Marcus 657

by John 117

Chapter 5- Dreams

Marcus had been walking in the forest for hours now, and was admittedly getting tired. His muscles and joints were sore with not only that day’s events, but also the fatigue and stress from the prior days of battle. He was bone tired and needed to rest. Once the sun had lowered itself to where only a dim light could be seen over the horizon, did Marcus find a suitable place to camp for the night. It was a grove of trees which formed into something like a bit of semicircle. The trees were tall and featured foliage thick enough so that no one could spot him from the sky without enhanced detection capabilities. More importantly, he was deep enough inside the forest to make it very unlikely that he would simply be stumbled upon by accident.

There wouldn’t be a fire tonight, or on any other night for that matter. Such things were extremely easy to detect and drew unnecessary attention. There was no point in taking the effort to make one. The MJOLNIR armor provided climate control and a flashlight, so he didn’t even need it for warmth or light. Another thing that people often forgot about was the risk of starting a forest fire. He hadn’t seen any dangerous or large animals thus far. He had proven himself time and again in close combat against the deadliest foes in the galaxy; nothing here could hurt him.

He set about clearing the ground he was about to occupy. He swept aside little bits of gravel and twigs, trying to make it as sanitary as possible. It wasn’t for his comfort so much as it was to provide a better surface for performing maintenance on his weapons and to make it easier for him to hide traces of his form when morning broke. Once the ground was clear enough, he went hunting for a rock. Marcus needed a somewhat large, relatively smooth and flat one to act as a work surface for cleaning his weapons. It took approximately half an hour, but he found one in the end. The powered armor made it a breeze to lift and carry the thing. He took care to remember where he had found it so it could be returned later, as if it had never been disturbed.

Marcus sat down and placed the stone in his lap. Marcus unslung his rifle from his back, placing it next to him. He examined it, looking it over for any small fractures or dents. There were none, although the rough treatment of weapons in combat was leaving small little scars and pockmarks. None of it was mechanically meaningful. As any smart soldier did when they had time, he decided to give his rifle a thorough detail strip and cleaning. He took the weapon apart, removing the dust cover before separating the rifle into its three major components: the rifle, the cover, and the bolt. The weapon had been designed with simplicity and strength in mind; no further disassembly was technically required. Thank you, Mikhail Kalashnikov, thought Marcus.

He removed the cleaning kit from its storage place in the buttstock. Marcus was one of the lucky guys who had a full kit with them, although this was due to the fact that he was likely the first guy to use this particular rifle than anything else. Troops had the remarkable ability to jumble up their cleaning kits; finding a regulation one in a deployed combat unit was like looking for a virgin in a whorehouse. He also drew out the ramrod from its place under the barrel. The Spartan gripped the weapon between his thighs, muzzle facing the heavens, before he began to clean.

Marcus took the patch and applied a small amount of solvent to it. He then placed it in the muzzle before using the ramrod to gently, slowly, push it down the bore. When he reached the chamber, Marcus used one hand to pull back on the charging handle so as to avoid putting unnecessary stress on delicate instruments. Inch by inch, the weapon was removed of dirt. While this would have been good enough for a simple quick fix, Marcus wanted to do more than just simply clean out the bore. He then gave the bolt, recoil spring, and even part of the gas system, a rubdown.

Next, Marcus repeated to process, but did it with a dry patch. While it didn’t really hurt anything to leave cleaning solution on it, it was a suboptimal way of preparing a weapon for long term survival. It really was no different than having a Hornet maintained before sending out to the frontlines, or visiting a physician prior to being sent on an operation. Lastly, Marcus took a small plug of dry lubricant and gave his assault rifle a generous rubbing. Lubrication, particularly dry lubrication, prevented dirt from sticking to the moving parts of a weapon and causing it to malfunction in a really bad way. The coating Marcus was now giving it would last for ten thousand rounds on fully automatic, and even longer if he were extremely sparing and judicious with his fire.

It did not take Marcus long to finish. A brief time later, he reassembled the weapon. Thanks to its Kalashnikov-inspired, simple design, this only took a few seconds. The only difficult part was getting the dust cover to go back on. This was easier on old rifles which had been broken in and loosened up somewhat, but was difficult on new rifles like his. It required a certain finesse to get it right. After a few minutes of fumbling around by the glow of is flashlight, Marcus finally got the dust cover to pop into place with a pleasing snap.

There was nothing to do now besides wait for morning. Marcus lay down on his front to conceal the glint of his reflective amber visor, blocking it with his left arm just to be safe. He kept his assault rifle by his side, armored right hand curling lovingly around the neck of the weapon. With almost practiced ease, He entered the land of dreams.

Bodies were littered everywhere. Screams came loud and piercing. Marcus could hear large explosions all around him. The smell of burning flesh and death over took his mind. He looked closer. The blank stares of the dead looking back at him. Oh God, why? Why did they have to stare at him? Behind him, Marcus heard footsteps. Before he could react, a sudden pain shot through his guts. He looked down at his abdomen. Piercing through him was an Elite’s energy sword!

Marcus woke up, hyperventilating. His forehead was drenched in sweat. He had been asleep for a few hours it seemed, for it was now fully dark and the moon was at its peak. His hand was shaking uncontrollably, so he clutched at his rifle to steady it. That worked somewhat. He clasped his other hand around it to gain a better semblance of calm. Why does this happen to me every night? Marcus thought to himself. For the rest of the night Marcus did not sleep, dreading what else his mind would force him to relive in his dreams.
________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight Sparkle was sitting in the living room of Fluttershy's house. Spike was on her right, with Fluttershy occupying a small chair to her left. The pegasus looked pale. Across from them were the princesses. The unicorn had just finished telling her story and Princess Celestia did not look at all pleased by what she had heard. Twilight had told her everything she could remember; the spell, the bright light, the creature itself, and above all else, how it had likely gotten away during the night. She could tell the princess was upset over that part the most, although whether it was at her or over what happened was unclear. That worried Twilight greatly. What’s the Princess so scared about anyway? It seemed harmless. Finally Princess Celestia broke the silence.

Her voice was a rigid monotone, lacking even its typical warm edge. "We must go out looking for it. If it is here, then there might be others as well. It can help us find and capture them. Twilight, I wish you to stay here. Princess Luna and I will search for the creature ourselves." Twilight sat there in shock. This was her discovery and partially her fault. She should be responsible for getting the creature back. Didn’t Celestia trust her implicitly? Was this some sort of punishment for her failure to keep it properly quarantined? She knew not.

"But Princess, this is all my fault, shouldn't I be the one to find it and bring it back? It seemed harmless," she said to her mentor and sovereigns.

Celestia’s voice regained some of its warmth "No, Twilight, you shouldn't. This being is beyond you or any of your friends." At that, Celestia looked at Fluttershy. There was a brittleness to the white alicorn’s demeanor. Twilight looked at the princess, knowing there was something else she wasn't telling her.

"Excuse me for being rude your highness, but is there something else I must know? There has to be something more." Twilight looked intently at the princess, fidgeting nervously with her hooves. Celestia sighed, knowing she could not hide it from her student any longer.

"Twilight, how much do you know about....humans?" she asked her. Twilight looked at her with some confusion. It seemed to take a few seconds for the unicorn’s brain to properly engage.

"Well, not much is known about them. Some say they are real, while others say that they were just fictional creatures. But what is mainly said about them is that they possessed great power, and that they were very destructive. They waged wars all the time, becoming masters of bloodshed and devastation. That’s what the legends claim. Other than that nothing, why? You don't think that it’s....? No..it can't be.." Twilight trailed off. She remembered something else from her reading about the beings. They were a sign of immanent, bloody doom.

Luna interjected, “You should know that the appearance of humans is a sign of fell fortune. You are aware of this, are you not?” Twilight nodded.

Celestia seemed pleased that her student had bothered to learn her folklore, despite it not having been a part of the curriculum. "Yes, I do believe, that from what you described to me, this thing is a human." The pupils of every mortal pony dilated. Fluttershy hugged a cushion to her chest.

"We have to find it, Twilight Sparkle, and quickly." Luna nodded in agreement. As Celestia and Luna began to leave, a certain rainbow-mained pegasus burst through the door.

After only a momentary delay to get her bearings, Rainbow Dash blurted out, "Twilight, Princesses- everypony! There's something I gotta tell you! There's something here, in the Everfree. I just saw it and came as quickly as I could," She lay on the floor to catch her breath. Admittedly, she had only come to Fluttershy’s cottage because she meant to ask about what she had seen. So much for being cool about it.

Luna, with a look of both worry and hope, asked the pegasus what she saw. “Please, Rainbow Dash, reveal everything to us.”

"The thing was huge; taller than you, Princess. It was wearing some kind of armor too, although it was trying real hard to be sneaky. It was searching through this weird, metallic rubble as if it were looking for something. Whatever it was after it found it. It went back into the Everfree Forest once it was done with its search. I'm telling you guys, I've never seen anything like it!" Twilight remembered the wreckage, but didn't understand why it would go back. There was nothing there for it. Twilight looked at Princess Celestia. Even more telling was the absolute lack of bravado or boastful asides in Rainbow’s story.

"Rainbow Dash, show us were you saw this creature. Twilight, I might need you after all. The same goes for you as well, Fluttershy," the white Princess commanded. Fluttershy squealed in fright, hiding behind Twilight and covering her face with her mane.

Comments

[John 117]

1816113, Continue, I'm happy to hear them.

[006spykiller]

Soooo many typos they stair? Yeah I laughed at that Good story so far

[Lunar 457]

I really fucking hate celestia you want to now why go to broken harmony

[kalash93]

Review for Chapter 5

Go home, narrative, you are drunk.

The Marcus part was damn good. I really wish that you stretched it out longer. I am seeing that the rest of the story is starting to see much better pacing and more thoughtful story development. Even though this chapter is far too short for even one protagonist, it is still much better than your last one. Nice job on finally doing some characterization work on Marcus. I guess you're including Rainbow Dash as a viewpoint character because she will likely end up being instrumental in his capture. You lowered the tension here, which is extremely welcome, considering the fact that I've been trying to properly find some room to finally take a break from the nonstop tension. Keep on improving! I give you 3/5 flutteryays.

[Lunar 457]

Clap clap clap

[Dr Nafario]

i like it mostly cause im a huge halo fan

[Hex217]

My little pony Assumptions are magic.

[damnaion]

6# Ooooo

[The Crimson Reaper]

2794326 My little Racist, Idiocy is magic...

[Pennemite]

My Little Misanthrope, hating Humans in Magic

[Whiskeylullaby]

the Ma5 series of assault rifles are bullpup weapons. i fact, the FN 2000 might make you do a double take http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_F2000.
it almost seems like the bastard child of the battle rifle and the ma5b. except, both of those use 7.62 mm and the fn 2000 uses 5.56 nato.