When Death Knocks

Chapter One

When Death Knocks, Be Polite

As a soldier with the EarthGov Special Forces, my training prepared me for many things. Hostage situations, terrorist attacks, covert infiltrations. You name it; I’ve probably done it at some point. At thirty-five years old, I was the youngest member of the Special Forces, but I never caught any flak for that. My combat record made sure of it. I truly was an asset to my superiors, one they used only in the direst of circumstances. That is to say, I was often sent to the most dangerous, brutal hellholes in the galaxy.  Of course, I’m not complaining. After all, my training and experience prepared me for anything….or so I thought.

For instance, I wasn’t expecting a ball of light to suddenly appear and envelop me, during that desperate last stand on The Sprawl. Nor was I expecting to actually wake up after it knocked me out. You might think I’m being a pessimist, but honestly, how many people do you know, that were suddenly absorbed by a furious orb of light that appeared out of thin air? Probably none, because they were most likely disintegrated by the damn thing. On the off-chance you did know someone who died like that, do yourself a favor, and let EarthGove know. I know for a fact that’s not a natural occurrence.

Anyway, back to more important matters. I’m not sure how long I was unconscious, after I blacked out. It could have been minutes, hours, or even days. Whatever the case, after an indeterminable amount of time, I slowly became aware of a steady dink, dink, dink, as droplets of water struck my helmet in a constant, rhythmic pace. My head was hurting something fierce, and my whole body felt like it had been thoroughly pounded by a large mallet, wielded by an angry gorilla. I groaned in pain for a few seconds and spat out a few choice curse words, before prying my eyes open.

I was greeted, of course, by the HUD of my helmet. I blearily blinked at a few hovering icons, running several diagnostics on my suit integrity and personal health. Much to my relief, my Resource Integration Gear, or ‘RIG’ for short, was green across the board, and my suit was in perfect condition. I dismissed the reports and gently rolled onto my back, before slowly sitting up. I ignored a wave of nausea that washed over me, gritting my teeth as I waited for it to pass. Once it had, I let my helmet unseal and collapse on itself, where it disappeared into the collar of my suit.

I immediately began to take in my surroundings, though in all honestly, there wasn’t much to look at. I was sitting at the end of a wide stone tunnel that had a high, vaulted ceiling. Guttering torches lined the damp walls, and the air felt cool as it brushed against my skin. A small reflecting pool sat a few feet behind me, which I promptly crawled over to. I took a few moments to splash cold water onto my face, before checking my reflection to make sure I wasn’t missing my usual features.

My hair was still short and black, my eyes were still green, and my skin was still pale (hey, you try getting a tan while wearing armor almost every day). The deep, jagged scar that began above my right eyebrow, and ended just above my lip, was also in its proper place. A close call with a hidden trip-mine had given be that unsightly thing, a few years back, but I didn’t bother having the surgeons remove it. I kept it as a reminder, of sorts. A reminder that despite everything, I’m still human, and certainly not invincible. Besides, it gave me a roguish look that the combat medics always fawned over, so I can’t complain

Satisfied with my appearance, I gripped the edge of the reflecting pool and hauled myself to my feet, even as my sore body protested. I ignored the pain, took a few deep breaths, and began wondering three things:

Where was I?

How did I get here?

Where the Hell was my gun?

I decided to concentrate on the most important question first, and look for my seeker rifle. I certainly didn’t want to go wandering down the tunnel unarmed. After a few minutes of searching, however, I couldn’t find it anywhere in the immediate vicinity of where I had awoken. I couldn’t bring myself to be too disappointed, though. Things could have been much worse, given the circumstances. Besides, I still had my sidearm, sitting securely in it holster on my right hip. I hadn’t bothered using it, during my brief stint on The Sprawl, and I still had two extra clips for it on my utility belt. It wasn’t the most powerful weapon, true, but I was just glad to have something that shot bullets.

Satisfied with my armament, I began tapping the screen of my suit’s small, chest-mounted holo-projector. A wide holographic screen appeared a few feet in front of me, streaming with lines of text and numbers. I was trying to establish a connection to…well, anything really. An orbiting satellite, a local network, anything I could use to pinpoint my current location and time. My efforts were greeted with several error messages, however, informing me that the tunnel was interfering with any signal connections, or that no network could be detected. I was starting to get frustrated at that point, though my pounding headache wasn’t doing my mood any favors.

I dismissed the display after a few moments, rubbing my eyes as I let out an exasperated sigh. I wasn’t beginning to panic, mind you, but I was beginning to feel uneasy. I had no idea where I was or how I’d gotten there. I could only recollect the final moments of my battle on The Sprawl, the ball of light enveloping me…then nothing. I reasoned that I could have teleported, but that technology was still decades away from seeing any sort usage on the field. Besides, that didn’t explain what exactly that ball was, or where it had come from. If it was a weapon, then it must have been heavily classified, to the point where even my clearance wasn’t high enough. And trust me, I’ve seen about every dirty secret my government had.

I sighed again, as a sense of weariness settled over me. Service in the military had a tendency to make anyone feel twenty years older than they were, and I’ve been at it for more than a decade. Situations like this didn’t make me frightened anymore. I just felt as if I was just going over a well-practiced routine for the hundredth time. Before long, I’d be complaining about kids and their newfangled music.

I chuckled at the thought, before shaking my head and un-holstering my pistol. I tapped the collar of my armor once, and the various sections of my helmet sprung from their housing. They quickly formed together over my face and head, sealing with a familiar, satisfying hiss. The T-shaped visor of my helmet flared with blue light as my HUD booted up, and I flicked on my shoulder-mounted, LED flashlights. The bright beams cut through the darkness with ease, illuminating the only path I could take: Straight forward. I rolled my shoulders, popped my neck, and began walking.

“No sense in standing around,” I muttered to myself, gripping my pistol in both hands, “Down the rabbit hole, Jack.”

__________________

I walked for well over an hour, with only the sound of my footsteps for company. Honestly, though, I wasn’t making a real effort to keep quiet. That was almost impossible, given my suit. Unlike the sleek designs of standard-issue military armor, my suit consisted of grey, heavy titanium plates connected to a powered exoskeleton. I could run, jump, and move easily in the suit, but my footsteps were loud and cumbersome, which the empty tunnel only served to amplify. It wasn’t the only suit I had at my disposal, of course, but it was the one I’d chosen when fighting in the tight corridors of The Sprawl.

However, I wasn’t overly worried about my footsteps alerting anyone. The tunnel was completely deserted, and my radar wasn’t picking up any life, sans for the occasional cockroach. As far as I knew, I’d been the first to walk that tunnel in quite a few years. I was hoping to see some carvings I could scan, something that could give me a clue as to where I was. Unfortunately, no such helpful signs decided to show themselves.

Eventually, I noticed the tunnel becoming progressively wider. Torches became bigger and brighter, to the point where I no longer needed my flashlights. The floor began gradually sloping upwards, and I had a feeling I was nearing something. I quickened my pace; fervently hoping I’d reach some sort of chamber or, God willing, an exit. I wasn’t claustrophobic, by any means, but I was becoming increasingly sick of staring at smooth stone walls and torches.

After cresting the top of the increasingly-steep floor, my eyes beheld a welcome sight: A wide set of wooden doors. The faded image of a blazing sun was emblazoned on each of them, bracketed by two crossed swords. I did a quick scan of the symbols as I approached, but my RIG’s database couldn’t match them to any known civilization, extinct or otherwise. Wherever I was, I realized, had gone completely unnoticed by the march of time…and that it sure as Hell wasn’t on Earth. I mean, the whole planet had been almost completely strip-mined of resources, and overcrowding was still an issue, despite planetary colonization. There was no way a place like this could have gone undiscovered.

“Focus, Jack,” I said to myself as I approached the door, “Concentrate on getting to the surface. Worry about Earth later.” I holstered my pistol and gripped the rusted iron rungs on the door, the servo-joints of my armor whirring quietly as I pulled them open. I was grateful for the boost my suit's exoskeleton gave me, since the doors were damn heavy, and obviously hadn’t been moved in quite some time.

I opened them just enough for me to fit, and I stepped into the vast chamber beyond. It was easily the size of a football field, with a domed ceiling that was missing several large chunks. Vines dangled from those gaping holes, while moss was sprouting from hundreds of cracks in the floor. There were no torches, but beams of sunlight provided plenty of illumination, and I could hear the sound of birds chirping somewhere nearby. I breathed an audible sigh of relief and walked over to a ray of light, standing beneath it as a brought up a holo-screen in front of me.

Once again, I tried to connect my RIG to any sort of satellite or network. Hell, I’d even take the wi-fi from a Starbucks. But, as before, I was greeted with the same error message: There simply wasn’t anything to connect to. Honestly, I had to take a moment to wrap my head around that simple fact.  RIG connections were a vital necessity, in the year 2510. Since everyone had one, there needed to be plenty of networks that people could connect to in a pinch, be they soldiers or civilians. Hell, even when I was in the middle of an operation on a backwater planet, Intelligence always made sure my RIG had direct a line back to HQ.

However, as I stood beneath that ray of light, glaring daggers at the holo-screen, I realized a cold, simple truth: I was on my own. Completely and utterly cut off from, well…everything. I was used to being a lone wolf, but this was something else entirely. I had no chance of backup or extraction, no maps and intel to consult, and I was standing in the middle of an ancient ruin armed with nothing but a pistol. For the first time in quite a while, I felt truly…exposed.

”You’re gonna get through this, Jack,” I murmured to myself, pushing away any thoughts of doubt, “You’ve been in worse situations before. Hell, nothing can as bad as the Necromorphs, right?” I took a few deep breaths, cracked my neck, and began warming up my suit’s thrusters. The only out was up, and there was no point in waiting around in the ancient chamber. My first order of business, once I was topside, was discovering some sort of civilization. A town, a city, whatever. Just somewhere that had people. With my goal firm in mind, and my resolve steeled, I prepared to ignite my thrusters and rocket out of the chamber.

Just before I could, however, the auditory sensors of my helmet picked out the flapping of heavy wings, and the rattle of metal upon metal. I whipped my head around towards the leftmost hole in the ceiling, just as a group of (I kid you not) armored pegesai descended from it. There were at least a dozen of them, all hovering in perfect formation. They were about three feet tall, had white coats, blue tails, and wore golden armor that glittered in the sun. Their leader, a one-eyed bastard with a scarred face, glared at me with his one good eye as the others quickly surrounded me. I would have been concerned, though I was too busy wondering how a pony was glaring at me. What happened next, however, nearly caused me to fall on my ass in shock.

“Human!” the one-eyed leader shouted at me, “I, Commander Thunderclap, hereby arrest you in the name of Princess Celestia, Regent of the Sun. You will be detained and brought before Her Majesty in Canterlot, where you will face trial for your crimes against Equestria. Come quietly, and we will not harm you. Resist, though, and the consequences will be…dire.” He grinned at the last sentence, as if he wanted me to attack. I, however, was still trying to get over the mental speed-bump of a talking pony (a pegasus, no less). Seriously, how often do you encounter something like that, outside of an acid trip? And I’m certain I hadn’t taken any drugs beforehand.

Hell in a hand-basket, was all I could think to myself as I stared at the pegasi, This day just got a lot more…interesting.

Author’s Note: Bam! I bet you weren’t expecting a new chapter this early, huh? Well, neither was I, in fact. But, after the positive response my prologue got, and all the tracks my story gathered, I wanted to give you guys a full-fledged chapter to enjoy, over the weekend. I know not a lot of stuff happened in this chapter, but I wanted to get some exposition out of the way, and set up Jack in preparation for meeting the Mane Six. I hope this chapter doesn’t feel like fluff and padding, or bore you to sleep. Things will heat up, I promise! Here’s a teaser for the next chapter, to whet your appetite. As always, comments and critique are welcome.

-Wes

Preview: When Death Knocks, Smile and Nod

“Aren't you going to read me my rights, at least?” I asked Commander Thunderclap.

“Would it make any difference if I did, human?” he retorted.

“Well, no,” I replied, my hand twitching towards my pistol, “Probably not.”