as soon as I finished and formed a line to the tent, the mood seemed to change too. They were now given something to do to draw their attention away at least a little and perhaps the prospect of leaving this mess breathed new life into them. In any case, I turned back and returned to my tent.

Object C-04 "Rex"
Jungle, more jungle.

My shock had subsided for the most part, yet I kept staring at the lifeless remains of its eyes. I slowly stood up on shaky legs with one hand on the tree to support myself. I couldn't stay here and beat myself over this forever, I had to soldier on...yet I will never forget this... My free hand took hold of the horn trophy and promptly ripped it off my neck. I slowly walked up to the corpse and kneeled beside it. I placed the horn in its hooves and quietly spoke. "I...I am sorry..." I tried to say more, but couldn't find any appropriate words.

I stood up once more and slowly walked away from the murder scene. I went in the direction the two bugs ran, if they were heading towards a hive, then I'd find more creatures like them and perhaps I could get help...and perhaps even make it up to them for what I've done... I sighed and kept walking with a sunken head, leaving behind drops of green blood.

I caught a glimpse of a trail, a trail of hooves. I briefly stopped and followed it with my eyes, it led even deeper into the deeper into the foliage, although there was something odd about this. A forest began around where I couldn't see the path anymore, two different climates so close to each other was unheard of... I looked up and ahead, then began to follow the trail.

Every step through the forest brought me, hopefully, closer to my way out of here. Frankly, I was getting slightly sick of seeing nothing but green and brown all around myself, with only a few clearings in the thicket where the sun could shine through. I walked for hours and then I heard something that sounded like chatter. I crouched and carefully got closer to where the voices came from.
The first thing I noticed was a lit campfire and a few dressed figures sitting around it and holding something. I took a few steps forward and saw that they were the same insect things as the ones from jungle. They wore uniforms? Hmh...that means they are most likely soldiers, does that mean the three I...murdered...were soldiers too? I guess it makes me feel a little better about earlier... knowing that I didn't kill civilians...but this meant I attacked soldiers and now I was covered in their blood...

A group of three walked around as I moved closer to the camp. I stopped behind a bu- SNAP

"Did you hear that?" A voice spoke.

"It came from over there." A different voice spoke.

"Did they come back?" Another voice said.

"It came from behind that bush, I'll check it out," The first voice spoke and the speaker turned in my direction, while the other two stayed behind. It...he took his rifle out and slowly stepped towards my hiding spot. I froze in place and waited with bated breath as the soldier got ever closer, hoping that he'd lose interest. I was too big to escape without getting spotted by them. His bayonet sank into the bush.

"What in the-" He looked at me and I looked at him. "INTRUDER! EVERYONE TO A-"

His screaming was interrupted by me standing up and grabbing hold of his rifle, then slamming it against his face like a club. The wooden handle splintered as the bug yelped and fell to the ground. Swiftly, I sank the bayonet deep into his neck, ushering in a flood of green blood. In the background, similar creatures rushed in our direction while fellows wasted no time in firing off their rifles at me.

I was looking at the body of my victim when the bullets hit me and bounced off, barely even wounding me. It felt a lot like being stung by a particularly angry wasp. This meant my subdermal armour was apparently mostly functional by now. I looked at myself then at them as they kept on firing bullet after bullet, while the other bugs prepared to engage.

"HE'S NOT GOING DOWN!" One of the two shooters shouted.

"AIM FOR THE EYES!" The other one shouted back.

I ran up to them just as they were aiming at my face. They got a few shots off before I struck, but none of them hit the intended target. With a singular blow from my leg, both soldiers found themselves knocked away to the side on the ground and on top of each other. I noticed in the corner of my eye that what I presumed to be the remaining soldiers were now ready to join their comrades in the fight. They scattered themselves around the camp and even hid behind cover, so I turned to them and raised my fists in preparation.

I bolted towards the closest one, right in front of-

"AAAAGHHH!" I felt a powerful blow being dealt to my back and dropped to my knees, screaming in pain. It felt like someone was igniting thermite to burn a hole through me. I groaned in pain as I looked behind me. The horn of the insect I first struck down was glowing and he grinned at me while coughing up blood. Just then I felt another blow right where the first one landed, making me scream and drop to the ground. I looked up with my eyes and saw the others slowly stepping towards me.

I felt the time slow down, my breaths growing heavier, my vision gaining an orange hue. I felt the adrenaline rushing through my body and numbing the pain. My thoughts were flooded with only one thing, an insurmountable battle lust! I shot up from the ground and roared at my foes as my limbs were filled with newfound strength. They stepped back, I could see their fear and grinned. I was built to fight and if they want a fight, they'll get one. I turned and walked to the dying insectoid, I looked at him then raised my foot.

"CRUSH"

The nuisance has been dealt with. I turned around once more and was greeted by their horrified expressions. I wiped my foot against a patch of grass and pounced at my next target, right in the middle of everyone else. I pinned him to the ground with my body, others snapped into action and began firing bullet after bullet at me. I began to slam the bug's head with my arms like an angry gorilla, watching as with every slam more and more life escaped from it.

I got up with the corpse in my synthetic hand and wielded it by a hoof like a mace. With one swoop I slammed it down onto one of the two bugs who I kicked to the tree. The force of impact caused several cracks in its and the corpse's chitin. I swung again and again, splattering blood from both bugs all over the place. Bullets kept on hitting me with brief pauses as they reloaded, every now and then a bullet struck the spot on my back and made me wince, yet it only drove me into more of a frenzy.

I grabbed the other bug of the pair firmly by the throat with my right hand, still holding onto the corpse mace in the other. He dropped his rifle as my hold tightened and instead struggled to free himself. Bullets kept on hitting my back injury and made me groan in pain. I swiftly turned around and held the insectoid in front of myself like a meat shield. He was extinguished, his body riddled with bullets of his own comrades. In the background I briefly caught a glimpse of one of them looking out of a tent the moment the corpses fell out of my hands.

They kept firing round after round at me, despite their situation being utterly hopeless. "AAAAAAGGHHHHH!" I roared at the three remaining soldiers and dashed towards them. I took hold of two rifles, tearing them right out of their hooves, then drove the bayonets through their hearts and impaling them with the rifles. The last soldier dropped his weapon and turned to run away, yet it was too late for him. I pulled him towards me by his tail. I heard him scream as I grasped his head, then it was all silence. He fell to the ground just like the others.

"YOU DAMN BASTARD!" A shout came from the direction of the biggest tent, it came from a big bug with a shotgun in his hooves. He ran towards me and fired buckshot, which didn't do much more than regular bullets. I picked up a rifle and chambered a round. The trigger was visibly designed with hooves in mind, but that didn't prevent me from shooting him in the head.

I dropped the rifle and looked at myself, I was covered in blood, theirs and my own. Their bullets scratched me at most, yet some of them drew blood. I turned my sights towards my last target, the bug hiding in his tent. My rage began to subside as I walked towards and entered it. Inside I found him holding a revolver in shaky hooves. I got close and spoke loudly. "SHOW ME HOW TO LEAVE!" In response he pointed his hoof to my right. I grinned, satisfied by the answer, and was about to leave when I spotted an officer's cap in his tent. I raised my palm, coiled back, then slapped him unconscious with a single blow. I tossed him onto my shoulder and left the camp in the direction he pointed.

I jogged through the forest, but as the rush of adrenaline began to wore off, so did my speed. I slowed down to a walk and looked at the bug I was carrying. Once I did, I felt compelled to stop. There was a big rock nearby which I sat on and laid the bug down on the ground beside me. His uniform and chitin were stained with the green blood which I had on me. At this moment a thought appeared in my head. "What have I done?"

I looked at my hands, insect blood was dripping off of them and tiny pieces of chitin were stuck in the skin. In a fit of an adrenaline and hormone fueled rage I slaughtered a camp of random soldiers... I sighed. What I've done was...reprehensible... Granted, I did start it...but this battle lust was...overwhelming like never before. But...this is what I've been made for, I've been created to fight and kill, why am I so...remorseful? I was a tool of the Empire, I should be feeling good, proud of myself that I've defeated an enemy! They weren't even humans after all, why did I care?! I've fought similar monsters for years and these ones are the ones that made me feel bad?!

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind. My actions today left a lingering thought in my head, was I actually just an object? Was this my only purpose? To kill? I've never thought about it, since I never felt divided like this. I loved to fight and most of the time I just followed orders, yet now I had no orders...no purpose given to me. But...there was also nobody here who regarded me as just the means to an end. The thoughts stopped at last and I slowly got up. I picked the bug up and placed over my shoulder, then resumed my journey. I'd have to figure this out at some point...

The air began to feel less humid and thicket clearings became more commonplace as the tree density decreased. A sort of light in a tunnel appeared in front of me, which filled my heart with hope. Was this what I thought it was? My breathing accelerated. I held tightly onto my captive and began to run towards the light. Branches broke underneath my feet, yet I didn't care about the noise that made. I leapt over a few logs that were in my way and charged through a bush.

Rays of sunlight hit my face and made me instinctively cover my eyes with my free hand. I stopped in my tracks shortly after and let my breathing slow down. I took in the scent of fresh air and slowly moved my hand away, revealing a great plain stretching all the way beyond the horizon. Drops of sweat trickled down the side of my dirty face, while I watched in awe as the sun had begun to set. I cracked a slight smile and took a few steps forward towards it, walking on the soft grass under my feet. Finally, I was finally outside this fucking jungle. With some luck I'd-
"HHHHNMHNNHHHNGGHHHMNNHH-!!!"
"Thud"

"Hey Bulwark! Look what I got!"

"What do you have there, Aegis? Hah! That's quite the monster you caught! Other guards are going to be really jealous."

"It went down easily, just a single spell! It looks quite heavy though, come help me carry it."

"In a moment. It looks like it found something interesting in the Everfree. A changeling? Hmm, I'll go fetch the car."