//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Resistance: Remain Human 
// by Hurgusburgus 
//------------------------------//

My name is James Willoughby. At least, it was, but I still like to think of myself as possessing a human mind, conscience and emotions.
My story isn’t a happy one. The Chimera made sure of that.

I was a soldier of the British Resistance, posted at Eastern Command. Just a simple corporal. I’d seen my fair share of combat, of course. Some of it was skirmishes against Cloven; most of it was just tooth and nail fights against the Chimera. The Hybrids are a vicious enemy. Their weapons and equipment is far superior to ours. And yet we still fought. We had no choice, really. After the Yanks screwed up in York, getting most of the twelve thousand men and expensive equipment destroyed, we were up against even greater odds. It was the fault of the damned Cloven, though. They led the Chimera to York.
We knew we were most likely to die. And we accepted that. Anything was better than Grimsby.

One day, I died. Eastern Command fell. I was reborn, but not the way I’d have liked to.
I was a Hybrid. A bloody Hybrid. Of course, at the time, I wasn’t aware of that. My consciousness had been banished to the farthest recesses of my mind. I was a pawn of the Angels, killing my own former brothers in arms.

Then, salvation. Weeks later, when Yanks had attempted to land in York, I was freed from the Angel’s grasp. I was confused at first, naturally, but then horror overtook me as I took in the stock of situation.
I was a Hybrid. My hands were splattered with blood. I had just killed a man.

British.

Friend.

I looked around, hearing the other Hybrids mutter something in Chimeran. I cared not. I felt anger seize me, the likes of which I’d never felt before.

I turned on them, blasting the damned beasts apart with my Bullseye. When the clip ran dry, I used my fangs, tearing out their throats, murdering every single goddamned one of them. Pausing only to relieve them of their ammo and other supplies, I set off in the wilderness, with no real destination in front of me. Why did I leave? I have no answer to that. I guess I wanted to find somewhere I could rest and come to grips with my situation.

That’s how I found Fred and the others.

I was walking through the empty streets of some quaint little hamlet that remained relatively untouched. Sure, some houses were litter-strewn wrecks, but it was empty. I had been hungry for some time, having eaten nothing but rats that still seemed to teem everywhere. I was wandering through the derelict houses, searching for some foodstuffs, when I saw the smoke.

I wasn’t alone.

I headed over there, cautiously, of course. I peered curiously over the lip of a broken window and was treated to a sight I’ll never forget.

A Titan. A bloody Titan, sitting in front of a fireplace, sipping nonchalantly from a tiny tea cup like he didn’t have a worry in the world. I would’ve dropped on the spot and laughed until kingdom come, but it was a Titan after all, so I kept quiet, deciding whether to make my presence know or slink away quietly.
The decision was made for me when a Leaper skittered from… somewhere and leapt straight in my face, screeching like Devil himself was on his back.
It reared its head, regarding me with its glowing yellow eyes. Then I heard the Titan stand up.

“Easy, there, Snaggletooth! Did I not tell you about proper manners?”
A Titan. Lecturing a Leaper on nice behaviour. That was the last straw. I started laughing, but my Chimeran physique meant it came out more like a hoarse roar.
“Hello there, old boy! I’m terribly sorry about Snaggletooth here. He loves to leap in other’s faces. It’s like he’s never heard of personal space!”
My not-really-laughter doubled, as the skittish little beast leapt away, climbing atop the Titan’s shoulder, giving me the evil eye from its new vantage point.
Once I was lucid enough to stand up, I was reminded of the Titan still standing there, eyeing me curiously.
“You alright, mate? I trust Snag didn’t bite your face off? He does that sometimes.”
“No, he didn’t. You can talk.” The Titan nodded.
“I can. Oh, where are my manners? My name’s Fred.”

Fred.

Fred the Titan.

Bloody hell.

I felt like I’d break a rib or two from the laughter I was holding back, but I nodded in response.
“I’m James. Nice to meet you.” Fred grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously, nearly tearing said limb off.
“Well met! Would you join me for a cuppa?”
“Uh… Sure.” Snaggletooth chattered something, leaping away.
“Splendid! I say, you look famished! When is the last time you ate something?”
“Dunno. Had to eat rats.” Fred herded me inside the house, handing me some ham and bread. I wolfed those down, relishing the taste of actual food.
“So, tell me, what brings you here?” I shrugged, biting off another chunk of ham.
“I was just wandering around. Needed to find some food. Found this town.”
“Ah. Me too. One day, I simply found myself in this body. I guess it was the same to you, then?”
“Yeah. Well, thanks for the food, Fred. I’ll be going then.”
“Steady on, mate! We should stick together!” Fred stood up, sticking his head through the ceiling.
“Ow! Sorry, mate! But why do you want to wander off on your own? You’ll get yourself killed! Besides, I haven’t had anyone to talk to in ages! What do you say?” His hopeful rumble of a voice floated through the hole in the ceiling and I pondered on the decision. While we would definitely draw attention, I too, was desperate for someone to talk to, for some company.
“Well, I guess it can’t hurt.”
“SPLENDID! Let me gather my things, then, and we can set off immediately.” Snaggletooth was cavorting, running in circles, a dead rat in his teeth.

I actually felt happy that I’d found Fred. He always seemed to be in high spirits, chatting amiably about something completely unrelated.

Next, we met Tag.
He’d been stalking us for a while, the way Howlers do. He got in a scrap with Snaggletooth. He got off lucky. I’ve seen Snag kill a Widowmaker on his own. Hands down the most terrifying thing I ever saw. I took care of the wounded Howler, patching him up. He ran off some time later, but came back. Unwittingly, I had gained another companion. Tag had a good nose for finding useful food and was overall a much-better alternative to having Snaggletooth leap in your face now and then.

That brings me to Jennifer.

Me, Fred, Tag and Snag were walking through an abandoned farm, when Snag ran off somewhere. I looked at Fred questioningly.
“Probably smelled something tasty.”
“Then why didn’t Tag run off, too?”
“Hmmm. I’d say Snag found something Tag didn’t.”
Moments later, we heard Snag screech and a roar.
“We have company, Fred.” As if on cue, a Steelhead ran out from a shed, arms flailing, Snag firmly entrenched on its shoulders. The diminutive Chimeran beast pushed off, leaping away, pushing the Steelhead face first in dirt, before crawling up Fred’s leg, settling down in the crook of his shoulder, staring at the Steelhead that was getting up right now.
“Christ in a handbasket…” The Chimera muttered disbelievingly, staring at us. I waved lamely.
“Uh… hi.” Fred followed suit, but was more enthusiastic about it.
“Hello, there! Nice to meet you! I’m Fred!” The dumbstruck Steelhead gaped wordlessly at us for a few moments, before speaking.
“I, uh… I’m Jennifer.” I spoke up as well.
“Name’s James. Hah, that rhymed.” I looked at the wary Steelhead. Though there were little to no traces remaining of her human form, she had distinctive female traits. Her arms and body were more slender than that of other Chimera. Even her voice was higher-pitched and softer, compared to mine or Fred’s. She stood there, fidgeting with her helmet for a while, before turning to Fred.
“So, what’s up with that pet Leaper of yours?”
“Oh, that’s Snaggletooth.” Said beast was glaring at her balefully. Tag bounded up to her, sniffing her palm.
“Tag seems to like you.” I chuckled as softly as I could.
“Oh… Well. Nice.” She seemed to be lost for words.
“So, is there anything of use in this place?” She shook her head.
“No. I was only taking a nap here. There is a brook nearby, though.” She entered the shed, coming out moments later, carrying the Steelheads’ trademark Auger rifle.
“Could I, uh, join you, perhaps? I’ve been alone for so bloody long it’s driving me insane.” I shrugged.
“Welcome to this bunch of misfits, Jen.” I clapped her on the shoulder. Fred, as always, was more enthusiastic.
“Jolly good! The more, the merrier!”

As we continued on our mostly-aimless wandering, Jen established herself as an excellent pathfinder. We kept heading southwards, for some reason. We had to keep hidden during most days, since we would come across more and more Chimeran patrols.

That’s how we found Ted.

Now, I’ve seen my fair share of Slipskulls. Jittery sods, the lot of them, but Ted was like that to the nth power.
I and Tag were scouting out a safe path that would steer us clear of any roving Chimeran patrols, when we heard someone muttering. Curious, we stealthily crept forwards, eventually finding a lone Slipskull bouncing around the trees, mumbling nonsense. I shouted to get his attention.
“Hey! Over here! Mate! Calm down!”
“Huh? Oh, goody! I’m not insane after all!” He leapt again, landing in front of me. Tag growled, but remained still, instead silently inspecting the restless Slipskull.
“So… you alright, mate?”
“I think so, but not really sure! Iiiieeaarrrrr…” He growled strangely.
“Do you have a name, at least?”
“Ted! I’m Ted! Now, mate, what’s yours?”
“James.”
“James! Right, nice to actually meet someone who doesn’t try to shoot me for a change! Very very very very very nice!” He was very jittery, occasionally glancing around, but seemed sane enough, if not touched in the head. I brought him back to our makeshift camp, where he went through our impromptu inauguration (Snaggletooth leaping in his face). Ted took to Tag quite strongly, in due time. Brother from another mother, he always said.

Some time later, we heard that the Americans had joined with our own forces and were staging an all-out assault on the London Tower. We decided we’d been hiding for too long and chose to join the attack.

We made it inside the tower, aiding the British and Americans wherever we could. The radio chatter was full of our exploits. We fought on, getting deeper inside the tower, trying to clear a path to the reactor core.

Jennifer looked up at me, splattered with Chimeran blood. She had just bitten out a Hardfang’s throat, relieving it of the Arc Charger it wielded moments earlier.
“Well, that was fun, James, wouldn't you say so?” She chuckled, dourly. I tried to come up with a witty answer, when the world dissolved into light and noise.

I had a good idea what had happened. They had destroyed the reactor. The assault had succeeded. We were victorious.
The thing is, I shouldn’t be alive. No one, human or Chimeran, should have survived that explosion. And neither should have Fred, Jen, Ted, Snag or Tag.

So what in the flying blazes am I doing in a world inhabited by pastel-coloured ponies?

God, you are a sadistic bastard.