The small natives drew a true sense of regret and pity from Viktur as he watched them squeamishly prance through the garden of death and blood. The reserved one of blue coat and technicolored hair simply stared ahead with wide, frightened eyes and clenched teeth. The yellow one was similar, only she was less disciplined in not keeping her eye from drifting downwards every so often and catching sight of a broken body or mangled limb, upon seeing such things emitting a high pitched squeal. The Princess seemed to be muttering to herself to remain distracted, what Viktur could make out seemed to be some trail of mathematical and scientific calculations. The bright pink one of loud and squeaky voice had plugged her fingers in her ears, closed her eyes and sang a chorus of 'Lalalalala~'. Viktur had spotted what he assumed to be the library not ten seconds ago, and it wasn't far at all. The building was in the form of what seemed like a hollowed out oak tree, complete with a door, several windows and even a small balcony. Just as they approached the large tree the front door swung open to reveal a large, orange, female native wearing work clothes and a country-style field hat.

"Come on yah'll, we've been waitin' for ya-WHAT DAH BUCKIN' BUMBLEBEE!?!?" She cried out upon seeing the gigantic space marines.

"It's alright AJ! They're with us!" Twilight called out as she interrupted her distraction giving calculus.

"Twi, what are those thangs?!" This 'A-J' exclaimed.

"Just keep the door open!" The princess cried out as she sprinted forward.

The ponies probably wouldn't have needed an open door to enter the library seeing how fast they were travelling. All bolted through the door and past their friend, aside from the pink one, who promptly bounced off the outside of the tree in her closed eye state. After comically shaking her head she bounced up to her feet and darted inside with the other. The marines followed closely behind, but halted outside the tree seeing as they could not enter through such a small doorway.

"Princess, is there another way into the structure?" Viktur asked in a low tone.

"Oh, one second." The purple mare said before quickly trotting outside and stopping just next to the captain.

The natives facial horn was set aglow by some ethereal force as she brought her hands into a firm gesture before her chest, one held above the other with palms open. A glassy and perfectly spherical bubble washed its way around the pair, its surface like violet oil. With a quickly switch of her hands position a flash of light burst before the captain, turning into a rushing sensation that seemed to through the captain in whatever direction his attention was turned to. His vision cleared to reveal an ocean of golden clouds and a fiercely beautiful sunset all around him. Soon, bright figures fluttered and flew past him, seemingly made of a bright, golden light emanating from liquid light itself. The figures appeared winged, some as small as a servo-cherub, others as large as an Astarte. Viktur could make out arms and hands, then robes, pieces of armour and finally faces. They were divine beings, elegant and powerful creatures from beyond the realm of reality itself. Viktur barely acknowledged the princess next to him as his attention remained fixed upon the otherworldly beings that seemed to notice his presence as an equally strange phenomenon as they were to him. Some covered their mouths, others whispered to one another, some descended in a theatrical display of tumbles and pirouettes. A light ahead grew more and more intense with every heartbeat, finally engulfing the captain and princess, blinding them to the marvel around them. Suddenly a sense of gravity Viktur hadn't even notice leave him returned to his knees and shoulders, and apparently also Twilight who had slumped to her knees on a wooden floor beneath them. It seemed that once the two had reemerged into reality something had followed them to add a aesthetic display for some unknown reason, as doves of perfect white burst all around them, feathers falling like late spring petals all about them. As soon as they'd appeared the ghostly birds fluttered a while before dissipating into nothingness.

"Ugh! Well, that's never happened before." The princess exclaimed in exhaustion.

"I take it your teleportational abilities are less...'eventful'?" Viktur inquired as he turned to look at the girls that attended to their friend.

"Much. Normally it's just, 'poof' out and 'poof' back in again. Where were we? How long was I gone?" Twilight asked Viktur first, then her friends.

"You appeared inside as soon as you'd disappeared outside, just like usual. Just when you came back you seemed to have taken some wildlife with you." A white female with a silky mane said as she lifted her friend to her hooves again.

"I would be lead to believe my presence threw our trajectory through the Warp off, throwing us into the Emperors heavenly domain." Viktur said as if such an answer was simple.

"Emp-..wait, wha-? Never mind. Girls, this is Captain Viktur. He's, as you can probably see, also an alien." Twilight introduced in a courtly manner.

"Is Equestria some kinda alien get-away or sumthin'?! What are these ones doing here?" AJ growled.

"These guys are called Space Marines. They're lost after having to make a quick get away from, uh, somewhere. They've had a heated run-in with the federation as well."

AJs expression went from sour and judgmental to bright and excited, her hand shooting up to flip her hat away from her eyes.

"Well why didn'cha say?! My Mr Captain, we sure could use a lil' help 'round these parts." The orange country worker said.

"I can see you have quite strong feelings about the situation that has developed recently, yet first answers must be heard. Brothers, we cannot be disturbed. It is acceptable that I keep the audio channel open for my brothers to hear as I do?" The captain said to a device implanted within his throat before turning his attention to the girls.

"Understood, none shall pass." Ivanhar replied from outside, the heavy footsteps of marines taking up defensive positions thundering beyond the library walls.

"That's fine, I mean, saves time for you right?"

"Precisely. Now, tell me, what has happened here? Who are these people to you?" Viktur asked sternly.

"I...I've got this AJ. I'll tell the whole story, I promise." Twilight said as the orange girl perked up to speak, the orange mare hesitating before giving a half-felt nod.

"Well, I guess I should start from two years ago. I'd just had my coronation as princess of Equestria, everything seemed like it was going to be just fine. A few days later we were contacted by this space-faring federation, the UTF as they like to call themselves. They sent down a team of scientists and representatives for their race, saying they came in peace and that they came to spread prosperity throughout our world. This sounded like the best thing to happen in all Equestrian history, the anticipation of spreading our understanding of magic, how much our entire species could achieve with such knowledge. Plus, being given space ships and robots sounded like something we could all get real used to. At first these feds started just harmlessly checking up everything in Equestria, our cities and town, studying our lifestyles, our magic and our economies. That's when things started getting a little sour."

"These aliens, they just didn't get the idea of magic, they washed it off as just another degree of science they could already control. Ponies started getting a little tetchy, especially in Canterlot and Ponyville, I mean, Magic has been the primary way we have grown to understand the world around us for thousands of years, and it was being torn apart all around us. The princesses tried reasoning with these people, trying to teach the magic that bound us all together in friendship and cooperation, but they simply swatted our opinions aside, labelling us as backwards thinking religious nut-jobs! That's when the soldiers started coming down, when the posters started popping up and the federal building started being built. In places like Manehattan, Stalliongrad, Fillydelphia, Baltimare and Vanhoover the idea of science explaining magic became more and more appealing, especially once the propaganda and troops started taking a firm hold over the cities. Ponies started taking the magic places like Ponyville use daily for granted, instead opting for any and every gadget and gizmo the aliens could throw at them. But the cost of such technology was that it was for everypony, equally, that seems to be the federations theme; absolute equality."

"Soon enough, you heard of the privileged minority being shunned socially, refused from shops and leisurely places. Then ponies started getting openly violent, throwing the nobles out of their homes, selling their stuff off into the economy, all the while the federation just standing by, watching their handy work. St this point, everypony in central Equestria was quite happy enough just to let the federation influence whoever they wanted, so long as those towns that remained true to the old Equestria remained untouched. Shame that wasn't what the federation had in mind. Ponyville, Canterlot, Las Pegasus, Tall Tale, Cloudsdale and...Appleoosa all cherished our old way of life, holding tightly to magic and tradition, to friendship, faith and the freedom to be whatever you wanted to be. But the feds, they wanted everything to be the same, every town, every house, everypony to have a job that would help everypony else. Sounds real great, right? Well sure, but it wasn't what we wanted. But still, this did nothing to dissuade the UTF, they were happy enough to just wave away our opinions, convincing themselves they didn't take orders from 'pastel colored magical ponies'. We were just a ridiculous joke to them, just something else for them to analyse, reform and orchestrate to their demands."

"Towns like this couldn't really do much to stop the troops that marched into our streets, handing out government summons and closing shops that refused to pay a tax demand. At this point the federation had started expanding into foreign countries, populated by different species. Buffalo, Dragons, Griffins, you name it, they all had the feds knocking on their doors. However, Equestria is somewhat limp when it comes to military response, we've never had to face war for over a thousand years under the guidance of Princess Celestia, but other lands had more rugged societies. That's when the bombs dropped. Every UTF expeditionary force that was turned down refused to acknowledge the 'primitive' societies way of life as valid, ultimately insulting each and every lands government and seeing them declare war on the federation. Seeing that the federation was solely situated in Equestria, this meant that every other immediate country around us declared war on us to get to the aliens they were at war with. The federation showed their true colors that day, when they dropped massive kinetic missile strikes on every warring species. Not their capitals, not their military...everypony, every Griffin, every Dragon and Changeling. All gone. Now...now it was just us left." Twilights eyes began to well up with thick tears as the captains expression grew tense and sharp.

"Most ponies got real scared, real quick. Nopony wanted to so much as look at the troopers outside our doors let alone defy them. But one town remained utterly defiant, refusing to just back down and surrender to alien intimidation. Appleoosa was a small town built within a massive apple orchard in the dry lands. They cooked up what the federation deemed a 'laughable defense' along with a few dozen poisonous bombs made from ground up plant compound and flower pots. The troops that marched into Appleoosa were hit by the poisons, taking a few injuries as a result, seeing around three dozen troops suffer from respiratory problems for a good four months. In response the next day after the attacks the federation bombarded the entire town with incendiary ordinance. After that they sent in more troops to 'clean up' anypony who'd survived. There were families in that town, Captain, entire families, a school, all turned to ash just because they refused to fold to those freaks demands, and after refused to evacuate their town for it to just be blown up. But they did it anyway, Viktur, they destroyed everything...most of AJs family was in that town." Twilight said, tears rolling down her cheek as she gestured to the stone-faced mare who had turned to peer out a window, most likely to hide what emotions her expression was giving away.

"They got wiped out jus' cuz they refused to share what was rightfully theirs. The pasties declared them 'enemies of reason', moved in to take the orchard anyway and start throwin' apples all across Equestria. Mah family's been doin' that for generations, but why was that not good enough? Cuz those freaks couldn't control it, cuz it weren't theirs to control! This is our land, not there's! They've poisoned the hearts'n'minds a' ponies all along the outside of Equestria. N' now, now there's even talk of the Princesses bein' dethroned. Even Twilight here." AJ stated with a fierce tone.

Viktur scanned over at the faces of the other girls before him.

"Please. Please, I, as Princess of Equestria, am begging you, please, help us." Twilight pleaded, sinking to her knees.

Still Vikturs grey eyes washed over the small, colorful faces before him. The vengeful, the broken, the dampened, the fearful, the exhausted and the brave-faced. He came to a conclusion, after diving into the pool of Imperial law to rise again with a simple and absolute outcome. One the Imperium was far too familiar with.

"Heresy." Viktur growled with such solidity it would seem his words would fall from his mouth and crash through the floor beneath them.

The ponies looked at him confused, their faces growing more fearful as Vikturs eyes darted about wildly, his face twisting into a visage of utter rage.

"Heresy!" Again he said in the form of a thunderous roar.

"Tis blasphemy, Captain! See us annihilate this scum from these lands! None shall stand before us!" Henatrex roared over the radio.

"We would make little difference. We would be simply blundering through this world blindly, misfortune and error would be easy diseases to catch in such conditions." Viktur growled, his face still fuming.

"Thenry, this is Viktur. Consider our plans initiated in full from this moment. More than we thought rests upon your success, it is of the utmost importance you deliver your package." Viktur ordered over the radio as he mentally switched channels.

"Understood, consider us on the move. We shall inform you of our success as soon as we can." The scout sergeant replied.

"Captain, contact, native. High velocity approach." Called Carvul.

"Let them pa-" Viktur began before the front door burst open to reveal two large female figures.

The first was of beyond godly physique, the image of the ultimate warrior princess. He coat was a dark blue, her mane and tail a swirling, swaying veil of night sky blue and shimmering starlight. Her eyes were an icy turquoise that threw a fierce stare in the Captains direction as her thickly muscled arms were spread wide from throwing the door open. She wore an elegant gown of silky, ice blue as well as shoes and wrist braces of the same color. Atop her head was a crown of humble yet striking ornate design as well as a similar collar depicting a half moon of pearlescent white. She, like Twilight, bore a pair of large, feathery wings as well as a horn sprouting from just above her eyebrows at the center of her head. Behind her was a slightly less impressive sight.

Another mix-breed native of tall stature, but of a much fairer build. Though more physically impressive than most of the lesser natives her had seen so far, she was more akin to a gentler goddess than one built from the desires of battle. She had a truly beautiful waterfall of two-tone purple beside vanilla for a mane and tail, while her wings demonstrated a unique purple tinge towards their tips against the pink that composed most of her body. Her eyes were a much gentler violet compared to the others burning blue, and was not demonstrating the sincere fury the first was. Instead of delivering a stance of authority and dominance, this one made quite the peculiar display by making chopping motions with her open hands in a weak display of what Viktur assumed was some form of martial arts. She wore much more casual clothing; a pair of well fitting denim trousers, a loose shirt and a dark purple jacket. Upon seeing the space marine captain the dark blue native relaxed a portion, her face falling into confusion.

"Princess Luna! Cadence! What are yo-? Ah right, attack on Ponyville, leaders of Equestria, right." Twilight said to herself in ridicule.

"From what shadow of the world did these creatures spring from?" Asked the one known as 'Luna', her companion continuing her furious chopping of the air that hung before one of his brother marines.

"It's alright, Princess, they're here to help...I think. They have a funny way of communicating." Twilight assured.

"It is true? Such a thing seems utterly impossible! Damnation comes from the sky, followed not two years later by aid?" The princess exclaimed with an exaggerated gesture.

"Truly, the design of our Emperor stretches far, and in strange ways. Yet it remains that we have arrived to see the crimes inflicted upon this world undone." Viktur said sternly, the princess seeming to take well to his vocabulary.

"Uh, excuse me?!" A husky, yet very much female voice spoke up from a previously quiet corner of the library.

All occupants turned to look at a lean built, blue coated, winged female. She stood in a shaky, tense stance, like she was facing her own execution.

"I get how everypony is so excited and ready to accept help from these...whatever they are, but can't everypony just stop for two minutes and really think about this? This is beyond what we've dealt with, and we've dealt with a lot! What next, does Equestria turn into some alien battlefield?! I can't deal with any more of this! This is crazy!" The girl shrieked hysterically.

"Please, Rainbow, this could be our only chance to make things right again! I thought you of all ponies would be more than willing to see the Federation gone from our lives?" Twilight stressed.

"Not like this! Listen, Captain is it? You have to admit, the way you guys look, talk, what you do, you're a time bomb. Right? Your job is to blow up in a situation that can't be handled any more, right? And yes, we can't handle this situation, but Equestria is too fragile to have a bomb like you going off in it!" The rainbow maned girl said.

The captain payed a moments thought on the small girls words, paying them the respect they deserved. Although her analysis was a loose one it was relatively accurate. Perhaps this world could not handle Imperial conflict, not even against such a limp and flimsy adversary as the broken creatures that lay outside. Perhaps, indeed, his intervention was not desired nor appropriate upon this world. But such a mental stumble did not prove great enough to sway him from his path, he would fight, his brothers would fight. This land was in a cold and well-disguised version of ruin, being drained of all its life and warmth in favor of ideals crafted by an alien breed. Besides, Viktur had been running for far too long, he needed to make a stand here if nowhere else.

"It will not end, not after what has been done today. If anything it will see this Federation grip your society in an ever tighter grip. As their fear grows so will their hostility. If we leave you this day, if we do not step out this crime as it is, its roots will only dig deeper and more of the world you know will slip away." Viktur said in a low tone.

"You speak as though you have witnessed such things before?" Luna spoke up.

"I have seen a hundred theatres of war, no two the same. I have seen a people choked of their souls in favour of...progress...of logic and technology. All of it lies! Just false words hiding the true motive. Control...power, this is what drives the Federation, this much is evident. They may well have been bullying and beating their own people into submission to further their agenda, and now their cancer has spread to yours." Viktur took a few steps left and right, his unrest reflecting in his movements.

"They use fear and intimidation as their primary weapon against you, they are counting on you being scared of them. I am brought under the idea they do this to squelch most of their adversaries, but such cheap tricks have no hold over us. Fate has seen us brought before you, willing, able to help. The Federation has been bullying others for long enough, and now the time has come for them to be bullied themselves. We can hit them where it hurts the most, when they least expect it, against all logic and reason. Against this they will be thrown into a battle they cannot hope to understand, let alone aspire in, all of what they are will account for nothing!" Viktur spat.

"What about us? You're so wrapped up in what the Federation has done and what you plan to do, where to we come into all of this?" Rainbow said, her body hunched and tense as though she stood in a blizzard.

"Do what you will. Flee, stay, fight, I hold no command over your people. I would hope you go and seek far away refuge. Prepare to rebuild, prepare to work hard and clean up after us. Your choice is simple; see us leave and have the aliens consume and eradicate your society and exchange it for their own. See us remain and fight this plague, see your lands damaged and your town broken, but you will remain a free people as you once were."

"I will not fade away, not again!" Luna exclaimed.

"Dash, if we don't stop this right now we could all die. I'm sure we were being targeted for execution before the marines arrived, and if they leave...well, I don't want to find out if they feel like putting my head back in their gun sights." Twilight said, her tone calm yet weighing heavy with worry.

"Execution? Your crimes?" Viktur asked, perplexed.

"Being a princess, teaching magic as an elusive force, defending Equestrian tradition, supporting anti-federation rallies and vocal movements. The UTF really hates unrest and confrontation."

"Enough of this, Princess, leave me from this place." Viktur growled.

Twilight quickly trotted to his side to cast a teleportation spell. After another otherworldly spectacle the two stood beside the other Space Marines who had occupied the streets immediately around the library.

"Orders, sir?" Ivanhar asked.

"Hold for now, let's see how these runts take a challenge." Viktur said firmly as he strode into a more open space in the middle of the street before him.

"Come now all who wish to die! Come! Come and witness the artistry of our profession! To the whelps of black and red do I speak, and hear me they shall as I speak true words! I have broken your soldiers, swatted them aside like child playthings. Their filthy blood stains me and my brethren, yet I demand more! Throw yourselves to me and be destroyed, rid the universe of your worthless frames, embrace the oblivion you were made for!"

The girls remained inside of the library, yet Vikturs voice rang like someone had put a megaphone to their ears. All of Ponyville and perhaps a slight beyond must have heard his roars and bellows as he taunted the soldiers like helpless lambs, the soldiers Twilight and her friends had learnt to fear for so long.

"Viktur! This is General Mason! Stand down, stop this madness and face justice for your crimes! If you do not comply you will be destroyed!" A familiar voice came from over a speaker system.

"Ah, General! Where is my favorite deceiver?! Do you hide away in a far flung confinement, or do you have enough nerve to face me?! Come out, Mason! FACE ME! Face the crimes your kind has committed!" Viktur bellowed to the air around him.

"You're the one who's killed men and women today! They had friends and family! How can you live with yourself?!"

"I feel their souls push down on my soldiers just as I feel the million more I have snatched from this life! But a better question is how do you live, Mason?! How have you resisted the delicious release of a bullet through your maw?! I may have killed dozens this day, for a noble cause no less, but how many have you killed, Mason?! Was it you?! Was it your finger that pushed the button that killed, how many? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Millions, Mason, millions of lives lay stolen and ruined before you and your damnable regime!" Vikturs voice shattered the air itself, louder than the roar of a vengeful god.

No reply came from the machinery around him. The mechanical mouths remained silent.

"They're dead, Mason! Thousands of families are dead! The soldiers I have killed today saw me kill them! I looked into their eyes and I tasted their fear as they died right before me! You! What did you do when you murdered those people?! Did you go and have a long sit down in a comfy chair, the throne of your sin?"

"The species we killed were unstable, hostile! They waged war against us, they started it all! You have no right-" Mason yelled out losing his resolve.

"You had no right! You had no right to kill them! You spew your lies and petty excuses! Did their women wage war against you?! Did their children thrust blades at your soldiers?! You murdered them all like the cowards you are! You burnt them from the safety of your ships and watched from afar as a million lives simply ended! You thought you won, but you are wrong, Mason! You are wrong! You have won nothing, and those people you killed will be avenged! For every one of them that lay dead, ten of your filthy kind shall drown in their own gore!" Viktur screamed in return.

"I will kill another couple thousand if it means I get rid of you!" Mason roared over the speakers.

Viktur only needed a half a second to process and understand what he meant, and the revelation sat sourly in his mind. The Astartes expression twisted into a tense mess of scarred flesh, his eyes closing as his hopes dropped from his gut.

"I will rain an ungodly firestorm upon you! I'm talking scorched earth, motherfucker! I WILL FUCK YOU UP!"

Vikturs face scrunched and tensed as his brow fell inward violently. His expression made him appear to have been forced to consume something quite sour.

"Captain, what does he mean?! What are they going to do?!" Yelled Twilight from the door of her library.

"Nothing...they're not going to do anything." Viktur said glumly.

"Captain?" Inquired Henatrex with worry.

"What is it you want?!" Called out Viktur, his tone having grown level.

"You've killed a lot of good men and women today." Stated the general.

"Yes, and?" Viktur urged with growing impatience.

"You will put down your weapons, bring yourselves before my men and surrender to our authority here. You will be taken to a Federation stronghold to be questioned and held in imprisonment for your crimes."

"If we refuse?" Viktur asked.

"Then I give Ponyville the Appleoosa makeover."

Vikturs' mind filled with a dark venom, not for Mason, but for himself. Another submission, another retreat, another failure. How had he ever risen to become a commander of his chapter? Was he truly, once again, being forced to submit to a condition beyond his control? His heart could not take more of this ridicule, yet he had no choice.

"Very well. We shall take the time to relinquish our war-gear." Viktur said as a man dying would.

"Captain, surely we cannot." Ivanhar said, rushing to face the captain.

"If you have foreseen opportunity here, Sergeant, then please feel free to share." Vikturs' tone was dry, dying, as desperate as it could be stressed.

"Is it not obvious?! We make a final vigilant stand before these miscreants! We battle through the fire as we have a hundred time before!" Carvul spat as though he spoke to a fool.

"What of the people, brother? They will not survive this." Viktur said as he turned from his brethren.

"What difference does it make?! These people are not our priority, and you know it! We are to keep the relic safe at all costs. These people are not too greater a cost, not by far!" Carvul tore his helmet from his head, casting it to the ground like junk to bring his burning eyes to lock onto the Captains'.

Viktur weakly took in his brothers expression, his pale flesh, his thin lips, sharp jaw and thin hair. Vikturs' eyes floated across to his other marine brothers, and he did not need to see their faces to know many felt similar. The Captains' hope faded to darkness, and with it, his blade and pistol fell to the earth beneath him. An earth he was not to see scorched any time soon.

"Captain!" Carvul growled, his eyes tense as he shakily watched his commander lazily march away to the edge of the town.

The orange girl the Captain had seen earlier rushed outside from the tree-made-library, coming to a stop to stand among the marines.

"Hey! Hey, Captain! No! No you get back here! Don't ignore me! You don't get to ignore me! Don't leave us like this! You're the only hope we all have left!...Please! Captain, please!" The girl grew frantic and enraged before falling to her knees in a pleading mess.

"You're a coward, Captain! You've always been a coward!" Carvul roared to Viktur.

The Captain knew his brother didn't mean it, not entirely. But a nonetheless, a sense of truth hung around those words. Too many times had he fled or avoided an obstacle, even simply given in. Was he being smart, or was he losing touch with what it was to be a true Space Marine.

----------------------------------------------

Mason stood in a cold sweat with his wrist computer displaying ordnance controls. One touch of a single icon would turn the town before him into a pile of rubble and ash in an instant. In all truth, he didn't know if he could commit to such devastation, he would never have previously thought he'd have such capabilities.

"Hey, Mason. I did it last time, I'll do it again." Dragovich said in a hushed tone.

"No. I started this, and I've gotta finish it."

"General, movement!" A trooper said whilst keeping his eyes locked on the screen of his wrist computers radar.

Mason took a quick glance to the edge of Ponyville, over a hundred yards away, before turning to take a knee beside a haphazard squad of survivors he had encountered upon dropping down to the planet with his liberalization force.

"What can we expect if this is another offensive?" Mason asked the squad leader in a quietened tone.

"A lot less troops." Kolts replied, knowing the Generals' question before he even finished it.

"Feel like elaborating?"

"You should just nuke that dumb fairy-tale of a town and take those freaks out with it." Banay growled from behind his mask.

"We need to give them a chance to surrender." Jean added.

"What, like how they gave us a chance?! Tell that to all the troops that are lying around town in fifty different pieces!" Banay hissed back.

"That's enough, private. So, is that it, we either hit them first and maybe live or give them a chance to surrender and probably die?"

"Turnin' out to be one hell of a day, huh, General?" Kolts shrugged.

Mason took a deep, sour tasting breath and painfully got to his feet once more to turn to the holoscreens of his command console.

"General, if we start getting shot at I'm hitting this switch. When that happens you need to organize the fallback and get to a safe distance before the orbital shells hit." Mason said to Dragovich.

"Got it."

A figure could be made out emerging from behind the forest of buildings at the edge of town. The large creature marched with heavy footsteps, his battle-plate shifting as he approached with potent motions, each footstep a massive shift in weight. All guns were on the marine, every soldier eager to start cooking the alien with bullets.

"Halt! Stop, or we will fire on you!" An officer barked out to the marine.

The effect was immediate, the hulking warrior came to a sudden stop. Mason could see Vikturs face from this distance, he could see the dead look in his eyes, eyes that focused on nothing in particular, but lost in murky thoughts.

"Drop your weapons!"

The Captain dropped his energy pistol along with his chainsaw weapon. Both hit the earth with a deep thud, the pistol gave a high pitched whine as it deactivated from being released by its master, like an animal having just lost its owner. Other marines followed the Captain, some wandering forward as solemnly and heartbroken as the Captain, some held themselves with their solidity intact, other marched forward as if they intended to kill every federal that stood before them. Viktur fell to his knees with a thunderous boom, his face taught with an internal pain Mason could probably never understand. A handful of the other marines also knelt, most notably the one Mason recognized as the veteran sergeant, he knelt beside the Captain and placed an armored glove upon his pauldron. He looked at his Captain with the expression that spoke 'I'm sure everything will be alright'.

Yeah, you keep thinking that Mason thought as he waved the troops forward.

The troopers shuffled and jogged forwards towards the marines who dropped their armaments. A squad surrounded Viktur, guns probing the space around him. A pair of soldiers attempted to restrain the Captain and kick him to the ground, but the marines' bulk proved too vast for the soldiers to handle. Another trooper let his brashness get the better of him and threw the butt of his rifle into the marines face in an attempt to get him to the ground, only to have his gun rebound off the giants' stony face, barely budging it an inch. Viktur circulated his jaw before turning his eyes upwards towards Mason, ignoring the troopers attempts at subduing him. Vikturs old, grey eyes burnt a chilling feeling into the General, and its hatred carved a very definite message into his mind.

This isn't over.