A massive threat looms over the royal wedding. One that hides in shadows and goes bump in the night. Though there is something else that hides in the shadows something protecting those that play in the light.
Young children, trained from a young age to be soldiers fighting in the country's hidden wars, find themselves being wisked away to a world without war. A place of bright colors and peace. A negative version of their dark and war filled lives. They were called upon to protect the ones that bear the elements. To keep them safe from all threats that they could not defeat.
The major drawback was they could only do it from the shadows. If they were revealed, they would be killed on sight.
“Hold your fire!" I yelled into the mic. "Wait ‘til the shield drops, we have to give them time to get to the elements!” I then rolled over onto my back, placing the butt of the rifle against my right shoulder, aiming through the scope at one of the multiple targets surrounding the sphere shaped force field around Canterlot. The force field ended on the rock ledge about thirty meters behind me, cutting me off from the outside, also making it so we had time to get ready. My suppressed M107 was ready to fire as soon as the shield dropped.
“Stones, are you nuts?! We should attack them now before they get into the city and put the girls in jeopardy.” I heard through the radio.
“Tyrock if you fire now your shots won’t go through the shield. They’ll just help these bastards get in faster. Now hold your fire until I say so,” I yelled. “Jane, what’s the shield’s integrity?”
“The shield is at 50% and falling fast, if they continue at this pace it’ll reach zero in about twenty seconds.” Jane said through my radio.
On that note I quickly looked through the scope and lined the crosshairs up on the head of my first target. These looked like they were a smaller version of the ones we have seen before and their ranks seemed sloppy, lacking the large coordination the others shown. The fact that they using their heads and bodies besides their hooves to hit the shield made me pause for a second. They didn't seem to be the soldier type.
“Shield at 20% “ Jane stated, pulling me from my thoughts. I quickly check my aim. Then I heard the changeling queen calling out from the castle.
“You can run but you can’t hide.” The sound of it sent a chill up my spine.
“Shield failure in 4… 3… 2… 1.” Jane said. Then the shield shattered. When it did, it placed Tyrock and me as the last line of defense for Canterlot. Once the shield disappeared, the air filled with a sound which could only be described as a massive swarm of bees. Too bad for these bugs they are not the only ones with stingers. Once the shield was cleared from our sights the sound of our safety switches flicked to fire.
“Weapons free!” I yelled pulling the trigger taking out the first changeling with a quiet crack from the rifle and a direct shot to the head. Soon the gun was ejecting empty casings and cycling in a new round as fast as it could go, each one symbolizing the death of a changeling. As soon as the magazine was empty I dumped it and slammed in a new one and continued the ongoing battle. Then I heard my cousin yelling into the radio.
“Stones the girls are on the move to your side of the castle,” then in the background I heard the sound of something snarling, followed by the sound of a knife digging into flesh. “Get out of my face you piece of shit bugger!”
“Tyrock you okay?” I yelled, dumping another empty mag and slamming in the next one.
“I’m fine, protect the girls, a large swarm is heading their way.” He said followed by the sound of him removing the knife. I quickly rolled over onto my stomach and laid out the bi-pods. After I spotted the girls, I knew they were in way over their heads. The girls were surrounded by about a hundred Changelings and some of them were changing their appearance making themselves just like the elements.
“Shit, Jane put marks on my HUD for the real elements before we lose them in the swarm.” I yelled, hoping it was in time. Thanks to the changeling magic in the air the implanted trackers were doing next to nothing, along with the magic sensors.
“How they started fighting and I can’t use the sensors to pinpoint them.” She said, i let out a few curses as the changelings could successfully camouflage themselves as the girls, it seemed like nothing could be done to tell them apart no matter how hard I tried. Then I realized something, the changelings have a hard outer shell. A shell that can absorb the impact of dive bombing into the ground hard enough to make a crater and our shot if we weren’t using 50 caliber rounds. With armor that strong, it could shoe up differently on thermals. I quickly reached up on the scope and flipped the small switch on the side of it, changing the view of the scope, and what I saw was a nice warm signature in the outline of Rainbow Dash surrounded by a bunch of cold outlines of the changelings.
"Not so camouflaged now." I thought as I took aim at the first target.
“Tyrock, use thermals, it shows changelings as cold signatures.” After passing on that information I turned my attention back to the girls. I then started dropping changelings, one after another, trying to make sure that the girls didn’t see it but causing enough confusion among the changelings that the girls had a chance to get out of there alive.
As the fight went on I soon ran out of stealth targets to hit and turn my sights to a few civilians that were in trouble along with some members of the royal guards. I quickly took the changelings out around them, but before I could turn my sight back to the girls a changeling hit the ground in front of me.
The sudden appearance of the changeling surprised me, the fact that I let it happen made me give myself a mental kick to the rear. The fact that I focused all of my attention on my scope left me open to the world around me. Another problem was how close this thing was. It was close enough that I couldn’t take a shot, and then it fired a magic blast before I could draw my side arm. The blast wasn’t aimed at me but at my rifle. When the shot connected I could feel the heat coming off it and when it made contact, the force of it knocked the gun out of my hand and threw us both at the mountain side forty feet behind me. I let out a grunt at the impact but when my right side slammed on the ledge my right arm give a pop. I gasped in pain, I could feel that my arm was dislocated at the shoulder. As I laid there on the ground in pain, the thought of the girls in trouble made me get back up and prepared to fight the changeling. When I stood up the changeling snarled at me and charged.
With the changeling charging at me I reached for the pistol attached to the magnetic plating on my right thigh with my one good arm. With the gun facing the wrong way for me to grab it properly taking a shot was not an option. Leaving the gun almost useless to me, almost. As I reached over the changeling was almost to me, ready to drive its horn into my chest. I ripped the gun from its place by the barrel and hit the changeling in the head with an upward swing, connecting the handle with its skull just below its crooked horn. When the gun made contact the changeling stumbled back. Thankfully giving me just enough room to spin the gun around and flip the safety switch before putting the sights on the changlings head. When the changeling saw the gun it charged up its horn again hoping to repeat its attack from before. I didn't give the bastard the chance and pulled the trigger, ending the creature’s life with a spray of red and pink mist out the back of its skull. The discharge of the weapon was loud, loud enough to be heard by any nearby changelings. I didn’t have a suppressor for it so I hoped it could be put off as a changeling dive bombing the ground, or something. Lucky for me all of the changelings had their focus on either civilians or the girls. As soon as my brain caught up with that train of thought I jerked my head towards the castle.
“Tyrock, can you see the girls!?” I asked, grabbing my dislocated arm. I took a look at the rock face behind me and slammed my shoulder into it. The impactforced it back into place with a repeated pop. After a flash of pain and a quick breather, I moved it around testing it for any more damage. Once I was satisfied it was usable I put the pistol back in its place on my leg. “let's hope I don't have to deal with something like that again today." Wishful thinking rolling through my head. At this point my radio clicked on with Tyrock alerting me to a new snag.
“Stones, be advise the charges are surrounded and the enamy is charging up some kind of spell. Unknown situation please advise” He said as I picked up my rifle. But when I did the weight was off. Then I saw the suppressor, or rather what was left of it. The end was completely melted shut and what was left of the thing was bent at a ninety-degree angle pointing up. Without the silencer, the rifle was ten times louder than anything else I had. Good thing I keep a backup.
“Copy moving to deal with situation.” I said removing the damaged piece of equipment from the rifle and reaching for its replacement that I have been carrying on my vest, but all I felt was an empty pouch. Looking down I let out another curse when my eyes confirmed what my hands were telling me.
“Copy that. Be advised ammo supplies are running low. Request to move to resupply point and to a better fighting posistion.” He asked as my mind race trying to think of a way out of the current mess we were in. It’s like what they say: bad luck comes in threes. With the scilencet gone it would allow the changelings and the guards a chance to locate me. Putting me, Tyrock, and our mission in jeopardy. Unless there is only one of us in the city.
“Negative Tyrock, situation has gotten too hot. Fall back to rally point delta then back to HQ.” I commanded.
“What are you talking about?” he asked, a tone of worry filled his voice. Dropping radio protocol. Rally point delta ment that only one of use was leaving.
“I also have low ammo along with a damaged silencer." I stated checking my empty mag pouches." Situation has reached a omega level. Fall back to rally point delta then to HQ, how copy?”
"Nagative copy, you can't take on that many alone."
"Tyrock you are low on ammo and are to far away to do anything, now follow my orders. This is not up for debate." I demanded.
“But Stones…?”
“No buts now get yours out of here.” I said giving my strongest authority behind it. Begging what ever God was out there that he would listen. After a short pause he answered.
“Copy that, you better make it out alive, if you don't I'll come back and put you in the grave myself."
“Deal, now get out of here, Sarah transfer a field copy of yourself over to my systems, I might need you." I said laying down once more resting the rifle on the bi-pods.
"Copying..... transfer complete, let us get to work." she said as a small image of her appeared on my HUD.
"See you at dinner cuz, Stones out.” I said shutting off the radio. I then dropped the mag out of the rifle checking for ammo, when I saw it was empty I gave a small grumble and threw it away. I then pulled the slide back on the rifle praying again to the gods to have at least one round left. I gave a sigh or relief when the shiny brass metal meet my gaze. I let the slide slam forward once more and looked down sights. I could see a bright green glow coming from the courtyard. After some small adjustments I found the source of the glow.
What I saw was a guardian's worst nightmare. The girls were surrounded by about fifty changelings but instead of taking a different form and attacking in hand to hand as their normal MO, their magic was flowling up to a large sphere over the girls head. All of their magic combined was enough to create a small, and I guessed with the numbers scrolling across the side of my HUD. A combined force strong enough to level a large house, making them capable of taking out the girls and themselves, along with a good chunk of the ground. These changelings were on a suicide mission. I could also see a shield surrounding the girls to keep them in place till the spell was ready. As I watched them working on the spell, I saw Twilight putting up a secondary shield over her and the girls inside the other one, trying to compensate for the ball of destruction over them.
“That’s not enough.” I said softly to myself, searching the massive hoard of changelings trying to find some way to save them. The chance of them surviving this was like finding a needle in a mile long haystack. Even if Twilight was at full capacity she will have to put every drop of magic into the shield to save them, thought that would be when she was at full power. She was just barely able to stand let alone stop the ball of destruction above their heads.
"Stones there." Sarah said a small arrow appeared on my HUD. I aimed the scope at it to find the needle I was looking for.
There was one changeling standing near the back of the group that didn’t have his magic transferring into the sphere. He was the one creating and controlling the sphere, most likely the one also controling the sheild. I quickly lined up the crosshairs not on his head but on his horn.
As soon as I was lined up, I exhaled slowly and softly squeezed the trigger. The sound of the rifle was loud enough to me through the helmet, I guarantee you could have heard it outside the city, but I could tell the shot was dead on. When the tip of the changeling’s horn shattered, I gave a sigh of relief. My prayers were answered. As soon as the changeling in charge lost control of the spell, the sphere disappeared causing the rest if the changelings to drop their magic in shock. Releasing the magic to go back where it came from but with a more shocking effect. When the changelings drop from the spell and start shaking from the magic discharge in their brain, I gave myself a few seconds to relax. Dropping my head and letting go of the breath i didnt notice I was holding. When the changelings died the girls looked around in confusion and fear, either from the surprising changelings' death or from the sound of the rifle, I do not know which but I knew I had to get out of here. Preferably before either the royal guard came or more changelings. When I stood up to try and leave, I heard the sound of changelings reinforcements. I tensed up but saw they weren’t heading for me, they were heading for the girls. I let my shoulders drop in frustration. Murphy was working over time today.
Now shit has hit the fan, with me sending Tyrock out of the city and since I was out of rifle ammo, there was nothing I could do to help them. There was a supply cashe below me but it would take to long to climb down and return before the girls were over runned. All I have is my pistol, along with an assault shotgun. To use them would changing tactics from snipping to close quarters but if I get closer, that means a massively higher chance of being found and killed as soon as Celestia or Luna sees me. If I show myself to the girls there is no chance to get out of here alive. I lift my rifle and looked down sights at the girls. Twilight was drained of energy lying on the ground near unconscious and the rest of them looked like they might drop at any second. I sighed. Knowing that they had no chance and that ment I would have to put my life fully on the line to keep them safe.
"What are we going to do now?" Sarah asked. her voice filled with worry and desperation, but under it all, I could sense a bit of hope. I looked down at them then to Ponyville in the distance.
“I guess we do what we have always done. Protect them at all cost,” I said, quoting Jane from the day we first arrived here. The one rule we lived by since that day. I gave a chuckle, knowing today was the first time since we got here that I might have to pay the ultimate price. I shook off those feelings before backing up a few steps. Tightening my grip on the rifle and ran for the edge of the rock ledge.
“Are you sure this is a good idea Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said looking at the runes chalked onto the library floor. The cyan blue, rainbow mane pegasus fluttered above the heads over everyone present, looking over the white chalk lines drawn on the library floor. “I mean do you even know what this spell does?”
“Of course I do, I have read up on this spell very closely.” Twilight, a lavender unicorn with dark purple hair with a pink strip in her mane and tail stated, going over her triple checklist for the third time.
“I don’t know darling, this all seems a little extreme, even for what Discord did.” Rarity commented. The white furred and blue curly mane unicorn was checking herself over with a small mirror.
“Rarity, I know it may be a little extreme but we can't risk having the elements taken like that again.” Twilight said. “Don’t worry, this is perfectly safe.”
“I don’t know Twi. Some of those ingredients seem mighty strange.” Applejack pointing out the items on the table. The orange farm pony then rubbed her blonde mane fixing her stetson. “I mean do we really have to worry about Discord anymore, we turned him to stone.”
“Don’t worry Applejack. This will protect the elements from getting taken from other things as well.” Twilight said, marking the last check box on her list. “Now let’s get started.” All of the girls looked at each other then stepped into one of the five circles of writing. The rune written on the floor was a mystery to everyone but Twilight. The unicorn took a small breath as she stepped into the center ring. The runes started with a ring in the center. Followed by five smaller ones around it. Leaving everything surrounded by a large ring of writing and markings that only one of a higher magic degree could understand let alone read.
“Now for the ingredients: 32 ounces of liquid rainbow, 226 grams of diamond dust, 4 ounces of liquid dragon fire. One feather of a reborn phoenix, and one gram of cockatrice venom.” Twilight said gently, placing one item in front of each of the girls being especially careful with the dragon fire. Even though it was a small vial of it, there was enough to level the whole library if it met a spark. That is why it was in a completely sealed magically enhanced bottle to prevent any chance of that happening. The diamond dust got set down in front of Rarity. The liquid rainbow in front of Pinkie Pie. The liquid dragon fire got set down in front of Fluttershy. The cockatrice venom was placed before Applejack and the Phoenix feather before Rainbow Dash.
With everything in its place the unicorn ignited her horn and pushed her magic into the runes. After a few seconds they started to glow in a bright blue color signaling the time to start the next step in the spell.
“Alright girls this is where it might get strange but we need to place a drop of blood on the runes.” Twilight said, levitating a needle to each of them. Their reaction was not quite what she expected.
“WHAT!” they all yelled as they looked at the needles in front of them.
“Twilight are you nuts, I’m not doing that.” Rainbow Dash said as she took a step back. In doing so caused the circle around her to turn from blue to more of a cyan color. Also a faint glow in the same color surrounded the feather before her. Due to the light coming in from outside the glow went unnoticed.
“Rainbow, get back into place now!” Twilight yelled. Rainbow quickly returned to her position. The runes turned back to their original color but the feather dimmed its glow, almost vanished, though it was still the color of rainbow's coat. Twilight then turned to the girls who all looked at her in surprise and shock.
“Twilight, what kind of spell is this?” Applejack asked. The feather and the runes changing color surprisingly went unnoticed. Twilight sighed.
“Alright, this spell was created by Star Swirl the bearded back before Nightmare Moon was banished. This spell was made for the elements as a protection spell. He tried it the first time Discord tried to take over Equestria. The spell was successful but the only reason was it involved a drop of Celestia's and Luna's blood to balance the spell. It’ll work the same but only if the spell protecting the elements used the drop of blood of the ones that wield them. The other items are used to help give the spell its power.” Twilight said, looking at each one of her friends.
Each of the girls looked at one another then back at Twilight.
“You’re telling me that Celestia has a protection spell on the elements. How come it didn’t work when Discord first took them away?” Dash asked, tilting her head.
“I don’t know, the spell says something about needing to be reactivated after sometime or maybe when they were turned to stone they lost the spell.” Twilight said, hoping the girls wouldn’t press the matter.
“I thought you said you read this spell very closely? Right now you don’t sound so sure.” Applejack said, raising an eyebrow in question.
“Look, Celestia told me this spell is perfectly safe. She's fine right now isn’t she?” Twilight asked, the needles still held in her magic in front of the girls.
“Twilight, that is not really that reassuring. Now you need to end this spell now before somepony gets hurt.” Applejack said, raising her voice.
“Applejack I can’t just end the spell. It’s not made to do that. Once you girls are in place the spell can’t be stopped.” Twilight said, almost shouting. The needles shaking in her magic.
“Darling, I insist that you end this right now.” Rarity said.
“Rarity I already said I can’t. There is no way to end the spell. If anypony moves the results could be…” Twilight said. The needles were vibrating in the air quite violently, the magic flickering, changing colors.
“I don’t care what the results might be, end this now or I’m leaving!” Rainbow Dash said, flaring her wings.
“I'm going to as well Twilight, this stuff ain’t right.” Applejack said lifting a hoof away from the runes taking a step out of the circle towards Twilight. When she did the circle around her glowed orange, but it wasn’t the feather this time but the bottle of venom before her that was surrounded in a faint glow matching her coat. Again it returned to normal and went unnoticed. Except by Fluttershy.
Fluttershy took a step back in fright, putting a hoof outside of the circle. Causing the runes to turn yellow, along with the vial of dragon fire, she gave a whimper and stepped back inside letting it vanish. Rarity spread her legs, getting ready to use her own magic if needed, causing the circle around her to turn white. The diamond dust went from Sapphire blue to pure white as well. Pinkie Pie, not caring that they were yelling, looked at the items changing color and wanted to have one pink. So she put her hoof out of the circle making her circle change to pink. Also causing the liquid rainbow to form a pink pinstripe in it between the green and yellow. Causing the party mare to let out a giggle.
Twilight then put her hooves to her head trying to drown out the yelling. When she did, her tail left her ring, causing the center and outer ring to match her coat. Then the runes changed completely, instead of each circle changing one at a time they all started to glow in the color of those inside them. Again this all went unnoticed by everyone but Pinkie Pie. Who in turn was pointing at it trying to get Twilights attention to get a laugh out of them. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity were pointing at Twilight yelling at her to end the spell. Fluttershy then saw the runes and lifted a hoof to point it out.
“STOP!” Twilight yelled, holding out her hooves in frustration, releasing her magic to try and stop the spell. Instead the floating needles were coated in the same glow as the rings and they shot forward stabbing into the arms of each of the girls. They all instinctively pulled back, causing the needles to be pulled out along with a drop of blood on the tip. They all saw this drop fall to the floor, landing on the items. Twilights landed on the edge of the inner circle. After a second of silence the rings light up in bright, almost blinding light of their colors activating the spell.
When the spell activated it immediately latched onto Twilight's horn and pulled magic from it. Causing her to scream in pain, and her eyes to turn pure white. Then magic shot out of the points of the circles and latched onto each of the girls hooves, holding them in place. They each screamed in fear and tried to free themselves. As they were doing this each item that changed to their color levitated up from each of the runes and started circling their heads about a foot away from them. Slowly at first then speeding up until they were almost a blur glowing in their magic. When they reached top speed a ring of magic slowly started to form from the items to the girls. Almost like a halo that was shrinking. When it made contact with their heads they each screamed in pain. It felt like someone was taking a knife and digging it into their skulls. Then memories started flashing before their eyes almost too fast to tell them apart. starting from birth going all the way up to the present day. At the same time the spell book lifted up into the air and slipped into the selves, hiding among the many other spell books there. When the memories ended the spell released them causing all of them to drop from the disorienting process they went through. As it released them the runes and the ingredients vanished leaving the room the way it was before Twilight started to even set up for the spell. When the book flew up and slipped onto the shelf another one came out and took its place. The girls all laid on the floor groaning. After a few minutes they each slowly started to get up. As they looked around making sure everyone was alright a look of confusion started to fill each of their faces and their minds.
“Is everypony okay?” Twilight asked weakly as she shakily got to her hooves. Each of them looked at each other and nodded.
“Twilight what just happened?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking about the room.
“I don’t know Rainbow.” She said, looking about the room. She could remember trying a new spell for the girls but can't remember what happened though she did feel like something when wrong. She also felt some heat near her horn causing her to lift her hoof to check. When she did she gasped and yanked her hoof back. The end of her horn was almost hot enough to burn her hoof. When she winces in pain the girls rush over seeing smoke coming off the tip.
“What wrong Twi?” Applejack asked.
“I’m fine, just a little bit of magic burn. It happens when you use a lot of magic at once. It will take a while for it to cool down.” She said lowering her hoof. Twilight then walked over to the book and started flipping through it using her hooves. The spell looked to be a locator spell but she doesn't understand how it could have gone wrong. Unless the item she was trying to locate didn't exist.
“I don’t know exactly, I don't remember what happened with the spell. Thought that could be part of the overuse of my magic."
“Are you sure you are okay darling?" Rarity says, looking the lavender unicorn over. Each of the girls looked each other over before looking to Twilight for answers.
"Yes after a bit of time I should be perfectly fine. It will just take some time and rest to refill my magic. Much like over exercising." She says causing both Applejack and Rainbow Dash to nod as the two both know what it is like to push yourself that hard in a short time. As Twilight read through the book suddenly a yawn burst from her mouth. "Sorry girls I think it would be best if we call it for today. We can meet up tomorrow for lunch. Would that be fine with everypony?" Twilight asks as she looks at each of her friends. They all nod or give their own confirmation to the lunch plans. They all gave one last check of the tired unicorn and each other before heading to their homes. The failed spell soon sank deep into their memories.
"No, please someone help me, help me! Please don't hurt me, no nooooooooo…!"
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.
My eyes jerked open by my alarm quickly bringing me out from my dream. I groaned, closing my tired eyes, letting go of the 1911 I held under my pillow and reached over with my right hand in search of the blasted snooze button. When the alarm died, I cracked open one of my eyes to see the time, 5:30, exactly the time I set it to.
"Get the hell out of my head, hearing those screams once was enough." I thought as I sat up, putting my hand to my head groaning softly. "I thought I got rid of that one years ago." I said softly to myself, giving a few shakes of my head. The memory of those screams soon faded from my mind and back into the past. As I rubbed the sleep from my eye I looked about my room. The room barely had anything in it. There was a dresser in front of me against the far wall. Some generic pictures hung from the walls. All in all the room looked much like a hotel or condo you would rent out. Mostly the room was made to look like it was lived in. Though it was, this place has never been home. Just a place to sleep and eat. At least that is how it felt without the rest of the family.
As I got out of bed I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror next to the closet. A six foot five lightly tanned and well fit 25 year old male looking back. Two inches of straight light brown hair covered his skull that had a slight bed head look, but a swipe of his hand smoothed it out. A small hint of freckles dust his nose and cheeks but faded in with the tan. More noticeable ones covered his white shoulders and upper arms ending at the farmers tan line half way down. Blue eyes looked back into mine, they seemed warm and friendly but can turn ice cold when the man's mind was set on something. The man in the mirror looked like he could be a model in a magazine. A man that women would fall head over heels for. Though the soft tan skin was ruined by the multiple scars across the man's body. Bullet wounds and stab marks are scattered over the man's tone chest and abs, other marks of fighting cover his back and legs. Giving him a warrior or maybe a roman spartan look. I shake my head after rolling my eyes remembering a magazine spokesman saying something similar once. I banished that memory as well, pulling open the closet and started getting dressed. Reaching in I grabbed a dark green t-shirt and digital forest camo cargo pants. Tossing them onto the bed I strolled across the room to the dresser pulling out a pair of black socks. After putting everything on I reached under the edge of the bed and pulled out a pair of tan combat boots.
After tying them up I stood, reaching over and grabbed my scared dog tags resting on the nightstand next to the alarm clock. I looked down at the tags, both made from titanium. Made the same as a standard tag but these are for the special unit we served in. My mind raced as I thought about how each little mark was made and where it took place. I shook my head once more, pulling them over my head.
I sighed. “Looks like today is the day of fucking memories.” I said to myself. The memories I was thinking of were ones that very rarely ever come back. Shortly after my sixth birthday my mother vanished. Disappeared off the face of the earth. Leaving me and my father. It wasn’t ideal but it could have worked. Though sadly my father did the same thing as my mother. Leaving me all alone.Well not completely alone, I do have to remember I wasn’t the only one. My cousin and I both lost our parents. All four vanished never to be seen or heard from again. My mother and aunt were sisters. Both of them left at the same time starting this whole mess. It was maybe a day or two after all four left. Leaving the two of us on our own before the Academy swooped in. They took the two of us along with 50 other boys and girls around the same age and forced us to train. Learning how to fight and kill from day one. They barely gave us any time to think about what was happening to us, and when we did have time we were exhausted. That is probably why their little project worked so well. By the age of 12 everyone in our unit looked like an 18 year old olympic athlete. Could use and tear apart any weapon we got our hands on, and overcome any challenge thrown our way. We became the ultimate team. Loyal, strong, and unstoppable. Then they decided to push it farther. They added genetic augmentation to the mix. We went from teenagers to full grown adults in under a month. We were faster, and stronger than any human before. We also had the tactical and mental mindset to solve any problem we came across. Once we were done they sent us out to do their dirty work.
Years of taking out countries' leadership, ending wars before they even started, and making problems disappear. We lost so many siblings along the way. Now there were only 14 left. That is what we did for the next 8 years. Though four years ago we were forced to stop major operations due to the new presidency. So they put us on probation/standby status. Start normal lives as it were. Go out and get our own homes and jobs. With limitations of course. We had to be able to be called in within 48 hours, have to stay at the same address or with written consent, move to a new location. It's not complete freedom but it is a close second. The team spread out across the globe, keeping minimal contact with each other. My cousin and I stayed together. We may have had a new family of trust and loyalty but we stuck with our blood bond. We have had a quiet life since then, we were only called out maybe 5 times. Small jobs with minimal danger. It was fucking boring. So we ended up working on personal projects to stay busy and just waiting for any moment when they might call us back to take care of something bigger. With those last few memories finally done my brain was free to go about the day.
I stood up from my bed and headed for the door. Along the way banging my fist on the wall that split my room from my cousins. I stepped through the door to the hallway. Across the hall was a spare bedroom almost mirrored to my own. To the right of it was the same for my cousin's room.
I turned to the left heading for the front of the house. From the hallway I could see the large fireplace in the corner, on the mantel was a stuffed bull moose head. The thought of a broken left arm came to mind as I looked upon it. Turning right at the corner I came to find a snarling mountain lion looking at me. I ran my hand over its head and down its back as I walked past. The four parallel scars on my right forearm gave a small itch in satisfaction of returning a favor. I headed past the stuffed cat walking towards the kitchen. As I walked in the lights turned on automatically followed by a soft female voice.
"Good morning Stones."
"Good morning Sarah." I replied as I opened the fridge, getting out the gallon of milk. Sarah is an artificial intelligence I built some years ago. Her systems are wired throughout the whole 16 bed and 8 bath house giving her more than enough processing power to complete almost any task given to her.
"It is currently 53 degrees with a high of 70 along with a gentle 3 mph wind from south by southwest." Sarah informed me as I set the milk on the island. "There are no reminders set for today and no messages."
"Thank you Sarah, can you tell me if Tyrock is up yet?" I asked, grabbing two bowls out of one of the cupboards.
"Tyrock has yet to move. Would you like me to turn the lights on?"
"If you would please." I say as I grab two boxes of cereal from the pantry. I took them over to the table and started to pour one of them into my bowl then adding the milk..
“Tyrock is now up and moving.” She says, causing me to give a few nods as I dive into the bowl. After a few minutes my cousin entered the room. He is pretty much the same as me. He is just an inch shorter than me and he has a slightly stronger chin but we have the same hair, eyes, and body structure.
I watched him pour his own food. After a few minutes of eating in silence I spoke up.
"So I was thinking we should head up north towards the mountains. Using the trees to test if anything will come off without permission. Then with some mountain climbing to test if the equipment will shift on the climb up and on the repel down. That work for you?" I asked before scooping up some more food.
"That sounds good enough. I think we should also get a hold of Robert. He still owes us a favor and we could do with a water drop off. Test the water proofing and if a splash down can jar anything loose." Tyrock answered.
Before we could discuss more testing situations there was a ringing from across the house. We both stopped mid thought and turned. In an instant we dropped whatever was in our hands and booked it for the sound. I heard Sarah saying something about the call over the sound of our bowls clattering but it was not needed. That ring was for when we were being called to action.
We burst through a door into a large office area. Two large wooden desks sat against the walls on opposite sides of the room. The one on the left was mine and the one on the right was Tyrocks. The two desks were bare, much like the bedrooms. They had three monitors on each with a camera mounted on the middle monitor. Two large leather office chairs sat before the desk. Besides these items there was nothing else. No pictures or knick knacks to be seen. Not even some paper or writing tools. On the middle monitor of my desks was flashing the words ``incoming transmission. Access code required." I quickly typed in a long 14 character code into the computer. While I was doing this Tyrock was grabbing his own chair and wheeling it over. A few seconds after I finished the code the screen lit up and the video transmission started.
"Team leader, Stones, code 4256 reporting."
"Second in command, Tyrock, code 6419 reporting." We answered before anything happened.
"At ease boys." A gruff aged voice responded. On screen a 60 year old man filled the monitor cutting off just below his knees. He had silver hair on his head and a thick matching mustache over his upper lip. Wrinkles and age showed heavily on his face but he had the spirit of a man less than half that. Anyone could see it in his eyes, which were still bright and full of fire. I could see the man looking back and forth at us on his screen. The man before us was Admiral Martin. The leader of the academy that trained us to be what we were today. Along with being our commanding officer.
"What is the mission sir? The team is ready and willing." I said fighting to keep the excitement out of my voice. The lack of missions has been making everyone restless.
"I'm sorry son. There is no mission." The Admiral almost seems to age right before us. Showing the true amount of years he has been alive. "There will no longer be any missions." We looked confused at him.
"What do you mean sir?" Tyrock asked, shifting forward in his seat.
"The program has been deactivated and your team has been discharged." Tyrock and I looked at each other, he tilted his head to the screen giving me the honor. I nodded before turning back to the admiral.
"Permission to speak freely sir?" I ask no emotion on my face. Though I couldn't keep the venom from my voice. He sighs before dropping his head slightly then straightening back up.
"Granted."
"WHAT THE FUCK!" I roared at the screen. He didn't even flinch and just stared at me. That only made me more angry.
"The new presidency wants to…" He started before I interrupted.
"Wants to what? Leave the fate of the world to those ego filled showboats in New York?" I asked, waving my hand to the side. "You can't be serious. Leave those clowns unchecked and they would end the world before they save it."
"You don't think I know that son?" He roared back at me. I lean back slightly. We have been yelled and shouted at before. Loads of times during our training but this was different. Before there was never anger in his voice. Just volume. Now it was creeping at the edges of his words. I almost felt like a wolf standing before their mad alpha. I didn't show these feelings on my face. "Look I feel the same way about this as you do but orders are orders and we have to follow them."
Tyrock and I looked at each other. Thought and worries racing between us. "What of our team sir?"
"The team is disbanded. No contact, if any is made it will be seen as treason. You are also not allowed to join any military, law enforcement, or first responder type units." He said adjusting in his chair. "You have 24 hours. At 0700 tomorrow you are to turn in any and all equipment connected to the academy. Is this understood?" The Admiral asked, looking between the two of us.
Personal: Admiral Martin. Location: Washington DC. Academy building 205.
Watching these two always made me both irritated and proud. Them and their team always amazed me. They spoke to each other without even saying a word. Having a lifetime of conversations across a room within a few seconds. Not a single one of their trainers couldn't understand it. It was almost damn near telepathic, quite a few of them stated. I watched them, waiting for their response. I knew what it was going to be. They have just been told they were losing the only family they knew, after being abandoned before. After a few seconds they answered in the one way they were trained to do.
"Yes sir." They answered together, their tones flat and emotionless. Even though I could see the anger in their eyes and the want, no, need to fight this. Even though it was there they would never act on it. They were too loyal to disobey an order like this, publicly anyway. I gave a nod.
"Good luck to you both." I said before ending the call. I looked at the black screen before me for a few seconds. "You do know they will not take this lying down. Those boys and their team have done a lot of good for this country."
After hearing a scoff, I turned to look at the man standing next to me. He was older than me with white hair on his head and a thick matching mustache above his lip. He was a little over 6 foot tall, matching me in height. He was slightly on the scrawny side. Showing his lack of body strength but a mind build for plans and strategies. Probably what helped him get so high in the ranking. Though now as the secretary of defense he was in charge of all the military.
"This country doesn't need freaks protecting it. This country was founded and built on the blood of men." The man stated. I shook my head facing him fully.
"Those freaks will always be more human and better protectors then you could ever be Ross." I snapped at him before walking past him and out of the room. The mp's on the other side of the door slipped the titanium cuffs around my wrist once more and led me out of the building. My head and heart filled with worry for my team. Praying to any God that would hear me they will be alright. All I could hope was that the deal I made would work out.
Personal: Tyrock. Location: U.S.A North western wilderness.
I looked at the screen. The words, call disconnect blinking across the black screen. I slowly reached over and pressed a few keys on the keyboard. The words vanished from the screen and silence filled the room as the computer shut off. We turned our heads to look at each other. Stones took in a deep breath then nodded before he stood up, turning and heading out of the room. I quickly got up and followed him. He turned the corner and started heading for the door that led into the garage.
“Stones.” I called out to him. When he gave no response I gave a small growl and grabbed his arm. “Stones look at me.” As soon as I grab him he turns and rips it out of my grasp, glaring at me. We hold matching glares before he sighs and looks away.
“Sorry.” He grumbled out before he turned, folding his arms and leaned against the wall behind him. I could understand what he was going through. We stood there for a few seconds, letting out the anger before we heard the clacking of claws on the hardwood floors. We both turn to find our dog trotting up to us. A 75 pound male german shepherd. His tail wagging with joy behind him as he sees our eyes on him. His mouth dropping open and his tongue along with it as he looks up at us. We both smile as we watch him. Stones pats his leg in a signal to the dog. Hunter walks over and sits down on his left side. Once there a hand reaches down and softly scratches behind his ear, making his tail speed up.
“So what is the plan?” I ask, looking at my cousin. Another silence fills the air as only the dog’s panting could be heard.
“Well you saw what I did right?" He asked and I nodded in return. It was small and no one would have noticed it if we weren’t already looking for it.
"Ya the tensing of his hand. Morse code. Secdev is pulling strings. Trying to shut us down from the shadows." I answered. Stones nodded and looked away in thought.
"I don't know how that bastard did it. I thought the president was the only one that has a say about us."
"That could have changed with the new presidency." I suggested with a shrug. "So how are we going to deal with this?"
"We will pay back the bastard that is trying to take our family away but there will be a few problems." He says cupping his chin in thought.
"Like figuring out why they are doing this and stopping it while doing so without any backup or our country's permission. Sounds like a blast." The last part dripping in sarcasm. My cousin could only shrug. He then looked towards the doorway to the garage.
"Look. It might not be the best idea but like the admiral said. We have 24 hours before we have to turn in all the equipment that they know of. I say we take the armor and find a spot to bury it along with all of the spare weapons. We will do the same with the ammo, give them all the empties to make them think we shot it all." I tilted my head slightly. Almost like the dog at his side was doing. "Plus if Ross is doing the pulling then what's going to stop him from locking us up as well. Last I heard he is still working on that damn project of his, the team is as close as he is going to get."
I sighed and looked towards the garage, my mind trying to figure out the best way to combat this new threat. Taking a glance at Stones in thought. I know my cousin pretty well but no one knows what he is thinking besides himself.
"Well we better hurry, the last thing we need is a tactical team trying to bust down the door before we are ready for them."
After a few seconds Stones turned and started to head for the garage. I looked down at Hunter and sighed when he whined up at me.
"Ya I feel it too buddy." I responded as I pushed off the wall and started to follow Stones, tapping my leg for Hunter to follow. The slight feeling of dread flowing over me. I get the feeling things are going to change and not in a way we want.
Personal: Stones. Location: U.S.A North western wilderness.
I tried to chase away the growing pit of anger and sorrow growing in my stomach. Being abandoned by my parents once was a major blow. Now to have the family we built a deeper bond than blood with taken from us, it was enough to have me seeing red. The small voice in the back of my head was shouting at me to calm down but a much louder and larger voice was telling me to make someone pay.
I pulled open the garage door and headed inside. The large five car garage was quite crowded. There were only four actual vehicles in the large space. Another spot was taken up by a rusty shell of another project car. On the far wall was a large walk-in armory with a large solid steel door.
As we walked over Sarah unlocked and opened the door. Inside was rows upon rows of weapons and ammunition. Everything from knives to high caliber rifles. At the back of the armory was the armor. The armor was being held upright by what looked like two cherry pickers. One on each side. On the wall behind them were some computers that we used to upload the software into the helmets. I headed for the armor, moving behind the type 3 military style painted shell.
The design was angular in shape instead of a more natural look, almost like that of old style knights. I quickly stripped down and grabbed a black woven suit off of another rack. The suit was bigger than my body but once on, it tightened up to match my form. Fitting almost like a second skin. This part of the suit was designed to monitor my body's functions and also regulate body temperature. The black woven material was bullet proof to smaller calibers and provided a final layer of protection. The rest of the armor was where the real protection was. The armor hunched over slightly in its rack. The design would cover every inch of the wearer body without sacrificing mobility. The armor was heavy as hell till it was fully activated, even then no normal human could use it. The reason is the inner mechanical work would make the user faster and stronger then they were before. With already superhuman speed and strength, the armor made us damn near inhuman. The armor also had a built in computer system and radio that would allow communications and the ability to plan in the field without even saying a word. Why no one else could use this armor was one else could handle it. Any normal human would be killed by their own pain filled spasms after their first movement broke every bone in the limb. We knew that before the government came to take this armor we would bury it and keep it from their grasp before they forced anyone else to try and use it.
I pulled down a large u shaped handle on the back of the armor causing it to hiss and open up. The back of the arms and legs, the plates opening in a split design and moved to the side while the back lifted up and out of the way. I pulled myself into the armor and slipped my hands into the inner handles that controlled the hands. The armor's hands were designed to be controlled by the wearer in the arm. Allowing for greater strength and better control of the hands while providing better protection. Giving a flick of my wrist caused the suit to give another hiss and closed behind me. I used my strength to move the heavy armor over to a shelf next to it. I reached out and gently grabbed a helmet. The helmet would fully incase my head and had a holographic heads up display. There was only a pair of small eye holes but when the suit powered up it was almost like the helmet vanished. Before slipping the helmet on I gave a quick glance over at my cousin. He was stepping into his armor and grabbing his own helmet. I slipped on the helmet hearing a clicking noise as the helmet locked to the collar of the inner lining of the armor. After it locked in, the suit powered up, causing the armor to fill lighter as it did so. We did a quick full systems check and moved around, getting used to the speed and strength. Multiple green lights flashed on the heads up display. At the same time Sarah's voice came through the helmet's internal speakers.
"Communication and tracking for mark II armor Alpha and Bravo are fully functional. All systems are green" She confirmed after performing a double check of the system. I looked back at Tyrock seeing his vitals and communication info scroll in the top corner of my screen.
"Okay let's get this over with." I said walking over to the racks of weapons. I grabbed a large matte black rifle. A Barrett 50 cal or called the M107 semi automatic rifle. The weapon was mostly designed as an anti material rifle used against the soviets back in 1982. It could be used on personal units if the need arises and with a range of over 2000 meters, it could really reach out and touch a target. Knowing the government there is no way we could trust them to keep their word to give us 24 hours.
I lifted the rifle over my shoulder and held it against my back. The armor plating magnetized and locked the rifle to my back. I also grabbed a M4 assault rifle and attached it next to the Barrett. To also test the Armor's full capabilities I grabbed a desert eagle and pressed it against my right thigh. After it locked into place I looked over to check Tyrocks load out, a matching M107 and pistol but a crossbow replaced the lower caliber rifle. Though unlike normal crossbows, this one had two bows and can rapidly fire arrows without having to draw back the cords. A large magazine full of 10 bolts was slipped into the bottom.
I quickly grabbed three combat knives. 12 inch razor sharp blades with a serrated top. In my hand they looked massive but with the armor they were just the right size. I slipped one into the holster attached to my right calf. Another went blade down into a chest holster and the last one went handle down on my left shoulder. I grabbed 4 magazines for the M107, 3 for the pistol and 8 magazines for the M4. I put a mag into each weapon before replacing them on the armor. The rest were slipped into pouches that hung at my waist. I also grabbed a small first aid kit and pressed it to the base of my spine, locking it there. Once everything was in place I carefully jumped up and down making sure everything stayed in place and didn't make a sound. The armor also counted each round that I put on my person. Showing the number next to a small image of the weapon in the top right of my visor.
Whichever weapon I held I'm my hand the sensors in the armor put a crosshair in my helmet that matched the direction the weapon was pointing. Giving us better accuracy when hip firing. I turned to Tyrock and gave him a thumbs up.
"Systems are looking good. Movement is slightly limited when you lean back due to the plating but it feels good." He said as he did a few stretches. I then heard a bark next to me. Looking down I saw Hunter looking up at me. His combat vest in front of him. I smile and kneel down. "Alright boy, you can help."
I reached down and started to strap the german shepherd in. The vest covered from his shoulders to his hips. Protecting him from small calipers and knives. There was also a helmet that covered the top of his head and snout. There was a small camera and an earpiece on the helmet to let us see what he does and give commands. After making sure everything was tight I attached a small first aid kit to the side of his vest along with a few more magazines for the weapons. Just being able to do all of the straps and buckles while using the armor was just a testament of the engineering we put into it and why no one could fet their hands on them.
Once he was all strapped in I stood back up and tapped my leg telling him to stick to my side. As soon as we stepped out of the armory all the light turned red and an alarm started to blare both from the house and the helmets speakers.
"Sarah what's going on?" I demanded turning down the volume in the armor.
"Massive unknown energy signature located on the far side of the armory." Her voice sounded panic, even for an AI that had to be a massive threat.
I yanked the M4 off my back and ran to the corner of the metal bunker. As soon as I turned the corner my eyes were blinded by a bright white light. I jerked back but a feeling of weightlessness surrounded me then the world went black.
