Phoenix

Chapter 8

To say Celestia was mad would be an understatement. She was fuming mad. But her centuries of diplomatic experience allowed her to mask this anger.

Of course, anyone would be angry at finding out that an alien had attempted to murder one of their subjects over property and then held their little sister and niece in a Minotaur fight.

Something which Dante had just done. The creature she was now personally escorting back to the castle through the streets of Canterlot. And struggling not to yell at him. She took a deep breath and sighed. The rest of the group was behind them, as Dante’s longer stride made his walk naturally faster.

“General Jaeger,” Celestia started, having gone through… well, as proper introductions one can go through after finding out he had threatened Celestia’s little sister and niece. But Dante interrupted her before she could go any further.

“Princess, I prefer Dante.”

“Okay… then, Dante. What made you think it was a good idea to attack one of my subjects?”

Ignoring the stares, the two continued to walk through the streets.

Dante raised a single finger. “First. She attacked me. Okay, let’s get that straight. I don’t just go around randomly clearing leather on random-ass people. She started firing magic at me when I told her to stop so I pulled my sidearm, shot at her and gave chase.”

“So why did you tell her to stop?” Celestia questioned. Dante raised another finger.

“Two, she was in possession of a Krelnash Long Range Communications Transmitter that was property of the Imperium.”

Celestia cocked her eyebrow at the odd alien, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by the alien. However, she decided let it go for now, since he hadn't harmed anypony.

“It’s a device capable of sending messages, data and info at faster then light speeds… eh… sort of FTL speeds.” Dante waved his hand in front of his face. “It opens a bridge, which is basically bending time and space. The data is still going at light speed, but it’s traversing a far shorter distance then just shooting it directly into space. So this device turns what would normally be a… say, fifty year delay of the info getting to the recipient into near instantaneously. And the great thing is that you don’t need a receiver for it. Any old radio receiver would work. So all I need to make contact with my people is pointing the transmitter in the right direction and sending a message. Then we wait for them to send me one and we go from there.”

At this point Twilight had caught up with the two, always interested in hearing the alien explain his technology.

“Oh? How does it work?” Dante shrugged his shoulders.

“No one’s entirely sure. Well… let me rephrase that. They know how it works, just now why it works. The math is there and they were able to get it working, but they just don’t know why it bends time and space. All I know is, instead of having to wait two years to get in between planets, we get there in less then two years.”

Cadance was the next to catch up, as more eyes from the citizenry of Canterlot turned their eyes to the odd group.

“So, if you do manage to contact th-” Cadance began, but found herself cutoff by Dante.

“Not if, my dear Princess, when. When I get a hold of them.”

“Right… when you make contact with your people, what will happen?”

“Eh,” Dante rubbed the top of his buzzed head. “I’ve already violated a shit-ton of anti-interference laws. So I’ll probably get yelled at by the Fleet Admiral. Then I’ll get yelled at by Doc. Then the Universalis Senatorium will yell at me. As for y’all, probably an offer as a position for a protectorate territory for the Imperium. Y’all are free to reject the offer, but it’s a damned good offer. With the exception of back there, there’s been no major political hiccups and I’m not planning to mention that to anyone who gets here. I’d get my ass ripped by Mitch.”

“And Canterlot?”

“Y’all will be fine.” Dante stated without hesitation. “The worst the Imperium will do is strip the Celeste of any technology they deem dangerous and probably even offer to reinforce the hull or just build you all a new mountain in the entirety and move Canterlot to that mountain”

Twilight cocked her eyebrows.

“The Imperium can do that?”

“Yep. They would detach Canterlot from the Celeste, detroy the Celeste, terraform a new mountain after clearing the wreckage and then reconnect Canterlot.”

Shining Armor was now the one to call out, not quite in the group in the back but not in the front either.

“Are you sure you should be saying all this, General? Some of this stuff seems like things a guard would get in trouble for revealing to a less advanced species.”

Dante waved his hand in Shining Armor’s general direction.

“It’s Dante, Captain, and as I explained earlier to Twilight. Technically, hell no. But in practice, the most they can do is yell at me. There is absolutely not a single sane person in the Imperium who would risk pissing off the Legion. Bringing any action against me would be political suicide. So I’ve got a shit-ton of leeway in comparison to everyone else.”

“General,” Dante rolled his eyes as another one of them called him by his rank despite his insistence that they call him by his name rather then his rank.

“Dante, but yes, Princess Luna?”

“Should we expect you to be able to contact your people soon?” Luna questioned.

Dante frowned at the memory of the unicorn managing to evade him. “Unfortunately, I can not give you an accurate time frame on that. That unicorn back there took the device I need to talk to them. Venus is currently tracking its signal, but it’s pretty far out as is. I’m going to need to get satellites into orbit in order to get an exact position on it. I’ve also got Venus pinging for any other Imperial signals. But I’ll be honest, it was a miracle that transmitter was even on the ship at all. And the fact that it managed to survive to five millennia is even more of a miracle. So that’s basically my only chance of getting home.”

Cadance asked another question.

“You keep mentioning this Venus pony. Who is she?”

Dante grinned. “Seems like a lot of y’all and Twi and share the same curiosities. Birth name:

VNZ06201925. Name I gave her: Venus. Venus, would you care to say hello to the fine ponies out here?”

A disembodied voice sounded. “Hello again, Twilight. Hello, every one else. I am VNZ06201925, also known as Venus.” She paused for a moment, before continuing. “Dante has informed me it is okay to continue with some more sensitive information. I was created by Doctor Krelnash at the Imperial Institute of Combat Sciences. At the time of the Battle for Earth, I was the only true A.I. in existence. I can not say for sure if they discontinued the program I was built under anytime after losing contact with Imperial databanks.”

Twilight looked up towards the biped.

“You said that name again. “Krelnash”? Who is he?”

“Dr. Krelnash is one of the most successful scientists and inventors in the Imperium. With well over a million patents under her name. She is considered the top source in multiple fields of sciences, her sucesses include but are not limited to combat sciences, medical sciences, faster-then-light research, bridge-laying technology which helped the Imperium achieve victory in first Inter-galactic war, creation of the Legionaire Mk. 1 and 2 programs as well as the initial powered armor programs that paved the Imperium’s way to victory in the third and fourth world wars. She is currently the head of Imperial Unconventional Weapons Department, which focuses on creating non-traditional weapons and tactics. She is Dante’s-” Venus was cut off by the mentioned biped.

“Venus. Thank you.” Venus got the point and shut up at that point. But now Cadance was interested in what Dante’s relationship to this Dr. Krelnash was.

“She’s your… what? Dante? Mom? Girlfriend? Wife?” Cadance got a mischievous look on her face. “Friend with benefits?” Celestia snorted, as Luna went wide-eyed at the insinuation. Twilight just wondered what that term was, she had never heard of any type of friendship like that.

Dante raised his nose in the air and took on a fake posh accent. “My dear princess, the mere insinuation that the good Doctor and I are having any flings on the side are an insult to both my name and hers. She is merely a good family friend of the Jaeger’s. And that’s all I have to say about the good Doctor.” Dante dropped the fake accent. “In any case, it looks like we arrived at the castle. Whew, haven’t seen a moated castle with a drawbridge in a while.”

“Did you not see it on your way to the market?” Luna asked as she trotted up to the biped.

“Nah, remember, didn’t Twi tell you? I jumped out a window on the side of the castle. Never saw the front of the castle at all.”

Everyone present with the exception of Celestia and Twilight looked at Dante as though he was insane, talking about jumping out a window with no wings. However, Dante, as has been precedent, ignored these stares as he walked up to the edge of the moat, looking up at the bridge, both hands resting on his hips.

“Anyways, Princess Celestia, any special way to open this up. Like a secret knock, dance, the Truffle Shuffle?” Celestia calmly walked up to Dante’s side while internally questioning just what a “truffle shuffle” was.

“No special tricks, General” Celestia stated, as she charged her horn up.

“It’s Dante.”

“Please step back, General, it would not be good for me to accidentally crush a foreign military officer.”

“Dante.” Dante repeated as he stepped back.

The drawbridge was enveloped in a gold aura, as thunks sounded on the other side. The drawbridge fell, hitting the ground with quite a bit of force, and missing Celestia by mere inches.

“Well...” Dante grinned at he drawbridge. “That works as well, I suppose.” Without waiting for any one to tell him to continue, Dante strolled across the bridge.

Luna and Celestia crossed the bridge slower, as the rest of the group hung up in the rear.

“Sister, shouldn’t we keep a closer eye on him? After all, he is very prone to violence.” Luna questioned Celestia.

“Please, Luna, how could he possibly get in trouble? We’re with him.”

A shout sounded from inside the castle. Celestia rolled her eyes.

“I need to get him a leash and stop talking. Come on, Luna, we should probably stop him before he decides to kill any guards.”

Dante strolled into the entrance hall of the castle. The only thing decorating this hall was a massive staircase… and a large amount of guards who had tensed up at Dante’s arrival. Without thinking about the potential of baring his teeth at a prey species, Dante smiled. For most people, the canines in their mouth would have barely been noticeable. But one of the augmentations he had received due to his participation in the PLMC also had the unintended side effect of making his canines larger. And, to a herbivorous species that has been preyed on in the past by fanged animals, more terrifying.

Dante’s unintentionally predatory smile resulted with the guards forming a protective circle around the bottom of the staircase, their spears raised.

“Halt! No one is allowed in without permission from the Princesses.” The guard in the center, a unicorn, shouted.

Dante approached the spear wall, no fear evident in his eyes. The white guards tensing up even further as he closed the gap and poked the tip of one of the spears.

“How the fuck are you all even holding these things? Actually, better question, who came up with the idea of a spear for y’all? I can understand Humans making them, but ponies only have hooves, no hands. This ain’t natural, y’all.”

The center guard, a white unicorn tensed even further at the creature’s seemingly careless attitude. But to his credit, maintained his voice.

“Sir,” The guard began. “Please step away. We do not wish to fight, but we have direct orders that nopony except essential staff are allowed into the castle while it is being repaired.”

Dante flashed another grin. He questioned whether or not this would be pushing it, but he decided he needed to make a point.

‘Heh. Point’ Dante was indeed a fan of puns.

Dante leveled his throat to the tip of the guard’s spear, angled in such a way that it would avoid his spine and miss his voice box. And then pushed forward on the spear.

All the guard’s eyes in the room widened as the biped forced the spear into his throat. Blood spilling from the wound, staunched by the spear. But the center guard managed to keep his face, with a struggle.

“Not a single one of you has ever killed a single thing before. You don’t have the eyes of a killer.” Dante pointed to the guard whose spear was impaling his throat. He pointed to another stallion to his left. “You don’t have killer eyes. None of you all do. And you’re gonna point a deadly weapon at me and try to tell me to back off?”

The biped locked eyes with the stallion.

“But you,” He let out. “You have the best potential for killer eyes.”

Dante’s grim humor went even further as he began pushing harder on the spear, forcing the tip all the way through his neck. Now the part of the spear his neck was resting on was the wooden shaft.

“If you’re gonna threaten someone with a deadly weapon, you got to be ready to use it, buddy.” Dante locked eyes with the guard whose spear he had co-opted. Several of the guard stallions visibly going green in the muzzle. “I knew you wouldn’t do it willingly, so I decided to help. You’re welcome.”

Dante stopped pushing himself forwards on the spear as a voice sounded from behind.

“General, please stop traumatizing the guards and extricate yourself from the spear, please.” Although it had come out with a please, Dante could easily tell it was meant as an order.

Rolling his eyes, Dante turned away from the guard, easily ripping the spear from his grip.

“Dante. And fine. I’ll stop fucking with the guards.” Dante reached his arm around to his back and gripped the spear, pulling it further through his neck, out the back, tip away from him. Finally, several of the guards lost it, as they choked back up what they had for lunch. The squelching sounds of wood being pushed through a neck too much. After a few seconds of pulling, Dante had reached the end of the spear, he removed it entirely from his body.

Twilight had also raced ahead to be with her teacher, her stomach having seemingly become iron following the wedding incident. She watched with morbid fascination at the grisly scene of the biped pulling a spear through his neck. And she watched with even more fascination as the relatively large wound seemed to heal almost instantaneously. The rest of the group that had been with them finally filtered their way, just as Dante had removed the spear from his neck.

Dante dropped the spear and raised his hands in the air. “In my defense, Princess,” Dante started, a slight mocking tone evident in his voice. “They pointed weapons at me first. You all keep pointing weapons at me. Would you all stop doing that, please? Jesus Christ, learn the definition of de-escalation.”

“General, you are in no way helping with de-escalation.” Luna stated, having also come in a long with her sister.

“Dante. And well maybe if you ponies would stop threatening me with weapons I’d stop reacting. At the very least I didn’t shoot them.”

Luna rolled her eyes at the General’s response, as Celestia shot back in her motherly tone. “In any case, I suppose we got the introductions out of the way. We understand you, but our little ponies are going to be a little less then pleased with you given the fact that you just had a running battle through the city and then threatened two princesses with death.”

Dante waved his hand behind him as he pushed past the now lowered spears of the guards protecting the staircase. “Eh, you’ll figure somethin’ out, Princess. But I have something I need to do.”

Twilight pushed forward from her teacher intending to follow the bipedal alien who seemed to have made himself at home.

“Wait where are you going, Dante!”

The biped made no attempt to turn around or stop.

“I’m going back to my ship to make some satellites to get into orbit to find my fuckin’ radio that cunt stole from. And then I’m taking stock of all my shit so I can go kill that cunt and get home.”

Most of the entourage blanched at the liberal use of such a crass word, in front of the highest authorities in Equestria, no less. But Twilight had seemingly become immune to Dante’s odd mannerisms. Perhaps it was her scientific curiosity or just her mind becoming used to the odd biped, but she had failed to register his use of a word considered insanely offensive to most ponies.

“Then I’m coming with you!” Twilight shouted, Dante showed no sign of slowing as Twilight trotted to catch up to him, falling at the same pace beside his right side as they walked to wherever it was that they were going.

Shining Armor walked past Cadance, whose mouth was still open from gasping at the biped’s use of the word in casual conversation, Shining Armor rolling his eyes.

“This is why we don’t let generals walk around without a Sergeant Major present. Come on, dear, we’re both tired. Let’s go to bed and we’ll sort out more problems when we’re properly rested.” With no argument Cadance followed the white unicorn up the stairs. Shining Armor stopped the at the guard who had his spear taken by Dante. Glancing at the now blood soaked spear on the ground.

“I’ll have some unicorn cleaners come get that and dispose of it. When you get a chance stop by the armory and have them issue you another one. If they give you any trouble, please point them in my direction.” Shining Armor stated to the guard, who saluted. The unicorn captain continued on his way to get some well-deserved rest.

Celestia glanced to her sister, turning her head to get a better view.

“I must agree with Captain Armor, Luna, will you be okay to see to Night Court by yourself?” Celestia questioned her sister, who merely waved a hoof.

“I shall be fine, sister, please get some rest. We both need it, but I shall take mine in the morning.”

“Thank you, Luna. Guard.” The center guard, now spearless, saluted once more.

“Yes, your highness.” Celestia gestured to the rest of Elements, all of them very obviously tired. “Please show our guests to their rooms. Once they’re all safely there, stop by the armory and get another spear.” Celestia picked up the soaked spear, the weapon being enveloped in a golden aura. “I will dispose of this.” With this statement, the spear was engulfed in flames. Ashes soon falling to the ground.

Without another word, the Princess of the Sun ascended the stairs to make her way to her room, confident that her student would be safe with the general. Despite his… oddness and proclivity for violence he seemed to have formed a fondness for the unicorn in the short time. Perhaps it had been because she was the first one she had come in contact with.

‘Or maybe it’s because she doesn’t address him as general.’ Celestia knew how being addressed by his rank seemed to ignore the biped. But she continued to do it as form of passive-aggressive revenge for threatening her little sister and niece. Even if Luna had started the encounter.

The weaponless guard turned to the remaining Element-bearers. Nodding.

“Please follow me, I will escort you to your rooms.”

The five mares followed behind the stallion, up the stairs. As he led them through several hallways, they got to talking.

“Shouldn’t we be worried about Twilight being alone with that weird alien?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I mean, he did say he would kill Princess Cadance and Princess Luna.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “We all heard the recount, Rainbow. And Princess Celestia didn’t seem to worry about it, so I think he should be fine.”

Before anyone could say anything, Pinkie Pie appeared on Applejack’s back, shouting.

“Yeah! Besides! He’s General Dante T. Jaeger. Hero of the Imperium of Phoenix, Slayer of the Tyrant Queen Olephus, Protector of the Innocent! He wouldn’t hurt Twilight unless she did something first!”

Everyone, including the guard stopped and stared at Pinkie Pie.

“Uh, Pinkie, dear. Are you sure about anything you just said. I’m afraid I do not remember General Jaeger stating anything beyond his rank.” Rarity questioned the pink earth mare’s out burst. Pinkie Pie, in response merely put her hoof under her chin, seeming to be in deep thought.

“It was in his bio!” She responded! “He’s also known as the Horseman of Death!”

“What?” Rainbow Dash took her turn to question the seemingly insane mare.

“Oh! Silly! The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are part of Judaeo-Christian mythos that states the apocalypse has come when Four Horsemen ride upon the Earth! The four horsemen are Death, Famine, War and Pestilence! In modern culture, this mythos is often used to describe extremely important figures in a government or military. In this case Dante is considered the Horseman of Death by his enemies. Which are numerous, but this delves even farther into Imperial politics, such as the Legion’s final push at the Mile of Darkness, where the remaining military forces of the Imperium offensively st-” Pinkie Pie’s rant was cut off by Applejack pulling her off her back and putting a hoof to her mouth.

“Pinkie Pie, not a single one of us here understood a single thing you just said.” Applejack bluntly stated.

Pinkie Pie’s response was merely a large smile. Bouncing up and down, the pink mare shouted.

“My friend Keith told me all about it!” Pinkie Pie pointed to her left, seemingly at somepony who was supposed to be there. “Tell them about Dante, Keith!” Silence reigned, as every pony in the hallway stared at the spot.

“See! That’s what I’m trying to tell them! But they won’t believe me!” Pinkie Pie stated to this alleged “Keith”.

“Um… Pinkie… there’s… uh… there’s nopony there” Fluttershy meekly informed, her friend’s jaw dropping

“How dare you, Fluttershy!” The yellow pegasus shied away from the shout “Keith is there! He’s right there! He’s waving to you, right now!” She pointed to the empty spot once more, still with no “Keith” occupying it.

Applejack shook her head, turning to the royal guard. Smiling, she apologized to the guard.

“I’m sorry, ‘fraid my frien’ here is jus’ tired. She get’s a bit more… crazy when she’s tired. We can continue on now, ‘pologies, again.” The guard merely nodded his head and continued on.

The five mares followed him once more, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie arguing over the existence of “Keith”.

“Venus, give me status on our power situation.” Dante stated, as he stepped out of the castle and into the wreck of the ship that was serving as a mountain. A purple unicorn following right behind him.

“No appreciable drop in the remaining power we’ve had over the past five millenia. Most systems are still powered.” The AI answered.

The biped turned to Twilight, raising a single finger.

“Listen, Twilight, look but don’t touch. I don’t want you setting anything off or dumping my fuel reserves. If you’re interested in something, ask. And if it isn’t dangerous or important, I’ll let you touch it. Okay?” The purple unicorn nodded her head.

Dante patted her head, which barely came up to his waist.

“Great. First, I need blue prints.” The biped walked over to a table and swiped his hand over it. Various projections appeared as he began manipulating them. Twilight walking up to the table and watching as various pictures and alien text began appearing.

“So… what is this?” She questioned. Dante, without looking down answered.

“It’s a computer. It’s connected to the mainframe of the ship and allows me access to their archives. Right now, I’m looking to see if they happen to have any blueprints of long range comms, however...”

The biped didn’t finish his sentence, prompting Twilight to give his leg a nudge.

“However what, Dante?”

“Damn… The Krelnash comms transmitter is one of the most closely guarded secrets the Imperium has. They have a single contract with a single company dedicated solely to building it. And anyone who even wants to step foot onto the property that contains the building that makes the transmitter has to have a beyond top secret clearance and has to be listed as relevant to the program. Not even I could get onto the property… well… not without killing some people… and I suppose I could probably twist a couple of arms…”

“So if they’re so zealously guarded, then how did one end up here?”

“Venus, save this schematic.” Dante stated, as one of the designs disappeared from the screen. “The sale of the long range comms are strictly vetted. They’re fitted to military ships that can travel through bridges. Civilian transport companies can also get a hold of them, but they have to have every single transmitter they own guarded by at least two armed agents 24/7. Same thing goes for telecommunications companies. They can get them, but the Imperium has to approve the sale. And it’s not really even so much a sale as it is a rental. The Imperium claims ownership of all Krelnash transmitters and can repossess a unit at any time for whatever reason. But we have lost a few, either from the NPR taking over ships fitted with or successful raids on installations with them. And guess what… that was the only transmitter on this ship. Venus, save this schematic as well.” Dante turned to the purple unicorn, holding his hand, palm up, out to Twilight.

“I downloaded the schematics for a short range transceiver and for data satellites. The fabricator will take care of the more complicated work, but I need raw materials in order to use it.” Equestrian text popped up above the held out palm, as Twilight oohed at the seeming magic.

“This is a hologram, there’s tech implanted in my skin to allow me to do this.” Dante explained. “I need to know where I can find this stuff. Venus translated it from my language to yours with the closest equivalent word. Twilight examined the list.

“Well, gold and copper won’t be an issue. We have a lot of mines dedicated to those metals and I’m sure Princess Celestia would be more then happy to give you some if its to get you home. But…” Twilight raised a foreleg to her mouth as she thought, Dante waiting in patience. “Silver is going to be an issue.”

“How so?” Dante questioned.

“Well, it’s far more common then gold is, but it seems to inherently attract diamond dogs. And as such, all of the mines we used to have for it are currently overrun by them. Due to its scarcity, we will have a problem with it.”

Dante cocked one of his eyebrows. “Diamond Dogs?”

Twilight nodded her head. “Yes, Diamond Dogs. They’re attracted to shiny things in general but silver seems to drive them mad in their desire for it. They dig for gems and diamonds, but also silver. Due to their desire for the metal, they also extensively use slave labor.”

She noticed Dante’s eye seemingly twitch at the mention of slave labor.

“And your princesses haven’t put a stop to them?” Dante questioned, an edge evident in his voice. Twilight decided now was a good time to run damage control.

“They have! Or at least, they’ve tried to! But the problem with Diamond Dogs is that they stick to caves and dim tunnels, to royal guard regiments who are sent to arrest them are usually fought back. Occasionally a raid or two is successful, but they’re fighting the dogs in an area that they’ve adapted for. The dogs have a...” Twilight faltered, searching for the best way to finish the sentence.

“A home advantage.” Dante finished for her, the purple unicorn nodding her head.

“Alright, are there any of these silver mines near here? I might as well kill two birds with one stone.” Dante stated, Twilight not entirely sure what he meant. Why would he want to kill two birds?

Twilight racked her brain, until she remembered one of the most recent ones she had heard about.

“Yes, a private venture tried to open up another one a few years back. But they were run out of the mines by Diamond Dogs not long after getting it up and running. It’s to the southwest of Ponyville.”

Dante nodded. “I have no idea where the hell Ponyville is.”

“Uh… the library would most likely have a map of Equestria.” Dante nodded once more.

“Alright, go get the map and meet me back here. This is now our War Room. Operation Shining Freedom is now a go.” Twilight looked at Dante, a blank stare on her face. Dante sighed.

“Listen, Twilight, there’s a reason I had other people name operations for me. I’m a grunt, not a POG.” Twilight once more looked at him, a confused look on her face now. Dante pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing.

“Look, Twilight, I will explain military jargon to you later, just… please go get the map.” Twilight nodded and trotted out the door. Dante headed watched as she left, waiting for her to leave the ship properly.

When she had left, Dante moved from his spot, heading down a hallway. There was an armory calling his name, filled with rows upon rows of weapons. All designed to slaughter enemies with insane efficiencies.

Oh, how Dante despised slavers.

In a normally quiet neighborhood sat a brick house. The normally empty driveway now filled with cars, of people whose homes had been destroyed just days before.

Lakia sat on the couch in living room, tears flowing from her eyes, as her father, Aabid Harb, hugged her, tightly. He was holding back tears It was an uncommon sight for the packed living room. The man a former Afghan general who had led the defense of Kabul before its fall to ISIS forces in 2018. Indeed he had witnessed many men die in battle. But this situation hit him particularly hard. It hit everyone in the Harb family quite hard.

“Six-Sierra-8480… Six-Sierra-8480… Negative contact, all units standby...” The female voice from the television came. The news station playing, as beeping sounded from the radio being used to the broadcast the call. Aabid’s no longer holding back his tears, as they flowed freely from his eyes. In fact, no one in the room had dry eyes anymore.

“This is the final call for Officer Muhammad Harb… Badge number 8480. Officer Harb was fatally wounded on September seventh, 2035 while answering the call of duty in aiding in the defense of Earth.” The radio operator’s voice was cracking, as she attempted to keep is straight. But anyone listening could hear it. She herself had also began to tear up. “He served Los Angeles with courage and valor, and the LAPD and Humanity is forever grateful and proud of Officer Harb in his stand for his home, for his brother and sisters, selflessly, paying the ultimate price. Officer Harb, may your soul rest in peace knowing that your death was not in vain and your family, both blood and in spirit, are eternally gateful. You are an example of honor and courage that Humanity will look to for years to come. You join the countless others who stood in honor and courage that day, you stand with heroes, the honored dead. 8480. End of Watch: September Seventh, 2035, 16:45.”

The voice ended her brother’s final call, Lakia’s chest struggling with breathing, as everyone in the room sobbed.

No one said a word, everyone was mourning his death.

Lakia removed herself form her crying father’s arms, her chest heaving from the sobs, as she made her wayto the front door.

Stepping onto the front porch, she leaned on railing to support herself as she began hevaing. Various chunks of partially digested food hit the ground, mixed in with tears. A hand began rubbing her back.

Lakia looked up, seeing a woman.

“Ashley,” Lakia choked through sobs. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be,” Lakia choked back another sob. “Shouldn’t you be in DC with Michael?”

The woman, named Ashley, pulled Lakia in for a hug.

“I couldn’t leave my daughter to mourn her brother or her husband alone.” Her voice lowered.

“I’m sorry, Lakia, about Muhammad and Dante.” At the mention of the two’s names, her sobbing increased. Ashley continued to gently stroke the sobbing woman’s head.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Lakia had buried her head into Ashley’s shoulder at this point, the woman being a fair bit taller then her.

More sobs continued to rack her.

“How...” Lakia’s voice muffled, fighting through her sobs. “How… how could I lose both of them on the same day?” Ashley had no answer to this, as the woman continued to sob. “What did I do?”

Lakia continued to sob for minutes, as all Ashley could do to comfort the young woman was stroke her head.

The sobbing slowly died down, as all that was left was sniffles.

“Ashley,” Lakia began.

“Yes.” She answered, her voice still low, motherly.

“Can I tell you something?”

“You can tell me anything.”

Lakia shifted her head, so it was no longer buried in the shoulder of the other woman.

“I didn’t get to tell Dante this, and I regret it. So far, you’ll be the only one who knows. A few hours before the attack began, I took a… pregnancy test.” Lakia’s voice petered off at the end, but Ashley knew exactly what she was trying to say.

“And it came back positive.” Ashley finished for the mourning woman.

“I’m certain Dante would have been ecstatic at the news.”

“But what if the news had made him be less reckless? What if I had just pushed harder, to tell him? What if he thought he had more the protect then just me? Maybe he wouldn’t have found some other way to stop the explosion.”

“The outcome would have been the same.” Ashley bluntly stated. She knew that allowing Lakia to blame herself would lead to worse outcomes. “Dante did what he did to protect you. If he had known he had a child to protect, he would have been far more reckless. He’s lost so many children in his life that he would have done absolutely anything to protect this one. You not telling him did not do anything. You can’t blame him for his death. And I promise you, if he was here he would be telling you the exact same thing. He wouldn’t want you wallowing in depression at the idea that you killed him. He gave his own life out of his love for you. Out of his sense of duty. Out of a promise to his mother. You are not, and never will be the cause of his death. I know that and Dante knows that. And Dante would be racked with guilt if he found out you were blaming yourself for him choosing your life over his.”

Lakia looked down, as Ashley squeezed the hug a little tighter.

“Now, come on. The President just finished his speech. Michael’s about to speak.” Ashley moved form the hug and took Lakia’s hand and pulled her into the living room.

The sobbing had died down to nothing more then sniffles. Lakia watched the television, as the president of the United States moved away from the podium, another man moving to take his place. Lakia recognized this man, middle aged, caucasian looking. TO his right, various Humans in suits stood silently, the Secret Service agents for the president. To his left, various armored men, all of them wearing the same black armor that Lakia knew to be PLMC armor.

The man raised his hand in a hello. “Hello, people of Earth.” The man lowered his hand. “I am Fleet Admiral Michael Krelnash, former president of the Imperium of Phoenix.” He paused as he looked across the crowd, silence.

“I represent the Imperium of Phoenix, an inter-galactic country. We are not interested in war and violence, but peace. But, as the Human author Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus once said: Si vis pacem, para bellum. If you wish for peace, prepare for war. And you, Humanity, did an amazing thing.”

Michael once again paused. The crowd silent. “Despite taking massive casualties, Humanity refused to roll over and submit to the tyrants and war criminals in the New Phoenix Republic. In the first few hours, Humanity sent a very clear message to those bastards!”

Michael’s hands were gesturing now, finger pointing and hand slamming on the podium. “You all have done something no other people have done when faced with the overwhelming might of Imperial technology! You all said: “If you want this planet, then you will have to kill us for it.” You all stood your ground. Thousands of police officers joined thousands of soldiers and marines who fought to defend Los Angeles despite the armor and weapons Humanity fields and wields being inferior to anything the NPR had access to. Your F-22 pilots zealously fought to their deaths against aircraft with shields, capable of intergalactic travel! Your naval ships went down with their guns blazing. One of them, I have heard the USS Enterprise, on her last legs, rammed an NPR battleship, disabling it. That is, in and of it self, amazing. These ships you all fought were Imperial technology, and not a single species besides Phoenix has managed a disabling hit on an Imperial ship since the first Intergalactic War. You mourn, now! I understand! But Humanity also has a right to be proud! You all stood in defiance against odds completely stacked against you! With pride and defiance, rat struck the cat with all its might.”

Once again, a pause. But this time the crowd had erupted into an applause, as the flags of several nation were proudly waved through the air.

Michael waited for the applause to die down before continuing.

“The Imperium is now friends with Humanity! And trust me! The deaths of your people, the deaths of billions of Humans! They will not go with out payback! We will hunt the people responsible for this senseless, unnecessary, violent and brutal attack down! Their military will be destroyed! We will wipe them from the annals of history!”

Even more applause as Michael paused.

“I have received a request from one the officers under my command to speak, and I have allowed it. Colonel Kallen Y. Refner.” With this, Michael moved to the right of the podium, allowing a fully armored man to step up to it from the crowd of other PLMC troops.

The man stood at the podium, reached up and removed his helmet. Revealing a bald head with black skin. A man appearing to middle aged, African stood tall. He gently placed the helmet on the podium.

“Hello.” He spoke, his voice was deep. “I am Colonel Kallen Y. Refner. Second in command of the Phoenix Legion Marine Corps. Who were the first Imperial units in contact with Humanity following the NPR’s attack on Earth. I would like to echo Fleet Admiral’s pride for Humanity. But I’d also like to to tell you about a friend who had been on the ground here. He was a great man, who had served the Imperium faithfully, despite having no ties to it. When he first came in, I was not a Legionnaire but was with Imperial External Intelligence Agency. I helped track him down for the PLMC. He was as Human as everyone standing in this square. He was born on Earth and was raised on Earth. General Dante T. Jaeger, call sign Poet 1-5 Actual served the PLMC and led them without fear, both as a lieutenant at the Mile of Darkness, where five hundred legionnaires stormed Hadrian’s beach to oppose the occupying government of Queen Olephus. He was the only one to walk away from that, becoming general of the PLMC by virtue of being the only Legionnaire left.” Kallen chuckled, as the crowd followed his cue. “He was a good man, a great friend and an amazing general. He lead the Legion to what we are now. There was a time where the Legion consisted of a single man, him. But he rebuilt the Legion. He trained me and hundreds of others how to be Legionnaires. He led honorably, much like his friend, General Durendal. Who died during the fighting to retake the Imperium.”

A pause once more.

“Dante forced his way onto an NPR jet and boarded the Celeste, alone. A ship that had been mutinied during the first Imperial-NPR war. From there, he fought his way to the bridge and found information of a super weapon on the ship. Realizing that leaving it there would lead to the complete destruction of Humanity, as it had been armed by the NPR, he piloted the Celeste into an open bridge and collapsed it behind him, dampening the explosion and saving Earth. From the time he opened the bridge to it detonating, he had less then ten seconds. Had it not been for Dante… none of use would be here speaking.”

A silence descended over the crowd, as news of just how close to being destroyed they all had come dawned upon them.

“He has not been recognized so far, either by Imperial news or Human news. I am here to rectify that. Similar to your police, the Legion has a similar tradition to the final call.” Kallen held his left forearm up as though was looking at a wrist watch and spoke.

“Poet 1-5 Actual… Poet 1-5 Actual… Poet 1-5 Actual this is Gryphon 1-4 Actual… Negative contact on Poet 1-5 Actual, all Legion units standby...”

Both Lakia and Ashley knew Legionaries were supposed to be fearless and heartless soldiers. But both of them heard the slight cracking in Kallen’s voice and a tear forming at the side of his eyes. Lakia herself had also began to cry once more.

“All Legion units, Poet 1-5 Actual is down, I repeat, Poet 1-5 Actual is down. Gryphon 1-4 Actual assuming command.” At this moment, the crowd of PLMC troops behind Kallen snapped to attention, saluting the now General Refner, whose voice was threatening to crack.

However he was not yet done.

“Poet 1-5… we will rendezvous one day, wait for us before you kick down the gates of Hell.”

With this final line, the crowd burst into cheers. No one was entirely sure why. Most of them didn’t even know what this General Jaeger looked like. Perhaps it was General Refner’s conviction as he delivered the final line. Or perhaps it was something else. But flags of many nations were flying, and someone had produced the flag of the Imperium, Ashley noted. Kallen replaced his helmet on his head and turned to the crowd of still saluting PLMC troops, lifting his own salute, and then lowering it, the troops following his lead and returning to their rest stance.

Ashley looked down the sobbing woman, who had reburied her head in Ashley’s shoulder during the speech.

Losing a husband is one thing, Ashley knew, but losing a husband when you’re pregnant is an entirely different thing. And not something Ashley knew how to comfort.

Lakia herself, though, had doubts. The IoP had declared Dante dead, but from something as simple as that superweapon? He had fought the physical manifestation of the Void to a standstill, surely…

Surely he was still alive...

Author's Notes:

So we get a bit more backstory on what happened on Earth. Poor Lak, she lost both her brother and husband. And she has a baby on the way!

Dante has been declared dead by his government, even though he was just takin' a lil' nap, moit.

Again, 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!