Jaze came tearing out of his house; his vision blurred by the rage pounding through his veins. He had been wrong about Sands, and once again some else was going to pay for his mistake. If he had his way, the only one to pay would be Sands. He had gone too far this time and the assassin planned to show him just why he had been feared the galaxy over. No more games, Jaze thought furiously, I will kill him this time. On the way to Sweet Apple Acres, he nearly ran over Applejack. He just managed to stop his headlong rush just short of crashing into her.

“Whoa,” the apple farmer called out, “what’s the rush sugar cube?” Jaze debated on whether or not to tell her what was going on. The image of Dash, bleeding and unconscious, on his couch finally decided him.

“Trixie has been filly-napped.” Applejack’s eyes snapped up to the assassin’s, “That rat bastard Sands took her to your farm and wants me to go there so he can kill me. I have to go there alone.”

“What do ya need from me?” She asked quickly, her hoof slowly moving going to her sword.

“I need you to go get Vincent, Shelby and a battle medic. Dash is laying hurt on my couch. Once she is taken care of, you three get over to Sweet Apple Acres.” After delivering his instructions, Jaze prepared for another run.

“How will we find you?” the orange farmer called as he sprinted away.

“Just follow the screams.” Jaze yelled back as he pulled further away. He did not stop to hear her response. His mind was utterly focused on what he was running towards. Visions of bloodlust and rage flooded his thoughts as he ran faster than a river. A few times, fear for Trixie tried to intrude in his mind, but his rage quickly drowned it out. The fear only managed to add to his anger.

His breath was coming in sharp pants, while his vision was beginning to white out as he neared his destination. The apple trees that normally brought him peace were now changed into just something for his foe to hide behind. He soon entered the groove of apple trees and did not slow down in the slightest. The assassin dodged between the trees; fully aware that running into one could injure him gravely and ruin his chance of saving Trixie. That was one of two thoughts running circles in his mind. Save Trixie, and kill Sands.

Jaze broke through the trees to see Sands sitting on the ground a few feet away. Trixie was nowhere to be seen. The assassin continued his dead sprint for the young fool on the grass. He saw the soldier running for him and quickly stood to meet him.

“Colonel…” he started, but he was interrupted by Jaze’s fist smashing into his face. Sands stumbled away and tried to regain his balance; he might have succeeded if the silver-eyed assassin had not yanked him back to deliver another brutal blow to the stomach. While the young pilot doubled over in pain, Jaze lifted him and threw him the few feet into an apple tree. Sands’ was unsure if he had broken anything; his whole body was wracked with pain. Jaze lifted him by his from where he had fallen and slammed him into the tree.

“Where is she, boy?” He asked in a voice only a few decibels short of a yell.

“I don’t know…” Jaze slammed him into the tree again.

“Don’t play stupid; your note said that you had her. So where is she?” He slammed the young man into the tree once more and roared, “WHERE THE HELL IS TRIXIE?” Jaze threw him again and rushed to where the youth landed, pinning him to the ground with a boot on the chest. He leaned very close to Sands’ face, and said in a deadly cold whisper, “Tell me, or I start tearing of pieces.”

Jaze suddenly felt a cold, sharp object at his throat. The assassin did not know where Sands had pulled the knife from, but he froze nonetheless. Dying now would only let Sands keep Trixie, and Jaze could not stand that thought. They stayed locked as they were for a few moments as Sands looked into Jaze’s hate filled eyes.

“I don’t have anyone Colonel.” The pilot stated simply.

“What, but the note said…” the assassin’s voice trailed off as he heard the muted click of an assault rifle’s bolt being pulled back and released. The noise was repeated a couple times.

Jaze knew what it felt like to be set up, but it did not make dealing with it any easier. He looked up to see a group of soldiers leering and point their guns at him. They must have been hiding in the orchard he had run through. A quick count showed eight of seven of them. One had a bound and gagged Trixie held close to him, a glittering knife at her throat. The assassin’s gaze narrowed in on the soldier holding the blue unicorn. Even though he knew that the assassin could do nothing, the traitorous soldier still felt a cold chill run down his spine as those hate-filled eyes watched him. The assassin noted that they were all standing close together; if he could over to them without getting shot or them slitting Trixie’s throat, he was confident that he could kill them all.

One of the soldiers, probably the ring leader, motioned the Colonel away from the downed Sands. When Jaze had moved a few feet away and put his hands out to his sides, the soldier spoke.

“I can’t believe just how easily you fell for that!” he sneered, lowering his rifle, but not enough that it was not still pointed vaguely in the assassin’s direction.

“Yeah,” replied the soldier holding Trixie hostage, giving her a shake, “having this chick made him putty, just like you thought.”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, “too bad that Sands fool just couldn’t die like he was supposed to.”

“What?” the two pilots asked in unison.

“Well,” he turned his grin to Sands, “when you found out our little operation, I thought that I could use your history to my advantage.” He walked over to a nearby tree and leaned against it, “I knew that you had tried to kill the good Colonel once, and had vowed revenge. So when you overheard our plans this morning, I just forged a note from you telling the Colonel that you had Trixie.”

“So was it you that hurt Dash?” Jaze asked, oddly emotionlessly.

“That cyan colored flying type?” he sneered again, “Yeah, gave her a good bash from my rifle. Tell me, did she die? I hope so.” His gaze passed between his two human captives, “Of course, Sandy there had to get you to stop long enough to listen. Messed the whole thing up, that did.”

“What does that mean?” Sands asked as he managed to get to his knees, still a little wobbly from the pounding Jaze had given him.

“It means that, you were supposed to die. The Colonel here was supposed to kill you, then we kill him claiming that he killed you in cold blood. Then when Carn gets here, we sabotage the defense efforts. Now you both know.”

“Why would you do something like this?” the young pilot asked incredulously.

“So that way when the Cye rule the universe, we are allowed to live.”

“As traitors.”

“Carn would not have been happy had you killed me.” Jaze said calmly, “He wants that honor to himself.”

“That is not what he told us.” the soldier holding Trixie retorted, “He said that if we killed you and helped him take this planet, he would let us live and have any planet of our choosing.”

“Fools, do you really think that he will keep that promise.” Sands replied quickly. Jaze could see the boy was stalling; giving him time to think. He’s sharp, Jaze thought, I can use that.

“No, he’ll reward us for getting you out of his hair.” the knife wielding soldier replied. Jaze knew that he somehow had to kill or disable him if he wanted any chance of him and Trixie getting out of this alive. The assassin slid a couple more feet from Sands; he did not want the young man to get caught in the cross fire when he did make a move. The enemy’s guns came up in a blink and were pointed at Jaze.

“That’s enough movement out of you,” the soldier holding Trixie gave her another shake, “unless you want to see me slit this pretty neck.”

“Do it,” Jaze cautioned, “and you will know what hell is like before you die.” The man tried to ignore the threat, but something about the way the Colonel had said it made that impossible.

“So,” the leader thought aloud, “this is what I think we’re going to do. We’re going to shoot the Colonel as planned. Then we’ll break Sands’ neck and say that we found the Colonel doing it and we killed him.”

“And what about this?” the soldier shook Trixie once more.

“Slit her throat,” Jaze felt himself flinch at those words, “Say that Sands did that to piss the Colonel off. No one won’t believe that.”

“I just have one thing to say,” Jaze said as he looked into Trixie’s eyes. He found no fear in her gaze, only determination. He took a deep breath and gave her a nod, “You should not have brought Trixie here. You’ve given me a chance to kill you all and end the threat that you’ll hurt her.”

“What can you do from ten feet away with only a sword?” the leader sneered once more.

“This,” Jaze said as he held up his hand. He could feel a pressure inside him; a pressure that had been building since they had brought Trixie out. His hand glowed with the aura of his magic, and a similar glow appeared around the knife at the unicorn’s throat. With a mental yank, the assassin pulled the knife from the soldier’s hands. He screamed as his fingers were broken while the weapon landed in Jaze’s hand.

The assassin took two quick steps and threw the knife with all his might at its owner; he followed the blade as it spun toward its target. The blade buried itself in the hollow at the base of the soldier’s throat. The rest of the group was too stunned to do anything; giving Jaze the time he needed to close the gap between them. The assassin reached the soldier as he started to fall and pulled the knife out from his target, whipping it through the throat of another as he spun. The first two dead, he jammed the blade into the side of another’s head. He lost his grip on the weapon as the traitorous soldier fell, however, and still had four more to kill.

The fourth soldier had recovered his wits enough to start to raise his rifle, but the enraged assassin was far too close. He reached out and grabbed the traitor by the hair and pulled him close. With a quick yank and a sickening crack, Jaze broke his neck and lifted the traitor to use as a shield between him and the other three. Two rifles fired started firing into the body, hoping for a lucky shot. The assassin threw the body in the direction that the shots were coming from. He managed to hit and pin one of the soldiers and he put his shoulder down and tackled the other, smashing his head into the ground until the enemy moved no more. The one laying under his dead friend panicked as Jaze strode over to him and drew his sword. Jaze plunged his sword into the downed enemy’s breast to finish him off. Where’s the leader, Jaze thought as he cast his eyes about and pulled up Sairugi. He found the traitorous leader holding a gun to Trixie’s head and giving the assassin a mad grin.

“That’s quite enough.” he said fearfully, “one more move and I’ll turn her head into fertilizer.”

“Let her go, and I’ll let you live.” Jaze promised.

“Yeah right,” the traitor laughed, “I let her go and you run me through with that sword.” He was panicking, the assassin could see that he was close to snapping. Losing all of your men can do that.

“I won’t, if you let her go right now.” Jaze took a cautious step towards the pair.

“Stop there, I’ll do it!”

Jaze fixed him with a glare and put his hands up, “You really shouldn’t. The only thing that would do is make your death a slow, painful affair.”

“I’m warning you…”he was cut off as two shots rang out. The bullets passed through his head from the side, he never stood a chance. Jaze turned to see Sands kneeling, his sidearm smoking from the kill-shots.

“Thank you, Sands.”Jaze said as he walked over to Trixie to begin undoing her bonds. There was a loud crack, the sound of a powerful rifle. Sands fell to the ground as the bullet slammed into his chest. “Sniper!” Jaze called out as he threw himself over Trixie, “Stay down, Sands.” The assassin could not tell if Sands was alive or dead, until he moved weakly.

Another bullet passed over the Colonel’s head, far too close. He knew that if they stayed where they were, the hidden sniper would pick them off in no time. The assassin looked up into the trees to see the sniper drawing a bead on him, grinning as he prepared to fire.

“You won’t hurt my friends!” Dash called out as she suddenly fell from the sky. She had her sword drawn and she brought it down on the sniper’s neck, blade angled to pass through his heart. The sword stuck as the sniper fell, pulling the cyan savior from the air.

With that threat gone, Jaze bolted over to Sands, leaving Trixie on the ground. He feared the worst for the boy, but was surprised to see that he was sitting up. The assassin could see no blood and gave the pilot a questioning look. In response, he ripped open the front of his uniform to reveal an armored vest.

“The plates stopped the round, but it still hurts like hell.” A grin split the young soldier’s face, “I always wear one on deployment if I’m not behind the stick of my bird. Looks like it saved my life.”

“That it does. Could you check on Dash for me?”

Yes sir, Colonel.” Sands could see that Jaze wanted to be alone with the unicorn they had saved. He took the hint and went to check on the pegasus lying next to the body of the sniper. Jaze quickly ran back to Trixie and pulled the knife from the traitor leader’s belt and cut the bonds holding her forelegs in place. He removed the gag from her mouth and then hugged her close.

“I’m so sorry Trixie.” the assassin said as the fear finally set in, “I didn’t know this would happen. I never wanted you to get dragged into this mess.” He started shaking; realizing just how close Trixie had come to death.

The blue unicorn brought her foreleg up to return the Colonel’s hug, “It’s okay Jaze, I’m fine. Thanks to you.”

“No, it’s not okay.” he said as he pulled away a little, “This could happen again, and next time I might not be so lucky. If Sands had not have made that shot…” He let the thought hang, too afraid to continue.

“If this happens again, I’ll be ready.”

“What actually happened?”

“They burst in and pointed those guns at me. They said that they would kill you if I didn’t cooperate. I had no idea what they wanted to use me for at the time. If anything, I should be the one apologizing.”

“How could you have known what was going to happen? You’re not to blame at all.” Jaze fixed her with a look of absolute determination, “But I promise you this, I won’t let this happen again. Never again will I let them try get to me through you. I won’t let anyone try this again.”

“Don’t worry, they’re gone. They’re all dead.”

Jaze gave a short nod, “Let’s check on Dash.”

Dash gave a yank on the sword trying to pull it from the body of the dead man. Every detail about him stuck in her mind. He was young, younger than most of the soldiers around the camp. His hair was a light red, and he had a scar on his chin; probably from a childhood accident. The more she looked, the more she saw. His eyes were a muted blue, and they now stared accusingly at her. She pulled harder at the blade, trying desperately to remove it so she could leave the body. She began to panic when the sword refused to move, pulling as hard as she could to try and release the body’s grip on her sword. The red blood pooling around the body and running down the blade made her feel sick.

While she fought to keep her lunch down and remove the blade, a hand fell on her shoulder. She looked up with wide, wet eyes; hoping to see Jaze standing there with a smile on his face and words of comfort on his lips. Instead, it was Sands; who planted his foot on the body and helped her remove the blade. The cyan pegasus stared at him, confused by his presence. She wanted a friend, not an enemy.

Sands knelt next to her and gave her a wan smile, “Are you okay soldier?”

“Y-yeah,” she stammered shakily, “but I’m no soldier. I can’t even look this without…” she suddenly lost control of her stomach and turned to wretch. She felt a comforting hand rubbing her back as she purged everything in her stomach, until she had nothing left and just gave dry heaves. Her eyes watered from the pain of her fit and the realization of what she had done. She had taken life; she had become a killer. It had happened in a moment, in one stupid moment she had taken somepony else’s life.

“I know how you feel,” Sands comforted her, “the first time is always the hardest. I was laid up in my bunk for three days after I killed someone for the first time.”

“Does it ever stop hurting?” Dash asked, tears welling in her eyes.

“Never,” the pilot replied, leading her a few feet away from the body, “not if you’re a good person. But you can move past it if you’re reasons are sound.”

“What do you mean?”

“You killed to help someone else, right? There is no more noble a reason to kill. If you can keep that in mind, then you will one day be able to accept it.” His eyes fell to the ground, “Something that I seem to have forgotten recently.” He shook his head to dislodge the thoughts that tried to intrude on his mind, “Let’s go check on the Colonel.”

“About Jaze,” Dash asked slowly, “are you still going to try to kill him.”

“I don’t know any more…” With that, he stood and walked back towards his commanding officer.

Dash watched him walk away with a thoughtful look on his face. She truly hoped that he would drop that notion. She could see the goodness in his heart plastered all over his face and she would hate for him to push Jaze too far and get hurt. She took a few shaky steps toward Sands before looking back to the first death that could be laid at her hooves.

“I won’t let this stop me,” she whispered, “if I have to kill to help my friends; I will.”She swallowed and called out to Sands, “Hey, wait up!”

Jaze was still holding Trixie in his arms, and she in hers, when Dash and Sands joined them. The assassin quickly stood to face the younger pilot. They stood looking at each other for a few minutes, each looking to say what they felt in a way that did not seem foolish or false.

“Hey,” the four heard Vincent yell, “are you okay Jaze.” Dash left to explain the events of the past few minutes to him and Shelby and Applejack, who had just arrived in full battle gear.

“Colonel Armand sir…” Sands started, but stopped when Jaze held up a hand.

“Before you say anything, I want to say… thank you.” The assassin stared into Sand’s eyes, “If not for you, Trixie and I would be dead. This is a debt that I cannot repay, made worse by the fact that I thought that you committed this heinous act.” He held out his hand for a shake, “So thank you.”

The young man looked between the hand and the face of its owner. He suddenly threw his all into a strong uppercut that connected with Jaze’s chin, sending him sprawling. The assassin looked up from the ground in confusion when Sands offered his own hand.

“That,” Sands grinned, “is for everything you have put me through. I always thought that you were some evil monster that stole my father from me. Now I see that you are the one who killed the evil monster.” He helped the Colonel to his feet and gave his hand a friendly squeeze and a smile, “But you and I still have a score to settle, so you can’t die anytime soon. Are we even?”

Jaze returned the smile, “Not quite,” the assassin took a small comm unit from his pocket and stuck it in his ear, “Control, add Master Sergeant Dmitri Sands into the QRF with me.” He looked back to Sands, “As of this moment, you’re now an Angel, Sands.”

“Please, Dmitri is okay.”

“Yeah, and I am just Jaze.” The two of them shook, and Dash breathed a silent sigh of relief, glad that the crisis was over, for now. Her relief was dashed as Jaze’s face suddenly became set in a snarl. He pressed the communicator into his ear with a finger.

“Carn,” the assassin said simply; managing to convey all his hate and anger in that one word. Vincent pulled his own comm from his ear and knelt next to Dash so she could hear. Sands did the same for Trixie while Shelby shared with Applejack. They were just in time to hear the Cye leader’s next words.

“Yes, it’s me again.” The sneer in his voice was like a smack in the face, “How did you like my gift?”

“You set them up, didn’t you?” the Colonel’s voice was shaking in barely controlled rage, “Why?”

“Call it a lesson in human nature.” Carn responded laughingly.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Those fools represented humanity. They chose the easiest path; the path that had the best outcome for them, and forget everyone else. All humans are like that. They only look out for themselves and everyone else is just in the way. Given the choice, a human will go with the easiest way out, every time. And for that they must die.”

“What gives you the right to judge humanity?”

“I am a god now.” The older man laughed, “I can pass judgment on whomever I wish. All humans take the low road; they are not fit to live in a universe as beautiful as this.”

“I can give four good examples of when that doesn’t happen.” Jaze growled.

“There are exceptions to every law.” Carn dismissed the assassin’s argument, “Take you for example. The easiest thing for you to do would have been to let those men kill that pony and then kill them one by one. But instead, you decided to risk yourself to save her. Same with that other boy. Who is he, your apprentice?”

“There are more besides. Many of the brave men and women on this planet have given this fight everything they had just to slow your Cye down. Many thousands have died to stem the tide. You say that you’re passing judgment? I say that too much power has gone to your head, snake. I say that these men and women will choose what is right, because they know that it is right.”

“I can give eight good examples of when that didn’t happen.”

A crafty smile spread across Jaze’s face, “There’re exceptions to every law.”

“Fine then, you bring your best and I’ll bring mine. The victor writes the history, so if I win I fought for truth and justice etcetera. If I lose, then I was a homicidal manic that wanted to take over the galaxy for my own selfish reasons. That’s how history works.” Jaze could almost hear the mocking grin spread on Carn’s face, “And by the way, I love the new powers. Now I want that planet more than ever. And remember, I’m always watching.” The connection was suddenly lost.

Sands looked to Jaze, disgust written all over his face, “Is this the guy that started all this?” Jaze gave him a nod. “And will being an Angel let me take it to him, hard?” another nod, “Then count me in for sure.” Sands proceeded to gather the traitors’ weapons and stack them in a pile. He then started dragging the bodies into a neat row, arms crossed over their breast. Jaze caught on, and began helping. Soon they had all the bodies laying in a peaceful position. Sands had even removed the knife jutting from ones head and fixed the other’s broken neck as best he could. The pair straightened to admire their work.

Sands put his hands together in prayer “Divine father who art in heaven, take these souls warmly into your house. They were used by evil at no fault of their own; they were but mortal men. Please look upon them kindly.”

Jaze glanced to the young pilot, “Didn’t know you were religious.”

“I need it to get through the day.” he replied as his he closed his eyes for a silent prayer.

“That was too good for them.” Shelby said as she glared at the bodies.

“When we are dead,” said Dmitri, “we are just a body. There is no friend or foe in the dead. If it had fallen another way, I could be laying there. And I would like to think that someone would pray for me.”

“Still too good for them.” Vincent backed Shelby up.

“No, he’s right.” Jaze jumped in, “We could all die just as easily. No matter you’re stature, you are no more invulnerable than anyone else. A wise man once said to me, ‘When the game is over, the King and the Pawn go in the same box’. Showing respect for the dead separates us from people like them and Carn.”

“Not you too, Jaze.” Shelby complained, “Did you forget what they did to you? To Trixie?”

“No, and I can’t. But they are still human beings and deserve some respect.” The assassin drew in a deep breath, “Let’s get someone to clean up these bodies. I’m sorry that this happened on your farm, Applejack.

“It’s no problem, sugar cube.” The orange pony responded quickly, “Ya didn’t pick the place. Ya just did what ya had t’. Ah’m just glad nopony got hurt.”

“But someone did.” Jaze looked regretfully to the young men he had killed. Not one looked over twenty five. “I’m sorry…” the assassin whispered.