MickeyAdaptus

Jack was in the thick of battle, but after lots of fighting, he killed the 4 infected. "That is good news Festus, i-" Jack suddenly interrupted as he snapped his attention at one of the roofs, his eyes narrowing to slits as he was looking at something, or so he assumed. "Something is not right, there is someone up there." Jack said with a worried voice. It was then that sound of a gunshot rang out for miles, and a few well-placed shots came near them. One of them almost hit Festus in the head, it still missed but it was very close, one of the other bullets hit Jack somewhere in his upper body. "DAMNIT!" Jack cursed out loud as a sharp pain came in his chest. 'The bullet is still in there... I will get it out later.' he thought. Jack looked again quickly at where he had seen the figure before, but it was gone and was no longer there. "Great... Just great... First infected and now some random individual opens fire on us like that, probably a lone survivor." Jack said as tried to stop the bleeding a bit, but to no avail. But what was even worse, that gunshot had attracted more infected, and where going to arrive soon. "Here we go again, bullet wound or not, it won't be my end." Jack muttered as he slowly walked to one of the buildings and leaned against it, his sight focused on where the gunner had came from.

"You got that one right!" Jack said back with a smile. "Make the shots count and make these cretins pay!" Jack said to Festus with a sudden rush of determination, which was very different from his once shaking and scared feeling, something was bubbling inside Jack, a feeling he could not explain. Suddenly more thumps on rooftops could be heard, and out of nowhere, one of the infected suddenly leapt straight at Festus from behind, he tried to tackle him to the ground, but Jack quickly ran towards the creature and stabbed at its troath, and then pushed the now dying infected away from Festus. "That was a close one, these sure are fast." Jack commented as he looked around warily. It was then that suddenly 12 of them charged at the Jack and Festus at the very same time, some appearing from different angles. Jack, however, decided to take a risk and charged straight into one of the infected and started slashing at it wildly, but at the same, one of the other infected slashed as Jack's back, wich in turn, Jack headbutted the infected behind him with the back of his head, only for him to then attack the infected like a madman, more infected decided to attack him, 3 at the same time. But for weird reasons, Jack was not retreating, on the contrary, he was fighting all 4 of them now without so much as a regard for the damage that they where doing to him, the insane amount of adreline he was getting was dimming down his his painfull feeling to an great amount. 5 infected tried to charge Festus, 2 coming from a rooftop while the others charged at him from 3 different directions. The situation sure did go tense very fast.

Because Chuck Norris would have used our planet as his toilet paper if that were the case Is mayonnaise an instrument?

"I think infected, this town would be affected by the virus decades ago, but that doesn't mean this couldn't a trap, this entire location does make for an good hideout, considering our enemies would never think of looking in an already infested place..." Jack mentioned. He drew his knife and started to slowly walk outside, his eyes narrowing. "You had best use that fire signal now, but do it outside. Just listen to those growls, an infected doesn't make those, no, i think we are dealing with evolved ones, those who has mutated beyond their usual case and had become something else, hybrids perhaps? Who knows, all i know is that it is dangerous here, for all we know they actually have the cunning of ambushing us, wich will result in a trap. Not to mention, it i is night, a perfect time for any predator that can see in the dark." He said. Suddenly he heard a very loud shriek, causing Jack to stumble backwards, but regained his balance after. "Festus, you had better do it now... I will try to hold them off, if anything, i can no longer run the risk of getting infected, this makes for an good advantage.." Jack mentioned as he to was shaking a bit, but not as much, he was trying to locate the creatures, but at the same time was waiting for Festus to make the signal. Jack knew from experience that the slightest encounters like this can turn out worse then seen beforehand.

"I can see that you are afraid Festus, and i don't blame you for that, really. Infact i used to be just like that when i first started entering such towns, these places are actually a common sight from where i come from, so i am used to it." Jack said as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "If it helps, you will eventually get used to it, sure it might take a good while, but the places where all of you have been so far outside Equestria where really mild compared to where i came from. And also, i still know-" Jack however was interrupted when he suddenly heard loud thumps from nearby roofs, things jumping from building to building. He could even see some figures jumping over the roof, but he couldn't quite make out what or who they where. "Hold on, i heard something." Jack said as he held up his hand. He started listening for a bit longer. "Yeah, there is someone or something nearby, or rather, multiple individuals, be on guard Festus." Jack said as he drew his knife and was looking trough one of the windows like a hawk.

"Would be pretty amazing if it were made out of gold." Jack laughed as well. "But i am not sure what we will exactly find here, i do know this place is known as Morshall and has a pretty disturbing eerie and background from what i have heard, but i presume those are just rumours, i doubt we will find anything to do dangerous, a large pack of infected at the very most, wich we can escape from." Jack explained. As they where getting inside the town, it was a disturbing sight to say the least, littered and burned corpses, very old buildings, broken streetlights, wrecks of vehicles, it was all there, but it was the fashion in wich it was all there, the corpses where not just lying on the ground, they where on numerous places, some on ropes, others being killed by spikes, some even had met the tragedy of getting burned, it gave off this feeling like a massacre had been going on. "Well... I can safely assume that this town really had suffered alot." Jack noted as he inspected some things. He pushed a bit against of the spikes, in wich a dead body was on, but suddenly it started screaming, roaring like madman. Jack stumbled a bit back, but then realised what it was, the person had been infected before he died. "That is an very dark way to die..." Jack muttered, imagine how he would meet his end should something go wrong. "I think we should look trough the buildings, see if you can find anything alright? I will check in this one."

"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."