//------------------------------// // 19) The War Begins Pt 3 // Story: Fireteam Odium // by EchoTheFloof //------------------------------// - - - A few minutes before the battle of Canterlot - - - Chrome looked around at the work the work they had done so far. The Cabal had been tearing up decorative structures to use as cover, and had been placing them in walls around the site. The Mages, meanwhile, had been setting up defensive runes, that would detonate or restrain anything that touched them. The ponies living in the surrounding homes had already cleared out, fearing the sight of the huge Cabal soldiers, but the guards paid them little attention. It seemed that Exodus had managed to explain what was going on to the Princesses, and they had alerted the guards on patrol. He briefly considered taking a visit to his house while they had time, but decided against it. He had been living in Canterlot for some time, but with the recent events, he hadn’t been back there in a little while. As he watched over the work, he listened in on the guardians’ communications. They had been mostly talking about the evacuation plans, and what they were going to do when the battle started. “Ah shit. Chrome, you hear me?” He heard Kervis say, the mention of his name bringing him to attention. “Yeah, what’s up?” Chrome said in response. “The Cabal are here. We need the distraction asap.” “Got it. Good luck.” “Same to you.” With the alert received, he turned to face his allies, “The Cabal have arrived, everyone! We need to get this started.” The team gave various methods of response and started setting themselves up behind the walls, the Val simply standing nearby. They didn’t have time to set anything up for him, what with his huge size, so he decided to trust in his armour to defend him. Off in the distance, slightly blocked by some of the buildings, three huge carriers could be seen, swarms of smaller ships soaring towards the city. They barely had time to call out as a squad of fighters tore the buildings around them apart. The Val began firing upon the smaller ships, managing to hit a few of them enough to force them away. As the squad flew away, teams of Cabal began storming the streets, slaughtering any ponies that stood in their way and carrying the unicorns away. It wasn’t long before they noticed the ring of debris that housed the distraction team, and they opened fire without hesitation. When the first bullet fired upon the ponies, they began their plan. The runes all detonated at once, killing or restraining a large amount of Cabal legionaries, which the Val’s team cut down with ease. Chrome had already deployed a shield, facing in the direction of the enemy. Magical bolts fired from the Mages behind him were passing through, but the enemy was unable to break through the barrier. His shield holding strong, Chrome reached into his light, summoning Firebolt grenades that he threw with pinpoint accuracy at the spreading Cabal. The fire melted their armour, the holes causing breaches that suffocated them within seconds. Flame, meanwhile, was trying to keep himself together. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but he now knew no preparation could have readied him for this. He was about to try and run when one of the War Mages turned, noticing him not doing anything. “Hey! You gotta get in there and help us!” She shouted, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “I-I can’t!” He replied. “Yes you can, c’mon! You were given guardian light, weren’t you?” He nodded, trying to focus on her, and not the destruction around him. “Then you have more power than even us! You-” A shot through her head silenced her. She collapsed to the floor, blood pooling from the puncture on the back of her head. Chrome saw the heard the shot impact nearby and moved his shield slightly to cover it, not paying attention to what it may have hit. Flame was the only pony to see her fall, and for some reason, it made him feel something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Anger. Pure, unparalleled anger. He hadn’t known the Mage, but they had talked a little on the way to the city. She was a kind mare, and a mother of two children. But now? She would never see her husband, or her two foals again. He charged his arc light, his wing tips becoming bathed in electricity. He was done running from his fears, done being the chicken everypony else saw him as. Gathering every mite of courage he could muster, he flew towards the Cabal forces, passing through Chrome’s shield. As the first soldier fell to his light, he smiled. He was going to enjoy this. - - - The distraction team watched in awe as the blue pegasus got to work, slicing through lines of Cabal without effort. It seemed he only knew how to make his wings the conduit of his light, as he didn’t make use of his invisibility, but he still managed to kill off swathes of legionaries, his wings leaving trails of blue light as he flew. “Keep going team! Can’t let him have all the fun,” Chrome called out, bolstering his shield once more. The team followed his orders, returning fire once again on any legionary outside of the ring. It seemed to be going well, as the sight of two ponies using guardian light fueled their army even more. They could only hope that the guardians were having an easier time thanks to it. The chaos around them raged for some time, distant explosions signifying the battle the guardians were also fighting. Three Mages, and all but one of Thovog’s team had been killed, their bodies lying behind the debris motionless. Flame had pulled back behind cover as he felt his light run dry, piles of corpses being left in his wake. It almost looked like they were going to win, when the ground shook violently, the guardians yelling at each other through their comms. Apparently, one of the carriers had blasted the supports under the city, and it was falling down the mountain side. “Thovog!” Chrome shouted, his shield still just managing to hold up. “We need a way out of here!” “-I know, the dropship will be here in a few seconds.-” The Val replied, reloading his slug thrower. Overhead, the bulky Cabal ship dropped down to the ground as quickly as it could, throwing its rear door open to pull the distraction team up. When they had all been pulled up, the craft flew vertically, away from the falling buildings. “Wait, look! The guardians!” One of the War Mages called out, pointing at the faint sight of them standing near the edge of the city. “We need to get Odium out of there,” Chrome said to the towering Cabal. He gave a nod and turned, issuing orders to the two pilots. As he was speaking with them, a new sight caught Chrome’s eye, one that he almost couldn’t believe. A familiar black and orange ship was falling to the ground, the rear of it smothered in fire. It didn’t slow its descent at all, passing by near the guardians and driving straight into the ground below the city. His jaw dropped as soon as he recognised it as a guardian craft, the smoke plume marking the crash site. With him seemingly being the only one to fully understand what happened, he silently prayed that the pilot of the craft managed to get out safely, as no being, guardian or pony, could survive a collision like that. The ship they were riding on made its way towards the guardians, spinning to allow them easy access to the rear of the ship. “Get in!” Chrome called, reaching his hoof out to help them board. When the team had got on, they were flown as fast as possible away from the city. Chrome could actually see his home as it fell down with the rest of the buildings, the castle being the last to crumble. - - - The craft was silent as they returned to Solacium, no one knowing what to say. Kervis had collapsed as they flew away, and had remained there the entire flight, tears falling from his face. The unicorn wished he could console him, but he had no idea how to treat that sort of trauma. Procor said nothing, instead bowing his head and supporting it with a hand as he leaned against the wall. It was determined that Kalis was the one to crash, and with no radio contact or detection of light, she was assumed dead permanently by the Ghosts. “-We are approaching the town. It seems you managed to get quite a few ponies out of there.-” Thovog commented, looking out of a viewport at the nearing town. Long rows and columns of tents had been set up around the town, hundreds of ponies wandering in between them. They made their descent, many of the ponies rushing to meet them. A fair amount of them had panicked looks, likely hoping that their loved ones managed to get on the final ship, others were simply angry, looking for someone to blame. They stepped off of the craft, ignoring the crowds. Up above, Exodus’s ship circled down, the Warlock teleporting out when he was close enough. He walked slowly beside Kervis, his hand on the Titan’s shoulder. They shared no words, just passing glances. They both knew how hard it would be to deal with what had happened, and no deep communication was required for them to talk with each other. As the rest of the ponies, guardians and Cabal walked into town, straight towards the barracks, Kervis and Exodus split off, both of them moving towards the town bar. When they entered, the atmosphere clearly changed. The ponies seated at tables or barstools all turned to look at them. Some ignored them, other gave a thankful nod, but none of them displayed anger as the duo sat in a corner of the building, the table isolated from the rest of the ponies. They sat in silence for a while, the barkeep hoofing them mugs of cider. When asked about payment, he told them they were always welcomed in his bar, and he couldn’t charge the guardians that saved so many ponies. Naturally, Exodus couldn’t drink his, so he passed it to Kervis, thinking the alcohol may do him a little good to help him cope. But the human didn’t touch them. The veteran Titan had remained silent since the battle, unable to bring himself to speak. “Kervis,” Exodus muttered, removing his helmet, “Do you want to talk about it?” The human looked up at his friend, also removing his helmet and setting it aside with a sigh. He kept his silence for a while longer, Exodus not speaking up to give him some time. “I… I never told her, Exodus. I never told her about it.” He said, his voice breaking a little from his crying. “Hey, we both knew it would be difficult to talk about with her,” Exodus said. “But I could have tried, even if I got turned away, at least she would have known how I felt.” “If you keep thinking about what you could have done, you won’t help anyone. What happened has happened, it is now about how you deal with it.” Kervis gave a look that could kill, “How can you act as if it’s nothing?” He asked. “Kervis. You realise I was also there for Kalis’ training, yes? This hurts me just as much as it hurts you, but as much as I hate to say it, we have to move on. The capital of the country has just been destroyed, and many more cities will also fall if we don’t do something. There will be time to grieve when we have finished this war, but until then, we have to focus on the bigger picture.” “Why are we fighting for these ponies?” Exodus tilted his head in confusion, “What do you mean?” “I mean, why are we fighting to protect them? We should be on our planet, fighting to protect the City, not to protect this place.” “Ah, I understand where this is going. It wasn’t the ponies’ fault Kalis died, Kervis. We fight to protect them because without us, they wouldn’t stand a chance. We, and the few Cabal allies we have left, are the only ones that understand our enemy.” He was quite for a moment, before nodding and looking at the Warlock, “Are we at least going to set something up as a memorial? I don’t want to go on without doing something.” “I will talk with the others, for now, enjoy your cider.” Exodus said, standing up. He gave a wave to the barkeep as he walked out, donning his helmet once more. - - - Celestia and Luna walked through the camp that Solacium had set up with wide eyes. They were still getting over what had happened, and how many more ponies had been lost during the fight. “Tia, can I speak with you?” Luna asked, walking around a small group of foals that were sitting with their parents. “Of course, Luna.” Celestia responded, a slight quake in her voice. “I-I think we should mount an offensive on these Cabal.” Celestia stopped and turned, looking Luna right in the eyes, “I understand you are angry, I am too, but we cannot allow our feelings to get in the way of our job. Many of the guard never made it back to Canterlot, so we still have an army. The War Mages are already prepared for war, and the guardians have done an amazing job keeping as many of us safe as they are able. When we have an army and a plan, we will begin.” Luna sighed and looked away, over at the rows of tents that housed the residents of the once great Canterlot, “These guardians are unable to hold off this enemy, they have proved that already. I have heard they lost one of their own during that fight, and I doubt that number will stay like that should this war continue.” “They are not as powerful as they may seem, Luna, but they try their best. They have passed their power to two of our ponies, and both of them helped greatly during the battle.” “They can do that? Then why haven’t they done that for every pony that went into that battle?!” Luna exclaimed. “Because they didn’t know what it could do to the ponies it is used on. They are looking to get an Earth pony to join them, and when they have one, they will begin training the War Mages on how to wield their light. It also seems their companions are able to create armour that corresponds with the light that they wield. Our army will be stronger by our next battle, that I can promise you, Luna.” “If you say so, Tia.” They continued their walk for some time, talking with a few of the ponies that wanted to talk with them. This went on for much of the night, as the moon rose slowly over the horizon. - - - Kervis sat alone on a small hill, looking down at the distant lights of Solacium. After finishing his drinks, he got onto his Sparrow and left the town, hoping for some time to think. Ever since he had arrived, he had been thinking of the time he and Kalis had spent, and all the missed opportunities to talk with her about how he felt. He smiled as a faint memory came back to him, replaying it in his mind. - - - Four months ago, atop the Northern section of the Tower - - - The Tower was quiet as two guardians sat on one of the upper levels, looking out at the City, and the Traveller hovering above it. “I wanted to thank you,” Kalis started, her eyes focused on the huge white orb. “Oh? What for?” Kervis replied, looking over at the Hunter. “These last two months have been, let’s go with stressful. When I was reborn, I had no idea what I was doing, but you picked me up, took me under your wing, and trained me to become who I am today.” “Hey, I was only doing what was right. I think almost everyone else would have done the exact same thing if they were in my situation.” Kalis chuckled at that and looked over at him, “Just take the complement, Kervis. And quit being so humble,” They both laughed a little, both of them falling into a comfortable silence. Their time was broken by an announcement, “Fireteam Odium, report to the hangar. We have a situation.” “Fuck me, don’t they know what a break is?” Kalis muttered, standing up. “Apparently not. Guess we better go find Exodus, huh?” The Hunter nodded, jumping down into the plaza. The Titan gave a sigh, mentally cursing at himself for not plucking up the courage to ask, and jumped down behind her. ‘Next time for sure,’ He thought to himself, meeting up with the final member of Odium to prepare for their mission. - - - A tear rolled down Kervis’ face as he lost track of the memory, allowing it to fall back into the sea of images that crowded his mind. He was so focused on trying to see each one, that he failed to notice a set of hoofsteps coming closer. “Kervis?” The pony asked, bringing the Titan’s head up to look at his visitor. “Oh, hey Lemon.” Kervis muttered, wiping his eyes. “Want someone to talk to? You’ve been out here for hours.” “I’ll be fine, but thank you. I just need some time.” The Titan replied, a small smile on his lips. Lemon hesitated, but nodded, turning to head back to the town. “But you are more than welcome to join me,” Kervis said before she could walk away. She didn’t say anything, instead walking over and lying down beside him. They sat there in silence, watching the town’s lights flicker in the late night. Kervis was still looking at them as his hand sub-consciously moved over to Lemon, stroking her mane. He didn’t notice anything until she giggled, drawing his attention over, and his hand back. “Sorry, I wasn’t really thinking.” He said, putting his hand back on the ground. As he was just beginning to see the images of Kalis once more, Lemon picked up his hand, placing it on her head. “If it helps you, then go ahead. It feels kinda nice, anyway.” She explained, smiling. Kervis returned a smile of his own, moving his hand through her mane, “Thanks, Lemon.” - - - Thovog and a lone Centurion sat beside each other, within the hall they had taken residence in. They were both grieving for their fallen team as they repaired their damaged equipment, their thick hands and gloves making it fairly difficult, but they were managing. “Sir,” The Centurion said, looking up at Thovog, “Do you think we could get more Cabal down from the carriers? Help them see what the Primus is doing is wrong?” “It’s doubtful,” The Val replied, putting down his shoulder plate to look at his new partner, “They are all under the impression that what they are doing with bring them home. What they don’t know is that they aren’t even guaranteed that.” “But could we at least try? We surely can’t be the only Cabal that see past the Primus’ lies.” Thovog sighed, picking his shoulder plate up again, “We may be able to attempt it in time, but for now, we need to stick with the guardians and hope that it will go well.” The Centurion nodded, looking back at his rifle. As they worked, a knock at the door broke their silence. They looked up to see Elder Shine walking in, a couple of plates on her back. “-I brought you two some food, if that’s alright.-” She said, still standing in the doorway. “-Thank you, Shine, but we are unable to remove our helmets in this atmosphere.-” Thovog replied. “-Then how do you eat and drink? Surely you both must have been doing so during your stay here?-” “-We have refrained from consuming anything, as we don’t want to risk anything. With this drop ship, we will be able to at least eat in there, but the Psions are currently doing a supply run to pick up more atmosphere tanks.-” Shine sighed and walked over, placing the plates down on one of the tables, “-You should have told me. We would have done something to let you eat.-” “-We didn’t wish to inconvenience you further, my apologies.-” She gave a tut, looking up at the Cabal, “-You are all our guests here, and to many, you are citizens of Despectus. If there is anything we can do to help, you only need to ask, alright?-” “-I see. Thank you again, if anything comes to mind, I will be sure to bring it up with you.” She gave the Val a smile and walked away, closing the door behind her. The two soldiers went back to cleaning their armour, awaiting the sounds of their drop ship. When the faint engines could finally be heard, they put their gear back on and walked out, taking the plates along with them. It would be early morning before they left their ship to return to the hall. - - - Elana and Flamelight sat together in the barracks, the room quiet. The War Mages had all gone out to help the ponies from Canterlot, so the building had very little going on within its walls. They were playing a game of cards that Flamelight knew, hoping to distract themselves from the thoughts of what had happened that day. As Flame won their third game, Procor came in and sat down, his helmet off. “Hey,” He said, looking at both of them individually. The other two gave him a nod, not in the mood to speak up, “Have you seen Kervis?” “No, he went with Exodus somewhere, but I haven’t seen him since.” Elana said quietly, gathering up the cards again. Procor sighed and placed his helmet on the table, “I think he might blame me for… what happened to Kalis.” “I don’t really know Kervis all that well, but he doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy to behave like that,” Elana said. “I still want to talk with him, if nothing else to see if he holds anything against me for what I did.” Elana smiled and put the deck of cards down, “In time he will come to realise you saved his life. If he holds anything against you, I doubt it would be enough to hate you.” Procor hummed in thought, bringing his eyes over to the cards, “So, what are you guys playing?” - - - Exodus drove slowly over the fields near Solacium. He had decided to try and clear his mind with some exploration, searching through the expansive hills for anything of interest. A few crumbled buildings caught his attention, but a short look later proved them to be devoid of anything more than broken stone. A half hour later, his Ghost spoke up. “Exodus, I know this isn’t the best time, but I’m picking up a signal.” “A signal? Cabal or from Odium?” Exodus replied, slowing to a stop. “Neither. It’s nothing I have ever seen before, but it came up as we entered the area.” “Got a trace on it?” “About a hundred and forty miles North East from here. Should make it there pretty quick in the Galliot.” “Yeah, I guess we should probably check it out.” Exodus said, dismounting his Sparrow and looking up at the blue craft descending towards them. When he had boarded his ship, it immediately went into transit, reaching the location within seconds. As they arrived, Exodus tried to find anything that could create a source for the signal, but other than hills, he couldn’t see anything. “You sure this is it?” He asked. “Positive. The signal is much stronger now, but I can’t quite get a clear enough idea of what it is trying to say.” “Then let’s head down there, maybe we missed something.” The duo teleported down to the surface, the Warlock drawing his Tlaloc in case it turned out to be a trap. When no enemy came out to meet them, they began sweeping the area, hoping to find the source of the mystery signal. “Exodus, here!” Ghost called out, bringing the Exo over. Atop a larger hill, the little machine had opened his segments, a warm blue glow filling the space within them, “I have a clearer signal here, it’s a little fuzzy, but it’s there.” “Then let’s hear it,” Exodus said, walking closer. “Alright, playing it now.” As the Ghost spun his segments, a female voice sounded through Exodus’ helmet, “This is AI Elizabeth broadcasting on all emergency frequencies. We have lost contact with HQ and are requesting a situation report. Any units hearing this, please respond.” “This is Guardian Exodus of Fireteam Odium to AI Elizabeth, do you copy?” Exodus called out, opening his communications range to the older emergency range. “Oh! It’s been so long!” Came the response, relief evident in her voice. “Where are you? We are up on a hill in the middle of nowhere, and we can’t see anything that could transmit a signal.” “Never mind that, I need you to tell me what happened to HQ. Do they still have need of Churchill?” “Churchill?” “The Warmind, of course.”