//------------------------------// // Chapter Duos - A Subluceo versus Fatum // Story: Pro Temerarus es Fautor // by Kromulus Regulus //------------------------------// Chapter Duos A Subluceo versus Fatum “A Glimpse towards Doom”         Time stood still inside the library. The scene unfolding before Luna was one of both unimaginable consequences and endless questions. She had little time to ponder on both these important issues, rather having only enough time to cast her spell. The Princess of the Night moved forward slowly, taking care to avoid the bodies of both her friends and her Lunar Guards. She headed straight for the bipedal alien, his expression nearly blocked by the cloud of flames that had started to engulf his form. Her eyes, emanating an otherworldly light from keeping the spell intact, gazed over the creatures face. It was both frightening and heartbreaking at the same time; the expression on his face reminding her much of Celestia’s so long ago.                  She stopped just inches away from the creature, the intense heat of the flames doing little to her form despite its obvious purpose. This much was known as she quickly observed beside her, seeing one of her Lunar Guards closest to the alien in the process of having the skin on his forehoof burnt. Anypony else closer, she noted, was either going through a similar process or about to. The worst of this damage she observed was on the creature itself. Its clothing seemed to be in the process of combustion from the heat, whereas the visible areas of its skin (its neck and face since Luna could not make out the odd appendages at the end of its forehooves) seemed to start to be turning a darker shade of black than they already were. Slowly, her eyes returned to the creatures face, staring absently into the closed eyes.         There had been countless incidents that Luna had both witnessed and heard of where a pony would take their own life. Each situation had presented a cause for the act. Whether it had been to protect somepony else or, in times long past, to defend others by giving their life, much of these acts had a clear and understandable purpose. This one, the one Luna was witnessing before her very eyes, seemed to lack any of the logic or purpose necessary to support the aliens initiative in the matter. This left only a few extremely undesirable motivations, each one slowly being pushed to the side until one of these motivations remained. The fear the creature had shown, the trembling of its body, the swift action of its motions in combat, all of these pieces of information combined to one clear and very dark solution to its initiative to commence this final act.         Suicide.         It was an all but alien concept. Then again, Luna was staring into the face of an alien, so she should not be surprised that such a new element had presented itself. The question now was why? What had Luna, Twilight and her Guardsponies done to investigate the creature to suicide? She felt a slight irritation form at the back of her mind, her thoughts momentarily suspended as she realized her spell would soon falter. If she did  not act quickly, she would waste this opportunity to fix this horrible situation. With one sad look towards the two dead Lunar Guards behind and to her side, she closed her eyes and finished the spell proper. Her horn glowed with an intense brightness, almost outshining the Solar Princess in her magnificence. Just as time started to slowly continue its course of events, the bubble of light forming at the tip of her horn expanded and encompassed the entire Library. ***         Tiberius took in a sharp intake of breath. The surprise of being alive didn’t register at first, his brain having a nearly impossible amount of information to process. His heart rate climbed for a brief few moments as he hungrily took in the oxygen, finally slowly enough as he began to feel his extremities. The pain was slight at first, just a few worn muscles sending agitated signals to his brain. Then, in an instant, it intensified as his mind registered the rest of the communication with his body. He screamed in agony, head raising, only to hear his voice muffled by some type of fabric. Instinct kicked in, he trying to move his hands to undo the restraint to his mouth. He screamed again when he came to realization that he could not move his fingers, nor his arms for that matter.         His eyes shot open, dancing from left to right in a panic. His cries muffled, he tried to comprehend his situation through the incredible pain he was enduring. His entire body felt like it had acid poured onto it, his vision starting to blur as he lurched forward from his sitting position and screamed once again. He had barely made out that he resided in a dimly lit room of some sort, with only a single light source to his rear providing less than adequate lighting to ascertain his location. The pain made him not care, though, for the darker parts of his mind had already provided an explanation to his current plight.         He was in hell.         Tiberius mind lost it then. The mind of the warrior he had once been was now broken completely as he remembered the events leading up to his. The combined realization sent him into the deepest, darkest reach of hopelessness he had ever experienced. Tears streamed down his face, each one sending more shots of pain through his body as they flowed down his cheeks. He sobbed uncontrollably for an unregistered amount of time, eventually crying himself into submission. He briefly felt restraints on his form as the upper half of his body rested as far forward as possible. His head slumped down, his vision started to fade. A calm serenity filled his mind then as sleep overtook him. *                *                *         When he awoke the second time, he felt no pain. Instead, his body felt numb, his eyes registering a bright light above him as they opened. He could barely move his mouth, but as he did so he no longer felt the pressure of the restraint over his mouth. Instead, there was another feeling. Oxygen, Tiberius realized to himself, I must be in a hospital. This conclusion alone brought peace to him, the previous events all but forgotten as he rested in the knowledge that he was safe and secure. Somehow, he had been found. However it had played out, it had to be one hell of a miracle. “Thank you Melkos,” he said to his deity, hearing the hoarseness of his voice for the first time.         “How do you feel?”         The voice coming from his right startled him somewhat, but the deep concern lined in it calmed him. He concluded it had to be a nurse due to the feminine nature of the voice, eyes opening to catch a glimpse only to be blinded by the light. He tried to move his head, but realized he hadn’t the strength to do it. He gave up, closing his eyes again. “I feel....numb.”         “Good,” the nurse responded. “We tried to give you the best anesthetics we could find.” There was a brief silence, then, “Can you move any of your limbs?”         That was an odd thing to ask someone. Normally, a nurse would ask if a patient could move his hands or feet, or something along those lines. Limbs? He never recalled being asked that. Though, as reason overtook suspicion, he probably sustained injuries due to the grenade he detonated. How he survived he may never know, but the logical thing to assume would be that he lost....         “No,” Tiberius said, the hoarseness of his voice mitigating somewhat. “I can’t feel my hands or feet. Am I...-” He choked on his words, clearing his throat as he took in a deep breath to calm himself. “Am I going to have to have prosthetics?”         Silence was his response. He waited for a few moments, unsure if the nurse was still there or not. He slowly grew worried. “Nurse?” he called, “Nurse, please, just tell me. Please. I need to know.”         “We managed to save most of what was damaged,” the Nurse responded. “I’ll admit, it was a difficult procedure, considering we have no knowledge of your bodily structure, but I do not believe you will need prosthetics.”         Warning sirens erupted in Tiberius’ head. A nurse that didn’t understand human body structure? What place was he in? His eyes opened again and, with a surge of adrenaline at a rising panic, he managed to move his head to his right. He regretted doing so almost instantly as a wave of nausea overtook him, Tiberius feeling bile rise in his throat as he did his best to resist throwing up. His eyelids wavered through the intense disturbance, the feeling almost too much, but he tried his best to concentrate. Slowly, a figure appeared in his vision, the blur around the edges dissipating. After a few moments and the nausea subsiding to bearable levels, he kept his eyes on the figure as it became clearer and clearer and clea-         “You’re a Nightmare!”         The thing before him was similar to that of those he encountered previously. They looked almost exactly like a Nightmare, though he could clearly see the differences in coloration. Panic once again gripped him as his desire for self-preservation kicked in. He felt an intense rush of energy consume him but, alas, it did little to help his situation. The only movement he felt was a slight jerk as he tried to move his arm, but other than that he remained in his position. “Oh Melkos,” he said, the flow of energy subsiding as he felt very tired all of a sudden, “I’ve been saved by a Nightmare.”         “The Princess said you’d probably act this way,” the creature said with a hint of sympathy, “I’m sorry that you’re scared of us, I promise I’m not here to hurt you.”         He grunted, opening his eyes to gaze at the Nightmare again. Tiberius let out a deep sigh, eying the creature slowly for the first time. Now that he thought about it, the only similarity to a Nightmare this thing had was its pony-like structure. It’s expressions and eyes, however, told a different story. They showed care, compassion, something a Nightmare would never be caught doing. Those things were too busy killing and eating people to care. As if on cue, a thought crossed his mind. I’m not being eaten alive, am I?         The decisive negative answer to that mental question was enough to squash his still lingering panic for the moment, Tiberius closing his eyes as he took in a few deep breaths. Whatever this thing was, even if it was similar in form to a Nightmare, he was obviously alive and in what he could only assume to be medical room of some sort. It had to be, considering he felt the pressure of an oxygen mask on his face and, now that he listened, the soft beeps of a heart monitor off to his side. “I believe you,” Tiberius said as he opened his eyes again, gazing into the creatures. “I’m sorry.”         “Sorry for what?”         A sense of overwhelming guilt had flooded Tiberius. Now that he had come to the realization that these creatures were, indeed, not Nightmares and not harmful, the events that played out previously seemed like a gross violation of human rights. Well, human wasn’t the right term in this case, but that was besides the point. He had, despite the panic and fear of the moment, killed two if not more of their species. “I’m sorry for attacking you,” Tiberius explained, “I was afraid, I thought you were Nightmares. I thought you were going to eat me alive.”         The creature came closer, Tiberius now able to fully recognize its form as being similar to a pony. In fact, it was strikingly similar, with the exception of the bulbous head and shorter snout. The eyes were larger too. It was features that had, originally, led him to believe they were similar to the insectoid-like Nightmares. Though, as he thought about it, they honestly didn’t look like such. He then made out a white hat on the ponies head, similar to a nurses and with the same symbol. It was about the only thing visible, other than her bluish colored mane, as she stood at the side of his hospital bed. Her coat was a bland brown, which amused Tiberius mentally due to the contrasting colors.         “I was only given a brief rundown of the events leading to your injuries,” the pony explained, “but I can assure you we ponies do not eat meat. Nor any form of flesh, for that matter.” The pony then tilted her head, “Can you explain to me what a Nightmare is?”         He stared at her for a few silent moments, still registering the existence of this pony before him. It took him another moment to collect his thoughts as he recalled his encounters with the hellish beasts. “Their skin is almost like an insects,” Tiberius started to explain. “They’re always colored black, with the greenest set of demonic eyes. They eat flesh, devouring almost anything living in their way. I’ve mostly encountered them in a size similar to yours, but only once did I encounter one taller and with a twisted horn on top of its head.”         “I see,” the nurse replied, looking down as she brought a hoof to her chin. “Tell you what, you go back to resting. I’m not quite ready to release you for questioning, so I’ll give you time to collect your thoughts. I’m sure all this must be incredibly new to you.”         “Alright,” Tiberius said. As the nurse turned around to leave, he added, “Thank you.”         “It’s my job,” the nurse replied with a smile. “No thanks needed.” ***         The next few days had brought a series of positive reports concerning the humans recovery. Luna was thankful that she had previously cast a language translation spell on the man, now known as Tiberius. As it turned out, his native language was not all that different from dragons. It was simply a stroke of luck, and a bit of genius spellcasting on Lunas’ part, that enabled the spell to properly function. Without it, she doubted Nurse Heart Cure would have been able to diagnose and treat the human, let alone get him to divulge his name and his country of origin.         Colonel Tiberius Samsus, from Anagonia.         Luna still had not forgotten the deaths of her Guardsponies. In fact, it had been that very reason she had originally placed Tiberius in an interrogation cell. When he had not woken up from his sleep, one of the interrogation guards had cast a fire spell on the human. His reaction afterward had sent shivers deep down into everyone present, even the chief interrogation officer. Luna had placed him in the castles infirmary then, deciphering his language through the constant mumblings he emitted. She had personally instructed no one but Nurse Heart to interact with him, thanking herself that she reminded the nurse about his previous misgivings about ponykind.         To her credit, everything played out well. Even Celestia had personally congratulated her sister on her handling of the situation. With the new information concerning these “Nightmares” he spoke about and his description of the larger one he encountered, the two Princesses had concluded that somehow, after the events of the Wedding, Queen Chrysalis had somehow ended up in Tiberius’ homeland. How or, for that matter, why the changelings were consuming flesh rather than consuming feelings was an entirely different matter. It had understandably deeply unsettled the two Goddesses.         Despite all this, there still was the matter of the first contact situation they had endured. Tiberius had killed two Lunar Guardsponies and, through his supposed last act, injured eight others. The law had to be obeyed in these situations, no matter the understanding of it. Tiberius had committed a crime and it needed to be addressed. After a short discussion over the matter with her sister, Luna made her way to the infirmary to meet with Tiberius.         It would be the first time she would see the human since the interrogation room. Every other interaction had been with Nurse Cure, who would give a brief summary of what she gained after every discussion and have that conveyed to Luna. She felt somewhat nervous, if not a little uneasy, at being in the presence of the human again. Despite these reserved emotions, she went alone, the only guard presence being those outside Tiberius’ room. She stood before the door and gave a quick tap with her forehoof. When she heard no reply, she decided to let herself in, cautiously opening the door with her magic and stepping inside.         “Tiberius?” Luna called out.         “I’m here,” Tiberius responded to her left. Luna quickly turned her head, noticing with a hint of surprise that he was on the floor doing what she assumed was pushups. His hospital gown had been discarded to the side, his body laid bare for the Princess to examine. “Just working out,” the human said he did one last push up and quickly stood. When he turned to face Luna, he stood motionless. She would be lying to herself had Luna said she was not admiring the humans form. He was mostly hairless, with the exception of his head and in between his legs. She had to force herself from looking there specifically due to the odd nature of his- Luna quickly looked away, realizing that she was being quite rude to the human by staring.“W-we do apologize, Tiberius. We assumed you would still be bedridden.” Luna could make out Tiberius raising an eyebrow from the corner of her eye. “Understandable,” he said, “Your doctors work wonders. I’m about as surprised as you are.” He then slowly bent down to pick up his gown. Draping it over himself, he rolled his shoulders and proceeded to the hospital bed. Luna then returned her attention to the human, observing him with other parts concealed. She cleared her throat, moving past the slightly embarrassing guffaw. “We observe that your skin is still burnt,” she said casually. “Does it hurt?” Tiberius sat on the bed, facing Luna as he looked at her questioningly. “Burnt?” He asked, raising his arm to look at his dark colored skin. Then realization hit him. “Oh, no no no. This is the natural color of my skin, I’m African-Anagonian. My ancestors come from a climate usually bathed in sunlight, so our skin adapted.” “Ah,” Luna said, moving a few steps in as she closed the door behind her with a slight tap of her rear hoof. The gentle click of the hinge signaled a return to privacy. “Do you...recall what happened in Twilight Sparkles library?” It took a moment for Tiberius to realize what she had meant. He didn’t know anyone by the name of “Twilight Sparkle”, but “library” brought back memories alright. He nodded his head in the affirmative. Luna pressed further. “Dost thou remember our Lunar Guards that thou killed?” The human noticed the instant change in her tone and wording. He felt slightly uncomfortable, if not for the fact that the intense feeling of guilt had reemerged full force. With a slight nod, he lowered his head. “I do,” he said, looking back up to her. “I assume you’re here to deliver punishment?” “We are,” Luna said, her tone calming somewhat. “However, we have taken into consideration your understanding of the situation as well. While we can forgive you for thinking we are an enemy, we cannot forgive you so easily for acting on it. You are a warrior where you come from, correct?” The question hit him hard. It wasn’t even in the form of a question, but a statement of fact. “Yes ma’am,” he responded, “Was might be a more appropriate term.” “Why is that?” She took another step closer, voice raising again. “Did thou commit similar acts of aggression?!” “No,” Tiberius responded flatly. He didn’t have anything else to add. “Then why?” Then, with a stomp of her hoof she added, “Explain!” “I acted on fear, ma’am.” Tiberius responded. “Something I’m trained not to do. You and your guard looked strikingly similar to the Nightmares. You especially,” he said, looking away from her. “You looked similar to the one that was about to kill me.” “We- I-” Luna’s face cringed into a snarl, “We are NOT CHANGELINGS!” Her voice came out in a yell, the effect being light a small blast wave against Tiberius. His features didn’t change, just his posture. His shoulders slumped, head looking down in shame. “For whatever it is worth,” he said in a softer tone, “I am deeply sorry. There is no excuse for my actions.” Luna snorted, glaring at Tiberius. “Dost thou know who we are?” “No,” he replied, almost whisper. “Thou art in the presence Princess of the Night!” Luna declared, boasting such with an appropriate posture as she straightened herself, wings spreading. “Thy crimes against our guard, against us and our friends is punishable by death!” She definitely strode closer, each hoof clicking against the floor with hard determination. Her snout mere inches away from Tiberius downtrodden head when she added, “What dost thou have to say to that?!” If the new information added anything to the humans expression, Luna could not tell. “I understand,” he said, his voice full of submission. “I will accept the consequences of my actions. I have, however,” he continued as he looked up at Luna, “one request.” “Very well,” Luna replied, “Speak.” “Nurse Heart Cure told me the story about these changelings, and they seem awfully familiar to our Nightmares.” To Luna’s surprise, his posture straightened, and he looked at her with a resolved expression. “I understand if I must die for my crimes, and I shall shoulder that responsibility and I will not resist the punishment. All I ask is that you help my people.” His expression wavered, just for a brief moment. “Please.” “Why dost thou believe we should help you?” She snorted, causing Tiberius to close his eyes momentarily. “If thou sees us as these Nightmares, as you say, what makes us believe that your people should not?” Tiberius gazed downward for a moment, looking back up as he spoke. “I don’t know, but millions, if not billions by this time, have already perished by the Nightmares. They grow everyday. With every death, two more seem to sprout from nowhere. The Confederate Military is overwhelmed, struggling to even make a dent in the incursion. Though nothing helps, not our technology, not our weapons, no matter how many we kill more just come back. If you dealt with them, however, maybe you could help us. Look,” he continued, leaning to his side to stand as he walked past the bed. Luna’s head turned to follow him. “I’m not saying what I did was a good representation of my people. I accept that what I did was wrong, but I had no way of knowing it.” “They can change forms, be one of us at any time. Thousands of soldiers have already died just because they didn’t have the strength to kill a comrade who suddenly turned on them. It’s madness, complete insanity where I’m from right now Princess.” He turned just slightly so his eyes could meet hers, “but from what I can see now, how you’ve helped heal me, how you’ve seemed to overlook the fact of what I did just for a moment, I can see you have compassion. That something the Nightmares don’t have. All they do is eat, consume and devour every living person or thing they can grab. You don’t seem to be doing that. Hell, your doctors have practically healed me of injuries.” He then faced her fully, continuing. “I don’t care about myself right now, I never did. I watched several cities be overtaken by the Nightmares, watching because I could do nothing. Yeah, my weapons may do something to one or two, but it’s the numbers they have, the...the energy or magic they seem to possess that overtakes us eventually. I’ve watched and watched, and now I’m standing in a place where these things have obviously been defeated. If it means I got to die, then fine, I was already dead before I showed up here. I just want to know that before I get my punishment that you will at the very least consider tapping into the same compassion you used on me and try to help save my home..” The determination in Tiberius’ eyes was clearly evident to Luna. Her gaze on him wavered slightly as her wings lowered, her previous grievances against the human forgotten for the moment. Her mind played out the descriptions he gave, she closing her eyes for a moment as she tried to imagine the same thing happening to Equestria. She had no reason to doubt Tiberius, though any evidence to the contrary was hardly present. For all she knew, he was simply trying to get out of the punishment. That would, of course, hold some sense had he been begging to save himself. Instead, as she let out a sigh, he had clearly stated he did not care for his life and would accept his consequences. She opened her eyes again, gazing into his. His expression didn't changed. She knew this expression all too well. It was the same on the face of Twilight Sparkle when she had freed Luna from the curse of Nightmare Moon. It was the same resolve on the face of every guard who defended a life, even those who had previously given theirs away recently. This face was not of a creature who was lying.  No, she concluded, it was not. He was either completely insane, or telling the truth. The former being somewhat possible, while the latter, if true as she supposed, would make this entire situation sit on a different level. “My name is Luna,” the Princess said. ***         “My name is Luna,” the dark sapphire colored Princess said.         Tiberius was taken back. Her demeanor had changed suddenly, her wings now longer extended, retracting to her body. Her stance no longer seeming to be full of anger (at least as far as he could tell). She slowly approached Tiberius, continuing to gaze at him as she stopped just a few inches away. Her head came up almost in equal height to his, her eyes seeming to scan his features for something.         “I need to know more,” Luna said, her tone and manner of speaking much more forward now. “I need to look into your memories, to see if what you say is true. It is the only way I know of to confirm your words. Do you accept?”         He didn’t feel he had a choice. To Tiberius, it was either death with the knowledge that no help would come to Anagonia, or have his memories sorted through and hopefully some action to be taken. He gave a nod, “I accept.”         “I do this a little differently than my sister,” the Princess said. “While she performs this spell with the intent of preserving someponies sanity, I do not. The sun may brighten places visible to us, but the night always looks deeper. You will feel pain.”         Again, Tiberius nodded. He had just been through three instances of near-death experiences. If another was to come along, he believed he could handle it. At least, he hoped he could. He stood straighter, nodding to the Princess. “I understand. Let’s get this over with.”         “Straightforward,” Luna commented, “We admire that.”         Without another word, he felt the tip of her horn touch his forehead. He would have jerked at the feeling, had he the control to do so. Instead, the instant the horn touched, his body seized up and he shut his eyes tightly. He cringed at the sudden, almost excruciating pain coursing through his brain. It felt like someone was drilling straight through his forehead. He tried to scream, but found he couldn’t as what felt like a wave of intense electricity shocked him in a constant flux. His consciousness began to recede into the back of his mind, he feeling himself loose all sense of reality.         “Get that Melkos Damned transport out of here!” Tiberius cried over the sound of his S/A AdkM75 going full automatic. He was being pressed into a wall as the flood of Nightmares careened over the embankment, the platoon fore having been completely wiped out by the sudden blitz. He and his company were the last in the city, with only around thirty or so to either side of him and the remainder trying their damndest to get the civilians out of harms way. Though, at the rate of enemies flooding over, it looked like a hopeless effort.         Where he stood was just behind one of the main roads leading west. The first half of the city was already overtaken by the Nightmares just beyond the embankment, and now they threatened to finish the job as their numbers alone assisted in their push. Several squads of soldiers held their ground, only to be pounced on seconds later with deadly results. “Protect the fucking civilians!” Tiberius cried, quickly reloading a spent cartridge as he sprinted towards his left. He removed himself from the threat of the wall, turning a corner as he motioned his men to follow.         About ten or so Confederate Marines held up the rear as the soldiers were forced to retreat from their positions. Trailers lined the street they ran down on, each one suddenly having a Nightmare on top of it. Tiberius almost lost his footing as he turned back to help hold the line, he and his men forming a protective circle around the transport truck. Within it was five children and two adults, the only remaining survivors of this cities assault by Nightmares. It would be over Tiberius dead body when the Nightmares got to them.         Though that seemed very likely at this point.         “Hold the fucking line!” Tiberius shouted, “If you let one single fucking thing inside this circle, I’ll kill you myself!”         With a resounding shout of affirmative in response, the remaining twenty-two Marines and Special Forces kept firing on all angles. They were, thankfully, positioned in an intersection to where there was enough space between them and the trailers. Without even having to be asked, the transport started to move forward. The circle of soldiers followed, keeping close as the tide of Nightmares seemed to dwindle for a moment. A few popped up from behind trees and other obstructions, only to be quickly shot dead a moment later. Then, slowly, the Nightmares seemed to disappear. After a few minutes of not seeing any, Tiberius gave the order for double time.         Even if it was a trick, he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. They were extremely close to the edge of the safe zone. The transport turning a corner as Tiberius caught a glimpse of the occupants inside. He gave a thumbs up to one of the children in, seeing him smile back and wave. Tiberius smile soon turned to horror as the man sitting in the rear of the transport erupted in a green flame. In the mans place was a Nightmare. “Fucking hell! Nightmare inside the transport!”         The soldiers were torn between what to do momentarily, no one having a perfect shot as the Nightmare quickly grabbed the child to the rear and sickeningly licked across his face. The child sobbed at the realization of what was happening, Tiberius acting quickly and taking the shot. The Nightmares head exploded violently, the child being knocked down to the rear. “Shit!” Tiberius exclaimed, then he pointed to a nearby soldier. “Corporal, get the fuck in there and secure that transport permanently!”         “Yes sir!”         Tiberius kept the pace with the truck, assisting the Corporal with mounting the transport from the rear. Once inside, the Corporal stood and stopped. He then turned and faced Tiberius, a look of pure horror on his face. “They’re all dead,” he whispered, being being violently dragged to the fore of the transport by two dark appendages were screams of agony suddenly began and, quite suddenly, ended. Before Tiberius could order the driver out, a Nightmare burst from the drivers side door as it slammed the upper half of the drivers body down on the ground.         “Fuck!” Tiberius shouted, looking to his men, then to the Nightmares. Slowly, all around them, the green eyes of the monsters appeared as they moved out from behind from their various hiding places. The truck came to a slow stop as three more Nightmares burst from the cabin and the bed of the transport. Tiberius felt a shoulder touch his, looking to see that the remainder of his men had formed a tight circle. They were surrounded, the civilians were dead, and now they had to fight to survive.         “Kill’em all!” Tiberius shouted, raising his weapon to a Nightmare and firing.         The various sounds of squeals and screeches filled his hearing as they continued their assault, dark insectoid bodies piling up around them as they made their last stand. The Nightmares, now numbering in the hundreds, continued to form a circle around them, trapping them on all sides. Still, they continued their assault, even to the point that the Nightmares were crawling over the bodies of their dead. Eventually, however, the soldiers had to replace their cartridges.         “I’m out!” Cried someone to Tiberius’ rear. “Here too!” said another.         The ground shook violently then as the sound of a cannon firing resounded all around them. Three more followed suit, followed by the sound of tanks treading closer. Tracer rounds flew past the soldiers as the Nightmares began to dwindle, tank shells impacting where the mass of Nightmares was greater. Tiberius looked behind him, seeing the origin of their momentary salvation. Three AY2-1G’s were quickly killing the distance between themselves and the soldiers. Following close behind them was a line of four Bradley Fighting Vehicles who began opening fire with their bushwhacker cannons. To top off the heavenly sight, two AH-1Z Viper gunships appeared from either side of the soldiers, firing precise bursts from their chainguns and clearing a path for Tiberius and men to their rear.         “Move!” Tiberius ordered, sprinting as fast as he could towards the line of tanks. His soldiers followed behind, the horde of Nightmares becoming increasingly overwhelming as they sprinted after Tiberius and his men. They didn’t look back, none of them did, simply keeping eyes forward as the weapons from the tanks and Bradley’s did a wonderful job of keeping a perimeter. The gunships rotors thudded overhead as they returned for another pass, shooting down missiles this time as they cleared another wave of Nightmares. The three AY2-1G’s formed an armored wall as the soldiers made it past them, heading for the Bradley’s as they opened their rear hatches.         Tiberius took one clear look back, watching the insane number of Nightmares rushing towards them. No amount of firepower Anagonia had at its disposal could stop this. He clenched his teeth, pushing the loss of the civilians and more of his men at the back of his mind as he entered a Bradley. Tomorrow was another day. At least they had the gift of fighting it.         The memory of the Battle of Devil Flats flooded Tiberius mind. Then, it moved on to more battles. The Battle of Saratoga, the Battle of Arkansis, the Battle of Lake Richard. Memories of Operations Liberating Strike and Last Call flew past his thoughts as well, with it all finally settling on the last moments he remembered in Anagonia. The face of the larger Nightmare clearly in his vision. “Why?!” he heard himself asking. The resulting explanation seemed to replayed over and over in his head. Then, as the vision of the Nightmare faded to white a fifth time, he felt a violent jolt overtake his body as he collapsed on the floor of the hospital room.         Tiberius groaned, holding his head. His entire body felt sore. His mind felt worse. He opened his eyes, only to be met with an insane feeling of dizziness. He coughed up what he could only assume to be bile as he rolled on his side, puking up his insides. The dizziness eventually subsided, leaving Tiberius to gaze down in the puddle of bile on the floor. He breathed heavily for a few moments, holding his upper body up with his hands. The shadow of Luna appearing over him causing him to look up.         “We shall set your punishment aside for the moment,” Luna said. Tiberius watched as the Princess turned around, heading for the door. She left without another word being said, the door closing with a softer click than last time. Tiberius closed his eyes, taking in deep breathes as he slowly crawled over to the wall, his will to stand not present for the moment. Slowly, he laid his back against it, bringing his arms over his knees and placing his forehead against his arm as he closed his eyes.         He softly wept, the refreshed memories still haunting his vision.