Phoenix

Chapter 22

The air in the royal hospital had been abound with rumors of the new “couple”. That is to say, the two oddest and out place guests. The alien and the changeling.

Indeed, the morning nurses had been shocked to come into the room the morning following and find the alien resident of Canterlot sitting in there. His eyes had shifted to identify who had walked into the room, undoubtedly to classify them as a threat or harmless, but he otherwise remained unmoving. He made no moves as the nurse cautiously went through her morning check ups on the severely injured, nearly dead changeling. But he otherwise made no moves.

She had carefully removed the tray containing food she knew Princess Luna to have dropped off, not wanting it to spoil to the point of stench.

When they had rolled the patient to the patio to receive some of the healing rays of Princess Celestia’s sun, the biped had quietly followed them. Not uttering a word, though some of the older and more experienced doctors did report noting the biped moving in a cautious manner, in front of them, almost as though he wanted to clear the way.

So now here the hospital was, some of the more bored nurses, mostly the night shift, had started rumors that the black sheep were in a relation, and as it turns out, most of the nurses were totally in support of the new couple.

Except for the biped’s horrific hygiene practices.

“Mr. Jaeger, please.” One of the nurses in the room pleaded with him. “There’s a shower right there. You don’t even need to leave the room, you just need to wash your face off. It’s been… what? Three or so days? Leaving blood caked on your body is not healthy.”

“She’s right, you know.” Discord stated, unseen and unheard to anyone but Dante as he lazily laid in Dante’s hair, the strands now slightly longer then it had been before. He picked at a tuft of hair, examining the caked and dried blood that clung to it. “This is pretty gross. I mean… it’s no concern to me. I can’t get sick. And I suppose its no concern to you, as you can’t get sick either. But, still… you know… your body’s a church or something along those lines.”

Discord pulled himself over the edge of Dante’s head, so he was peering over it and at Dante’s ear. “Also, I prefer my beds not to be caked in blood.”

Dante paid no attention. “I’ll be fine, help her.” Dante gestured to the changeling on the bed.

The nurse merely sighed. “We’ve helped her as much as we can. What you are doing at the moment is self-destructive. I mean, when was the last time you slept? Ate? Drank?”

“The suit pumps me full of nanites to keep me awake and free of hallucinations and keeps my memory intact.”

The nurse didn’t seem very impressed, as she lifted a single eyebrow.

“Mr. Jaeger, I understand and appreciate your dedication to ensuring Miss Fortnite is safe, however, poor hygiene is a health hazard to all the patients at this hospital and you are currently a walking health hazard.”

Discord flipped up from Dante’s head, buzzing in front of his eyes. “Yeah, dried blood can carry a bunch of diseases like, hepat- whoa!” Discord avoided a half-hearted swat from Jaeger, earning a groan from the nurse.

“Look, you even have flies swarming around you.” She stated, gesturing with her hoof.

“That wasn’t a fl-” Dante shook his head. “Look, it doesn’t matter. I’m not leaving her unsupervised.”

“Perfect timing, then.” A feminine, though deep voice stated, startling the nurse in the room. The pony turned around to look at the door leading into the room, to be greeted by the sight of Princess Luna, as well as a bat pony accompanying her side.

“Your Highness.” The nurse bowed her head as Luna came further into the room.

“Miss.” Luna replied back, nodding curtly at the nurse, but quickly turning her head to look to Dante. “… General Jaeger… you’ve looked better.”

“Feeling the love there, MoonMoon.” Dante responded with a wave of his hand, that quickly turned into a pointed finger, directly at the bat pony. “I know who you are obviously, but who is that adorable little thing?”

The bat pony stepped forward, chest puffed out, indignant from the biped’s statement. “I am Warrant Officer Veri, Lunar Guard.” She stated, the displeasure of having been called ‘adorable’, palpable in her voice.

Dante locked eyes with her, the pony’s red irises bringing back some rather unpleasant memories.

The biped slowly stood up, the bat pony taking an involuntary step back as his full height was revealed.

When he had been sitting, he had been relatively close to eye level with Luna, tall, but nothing too outrageous.

Standing, fully erect, the biped towered over even the minotaurs Veri had met in her life. And they had been quite tall. With four steps, the biped covered the distance of the room and now stood in front of her.

Any normal pony would have backed up when faced with just the knees of a the biped in their face, but Veri was no normal pony, she knew she had to hold her ground.

Dante bent at the knees, so he was now closer to the mare. Though not at eye level, having to look down to meet her eyes. Her nose twitched as his blood soaked face came closer to hers.

The two stared, her red irises locked with his hybrid irises.

This continued.

After a minute, Luna moved to break the staring contest up, but before she could do anything, Dante’s hand shot under Veri’s forelegs, he stood up, lifting her by the shoulders, her hind legs dangling in the air as she yelped at the sudden movement, though neither ever broke eye contact. The anger in her stare became harder, as Dante kept his otherwise neutral stare.

However, just as quickly as he picked her up, he set her down. As the mare found her balance once more, Dante returned to his seat.

Luna brought her head close to Veri’s ear.

“Don’t let his size or vocabulary get to you. So long as you aren’t evil or a threat, he’s a big teddy bear.”

“Where the fuck did you all even get the name for that?” Dante asked, hearing her whisper. “Teddy Roosevelt wasn’t a thing here.”

“In any case,” Dante didn’t wait for a response from any of the ponies in the room, continuing. “What are you here for MoonMoon, V?”

Luna stepped forward. “Your presence has been requested by the Royal College.”

Dante paused, apparently considering his options. Then snorted. “I hate colleges. Declined.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “Allow Us to rephrase that. By Order of the Diarchy of the Sun and the Moon, your presence is required at the Royal College.”

“No.”

Veri’s nose wrinkled, as she moved forward to confront the biped over his rude dejection of the Crown’s authority, but was stopped by a hoof from Luna.

“And why is that?”

Dante lifted his left leg rested on his right leg. “Because I am not leaving Fortnite without protection.”

“But you aren’t,” Luna argued. “That’s why We brought Warrant Officer Veri here. We have assigned her to guard detail for Fortnite. So that we may get this out of the way. And there is also the issue of the visiting dignitaries.”

“And what makes you think I’ll accept the offer?” Dante questioned, turning his head. “If I had trusted you and Celestia to watch over her the other day, she would have been stoned under your guard.”

“And she nearly died under yours.” Veri shot back, Dante raising his trigger finger to reply, but seemed to be at a loss for words.

After a few seconds, he lowered his hand. “Fair point… however!” He raised his finger once more. “While that may very well be true! The simple fact of the matter is that I was also the only one who wasn’t taken out by Discord in a single hit. So if I can’t trust MoonMoon and Sunny to stop Discord, how can I trust you,” He pointed at Veri. “To keep her,” He then pointed at the bed containing the unconscious Fortnite. “Safe?”

Veri stepped forward, closer to the biped. “First, it’s Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, you will show them the proper respect.” She growled, Jaeger merely rolling his eyes in response.

“Second, I-” Once more, Veri was cut off by Luna pushing a hoof in front of her.

“It’s fine, Veri.” Luna answered, pushing her back just a bit. Luna met Dante’s eye, her gaze hardening.

“General Jaeger, We are asking you to trust Veri as We trust her. Her family has served Us for a very long time and they have done so faithfully.”

Dante raised an eyebrow. “Her ‘family’?” He laughed. “Luna, that’s the biggest fucking lie I have ever heard and you know it.”

It was Luna’s turn to cock her head. “What do you mean?”

Dante paused, sighing, as he repositioned himself in the chair. He reached into a pouch, and as his hand cleared it, an object was pointed at Veri, a loud explosion occurred as the ponies in the room pinned their ears down from the sudden loud sound.

Veri stepped back even more, as she felt a burning pain in her chest, her breath being ripped from her.

She looked down, watching blood pour out of a hole in her chest. Four more bangs rang out, as four more distinct holes were added to her chest.

She looked up to Jaeger, as he dropped the brass from the revolver in his hands.

The nurse was the first to react. Shouting.

“Oh, gods!” She turned to rush out the door, to get help for the wounded warrant officer, but was stopped as the door slammed shut in a blue aura of magic from Luna.

She found her mouth closed shut by magic, the ringing in the ears of everyone slowly dying.

The nurse’s eyes caught a very shocking sight.

The holes in Veri’s chest were slowly, but very comparatively quickly to normal ponies, were closing up, as the blood stopped flowing.

The ringing in the nurse’s ears seemed to die at the same time Luna’s did. The Lunar Diarch fixing an angered stare at the biped in the room.

“General, would you care to explain to Us just why you tried to kill one of Our officers.”

Dante raised a finger in the air once more.

“First, I didn’t try to kill her, as I knew she wouldn’t die. Please, Luna, I have more experience then you do and the fact that you think I’ve never seen one of them before is just silly.”

“You knew?” Luna questioned, surprised.

Dante raised an eyebrow. “Fucking wh- MoonMoon! Don’t tell me you seriously think I just go around shooting random people for the hell of it! … I’m fucking insulted at the insinuation! I only randomly shoot people and things that won’t die! And occasionally I’ll do it to prove a point!” Dante waved a hand at the princess. “Like now!”

“How did that prove anything!”

“It proved that I knew the shit spewing out of your mouth was shit. Her “family” hasn’t served you for a long time. She has. I’d wager she’s… what? Couple of hundred years old? Old enough to not know when to back down when she should.”

Veri made to respond, but was cut off by Jaeger. “Don’t take that as an insult, by the way. It’s a common issue with old people. We forget what it means to back down.”

“I’m not old.” Veri sneered. Dante merely shrugged.

“I mean, compared to Luna or Celestia, or especially me, sure. But compared to everyone else? Nah, you’re fucking ancient… probably. I don’t know how old you are, but you’re probably older then most people you meet… with the exception of us.” Dante pointed to himself and then Luna. “And Celly, of course, but point being is…” Dante paused, gathering his thoughts. “… You know, honestly I didn’t have much of a point in shooting her beyond just proving I know she’s immortal, I’m sure there’s a lesson about being truthful to each other in here, but insisting that you tell me everything would make me a hypocrite as there’s a shit ton of things I haven’t told you and I’ll probably do things in the future I won’t ever admit to doing.”

Veri’s eyes narrowed. “Should I take that as a threat.”

“Take it as a reality check. Black operations exist.”

“Have you ever taken part in one?” Luna questioned, Dante responding instantly.

“The Imperium has not and never will commit a black operation. And any admittance to the existence of black operations within the Imperium would be recognition of the black operations that occurred, as a result, I am required to inform that you that, no, the Imperium does not carry out black operations and anything I have said in the past few sentences regarding the existence of black operations carried out by the Imperium are to be considered purely hypothetical and are not an admittance to any black operations being carried out by any Imperial forces, agents of the Imperium or contractors hired by the Imperium.”

“Politician.” The batpony huffed.

Dante pointed to Veri, looking at Luna.

“Your pony is extremely insulting. I want her demoted.”

“We are not demoting her just for calling you what you are.” Before Dante could rebuke Luna for essentially also calling him a politician, she held a hoof to him. “And We know what you’re doing, General. You’re trying to derail the conversation. But not now, you will hold your tongue until we are done speaking.” Dante stuck his tongue out of his mouth, grabbing it with two fingers while giving Luna a thumbs up, all the while a smug smile on his face. Veri growled while Luna merely rolled her eyes at the spectacle. “You will accompany us to the College. We will only be doing basic tests, so that should something occur, we will know your baselines. This is not solely for us. This is also for you. Veri is an accomplished mare, Fortnite will be safe in her hooves. So, please, General. Do not make Us have to drag you there.”

Dante remained silent for a few seconds, still literally holding his tongue, following Luna finishing her speech.

After a few seconds, he spoke. “M’uh’goo’tu’tak’nw”

Luna nodded. “Yes, General, you may stop holding your tongue.”

Dante let go of the muscle, clapping his hands together. “Sweet, first, that nurse back there looks like she’s about to have a heart attack.” Dante pointed to the nurse, who was indeed profusely sweating, her mouth still held shut by Luna’s magic. She whimpered when all the attention was put on her, Luna and Veri turning to look at her. The batpony’s chest wounds having completely healed.

Luna let the magic die, releasing the mare. “I apologize for that Miss.”

The mare, though still sweating in nervousness, merely nodded. “It’s perfectly fine, your highness.”

“But please do understand… everything you’ve heard and seen in here never happened.”

Dante knocked a vase containing flowers and water off a table next to him. “Except that.” He pointed to the mess on the ground. “That happened.”

“General.” Luna growled, the Lunar diarch not even giving him the satisfaction of her looking back at him. Jaeger putting his hands in the air.

Luna’s eyes locked with the nurses. “Miss, please, understand. Veri’s… status is a state secret. I had no intention of telling General Jaeger either.”

“Still feelin’ the love, MoonMoon.”

The nurse nodded. “Understood, Your Highness, I saw nothing.”

“Except this vase falling on the floor! You saw that!” Dante shouted from the back of the room.

Luna rolled her eyes, whispering to the nurse. “We’ll throw him into a wall the next chance We get.”

“I heard that!”

Luna rolled her eyes once more, turning her head to look at Dante. “So what is your answer? Are you going to walk or are We going to have to drag you there?”

Dante also found a reason to roll his eyes, groaning. “Luna, your fat-ass couldn’t drag me there even if I was doing most of the work. I guess I’ll walk.” Veri growled at the insult directed to her sovereign, though the Human paid no mind.

Jaeger stood up. He walked to the door, opening it without breaking it this time.

He held it open for Luna, ushering her through, there mare wanting to get this over with.

As he was closing the door, he stopped, only the top half of his body visible. His mixed eyes met Veri’s red eyes.

“Blood, if I come back and there is a single scratch on Fortnite, I promise you, I wi-”

Veri waved a hoof, cutting Jaeger off. “You’ll burn me at the stake, yes, yes. I know. I’ve heard it a thousand times before.”

Dante raised an eyebrow before responding. “No, I’ll find enough silver to make a coffin, kidnap you, put you in the coffin, weld it shut and then dump you in the deepest part of the ocean.”

Without another word, Dante shut the door.

Veri began to do what any good guard does, and take her position to guard the principal, before the door slammed open.

“And I swear to god, Blood, if you fuck with that urn of ashes over there, I will make you beg to be killed.”

The door slammed shut.

“Was that necessary?” Luna questioned as she magicked open the door to the college, Dante striding in.

“This entire area seems awfully interconnected. Why was the college a three minute walk from the hospital?” Dante asked, ignoring her question.

“General, if you are going to ignore Our question then We will elect to ignore yours.”

Dante shrugged his shoulders. “That’s fine, I’ll guess.”

The two entered into a rotunda, Luna pointing them down a hallway. “The examination will begin in the theater.”

“Jesus Christ, a theater? How many fucks are goin-” Dante stopped mid sentence as he pushed open a set of large double doors. Revealing a theater packed with ponies of all different colors, sizes and species, he also spied a few gryphons. All of them clad in stereotypical white lab coats.

All of the seats were occupied, the spillover standing in the aisles, all the way to the stage. That itself being the only clear area, with the exception of the ceiling, in the theater. The stage was occupied by a certain purple unicorn and white alicorn.

The entire crowd in the theater turned to look at the two, as Dante slowly pulled the doors back closed.

As they finally shut, blocking the view of the crowd, he took a deep breath.

Turning on his heels, he ripped Luna from the ground, his arms holding her at the crook of her forelegs, shaking her.

“Luna, what in the actual goddamn fuck!”

“What!” She responded, shocked. “We told you! The Royal College wanted to examine you!”

“I was under the fucking impression it was only going to be a couple of fucking nerds in white lab coats. Not a theater on opening fucking night of the Lion-Fucking-King!”

Luna stuck a hoof on the armored chest of the biped. “General, please, calm down. These are not the examining scientists, they just wanted a brief overview. Equestria is no stranger to new species, but considering the fact that you’re… well, a literal alien from… outer space, everyone wanted to try to ask you a question. It’s a fifteen minute session, then it’s onto the actual examination with a significantly smaller group of hoof-picked and vetted doctors and scientists.”

Dante groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Fine, but I have control of the session and reserve the right to kick people out if I don’t like them.”

“Refrain from literally kicking them out, and we have a deal.”

Dante rolled his eyes. “Fuck, fine, I won’t kick them out, but I will physically remove them.”

“Deal.” Luna nodded, as Dante shoved the door open.

The crowd began to part to allow him through, but stopped as Dante planted a foot on the wall to the right of the door frame.

“Not necessary, boys.” He spoke, as he picked his other foot up and planted it on the wall, now standing horizontally, he began walking like it was the most normal thing in the world to be walking horizontally on a wall. Luna quickly hovered to meet with her sister and her pupil.

“Evenin’, fucks.” Dante spoke, as he transitioned from wall to ceiling, now standing vertically, though inverted.

“Now let me lay down a few ground rules… or I suppose ceiling rules in this case.” He continued, as he carried on with his spider trek to the stage.

“First, ask to see my dick, and I will literally kick you out of this theater.”

Luna groaned.

“So if the only reason you’re here is to see my dick, leave.” There was coughing in the crowd, as they watched in amazement.

“Seriously, you won’t be judged… well, I mean I won’t judge. The rest of these assholes might, but really my opinion is the only one that matters.”

It was Celestia’s and Twilight’s turn to roll their eyes.

“Second. I will not teach you how to build Human or Imperial weapons, high explosives, nukes, thermobaric nukes, anti-matter bombs, anti-matter nuke bombs, thermobaric anti-matter nuke dirty bombs, blah blah blah etc. etc. basically high tech shit.”

“Prime Directive?” A pony quipped from the crowd, catching Jaeger’s attention as he dropped down on the stage, righting himself mid-fall, before landing on his feet, bending his knees.

“What kind of geeky-ass shit is that?” He questioned. “Fuck no, it’s because I’m not about to tell a bunch of ponies how to make technology that only about a third of the population could feasibly use. Most of my tools require fine manipulation, of which only unicorns with their magic-voodoo shit can do… not counting the gryphons out there, of course. Their talons look close enough to hands. But if I give the unicorns more of an advantage then they already have, then pretty soon a race war will start and unicorns will be out on the streets, mowing down Earth ponies and pegasi for not being unicorns. And I am not going to be responsible for the pony holocaust and the rise of unicorn Hitler.”

There was a long pause, as the ponies gathered took in just what he had said.

That was until another one spoke up. “Might we ask about your planet?”

“Shoot.”

The crowd was surprisingly orderly, a gryphon standing up in order to question.

“Culture, biology, other creatures from your planet.”

“Humans were, for a time, the only official residents of Earth.”

“No other sapient species?” Another called out.

“The other intelligent species either died out, were beaten in the evolutionary arms race or were hunted to extinction. So for a very long time, Humanity were the only residents of Earth, with the exception of a few survivors here and there.”

“These… ‘Humans’, are the others as… large as you are?”

“No, most are not. And those who do get to my size usually suffer from severe medical conditions. Usually medical conditions such a-”

As the biped continued to answer various questions regarding himself and his people, Luna noticed Celestia waving her over. Behind the curtain that separated the very back of the stage from the front of the stage.

Luna quickly met her sister behind the curtain, the crowd too enrapture with the speaking biped to notice the two princesses had disappeared to find privacy.

As the two made it behind the curtain, Celestia turned to meet her sister’s eyes.

“What did they say?”

“They informed Us that Lady Fortnite is in relatively stable condition, and is in fact actually looking marginally better then she did a few days ago. They did complain about General Jaeger not cleaning himself.”

Celestia cringed. “Yes, I did notice he was still covered in… blood. Still, hopefully we can convince himself to was himself off during these tests. But what of her outlook?”

Luna shook her head. “They could not give Us a solid time. They just said so long as she keeps healing like this, she should awake soon.”

Celestia sighed. “I must admit, that is a bit of a relief. And Veri?”

Luna opened her mouth to speak, but closed it. She paused, as she pondered how she wanted to word it. A few seconds later, she sighed, titling her head a tad bit.

“We believe General Jaeger knew as soon as she stepped into the room. And it is apparently not the first time he has encountered them before.”

Celestia groaned. “He has encountered them before, but does he kn-”

“He threatened to seal her in a silver coffin… Yes, sister, he’s fully aware of how to kill them.”

Once more, Celestia sighed. “Okay. That’s fine. So long as he doesn’t actually do it, it’s fine.”

Luna nodded to the curtain behind, towards the alien general who was currently fielding questions from curious scientists at one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

“And what are the tests consisting of for him. We received a short brief, but We received no knowledge of substance, just that they were simple tests.”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, those. A small battery of tests. Take General Jaeger’s baseline vitals, temperature, resting heart beat, etc. After the physiological side is out of the way, we are going to move onto strength tests, speed tests. Things like that. Really, we just want to get a feel for his capabilities. And should we find something that does… manage to put him in a position where he needs actual medical care, we will have a baseline for what he should normally look like.”

“Very well.” Luna responded, as the two sisters seemed to be in agreement, she turned to head back to the stage.

The gray robed mare silently made her way down the tunnel, the various tapestries on the wall depicting scenes from Equestrian history.

These depictions varied, All of them depicting the Two Daughters and a black skinned biped.

She stopped at one, she had seen it many times, but the artistry still amazed her, just as it had when she was a little girl.

Her mother would tell her stories about the beginning of the Church and its history, but this one always amazed her.

In the tapestry, the black skinned biped stood at the top, looking over the entire scene. To the left, the Two Daughters hovered as their army stood their place in the snowy wastes. To the right in a crumbled city blanketed in snow stood an army of slaves, lead by the Black King, his dark magic raising in the back like the coward he was…

‘Or rather… is, if mom’s to be be believed.”

Derpy shook her head. Her mother had heard it directly from Oakley, and he had no reason to lie. She moved away from the tapestry and continued her way down the hall, to the main room.

She needed to get her report to Oakley. He’d be able to make the final determination… hopefully.

Wrapping up her thoughts, she continued her way down to the tunnel, until she reached a stone door.

Upon the door was inscribed an intricate design. Unlike the rest of the stone surrounding the tunnel, the carving into the stone of the door was fully colored.

The centerpiece of the carving was a phoenix, its body a brilliant, almost glowing red. Its head raised high, proudly. Its wings were stretched out, going all the way to both ends of the door.

Clutched in its right talon was the sun, its left the moon. Resting on top of its outstretched wings was the earth itself.

The upper half of the door was painted to depict the sky during the day, and the lower half reflected the night. As the bottom and top halves met, their colors merged, as one got higher on the door, the colors became lighter, as one went lower, the colors became darker.

Derpy quietly pushed open the door, it was coming close to twilight, and her brothers and sisters would surely be praying.

And indeed, she was correct. Their heads bowed down at a table, several of her cloaked brother and sisters were indeed praying. She quickly found the one she was looking for and made her way over to the stallion.

She leaned her head down to the unicorn, his whispering voice reaching her ears.

“Brother.” She stated, his whispering stopped, as there was a pause, his ears flicking under his hood.

“Barrett. Do you have anything to report to me?”

“I do.”

Oakley lifted his head, looking around the room. He stood from his seated position and nodded with his head. “Follow me.”

Following the cloaked unicorn, the gray pegasus walked down another short hallway and entered a room, the unicorn closing door with his magic as she entered.

He flipped his hood up, revealing his face, his bronze fur showing traces of graying, and skin folded in the creases of his eyes.

“What information do you have, Sister?”

The pegasus shook her head. “Unfortunately not much, I apologize for how late I am, the postal service went into overdrive following the invasion and Dinky got sick.”

Oakley waved his hoof. “I have all the time in the world, my dear sister, do not worry. The life of a child is of the utmost importance, how is she doing?”

“She’s doing much better, thank you. But back to the original question. I compiled the info I had. Which… isn’t much.”

Derpy pulled a small folder from her cloak and hoofed it to Oakley.

“Unfortunately, I can summarize the information. He is crass, but he reacted to Pinkie Pie before anypony should have been able to.”

“What is your opinion of the question of whether he is the True Dawn Bringer.”

Derpy hesitated, frowning as she thought out here answer. “I… can’t answer that with certainty, sir. He apparently saved three foals by killing a cyclops and was responsible for Chrysalis’ defeat in Canterlot, but… I honestly don’t know.”

“I do believe I can answer that question.” Derpy jumped, as she swiveled around to find the voice, only to be met face to face with Fancy Pants.

Fancy bowed his head. “Sister Barrett, it has been a long time since the last time we spoke. How is young Dinky doing?”

Derpy nodded to the white unicorn. “Sherman, Dinky’s doing just fine. I assume the situation in Canterlot has been hectic, if the postal service is anything to go off of.”

Fancy Pants nodded. “You’ve no idea, first we had the invasion, then the incidents in Ponyville of General Jaeger killing a cyclops and executing prisoners, then there was a parliamentary inquiry, then just a little while after the inquiry, Discord showed back up.”

“What!” Oakley shouted in shock. “How are the Daughters? Abr-”

Oakley was cut off by Fancy Pants raising his hoof. “Please, Oakley. I will explain by answering the question you posed to Barrett. I, along with brother Abrams, Browning and Sister Enterprise were witness to two miracles by the being known as General Jaeger.” Fancy smiled. “I can confidently say that General Jaeger is the same entity as Dawn-Bringer.”

Oakley nodded. “And what were these two miracles you were witness to?”

“We watched General Jaeger take Discord in battle and survive a direct hit from the Elements of Harmony.”

Fancy paused, scrunching his eyebrows. “However, it does bring up a question.”

“And what would that be?” Oakley questioned.

“Why did General Jaeger choose to utilize the Elements in his fight?”

Oakley waved a hoof. “His decision matters not, if he is who he is, then we’ve no authority to question him. But… what matters is your statement.”

Fancy turned his head in confusion.

“I trust your decision. As you are one of the few who has made direct contact with him, I will take your word as true. So, what is your final decision?”

Fancy took a deep breath, as he considered just where he stood. After a few seconds, he spoke.

“I believe General Jaeger is indeed Dawn-Bringer. Abrams provided me access to the after action report, with statements taken form numerous witnesses, including the Elements themselves, as well as the Two Daughters. I am confident to say this.”

Oakley nodded. “And you are willing to accept the consequences should you be wrong?” Fancy nodded.

Oakley turned to Derpy. “And what of you?”

Derpy shook her head. “I’m afraid I’m not as confident in calling it.”

Oakley merely nodded. “Then I believe I will have to investigate as well. Sherman?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Could you inform Abrams I will be making my way to Canterlot soon. You are close to General Jaeger, are you not?”

Fancy gave a slight nod of his head. “Well, close is a tad strong. I introduced myself as a friend and ally and he seemed to believe me.”

“Very well, see if you’ll be able to get me close. Perhaps in a meeting or something similar.”

Fancy smiled. “Funny you should say that, sir...”

The tall man spat out water, following the sudden and unannounced drenching courtesy of Luna. He was less then impressed.

“Moonbutt...”

“Yes, General?”

Dante heavily snorted through his nose, as a small cabal of scientists and doctors were setting up the equipment they wanted him to use.

“Would you care to explain why you suddenly hit me with a deluge of ice-fucking-cold water?”

Luna raised her nose into the air, blowing air out. “If you had taken a shower and cleaned that blood off yourself days ago, We wouldn’t have had this problem.”

The small Discord pulled himself to the top of Dante’s hair, an icepack on his head and wrapped in a green, woolen blanket. He sneezed and rubbed his red nose, green snot coming off onto his arm. He cringed at it, quickly rubbing it into the hair of his host.

“Nuts, I’m sick. Dante, do me a favor and kick Luna’s flank for making me sick.”

Discord was ignored, on Dante’s part because he didn’t care, on Luna’s part because she didn’t even know he was still alive.

The heat quickly steamed off the armor Dante wore, as the exterior heated to two-hundred-twelve degrees, bringing the water to a boil. Just as quickly as it had heated, it came back down to room temperature.

Dante brushed most of the remaining water out of his hair and off his face, Discord holding on for dear life as the human’s hand brushed past him.

“Hey! Watch it! I’m up here, you know!”

As he finished he walked up to the device, the thing resembling a crude treadmill, whereas the ones he was used to were smooth belts, this one contained raised steps on wooden slats. There were spaces between the slats, but they were small enough that his foot couldn’t get caught in it. Connected to the wall handrails, which made absolutely no sense to him, as he was the only person with hands in the immediate vicinity.

Needless to say, Venus marked this as another inconsistency of this world.

Dante tilted his head.

One of the doctors turned around from the desk he and his colleagues were writing some relevant things out on.

“It’s a treadmi-” He was cut off as Dante waved a hand at him.

“I know what it is. My main concern, however...” Dante gingerly put a single foot on the belt and slowly put more weight on it. The belt groaned from the weight, but the slats held firm.

He stepped back off. “Okay… well, at least I know I won’t break it as soon as I stand on it.”

Another scientist stepped up. “One thing before you start, we have been informed about your armor and we would like you to do this without it on.”

Dante shrugged, the back of his armor opening to give the biped an area to slip out of. Which he promptly did. Revealing him to be shorter then his armor by a few inches. Still a very large being by any means. Somewhere around the seven foot mark. Most of his body was covered by a skin-tight black clothing, keeping everything modest.

“Alright, so just, uh… run?”

One of the doctor’s nodded. “Yes, and we’ll record your speed.”

“You have a cut off?” Dante asked.

“I’m… sorry?”

“No time to waste!” And with that Dante hopped onto the treadmill. “I’m not responsible for this breaking!”

And without another word, he began running.

As it turns out, genetically modified super-soldiers are very proficient at not only running, but getting up to speed. As within two steps, the treadmill was already struggling to keep up with him, but he had to give it to the wood. It was certainly strong.

That was, however, until his foot went straight through one of the slats. As it turns out, if you get someone running fast enough, eventually their weight will break through a material.

Dante’s speed went from very fast to zero in less then a second. He caught himself on the handrails, however, those tore from the wall due to his weight and force.

As the dust settled, Dante picked himself up from the ground, dusting his body suit off.

He coughed as he looked at the confused crowd and horrified crowd. “I’m good.”

“No you’re not.” Venus spoke, as a warm liquid soon found its way to his eyes. He looked upwards, seeing the gray metal handrail protruding from his forehead. He turned around to the destroyed treadmill, seeing that indeed, only one handrail, the left one, was still there.

“Uh… sir.” He looked back to the crowd to see a small unicorn mare tentatively approaching him with a mirror held in magic.

He took it from her magic, the aura dissipating as he gripped it. The man held it up, examining the damage. The handrail had managed to impale the front of his forehead and was now protruding from the back of his skull, soaked in blood and gray matter, with bits of bone here and there, stuck due to the blood and brains that was stuck to the metal of the hand rail.

“Oh...” He shrugged. “No shit?” He tossed the mirror behind him, Luna sighing as the glass shattered. He paid no mind to the exasperated princess and reached up to grab the rail, but paused. He glanced to the female unicorn and made a waving motion with his hand.

“You should… probably back up a tad bit.”

The mare complied, Dante proceeding gripping the metal and giving it a violent yank, a large amount of blood flinging at the crowd, which would have been hit with the substance, were it not for Luna, who magicked a shield into existence before the body fluids reached them, though the crowd still flinched at the gore.

Dante tossed the grotesque pole behind, the metal clattering on the ground. He clapped his hands together.

“Right, well… that went as expected! So what did I hit?”

“You hit the wall, for one.” Luna muttered under her breath, causing Dante to lift his right hand and form a mouth with it, opening the hand mouth up and down to mock Luna.

“Er… We have readings of...” The mare squinted at the paper, confused. “Uh…” She mumbled something out, then shook her head. “No, that can’t be right.”

One of her white coated colleagues trotted over to her, taking the clipboard from her., he raised an eyebrow upon reading the speed. “Uh… one-hundred-ninety-five kilometers an hour...”

Dante shrugged. “I clocked myself at one-hundred-ninety-three point twelve, but we’ll go with yours. Makes me look faster.”

“Now wait a minute!” Luna interjected. “If you are capable of running at a hundred-ninety-five miles an hour, how did you fail to catch that unicorn who stole your device!”

“You ever hit something at a hundred-twenty miles, Luna?” Dante asked, raising an eyebrow, and not waiting for her answer. “Well I have. Actually, I’ve run into things at a few thousand miles an hour, and trust me, that shit hurts. Also.” Dante motioned in a straight line. “It’s easier to get up to speed when I don’t have to worry about turning a pony into tomato soup with meat chunklets mixed in by accidentally clipping them at speed because they decided to step in front of me.”

One of the doctors coughed into a hoof. “Should we, er… perhaps, continue?”

Dante stared at the disk in front of him. It was an old piece of hardware, legacy by the Imperium’s standards. But it wasn’t the disk that caught his eye, it was the text written on it in black ink.

“In case of death of Durendal: Jaeger’s eyes only.”

His armor was weighty on his shoulders, he looked up from the disk and glanced around the room. It was Duren’s room in the on-planet Legion base. With the exception of a few unpacked dresser drawers, looked exactly as it had when they had abandoned it a few years ago when the civil war began.

Dante had the unenviable job of collecting the Legionnaire’s belongings and returning them to the next of kin… assuming they had any left.

What was once a bustling base as thousands of Legionnaires went about their day. Gearing up for the next operation, coming off of one or even just relaxing.

Now. Now it was a ghost town. And Dante had well over five thousand rooms to go through. The Legion may have been the smallest branch in the Imperial armed forces, but they were still quite large for a single person to sort through.

While knowing the collection and sorting of Legion belongings should take precedence over this, but… this had to be important.

Dante took one more look around the room before he exited through the door, it sliding shut behind him. This had to be looked at, right now.

Without asking, Venus indicated that the debriefing room had a legacy port for the disk and Dante made a beeline for that room.

Reaching the room, Venus authenticated with the lock, the door sliding open by itself.

He walked into a dimly lit room, which instantly lit up upon his foot passing the threshold.

The room was large. Approximately eight feet by fifty feet. A table sat in the middle, two feet by thirty-five feet. And at the end of the room sat a differently colored portion of the wall.

To the right wall, at approximately twenty-five feet from him and embedded into it sat a suite of playback devices that would accept anything the Imperium had ever used to record and playback.

Dante went straight to that suite, locating the correct legacy port for the disk and inserting it.

The grinding of fans sounded as that specific port probably hadn’t been used for a few hundred years. Dante had a brief moment of doubt of whether or not he should have disassembled and cleaned it.

That doubt was quickly pushed away as he heard a voice that should have been dead.

“Dante.”

The man in question turned his head to the far end of the wall, where the different colored wall panel was, now displaying a video of the black man known as Durendal.

The founder of the Legion and someone Dante had held dear.

The recorded face of the former general of the Phoenix Legion now looked directly at the camera. He glanced down quickly, then looked back up.

“I’m… I’m sorry this is how you had to find out about all of this. But to tell you while I was still alive would have put me in direct opposition to a promise I had made when I formed the Legion. What I am about to tell you will almost assuredly tear the Imperium apart, and you will become a fugitive.”

Dante cocked his head to side, muttering to himself in confusion.

“The Joint Chiefs have been lying to you. Michael has been lying to you… I lied to you. And now… I can tell you everything. I am no longer bound by that promise… I know you’re not going to believe a single thing I say, but there is evidence of everything I am about to tell you. It’s stored on a terminal in the Capitol Building. Floor U-763, room 723, terminal Juliette-Charlie-Sierra 4586...”

Dante walked up the steps to the Capitol Building, back to the where the war had begun. The accusations Durendal had laid down could not wait. They had to be investigated right now.

He wouldn’t be slowed down, he had slipped his helmet on and everyone knew who he was. His frame was not something easily missed.

He pushed his way past the scanners as several of the armed guards backed up to make room for the behemoth. They were more then content to let the pissed-off giant go wherever he wanted in the building due to a mixture of fear and awe and respect. Walking before these recruits who had just graduated basic a few weeks before was the Hero of the Imperium. Not a hero. The hero. The man who brought Olephus’ tyrannical empire to its knees and personally struck the killing blow to the tyrant queen. A blow that had been playing almost non-stop on the news stations since it had occurred. Anyone who hadn’t seen it in the Imperium yet either lacked access to any form of media or simply lived under a rock.

Even if he hadn’t been the walking personification of anger, they still would have let him pass without saying anything.

He immediately headed for the elevator. He had never been below the building. He knew it existed, but he had never gone down there because he had never had a reason to do so.

But now?

Well… if what Duren claimed was true, the Imperium was likely to suffer another civil war.

As he stepped onto the lift, Venus authenticated his credentials and the lift was sent the seven-hundred-sixty-third floor underground.

The ride took a few minutes, during which time Dante reflected on a few things.

The first was that he should have brought a rifle, which of course, he didn’t. His pistol would have to do.

The second was that if what Duren said was true, this would throw the entire Imperium into a spiral and would likely result in the deaths of the Joint Chiefs. And it’s likely a good portion of the Senatorium wouldn’t survive either.

Michael’s fate was still in the air.

The lift stopped on the floor he needed.

There was a reason Dante had never been down here. The entire underground was used solely for archival purposes, and as a result he just never went down there.

He stepped off, and initial scans from Venus showed there was no one on the floor.

Room 723 was quite close to the lift and Dante was there in no time. The light indicating authorization flashed red as he approached, just as he expected, the door stayed shut.

He accessed the control panel to the right of the door, and manually overrode it with Duren’s credentials.

He slid into the room, the ceiling light automatically activating. The room was small. About four feet by ten feet. Immediately in front of the door was a two foot wide two foot tall panel embedded in the wall. A label to the right of it read ‘Terminal JCS 4586’

A Dante walked up to it, the panel came to life. Blinking white several times, then beeping and blinking red as Venus’ authorization failed to authenticate.

Once more, Dante slid his hand along the screen to access the manual override option, entering the valid credentials.

The screen flashed green, indicating the terminal had accepted the credentials. The text popped up quickly, the first line greeted the now deceased Durendal.

Dante quickly maneuvered his way to the correct file as indicated by Duren in the video left for him, his eyes skimming across the lines of text, supported by photographs, documents, debriefings. There was no denying anything Duren had told him, as his heart sunk.

A realization hit him.

Just a few blocks away, a heated meeting was occurring. Between the four joint chiefs and Admiral Krelnash.

The building the meeting was taking in place was a former fort, originally built with in the already heavily fortified Citadel, the fort had been designed to house the first army of the Imperium, when it was still a young colony, not even a country. The land owned by the newly formed Imperium consisted solely of the Citadel and a few miles outside, where no one else dared walk.

The Fort was polygonal in shape, the walls an imposing height of twenty meters. Its design respected its importance, as here was where the decisions that had decided whether the Imperium collapsed or expanded were decided.

The walls of the fort had been severely damaged during the Legion’s reclamation of the Citadel just a short while ago. And at the moment, a swath of repair crews lingered around, attempting to restore the fort to its true glory.

Within the courtyard sat a building, and unlike the fort, its design belied its importance. As in this building is where the Joint Chiefs met. It was here that missions and operations that pushed the Imperium to be the powerhouse that it was now were conceived, ironed out, optimized, examined, optimized even further, troops assigned and then carried out.

In a conference room, five men sat at a table which only had five spots.

Each of these five men acted as an independent check on each other.

The table was a rectangle. Two well made chairs sat either side of the long side of the table, and one single chair sat at the end of the table.

If one were to enter the room, they would be greeted first by the face of the Joint Chief of the Imperial Naval Forces, Kyurkner, his position sat at the end of the table. The man was an imposing frame, tall and fit. But the years of the stress of his position obvious him. The skin on his face suffered from severe wrinkling and the short cut hair showing obvious gray. His skin was a tanned white.

To one’s right would be the Joint Chief of the Imperial Army, Luykgwer an average sized man. He had only recently taken over the position a few thousand years before, when his predecessor had retired, as such, his body did not show the signs of stress his compatriots did. Next to him was the Joint Chief of the Imperial Air Force, Mrypiyl. A small man, he never stood out in the crowd to anyone just casually observing, even someone intentionally looking for him would have trouble picking him out.

To their left would be the Joint Chief of the Imperial Foreign Armed Forces, Iyutlir also an average framed man. And finally the Admiral of the Navy, formerly the Founding Father of the Imperium of Phoenix and the first president, Michael. To those who had seen Jaeger’s face, a common statement was how similar the two looked in regards to facial features. Not necessarily like brothers, but most people who met the two thought there was some sort of familial relationship, though slight. He was the same height as Kyurkner, but slimmer.

The table was a standard conference table from the Imperium. A terminal that would provide each chair with their own personal terminal.

“Listen.” Kyurkner cut in as the Luykgwer attempted to get a point across. “The Legion’s track record is proven. You saw what Jaeger did by himself just a few short hours after the Reclamation.”

Luyk rolled his eyes at the statement: “The army had as much to do with that victory as Jaeger did. You’re only saying this because he’s navy. And might I remind you the assault Rat’s armored division did on two ships, while Jaeger was working on one.”

“Jaeger’s mission was different and you damn well know that!” Kyur responded.

Luyk threw his hands up. “All I’m saying is we have more important things to spend what money we have on! You want to reclaim the territories we lost during the withdraw following the fall? Give me more troops and equipment. The Legion is obsolete, they couldn’t even stop Olephus’ troops.”

Before Luyk and Kyur could continue their infamous screaming matches, Mry spoke up. His voice was soft, fitting well with the space he took up.

“Perhaps we should get Iyutlir and Michael’s opinion on the matter.”

Hearing his name, Iyu looked up from whatever he was doing on his terminal, his head resting on a hand. He straightened up a tad bit in his chair and cleared his throat.

“I will admit my bias in this matter, as the Legion hails from the IFAF, but the Legion has proven absurdly important to Imperial military matters since its original founding. They have been willing to do things no one else is willing to do, as well as their black operations capabilities. I have to throw my vote in with giving the Legion the money to rebuild.”

As Iyu finished his statement, Michael took this chance to give his own statement.

“I would like to remind Luyk of the fact that the Reclamation was successful solely due to the sacrifices made by the Legion. Were it not for their efforts, then the beach would have never been successfully compromised. It was a Legionnaire who activated the kill switch compromising the NPR’s cloning tanks and their active clone troops, meaning Imperial forces only had to deal with their natural born troops. It was also a Legionnaire who had delivered the final blow to Olephus. My vote is with the Legion.”

All eyes were on Mry, as without his agreement, it would leave Luyk by himself with no allies.

The small man pushed his chair back, standing up.

“My vote is with the Legion. To abandon Jaeger after all we’ve done to him. To abandon him now...”

As Mry finished his very short explanation, an audible alert rang across all the terminals in the room, Luyk looked down, turning his head at the notice.

“WARNING: TERMINAL JCS 4586 ACCESSED. USER CREDENTIALS: DURENDAL”

“Duren?” Luyk questioned, as the air in the room grew thick.

Iyu spoke. “Mry… did… Duren’s credentials get redlisted when his status was changed?”

“That was never my responsibility. That was Luykgwer’s responsibility.”

“Oh, fuck.” Kyur mumbled as he quickly stood up. “Fuck!”

Michael was the next, sprinting out of the room.

“Hey! Where… what! Who the fuck has access to Duren’s cre-” The reality hit Luyk, his eyes realizing, as he realized just who would have access to them.

“Initial protocol Othrys!” Kyur shouted, as the table flashed red, indicating the order had been received, text flashed across it.

“WARNING: PROTOCOL OTHRYS INITIATED. TERMINAL LOCKED DOWN.”

He had been used!

“Venus! Copy the databank.” A second passed, before Venus responded.

“Copied.”

As Venus confirmed the information had been copied, the terminal’s screen flashed red.

“WARNING: ACCESS DENIED. TERMINAL LOCKED DOWN.”

Jaeger responded by putting his fist through the screen and pulling the CPU out from the wall.

“Fuck you!” He shouted as he turned on his heel to the door. Predictably, the light indicating whether the door was locked flashed red as he approached. He attempted to manually override it with Duren’s credentials, but it flashed red once more.

“Fuck!” He shouted, as he examined the door.

“They’ve locked Duren’s credentials. We’re going have to fight our way out of this one.” Venus remarked.

The door was designed to be airtight, so he wouldn’t be able to slip his hands underneath it and lift it up. Unless...

Dante said nothing as he cocked his foot back and swung forward, striking the door near the bottom, where door met floor. The metal bent outwards, destroying the airtight seal.

Dante kneeled and slipped a hand underneath the door. He could feel resistance as the door’s locks attempted to do their job and keep it closed, but he soon heard metal snapping as he was able to freely pull the door up and slip under the gap between it and the ground.

He made the short walk back to the elevator and entered. He confirmed the floor he wanted on the terminal and waited as the elevator began moving.

After about twenty floors going back up, the elevator stopped. The terminal flashed red, text popping up.

“WARNING: ELEVATOR LOCKED DOWN.”

Dante cursed as he slipped his hand in between the doors of the elevators, easily prying the open, only to be met by solid cement.

They had stopped the elevator in between floors.

“Admiral Krelnash is attempting to reach you.” Venus informed him, Dante attempting to run through what he could do to get out.”

“Patch him through.”

A second passed before Jaeger’s HUD informed him the patch had been successful and Michael could hear him. Before Michael could speak, Dante did.

“Fuck off you piece of shit.” The Legionnaire quickly severed the connection before Michael could get a word out.

Dante looked around as he worked out how this was going to go in his head.

Michael stood behind one of the barricades hastily put up by the strike team. Ten armored men stood spaced out, thirty feet from the opening of the elevator.

The armor was not power armor, such as the suits worn by Legionnaires, but were closer to the ones worn by mechanized infantry. Exoskeletons with armored plates covering the most vital areas. The helmet was self contained to protect the operator from air based weaponry such as gas or chemicals.

The armor was a plain gray with rank identifiers on both shoulders. The strike team was officially under the control of the staff sergeant present, though they were now deferring to Admiral Krelnash, despite the strike team being army troops.

Michael was the black sheep, with his dress suit in comparison to the team’s uniform armor. Despite that all of them were currently kneeling behind the ballistic shields. The ten armored soldiers were armed with the standard anti-armor rifles, while Michael was with just his pistol.

Still, more bullets downrange never hurt the ones sending them down.

Michael rested his hand on the commanding officer’s shoulder to get his attention. The soldier turned his head to look at him.

“If things start getting hairy, get your boys out of here. Don’t hesitate.” Michael stated, watching the floor counter slowly tick up on the LED screen above the doors of the lift.

“Sir.” The officer spoke. “With all due respect, I don’t think there’s much a single target can do against an entire strike team.”

Michael’s eyebrow raised. “Were you not told who we’re facing?”

“All we got was that it’s a heavily armed individual and we should be ready for a fight, sir.” Another soldier explained, as Michael turned his head slight to look at him. The admiral groaned.

“What the fuck are they doing to you boys nowadays.” He glanced once more to the LED counter, noting the lift was nearly there.

“It’s Jaeger. We’re fighting Jaeger.”

There was silence, as the team took it in.

“You’re shitting me.” One of the younger men finally broke the quiet, Michael merely shook his head.

“The lift’s nearly here. Try to get him out peacefully first but don’t put yourself at risk in order to do so.

The soldiers around him quickly did press checks of their rifles to ensure a round was loaded, then brought their rifles to bear, aiming at the doors of the elevators.

All of them watched with tension as the elevator’s floor indicator ticked ever closer to them.

The indicator switched to the floor they were on, as smoke began to leak through the doors.

“Fuck!” The officer shouted. “He’s popped smoke.”

The door opened as the leaked turned to a pour.

“General Jaeger!” The officer shouted. “Come out slowly and with your hands up! We do not want to hurt you.”

“He’s got chaff in the elevator, sensors can’t tell where he is in there.” Another soldier shouted.

“General!” The officer began again. “We have the building locked down. We do not want to shoot you, but we will if we have to! Please, come out peacefully!”

“Jaeger!” Michael followed suit. “Listen, I know you’re pissed. I would be too if I was in your shoes. But I need you to let me explain what happened. I can’t do this if you don’t let me. So just come out!”

There was a pause as the only response was more smoke coming out of the elevator.

“Fuck this.” The officer spoke. “General, you have five seconds to give some sort of indicator or we’re opening fire.”

“What are you doing!” Michael spat. “He’s not going to come out like that!”

“Violence of action, sir. You think I’m about to let Jaeger get the first move off. I’ve seen what he can do. They’ll be dead before they even realized what happened.” The officer responded without turning his head, his eyes still locked onto the elevator.

“Five!” He began, smoke still pouring out, but getting thinner.

“No!” Michael shouted, waving his hand at the soldiers. “Belay that order!”

The smoke was getting thinner, but the interior of the elevator still was not visible. The soldiers looked to Michael and the Staff Sergeant, their helmets hiding their confusion, though it was obvious.

“I have command of this strike team. If he’s not out by the time I reach one, light him up. Four!”

“Do not do that! It will not solve anything.” Michael shouted.

“Three!”

The smoke thinned out substantially, as bits of metallic colored objects floating around the cabin.

“Tw-… two?” The officer paused as the smoke had almost entirely cleared out of the cabin of the elevator revealing… nothing.

The soldiers realized their target wasn’t in the elevator, and took a quick glance around the hallway they were in and then to each other.

“Where the fuc-” The soldiers question was cut off as an explosion sounded behind them.

Michael was propelled forward as a piece of debris hit him in the head and his world went dark.

Thanks to his height, Dante was able to run his hands along the top of the elevator, stopping once he finally found what he was looking for. Throwing a punch up, he broke the lock on the elevator’s roof hatch, and launched the hatch itself off the top off the elevator.

With a small hop, Dante caught the lip of the hatch and hauled himself out of the elevator and onto its roof.

“Admiral Krelnash is attempting to reach you again.”

“Tell him to go fuck himself.” Dante responded, as the elevator began moving once more. He knew what Michael was trying to do.

“He’s trying to force a confrontation.” He spoke, Venus was in agreement.

“It would appear so. I believe he is going to try to talk you out of going after the Joint Chiefs.”

Dante gave a light chuckle. “That’s not happening. Venus, do you know what floor he’s bringing us to.”

“Please standby.” While Venus attempted to find the answer, Dante examined his surroundings. Since there was no need for any light at the moment, the emergency lights in the shaft normally reserved for technicians were off. The only light present was the light filtering in from the cabin of the elevator. As a result, his helmet had compensated and now allowed him to see as though the sun was shining.

The counterweight passed him, roaring as the elevator reach forty miles an hour.

“One-seventy-three.” Venus answered his question finally. Dante nodded.

He reached into a pouch resting on his belt line and pulled out a tan block wrapped in plastic. He tore the plastic off and dropped it. He grabbed the tan, clay like material and tore it in three.

He looked at what he was working with. Three steel cables, three inches thick. He quickly molded the clay material around each of the three cables.

He turned around. He’d also have to hit the four emergency brakes at the four corners of the elevator.

Pulling another block out of the pouch, he quickly set the clay up on the four brakes.

“We’re nearly there.” Venus informed him.

Dante turned around to the hatch leading to the cabin of the elevator and pulled a cylindrical object from his belt. He pulled the safety pin from it and dropped it down the hatch. Smoke slolwy began to spew from it, and a few seconds later, the entire elevator was filled. When a secondary pop sounded, spreading a wall of chaff infused with nanitic jammers to block sensor suites. The elevator came to a halt.

Dante didn’t wait, as he pulled himself onto the steel support beams and quickly climbed to the next floor.

He reached the ledge where the elevator would normally rest. His boots connected him firmly to the thing ledge as he pushed his hands between the elevator doors and pried them open.

The sensors in his helmet picked up the strike team below him. Eleven men. Ten armored, one unarmored. The unarmored individual was likely Michael.

They were thirty feet from the elevator, so Dante moved forty feet, getting in behind him.

He pulled from a string from another pouch and unraveled. He looped in a circle roughly six feet in diameter and bunched what was left of it on top of the end.

He stood in the middle of the circle.

“Ready, Venus?” He questioned.

“Whenever you are, just say the word.”

Dante nodded. “Alright then… hit it.”

With that, the floor collapsed under him as the wire detonated, creating a nice chunk of circular floor for him to land on.

He pushed off from the floor, covering the ten feet before any of the soldiers could properly react.

He tore a rifle from the hands of one soldier who managed to get it pointed in his general direction and kicked him, sending him flying over the barricade. Dante swung the rifle around, catching a still stunned soldier in the head and shattering the rifle in two.

He stepped to the side as a round impacted to his right. He swung his arm up, an orangeish shield formed, the rounds vaporizing on contact as he quickly closed the gap between him and the soldier firing. The soldier tried to back up, but soon found himself against a wall, as his bolt locked back on his rifle.

In confusion, he looked down at his rifle then back up at the giant before him, as Jaeger swung his right arm, connecting the soldier’s head and destroying his helmet. The man collapsed.

Two were out of the fight.

Jaeger scooped the rifle up with his foot and tossed it into the air. Catching it deftly, he threw it at a soldier who was closest to the explosion and was stumbling in an attempt to gather his footing. It connected with his head, stunning him further. Dante closed the gap once more and grabbed the soldier’s head. His hand easily covered his face as he grabbed it with his other hand and twisted.

That was three.

A round impacted his shoulder as he stepped back from the impact. His helmeted face turned to look at the shooter, only to be greeted by the remaining seven soldiers having recovered from the explosion and regrouped.

Another shot struck his head, causing him to stumble back further.

He shook his head to clear it and looked back to the seven soldiers.

They opened up on him.

The debris had forced Michael to regenerate, which took a minute. As he came to, he was greeted by the sound of rifle fire.

He managed to look to his right, to be greeted by the sight of wheezing soldier with his chest armor and exoskeleton having collapsed and penetrate his torso. He blinked, as he had difficulty comprehending what was occurring in front of him.

He fully came to when an armored soldier landed in front of him, his arm missing. He wheezed and, with his remaining arm tried to drag himself away from whatever it was that had done that to him. His escape was cut short as a black armored boot came down upon his helmeted head, the helmet collapsing under the force and his head disappearing in a spectacular show of gore, some of it splattering on Michael.

Finally realizing what was happening, he attempted to raise the pistol in his hand, but was thwarted in this by having the arm kicked by the same boot that had crushed the soldier’s head kick his arm, breaking the bone in it and causing him to drop the pistol. The boot kicked the gun away from him, close to the elevator.

It had been awhile since he had been this injured, but his scream was cut off by a harsh kick to the ribs, causing it turn into a gurgling, as a rib penetrated his lung.

He could only watch as Dante bent down and grabbed him by the neck, his body desperately attempting to repair the broken arm, ribs and penetrated lung.

“Ten thousand years!” Dante yelled as he slammed him against the wall, denting the drywall. Dante’s faceplate slid out of the way, so his odd eyes could meet Michael’s brown eyes.

“Ten thousand years! You had ten thousand years to fix your mistakes and this is how I find out!” Dante threw him to the side, Michael landing on his side, and rolling over onto his stomach. He pulled himself forward with his good arm in a vain attempt to reach his pistol.

“Tell me.” Dante stated, as his face plate slid back into place. “You had chance after chance after chance to tell me. So… why?” Dante followed behind the slow drag. He raised his arms out. Michael still did not say anything.

“Huh! You brought me here to explain yourself, right? So here’s your chance!” Michael reached the pistol, his good hand landing on it as he attempted to grip it. Dante’s boot once more came down, crushing his hand underneath it, Dante kicked the pistol away once more and delivered a swift kick to the side of the admiral’s chest. A gurgle came from his mouth as Dante used his foot to flip him over onto his back.

The Legionnaire rested his boot on the severely injured man’s chest, as he leveled his pistol at his head.

“Here’s your chance.” Dante spoke quietly. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t put a bullet in your head like I plan to do to the Chiefs...”

Michael merely stared at the pistol’s barrel, wheezing as he attempted to breath. Jaeger’s kicks had broken most of his ribs, and had penetrated both lungs. But he remained silent.

“This is your chance!” Dante shouted. “Give me a reason! Give me a reason! Give me a reason to not kill you!”

Michael remained silent.

Dante stared at him intently, as his finger rested on the trigger. He broke the safety. The only thing it would require is two more pounds of force.

There was silence, as the former president lay on his back at the mercy of someone who had been his most trusted agent.

Dante brought his boot down on Michael’s shoulder, shattering his collar bone.

Michael gasped in pain as he attempted to roll over to protect his broken clavicle. Dante holstered his pistol.

He knelt down to the defeated admiral, his face plate sliding out of the way once more.

He grabbed Michael by the hair and lifted his head up, so their eyes would meet.

Once more, Dante’s glowing green and blue eyes met Michael’s brown eyes.

“Venus.” Dante spoke. “Hit it.” An explosion sounded from behind him as the elevator disappeared in a cloud of smoke, metal screeching against metal.

“Do us both a favor.” Dante stated, the hatred in his eyes obvious. “Don’t crawl out of this shaft.” Dante reached to Michael’s belt line and tore a small black box from it.

With that, he threw Michael’s head away from him and stood up, his face plate sliding back into place. He bent down and grabbed Michael’s leg, and began dragging him to the elevator.

Michael was in too much pain to fight back, and Dante ungracefully tossed him into the now open shaft.

The Legionnaire watched silently as Michael plummeted into the elevator shaft, his body hitting some support beams on the way down and then disappearing entirely a few seconds later.

He turned away from the shaft and towards the bloody mess that was the hallway, the strike team that had been sent after him was out of commission. None of them were dead, but he had put them out of the fight.

“Venus.” He spoke as he stopped over a mutilated corpse. “Get me a read on the Joint Chief’s locations.”

He had a long road ahead of him, but nothing would stop him from taking what he was owed.

Revenge.

Author's Notes:

Hi! I'm back. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

As always, if you liked and favorited this story, please tell me why. If you disliked this story, please tell me why you disliked it. Thank you very much. I also enjoy criticism as it helps me to improve. So if you do downvote, please leave a comment letting me know why. Be it grammar, spelling, pacing, or you just fucking hate the character!