FIGHT LIKE HELL, FIGHT LIKE DOOM MARINES!

Ch.28: Knock, Knock...

(Kevin/Doom Marine, Ponyville, Fluttershy’s Cottage. One day later...)

“... Sorry about that, Kevin.” Fluttershy apologised to me for the umpteenth time. “Rarity can be very...passionate, when it comes to ones wardrobe.” Yeah, we went to Rarity’s place today. Reason why? Fluttershy’s idea. She thought that, since I was always in my armour, I needed some clothes. All Rarity did was take measurements. That fashionista was... Intense, in her measuring of my body. I had to take off my armour.

And yes, I have been hanging out with Fluttershy most of the time, during my stay here in Ponyville.

Anyway, we returned back to Flutters’ place, she started making some tea as I set up the table next to the couch, with some cookies and snacks. Once done, Flutters brought tea and poured us both some. Taking off my helmet, we sat down and drank, just relax for a little bit.

Of course, Fluttershy’s curiosity about my past tends to come up. It was always something she would constantly ask me for, wanting to know me a little bit better. I tend to deny her an answer, because of how so innocent she really is. I couldn’t tell her, but...

“Kevin?” Oh, I must have let my mind wonder off somewhere else. Shaking my head, I looked towards Fluttershy. “Are you alright?”

I nodded to her.

“Are you sure?” She asked, wanting to be sure. I thought about it, as I looked towards one of the windows. Getting up, I walked over to the one facing towards the Everfree Forest. “What is it?” I heard her question, as she got up from the couch and followed me over.

I pointed out towards the Everfree, memories of my time in there started playing within my mind. Besides all of the killing and hunting of Demons, their was one particular event that didn’t involve Hell. At least, not entirely. There was a town in there, completely isolated and cut off from the rest of Equestria. Well, I should say, there used to be a town. Not anymore.

“Oh... Oh!” Fluttershy gasped. “I just realised that Zecora lives in there!” Wait, that’s a Zebra name. Before I could do anything, Fluttershy placed her now empty tea cup down and was about to rush out the door, but I stopped her at the last second. She was about to say something to me, but I placed a finger on her lips together to stop her.

Once she was calm down, I went over to place my tea cup down on the table and picked up my helmet. Placing it back on, I send out an order to my Ghosts, until we heard some rapid loud knocks on the door. From the sound of them, they were of someone in desperate need of help.

“Fluttershy!” A voice shouted, sounding terrified. As for Fluttershy, she rushed to the door and opened it up, showing a female Zebra, shaken up as she stumbled in. Catching her, Flutters brought her over to the couch and lied her down, the Zebra was covered in cuts and bruises, some of which looked like were done by a blade. She was tortured. Not to mention naked, because I don’t see clothes on her, just mud with some leaves stuck to it were the only things to protect her modesty.

Kneeling down, the Zebra saw me and gasped, as I pulled out my syringe and injected the healing vector into her, healing her of the wounds. Once it was all gone, she used whatever strength she had left to hug herself close to me, crying as she thanked me multiple times.

“Zecora?” Fluttershy asked softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Tell us; what happened to you?” The Zebra sniffled a little bit before she answered.

“T-The Changelings...they w-wanted to know where...the Alicorn Amulet is hidden.” Zecora answered between hiccupping, making Fluttershy gasp.

“The Alicorn Amulet!” The Pegasus said in shock, before looking towards me with a worried look. “Hunter, please, you must stop them from finding it! If they get a hold of it, things will escalate!” This was the first time I’ve ever heard of this Alicorn Amulet, but, from the sound of it, that damned trinket probably grants you the power of an Alicorn.

Nodding my head, I was about to get up before Zecora tightened her grip on me. “Wait...there’s something you need to know.” She told me. “I-I was saved...by someone, or a group.” The Zebra’s grip loosened as her adrenaline started wearing off of her. “They...could help...you...”

“Zecora!” Fluttershy quickly grabbed a hold of her as she fell backwards from exhaustion.

Soon I grabbed my helmet and send a message out for backup. Even so, from what Zecora had told me thus far...I can only guess what she meant by being saved...but can it really be them? It’s been so long that-- No! I’ll figure things out along the way. Even if there's a small chance of it being their descendants.

“Kevin?” I looked back down to Fluttershy, who stared up to me in worry. “Please, be careful.”

I nodded my head before leaving her Cottage. Once outside, I saw my Ghosts waiting, along with a couple of Scinoxes, our female doctors. Exclusively so. Yes, we do have Medics, but Scinoxes are a special breed of Demon. It was thanks to their kind, that the Night Sentinels were formed from our blood. Just that alone made it possible.

“Greetings my Lord.” The two said in unison, bowing to me and I bowed back in kind. “We will tend to the Zebra’s condition.” They told me. Of course, they didn’t exactly mean physical trauma.

“Tahilla, Krimzon and I will accompany you, the rest will stand guard.” Azurai informed me.

Nodding my head, I lead the team into the Everfree Forest, passing by the platoons setting up their perimeters along the treelines. We kept to the trees, staying high up so that we wouldn’t have to deal with whatever scuttle along the forest floor. On the upside, if we do come across any of Cocoon’s Changelings, we’ll get the drop on them. The only problem is trying to find out where they are all based throughout this deathly place.

The first place we went to was the Old Ruins, just to be sure they weren’t sulking around in this place. So far there were no signs indicating the notion. We were planning on building a base here, but we’ll have to wait until we had more manpower to get started. Satisfied, we continued onward. The next stop was...the Old Town. Sunny Town.

(Some time later…)

“Where is this damn thing!?”

“I swear when I get my hands on that Zebra cunt…”

“Stop your vulgar belly aching and keep searching!”

“Whoa...Sir, do you think we can take all of them on?” Azurai asked me. We were just outside of the ruined town, where many, many Changelings had occupied.

“Security is rather tight, and not because of the local wildlife.” Krimzon pointed out, as a dome barrier surrounded the entire town, with what looked like a tower of some kind built in the middle of the town’s square, powering it. Not only that, but the Tankers were patrolling the perimeter, while the rest of the normal Changelings kept working on digging around the place. “And look, they even have cannons.” He noted, pointing to one of the Tankers carrying such a weapon. “Looks like they charge it with their magic and fire.”

“But how dangerous is it? This is the first time we’ve seen them use this kind of weaponry. Are they learning from us or something?” Tahillia questioned.

“Good point.” I texted. “We should test them out. I know it may seem like we’re wasting time, but we can’t rush in there without knowing our enemy's strength.”

“How shall we proceed?” Krimzon inquired.

“You know, we could use the local wildlife to our advantage.” Azurai spoke up. “At least some packs of Timberwolves would do. No need to escalate things like, say, enraging an Ursa Major and leading her this way.” As fun as that may sound, it’s too risky to take. Not only would we get into a lot of unnecessary danger, but we’ll end up alerting these bastards. They might book it, true, but they might also had found the amulet before we even have the chance. No one’s stupid enough to take on a Ursa Major.

...Well, maybe Bryan would. Because, you know, Berserk Power-up. And Runner, because of how majorly fucked up in the head he is.

“My lord.” Snapping out of my musing, Tahillia pointed out to a wounded Changeling running for his life as a large pack of Timberwolves gave chase to their prey. Two Tankers responded to this and moved outside of the barrier, firing off their cannons as soon as the injured made it past them. That pack didn’t stand a chance against those cannons as most of them were completely eviscerated from existence. “Okay...let’s avoid getting shot by those guys.”

“Hm, they remind me of what those worm-like aliens use. The way how they have to charge their shots before firing it off.” Krimzon stated, which surprised me because I knew what game he was talking about.

“Wait, you play it, too?”

“You, as well?” Wait, they all played it? Since when!?

“How do you all know of that?” I asked them.

“Lord Runner.” They all answered. Of course he would tell them.

Shaking my head, I looked back at the two Tankers...only to find them lying on the ground. What the Hell just happened to them? Are they dead?

“Krimzon, get down there quick! We need to know what happened to them.” I ordered as he wordlessly went down there to investigate.

“Why haven’t the rest gone out to see what happened?” Tahillia questioned as we waited.

“It must have happened so suddenly. No way of telling, even for these Changelings.” Azurai concluded, but even he wasn’t so certain from the sound of his voice. “Then again, remember how that one Changeling was getting chased? How did that even happen? You would think he’d just either flew back or teleported away from the danger. But no, he ran.” He brought up a good point. Why run when you have two alternatives to make a quick escape?

“Yeah, that doesn’t make sense, now that you mention it…”

“My Lord, Krimzon here. I’ve found something lodged into their necks. Needle-like darts coated in poison.” Krimzon radioed in, relaying his findings. “It would seem someone or something in here doesn’t want these Changelings around.”

“But does that make them our allies, or enemies?” Tahillia questioned.

“Great job, Krimzon. We need to scout out the perimeter and come up with a plan.” I told him as we all split up, trying to find a weak point in their defenses and use that to our advantage...

(Later on, night time…)

“...Well, at least we made it inside.” Tahillia said on the Comms with a sigh.

“Yes, but now the entire place is on high alert.” Azurai hissed.

A few minutes ago, we figured out the pattern within their patrols and their was a small opening we could use to slip pass. But it was going to be a tight fit and the chances of putting the place on high alert was unavoidable. So we split up and infiltrated at different parts of the Old Town, created some diversions to draw their attention and once they took the bait, we rushed through. Of course, there was nothing we could’ve done about the barrier, so we ended up triggering the alarms and now the whole place knows we’re inside. We probably should’ve thought about calling in some backup…

“Cut the chatter.” Krimzon spoke. “Stay focus. My Lord, what should we do?” He asked me and I thought for a bit.

“Azurai, Tahillia, I need you two to create some diversions. Keep them occupied while Krimzon and I find out where their Commanders are.” I told them, feeling confident enough they’ll be fine.

“Understood.” They both replied. We knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but it has to be done.

“Alright, get to it. Krimzon, meet with me at these coordinates.” Sending the coordinates to him, I heard some explosions go off and the Changelings responded accordingly. Many of them swarmed towards the explosion, rushing by until it was all clear for me to move forward.

Pistol in one hand and a knife in the other, I made my way towards the destination as silently as possible. There was no need to rush, as there were still some Changelings patrolling some of these parts. They were easy to get by without being noticed, though there were a couple of close calls where one would stick his head inside the building I was hiding and looked around, before pulling away and kept walking. That made my heart jumped up into my throat because of how close they were to me. I’m just thankful they didn’t look down when I was literally underneath their noses, or walk inside and give a proper inspection.

Counting my blessings and giving my thanks to God, I kept going until I hooked up with Krimzon. “My Lord, while I’m impressed that this is one of the few houses that are relatively still standing, with most of its infrastructure, why did you choose this one, specifically?” We were in the living room of this house, as I looked over to the fire place…

“...This is where they murder the child.” I started as I moved over to the fire place. “The adults mercilessly battered her before dragging her in here and threw her into the fire, burning her.” Kneeling down, I bowed my head and gave a little prayer, as her skeletal remains were still here. Even after all these millennials, I’m surprised they haven’t turned to dust.

“...This town’s destruction, it was your doing?” Krimzon asked quietly and I nodded. “How did you come across this place? How did it get here?”

“One of the children ran away from this place one evening and happened to run into me. He was scared, confused, crying.” I answered him as I finished with my praying. “I didn’t bother with asking how a town was built within the forest.”

“...I see.” Krimzon said with a sigh, shaking his head. “I thought this place felt off, as if it was a breeding ground of sin and depraved madness. But enough of that, what’s next?”

“The tower we saw earlier today.” I stated to him, looking out through a window that had a clear line of sight. “We make our way over there and start our search there.”

“Hmm, if so, it must also be heavily guarded as well. They didn’t build that thing for just powering their shield.” Krimzon brought up a good point. “Convenient for them, inconvenient for us.”

“We will manage.” I texted before hearing an even bigger explosion go off, the ground shaking a little from the blast. “And we better take the chance.” Nodding in agreement, we moved towards the tower, using the buildings to avoid the streets.

“Hurry up! We need to get rid of those damned knights!” A Changeling Commander shouted as we reached the tower. We heard gunfire going off as Azurai and Tahillia held their ground.

“You may want to hurry up! I don’t know how long we can keep this up!” Azurai told us over the Comms.

“Says you.” Tahillia retorted with a scoff.

“You’re no Crusader.” Krimzon snapped at her comment as more Changelings headed their way. “And on that note, more are heading your way.”

“We see them!” Azurai confirmed.

“Look.” I pointed to the Commander making his way inside the tower through the front entrance. Two normal Changelings were standing on either side of it, guarding it since every other Changeling were sent to Azurai and Tahillia. “Divide their attention, but don’t kill them. No point in letting them know we’re here, too.” I told Krimzon as we split up and flanked the guards, turning invisible again. Grabbing a rock, I threw it close to where the one on the left heard the noise and went to check it out. Krimzon did the same for the other on the right, and once they were far away, we ran inside.

Once we made it in, we were surprised that it wasn’t buzzing with much activity. On the ground floor, there was a lot of supplies, equipment for digging, and explosives tucked away behind a forcefield. It has dim lighting in here, since they were using some form of bioluminescence, just enough to see wat was where. Still, why explosives? Were they mining for gold, or coal? I shook the thought out of my mind and stayed focus.

“Hmm, no staircases.” Krimzon noted as I looked around, seeing no staircase that lead up. “Looks like they fly up to their levels.”

“If that’s true, then we need to find their tunneling system.” I concluded. Since Changelings act like a colony of ants, or any other hivemind insect creature, they would have a tunneling system that leads to rooms, or chambers.

“Hmm…” Krimzon nodded as we looked for the tunneling system, or the entry point of it. Of course, our compasses started lighting up as we converged on where it became strong. Soon we found it, or them, a wall lined up with the tunnels. I’m surprised they could fit this tower with so many. “Okay, we found them, now we need to find the that will lead us to where we need to go.”

“Well, our compasses are still lighting up, so it’ll lead us to the path.” I texted him as we followed onward. Soon we found the tunnel we needed to take, a really big one. “This one must be for their Tankers.”

“So it would seem.” Krimzon agreed. “Shall we?” Nodding my head, I took point and started climbing up. There was more than enough leverage for us to climb, as we navigate our way through this twisted labyrinth of tunnels. Soon enough we reached the top, I think, and again, no one was here. “I don’t like this, my lord.”

“Either do I. Tread carefully, this could be a trap.” I texted before climbing out of the tunnel. We looked around the room we were in, finding an opening that overlooks everything outside. “I think it’s safe to say this is the observation room.”

“I believe it is, yes.” Krimzon whispered before we heard clicking noises coming from our right. Crouching down, we slowly moved towards where that sound came from, down the corridor that circled around this entire level. The clicking got louder as we got closer, peeking our heads around the corner to see the Commander sitting on the ground, his back turned to us as his wings would buzz sporadically. “He must be contacting his Hive.”

“You might be right.” I agreed with my Sergeant. “Let’s flank him while he’s in contact.” I suggested, Krimzon nodding and we moved out; I was flanking left, Krimzon flanking right. As always, we stick to the shadows, getting into position and leveling our Pistols at the Commander’s head. Even so, this still felt off. Too easy...wait.

“Gotcha.” I let out a throaty gasp and jumped out of the way of my attacker, barely nicking my neck as I started shooting at the would-be assassin. I’d either missed, or this one’s chitin was super tough, because none of my bullets seem to have wounded, or kill him.

“Get down!” I heard Krimzon shout, doing as he said and ducked, seeing some kind of spike, about as long as a polearm, fly overhead. “The Commander!” Looking back, the Commander was nowhere to be seen. Was he sitting on top of a escape tunnel!?

“We really must give thanks to the Professor.” It was the same voice that tried to slit open my throat, as he and his partner came into the light. Krimzon and I were shocked to find that these two were sporting spikes all over their bodies, some of it grown out long on their backs. Their chitin, in some areas, looked a lot more thicker; their forearms, shoulders, torso, and legs. Damn, well, it had to have happened eventually, they’ve started growing tougher armour.

“Indeed, now let’s finish them.” The other ‘Spiker’ said, as two blade slid out from his wrists.

“Gladly.” The first Spiker agreed, pulling out a longer spike from his back, wielding it like a spear.

“This could be a problem.” Krimzon said before drawing out his sword out from underneath his cloak, wielding it in his right hand, Pistol in his left robotic hand.

“It already is a problem.” I retorted, looking back and forth between our opponents. “Let’s switch partners.”

“As you wish.” Krimzon said and we made the switch, going on the offensive as we made the first move.

Clutching up my left hand into a fist, the second Spiker saw what I was about to do and put his arms up to block my punch. Throwing it at full force, he blocked it but staggered backwards from it. As for me, I hissed in pain as the spikes on his forearms acted as a defensive mechanism, much like a hedgehog. Looking down at my hand, there were some dents in it just from punching him.

As for my opponent, he grunted in pain as he shook both his arms. “Damn that hurt. But at least I still got my arms.” We’ll see for how long.

Before I could get the chance, the first Spiker spoke up while fighting off Krimzon. “We need to leave, now!” And just like that, they both blinded us with a flash of their magic, fleeing the place along with the rest of the Changelings as they flew. Wait, don’t tell me…!

“My Lord, we’ve gotta get out of here!” Krimzon told me, just as the tower shook.

“Krimzon, Hunter, they set off bombs inside! Get the Hell out of there!” Azurai shouted over the Comms and we ran towards the windows.

Jumping out, we fell towards the ground, activating our thrust boots to land safely. Of course the explosions were still going off, so we ran away from it as the tower began to crumble under its own weight. Soon enough Azurai and Tahillia regrouped with us.

“Sir, they found the damn amulet.” Tahillia said, growling in frustration.

“It would seem we were too late. Now we’ll have a harder time dealing with them.” Azurai sounded a little defeated when he spoke those words.

“We have to try. We can’t let them escape with it. Come on!” Taking the lead, Tahillia pointed in the direction they went and followed after them. Heading deeper into the Everfree Forest.

([Third person] The retreating Changelings...)

“Dammit, brother! I wanted to finally kill one of them!” The Spiker groaned out his frustration, as he and the rest of the Changeling flew back to their Hive.

“I know. But our mission was to find the Alicorn Amulet and we did just that.” His brother told him, before letting out a sigh. “We will continue our battle with them another time, when we finally have the upper hand.”

“Indeed.” Their Commander chimed in, carrying the chest that holds the amulet. “With this in our possession, it’ll be easy pickings.” He stated with utter confidence, his lips pulling up into a smile.

Before they could continue on, they were attacked. All around them, arrows came flying out from the bushes and trees at them, the arrowtips coated in poison. Already almost half of their remaining forces were cut down by this sudden surprise attack as the rest gathered around the Commander and created a barrier, blocking out the arrows.

“Shield your eyes!” The Commander ordered, lighting up his horn and flashing the surrounded area in a blinding light. “Quickly! We need to fall back to Alpha!” They all made a run for their secret base within the dreaded forest, all while being hunted down by a mysterious group of beings.

“These Changelings must not leave with that amulet. Keep them boxed in…”