TCB: Another World

by Vigil Infinium

Siege of Azura

Artamiel peered through the blinds covering the window. He had a perfect view of Clearwater Bridge from the tenth floor apartment he had chosen as a temporary shelter. It's former owners had clearly left in a hurry, leaving the once-pristine apartment in complete disarray. With war being a distant memory, the citizens of Concordia clearly had no idea about the rules and procedures of a proper war-time evacuation. On his way through the the city, he had seen discarded luggage bags filled with unneeded items, crashed luxury cars and broken high-heeled shoes. And among the sea of discarded property lay the dead-- unlucky civillians caught in a disaster so innocently named "evacuation". The Peacekeepers defending the city didn't even bother to move the dead, fearing that they would get jumped on by the enemy if they even so much as blinked.

The Peacekeepers were incompetent, disorganised, ill-prepared and inadequately armed. The perfect recipe for tragedy. Artamiel sighed as he observed a three-man squad of Peacekeepers defending the bridge. One Phanteran, one elf, and a human-- standard squad composition for Peacekeeper city patrols. "Poor sods think they can hold a bridge against an army", he said to no one.

"Oh, Arty, just give them a chance," chimed a motherly voice. The light of the communicator clipped to his collar blinked consistently, indicating the incoming transmission. "It's not their fault they do not know the ways of war. They are young and inexperienced after all. Those poor little Concordians."

"Seer, do you not have other Shadows to look after? " said Artamiel. " They need more guidance than I do."

"Oh, Arty, you do not enjoy my company? You wound me." came the over-dramatic voice of Seer.

"Seer," Artamiel deadpanned.

"Geez, you're no fun. The other Shadows have already completed their tasks and returned to Sanctum, you are the last one to finish your mission so I'm now monitoring only you," Artamiel frowned at that. His mission had gone awry after he had lost communications with his rescue target, forcing him to search throughout the largest coastal city of Concordia. Not to mention that it was currently a war zone. "And Elucia says you owe her a thousand credits for losing the bet."

"Tell her I never made such a bet and that I am still waiting for her to pay me the four thousand credits she still owes me," said Artamiel with a hint of irritation. This mission was really getting on his nerves.

"Clear thy mind and calm thy soul, Artamiel," said the soothing voice of Seer. Artamiel wanted to retort but failed to do so. Seer, the Keeper of Shadows was always percepctive of the emotions of those under her watch, always there to support them no matter what. Seer, his elder sister by blood."Be patient dear brother. I am doing my best to locate your VIP."

"Sorry...sis,"Artamiel said in a clamer tone. "It has been a while since I've had to carry out a mission with so much at stake. Guess I'm getting a little rusty."

"Nonsense, Arty. You're one of the best Shadows we have. We wouldn't have made it this far if it wasn't for your commitment to our cause,"There was a slight pause before Seer spoke again."Ah....Our eyes and ears in the sky have found our elusive Avatar. It appears he is holed up in a penthouse apartment a few kilometers from your position. Thermals indicate a dozen bipeds with him. Knowing him, he must have been trying to rescue some citizens who failed to evacuate. Oh, and you'll have to cross the bridge to get there."

Artamiel pinched the bridge of his nose while observing the Peacekeepers as he digested the info."Info on hostiles in the area? I bet he's got himself surrounded and can't relocate," He asked with a slightly disinterested tone." Never mind that. They're definitely surrounded. Four-legged little freaks are here already," Close to a hundred of ponies, mostly unarmored, were advancing from the opposite end Clearwater Bridge. Artamiel frowned as he watched the Peacekeeper squad appear to panic. They were vastly outnumbered by the invaders. He closed his eyes and turned away from window, formulating a plan to reach his target while at the same time distracting himself from the Peacekeeper squad's inevitable doom.

His thoughts were momentarily interrupted by the unmistakable 'crack!' of a rifle firing. 'So it begins. Mercy be with them.' He was about to return to his planning when a sudden realization struck him. Artamiel stood still as though he was waiting for something to happen. The silence in the room was once again shattered by the sound from a single rifle shot. Then again. And again. There was an almost methodical pause between each shot, which Artamiel did not expect. He looked back out the the window to see what was happening and a look of mild suprise formed on his face. By now, all members of the squad are opening up on the ponies with their weapons. Gunfire, spellfire, element fire...They were throwing everything they had at the ponies with no hesitation or reservation and they were holding the ponies back. But what surprised him the most was not the sheer ferociousness of their defense. It was the discplined shooting of the Phanteran squad member that had caught his eye.

Artamiel was very familiar with the weapon in the Phanteran's claws. In fact he was more familiar with it than anyone in Concordia because he was the one who designed it. Mass produced by a proxy company, it was a Logos Tech modular assault rifle a.k.a. 'the rectangular box'. True to it's tasteless nickname, it was a boxy-looking yet uncumbersome weapon, designed to accomodate a wide variety of barrels, receivers and ammunition. Its most outstanding feature however, was its shredding rate of fire. Unlike most Peacekeepers who were armed with it, which he had came across during his trek across the city, this particular Phanteran was not blindly spraying bullets with his weapon like the garden hose it had the potential to be. With every single shot he fired, a pony on the other end of the bridge will collapse with a fatal wound. He was efficient. The same can't be said for the other Peacekeepers.

'Didn't know there are still some that could even shoot straight. Rather impressive,' He thought with a small smile on his face. 'Maybe there's still hope for them yet.' His smile faded. 'Have to get going now.'

His face morphed into one of determination as he walked away from the window to perform a final check on his loadout and cargo. "Seer, send me the coordinates of the VIP's location and my secondary objective. I'm taking a direct route." His attire was rather simple with an emphasis on mobility. A long-sleeved, collared shirt and trousers under a longcoat which in turn was covered by a simplistic light breastplate plus a pair of combat boots. All of which was black in color expect his white shirt. His weapons were a 27 inch stainless steel dusack secured in a sheath on his left hip, a left-forearm mounted gauntlet SMG, and an odd looking device intergated into the palm of his left glove. The device was connected by three tubes, which ran the entire length of his sleeve, to his cargo which was secured to his back by a harness. Artamiel groaned as he thought about the burden on his back. An unassuming cylindrical container half his height with the diameter of a dinner plate.

"A direct route? Dear brother, that would mean going through every single Equestrian between the bridge and the VIP. Not only will it slow you down, you risk losing your cargo." Seer replied with a concerned voice.

"Cargo?" said Artamiel with mock confusion. "Oh...You mean the 50 kilogram metal dildo strapped to my back?"

"Arty!" Artamiel chuckled at her response. "I worked hard to develop every single one of those and they are NOT meant to be used as tools of self gratification! It doesn't even look like one!" Seer audibly grumbled at which Artamiel couldn't help but giggle at. "My point still stands, we cannot afford to waste more time OR lose the device.You won't be able to do it alone while making it there in time! And I can't send you backup! They won't reach you in time!"

"I'm not going to be doing it alone," He walked back to the window. The squad holding the bridge was still in the game. "And I already found backup."

"But Arty, they are inexperienced. They'll just slow you down,"said a worried Seer after realizing what he meant."The VIP and the device you're carrying, they're both extremely important." Artamiel eyed the cargo he was entrusted with."Especially that device, it's our-"

"Our only hope to turn the tides to our favor. Yes, yes. You told me that a lot." He sighed before continuing. "Just trust me, sis.I can't afford to waste time by taking detours, the fastest way is through the Equestrian line. As for our valiant officers of the law, they'll be fine under my care. When have I ever returned without a mission accomplished?"

There was a long silence before Seer replied. "Not once...But you're always making me feel worried every single time." Artamiel was about to tease her when she interuppted. "About the missions, not about you."

"Hmmph. Fine. Anyway, I'm gonna move now, Seer."

"Good luck out there, Artamiel. The fate of Concordia is in your hands."

"Just like always, eh? You say that to every Shadow?"

"Shut up...and yes," Seer continued in a serious tone. "It is true though."

"Yeah...I know" Artamiel opened the door of the apartment and made his way to the elevators."Radio silence?"

"Once you enter the elevator. Your cargo, Artamiel. Please protect it at all costs. The VIP too."

"Roger. Radio silence in effect."

Artamiel was alone with his thoughts as he rode the elevator down the building. 'Race of trans-dimensional equines lead by a demi-goddess waging a war of genocide on Concordia and our trump card is a giant metal dildo.' He snorted at the thought. As the elevator doors parted when it arrived at the ground floor, the sounds of battle once again became apparent. Artamiel strode out of the elevator towards the main exit, his gauntlet gun held at the ready.

Despite his sister's constant reminders, he was fully aware about importance of the burden on his back. He'd never paid much attention during her sister's many briefings and demonstrations on it. He was sure most other Shadows didn't either. But what the device can do was clear to him.

It won't kill the invaders en masse. It won't kill a goddess. It won't end the war in an instant.

But it WILL stop a certain pink, magical barrier dead in its tracks.

Author's Note:

Hi

Comments

[brownpatch28]

5885978

We really need to get rid of the downvote system. It's definitely not working properly...

[Solo Wing of The Abyss]

Totally should've been a the Imperium of Mankind from Warhammer 40k. That would've been fucking awesome.

I mean to have the most pro-human factions in fiction go up against the TCB universe. Oh Emperor that would be amazing. Even if the Imperium would curb stomp TCB. Because the Imperial Guard alone numbers in the sextillions (yes that is cannon, some people even did some calculations and that number is actually a pretty low estimate considering the vagueness of how many planets are in the Imperium. All we know is that the Imperium controls "Millions" of planets)

[_topside_]

RIP this story.
2015 - 2016