October 16th, 15:00
Horizon Quarantine
Central Officer Conway stepped into the viewing room along with Admiral Watson and two armed gentlemen. With their hands behind their back they could see the head Scientist, Doctor Hassel, discussing research with his colleagues. Watson cleared his throat and the scientists perked their heads up, the lesser few collecting their notes and getting up to leave as Hassel remained where he was.
“Somesing I can assist you vith, Admiral?” The old man asked as he straightened himself out, the intercom beside Hassel released a bit of static as the voice of a young woman came through.
“Who’s there?” It was the captive Amelia. She could be seen behind the reflective viewing glass leaning against a wall, head cocked to the side. Having been the first time seeing the captive in person, John blinked and looked with awe and slight concern at the armored giant.
Watson took a breath. “My apologies, Doctor, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to step out.” Watson nodded his head towards John, hand gesturing as well to him. “The Central Officer and I need to have a discussion with our guest here.” Watson then pointed to the glass and Hassel opened his mouth, his expression looking as if he was going to protest but stopped, closed his mouth and nodded his head.
“Yes. I vill leave you be, though, after you’re done,” Hassel took a breath and continued, “I has somesing I should share vith you.” Watson blinked at this and cocked an eyebrow.
“How important is it?” He asked and Hassel held a hand up.
“Not enough for you to hear is zis instant,” Hassel said and gathered up his things before smiling and nodding at John. “Hello, Jonathan.” John smiled lightly and returned the gesture as the man stepped past him and out of the room.
The door closed behind Hassel and John as one of the two guards turned to input the locking mechanism so that no one would intrude while Watson went over to the viewing glass, hands behind his back. Taking one hand out from behind his back, he pressed his finger gently onto the transmitter, a faint click was heard and he spoke, “Less than an hour ago, a team of my boys encountered a friend of yours who was jettisoned out of the Sleeper ship around the same time you were.” The girl in the armor straightened her head and pushed herself off the wall.
“Oh?” Her voice came from the speaker. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. There was a second?”
Watson’s face didn’t change, his expression still appearing icy, meanwhile John bit his lower lip. His eyes looking at the armored girl, his conscious repeatedly telling himself not to reveal himself to who may, or may not be his daughter. A part of him wasn’t buying it, though his inner civilian was finding it increasingly difficult to restrain itself.
Watson shifted a bit and looked to John and pointed to a tablet on the desk. “Hand me that,” he ordered to which John complied and handed him the tablet to which Watson snatched and logged into the latest debriefing file. “A young male, presumably fourteen to fifteen years old, blonde hair, blue eyes, wore a similar suit of armor to what you are.” Watson glanced up to the girl in the armor. “Sound familiar?” He cocked an eyebrow but the captive didn’t respond, he sighed and continued, “He had a device which was able to develop a 3D holographic image; via a projection point on his palm and was equipped a large magnetic rifle similar to the one you carried.” The girl in the room remained silent, the Admiral sighed softly and went on with the debriefing, “Commander Keshiner and his squad encountered him outfront the equine capital before taking fire and terminatinating--”
“Quiet!” The girl suddenly snapped, John cocked an eyebrow and instinctively stepped back when their captive approached the glass, Watson however remained rooted and smiled when he found the trigger.
“So you do know something of him?” Watson asked in a slightly lower tone, his legs parting slightly as he deactivated the tablet and folded his hands behind his back.
Amy lifted her head and stepped back from the glass. “What did you do to him?” Watson ignored the question and raised his head slightly and looked down upon the armored giant.
His icy glare showing little to no emotion as he glared upon the captive on the other side. “What is your mission?” Watson simply asked and the girl shook her head.
Amy began to pace back and forth “What did you do to Mark?!” John looked to Watson as the armored girl suddenly approached the glass and the two guards wracked rounds into the chambers of their rifles.
John shifted a little and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sir, I advise we refrain from revealing any details,” He said softly and Watson nodded, hand remaining off the transmitter so the captive couldn’t hear.
“Agreed,” Watson replied with a nod of his head, his hand pressed down on the transmitter. “Amelia, I request that you simply answer our––” The armored maiden’s fist slammed against the three and half inch, bullet proof glass, spider webs forming around the flast of her fist as to silence the admiral. The two guards by the door jolted with shock and raised their weapons. “Violence won’t get you the answers you want!” Watson said after having composed himself fairly quickly. “Now I assure you, Amelia ” Watson’s voice lowered, “Your comrade is safe and in the hands of the natives.” John glanced at Watson upon hearing such a lie, though it seemed to work. The tension in the room settling a tad as Amelia stepped back, arms relaxing as she tilted her head slightly.
Though it wasn’t on the surface, John could sense Watson’s discomfort as everyone knew all too well that Amelia could easily bust out and snap all of their necks. It was only due to the native’s inherent abilities to bend matter that allowed them to succeed in defeating the first power armored opponent. Yet no native with such abilities resided on the Horizon, and the use of a forty millimeter launcher inside to take her down again would be devastating to the ship’s hull.
John gulped and tried his best to keep a straight face even though Amelia had no possible way of seeing them. The thought of what would happen if she found out her supposed partner was actually dead disturbed him greatly. Though after a few moments of unsettling quietness, the armored maiden spoke, “I told you, Watson...” her voice deep and with a touch of agitation to it. “I came here with the knowledge of Kane’s plans and am here to warn everyone.” Watson cocked his head at this and raised an eyebrow, his face still holding that scowling look.
With one hand still behind his back and the other on the transmitter. Watson cracked his neck with a swift twist and leaned forward into the mic, his eyes not leaving his captive. “Why didn’t you mention anything about your partner? To us?” He asked.
Amelia’s body shifted as her weight moved over to her left foot. “I assumed since you detected me, you found Mark,” her voice had gone quiet the agitating tone vanished into thin air and had drifted to that of regret.
Watson didn’t seem phased by her change in tone and seemed rather unimpressed by her response, John could tell that any ounce of trust he had once had was gone. Watson furrowed his brow at Amelia’s answer. “As aforementioned a squad with some of my best men had encountered your friend, Mark, and was assaulted. Care to explain the possibilities as to why he had provoked such hostilities?” Amelia remained silent and Watson glanced at John he remained at attention. A few moments past and Watson keyed the mic once more. “Miss Amelia--” Watson was silenced by a raised a hand, an action which prompted the guards in the back to twitch nervously as their weapons began to raise, only to be halted by John’s hand.
“Indoctrination,” Amelia stated firmly, Watson thought he could guess what she was referring and frowned. “The spell which caused what you would know to be the Sleeper Virus. Or Sleepwalker as some may call it.” She stayed quiet for a few moments before continuing, “Like myself and a few others, when the magic reserves to keep the spell going fade, a few of us come back and regain some form of conscious.” Amelia turned away from the glass and walked forward. “I thought I trusted Mark was free from Archangel’s...or... Kane’s spell but...” She fell silent.
John couldn’t help himself when he glanced at Watson. “Spell?” He cocked his head. “Like something from Harry Potter?” Watson silenced John with a finger and pressed the transmitter once more.
“How can we trust that you’ll not fall under this spell and breach containment?” It was a dumb question, yet Watson felt he should ask it anyways.
Amelia shifted her weight to her other foot and gave Watson an unexpected, yet correct answer, “You can’t.”
:[-]:
Twilight had no idea that her reflexes had kicked in so quickly when the building came crumbling down on top of them. Her shield having saved her and the original two pursuers from being turned to a bloody jam beneath the weight of the five story structure. Through thousand pounds of debris, Twilight could hear and feel the chaos outside. The sporadic cracking and the deafening explosions that reverberated throughout the city made their way into Twilight’s twitching ears.
A cough tore the alicorns attention back towards the two unicorns laying on the floor, panting and moaning softly as they both came to their senses. Twilight immediately went to the stallion and used her magic to pull him to his haunches. “Answers now!” The Alicorn barked before flinching as a horrific scream was silenced by a sharp report of cracking sounds.
The stallion Twilight had met as Pen Writer gagged, a bit of blood escaping his lips. “Th-the prophecy!” The male gasped and Twilight blinked.
“What prophecy?” She asked and the pony gagged more, his blue eyes regaining a bit of color.
He groaned and breathed in deeply before gasping as a sharp pain hit his ribs, something may be broken or two. “Th-the end of Equestria,” he gasped, “The return of the Humans, just as predicted by General Heir...they’re here to destroy us.” The stallion fell back. “We were too late...even if we had achieved our current goals, we were just too late.” he stressed.
Twilight blinked. General Heir? She was faintly familiar with that name, though she never researched too much into the Equestrian military, she vaguely recalls the name belonging to a not so smart stallion. A nut job as some referred to him as; or a conspiracy theorist.
The alicorn shook her head. “If what you’re saying is correct, I need to find my friends and get us out of here and solve this.” She stood on her hooves and looked down to Pen. “Do you think you and your friend can help me?” Pen blinked and looked up at Twilight as Shimmering Grace gagged and stirred.
“Help how?” The stallion gestured with a hoof towards the rubble and outside, the sounds of explosions and sporadic alien weapon could be heard with an increasing tempo. “Out there is death!” He looked back to Twilight. “I know you’ve saved Equestria countless times, Miss Sparkle,” The formal addresing made Twilight cock her head, “But these *things*...the ancient texts write them as hideous barbaric beasts! They do not care for the likes of magic! They’ll blast us down before we can even call for the elements to assist us!” Just then a massive bang, followed by a torrent of heat shook the rubble, sprinkling the ponies in dust.
Twilight nearly dropped to her knees and winced. “We have to try! Perhaps we can negotiate!”
“Open your damn eyes!” The stallion barked back. “How can we negotiate with this?! What? Do you think they are simply misunderstood?”
“Ponies are dying!” Twilight nearly screamed back. “Do you think we should idly stand by while they thoughtlessly slaughter our friends?!”
“And you think talking it out will stop them?” The unicorn stood. “Monarch, the organization I’m part of, was designed to stop them. To prevent *this*--” He gestured outwards “--from ever happening!”
Twilight shook her head. “I need to find my friends and get to Canterlot, warn the princesses.”
“Then what?” Shimmering Grace said as she finally came through, her body aching all over as the unicorn pushed herself to her hooves weakly. Pen knelt down and assisted her before allowing the mare to lean on his side. “Celestia and Luna may hold the power of the Sun and Moon, but you know what great destruction that’ll bring.”
“Do not tell me you think we can talk this out?” Pen glanced down at Shimmering Grace and the mare shook her head.
“No...what I do know is that if we...engage in conflict, there will be much destruction.” The mare glanced at Twilight Sparkle. “You know this don’t you?”
Twilight stood in the dark, teeth gnawing her lip as she really wished Spike was here to urge her towards the, hopefully, right direction. Finally the mare sighed and closed her eyes, her battle with Tirek was devastating, heck she lost her home. Yet this...ponies are actually dying right now. She breathed deeply.
“I know,” she said softly and looked to her recent pursuers. “That’s why we need to make a tactical retreat and formulate a plan to deal with...these humans.” She closed her eyes, did she have time to find her friends? Every second she waited, the more ponies she could hear die right outside the rubble. Then again, she had faith in friends ability to make it through this, they had all gone through troubles together. Twilight slammed her hooves into the ground and groaned, eyes clenched shut she opened them and looked to the unicorns. “How good are you at teleportation?”
She had to warn Celestia and Luna.
:[-]:
The dank sea air wafted over his furred snout, the bright rays of light warmed his scales and the sounds of hammering guns thundered in his ears. His eyes glazed as he watched the city before him burn and collapse before him. The distance screams and machine gun fire fresh on his mind as images of fleeing, wailing humans flashed before him. The mushroom clouds caused from planet shattering weapons just miles away from him, the vessels which left the world now high above him.
He could remember it clearly, the death, destruction and pure hate. Hate. Hate!
The pain, the memories, the experiments, and torture. The straps, and binders, and that fucking muzzle and glass. He can still remember them, his loved ones. The fear in their dead eyes and how sick they were before their passing, and then them. The things in shining gear and their black, soulless eyes as they tore him from his mother and brought him here.
Then after so many years, the powers he had gained and the vengeance he and wrecked upon their land. Their world. The ones who had taken him from his family, tortured him and experimented on him for what? Gone. Their civilization wiped from the Earth. The joy he had felt when he watched them flee, the shock and horror he had felt when he endured their world ending weapons.
They would really destroy their own world just to kill him. As shocking as it was, he was mildly impressed with himself...until loneliness took hold. How long had it been? How long did he walk the irradiated wastelands before taking it upon himself to reshape the planet, to learn how to play with nature herself? To make new pets and friends to play with, only to have them horribly turn against him like the humans...
Discord stood on the bow of the massive war vessel that bombarded Manehattan. The city in which Fluttershy and her friends stayed and were now in danger, something in which he couldn’t let be. The draconequus raised his hands, eyes closing before opening with a flash of white light, the ocean around the warship parting with a magnificent cry of roaring water.
With parted wings, the ship would lose its buoyancy and lurch downwards as the first of three would begin to drop to the bottom of the Manehattan harbor-- a searing, sharp pain would strike Discord’s back and rip through his upper collar bone, snapping him back to reality. The parted sea would scream as it began to crash together, massive waves now smashed against the vessels hull as the ship would fall into the water before bobbing back up.
Discord cried loudly as he would drop onto his knees now aboard the rocking vessel. His teeth clenched tightly as reddish, black blood pumped outwards from his open wound. The chimera gritted his teeth and groaned and shifted in his spot as faint cackling could be heard behind him.
“Now, now,” An old, gravely voice said, “After so long, I cannot believe I am seeing this.” The old voice of a man whistled softly after every other word and Discord slowly craned his head back to see a frail man with a metallic prosthetic arm leaning towards him over a cane. Two large guards in a powered, medieval like armor stood beside him, each weidling large staffs with metallic balls surrounded by electrical currents on top.
The Old man held a bulky handgun towards Discord, a toothless smile on his angular face, blue eyes wide with joy. “To think I’d live to see the day I would see you again,” Discord’s face scowled with anger as fury began to take hold, dark magic coursing out of his fingertips and mouth. “Archangel~” The man said in a low whisper.
Discord’s eyes gone black and with all his might he flew at the man. “Marcus!” He roared just as the mane cackled and squeezed the trigger on his hand gun.