All these years - all the training, studying, creating - all of it has been done for this one moment, this one event: Defensive Order 23 - enemies at the gates.

I'm currently riding gunner in our jeep, which is following another jeep down the south highway, going from the Parliament building towards the dome wall. The jeep is all white, with two benches beside me going along the side of the vehicle, and two seats in the front. Dolum is driving, with Inficiunt riding shotgun. Tenera is on the bench to my right, while Fidus is on the bench to my left.

Inficiunt is currently reading over a map, with one hand holding onto the railing above. Fidus is doing a small maintenance check on her three-pronged minigun, while Tenera is staring daggers at me and holding onto her assault carbine. I can’t believe she still blames me for what happened to Fidus, but I'll deal with that when I get the chance. Right now, we all need to focus on the task at hand. I do a quick check over my armor to make sure that none of the latches have come loose.

We all wear variations of the same composite armor: a black Kevlar-fiber mesh that has metal plates woven into place over key muscles. The armor is fairly heavy, but doesn't hinder our movement. The metal plates have been forged to accentuate our muscles perfectly, making us appear more muscular than we are. Sadly, this model of armor only covers certain muscles, leaving us vulnerable to precise knife attacks. Underneath all of of this we wear black shirts, pants, and steel-toed boots. I opted for full body armor: leggings, arm covers, chest piece, shoulder pads, and-

"I still can't believe you forgot your helmet," Dolum says as he swerves around a burning car.

"I didn't have time to get it. Not like it'll help much anyway." In actuality, the helmets we wear are capable of stopping small firearms, and have advanced optical features that really come in handy. The helmets are made of compressed metal, and cover the entire head. On the inside, small crystals magically project the outside world and filter the air. Right now I'm the only one without one. Dolum and Inficiunt are the only ones wearing theirs, but I'll make due for now.

I look down to Inficiunt and ask, "What’s the ETA to our destination?" He looks back at me, then turns back to the map. Dammit, he's still mad at me for breaking that promise... just one more item on my list of things to fix after we get out of this mess.

"Dammit! How far, Inficiunt!" yells Fidus. I look down at her and sigh. Ever since that night she's been shaving her head, destroying her beautiful hair. She's also become more temperamental with everyone, getting extremely emotional at the drop of a hat.

"Ten minutes," replies Inficiunt. I look over the gun in front of me - The Spartan Pen: fifty-caliber ammo at five-hundred rounds a minute from dual drums, making for four minutes of pure-fucking-devastation! I lock the mount in place and turn to Tenera.

"What?!" she says sharply.

"You know, I didn't-"

"Don't give me that crap! I know what you did, and nothing you can say will change that, you piece of-"

"Tenera!" Fidus snaps.

"How can you defend him-?!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" shouts Inficiunt.

"Fuck off-!"

"ENOUGH!” I yell, getting everyone to look away.

KA-BOOM

We all turn towards the massive explosion off in the distance, which is followed by the sounds of thousands of people screaming and gunfire. I look out to the west and see a giant plume of black smoke billowing towards the top of the dome. At the same time, buildings on the west side of town lose power and are sent into darkness.

"That was the west generator," Dolum states. "They must have taken it-"

"Let’s make sure they don't take the south one then!" I say as Dolum slams on the accelerator.

The rest of the ride is spent in silence, our destination coming into sight within minutes. We approach a small grey dome that is two stories tall and roughly sixty meters wide. This dome is situated halfway into the city’s main dome, and only has one entrance - a large metallic bulkhead - with two machine gun nests guarding it. Each nest has two guards: one on the gun, and another with automatic beam rifles. The lead jeep stops next to the left nest, and Captain Bellum steps out of the vehicle and talks to the guards. Moments later, the bulkhead slides to the right, opening the way for us.

As we pull in, I take a moment to survey the area. The room is perfectly round, and is half-filled with counters covered in random beakers and computers. In the back are two semis with flatbeds attached and six vans parked in front of them. The first flatbed has hundreds of metal boxes being tied down, and the second one has something very tall and cylindrical tied down and covered with a blue tarp. We pull our jeeps around to form a small perimeter around the door, which shuts as soon as we enter.

As we all step out of our jeeps, Captain Bellum quickly approaches me and says, "Lieutenant, get the civilians out of here. I'm going to rally what troops we have." I nod. There are three groups of people working around the room, so I head towards the nearest one. There are about twenty scientists in white lab coats in this group, arguing amongst themselves. Of the other groups, one consists of around twenty-five workers in blue jumpsuits, running back and forth between the first truck and a pile of boxes; and the other contains about fifty standard infantry moving towards Captain Bellum. As I make my way to the scientists, I listen to their conversation.

"You can't leave my device here," says a scrawny man with a nasally voice, thick black glasses, and a receding hairline with a comb over. "It's far too important!"

"We’re all going to lose some of our work!" yells a woman from inside the group.

"But this could save us all! It cannot fall into the enemy’s hands-"

"Excuse me!" I yell over the group, gaining their attention. "We do not have time for your petty arguments. You all need to gather the last of your things and get to the evac zone, NOW!" Most of the group listens and immediately begins going from desk to desk, taking papers, vials, and other assorted supplies, and packing them into the vans. As I start making my way to the workers, the scientist who was arguing before steps in my way. He’s holding a strange contraption that appears to be two glass tanks welded together, with two black hoses - one coming out the bottom of each tank - that join together and end in a long, thin, metal box.

"Please! You must help-" he tries to say, but I step around him and continue my path, only to have him follow me closely. "I’m Doctor Qui; I'm the head of-"

"Didn't I tell you to get out of here?"

"Yes, yes, but my device-"

"Destroy it."

"I will do no such thing! Please!" he says as he grabs my arm just under my regiment patch. We both take a moment to look at it: the background is a Spartan shield with a human skull in front of it; going through the skull is a black-and-silver broadsword, which enters through the top of the skull and exits through the mouth. "You’re a Spartan!" I pull away from his grasp and make my way to the workers.

"Everyone, finish tying down these last boxes and get to your-"

PAT-PAT-PAT-PAT-PAT-PAT-PAT

I turn towards the door and feel my heart drop. That’s coming from the nest out front! I immediately run to the jeep and begin to re-arm myself from a locker inside the bench. I grab my sword and partially unsheath it; the blade is eight centimeters wide and goes straight to a point for about a meter; the hilt is all black, with a light-blue hexagonal gem embedded in the pommel; and the guards go straight out for several centimeters and end flatly. I re-sheath it and strap it across my back, with the hilt going to the right.

Next, I pull out two frag grenades and two arcane grenades: the frag grenades are fist-sized metal balls that can shoot shrapnel in a twelve meter radius, and the arcane grenades are eight-centimeter-long tubes that glow bright blue.

After that, I pull out my revolver: a .45 magnum with a six-round chamber. The barrel and cylinder are bright steel, while the handle is blackened steel. I pop the cylinder to check the ammo - full. I holster the gun and belt it around my waist. Next, I check the ammo pockets in the belt - a total of sixty rounds.

Once done, I pull out my trench knife and look it over: the blade is twenty-three centimeters long and is deep black. It’s a three-edged, triangular blade that goes to a point. The handle is made to hold the tip forward, with a brass guard that also serves as a spiked knuckle duster - the spikes going out for a few centimeters before ending in flat stubs. I sheath the knife in its slot on my belt, with the point facing forward.

Lastly, I pull out my mark 4 assault rifle: it has a flat, even top, and a composite stock under the short barrel. I pull the breech bolt on the weapon - pulling a round into the chamber - and then attach a sling to it and swing it across my back, going left. Sadly, as I rummage through the locker, I only find four of my magazines. I take them and slide them into their slots, before running over to the group of soldiers in front of Bellum.

"... then we can take that long ride home. You know your jobs; let's get it done!" he says, which is followed by a loud “OORAH!” He looks over and motions for me, so I approach him.

"Orders, sir?"

"..."

"Sir?"

"We have to hold the line. They cannot take this generator. Go with the rest of the squad and hold your positions." I nod and make my way to the rest of the group. They've already set the jeeps up so that the turrets have a crossfire set. Around the jeeps, they've also taken some counters and set them on their sides, forming a curved wall that bends toward the door. Soldiers have lined up behind the barrier, and now wait for the inevitable. I take my place in-between Dare and Sine and pull out my rifle.

"How're you holding up?" I ask as I check my sights.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Dare says in his regal voice. He's wearing full armor and has his submachine gun out, pointed towards the bulkhead. "It was a year ago, but you still haven't said a word about it. Bottling it up like this can't be good for you."

"Yeah, it was one year and three days, to be precise," I say as sadness fills my heart. "But that doesn't matter right now. Right now we need to focus on the task at hand."

"Like we've never heard that excuse before," says Sine as he loads shells into his shotgun’s drum. "Look, you can lie to yourself all you want, but do me a favor and cut the crap with me. A year after his death, and suddenly we’re attacked-?"

"Spatium would never do that!" Sine loads the drum to his shotgun and cocks a round into place while turning away from me. She would never do that... I trust her. Moments later, the gunfire out front stops and every head turns to the door. Here they come.

"..."

"..."

"..."

KRA-BOOM

The door flies off the wall - landing meters away from our defensive line - in a fiery explosion that leaves the entrance hidden behind a veil of smoke and dust.

"Inficiunt, open fire! The rest of you, hold until we have visual!" yells Captain Bellum. Inficiunt nods and pulls his BOOMstick up. An invention of my own design, it has an eight-chamber cylinder that fires 30-millimeter explosive rounds. He takes aim at the doorway and, with a solid thump, opens fire. With each thump, an explosion and cries of pain and death follow. Eight shots later, he slides the chamber to the side and begins to reload. I take my rifle and take aim down the doorway.

Moments later I see a figure break through the smoke. It stands more than two meters tall, is fairly skinny, and has light-grey skin. Its face is narrow and has prominent cheekbones, no hair, black eyes, dagger-like teeth, and two narrow slits where a nose would normally be. He - I presume it's male due to its body build - is wearing light-tan coveralls that have a black patch over the right breast. I take aim and send a round through his skull, sending black blood and brain matter flying behind him as he drops to the floor. As he drops, two more appear and take his place, then four, then ten - just how many of them are there!?

Twenty-! Forty-! As they enter, our line erupts into a torrent of energetic fire, killing those at the door.

Most infantry received the mark eight assault rifle - a variation of my rifle that fires arcane bolts instead of bullets. I opted for the FMJ variation because I prefer its higher rate of fire and the possibility of hitting multiple targets. The biggest downside is that if I run out of ammo, I can't just refill it magically - a problem I've already run into today.

As they continue to enter, Fidus steps over the barricade with her minigun, spinning the barrels at top speed. She takes her stance and begins to fire down the entrance, spraying archaic death all over. Eximius quickly jumps behind her and, with a pushing motion, magically brings up two force fields to cover Fidus. The fields are dull white, roughly the same height and width as a person, and will hold against almost anything that the wielder has the strength to repel.

As Fidus fires downrange, the enemy begins to return fire, punching holes into the desks and our jeeps. I recognize the fire as coming from some of our own weapons. After a minute of continuous fire, Fidus's gun begins to click, telling everyone that it's empty. As she turns to get back behind cover, a loud battle cry erupts from behind the door, followed by the rumbling of what sounds like a stampede.

"Here they come!" yells Captain Bellum as he readies his claymore.

As the dust settles, a massive crowd comes into view, charging straight towards us. As soon as we have visibility, every weapon erupts in fire. The mixed sounds of 50-calibers, rifle discharges, and bullets whizzing all around fill the air. As we cut down enemy after enemy, there seems to be no end to the waves of troops coming in to take their place. With every soldier that has to stop and reload, the mound of dead bodies creeps closer and closer, charging enemies trying to get over. Once those 50's stop, we'll be in deep shit.

Click-click-click - "I'm out!" yells a soldier from one of the turrets. Well... fuck. As the other turret stops firing, a wave of enemy infantry pours through the doorway and quickly overruns our line. Enemy troops rush me, so I backpedal, shooting any who get too close.

Step-step - pat-pat-pat - step-step - pat-pat-click - FUCK! With my rifle empty, I swing it onto my back and ready my magic. The white flames appear in my hands and flare halfway up my forearms. As I channel the energy, I allow the black lines to grow up to my elbows, burning my sleeves along the way and making the metal plates strapped to me glow red. I ready my stance as enemies come closer and closer. At the last moment, I bring both my hands straight above my head and quickly push them straight back down, sending two beams of white energy at the ground beneath me. This makes a ring of energy explode around me, sending the group of charging enemies flying away several meters. With room to breathe, I pull out my sword with my right hand and my revolver with my left. Weapons out, I charge into the fight.

Enemy troops have stopped coming in from the door, but we're still heavily outnumbered. I charge towards a small group of our infantry who are trying to hold back some twenty-odd enemy troops in hand-to-hand combat. The first enemy doesn't see me coming, so I quickly stab him in the middle of the back, dropping him instantly. The three that were next to him turn to face me, only to get .45 magnum rounds sent through their faces. As they drop, I suddenly realize something about the enemy troops - most of them aren't armed.

I shake my head, turn to the group in front of me, and yell, "Come with me! We need to get the ammo for the 50-cals!" They all nod, and the four of us head to the first truck. As we go, we run into another group of weaponless enemy troops. The first one tries to grab me, but I sidestep and swing my sword to the side, decapitating him. The next two receive holes in their chests from the troops behind me while I shoot the third one in the heart with my revolver. With this group dealt with, we make it the rest of way to the truck and look for the ammo.

"Where's the ammo!?" I yell.

"Should be in the the back of th—AAAAGGHH!" one of the soldiers begins to speak, but is stopped when an enemy trooper jumps onto his back and bites into his neck. I quickly dispose of the enemy by swinging my blade and lobbing the back of his head off. Once it’s dead, I quickly check on our soldier. He's bleeding profusely from the neck - looks like his jugular was torn open. Before I can do anything, though, I see the life fade away from his eyes.

"We've got the ammo; let's get going!" yells one of the soldiers from behind me. I turn to see both him and the other soldier holding metal boxes of 50-caliber ammo in each hand. I sheath my sword and holster my revolver before pulling my rifle out and reloading it.

"Alright, I'll take lead. You two follow me and stick to my ass. If I stop for anything, you keep running and don't stop until you make it to the guns. Got it?" They nod, and I turn towards the jeeps and begin sprinting to them. As I run, I look around and see that most of the enemy troops have been dealt with, though they still outnumber us slightly. Our numbers have dropped by at least half, but I can see all my friends are still fighting: Captain Bellum has his claymore out and is slicing away the group in front of him; Dare and Sine are covering Eximius as he tries to magically heal a downed soldier; Fidus and Tenera are back to back, Tenera taking precise shots while Fidus swings her battle axe back and forth - she must’ve ran out of ammo for her minigun; and Dolum - he’s on his rifle shooting the trooper in front of him, but he doesn't see the one behind him!

"DOLUM!" I yell out, but I’m too late! The enemy trooper rams the bayonet of his rifle into Dolum’s back and fires a few rounds into him, sending him to the ground face-first. I quickly change direction and fire into the enemy trooper, putting more rounds into him than I should. As I approach Dolum, I sling my rifle over my back and charge my magic. When I get to him, I kneel down and frantically remove his helmet and armor.

"M-Mi-les..." he mutters as he spits up some blood.

"Shhh! D-don’t speak Dolum..." I say as I start to tear up.

"P-lease... d-do s-something for me..."

"S-stop, Dolum; you need to save your strength."

"Heh... yeah... Miles, I n-need you t-to do something f-for me..."

I finally get his armor off and look down at his back - and wince at the sight. The puncture is deep, and with the added trauma of the shots that were fired, I have no idea where to start treating the wound. Blood is pouring out and beginning to pool around him, so I tear his shirt and apply pressure to the wound.

"Miles... please..."

"Dolum, you have to stop talking-! P-please!" I say with tears flowing from my face. "You’re going to be fine...! We'll get you all fixed up; you'll get to go home, be a problem for Auxy, raise that kid of yours... just please, stop..."

I continue to hold pressure on him as he weakly turns to me with a smile and says, "Tell Auxilium... w-what she a-already knows..." With these final words, he drops his head and fades into the void.

"Dolum! Nononono - Fight it, Dolum... You can't die... DOLUM!" I cry as I hold onto his body. The rest of my squad have removed their helmets and gathered around me and Dolum, looking on with mournful eyes. As I cry into his body, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn to see Captain Bellum standing over me.

"Miles... I know you’re sad - I know what it's like to lose someone - but right now is not the time to mourn. We still have a job to do. These people need you. We need you." I look at my squad from face to face, seeing the sadness and pain in everyone. We are broken. I let go of Dolum and wipe my eyes clear before standing up.

"*sniff* What are your orders?" I ask weakly.

Captain Bellum looks around our group, sighing as he glances back down at his sword. "We can't survive another hit like that. We have to get these people out of here and meet up with the first battalion-"

"INCOMING!" yells one of the soldiers from behind, as a fiery explosion sends the first jeep into the air and towards us. I instinctively raise my hands and catch it with my magic, giving everyone else enough time to get to cover. Levitating it up for a few seconds, I’m about to toss it forward, when a second rocket flies underneath it and explodes in front of me, flinging me meters away.

When I open my eyes, the world around me spins in a blur of pain and sorrow, and my ears ring. Looking down, I can see that Eximius has removed my body armour and torn my shirt open. Across my chest, I can see a few deep, bleeding lacerations from the shrapnel. Eximius charges his hands before slamming them down onto me. I can see the magic healing my wounds and removing the shrapnel, but I don't feel anything. I look back down and see that my chest is completely healed, but my vision is still blurry and my hearing keeps fading in and out.

"...ing magic... ...oul is br... ...here," Eximius says to Captain Bellum, who is looking down at me. Before he can say anything, a white blur wearing a blue blur on its back runs up to him.

"...elp... ...use my... Quartz Crest... ...safe." I have no idea what's going on, but Captain Bellum nods to the man in white, who turns to me and points a metal rod at me. The rod breaks open into four smaller rods - making an X - and electricity arcs between the ends of each one. A white light appears in the center of the X, and the world around me soon fades into a blur of white. As my mind drifts off, I close my eyes and let out one final tear... Dolum...

Shout out to Burning Eclipse for the fanart of the Kroth!

Brony on!