//------------------------------// // Arrival Arc, Chapter 2: Merchant troubles // Story: For the Emperor and the UNSC! (Rebooted version) // by Titan Commander Sebaste //------------------------------// Earth, NY Comic-con 2016 “Geez, get a load of these people!” Viktor chuckled as he, his sister Alexandra and his friend Sebastian, walked into the convention hall. “So many costumes, and you thought we were gonna stick out!”  Both Alex and Viktor were dressed as Spartans, Viktor as a Halo 4 Orbital, while Alex had gone with the Halo 5 style of Scout armor. Sebastian meanwhile had dressed up in MK VII “Aquila” Armor from Warhammer 40,000, in the colors of the Dark Angels .  Alex however had made a modification to her suit, instead of having a regular Scout Arm, she had changed it into Ivy’s armored right arm complete with the familiar clawed gauntlet while Viktor had an AI chip in his helmet. “Okay, we get it….” Alex grumbled. “I was just nervous….” Sebastian chuckled, before he realized something. “Damn it, I forgot our weapons!” The two siblings groaned. “Seriously man? You forgot our weapons!?” Viktor asked. “Hey, was a bit rushed for time!” Sebastian said, holding his hands up in a helpless gesture. “Sorry.” Viktor sighed before he said, “Okay… We’ll keep an eye out for any stands that sell props. But if the vendor tries to shortchange us, we’re leaving.” The other two nodded before the three entered the massive room. While they walked through the aisles, Sebastian took a look at the Mega Bloks stand, having heard about the new 40K line they were showing there while Alex stuck with Viktor. It was Viktor who first noticed the strange looking vendor. Don't remember seeing this guy until now… he thought. He then heard footsteps behind him, and turned to see Sebastian coming up to him after looking at the new Mega Bloks line. “What's going o-?” He asked before seeing the vendor. “Is that… a Rogue Trader?” “Looks like it. But I don't remember seeing this tent here before.” Viktor replied. “Let's check it out, maybe it’ll have the weapons we need to complete our costumes.” Alex said. “All right, but if this guy tries to swindle us, we’re looking elsewhere.” Viktor warned. Alex rolled her eyes as the three walked to the stand. The vendor looked up and smiled at them. He was wearing a smart looking suit with two coattails at the end and he had a bionic eye prop over his real eye on the left side of his face. And the stuff he had for sale was mind boggling. From lightsabers to Power Ranger morphers, he had tons to choose from. “Greetings M’lord, are you and your companions looking to purchase something?” He asked, his voice raspy. That started to ring alarm bells in Viktor's mind. This guy looks like a Rogue Trader, but he sounds like that Merchant from the Resident Evil series… He thought, before he could say anything, he noticed a Halo MA4B Reach pattern Assault Rifle. He sighed mentally and said, “I’ll get the Assault rifle.” Sebastian spotted a “Tigrus” pattern Bolter and got that while Alex bought a replica of Ivy’s snake sword “Valentine” and a Halo 4 era sniper rifle. “That’ll be $150.” The vendor said. The three paid for their weapons, noticing as they did so that the weapons had a bit of weight on them. “Godspeed you three.” The Merchant said before the three cosplayers felt a blinding pain in their bodies so powerful, they blacked out. As they fell to the floor, a portal opened up and swallowed them. The Merchant watched before he said quietly, “Equestria needs you…” Equestria, The Everfree Forest Uuugh, what… what happened? Last thing I remember was buying that Bolter… Sebastian thought as he woke up, but as he moved, he felt a double heartbeat. Was… that my heart? Wait, double heartbeat… Oh you have… he mentally swore. He quickly sat up, and as he did so, he could feel the muscles in his arms and chest. I'm an actual Astartes!! He then noticed the Targeting reticle on his visor. Hmm… so the suit is real now…  but how is this possible?! After a few minutes, he spotted his Bolter lying nearby and as the Astartes grabbed his weapon, an ammo count appeared on his visor with the ∞ symbol on on it. At least I won't have to run outta ammo… he chuckled. He then stood up and took a look at his surroundings. He appeared to be in some kind of clearing in a forest, with trees on either side of him.  Okay, so I somehow ended up in the woods as an actual Space Marine… but where the heck are Viktor and Alex? Nearby…. “Spartan, are you okay?” A female voice asked Viktor, her voice emanating from inside his helmet. “Whu…. WHAH!!!” Viktor yelped as he sat up in shock. Next to him, Alex groaned. The voice chuckled. “At least you're awake now.” It said. Wait… it can't be… “Kyra?” He said “Yes Viktor?” The voice asked. This… this can't be happening…  He thought, standing up. There's no way that AI chip is real…. It was just a prop…. He then noticed that he had an actual HUD on his visor and that he felt… different. “What… what happened to me?” He muttered, his eyes wide with shock. “Where… where the hell are we?” “We appear to be in some kind of forest. I'm picking up multiple life readings, but they're… unusual.” Kyra said. Viktor pulled the chip out of the slot of his helmet and a female AI appeared on his palm. She wore a WH40K Imperial Guard flak jacket over an army shirt and a pair of Khaki pants and boots. Her hair was short and she glowed a deep blue. “Unusual how?” He asked, his voice calm while his mind raced. “They don't match any Earth creature or alien species in my database.” Kyra said. She then stiffened. “I'm picking a human signature about 50 feet from us. I… I don't know what the heck this guy is.” Human signature… Sasha! He must have gotten separated from us somehow!  He then heard another groan from Alex before she sat up, the faint light glinting off her right arm. “Vik…? Where… where are we….?” She asked groggily, “What…. What happened…..?” “I don't know, as for where we are, we’re in some sort of forest.” Viktor said. “How… how did we even get here?” “That… I have no idea.” He replied. “But we need to find Sasha, Kyra says he’s nearby.” “Kyra? That fake AI in your helmet?” Alex asked in shock. “She’s… not fake anymore…” Viktor said, the AI appearing on his shoulder RvB style as he put the AI chip back in his helmet. “Nice to meet you Alex.” Kyra chirped.The female Spartan looked the AI in disbelief. As she opened her mouth to say something, a chorus of growls sounded behind her. She and Viktor spun around to see ten glowing green eyes glaring at her before five lupine shapes stalked out of the shadows. Kyra quickly vanished as the two Spartans readied themselves. “Kyra? The hell are we dealing with?” Viktor asked the AI nervously. “I don't know, they look like wolves, but something's not right. They're made out of wood, but some kind of energy is holding them together!” Kyra said. Spotting his assault rifle, Viktor ran towards it only to get jumped by two of the strange wolves. While their teeth and claws didn't penetrate his armor, the impact managed to knock him down and brought his shields down to 15%. Damn it, I need something to take these guys out! He thought before he felt the weight of something in his left hand, looking at it he was shocked to see a M6D-A Magnum pistol in his hand when it was empty earlier. Where the hell did this come from?! He thought, glancing to see the ∞ symbol on the ammo count. And how did I even get it?  He didn't get to think more on it as the two creatures bit down on the arm fending them off. “Gah! Get off of me you blasted mutts!!” He growled before putting the pistol straight on one of the creature's head and pulling the trigger. A single bang echoed through the air and the wooden wolf was dropped in an instant. He then yanked his arm out from the other's mouth and delivered another headshot to it, this time making it fall apart. He turned to Alex and stopped in disbelief. Her right hand was glowing and in front of her were the scattered remains of the three other wolves. In her other hand was a rifle of alien design, with a rotating cylinder in the middle. A plasma repeater, one of the more nastier weapons in the Covenant's arsenal. “Vik? What's…What’s happened to us?” She asked, her voice shaking as she looked at her glowing gauntlet, energy arcing over it. “I don't know… but we’ll get to the bottom of this….” Viktor said before looking at the remains of the wooden wolves. “Kyra, designate these as “Timberwolves”. And keep an eye out for anything else that's hostile…” “Yes sir.” Kyra said, then she suddenly shouted “Human signature heading this way! He’s armed!” The sound of heavy footfalls were clearly heard as the two Spartans readied their weapons, Viktor having grabbed his assault rifle from its spot on the ground.  Alex had drawn her sword while her Sniper rifle was mag locked to her back. With a crash of foliage, an armored figure ran into view and skidded to a stop upon seeing the drawn weapons. “Vik? Alex? What happened?” “Sasha? Oh thank goodness!” Viktor said, lowering his weapon. “Some weird wolves attacked us and managed to catch us, to quote Preed: “With our trousers down.” But… we also ended up discovering something else…” Sebastian took off his helmet and gave his friend a confused look. “What are you talking about ?” “Kyra? C’mon out.” The AI appeared on Viktor's shoulder just in time for her to see a shocked look appear on Sebastian's face. “Impossible…. That's the AI you had in your helmet? I thought she was just a prop!” He said in disbelief. “That’s… not the only thing I found out.” Viktor said, before a ARC-980 Recoilless rifle materialized in his left hand. “Turns out I'm able to do this, Alex also. But with her… Her gauntlet was glowing with some kind of energy…” “How does your body feel? Stronger than normal?” Sebastian asked. “Yeah actually, wh-?” Viktor started to ask before he realized what Sebastian was asking. “You don't mean…” “Yeah, we’ve become what we cosplayed as. I have no idea how, but we're now actual Spartans and an Astartes.” Viktor staggered back as the realization struck him like a hammer blow. “This… this can’t be real…” Alex was also shocked. “So we're stuck like this?! Damn it!” She swore, “I don't want to be stuck as a Spartan for the rest of my life! I just want to get back home!” “If we're even on Earth…” Viktor muttered. “Let's just try and find a town. Hopefully there's some sort of civilization here…” Sebastian said. The two Spartans nodded before the three headed deeper into the forest. Soon, they were moving through brambles and vines. “Oy… for a forest, this is more like a jungle…” Viktor muttered as he sliced through the foliage with an Type-1 Energy blade.  Alex murmured in agreement while Sebastian kept an eye out for any hostile creatures.  It was nearly night time that the three encountered another creature in the forest, one that surprised them in more ways than one. Viktor had just set up a campsite when he heard a lion like growl. Then a startled yelp from Sebastian made him spin around to see a creature he thought only existed in mythology charge forward and smack the Astartes aside. “Oof!” He grunted, the wind knocked out of him. The creature halted and Viktor got a better look at it. It had a lion’s face and body, but from its back sprung two wings and a scorpion’s tail arched over its head from the rear. Oh you have to be kidding me… a freaking Manticore…. He thought before he pulled out his assault rifle and unleashed a tirade from it. The beast spun around as the bullets hit, causing it to roar in anger and pain as the bullets hit. Alex by that time had drawn her sword and was advancing towards it, blade ready. The manticore’s eyes narrowed before it swung its tail at her, the stinger aimed at one of the gaps in her armor. “Alex, watch the tail!” Viktor yelled. She managed to block the blow, but was staggered by the power behind it. “Alright you poor excuse of a mad scientist’s lab reject, you want some? You’ll get some!!” Alex yelled before her gauntlet started to glow, a faint wind whipping her hair around. “She's channeling that energy that held those Timberwolves together!” Kyra said in a shocked voice. “What?! How is that possible?” Viktor asked in disbelief. “I don't know, but her energy levels are climbing steadily…” the AI said. Alex then thrusted her hand out and a blast of energy shot from her palm and smashed into the monster, sending it crashing into a tree. What in the world was that?! Sebastian thought as he watched the creature struggle to its feet. He looked over at Alex just in time to see her unleash three more blasts of energy at the Manticore, each one arcing to smash into the creature. How…. How the devil is she doing that?! The beast staggered to its feet, teeth bared. These creatures had hurt it with strange noisemakers and magic, but it was no fool. They were more powerful than it and it wouldn't risk getting killed by these new beasts. With a final growl, it retreated back into the forest. The glow soon disappeared from Alex’s gauntlet, she then staggered and fell, Viktor managing to catch her before she hit the ground. Her deep breathing showed that she had fainted and was now unconscious. “She's okay, just really exhausted.” Kyra said, scanning her. “Let's… rest here for the night. Sasha, you take first watch, I’ll take over later.” The Astartes nodded before he headed towards a hidden spot and crouched down, bolter at the ready. Both Viktor, Sebastian and Alex had a broken sleep. Viktor from getting woken by strange noises, Alex and Sebastian from nightmares, unknown entities stalking through their subconscious, a figure in corrupted power armor and what looked like a cybernetic Pegasus, a black and blue Spider-Man with Amy Rose standing next to him. The three woke up the next morning, bleary eyed. “Ugh…. That was not something I want to dream about again…” Alex muttered. Sebastian muttered agreement as he sealed his helmet back on. “Let's get moving. I don't want to stay much longer in this whackjob of a forest.” He said. The two Spartans nodded before the three of them began their trek again.  A few miles into their journey, they heard the howls of the wolf like creatures Alex and Viktor had fought when they had woken up, but they then stopped when they heard a cry of pain from a few feet from them. “That… that sounded like someone in pain! There's humans in this world!” Viktor said, his voice sounding shocked. “And they're getting attacked by those mutts….” Alex growled, pulling her sniper rifle out. “Whoever it is, we’d better go stop those wolves from making them their meal.”Sebastian said. The three then ran towards where the cry of pain had come from, and halted at the edge of the clearing, where they saw a pack of 15 wolves surrounding a tree.For some reason, I'm getting deja vu, like this has happened to me before... Meh, I'll worry about it later... he thought. “Alright, let's take them out.” The Astartes said. The three advanced, Sebastian and Viktor opening fire and taking three out. The pack spun around and a larger wolf snarled a challenge at them. Viktor then spoke up, “You know, I’m really tired of encountering you mutts! As if getting attacked by a freaking Manticore was bad enough, we’ve had to tango with you hounds once already!” He then locked his assault rifle on his back and stretched out his hand. In seconds, he had the energy sword in his hand activated and ready. “And I'm gonna make sure you're on a one way trip to Hurt-ville!” Sebastian and Alex quickly raised their weapons and prepared to open fire The Alpha then howled before the pack charged. I'm really getting tired of this forest… Viktor thought before he launched his own assault.