//------------------------------// // Ha Ha Ha, Nope! // Story: Guardian // by Requiem17 //------------------------------// ‘How do I get myself into these situations?’ Ale sighed as he shuffled down the road with Rainbow Dash. She was jumping alongside him, occasionally flying upside down and around him, all the while talking nonstop about some silly competition she and Applejack had every year. ‘What’d she call it? The leaf run?’ “I can’t wait to see AJ’s face when I take the ‘Running of the Leaves’ trophy home today!” ‘Ah, that’s what it was called.’ Ale wasn’t quite sure what this was all about. From what he could tell it was some sort of race involving leaves. Rainbow Dash had convinced him when he arrived yesterday to join in her competition. Ale didn’t have work today and figured that he might as well join in. The sun glinted dully off of his recently polished armor, the scratches and scuffs gone after the Mark VII’s nanobots took care of the damage. Ale tuned out RD as they walked along the road to a grassy hill not too far away. He could see bleachers and tents set up with runners lining up for their numbers at a registration booth. Ale spotted Applejack at the starting line stretching her legs out with a grunt. RD raced above the lines occupants, snatched her pre-registered number, and landed alongside AJ. They both smiled determinedly at each other as they started their pre-race warm up. Ale smiled at their friendship as he stood in the rapidly moving line. He watched the mare handing out assigned numbers, surprised at the current number. ‘114’ He didn’t even know there was that many ponies here. He counted the ponies in front of him and came upon another realization. He was going to receive the number, ‘117’. Ale turned around and was disappointed not to find another pony behind him. He faced forward in time to see that he was up. He approached the smiling mare. “Nice to see you here. Are you here to race?” she asked with a friendly tone. “Yes ma’am.” “Alright, name please.” “Ale.” The mare scribbled on a clipboard and nodded, “Alright. Your number is 117 and you just line up at the start line.” Ale cleared his throat, shifting his feet. “Actually ma’am, may I please have a different number?” The mare looked at him confusedly, “Why? Is there something wrong with the one you have?” “No… It’s just that it’s a very special number that I don’t think I have the right to wear.” The mare smiled and nodded in understanding. “Alright, since there’s nopony behind you and I have a blank card here, is there a specific number you would like that nopony already has?” Ale didn’t even need to think as he replied instinctively, “02-05 please.” “That’s an odd pairing,” the mare commented as she handed it over. She smiled as he walked away. “Good luck!” Ale waved at her and began strapping the number to him. He reminisced on the meaning of his number, the first two digits stating that he was a part of the secret cell of alternate Spartan II’s with the last two digits being his Spartan number. Nobody really knew what the first two digits stood for anyway, unless you were a part of the group. “Fancy number you got there Ale.” Ale smiled as he looked towards AJ. She smirked at him as she continued, “Don’t think it’s gonna save you from ma flank kicking in this race.” Ale shook his head as he chuckled to himself. He looked left and right as ponies started lining up along the starting line. He watched as a pink hot air balloon rose into the sky. A familiar pink pony and purple dragon were riding up with microphones. “Welcome everypony to the ‘Running of the Leaves’! My name’s Pinkie and I’ll be your host along with my co-host, Spike!” Spike began rattling off the list of ponies at the line, before he was suddenly interrupted by Pinkie slapping the lengthy list out of his claws for the sake of time. Spike smiled sheepishly before straightening up and regaining his thoughts. “Alright everypony! On your mark,” Ale crouched low to the ground with one hand stretched out onto the ground. “Get set,” He lifted his head up and slowed his breathing, preparing to show the ponies the true meaning of speed. “Go!” Time slowed as Ale’s muscles contracted within milliseconds of his command, the other racers still on the line registering his voice. Ale’s leg extended with his opposite arm thrusting forward, sand beginning to spray from the foot he launched on. He straighten partially as he accelerated to 30 mph. Within three steps Ale’s sense of time regained normalcy and he realized he was already a good two dozen meters in front of the line. He glanced quickly behind him to see that all the racers were staring at him in shock. RD and AJ seemed to regain their senses as they quickly began running. Ale simply smiled as he knew there was absolutely no hope for them to catch up. Ale wasn’t even breathing hard yet. He focused his senses forward and continued running. He entered the woods as leaves began falling rapidly to his own vibrations alone. Ale was leaving a trail of dust behind him, his thundering footsteps his only companion capable of keeping up with him. The scenery around him sparked distant memories. His now heavier breathing along with the jolt of his armor was very familiar. He looked up into the rapidly moving tree canopy and observed the chaos of reds, oranges, and yellows, a memory thrusting itself forward… -------------------------------------------------- “-Static-ort over.” *System* Resetting Receiver – Analyzing Frequencies… - Uplink Complete “Spartan 02-05! Report, over.” Ale monitored the frequency as he sprinted through a forest towards his objective, autumn colored leaves thrown up behind him. “Spartan 05 on deck.” “This is Sword Base. Are you nearing the rally point?” Ale neared a steep decline that gave way to a field that was interrupted by a massive city of steel and glass. New Alexandria. “Copy. I’m two klicks from the space port.” “Acknowledged. A team of ODST’s are currently defending the area from Covenant forces. You are to reinforce them until NOBLE Six can get the missile platforms up and running.” “Good copy.” Ale had already entered the city and slowed down. It wouldn’t be smart to run right into a pack of Brutes or even worse, a Hunter pair. His assault rifle was raised as he moved swiftly through the streets, keeping close to the sides of the buildings to reduce the chances of him being spotted by a Banshee or Phantom drop ship. Ale was about to round a corner when he spotted movement on his radar. He flattened himself against the concrete wall of the building and gently peeked around the corner. The radar was clear, making Ale wary at the lack of anybody in front of him. He stepped out with his rifle up and walked forward, sweeping his weapon side to side. A sudden movement to the right inside of the building made Ale react swiftly. He leaped through the broken window and pointed his gun at the nearest target. He quickly let up on the trigger as a civilian male gasped and held up his hands. “Don’t shoot!” Ale lowered his weapon and asked, “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at the evac center.” The man stuttered, “W-we tried! But one of those Covenant flying machines made us duck in here.” “Us?” Ale’s radar lit up with an additional three contacts, a woman and two children standing up from some rubble. The woman looked weary while the little girl and boy looked weary and tired. However, their gaze lit up with wonder when they looked up at the imposing figure of an armored Spartan, both children only hearing legends about their invincibility against the alien monsters. Ale, while calm headed, still cringed as his mission just got a lot harder. A few civilians needing escort were difficult enough, but toss in children and it increases tenfold. “Alright, I’ll take you to the evac center, but you must listen to my every command if you want to make it there alive.” The man nodded his head as he whispered to the children, urging them to follow the Spartan. Ale turned and scanned the street, satisfied that there weren’t any enemies. He motioned for them to follow as he began walking quickly along. The group walked through the rubble in the street as they passed burned out vehicles. Meanwhile, Ale continued to scan the sky and intersections for any patrols. Ale felt a small sense of relief as he realized they were making good time towards his objective. He hadn’t so much as just made that thought when he heard a low whine a block over. His time fighting the Covenant had solidified every single noise the Covenant war machine made, this particular sound sending a ball of fear for the safety of his civilians into his stomach. “Quickly! Into the store!” He pushed the group into the busted store front and motioned for them to stay down. He peeked through some rubble and watched as a Wraith with a full escort of 20 Grunts, 10 Jackals, 5 Elites, and a Hunter pair walk into the intersection just a few dozen meters away from them. Ale watched them and was disappointed to see them stop. They looked like they were taking a break from marching and intended to stay there a while. Ale checked his mission clock and winced, he was running out of time and he knew that the space port evacs would be leaving soon. With a quick glance at the street he made his decision. Looking over his group of refugees he could see their fear. With a strong but low voice he pointed at a manhole in the street. “Listen, I’m going to draw their fire while you four jump into the sewers. Is that understood?” The group nodded hesitantly, Ale unsure as to how he could help ensure them. He crushed these thoughts; it wasn’t his responsibility to comfort them, only to save them as best as he could. “Ready?” Ale didn’t even wait for them to acknowledge before sprinting out into the street. He heard a cry of alarm as the group spotted him. Green and blue plasma rounds began flying around him as he rolled behind a chunk of the ripped up street. He leaned out of cover and pulled the trigger of his weapon. The assault rifle roared as he lobbed suppressing fire down the street, casings were flying out of the ejection port as grunts were ripped apart. “Go, go, go!” He watched out of the corner of his eye as the civilians ran to the manhole and lifted up the cover. They quickly jumped down as some of the enemy soldiers began firing at them as well. With a little over half of his magazine gone, Ale burned up the rest as he ran for the manhole as well. He slid into the hole just as a plasma mortar vaporized the ground. Ale landed and looked up to see the group looking at him. “Hurry, we have to move.” Ale pointed in a direction for them to go, watching as they began running that way. Ale followed after them for 15 meters before turning around. He ducked into the corner of an intersection as he waited patiently. He didn’t wait long as a grunt yelled before smashing into the ground below the manhole entrance, a clean snap echoing through the sewers. The dead grunt was smashed under the weight of an elite who decided to follow after. Ale held his fire as the elite searched the gloom with his beady reptilian eyes. Five jackals followed after and Ale decided now was the time. He primed a grenade and tossed it into the middle of the group. The group screamed as the grenade detonated, ripping apart the jackals and spraying their body parts everywhere while the elite suffered a grievous wound. Ale turned around and sprinted to catch up to the civilians, his grenade having bought them time as the rest of the enemy squad would no doubt hesitate before repeating the same maneuver. Ale ran past several intersections before catching up to the group. They looked relieved to see the Spartan after hearing the screaming and explosion. They continued moving for a few minutes, the silence only broken by their footsteps and Ale’s armor clanking. Ale decided that it was time to head back up as they were nearing the space port. He motioned to them to climb up a ladder when a chittering sound halted them. Ale looked down the dark tunnel, relying on his night vision to navigate them to reduce the chance of them being spotted by his helmet lights. He couldn’t see anything with the range of his vision but watched the far greater distance of his radar instead. A low buzzing grew rapidly and Ale’s radar showed a massive red cloud heading towards them. “Up! Now!” Ale’s rifle kicked in his hands as hot lead began dropping alien bugs from a large horde of drones. There was no way he was going to be able to stop them like this. The women and children were already up the ladder. Before the man was able to climb a section of the sewer wall broke away, revealing more drones as they came from behind. The man screamed as he was whisked away off of the ladder and ripped apart in the horde of bugs. Ale’s magazine ran empty as he too became swarmed. His over shield was dropping rapidly as his Mark VI took a beating. Ale punched and ran through the horde to the ladder and began climbing. The drones were too large to fly up the manhole but could crawl up one at a time. He looked past four drones to see the children and women desperately attempting to open the cover. Ale climbed rapidly up the ladder and pulled out his combat knife. He jabbed his knife into the back of the first drone and ripped down, effectively cutting it in half and letting it fall down past him. Ale killed the two after it using similar methods before a scream caught his attention. The drone had just grabbed the girls’ ankle, its claws no doubt hurting her badly. Swifter than lightning, Ale was directly under it and he cut off the offending grasper. The bug screeched in pain before being silenced with a swift stab to its head. It fell, knocking down some of the other bugs that were climbing up the hole after them. Ale tossed up his knife to the woman who caught it with surprising dexterity. “Use that to pry the manhole open!” She nodded grimly as she began her assigned task. Ale looked down and pulled out his magnum, shooting only when necessary to help save his ammo. Light flooded the hole as the woman was able to get the cover off. She climbed out and helped the children out after her. Ale followed and stood above the hole. He dropped his last grenade down the hole and pushed the civilians away. They jumped into a building as a fountain of green goo and body bits flew out of the hole. The sewer, already damaged with a blown out wall, collapsed when the grenade detonated. The street crumbled a few feet down, smashing any trapped bugs and providing safety from any pursuit. Ale looked over the group and saw tear trails on the children. The woman’s eyes were sad but she had a very stern face. She held out the knife to Ale, prompting him to speak. “You’re very good with that knife.” A small smile graced her face as she replied, “Ex-Colonial Marine.” (No, not Aliens. It’s the disbanded CMA for those of you who didn’t know or remember.) Ale nodded in understanding. He motioned for them to keep moving. They walked a few more blocks before finally reaching their destination. Ale motioned for them to stop as he observed the street. It was littered with Covenant bodies, but no marines were to be seen. Ale pinged any surrounding IFF tags and saw that the ODST squad had taken a very strong defensible position. He saw a camouflaged turret positioned behind some rubble with a nice part of the space port hanging over its position. “Sword Base, this is Spartan 05. I have reached objective over.” “Copy, mission parameters are still in effect. Sword out.” “Roger.” Receiving a hand signal from one of the ODST’s, Ales group began moving across the street. A sudden rumbling stopped them as they watched one of the evac ships leaving the port. Ale knew something was wrong since the Covenant ship was still in the skies. Dread paralyzed Ale as he realized there was a lack of missiles to hold the ship back as it moved over the evac. A bright flash from the purple alien ship struck the evac, Ale turning off his radio as screams filled the frequency. Knowing that they were still out in the open Ale turned around and gestured for the civilians to follow. The woman held back the children and glared at the Spartan. “There’s no way we’re getting on those death cans!” “Ma’am, the missile platforms will be up and running any second now. We have to leave.” She opened her mouth to argue before a silver flash burst through her head. Ales magnum was already in the air as he shot the Jackal sniper. Ale had already scooped up the children by the time both bodies hit the ground and turned, plasma rounds splashing up against his shield. Ale ran under the turrets field of view as it began unloading its payload against the pushing enemy squad. The children were crying as Ale hustled past the fighting ODST’s and up a loading ramp towards one of the surviving evacs. He placed them within the bay as another civilian began herding them away. Ale watched them as the door began closing. Just before the doors slid shut Ale saw both of the children look at him. The sheer amount of sadness and anger made Ale take a step back. He could still feel their terrible gaze through the steel. He wasn’t sure if they were mad at him or their parents murderers, but he still felt a foreign emotion. He pondered upon it before it struck him. Guilt He had never felt guilty before. His mission was to destroy or stop the enemy in any possible way with the upmost effectiveness. So far, he had succeeded every one of them. Sure he lost people, but the mission came first. This time was different however, he had never seen children look that way before and it shook him to the core. Screaming from the front of the port dragged his attention back to reality. Shrugging his arms, he turned and ran back down the ramp, drawing his assault rifle out and slamming a new magazine into it with a click. He approached the ODST’s, analyzing their situation. The chain gunner was down, the weapon mangled and melted beyond recognition. Several other ODST’s were lined up along a wall, either hurt or gone from this plane of existence. “Noble Six! We need to send the transports!” one of the ship captains yelled through the radio. Ale needed to buy them as much time as he could. He expertly began shooting the Covenant invaders. He watched as they fell under his might, two more Covenant soldiers taking the place of every one he killed. As the ODST’s began falling one by one Ale policed their ammo and weapons in an effort to hold back the Covenant just for a little while longer. “Missile platforms are running!” “Thank god!” “Look at that bastard burn!” Ale glanced up while fighting to see the Covenant ship retreating back into the city, trailing purple and white flames in its wake. “Transport’s away!” Ale retreated along with the surviving ODST’s as the transports left. He continued firing as they walked out onto the runway. Two Falcons came rushing in to pick up the soldiers, the gunners laying suppressing fire to hold back the tide of enemies. Ale and the ODST’s stepped onto their evacs and watched as they flew up towards their next objective. He listened to radio chatter reporting glassings beginning not too far away from New Alexandria. Ale remembered the children he had saved. A thought that made him question its origin came into his mind. “Did I save them?” What if he had actually damned them? Ale thought back to similar situations where he was tasked with escorting civilians. Have any of them survived? What if he had only delayed their inevitable deaths? These thoughts did not make sense to Ale. He wasn’t trained to think this way. He remembered the first glassing he had ever witnessed. Civilian evacs had been flying into the air. A beam of plasma struck them and they lurched downwards, burning as they fell. The beam continued to move on as it turned the doomed city into a pile of molten glass and metal. Ale felt something fill him; it reinvigorated his body and surprised him with its potency. He had a new mission, one that some would claim he had been doing all along. He would make the Covenant pay, not just for him anymore or because he was following the command of his superiors, but because the loss of life and shattered families he had witnessed. His memories demanded, no, screamed that he avenge them for what the Covenant took. He promised himself at that moment that he would do everything in his power to fulfill the demands, anything to protect the innocent and save lives. He looked into the glow of the setting sun and lost himself in its depths… ---------------------------------------------------- “Look out!” Ale twisted his body sideways as he avoided the screaming fillies in front of him. He smashed into the ground and slid a good twenty meters. He heaved air as he realized he had lost himself to his thoughts while running and almost smeared somepony doing it. He stood up briskly and turned around. Ale recognized the infamous Cutie Mark Crusaders as they climbed back onto their scooter. “Are you okay mister alien?” Ale chuckled quietly, “I’m fine, but you can call me Ale.” Applebloom looked up at him, “Okay Mr. Ale.” Ale mentally face palmed. Scootaloo spoke up, “What are you doing out here Ale?” “Running in that race of yours.” The three looked confused before addressing him. “Out here in the Everfree forest?” Ale looked around and realized that he was indeed on the trail that led through the ‘dark’ forest. However, another thought broke out. “I might ask you the same thing.” The three quickly looked away guiltily. They shuffled their hooves as they thought quietly. “We just wanted to get our cutie marks. Honest!” Ale mused to himself, letting them stew in their own fear of what his actions may be. “I really should scold you myself, but I think it would be more appropriate if your family members were the one to do it.” The three looked like a big bucket of dread had been dumped on them as they looked up at him with pleading eyes. “P-please! Don’t tell them about this! We’ll take your punishment!” Scootaloo blurted out. “Yeah!” the other two agreed. “Hmm… I don’t know…” “Pleeaaase?” Ale smirked as he figured out a way to make them take the earlier option instead. “Alright. I would say a little physical exercise is just enough punishment.” The three looked at him wearily. “Okay, what did you have in mind?” “This.” Ale fell forwards onto his hands and began doing pushups. When he looked up he saw Applebloom and Scootaloo copying him rep for rep. Sweetie Belle looked like she wouldn’t even try. ‘One down, two to go.’ Ale pushed off the ground with his feet and performed a handstand. He then began doing pushups with his whole body straight up into the air. The other two just stared at him in awe. They looked at him glumly and spoke. “…Fine, we’ll take the other punishment.” Ale smirked as he came back down to the ground and stood up. He looked at them before his radar reported movement behind the girls. He watched as several pairs of green eyes looked his way. “Girls, go home. Now.” They looked confused but with Ales incessant gesturing piled back up onto the scooter and left swiftly. Several of the eyes made to follow but Ale regained their attention with a threatening side step. With all eyes focused on him he pulled out a cylindrical object from his hip. It pulsed softly with a red glow. He heard growling emit from the bushes as (wood?) wolves stepped out. Ale almost began laughing hysterically at ironic situation. ‘Timberwolves.’ Ale was also very happy with his choice of weaponry, glad that he had intended burning the underbrush with his incendiary grenade anyway. He tossed the napalm filled object and watched it detonate over the animals. They screamed in pain as they were being burned by an inextinguishable liquid fire. Ale turned around and continued walking back to town as if nothing had ever happened. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Ale walked back towards the finish line, observing the massive crowd cheer loudly. Twilight broke through the crowd and approached him. “Ale! Where have you been? You’re in last place!” “Sorry. I got a bit lost.” Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. “You? Lost?” Ale did have to admit that sounded pretty stupid, but was relieved when Twilight shook her head and dropped the subject. She gestured for him to follow her as she walked back to the crowd. Ale followed, brushing as gently as he could past the sea of moving colors. He saw AJ and RD hefting a trophy between them, indicating that they both had taken first place. RD paled a bit when she saw Ale. She nodded at AJ as she approached Ale. “Hey Ale. Are you okay?” “What do you mean?” Ale asked with clear confusion. Rainbow rubbed her leg with her other hoof as she replied, “Well, I may or may not have changed a sign when I saw how fast you were moving and that you were going to win hooves down.” Ale rubbed his chin playfully as he replied, “So, what you’re telling me is that you cheated and flew past me to change a sign, thus making me run into the Everfree forest and securing your place at first?” “… Plausible deniability.” Ale just tossed his hands up into the air at her response. He chuckled as he began walking away. “Don’t worry about it Rainbow. I’ll just have to beat you at something else some other time.” His enhanced hearing made him smile at her response, “Bring it on.” Ale walked into town as he figured he had some time left in the day to fulfill a promise. He approached a house that seemed to literally bounce with vibration. Ale swore he could see the air vibrating with the DJ’s beats. Ale, figuring that she wouldn’t be able to hear him if he knocked, just let himself in. A grey mare with earplugs looked up at him in surprise as he stepped in. They stared at each other for a few seconds, the mares mane blowing all over the place with the much louder beats blaring through the house. Ale spun an imaginary disk in hopes of communicating his desire to see Vinyl. The mare nodded with an irritated frown as she pointed down the hall. Ale nodded respectively towards her and walked down the hall. He approached the door that was bulging slightly and grabbed the door handle. Ale literally began vibrating himself when he made contact with the door. He pushed it open and was almost blown back into the hallway. ‘Thank god I have a sealed environment; otherwise I think my ears would be bleeding before my brain followed it out.’ Ale looked at the white mare that was facing away from him. She was bobbing her head with the beat with a pair of headphones on, headphones which Ale noticed weren’t even plugged in. Deciding to be especially cruel, Ale snuck behind her and plugged in her headphones. “YYYEEEOOOWWW!!!” Ale fell to the floor laughing as Vinyl leaped into the air, slamming the power switch on her music board. She looked behind her and glared at Ale. “WHAT WAS THAT FOR?” Ale decided to play with her some more. “WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU?” Vinyl ground her teeth in irritation, no doubt having experienced this prank before. Ale calmed down, breathing deeply as he stood up. “Ha, ha. Hoh boy, I’m sorry Vinyl. I couldn’t resist.” Vinyl just shook her head, a small smile gracing her face. “It’s alright. Just don’t do that again. It really hurts.” “Only if you’re more careful and considerate of the ponies around you.” “Yeah, I bet Octavia isn’t too happy?” “Nope.” “I figured. Anyways, what can I do for you?” “I actually stopped by to show you some of my music like you asked me to.” A voice from the door interrupted them. “You invited an alien over to share his otherworldly music and didn’t tell me?” Vinyl looked a little scared as she smiled nervously. Ale looked between the two and laughed internally. Vinyl spoke up. “Octavia, this is Ale. Ale, this is my marefriend Octavia.” Ale was a little surprised that there were same gender relationships here, but now that he thought about it he could see it making sense due to the massive skewing in the gender ratio. “Nice to meet you.” “You as well. Anyways, you have some music you were going to share with Vinyl?” Ale nodded. “May I partake in this experience?” “No problem. So Vinyl, what should I play?” With a glance at Octavia, Vinyl decided that she should attempt to make her happy. “Do you have music called orchestral or something like that?” “I’m sure I have some here somewhere…” Ale searched through his playlists and found some excellent choices. (Not necessary to listen to. There’s going to be a spam of music.) Octavia looked like she had been sent to heaven, her eyes closed in silent appreciation. Vinyl tapped Ale impatiently, prompting a chuckle from Ale as he selected music more to her choice. (Once again, same warning. Only it really is spam time now.) (Flashback was actually the first song I listened to in this genre.) Vinyl was drooling on the ground with the different kinds of music flowing through her. Octavia seemed to have liked the rock a bit more than the keyboard. Ale decided he was going to play music that would make them both hopefully happy. (One more time!) Ale was smiling when he saw both mares swaying against each other, enjoying the harmony of the combined music genres. When they opened their eyes it unnerved Ale, a lot. They looked upon him with half lidded eyes, walking towards him sultrily. “Wow Ale. I’ve never heard anything so… sensual,” Octavia said, approaching ever closer to the slowly backing up Spartan. Ale was sweating with fear. He was a master tactician who could find a way out through every situation… except for this one. They never trained him for this. “N-now ladies, let’s not make any hasty decisions here. I’m sure we could come to an understanding.” Vinyl smiled, “Oh, there’ll be plenty of agreements we could come to I’m sure.” If it was any other situation Ale probably would have laughed at her sentence, but Ale was sure Vinyl was well aware of what she said. “Yes, just relax Ale. We got it all under control.” Ale felt the wall behind him, desperate for a way out without hurting them. He saw his chance and went for it. “Ha ha ha… Nope!” ------------------------------------------------ Hard Wood was currently out walking, enjoying the nice fall day when a nearby window shattered. He watched in confusion as his employee, Ale, rolled onto the ground. He stood up and saw Hard Wood. He gave a hesitant wave towards his employer before grabbing a cloth bag filled with bits and tossing it back towards the house. Hard Wood winced when he heard another window shatter, watching as Ale slapped a hand to his helmet and dragged it down. Ale turned around and began walking away, suddenly disappearing as he did so.