From War to Peace

Chapter 10
Unexpected plans
Canterlot Equestria

As Lane, Blake, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and I wandered through the halls of the castle in Canterlot, I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that despite the castle’s splendor and condition, it was much, MUCH older than we would believe. We continued to walk through the massive granite halls and archways made of stone. The castle was a beautiful piece of architecture.

“Pretty nice castle here,” I said as I admired the structure. Lane nodded his consent and was almost assuredly about to launch into an in-depth explanation of the architecture’s style when we rounded a corner and found Brayden, Matt, and Fluttershy sitting on a bench next a giant pair of doors. Both soldiers had their helmets removed, and the scowls on both of their faces were something to be revered.

“Yeah, trust me, it’s much better when someone isn’t jabbing you in the back with a spear,” Brayden said in annoyance as he glared at a guard next to Matt on the far side of the bench with an annoyed glare. The Guard just smirked and moved forward and pulled the general aside for a moment to talk in hushed whispers. Approaching the two, we all removed our helmets, we may be Spartans, but even we enjoy some time out of those helmets.

“Yeah, we’re pretty good at keeping the locals a little edgy,” Matt said with a laugh as he rolled his shoulders and stood from the bench. “So small miracles persist as we got the food and are having it delivered to the albatross, and we managed not to die… though just barely.” Matt continued with a stupid grin as he shook hands with the rest of us. Off to the left, Twilight and Pinkie Pie were conversing with Fluttershy in a concerned tone. “So, was your mission any better than ours?” Matt asked as he looked around the hall once again. “Also, anyone else wonders how the hell a race of small horses, without any sort of opposable thumbs, managed to carve a castle straight from the side of a mountain? And check the architecture, it looks a lot like…”

“Yeah, yeah. To answer your first question, we found several books with details and descriptions of fundamental concepts of magic for the scientists.” I interrupted before Matt could go on one of his architecture rants. A couple of college classes, and all of a sudden, he was spouting architecture design concepts and facts. “And to answer your second answer, Magic,” I said while waving my free hand in front of Matt’s face.

The guards eventually returned with a scowl on their faces and a mistrustful glint in their eyes. “Princess Celestia would like to see the… humans only, please.” General Vindicus explained softly, though he did trip over the word human due to his unfamiliarity with the word.

The guards finally decided to open massive doors that lead to the throne room. The Throneroom had more high arches and balconies along the sides, and the center strip of tiles was of a darker shade leading up to what I assume was the pony equivalent of a throne, a large circular raised platform with a cushioned seat at the top. “Ya know, What is it with high power positions that demand stairs?” Grumbled Matt in his typical cynical manner as we bypassed the throne and approached a balcony open to the spring air where Celestia stood, starring out onto her kingdom. As we approached, she spoke to the guards.

“That will be all. Tell Twilight and her friends that I will be with them momentarily.” She commanded with a neutral tone as she turned to face us. Dark rings surrounded her eyes, and bloodshot eyes and a slightly less vibrant sheen betrayed a certain kind of sadness to her. “The captain and I have a business to discuss.” She ended flatly as the guards and General Vindicus left the throne room.

Celestia sighed heavily and asked a question seemingly out of the blue after a small awkward moment of silence. “Tell me, Captain Hill, do you have any siblings?” The question threw me for a loop, and I was more than a little confused, but I figured answering truthfully would get us out of this mess faster.

“Yeah, I have a younger sister. She should be in college right now.” I said in slight confusion as to where her questions we going. A slight look of confusion crossed Celestia’s face, and I realized she probably didn’t know what college was, but she apparently just shrugged it off.

“Well, then you’ll likely understand my situation,” Celestia replied as she once again stared out into the open blue skies. “My sister has gone missing.”

“Ah, that explains the secret police like a pickup, if a god-like being disappeared off the face of the earth, people tend to get panicky.” Matt quietly whispered behind me as I took in what she said.

“She has been gone for some time now, I know she often leaves to explore, but she usually checks in every once in a while.” Celestia continued with a slight tinge of panic in her voice as she continued to stare out into the sky.

“I am surprised that you’re asking us. You sound like you have some ability to track your sister.” I replied in confusion to her queries. I mean, sure, we’re Spartans and have been trained for search and rescue, but a planet with magic kind of goes outside standard operating procedures.

“I have tried more than once to contact her, but with no success.” Celestia continued as she turned to us once again, this time with certain steel to her voice.” But I have found that she is being blocked to me by different means than magic. I’ve sent scouting parties out into the all across Equestria, and but none have been capable of finding her.” Celestia walked away from the balcony and up onto her throne, all the while we silently followed and positioned in front of her throne.

Scratching my head in confusion, I decided to be blunt finally. “Well, ma’am, if they can’t find her, what makes you think we can?” I asked with a small amount of desperation to my voice. She was really beginning to confuse me.

Celestia straightened up, and all traces of her earlier state of depression seemed to fade away. “Captain, there are places on this planet that use a… peculiar form of magic that is unknown to many who inhabit this planet.” The princess started, a small look of confusion on her face. “This magic defies all rules of known magic and operates in a select few special places, ancient ruins made of a metal that is stronger than almost any power on this planet. I believe that if Luna somehow found her way into one of these ruins, the magic there could very well block communications and incapacitate her.” Celestia finished with a grim look on her face.

I stood there and pondered what Celestia had just said. We barely had any experience with magic, much less magic that the ponies can’t control… yet parts of that sounded vaguely familiar. “Alright, princess, if you have a location, we can go check it out at some point here, I suppose,” I replied.

“Sadly, that is the problem. The location of the ruins has been lost to time. Your best bet would simply be to look for massive signs of magic or investigate places that our people consider dangerous.” Celestia firmly answered with frustration evident in her voice. She turned around and faced out into the afternoon sun and gave off a long sigh of frustration as her muscles sagged, and she let her royal air fade for a moment.

I bit my lip for a second before quietly sighing and snapping off a salute. “We’ll try our best, ma’am,” I said as I signaled for us to begin backing out of the room. “But we’re Spartans, not miracle makers, so don’t hold your breath.”

Heading out back into the main hall, Twilight and the rest of our group waited for us. “What’s going on?” asked Twilight as some guards entered the throne room and closed the doors once again.

“Nothing much, just a few questions,” I said. I wasn’t exactly lying, but I wasn’t going to tell Twilight that Luna had gone missing. Matt may be paranoid, but sometimes his comments bring up a good point. “Tell you girls what,” I started as I continued to plan out our next move. “I think Celestia wants to talk to you soon anyhow. So the rest of the guys and I will go load up the food and meet you, girls, by the Albatross. Deal?” I asked, kneeling and offering my fist for what I had found was a bro hoof.

Twilight looked to my fist for a few seconds before smiling and nodding her head. “Deal.” She replied as she knocked her hoof against my fist. The doors to the throne room opened with a loud moan, and General Vindicus marched out.

“Twilight, the princess would like to see you and your friends now.” The general replied in as soft a tone as his grave voice could manage. As Twilight and the other sauntered into the throne room and the door closed behind them, Vindictus looked over to us and nodded with a blank face. “Spartans, I hope that should we ever meet again, it’ll be under better circumstances.” The general replied as he marched off down a side hall and out of sight.

Standing up, I turned to the rest of the group, who had just been mingling and relaxing. “Alright, team, break times over. Let’s move out!” I ordered as I strode down the hallway that we came in through and out into the early afternoon light.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“So not to be the Debbie-downer here.” I started Matt over the team commas we marched through the market district and crowds of ponies; it was never a good thing if Matt started a sentence like that. “But this planet is roughly the size of Earth with only about 25% of it being the ocean, and the rest of the surface is mountains, forests, and fields. What the hell the game plan here, Mike?” Matt asked as he accelerated his light jog to match me.

“Well, it should be easy; we send out a couple of the scientist’s survey drones and have it search for these ruins…” I said with a lax tone as I swerved around a group of ponies in a heated discussion. ”Or the problem could just solve itself.” I finished wistfully.

“Pffft, Mike, I wanted real solutions, not a fantasy,” Matt said with a laugh as he ducked under a clothesline and swerved around a stall full of fruits.

As we exited the city gates and marched over a small little knoll, we came across several small crates next to the Albatross. Marching up to one and popping the wooden lid off, I found piles of fruit loaded in neatly. “Alright, gents grab your fair share and load her up,” I yelled as I replaced the lid and picked up the box.

Everyone their own version of yes and got to work. After about half an hour of work, I saw three familiar figures crest the knoll. Looking up, I saw our favorite pilot and her two merry pony friends… or at least one was merry.

“Well, good afternoon. How’s the morning been?” I asked as I put the crate I had been messing with down and removed my helmet.

“It was entertaining, to say the least,” Sasha said, trying desperately not to laugh or chuckle. I raised an eyebrow in confusion as Dash and rarity descended the hill behind her.

“How so?” I asked through my question was swiftly answered as Dash marched past us, odd bits of jewelry and makeup hanging from her body as she tried desperately to shake them off and readjust her hair, which had been manipulated into a very lady like style.

Dash looked up to meet Sasha and mine’s gaze before Sasha burst out laughing. Squinting her eyes in a very deadly manner, Dash hissed. “Never. Speak. Of. This. Day. EVER. Again.” Before she marched into the Albatross.

“ Ohh, she is so overreacting. It was so much fun.” Rarity said with glee as she pranced past us and into the Albatross.

“Well, I mainly went to watch Dash to make sure that she didn’t throw herself out the window when Rarity forced her to go clothes shopping.” Started Sasha as she subdued her rampant laughter and pushed some hair out of her face. “But then it became a source of cheap entertainment, and I definitely tagged along.” I grinned and chuckled, glad to see that Sasha was getting along well.

“Hey, Mike, the cargo is loaded up,” Matt said as he peeked out of the Albatross.

“Alright. Sasha, I’ll debrief you on the way back to base about our new assignment. We got a new and unexpected mission.” Sasha nodded back and entered the Albatross. Once everyone was aboard, the cargo ramp was raised and sealed, making it dark for only a moment before the interior lighting kicked in and bathed the hold in a red hue. Within a few moments, the engines roared the life and began to lift the Albatross.

I sauntered over to a seat after a quick explanation to Sasha and sat next to a confused Twilight. Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, I decided to check on her. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I am trying to figure out what Celestia wanted from you guys,” Twilight replied blankly. “She seemed so worried, even if she was putting on a show.” Twilight continued, her brow furrowing deeper in concentration, the metaphorical gears spinning in her head, finally, her shoulders sagged. “I guess I’m just worried.” She finished with a sigh.

I paused to think about how to reply; Matt had a good point, but Twilight had a solid head on those shoulders, so she could probably take the fact. I decided to sleep on it and end with some humor. “I could tell you, but I’d have to shoot you afterward,” I said with a predatory grin on my face. Twilight had a terrified look on her face before I burst out laughing, and she calmed down a bit. “Just joking, it was nothing big. I’ll try and tell you tomorrow once I get my story straight, deal?” I said as she just nodded her head, a frustrated look adorned upon her face.

Across the Albatross, Matt and Lane were carrying on a conversation about how their days went, and not too far from them was Brayden, who was a tad bit tipsy from the cider he had earlier today. Fluttershy was sitting right next to him, playing nursemaid from the looks of it. Fluttershy had been surprisingly open with Brayden, and even more surprisingly, Brayden had been open with Fluttershy. It was good to see Brayden open up a bit, man has had a hard life, and I don’t envy Matt for knowing a lot of it. Off to the right were Blake and Pinkie Pie was carrying on a conversation about the silly and funny things they have done over the years.

Before we knew it, we had arrived at the base. We got out and started to unload the Albatross. The ponies bid farewell for now headed to their homes while we unloaded. As we worked, I started to feel uneasy, like there was something in the cargo bay. As the rest of the guys began to filter off back towards base, I stood in the bay's darkness and activated my helmet’s low light scanners.

Scanning from left to right, the entire bay looked empty and desolate, all the food had been unloaded, and all the people had left, even Sasha passed me by and gave me a passing questioning glance before a quick nod from me assured her that I was just checking for something. Turning to leave, I heard a quick hissing noise, akin to steam escaping a pipe. Whipping around, my pistol is drawn. I scanned the interior once more, metal walls and fabric harness all to greet me.

“What in the fu…” I began to mutter before another hiss screamed from one of the hydraulic pumps to my left. Sighing at my paranoia, I slowly holstered my pistol and walked out of the bay and into the vehicle garage before sealing the door shut behind me. Lingering for a moment, I listened to the sound of machines whirring in the background and to sate my paranoia.

Pushing my paranoia aside, I walked out of the garage and across the small field bathed in the late afternoon light to the main base. I entered through the main bulkhead and listened for the door to hiss shut behind me. As I went farther down the hall, the door opened again with another loud hiss before snapping shut a moment again after again. I twitched for my pistol, but I shrugged it off, ‘These older deployable bases have minor issues with the sensors. Nothing big might have been a bug that tripped the bulkhead sensor.’ I quietly thought to myself in an attempt to reassure myself as my hand flexed by my pistol. It didn’t work.

“HEY, CAP!!!” Gunny yelled from the atrium, a smirk the size of Texas on his face. “Hurry up, Wolffe is feeling hungry after all the experiments on him today, and your food is looking mighty good!” Gunny laughed as he turned to head back to the mess hall. A loud grumbling from my gut told me my paranoia could wait till this evening before bed to be dealt with.
Sprinting off to the hall, I came through the door to see the odd group of scientists and maintenance workers gathered in the hall before I laid an eye on my group. Lane, Blake, Matt, Brayden, Wolffe, Gunny, and Sasha all sat around a table. Various jokes and food being thrown across the table and square between Blake and Lane sat my spot. Smiling on the content, I removed my helmet and sat at the table, a plate thoughtfully left at my spot.

“So, Wolffe. How are ya feeling?” I asked as I looked at his haggard face. The light in his brown eyes had a certain dullness to them that several years of working together told me his day had been rough. “Ugh, I’ve been poked and prodded places that should remain unpoked and unpadded.” He drearily stated as his head fell to his hand.

“Well, to put it simply,” Gunny said as he spun a piece of pasta around on his fork. “Some scientist got it in her head that the horses get their powers from the water or something and was testing the water when Wolffe here came into the wrong lab and got exposed to the sample,” Gunny said, all the while chuckling.

“Five fucking hours….” Wolffe groaned into his arm. Matt Chuckled as he drank his rehydration juice, Gatorade, I think. Sasha just shook her head as the rest of us laughed at Wolffe’s misfortune.

“So, Captian.” Sasha began to drawl as she scooped some chili up out of her bowl. “What do you lads do for fun around here?” She finished with a raised eyebrow as she glanced at all of us. Looking around and at each other, we all stumbled for answers.

“Errr, we got some games in the rec room.” Said Matt as he scratched the back of his head in thought.

“We also have Weapon maintenance and customization, I suppose.” Mentioned Lane as he toyed with some of his food.”

“And there are always simulation firefights,” I add as I tried to figure out where this was going. “Why do you ask?” Sasha just shrugged as she finished her bowl.

“Eh, just looking for a hand-to-hand combat specialist to help me sharpen up.” She replied nonchalantly as she picked up her tray and returned it to the mess. Glancing at each other with confusion, we all had the same question, but no one wanted to ask.

As Sasha sat down, Blake bit up the courage to ask. “Alright,” He began to drawl as he finished his drink. “You’re looking at the team’s CQC specialist, and Captain Cline here is my assistant.” A quick withering glare from Matt later and Blake continued. “So, how can we help you?”

Grinning manically, Sasha chuckled. “Well, for starters, you can meet me in the ring tonight for a sparring match. It’s been years since I actually had a real competent fight on my hands.” Looking at each other, I could tell Matt and Blake were thinking the same thing; ‘What the hell?’

“Errr Sasha,” Began Matt with a confused but proud grin, “I don’t know if you noticed, but we’re kinda Spartans… If you’re looking for a sparring match, I think there are better fights than going up against super soldiers.” Finished Matt with a lopsided grin as he leaned back in his chair.

“Pffft, please, Cline, I’ve seen you fight. All I have to do is avoid the mean right rook and charges, and I’ll have your ass down in five rounds.” Sasha dismissed, causing a round of laughter from our table, as she leaned forward with an aggressive look in her eyes. “Hubbard, on the other hand, has some more reach to him, so he might be able to tag me a bit, but he’s too predictable in a fight. Feint, feint, strike, feint, and roll out of the way; rinse and repeat. Once an opponent keys in on his movement, he’s done.” She finished as she stood and rolled her neck.

“Now, if any of you boys feel like fighting the MMA 2545-2551 champ of New Alexandria Reach, she’ll be in the ring from 8-10 tonight, boys.” Bragged Sasha as she sauntered out of the mess hall. Our entire table was silent for a moment.

“Well… Shit.” Said Matt as he took another long chug of his drink. “Guess that’s where she gets off fighting super soldiers.” Brayden merely looked over to him from across the table and swatted Matt on the head. “Ow! What the hell?”

“’ What the hell?’ Boy, she just marched in your house, and pimp slapped you.” Yelled Brayden, drawing more than a few stares from the rest of the tables. “You need to take control of the situation!” Continued Brayden as he stabbed a piece of pork with his fork.

Sighing, Blake stood and rolled his shoulders, “Well, Matt Brayden has a point. She did just call us out.” Blake said as he returned his tray, “I’m gonna go get prepped. I get a feeling this fight will be rather interesting,” Blake finished as he left for the dorms.

After we finished our meal and Brayden yelled at Matt enough to get him to take the match, I headed to the armory and stored my armor and whatever gear I still had. Afterward, I had stripped off my jumpsuit and subbed it with some old UNSC PT clothes. I headed to my bunkroom to record today’s events on my tac-pad.

The entire time I still couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. About 30 minutes had passed when I finally finished putting everything in my tac-pad. As I sat reviewing what I had written, a loud bang came from my door. Jerking for my pistol on instinct, I sighed in frustration when I heard the banging again, but this time with words. “Mike, you need to check this shit. Man Sasha is a badass! She’s beating the chit out of both Blake and Matt… At the same damn time!!!”

That caught my attention; I opened the door to find both Wolffe and Gunny standing outside my door with an excited look on their faces. I had a surprised expression on my face, “Really now.” I asked as I placed my tac-pad down and joined Gunny and Wolffe. I could hear the fight from down the hall, and I could hear Brayden’s complaints about how Matt fights like a ten-year-old little girl, swiftly followed by a quick ‘Shut up!’

Gunny, Wolffe, and I showed up just in time to see a quick swipe of Sasha’s foot smash into Matt’s head and bring him to his knees. On the other hand, Blake was holding his own, bobbing and weaving around most of Sasha’s quick viper like strikes. Sasha was able to keep Blake at bay with a hail of quick kicks and punches. The bout continued for another minute or so as money exchanged hands from the scientists and crew to Brayden, who appeared to be running a betting ring. I was tempted to break it up when Sasha eventually broke Blake’s defenses. A quick jab, jab, cross, uppercut combo had busted Blake's defense, and a quick snap kick to Blake’s jaw rattled his brain and sent Blake sprawling. Blake laid motion for a moment until he groaned moved his head before letting a low and mild “Oww.”

The group around the ring went ballistic as cheers and whoops of excitement rang through the small room. Brayden was dealing money as he went over and helped pull Matt off the ring before assisting Blake, who could barely walk straight. As I marched up to the ring with the intent of calling it a night on the whole, “beat my troops to a pulp” racket, Brayden noticed me and yelled over to me.

“Hey, Mike! It looks like Blake is through.” Brayden said with a laugh. “Your turn for the meat grinder.”

“No, Brayden,” I said firmly as I looked up to Sasha, who was soaked with sweat and taking a water break. “Sasha,” I began as she looked down at me with a wide grin. “Is there a reason you’re beating the snot out of my troops?” I asked in a controlled voice, hoping it would possibly calm her down.

“Well, in my defense, they challenged me; besides, it’s fun, a great way to relieve stress, and it’s raising morale something fierce.” She said as the crowd reached a crescendo in their cheers. Of course, this wasn’t going to be easy.

I sighed and rubbed my face. “Shooting things relieve stress, is a lot of fun and doesn’t break my men,” I said in a counter to Sasha’s statement. At this point, I knew there was essentially only one way to get this to stop and to save face with my men. I could order her to stand down... but that’s simply not how it’s ever worked in our squad.

“Alright, I tell you what,” I said as I hoisted myself into the ring, “You beat me, and I’ll leave this alone,” I said as I walked to the other side of the ring, where Brayden tossed me a pair of gloves and shin pads, which I proceeded to put on. “BUT if I win, this is the last little fight like this, deal?” I asked as I placed my last glove on and got into a combat stance. I probably should have taken those lessons from Blake on CQC.

Sasha grinned madly and laughed. I knew that was a yes, but there was more to it. “I like that cap. Let’s sweeten the deal. The loser has to do one thing for the winner, no ifs, and, or buts.” She replied as she also adopted a stance. I frowned in worry. Those were very damning conditions.

“What are 13?” I asked in reply as the crowd whooped in anticipation.

“If I said yes?” She countered, causing the crowd to laugh.

I rolled my eyes, “Fine. Let’s g-“ I never got the chance to finish that sentence as Sasha bull-rushed me and opened with a swift kick to my side. I managed to block it, but that wasn’t the end of her assault. Punch after punch and kick after kick, Sasha attacked, and I defended. I growled in frustration. The woman was going to burn me out if this kept up.

Eventually, in the valley, I was able to get a quick open palm strike for Sasha’s stomach, causing her to let up for a second long enough to go on the aggressive, so I let loose a flurry of punches and kicks aimed at her legs and arms hoping to tucker her out. Some of my hits landed, but because of her much smaller frame, she could move out of the way of most of my punches or just flow around hits.

The crowd roared as our fight went on, and I could see Brayden and Matt running the betting ring. I was beginning to burn in my arms in legs, so I knew I was beginning to run on reserves. I need a new tactic fast.

“Your pretty good, Sasha.” As I went back on the defensive, I said if I could distract her and get her to open up a hole large enough for me to strike, I could end this quickly.

“Thanks, my brother taught me.” She said with a smile that was slightly winged with sadness.

“He must have been one hell of a fighter.” Sasha tried to get a quick jab, but I blocked it. “Because you've put two of my Spartans down already, and you’re working on your third,” I growled as I cringed from a sidekick that crashed hard against my right leg. With that, I noticed that Sasha started to intensify her attack and her grin was less pronounced.

“He was.” She said flatly as a fist rocketed into my open palm, and I swiped it away and countered but still hit nothing but air.

“Trust me, I know how it feels,” I said, trying to block her high kick.

“No, you don’t.” She said in a low tone while attempting to sweep my leg from underneath me. I jumped up over the sweep and tried to bring an open palm down on her head, but she rolled out from under me and came up with an ax kick that I managed to block at the expense of my arm. Cringing in pain, I returned to my guard, waiting for an opening.

“Trust me, I do,” I replied as I remembered my old marine squad back in New Mombasa. I frowned as a punch connected with my ribs. My plan did not seem to be working. I could see the fire Sasha’s eyes burn, and her grin turned to a feral snarl as she unleashed punch aft punch and kicked after kick.

“Oh, Really?” She screeched in a furious tone. By now, the only noise in the room was on punches, kicks, and Sasha’s voice. “Did you lose the man who practically raised you? Did you watch as he was torn apart by fucking brutes and drones?” By this time, there were tears just streaming from her eyes. “Did you run away because there was not a god damned thing you could do?!” She screamed as a fist connected with my jaw. I could see stars behind my eyes and knew my defenses had cracked. Trying to recover, I was met with several fists to the gut, each punctuated with a scream. “Then. You. Don’t. Fucking. KNOW!”

I stumbled back and looked at Sasha for a moment and knew exactly what was going to happen. Her legs curled and released as she flew up a good four feet in the air. Her body curled, and her leg stretched out and smashed into the top of my head, smashing it into the mat and flooding my vision with darkness.

The first thing to return to my senses was the throbbing sensation in my head, followed slowly by my vision, tinted red. I looked around to see that the emergency lighting was on. Groaning in agony, I got out of the bed and attempted to walk to the door. ‘Man, my head is throbbing. Feels like a Brute beat me over the head with a gravity hammer.’ I thought to myself. After making it to the door, I looked down the hall to see it lined with the emergency lights, something in the back of my head told me this was wrong, but my head felt so fuzzy I couldn’t tell. I went to the mess hall to see if anyone was there. As I stumbled closer, I could hear people arguing. Two voices were Matt and Brayden. The third was unfamiliar.

I walked into the mess hall to see a scientist flailing a pistol around Matt and Brayden. They all looked haggard-looking, and Matt had a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around his shoulder. The scientist looked delusional, and he's waving a pistol around wasn’t helping. No one notices me because I had come in through a darkened doorway.

“It can be any one of us. Hehe. But I know it isn’t me, I know it isn’t.” The scientist said with fear and nervousness, drenching his tone. Matt and Brayden slowly tried to approach the man, but a shot at the floor between them was enough to discourage them.

“Look, buddy, I don’t get time for this,” Brayden growled as he kept his eyes on the pistol. “You’re clearly fucking delusional, but go ahead and ask me anything to see if I know it.” Brayden said.

“Okay, Okay.” This seemed to calm the scientist down slightly. “When was the fall of Reach?” The scientist asked.

“I ended on August 30, 2552. “Brayden answered resolutely. “It started in late July, so the conflicted lasted just a little over a month,” Brayden answered.

“Okay, that only leaves you, Captain Cline.” The scientist accused Matt, who was making his best impression of a Brayden in the morning.

“You fucker.“ Matt growled as he pointed to his shoulder, “The little bastard bit me and then fucking shot me.” Matt said as he folded his arms. I could tell his patience was wearing very thin.

Deciding that this needed to end, I came out of the shadows and put my hand on the scientist’s shoulder, and said, “Stand down, sir, what in the hell is going on here?” The scientist turned slowly, and when he made eye contact with me, his face went pale and was contorted with fear.

“No, no, NO, NO, NO!!!” He said with panic as he spun away from me and pointed the gun in every direction possible while hyperventilating. “ You might be one of them too….. This …..This was a setup, a trap to draw me out…. To get me.” The scientist screamed as he started to laugh a hollow laugh.

“What?... No. Buddy, that’s Captain Hill. He got his ass knocked out by Sasha two days ago. You were there. Hell, you won like five hundred credits that night.” Matt said in as comforting a tone as his short temper, and foul mood would allow.

“Yeah…… my head is still killing me….” I replied before realizing what he said. “Wait, two days?” I asked incredulously.

“OH NO! That’s bullshit! You… you’re not going to get me not that easily.” The scientist yelled while laughing maniacally before bringing the pistol to his head. With a muffled bang, the scientist fell to the floor, gore dripping off the wall. We stood in shock for a moment.

“I guess he had a mental blowout,” I said, too tired and sore for this bullshit.

Brayden let out a mild chuckle, but Matt was shocked at what I said. “Really, Mike, Really,” Matt said as he narrowed his eyes in disapproval. I rolled mine and gripped my head as it rang intensely for a moment.

“Hey, look, The worst thing you got during the fight was an ugly mug. I might have a concussion, so forgive me for being a little off.” Matt gave a glare, and I could tell he was about to go into how he had been shot and bit. “Brayden sit-rep, now,” I ordered.

“During the match, three scientists had gone missing. Two were found dead in their labs with puncture marks on their necks or arms. One is still MIA.” Brayden replied as he picked up the pistol from the dead scientist.

“Any clue as to what is it might be?” I asked as I sat down on one of the tables to get the world to stop spinning.

“Not really sure Mike, the only thing we know is that it can change into one of us.” Brayden replied with a stare as he gripped his pistol. I looked up frowned; this was going to be a long fucking day.