Chapter 36: Bragging Rights
Marcus then stood up from his crouched position and looked down at Shining, who's eye was still twitching slightly. He silently chuckled as he looked back to the girls, who were also in a state of awe, but not as much, since they saw their flashbacks before. He then turned back to Shining.
"Well? You still think we're a group of worthless, cold-blooded killers that kill without any intentions whatsoever?" Marcus asked Shining calmly. After a couple of seconds, Shining got out of his trance, looked at Marcus, and slowly shook his head.
"Good. You're probably wondering what those weird things we were killing were?" Marcus asked. Shining nodded. "Well, they're called 'Cryptids', and we just found out that they are here in your world." Marcus said. Shining froze in horror, but one of the guards who just woke up spoke up.
"I don't think that those things you call 'Cryptids' looked very effective. I mean, you guys took them out without breaking a sweat!"The guard said, but then quickly added. "Take that last one as a compliment."
"Well, to answer your first question, it's because you only saw three of the Cryptid variants that exist. There are a lot more than those, and where we came from, there were billions of them, or even trillions. Our military could only do so much. It came to the point where most of our military, and the world in general, were wiped out, and there were only a few of us left." Marcus said with a deadpanned tone. "For your second statement, it's because we are trained to kill the Cryptids swiftly and often times, brutally, and in large numbers."
The guards and Shining nodded in understanding as they waited for him to go on. "And we weren't the only ones fighting, but we were, and are, the best of the best. You might think that killing these things is a bad thing, but trust me when I say this. It's not. Especially if they nearly your entire species. Their only intentions and goals is to kill, and take over. Nothing else."
Shining was shaken up by all the information he was absorbing, but he was able to pull through and ask another question. "Y-you said that there were several variants. Can you show us?" He asked.
Marcus shook his head. "Maybe some other time, we got a couple of friends outside that are probably waiting for us to come outside." He said. Dempsey and Kevin looked at him with confused expressions.
"Wait.. there's more?" They both said in unison. Marcus nodded.
"Well duh! We're Marines, not pilots!" Marcus exclaimed a bit annoyingly. He then turned to Shining. "I need you and your guards to lead us to the Stryker after we're done telling the others outside what happened, got it?"
"Wait, you mean that one metal thing with wheels?" One of the guards asked to be sure. Marcus nodded as he turned to the squad and the girls and motioned them to follow him. They did so as they all walked out the doors and ran down the hallway to the courtyard.
Meanwhile, In The Courtyard...
Mike and Randy were just standing aside their Little Bird, patiently awaiting for the others to return from talking to the Princess. The guards all around them were still skeptical about them, but they eased up a bit. The guards on the balconies, however, were a different story.
Mike was putting in .50 A.E rounds into one of his magazines for his Desert Eagle, until he looked up at the guards on the balconies, who were still aiming their crossbows at them, along with a couple of Unicorns, ready to throw their spears.
"Hey! Do you mind quitting it with that thing? It's not like those things can hurt us anyways!" Mike shouted up at them. The guards kept their position as one of them shouted back at him.
"Do not speak, unless you are spoken to, ape! And don't you dare underestimate our weapons! We are capable of restraining you and neutralizing you swiftly and quickly!" The guard shouted back.
Mike slid in the seven round magazine into the Desert Eagle with a satisfying 'slap'. He then pulled back the top, then let it go, making a metallic 'clink' sound. " I think it should be you guys who shouldn't underestimate us. It seems like you are both stubborn and very cocky. I wouldn't be doing so if I was you. Especially if our weapons tech is over 500,000 years more advanced than a spear!" Mike retorted.
"I highly doubt you weapons are of that level! We have cannons that can blast through castle walls, for one! It looks like all you have there is a shiny piece of metal! What is that? A deformed sword that you broke trying to swing at a tree trunk?" The guard shouted back. Laughter from the surrounding guards formed.
Mike was about to lift up his Desert Eagle above his head and fire off a round, but Randy put his hand down. "Don't do it, man. It's not worth it. We'll show them later." Randy said.
Mike grunted as he spun his sidearm with his finger and reholstered it. Randy just shook his head as he leaned back and inserted a .410 Bore shotgun shell into his Taurus 'Executioner'. The doors then swung open, as Mike and Randy saw Marcus and the others walk out calmly. The laughter died immediately as they walked up to the pilots.
"Alright. Looks like our punishment will be uncovered tomorrow. The Princess said we're staying here for the night while she talks to court martial." Marcus explained. The guards around them started whispering quietly, but angrily.
Twilight then turned to Shining, who had a look of guilt on his face. "Shining, can you take us to the vehicle you and your guards found? I don't think they'd like to be here much longer."
"Yeah. If they do, then they're gonna drop some of that white stuff on us!" Rainbow said. Everypony glared at her with an unamused expression. "What? It could happen, no?" She retorted, defending herself and crossing her forelegs. Rainbow then turned to Marcus and the others, who were talking to each other next to the Little Bird. "Hey! We gonna go to the 'Stryker' thing, or what?"
Marcus then turned towards Rainbow and the others, then back at the pilots. They were whispering, while making hand motions swiftly. Marcus then nodded and ran towards Shining. "We need those guys to stay with the helicopter, but can you tell your guards to give them some breathing room?" He asked. Shining nodded as he ran up towards the commander of the squad.
"So what are you things exactly?" One of the ponies asked behind him. Marcus turned around and saw an Earth pony with iron and gold armor, a brown coat, and light brown mane.
"We're humans. Not apes; let's get that out of the way first. And second, we're Marines. I'll explain later. We still got something to do." Marcus said quickly. The guard nodded as Marcus turned back around, noticing Shining running back towards him.
"They've agreed to leave them alone for the time being, but they still don't trust you." Shining said. Marcus nodded.
"It's all good. Besides, I know you don't trust us yet either." Marcus said. Shining nodded with a slight look of guilt. "Then again, I can't blame you, but we'll talk more after we get inside the Stryker, okay?"
Shining nodded again as he lead the group out of the courtyard and into the main city. Marcus and the squad looked around them, taking in the full detail of the city. It looked similar to a medieval European town, but with a couple modern buildings here and there. It seemed like a sophisticated city, with several ivory towers having gold spires on them, several waterfalls, and rivers. When they walked through what seemed to be the busiest area, ponies gasped and hid away from the view of the Marines and the gunners, who ignored this. Marcus turned around and saw a coffee shop, with a pony poking his head slightly out of a trash can, wearing the lid like a hat. He chuckled as he found it comical. They all walked through, noticing several shops, a high-class restaurant that, for some reason, had a closed sign, a race track, a theater, and even what looked to be the outside of an art gallery.
They then walked out of the cringe-fest area and were now looking upon the train station and the train itself, which looked and was the same train they took to come here in the first place, but the only difference was that it had a flat-bed transportation cart at the very back, and on the cart, was a Stryker I.F.V.
"Is that the 'Stryker' you all keep talking about?" Shining asked, pointing a hoof at the cart. The gunners nodded as they ran up to it, along with the others.
"Wow.. that's a lot of.. mud? And what's that weird rumbling sound?" Rainbow said as she and the others walked alongside the side of the transport cart. The Stryker was covered in dry mud on most of the front, and it was slightly bent on the left side, but the M2 Browning turret's barrel seemed to be intact, along with its outer cameras, and M8 smoke grenade launcher tubes. The Stryker was also somehow already turned on, but its front lights were still off. Dempsey and Kevin both climbed on the back of the Stryker, and climbed inside. Kevin then noticed that his M4 Carbine was leaning next to the desk that had the control panels and sticks.
"Well, at least I found my M4. What about you, Dempsey? Where's you M16?" Kevin asked, as he took out the magazine and inspected the inside. Dempsey then walked to the remote weapons station, noticing that the inside of the Stryker had been cleansed of blood and brain matter from when he killed the guard. He then walked towards the seats, noticing that his M16A4 was laying right in the middle.
"It's right here. Along with a couple of shell castings." Dempsey said as he picked up his own primary weapon and climbed into the driver seat. There would be a commander in the other seat giving coordinates, but with the lack of soldiers back on Earth to go around, he had to play the role of being both a driver and a commander, while Kevin played the role of the gunner and loader.
"What the?.. how the hell is it on?" Dempsey said as he noticed his helmet was on the seat. He picked it up, put it and strapped it on, and sat down. He then looked on the control panels that the fuel was at ninety one percent.
"Who the hell turned on the FLIR?" Kevin said as he took a seat and faced the screen of the remote weapons station. He picked up the joystick and spun the M2 Browning turret around, smiling as he could turn it to a full 360 degrees. Kevin then shut off the FLIR systems, and switched back to regular view. The camera was a bit fuzzy, but he could fix it easily. The gunners then heard a hard knock on the side of the Stryker.
"Hey! You guys good in there?" Marcus asked.
"Yeah, we're good! Just checking the systems and stuff. You mind cutting the straps so we can roll this thing out of here?" Dempsey asked as he brought down the visor of his helmet.
"Sure thing." Marcus replied as he climbed on top of the side of the Stryker, and climbed up. He then turned around. "Hey Rainbow, can you give me a hand- er, hoof? Whatever?"
Rainbow chuckled as she nodded and flew over to Marcus to help him take off the straps. Marcus then reached down to his side, and unseathed his nine-inch combat knife. Rainbow grew a bit anxious when he did this, but once he saw him use the dull part to cut the straps, he then turned to Shining, who was eyeing his combat knife nervously and curiously.
"You don't think the conductors or whatever will be mad that we cut these, right?" Marcus asked.
Shining shook his head. "No, they'll be fine with it. Besides, it's not like it would've mattered anyways. You're already cutting it." He replied. Marcus chuckled and shrugged as he went back to cutting the straps. The knife cut through the ropes like butter as he slung them off the Stryker, and looked around to see if he missed any. After Rainbow spit out the straps from her mouth, Marcus jumped off the Stryker, while Rainbow hovered above it.
"Alright, you guys can move now!" Marcus shouted as he gave the Stryker a loud pat on the side.
"Gotcha. We're moving it now! Steer clear!" Dempsey shouted from inside. They all backed away a couple of feet as the engine roared.
"W-what is that n-noise?" Fluttershy asked quietly and fearfully.
"It's the sound of the engine the Stryker makes. Don't worry." Thompson said, reassuring her.
Shining then peeked towards Marcus, who was gripping onto the huge knife with his right hand. "Hey, um.. you. First of all, what's your name?" Shining asked.
"My name's Marcus. I also go by my callsign 'Hunter', but just call me whatever you feel like." Marcus replied.
"Alright then, Hunter. Um, why do you have such a big knife? It's looks like more than half the size of a spear!" Shining said in astonishment.
"I know, right?" Rainbow added, as she eyed his knife. Marcus chuckled as he held out the knife in front of him, but not pointing it at anyone, or pony, whatsoever.
"Well, this here is a Entrek Ranger Combat Knife. It's about nine inches long, and it takes a while to fully dull. I have it in case I have to engage in close-quarters combat. My fists themselves are just as dangerous, but it's good to have a backup weapon when you need it." Marcus said as he put the knife back into its sheath.
"Wait, you know karate too?" Rainbow asked with an eyebrow raised. Marcus nodded.
"In a way, but I'll tell you more about it later. Right now, we gotta get into the Stryker, and show you guys how awesome they are." Marcus said. None of them even noticed that the Stryker had rolled off the cart and onto the ground. Jackson and Kayla then ran to the back of the Stryker, and opened the doors. They then all stood behind them as Kevin waved them in, bringing the small ramp down for easier access.
"Wow... this looks really roomy!" Twilight exclaimed as she walked inside, looking around.
"Yeah, but looks can be deceiving, Twi." Applejack said bluntly as she sat down on the seats.
"Hey, c'mon! There's a lot more to this thing than just roomy-ness and seats! Here, strap yourselves in, and we'll show ya'!" Kevin said. Marcus and his squad sat on the left side, while the girls and Shining sat on the right. Twilight then used her magic to strap them inside, while Marcus and his squad just leaned back against the wall.
"Alright. Shining, I don't know how the civvies will react, but I'm gonna go through the same path we came from, alright?" Dempsey shouted from the front.
"No! Just follow the road on the right, and keep following it! It'll take us back to the courtyard without us freaking out the civilians!" Shining shouted back.
"Alright then! Here we go!" Dempsey said. The Stryker then did a whirring-like noise as it moved and turned. The girls all gasped in surprise, while Shining just sat there with a nervous look.
"Woah! This feels.. weird, but in a good way!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Yeah. It feels like we're moving in a carriage, but so much smoother!" Twilight added.
"Ah don't like the seats very much, but it sure as heck feels better than the carriages!" Applejack said.
"It feels quite nice, but a bit odd, if you don't mind me saying..." Fluttershy said. Kevin just chuckled as he rose form his seat and sat in the middle of the girls.
"We don't mind at all. But now that we got time, do you have any questions for us?" Kevin said. Right as those words left his mouth, their eyes grew into an unimaginable, cartoonish size.
"Aw shit.." Kevin thought. Hooves shot up in the air like the nuclear missiles that destroyed the Earth, but Kevin decided to choose Shining first.
"Alright. Shining.."
"Awww...." The girls said loudly. Everyone else chuckled at this as Shining spoke up.
"Okay. I have a big question. What exactly are you? Like.. what's your profession? Is it similar to the guards?" Shining asked as he pointed a hoof towards Marcus and his squad.
Marcus then pushed himself off the wall, and leaned froward. "Well, let's start off with this. Me and the rest of the guys.. and girl, come from a different world called 'Earth', in a country called the United States of America, or 'U.S.A', for short. In that country, we had the best military in the world. There are five branches of military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and the Marine Corps. Me and these four others.." Marcus then pointed a finger at each member of his squad. "Are part of the United States Marine Corps.. or 'USMC', for short."
Shining was intrigued by what he was saying. "So what's the difference? Do you guys have a motto? An emblem? A code of ethics? Anything at all similar?"
Marcus grinned as he was about to speak, but Kevin looked at him. "Do you mind if we take turns explaining?" Kevin asked. Marcus nodded as he leaned back a bit and waited for him to talk.
Everypony's eyes were now focused on Kevin. He cleared his throat as he started to speak.
"Well.. Marines are different in several ways. I'm part of the Army, but they're still very different. For starters, they like to think they're the best, and in most cases, they are and have proven themselves to be so." Kevin started off, then nodded towards Marcus. They then looked at him as he continued.
"Yeah, it's true. And our culture is a warrior's spirit..."
"So kinda like Pegasi?.." Twilight asked. Rainbow huffed her chest a bit with pride as Marcus chuckled and went on.
"In a way... but we consider ourselves warriors because we have an obligation to be the most ready when our nation, the United States, is the least ready."
Rainbow's chest deflated a bit as she leaned in closer to hear, as this caught her interest, along with the others.
"We do the kind of things that our nation would ask of its elite warriors. Such as the Army's Delta Force, or Rangers, and the Navy SEAL's, which are special operations groups that were formed for various other tasks and reasons. We're smaller than the armed forces, and we're more oriented on combat." Marcus explained. They all nodded as he continued.
"And throughout times, killing is necessary. And we understand that what we do is a brutal business, but we never lose our humanity, or our faith. And our combat capabilities most of the time overlaps the Army." Marcus then nodded towards Kevin.
"And they're arguably the most functional of all the armed services. Since their code of ethics and other stuff really sets them apart from the others, like the Army." Kevin then looked over at Kayla.
"And our motto is 'Semper Fidelis', which is Latin for, 'Always Faithful'. We also have a special comradery to others, and to each other." Kayla then looked towards Jackson.
"A lot of people believe that us Marines are idealists to the core, who believe that we can make a difference in this world. Some of us are, all four of us included, but we live in such a tough world, that our idealism has to be cloaked in a shell." Jackson then looked to Thompson.
"And the professional warrior, like us, have a very strong emphasis on the code of ethics, which are Honor, Courage, and Commitment." Thompson then looked at Marcus.
"We are the United State's first line of defense." Marcus then looked over to Kevin.
"And their reputation has been well earned over the last two hundred and forty two years." Kevin said.
"Wow..." The girls and Shining said in pure awe. Then, Shining rose up a hoof.
"Wait.. two hundred and forty two years? We've been around longer!" Ironhoof exclaimed.
"Yes, as I said, they're oriented on combat, so they're reputation and legacy is the biggest and proudest of all of the other services." Kevin added, countering any cockiness. Shining nodded in understanding. He felt a bit insulted that his guards were being degraded, but by the sound and looks of it, it seemed that the Marines were telling the truth.
"Yeah. And me and my squad have two basic missions." Marcus added.
"What are they?" Rainbow asked.
"To make more Marines, and to win battles."
The girls' eyes widened in curiosity as they leaned in a bit more to hear Marcus easier.
"See, our main job is to win our nation's battles. We're warriors.... and it's what we do. The basic job of the Marine is to get their first, ready to fight, and willing to kill and/or die if necessary. We also pride ourselves on mission accomplishment. We'll pick up, move out, draw fire, shape the battlefield, and plant the flag." Marcus finished by tapping the United States flag on his helmet. The girls and Shining just sat there in awe as their minds processed what they just said in a small amount of time, and a silence took over the inside, aside from the rumbling of tires and the engine.
Then, the Stryker came to a halt, which made everyone lean somewhat forcefully to the right. Dempsey turned around and shouted. "Hey! We got a shit ton of guards blocking access to the courtyard, Shining! And they seem pretty freaked out! Can you go out there and tell them to let us through?"
Shining shook his head to regain his thinking as he nodded and climbed out of the Stryker. Dempsey looked through the slanted roof as he saw Shining talk to the line of guards. The guards looked at the Stryker, then back at Shining. they hesitantly moved out of the way as Shining used a hoof to motion the Stryker into the courtyard.
"Well, here we are again! And who's waiting for us in the middle of the courtyard!" Dempsey said as he moved the Stryker into the courtyard, and stopped right in front of the Little Bird. He then shut off the engines and electronic systems, but not before Kevin re-opened the back doors.
"Alright, let's get out of this thing!" Applejack said as she jumped off from the seat and getting out of her deep-thinking trance. The other girls and guards did the same, while the Marines followed.
"Hey! You're not gonna meet the pilots?" Marcus asked.
"Nah, we're gonna double check everything to make sure this baby's intact the next time we use it!" Dempsey shouted back.
"Alright then. Just call us if you need some more help, okay?" Marcus shouted back as his boots touched the ground. He then noticed that the guard ponies that were blocking the gate were staring at him and the Stryker quizzically. Marcus waved at them, but their eyes just got wider. He shrugged as he walked over to the pilots.
"Hey! What'd we miss?" Marcus asked.
Randy slung his Winchester rifle over his shoulder and shrugged. "Nothing much, but those guard ponies over there were showing off their spears and crossbows, calling our weapons weak and useless. And to top it all off, they set up a make shift target practice area behind us." Randy said, jabbing a thumb behind him. Marcus then noticed that the guards have set up a target practice area made up of wooden pony mannequins wearing gold and iron armor, and stuffed with hay.
"Oh really?" Marcus said, bringing up his Honey Badger."Let's change that... hey, Kayla!" Marcus shouted. Kayla put down her ghillie suit next to the Stryker and ran up to Marcus.
"What's up, Marcus?" She said.
"Can I borrow your Barrett for a second?"
Kayla looked at him confused. "Uh.. sure?" She then gave him her Barrett, while he gave her the Honey Badger back. "Can I ask why?..."
Marcus then pulled the spite back, chambering a .50 Caliber incendiary round. "Just tell the girls and the others to cover their ears."
Kayla looked at him like he was insane for a second, before returning back to the girls. As Kayla whispered, the girls and his squad shot him a worried and confused look, before doing what they were told. Marcus then turned around to tell Randy and Mike, but they were already doing so in advance as they moved towards the side.
The guards were about sixty feet away from the mannequins, shooting away arrow after arrow. Marcus then slowly brought up the Barrett to his shoulder as he crouched and aimed down the SASR (Special Applications Scoped Rifle) scope. He held the Barrett with an iron grip, but eased up slightly, since it was nicknamed the 'Light Fifty' for a reason.
Marcus then breathed in deeply until his arms shook, then breathed out, and pulled the trigger. The deafening sound that the Barrett produced pierced through the air as it whizzed by the two guards, and connected with one of the mannequins. The fifty caliber round tore through the gold plate, and created a huge burst of flame on direct impact, engulfing the entire structure for a split second, before it shrunk to the size of a small rock, but it was enough to make it spread. The round was so powerful, that it penetrated the castle wall behind it, and sent concrete dust all over.
Marcus grinned as the guards looked at him in utter shock and fear. Before he could stand up and massage his shoulder blade, he heard a 'twang!' sound as he turned around and saw an arrow streaking towards him.
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You know, these guards have to be the most undisciplined thing in the world. I swear, if they kill Marcus, just have everyone go on a killing spree. I don't tolerate jackasses.
Woah, looks like the glorified cops want a fight, alright lets go we'll win this little pissing match and still have time to forget which ways left and that we aren't god and we swear to drunk. But in all seriousness, you are a TEASE with that demonstration of the fifty at the. But I shall be patient and wait, also love how they described the Corps to Armor, now we just need to teach him you just don't fuck with Marines. Great chapter, love it also can we get the Stryker to paint that asshat that shot near Marcus, PLEASE
with fifty cals on top?
Lets see... if a guard attempts to kill one of the human marines, all hell's going to break loose. If that was an accidental shot, then hell's still going to go but perhaps for a short time. Although I bet that one of those arrows wouldn't really pierce their body armor anyways. But we will see how well this plays out!
5200922 I they would have class IV vests so it would stop a arrow when the class IV vests can stop a AP .308 round.
5201312
true, but I remember earlier on about how some of them got a different outfit on, such as the female sniper getting a camouflage suit. But more than likely regardless of the arrow, I have a good feeling hell's going to let loose due to that.
Marcus better not die again.
5200685 Marcus: And neither do I...
5200907 Glad you liked it! And the .50 Cal is just the beginning..
The Stryker will be involved. I'll leave it at that...
5201681 Marcus is wearing full kevlar gear, a 10" X 12" ceramic plate on his back and front. Enough to stop small caliber rounds and 7.62mm. His helmet is also composed of kevlar.
The top at least...
5201982 Well...
Ha! You thought! Sorry, just feeling odd today. next chapter will be out on Halloween.
5202266 Kevlar...
Think about it for a second...
5201982
5202307
"It appears I've been shot!, Ack!"
*falls down pretend dead with comical tongue hanging out drooling*
*squad doesn't buy it for a second"
"Marcus get your fat ass off the ground"
5203065
5202921
I have the urge to do something similar...
Meh.
Is it wrong i want the arrow to bounce off of his armor and then burst into flames?
5203321
I think that would actually be quite amusing, but sadly body armor doesn't have the enchantment of setting stuff on fire as it hits it. Wait, wrong game. But still, that would be quite amusing regardless if it did happen.
5203817 I meant the arrow bounces off of his armor bursts into flames on the ground.
Marcus, you are the biggest idiot for antagonizing the royal guards!