//------------------------------//
// Aftermath 
// Story: All Echos Have Orgins 
// by Willow Arqueiro 
//------------------------------//

"THREE.
TWO.
ONE!" He shouted into the Earth Pony's ear, he snapped level with the ground and back winged with all his might, speed barely slowing when he dropped the Lunar Recon Marine hanging from under him. The Pegasus folded his wings and dropped as well, landing a split second behind his fellow Marine. Both hit the ground and snapped into somersaults that dissipated their momentum.
.
Their pairs of black clad hooves crunched the black sand of Hell as the sprung out of the rolls. Not even a breath later, nine other pairs of stallions dropped out of the sky behind them and rolled into position. The twenty Lunar Marines of Recon Team 17, "Black Blitz", formed into a quick arrowhead pointing into the depths of Hell.
.
All twenty clad in the similar onyx black armor that was Lunar Recon's stock look. It didn't take long before their leader decided it was safe and started plunging into Hell without a backward glance. The other nineteen followed behind him without a word.
.
No noise at all, other than the soft crunch of Hell Sand resonated from Recon Team Black Blitz. Their mission was a somber one; to reclaim the remains of Lunar Marine Training Team, Echo Team.
.
Black Blitz's leader, Swift Shadow, almost didn't want to find them, feeling that they didn't need to be confirmed killed in action.
.
But that's not the way the Lunar Marines operate, those stallions of Echo Team were coming back from hell one way or another, and if the army of Hell that had been assembled had any issue about that, they could take it up with the other three hundred Lunar Marines coming down the hatch, with three other teams of Lunar Recon. No stallion left behind, and that was how it was going to go down.
.
With grim determination and a sense of brotherhood for these lost stallions, they headed off and he tersely called out, "Alright, four teams of five, you know the split. Fire Teams Two and Three, locate that keep our Marine told us about. Fire Team Four, search the Fields of Glass for our boys. We'll head straight for where the portal should have been. Check in on the coms if you find anything."
.
With no words of acknowledgement, only quick bobs of heads, the twenty stallions split into the four teams with practiced ease.
.
Swift Shadow's team quickened into a canter, heading for the supposed location of the one-way portal where Echo Team made their stand. The specialist of his Fire Team lit up his horn and wordlessly pointed his hoof on a course slightly left of their current trajectory.
.
He nodded and shifted his course. The tough Lunar Recon Marine tired to not think about what they might find, but it's hard when the surroundings encouraged a more sinister train of thought. Sure, Black Blitz had been down the hole and on towards Hell before the Marine Clover had even caught his breath, and they didn't take the scenic route down either. That nine day junk was for the philosophers and for newbie Marines. When the Lunar Corps needed a team in Hell on the double, the Lunar Mages knew a few tricks to hurry matters along.
.
Unfortunately, the portal was surely closed before the time they touched down. Very few Demons had slipped through, past were Echo Team was said to have dug in. A full division of Marines and Solar Soldiers was positioned on that exit, catching anything that came through. Unfortunately that portal was only one-way. With a taste of bitter sweetness, more Echo Team members seemed to have been tossed through the portal than Demons making it through. But those Marines that came through were tossed by their combat buddies, still in Hell, and the ones tossed through were either semi-conscious, unconscious, or worse, dead. The latter being true all too often. All of them had sustained tremendous wounds. Some life threatening.
.
They held out until the portal was closed, maybe they're still holding position, it wasn't a rational though to entertain, but the alternative was all too real and morbid.
.
Swift Shadow had the Black Blitz's Corpsman in his team, in case they did find anything.
.
"This is 17-2-1, you there Swiftie?" The clear voice rang out of the magical helmet that the Lunar Recon Marines wore.
.
"17-1-1 here, you're loud and clear Vic," he said back into his helmet.
.
"Roger, us and Three found that keep," that was all that came from his side, he kept walking but wanted to stop and strangle the pony on the other side of the com.
.
"And...?" Swift Shadow trailed on meaningfully, unspoken threats woven into the innocent enough word.
.
"It's a fucking tomb over here."
.
"Hold up," Swift said to the stallions around him, into the microphone, "What was that?"
.
"This keep is a tomb now, bodies and blood everywhere," a muffled curse was heard as the pony tripped over something.
.
"Any of those bodies belong to us?"
.
"Negatory, but we're still searching, we'll call if we find anything, 17-2-1 out."
.
"Roger, 17-1-1 acknowledges," he turned to the four stallions looking at him, "Seems our boys from Echo Team put quite a crimp in Hell's master plan, that keep is filled with dead Demons."
.
"Get some!" Yelled two of them in unison, and another Marine echoed their cry.
.
"Yeah, now let's find those Bastards of Hell."
.
.
()()()()()()
~Thirty minutes later~
()()()()()()
.
.
"Ow! Goddamn sunuvagun!" The four Marines excluding the Unicorn specialist dropped into defensive positions, while the Unicorn put his hoof against his skull and dropped the searching spell.
.
"Talk to me, Professor," carefully ordered Swift Shadow out from the side of his mouth as he watched the surroundings.
.
"Gah, something with the spell, massive interference, something doesn't want those Marines to be found," he reported while rubbing his head.
.
"Well, that something isn't being very friendly, now is it? We head in the last idea of a direction the Professor had," three of the other ponies nodded while looking at him, the fourth was looking at his area intently, specifically looking for something in the distance.
.
"Uh, sir?" He hesitantly called out.
.
"You got something, Corporal?"
.
"Not sure, check out the area a little left off my one o'clock, there was a... There! Right there, did you see it?" It being a quick flask of light before fading away.
.
"Hmm, I saw it," he motioned to the Marine behind the Corporal, "Mark, take a closer look."
.
Mark snapped about and toggled his helmet, first activating the protective lenses in the helmet that covered the eyes. Then, Mark zoomed in with the enhanced capabilities of his helmet. What he saw made him freeze.
.
"What do you see, Mark?" Asked Swift Shadow.
.
"Uh," he removed his helmet and offered it to his Captain, "You better see for yourself."
.
Removing his, and donning the offered helmet, it didn't take him long to determine the source of the flashing, even less time to zoom in and focus on it.
.
"Is that really...?" He left it unsaid, as if he breathed those words, the apparition would disappear.
.
"As near as I can tell," said Mark.
.
Swift Shadow tossed him the helmet back and slammed his back on, breaking into a gallop as he did so. Not hesitating more than a eye blink, the four others chased after him.
.
He honed onto the flashing in the distance, the glare of light off highly polished steel. He charged faster, out stripping his men, but he didn't notice. He was on a mission and Swift wasn't about to slow his pace.
.
Never breaking his pounding stride, he leapt over gullies and ravines filled with lava by merely stretching his wings. "All hands, come to my signal," said the Captain into the team circuit.
.
The object he sprinted to, the one he was literally hell bound to reach, was a lone Pegasus. Garbed in Lunar Marine gear, there was no doubt that he was charging towards a possible survivor of the ill fated Echo Team. The Pegasus was surrounded on all sides by fallen demon husks, withered black shells that littered the landscape. The only unfitting piece was that the Marine's pelt was deathly black, the same color that was the Sand of Hell. Which makes sense, mused Swift to himself, You spend enough time here and the sand gets everywhere.
.
The Marine was near limp, barely standing, wings outstretched, wingblades slowing rotation to catch the light of Hell. He was barely standing, and only one thing was holding him up, a tall black pony. Somepony that Swift Shadow did not see in the helmet, back on the ridge. He eyed that strange stallion, he was pitch black, and tall. Long legged. Something about him was off, excluding the fact Swift Shadow didn't even see him until he started charging, and Swift loosened his sword in its sheath.
.
He made out details as he closed the final hundred yards, planted in the ground was the ensign of Echo Team, and beside it stood the ever faithful Marine. The pony supporting him was pitch black, and was wearing ancient looking armor. Silver armor, but it didn't radiate or stand out as the Marine's wingblades did. The strange pony nodded to Swift Shadow as he closed the final few yards.
.
The black stallion left the Marine's side, and the vigilant Marine started to fall, but Swift Shadow caught him and lowered the battered warrior to the black ground. When the captain looked up, the mysterious pony was gone. Into thin air. He fell to the ground with the Marine and sat with the Marine's head in his arms. He was cover from head to all four black hoofs with cuts, bruises, burns and various lacerations. His regulation gray fur was the soul sucking black of hell and matted with blood, a lot of it. His light and skimpy midnight blue armor was dented and marred all over. Wing blades were covered in nicks and dents. Amazingly shining bright despite all the abuse to them.
.
Mark slid to a stop next to him and knelt down over the fallen Marine, their Corpsman slid as well and began a combat medical check.
.
"Holy shit!" yelled 'Vic' as he and the rest of Fire Team Two arrived on scene, "Is he still alive?!"
.
The Corpsman, Doc, looked up, "Oh yeah, this stubborn bastard is still kickin'."
.
Doc began applying a bandage to a nasty gash on the Marine's side.
.
With a huge rasping intake of breath, the Marine's eyes flew open, and his mouth gaped open like a fish. Swift  Shadow made eye contact with him, and was shocked by the fierce, and perfectly clear gaze of the Marine. And the fact that his eyes were a piercing crimson. He struggled against the ministrations of Doc and tired to get up. "Easy, Marine. You're back in the hands of the Corps."
.
"No," he said, his voice rough and rasping, but not beaten, "I gotta, I gotta get you guys to my stallions, they're hurt real bad."
.
"What's your name, Marine?" Asked Swift Shadow. Fire Team Three and Four arrived on scene and joined the congregation around the Marine. Eyeing the field of dead with something bordering on awe and a small undertone of fear.
.
Several exclamations of joy, surprise, Marine esprit de corps, and curses was muttered or flat out yelled by the other seventeen Lunar Recon Marines around the wounded warrior.
.
"Grr," he ground out as Doc hit a particularly beat up part of him, "Will-Willow Wing, sir."
.
"None of the 'sir' stuff right now, where are your stallions?" Willow Wing spat out a glob of blood.
.
"They're, around the bend, up ahead," he said between gasps of breath. "We took a really hard hit." The last part was unnecessary. All the Lunar Recon Marines present knew that for a fact. Plus, him laying here, covered in blood and wounds, helped reinforce that.
.
"Well, Willow Wing, I'm Captain Swift Shadow of Black Blitz and I promise you I will get all the shit I can get done for your stallions," he made to get up and head to the other fallen stallions, but Willow Wing grabbed onto his leg.
.
"Tell me, sir. Did we do it?" Swift Shadow looked at him with a puzzled expression.
.
"Do what, Willow?"
.
"Win, did Echo Team keep those bastard out of Equestria. Did we complete our duty?" His voice sounded like he was gargling gravel.
.
"You bet your sorry ass, you did," the hoof dropped from his leg and onto the black sand. Several 'Get somes' rang out from the happy Marines.
.
Willow laid his head onto the sand, letting out a long held in sigh of relief, "Ahhhh." His eyes closed.
.
All twenty stallions sucked in air as the impossible happened right before them. This wasn't how the Marines worked, when they got to a guy, he was getting out alive.
.
Swift Shadow looked at him in shock, no way he just did that. No way he died now. "Doc!" He barked out, "Rest of you, find the rest of Echo Team!" Terse nods as the other Lunar Recon Marines save Doc and Mark charged around the corner to find the tattered remains of Echo Team.
.
"Talk to me, Doc," he said as the Corpsman worked furiously. The 'non-combatant' stallion drew his fighting dirk and slid it under the stallions, pitted, dented and broken light armor. Sawing easily with the razor sharp blade through the retaining straps. Doc pulled off his armor, to reveal angry red wounds under the armor.
.
"Not much to say!" As he checked his pulse and started pumping Willow's chest. "He's suffered very, and I stress very, extensive trauma. His demon still seems contained inside, but seemingly barely. It looks as if these guys got a little too cozy with hell but their still looking like Marines."
.
"But why did he just die!" Yelled Swift Shadow angrily. Doc whipped out a needle with adrenaline in it.
.
"There's not much to go on but I'd say the numerous cuts, slashes, burns, and probable broken limbs aren't helping! Plus, these bastards just held off the Damned Army of Hell itself!" He jammed the needle into Willow's chest. "I doubt few would survive, let alone stand as a beacon for his guys."
.
"But why now?" Asked Swift Shadow, "It's over, we're here now."
.
"That's just it," he fired up his horn and cast an electric shock spell to try and restart Willow's heart, "It's over, his mission's completed, and we're here to get his stallions out."
.
"Tough luck!" He yelled in Willow's face, "Your mission ain't over until you're back topside! Save him."
.
"What the bloody hell do you think I'm trying to do!" Doc yelled at his Captain.
.
Another shock spell thumped into Willow's chest.
.
He's heart remained stationary like a stubborn rock.
.
"Come on, Doc," muttered Swift. The rest of Black Blitz trotted back to them, makeshift slings carried the other seven stallions left behind in Hell. The captain looked with a quick snap of his head at the other seven. Each was identical to their leader, soulless black pelt.
.
Another shock spell thumped into his chest, and another.
.
Another.
.
Another.
.
"Sir," said Doc, "That's it, he's gone...
His heart's been still to long."
.
Swift Shadow sat there stunned, this wasn't happening, no way was it even allowed to. The black clad captain shook his head, and his blank expression was replaced by one of rage.
.
.
()()()()()()