//------------------------------// // Chapter 47 // Story: A Noble Death // by LSTS Connor //------------------------------// “How is she?” “I-I don’t know. I can’t find a pulse through this armor a-and h-her chest, I…I don’t see it moving.” Shining armor approached the motionless Spartan slowly before leaning down and coming face to face with her visor. He studied its glass, looking for any hint of life. The sounds of muffled breathing or the pounding of a beating heart, nothing. He sighed as he attempted to remove her helmet with his hooves, that strange shield still preventing a magical intervention, but it refused to budge. Slowly he laid Six’s head back against the rocks as he stood up and turned around to face a nearby guard who was watching the scene quietly. “Call for the strongest earth ponies we have in reserve,” he glanced toward the unmoving mare one final time before looking back at the nearby guard. “We ain’t leaving her here.” He heard a loud gasp from behind him as a weight suddenly pressed against his shoulder, “Yeah, your not.” “Heh, crazy mare. Had to give us a fright, didn’t you?” Shining responded as he turned before helping Six back up to her wobbly hooves. “One of these days, that armor of yours is going to bite you in the flank, you know that?” The only response he got was a chuckle through Six’s speakers. “How are my Spartans?” Six asked as she turned and saw the bandaged Spirit. “Been better,” answered the changeling with a small smile before wincing as she accidentally irritated her burns. “Thank you, by the way. Some burns are better than being crushed.” Six smiled under her helmet, “Good to hear.”   Shining interjected, grabbing the Spartan's attention, “Rest of your team is at the front tasked with supporting our mages. The operation had to go on with or without you, I’m sure you understand.” Six did. One pony, even a Spartan, was not equal to an entire offensive, after all. “Well then, where do you need me? We still got a war to finish,” Six replied as she dusted herself off, only wincing slightly as her sore muscles were agitated. “Hold your horses there, Six. We just dug you out from under several tonnes of rock. There’ is no way you're going into combat without a medic giving you the green light.”  Six ceased in her movements before looking Shining in the eye and ever so slowly removing her helmet. Her face was as hard as steel as she spoke, “Do I look like I need a medic? This,” she pointed at the pile of rocks behind her, annoyed, “was nothing compared to what I’ve done in the past.” Shining still wasn't convinced. “You're going to see a medic. Do I have to make that an order?” Six growled but ultimately relented after several seconds. “Fine, you can catch me up on the situation then.” She looked to Spirit once more, “Need any help?” “I'll be fine, just give me a few minutes. I’m sure my medic will be here shortly to check up on me,” the changeling reassured with a small smile as she appeared to make herself comfortable on the rocks, grumbling as she tried to avoid agitating her injuries. “Though having Sparrow here would make this faster.” Six nodded before following Shining Armor through the Cavern they had turned into their forward operating base. The area was filled with various logistics-oriented divisions of ponies hard at work ferrying ponies and supplies to and from the front line. The Spartan's awakening and subsequent arrival did not go unnoticed by the masses as several stopped in their duties to watch, smiles growing on their faces. Normally, Six would have ignored the looks and the smiles. She had already received enough of those from marines she would watch die not hours later in a Covenant attack. But here, she felt different. The emotions and words from Luna still resonated within her subconscious. Her eyes traced the faces of those looking at her, now seeing them as more than just the result of her stature as a Spartan. These ponies saw her as a symbol and as a protector. What was it those ponies in the news called her? She briefly looked to the roof of the cavern in thought. ‘The…Angel of Las Pegasus.’ That was it… An Angel, a selfless protector of those weaker than themselves. And isn’t that exactly what a Spartan was? Isn’t that exactly what she was? Six once again looked across the room of smiling faces and hopeful eyes. For the longest time, the only thought on Six’s mind was that of revenge. To repay what the Venator had done to her and those around her. Everything else just seemed…unimportant. But now, looking upon these ponies—these people, Six couldn’t help but also allow a small smile of her own to grace her lips. Soldiers fight for those who cannot do so themselves, and it had been far too long since Six had done just that. With Shining Armor leading the way, it wasn’t long before they reached the medical area. It seems someone had called ahead as a large area to the side was cleared out with several medics already waiting. Six raised an eyebrow towards the guard captain beside her. “Ready for everything, I see.” Shining did not look amused, “Try being in my hooves for a change and being told that the super soldier under your command is buried under several tonnes of rock.” Six chuckled lightly, “I see.” Shining just sighed before pointing towards a nearby metal table set up against the far wall of the tent. “Just take off your armor and get checked out. I’ll fill you in while they examine you.” Six’s gaze switched between the table and Shining several times before sighing loudly and giving the Captain a cold stare, “Fine, but if we get attacked while these medics are prodding me, I will break your legs.” Shining swallowed nervously, unsure if the threat was genuine. “A-alright.” Six reluctantly walked over to the table and began removing her armor plating. First came her chest piece, which she disengaged with a thought through her neural implant. The table before her bent ever so slightly under the chest piece’s weight as she continued to disengage and remove her protective suit. Within a short span of six minutes, the Spartan stood in only her dark grey undersuit, its titanium composite shell organized neatly upon the buckling table. Turning around, Six took a few steps towards the waiting medics before a clearing of Shining’s throat stopped the spartan in her tracks. “What?” asked Six, annoyance marring her tone. Shining responded in kind. “C’mon, you know what. The docs can’t do their jobs if they can’t see what they're doing.” Six huffed, “Believe me, if there was anything wrong underneath my suit, I wouldn’t be standing here complaining to you.” Shining responded in a tone that brokered no argument. “Lieutenant, I order you to submit to a full medical examination. Failure to do so will result in you being deemed unfit for combat and sent back to Canterlot.” Six growled through gritted teeth, “Fine, Captain.” Shining’s tough guy persona held. “It’s for your own good, Six. We need you at your best for the coming battle. Having you walking around with, say…a broken ribcage would, again, not be favorable to your combat performance.” Six responded over her shoulder as she slipped out of her undersuit, “Neither is being completely defenseless in enemy territory.” “Please. Thanks to you, this place is complete- Sweet Celestia, your wings!” Six just sighed as she stepped out of the suit and placed it on the table. “What?” “What do you mean ‘what’?! How in Tartarus have you been walking around all this time with feathers in that condition?!” Six just remained confused as she walked toward the medics while idly inspecting her wings. ”I don’t get what you mean?”  She responded genuinely. Sure there were a few feathers out of place…and broken…and, yes… yes, that red tint near the base of her primaries was, in fact, her own dried blood beginning to itch like a thousand little ants were biting her. But to the Spartan with no frame of reference and stoicism that could make a brick wall blush, it wasn’t a serious issue. Shining was left speechless as the medics surrounded Six’s outstretched wings. Luckily, it only took a minute for the unicorn to speak up once more with an exhausted face. “Just be glad Spitfire is on air support and not here to see those wings. I’m pretty sure she would actually have a stroke if she saw them.” “Yeah, okay, can you get on with the briefing now? I want to know where you’ve sent my Spartans.” Six asked in irritation as the medics got to their poking, prodding, and overall checking up on the Spartan, her wings being the focal point of their inspections. Six couldn’t stop from wincing slightly each time they pulled a long dead feather. “Right, well, thanks to the…help we have received from a changeling turncoat, the offensive is proceeding as smoothly as it can. Your mission was a success, as you can see. But as far as the war is concerned, that was the easy part.” Six spoke through slightly gritted teeth as the poking of the medics touched a particularly painful secondary feather. “Where are my Spartans?” “Pixy and Sparrow are currently supporting the 5th mage battalion on the southern side of the front. ” “Pixy? Why is she at the front?” “Yeah, I’m asking myself the same thing since the prosthetic she’s been outfitted with is an early prototype, at best. But you know your Spartans. Add in Pixy’s personality and…” he circled his hoof around. “Point is, nothing was stopping her from not getting in the fight. But aside from that, she’s doing what you trained her to, and a damn good job if the reports I'm getting back say anything.” “Hmpf… I’ll tell her how idiotic this is later. Going into combat in her condition.” Shining just cleared his throat at that comment while gesturing towards the Spartan herself. “Yeah…you don’t say. Well, to give you the short version, progress is slow but still being made on the front. Reported casualties on both sides are high. We need to open up a hole in their lines to start making any actual progress.” “I take it this is where I come in?” “If the medics here give you the green light, yes. Speaking of, she good?” The medic looked up from his clipboard, “Aside from a serious lack of wing maintenance,” he glanced at the unamused Spartan’s now somewhat useable wing, “Yes, she is fit for duty.” “Told you, waste of time,” commented Six with a grin. “Just get your gear and listen.” Six did so with that grin on her face the entire time as Shining explained what her new orders would be. The distant vibrations of small magical explosions reverberated throughout the Halls of Vendratis. The living metal shell that encompassed Mobius shivered in tandem as the Venator approached the wall where a large statue of the Empress used to sit. Now the wall was bare, and stones lay across the normally pristine floor. A door of red-tinted steel now revealed to the world, the Overqueen Chrysalis still covered in half-healed scars standing next to it, watching the Venator approach with imperious eyes. “Took you long enough.” “Apologies, my Queen. I wa-” “No matter, you are here and that is all that matters. Now come, I need this door open and I cannot do it without a Venator.” Mobius walked up to the exposed door before the pair. It was covered in an ancient script he could not recognize and inlaid with a reddish material he could not discern. Two small holes were located on each side of the doorframe. A Spiderweb of rubies surrounded each hole with threads that led into a larger upside-down heart made of jewels above the door. “What must I do?” asked the Venator as the rippling of his armor increased with each step closer. ‘What is…This feeling…?’  spoke Redfang in Mobius’s mind as tiny tendrils of metal began forming on his chest as if trying to reach out towards the mysterious door. The faint waves of some distant and powerful aura were brushing against his own in the void. Yet these waves were not the ones usually associated with those of strong minds, no. Whatever the source of these waves was, it gave him a feeling of peace, belonging… familiarity with its progenitor. But these emotions did not worry him as he approached the gateway. “The same as I. Put your hooves in those holes and channel some of your magic into the gems.” Mobius looked at his hooves and the wriggling metal encompassing them for a moment. His gaze locked onto the keyholes before him as he reared up and completed the circuit before him. He didn’t even need to focus on the task before the feeling of his magic leaving him voluntarily graced his mind. Redfang gasped in his mind as the armor that made up her anchor began to flow like a summer spring towards the gems, only the thinnest of shells remaining on his hindquarters and limbs. ‘C…Closer….’ came a whisper from the vastness of the void, its voice so alike to Redfangs yet… gentler, like a soft summer breeze brushing across his aura. His armors movement still wasn’t done as it continued to flow most of its volume off of the Venators body and onto the many jewels inlaid on the door. It took a whole minute before the living metal had fully hidden the gems and both the Queens and the Venator’s hooves under its writhing, pulsing and red-glowing mass. A click reverberated throughout the Cavern as the living metal began to slowly recede and flow back onto the Venator’s form. Mobius gave a relieved sigh at the familiar weight returning to his body as the last of his armor reformed onto his body. A prominent reddish coloring now overtook its usual green accents.  A loud groan of stone grating stone overtook the cavern as the ancient doors began to swing open with the speed of a snail yet the power of a hurricane. A rush of air whistled as the ancient seal was broken and the way forward made clear. An oppressive red light shone outwards from the gateway,  illuminating the path forward. “Come, your presence is still required for now, if I am to annihilate this pony incursion.” Mobius couldn’t stop himself from swallowing as he looked down the winding red hallway that his Queen now walked through. A moment later he followed Chrysalis, his armor continuing to change and flow all across his body as the sound of Redfang’s heavy breathing reverberated through his ears. ‘Everything alright?’ he asked through his aura, yet the only response he got was that same whisper from before. ‘…Closer…’ Something was clearly affecting the consciousness he had grown so accustomed to and it worried him. But he was still a soldier and a Venator at that. Whatever was affecting Redfang would have to wait. It wasn’t like there was anything he could do to help anyway. The waves were simply too…welcoming to block. “What is this place, my Queen?” His eyes scanned the glowing red tunnel. Dust marred every surface that wasn't affected by the draft, as hundred-year-old gems glowed and pulsed with the Venator’s energy. But this energy wasn’t stagnant. It continued to flow down the tunnel toward some unknown consumer. “The resting place of the Great Swarm…and the Empress herself.”  Mobius’s eyes threatened to burst from his skull at that proclamation. His armor mirrored his expression as its ebbs and flows sped up dramatically and its red coloring became more pronounced. “T-the Empress is down here?” “In a state between life and death, yes… but that does not matter. What does is those down there with her. The Great Swarm and the Custodians entombed among them.” The Queen spoke slowly, almost as if only mentioning the content of this ‘Tomb’ for lack of a better term, required tremendous willpower and commanded any listener's attention. Mobius was at a loss for words as he followed his Queen further down the path, his mind a raging storm. Were those waves he was feeling those from the Empress herself? From the many of her Great Swarm? He couldn’t think straight, but how was he supposed to? He was about to meet their god. Moments passed in complete silence as the pair reached the end of the tunnel and entered a massive chamber bathed in a deep crimson. The waves were stronger than ever as an ever-present pressure encompassed his aura. Redfang had gone silent, only her breathing was audible now. The pair stood before a long bridge made of rubies with a vast drop on either side. The walls of the Tomb were inlaid with crimson symbols he couldn’t recognize from any known runic language. They all glowed and pulsed with power as they worked their unknown purpose and flooded the ancient cavern in red. Below them, bathed in the dull light, was a field of roses as far as the eye could see. And among them were thousands upon thousands of cocoons of every shape and color, red being the most prominent among them. And at the center of the room, across the bridge of ruby…was the resting place of the Empress herself. An island of scarlet, made from a material he couldn’t discern, stood in the distance like a beacon, beckoning him to come closer. Chrysalis continued across the bridge before them, every step sending ripples of energy outwards underneath its sparkling surface. Mobius followed, his mind still in awe at what he was seeing. At the halfway point across the bridge of ruby, the Venator found his voice. “What…What are we doing here? Why do you need some… lowly Venator to help you?” “Because,” Chrysalis looked Mobius in the eye, “ in the Empress’s infinite wisdom, she decreed that only a willing Venator in combination with the Overqueen may wake her.” Mobius’s hearts skipped a beat, “We…we’re going to w-wake her?” “No, you blithering idiot!” yelled the Overqueen with a pulse from her aura, bringing the Venator to his knees. “We are not going to wake her. You are going to help me wake the Custodians that protect her. Because of your failure, this is our only chance now to destroy those ponies once and for all! Now get up while you’re still needed here.” Mobius did so, not wanting to further anger his Queen. It was obvious that his presence was a necessity she didn’t like, and he would prefer not to find himself permanently banned from visiting this tomb once the dust had settled. A minute of silence passed as the pair reached the crimson island, where the Empress herself lay dormant. Glancing upwards, Mobius quickly averted his eyes, the sight too intense for the lowly eyes of a mortal like himself. For only a crimson staircase away, sitting atop her blood-red throne, was the dormant form of the Empress in Red. Clad in crimson armor and encompassed in a giant red bubble of magical energy, she remained on her throne, unmoving. A green blade of unknown origin was impaled through her abdomen, baleful green energy still lashing at the Empress' form. The waves he had been sensing were at their strongest now, the small Venator’s aura bathed in the red light of the Empress herself. Not the tendril he had felt not too long ago that connected him to Redfang. He was what an asteroid was to a star, an insignificant body orbiting something incomprehensibly more powerful. His armor was barely cohesive now, more akin to a rushing waterfall than practical armor. There were moments where the burnt chitin underneath was briefly revealed to the world as even the lowest of layers liquified and were swept up in the tide. Redfang was completely silent now, as not even the faint presence of his companion could now be felt in the deepest recesses of his aura. Mobius muttered a prayer under his breath. “Cease in your prostration. We do not have time for prayers,” Chrysalis snapped, pulling Mobius’s gaze to meet the Queens. “Waking the Custodians takes precedence. You can pray when the ponies are crushed under their hooves!” The Overqueen spoke with such conviction and power it broke Mobius out of his trance. His commitment to his Queen and the Hive reasserting itself, the waves and glow of his Empress dampening. “Yes, I’m sorry, my Queen. What must I do?” Chrysalis pointed towards a small outcropping in the ruby wall to his left while she moved to a similar, onyx one across from the Venator. “Same as before, place your hooves and reach out with your aura carefully! You will be skimming the aura of the Empress, and the smallest failure in your concentration may be disastrous to our plan. I will do the actual work. You are merely my key, understand?” Mobius nodded and did as instructed. Duty came first. Duty must always come first as the Venator. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hooves as instructed, and instantly the world began to fall away. His mind left the confines of its physical anchor and began to travel and skirt across the deep red ocean. He felt his aura brush ever so slightly against the sea, making the connection his Queen desired. An opening was created, and Mobius felt his Queens tendrils snake alongside his before reaching down through the gateway. Now all he had to do was wait. ‘I…’ Mobius’s ears twitched under the writing mass that his armor had now become. He heard something coming from the ocean. ‘…feel…’ Again his ears twitched, but this time he felt his armor had stopped moving, almost as if frozen in time. He definitely heard something that time, but it could wait. The Queen's tendrils began to recede, and the sound of century-year-old stones moving told him his job was complete. Yet, no matter what he did, he could not remove himself from the Empress's surface. A red tendril he had not noticed had sprouted and tethered him to the Empress. ‘…you.’ Mobius yelled out in pain as the small tendril began to drink deeply from his aura as if trying to consume a portion of his very soul. He pulled as hard as he could, drawing every bit of strength available to him to keep his energy from being consumed by the Empress.  He had felt this once before on the field of battle, the feeling of a starving changeling attempting to consume another's store of love in an attempt to keep themselves alive. And the Empress was ravenous, his own strength failing rapidly as his defenses were shattered to dust under the desperation of his God.  Were it not for the intervention of his Queen, his death would be all but assured. With a slash of green, the connection was severed, and Mobius opened his eyes to the real world once again. He was panting heavily with his hearts pounding out of his chest as his armor began to slowly drip off his body. His form lying on the ground before the throne of the Empress. ‘So…weak’ ‘R-redfang?’ ‘H-here…s-she is c-calm n-n-now…H-had…she…we…’ his companion barely stuttered out within his mind. Mobius breathed a sigh of relief, his unknown worry for Redfang sated. ‘Q-quiet…S-save your strength,’ he interrupted the mare's incoherent speech in his own panting aural voice. “Fool. Be grateful I still need you to deal with the Demon. Otherwise, I would have just let you be drained for that failure to heed my warnings.” Mobius looked up from his position on the ground towards Chrysalis standing over him, her horn glowing brightly with a red tint at its apex. She brought her horn down and touched it to his own deforming false one. “Now, drink before you die.” Mobius did as ordered and greedily consumed the love offered to him by his Queen. He could already feel his strength returning as he watched his liquid armor return to its base form and power. The pool that had grown underneath him shrank as Redfang reasserted her control. With love feeding his muscles with much-needed energy, Mobius moved to stand up and dust himself off. The ground beneath his hooves shook as the deep vibrations of nearby heavy hoofsteps made his hearts jump. The only other time he had felt vibrations like those was when the Demon was approaching him. Spinning around, instincts having taken over, Mobius was ready for a fight. Yet standing behind him, halfway up the stairs that led to the Empress’s throne and woken from their long slumber, were the custodians they had come for. Larger than any praetorian and as big as the Queens themselves, these were no mere changeling warriors in crimson armor plating. They walked in unison down the stairs, their march making the Venator shake in his armor. A burst of deep laughter resonated throughout the cavern from his Queen as she joined the Venator in watching the Custodians march. Her horn aglow in a brilliant green and red, its magic mirrored in the armor of the warriors before them. Mobius watched in real-time as their crimson armor took on a hue of green, with only the accents remaining as red as the Empress. “With this army, with the Custodian warriors of the Empress, those ponies will rue the day they ever dared enter our sacred hives! Their love will feed our conquest, and all of Equestria will fall under my command!” the Overqueen proclaimed with a conviction never before seen by the Venator or any drone in the Swarm. Her aura burned bright, its power nearly mimicking a fraction of the Empress as Mobius was swept along in his Queen's maniacal laughter. “Now go, my Venator! Do as your Queen commands and crush the ponies, turn them all to dust! Shatter their morale and bring their Demon to the gates of Tartarus!”