I knew this was coming. There wasn’t a single thought in my head that even pretended to imagine that I wouldn’t be facing a trial. Of course I knew that it was purely for show. The only reason I had been tolerated was because I was one of the few original soldiers that still existed from far before all of the madness had began. Standing there I looked at the observing princess. Twilight seemed preoccupied, and I wasn’t going to point out that she was paying less attention to the trial as she was whatever it was she was attempting to study.

“Sergeant Gusty, you’ve been brought before this tribunal on charges of treason. Specifically to allowing the near capture of one of our sovereign stations. How do you plea?”

I looked at the Princess knowing what was coming. There wasn’t anything I could say. The decision was made before the trial started. Still, I believed I could at least make it last a little longer.

“Not guilty.”

Twilight looked at me. The princess of Friendship shook her head, “There is ample documentation from the station’s own automated reports showing that you evacuated our station, put soldiers onto the emergency shuttle, and that you entered a higher ranking officer’s private war room without authorization. Sergeant, there is more than enough evidence to prove that you were willing to give up the station to save the lives of the soldiers there. If it wasn't for the serpent we would have lost the battle. Now, I ask you again, how do you plea?”

Leaning forward I smiled. It was honestly one of the first real smiles I’d had in a long time. It was one that would have rivaled the smile I had back when Majesty was still alive. Drawing in a soft breath I looked at the Princess of Friendship once more.

“Not Guilty.”

I could see Twilight’s wings spread in anger. Her eyes narrowed in what she most likely felt was rightous wrath, but I didn’t care. I planned on making her have to work for a few hours at least.

“Fine,” she stood looking at me, “Then how about we view the video collected shall we?”

I watched as she projected the image of me breaking into Applesnack’s war room, of telling Silver Spoon to get everyone aboard the shuttle and go, and then we continued to view right up until I was shot, left for dead, and that was when she shivered. She felt his presense. There wasn’t denying, and for once I was glad for the old Necromancer.

“You were revived shortly after.”

I shook my head, “Yeah, and it was a waste of time.”

She glanced at me. I rolled my eyes, “We both know about the curse. We both know that eventually my body would have pulled itself back together. Grogar isn’t so kind as to let an enemy simply perish and miss out on whatever twisted lesson he had planned.”

Twilight growled and marched toward me. I expected a few things, but a corrective slap across the muzzle by a princess wasn’t one of them. I looked toward her only to get another.

“We can’t allow that because of the Necromagic, and you know it!”

I spat a little blood, and felt one of my teeth loosened slightly.

“Of course, the last thing the daughters of Majesty would want is a soldier that questions things, doesn’t need their regeneration process, and isn’t afraid of death.”

She glared at me, “What was that?”

I laughed at her, “Death, Princess, all four of you are afraid of it. You’re so worried about it, that you’ve went long out of your way to ensure that even immortal beings become eternal, or at least as close as our magic and science could bring us.” I shook my head, “but take it from someone who has already stepped into what waits for all of us. Death isn’t scary. No, it’s being judged and found lacking that’s scary.”

“Take her to her cell. I shall consider her testimony, the evidence, and then I shall deliver my decision,” she looked away from me, “Perhaps Sergeant, just perhaps, you shall find yourself judged once again.”

“Fallon, Avery. Veteran, staff sergeant, service number..” Pain exploded through my body as the tartarus did its work. For the passed few… I don't know, days? Weeks maybe I don't remember. Rarity had decided to useI the harness in the center of the room this session.

Sometimes she would just let me lie on the floor, in the dark. Other times she would let her Caleb use the torture stick while she just watched. I don't know why but I think she might hold a grudge against me for something.

One of the worst times was when my pain riddled brain made me hallucinate that an actual alicorn had come and done the torture for a session. The session was particularly brutal. As not only was the Tartarus used. But as the alicorns horn began to glow I could feel something. Like someone was running their fingers inside the back of my head.

Once I was visited by the Tymerian from the forest. Up close he was even bigger that I had realised, and the spear like weapon he carried looked new now not like the one he had used before. Bra’tac I think his name was just stared at me, like a butcher would eye a cow in a slaughterhouse. But there was something deep in those golden eyes, something I don't recognise anymore.

My arms were locked in place above my head and my bionic whined against the restraints. The locking mechanism that kept the piece of steel and carbon fiber in the stump of my arm ached. I can actually feel the connection spike in the bone just below my elbow.

“You should really tell me the password to your chip Floor. I do now want to continue to do this to you. But you are making this harder on yourself.” She said and the keeper unleashed the Tartarus again.

I don't know how much longer I can hold out like this. I gets harder to resist her after every boute of pain. And in the end all I had to do was log into my net. Maybe if I was quick I could log on before the sensor pick it up. Then I could message Big Dog if he was in range and we could escape.

No, no matter how fast I was the brain sensor could read my password. There was no way out of this except to endure, just as I had endured my training. I was just about to tell her the password but the season ended in time. And the keeper walked out of the room leaving me dangling in the center of the room by my wrists.

The lights from the walls, floor, and ceiling were blinding. Ghost pain from the Tartarus lingers in my body, and what was left of the bone in my arm throbbed. I was... scared.

What the hell happened to me? I was a MOTH once, I was more than a man. But now I had been reduced to this… less than a man. The plaything of a cruel mistress, her masters, and her underlings.

I don't even feel like Avery Fallon anymore, ATLAS pilot, leader of men. My name was floor, something to be tread upon.

But something kept me going, every time I came closer to the edge that red and black smoke would reappear. Or I would think of Big Dog trapped, had he broken? No he hadn't or I would be dead, and I wouldn't either.

Maybe the thing that kept me going was the thought of never seeing Miiora, Charlotte, or hell even trombley again….

‘Fuck that! I'll be damned if I'm out done by fucking Trombley. That would just be insulting.’

The ATV busts over an thick naught of roots and slammed back down hard enough to rattle my teeth. “Yeeaaahhh Suck it!” the one of the earthers shouted. Behind me the Earther machine gun chatters on its mount.

“Incoming!” Around us a mish mash of comandered UEC and ACM vehicle burst from the tree line and into a large clearing. Mud churned under our tires as we chugged farther. For the passed week and a half the special forces of the COG and ACM that survived the failed attack on the refueling depot have been waging a gorilla war on the UEC on tearus.

It had been over a week since team two had been scattered. According to the radio chatter an three entire fire teams had been wiped out, and some of their personnel had been captured. Why the hell had they been sent on that mission without any support? This entire situation stank worse than anything.

“How far to the extraction point!?” I ask the Helldiver beside me. “About six clicks, According to the net task force forty has just entered system, and will take about another one or two weeks to get here!”

Off to our left one of the jeeps full of changelings exploded in a shower of golden particles, fire and smoke. “Not this Fucka again! Hold on!” I threw the wheel to the side as the shockwave hit. I didn't even know I could drift an atv let alone anything, until I was already halfway through the maneuver.

“How the hell are earthers so deadly on the ground but so lacking in space anyway!?” an incoming round pinged off of my shoulder pauldron round as I spoke. “Bitch…Have you ever seen a Lanky ship!?” The moth Bender shouts from behind Snafu as if that answers the question my itself.

“Shit!” the crimson armored Earther beside me shouted. Ahead of us one of the few remaining Siafu mechs was firing its weapon in reverse. All of its weapons fired including the large autocannon on the pivot mount on its shoulder.

But it was quickly put down by the quartet of Pegasus attack helicopters in the rearview mirror. “Blisk keep it steady!” Bender shouts from behind my seat.

The sound of screeching tortured metal meets my ears as the power armored Earther hoists his upper body through a hole he had torn in the roof. There were a series of heavy thunks as through the mirror one of the gunships was swatted out of the air by four grenades. “Optio Magus! Why is you soft skins so good at this!” Centurian Ash shouted from her seat behind me.

Around us other jeeps and ATVs and jeeps were all firing on the UEC vehicles and airborne grunts that had followed us into the clearing. Ahead I could see the much larger and almost bloated form of a second variant of Siafu mech something called a Warrior.

“Lots of practice!” all of the earthers in the vehicle shouted in unison.

Its shoulders sported duel rocket pods that popped to life as the mech seamlessly shifted from forward to reverse. The two skull helmeted UAF troopers sat in separate seats, one behind and above the other, like a helicopter gunner.

The damaged mech threw down its equally damaged rifle cannon and raised its massive, bulbous gauntlets. A set of vicious pincers folded from the mech’s forearms. “Radiation warning! Tube is hot, Brace brace brace!”

The voice of an SRA trooper comes from over the radio. From behind the warrior class Siafu I could see the special forces trooper that had given the warning. She shouldered a slightly bulky rocket launcher, and time seems to slow down as the missile pops from its tube and streaked into the sky.

“Holy shit! Everybody Down!” Snafu shouted over the radio before placing a hand on my back and forcing me down onto the steering wheel.

I slammed my eyes shut just as a blinding flash of light filled my vision despite my closed eyes. Then the shockwave hit, the explosion picked up almost every jeep and atv used by our little resistance and threw in the general direction of where we needed to go.

My world was muted and filled with pain as were bounced and rolled around. Everyone was screaming and holding on for dear life, before our trip is brought to a sudden halt as we bounce roof first off of a tree and spin to a stop.

“Everyone alright?” Snafu asks as Bender crawls out from under the crumpled remains of the vehicle. “Kickers’ dead.” bender responded.

I am brought out of my stupor as one of the changeling pretorians pulls me out of the driver seat. Her blueish black carapace contrasted with her golden eyes and main as she looked me over. “I'm good… by earth what the hell was that?”

“SRA anti aircraft nuke, microton yield. It came with the supply drop from Carson afew days ago, but that was our only one.” Snafu says, shaking his insectoid helmet from side to side. All around the clearing earthers and ACM fighters sprinted or drove what remained of their vehicles into the tree line.

Amazingly every single aircraft of the twelve pegasus attack choppers and bolt fighters had been wiped from existence. Then a voice came over the radio, another voice could be heard shouting in the background. “Their moving. Get moving, our mech is too damaged for that forest. We’ll buy you the time you need. Lieutenant Razak, get the Roughnecks to the rendezvous point.”

https://youtu.be/r68zFkvjFvU

“Aye sir!” another voice said in response.

From our right the Warrior Siafu, brought itself up to its full height. Hydraulics screamed in protest and metal groaned, but it rose still. Then a thunderous crash sounded from the opposite end of the small clearing. The conversation on the radio continued as we set to work.

We grabbed what we could, scavenging everything we could from the totaled atv, and it's dead Earther gunner. Glancing up my heart leaps into my throat and I feel like I have to vomit, as the body of a large dragon crashes into the mud. Through the clearing smoke I can see the silhouette of the UEC mech.

The mech stomped one foot forward experimentally, before dropping to all fours. It’s tail dipped low and it emitted an ominous bellow through its speakers. Verifying our suspicion that it's pilot was a Tymerian. Beside us the Warrior took up the challenge, its bulky form slid to position itself between the equestrian mech and us. “Were Oscar mike!” the lieutenant shouted.

The rain slides off of its armored form, and the lightning gives the whole seen an ominous tone. The bulky old machine looks proud despite facing its final fight.

“Just jump out and come with us!” one of the sympathetic unicorns said yelled. Beside him one of the two NAC mechs stooped down and scooped him and his squad up before doing the same with my team squad.

“Death before Dismount. Good luck boss.” The mech pilot said as she started sprinting into the jungle with us held tightly to her mechs chest.

“Live forever apes!” was all the two pilot a said in response.. And as we moved out of visual range we heard the distinctive tiresqueel of Siafu wheels, joined by the distinctive sound of Siafu weapons fire.

Several alarms radiological alarms blared inside the cockpit of her machine as the effects of the human weapon savaged the jungle. But that's not what had her attention. No instead she swerved her machine between trees and around whatever cover she could as the human mech fired.

“Mistress Twilight permission to go around this delay and peruse the resistance fighters?” Min’Baku asked as she watched a bulky human machine position itself between the princess’s troops and the its fellows.

“Negative, we can't afford to over extend our troops and to lose that machine, if they have another one of those missiles. But...we have not seen very many of that model of Siafu. I am changing your objective, engage the mech we could use the data. I had hoped one of those ATLAS mechs would engage but this will do.” Her princess said as her small image appeared in a small window on the screen. “Our asset is inbound, and should be there soon to lend its aid.” Princess twilight said before her image flickers away.

“Yes, princess.” Min’Baku said as the troops with her were updated with their new orders. From behind her two bull dragons let out twin roar’s of rage and stormed forward ahead of her machine.

In response the human machine began sliding forward. As the three titans nered one another the human machine raised one of its massive arms and fired a series of explosive shells into the lead drake’s hide.

Several of the shells bounced off of the large drake’s scales, shattering into showers of brilliant sparks. But affew pushed through its tough hide and exploded inside of its body.

The draconic soldier screamed In pain and rage as its chest was torn open and prepared to strike. But as it finally closed the gap it was met with a vicious and titanic punch from the mechs left gauntlet.

The force of the punch stopped both combatants dead in their tracks, and the hooked blades extending from the mech’s forearm punched through the back of the drakes neck. The humans then threw the mech to the ground and crushed its skull with second punch.

https://youtu.be/8wUhvLmPpdE

‘These humans aren't like that beast at the station. She’ll have to be careful.’ she thought to herself.

Min’Baku began moving forward building speed with her arms in an attempt to close the gap with the humans. But soon she pushed her mech back onto its feet and it's wheels squeal as they bite into the ground.

Ahead a large barrel swung itself out and under the human’s left arm. The barrel was large bore and looked like it would be more at home on a large tank. The humans throw their mech into reverse and angle the weapon toward the second dragon. Two sets of cockpit covers slid down over the two pilots as they moved, and she braced herself. Not much farther now, just a few more seconds.

There is a thunderous and titanic boom as the weapon fires. And the result was both parts spectacular and terrifying in true Earther fashion. The second dragon literally exploded in a shower of blood and unrecognizable bits of meat. The mech ceased its retreat as a shell ejected from the rear of the cannon.

“Sha’ka!” Min’Baku shouted in alarm as she threw her machine to the side and around a rock as another round was fired in her direction. The shell missed and detonated amidst a gaggle of changing infantry.

“The revival chambers will be working overtime today.” she mused as a stream of tracers reached out and turned an entire squad of centaurs into ground beef.

“B gun’s down fifty percent! Overheat on C, twenty on A! D gun is dry, dropping!” Brawler shouted a report as he stomps the mech’s leg down onto a charging jeep. Brawler had once been a UEC slave and held no love for his former owners.

The mech then turned and opens its left hand firing the last of the grenades from that gun into a small collection of griffons. Before folding its cannon back and charging forward in a cloud of tire smoke.

The mech leaves twin rooster tails in its wake as it advances on a group of armored humvees. The machine guns on the vehicles chatter their thunderous reports but the thick armor of the warrior shrugs off the bullets like a horse being stung by a mosquito. And soon the fifteen foot tall mech is in their midst.

Sweeping one powerful arm to the side it batts the lead vehicle onto its side, crushing the side of the vehicle like it was hit by a freight train. The gunners in the other vehicles take advantage and begin firing on the two pilots in their cockpits. But the machine brings up an arm to block the incoming fire, shielding the pilots.

Simultaneously Lance raises 36’s right arm and fires another stream of grenades into a second squad of deer. Before ripping into a second humvee with the warriors left set of claws. But the already stressed and damaged metal pincers finally give up the ghost and snap off at the base.

“Move us back a bit! Let's burn these fucks!” Lance shouts, before burying the claws of the warrior’s right arm into the cab of a third vehicle.

“On it!” the veteran shouted and the machine bursts Into reverse as Lance angles the missile pods. “Almost...there. Almost….There!” Lance said to himself, his face all but glued to the targeting screen.

“Targets locked!” the caption shouts as the final circle locks into its targeting square. The clearing erupted with the sound of missiles being fired as the mobile weapons platform fired every single weapon it had into the incoming hoard of well trained but suicidal UEC troopers.

“Die you fucks! Get some!” Brawler shouts as he fires the chest mounted machine gun on the old mech. The chatter of the large bore machine gun adding its chatter to the cacophony as Six missiles explode above their targets. Smoke and glowing embers make up the missiles payload, bathing almost two thirds of the clearing with white phosphorus.

Three of the surviving dragons writhe in pain as their scales cook. The two ACM Zulu troopers both chuckle as they watch the white phosphorus do its work burning away every bit of exposed flesh in the field.

They got particularly more enjoyment when they spotted the odd human sympathiser or Caleb writhing on the ground as their flesh blackened and melted away. “It's like thermite, but for people.”

“Shut up veteran. Status report.” Lance said opening two panels on either side of his cockpit drawing two card like slabs from the releases. Each of the cards had a yellow and blue stripe topped with a red button. “Structural integrity is in the yellow. It's like a christmas tree down here.”

“Then we don't have a choice.” Lance said before running both thumbs up the yellow strips on both cards before depressing the red button. Alarms began blaring as the mech was suddenly targeted, but neither pilot was worried about that anymore. “Let's do this Lance.” Brawler said.

Seeing her chance as the human mech stood there she spring from cover. Quicker than a tide shark Min’baku snapped her weapon up and fired. An explosion of golden energy erupted beside the machine tearing the first third of the barrel away from the gun.

In true human fashion the mech disconnected the weapon from its back and threw it into the mud. The mech squared itself up and slammed its two bulbus gauntlets together twice and began charging. Discarding most of the rest of its weapons as it gained more and more speed.

A smile split her maw as she realised she had underestimated the humans ability to conceive honorable warriors. Despite this current display of brutality of course. ‘This is obviously a delaying tactic, but if these humans wish to engage like the ancient warriors then I must oblige.’

She let go of her rifle and it folded itself behind her back, and threw her arms wide as both her and her opponents barroled towards one another. The momentum of both mechs brought to a screeching halt as our machines collide.

Her Serpent’s hands lock with the three clawed hand of the bulky machine. And the sounds of twin tire squeals, groaning metal, and grinding servos fill the air. The sounds of our struggle adding to the screams of the dying.

The human mech shifted its weight to the side. Throwing her mech off balance and making her trip over one of its legs. Acting on instinct Min’Baku threw her weight forward in an attempt to correct her fall. An error the humans took advantage of by twisting their mech at the waste and throwing her to the side.

I was jostled in the cockpit as my serpent crashed against the burning body of a dragon. She shook her head to clear the stars from her vision and heard the sound of squealing tires coming toward her. Using her powerful arms she threw herself backwards and onto her feet before shifting her mech into reverse, narrowly avoiding a savage punch from the humans that bursts into the stomach of the writhing drake.

Regaining her footing she surges forward cocking her fist back and aiming for the human’s twin cockpits. Min’Baku was intent on ripping the humans from their cockpit and watching them die. Her preferred suitor had been in the first humvee they had destroyed, and she was sure that he was one of the conscripts that wouldn't be getting a revive.

The human threw a punch in response to her advance an act that saved it’s pilots lives. As the act pulled its stuck hand free from the dragons innards.

Min’Baku spun her mech around the punch and inside of the humans guard. But as she brought her fist in, her punch was met with one from the human mech’s freed hand. Quickly she spun her machine counter to the punch, throwing the humans off balance and slammed her mech’s tail into its cheat.

The bulky human machine was picked up by the force of the blow and it crashed back first I to the dragon before going limp. The beast screeched in pain as its seared flesh was abused before the night sky was suddenly illuminated by three bursts of light in the distance, fairly visible above the treeline.

The sound of whining servos and a growing keening caught Min’Baku’s attention. Turning she saw the human mech getting back to its feet. Red blood seeped from its crushed upper cockpit, and the blast screen covering the lower pilot became transparent as it began moving again. Something below the pilot was glowing illuminating the myrialos in a golden light.

But this time it's movements were sluggish as it closed the gap as fast as it could move. Obvious that the rear pilot had some kind of key role in the operation of the mech.

“Roughnecks! Hoooo!” The crustacean shouted as he pushed his crippled siafu in an attempt to get into grappling range with her serpent. “Min’Baku get back.” a distinctively human voice came over the friendly channel.

She threw her mech into reverse and half a second later the lower cockpit of the human mech exploded out in a shower of whitish blood and sparks. And just as she was about to stop her retreat the entire Siafu erupted into a billowing mushroom cloud as its self destruct detonated.

‘Shakur ket shuala.’ She mused to herself thankfully that she hadn't exited reverse. Grateful for the helping hand she looked in the direction the shot that killed the traitorous pilot had be fired from. “She thanks you Casper Williams.”

At the edge of the jungle a white and gold ATLAS mech raises itself from its crouched position. The barrel of the autocannon clutched in its clawed hand releases a small trail of smoke the mech hoists its weapon onto its shoulder.

“No, problem.” The former NAC war hero sends in response.