With the tundra sun hanging high in the sky, the train engine rumbled to life, and began chugging onward toward Canterlot. Despite their victory, there was precious little celebration from anybody on board as the snowy tundra began to whip by them. The imperial corvette stuck to their side, with limited communication between them and Mythic's radio allowing for some orders to be passed about.

Once he had been sure everything was running smoothly, Jack had collapsed upon a bank of sandbags, and fallen asleep as Private Marvich dug the bullet out of his shoulder.

It was only when they entered range of Canterlot that things got interesting. Jack awoke to yelling, and the sound of roaring VTOL engines. The corvette was still flying it's white flag, though it was certain that the sailors aboard were tense as steel wires as the rocket armed VTOL flight zoomed by them.

“I say again, Valkyrie Flight, hold fire! The Imperial vessel has surrendered and is under JSOG protection!” Flitter yelled into the radio as a VTOL hovered alongside the train.

Shaking his head to wake himself up, Jack muttered a curse and strode over. “What's going on, Flitter?”

Looking over as her name was called, Flitter visibly relaxed when she spotted him. “Jack! Thank the gods you're awake. We've got orders to board the VTOLs and make for a hard burn to Canterlot.”

“What about the Imps?” Jack rubbed his jaw.

“They almost shot them down. If I hadn't heard the calls on the radio, our prisoners would be a flaming ruin.”

With a sigh, Jack looked about and began counting heads. “They don't have enough room for all of us.”

Scratching the back of her head, Flitter sighed as well. “It's just going to be us. You and me, I mean.” She gestured to the VTOL keeping pace with them. “The others are securing the Imperial corvette and continuing to keep the train safe.”

Grunting in response, Jack dug out his abused helmet. “No sense dicking around then. Tell buddy to come in closer and prep for boarding.”

“Wait, Captain!” Agent Orange galloped over, his satchel still stuck to his side. “Take my reports to your princess, I'll meet with them when the train stops.” The agent hoofed over the hardcase, and nodded to Jack as he entrusted the critical intel to him.

Moments later, Jack and Flitter would board the gunship, and be whisked away to the capital. Jack could tell that things were bad when a flight of royal guards met them and flew escort through the busy airspace.

Looking out the front windscreen, Flitter's jaw dropped. “Mother of the gods… they really did it.” When Jack perked a brow and questioned her, Flitter pointed a hoof toward Canterlot, and the cloud city that was now parked above it. “They towed Cloudsdale.”

With a whistle, Jack looked out over the two cities, and winced at the choked airspace that they were beginning to fly through. “Don't these idiots know to not block military vehicles? Especially ones with rotating blades?”

The pilot simply laughed at the thought. “I almost ran over a whole family on the way out, fuckin’ turkeys think they own the sky. No offence, ma'am.”

Flitter waved it off as she continued to look over Cloudsdale. “I haven't been to Cloudsdale since… my dad…” Her expression soured. “If they're here, then so is my mother.”

“You mean the lady who had me captured, tortured, and raped?” Jack asked idly with a hint of malice hiding in his nonchalance.

Flitter nodded to him. “The one and only. Jack, I know you want to do your thing, but if we run into her, let me handle her.”

As the VTOL swept in to land, Jack gently rubbed between Flitter's ears. “She's all yours. I just want to watch.” He perked somewhat as the gunship landed, and he saw both princesses making a hard line toward them. “Eyes up, big brass bearing down on our ass.” Pulling himself out of the seat, Jack stood and sharply saluted the pair.

Celestia didn't share the formality. “Both of you, with me, now.”

The pair shared a cursory glance, before striding after the princesses. Entering the castle, they found it even busier than before. Guards filled and patrolled the halls, while ponies wearing militia uniforms wandered about trying to look like they weren't lost. Passing by a window, Jack caught sight of a large collection of tents on the royal lawn.

“I take it the refugees have arrived?” Jack hazarded a guess.

“Yes.” Luna was the one to respond. “We have had a steady stream of refugees since you left on your mission four days ago.”

“Great…” With his mind on changeling infiltrators and mind control masks, Jack wasn't entirely enthused about the idea of so many unchecked civilians running amok.

Entering the planning room, Celestia shut the door behind them with her magic. “We require an immediate debrief of what happened on the train and how the battle for Stalliongrad has gone.”

Nodding in understanding, Jack set the OOSS agent's case down on the table. “Critical Intel from Omega Hive. Their agent will see you when the train arrives. Their messages are being intercepted.” He sighed, and scratched at his head. “Okay, where to begin…”

“From the beginning, please.” Celestia sat down heavily. “I pray you have good news.”

By the time Jack and Flitter finished their debrief, the Princesses were beside themselves.

“This is all wonderful news. We didn't expect such results when we sent you out, but…” Celestia finally smiled. “Thank you both.”

Shifting in his seat, Jack rolled his jaw and lifted a hand. “I've got a bit more Intel. You aren't going to like it.” The three looked toward him in curiosity, and motioned for him to continue. With a sigh, Jack sat back. “When I destroyed the mask, it released a magic pulse that broke the domination spell within the AoE.”

“That's wondrous news!” Celestia proclaimed. “That means the magic behind the control can be broken, and-”

“Celestia, they used the mask on us all. JSOG was compromised.”

The room fell silent.

With all attention on him, save for Flitter's, Jack rubbed at his temples. “I was knocked unconscious by a blast, and…” He paused for a moment, trying to decide whether he should speak of the madness that occurred in his own mind. “I was pulled into my own mind, the wasteland it is… I… I saw Jalgromak. I spoke to him.”

Shit talked him.

The two princesses looked toward him, their eyes betraying their thoughts as they put thought to his claim. “Jalgromak entered you mind.” Celestia asked again, her voice perfectly calm and level. When Jack nodded, she lifted her muzzle and looked down upon him slightly. “Jack-”

“Let me finish.” He cut her off, begging. “Please.” He waited, as the princesses shared a look, before nodding to him. Letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding in, Jack nodded to them. “Thank you. Due to my… condition, and some extenuating circumstances… Jalgromak cannot control me whatsoever.” The shock on their faces beat out their regal masks, and he carried on. “But that's not what I wanted to tell you. I spoke to him, and he told me what he's doing. Why.” Flitter's hoof came to rest gently on his thigh as the princesses waited for him to continue. With a breath, Jack began rubbing his scarred left temple. “He's taking over the world through agents, so he can cleanse it of all life and restart. He wants to create perfection. He claimed this world was chaos, and he would reclaim it. He has returned. Maybe not in the flesh, but he's definitely here. Way I figure, his primary agents, his leaders, have the most power, the biggest masks. Their Lieutenants have smaller masks. Less power, but still. It means he doesn't have the power to just subjugate all of us at once, or he would have already. We destroy the masks, we release people and scatter a bit of his power. We can use that to our advantage. Save people critical to the war effort, instead of killing them.” Jack spoke as if he was wishing with all his might that his guess was correct.

For their part, everybody else in the room wished the same. Letting out a breath, Celestia forced a soft smile. “Thank you, Jack. We had suspicions, but you have given us so much more to work with. When your freed Imperials arrive, we would like you both to be present when we question them. We will, however…” there was a brief pause. “We will have to test both you, and your unit, for corruption. At this point, we cannot afford to suffer a betrayal.”

Grasping Flitter's hoof with his armoured hand, Jack nodded. “Agreed. We'll pass, I know it.” He sat for a moment, holding Flitter's hoof. “What's happened while we've been gone?”

A look to the board saw far more hostile red, than friendly blues, greens, and golds combined. Luna was the one to speak. “The control masks are allowing them to take entire towns and not stop. We have lost complete contact with twenty towns and villages, as well as Neigh York. The battlegroup headed for zebraic lands has gotten to their capital, of this we are certain. Border units reported seeing mobilisation of zebra forces in an unprecedented manner, headed for our border. We suspect the battlegroup will attack the Nagalan lands next.”

Celestia raised her head from what she was looking at. “However, with the blow you struck their war effort in the Ural mountains, and the stolen vessels, we believe the war on our own soil will go much better. We are still in the process of pulling our ponies out of danger, but once we are ready, we will meet Order's forces head on.”

Resting heavily against wall behind him, Jack nodded to the princesses. “Good… we'll be ready. Just wish we had more time to train…”

Sighing and nodding to Jack, Celestia stared down at the map. “We all wish we had more time. We were not prepared for this.”

“But we will prevail.” Luna finished. “We have a doctor here, that will test you both for magical corruption. I am confident you will both pass his inspection.”

“He's not going to strap me to a table, is he?” Jack questioned with a hint of worry.

“No. But you will need to be nude.”

Jack groaned quietly as he stood. “Great. I love it.” Giving Flitter's intact ear a rub, he gestured toward the door. “Come on Flitter. I'm gonna leave my armour with Aurora and meet you… where ever this guy is.”

“We will have him meet you at the door to the labs.” Celestia answered his question briskly. “Quickly now, when you are finished I have some errands for you both to run.”

The pair saluted, before exiting the room. The moment the door closed, Flitter broke the silence between them. “Errands are like, my favourite thing to do after being shot.”

Snorting mildly and smiling, Jack patted her neck. “Welcome to my world. Maybe I should rebrand us as Marines, considering the amount of shit we find ourselves in on a day to day basis. Trouble is like our natural habitat.”

Flitter smiled faintly at the notion as they started toward the labs. “I certainly wouldn't mind. I don't think anyone else will understand the importance though.”

Nodding his agreement, Jack fell into step with her. “You're probably right, plus the paperwork needed to rebrand us would be retarded. We'll stick with this clunky ass name for now.”

“Well… there's got to be something we can go by. JSOG just doesn't roll off the tongue very well.”

“It doesn't, does it?” Jack rubbed his chin in thought.

Flitter smiled to him as they marched down the halls. “How about… Jack's Justicars?”

“Nope. Not narcissistic enough to pull that one.”

Humming lightly, Flitter nodded. “Right, right… how about… Soggers? No, that's awful…” Flitter grumbled hard toward herself. “You know what, screw it. We should be Marines.”

“Giving up already?” Jack asked with a smirk. “Let's sit on it for a bit. We've got a doctor to see.”

“Have I ever told you I hate going to the doctors?”

“No, no I don't think you've ever mentioned that. You should still see somebody about your ear.” Jack gently rubbed the back of her neck with his armoured hand; the motion earned him a soft, subdued hum of approval.

“I'll get it checked…” Flitter gave his thigh a brief nuzzle, before pulling away. “Go and take your kit off. I’ll wait for you and we’ll see this doctor together.”

Grumbling mildly, Jack shot the smaller mare a brief salute, before breaking off and heading in to have his armour cleaned by Aurora. Leaning against a wall, Flitter smirked ever so slightly when she heard Aurora’s cry of anguish upon seeing Jack.

Having barely escaped the lab with his life intact and his ear only half chewed off, Jack and Flitter started toward the Doctor’s office that they had been directed toward. It took them both far longer than they’d like to have admitted to find the office, but eventually, they stood before a large door, that had it’s title engraved into the fine wood.

“You know, Sparky… I’ve never seen this door before. Or heard of it.” Jack scratched at his chin momentarily. “Something tells me I’m really not gonna like what’s in there.”

Smiling weakly, Flitter could only agree in her head, while trying to convince him otherwise. “I’m sure it won’t be so bad. I mean, we’re both obviously not messed up by that magic, so we should be out of here quick. Right?”

“I swear to god, if there’s pickled human bits in here, Celestia can scan me her bloody self.”

Perking a brow at him, Flitter turned her attention away from the door momentarily. “Since when do you say ‘bloody’?”

“What do you mean?” Jack asked lightly.

“You’re talking like Ada.” A hint of edge had worked it’s way into her voice, and Flitter was quick to squash it back down.

For his part, Jack looked surprised. “Huh… Suppose I am, eh? Guess she rubbed off on me before getting stuck in this mess.” Flitter flinched at the unintentional innuendo, but quickly hid it as Jack walked toward the door and knocked. “No time like the-” Before Jack could finish his sentence, the door flung open, and a clawed paw shot out from the dark and snatched the front of jack’s shirt, before dragging him in. Flitter paused only for a moment, before leaping after him into the dark lab.

Leaping into the room, Flitter found a huge griffon dressed in a lab coat and sitting in a wheelchair picking at and fawning over Jack, who had been pushed into a chair and currently had a bright light being shone in his face. The Griffon was holding Jack’s mouth open, and peering at his teeth, while mumbling to himself about canines and molars. Flitter let her own weapon relax somewhat when she saw that Jack had only drawn his revolver out, and not crammed it into the doctor’s features. After the incident with the assassins, Jack never went anywhere without a weapon. With both his revolver and knife, if the doctor truly posed a threat, he would have been dealt with. Instead, Jack looked confused, overwhelmed, and annoyed. Clearing her throat, Flitter drew the doctor’s attention momentarily. “Doctor Mac Griffon?”

“Aha, yes! That’s me! How can I help you, young Miss?” The doctor turned his attention back to Jack. “You’re an old dog, aren’t you?’ Hmm?” Mac prodded Jack’s wounded face, and earned an angry grunt in return. “Oof, look at that mug! Got into a fight with a wood chipper I’d say!”

Shaking her head at the sight before her, Flitter cleared her throat. “Doctor, that’s Knight Captain Kessle, and I think you should probably take your talons out of his mouth. He bites.”

The doctor glanced over momentarily, only to squawk in surprise as Jack bit his talons. “Gah! The chompers on you! Heel boy, heel!”

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Jack muttered to himself as he kept the muzzle of his revolver on the eccentric doctor. “Just… stop poking me!” Swatting away a paw, Jack attempted to stand, only to be bumped back into the chair.

“I won’t apologise, It’s a part of the process!” Mac Griffon grabbed Jack’s free arm, and lifted it up as he investigated. “Hmm, yes, multiple surgical scars and the like… inkings, injury scar tissue, and what are these... track marks and an old case of anxiety scratching… Proclivity for violence, self harm, sexual deviancy, substance abuse, and generally aggressive behaviour towards others” Jack pulled back, his expression going from annoyance to shock as the Doctor removed his talons. “Alright! Clothes off! The sooner we start, the sooner science can begin!” Jerking on the joystick of his wheel chair with his talon, his chair did a quick one-eighty before he rolled off towards a large machine sitting in the corner of the room. Several cranes extended from the machine’s body, wires running up the arms. Large, strange-looking light bulbs were attached to the ends of the cranes. The top of the machine was covered in an array of antennae of various lengths.

Blinking back his shock and rare feeling of shame, Jack simply began following orders as his head tried to wrap around what had just happened. Flitter quietly stood by, completely unable to help Jack in any way. Her attentions were swiftly grabbed when he dropped his trousers and shed his uniform top. It was all she could do to keep her eyes up and her mouth shut. She ensured she remembered as much as she could, for later use. Despite her best efforts though, her eyes flicked down more than once as Jack was cajoled onto the large machine that stood sentinel in the back corner of the room. “Doctor… what.. What is that machine?”

“This machine will detect any trace magics in anything! I created it myself, back when the changelings invaded Canterlot. Hmf, turns out humans are better bug catchers! Oh well.” The doctor shrugged his shoulders, before whistling. “Come on you two, give me a hoof here!”

Jack cursed as his revolver was pulled from his hand by one of the doctor’s changeling assistants, who had descended from the ceiling at his whistle. “Doc, you better not be doing anything funny here, I’m really not in the mood.”

Waving a paw, the doctor began throwing switches on the machine. “Nonsense! I don’t see any portion of this funny, save for perhaps the shade of red the lieutenant has turned.” Jack’s eyes flicked to Flitter, who turned an even brighter shade of red as one of the assistants sniggered. “That’s the ticket! Okay, initializing procedure!” Throwing a huge lever, the strange arcanotech machine whirred to life, and Jack felt an awful itch begin to spread outwards from his plugs. The machine began to work itself into a frenzy, and Jack felt his feet slowly leaving the platform.

“Doc!? This had better be apart of your damn process!” Jack yelled, before snarling and biting his lip hard as the awful itch turned into thousands of needles jabbing in across his skin.

For his part, Doctor Griffon seemed unaware of the suffering. “Hmm… atypical readings for aberrant type humans… clearly Terran… You two!” His orderlies perked immediately. “I’m getting interference from the machine! See to it!” The machine began to buzz at a higher frequency, and Jack felt the itch enter his brain. Unable to move, and with his body feeling like it was on fire, Jack grit his teeth against the rising pain. “I see you chewing on that wire again! Out! Spit it out!” Spitting the wire back out, and plugging it back into the machine, the changeling in question scampered off with a chirp, while the machine seemed to calm slightly. With a groan, Jack felt relief wash over him as the stabbing sensation abated to an uncomfortable itch across his body. The lights mounted upon the machine suddenly lit up, bathing him in a phosphorescent glow. Grinning, The doctor left his control panel. “And there you have it, one Terran Human, on display!”

Jack’s body was lit up like a christmas tree, with pale yellow smoke wafting off him in small plumes, while his plugs and plates created magical dead spots, that saw the rolling yellow smoke create eddies across his skin.

“Mm, as I suspected. Young Maximilian had the same concentration of chaos magic across his body! Though, yours seems to have dissipated, and these dead spots…” The doctor rolled over in his chair, and tapped at Jack’s plugs with a talon. “You, my interesting friend, seem to have titanium implanted in you, and your legs seem to have been removed. Please do not be alarmed.”

Jack stared at the griffon, for a long moment, before speaking flatly with a straight face. “Oh. Oh my god. How unfortunate.” Jack casually glanced over at Flitter. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Whu-” Flitter sputtered incredulously at the question. “I… what?” Shaking her head and letting out a quiet groan, Flitter looked to the doctor. “Doctor Griffon, please, is there any trace of Order’s magic in Jack’s mind?”

“Hmm?” Mac perked, and ceased poking at Jack’s plugs. “I would assume not, magic like that must go through the forehead, and as you can see, his head is a magical dead zone. Well, not a dead zone per say, but the plate of titanium that has been implanted in his skull has had a gradual effect of repelling static magical ions and an immediate effect of nullifying induced magical ions, which results in the pseudo dead-zones you see here. He would have to be implanted with something to warrant an effect on his mind.” Perking somewhat, Jack began sticking his pinky finger in his ears as he scratched and rubbed.

“You… assume.” Flitter stared at the doctor as he wheeled around to face her.

“Yes, I do believe that is what I said.”

Closing her eyes and scrunching her features in disbelief, Flitter slowly let out a breath. “Alright. Okay. Are you finished with him? I need to be scanned as well.”

“In such a hurry to be naked as well? Alright then. Okay human, you can exit the field.” The machine shut off with the throw of a switch. Shaking her head, Flitter began to quickly disrobe while Jack began to hunt down his clothes. With a yell, he began to chase the changeling that had stolen his pants. Flitter paused momentarily to watch, and silently appreciate the view. “Any day now, miss.” The griffon began. “Your superior’s buttocks will still be there when you finish.”

With her features glowing bright red, Flitter finished stripping off her uniform and trotted onto the platform. The machine whirred to life as Jack wrestled his clothes from the changelings, and Flitter found herself bathed in the same light as Jack. To her relief, the magic wafting off her own fur wasn’t the same sickly yellow energy of chaos that tainted Jack. The doctor gave her a momentary glance over, before shutting off the machine again. “Is… is that it?” Flitter questioned quietly.

“Yep!” The doctor began jotting down notes. “You show all the typical signs of a young, healthy pegasus. You don’t fly much, it seems, which has a rather large build up of flight magic in your back, but besides that, no magic is amiss on your body. Congratulations, you have no Orderly taint in your mind.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Flitter began collecting her uniform. “Thank you doctor, that is a massive relief. I'm sure the princesses will want to hear your report.”

“It's already been sent, my dear. Now, if you don't mind, I have some work to see to.”

“We'll get out of your feathers then. Jack! It's time for us to go!” Flitter called out, before watching as one of the doctor's changelings careened down from the ceiling, screeching as it held onto Jack's pants, and Jack dragged it down. The pair landed with a crash, and Jack swiftly snatched his pants free from the groaning changeling.

Holding his pants up above his head, Jack grinned triumphantly. “Got em!”

“Great…” Flitter averted her gaze. “Could you put them on then?”

“What, I thought your society loved nudity.” Jack prodded as he pulled on his uniform. Smirking somewhat at the muttering Flitter, he shook his head and motioned to the door. “Come on, Sparky. I'm sure our boys will be here soon, and I could use a nap in my own bed for once.”

Exiting the room and leaving the mad scientist behind, Flitter found herself flushing at the thoughts in her mind. “Is there… um… room for a plus one?”

“Always.”

With the one word bringing joy back into Flitter's mind, she was quick to regain her composure and play it cool. “Alright, that's cool.” She brushed a bit of her mane aside. “I mean, you know… if it's all cool with you...” Pursing her lips, Flitter turned her head away from Jack and stared at the floor as he chuckled lightly.

“That blow to the head must have jostled you pretty bad.” Jack said as he paused momentarily to scoop Flitter off her hooves. Ignoring the shade of red she turned, Jack began his long trek to his bunk, which had been waiting for him diligently. Shouldering his door open, Jack let out a pleased noise when he found his room undisturbed. Setting Flitter down, he began pulling off his blood and sweat-stiff uniform and changing into something that resembled clean. While he changed, Flitter averted her eyes, and found them wandering around the room. To her dismay, she found some of Ada’s underclothes, tossed about with little care. The mental images the simple underwear conjured in Flitters head saw her cheeks burning painfully and a scowl threatening her lips.

Hearing a displeased grumble from the bathroom, Flitter dragged her eyes off the underwear and rumpled sheets as she moved to see what Jack was making noise over. With both his hands clamped on the sink, He was turning his head and eying it in the mirror. “What is it, Jack?” Flitter asked softly as she shifted and shuffled quietly.

“Grey hairs…” Jack responded faintly, before running a calloused hand through his short crop of black hair. “I found one before we went on this op… now they're fucking everywhere...”

Flitter trotted a bit closer, before hovering to take a closer look at his head. Doing her best to ignore the fresh scars, Flitter found to her surprise that Jack’s hair had taken on a very faint salt and pepper colouring. Little grey hairs decorated his head, popping up at random. There weren’t many, but they were there. “Is that… bad?”

Remaining quiet for a moment as he hung his head, Jack soon shook his head and started for his bed. Sitting on the edge of it, he opened up his nightstand, and pulled out a gaudy orange knit hat. Pulling it on, Jack flopped over backwards onto the bed. “What month is it?”

Fighting back the unofficer-like squee of happiness at the sight of the hat she’d given him as a gift so long ago, Flitter coughed into her hoof, before landing on the bed. “I um… November. November twentysomething.”

“I’m Thirty Five.” Jack stared up at the ceiling. “I’ve… been here for over two years, Flitter.” He slowly let out a breath through his teeth.

Smiling nervously as she caught the sad overtones in his voice, Flitter did her best to snuggle up to Jack. “Well… it’s a good thing you Terrans live so much longer than our humans…”

“Didn't figure I'd make it far enough to get grey hairs.” He muttered mildly as he began to force himself to relax. “God I'm so tired…”

Thinking for a moment as she rested her head on his chest, Flitter glanced up at Jack. “Maybe your blood-sugar is low?”

“Maybe it's all the times I've blown up, shot, and tossed around. Maybe I've finally broken myself.”

“I think you might be hungry…” Flitter gently nosed at him. “Should I run and grab you some food, old man?” She said as she barely contained her amusement.

“Oh haha, funny…” Rolling over onto his stomach, Jack began rooting through his nightstand. “Got some protein bars in here somewhere… Aha, there.” Pulling out the protein bar, Jack began to tiredly nibble at it as he lay in bed. “Do you think we've got a chance?”

Pausing at the question, Flitter resumed her resting place on his chest. “What do you mean?”

“The war. I don’t know how big this world of yours is, or just how far that runt can go.” Jack set his snack down and stared up at the ceiling. “Are we fucked?”

With the weight of his question now bearing down on her mind and forcing thoughts of her own, Flitter stayed quiet and thought as he idly began petting her. “I… I don’t know… maybe, if our allies weren’t being turned against us every day… I just… we need to try, right? We have to fight, even if we…”

“We’ll fight, Flitter. I’ve got your back, no matter what kind of crazy shit the world wants to throw at us next. We’ll win this shit. Even if the whole world is against us.”

Smiling softly, Flitter nuzzled at his chest and got comfortable. “We need more people like you, Jack.”

“I don’t think any world could handle more than one of me.”

Giggling lightly, she had to nod in agreement. “Mhm~ Well, I for one would have a great time. I’d get twice as many scritches.” Resting her chin on his chest, Flitter found herself locking eyes with the battered man, and her heart skipping a beat. With her cheeks warming up fast, her mind flashed to the words she’d failed to say when she’d left for Twin Peaks. Anxiety welled in her chest like a thick knot of muscle, which was only made worse when he broke the stare, and let his head flop down on the pillow. Come on girl, just go! Do it! Tell him dammit!

Unaware of the mental battle Flitter was having with herself, Jack let out a mild groan and deflated slightly. “So, Private Marvich is a pretty skilled medic. Brave too. Doesn’t flinch when the rounds start flying.”

Glad for the distraction, but suffering from her own demanding thoughts, Flitter nodded jerkily. “Y-yeah. You thinking of recruitment?”

“I think so. He’s wasted sitting on a train or a wall all day. We could use somebody like that.” He quieted for a moment. “You know… if we can secure another mask, we could use it to free our boys. Get them all back…”

And get Ada back. Flitter's mind filled in the blank as she lay resting next to him. The thought sent a surge of jealousy and self-loathing through her that she fought to keep hidden. “It would… definitely help us all…”

“Carolus hasn't sent them against us, yet. But he will soon.” Jack's features became pained at the thought. “You know… for all the nasty shit we did on earth, at least we didn't have to worry about widespread mind control. Well, besides Fox news… this wouldn't even be a war if that little turd hadn't gotten help from a fucking god.”

“Jack… what are you going to do when he does throw JSOG at us?” Flitter looked up at him with imploring eyes, and saw the pain on his features harden.

“We'd be risking lives capturing them, and if we didn't have a mask on hand to destroy…” He sighed. “They're… they're family, Flitter. You all are to me. You don't train people for months, and go to battle with them at your side just to turn and kill them without remorse…” He lifted a hand, and slowly began kneading his face with his palm. “I'll kill them all if I have to. It'll kill me, but I'll do it when it comes to it. I promise. And if they do ever get in my head, I want you to kill me. Alright?” Jack had lifted his head, and was now looking directly at her.

Feeling her heart drop out of her chest, Flitter forced herself to nod. “You'd… we'd try and save you. You'd do the same for all of us. You've done that for all of us. I at least owe you enough to try.”

Having let his head drop back down, Jack nodded ever so slightly. “When the time comes, I know you'll make the right call.”

Silence reigned over the two as they laid in bed, considering the dark mood that had dropped over them. While Flitter's mind remained fixated on the grim request, Jack eventually fell asleep. Getting comfortable against his chest, Flitter calmed herself as she listened to his even breathing, and felt the rise and fall of his chest with every breath. Feeling her own eyes grow heavy from the exertions of the past few days, Flitter soon found herself falling asleep next to Jack. It would be the last bit of peace the pair felt in the coming days of the war.

Author's Notes:

Well, I've finished my schooling for the year, so following chapters will definitely be taking longer to get out there. I've got a good majority of them figured out though, so there's that.