//------------------------------// // Chapter 21 // Story: Hegira: Option Gamma // by Guardian_Gryphon //------------------------------// “DEEETAIL ATEN-HUT!” The command was accompanied by the distinctive clack of five pairs of boots, and two sets of back paws, against the marble paving stones. “PREEESENT... ARMS!” Wrenn raised his old-style ceremonial chemical projectile rifle, in tandem with Kephic and the five Earthgov Special Forces marines who also made up the three volley salute rifle party. “FIRE!” The crack of seven World War II era Enfield rifle replicas discharging blank cartridges split the foggy morning air. Outwardly, Wrenn maintained the rigid firing stance. Inwardly he winced. The honor detail cycled their weapons in practice tandem. “FIRE!” Again the shock of seven cartridges of propellant, minus bullets, discharging into the foggy gray sky. As Wrenn cycled his weapon again, he had to force himself to keep his eyes ‘on the boat.’ Straight ahead, level, staring off into nothing, and away from the lines of human shaped caskets draped with Earthgov flags. And the one Pony sized casket draped with the Equestrian royal crest. Skye was most definitely not a part of any military, but she had aided the cause of freedom. Wrenn hadn’t brokered any argument from politicians, diplomats, or generals. As soon as he was well enough to force his way out of the Bureau medical ward, he had marched into Hutch’s office and demanded the spunky little Pony receive full military honors. Hutch had been all for it, as had General Lantry. A few objections had been raised. All had been silenced when Wrenn wordlessly put a six inch crack in a Lieutenant General’s granite topped desk with nothing but his fisted claw and a low growl. No one had any desire to cross an angry, grieving Gryphon, not even a military general, especially not when word circulated of what exactly Wrenn had done to Skye’s killer, and his escorts. Everyone but the military personnel, a few ConSec troopers, Hutch, and the other Gryphons was avoiding him like the grim reaper. “FIRE” The final volley echoed out across Arlington memorial cemetery with a finality that brought tears to Wrenn’s eyes. Arlington still served as a military graveyard, a testament and memorial to soldiers who had fought for freedom in many wars and conflicts. It would not be Skye’s resting place, she would be carried back to Equestria by members of Celestia’s own royal guard for a quiet burial there. Wrenn didn’t have it in him to attend the second ceremony. So this was goodbye. The thunder of five overpassing Scythes followed the echoes of the rounds. As the craft whizzed overhead, five corresponding Gryphons glided over the ceremony, synchronized so that their silhouettes would follow those of the fighters. The wingman between the lead fighter and the rightmost position peeled out vertically and away into the sky, as did the Gryphon gliding between the leader and the rightmost position. The ‘missing man’ formation. Wrenn had never seen it done that way before, and it only made it harder to keep the tears from coming. It had been over a week, and Skye’s death was still eating away at him like a parasite. The trip to Equestria had been postponed. A lot had changed. For one thing, every single person in any position at all in the Conversion Bureau Network was forced to take a mandatory blood test to check for HLF shapeshifters. No one had quite been able to unravel how, or precisely what, the creatures that looked like Ponies, but had the minds of humans, were. One of the other captured shapeshifters had made a slip up and admitted to having ‘once been human.’ The two others that had been caught had liquefied within hours into the same mercury like substance. The gray goo baffled Earthgov’s top scientists. It was a biological substance, but on a level so complex it defied description. It wasn’t even related to Ponification serum. That had been all the higher ups needed to hear. Now everyone’s quarterly drug testing also included a battery to check for the shapeshifter chemical. Ponies, but with the unaltered minds of HLF humans. The current prevailing hypothesis was that the creatures were unstable, by dint of the fact that the Conversion was biological only. Their nature hadn’t changed to fit their body, so the body eventually rebelled and refused to exist without the right nature underneath, dissolving back into whatever macabre substance had formed it from the raw material of a living breathing healthy human. Wrenn didn’t really care about the how's or why's, he just wanted them all dead. And for the moment they were. Wrenn had spent several hours that morning trying to convince General Lantry and Sildinar that they needed to abandon the trip to Equestria entirely and launch a full military campaign against the HLF, Nuclear deployment and all. After all, the PER hadn’t so much as made a peep in the last week, the devastating loss at Carrenton had most likely put them into panicked recovery mode. Hutch and Lantry had argued that this was precisely why they needed to pursue the PER. The HLF was not vulnerable, if anything their position was more secure than ever, and there was no way to strike back at them without a decent lead. The PER, on the other claw, had just suffered a massive defeat, and there were appreciable leads. On top of that, Sildinar argued, the best way for Wrenn to cope with the loss of a friend was to immerse himself in his new culture and identity. It had been settled. Kephic, Varan, Wrenn, and Carradan would be traveling to Equestria in two days. Sildinar would not be joining them. When asked why, he had simply stated that Wrenn was right; The HLF needed to be punished for their incursion. He had refused to say anything more, but Wrenn’s sharp eyes had noticed a well hidden, but massive buildup in both the military, and public security forces. Outright war was brewing. Everyone in ConSec and the Marines could feel it, including the humans. Wrenn just hoped he’d be back in time to put a slow painful end to whoever was ultimately responsible for Skye’s death. As the bugler blew the lonesome notes of taps, Wrenn cast a quick glance at Kephic. The position of his ears, the tightness in his face, and the slight droop to his beak told him that his friend was going through the same turmoil. None of them had known Skye as well as they wished they had, but all had known her well enough to be her friends. She had brought a snarky upbeat humor to their long days. Finally, the ceremony was over. Wrenn wondered, morbidly, how long it would be before he was the figure in the casket. Sildinar told him often enough that he nearly had been. The roan Gryphon had been very rough on Wrenn; Belaboring him for his foolish charge that nearly got him killed, constantly trying to drill into him that Skye’s death was in no way his fault, and repeatedly warning him that he needed to learn to control his emotions. Both rage, and pain. Either one could be the death of him if he didn’t put them in their place. Deep down, Wrenn appreciated the rough treatment. He was a soldier, and he needed a soldier’s comforts. Kephic and Varan were there to reminisce with, Sildinar was there to beat him out of his self-recriminations, and Hutch was there to congratulate him for making Skye’s passing worth something. After the military dismissal, Wrenn took to the air. He didn’t want to attend the reception, or shake any more officer’s hands, or be reminded of his promotion to Lieutenant Commander and Medal of Honor ceremony coming the next day. He just wanted space, and to cry one last time, without being seen. “Isaac Wrenn, I hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities therein.” General Lantry leaned forward, and pinned the Lieutenant Commander’s bars to Wrenn’s sash. Gryphons weren't cut out for traditional clothes, so the quartermaster had ordered a special dress white sash with gold edging, his service ribbons, and the Earthgov Special Forces emblem be made up in Wrenn’s size. The strip of fabric also held his new Medal of Honor, and now his new rank bars. Wrenn smiled. Skye would have probably smacked him upside the head and cut him to the quick with a well placed humorous barb, if he let his grief get in the way of a special moment like that. She would have wanted him to be happy, that much he knew. So he forced his grief to wait its turn. He had to learn control, this was a good way to start. The General saluted, and Wrenn returned the gesture in kind with the same decorum and precision. “Thank you sir.” Lantry’s face softened, he spoke, his voice too low for the audience to hear, “No. Thank you. Right now we need heroes. You may not feel like one, but standing up here and publicly, visibly receiving the awards you deserve, with a smile, helps everyone stay on top of the fear.” Ever since the shapeshifters had been discovered, the atmosphere within military platoons had turned sour and morbid. Business went on as usual at the Bureaus, there was even a world wide up-spike in applications for Conversions, of both types, thanks in no small part to Carradan getting the media to put a positive spin on Carrenton, and everything that had happened. Perhaps the battle had been a major victory, but it had cost them all more than the general public would ever know. But today was for celebrating the victory, and for bragging about past and future victories. Today was about bravado and courage. As Varan had once told him during orientation, “Gryphons feel fear. We feel it keenly. Not in terms of losing our lives, or in terms of monsters in the dark. We fear loss of the people and the ideals we love. But we have courage too. Neither Courage, nor Caution, can exist without fear. The greatest warriors are the ones who have both in proper balance.” Wrenn waited anxiously outside the Conversion room. He knew the technology was sound, but there was a certain anticipation in seeing what Carradan would become. Kephic and Varan were with him, arguing in low tones about what color he might emerge as. The three had a bet for species. Wrenn had put his wager on Earth Pony, Varan Unicorn, and Kephic Pegasus. Losers were buying everyone a celebratory ‘goodbye Earth’ dinner out on the town. In the interest of cutting down on further delays to their trip, Hutch had signed papers fast tracking Carradan’s Conversion. Normally he’d need to remain at the Bureau for one to two weeks’ acclimatization, but there was no time for that. The door finally hissed open, and the new Stanley Carradan stumbled out, complete with cutie mark. The image on his flank was an open newspaper, with a quill poised above it, which made a great deal of sense given that he was a diehard reporter. The nature of his cutie mark, however, was lost on the three Gryphons in light of two stunning facts; Firstly, Stanley Carradan was now a Pegasus. Secondly, he was a vivid shade of dark salmon, as though he were wearing a 1990s golf shirt. Over his entire body. Wrenn snickered, “Way to go Stan! The new you is....” “Hehe. Pink.” Kephic blurted. Wrenn shrugged, “I was gonna say ‘chic’ but yeah... Pink.” Carradan grunted, “It is not pink! It’s lightish red!” Wrenn guffawed, laughing for the first time in days, “No no Stan, you see these?” He puffed up his neck feathers for emphasis, “*These* are red.” Varan snorted, “Don’t antagonize him. Its really a shade of ‘salmon.’ “ Kephic raised an eyebrow, “Since when are you an expert on color?” “We are *all* experts in color.” Varan pointed at one of his golden eyes, to lend emphasis to his statement. Wrenn clapped Carradan on the back, “Hey, you got wings! Makes my life much easier.” Carradan spread the feathered limbs and flexed them experimentally, “Oh yeah! These babies are gonna make getting scoops a heckuva lot simpler. Oh man... I gotta learn to FLY!” Wrenn laughed again, “Easier than you think. Easier than learning to walk anyways.” As if to underscore his words, Carradan stumbled, barely correcting himself. “Hey, Whaddya say we grab some dinner? I need something to wash that trippy dream out of my head!” Wrenn ended up buying dinner, since it turned out that Varan had no valid Earthgov currency to speak of. It made him happy, to finally have a decent use for one of his paychecks. Carradan, to his credit, only balked slightly when the Gryphons ordered virtually every synthetic meat item on the menu, with every kind of soda imaginable to wash it down. The now four-legged reporter opted for a special four course Equestrian meal, complete with fresh imported apples, haycakes, and whole grain muffins. When another off duty reporter, several MPs, and a platoon of ConSec troopers joined in, the event became an impromptu party. Wrenn could tell everyone, himself included, needed the boost. The soldiers were in rare form, trading war stories, punctuated by raucous laughter and improvised toasts. Near the end of the night, Wrenn smacked his fisted claw against the table, drawing everyone’s attention. He didn’t really want to make a speech for the sake of a speech, but he felt he had words welling up in him that would do both him, and those around him, some good. He raised his mug, now filled with his fourteenth coffee, “We’ve lost a lot of friends recently. And the worst is yet to come. We’re facing long odds and the worst of the worst across the table. But we’ve got more than they’ll ever understand. Hell, that’s probably part of why they hate us so much. Who would have dreamed that a group like this could sit in a bar in uptown Manhattan?” He glanced around the room, “Ponies, Humans, Gryphons... All with our unique cultures, beliefs, and bodies... And yet really we all want the same thing. A better future for ourselves, and each other. Our friends died for that better future. So they died happy, honorably, and they made an impact doing it. They died well, and that’s not something to only to mourn. That’s something to celebrate.” Wrenn inclined his head, “And too, there’s the victory their sacrifice gave us, and the myriad ways life goes on. Birthdays, anniversaries, and a few who just jumped the species line.” This statement was accompanied by chuckled and cries of ‘hear hear!’ Wrenn paused, “So. A toast. Here comes the only Latin I know; Prosit nobis similibusque...damnabiliter paucibus reliquis!” Everyone looked on confused, Carradan piped up, “What’s that supposed to mean?” Wrenn clanked his glass against Kephic’s and Varan’s, “Here’s to us, and those like us... To the damnably few remaining.” Wrenn left the only three possessions that mattered to him in the care of Hutch. His new lieutenant commander’s bars, the folded up Equestrian flag that had lain on Skye’s casket, and his Medal of Honor. The man saluted him, “Good luck Lieutenant. I had darn well better see you back here within the year to help us wipe out the HLF.” Wrenn nodded, “I’ll make sure of it. Hey... If you ever start thinking about Gryphonization, I’ll vouch for you. Not that you need it, I’m sure we’d have you anyways.” Hutch nodded, “I may just hold you to that when my next service tour ends in couple years.” “See you around, Hutch.” “See ya around, Isaac.” Sildinar came down to the Bureau's lobby to say his farewells. Carradan was off in a corner with his former boss, laying down details for how he would be relaying back news articles, when he could manage access to the Equestrian postal service. Wrenn exchanged a swift crushing hug with the Gryphon. “Thanks. For keeping me on a straight course.” Sildinar nodded, “See to it you *stay* on it. You’re going to be a great warrior Wrenn. A credit to our kind. If the future converts are even half the man you are, our species is set for a new golden age.” Wrenn shook his head, “Nah. We need more Gryphons like you. I’m just an average soldier who was in the right place at the right time.” Sildinar snorted, “Modesty is good, but so is bragging, when the time is right. Do not sell yourself short.” He exchanged similar hugs and claw-shakes with Kephic and Varan, “You two, keep his training going. I expect him to be a full fledged warrior when you bring him back.” Kephic nodded, “You fly with the wind at your tail, and the sun in your enemy’s eyes.” Varan added his own goodbye, “Keep them on the run, but save some for us.” Finally, it was time. Kephic and Wrenn had spent most of the morning, and half the afternoon doing accelerated flying lessons with Carradan. Like Wrenn, he took to it quickly since there was no conflicting human instinct to get in the way of the Pegasus instincts his body came with. He wasn’t flying very fast yet, but Wrenn imagined he would learn all too quickly, and then spend a lot of time running circles around him, lording it over him. Sildinar stared at each member of the group in turn, “Two final words. First, when you come back I expect you to come back with good solid leads we can use to nail the PER to the wall. Second, I have selected two new companions for your team. One will meet you at the Equestrian port of Foals’ Haven, the other will be waiting when you reach the capital of the Kingdoms... I expect you all to put aside remorse, and treat them like you treat each other. As family. That is the only way you will all come back in once piece. Clear?” Everyone nodded their assent. Sildinar tossed off an impromptu salute, “Good hunting.” As the group winged its way east towards the barrier, Wrenn cast a glance over his shoulder at the city of New York. The teal ‘sunset’ provided a dim backdrop for the high powered lights of the city as they sprang to life, illuminating the comings and goings of so many. Kephic dropped back to fly alongside Wrenn, allowing Carradan and Varan to pull ahead, “It’s a shame to think that will all be gone in three years.” Wrenn nodded, “When the bubble hits, I expect there’s going to be a big new round of Conversions. And controversy. They’ve already planned out evacuations. Big advantage of a one world government; No problems with immigration laws. They’re splitting the populace amongst San Diego, New Roanoke, Singapore, and Tokyo.” Kephic winced, “It’ll be quite a mess. No one likes to watch their accomplishments... Their home... Vanish.” Wrenn sighed, “It’s not as if they have a choice. Humanity is resilient though, I expect their accomplishments in future will dwarf even New York. But before things get better, they’re probably gonna get worse, especially when space starts running out on this side of the barrier. The only choices will be en masse Conversion, packing in tighter, or hitching a ride on a Genesist ship. I hope they get those figured out...” Kephic chuckled, “If anyone can, it’s Humans. They have such a propensity for technology. I look forward to seeing what they... What you can bring to our race.” Wrenn smiled, “So do I.” He stared back at the city a final time, “So do I.”