MickeyAdaptus

"Yeah you are correct there, we have faced big odds before anyways." Jack told Festus with a smile. "Let's go." Festus said as they departed, trying to be quiet. After about 10 minutes after wandering through the ice cold desert, they finally were getting close to their objective. "There it is, it seems pretty big, but it i can't see anything from how it looks like." Jack said as he was thinking for a moment. "Do you think you could fly us over there? This is not a pretty big distance and we a pretty high up on this hill, but if not, we can walk there instead, tough i am not sure if it will be just as safe, it is always good to avoid unnecessary risk." Jack asked him.

Jack's smile grew even further. "You really know how to speak my language, you know that?" Jack said to Festus as he accepted his claw. He then realised something. "I must however not think anything suspicious, Evelyn can read my thoughts." Jack whispered to him. He looked into the distance and he was aware of where they had to go. "I am ready, are you ready as well?" Jack asked him, which indicated that whenever Festus would respond, they could leave right away.

"It is indeed beautiful, and it's pretty interesting for the fact that this pistol was handmade, any type of magic or machinery was not available for us at that time." Jack mentioned. He then thought about what Festus asked him about going alone. "Well, to be fair, i could also get while being with others just as much, last time it sure got that point across when that sandstorm separated me. And i do have one thing in favour, I can no longer get infected since i already am, no matter how much they would bite or scratch me, it would only damage me, but not inflict the thing that i was afraid of for so long. If you prefer, we could ask Ember to come with us? Perhaps other people as well, i do miss the moments when it was just the 3 of us, you know?" Jack asked Festus.

"You are welcome Festus." Jack said back to him with a smile. He then was silent for a moment. "I heard there was is a town nearby here, and we will be staying here until tomorrow late, so I was thinking, how about we go and explore that town, and collect things that we might find, because just like almost any other town, they are abandoned as far as I know. Just the 2 of us, what do you say?" Jack asked him.

"I am ok I guess, though I do admit that I don't feel really comfortable around others, or well... You and Ember, and some others are an exception to that when I am around you or her I have this feeling where I can be really myself and don't have to be afraid of getting judged, blamed or anything in that category, I know no one has been doing it today, but once somebody does it to me, I won't forget it, it doesn't mean I end up hating them, but it does make me want to distance from the said person, I have never been the social type." Jack said to him. Suddenly a smile grew on his face as he looked at Festus. "You know, since I won't be around for much more than a few weeks, I have made a decision and decided to give every one of you gifts, most of them are belongings that used to be made or gifted for me, but soon I won't be needing them anymore." Jack held the artefact in his hand and focused some of his magic on it, then he started rotating some of the mechanisms in a specific order, and it then suddenly brought 2 items in existance which appeared next to Jack. "The first thing i wanted to give you is an bandolier, its good for storing things, especially for weapons, while you do have something in where you can sheathe your sword, when you end up picking up things like firearms, ammo, or separate knives, you can store them in this, since this bandolier has been specifically made to hold those things, even weapons like shotguns or rifles. It used to be meant for me, but I never felt like I needed it, so I want to you to have it. And this also leads to my gift, something that you might like alot." It was a revolver, but it was the design that made it stand out, it was decorated and painted in tribute to Dragons, it had a similar colour to Festus scales, and the pattern of the colour was made in such a way that it really looked like dragon scales, the handle of the revolver was shaped like a dragon's hind leg, but the one thing that made it look even better was the barrel, wich was shaped like a dragon mouth, and inside the barrel itself sharp points that where shaped like dragon teeth, while there also green dragon eyes decorated at the place where it made the back of the revolver look like a dragon head. Not only that, but on the upper side of the barrel itself, there was a small frame, which had 2 holes, this was shaped in such a way that it represented dragon nostrils, and whenever the revolver would fire, part of the smoke would emerge from those nostrils, giving a similar effect to how smoke would come out of a dragon's nostrils. The frame itself was the Iron sight. "I think this one fits you really well, i do think this is one of my most valuable items. It was crafted by my friend William, he had made this one for me a long time ago, he was aware i liked Vernomians and by that extend Dragons, so he took an old revolver and rebuild it in such a way that it represents the shape of a dragon." Jack said with a smile. "Though I can't imagine how much work he had put into this, but despite being good with building things like weapons and other usefull items, he was a true artist at heart, and din't hesitate to show it off in his creations, and if anybody is destinated to wield this, i think it should be you Festus." Jack said as he placed the Revolver in Festus his open paw. "You cannot imagine how much of a good friend you are to me, let this be a sign of how good of a friend you are to me."

It was 3 hours later, between that time the group had already managed to catch up to the army, who had been waiting for the group and had met up with them. It was getting dark so they decided to set up a camp, or rather, it was wasn't much of a camp but rather they had all settled on a big flat rock that was in the middle of the desert. There were no tents or even any form of roof, the soldiers had preferred to stay mobile and thus only carry things like tools, weapons, ammo and supplies. They were used to sleeping out in the open after all. The thing that was, however, was made, was a big campfire, where some sat around it, while others were talking to others or doing stuff on their own. Jack had decided to sit somewhere alone on the edge of the rock, not being comfortable with being alone many others. While Karthspire was telling stories around the campfire, but it seemed like he was slightly drunk, his level of enthusiasm was very high, and he seemed to make alot of body gestures during his storytelling.

"You are right, i guess i am not the one to do it either." Jack replied to Evelyn "I am surprised by it as well, but i know without a doubt soon things will arise, very bad things.." Jack mentioned to Luna, remembering all to well how he had seen someone get affected by it as time went. --------------------------------------- After a while, they arrived where the others where, however, when they landed, Jack din't say much to anyone else, only giving them a sad stare, as he did not know what to say as of now, until he eventually did say something. "We should get moving, time is of the essence." Jack reminded everyone, as he avoided their gazes, not wanting anyone to show his eyes changing further as time went on, slowly but surely they were changing.

"I don't know if Maple would want to do it either, even if she knows how it feels to be infected, it doesn't mean she would feel ok with it either, I can know this, I had volunteered to put down someone in the past who was going to turn, and it can haunt you for the rest of your life. It may seem bad in context to volunteer, but really... it feels alot worse. And Maple still has a long life ahead, and has a family at that, asking her to do it would just add another nightmare to her memories of what she had to endure, I can't forgive myself if I ask her to do that just, even if she wouldn't mind, that doesn't take away the fact that it will be bad for her to live with." Jack mentioned, not wanting to condemn anyone for his own problems. "I will do it myself, that way no one has to suffer from it." Jack said as he tried to climb on Evelyn's back. "Well, i am ready." Jack said as he eventually had managed to climb on.

Jack heard Luna's words and then hesitated if he should trough with what he was doing, his bond with Luna was very strong, and her words where always capable of leaving a good impact on him, something that only 3 others were capable off to Jack. But when Evelyn also joined in the situation and heard her words, he no longer hesitated and Hugged Luna tightly, tough his version of tight was literally weak compared to Luna's alicorn strength. "You are both right, I just can't leave, it wouldn't be right of me to do... I am sorry... I don't want to leave, not anymore..." Jack said as he started sobbing in her coat. After a bit he spoke again "But how, will we do it? Eventually i do have to be put down... and who knows when that will happen..."

Having a cute Twilight and get all of your homework done for free? Yes Yes Yes Yes YES!!!

Jack looked at Luna, a sad look in his eyes. "I am sorry myself, I just don't know what to think, because soon I am going to lose everything I hold dear, so it doesn't really matter what I do, its a guaranteed end for me, and there is nothing I can do to stop it. And even then, I am not even sure if I would be able to reach my sister, for all we know I would already turn by that time." "And everyone has already confirmed it, i am a lost cause, waiting for my end to happen, how can i be near anyone like this?" "I have always been scared of getting infected, when i was younger it was my second biggest nightmare, and now it has happened... I promised someone that i would not let it reach to the state of here i would completely turn, but instead would do something about it, so i wouldn't become one of those monsters..." Jack said as he started to tear up a bit. "I care about all of you, and the last thing i want to do is turn when i am near any of you, its the worst thing i could possibly do... Please, forgive me, I always care about you Luna, more then you know." Jack said as he wanted to walk away again, he felt to ashamed of himself to the point where he felt he din't deserve to be near anyone else. Back when he was still alone, he din't much at stake when he would get infected, but now that he had grown attached and close to everyone in the group, he felt more bad then ever with having to lose them and all, and din't want to expose them to w

"Then that part is settled, and you are free to bury your men, but i would recommend you keep your magic at bay, none of us can be to careful when a Psyker is around." The sergeant replied to the Solar Captain, the voice that came out of the helmet sounded a bit stern, but it was also partly due the fact that his voice came out of his helmet, wich has a bit of a mechanical tone to it. But what made the Sergeant wary was for the fact that the ponies had magic users among them, which they were very wary of. But what was understandable was that the ponies were not aware that the difference between a Psyker and a Magic user was that, Psykers use their minds to draw powers from the warp, while magic users like unicorns have magic inside of them, and the space marines presumed they where Psykers. +Keep a close gaze on those who have horns, they are Psykers without a doubt, I had seen one of them use a form of levitation, if only our Librarian was around, he could confirm it for sure.+ One of the marines said through vox. +Psykers or not, it shouldn't matter to much, we have fire support from multiple directions should something go wrong, besides, they don't know who or what we are, wich means they have no idea what they would be up againts except from mere looks at first glance.+ A other marine reassured him. Suddenly a flying skull with a red augmention on its eye flew towards the Sergeant, a few red bleeps came from its eye, and it then started to scan the ponies, but not getting closer, a few flashes come to it as it was scanning each individial pony with its lenses. The flying skull was acting as a scanning and communication drone.

Jack had been running for a while now, he hadn't heard Luna as some sort of static noise had started to play loudly within his head. He eventually stopped to catch his breath, and let himself fall to his knee's in the sand. 'Finally alone... This damnable infection, I can feel every fibre in myself starting to get all tangled up in this feeling...' Jack thought. He looked around in the desert, the sound of the wind flowing around. 'I can't be around anyone like this, but even then I feel misunderstood, if only I could say out loud how I really feel, it would just be embarrassing and wrong of me to say, but still... How can i something that my counsious won't allow me to say oud loud?' Jack tought. 'But now i am infected, so many things have gone wrong and all those promises and oaths i have been trying to follow will be negated with my current situation, just what cruel god decided that this has to be my fate? At this point it doesn't matter what i do, i either turn or i will die battle, strangely enough the latter sounds like something i would have done back in the old day's, and if i look at it now, it just doesn't seem that since i am going to die in a sense anyway, i am like an expandable, just having a purpose with death as its end result.' He tought with regret.

The space marines were staring at the ponies for a while, none of them answering just yet, but with good reason. +Peace... They want peace... I would never have expected a Xeno to ask this to a Human, an Astartes no less. Personally, I would have expected them to put up some form of aggressive attack, or at the very least have some form of evasive reaction, but not this type of behaviour, Sergeant, what is our course of action?+ One of the space marines asked through the vox. +We are space marines! Angels of Death! Not diplomats! We came to kill orcs, not play petty politics!+ One of the other space marines said, who seemed frustrated and annoyed with this turn of events. +Calm yourself Harvus, I will contact the Captain, he will want to know about this, just stand by and await further orders.+ The sergeant replied back in through the vox. +This seems rather convenient if you ask me, a bit too convenient... For all we know this could be a trap, where they are trying to lead us into a false sense of security and strike when we let our guard down, that is what I would do when I would be up against 8 of us..+ One of the space marines replied through the vox, who seemed to be one of the more wary but smarter types. Then in the vox there came the response. +Don't engage unless it is absolutely necessary if they truly claim what they are saying, but don't let it waver your authority, we can't take bold and foolish decisions here, contact me when there are further developments in the situation.+ The Captain replied through the vox. +Understood Captain.+ The sergeant replied back through the vox. Tough that these space marines were talking through their voice channel, their conversations through the vox could not be heard outside due to the filters in their helmets and armour. "Your proposal is something that can be considered in time, should your claims be legitimate, but meanwhile, we will only agree to non-aggressive cease-fire, and won't take any risk among your kind for now." The sergeant proclaimed to Maple, but it was also referring to everypony else. "But your kind does showed a matter of courage to stand against the orks, we won't be making any official agreements towards any form of alliance yet, but we are here to purge the greenskin menace, so in that sense speaking you do have our aid, but in an indirect one Alien."

Glad to see there now measures being taken against those spambots, they have been getting pretty rampant over the last 2 months at times, while I do not know much about these Captcha and registration things, I do know that the people who make these spambots are quite smart and usually find a way to bypass such type of things, new measures might hold them off for a while, but they might find a way around it or actually try to go through this 1 post mod approval system. (Obviously not the automated spambots, but some might actually control that account to go past this 1 first post, and then activate the bot altogether. Not sure if that is how a spambot could work, but it is a good idea to look at what-if scenarios.

As there was a silence over the battlefield, the only sound that could be heard was the wind, that was the case until... 8 armoured hulking figures emerged from the bushes, their bolters aimed at the ponies, they were not about to shoot but were very wary of them, willing to attack them if they would even do so much as advance to close to them. "In the name of the Emperor, state your race and allegiance Xeno's!" The sergeant of the squad seemed to shout at the ponies. The eye lances of the space marines helmets where giving off a light green glow, while they were standing almost still like statue's, being ready to respond to any wrong move.

Jack hugged Festus for a long while. "I just wish I had never gotten infected, but I can't do anything about it now, I must accept it and meet my fate head on." Jack told Festus, in which he after that parted from the hug. "Oh, alright, i will try to talk with him tonight, i think i feel the most comfortable in doing it at that time." He answered to Luna He stood there for a moment before he talked again, his face growing even paler. "Hey Festus, if I happen something happens to me, sooner then after my infection, or... after... Can you give the artefact to Evelyn and tell her to rotate it mechanism's 3 times before making it light with fire breath? It uh... is something important, it um... gives a messa- It gives off something important, but after I am already... D-dead, it really is..." He told Festus with worry like Jack knew something terrible was going to happen. "I need to get going guys, I will see you all up ahead.." Jack called out on a rather low volume before running ahead in the desert.

Jack looked a bit pale, his body temperature being very hot, but the glow that Festus had seen in his eyes before now seemed to be more visible, though the only sign of infection in his eyes could be seen by something pretty subtle, his once light blue eye colour now has taken a bit more of a darker and orange like appearance. "I... I think I am ok, but I am not sure if this is part of the infection, I asked Festus to hit me on my pressure point because my body had locked me in this sleeping state during a massive panic in my head. W-we, she should tell everyone about this ordeal tough, what has happened, better than everyone knows then that it comes to a surprise during an even worse moment." Jack said with a bit of a dry throat. "Come to think of it, Where are Celestia, Maple and Windphaser at?"

'They already know where the city is, they just always have been hesitant to attack the city, they have tried multiple times in the past, but never came that close to capturing it, considering its strong defences and all, though that won't mean that they will try again one day. But I doubt they would attack the city now, many of these strike forces aren't headed towards the city, we have in fact encountered one recently.' Kiran said, he, however, left out specific parts, since it would not be smart to tell the others just yet. --------------------------------------------------------------- Jack suddenly shot awake, the hit that Festus had done on his pressure point had caused Jack's body to get an internal shock, and while it worked, it was very painful for him with his muscles being forced to quickly reactivate like that. He started coughing like crazy, but when it was over, he was staring at the ground as he was panting heavily, trying to recover from this sudden and forcefull switch.

'Festus, is that you? I am glad I can hear your voice... But you don't have to worry about the way you reacted, you did show you cared. Though I can't lie to you that I am rather... devastated by the fact that I am going to eventually turn, atleast William isn't here to see how I have turned out.' Jack thought to him, though he did seem actually relieved and a bit more happy to hear his voice. 'Hey Festus, could I ask you of a small favour? Could you hit me on the pressure point of my neck? I think the shock might wake me up because I can't really wake up myself, atleast not in this instance, I have sort of... locked myself in this state during a big panic...' Jack asked him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 'You bet you are hearing another voice, my name is Kiran, tough you should already be aware of who I am for the most part. There is something I am wondering, why do you 2 keep calling Celestia Tia? Is that like some sort of nickname for her? Well, nevermind that, before you talk any further, some things have happened, Maple got a bit damaged, Jack got infected, and someone is presumably setting us up, that sums up our entire experience so far.' Kiran said.