//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12 - A Dream Set in Motion 
// Story: Fallout Equestria : New Roam 
// by Delvius 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 12
A Dream Set in Motion
"We all do our share of murdering around here, don't we?"






We were exhausted beyond words. Even lying on the cold, hard floor of our APC provided no relief from our palpitating hearts, not even after a full hour. Myst and Skyfire were a little better off than I was; I guess, despite my superior physical conditioning, it was still extremely taxing wearing over thirty kilos of steel. Every moment I could feel the blood pumping hard in my veins. The feeling felt similar to when our hearts went into overdrive and somehow healed our bodies, except this was significantly less frantic.

A little over an hour later, when I had gathered up enough energy, I started looking around the new cabin of our APC. Where before there had been a small, cramped rectangular space with a set of seats on each side, there was now a much more spacious oval chamber with the seats being on each side, minus the part of the oval leading to Zaita's controls and the new doorway in the back. I found that a little unsettling; I guess I had just gotten used to popping out of a small hatch than a wide, armored doorway. The interior camera was now on the center of the new circular oval roof. Zaita's controls were unchanged, though her screen was now a brilliant cosmic purple with a gold line running through the middle instead of her regular red and white. Along the ceiling, which was now a foot higher up, were several blue-glowing wires, all snaking around and converging atop the windows at the front.

I took in a few other minor differences, when Myst pulled out a tin of... I couldn't tell what of. There was no brand, no product name, no logo. Although, there were little strips of white still sticking to it where the identifying information would have been. As it was, it was just a plain rusty tin can, maybe four inches in height.

She lifted the cover, which she had apparently already opened, and pulled out a small, white tablet and placed it on her tongue. Immediately, her heavy panting reduced and she seemed to relax. Skyfire just barely managed to look at her with an expression of bewilderment.

"What's... that?" I breathed, and got a wide-eyed look from her. Her response came slowly... almost deliberately so.

"Oh... um... just... some candy I found in one of the filing cabinets in one of the cubicles." Her ears folded back underneath her hoodie, as if in shame. She looked the two of us over with a sad expression, then looked at me with a wan smile. "You want one?"

Our response was immediate. Maybe it was because we had seen how quickly she recovered from her exhaustion after taking one, or maybe it was something else. Whatever the reason, Skyfire and I each pulled one of the tablets out and popped them into our mouths. Myst looked even more ashamed, grabbing one more of the white tablets and popping it into her mouth before tucking the tin away quickly.

It had a rather minty taste. Not the strongest mint I've ever had, but it reminded me of Icing's special mint cake recipe he made during my birthday. The candy itself had this sensation of cooling relief, both physically and mentally ( I actually appreciated the latter more than the former ). It felt fantastic. And, judging from the look of bliss and amazement on Skyfire's face, she was also finding joy in it's effects. For some reason, Myst looked at us with such shame and sadness I thought she would cry.

And yet I just wanted more.

"Hey," Skyfire said, "Can I have some more of that stuff? My head still hurts pretty bad." I voiced my support for her plea. My head still felt horrible, despite the candy. There was just this painful throbbing mixed with this nagging feeling that... something was inside my head. Again, it wasn't a physical presence. I didn't tell them, but ever since the mind-fucking I had been getting from the two signals, I honestly started to feel... alien inside my own head.

Myst looked at us with horror, but managed to calm down. "Uh... no. They... um... they make it hard to sleep. Speaking of sleeping, I should probably get some of that. Night!" Then she curled up into a small ball where her corner was supposed to be and began making snoring noises. I didn't think she was sleeping; she didn't snore when she slept, Skyfire did, but not her.

We looked at her skeptically, but then Skyfire shrugged and sighed. "Yeah, I'm beat. We should probably catch some shuteye too, before we get back..." She yawned. "... back to Verge." She sleepily dragged herself to one of the seats, showing only a little interest in the changes of our vehicle, then curled up and began snoring almost immediately. Myst had stopped her own snoring and was a little less tightly curled up. She had fallen asleep, too.

I groaned. I couldn't sleep, no matter how tired I was. There was so much to do, so much to plan, so much to think about. For example, what had happened back there? I could understand the whole 'cleanup the place then go to a stable' thing, but what was in that chamber? That orb... and then those two statues. Each one emitting one of the two signals. Each one had their own intentions; one protected us, the other attacked us. No machine, no matter how advanced, could have done that. They had shown sentience. As far as I knew, only AI's had shown a level of awareness similar to sentience, and even that disturbed me.

Then I noticed something. "Zaita... what's going on? Why is everything so... quiet?"

"It has always been quiet in here when none of you spoke, Goldwreath." Huh. Her voice had also changed. While it was still her own voice, now it sounded more... aware. More intelligent, more powerful. Maybe it was the dual effect, similar to Veltrio's voice, or maybe it was something else.

"Yeah, but... I hear nothing. None of the two signals." Ever since the bridge, I had always been hearing them within the vehicle. They were soft and distant background noises, but they were always there. Skyfire and Myst never seemed to notice, though. It was almost as if I was the only one who had been hearing them the whole time.

"You noticed? Yes, the signals stopped broadcasting after what happened back there, but... you noticed? In the first place, the signals can only be heard at a certain strength. I had not been broadcasting them on the strength necessary for hearing."

"Huh." So THAT was why it was so... uncomfortably quiet. My mind was thankful for the relief, as I knew at this point that the two signals screwed around with it. "Well, I was always able to hear them." 'But why?' was the question. I had never done anything to my ears that could possibly have augmented them.

The camera focused on me for a second, before looking back outside. "Interesting." Well, not really 'interesting', Zaita. More like concerning.

But despite my stoic refusal to sleep, my body got the better of me. All I managed to do was crawl to the seat next to Skyfire and sit up against the brand new and shiny walls of our transport. Slowly, my eyelids came down. I tried fighting it, just for the sake of seeing how long I could last. Eventually, though, those efforts proved futile and they came down fully.

Just before I fell asleep, I mumbled something along the lines of, "Zaita... wake me up... if something... happens..."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was night time, and the clouds above were apart enough to see the stars in all their beauty. Yet again I was at the Forum, several hundred feet above it's towering spire in the middle. The city all around, except for perhaps a mile about the Forum, was alight with fire. The occasional artillery shell and explosion would bring a little more light to the city. I was floating again, which I still couldn't understand without the use of my wings.

But that wasn't what got my attention.

Everything was... normal. Well, as normal as I could hope for considering the weird shit that's been happening to me lately. The green and blue fogs were present, yet they were scattered and few, like they had been dispersed by a strong wind of some sort. To the south, the black land seemed to have temporarily stopped it's slow but sure spreading.

As I floated there, a gust of scattered green fog came close to me. It tried to wrap itself around me just like last time, but it was weak, for some reason. I easily broke free of what was supposed to be a grip of steel.

"Gah..." The sinister voice gasped... which sounded a lot like a mini-tornado was forming nearby. "Either I am getting weak, or you are getting stronger." It's voice in my mind elicited a little pain, and my thoughts immediately became harder to concentrate on. But amidst all that, my mind came upon one consensus: I was done being screwed around with by this thing.

"How about both, asshole?" I condescended, then flew forward and struck the fog ( how I even TOUCHED the fog, I don't know ). I was so angry at it. I wanted it gone. I wanted it to stop screwing with me. Somehow, I had deduced that the high-pitched signal and this entity, whatever it was, were one and the same. Either that or they were very closely related; they both screwed around with me, and both made me want to do things that were otherwise against my nature. Those were two similarities too important to dismiss as coincidence.

"How do you like being toyed around with, huh?!" I yelled at it as I grabbed the diminishing mist and punched it repeatedly. With every punch, I felt a small, a VERY small, pain sting inside my head. "How do you like being fucked with?"

I finally released it and spat at it out of disgust and hatred. It was a mistake, as immediately more fog appeared out of the air around it and it began to form a big green cloud. "Hahahah," The voice chuckled deviously, and this time the pain in my mind was stronger and my thoughts were scattered much more thoroughly. "Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. My little... confrontation with him earlier has only tired me out temporarily." His words both brought and scattered ideas within my head. The pieces of my thoughts that I was able to gather confirmed my mounting suspicions that the signals and these entities, whatever they were, were indeed related. 

And if that was true, and the statue that protected me earlier was being controlled by the humming noise, then that meant the blue fog was friendly... or at least, didn't have bad intent. Now, if only I could figure out what the hell Tom and Tod were...

As if my thoughts of it was it's cue, a cloud of blue then descended from the night sky and slammed into it's rival green cloud just as the latter had gotten large enough to pose a true threat. They both tore each other into little wisps of fog. I just watched, curiosity and amazement replacing my fear. Eventually, the blue fog succeeded in driving away the green, which fled the area in little strands of similarly colored air. Just as they left, I felt a small stretch in my mind... it made me shudder.

"Are you alright?" The voice asked from within the blue cloud as it began to reform.

I smiled at it... no, 'him', in response. "Thanks for saving our asses back there. I thought we were toast." I meant it. If that higher signal had gone on for at least another second, we would have been impaled on massive spears.

"Think nothing of it. You are much too important to leave to the whims of a creature such as that. Wresting direct control of that mech from him, though, was... taxing, for the both of us." There was a sound similar to a clicking of a tongue from somewhere within the fog, and he continued, "Also, you really scared us when you approached the orb. We weren't and still aren't sure how it would react had you touched it."

"What do you mean?" Okay, now this was getting even more strange. "What about that orb? What exactly was that?" The musical notes of that beautiful orb were but a distant memory now, and that made me want to scream. When I was close to it... I felt so at peace, so safe. In contrast, every moment away from it felt like hell. "And I'm not that important. Sure, I try protect the city, but aside from that, I don't know what makes you think I'm important. There are other people who could use tour help aside from me, like the people in the city."

The cloud just floated around silently for a moment, the deep voice chuckling to itself. "You only think that way because you do not know just what you are. Believe me when I say that if you knew, you would think otherwise. As for the orb... well, that is a topic for another time."

Okay, now it was getting really weird. First some weird orb and then talking to these colored clouds. What next, was I going to start meditating with rocks? Yet I couldn't help but ask, "And just what am I, then? What could I be that's so very important?" Honestly, I didn't feel particularly important. Not that I was devoid of a sense of self-worth, but still.

Again, the voice chuckled. "That," He said, "is a topic of discussion for another time, when we feel that you are ready. For now, though, I think you should leave and get back to the physical world. There is a certain pony eager to meet you, and I feel it wrong to keep her waiting."

"Wait... uh, what?" I mumbled, feeling quite confused and more than a little unsettled by his words. I managed to sort out my thoughts enough to ask some important questions. "And who's 'we'? What exactly are you, and what's going on? And who's the pony?" But the blue cloud was already drifting away from me. "Wait! You've left me with more questions than answers! At least tell me who you are!"

At my pleading, the cloud stopped. For some reason, I could feel it watching me with eyes I couldn't see. "Who am I?" He asked rhetorically. "Well, all you need to know is that I am your ally."

With those words said, the cloud flew away to join a larger mass of blue fog once more locked in conflict with the green mist all over the city. The dark land was still dormant, though. 

All of a sudden, my vision started to become blurry as I felt myself slipping away into another world...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I felt my metal hoof plates scraping against the ground. My head was hung low enough that my face nearly touched the dirt. I lifted my head groggily, blinking hard to clear my vision. Around me, I heard the sounds of Verge's energetic night life, ranging from the passing by of a vehicle or the drunken mumbling of a local inhabitant. I felt two pairs of hooves holding me, both of which were supporting my weight from below. 

"... gah, he really needs to lay off on the biscuits. He's getting fat," Skyfire grunted as she and Myst dragged me along the concrete path that lead to Verge's hospital building. Through my hazy vision, I saw Myst give a single nod of agreement.

I broke myself free of their grip. "Yeah, okay, I can carry myself, thank you very much!" I wobbled on my unsteady legs for a moment before I balanced myself. "And I'm not fat, it's the armor," I felt a little blush form on my cheeks.

Skyfire looked at me with a sleepy yet amused smile, then yawned, "Yeah... sure, the armor..." She shook her head, then looked beside her at Myst, who had nearly fallen asleep while standing. She gave her a gentle nudge, and the earth pony shook her head hard and blinked several times. "Myst, you okay?"

The earth pony once more shook her head hard, then looked at my pegasus friend with wide eyes. "Oh, yeah. Just... a little tired..." She swayed and closed her eyes, and Skyfire and I caught her just before she hit the ground.

"I'll take her in, you go on ahead." I told my still awake companion as I slung Myst onto my back, and immediately got a tired look of concern from Skyfire. "What?"

"I can take her in, you know. Now that you're awake and on your own hooves, I can..." She yawned loudly and rubbed her eyes furiously to keep them open.

I shook my head at her. "Look, it's fine. She isn't that heavy. And you need to rest; you look like shit."

"And you don't?" She asked, putting an even more concerned look on her face. "You nearly died back there, you know. You must have been shot dozens of times. I only got shot thrice, and Myst once. If anything, you need to take a break the most."

I began trotting up the slope, and I heard Skyfire sigh before she followed me. "I can't, Skyfire. There's so much to do, so much think about, so much to plan. I can take a day or two without sleep, so long as I get what I need to do done. That's what matters." I reached the doorway, the glow of yellow light flowing out from inside. "When that's done... then I can rest. Not before."

I pushed the door open and was about to trot in, when Skyfire stopped me with a hoof. "Is this part of your screwed up sense of self-hurting?" She asked seriously, and her tone for some reason brought a frown across my face. "Because if it is, then I have to say that's stupid. You're tired and hurting, yet you assign yourself no time to catch a break? That is the most ridiculous..."

"Skyfire, enough." I said sternly, and she shut up. I did not want to talk about this, not with her, not with Myst. I owed them, but I would not let them have their way with me. "I'm not doing this out of any sense of self-hurting, nor because I want to. I am doing this so that the next time we run into trouble, or you two get hurt, or we need to do something, then we can deal with the situation in the most effective manner possible. I am doing this because I have to prepare us for what lies ahead. I am doing this because I need to." She looked at me hard, eyes glistening as though I had hurt her.

I pushed open the door and went inside. Skyfire didn't follow until a few moments later, and when she did she looked at me with a hurt expression. I just looked back at her sternly, and she shut her eyes and looked away. I could have sworn I saw a tear make it's way onto her cheek, but I'm not entirely sure.

I laid Myst on the bed I had used the last time I was here. Skyfire looked at me with the same concerned and hurt expression as she slowly got onto one of the beds, then curled up under the sheets. I heard her sniff as I trotted past her and to Zeneta, who was looking up at me from behind her glasses as she sat on a chair in the corner, a book held in her hooves. I think the title was something along the lines of 'Roaman Journal of Internal Medicine'.

"Is the filly okay?" I asked, already feeling my concern for the foal overcoming my own exhaustion. I glanced behind me at the corner, and saw the sleeping filly tucked underneath the sheets of the bed Skyfire had been in. On the table next to it was a radio ( I think the one Skyfire had been listening from ), as well as several sheets of paper with various sketches on them, none of which I could make out from my position. There were blood stains near the center of the room which is where I assumed they had operated on her. The operating table was nowhere to be seen, though. Maybe it was detachable?

Zeneta looked up at me with doctorly concern, but she at least answered the question and didn't start telling me how I needed to rest or something. "Yeah, we had to remove a lot of burnt flesh for the new ones to start growing. We also had to cut her lips apart because they had melted together. We had to make like a dozen burn salves and regrowth brews for her level of injury. In all honesty, I don't even know how she had even survived." She sighed and removed her glasses, then looked up at me. "Which brings me to an unwelcome topic... we're going to have to discuss payment."

I closed my eyes and brought a metal clad hoof up to massage them. Of course we'd have to pay this time. They had patched us up before out of thanks, but this filly had done nothing for them. But that was alright. I was responsible for this filly, it only made sense that I would be the one to pay. At least I wasn't burdening Myst with finances this time.

"Name it." I said tiredly, though I was actually very ready to give up the majority of pilfered healing supplies. She must have taken my exhaustion as annoyance, though, as she immediately started to take her words back.

"Eh, on second thought, maybe I can just give that one for free again. After all, that one tank..."

"No, it's fine. I'm just tired is all. Besides, you need to make a living too. It's only justifiable that you require payment." I looked over at my companions, and I saw Skyfire looking at me from under her sheets.

"Eh, alrght. If you insist." She cleared her throat, then blinked hard. I guess we weren't the only ones who were tired. "Now, the removal procedure for the burnt flesh required a lot of painkillers and disinfectant, which total up to maybe...  a thousand caps. Then there was the post-surgery medication..."

"Doc, let's just get straight to the point, alright? I'm tired as fuck, so please just tell me how much I owe you." I said, starting to get a little grouchy from the exhaustion. I didn't mean to offend, and in fact I was about to apologize for what I said. Still, I guess the doctor agreed with me on that point.

"Alright, well, in total you owe me three thousand caps. That's actually a lot less than what any doctor you'll find in the city would charge you."

Hmmm, three thousand caps, huh? Funny, a little over a week ago I would have considered myself lucky to find another dozen caps. Now, though, I was sure that I had more caps than I needed... in the form of my brand new healing supplies.

Some negotiating and the majority of my healing supplies later and that was set. She had actually argued that I may have given her more than what I owed her after the forty-second healing potion, but I suspected she was just saying that. I was also a little glad; with all that weight gone, I felt a lot less pressured. I had been left with a mere fraction of what I had, but that fraction still amounted to over twenty potions and several packs of bandages. If I pooled that together with what Skyfire and Myst had... well, suffice it to say we wouldn't be hurting for healing supplies any time soon.

With that out of mind, I trotted over to the filly. In general, she still looked pretty screwed up. Slow, shallow, uneven breaths were the only real sign she was still alive. She had a pale yellow coat, the strands of fur comprising it being less than a few millimeters in height. Beneath her coat were patches of new hide where before I had seen burnt flesh. Her mane and tail were also still regrowing, but they looked to be a dark brown. I couldn't make out her eyes, though. 

But despite all that, I felt good. A little disappointed in myself, but better than I had felt in the past day. I had saved one of them from Predator, at least. It was better than every single one of them, though I still felt a little like I should have been able to rescue more. Dozens of people, and I only managed to save one of them. Now THAT made me feel so inadequate and incapable.

'Oh no,' Tom said, 'That wasn't your fault, alright? Listen to Skyfire, she's right. Not everything that happens is your fault just because you were involved in one way or another. You don't have to take responsibility for everything.'

'Maybe.' I thought back at him. 'But that doesn't make me feel any better. I still failed to save them, and I have to live with that. You're right, I don't have to take responsibility for it. But for some reason... I do. I don't want to, but I do. My brain's pretty fucked up, ain't it?'

'No, that's just your nature.' He responded.

'How so? Why would that be part of my nature?' Okay, now this was getting even more uncomfortable and strange. It was already weird that I was talking to my brain, but now it was even more so. 'And how would you know? And... what are you?'

For a moment, he didn't answer. He just chuckled, something which felt disturbingly like a miniature heart was beating in my head. 'Haven't you figured it out yet?' He asked, bringing to mind a suspicion I had been having for quite a while now.

Without delay, I decided to put my theory to the test. 'Let me guess... the blue fog?' It made some sense. The humming signal had been confirmed to be some kind of sentient entity, together with the other signal. Tod and Tom both acted up, or at least made their presence in my head greater, when the two signals were around.

Tom laughed once, then confirmed my suspicion. 'Ah, so you are becoming more aware. That's good. We'll need you aware when the time comes.' Again with the 'we' and 'when the time comes' crap. As much as I appreciated him saving our lives, I also wanted some answers from him. I mean, he was a talking blue fog in my dreams, a humming noise in the physical world, and a sensible entity in my head. Truth be told, I was actually surprised I didn't react to these realizations with more surprise, disbelief, or interest.

Again, I asked, 'What... uh, who are you? Why don't you tell me anything?'

'Because that would endanger you, and endangering you is the last thing we want. You'll just have to trust me to tell you what you need to know and when you need to know it.' He responded simply, then clicked his... tongue. 'In fact, this conversation we are having right now is endangering you. That... other one... is likely listening in.'

'You mean Tod? Yeah, what is he, anyway?'

'That is not his name, but... yes, him. In fact, I'm going to have to beat the living shit out of him right now to make sure he knows nothing. As for your other question... he is the same thing as me, except... misguided.' There was the strange sensation of him moving away from me, like we were having this conversation in a room, and he was heading for the exit. 'I must go now. There are other things I must tend to.'

'Wait! I still have so many questions, so many concerns you could help me with. Can't you stay a little longer?'

'Sorry, but there are others in need of my help. You get most of my attention, and only most.' He paused for a while, then gasped. 'Oh, wow, that's a lot of vehicles. And they're going to kill all those people...' My own heart stopped, and I waited intently for him to continue. 'Well, as long as he doesn't interfere, I can stop them. Excuse me.' Then I felt something similar to letting out a breath, except it came from my head. Now my mind felt empty and placid... except for this minor headache I was now having. Probably him dealing with Tod.

When I finally turned my attention back to what was going on around me, I realized that I had been standing in the same spot for nearly five minutes while I was talking to Tom. From the corner, Zeneta was looking at me strangely as she sat and held her book. I shook my head, then grabbed one of the chairs and set it down next to the filly's bed.

For the next few minutes I sat there, listening to her uneven breathing. Myst and Skyfire had fallen asleep, the latter positioned in such a way that told me she had been watching me while I was having that mental conversation. Zeneta finally stopped her reading and trotted out, locking the door and flicking the light switch as she did. That left me as the only conscious pony here. That let me think about... everything that had happened since I emerged into the outside.

The sound of a cricket came from outside the window, it's repetitive stridulating the only other noise I heard as I sat there, letting the minutes flow by. Occasionally, I would hear a few ponies or zebras trot by, talking about something I didn't care for. 

It was midnight, according to my pipbuck. A group of passers-by were trying to get in. One of them, a zebra, from his accent, was picking the lock on our door. All the while he was whispering to some others about how high they were going to get, and how lucky they would be if they found more drugs in here. When the door opened, they trotted in; a group of five shadows against the moonlight, four zebras and one unicorn.

They flicked the switch, giggling and grinning in anticipation. Those smiles faded when they saw me sitting down in the corner, gladius at my side and wearing all my apparently intimidating armor, and watching them. For maybe a minute they stood there, staring at me anxiously and with knives in their hooves and mouths. I didn't react in the slightest... except for standing up and slowly and deliberately drawing my blade, letting it ring in the air as I pointed it at them. I took one step forward, putting emphasis on the weight of my metal clad hoof as I let it hit the ground. That caused them quite a stir.

Without a word, they left, leaving the light on and the door open. Before the last one left, he gave me a strangely thankful and apologetic look. I didn't return it. I trotted forward as quietly as I could and locked the door again. Then I flicked the light switch before going back to the chair.

'And that's why I can't rest.' I thought. Every moment I would spend resting, something like that, maybe worse, was happening somewhere. That was why I had to remain vigilant, remain on the watch. Because if I had been asleep when they broke in... one of my friends could have gotten hurt, maybe even the filly. If I ever let my guard down, someone would pay the price for my weakness.

So I sat there, a quiet guard, until the first rays of day came. By then I was even more exhausted than I was the night before, and my head throbbed terribly. My eyes drooped and every movement felt like I was lifting a ton of weight. My limbs were shaking and I was sweating madly. But all that was fine with me. So long as I would be there when I was needed, I couldn't care less how much I needed rest. So again I just sat there, until the rays in the sky became brighter and more numerous.

My headache stopped. I felt a strange breeze blow against my head, yet I was sure it wasn't from the wind; all the windows were closed.

'You are still awake?' Tom asked. I just nodded to myself in response.

'You saved those people?' I asked.

'Well... yes. It was a little difficult, but yes. Right now, though, I am more concerned about you. Can't fall asleep?' Again, I just nodded.  'Well, this should get you to fall asleep, then.'

My eyes shot wide open from their sleepy drooping at his words. No, I couldn't sleep yet! Not until I was sure nothing else happened, not until I was done thinking about what I had to think about.

But there was nothing I could do about it. I felt something in my head, like a zap of static. Something entered my bloodstream, and a single heartbeat later my eyes closed on their own. My limbs went limp and all my thoughts stopped. The last thing I felt was slumping onto the floor.


*** Magnus et Potens Roamanus ***


I opened my eyes to the near blinding light of noon. All about me, the sounds of Verge's populace were playing out. I felt my head and body on a soft bed, which was soaked in my sweat. I was on Skyfire's bed for some reason, and when my eyes finally adjusted I saw her sleeping next to me, against the wall. That fact immediately woke me up as I stared at her wide-eyed, my cheeks blushing.

I gasped, "Oh, no... what... what the hell happened while I was out?" Did I... w-were the sheets wet?! Oh, Goddesses, they were... What... what the hell happened over here?

In the hopes of finding something, anything, to prove that I had done nothing lecherous, I looked around the room, and saw Myst sitting at the sunlit doorway, munching on some roasted treat on a stick. She turned to look at me and began trotting over, an uncharacteristically devious smile forming on her face as she looked between me and Skyfire. I gulped, preparing myself for the inevitable embarrassing remark her facial expression promised. Skyfire shifted a little, and I saw her face glistening with her own mild sweating.

"So," Myst purred, "How was last night?" Oh, boy. This was... an extremely awkward situation. The blush I was sure I had on my face only widened her devious grin. I also had to tuck my wings in closely to keep them from flaring out.

"Myst... I... what the hell happened? Why am I on the bed?" She just continued her extremely disturbing smile, all the while looking at me with an unbelievably... 'attractive' facial expression. She shifted to her side, then put her forelegs onto the bed close to me, giving me a good view of her. I never knew the ever-shy Myst could look so ridiculously... I'll just say it, sexy, if she put effort in it.

"Oh, I think you already know." She said as she batted her eyelashes. I may not have been able to see myself, but I was sure I was a fine shade of rose red at that point.

I buried my face in my hooves, shaking my head in shame and disbelief. "That's... no, just... no." Had I actually done this? Did I really, above all the things I had to do, do this? How did that even happen? I was supposed to be preparing for what we would face in the city, not... as Butterscotch had put it, 'take the load off'. A part of my head told me I had. That thought sunk in, and I lay back on the bed, still covering my face out of shame.

Then she started laughing; a deliberately slow, amused chuckle. I peeked out from between my hooves to see her laughing and shaking her head. "Oh, Goldwreath." She said, "You don't actually believe you did that, did you? Because if you did... well, that's just silly of you."

I just stared at her through my hooves for a moment, both immensely relieved that I had NOT in fact done anything... regrettable to Skyfire, and utterly disappointed in myself for being foolish enough to believe I had. But, now with my emotions a little more sorted out, I started to get rather pissed off. 

"Why the hell did you make me think I had, then?" I asked Myst, who then looked a little bit ashamed of herself as she got off the bed. "I can't believe I actually believed that I did that! And you... you tricked me!" 

Despite herself, she looked back up at me with a little bit of pride. "Well... you did tease me a few times. I guess now we're even." She smiled at me in a manner more friendly and calm than I would have given if I were her. After all, making your friend believe he had abused his friend... that would have made me feel ashamed.

Despite that, I actually laughed a little. She had me there; I had teased her quite a bit, together with Skyfire. As much as a part of my brain wanted me to lunge at her and rip her throat out, another part of me found some humor in the situation instead. And yet another part of my head just felt, strangely, amused.

"Hmph. Alright, alright, you got me. But seriously, how'd I get on the bed? I don't remember even wanting to go to sleep, let alone getting on the bed..." Really, the only thing I remembered was something about talking to Tom.

Wait, speaking of Tom, where was he? And Tod? I didn't have even a slight headache, which I had at this point taken as a sign of their constant presence in my head. I could tolerate and even accept Tom's presence; he seemed to be friendly, if enigmatic. Tod, though, was probably the source of a great deal of my mental agony, and his presence in my mind I did NOT like, especially now that I knew that they were the entities in my dreams. Right now, though... my mind was blank. Well, not really; just a lot less active than when they were around. I had just gotten so used to my mind being in a constant buzz due to what was most likely their activities in my head that my mind being placid was... pleasant, yet... strange. It just felt more natural when they were around, as strange as that sounds.

A concerned frown crept onto Myst's face before she looked up at me, rubbing the side of her sock-clad hoof with her other hoof in anxiety. "You were exhausted. We woke up after you collapsed onto the floor. Skyfire said she heard you fall down, then pulled you up onto the bed." Then she looked at Skyfire next to me with a concerned look, as well. "But... I didn't hear anything, and I think my ears are at least a little sharper than hers. I think... I think she was staying awake with you until you went to sleep."

She was? Why would she do that? I didn't need to be watched over, but they did. While I did not doubt their ability to protect themselves, I just felt like it was my duty to watch over them. It felt like it was my job, even if they had never even asked me to do it. Call me crazy, but that sense of patriotism I had for Equestria weeks ago was still with me, and that feeling felt somehow extended to the city of Roam, then to my friends. Why, I couldn't tell at the time. It just felt natural; maybe it was the praetorian armor or something else.

I looked over at her, sleeping peacefully next to me. She was concerned about me. Concerned that I might push myself too far or exert myself too much and that I might get myself hurt. It was true that ever since two weeks ago, I had been in a state of near constant pain, but weren't we all? Really, I wasn't very concerned about myself. I could take whatever the wasteland could throw at me so long as the people who deserved better didn't take the heat. I still had failures to make up for, injustices to punish myself over. I guess part of the reason I wasn't so worried about myself was because my desire for that redemption kept telling me I had to do more to make up for my mistakes.

That was only part of the reason. Honestly, the other reason was that I wanted to prove worthy of my title. People recognized me as the Praetorian, the defender of Roam. And if I was going to be the protector they needed... well, I had to push myself to be better, otherwise people would suffer for it. I didn't want myself to be inadequate again, not like in the stable. Because this time there were more lives on the line. Even a small mistake on my part could get a dozen people killed, and I didn't want that.

For the entire duration of all these thoughts, I sat there on the bed. Myst looked on, occasionally bringing up the roasted treat to her mouth and nibbling at it. Skyfire continued to rest beside me, her each breath raising her chest up and bloating the sheets. 

And then I suddenly became more aware, like a sort of fifth sense, of another presence in the room. It was... a scared entity... I could detect it...

"Come on out, I'm not going to hurt you." I said to the bed where the filly had been last night. I didn't even glance at my E.F.S, nor did I even think of the filly since waking until now. Even stranger, the bed looked empty. The sheets were messed up and strewn around the bed and over it's side, yet I just knew she was there. Myst looked to the bed, then back at me with a confused look.

To the surprise of us both, the filly slowly poked her little head out from under the bed, behind the portion of the sheet that had fallen over the side. Now I could see her eyes; they were a lime green. She kept her eyes on me as she cautiously crawled out from behind the sheet and out onto the floor. When she did, she kept her head hung low as she took a few steps back into the corner where the bed met the wall.

I got off the bed carefully so as to not wake Skyfire and trotted towards the filly with small, light steps ( or at least as light as I could make my hooves sound ). The filly, despite her scared and uncertain look, didn't flinch or run away. She just sat there, looking up at me from her bowed head. Myst followed close behind.

"Hey," I said as I reached her, kneeling so that her eyes were on the same level as mine. Now she reacted, using her small forehooves to push herself against the wall with a soft whimper. "What's your name?"

She didn't respond for a long moment as she cringed into the corner like a trapped animal. She would occasionally glance up at the two of us nervously, all the while tapping a single hoof onto the ground repeatedly. I just waited patiently; this filly, after all, had recently had her entire family roasted to a crisp by Predator, who also nearly killed her. If that doesn't make someone quiet and reclusive, I don't know what will.

"Doodle." She finally said after about a minute. The volume with which she said it was so low that I thought she had completely lost her voice. Myst seemed to have heard it; I guess, being a shy pony who had shy friends, she was used to picking up small voices.

I, though, needed to hear that again. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"My name's Doodle." She said, a little louder as she got up off the floor.

"Doodle? Nice name you got there." I spared a glance at her only partially burned and mostly healed flanks, and there I saw it: a cutie mark of a sketch pad partially opened, with a pencil laying on the ground next to it, shortened from immense use. Now the numerous crumpled sketches lying around the bed made sense.

"How'd you get it?" Myst asked, eliciting a confused and only slightly scared look from the filly. "Your cutie mark, I mean."

The filly shook her head. "I'd... rather not talk about it." Myst looked at the filly wide-eyed for a moment, then promptly hanged her head with an expression that told me she was berating herself for asking such a question so early into the conversation. Personally, I was glad she was punishing herself; I didn't tell her, but I thought that question at that time was absolutely stupid and uncalled for. Better that she learned that now before we came across another foal that needed a little talk.

And then I felt it again. That same awareness that had somehow alerted me to the filly's presence. Except this time the entity I felt in my mind was... tense. It was worried, frantic, and... and I could feel it coming closer. It felt strange; like my mind was a spread-out sheet, and the entity was like a marble rolling across the surface and towards the center: me. 

And then I felt more entities, much further away from me. I felt a particularly large cluster of... of... what was the term? They felt malicious in my mind, bent and wicked. Not all of them, just a great majority of them. That cluster was moving towards me fast; really, really fast. All around and much closer to me than the cluster I felt a great number of entities, as well. However, they felt... 'neutral' is the only way I can possibly describe them. Right now, the things I was feeling... there was no description for any of these feelings. The closest I could get is that I was simply aware of them, even if I didn't see them.

There was this one entity I felt that really got my attention, though. It was painful to even recognize it in my mind. It's presence felt evil and wicked, yet it also felt... regretful and... sad. I didn't know what it was, and honestly at the time I didn't want to know.

I realized I had been feeling all this over the span of just a few seconds. But that was all the time needed for the frantic, worried entity to reach me.

The zebra I had talked to in the bar ( the one which I still suspected was a Specter ) burst into the room, sweating madly as he darted his eyes to and fro until they landed upon me. If he wasn't a Specter, then he at least had all he needed to be one; that is, a ridiculous amount of various types of equipment (not all of which he needed for mere traveling), far more guns and ammo than he could possibly need unless he was actually looking to fight, and a backpack large enough to be about half that of Doomtune's.

"Praetorian, I need your help!" He said in a rush as he trotted to me at a brisk pace. Myst stepped in front of him, rifle in her hooves in the zebra manner of holding weapons. The filly slowly crawled back under the bed with a whimper. 

"It's okay, Myst. If he needs to tell me something, he should tell me now." I could feel the cluster was much closer now. Their presence in my mind caused me a little pain, but I suppressed it. "What is it?"

"It's the Legion. They're coming here. They've never come here before, as far as I know. They aren't changing course towards the anomaly to the south, so they must be coming here for something else." He looked around with a crazed look until he saw Skyfire lying on the bed. "And wake your friend up. If they decide to attack us, we'll need everyone with a weapon."

Well, that confirmed what the cluster was. I told Myst to take care of Skyfire while I galloped out with the Specter. I knew now he was a Specter because out of his backpack he had pulled out a similar helmet with armored gasmask, except that one was a tan coloration instead of black; much more fitting with his faded brown vest.

Already I could see the townsfolk running about, alerting the guards and the few APC's of the impending danger. To the north, I made out dozens of small or large dark spots against the sunny sky. If I listened closely, I could hear the rotating of blades and the combustion of engines.

We slowed down near the northern wall, within a circular clearing in the midst of a large number of merchant stalls. The merchants themselves were running further into the settlement together with all the other residents. The guards and armored vehicles were gathered near the walls, mounting machineguns and setting up along the platforms. The turrets of the APC's turned towards the sky, preparing their large caliber weaponry in the event of a shootout. 

For a dreadfully long time we waited. Skyfire and Myst came to us from the hospital room, the pegasus' plasma rifles crackling with energy as she powered up both of them to their max. The guards stood about us, watching the growing mass of aircraft become bigger as they got closer. Myst displaced a while after she arrived; something about getting to a good sniping position. Zaita was floating above the other APC's. Perhaps she had someone inside mounting the guns.

Then they arrived. There were about two dozen small helicopter aircraft with leather-clad Legionnaires with rusty metal shields exposed on the sides. There were perhaps eight jet-VTOL hybrids with them, autocannon and machinegun turret barrels popping down from their bottoms like spears stabbing down from the sky. There was also a particularly large VTOL that was about two times the size of the regular and had what looked like vehicle cabins beneath it that could fit maybe one of the small helicopters.

They spread out above the circular clearing and a little further into the market, where the helicopter aircraft then descended down into the immense dust clouds being made by the VTOLs and their engines. Through the dust, I saw the gleam of metal as the Legionnaires spread out and secured the area. We didn't open fire just yet.

Then the VTOL's descended in uniform motion, leaving only the very large one still in the air. They touched down in a circular formation within the clearing and sent a blast of sand and dust that got into my eyes, and I had to blink hard to get the particles out. When I cleared my vision again, I saw the large metal draw-bridges slamming down onto the ground. More Legionnaires, this time clad in the kevlar vest with steel plate reinforcing similar to the ones I had seen in the memory orb, came charging out on their hindlegs, shiny metal shields held with their left forelegs and gladiuses held with their right. They had their guns slung across their back together with three metal rods; extendable spears, if the brightly glowing energy tips were any indication.

They didn't charge at us. Rather, they surrounded us, cutting off the circular clearing from the rest of the settlement. They turned to face us, then, in typical Roaman infantry fashion, they grabbed their shields and formed a solid shield wall that we most likely couldn't break through, even with the vehicles. Even though they didn't show direct motive to kill us, we kept our weapons on them anyway.

Finally, the largest aircraft began it's descent. The vehicle cabins opened, revealing not vehicles, but several dozen Specters. They varied in appearance, mostly due to the camo of their clothing, but they all had one similar characteristic: red and grey streaks painted on their vests and helmets and along their limbs.

They jumped out even before the aircraft touched down and landed in the dirt, rolling forward to avoid injury and immediately pulling out their guns and pointed them at us. The majority of them spread out around the ring of Legionnaires, while four of them kept their eyes on us. The friendly operative in front of me responded in kind when he pulled out two SMG's and directed them to his traitorous brethren.

Now the vehicle hit the ground, and it's weight vibrated through the ground with a dull permanence. The door slowly fell forward, and power-armored juggernauts marched our from each side of the doorway in single file. Their hooves stomped into the dirt hard as they continued marching, eventually creating a walkway in between them large enough for  perhaps three people to trot side by side. They stopped in front of us, the two closest juggernauts glaring at me and Skyfire through their translucent visors. Skyfire reacted by entering a combat stance, and I had no doubt that she wanted to kill them. I remembered what I had told her back on that road, and how she responded; 'But I don't think I can give any of those people a second chance.'

Out of the open doorway came a power-armored zebra. He had no helmet, instead using what looked like a holographic interface that projected from a piece of headgear that he wore around his head. He had a bright red cape over his back, clasped to his chest by a golden circular plate. His power armor itself was armed with a large cannon on the left side. His neck guard was violet and the armor plates much more ornate; he was a high-ranking official in the Legion.

He trotted forward casually, his grin widening with every step he took as he approached us. I could just imagine how Skyfire felt about this guy; she was probably imagining what kind of pipe to use when she poured acid down his throat. I also had this feeling that Myst's crosshairs were right on this guy's forehead. The Specter operative in front of me directed his two weapons to him and away from the traitors.

"Ah, Praetorian. It is good to finally meet you. I am executor Thanus of the Equestrius cohort," He introduced himself and waited for my response. I didn't respond in any way. He sighed, "Really? And here I thought you would be willing to accompany me to the Forum. You seem quite intent on going there, after all."

"How did you find me here? And why would I go with you? Besides, I thought the Legion wanted me dead." I replied sharply. From the look Skyfire gave him, she really hated him for merely speaking.

He looked a little disappointed at the manner of my reply, but responded, "Dead? Yes, we DID want you dead, but not anymore. The Legate has generously decided to pardon your crimes against us. This mercy will not be extended to you again. As for your concern on how we found you, we knew you were in the general area of the city's southern outskirts, we just didn't know where exactly." He smiled, "That is, until we got an anonymous tip that you were in Verge." He shrugged, "It was all we had to go on, so we just assumed that the info was from a credible source. Glad to know it was. Now, if you would be so kind as to step into the transport so we can get this over with..."

"I'll meet the Legate on my own terms, executor. I'll not trust the safety of my friends to you, nor will I risk meeting your Legate in a situation completely beyond my control." I interrupted, much to the executor's surprise. He glared at me, then gestured for the traitor Specters to back away.

He stepped closer to look me right in the eye. "Who do you think you are to keep my lord waiting? All he desires is the chance to speak with the individual who seems so bent on getting to the Forum. Here I am merely providing transport to the place you seek, and you would decline?" He shook his head. "Disappointing. If you will not come with us willingly, then I must bring you with us by force. Take him to the transport." He turned away from me with a look of disgust. Several of the juggernauts stepped closer to grab me.

"Back off!" Skyfire said, and fired a bolt from Sally into each of their helmets. The metal melted slightly, obscuring their vision as they staggered away. 

I don't think she should have done that, even if I shared her sentiment. The ring of Legionnaires who had before simply watched now advanced slowly, encroaching on us. The heavily outnumbered guards and accompanying vehicles stood their ground for the most part, though some of them did back away as the tips of the Legionnaire's energy spears came close. All of the juggernauts and the traitor Specters moved in on us, as well. The aircraft above began shooting further into the settlement, either warning any bystanders to back away or actually killing innocents. I seriously hoped it wasn't the latter.

"Control your friends, Praetorian. You wouldn't want any of these people to suffer for that bitch's arrogance and stupidity, would you?" Thanus asked from the doorway of his aircraft. I heard Skyfire's teeth grit as she glared at him. "All of this would be so much easier if you would just come with me."

"Fuck you, asshole!" Skyfire screamed and charged past the juggernauts, firing shot after shot from her plasma rifles. I tried to stop her, but she was too quick. 

It didn't matter. All of her shots missed, and before she could get any closer one of the juggernauts punched her in the face, knocking her back and bloodying her face. When she tried to get up, they began beating her right in front of me. She tried to fight back, but there were too many of them, and I was sure even one would have been enough to overpower her. 

I watched in shock for a few seconds, my anger boiling inside of me. I seethed in rage at what was going on in front if me. At that point, I whipped out Tankbuster and charged forward, intent on blasting their heads off in a spray of brains and gore for hurting my friends, and even more so in front of me.

But they had expected that. I didn't even pay attention to the operative's warnings. I got about halfway to her when three enemy operatives lunged at me, landing blows at any exposed part of my body; my neck, especially. I fell down in the dirt, coughing and struggling for air as they continued to render any exposed part of me useless with strategic strikes.

Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, the guards and the vehicles opened fire, the vehicle's heavy guns punching through the Legionnaire's shields and scattering the ring. Still, the storm of lead that they sent into the scattered shield circle and into the crowd of juggernauts was rather pathetic compared to the retaliatory fire. I screamed for them to stop, but they didn't hear me. I was too weak, too inadequate to get them to stop.

The juggernauts beating Skyfire into submission refocused on the guards and opened up with machineguns and rockets; weaponry good for dealing with both infantry and vehicles. Any exposed guards were torn to pieces and more than half of the vehicles exploded when the aircraft rained down missiles. All through this, I just lay there on the ground, covering my ears while fighting for breath. I managed to spot a few Legionnaires go down from head shots, though; most likely the work of our sniper friend.

The fighting went on for maybe a minute, wrecking the entire market area. Really, though, it was more of a slaughter than an actual fight. In the distance, I saw three flashes of blue and a few miniature bolts of lightning stab the area around the flashes. My battered pegasus companion and I were shielded from the fighting by the wall of Legionnaires lined up around us and destroying any resistance with ease. I felt guilty, having gotten the majority of the town's security force killed out of my refusal to just go with the executor. 

"Alright, alright, obturatio dirigentes, Legionnaires." The executor said over the noise of the battle, which had gotten light enough that he didn't even need to shout. "There's no need to destroy the whole town. We have the Praetorian and his companions, we can leave now."

The Legionnaires stopped shooting, leaving the area in an eerie silence broken only by distant screaming and scattered shooting. They regrouped and began marching back to the vehicles they had come from, dragging the occasional resident or surviving guard in with them. I even saw the non-traitorous Specter, his vest torn to shreds and equipment confiscated, being dragged along by two traitor Specters into the large VTOL.

To my horror, I even saw Myst, bloody-faced and limping, shoved inside one of the smaller VTOLs. Next was the unconscious Skyfire, whom one of the juggernauts had the audacity to simply throw into the aircraft. I saw Zaita, deactivated and upside down, being lifted by one of the aircraft via ropes as it took off from the ground. Well, that explained the blue flashes.

Next they came for me, and the juggernaut and steel clad Legionnaire dragging me along first brought me to the executor, who looked at me disappointedly.

"I hope you're happy. You've just gotten people killed, and all because you just had to 'meet the Legate on your own terms'." He sighed and shook his head, then looked back at me sadly. I wanted that false look of pity torn off of his face, so I tried to break free of my captor's grip to do it myself. It didn't work, and I got myself bucked by power-armored hooves instead. He sighed, "You should have just listened to me. Then maybe none of this would have happened. None of these people deserved to die." He turned around and began trotting back into the aircraft, but stopped, along with everyone else, when he heard someone laughing. Immediately, their were surprised gasps and the sounds of dozens of gun mechanisms being readied. 

"Well, that depends on how you view death; is it a gift or a curse? I personally view it as a gift!" One person said with a laugh. I recognized that voice. I hated it. I wanted the one who possessed it to be wiped from existence; to be set ablaze and have his ashes spread to every cursed and dark corner of the world.

I turned slowly, and there he was: Predator, sitting on the ruined remains of a stall, calmly loading bullets into the Vengeance-like revolver. He had an even larger backpack than Doomtune did, and maybe thrice as much equipment. Around him were perhaps a dozen juggernauts and twice that number in regular steel-clad Legionnaires, all pointing their weapons at him. He didn't react at all; in fact, after he loaded his revolver he pulled out a weapon that looked something like a hybrid between an assault rifle and a heavy machinegun and began loading that as well.

"Who are you? And where did you come?" Thanus asked slowly, obviously perplexed and a little bit annoyed by the bastard's sudden appearance. Even the Legionnaires now surrounding him seemed a little uncertain as to the circumstances of the guy's enigmatic arrival.

Predator took his time and finished loading the gun before he answered, and when he did he did so in the most complacent and relaxed manner as his dead voice could permit. "For the first question... well, you may recognize me as the... hehe, 'Great Arsonist'." Predator chuckled; a terrible and malicious laugh that made the Legionnaire's eyes widen in terror as they shuffled backwards a little. They murmured to one another; obviously, him being the 'Great Arsonist' meant a lot. Even Thanus himself looked greatly disturbed by Predator. "As for the second question, I came from the badlands, plain and simple."

"The... the Great Arsonist?" Thanus asked slowly, almost in a fearful manner. Then his expression hardened and his voice quivered with barely suppressed rage as he asked, "You are the one who set the entire city on fire all those weeks ago? You are the one who destroyed entire blocks of potentially priceless pre-war landmarks and industrial structures? You are the one who killed all those hundreds of people in three days of terrible flame?!"

"Yup, sure am," He said as he got up, casually cracking his neck. He picked up his revolver, and immediately the Legionnaires surrounding him backed away several feet. They relaxed just a little when he simply put the revolver in it's holster.

Thanus looked at the Specter with rage, then shouted at the Specters under his command, "Bring him with us! He has more crimes to answer for than he has lives to give!" Predator just snorted at him, and that seemed to piss off the executor even more. With his own snort of disgust, Thanus turned and stomped into his transport.

All of the Specters approached Predator slowly, like a pack of wolves around their prey, while the Legionnaires who had been surrounding him trotted away at a brisk and eager pace. When he saw his traitorous brethren slowly inch closer as they circled him, he rolled his head in boredom. "Come on, are you going to bring me with you or are you going keep dancing around me?" He rasped.

One of the operatives lunged forward, landing a blow to Predator's spine, which gave off quite a few sickening cracks. Predator fell forward with a howl slash growl of pain while the operative who had struck him hissed in suppressed agony as he hugged his hoof tightly. The other operatives picked Predator up off the ground, with at least four of them securing each of his limbs. He hung his head in apparent defeat.

My captors began dragging me to the VTOL where Myst and Skyfire were held, already strapped securely into the seats by other Legionnaires. To my chagrin, I saw that Predator was also being dragged to the same VTOL as I was. I glared at him the whole time, imagining different ways I would tear off his had the moment I was free of these people's grip.

Just as he was to be shoved into the vehicle's cabin, he raised his head up abruptly. "Hold on just a second." He said, and shook himself hard enough that he flung all of the Specters holding him into the air. He did it with such ease that I had to wonder if he could have just as easily killed all of them. He cracked his spine with a soft grunt just as the operatives recovered from their fall. Then he looked to me and crossed his forehooves onto his chest as he leaned against the doorway.

"So what about the filly, Praetorian?" My blood froze then and there, and even the two dragging me inside stopped. "You told me you would take care of her, right? Well, where is she? Or have you forgotten about her already?" He snickered and shook his head.

I hated him so much. I wanted to tear out his guts and strangle him with them. But he was also right; that filly had no family, no one to take care of her. I was the only person whom she had to turn to right now. I was responsible for her, and I had nearly left her behind. That made me feel even more disappointed in myself.

On the other hoof, what if Predator was just using me to get to her? He'd tried to kill her before, and only my friends' timely arrival had stopped him. If I brought her with me to the Forum, into the city, then... then wasn't I bringing her to danger? It was bad enough to be with me, considering the danger I had gotten myself and my friends into, and it was even worse to be with me once I entered the apparently very, VERY dangerous city of Roam. As much as I hated him, this was exactly the sort of predicament he had warned me about. Was I willing to do that to her?

Some part or my mind took over before I could really think about it properly. "No, I haven't," I said, surprising myself. "I'll bring her with me. I just need to go get her from the hospital." I looked hard at the two holding onto me. "And I will NOT leave without her." They looked to one another in uncertainty. 

Predator laughed, "You don't need to go back there. She's already with me!" He grabbed at the air next to his left forehoof... no, that wasn't air. Air didn't shine like that. He pulled at the nearly invisible nylon string, tugging at it hard every few seconds. Every time he did there was a distant thud and a muffled yell. The operatives near him kept their guns on him, but he didn't mind.

Eventually, the slightly shiny nylon string disappeared into a patch of air directly beside him. He grabbed a knife from one of his vest's many pockets, then cut the string. He reached a hoof over to the air and yanked at it. There was a flash of blue, and there was the filly; bound with nylon all around her legs and with cloth stuffed crudely into her mouth. In Predator's hooves was a stealth cloak, which he then threw inside at Myst, who was watching this whole spectacle with wide eyes. "Thanks for letting me borrow that. Next time, try to not leave behind your valuables on a bed."

He turned to Doodle, who was looking up at him with absolute terror. He could have killed her then and there. It would have been so easy, like snapping a toothpick. He could have succeeded where he had failed several days ago, and I suspected the sadist in him would have loved to hear me scream if he did just kill her right in front of me. His long stare at the terrified Doodle almost promised he would just kill her right at that moment, and his soft growling told me he very much wanted to.

Instead, he picked her up and flung her at me. I barely caught her in time, and even when I did I nearly dropped her. One of the Legionnaires had the decency to get her safely onto one of the seats before turning back to Predator with a hateful glare; one that I shared with him. Instead of trying to defend himself, he simply said, "You keep your promise, Praetorian. Because if her life doesn't improve while she's with you, then I WILL end her suffering. And if I decide to, you won't be able to stop me." My glare wavered under the certainty of his threat, and I found myself glancing back at the terrified and cringing Doodle.

The operatives once more moved in on him, but this time he just dismissed them with a wave of his hoof. "Yeah, yeah, don't get your manes in a knot. I'll seat myself inside, thank you very much." He trotted in at a casual pace. When he passed by me inside, he simply pushed me aside and sat himself between Myst and a Legionnaire, both of whom looked very uncomfortable in his presence. He glanced at both of them, then leaned back against the seat and relaxed.

When all of us were seated and any remaining Legionnaires were once more in their assigned aircraft, the door closed. Blue energy rippled out of my seat's armrest and the armrests of the seats of Myst, Skyfire (who was unconscious but was laid against her seat), and Predator. That energy then wrapped around all four of our limbs. Next came another blue energy that snaked out from beside our heads, which then pulled at our foreheads and drew them tightly against the seat. Lastly, and this time it was for all of us, seat belts shot out from the four corners of each seat and wrapped around the chests of everyone inside.

The vehicle's engine began powering up, and I felt us slowly ascending. Despite my head's rather secure bound, I managed to shift it just enough that I could look out one of the windows at Verge. It was still intact, save for a large blackened circle where the battle earlier had taken place. Still, at lest the whole town wasn't destroyed. But that didn't shake the feeling of guilt I had. If I had simply yielded... then maybe there would have been no unnecessary death.

'So, this is how I'm getting to the forum; bound by energy and in the presence of a deranged psychopath. What a lovely way of meeting Roam's number one oppressor.' I groaned, closing my eyes as I took that thought in. I was actually finally going to get to the Forum, and it wasn't even under the circumstances I had thought I would. Yet another of my plans gone wrong.

Then I heard the pilot's voice over the cabin. "Licuit, populum. Tempus adquirendi ad basim. Next stop: the Forum."


*** Magnus et Potens Roamanus ***


We had been flying for a little over an hour at this point; enough time for everything inside the cabin to settle down. The scenery outside the window had changed from wide, barren wasteland to low buildings, and finally now I was seeing ruined skyscrapers and what would have been dome-roofed structures if they still had their roofs. Every once in a while, there would be an explosion in one of the buildings or an artillery shell landing near enough that I could see the impact, but I only heard the occasional ping against our vehicle. Every time I did hear one, I immediately felt the vehicle shake as the guns opened fire on whoever the shooter was.

"Sorry I charged in like that." Skyfire said as she looked around the occupied cabin. She had woken up recently and begrudgingly accepted some healing bandages for her face from one of the soldiers next to her. "I just... I just wanted to kill him so badly. I just felt like if I didn't then he'd do something really bad." She sighed, "That... and I still want the Legion to pay for my squad's death." She tried tugging at the energy holding her down to no avail.

"Just control yourself when we get to the Forum. I swear, if you charge like that again, then I'll personally drag you out and beat you until you get yourself under control." I was still mildly pissed at what she did earlier. As much as I didn't want to pin some of the blame on her, the fact was that her little stunt did contribute to the unnecessary shootout.

She looked at the floor sullenly for a second, then nodded. She then turned to look at the bound and seated Predator with a scowl. "So... that's him, huh?" She whispered over to me, then smirked, "He doesn't look so tough."

"And neither do you, Skyfire." Predator retorted. Apparently he had really good hearing to have heard that over the sounds of talking and the engine's humming. Skyfire's eyes went wide at the fact that Predator knew her name, and I myself was surprised. Myst simply tried to move a few inches away from him, but her own bounds stopped her. "Physical prowess depends not on the appearance, but actual conditioning." Skyfire looked at him with wide eyes and a slightly scared expression. "What?"

"H-how do you know my name?!" She asked, startled and unsettled.

Predator just chuckled, "You haven't exactly kept your identity secure. Besides, I heard your name every time your friends over here uttered it. If you really don't want people to know who you are, you should minimize the use of your name." He sighed, "And I suggest you remove the spy bugs I placed on your transport. I don't really need their feed now, anyway." He turned to look at me and Myst, respectively. "I know your names, too."

I turned my attention away from him, while Skyfire balked at him with a strange mix of confusion and anger on her face. "Creepy fuck..." I muttered.

Doodle was sitting huddled in her seat, with one of the Legionnaires trying to coo her into accepting what looked like a roasted corncob. Eventually, he just sighed and placed it away. Skyfire had begun angrily mouthing off at Predator for what he did, though Predator didn't really seem to care. Or maybe he did, but his reactions were simply obscured by his helmet. Myst looked around the cabin and at the conversing Legionnaires with the same anxiety she had for me and Skyfire a little over a week ago.

"So," One of the Legionnaires said, "We nabbed two dangerous individuals in one go. I'd say that's more success than we've had the past month."

"Yeah, and one of them's the Arsonist himself." He glowered at Predator, who was still listening to Skyfire's ranting without any obvious reaction. "That fuck killed my whole family and burned our farm to the ground. Hopefully the Legate'll let me execute him myself." 

The pilot sounded over the cockpit again, "Alright, Forum is about twenty minutes away. Out." 

"I don't know," Another Legionnaire murmured with a shake of his head. "This doesn't feel right. He gave up too easily and with barely any resistance. What if he's planning something? He didn't surrender the last time we cornered him, why would he now?"

That got the nearby soldiers to look at Predator worriedly. But one of them just laughed, "Please, what could he possibly do? He's been able to screw with us because he was illusive. Now that he's in custody, that advantage is neutralized." He got up off his seat and trotted in front of Predator. Then he spat at him, eliciting a low growl from the operative. The Legionnaire who had been trying to talk to Doodle looked between me and my friends with a look of discomfort.

That did bring to mind an interesting thought, though...

I smirked. "Hey, Predator," I called, getting his attention away from the still ranting Skyfire, who then quieted down a little. "I thought you said the next time we would meet the circumstances would be under your control? Or did you forget about that already?" It felt quite satisfying to have used the zebra's own words against him. Still, I got a worried look from Skyfire, Myst, and every Legionnaire who had been in hearing range.

"The situation is under my control," He deadpanned. I gave him a look suggesting he was crazy. "I am just waiting for the right time to act." Okay, now I was scared. Every Legionnaire in the vehicle was also very worried. Some even pulled out there guns in case he tried anything. The one juggernaut in the vehicle with us took a few slow steps down the cabin towards him.

I laughed in disbelief, "Really? So all this..." I rolled my eyes around at the cabin, "... was part of your ridiculous plan? You're saying you wanted to get captured?" Wow, this guy was an absolute moron...

"Of course!" Predator said with a little tone of pride. "After all, it would have been no fun if I just killed all these idiots when I had the chance, so I let them bring me along for the sole purpose of lulling them into a false sense of security before I destroyed them." Okay, NOW the Legionnaires looked very scared. I would have been as well, if my fear wasn't overshadowed by my disbelief.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Skyfire asked. I looked beside me and saw Doodle, cringing against the seat so tightly I thought she may have melted into it. "You can't do anything, you're tied down just like the rest of us! Or did you forget to account for the possibility of them binding you down?"

"Nope. I knew they would." He tried tugging at the energy, but that produced no result. "After all, I knew they would be using this model of aircraft to come for you, so I didn't worry." He turned to the scared and worried Legionnaires, "You really should secure your coms more tightly; even a novice operative could hack into them."

He looked out the window and saw that we were passing over a long, wide road with tall skyscrapers on both sides. I managed to spot the other aircraft through the windows before they disappeared from sight when our own aircraft turned a corner. The streets below were teeming with dozens of ponies and zebras, all fighting either alone or in groups. Muzzle flashes and explosions illuminated the gloomy ground, and almost every single building had at least one of it's walls blasted out. The streets themselves were so obscured by dust that I almost couldn't make them out.

"Ah!" Predator said aloud, "We have arrived!"

"Alright, I can't take it." One of the Legionnaires said shakily as he got up and pointed a pistol at Predator's head. "I'm going to blow your fucking brains out before you do anything!" Clearly, this guy had not faced Predator before. I knew that a headshot wouldn't work, even if it should have. I was still wondering just how Predator had survived the time I shot him in the head. I could still see the holes punched into his helmet from when I had.

Echoing my own thoughts, Predator chuckled, "Boy, a pistol shot into my own eye sockets wouldn't kill me, so I wouldn't even try it when I'm wearing a helmet." He sighed, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a plan to put into motion..."

He began grunting savagely as he forced his head and hooves against the energy bindings. At first, I thought he had gone insane; there was just no way even he, for all his strength, could just force his way out of this. It was ridiculous, plain and simple. I was proven wrong when the armrests got ripped away from the seat, the bindings deactivating as they were cut off from their energy supply. He reached up both of his now-free forelegs to his still trapped head and yanked away the bindings there as well. All any of us could do was watch; me and my friends out of disbelief, while Doodle and the Legionnaires out of pure horror. 

"Open fire!" Yelled the juggernaut, his voice booming through the cabin as Predator removed any remaining bindings. The soldiers started shooting, the bullets ricocheting off of the metal near my friends and I as they bounced harmlessly off of Predator's vest. Still, he must have felt it, otherwise he wouldn't have been roaring in pain. He walked forward slowly, letting the would-be deadly storm of bullets strike him as though they didn't matter. Myst and Skyfire screamed, either out of the agony of the countless bullets ricocheting into them or out of the plain terror of the situation. I myself was frozen where I sat, my mind racing to piece together what was going on. Doodle was most likely screaming; her tiny little filly lungs didn't exactly make for the loudest voice. I just didn't hear her, anyway. 

"It's not working!" Yelled one of them as he unloaded his automatic shotgun into Predator's helmet.

"I can see that!" Responded another as he sprayed Predator's limbs with enough rifle rounds to have torn off the leg of a manticore.

Predator jumped, landing into the crowd of perhaps a little over a dozen Legionnaires, minus the juggernaut. They tried to swing their guns around to get at him, but it was too late. Predator brought out a wickedly curved, razor sharp blade. I heard him chuckle; a chuckle of absolute malicious delight. Then he plunged the blade into one of their skulls, piercing through the helmet easily. I shut my eyes as he began his slaughter.

They never stood a chance.

He tore them apart, literally. I didn't look, and I was pretty sure neither Skyfire, Myst or Doodle looked as well. I could hear the Legionnaire's agonized screams as their limbs were torn from their body, or at least that's what I thought all the ripping noises were. I could feel their blood and guts splattering all over me. Predator himself was roaring and grunting savagely as he killed them. Occasionally, one of them would be lucky enough to get off a shot, but it probably had no effect. Somehow, among all the chaos I was hearing, I heard a resounding metallic 'pong'.

I only spared a quick peek, and I saw one zebra being lifted into the air by... whatever the hell Predator was... and then ripped in half by the Specter's incredible strength. All about him were the ripped, cut, and generally brutalized corpses of what had once been his comrades. There were still three of them left; three more to be destroyed. One of them was the one decent Legionnaire who had tried to communicate with Doodle; something I should have done. I closed my eyes again just as I saw Predator punch off the head of one of the survivors.

As I sat there, shaking out of horror, the noise finally died down. There was a sickly squishy noise that went on for a few moments, and I dared open my eyes to find out what was causing it.

The first thing I saw was a limbless, headless corpse on Skyfire's lap, Predator's blade sticking out of it's ribcage. Her eyes were wide out of terror as she sat there, not being able to find it in herself to close them. Next I saw Myst, covered in the blood of the six or so dismembered and mutilated bodies around her. She had her eyes closed. And then I saw Doodle, cowering and crying on her seat as she covered her face from the gore. Good thing, too. I didn't want her to see the torn off head on the seat next to her. Lastly, right on the seat opposite of me, was the juggernaut; a clean hole punched through his chest all the way to his back. All around me was the torn out and splayed guts and organs and body parts of what had once been the Legionnaires. 

And in the middle of all that was Predator, standing on the barely alive, mostly limbless corpse of the only survivor of the carnage. I found out that the squishy noise was coming from Predator's hoof pressing into the ripped open Legionnaire's throat. He was looking up at the Specter with wide, terrified eyes. Predator, though, didn't even seem tired in the slightest.

"I... don't want... to die," The Legionnaire rasped softly, barely able to choke the words out with his ruined throat. "It's so painful... and... and I'm scared... of what comes... after." He took in a shaky breath, and weakly tried to push off Predator's leg with his only remaining hoof.

"I know," Predator rasped in an uncharacteristically soft and compassionate tone. "But you should not fear death, for death is but an escape from pain. The pain itself is only temporary, and I believe that a few moments of agony is better than an entire lifetime of sorrow."

The Legionnaire took in a few rough, deep breaths, then replied, "But... what of the after? What... what if... I have not managed... to earn... peace? If I die... then I cannot... do better than I have. I cannot... earn my rest." He looked up at the Specter with uncertainty and fear.

"You have, don't worry," Predator replied. "Trust in the gods. They know how to judge. And I am sure they will not condemn you for the evil I have caused." Predator lowered himself such that his head was but a foot from the Legionnaire's face. "They will not condemn the victim for the violator's crimes."

For a moment, the Legionnaire looked around the cabin with uncertainty. Myst had opened her eyes and was now looking at him with both pity and sadness together with Skyfire; surprisingly, Skyfire showed the same amount of both that Myst did, despite her supposed hate for the Legion. And then the zebra's eyes landed on me, his expression lost and pained. I gulped and gave him a reassuring smile. 

He turned back to Predator with a resigned sigh, "Can... can you end it?" He asked softly. "I feel so cold... I don't want to feel cold..." He closed his eyes and began breathing slow, shallow breaths.

Predator withdrew his head to stand upright again. "Of course." He lifted his hindleg over the Legionnaire's head, but hesitated. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for what I've done. None of this would have happened if I had not been so foolish." 

For what he had done? What did he mean by that? All of his words seemed to imply that all of what happened was his fault. While I didn't care enough to give a damn what Predator saw as 'his fault', his words still struck me because they were somewhat reminiscent of what I would do. I had always tried to take the blame for things even if I personally knew I did no wrong. I had done that because I believed that I could take it; after all, I still had failures to pay for, and taking the blame for others seemed an appropriate way to impose justice in myself. But why Predator would blame himself... I didn't know. 

As those questions passed through my head, Predator stomped down hard. The Legionnaire's head was reduced to something similar to rotten lasagna. I closed my eyes too late to stop myself from seeing that, as did Myst and Skyfire. In her seat, Doodle cried even harder.

I opened my eyes a moment later to see Predator withdrawing his hoof from the zebra's brain. He took in one deep breath, then turned to me. I was staring at him with a look of disbelief and shock, both at what he had done and what he had said. 

He breathed in hard, and said as if nothing happened, "Ah! Sixteen more put out of their suffering. I view that a success." He turned around and trotted to the door, where his backpack and our saddlebags had been placed. He dragged all of them in front of me and began rummaging through my stuff. A moment later, he pulled out Doomtune's communicator. "Now for the next stage," He said, then pressed a button. The device's single bulb lit up, and then he simply placed it back in my bags. After that, Predator looked a little confused, tapping his helmet with a hoof.

"Alright, what the hell was all that noise? I swear, if you jackasses are wrestling again..." The pilot said from the vehicle's front.

Predator lifted his head up, "Ah, yes, the pilot. I was wondering what else I had missed out." He began trotting through the gore to the armored door that lead to the cockpit. He stopped for just a moment, seeming to be listening to something, then quickly jumped forward several feet.

Then the wall of the cabin blasted apart! Metal and blood flew into the air as a huge metal slab pierced into the cabin just where Predator had been standing a moment before. Skyfire was right next to it, and the sudden shock of the event caused her to yell in a very uncharacteristic manner. Myst and Doodle, being further away, simply did all they could to protect themselves from the debris. 

But it wasn't a slab. It wasn't even a piece of random metal that just so happened to have smashed into the vehicle. No, this was a drawbridge, and as the smoke cleared I saw dark silhouettes hurrying across to get into the cabin. I wanted to rip myself free and pull out my weapons so I could do... something! I wasn't able to do anything when the Legion killed Verge's residents, I wasn't able to do anything when we were surrounded and pinned down by those raiders back in that building, and I wasn't able to do anything when Predator himself had roasted dozens of people, so I had to do something now! Already they were getting closer, and I had made absolutely no progress! We were going to die!

That panic immediately left me when I saw who the silhouettes were: Specters, the non-traitorous ones. In fact, as the half dozen of them entered the vehicle, I even recognized one of them; the music he was playing was pretty fast-paced and fit the situation quite well.

"Doomtune?" I asked with a relieved, broken laugh. "The hell is going on?" The smoke had cleared away completely, and through the gaping hole in the vehicle's side I made out a small, sleek, VTOL aircraft where the drawbridge had been extended from. 

The earphone-wearing Specter was about to respond, when the pilot said, now much more worried, "Shit! Where the hell did all those aircraft come from? Opening fire!" The vehicle shook as it's guns opened up.

As Predator neared the cockpit, Doomtune and his fellows brought out various tools and devices from their backpacks. "No time to explain, Praetorian! We have to get you and your friends out of here while they're distracted!" Doomtune yelled, his voice his own, as he began cutting though my seat's metal armrest with a miniature chainsaw, the sparks stinging at my exposed flesh. Other operatives clad in the typical black Specter attire began cutting away at the armrests of Myst and Skyfire's seats, as well.

Predator kicked in the armored door so hard it flew off it's hinges and smashed against the glass of the cockpit's window. "Oh shit! All Legion units, shoot this aircraft down! The Arsonist has escaped!" The pilot turned around on his chair and pulled out an SMG, then shot every useless bullet at Predator, who was approaching him with deliberate slowness. He stared in disbelief as  Predator stopped in front of him, doing nothing. Then he grabbed the pilot by the head and flanks and raised him into the air. I turned away quick enough to not see him get ripped in half.

"Come on, child, you have to come with us!" One of the operatives pleaded as he tried to pull the terrified Doodle off of her seat. "You heard what the pilot said, we have to go before they shoot us down!" Doodle whimpered in response, but slowly crawled and curled up in the operatives forelegs. "That's a good filly!"

The whole vehicle suddenly began to shake, and from the hole in the side I heard numerous explosions. The vehicle with the drawbridge got hit by a rocket, but wasn't destroyed. Then Predator's voice, augmented by the vehicle's speakers, sounded over the cabin in a rather calm tone, "Passengers, we are encountering slight turbulence caused by enemy anti-aircraft fire. Please vacate the vehicle immediately through the gaping hole opened up by my comrades before I crash this thing. Thank you." Then the vehicle tilted downwards slightly, causing the operatives to stagger a little before recovering.

Doomtune grunted, "Agh, crazy bastard! Operative Killcount, operative Saltwater, hurry up!" Then he turned back his attention to cutting the remaining metal away. A moment later, my forehooves were free. There was a sharp pop, and the generators projecting the energy holding down my companion's heads were blasted apart by small explosives. Skyfire and Myst were now free and were being rushed across the drawbridge together with the operative holding Doodle by the other operatives. "Now for your head!" He pulled out a thin grey slab and attached it to the energy generators near my head. I closed my eyes, readying myself for the detonation.

It never came.

The explosions and the number of rockets flying into the air increased dramatically. Just as Skyfire made it across the drawbridge, a half dozen rockets struck the aircraft outside and the drawbridge it was utilizing to connect with the vehicle we were in. The drawbridge was blasted away while two operatives were still on, sending them falling to their deaths below. The vehicle itself began wobbling unsteadily as flames erupted from it's engines. It began flying away, my friends screaming after me. Skyfire even tried to fly to get to me, but Myst and an operative held her down.

"Goldwreath!" She yelled right before I lost sight of her as the aircraft lifted into the air and disappeared in a flash of blue. As it did, I saw two smaller, more combat-oriented VTOLs zoom by, firing their guns at targets I couldn't see. Their target definitely wasn't our vehicle; they had a very good opportunity to blast us, but didn't. It was for that reason I assumed that those aircraft were friendly.

Our own vehicle suddenly rocked violently, the rockets striking it again and again. Another gaping hole opened up on the floor, nearly sucking Doomtune into it and causing him to fall onto the blasted war zone below as he was about to press the detonator. As he hung there, holding on for his life, Predator suddenly chuckled through the speakers.

"Ah, you thought you could escape, executor? Ha! Not while I am hunting you!" Then suddenly there was a deafening screech of metal as we struck something. Through the holes opened up in the aircraft, I managed to spot one of the engines of the large VTOL, smoking and on fire. A moment later that engine exploded, blasting the remains of our aircraft away and sending a wave of fire surging out of the cockpit's open doorway and into the wind-swept cabin. Fortunately, the flames died down before they reached us.

The aircraft spun around in the air wildly, and the force of it nearly overpowered Doomtune's grip. Somehow, he managed to hold on, even when the mutilated corpse of a Legionnaire smacked into him and plummeted to the ground outside. At least it wasn't the juggernaut's corpse, because that would have been it for him.

Doomtune managed to take one look beneath him, then shouted, "Brace yourself!"

I already knew what was going to happen. But really, what could I do? My limbs may have been free, but my head was still bound to the aircraft. Really, I was sure I looked like some heavy-headed imbecile as I fumbled around, head stuck to the seat, looking for something to hold onto. I finally settled to just sit down and hope my neck wouldn't be broken by the impact.

Then we smashed into the ground, Doomtune being blasted up the hole and smacking into the ceiling before being flung around the cabin like a rag doll as the impact rolled the vehicle around again and again. I focused all of my energy on holding onto the armrest because if I lost my grip, then I would break my neck and dangle around lifelessly. As he crashed around the cabin, Doomtune had the misfortune to crash into a Legionnaire's corpse. Strangely, I heard a faint slash followed by a muffled scream. The vehicle rolled a few more times, sending most of the corpses out through the holes, before finally slowly skidding to a stop. By the time it was no longer moving, the vehicle was tilted up slightly on it's side, letting me see the blasted skyscraper through one of the holes in the aircraft's side.

I released a breath I hadn't realised I had been holding. I was freakin' alive! My neck was good, if a little sore, together with the rest of my body. The cabin was a mess and the cockpit was an unrecognizable heap of broken glass and metal. Predator was probably flung out through a window and crashed into the ground and died, but who gave a damn? What mattered was that I was alive, and so was Doomtune.

"Hey, Doomtune!" I laughed in relief, "We're alive! Now help me get out of this thing so we can get out of here!" Doomtune grunted, pulling himself out from under a heap of metal and the juggernaut's corpse. As he crawled slowly towards me, coughing roughly, some of my relief faded away, replaced with worry. Then he rolled onto his back and slumped against the wall of the cabin, a gladius piercing into his stomach.

"Uughhh..." He groaned, then coughed, "I... don't think... I can get you out of here now..." He said slowly, softly. He turned his head to face me. "Maybe... Predator... can... but I... can't..." Then his head leaned against the wall and he lay still. His music was still playing, and by pure coincidence the music now playing from his speaker-headset was a heartbreakingly sad violin tune that fit the situation so frustratingly well.

"No... no, no!" Come on, couldn't I get a break? This was exactly what I meant: I was supposed to be Roam's defender, yet I was thrust into more than one situation where I was forced to watch good and decent people die without being able to do anything. It was because I was weak, and that weakness would have to be stamped out so that none remained to compromise my efforts to save people.

But while I should have been trying to break free to try to save him, I instead just sat there, frozen. Doomtune, one of the more decent people I had met, had just died in front of me. I couldn't do anything about it, it had already happened. He was the one who had helped save us back in the building, and saved my friends just now, and I couldn't even return the favor. I couldn't help myself as I let loose a few tears for him. He was better than I was. He deserved better than this. I was pathetic, wallowing in self-hate and sadness. But hey, it was one of the things I got to do that didn't end up in someone dying.

Then I felt the ground tremble as if there was a tremor. I spared a look outside the original hole, and I saw several more of the fighter aircraft zoom by. A moment later, one of the Legion VTOLs crashed into the building I was staring up at. The trembling approached, and I found out the source was much closer than I thought. I could even hear it.

Out of the smoke rising from an impact crater rolled an Omni-tank, it's turrets pointed skywards. It's quad-MG turret sent a very visible stream of rounds into the air as it rolled over the cratered, smoking, and fire-filled streets to our crashed vehicle. When it finally reached us, it's turret swung down from the sky to point it's massive cannons at me. 

'Oh, fuck me.' Okay, I may have hated myself for not being able to do shit that saved people, but I definitely didn't want to die! I tried prying at the still-active generators to no avail.

But the Legion didn't want me dead. They were planning something for me, but death wasn't part of the equation. No, they wanted me alive, if the duo of Legionnaires that came out of the tank and began galloping towards me were any indication. But as they neared me, most likely with the intent of freeing me and taking me to the Forum, one of them got a clean shot through the head. Immediately the tank swung it's cannons and opened fire at a building behind me, but the mere fact that the cannons shot in my general direction still stopped my heart for a moment.

"Oh, futuo! Gavis, vivum te?" The surviving Legionnaire asked the lifeless body of his comrade as he took cover behind a fallen billboard sign while the tank continued shooting. Of course, his ally was dead and didn't respond. "Dampnes eam!" He yelled, then took a look at the building I couldn't see. After that he began galloping the short distance to me.

Then ground exploded!

Of course it exploded. Because when you've got a city swarming with tanks, aircraft, artillery batteries, and militant groups that seem to have an endless supply of ammo and equipment, then chances are your own birthday gift is going to explode. You just can't go through a day in Roam without pulling a piece of shrapnel out of your flank at the end of the day.

As the turret of the Omni-tank swiveled to face the explosion (which had been directly behind it), there was a deafening, earthshaking blast coupled with a flash of light so bright it illuminated through the smoke, revealing a very large, dark form. Right after my eyes had adjusted, a tank shell landed next to the Omni-tank with such force the Omni-tank itself was shredded to pieces (and considering Omnis had like a foot of armor, that must have been one hell of an impact). The Legionnaire skidded to a stop before turning around to see his smoldering tank, only to have his body shredded to pieces a few seconds later by far more machine gun rounds than necessary. His body, an unrecognizable pile of guts and perforated chunks of meat, sloshed to the ground.

If the Omni-tank rolling towards me had caused the ground tremor, then whatever this thing was was causing a full-fledged earthquake. Even as I sat where I was, the debris outside and inside the vehicle began jumping up and down. Hell, even the Omni's carcass was shaking.

"What the hell is going on in my life?" I asked out of pure exasperation as the cause of the 'earthquake' approached.

A moment later, a MUCH bigger tank rolled out of the smoke. It had four main guns, each easily twice as big as that of an Omni. On the four corners of it's titanic frame were each a minigun turret, with enough ammo in the belts to last a crazed gunner for a lifetime. Even more, the tank had a full array of anti-aircraft weaponry on the top of it's main turret; missile batteries and an AA gun. On the side of the turret was the faded letter 'C' in golden paint. The tank was perhaps twice as tall as an Omni, and maybe fifty percent wider. It's ebony colored armor was so monstrously thick it must have used enough metal to construct a VTOL to make just one-half of the armor's total mass. It's treads each had ten large wheels so big I could have stuffed five equines in each of them if they were hollowed out. 

"Just when things couldn't possibly get more overpowered," I groused. Seriously, how could things have gotten more ridiculous than Omni-tanks?

A deep, booming, heavily zebra-accented voice sounded from the tank's turret as it swung around. "Alright... uh, Archelius, radio back to Home Base and tell them the Caesar has five more kills to it's name."

"Alright. What does that bring us up to? Thirty Omnis and a hundred and thirty Legionnaires, right?" The voice asked itself.

"Ayep, and fifty-eight Infernos. And make sure to tell them to ready more 150 milimeters by the time we get back. We're almost out."

"Right. So, who's rescuing the Praetorian?" One of them asked, and the turret ground on it's swivel to face me. "Predator's still in there, right?" I felt mildly peeved that they didn't come out here themselves. I mean, come on! I was right there, less than a hundred feet from them!

"Yeah. Crazy bastard can survive anything." Out of the smoke came Specters, galloping to the tank. When they reached it, they all took cover behind it's massive armor. "Alright, everyone here? Let's go then! Continue the assault!" Then the tank began rolling forward again, vibrating the earth as it did. It eventually reached a large mound of dirt, which it began ascending sluggishly while the operatives inched up behind it slowly.

Once it had reached the top, machine gun fire and tank shells blasted at it, ricochetting uselessly off of it's armor. One tank shell caught it square on the turret, singeing away the 'C'. 

"Ha! They scratched your paint job, Olvek. Let's tear them apart."

"What?! They erased the remaining letter? Oh those stupid..." Then the tank fired all four cannons at the same time. The fire that erupted from it's barrels actually blackened the area directly in front of the vehicle. Just a few seconds later, it fired them all again. Then it's miniguns opened up. The tank and accompanying Specters finally disappeared as it descended the slope on the other side.

For a moment, I just sat there with my mouth hung low out of disbelief. Seriously, there were things even WORSE than Omni-tanks? Oh, fuck my life.

I suddenly heard a loud groan beside me, snapping me out of thinking about the suicide-inducing overpoweredness of the tank I had just witnessed. The heavy heap of metal blocking what was left of the doorway to the cockpit was pushed to the side, and Predator stepped out.

"Ah, nothing like a good kamikaze strike to fulfill my daily dosage of killing." He sniffed aloud, then began trotting to me. That's when he saw Doomtune's corpse, slumped against the wall of the vehicle. He stopped and turned to it, then pulled out a gigantic syringe with the same drug solution Doomtune himself had given Myst a while back. He kneeled down and carefully positioned the syringe over his foreleg's joint.

"What are you doing? Can't you just leave his body alone? Why must you desecrate it?" I asked with a heart-wrenching mix of sorrow and anger. Predator was a bastard and a killer beyond doubt, but this was his new personal low for me.

Predator jammed the needle hard into himself. He didn't even flinch or otherwise show any sign of hesitation or pain, despite the needle's monstrous size. Rather than injecting himself, though, he instead sucked out of himself an ichor of colors ranging from a sickly apple green all the way to cosmic purple. He pulled the needle out and held it in front of him, letting the colors swirl around until the entire solution within was mixed with the fluid.

"I'm not desecrating him," Predator replied. "I'm saving him." That snapped my eyes wide open and got my ears up. He yanked the blade out of Doomtune's corpse, then plunged the needle into the operative's chest. I watched with odd curiosity and hopeful anticipation as the strange mixture disappeared into Doomtune's chest.

For a moment, I just watched. Even Predator stayed where he was, looking his dead comrade right in the visor. For a while the scene was eerily calm; the cabin was still and only the distant fighting broke what would have otherwise been unbearable silence. In the distance, I could make out the ground shaking blasts of the Caesar's ridiculously oversized quad guns, together with the occasional missile, scream, or echoing gunshot.

Then Doomtune gasped. For a moment he spasmed, flailing his limbs about like a person would if they were woken up by getting shocked with an electric cable. He thrashed around wildly, his breathing erratic and his head looking in all directions. Predator grabbed his head and forced him to look right into his visor. After a moment of scattered spasming, Doomtune relaxed. "Predator? I... I'm alive?" He asked as he brought up his hooves to his torso, feeling the area where the blade had pierced into him. Where there was supposed to be a clean stab wound, I instead saw the flesh healing itself. Little tendrils of skin reached to one another and pulled the wound close like a surgical suture. I could only imagine what was happening to his organs.

"Yes, you are. You wouldn't have died in the first place if you had vacated like I had told you to, though. And speaking of that..." Predator came over to me and placed his hooves next to the generator near my head, then yanked it free with disturbing ease. Now my head was free, just like the rest of my body. I got off the seat and used the opportunity to stretch my aching muscles. "You really should go now. This area should be secure, as we're far behind the front lines, but still..."

He was cut off by the sound of a beep. With a sigh, Predator walked slowly to his backpack and pulled out a communicator. He pressed a button and spoke into it, "Yes, what is it?"

The sounds of rapid gunfire and deafening booms blasted into the cabin. After a while, someone spoke. "Predator, where the hell are you?! The executor's getting away! The transport's too fast, and the Caesar can't get across the gorge. Only you can jump across! Get over here NOW!"

Despite the urgency of the speaker's tone, Predator simply responded, "Uhuh, yup." Then he stuffed the communicator into his backpack and slung it onto his back. "Well, gentlecolts, I must leave. Rescuing you was only half the plan, the other is capturing the executor. Speaking of which..." He pulled out a detonator similar to the one Myst had used the day before. This time the explosive count was a much bigger number: two hundred and thirty-two.

'Holy shit.' I thought. Where the hell did these operatives get all their stuff?

He casually pressed the trigger, and immediately I heard a chorus of distant thunderclaps, each sounding right after the last. Then I heard the unmistakable sounds of buildings, very TALL buildings, collapsing in the distance. "Now he won't escape," He said plainly. He trotted across the blood-washed metal floor to one of the holes blasted into the vehicle. I stared at him as he passed by me, and I was surprised at how angry I felt. Sure, I hated him, but I didn't realize just how much until now; the shock of recent events must have overcome my hatred. The guy had intentionally slaughtered over a dozen zebras as part of some ridiculous plan of his that apparently involved both rescuing me and capturing the executor, and he had completely disregarded any efforts to reduce Doodle's trauma.

He wasn't paying any attention to me. I could have shot him then and there; I could have gone to my saddlebags, pulled out Tankbuster, and unloaded every fucking shell into his face. I knew it wouldn't have worked, Predator just... couldn't seem to die. I mean, how the hell did he survive all the things that he did? It didn't make sense.

I was actually about to put that thought into motion, when Doomtune, still sitting down on the ground, asked, "Why, Predator? Why'd you save me again? I... I thought the only thing you could do was kill."

Predator was trotting through the original hole formed by the drawbridge when Doomtune asked that. He stopped and turned, then said, "Some people deserve to die, and some people deserve to live. I give death to end suffering, not cause it, just like I save life so better people like you can keep doing good. I do my best to give people what they deserve. And the first time I saved you was purely chance, I didn't intend it." He began trotting through the doorway again, but stopped when Doomtune spoke once more.

"Well, knowing your view on death... am I lucky to be alive, or am I UN-lucky to be alive?" Doomtune asked as he massaged the area he had been stabbed.

Predator didn't turn around, but said, "It doesn't matter whether life's a gift or a curse, just make good use of it. Besides, you haven't suffered nearly enough to warrant death. When you are a suicidal fool with nothing in your life but anguish and suffering, then you die. But you aren't one yet." Once more he began trotting through.

"Hey, Predator." Doomtune called, much to Predator's annoyance. Predator turned with an annoyed growl. "Thanks for saving me. I guess you're not all bad." Predator stood still as stone, growling softly. His growl, though, wasn't one of threat but of pondering... similar in nature to the purring noise Zaita made when she accessed the Databanks all those days ago.

He turned swiftly and began trotting at a brisk pace. I heard him mutter under his breath, "And you'd be wrong to think I'm not." 

He stopped outside all of a sudden, then looked up into the air. There was a faint noise of rotating blades. Predator whistled, "Hey, down here!" Then he pulled out a gun from one of his pockets and shot a flare into the sky. About half a minute later a large helicopter sort of aircraft descended. It had the Shadow Corps. logo, faded and dirty, on it's side. He gestured at the pilot window, then at me inside the cabin.

The doors of the aircraft swung down, and a dozen operatives burst out and spread around the area. Three of them entered the cabin. Two of them began dragging Doomtune out, the other went over to me and grabbed my foreleg with his own. He pulled out a similar syringe, if slightly smaller.

"What's this for?" I asked, not wanting to be injected with drugs. I mean, I hadn't taken drugs yet, so I wouldn't want to start now. Myst had taken drugs because she needed to wake up, but I was in no need.

"It's tranquilizer. Thing is, we can't really let you see the way back to Home Base. No offense, but if you knew the way then there'd be a small chance the Legion might get that info out outta ya'. It's just a precaution." I frowned at that. That made sense, and I'm a reasonable person, but I still didn't like it. Still, if it had to be done, then so be it.

I frowned once more and held out my leg to it's full length. "Do it. Just make it quick." I felt the needle stab into my leg. Then a thought struck me. "Hey, are my friends alri-eeeuuughhhh..."

The last thing I felt as I fell forward was his hooves reaching around my chest to keep me from collapsing.


*** Magnus et Potens Roamanus ***


I woke up on a rather soft, warm mattress. The surrounding area wasn't nearly as pleasing, but it was still better than a war zone. I felt surprisingly good, at least physically, despite what I had just gone through. All around me, I could hear the echoes of dripping water mixing with the distant sounds of laughing and talking, with the occasional reverberating clang of metal. I got up off the mattress and onto the slippery, moss-covered concrete and began taking in my surroundings.

It was a rather gloomy area, with barely any light illuminating it. What I could make out was that I was in fairly small room, and that the mattress I was using wasn't the only one here. Out of the dozen or so other mattresses, at least four of them were occupied by what I saw as operatives. There was a single doorway where a wan, greenish light was flowing in. Through the doorway I could make out laughter and hoofsteps, and the occasional sound of glass on glass. Water dripped down from large pipes along the ceiling, pooling together near the center of the room. 

I began trotting to the door, splashing water with my heavy hooves, when I saw my saddlebags leaned against the wall. I went over and picked them up, only to surprise myself at how light they were. I could feel that nothing had been stolen, so I assumed that their lightness came from my current state came from my no longer tired and achy muscles.

I opened the door and stepped through, and was greeted with the sight of eight operatives of varying outfit coloration sitting around a circular chamber. Four of them were playing playing mahjong on a small circular table, the others sat around on crates or on the floor, talking. The floor here was more populated with water puddles, and the cement itself was festering with so much moss and algae it looked like a swamp. I found out that the light wasn't coming from a lamp of some sort, but rather from a brightly glowing mutated mushroom in the corner of the room.

One of the operatives playing mahjong noticed me, and he placed a wide grin on his face as he got off his seat and approached me. I recognized him: he was the operative from Verge. The vest he was wearing now was a new one, but it was still of the desert brown color scheme. "Ah, you're awake! Good, good. Now the tour can begin," He said enthusiastically, then looked behind him at one of the operatives wiping a rifle as he sat on a crate. "Hey, Ironbar, take over my spot in the game would you?"

"Yeah, sure." Then the other Specter, Ironbar, got up off the crate and sat down heavily on the formerly-empty seat and took the looked over the pieces. 

The operative from Verge approached me. "Alright, let's go. I've got a lot to show you, so we'd better get started." He started making his way towards two heavy metal doors on the far side of the chamber.

"Now, hold on for a second." I said as I stopped him with a hoof. "Where exactly am I? And where are my friends? My vehicle? The filly? Doomtune?" An odd curiosity lit up in my mind, and despite my resistance I found myself asking, "And Predator?" A part of me felt a little annoyed that I had actually asked about the fucker.

The operative turned around and spoke, "Well, your friends arrived maybe an hour before you did. The pegasus panicked on the transport and tried to fly off; I guess she didn't like the notion of getting tranquilized and getting taken to a place she'd never been before. Of course, that only made us tranquilize her all the more. I'm not sure if she's awake yet."

'Why does she never behave herself?' I asked myself mentally.

"The earth pony was a lot more calm, though she was damned shy. Said she wouldn't leave the reception room, so I had to convince her to go out and mingle with the locals. Hopefully she's browsing the shops around the rotunda like I recommended. As for the filly, she went along with your earth pony friend the last time I saw her." Well, that was good. Although, knowing Myst's anxiety and the filly's need for comfort, that pairing probably wasn't working out well. Poor Myst must have been huddling in a corner.

"And Doomtune? Is he alright?" I asked. Sure, he was alive when I last saw him, but that didn't mean nothing could have happened while I was out.

"Oh, yeah, he's fine. He's in medical right now getting checked up; the docs aren't really sure what to make of his miraculous case of coming back from the dead. He told us his heart stopped beating, but then resumed a few minutes later. They said that was impossible." He paused for a moment. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"Nope, sorry," I lied. I knew exactly what had happened back there. I just didn't want to talk about it. 

He sighed, "Ah well. Anyway, your APC is... um..." He sighed once more, then shook his head a little. "Your... vehicle... is currently floating about outside. I swear, if that thing couldn't hover or talk for itself, we'd have just chained it down. As it is, it's actually INTERACTING with the people here. I swear, things are getting stranger and stranger. And as for Predator... well, he's still on the surface is all I know. We're still waiting for him to report."

Wait... 'still on the surface'? "Okay, so where exactly am I? This place doesn't look like it could house all of the operatives..." Not unless it was a lot bigger than I thought, at least.

He laughed, "And you're right, it can't. But the place beyond these doors..." He began trotting towards the metal doors again. When he reached them, he pushed them inwards. Bright light then flooded into the room, and my eyes hurt as they slowly adjusted to the sudden change in illumination. He stepped through without any hesitation, and I followed him as I shielded my eyes from excess light.

I stepped beyond the doorway, and immediately the air became a lot less stuffy. All around me I could hear what must have been hundreds of people talking and interacting with one another. The floor here was also significantly drier, not to mention having a lot less growths.

My eyes finally adjusted, and then I saw it.

Beyond the railings in front of me was a very wide, very tall cylindrical chamber with a dome shaped roof, perhaps over a thousand square meters in area. Sewage pipes snaked all along the walls and roof of the entire area, dripping murky water onto the ground below. I myself was standing on just one of many, many balconies on one of the numerous floors of the structure. Each circular floor had dozens of doorways; each turned into either some kind of makeshift residence or a shop. There were many smaller stalls where merchants were also selling their wares. At the very end of the chamber opposite of me was a huge statue; a statue of a zebra looking up proudly at the ceiling, which provided the majority of the illumination for the area through a very wide circular hole. Two elevator shafts ran up on the two sides of the statue, and two more were on my side of the chamber. 

There were hundreds of people here; not just Specters, but regular zebras and ponies, all co-existing together. I even saw a group of three Specters and four regular zebras trot by, laughing as they swirled their alcohol bottles around. On the ground floor several hundred feet down, I saw several APC's and vehicles enter through an open arched doorway with two large turrets on each side of the entrance. There was a floating vehicle down there, hovering above the entering convoy. It was Zaita, I thought. Down there were facilities and equipment specialized specifically for tending to returning vehicles; mostly re-arming stations and crew pits. To my surprise, three of the small fighter VTOLs descended from the oculus-like hole in the middle of the dome ceiling and slowly glided down to the ground floor. The noise of all the activity going on here would have put Verge to shame.

The operative in front of me turned around with a proud grin. He got up onto his hindlegs in the typical zebra manner, then raised his forelegs into the air and said aloud, "Welcome to Home Base!"


*** Magnus et Potens Roamanus ***


The sweet-sour stench of spices and herbs assaulted my sense of smell with every breath I took. Not that I minded; the smell was a pleasant change from the musky and decayed odor of the locations I had been to before. Unfortunately for me, the ground here was slippery, not from water dripping from the sewage pipes overhead, but from all the cooking oil and filth and sweat all over the place. Needless to say, after slipping into puddles of muck on more than one occasion, I came to the conclusion that I liked the smell of dust over what I currently smelled like. Everyone I passed gave me some space, at least.

About an hour later the operative had brought me to just about all the floors and areas of interest. I had sold the rifles I had made in the ZSI Roaman HQ for a good price, and in turn I used the caps to purchase as many shotgun shells and revolver ammo as I could from the shops the operative suggested. The people were friendly enough, though I suspect that was simply because of the ever-present Specters. As it was, I got strange glances from people whenever Sanddune wasn't looking. Maybe it was the stench, I can't say for sure. Either way, I returned those looks with as little scorn and as much calmness as possible.

At one point, I even saw Myst sitting down near a food stall, a plate full of biscuits and a glass of milk on her table. She was sitting down quietly, staring wide-eyed at Doodle, who was sitting across from her. The filly's fur had regrown a little more since when I saw her in the hospital room. I guess that the brews they gave her in Verge accelerated the fur's growth. Doodle seemed to be talking about something, and Myst seemed to be trying her best to listen and at the same time not cringe at the presence of all the people around her. Doodle herself seemed on the verge of crying, and was doing her best to keep it in. Much as I wanted to go to them, I had to leave them alone for the sole reason of the operative insisting that his commanding officer wanted to speak to me immediately.

"I can't believe the size of this place," I muttered as I trotted along behind the operative, whose codename I found out was Sanddune. "There must be more than a thousand people here."

"Several thousand, actually." He replied as he lead me into a crowd of buyers in front of a particularly large store. I had to shove my way through, as did the operative. That got us a few glares from the different people. He glanced behind his shoulder at me. "As I said, this whole chamber, this rotunda, is Home Base: the home of the Roaman Specters. But if you go through enough doorways and chambers, you'll come across the main residential area where most of these people live. We co-exist, sure, but we need to maintain some secrecy when it comes to our operations." We emerged from the crowd... only to run into another. Big or not, this place was a little bit overpopulated.

"So where the hell do you get all the supplies to keep this place going? I heard what the Caesar's operators said. 150 milimeter tank shells? What the fuck? That's big enough for a battleship!" The question as to where they got their supplies was one of the few not answered by Sanddune's tour.

"Well, with the war topside, most people who can come down here. Even different factions and groups have settled down here. In exchange for safety, they sell us their products at gigantic discounts. The 150 mms are made by a group called the Forgers in one of factories down here." He laughed, "We've basically converted the underground of Roam into a city. Hell, some people have even taken to calling this place New Roam!"

"Factories?" I asked, disbelieving. "You have entire factories down here?" Why wasn't this part of the tour? I'll admit, I didn't NEED to see the factories, but I still would have liked to see them.

"Of course!" He replied. "See, back during the war, the entire city of Roam was the industrial heart of the Zebra Nation. Over half of the city was converted to anything that could support the war effort: factories, businesses, markets, military bases, you name it. Of course, the people still had to live somewhere, so when they ran out of space on the surface, they built them underground." He gestured at the entire area. "In fact, when we got here, this place was already inhabited. All we did was get the factories and facilities running and promise to provide security for these people, and for that we got permanent residence." He snickered, "I bet Canterium Prime wishes they had set up HQ here instead of that old deathtrap of a bunker they use."

We finally pushed our way out of the crowd and made our way to a stairwell leading up. The Specter guard there let us up without any resistance. We began ascending the stairs to the last floor, since the tour didn't seem to involve going to any of the floors we passed. I was surprised at how well maintained this area as a whole looked. Of course, there were the obvious signs of disrepair and dirt, and I even saw one of the support columns for the rotunda had collapsed. Still, considering the size and the population, this place was as close as anyone could get to a self-sufficient, well organized city.

"So, how do you keep yourselves stocked on food? I can't imagine growing crops on the surface. You have farms down here, too?" I didn't have to yell this time, as the stairwell had barely any people ascending or descending. On the other hoof, I noticed that the elevators were in constant motion.

"Yup. They're down there..." He leaned over the stair's railings and pointed at one of the massive, arched, armored doorways on the ground floor. "The unofficial New Roaman Senate runs most of the operations down here that we don't. They're the governing body down here, so they're responsible for maintaining employment of the locals and keeping the different groups down here in line. We're kind of like their unofficial military, actually. Of course we don't do it for free, and they still have to provide us with ammo and equipment."

We reached the top floor: an area severely devoid of people compared to the lower floors. In fact, the only people I saw up here were Specters. There weren't any shops or any residential rooms, so I assumed this was where the operatives discussed their plans. That thought was backed up by the fact that the only things I saw up here that were of any interest were dozens of crates, all filled to the brim with high quality guns of all types. I even saw one crate dedicated entirely to containing several polished, brand new assault rifles. The gun nut in me tempted me to go to every single crate to try to see how many of them I could name, but I kept that part of me at bay. Besides, I don't think the Specters inspecting the crates would have appreciated a pony gun addict lecturing them on the statistics of the different weapons.

"This where your leader stays?" I asked. 

"Yeah, she's over in that room over there." He pointed at an armored structure jutting out from the railings. The structure itself was upheld by supports that extended up to it from the ground floor.

"Alright, let's get this over with." I sighed. The last time I had spoken to the leader of a settlement, I went on a mission to clear out an area from bandits and Legionnaires. Would it be the same this time? If it was, I wouldn't really mind; meeting the Legate at this point wasn't as important as, say, killing his Legionnaires so that they would stop terrorizing the city.

I winced at my own thoughts. Was I seriously preferring killing hundreds of zebra Legionnaires to finding a peaceful solution to all this fighting? A part of me felt like it was the right thing to do and that I had no other choice, but another part of me felt a little disgusted at myself. But then again, if Thanus was any indication, most of the Legion's executors were individuals of character not likely to allow peace for long. Or if they did, they would try to find a way to manipulate that peace. I couldn't allow that. The Legion had to be destroyed.

I felt a breeze blow against my face. But that was impossible, there couldn't possibly have been wind down here. Sanddune didn't seem to notice, and neither did any of the Specters. Even the dust was unaffected by the breeze. Suddenly, I felt a presence in my mind. A familiar presence, one that I had wondered the whereabouts of since I woke up earlier today.

'Not necessarily.' Thought Tom. 'They are capable of good. It's just that their leaders are making decisions that make all of them look bad. Their reputation is like cancer, infecting the whole body until it seems like the only choice is death. But they can still change.'

Perhaps. Maybe I was just letting my ambitions get in the way of my judgement. There were some good people in the Legion, the executor in the video and the Legionnaire who tried to talk to Doodle were examples. Still, I wanted a few answers. 'Where the hell were you? And where's Tod?' Okay, I don't really know why I asked for Tod. It's not like he was a presence that I liked.

'Ah yes, well, when you were asleep, both of us got... distracted by the phenomenon to the south. Really, I think it's better if you not ask for the details.' I wanted to question him about that. Then again, he had told me that if I needed to know something then he would tell me. So I decided to just leave it alone and trust my protector.  'As for him... well, I honestly don't know.' Ah well. At least he wasn't in my head anymore. Of course, the last time he left he came back just a while later, so I didn't get my hopes up.

I got shoved from my side. "Hey Praetorian, you going inside or what?" Doomtune asked. I found myself at a loss for words. We were standing in front of the open doorway. I hadn't even realized we had reached it already.

I shook my head hard. "Yeah, just thinking about some stuff. I'm good now." I took in a deep breath, "Okay, let's go."

We both trotted inside the dimly lit and dusty room, and the door automatically closed behind us. A few steps inside and I saw a zebra mare wearing black Specter gear sitting behind an old wooden table and looking over a bunch of papers. On the table next to her was a pile of more papers. To the sides of the room were a bunch of seats, and on each side a Specter guard sat. On the left side was Skyfire, strapped down to a seat with duct tape over her mouth. She looked bored to death, but upon my entrance she perked up and looked at me with relief.

"That's her," Sanddune said as he pointed at the zebra mare. "I'll go get your earth pony friend, she'll need to be here." Then he trotted out, placing his helmet on as he went. The gasmask must have removed the oily and rancid stench that hung in the air.

"Why is she tied down?" I asked the two guards. This scene was a little bit strange... okay it was VERY strange. If it weren't for the fact that Skyfire looked bored instead of scared, I would have assumed she was being held hostage and would have gone all shotgun-wielding-maniac on these zebras.

The leader spoke, "She talks too much. Wouldn't quiet down, so I had to have her strapped and gagged just so I could focus on sorting out all these papers." Of course. Skyfire just couldn't control her mouth. It didn't even surprise me anymore that they had to resort to gagging her to keep her quiet. I calmed down.

She got up off from her seat and approached, wagging her hoof at me, "And you must be the Praetorian I've been getting so many reports about. Glad to finally meet you." She reached a hoof to me, and I took it in one of my own before we shook hooves.

"Goldwreath," I introduced myself. At this point, if it weren't for Predator, I would have really liked the Specters. So it was for that reason that I felt it fine to share my identity with them.

"Madran," She replied with a nod. From her seat, Skyfire looked at me and raised both eyebrows in a manner that suggested she was trying to tell me something.

Her look did bring a thought to me, though. 'Madran? I've heard that name before... Oh, shit!' 

I jumped away from her and pulled out Vengeance. The two guards on each of my side got up as well and reflexively pulled out their rifles. Even Madran whipped out a pistol from her vest. Skyfire just watched with a look of shock, and then tried uselessly to break free.

"Your that bitch that sent those Legionnaires to kill me over a week ago!" I declared, and was given a look by Skyfire that suggested that was what she was trying to tell me. I was actually about to mention the Specters back at the bridge, but then I concluded that, if anything, they were traitor Specters. Probably weren't traitors for long, though; they didn't have the red and grey streaks along their armor, like those in Verge did, after all.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She asked. "I sent operatives to contact you and bring you here, not to assassinate you." One of the guards tried approaching me, but backed off when I pointed the revolver at his head. Unfortunately, that gave the other guard the opportunity to buck the revolver away from me. When I turned to face him, he punched me in the face hard enough that I fell to the floor.

As they stood over me, the barrels or their rifles pressed down against my helmet, I said with heavy breathing, "Really? So who the hell were those guys then, huh? Unless your guys went rogue, the only other possibilities are either they got killed, or you intentionally sent them after me."

"Well, I can assure you that I did send people after you, but definitely not to kill you. If I wanted you dead, I could have had Doomtune or even Sanddune kill you, but I didn't." She took a step back and put her pistol away. "I'm not your enemy, Praetorian. You may or may not believe me, but it won't change the truth." She sighed, "Kind of a shame that those operatives I sent after likely got killed."

I just lay there, thinking about it. The guards had not withdrawn their weapons from my brow. It was true, she could have had me killed on many occasions. And really, I would have taken a Specter's word over a Legionnaire's. It didn't make me any less suspicious of her, but I guessed she was telling the truth.

'She is telling the truth,' Tom said. 'If you won't believe her, then believe me at least.'

Sanddune trotted in and took his helmet off. Behind him was the sound of trotting hooves. He closed his eyes and sighed, "Okay, Praetorian, your friends are..." He opened his eyes and took in the scene before him. A moment later, Myst came in with Doodle on her back. At the sight of what was going on, she tried to rush over to me, but was stopped by Sanddune. Doodle had the sense to not try anything. Sanddune facehoofed and groaned, "Oh, no... What did I miss?"

One of the guards responded with a bored sigh, "Apparently, Praetorian thinks Madran sent those two rookies from Canterium to kill him. What I think is that they got lost and some Legion fucks got wind of their plans." He looked to his comrade and nodded, then they both pulled me up and sat back down on the seats like nothing had happened. I got up and shot them both glares, but they didn't seem to care.

Sanddune shook his head, "Ma'am, you really should have had Predator break that to him. The part where you sent people to bring him here and not kill him, I mean."

"I did tell Predator to tell him. I guess he didn't." She rolled her eyes and sighed, "I guess this supposed attempt to kill you means you won't help us out, huh?"

'And there's the request for assistance. Right on cue.' I paused for a moment before answering. Was I really going to help these people? Sure, they were much better than the Legion, and if forced to choose I would have chosen the Specters over the Legion any day. Really, Predator was the only person that gave them some bad reputation with me. Was, that is. That changed when I met Madran, but I still had an easier time believing her excuse than tolerating Predator's horrendous acts. But I'm getting off topic.

Sure, I had to 'meet' the Legate (though at this point I wasn't sure if I wanted to negotiate any more), but the Specter's always seemed to be doing something good. I didn't know what the hell Sanddune was doing in Verge, though. Still, they did seem genuinely interested in helping people, and that I could admire.

I looked to Skyfire. She seemed to be treating the situation with an emotion somewhere between concern and boredom; I guess she didn't really have the tenuous admiration for the Specters that I did, but didn't hate them either. I also assumed that her stay here was causing the bored portion of her emotion. She never did like staying in any place for long (although, really, we had stayed in Home Base for at most just a few hours. That wasn't so long.).

Next I looked to Myst and Doodle. Both were looking at me with an expression suggesting they were leaving the choice to me. Myst was biting her lower lip anxiously, though. I guess she still had her own preference of choice, even if she was leaving it to me.

I took in a deep breath. I had made my choice. "I can put aside my personal suspicion. For now, at least. What's the mission?" I asked in a rather professional tone; one that surprised Madran almost as much as it did me. Skyfire sighed and relaxed in her seat. Myst and Doodle both gave small smiles that suggested they didn't like my choice, but accepted it nonetheless. 

She smiled and asked, "Are you sure? It's not going to be easy, I can tell you that. Besides, you just came back from the rescue earli-"

"Look, if it has to be done, I'll do it. Just like my friend here, I too don't like staying in one place too long. Besides, every second I spend here is another the war up there is going on. The sooner we stop the Legion, the better." I said, feeling a firm determination form in my head. I had to do this. This could be my chance to do something that mattered. And chances were it would succeed; I wasn't the one planning, after all. All of my plans went wrong.

She kept up her smile and nodded, "Alright then." She trotted behind her table and pressed a button somewhere. At once, the single light bulb in the room became brighter and the light shimmered into a vaguely square shape in the air before me. A few seconds later and a holographic map of Roam was being displayed, with several red and blue arrows and marks and lines drawn all over it. One particular section, a small rectangular spot near the middle of the city and separating a river into half, was marked with a large red X.

Madran stood next to the hologram and tapped a hoof on the X. "We aim to take the dam. The Legion's been using it to regulate accessible fresh water from the populace. If they so much as suspect a group of beggars are their enemies, they won't give them a single drop." She walked through the interface to stand in front of me. "The people need that water. Without the Legion keeping it all to themselves and their few allies and giving only polluted water to the rest of the city, this place'll be a lot better."

So this was it, huh? Well, I was in! Now that dream I had all those days ago made sense. Now I wasn't just helping them because I needed to, now I was helping them because I WANTED to. That may seem strange. Doing good out of actual desire is a lot less common and a lot harder than doing good out of necessity. Trust me, I know. But hey, even if doing good is often the more difficult choice, there really are some times when you just can't help but take some joy in it.

With an excitement I hadn't had about a plan in a long time, I asked, "So when do we do this? I'm eager to get this shit done!" From her seat, Skyfire gave a muffled cheer of approval.

She responded simply and without any emotion whatsoever, "Now." 

All my eagerness jumped out of a window and crashed brutally on the pavement below.

"NOW?!" I yelled. Sanddune and the guards snickered and chuckled, as if my exasperation amused them. I rambled, "What do you mean 'now'? We... we aren't ready to go 'now'! Celestia's flaring clit lips, we just got here! What about preparations? The plan? Why, this is even worse than when I organize shit! And that's saying a lot, trust me! I'm gonna rip off your-"

Then a loud alarm sounded over the entire area, even outside. The thundering of hundreds of hooves as they pounded the concrete floor was almost deafening. I brought my hooves up to my ears, as did Myst and Doodle. Skyfire couldn't and had to suffer.

"Alright," Madran said when the noise had gone down a bit. "Everyone assemble on the ground floor. Let's do this." She picked up a helmet from the corner of the room and put it on. It was the same as every other Specter helmet, though it had gray plumes arching front to back. Then she and the three other operatives galloped out of the room. Sanddune skidded to a stop, turned around, and ripped the tape from Skyfire's mouth, electing a scream of pain from my pegasus friend. Next he quickly cut her bounds while I hurried after Madran.

"Hey, wait! At least tell me the fucking plan!" I screamed after her, but she and the other two were already sliding down a rope that extended all the way down to the ground floor. A moment later Sanddune galloped by me and rappelled down after them. I looked around at the different floors and balconies and saw dozens of other operatives doing the same. The area was completely cleared of all non-Specters.

"Well... fuck," I muttered. "Just when I thought something might finally go right." I groaned.

Myst and Skyfire trotted up to me, Doodle following close behind. "It's okay, Goldwreath," Myst said. "We'll do just fine. I only need a few minutes to prepare anyway. It's one of the things I learned from being a sniper. Quick relocation, that is." She smiled and trotted towards the stairs. I grumbled and followed her.

Skyfire said rather enthusiastically, "Yeah! Now's my chance to kill those motherfuckers! All I need is maybe a minute of recharging with Zaita. I should probably get to that." She crouched and spread her wings, then took off and glided down towards the ground floor, descending in wide circles like a vulture.

'Is killing Legionnaires her ONLY motivation?' I wondered.

I could hear Madran addressing her operatives as we descended. Apparently, whatever the plan was had been formulated over a long period of time (or she was simply really good at forming ambitious plans over a very short duration), and now they were just getting a final briefing. I listened closely; as much as I was frustrated with her for making me go on such short notice, I still wanted to go. I needed to catch as many details as I could before this thing happened.

About three floors away from the ground floor, Myst approached me carefully. "You shouldn't have said all that aloud," She whispered. A few feet behind her, Doodle was trotting along rather happily. And considering what she had been through in recent days, that surprised me. I also noticed now that she was wearing Myst's pink sock over her forehoof. The sock was too big for her and sagged with each step she took, but she didn't mind.

"Huh?" I frowned. "Said what?"

Myst went a little red, then cleared her throat. "Celestia's flaring... c-lips?" She went even more red. "Not really the most appropriate thing to say near a filly, don't you think?"

"Oh..." I murmured. "Yeah, sorry about that. It's kind of a habit." Wow, what kind of pony was I? Not only did I nearly forget the pony I promised to improve the life of, now I was shouting expletives in her presence a mere few hours after she had witnessed the brutal killing of sixteen zebras. I hung my head in shame.

"It-it's okay," Myst stammered, a touch nervous. "It's not really your fault. You've been through a lot, and you need to blow off some steam. Just... try not swear so much around her. I'll make sure Skyfire gets the message, too."

I didn't feel any better, but I forced a smile across my face. "Thanks, Myst. You're probably right, I just need to relax a little." I breathed in deep and raised my head a little as I turned and began trotting down the last flight of stairs. "I don't suppose you know any ways to help me relax, would you? I never really got to relax much, even with the amount if time I had to myself back in the stable."

Myst stopped behind me, and I turned to see her blushing hotly. For what I couldn't tell. Was it something I said? Doodle trotted up to her and looked at her weirdly; I guess I wasn't the only one  confused as to why she was blushing. I exchanged looks with the filly before approaching Myst.

"You okay?" I asked, "Why are you blushing?"

Myst shook her head, "Blushing? I'm not blushing! I'm just... just... oh, fuck..." She turned to her side nervously, scratching the back of her head, and saw Doodle looking at her strangely. Myst  coughed a fake cough and stammered, "What? I'm not! It's just... well, you know... um..."

"Myst, get a hold of yourself. Remember I told you to tell me if you're troubled by something? Well, now's a good time to do that."

"Troubled? I'm not troubled! Why would thinking about ways to help you relax trouble me?" Her eyes went wide right after that last statement. Her cheeks went from a light pink to an unbelievable shade of red. It almost looked like she would have turned my own color of crimson. Doodle just barely suppressed a laugh at the earth pony mare's embarrassment. "Oh, please tell me I didn't say that."

My sluggish mind was still trying to piece together what the hell was going on when Myst trotted past me at a brisk pace. "Yeah, I think we should hurry up now," She said as she half-galloped down the stairs ahead of me.

"Uh... what just happened?" I asked dumbly. I looked to Doodle and saw her smiling up at me with a wide grin. "Surely you understand what just happened. I was never the most socially intelligent person..." It was kind of sad that I was asking a filly, of all people, what my friends were thinking. 

"Looks like somepony has a crush on you!" She sang as she hopped up and down in glee. What did she mean by that? Myst didn't... oh, hell no.

'Does she think of me like that? I mean... sure I could understand how saving her life on multiple occasions could make her want to 'return the favor', but... Okay, what the hell am I thinking? No, no, Myst is a good friend, but not THAT kind of friend... I hope. Yeah, maybe now isn't the time to think about this... Oh, I just hope I can fix all this awkwardness.'

I felt my own cheeks go red. "She's just a friend, Doodle." I hope. Please, please just let her be a friend!

Doodle trotted past me, all the while looking at me with a playfully evil smile. "Yeah... sure, a friend'," She teased, and I felt myself go even redder. Then she skipped down the stairs, all the while singing, "Myst li-ikes Goldwreath, Myst li-ikes Goldwreath!" Despite my embarrassment, I couldn't help but wonder where she had learned my name. I was out for maybe an hour or two, maybe they had talked about me? However she did, I guess it didn't really matter.

When I finally got myself together, I continued trotting down the final flight of stairs. All the while I just kept asking aloud, "Does she really think of me like that?" I didn't even pay attention to Madran as she summarized the plan through a megaphone.


*** Magnus et Potens Roamanus ***


When I finally caught up with them, I found them standing behind the assembled crowd of Specters. At my approach, Myst slowly inched away from me. Doodle giggled at that, but Skyfire looked at the filly with a little confusion.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked Skyfire.

She shrugged, "They haven't said anything that involves us yet. We'll figure out soon enough I guess."

As it turned out, 'soon enough' took it's sweet time getting there. I honestly nearly fell asleep listening to all the complicated battle strategies. I understood that it was stuff that I should have listened to, but when you have absolutely no idea what's going and whether or not you have any role in it you kind of tend to not give a fuck. Skyfire actually did fall asleep, but Doodle woke her up before she fell to the ground. Myst was paying much closer attention; I envied her of the incredible amount of endurance she must have had to actually pay attention to that stuff without looking even a little drowsy.

Despite my sleepy boredom, I managed to hear one operative ask, "And what about Predator and the Caesar? The other operatives still on the surface?" That got enough of my attention that I woke up a little more.

To that, Madran replied with a magnified voice, "They're keeping the surface and points of exit clear. I haven't heard from Predator or the Caesar, though."

I began drooping again. That was when she said, "Alright Specters, ten minutes of prep, go!" Her final word coincided with the sudden stomping and galloping of the hundred or so operatives in the area. The sudden noise of the jingling of ammo casings and the humming of VTOL and APC engines woke me up completely, and I rubbed my eyes as trotted off blankly. My friends gathered behind me, though Skyfire squealed at the sight of a recharging station before galloping off. Myst nervously told me she was going to get more ammo and trotted off, Doodle skipping along behind her. The filly glanced at me, then at Myst, before smiling deviously. I shooed her away before anyone else saw that.

As I had already gotten ammo for my weapons, except for Balaclava's rifle, I decided to just go around and mingle with the different operatives as they prepared their equipment. They were too busy readying all their guns and making sure they had all their tactical gear, such as what they called 'flashbangs', to give me any more attention than a detached 'uhuh' or a 'yup'. I guess I couldn't really blame them; if you were in their position, making sure all your gear was ready for a big fight, then I guess you'd want to be left alone.

Their was one operative that caught my attention, though. "Doomtune?" I asked the music-blasting operative as he attached rails to a brand new rifle. He turned his head to face me as I approached the small workbench he had claimed for his own. "You're joining this fight?" Hadn't he technically died a while back? I may have been no doctor, but I knew that he should have been resting instead of fighting.

"Well, yeah," He said as he finished attaching the rails and began pulling out various optical sights and clicked them onto the rails. "All combat operatives are needed for this. We've been planning it for too long to let it fail now. Home Base'll be safe; a combination of New Roaman security and utility operatives will be here." 

"But aren't you, I don't know, supposed to be recovering or something? You actually died back there, you know." Seriously, he was going? Like this? It reminded me of my first meeting with Skyfire; the time when I too tried to keep her in recovery, but failed simply because I had to let her come with me. I wondered what Doomtune's motivation for pushing himself was.

"Docs said I was good, though they aren't sure why. But that's all I need. If I'm good to go, then I'll go." He sounded detached, like he was saying all this and preparing all his stuff while thinking about something.

He was thinking about something. And I suspected I knew what it was. I didn't know where I got the suspicion, or really how I knew he was thinking at all. Some part of my mind simply... knew.

Before I could really think about whether or not I should put my suspicions to the test, I asked, "You're thinking about what happened in the building, aren't you?" I personally wouldn't have thought he was thinking about that rather than, say, what happened back in the transport, if it weren't for my suspicion. Because between an event where I NEARLY died and an event where I DID die, I would be pondering about the latter.

Doomtune was tightening an extended barrel on his heavily-modified rifle when I said that. He stopped completely, then slowly turned his head to face me. Through his visor, he seemed a little pained. Not surprised at my correct inquiry, but instead pained. "Yeah... what about it?" He asked, all of his attention now focused on me with such intensity that I thought if I asked the wrong question he'd paralyze me with a hoof strike.

Good thing that he'd asked though, because that gave me the permission to ask questions I wanted answers for. At least, I thought it did. Remember, I was never really the most socially intelligent pony.

"I just have to ask... why did you seem so concerned about my friend?" He raised an eyebrow at me from behind his visor. "You know... when we found out they were trying to rape her? Why were you so concerned?"

He didn't respond for a moment, instead putting his rifle down on the table and tapping it with a hoof repeatedly. "Wow, you really know what questions to ask to throw a buck's focus off, don't you?" He said with a shaky chuckle. "Well, if you must know, I kind of have a personal hatred of raping scumbags. Let's just say it happened to someone important." Behind his helmet, he sniffed.

"Who?" Okay, I'll admit I may have been making the situation a little awkward, but I was genuinely interested.

Despite his hesitation, he obviously wanted to talk about it. Probably to get his mind off of it. "One day, my... uh, 'family'," He said the last word with a little bit of tension before he paused for a moment and continued, "One day they were scavenging the jungle near Canterium. There was a drought back then, so they said, and most people were resorting to hunting to get their daily meal."

He paused again, looking over the entire chamber. All the other operatives had now finished personal preparations and were tending to the vehicles parked around, especially the APC's. "Anyway, apparently radigator's good food if you cook 'em right. My dad found a cave of them deep in the forest, but told only my family so as to limit the number of people who knew about it. The next night he left for the cave. Said he'd be back in a few hours at the most." 

He took in a shaky breath and shook his head. "Then some fucking raiders came along, maybe ten of them. Since my family camped a little further from the other hunters, we were exposed." He looked at me, and I was surprised at the anger and hurt in his puffy red eyes. "They tied my mother to a tree and raped her! For a fucking hour! And my sister..." He coughed and took in another shaky breath. "I don't know where they learned it. Maybe they saw it some old history book or something. Wherever they learned it, they made a pretty good cross. They crucified her." He sat down and hung his head. "Dad came by a little later and killed those SoB's, but my sister was already dead. Blood loss from the many nails they used. Mom was alive but traumatized. Dad wouldn't stop stomping their corpses into the dirt like the filth they were."

"And then what happened?" I asked, altogether sorry and sympathetic for the guy. So this was why he was so anxious to kill them. Now I understood why. And I shared his anger; if anyone I cared for ever got raped... I would have peeled their attacker's hide off and boiled them in salty water.

He took off his helmet, and I saw his face etched with such hurt and hatred it made me balk. Even one or two of the operatives looking in our general direction suddenly stopped what they were doing just to look at him. The furious tears running down his face as he took in his breaths in deep hisses only served to make his fury more apparent. Despite his seething, he responded rather calmly, "I happened." 

All of the thoughts in my mind left, leaving it completely blank. All thoughts except one: 'What?'

He smiled brokenly, sniffing and wiping his face. Then he laughed, "Heh, they kept telling me what happened that night again and again just to make me feel like shit. They hated me. They told me the story every night the moment I could understand them. For them, I was just a reminder of what happened that night. For them, I was just another raider." He smiled a little crazily, then looked at me and laughed a little.

"But I loved them. Even after they sold me to slavers near Canterium's walls. And when hate crept into my mind, I just kept reminding myself why they did it. They never asked for me, it wasn't their fault." He sighed. "Then Predator attacked the convoy. He just laid waste to the damned thing, killing both slaver and would-be slave. A few of us were spared by him, and he even led us to Canterium Prime. Then I got my training and... here I am."

For a moment I just stood there, looking at him with disbelief. And anger. Not anger against him, obviously. Anger against his parents. Seriously, what kind of people do that? Selling their own child, even if unwanted, to slavers... sickening. If they were still alive up to now, and I had a means of finding them, then I would personally buck their sorry heads off. I was also a little bit pissed off that Predator had killed some of the slaves instead of just the slavers.

Myst, Skyfire, Zaita and Doodle started across the room towards me, with Zaita hovering several feet above them. At the sight of them Doomtune placed his helmet on hurriedly, then made his visor opaque and pressed the button that changed his voice. As they approached, Doomtune leaned close and rasped softly, "Thanks for the talk. I needed it off my mind." I nodded at him, then hesitantly trotted to meet my companions half-way.

"So, you three ready?" I asked. Skyfire's rifle's glass components were glowing brightly from the energy they had absorbed, while Myst had at least several more cartridges for her rifle. Zaita looked only a little scratched from the fight back at Verge. 

Skyfire grinned and nodded, shucking the twin rifle's closer to her shoulders. Myst bit her lip, looked at me from behind her hoodie and nodded, then quickly glanced away. I sighed... was that whole... 'conversation' back at the stairs going to be a problem? I had finally gotten Myst to be open with me since she started traveling with us, so I really didn't want her to be all shy again because of a single awkward conversation.

"I believe so. The Specters have restocked me on 25mm ammo and rockets, so I should be ready. And you, do you know the plan?"

I shook my head, "Yeah, I didn't really pay attention. Neither did Skyfire. I think Myst did, though." I glanced at her, making her gasp and pull her hoodie over her head more. 

'Oh yes, definitely going to be a problem.' I thought.

Zaita explained, "Well, it's simple really. The push towards the dam will take perhaps a day of intense fighting, assuming the Legion doesn't call for reinforcements and the Specter's allies join up with us. I will be joining the assault on the surface as part of the armor line. The Specters within me will be mounting the weapons, and I will maneuver us across the battlefield until we reach the dam. All I heard about you was something about a tunnel."  

A tunnel? Why would we go through a tunnel? I wanted to help fight on the surface, not crawl like a rat in a sewer. And Zaita was going to be up there? I didn't want to risk her being destroyed; she may have been an AI, but she had saved our lives. For that, and I still feel a little awkward saying it, I considered her my 'friend'. 

I groaned my disapproval. My own plans may have been crap, but this plan was just horrible. Not only were we going in not as prepared as we could be (thanks in no small part to the fact that we had to go 'now'), we were also being separated from our transport and would have to go down a tunnel. That just had bad written all over it. Even Myst looked a little worried about it, but then again she was always worried about something. Skyfire didn't seem to give a damn.

"I'll go get more details from Madran. Maybe I can also convince her to let us up on the surface instead." And with that, I trotted away from my gathered friends.

Maybe halfway through the tables and workbenches, I heard it. It was a thundering, echoing metallic slam that vibrated through the entire chamber. It sounded as though some giant was knocking hard on a very large metal door. Everyone paused what they were doing, resulting in many spilled oil barrels and a lot of screws falling to the ground, all accompanied immediately by frustrated swearing. Every single turret in sight began slowly turning.

For just a few seconds, everything was calm. No noise, no talking, no movement. Just the tension that comes when a hundred or so operatives all feel nervous about something. And considering the sorts of things they were capable of, if they're nervous about something, then you should be nervous about it as well.

Then it sounded again, a little less loud this time. Even still, the sound carried with it a reverberating permanence. The slamming of metal on concrete sounded one more time, and everyone turned their heads towards one of the large arched doors. The door shook and wobbled as whatever was striking it hit again and again.

"You think you knocked too loud?" Asked a booming voice from beyond the doorway. I recognized that voice. It was the voice of the ridiculously overpowered tank known as the Caesar.

"Pretty sure I did," Predator said, his voice magnified. "Alright, what's the hold up? Madran, if you're in there, open the damned gate. Hostiles don't knock first."

The tension in the room very quickly dissipated at that. Everyone went back to their final preparations with only a hint of anxiety left in them. Several operatives went to the gate and activated the raising mechanism, and the thick metal gate slowly rose up. Along with my friends, I trotted in front of the gate and waited for it to fully rise.

Dust, water and smoke leaked into the room as the door opened. Beneath the door came wan rays of sickly green light, illuminating through the smoke in such a way that the scene looked like some kind of monster was going to crawl in. When the door finally opened fully, at first I couldn't see anything besides green-tinted dust and smoke, nor could I hear anything but the faint trickle of water. But when the dust cleared, I saw him.

Predator was standing in front of the gargantuan chassis of the Caesar, the dust swirling around their dark forms. Behind them was a very long tunnel illuminated by more glowing green mushrooms, sloping upwards at just a slight degree. He had something on the ground next to him, something metallic. He stood there for a while, breathing in deep regulated breaths through his ruined and cracked helmet. I just stared at him, an emotion of a mix between anger, curiosity, and disgust piling up in my head.

After a while of just standing there, the tank's engine hummed to life and it drove in, actually taking the time to maneuver around Predator instead of telling him to move. "Alright, enough drama! Where the hell are the 150 milimeters? Surface is crawling with fucking enemy armor, so get loading!" The tank itself looked like it had taken a beating; nothing truly serious, just bent and blackened exterior armor. One of the turrets was a smoking pile of fried wires and melted metal, but that was about it. As the tank rolled in, robotic arms carrying gigantic shells emerged from manhole-sized circles in the ground. Other arms emerged and tended to the tank's damage. 

Now Predator trotted forward, dragging the metallic lump along with him. For the most part I just glared at him, though I did spare a look at what he was dragging. It was mostly grey, though it did have a few streaks of violet...

Two operatives moved forward to meet him. "You got the executor? He's vital for this plan," One of them said. "If you don't have him, then we won't be able to keep them negotiating while we sneak into the dam."

Predator growled as he flung the metallic heap at him. Except it wasn't just a metallic heap. The two operatives barely caught the unconscious, battered, beaten, and generally screwed over executor before he hit the ground. I only spared a glance at him, but what I saw suggested he had tried to put up a fight against Predator, and that effort failed completely.

"There's your answer," Predator said, and he trotted towards Madran. I followed him, letting my strange curiosity of him overcome my disgust just for now. If I let my anger get a hold of me, then I might have started a fight, and I was pretty sure I would lose. Not that I doubted my combat skill, but Predator just destroyed everything he wanted to. I even had the thought that, if he wanted to, he could have knocked the gate down. A part of my head told me that was impossible and illogical, but then again lots of the stuff I saw out here didn't make sense.

"Predator!" Madran called out. "You're late."

"Well, you haven't left yet, so I assume you've changed the plan. If you didn't, you would have just left me to catch up." Madran silenced at that, hanging her head and sighing. Predator leaned against one of the tables, "So what's my new role? Espionage? I can do that, yeah."

Madran groaned, "How do you even know these things before I tell you..." She sighed, "Yeah, espionage. In a sense. We need you to sneak in through the tunnels and disable the dam's defenses from the inside. You know the underground more than anyone, so you shouldn't have a hard time of it."

I expected Predator to argue, to complain. Here, he had been lead to believe for an apparently long time that he had a different role, and now he was being relocated last-minute. I expected him to go into a fit of rage or disappointment. Instead, and to my surprise, he just said, "Alright." Then he began trotting towards one of the smallest arched doorways of the ground floor. He didn't even get more ammo or ask for time to rest. He just... went; without hesitation or complaint. That showed either great obedience or great disinterest. Somehow I felt it wasn't the former.

Then Madran looked at me, and through her visor raised her eyebrows.

"What?" I asked.

"Aren't you going with him?" She questioned.

"WHAT?!" Skyfire yelled, then dashed towards the Specter leader to point a hoof at her. "You expect us to go with that piece of shit? You can't be serious! In fact, why are we going down tunnels anyway?" For once I appreciated Skyfire's direct manner of approach. I SO did not want to be stuck in an underground tunnel for who knows how long with a psychotic, cold-blooded killer. I may have unwillingly lead my friends into danger before, but allowing this... that would show not only incapability to assert myself, but also unwillingness to protest for the safety of my companions.

"Because on the surface you three will be gigantic targets. Do you know why we had Predator capture an executor? Legionnaires are extremely loyal to their leaders, even those not directly assigned to them. They wouldn't dare shoot at us if there was even a slight chance they would strike their leader." Madran shook her head. "But having you three up there, on the assault, just might override that instinct. They just might open up on us with all their power. The truth is we're outgunned, outnumbered. Using the executor as a shield is the only real chance we've got to reach the dam with even half of our force remaining."

She sighed and looked my glaring pegasus friend in the eye. "Besides, we need a team to infiltrate the dam. We can't really spare operatives for that operation, we'll need them all on the surface. While normally I would send Predator alone, I can't risk it. Whether either of you like it or not, I have to send in a team, not an individual."

Damn it, she was right. The Legion overpowered the Specters in sheer power, and my presence would simply make them fight back with overwhelming force. As much as I hated being forced to go down a tunnel with Predator, I couldn't deny the logic behind her statement. And if Predator really wanted us dead, he could have killed us before. As much as I hated being separated from Zaita and having to do this, it was for the best. I suppose I just had to put aside my personal hate for the fucker.

Myst didn't voice her disapproval, though I could see the worry on her face. Doodle looked a little anxious, twirling the sock around in her hooves. Zaita, as usual, didn't show any reaction that I could see.

Then the alarm sounded again, and at once the operatives began boarding the VTOLs and parked helicopters. They got into the APC's, one of which was Zaita. The Caesar began rolling out of the open doorway again, the many smaller ground vehicles following it as it slowly ascended the slope. Madran mounted the side machine gun of one of the VTOLs as the many aircraft began ascending through the hole in the ceiling, blasting the few of us still down here with moist and smelly air. I saw Doomtune and Sanddune sitting together on the side of one of the APC's as it drove up the slope, the latter playing a suspenseful beat that the Specters marching along beside the armored vehicles seemed to be bobbing their heads to. I watched them until their dark forms were lost in the shadows of the tunnel.

Before she followed the convoy up, Zaita approached me and said, "Be careful, Goldwreath. I calculate a very high danger level for this operation."

I smiled. Amid all the disappointment and worry I had for this, her monotone voice brought me a little comfort. "Be careful yourself, Zaita." 

When the armored door slammed close, the area was disturbingly empty and calm. The rotating of blades and the combustion of engines were distant echoes coming from the oculus in the ceiling, and the ground slowly began to shake less as the vehicles and Specters in the tunnel went further and further up. The few remaining operatives began letting the populace back into the chamber. Along with them came zebras wielding rifles and wearing combat armor with the letters 'NRS' painted in blue on their chest plates. I assumed that meant 'New Roaman Security'.

Myst nudged me, "Come on, let's go." She started trotting, along with Doodle and Skyfire, towards the small door at the northern end of the room. There, Predator was waiting, leaning against the wall. I took in a nervous breath. I was actually going to do this.

"So, I'm assigned with you, huh?" Predator asked as we reached him. In his presence, Doodle had changed from her rather cheery and playful demeanor to a quiet, tense filly. I couldn't really blame her; the guy had this aura of tension that just made you alert whenever you were near him.

"Don't think I like it," I growled. "I'm going with you because I need to, not because I want to." Beside me, Skyfire shook her head once in approval of my statement.

"And I'm not asking you to like it. But if we are going in together, then I need to establish one rule that you MUST follow." He got up from leaning against the wall and approached me and my friends. Even if I couldn't see them, I could just feel his eyes on me. "These tunnels are dangerous, but if you follow what I say, and EXACTLY what I say..." He leaned his head close to Skyfire, who then scowled at him. "... then they won't be. Follow that one simple rule and you might survive." He turned to the door and forced it up. The tunnel ahead had such a strong stench of decay that everyone but Predator gagged from the reek. Predator then trotted through, slowly disappearing into the shadows.

"Alright, everyone ready?" I asked as the stench died down. I could hear Predator's hoofsteps as he stepped in murky pools of mud and still water inside the mushroom-lit tunnel.

Myst and Skyfire coughed but nodded, then trotted into the tunnel after him. Doodle was about to as well, when I stopped her. "Wait, you're coming with me?" I asked. I understand that leaving her here, along and without company, was a horrible idea. Them again, bringing her with me was also a terrible choice, if Predator's warning had any truth to it. Which, in this case, it most likely did.

"Yeah!" She piped in a strangely cheery voice. "I can't wait to go on this adventure! It's gonna be so awesome!" Wow. Here was a filly who had recently had her parents killed, nearly got killed herself, witnessed the brutal killing of sixteen zebras, and yet she still wanted to go down the extremely dangerous tunnel with the zebra... creature... that she should have been terrified of. I expected her to be traumatized, not... eager.

I tried to dissuade her. "But aren't you scared? I mean, you know..."

"A little," She admitted, her eagerness dying down a bit. "But I'm not scared of mister Predator, he just makes me uncomfortable. I'm scared of the tunnel itself. But as long as I follow his instructions, I'll be safe."

I wanted to keep her here. This wasn't right, taking her with us. Who knew what was down there? I was about to throw another group of statements to keep her here when Predator's voice called out from the tunnel. The sound of it made it obvious that he was already quite a fair distance in.

"Just bring her with us," His voice echoed. I could hear them trotting into puddles and stepping into algae inside, the latter making wet, squishy noises. "As I said, I won't hurt her as long as she doesn't suffer permanent emotional and psychological damage."

The fact that Doodle was cheery and eager despite what had happened already suggested that there was something wrong with her. No filly could be this happy after going through all that. Still, at least in the presence of me and my friends she was protected. Perhaps not completely safe, but protected. Besides, leaving her here with these people also wasn't a good idea. I would have to talk to her later, find out why she was so positive despite what she had gone through. The answer, as I would later discover it, would surprise me.

Two NRS guards took their positions beside the door, waiting patiently for us to go through before closing it.

I sighed as I let her ride onto my back. "Alright, fine. Let's go." Then I galloped in, hurrying up to catch up with them. The door slammed down a moment later.

A few seconds in, a minor headache erupted in my head, surprising me enough to slow me down to a canter. What was that?

'So,' Tod said, 'You missed me?'

'Aw, hell no.' Both Tom and I thought.






Footnote: Level Up

New perk gained: Mental Perception, Level One -- You don't know how, but your mind has found a way to perceive things your other senses cannot. You gain +2 to your perception attribute.