Goliath One-Status: K.I.A.

Chapter Five

Earth

June 20, 2023

Admiral Briggs was caught in a frantic web of chatter coming and going from the Barack Obama, the air force base in Marcus’s hometown, Area 51, and the President to see if anyone could’ve had a hand in Goliath One’s death. And the strange distress call coming from OBJECTIVE DEEP SPACE was also drawing some attention from the military. The best source of info right now was Natov Vladimir, Marcus’s wingman. He was on board the Obama at the moment as he was needed for critical info. When he was questioned, he gave up every detail about the incident. One detail in particular raised some eyebrows: the fact that it was a full moon on June 19, the day of the occurrence.

Appointment after appointment went by before the three military bases involved came to a conclusion. Area 51 was going to launch a prototype satellite to OBJECTIVE DEEP SPACE loaded with a loadstar U.A.V./radar provider. The U.A.V., as well as being loaded with hellstorm missiles, was also going to have a comm. channel linked to it so that if Marcus was somehow on the planet along with the F/A-38 emitting the crash call, they would be able to give radar coverage as well as a way for him to talk to the Obama and vise versa. In other words, the U.A.V. is going to act as an extension cord for the comms. reach so that it can get to Marcus, assuming he’s there...

Area 51 was currently modifying a trans-orbital satellite to be able to exceed the limits of our solar system to travel into the other one, and to carry the loadstar on it while staying attached and intact until ready to deploy it over the planet. Admiral Briggs had his priority set, and that priority was finding out what happened to Marcus and... Possibly looking for a new Goliath One.

~~~~~~~~~~

Equestria

June 20, 2023

Twilight walked down the countless rows of trees to the crash site of Marcus’s plane to see if he was awake yet. When she got there, she saw the CMC and Marcus talking to each other. What was wierd (and funny) about the situation, was that the CMC were sitting on a wing of the contraption and seemed to be having a good time. Marcus saw her coming and told the three to wait while he talked to Twilight.

  “Hey Twilight, how’s it going?” He asked as he walked closer to her.

  “Good, great actually. Come on, there’s something I want to show you.” Replied Twilight.

The two of them walked back to Twilight’s house silently.

  “Um, is that your house?” Asked Marcus as they approached the massive tree that was Twilight’s house.

  “Yep, the entire inside was hollowed out to make a house from it. It’s also the town library.

  “Library? Is that where I woke up after I had landed here?” Asked Marcus.

  “Yes, you were in the basement when you woke up.” She replied as they came around the side of the tree to go through the front door... which wasn’t there...

Marcus remembered when he had smashed through the door when he was escaping yesterday.

  “Um... sorry about yesterday... you know, destroying your front door...” Marcus said as he rubbed his head. He honestly felt a little bad about it and he wanted to do something about it. “Is there any way I can make it up to you?”

Twilight gave Marcus a friendly smile.

  “You’ll see when you get inside.”

Marcus got a slightly uneasy feeling about this, but he continued on anyway.

  “You know that white unicorn you 'encountered' yesterday?” Asked Twilight.

Marcus’s face darkened.

  “Yeah... What about it?” He replied slowly.

Twilight opened the door and walked inside, Marcus followed. Twilight went into the main room while Marcus stood at the entrance to the house. Moments later, he heard Twilight say his name and he walked over. Before he was in the same room, Twilight looked to the part of the room Marcus couldn’t see yet.

  “Rarity, this is Marcus.”

  “Rarity...”

  “Rarity stop, STOP!”

Marcus stepped into the room as the memory rang through his head, saw the unicorn, and everything went south.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, you can make yourself comfortable and I’ll go and get him okay?” Asked Twilight.

  “Oh okay, I still think this is a bad idea. Who knows how he will react?” Said a nervous Rarity as she sat at table in the living room.

  “Oh don’t worry, I’m sure he’s over it by now. You two will just sit down and talk things out.” Replied Twilight happily.

Rarity sighed before replying.

  “Okay darling, run along now!”

And with that, Twilight was out the door headed for Sweet Apple Acres.

Eleven minutes later

Rarity was reading one of Twilight’s books and eating a pancake Spike had brought her when she heard the front door open. She put down the book and waited for Twilight and the ‘visitor’ to walk in. Rarity had been rehearsing what to say as an apology and she was ready. She heard Twilight call her name and she stood up, Twilight then walked in.

  “Rarity, this is Marcus.” She said happily.

Rarity looked at the door as Marcus walked in. As soon as she saw the being, she almost passed out from fear. This was the same being that she’d almost killed and she knew it was pissed. Rarity had never been more right about anything in her life...

Before Rarity could even begin to react, the biped, Marcus, raised its right hand and pointed at her.

  “YOU!!!!” It bellowed.

Rarity stood with her eyes wide from fear as Marcus charged at her faster than his first encounter with twilight. After three strides, the biped leaned forward and dove into a tackle/lunge. Rarity got the wind knocked out of her as the two rolled for a split second before she was pinned down by the throat, Marcus’s left hand around her neck pinning her to the ground while the right was holding an ‘L’ shaped device at her head so the point of it was touching the side of her forehead.

  "Marcus!" Shouted Twilight, hoping to break up the tussle, but Marcus didn't seem to notice as he screamed into the horrified face of Rarity.

  "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT KIND OF SICK, TWISTED MEMORIES WHAT YOU DID YESTERDAY PUT INTO MY HEAD!?!? HUH?!?! DO YOU?!?!?!" He screamed at the top of his voice, his face only inches from hers.

  "I... Um..." Rarity muttered in a small voice. She could barely say anything due to the hand that was tightening around her throat.

She recoiled into the wood floor even more when Marcus's death-glare intensified somehow even more.

  "MY DAD!!! THATS RIGHT, HOW MY FUCKING FATHER WAS BRUTALLY KILLED!!!!!" Marcus yelled, as magma coursed through his viens at the mention of his dad, even from himself.

Marcus was then surrounded by a transparent, purple shield and lifted away from the shell-shocked Rarity, who laid there with tears flowing down her cheeks. Marcus looked around for a second before his gaze fell upon Twilight, who was slowly walking over to Rarity. Marcus also saw a sight that was cute, but didn't make him feel better the slightest: a small purple and green baby dragon was standing at the entrance to another room and staring with dinner plate-sized eyes at the scene in front of him. Marcus looked back at the unicorn who was shakily standing up with Twilight next to her, to continue unloading his feeling.

  "DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU HOW HE WAS MURDERED?!?! CONSIDERING YOU USED THE SAME THING ON ME THAT WAS USED ON HIM, YOU MUST REALLY WANT TO KNOW!!!!" Marcus bellowed from the inside of the sphere. He also drew Back his right hand and punched, with a armored and gloved fist, the inside of the sphere. It didn't do anything visible, but Twilight felt a student jolt of weakness shoot through her.

  "SO HOW ABOUT YOU AND I CAN SIT DOWN WITH A CUP OF TEA, AND HAVE A GOOD LAUGH AS I TELL YOU THE STORY OF HOW I LOST A PART OF MY LIFE?!?!?!" Marcus shouted.

He drew back his left hand this time and thrust it at the sphere. To everyone's (including Marcus) surprize, a large spider-crack made itself visible as Twilight was weakened  significantly again.

  "How is he breaking through my magic? That's the strongest restraining spell I know!"

This thought worried her greatly, she knew that if Marcus got out, there was no telling what he could do to Rarity...

~~~~~~~~~~

       "Marcus, please stop!" Twilight shouted. "I can't say I know what it's like to lose a father, but give Rarity a chance!"

Marcus softened a bit and backed away from the edge of the sphere.

  "I'm going to drop this spell, and you and Rarity are going to talk this out. Okay?" She said.

From inside the sphere, Marcus hesitated before he gave a small nod as he began to breath normally. Twilight disabled the spell and Marcus landed on his feet. He glared at Rarity before slowly walking up to her with a deep frown plastered on his face. After four steps, the little dragon raced in front of Rarity, putting himself between the towering Marcus and Rarity.

  "Stop where you are or you'll r-regret it!" Said the dragon in a slightly shaky voice.

Marcus almost cracked a small smile but marched past him.

  "That thing's got balls..." Marcus thought as he walked.

As Marcus got closer to Rarity, the pony took a few small steps back so Marcus slowed his pace. He got to the table he'd first seen Rarity at and sat on one of the chairs.

  "Please, sit Rarity." He said in a calm voice.

Rarity slowly made her way to a chair at the opposite side of the table and sat down. Marcus looked at Twilight and the dragon.

  "Would you two mind if we talked alone?" He asked.

  "Sure, come on Spike." Replied Twilight.

  "No! I'm staying here to make sure this beast doesn't hurt Rarity!" Demanded spike who folded his arms.

Marcus shrugged.

  "Suit yourself."

Marcus turned to Rarity.

  "Rarity... I am so sorry about what has happened here today... I just saw you and-mmph."

Rarity put a hoof to his mouth to silence him.

  "No no dear, you had every right to be as mad as you were here. It is okay." She said quietly with a smile.

Marcus sighed after the hoof was removed from his mouth.

  "But still... Well, I'm glad we have come to an agreement. Is there any way at all that I can make up for what I did?" Marcus asked softly.

  "Oh not at all dear, it is me that should me making up for you!" She suddenly got a twinkle in her eyes as she looked at Marcus. "I know what I can do to show you how sorry I am!"

Marcus shook his head.

  "Please dear, I insist!" She pleaded.

Marcus stared as all sorts of measuring tools, pins, and cloths appeared out of thin air with a 'pop'.

  "Oh no. Thank you very much, but these are the only clothes I need." Marcus insisted.

  "However..." Marcus leaned in close to Rarity and leaned her head back slightly. "I see I left quite a mark with that choke-hold earlier."

Rarity looked at Marcus.

  "Oh don't worry about that-" She started.

  "No no, I think I have something that will ease the pain there and anywhere else I may have hit you in my jet."

Rarity looked at Marcus curiously.

  "Excuse me, but what may a 'jet' be?" She asked.

Marcus stood up.

  "Come with me and I'll show you." He looked at Spike. "You can come too if you want."

~~~~~~~~~~

Marcus walked between the rows of apple trees to his plane with only Rarity behind him. As the jet came into view, Rarity was both amazed at the amazing machine and disgusted at the hideous shade of grey the jet was colored.

  "Ug! What a absolutely hideous color that is!" She complained.

  "Oh quit your whining!" Said Rainbow Dash.

Marcus spun around and trained his B23R in the direction of the voice, but holstered it after he saw it was Rainbow Dash.

  "Oh my god, Rainbow Dash! You can't sneak up on me like that!" Said Marcus playfully. "Hey. I see you got your wing fixed." He said as he noticed the white cast over Rainbow Dash's outstretched right wing.

  "Yeah..." She said with a sigh. "Doctor says I won't be able to fly for about a week so..."

  "Bummer..." Replied Marcus as he walked over to the side of the jet to where there was a large panel. He held up his left arm (the one with the data glove) and punched in a override code. The panel hissed and opened up to reveal a large storage space. The two ponies watched as Marcus reached in and pulled out a medium sized, metal case and set it on the ground in front of them. He undid two latches and the case popped open to show an assortment of medical supplies. He took out one of three small containers containing powerful pain-killers.

  "Here, it'll taste bad but you'll feel a lot better." He said as he held the pill to Rarity who took it with her magic and popped it in her mouth. She cringed at the bitter tasted as she swallowed.

  "It'll take a minute for the painkiller to work." Said Marcus as he packed up the case and put it in the plane.

  "Thank you very much." Said Rarity.

Marcus just put his hand up and nodded.

  "In return, I think I know a spell that can fix the damage done to your armor yesterday."

  "Really? How?" Asked a baffled Marcus.

  "Just take it off and I'll do the rest." Replied Rarity.

Marcus did as he was told and removed his heavy, grey, balistic jacket, which was attached to the armor and few pouches to uncover his upper body which had a thin, sleevles shirt over it. His body color, as well as his face, was a light brown-ish color. After, he looked at Rainbow Dash who was staring at his muscular upper body.

  "See anything you like?" Marcus asked playfully.

Rainbow Dash quickly looked away as her cheeks and the bridge of her nose turned red.

  "What?! No no no no no! It's just that you remeind me of a minotour sort of... She stated.

  "Are you kidding me?!" He almost shouted. "First a manticore, than wolves made out of wood, then pegasi, than unicorns, than a dragon, now freaking minotours?! This world is just full of suprizes, isn't it?" He chuckled.

  "Wait, how do you know what these things are? You aren't from here!" Asked Rainbow Dash firmly.

  "Again, more myths and legends on my world. It's all in the books..." Marcus replied slowly.

A silence fell over the three until Rarity called 'done' and Marcus put on his jacket and zipped it up. He looked down at the plating and nodded in approval.

  "Impressive!" He said happily.

~~~~~~~~~~

Inside the cockpit of the F/A-38, Marcus dreamt of the first time he'd been inside of an actual Air Force base. He and Michael were getting a private tour of the Air Force base from their dad, Jack Ivan. He could remember every single detail from the trip on that day, April 22, 1998.

April 22, 1998

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Dad? What if we get caught?” Asked Marcus nervously.

Jack chuckled lightly.

  “Don’t worry you two, I’ll be the one getting in trouble if we get caught, not you two. So don’t get us caught okay boys?” He said playfully.

  “Okay.”

  “Okay, Dad.” The two, including Michael, replied

The three walked along the rim of the inside of the large Air Force base for a few minutes before arriving at one of the hangars. This group of hangers in particular, housed a small collection of MIG-31 Foxhound Interceptor fighters.

  “Whoa!” Michael shouted excitedly.

  “That’s so cool! What kind of plane is that, Dad?” Asked Marcus.

Jack stared at the parked plane for a moment before replying.

  “This...” He said as he walked up to it and rubbed the side of the hull. “is a MIG-31 Foxhound Interceptor. This is the exact plane I used when I was on my last mission.” He finished softly, a gentle smile on his face.

The two boys stared at him in astonishment, before Jack started to walk to the next hangar.

Present time

Marcus shifted in his seat as his dream fast-forwarded to when Michael had gotten his first aerial kill as a pilot.

February 4, 2015

At Kop'ung in North Korea, a huge battle was taking place between the U.S. and North Korean forces. The conflict had begun when North Korea finally worked up the balls to launch a long-range nuclear warhead as the U.S. We had destroyed the missile before it could even get halfway to the country and we, as well as South Korea and China, immediately lashed out with heavy ground and air assaults against North Korea. Marcus and Michael were both flying F-35B Lightning IIs with two other flights: Raptor squadron and Warlock squadron.

  “Raptor, this is Goliath. We’ll provide aerial overwatch while you give some cover to our guys on the ground. How copy?” Said Marcus.

  “Raptor flight copies all. Let’s go boys!” Said Alex Brighner, the leader of Raptor squad.

Marcus and Michael both watched as the four A-10A Thunderbolts banked and disappeared in the direction of the city.

  “Marcus, I’m picking up a small group of North Korean fighters. Most likely after us.” Said Michael. “You got a plan?”

Marcus waited a few seconds before replying.

  “Roger that, Warlock, follow me and Goliath Two and give us additional fire support while we take out those fighters.” Replied Marcus firmly.

  “Okay.”

As the two squads of fighters flew at the approaching group of enemy fighters, Michael said the five words he’d wanted to say his whole life,

  “I have a lock, firing!” He shouted as a sidewinder class A.A. missile flew from the bottom of his plane and hit one of the MIGs head-on.

  “Alright Michael! Your first kill!!” Said Marcus happily.

  “WOOO!!!! YEAH BITCH!!!” Michael cheered.

Present time--June 21, 2023

Marcus stirred uneasily in his seat as his dream fast-forwarded again, this time, back to the death of Michael. The entire image played itself from beginning to end, as if it was a tape he had restarted. Marcus jolted upright after the nightmare had finished at the same exact spot it did last time.

  “Michael?!” He shouted from inside the cockpit as he quickly opened it up and climbed out.

  “Michael, where are you?!” He shouted again.

  “Michael...” He said as he got to his hands and knees and started to cry into his hands.

Soon after, he felt an arm--or foreleg--around his shoulder. He looked up slowly  to find himself staring into the eyes of Rainbow Dash, who had a somber look on her face.

  “That Michael guy sounds really special to you...” She said. “Is he a friend of yours back on your world?”

Marcus looked at the ground.

  “He was...” He grumbled.

Rainbow Dash’s ears folded back at ‘was’. a moment of silence came before she replied.

  “Did he... die?” She asked slowly.

Marcus waited before nodding very slightly, still staring at the ground.

  “Did you get who killed him?” She asked quietly. “Did you seek justice on the terrible thing that did... it?”

Marcus’s mood somehow dampened even more as the question pounded his brain.

  “No...” He replied quietly.

Rainbow Dash looked stunned.

  “Bu-but how? Surely with that thing you-” She started but was cut off by Marcus.

  “I didn’t...” He looked at Rainbow Dash with teary eyes. “because it was me, who killed him...”

Rainbow Dash stared at him with a dumbstruck expression, and Marcus was on the verge of crying.

  “But... but you didn’t mean to... Right?” She asked, almost afraid to go further.

Marcus’s lower lip started to quiver slightly.

  “Oh Rainbow...” He said as he pulled her into a tight hug. “I did mean to...But I didn’t want to at all... Please, please understand!” He sobbed uncontrollably.

Rainbow Dash’s heart started racing as she returned the comforting embrace, knowing she'd just hit a major fault-line.

  “Woah!!” She thought as she blushed heavily.

  “Uh... um, it’s okay Marcus! I understand, really I do.” She said as the hug ended. “I can’t say I know what that could feel like, but I’m so so sorry about it...”

Marcus sniffled and wiped his eyes before replying.

  “Thank you Rainbow Dash, very much. It means a lot to know you’re by my side.” He said, finally cracking a smile.

  “Sure thing... Hey, you hungry for some breakfast? I’m sure Twilight wouldn’t mind if we stopped by her place!” She said excitedly as her ears perked up, trying to change the subject as well.

  “Breakfast?”

Marcus thought for a moment before replying.

  “What kind of things do you eat for breakfast?” He asked with a curious look on his face.

  “Well, I hear Spike can make some mean pancakes. Do you like those?” She replied.

  “Heck yeah, I like pancakes!” Marcus immediately responded loudly.

Rainbow Dash giggled at the reply as she started to walk towards the barn with Marcus at her side.

  “Pancakes? Damn... I could maybe get used to this......Maybe...” Marcus smiled at the thought as the two proceeded to the outskirts of Ponyville from Applejack’s barn. He looked at his data glove, not knowing why he hadn't checked the time earlier, it read: 11:43 A.M.: lunchtime.

  "Oh well, maybe the pancakes will wait... He wished he could have pancakes but just smiled instead.