Old Flames and New Sparks

by GentlemanJ

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Lungs burned, but he didn’t stop. Legs ached, but he kept going. As fast as his thin, hardened body could carry him, Graves put as much distance between himself and his potential pursuers as he could. He doubted it’d be much – they were obviously well-trained and could undoubtedly keep up – but anything was better than nothing.

Rounding the crest of the second hill in the forest, Graves lightly scampered up a tree and made doubly sure to conceal himself in a dense weave of tree branches and leaves so that not even a winter-starved squirrel could find an acorn on his person. Then, and only then did he finally allow himself to breath a weary sigh of relief.

He probably needn’t have bothered.

“That’s some impressive legwork there, shorty,” a voice called from a suspiciously short distance away. “Rare to see a cadet who’s got that sort of spell-less speed.”

Spinning about with rifle raised, Graves locked piercing grey eyes on the source of the voice, which was to say, a very peculiar sight indeed. A man, not quite old enough to be considered no longer young, if the stubble on his face was any indication, sat lounging in the branch of a nearby tree. Neatly attired in a tailored waistcoat and broad, flat-brimmed hat, the stranger appeared dressed for a day on the town and yet was clearly anywhere but.

“Whoa, easy there,” the man answered with hands held up in peace. “I just wanted to talk, is all.”

Graves continued staring, eyes hard and finger but half a hair from pulling the trigger.

“Okay, keep it up if you want,” the man shrugged, “Just figured I’d mention that your cover’s too perfect to work. Might want to fix that."

The young soldier blinked. Too perfect? Was there such a thing?

Silently, Graves mentally reviewed the sniping hut he’d constructed. Woven of nearby branches and leafy clumps, it was a natural looking tangle of clumped up greenery that completely concealed him…

…

Oh, of course. It completely concealed him. Nature provided cover, but nothing would ever be quite good enough to prove such thorough camouflage, especially if it was designed to blend in as a natural mass. Fact was, by creating such a perfect shelter, Graves might as well have painted a target on his back and shouted out that nothing here was worth seeing.

Flicking eyes back to confirm his suspicious, Graves returned attentions to the man who’d so quickly spotted the flaw and–

–found that he’d vanished without a trace.

Graves blinked once more. He’d only turned around for a moment, fractions of a second at best. Nobody could disappear that quickly, or that quietly for that matter. Unless… maybe there hadn’t been anyone around to begin with? The man was strange enough that for a moment, the lad wondered if his psyche had finally cracked like all the other cadets whispered it would.

At the sudden flight of a bird off yonder, Graves put aside extraneous thoughts of mysterious strangers and psychotic breaks as he got to work on the task at hand. Tearing branches from his hut, the young soldier naturalized his too perfect cover. It would no longer conceal him completely, and portions of his drab green cadet’s tunic would pop out, but it’d be thinner at least. For now, he’d have to bank on the colors being less noticeable than the shape. It wasn’t a pleasant gamble, but they were the best odds he had to work with.

Reasonably satisfied with his work, Graves then got to work on the second task of charging up his spell gun. With unwavering eyes, the young soldier ignored the darting shocks of feedback as he forced mana into the rifle as quickly as possible. With cover that would hopefully last a little longer, he might now have the element of surprise back in hand. All he had to do was make sure he could take advantage of that surprise and launch a hard strike first.

With a long, slow breath, Graves breathed out and carefully partitioned his gathered stores into separate shots, none very powerful, but one strong enough to take down at least a single target. Bracing the rifle across the arm resting over his knee, Graves assumed his practiced firing stance and exhaled.

He waited. And waited. And waited until…

Underbrush rustled as something approached. Drawing a bead not on the target, but where he expected the target to be, gunmetal grey eyes glinted across the iron sight as his trigger finger tightened. The rustling grew louder and louder still, and…

Fire.

The instant that massive form appeared at the forefront of the trio, a blazing streak of crackling lightning roared across the scant fifty paces separating the parties and straight for the big man’s head. With the sound of roaring thunder, that massive steel barricade rose up to catch the blast full on as the two others quickly ducked behind in cover.

Just as Graves intended.

In the instant he’d fired his first shot, Graves had already adjusted and launched a second in such rapid succession that the thundering blast sounded one and the same. This one seared not for any head or vital organ, but instead for the big man’s foot.

With shield obscuring vision, the man had no time to react before the crackling bolt struck home and sent cascading lighting darting up his leg. He didn’t fall. Though only Luna knew how he could stand on a leg gone instantly numb, the fire-haired man somehow remained upright.

It didn’t matter, though, for the third shot was already on its way.

With the main bulwark immobilized, Graves threw himself from cover, drew a new angle’s bead, and fired. The others had ducked behind that impenetrable wall, but it was a wall that only guarded one side. From his new position, the lightning had an unimpeded path towards the blue-braided girl, just like before. This time, however, there’d be no shield left to save her.

But that’s where Graves was wrong.

It sprang from the ground, a solid spear of pristine, flawless ice that caught the lightning before it had chance to strike. In a shower of mist and freezing dust, the ice shattered while leaving those behind it completely safe from harm.

Graves was surprised, so surprised that he forgot to release the final charge for his spell chain, which is not a good thing to forget when you’re suddenly airborne a good forty feet in the air. Fortunately, this little oversight was quickly rectified as ice bloomed beneath him to form a long, steep slide. The young soldier suddenly found himself sweeping down a frozen shoot, slaloming off an ending ramp that sent him careening into… well, nothing actually. Though Graves flew through the air, he didn’t land when expected as whirlwind caught him and gently lowered him to the ground right before the waiting three.

Another icy luge appeared and from a distant treetop, the man from before descended, albeit with a far greater degree of grace and control than Graves had shown. After alighting on a similar whirlwind, he holstered the pair of ornate, if well-worn pistols onto his belt as he approached the grey-eyed soldier.

“Hey there,” he smiled as he reached out a hand. “You al–”

Words cut off with a surprised yelp as he ducked back and narrowly avoided a crushing blow from the young soldier’s spell gun. Graves knew he was outnumbered and outgunned, but that didn’t mean he was going down without a fight. Even as the rifle whistled past, a hooking heel kick was already following around, which in turn was succeeded by a ripping throat strike that too, just barely missed.

“Whoa, settle down there,” the man called out as he just managed to avoid an elbow to the solar plexus. “I just–”

Stomp to the knee.

“–want to–”

Kick to the groin.

“–ask if–”

Gouge to the eyes.

“–you wanted to–”

Suddenly, heaven and earth switched places as Graves found himself with a faceful of dirt, shoulder precariously torqued as the man now held him in a joint lock that threatened to separate arm from body with the slightest twitch.”

“Gah, jeez, kid,” the man called out as he slowly worked a now stiffening jaw. “All I wanted was–”

And just as suddenly, the pressure was gone. Looking up, Graves realized that the man was now tumbled several paces away as his previous spot now stood occupied by–

“Now where do you get off doing something like that?” Hot Streak snorted as he frowned and the man and stood… protectively over Graves? “I get that you’re in a pissy mood ‘cause he managed to deck you, but come on, he’s just a kid!”

“Wait, what?” the man blinked. “Listen, I’m not–”

“Yeah!” Nova firmly nodded as she leaped over to help Graves to his feet. “Only the biggest of big jerks goes around beating up little kids. I honestly expected better.”

“Now hold on a second,” the man called out as he stood and made to approach,” I was just–”

But before he’d proceeded two paces, the man suddenly found his way blocked by the whisper-silent Terra. Looking down at Graves with her soft, sleepy eyes, she extended a hand to pat his head and softly rustle his hair for a few moments of quiet consideration. Graves had no idea what was going on, but seemingly satisfied, the cannoneer turned around, and with eyes full of silent contempt, simply said,

“Mean.”

“And there you have it!” Hot Streak boomed in thundering joviality. “Don’t worry kid, if even Terra’s speaking up for you, then it’s–”

“Gah! Don’t jinx it!” Nova cried as she clamped a hand over his mouth. “Sis’s magic word powers don’t work if you make a big deal of it! You’ve got to–” Whatever she planned to say suddenly cut off with a yelp as Terra yanked a long, blue braid with a sternly severe look.

All the while, Graves just stared as he felt… well, it was honestly hard to say what he felt since he had no idea what was going on. The three people who’d attacked him were now defending him from the person who’d helped him before going right around to helping the other three? Why? It didn’t make any sense, and the fact that there’d hardly been a finished sentence since he’d landed certainly wasn’t helping. Add on the fact that Terra continued ruffling of his hair with a look of supreme satisfaction meant that circumstance bodily tossed logic out the window to leave Graves about as lost as a blind, congested mole.

Meanwhile, the man with the broad, flat-brimmed hat seemed to recover enough to put some coherence to the circumstances.

“Look, I wasn’t trying to hurt the kid, okay?” he began with calm, if clearly wearied patience. “I just wanted to get him settled enough so we could go over his assessment.”

“Evals?” Nova snorted. “What, you think you’re running some kinda game show here? Nerd.”

“I have no idea what you mean by that,” the man shrugged, “but since we’re looking at a possible recruit, we have to do the reviews.”

“Recruit?” Hot Streak blinked. “You mean that’s why we’re out here?”

“Of course,” the man gaped. “Didn’t you read the briefing?”

“I never read the briefings!” Considering how proudly he declared that last one, the stranger’s weary sigh seem more than warranted.

“Okay, since it seems like nobody has any idea what’s going on,” the stubbled man continued after liberal massaging of aching temples, “I figure I’ll start at the very, very top.”

Raising a hand to show no ill will – whether for his own sake or for the suddenly protective trio, Graves couldn’t be sure – the man in the broad, flat-brimmed hat reached into his waistcoat and pulled out a silver badge. Emblazoned with that familiar, winged shield, gunmetal grey eyes grew truly wide as he spotted the small, golden star shining from the very center.

“The name’s Captain Polaris, and I’ve been commissioned by General Ironside to assemble a special marshal squad. You, Cadet Graves, were recommended as a candidate.” Stepping forward, the now named captain handed the badge overs so that Graves could give it a closer inspection. He needn’t have bothered. Even those ever suspicious grey eyes could see it was the real deal.

“Oh, so you’re saying he’s gonna be our fifth man, is that it?” Hot Streak boomed in understanding.

“If he qualifies, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” Polaris nodded before his voice dropped to a quietly frustrated murmur. “Of course, if you’d bother reading the reports, you’d know that by now.”

“Yeah, yeah, memos are serious business,” Nova called with rapidly waving hands. “Now let’s hurry up and get to the good stuff. How’d the little kitty do?”

“Pretty good. Very good in fact,” Polaris nodded. “We need a sniper, and a lightning mage with that uncanny marksmanship would certainly fit the bill. Good close range combat means he can take care of himself and his ability to process information and adapt tactics on the fly makes him well suited for independent operations. And besides,” he smiled, “he’s definitely a fighter, no doubt about that.”

“So he’s in?” Hot Streak grinned. “I gotta say, anyone who can land a shot on me has got my vote, enchantments or no.”

Graves stared. Was the aura mage actually saying that he hadn’t even used any magic?!

“Mine too!” Nova beamed. “We got enough old farts around here that a little young blood would spice things up a bit, ain’t that right, sister dear?”

From where she now leaned on the young soldier’s head, Terra gave the silent thumbs up. The captain nodded.

“And I’d agree with all of you, except for one small, or should I say, really big problem. I think you all know what I mean.”

Like the sun hiding behind a bank of clouds, all smiles vanished. Straightening his hat, Polaris approached Graves and looked him in the eyes. It was only then that Graves noticed they were two different colors, one a somber green and the other a solemn blue.

“I’ll be straight with you kid,” Polaris said, his voice low and calm, but as unyielding as a stone fortress. “You did good, better than anyone could’ve expected of you given the circumstances. But that doesn’t change the fact that you had your orders and you didn’t follow through.”

Graves said nothing. Get to the clearing. Wait for further instructions. Though nobody could have expected him to hold his ground against three opponents of such caliber, the fact remained that he hadn’t done as he’d been told. He might have tried protesting. Others probably would have. But when Graves looked up and saw the conviction in those bicolored eyes, protesting suddenly seemed like a very bad idea.

Only when he was certain of the young one’s silence did Polaris continue.

“You want to join the marshals. That’s great. Go for broke, be the best, have a dream and all that jazz,” he man continued. “But I’ll tell you something, kid. We marshals? We can’t fail. If others fail, they fix it. Maybe they get some extra help, maybe you burn the midnight oil, but more often than not, there’s a safety net to make sure it works out. Marshals? We get one shot because we are that net. We get the jobs where failure is no longer an option. You understand?”

The weight seemed to grow even more as Graves struggled to remain standing, to keep breathing.

“So here’s your choice, kid. You wanna walk away, nobody’s gonna blame you. This life ain’t for everyone, and I sometimes think it ain’t even for those who take it. But if you’re dumb enough to sign up under the winged shield, then know that today is the last day you’re ever allowed to fail. From now until your final rest, victory is your only option. If you want to be a marshal, then success is all you’ve got. Is that really what you want?”

Graves looked to Hot Streak, then Nova, then Terra, and back to Polaris. The weight was crushing, so heavy that it felt as if a single grain of sand could break him. Even the touch of a single hair would probably be enough to crush him where he stood. But he hadn’t broken yet, and so, with grey eyes strained but still trained like the barrel of his gun, Graves said,

“Yes.”

The three exploded. Nova laughed, Hot Streak roared, and Terra actually broke out into a visible smile. Then with eyes shining the color of summer sky and wintergreen, Polaris pulled out a new silver badge and pinned it to the young marshal’s chest.

“It’s a hard road you’ve chose, Graves,” the captain smiled as he placed a warm hand to the boy’s shoulder, “but you won’t have to walk it alone. Welcome to the Twenty Sixth.”

**********

Comments

[djthomp]

I love how quickly the three of them switched to defending Graves.

Looks like we have a five person squad counting Graves, have we ever received a count for how many comrades he lost to that one particular mission? I'm guessing yes, just can't remember it offhand.

[Jake The Army Guy]

Why is Graves swearing to Luna? If this is a flashback, shouldn't she still be on the Moon, thus a myth?

[Kokonoa]

Knowing whats ahead makes all this the more touching and heart-wrenching. :C

[Arexander]

Well that was intense! Thanks for a good read once again, J!

[heirofaniu]

5219511 The official count is four.

5219518 I know I'm gonna catch flak for this. Jesus existed 2014 years ago, and we still swear by him.

[Lucky424]

Might want to fix that.

No quotation mark on the end. Might want to fix that.

Oooh, so that's what was going on! It was his entrance assessment! Kinda makes sense now.

5219511 I think it was mentioned back with the medals, that there were only 5 of them given out, with four (I think) in the display cabinet.

[djthomp]

5219583 That's not really a good comparison. Jesus has been a central figure in western civilization and its religions for pretty much that entire span of time. Luna on the other hand was so unknown that Twilight of all ponies didn't even know her mentor had a sister (and neither did Dash or Fluttershy going by their reactions back in episode two). It seems pretty unlikely that a random kid like Graves would know about Luna before Nightmare Moon's return unless this AU has a substantially different history that canon Equestria.

Anyway, thanks for the reminder about the medal count.

[King Kenya]

Captain Polaris? Hmmm... That's a point actually, what is Graves's actual rank as of the modern era? He's certainly not a cadet, but I can't really see him being a private, or an officer. Where does he fit into the military hierarchy?

[Coolbauch]

“But I’ll tell you something, kid. We marshals? We can’t fail. If others fail, they fix it. Maybe they get some extra help, maybe you burn the midnight oil, but more often than not, there’s a safety net to make sure it works out. Marshals? We get one shot because we are that net. We get the jobs where failure is no longer an option. You understand?”

Figures that a man of so few words would go and plagiarize someone else's speech.

Now I want to read more Tales of the Twenty Sixth.

[Icarus Crimsonhoof]

Weeeee marshal graves in the house.

[Booster Spice]

If this is the crew that got taken out by that eldar dragon, then that dragon just got hellishly more devastating.

[Captain Pudge Muffin]

Wait a second. Wait a fucking second.

Tri barrelled mini gun? Rocket launcher strapped across her back? Two long ass blue ponytails? No sense of restraint? Is that a reference to Jinx from League of Legends? Are Terra and Nova just Jinx split into two people?

And...is Hot Streak a reference to Braum?!

And Polaris is Twisted Fate?!

AND GRAVES IS GRAVES?!

A FIVE MAN TEAM?! Has this whole story been a League of Legends pitch?!

My mind is blowing up man. I can't handle right now. This is too much for my brain at 3 am.

I love your story regardless though. :3