"Will he be all right?" Twilight asked, hoping for positive reply.
"I've seen him in bad shape before, but not like this..."
Nurse Redheart turned to grab a chest x-ray, which had just been delivered by another nurse.
"Thankfully he gave us the complete rundown of human anatomy. And know we can say for certain what happened to him..."
She placed the x-ray on the screen and began the list of his injuries...
"Fractured ribs...take your pick. Third, fourth, fifth, sixth. All of this on the right side. The left ribs escaped with less damage. Slight fractures to the second and third. His left lung was punctured by the knife Shining Armor used...The same knife barely missed his heart. "
Twilight winced as she remembered the gruesome sight. Wolf lying face down on the floor, knife handle sticking out of his chest, practically floating in a pool of his own blood. Then she remembered her brother, just standing over there, Wolf in front of him, dying, in front of him. Because of him. If there was ever a time when Twilight hated her brother, it was now. How could he be so heartless? Twilight never knew that side of him, and frankly she didn't want to know it. She didn't want to know any of him...
Nurse Redheart grabbed the tip of another x-ray with her mouth, and placed it on the screen. This one was showing his head.
"Blunt force trauma to the back of the skull created by him falling on the counter...Same place where he hit his head before. That just made it worse..."
She paused, then sighed.
"Twilight, I'm not gonna lie to you. I've never, ever, seen a patient in such bad condition. The best definition I can come up with right now is a corpse breathing. We'll do all we can, but I'm still not sure..."
Twilight's lowered her head. An unknown force lifted her chin up. It was Nurse Redhearts hoof.
"But I do know one thing for certain..."
Twilight looked up at her.
"He would have never have made it in time for us to have a chance to save him if you hadn't brought him here when you did."
Twilight smiled a bit. That was reassuring. He had a chance, thanks to her. Hell, he had come through stuff like this before! He always healed quickly, and not to mention the fact that he had the luck of a demon. She was confident that he would pull through. But still, the thought of losing him when she had just found him again...
"Your brother escaped practically unscathed, just some minor bruising."
Twilight didn't even want to hear about her brother right now. Just the mention of the word brother made her want to kick down a door, break a window, etc...
"You can see him...if you want."
"Yes...please..."
"Right this way."
Nurse Redheart held out her hoof to show her which way to go. She guided her through the nearly empty hospital until she came upon a single room that had a certain number on it...
'713'
"He's in here. Call me if you need me."
"Thank you Nurse Redheart..."
Nurse Redheart too her leave, abondoning Twilight outside the door. It seemed massive to her. She cautiously moved her hoof forward and gently turned the knob. The door opened slowly. A loud creak eminated from the slighlty rusty bolts holding it in place. There she saw him. Lying in bed, most of his right side in a cast. The back of his head was also in a cast. Four separate needles inserted in his right arm, his left chest segment, his leg and the right side of his head, giving him much needed fluids. She walked over to him, tears falling from her eyes. As soon as she reached the bed, she rested her head on his stomach, tears still flowing freely.
"Please don't leave me..."
He didn't respond. His EKG continued to beep every second or so. Other than that, there was no sound in the room.
"You can't leave me...You Pinkie Promised..."
Amidst the sound of her crying and Wolf's EKG, she didn't hear Shining Armor come in the doorway. The sight of his sister crying over Wolf's seemingly lifeless body was almost too much to bear. He didn't like it very much, but he knew he had to protect his sister, even if it means hurting her that much. Twilight got up and turned around, then walked out the doorway, ignoring Shining Armor.
"Twilie..."
All he received in response was a good hard smack to his cheek from Twilight's hoof. He immediately felt it going red. The shock wore off quickly, and he looked to his sister, dumbstruck.
"Don't you ever talk to me again. I don't want to see your face, I don't want to hear you voice, I don't even want to hear your name. Just go away and leave me alone."
And with that, she left the large white (with the exception of his beet red cheek) stallion alone in the hallway.
In the wee hours of the morning...
Shining Armor knew what had to be done, even if it meant losing his sister forever. He had to protect her. Protect her from that...THING, that fell from the sky. He crept through the empty hallways of the hospital, nimbly dodging the occasional night guard. After a few minutes, he reached the room he was looking for.
'713'
He slowly pushed open the door and entered. There he was, clear as day, lying in his bed. It was the perfect time to strike, when he was so vulnerable. He hesitated though. It was one thing to hurt somepony, or in this case someone. But to actually kill that someone? It would require some preparation. He turned to make sure nopony was coming. He closed the door.
"Come to finish the job, eh?"
He gasped as he realised his target was awake. Things just got a lot harder. He didn't answer.
"I understand why you're doing this you know..."
Shining Armor turned to face him.
"How? How can you understand?"
"Because I'm a big brother too. Just like you."
Both of them paused. Wolf sighed.
"You have to watch your sister fall in love. That's nothing."
"Like hell."
"I had to watch my sisters die."
Shining Armor tensed up. To him, the words 'die' and 'sister' didn't even belong in the same sentence.
"As a brother, you had a duty to protect them. A duty you failed. That tells me that you'll fail to protect my sister."
He paused.
"And the fact that you're here today instead of having died with your sisters tells me that you'll run."
"Don't you pretend to know what happened! You want to find out why I'm still here today? Fine!"
- - - - -
This was in September, 2663. It was my turn to get some R&R. I chose my destination carefully. Pollux. I chose it specifically because of one thing. My sisters. You see, they were having a school trip there. The whole war aside, this was the golden age of human society. It was completely safe to go out at night. It was safe enough for schools to organise trips to planets in completely different solar systems. While I was a few days into my leave, they arrived. I stayed with them for a couple of days. Then came September 23rd...That damn day that's still burned into my head...The school was taking the children to some museum. I wanted to spend some time with my sisters, alone, without anyone to bother us. No school, no parents, no officers, nothing to ruin our day of fun. I asked the principal if I could take them out for a walk or something. He let me do it. He knew they would be safe with me. So I went out to talk to them. I only got through to one of them though. Chloe. They were twins, but they were different. Chloe was more of a free spirit. She'd much rather go out for a walk then sit in some boring museum for a few hours. Cassandra was the exact opposite. They disagreed on a lot. But when they had a common goal in sight, they were unstoppable. Cassandra wanted to see the museum, so I took Chloe out for a walk in the park. It was a long way from the hotel though. So I decided to drive there, then walk through the park, maybe get some ice cream, just a day in the park with my sister. She was talking to me while I was driving. An Armored Minotaur...While she was talking though...
A loud boom shook from the sky shook the ground. I looked up from the windshield to see something that still haunts my nightmares. A Spinar Assault Cruiser. I could not tear my gaze away from it. I ignored the screams from outside. I just stared at it. When it started to open fire, I probably would have just continued to stare at it, if Chloe wasn't screaming at me. Instinct finally kicking in, I just drove through the road, avoiding Spinar fire and the debris from the skyscrapers that were destroyed first. We were outside a small square on a narrow road when a shot from the Cruiser sent the Minotaur flying in the air. We crashed in a corner. My leg was cut up a bit. I kicked the door open and grabbed the M-72 from a compartment in the dashboard. I opened Chloes door in the backseat. She was fine, save for a few cuts on her hands and face. I gave her the rifle, and yelled at her.
"Take this and stay down!" I screamed.
A sharp pain in my left shoulder, followed by a tremendous force. It knocked me square on my ass. I pulled my sidearm out and took aim at the Drone that was standing on top of a small pile of debris. First shot, left shoulder. Second shot, right shoulder. Third shot, head. It fell dead to the ground. The pain finally catching up to me, I screamed in agony. Chloe got out of the Minotaur. She fired the rifle into the direction of the oncoming bugs. I was just screaming at her to get out of there, but...Chloe was stubborn to a fault. She...She said she wouldn't leave me. I still screamed for her to get out of here, fearing she might get shot, or worse. To my horror, that's just what happened. Three shots. Three spikes in her right shoulder, in a line going down to her chest. She fell to the ground next to me. She was alive, barely. I fired my pistol at them until the gun clicked empty. I knew we were going to die there.
All of a sudden, the roar of an engine, followed by the squealing of brakes. A few men in pitch black combat gear rushed towards the pile of debris and took cover.
"Alien target!" One of them yelled.
"Light 'em up!" Another shouted.
Two of them got up and began firing. One of them got shot immediately, and fell dead to the ground. Another man came in his place.
"Take 'em down!"
"There's too many!"
They just continued to shoot untl another man came up, holding a grenade launcher.
"Frag 'em!" One of them yelled.
The man pulled the trigger and an explosion followed. No more bugs. They were gone.
"Area secure!"
One of them, the leader, pointed at me.
"Get him up!"
One of his troops lifted me up, while another examined Chloe. She was alive, barely. A helicopter landed in the square. They took me to it. It had an insignia on it I recognised. They were Shadow Element. A 'non-existent' branch of the military under the direct control of the High Generals. They were the best of the best, the elite. And they had top notch military hardware. They put me in the helicopter. The leader hopped in.
"Get in here Corporal." He told to the man examining my sister.
"Sir, she's still alive!" He replied.
"Our orders are to extract Wolf, not some snot nosed little girl! Get in here, or stay behind."
The Corporal jumped in of course. Chloe reached out to me, calling to me. I think she was screaming my name...But the chopper blades drowned it out.
"No. No...No no no!" I screamed. They were leaving her behind. As the chopper lifted off, I could still see her, reaching for me...calling me. I leaned out of the helicopter and tried to jump down from about fifty meters in the air. One of the men pulled me back in. The last thing I remember was the butt of an M-72 meeting me square in the face...
- - - - -
Wolf paused, and inhaled sharply. Shining Armor was almost whimpering.
"When we took back that God-forsaken square a few days later...All that was left of my sister...Were the parts the dogs and the crows didn't like."
Shining Armor gasped. How could anyone be so cruel? Wolf began again, staring right into Shining's eyes.
"You think that's the end? Oh how I wish it was. But no...there's more..."
- - - - -
Two weeks after Chloe had died, and Cassandra was still missing. I barely slept at night, wondering if she was okay. At that time, I had also learned that the Spinar's greatest warrior, the SuperWasp, as he was dubbed, was on planet and was hunting me. Apparently I was becoming quite the thorn in the bug's side. Anyway, I was assigned perimeter detail in Saronus Square, with Eagle. Eagle was the best sniper I'd ever seen. He could take a bug's head off at two thousand yards. Anyway, Saronus Square was huge. We controlled one side, and the bugs controlled the other. We had set up some 24 mm HMG's to try and hold off the bugs. The barricade was secure, things had been quiet for the past few days.
I was taking a snooze, when Eagle woke me up, two cups of hot coffee in his hands. He passed one to me.
"Cheers." He said. I replied. The coffee tasted terrible, but it was better than nothing.
"Things have been queit round here eh Wolf? Too quiet for my tastes..."
"Yeah...sure..." I got up. I looked towards the other side of the square. I took a closer look at a light post close to the middle of the square. I saw something there, and it terrified me
"What?" Eagle asked me.
I needed a closer look. I ran back and grabbed Eagle's sniper rifle. I looked into the scope and focused at the light post. I screamed as I saw Cassandras mutilated corpse dangling from that lightpost. I dropped the rifle and went back further into the perimeter. Eagle picked up his rifle and saw it too. He gasped when it registered who it was.
"No, no Wolf don't!"
He saw me grabbing as many explosives as I could while whimpering.
"Wolf's its a trap!" He yelled at me.
"I don't care!" I screamed back.
He tackled me to the ground.
"It's what they want! They want you to come out and kill you!" he screamed at me.
"Get off me!"
"It's what they want!"
I punched him. Hard. I think I broke his nose. He came off of me immediately. I jumped up, and ripped off one of the 24 mil's from it's stand. I ran into the middle of the square, peppering the bug side with bullets.
"I'M OVER HERE!!!"
Unarmed Drones started to pour out of their territory, and tried to storm me.
"COME ON YOU SON'S OF BITCHES!!! COME OOOOON!!!
- - - - -
Wolf was whimpering. He wiped away his tears.
"I killed every single one of them. Not one was left standing. The High Generals gave me three days off to spend with what was left of my family. Bullshit. They wanted me to be there at my sister's funeral. They knew that when I was pissed at the bugs, I'd fight them even harder. So they wanted me as pissed as possible when I went back to the front."
Wolf swallowed after inhaling sharply.
"You try explaining to your mother and father why they're burying a pile of random bones and a bruised, cut up corpse. You try looking them in the eye when you tell them what happened."
Shining Armor was a mess. He had fallen to the floor. His breathing was irregular. He was very disturbed.
"So go ahead," Wolf continued.
"Do what you came here to do, finish what you started and spare me the pain of living each day."
Shining Armor just got up and ran out of the room and made a bee-line for the bathroom.
"Damn you Shining Armor! Go to hell!"
He ingored Wolf's screams and threw up in the bathrooms. He would be in there for a long time...
End Chapter 37.