Katorga-12, an island like no other. Once a stepping stone for technological development, now an abandoned wasteland. Once a sanctuary untainted by the war which plagued the world. Now a death-trap for all who wish to uncover secrets that are best left buried. What nightmares lie within the abandoned buildings, what horrors hide in the shadows of the former Utopia?
//----------------------------- // Story: SINGULARITY Equestria // Chapter one : Power corrupts // Author: Azzazel //-----------------------------
Authors notes: Alright another story, another crossover, I hope you like it, if you enjoy crossovers I have another one in the works involving Prototype. Enjoy your read. __________________________________________________________________
Chapter one.
On the island of Katorga-12, in the ruined facility where the E-99 core lies. Captain Nathaniel Renko, current possessor of the most powerful device created, finds Victor Barisov at gun point by the most wanted man on the planet. Renko disarms Demichev and is left with a choice : to either right what's wrong by killing Demichev and going back in time to prevent his rescue, but ending his own life, or killing Barisov and rule the world along side Demichev. Renko kills Demichev and fixes the past, he wakes up in the helicopter with no memories of what had happened. The helicopter turned tail and went on its way home, between cliffs laying half sunk in the ocean, was a statued of a scientist with a strange device on his hand and a pair of glasses.
After fixing his mistake of saving Demichev, the past took a different turn, Barisov had decided to keep the TMD for himself to research and upgrade it to become the ultimate tool. But after a while with prolonged exposure to the E-99 element has driven Barisov insane. Drunk with power and having finished with the beneficial aspects of the TMD, Barisov is on the hunt for the last part for the device. The TMD Amplifier, the last step for creating the ultimate weapon. A mere shadow of his former self, he still haunts the piece, the TMD trapping his body in time and thus stopping the aging process, giving him the time he needs, and soon he will find it.
One hour after deciding the mission was a dud, Renko is on his way home. Unknown to them that a second helicopter, carrying a specialized team of soldiers had landed on a different side of the island. The American government had sent the team to assist captain Renko from the shadows, however they would die the moment they would touch down on the island. But since the past had been altered they were met with no resistance. They did not know however that Renko had never even landed and that the mission was aborted.
Moments after landing. The team formed of six males and one female, got out of the copter with their respective gear and looked around. The pilot yelled from the cockpit.
'' Alright, you head out and see what all this shit is about.'' The pilot received a hand motion from the commander and took to the air.
''So what is this about anyway, it's not like any other gig the higher ups gave us?'' The female asked in an annoyed tone.
''Its a simple recon mission Scarlet. We go in, find information if there is any and we go back, easy as that.'' The commander responded in his usual passive voice.
Jonathan Green current commander of team Alpha had been assigned with the mission of locating important intel on the unmapped island. The mission was simple, get in, find important information and get out. He had been sent on missions blind before so this wasn't new. He stood at 6.3 feet, with short black hair that had a small natural shine to it, his golden brown eyes taking in his surrounding. To show his rank he wore a special, black kevlar uniform, neither member was wearing any kind of head gear, except for the new guy. He gave his team a once-over before speaking.
''Alright, we're going to have to split up, cover more ground.'' He looked at the rookie and his top sniper. '' Damian, you are going with the rookie and Scarlet to that tower north-west from here. It might hold vital information, Rookie here can deal with cracking any locks or tech the soviets left behind. Damian will provide cover if there are any hostiles, and Scarlet you're the expert in light powered weaponry and close corner combat so your presence is necessary in case you encounter anything in close quarters.'' He explained before she could argue, the rookie saluted and Damian just nodded brushing some of his long hair from his eyes.
''Roland you're the heavy weapons expert I want you to mow down any hostiles in the area. You're going with Harper and Crow to the military facility north-east of here. Harper your explosive skills will help with any armored obstacle you might meet. Crow, I'm counting on you to take care of any injuries they might sustain.'' Roland and Harper nodded but Crow raised an eyebrow.
''So, you're planing on going out alone, again ? This is not exactly smart John.'' The field medic said with a sigh.
'' When we're out on the field it's commander Green, smart or not you got your orders. Now head out!'' Crow sighed again but agreed, his friend knew best after all. They each went their separate ways, John with M16 in hand, knife and pistol on his belt chose to head to the medical facility up north.
The sweep they did before landing provided decent enough knowledge about their surroundings. They each went their separate ways, the scenery was post-apocalyptic, human shaped skeletons were sprawled along the streets, though few and far between it was still a gruesome sight. The dull gray light of a crumbling city, set a pretty unnerving atmosphere, even for a team of that caliber. John made his way through the abandoned streets and towards the hospital. From the alleys it felt like he was being watched. As he reached the entrance he saw a small pile of bodies, upon further inspection they were skinny, pink and warty. The best way to describe them would be mutants, thin and very deformed, there was only one half of the body that lay on top, and the smell was the worst thing the commander ever encountered. He backed away slightly and pulled his radio.
'' Team Alpha can you hear me ?'' He awaited response. ''I repeat can you hear me?'' A few moments later there was a collective response from his team. Scarlet was the first to ask what happened,
''We have a situation, I came across a pile of rotting deformed bodies, they look heavily mutated.''
''So, we see bodies all the time, I mean hell I've had my stack of kills and I'm pretty proud.'' Harper replied in an annoying tone.
''Think for a moment Sherlock, this place was abandoned over four decades ago.'' Crow responded for everyone to hear. Harper just made a confused face, and the doctor sighed '' Harper a body decays rapidly and by now other than clean bones we shouldn't see anything else. We were briefed that this island was uninhabited, and we came across skeletons on the way here meaning remnants of the past. So why haven't these bodies decayed yet? Only one answer... We're not alone.'' There was a collective pause, but before anyone could respond there was a scream from the commander and a few fired shots. There was silence a few minutes before a reply.
''A warning for all of you, even if it looks dead put a bullet between the eyes just to be sure.'' A sigh of relief came from all the lines. '' Don't get greedy with these freaks, stay on your toes, and don't underestimate them, I was just attacked by a torso.'' The commander ordered, he was scared of course, but he was used to staring death in the face, just that this time death was a lot uglier. Apparently his team reached their destinations with no resistance, he then proceeded inside the abandoned building, his goal was to find medical reports or anything that might hold a clue to what had happened there. He decided to go from top to bottom.
On the second floor were a bunch of hospital rooms, all of them showing the unkindness of time as the walls had pealed paint, most windows broken, and skeletons in most of the rooms. Despite the scenery he searched with a stern determination in each room, most of the time not finding anything of interest. But in some storage rooms he found small rectangular objects that looked like futuristic batteries, which had a glowing red vials connected to each-other. He voiced his findings trough the radio and it seemed Crow has also stumbled upon some. He told him that they definitely held a high amount of energy, since he used one to power an old generator, and should hold on to them as they could prove highly useful in time. That and the government would pay top dollar for such finds.
After searching through all but one room at the top floor. And a nasty encounter with a closet mutant, Green now had five 'energy cells' as Crow suggested they call them and still zero information as to what happened. Time seems to have destroyed all evidence, yet there was still one room before he would head down. His backpack now holding five cells, one army medkit, 2 clips worth of 9mm ammo and 4 clips for his silenced m16. With a sigh he headed towards the last door, it was locked. With the weapon in hand he shot two bullets at the latch and kicked the door open ready to shoot down any abominations in his way. It was a simple office old and crumbling, but it might hold useful information.
Green proceeded to search through the drawers and pulled out anything in good enough condition to read. It was Russian but he could read it just as well, there was one in particular that was locked, which was quickly opened by a well placed 9mm shot. Inside were a few intact notes, another of those energy cells and 24 bullets that looked like they would fit a revolver. He packed the cell and the bullets and set about to read the papers. Most of it was useless, except for a few entries that spoke of a strange element called E-99 which could be used for multiple purposes. It was fascinating and just the kind of information they were on the look out for. He radioed his team for what to keep an eye out and packed everything E-99 related in his backpack before proceeding on the lower level.
After searching the whole lower level the commander had found 12 revolver bullets, and 2 mags for an assault rifle inside a locker, but without the actual rifle they were worthless since they weren't compatible with his M16. Information wise he found nothing new, just a few reports, and a weird schematic on the chalkboard. What did unnerve him was the fact that he found ammunition in a place of healing. Aside from that he had found 2 more of the energy cells and had one more place to check before leaving. The security room, while he walked towards his destination he pondered if he should try and take some of the medicine the soviets left behind. But reason quickly told him that old medicine is only good for poison. He reached the door, and it was locked, they just couldn't make this easy could they ? He pointed his M16 once more and shoot two bullets, and just like before he kicked the door open with his weapon ready. All the search was tiring, not physically but mentally, it didn't mean he was letting his guard down though.
He entered the room, it was hardly different form from the others. Same brown walls with pealing paint, same aging pattern on miscellaneous objects all caked with a fine layer of dust. Again he turned the room upside-down finding 2 more energy cells, another 12 revolver rounds and some important E-99 related documents. From what he could gather, they explained that they were working on a device that used E-99 and could be highly beneficial. Again he stored the objects in his backpack and proceeded to exit the room, when something caught his eye. A part of the wall was sticking out, like it was recently cleaned. He felt around the wall and found a cleverly hidden switch. He pushed the switch and the wall started to slide, revealing a small elevator fit for only two people. He voiced his findings over the radio.
''Interesting, head inside to investigate but proceed with caution. Me, Harper and Roland encountered some mutants but Roland made short work of them, aside from that we haven't found anything of use except for some ordinance that is surprisingly just as advanced as what we have if not more advanced. Beyond that I came across a few documents mentioning an E-99 bomb. Apparently they found a way to use this element in creating a bomb as big as a backpack but potent enough to blow up this entire island.'' Crow explained over the radio.
'' We need to dig deeper, you three continue searching for anything that might aid us, I will go in and see what I can uncover.'' He stepped into the elevator which only had two buttons, he pressed the lower one and nothing happened. ''Damn thing isn't working, but it was surely used recently. Hold on a sec.'' He turned his attention to an open panel which looked like it missed a piece. ''Crow, how did you say you started that generator? It seems this elevator had a piece removed...'' He said trough the radio.
''Harper here, figured one of those energy cells fit into a rectangular compartment, much like a battery, although it took three of those things to get it working. And this generator is big, just smaller than the helicopter we arrived in.'' He explained.
Surely enough there was a rectangular shaped box in which an energy cell would fit perfectly. He took one out of his backpack, connected it, pushed the button and sure enough the elevator started descending.
''Good job Harper, the elevator is moving. Scarlet, Rookie, Damian how are things up there?'' He was met with static. ''I repeat how are things up there?'' He met static once more, someone answered but didn't say a word. ''God damn it, are you there?'' He ask frustrated, finally there came a voice.
''Yes.'' Only one word was spoken, in a calm collected voice.
''Shit Damian, give me a heart attack will you? Good to hear your voice, why isn't Scarlet or Rookie responding?'' He asked with a sigh of relief while the elevator descended.
''Rookie is working, Scarlet is dead.'' He said in a flat tone, everything fell silent for a while.
''Damian, I want you to repeat and confirm what you said.'' The commander said in a calm voice.
''Scarlet is dead, suicide with nato grenade to save our lives. Encountered mutants on the way.'' He explained.
''Bullshit. I know Scarlet. She took twenty soviets by herself with a pocket knife, there's no way in hell she could have been killed by those freaks.'' Harper yelled through the radio.
'' Calm down Harper. Damian explain.'' The commander continued.
''These were different kind of mutants, they seemed to have the ability to become invisible but their glowing eyes remained present. It wasn't just camouflage the bullets simply went trough them, their bodies turned incorporeal at command but were on a time limit, one of them got my leg pretty good, it's fine now but that isn't important. We were almost to safety but she got ambushed and she used the last resort. She took out the remaining bastards but the shrapnel busted my rifle.'' He took a pause.
'' Rookie took it hard so I gave him some work to do, he is currently cracking too machines that are still functioning, they were labeled, weapon locker and augmentor. We also found a metal case with a glowing blue emblem in the middle. He is using it to crack the locker. '' He finished with a sigh.
'' How are you taking it ?'' Green asked as the elevator came to a halt and lead to a bunker of some sorts.
''I'm angry and I want to kill something. I looked around and apparently this place was already set up as a sniper nest. I found a sniper rifle in a closet, and the weapon locker recognizes it as a Kasimov SNV-99 Sniper Rifle, and after rookie started working I took out my anger on some roaming mutants. I found that this, is no ordinary rifle, I came across a button while aiming and apparently it gives the super-human effect on command for approximately twenty seconds.'' He finished.
Harper was the first to respond.'' What the hell is the super-human effect?''
''It's that moment, when you're in the heat of battle, you pull out your weapon and world starts slowing down, your senses sharpen and you're capable of amazing accuracy. It's quite obvious from the name, that this weapon was made with E-99 related technology. We need to find out what is going on and get the hell out of here, this place has claimed one of our own and I do not wish for this to happen again.'' Crow said, sadness and regret were present in his voice. They were used to death, dangerous missions, but they were the elite, never experiencing death on their own team even when on missions which were deemed suicidal.
'' Rookie has finished his work with the locker. I'll keep you posted.'' Though pained by their loss, they still had a mission at hand at continued working. Green always sent them out in groups for a higher chance of survival, he valued their lives more than his own. He stepped out of the elevator and took in his surroundings.
A staircase caught his eyes, it meant this place was pretty spacious, his attention turned to the old double bed in the far right corner of the room, he decided to start from there. He looked under the bed, around it and under the mattress in case there was anything hidden. There was nothing, except for the small office table with several drawers, which held nothing of importance. However one of them was locked, needless to say the commander was not in the mood, he reached for his pistol and fired. The pistol jammed, Green groaned and inspected his weapon, it was useless now, something completely messed up the firing mechanism and he was in no mood to try and repair it. He discarded his pistol along with the ammunition clips for it. They were just dead weight, his knife wouldn't be of much use so he turned to his m16.
A well placed shot later and the drawer was opened, to his surprised he found pistol of sorts. He examined it a bit, getting the feel of it, this would do wonderful in replacing his 9mm, he checked the mag and it was fully loaded and the best thing was, it used the kind of ammunition he found in the hospital. Aside from that he also found a sealed letter, but decided to read it after looking around some more. After a number of dead ends he went up the stairs and to his left noticed a laboratory of sorts. Complete with a work table, a worn chair, two chalkboards which depicted a strange device meant to be attached on the arm. And a drawer, he groaned and took a seat plopping his backpack on the floor his M16 on the table, and his new found weapon in a holster.
Now was a good time to check the letter. He voiced over the radio for his team to listen in as it might hold important information. Rookie was also listening but kept working. The letter was written in English with excellent calligraphy, someone went to a lot of effort into writing this.
'Hello and welcome to my bunker. My name is Victor Barisov and I am assuming you are an american soldier sent on this island to search for important information. Most of it has been destroyed but since you found this place I am assuming you already know a bit about the E-99 element. This letter will provide all the information you need, and I have one request after you finished. I was one of the top scientists that worked on this island, which is the only known location in the world that posses E-99. Before I continue I would like you to head upstairs and on your left should be a laboratory with two chalkboards. You will notice the schematic of a tool, a very powerful tool that also dubs as a weapon. But first thing is first E-99... '
Barisov explained in the letter what they used E-99 for, how the TMD came to be, the powers it held Green continued reading out-loud. 'Inside the workshop lies a journal, which you can use to find my location. At the end of the hall-way is a door locked by a cypher : 20 right, 7 left, 9 right. It holds a AR9 Valkyrie Assault Rifle, ammo boxes, a weapon locker and an augmentor. You can use the augmentor to see what upgrades have been made for the TMD and what you should expect. This is where my request comes in, I have been constantly exposed to a very large amount of E-99 energy, and combined with the possession of the TMD, slowly drove me insane. My first intention was to make the TMD a tool to make lives easier, to help and heal. But now I am trying to turn it into a weapon of mass destruction, and if I'm not stopped soon, I might succeed.'
Green stopped to catch his breath and continued reading. ' My request to you is : kill me. The monster I became is merely a shadow of my former self. You will have to separate the TMD from my arm, without damaging it, for it may cause a very volatile reaction. And destroy this god forsaken island. An easy task if you can get to the middle of the island, inside the factory lies the E-99 core, and in the reinforced room in the same chamber, a fully charged E-99 bomb, it also has a remote detonator so you can detonate at a safe distance, the code is : 12.7.1955. I am not asking you to destroy the TMD, you can keep it, I'm only asking you to put an end to this nightmare. The only thing that is keeping me on the island is the last part I need for the TMD. The TMD AMPLIFIER, until that last part is added, the TMD is still limited. After it is added however the TMD no longer uses E-99 energy, all the powers it holds can be used indefinitely, as the name suggests it also amplifies them, to make matters worst it is no longer bound to work only on objects that were exposed to E-99 or living beings. Inside this envelope there is another page containing information about the powers the TMD uses, again if you wish to kill me you will need to know what to expect. '
Sure enough there was another page inside the envelope which listed the powers and important details about them. Aging and reverse-aging. Chronolight :The chronolight allows the user to pull objects that are out of phase back into this dimension. Gravity Manipulation, it forms a link between the TMD and the object canceling its gravity and allows manipulation no matter the weight, along with the amplifier its radius grows to a large train cart, if not bigger. Deadlock : Creates a blue sphere that slows objects within its range. Lasts three minutes. Highly dangerous, With the amplifier it stops time itself inside the sphere which can last approximately three hours if not more. Range would be around twenty-five meters.
The Impulse, a wave of energy is sent from the device with lethal effects if within radius, a knock-back effect occurs if the blast doesn't prove deadly. Range and radius combined with amplifier: very large. Healing: a white energy beam that heals even he most lethal injuries. With the amplifier it can even restore lost limbs. Teleportation: power of passing through anything solid in a range of up to twenty meters, with amplifier the estimate is over a hundred. And the last power used by the TMD 2.0 is the damage reflection shield, an unbreakable shield limited only by the amount of energy the TMD has, walking with the shield active decreases energy faster, while staying motionless also activate a cloak ability which makes the user invisible. In combination with the amplifier the shield can take stronger hits and the cloak ability can be activated while moving.
He read to his teammates all but the parts explaining how to use the powers. They didn't need any ideas, this TMD would die along with the island. If it ever got out, it would upset the already fragile balance of power. While he left his team to digest the new information, opened the work-bench drawer and took out the journal, he decided to get all of his things and enter the storage room, mentioned in the letter, weapon strapped to his back and belt, and with the journal in hand he opened the door.On his left were two weird looking devices, which he quickly registered as the weapon locker and augmentor. On the right of the small room were four large crates with faded writing that spelled ammunition.
In the middle of a room was a black box, large enough for one weapon, setting the journal on the augmentor John quickly opened the box to reveal a strange looking assault riffle. He took it out to get the feel for it, it was light-weight, durable and easy to maneuver. He set the weapon on one of the crates, which barely reached his stomach. He also took out his M16 and all its mags and set them next to the weapon as if pondering which one to chose. He checked inside one of the crates and sure enough, there were all kinds of ammunition, he pried the rest of them open, and it was the same in every crate. He sighed of relief, at least he wouldn't run out of ammo on the field. He took out his radio and was about to give orders when Damian interrupted.
''Green are you near a weapon locker?'' Damian asked.
''Yes, why?'' The commander replied.
'' Rookie finished his work and he did a really good job, we have a list for all the upgrades that were bought for the TMD, and it's looking bad. But that is for later, do you have that pistol and rifle mentioned in the letter?'' He sounded hopeful.
''Of course, why?'' John was confused, but let Damian continue all the same.
''That is good, now listen because I hate repeating myself. Apparently the weapons created on this island can be augmented at a weapon locker with those metal cases I mentioned earlier, but one case would be enough only for a single augment. Rookie managed to fool the device into giving unlimited uses. That rifle I told you about? Everything was upgraded until it could be upgraded no more. I tested it and the difference is unbelievable, every single detail you can think about has been improved. And I do mean everything.'' Damian explained.
But before the commander could reply he continued.'' Now comes the important part, the rookie says that these weapon lockers are connected so he needs you to activate it. Simply push the large orange button.'' John did just that and with a slight hiss it opened, in the center of the device laid a small screen which came to life a message appearing, which wrote 'connected' in Russian language. Damian continued with his instructions.
'' Now, take your pistol and place it in the large gap.'' John did as he was told. ''Good, now we wait... Very well the rookie says the pistol is called the Centurion Revolver and is already fully augmented. You can remove it now, and place the AR9 in.'' To which John obliged.
''The rookie says it will take ten to twenty minutes to give it its max capacity. Sadly after this the blue case becomes unusable. Sir after this is done, what are your orders?''
''I will search the last entries of this journal for our target's location, in the mean time I want to know whit what that sick bastard empowered himself, then we move in and take him out. We destroy the island and the TMD, that thing is way too dangerous, it will completely destabilize the balance of power. Now get moving I wanted that information ten minutes ago.'' The commander took the journal and began reading, at the same time he was receiving information from the other end.
''Sir, it seems the upgrades that were bough are: Increased stamina, increased lung capacity, improved eyesight and sharper reflexes. This were the ones that could be upgraded just once, it also looks he increased the maximum of energy the device can hold. And did the same with two more, the amount of injury he can sustain before death, and damage decrease from range and melee attacks. This was everything he upgraded, which is a good thing, it makes him harder to kill but not impossible. There is a rather wide range of passive abilities he did not take, I guess he ran out currency. Orders sir ?'' The commander rubbed his eyes from intense reading and responded.
'' I have found our target's location, I will brief you right away. Damian I want you to call the chopper and have it land right now, you and the rookie are to head back. Understood?'' The commander barked. Inside the journal at the last written page was the location of Dr. Victor Barisov. The last entry gave him the vital information, it was only a day old and he feared the worst, for at the end of the entry were five words that showed the haste to which he must act 'Tonight I become a god.'
''Yes sir. The weapon is ready sir, I might not be able to participate but I can help out.'' John removed the weapon and could feel the difference just by holding it.'' These lockers are connected, I can send my sniper rifle over to you.''
There was no response from the other side, John was already packing several magazines for the sniper rifle along with a few for his revolver. The rest of his back-pack after he discarded his medical kit, and the documents he gathered, was filled to the brim with ammunition for his AR9. The sniper and the green-horn went back to the chopper and awaited the return of their commander. The rook was pretty bummed out, the idea of a time manipulation device sounded fun, he knew he wouldn't be allowed to use it, but why the commander didn't chose to keep it, he wouldn't know. If not a man who puts the good of others above his own then who? The question would be answered in time, right now, him and Damian were keeping an eye out for any hostiles. The rook had a simple 9mm and Damian had the weapon of their fallen friend.
At the entrance into the facility which housed the E-99 core, commonly known as The Singularity. Stood a team of four men who planned their next course of action. Each of them knew their roles and were ready to follow their commander to the end. They trekked inside the facility, that looked devoid of any life, but as they ascended, a sound was being carried trough the halls. They reached the final level and the sound was becoming clearer and louder with each step. They stealthily rounded a corner and the sound was crystal clear, laughter,empty and filled with madness. At the end of the hall-way stood the source of the sound, taking a peak Harper saw a man with his arms spread wide, laughing at the sky. All around him were deformed body parts and a lot ash piles. He looked at his commander and received his orders.
The commander made a few hand motions and gave the orders. Harper snook around him as silently as possible to get to the armored door which housed the bomb, Roland waited behind with the doctor, if something were to go wrong they would have support. John circled around him and stood to the shadows waiting for the opportunity to strike. Harper opened the door but was spotted, he was suddenly yanked from the door and stood face to face with the man they were hunting. His eyes empty and glowing white, his face contorted into a sick smile, he cooed three words ''I fooouuund it...'' Roland rushed from his hiding spot but it was too late, with a flick of a hand where once stood Harper was now a pile of ash. Before Roland could fire his weapon it crumbled into dust in front of him, the doctor then tackled the huge man placing his right hand on his torso he sent a powerful impulse that had broken both his arms and legs and had sent him into the wall.
His satisfaction was short-lived as three bullets penetrated his chest. It seem to do little more than annoy him so he turned his attention towards the medic. Before he could act however he suddenly found his right arm severed from his body when he tried to use the weapon. Weak once more Barisov received the rest of the field medic's magazine trough his skull. It was done, Barisov was dead but at what cost, his body disintegrating minutes after his death. John looked at the pile of ash that was once his friend and then at his injured comrade resting against the wall. He took a deep breath before speaking.
''How is he Crow?'' He asked, sadness filling his voice. He knew the answer, and he didn't like it.
Crow shook his head ''If we could move him, he could get treatment, and stay in recovery an year or so. But considering where we are I'd say he has about and hour to live. I'm sorry John.''
''Damn it.'' He gritted his teeth and noticed the horrible tool laying on the ground. But it was just that, a tool, with no emotions, no soul, it was undeserving of his hate. But the one who took the life of his friends lay dead, on who could he extract revenge? He kept looking at it before realizing the truth. It was a tool, and he had read the manual, now he stood there with a choice. Use it to save his friend's life or leave it where it is to be destroyed by the E-99 bomb. This device created the problem, then this device would be the one to fix it. He would destroy the device later, he would not allow another life to be lost. Crow was trying to ease Roland's pain, but it wasn't working too well. He didn't noticed his friend picking up the TMD and attaching it to his left arm. It hissed and adjusted itself to his size, this brought Crow out of his trance to look at his friend and raise an eyebrow.
''John what are you doing?'' Crow asked with concern.
He felt every upgrade which was made to the device the moment it connected, John simply went trough the instructions of what to do in his brain and responded flatly. ''Saving a life.'' He brought his hand up and pointed at his fallen friend, by this point Crow stood up and backed away slightly, not knowing what to do. He simply watched as a white beam shot from the TMD and hit Roland in the chest, it was impressive, and more importantly it worked, Roland opened his eyes to see his commander pointing the TMD at him. He was beginning to panic but it faded as he began to feel better and better, his bones were repairing themselves and he felt no pain, moments later he stood up and proceeded to stare at him alongside Crow. That is until he decided to speak.
''Thank God that worked. Now lets set up the bomb so I can get rid of the thing on my arm.''
They both sighed with relief, they took out the bomb and the detonator which John held and were about to leave when a sudden growl got their attention. For a moment they all froze, not out of fear but from shock, something was coming and it was big. Pounding could be heard from above, whatever it was, it was trying to get in. They followed the sound and John instinctively pocketed the detonator. The metal from above was receiving blows, it broke and two giant hands were trying to make the hole bigger.
John didn't waited another moment and yelled at his team to get out, he said he would be right behind them. He wasn't sure if he could take whatever was coming, but tonight no other monster was about to get to his team. He emptied a few mags into the hands trying to buy as much time for his team as possible. This went on for a while, every time John would reload the hole was pried, getting bigger. He made the calculations in his head, his team would have had enough time to reach the chopper and he couldn't risk this thing to go after them. He took out his radio and spoke.
''Pilot, tell them to board and then get out of this hellhole, that's an order.'' The pilot obeyed and they all got on the chopper. He looked at his weapons, he had ammo to last but was not about to waste it. Every second he waited the beast continued to make the hole bigger. He looked to his right and entered the anti-chamber, he took out his radio once more and spoke to the rest of his team. '' Leave without me, thats an order.'' By this time they were already in the sky gaining distance from the accursed island every passing moment, they were all threatening to kill the pilot if he didn't land. The pilot pondered what to do but the choice was already made as a bright flash filled skies.
The beast finally broke trough and landed with a roar. Behind the glass John spoke ''Took you long enough.'' The thing roared at him and punched the glass barely cracking it, ''That all you got?'' He asked smugly, he took a good look at him '' Damn, you're one ugly motherf**ker you know that?'' It pounded again and again each time breaking a little more. He looked at the creature and smiled, he took out the detonator '' Scarlet, Harper I'm sorry I couldn't save you.'' he pressed the button and in a moment everything lit up. The bomb successfully exploded and the island was destroyed along with everything on it.
//----------------------------- // Story: SINGULARITY Equestria // Chapter two : Into a new world part 1 // Author: Azzazel //-----------------------------
It was mid-day in the peaceful town of Ponyville, ponies were happily going about their business, not a care in the world. In the small town's library a purple unicorn was reading a book about advanced magic, even though she was very concentrated on her reading her mind still wandered. She thought about her friends, Applejack was apple-bucking the trees in Sweet Apple Acres, Pinkie Pie was helping the cakes as they have been working non-stop on some new recipe. Rarity was probably at the spa as she didn't have any new orders to take care of, Rainbow Dash was probably asleep on some cloud and Fluttershy would be feeding the animals. All in all, it was a perfect day, until two bright flashes appeared. One in the Everfree forest quite far from the town's vicinity, and the other in a grass field on the outskirts of town. No pony seemed perturbed by the sudden show of lights and simply went back to their respective occupations.
***
In the forest, after falling trough the trees and hitting most branches, an unconscious beast was slowly waking up. As soon as the sense of feeling returned it shrieked in agony and pain, it let out the most inhuman roar possible. In horrible pain, it got up its normally impenetrable hide, now weak and unable to stop the man that was out to end its life. Worse yet, it could not hear the 'Hive', it no longer knew what to do, without the hive its mind started tearing itself apart. It was exposed, its regenerative abilities kicking in and sewing the flesh back together, however its protective hide was no longer there. It looked around, a forest, there was no forest on Katorga-12, its goal was to hunt down those who would try and destroy the Singularity.
The man who tried to stop it was no longer here and without the hive to dictate what to do its mind began degrading. 'Island, no more. Hive not speak, pain...Hurt, anything but pain. Make the pain go away. Hunt, killing will make the pain go away. Maim, dismember... ' It clutched its deformed head in agony as pain swept trough its entire body. It roared again and started the hunt, it found its prey, a deer, a swift bite severed its head off and the beast dug its claws in the body. Blood staining its blue skin, it was working the pain was going away but it needed more. The smell of blood attracted a weird creature which resembled a combination of a lion,scorpion and a bat, the beast waisted no time attacking, it summoned a zek barrel and threw it at the manticore.
The manticore reared back its coat and wings now burned, it was not prepared for the punch it received that pierced its chest. It looked at the attacker and saw the mutated creature bring its head down for the kill, in a last desperate act to save itself the manticore stung the beast with its tail right in the forehead. It did not stop the jaws of death but it did pump the poison straight in the creature's brain. It stomped and pounded in agony at the corpse until it was just a red smear on the forest floor. It was not enough to kill it but it became enraged, it pounded against the floor a couple of times before storming into a random direction.
***
Laying on its back on a grass field on the outskirts of the small town was commander Jonathan Green. His belongings just a few feet away were completely untouched, his condition however was less than favorable. As he came to his senses John tried to speak which only led to him coughing blood and almost passing out from the pain. He strained to open his eyes and immediately shut them as the sun was burning high above in the clear sky. He could only move his arms even though it brought immense pain, he could feel his own end coming. He opened his eyes and saw the beautiful landscape, he smiled weakly, at least he wouldn't die on that rock.
'This is it huh? I'm finally going to die, never would have guessed it would end this way.' The sun shone in his eyes 'Can't I even die in peace? Damn sun. ' He lifted his left arm to cover his eyes. even though it was painful, the least he could do is try do welcome his end more calmly. As his eyes adjusted to the light he finally noticed a very important detail, he still had the TMD. 'I'm such an idiot...' He painfully turned his hand and sent the white healing beam towards his body, as time passed he wondered how did he forget such an important detail. After a few minutes he was in top shape without the slightest discomfort or pain, as he stood up and rested his back against the soft grass a bigger realization hit him.
To calm his mind he began replaying what happened on that floating death-trap. They knew from the start it wouldn't be just a simple mission, but it didn't sound so bad at the time. Considering all the near-death experiences and the suicidal missions they were given at least once a month, they were all but indestructible. Or so they thought, they weren't ill prepared, since they knew it would mean a death sentence, but no one could be prepared for what happened there. He chuckled as he remember the many times he almost died. Everything came back to him, the mutants, the TMD, Barisov, no death of his teammates, the beast, the bomb... How was he even alive? He looked at his arm once more and smiled. No wonder Barisov was so obsessed, this thing just teleported him out harms way, looking around he saw his backpack lying next to his weapons. A quick check revealed his weapons were intact, completely unaffected, the energy cells were undamaged and his revolver was strapped neatly on his belt alongside his knife.
Giving himself a once-over he somehow felt younger, his armor was untouched which was a good thing since he couldn't be more lost if he tried. He looked around and saw a forest but it didn't look like any forest he knew of, he shrugged it off and spotted a small town, it wasn't exactly far, at least missing the obvious won't kill him today. And a town meant people, people mean directions, and that was what he was in desperate need off, although by the looks of it they didn't seem to have any way of long distance communication. But for now it was good enough, he didn't want to question his luck considering he just escaped certain death...again. The sun was shining in the sky, there was a gentle breeze blowing trough the air, he didn't need to rush. Although he did wonder how he would explain the tool on his hand when he got back, he shook his head and simply lay on his back, he will figure something out. Now it was time for some well deserved rest.
ROAAARRRR. 'Or not.'
***
The beast escaped from the forest and saw its target, a small town, it didn't have time to think, it didn't want to think, all it wanted is to make the pain go away. And it could only do that by killing, the poison burned inside its skull and it went charging towards the small settlement. It was noticed from the distance and ponies began to panic, hiding their young and locking their doors. A certain purple mare had gathered her friends and after sending a letter to their beloved princess, they took a stand ready to take down the foul beast. Even from the distance they noticed its features and saying it looked like a nightmare would make it sound pretty. They were not alone as some of the local guardsponies decided to join in and try to protect their home. Unbeknown to them that someone else noticed the horrible mutant.
John looked in the direction of the roar and was horrified when he saw the mutant leap out of the forest and towards the town, it didn't seem to notice him granted it was a good distance away. Fearing the worst he strapped his AR9 to his back, grabbed the sniper rifle and got in position, he used the scope to see if there were any civilians and if they were aware of the incoming threat. It would be a good few minutes before it entered town and this gave him time to asses the situation properly. Making himself a target by attacking the thing right now would be downright stupid, he first got a good look at the creature, what it was doing and how was it acting. It obviously went berserk for some reason, but what really got his attention was its flesh, it no longer seemed hardened, provided its weak spot was as obvious as it could be, at least he could now cripple it much easier.
He brought his attention to the small settlement and took a good look around, he saw something and enhanced the scope , he just stared, he rubbed his eyes and took another look. Nothing was changed, he was actually seeing horses, and not any kind of horses, brightly colored horses with human like features. His brain almost stopped working for a moment from sheer shock, although considering everything he went through in the past 48 hours he might have gone insane and was hallucinating, or maybe he was dead. However none of those options were plausible so he took a closer look, some had wings, some had horns, some had none. 'I think I took a wrong turn on the river Stix and ended up in Disney Land.' He thought to himself as the beast was slowly approaching. He watched the situation unfold and would act as needed, information was necessary, were they sentient, were they animals, were they hostile?
The battle was about to start, various earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns plus the elements of harmony were ready to defend their home. The thing was closing in but it raised its hand in the air and an exploding barrel materialized in his hand and while it did miss most of the ponies, it did destroy half a house and knocked unconscious a few of the guards. They were terrified but refused to back down, this was their home. As it got closer and as they were about to strike, it blinked out of existence. For a moment they though it had left, they were wrong, as soon as they let their guard down it reappeared and slammed its giant fists into the ground mere inches where the ponies were. The shock was strong enough to send them flying into random directions, most were knocked out instantly as they hit various blunt objects. The thing went for the nearest creature with a pulse for its kill, which in this case was a butter yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail. As it readied its fist, it found it immobilized, by a rope of all things, and a tiny orange horse pulling with all her strength. It roared in annoyance and pulled her in with ease.
As she flew through the air it reared its other fist, and everypony else who just got out of their daze watched in horror as her friend flew trough the air and towards the behemoth. Its other fist connected with her friend and she flew back at dangerous speeds and through a nearby wall, medical ponies quickly took her out of the debris and to the hospital. It went back to its prey ignoring the various hits from flying ponies. It was happening all over again and they couldn't do anything to stop it, as it grew closer a small object flew at high speeds and severed its entire lower jaw, which fell limply on the ground. Everypony was shocked, the beast roared in pain and turned itself towards the source, it proved a bad mistake as the beast took another four hits, two in each knee. It fell, roaring in agonizing pain but not before getting hit once more but this time in the bright blue spot on its chest. The ponies watched in awe and fear as the mighty beast was brought to its knees by some unknown force. They could clearly see the open wounds, as they tried to locate what or who saved them, in the distance they could see a black figure getting up and heading towards the town.
Commander Green had finally snapped out of his shock and concentrated on weakening the creature. He needed to get close enough to deliver the finishing blow, for the moment the mutant was crippled but it would be up soon enough. He didn't have time to reload as he decided on the quickest route to town, he looked at his TMD and an idea formed. It was a good a time as ever to try teleportation, replacing his sniper with his AR9 and slinging his backpack over his shoulder he started running towards the town. He took a deep breath and activated the teleport, it gave a funny feeling and left him slightly dizzy but this was the fastest way, he took a deep breath and continued until he reached town. He 'jumped' at least eight times and the last one ended with him on the roof, needless to say his stomach was doing back-flips and he was more than a bit dazed. He got back up and looked for the ugly mutant ignoring the looks he was receiving from the weird looking horses. He spotted the freak get up and roar, all looks turned to the mutant who threw his hands in the air and spawned another exploding barrel, his target a group of ponies who were helping some of the injured out of the rubble.
John shook off his confusion and teleported in front of the group, the barrel was sent flying but it stopped in mid-air courtesy of gravity manipulation and was sent back to the creature hitting it square in the face. Ponies were in utter shock, a bipedal creature was fighting a monster at least ten times its own size with ease. The unconscious ponies started to come to and Twilight was the first to notice the tall creature followed by the rest of the elements. She saw him fling the offending object back to the attacker, the result was a very angry beast along with some very confused ponies. Before it could snap out of its daze the other one teleported right in front of it and send a strong shock wave from its hand knocking the thing backwards. They watched in awe as they saw it lift what they assumed was his weapon and point it at the creature, it pulled the trigger a few times and the other one seemed to be wounded by some sort of projectiles, but it was too fast for the naked eye. It staggered back as its opponent grew closer and sent another shock-wave at it, followed by more projectiles hitting it in the glowing spot on its chest. John repeated the motion until the mutant fell on its knees and hands, and the glow on its chest faded, he lifted his gun in one hand pressed the mussel on its forehead and emptied the clip in its head.
The ponies watched as the body of the monster fell lifeless to the ground. With danger out of the way the other creature seemed to relax by taking a seat on a nearby bench and sighing as it checked its weapons. It seemed to ignore the ponies which started whispering to each other, after it finished it left its equipment on the bench and looked around. Rainbow Dash growing tired of waiting flew up in its face. John was surprised but with everything he went trough so far it barely phased him, he sighed again and spoke.
''Can I help you?'' This situation was putting a serious strain on his sanity, even more so when the flying horse replied.
''YOU CAN TALK?'' The flying horse yelled.
''No, I'm making random noises that sound like words.'' He replied sarcastically, she growled in response.
''Very funny now who and WHAT are you?'' She got so close he could smell her breath, ponies were gathering to listen in.
'' My name is Jonathan Green, military commander and human.'' He replied in an unamused tone. ''And you... Need to brush more often.'' This got a few giggles from the crowd and a blush from the cyan pegasus who blew in her hoof and sniffed her breath, it smelled pretty bad surprisingly.
''Hey you know who you're talking to? I am Rainbow Dash the fastest flier in Equestria.'' She said pumping her chest up.
'Obviously self-proclaimed, brash, arrogant and annoying. Just great...' He sighed in annoyance. ''To whom apparently the notion of personal space is completely alien.'' He said gently rising his hand and pushing the pegasus a bit backwards.''Now, I can definitely tell I'm not on Earth anymore since we didn't have talking horses.''
She though she was going to be attacked but instead was gently pushed in the air, the sensation felt funny yet pleasant at the same time.
''Uh... We are ponies, not horses.'' She mumbled.
''Great, ponies, why in God's name have I landed here? Pegasi, unicorns, next you're going to tell me you have magic.'' The look he was receiving told him everything he needed to know. Nopony noticed but in the background there was a white flash of light.
''Wait...You don't have magic? Then how did you manage to do all that?'' She asked puzzled.
''Well I-'' He got cut off as a giant pony with wings and a horn crashed into him and pinned him to the ground.
A purple unicorn cried out. ''Princess.'' She got her attention. ''W-what are you doing?'' She screamed from the crowd. Celestia was puzzled, was this not the creature that had attacked?
''My faithful student what seems to be the problem?'' She asked genuinely confused.
'Ok now I'm pissed, is this what I get for doing something nice?' John asked himself feeling the pressure cracking his ribs.
'' You're attacking the one who saved us, he defeated the monster.'' She pointed at the large and very obvious corpse near a wrecked wall. The princess then realized what a horrible mistake she made and how this was going to turn out into a very bad first impression. John however had enough.
'Don't want to move? Fine I'll make you move.' John raised his left hand and yelled ''GET THE HELL OFF ME!'' He then sent an impulse towards the princess at point blank range. Everypony watched in shock as their beloved princess flew into a nearby building at dangerous speeds, effectively crashing trough the wall. John then healed his wounds. ''Bitch.'' He muttered as he got to his feet.
This did not sit well with the town ponies and they began backing away except for a certain pegasus that tried to tackle John but found herself suspended in mid-air mere inches from him. She found that she couldn't move and tried to break whatever invisible force held her, she noticed John had his arm pointed at her and the strange object on his hand was glowing.
'' Hey whats the big deal? Why did you attack the princess? Grrr LET ME GO!'' She yelled in frustration.
''Its called self-defense, she breaks my ribs, I send her through a building. Now we're even.'' He said unamused.
Princess Celestia was not expecting that and at the moment was not thinking straight. She registered the human as a threat which is why she attacked. After hearing she might have harmed an innocent she was about to apologize but was sent flying by a very painful wave of energy. She understood her wrong doing but that didn't mean she wouldn't retaliate, after all nopony would go unpunished after attacking her. John however noticed this and sent Rainbow Dash upwards, it didn't hurt her but it would get her out of the way, despite her rapid approach John did not move from his spot. Instead he decided to see how his shield would hold against an enraged princess. He waited just before she hit and he smiled, clenched his fist and his body was suddenly covered by a protective barrier, the princess could not stop due to momentum and slammed into the shield. The shield held and she bounced off along with all the damage she intended on doing, which ended up hitting her.
''Smart move, you just slammed into yourself.'' John taunted. 'Ultimate tool indeed.'
Despite everything, she got up and started shooting energy blasts at him. He couldn't dodge so he teleported right behind her. '' Let's stop before you injure yourself even further.''
He didn't even turn to face her, but stepped aside when she tried to buck him. He turned around to face her and so did she, if he didn't have the TMD enhancing his reflexes he would have been in trouble, but he skillfully dodged every attack, frustration slowly growing inside the royal princess. He saw her charge her horn and decided enough is enough, a small white ball emerging from his left arm, he sent the ball flying under the princess' feet before she could attack, and they were both engulfed in the barrier that was created. He could still move but Celestia was suspended in time, most ponies ran away from the sight but five of them remained. John wave a hand in front of the princess and looked to his side to find five ponies closing in. Two of them desperately trying to break the barrier, but to no avail seeing as the barrier was created through technology and not magic, he smiled and exited the barrier to confront the problem.
The first one who tried to speak was Rainbow Dash but he cut her off. '' If you have a problem I suggest you let someone with the capabilities to form a coherent argument speak.'' She was about to attack but backed off when she saw him lift his left hand and heard it buzz to life. Pinkie Pie was feeling pretty bad, Rarity would have appreciated his elegant choice of clothing but right now was infuriated, Rainbow was also ready to pounce but knew it would end badly. Fluttershy looked like she was ready to break, Twilight was infuriated and wanted nothing more than to teach him a lesson, but seeing what he did to the princess made her do a double take. Instead she chose to be the voice and ask the questions, she learned his name from Rainbow while they he and the princess fought, she summoned her courage and asked.
''W-why did you attack the princess if you helped us?''
''Oh I'm sorry clearly she did nothing wrong when she slammed into me and broke my rib-cage. And the correct therm is retaliate, there is a difference you know? I am a soldier and I'm not afraid to fight back.'' He said nonchalantly.
They could understand how this could have lead to a bad first impression considering he took down that monster before it hurt anypony. Their thoughts however went towards the princess' safety and so Twilight voiced her concern.
''What sort of magic did you use, I don't know of any spell that can do that. It doesn't even feel like magic.'' John raised an eyebrow at the mention of magic.
''That is because it isn't.'' Everypony gasped.'' What you see here is called a dead-lock sphere, quite an efficient prison, no bars or warden needed, whatever and whoever enters the sphere is frozen in time, except for the one who holds the key. This is created through advanced technology and can last indefinitely, she is fine just stuck in place.'' Their jaws dropped, this human was part of a species that did not rely on magic and still had impressive abilities. Fluttershy however snapped and began approaching the human.
''YOU.'' This got John's attention.''YOU DO NOT HURT MY FRIENDS!'' Her friends knew what she was doing and hopped the 'stare' would bring John into submission. Inside John's head however a few gears clicked into action and he was reminded of a similar position when he was captured by the Chinese, they were using their best mentalists and shrimks to try and break him. They almost succeeded, but he found a way to resist until he was saved, he found that self induced pain could override the initial shock and resist the rest of the interrogations.
'Who would have thought such a sweet thing could have such a intimidating ability, too bad for her I know how to react.' John clenched his right fist to the point where it was bleeding, the pain surged through his entire body and he found he could move again, he craned his neck to one side and the other and could feel the satisfying popping of joints. He leaned forward much to the shock of the other ponies but did not avert his eyes from the still staring pegasus, he reached with his left hand for her head and everypony froze expecting the worst. John pressed his hand gently on her head and scratched behind her ear, Fluttershy's back leg involuntarily started twitching much like how a dog would. She broke the stare and pushed her head in his hand, that is until she realized what she had been doing. She eeped in an adorable way then blushed and retreated behind Pinkie pie. Everypony was surprised at the passive interaction, and even if she didn't say it, Fluttershy liked it.
'' Was that supposed to do anything? I stare death in the face every time I'm on a mission.'' He replied flatly. He looked around, taking in the damage that was done to the town while the ponies got out of their shock. He figured it would be a good idea to help repair some of the damage, he started walking towards a crumbing house while various ponies were peeking from their hiding spot. Twilight and her friends followed him, trying to get out of their shock they noticed him approach the crumbling house curios as to what he will do. In front of the wreck a purple pony with a grape and strawberry for a cutie mark was crying at the loss of her home, it would take weeks to repair it and she just didn't have the bits.
While they were still out of earshot John asked.'' Who's house was this?''
Twilight snapped out of her trance and responded.''Berry Punch's house, why?''
''Just curious. Say how much time would it take to repair all this damage?'' Since he was more or less stuck here John thought he might as well put the TMD to work. They continued to approach.
''A few weeks, rebuilding an entire house will be tough.'' Twilight was curious as to why he would ask about that of all things.
//----------------------------- // Story: SINGULARITY Equestria // Chapter two : Into a new world part 2 // Author: Azzazel //-----------------------------
John stopped a few feet behind the crying mare, lifted his left hand and pointed it at the wreck. The TMD buzzed to life and a beam shot from his hand and into the building. Twilight was a bit frightened until she noticed the house beginning to repair itself at amazing speeds. They stared in awe and Berry looked up to find her house completely rebuild itself, she saw the orange beam and thought maybe some unicorn was generous enough to help her. She turned around and found herself staring at a tall bipedal creature that was sending the orange beam at her house. She would feel frightened if not for the fact that her house was as good as new, and that he had a warm smile on his face. After he finished he turned around and began walking away but before he could leave she jumped and hugged him.
''T-thank you...''
At that John lowered himself to her eye level and with his right hand he wiped a tear of her cheek, she enjoyed the warm feeling of his hand and closed her eyes.
''You're welcome.''
He got up and went to the next area to repair the damage. The ponies were at a loss for words, quite shocked at the sudden change of behavior and just as shocked when they saw the house rebuild itself. Twilight and the others followed him to the next area and tried to voice her thoughts. John noticed this and tried to lighten the situation.
''Trouble speaking?'' He asked slightly amused.
''Uh...Erm... H-how? How did you?'' She stumbled, it was quite entertaining.
''I didn't do much.'' He lifted his left hand.'' 100% technology, nothing magic but just as amazing.''
He explained a few things about his world, he explained the lack of magic and a few general notions about Earth, all while repairing damage around town. Ponies were coming out of their homes and were watching how the damage done to their village was disappearing, some tried to free the princess but failed. In turn they explained the world he was currently in. From cutie-marks to the princesses themselves. He sure didn't expect to hear the princesses lived over 1000 years or that they were responsible for the day and night cycles, by this point he already stopped being shocked. Taking into account everything that happened in the past 24 hours he was seriously wondering whether or not he was sane anymore, however there was no point in freaking out now, he would probably snap later anyway .Going full circle around the former damaged area John found himself looking back at the frozen princess.
''*sigh* Listen, if I free her, think you can explain the situation?'' Just as Twilight was about to respond a unicorn guard with all his weapons and gear appeared from around the corner.
''Stop right there criminal scum, I have all your weapons, now free the princess, surrender and maybe we will go easy on you.''
John was unamused and with a simple hand motion he yanked all his gear from the guards grasp with his TMD. The guard in turn received a face full of dirt. With that out of the way he rested his things on a bench and turned to Twilight.
''As I was saying, think you can explain the situation to your princess?''
Twilight and the others looked unsure, once again being surprised by the sudden change in behavior.The guard didn't seem to appreciate taking a mouth full of dirt and tried charging Green as a spell might harm the elements. As to why they weren't attacking his mind told him they were prisoners, unaware that his next course of action will end painfully. John was fully aware of the charging stallion yet gave him no attention, you don't live through what he lived without picking up on things. All his years of hard training and experience from dangerous missions would pay off, in the last moment John side-stepped and punched the guard in the back of his head sending him tumbling on the ground and into unconsciousness. He sighed and scratched his head, he had to admit these ponies were persistent and while they were not as flexible or agile as he was they were definitely strong physical attackers. Satisfied with the unmoving body he turned his attention to the 'frozen' princess.
''Alright, I'm going to push her out of stasis and after we settle this problem I will disperse the sphere.'' He entered the sphere, and began pushing the princess out, as her head exited the sphere time began to flow again and the spell she readied earlier hit a building and caused a hole in the wall. John decided to stop when the down part of her neck was out and exited the sphere to face 5 shocked ponies and a confused and angry princess, he stepped out of the sphere and into Celestia's visual range. Before she could attack however she noticed two things : 1. The elements of harmony were not attacking and 2. She could not mover her body. Further examination showed that the rest of her body was still trapped inside the sphere and was unable to move.
And so it began, the long and tedious explanation. After the princess calmed down enough to hear him, John explained from the beginning, starting with his theory on how he ended up in their world. He explained what happened on the island making sure to leave out important details like the death of his team mates and how he acquired the TMD. He did however mention the E-99 bomb and how he sacrificed himself to make sure his squad left safely, that surprisingly got him a lot of positive reactions. Apparently the bomb sent him and the mutant in their world and he woke up on some field on the outskirts of town along with his gear. He explained how he saw the mutant charge towards the village and used his sniper-rifle to weaken it. Of course he had to explain just what his weapon does and a few words on how it works, after that he continued his story explaining what happened after she was locked. Celestia didn't trust him, maybe because of the fact that she got thrown through a wall, all things considered, and the fact that she couldn't move, she had no choice but to accept whatever terms he would make, she just hoped they wouldn't be too exaggerated.
'' Now that everything is settled there are a few things I need before I release you. I would ask that all my belongings are to remain in my possession and I am to use them as I see fit, including my weapons and I will use force and apply punishment to those who would try and take them. And any charges that I might have in this world are to be dropped.'' All he needed was the TMD and to be left alone, that forest seemed like a nice place and he went through worst survival scenarios.
It was clear he was attached to his equipment and intended on keeping, it was understandable but she didn't like the idea of him keeping a dangerous arsenal. Then again their meeting was not a pleasant one, and what surprised her is that this was all he was asking for, but before she could say anything the pink party pony replied before she did.
''That's it? No ransom, no bounty, no huge demands?'' Everypony glared daggers at her.''What?''
''Pinkie don't give him ideas.'' Twilight growled, John was amused but did consider something. These were ponies, ponies were equines, equines were vegetarian, he was not, but considering the situation he might coax the princess into agreeing.
''I guess if you insist.'' Everypony glared at Pinkie who shrunk from their gazes.'' You see my kind is omnivorous and while we can digest fruit and vegetables, we cannot digest grass and hay.'' He revealed his sharp teeth and molars which gleamed in the sunlight, almost menacingly. '' While I can survive without meat, it plays an important part in my diet, and before you ask the answer is no, I don't eat ponies or any other kind of sentient beings. Now to my point, downright rejection of meat from my diet will end upsetting my metabolism to the point where it could actually be lethal. I will go hunting deep in the nearby forest or find a river where I can fish. As I assume that sentient creatures do not live in the forest. '' He told the truth and he wasn't about to give up meat unless he could be sure that this world was not lacking.
Everypony except Fluttershy was pretty shocked to find out humans ate meat since she was used to carnivorous animals. Celestia pondered whether or not to accept, but she was in no position to refuse. She sighed deeply and responded.
''Very well, I agree and in turn you will not harm any of my little ponies or cause disturbances, do we have an agreement?'' Her voice was calm yet demanding.
''Yes, but I keep the right to self-defense and will use force if the situation calls for it or if someon... pony tries to get their ha...hooves on my gear.'' He retorted.
''Only and only in self-defense. Now, release me.'' She said sounding a bit frustrated.
''Wouldn't have it any other way.'' He lifted his arm but decided to add one last thing.''Oh and one more thing.''
The princess looked like she was ready to snap.''Yes?''
''Do I have your word you will not attack me once I release you?'' 'Can never be to careful, especially since her physical strength was enough to crack my ribs like that, I guess I lucked out when she didn't use her magic to trap me.'
''You have my word.'' She sincerely replied.
John raised his left arm and sent a short energy beam towards the sphere aging it and making it disappear, the princess landed on her feet and stretched to get rid of the discomfort caused from being a floating head. She decided it would be a good idea to send her sister a message and inform her of their latest addition to the world. John ignored her and walked towards the gaping hole in the house that was hit with Celestia's spell. Surprisingly enough and probably excited of the prospect of a new species from a different dimension, Luna, Celestia's younger sister appeared in a midnight-blue flash behind her sister and franticly asked about the 'human'. Celestia pointed towards John but only after she used a spell to transfer what she learned about him, so she wouldn't waste time.
Luna was feeling mixed emotions unsure on how to properly react, but before she could voice her opinion or do anything she noticed him walking towards a big hole on the side of a house. She recognized her sister's work and 20 feet to the left the body of the giant monster John stopped with the aid of his equipment. The princess were unaware of what he was going to do, so along with the elements they trotted to his side, princess Luna coughing in her hoof to get his attention. John turned around to meet the gaze of the midnight blue alicorn slightly smaller in size than her sister, he decided since he wasn't slammed into a hard surface yet to show a little respect.
He did a small bow and said.''Greetings, you must be princess Luna, an honor to meet you.''
Luna was certainly not expecting that.''L-likewise.'' She noticed him rise and approach the wreck.'' Might we ask what thou art doing?''
''Hmm? Oh this? I was about to repair the wall.'' He replied in utmost seriousness.
She and her sister frowned, not knowing the full extent of the TMD's power they assumed he wasn't serious.'' Really? And how will thou do that, if I remember thou kin does not wield magic.''
John stopped in front of the hole and aimed with his left hand at the debris. '' Quite easily.'' Out of his hand flew an orange beam which connected with the damaged part of the house, immediately it began repairing itself and in less than a minute the hole was gone. ''Questions?'' He turned to face two very confused and shocked princesses.
''B-but how?'' Luna asked.
''Well since humanity doesn't have magic we upgraded our technology. As for what I did, its called 'reverting', which means I turned back time and the building returned to its original state.'' If she wasn't so shocked Twilight would be taking notes.
''That can't be possible.'' Celestia added.
''Oh really? My world relies solely on technology, it will at some point evolve even beyond this . Also I though it was pretty obvious what TMD stands for.'' He sighed when he saw their confused faces.'' Time Manipulation Device?''
The silence that followed spoke volumes of what they were thinking. A species without magic had created a device capable of manipulating time and bending it how they see fit. Twilight was just about to let out a cascade of questions when John thankfully interrupted their train of thought.
''I will tell you right now, I have no knowledge of the processes that went into the TMD's creation and before you think you can copy the technology I will tell you it is an impossible quest as your world lacks the necessary elements into making one. It is particularly new to me as well but I will answer what I can. And I will tell you this, it is made for humans and only a human can wield it. Now that this is out of the way and you realize the TMD cannot be used by anyone other than me, I must ask. What do you want to do with the mutant's body?''
Taking special care to inform them that the TMD can only be used him, any thoughts about stealing or taking it away were crushed right there and then. He decided to change the topic by pointing to the very large corpse nearby, which seem to work pretty well, but he knew he would have to answer a barrage of questions later on.
''W-we don't know, we shall send a team to pick it up and find a proper place to bury it, it would need a very large hole.'' Luna snapped out of her confusion, and most thoughts about acquiring the device went away from everypony's head.
'' Tell them to bring a shovel.'' He sent a beam towards the body and it disintegrated, leaving behind just a large pile of ash. ''You're welcome.'' He smiled.
Princess Celestia shook her head remembering that the soldier agreed not to harm her subjects, and she had to keep her word by letting him keep his equipment. Speaking of subjects the element of Honesty Applejack was not present, out of concern and as a good method of breaking the awkward silence she asked.
'' Twilight Sparkle I noticed that one of your friends, the element of Honesty is not with us, has something happened?''
''Ohmygosh. I completely forgot, AJ was hit by that nasty thing and was taken to the hospital.'' Rainbow yelled.
''Rainbow, how could you forget something so important, we need to go visit and make sure she is ok.'' Twilight added.
John scratched his head.'' Just let me get my weapons and gear.'' He received weird glances from everypony. ''*sigh* I'm not about to leave dangerous weapons lying around, you don't want to see the outcome of accidentally setting one off.'' He strapped his assault-riffle on his back, then his back-pack and the his sniper in his hands, he looked like a one man armory and it was heavy.
''Is this the weapon thou used to bring the beast down? I have never seen anything like it, it does not even look like a weapon.'' Luna looked curiously at the device he held in his arms.
John smirked, this was going to be fun. ''This is a lethal long-range weapon which fires projectiles several times the speed of sound, it tears trough the strongest of armor with ease.'' He took out the clip and showed what the bullet looked like.'' While I'm fairly decent with it, a trained sniper can hit a target 3000 meters away with deadly accuracy. While the sniper on my team could hit a target within 4000 meters . It is semi-automatic and requires reloading after 6 shots...What?'' He said looking at their shocked expressions.
'' Why would your kind invent such things?'' Asked Twilight.
''Technology simply evolved that way, all technological branches did, medicine, transportation, entertainment. Its the old good versus evil thing that escalates from time to time, it led to both sides trying to out-gun the other so that is why we also have advanced weaponry, humanity strives to evolve on all sides and weaponry is one of them. Leaving that subject aside can you tell me if you ever met others like me?''
''No, why?'' Twilight replied.
''Because unicorns and pegasi are myths and legends in my world...'' He got cut off.
''W-wait legends? But how would you know about us?'' She continued.
'' Hell if I know?'' He shrugged, Twilight tilted her head in confusion and John sighed again, how would they know about Hell? '' Hell is the place where all evil people go when they die to suffer for their sins.'' He replied.
''Oh so its like Tartarus then?'' And with that John froze.
''Wait Tartarus? That is guarded by the three-headed dog Cerberus?'' It was Twilights turn to be shocked along with everypony listening.
''Y-yes how did you....'' He raised his hand to stop her.
'' I think your world might have some old mythology beings that my kind regard just as myths. I can think of a few : Manticore, basilisk, cockatrice, minotaur, griffin , dragon, any of these ring a bell?''
'' W-wow, erm yeah, every single one of them exists here, that is truly amazing, I don't know what to make of this.''
''Neither do I. But something bothers me, the word manticore is derived from man-eater, and you are ponies...You know what lets drop this I'm starting to get a head-ache.'' They would figure it out later.
''So you are in the military huh?'' Rainbow decided to but in.
''Hmm? Yeah, speaking of which, I don't suppose you will help me find a way back will you?'' He asked with a tinge of sadness.
''My sister and I will try and find a way but I do not think is possible, I am afraid you are stuck here indefinitely.'' Celestia replied.
''*sigh* It's fine I guess, I'm probably classified as dead anyway.''
''Why would they think that?'' Twilight asked.
'' Well I did detonate a bomb strong enough to wipe out an island not 10 feet away from it.''
''I see, how long have you served in the military?'' She continued.
''About sixteen years, been the commander of my team for thirteen.''
''But you don't look very old.''Twilight said. John walked towards the town fountain and looked at his features he looked more like when he was twenty-three.
''The perks of having the TMD I suppose, it might have altered my age, I am thirty-two years old. Yes that does mean I entered the army when I was sixteen.'' He said before they could ask.
''But that is horrible why would you join the army at such a young age, didn't your parents try to stop you?'' Rarity finally spoke.
''They are the main reason I joined. But I will leave that for another time, it was something that needed to happen, three years later I became the leader of team Alpha.''
''And what is so special about your team?'' Rainbow asked furrowing her brow .
''We are the elite, the best of the best . My team is very different, in the course of thirteen years we have successfully completed over two hundred and fifty missions, but that isn't why my team is so special, it's the missions we receive, we are of the few teams who always receive missions with high risk. Out of all the teams my team has the highest survival rate, and out of all those missions over forty were deemed suicidal, not bad if you ask me.'' He was definitely going to have to explain later.
They went back and forth with the questions for a while, John asking about what other sentient species were out there, and asked what their numbers were. It would seem that the dragons had the lowest numbers due to their nature just over five thousand, followed by the minotaurs with 1.2 million, then some creatures called diamond dogs who apparently weren't very intelligent with 7 million. The next, and second in size were the griffins at around 140 million individuals and next, to John's surprise the ponies with over 200 million, plus 13 million minorities ( cows, donkeys, sheep). Something still bothered him though, he already knew why he was attacked but he needed to know why they used excessive force. He had a pretty good idea but confirmation would be necessary.
''Not to judge your choice of acting when presented with a potential threat or new species but trying to eliminate me was a bit brash don't you think?'' John asked.
''What are you saying, I was only trying to prevent you from harming my little ponies, I did not intend any real harm.'' Celestia defended herself.
'' Is that so? I guess I should tell you, what I am wearing now is a very advanced type of kevlar armor, along with my constitution and muscle mass enhanced by years of training, missions and the TMD which has several passive enhancements that reduce physical damage and raise certain stats. Now if either one of these factors were missing that attack would have been my death, in short if it was anyone other than me who would have received that attack, that person would be dead.'' John coldly said.
Princess Celestia was mortified of the possibility of killing in cold blood, even if it would be an accident she would never forgive herself. ''But you are fine are you not?'' She asked with actual concern.
''Yes, yes I'm used to near death experiences, a bit too much actually.'' That response only seem to worsen the situation.
''Is your species currently at war? The way you talk about death, like it's the smallest of your concerns.'' Twilight said.
''Yes and no. The worst of wars had passed and they had a lot of casualties, two of them actually. The world wars were the worst humanity had to offer, squads like mine are what prevent a third world war from happening, it's why the missions are always dangerous, it's why I speak so freely of the matter. I guess I just got used to it after a while, but that doesn't mean I do not value the life of another, quite the opposite. But it surprises me you even know of war, your world seems too peaceful to know war.'' But he knew better, appearances can be deceiving.
'' The only war I ever heard of was the one before Nightmare Moon's banishment.'' Rainbow received some angry glares and princess Luna looked very sad.
'' You touched a raw nerve kid, I know war, what it can do, and what scars it leaves. I would like to know about this war, in turn I will tell you about the greatest war humanity participated in. However you do not have to tell me if you do not wish, I will not pry.''
Celestia looked at Luna, both looked unsure and certainly did not want to re-open old wounds. But until they would find him a way to return home he would need to know, although he would probably hate them both.
''I will tell you. It all started 1000 years ago just after the Summer Sun Celebration...''
Celestia started her story taking a glance at the bright sun shining warmth over them, John pulled a bench closer with his TMD and focused himself on listening. The princess spoke, sorrow and regret present in her tone, it was a story about how 2 sisters who loved each other grew apart as time passed. The feeling of being unappreciated growing stronger within Luna, at the time Celestia did not know how to act but tried non the less to help her sister. In the end they grew apart even more because of that, anger and spite eating away at Luna as ponies chose to hide and sleep off her beautiful night. In truth that was not the situation, it was simply because all kinds of monsters roamed at night. Luna started to shut herself in and refused to see anyone else, despite her sister trying her best, things would only get worst.
As time past Luna strayed even more from her sister and weird reports came from neighboring cities which spoke of a rebellion forming under the command of a pony called Nightmare Moon. At that time Celestia had not seen her sister in months and could not properly focus and ignored the reports, unknown to her ponies were being corrupted, changed or forced to become soldiers right under her nose.
And then it came, Luna refused to lower the moon and when she entered the throne room she confronted Celestia stating her mad request of never-ending night. Before her very eyes she changed into the creature known as Nightmare Moon but before Celestia could have a chance to stop her she disappeared and soon after the war started. No pony was the winner as there were heavy casualties on both sides, it lasted several weeks. Nightmare was loosing and in a last desperate attempt she charged at the castle to try and take out Celestia, her troops were slaughtered but she made her way inside. Almost a hundred guards were killed before she reached the throne room where Celestia had been waiting with the elements of Harmony ready, she tried to make her sister stop but without success. With a heavy heart she used the elements to banish her sister to the Moon for a thousand years, the grief and sorrow which followed in the years to come was unbearable. She vowed to never let anything like that happen ever again.
The equine population at that time was around 5 mil and the total casualties just over 15 thousand. John was not as phased as he should have been but understood the grief that war brought. Their emotions were easy to read and clearly they both regretted it, John was simply letting the information sink in, judging by their behavior either of them looked ready to break down, and for some reason they seemed to be waiting for some sort judgment as if he just witnessed a horrible revelation. In truth John understood and even related in some way with the story, this world had its share of death too it seems. He didn't speak, they just waited in silence as the seconds ticked by.
