We stand united 1x1 Maple Bat

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"Good, good, it seems you are more of a shield and sword user rather than the quick but short range moves then I did. Gonna give you and advice though, there will come times when your equipment and weapons will start to get in a bad condition, and might even break, should that happen, you will have to rely on what you have left, in most cases a dagger or knife, but if you don't have a single weapon, use your body, use anything at your disposal. But then again I think your friend and mentor Ember has already told you something like this." Kiran told him.

"So I would recommend, try out my trick anyways for when that moment should arise, life can be a jerk sometimes and won't hesitate to bring us even more bad luck in situations." He told Festus.

'Jack, I need to talk to you about something, something that is not good for other ears to hear, especially not your friends.' He thought.

'What? If you are talking about that sudden invasion, everyone is already aware of that, the news is all over the city.' Jack thought to him.

'No, not that, something might happen inside the city itself, and lead to an outbreak, not from infected, but from some among us itself, an outright revolt.' He thought to him.

'What?! But why do you want to hide that from the others?! They need to know about it!' Jack exclaimed.

It was silent for a moment before Kiran replied.

'There is a good reason, because for once it is better than others are not going to attempt and do it their own way, you may not have heard but when you where not in control of your body, they where discussing your fate regarding your safety, and it turned into a rather heated one, especially when Evelyn exploded against Karthspire like that. I will tell you once we are done with your training because you are only one I trust who is not going to try and get all defensive and offended over this coming news.' Kiran thought to him, a hint of concern in his thought.

He then started to fight more and more, until about 20 minutes later when the number of infected had decreased drastically.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Festus nodded "It's something I can take care of." He told Kiran "Fire breath's a great back up weapon." He smiled as he saw another opponent run up to him and he sliced it the blade going clean through due to the edge it had being so sharp. "I... So mind if I ask who you are? Why you're here?"

Ember heard the question and wondered the answer herself the answer. She didn't want to voice the question though. She was proud of the performance Festus was puttin on. Jack was really awesome too

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

Kiran looked a little surprised at the sudden question, but he was, however, eager to answer it.

"The name is Kiran Iron-Fist, I used to be a prisoner in the daemon realm myself but I managed to escape in a sense when I helped Jack out of there. But for why I am here? Partly to help out Jack but for the most part, I have my personal vendetta against the same enemy that we all share, but I guess i somehow managed to make a name for myself, many of the survivors call me a hero for what i do, the most known one in a number of conversion centers I have infiltrated and destroyed, but then again i do it all solo, but on special occasions i team up with the most skilled individuals, but only when the situation demands it."

"The type of thing i do would normally be called a Mercenary, but i am more like a volunteer, signing up for suicide missions in order to get those done, many call me crazy in that regard but unlike them, i manage to get out unscathed.  The funniest part of my story is the distaste between me and the military. I used to be a soldier, but apparently disobeying orders from the incompetence of someone else is considered treason, and i have quite a criminal record among them. But it gave me one advantage that i have always wanted, i can now fight this war my own way!" He said with a smirk

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Festus listened and laughed "Sounds more like a vigilante. Not that I have a problem with that. Sounds like you've been quite busy!" Festus added before looking at several enemies. "I'm guessing you already know me? Well seeing as you've been there the whole time I'd assume so."

Ember flew over followed closely by Evelyn. "So... Possission? Or shared body? " Ember asked to be sure. "Not sure of your intentions..."

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"Aye, I know every one of you, memories, conversations, I can access all of Jack's memories like a data bank, see and hear what he does. But to ask the other question, it is a shared body, though he is still the main host, I can still tap into his body when need be. You remember that DNA that you helped him gather back in that slave centre? That was mine or atleast my DNA with modified properties, it allowed me to gain a place in his body, and keep my soul sheltered there." Kiran said back.

"I had no other choice really when I was helping him escape, I knew I would never going to make it myself, my body was too influenced by the energies of that realm after a 9-year imprisonment, so I sacrificed myself in a rather brutal way by jumping straight into the advancing enemies and blow myself up and taking them with me."

"But my intentions, for now, i am going to stay in his body and help him out, but once I get my own body, I will be back into the game, kill our enemies, blow upconversion centres, take on suicide missions, but first I am going to pay my dear old friend Karthspire a greeting, and then give him a friendly punch to the face!" He said, that last part in a bit of a joking manner, although it was obvious that he was actually going to do it.

"For all things considered, life is rather simple once you got a clear objective wouldn't you agree?" He asked with a smirk.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

"That makes sense." Ember nodded, not actually understanding the DNA thing " and Absolutely!" Ember laughed at the list of things Kiran wanted to do. "Bigger fish to fry for now my friend. Jack's sister... Might I remind you is one of them. Let me know when you get a body... I wanna fight you later, after what I just saw I think it'll be a good one."

Festus looked at the others "Should we head back to the city? I don't remember how long it was until the attack... We've been out here for..." Fesuts glanced at the sun "A while... But... I think the training paid off Ember."

"I could tell from your fighting. That upgrade helped too. I noticed some flaws but we can work those out." Ember picked up Festus "You're growing so quickly. Proud of you. You know?"

Festus laughed awkwardly "T... Thanks."

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"Indeed, helping out Jack is my first priority right now, getting a body second, and when those 2 things are done, our fight will be golden." Kiran said with a smirk.

'Alright, kid, I think we should head back, I hate to say it but I don't have any time to train you right now....  YET, that is, for I will be training you in the middle of the battlefield.' He thought.

'Fine, could you please let me have control again? This feels a bit.. weird.' Jack admitted in his thought.

'Of course, i got my own fair share of killing for today done, now its your turn, and you will get lots, LOTS of kills today.' He thought

Jack went numb again as he fell to the ground.

A few seconds later he stood back up but now he was himself again, having his normal voice and his blue coloured eyes.

"Man.. I don't think i can ever get used to that." He said.

He then looked at Evelyn.

"Shall we head back?" He asked her with a smile.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Evelyn chucked "I mean that's up to you. Didn't you want to practice? Well, what is practice if we miss the thing you're practicing for. Anyways... WE should probably go that way... OR we could meet them on their way there. Again it's your call." She looked him in the eyes with complete trust and smiled

Festus slung his shield around his back and put the sword the sheath behind the shield. "Yea... I think we should leave it to you."

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

Jack thought for a moment.

"Yeah, I think I will stay for a while longer to practice more," Jack said with a smile.

"By the way, Ember and Festus, if the 2 of you end up wanting to leave now, could you guys please give the others a heads up that I and Evelyn will meet them on their way there? I think they will be relieved to atleast know why we haven't arrived yet." He asked them

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Festus nodded "I think we'll head back. The other do need to know what's happening regarding you. We'll see you in a while."

Ember also nodded. But was still smiling at Festus, She was so proud of him, similar to that of a parent and their child "Yea... Perhaps you need some armor Festus... All you've ever had is that shield of yours. Lets see about changing that."

The 2 started to head off.

"They seem nicer than the others... Well for now at least. Let's hope they stand by the promise of being nicer." Evelyn said as she waved them goodbye.

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"Indeed, Ember is very loyal, in times of danger she is always eager to defend us, and in times where I was forced to plan the situation, she never hesitated to try out my plans.

Festus is very loyal as well but is also a very good friend, he and I have grown very close ever since we were captured and after that, when I look at him, he really reminds me... Of someone, i knew long ago, my friend William... That person was someone who truly managed to change, even after I had lost everything, he managed to make me see a reason to live, to see a purpose in life, and enjoy, even if we had to do it with what he had left." Jack said with a smile as he waved them goodbye as well.

His smile, however, faltered a bit after what he was going to say next.

"But... I just cannot help but feel afraid, of what has happened to him, for all we know, my old group, all 3 of them are already dead, or perhaps not. I just cannot help but think, have i really made the right choice? I managed to meet all of you guys when my spacecraft had landed in a wormhole, but what if.. that never happened? I could have landed in Cyril 5 months ago, and then... i could have found them, or.. i could have died.. a lonely dead... I just... don't know, the nightmares about this have become more frequent as time passes on, have i really been a good friend? Was it really worth that i choose to say sacrifice myself and let myself be captured so they could escape? Because in the end i... Abandoned them..." Jack said, barely able to speak out those last words.

Jack was not sure on whether he had made the right choice, it was obvious he was feeling very bad about it, but even more of what he might find there, he just couldn't shrug it off, as guilt was eating him up from the inside it.

"I.. apologize for bringing that up. It has just been plaguing me for so long..." He said with worry, and also a hint of grief.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Before starting, Evelyn took a deep breath "Look... If you had died on Cyril. Equestria... and I mean... ALL of it would have died, You would never have met Festus, Never found a new family, You would never have come here and brought hope to our city... to me..." She looked down and started tearing up "Stop... Telling yourself you should've been there for them... Because I guarantee that if they were here they'd be so proud of you..." A tear fell to the sand. " Why do you feel like they hate you... you couldn't have made it Fate brought you to Equestria... and something tells me... it's not just to save those ponies... but it brought you here. to save us..." Evelyn knelt into the sand "Please... Stop worrying... If they're gone... I'm sure that they left worrying that you'd suffer the same fate."

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"You are right, I shouldn't be worrying so much about it, if i would have died back then, i would have never met any of you guys... i would have never met you..." He said with a bit of tears.

He hugged her neck tightly, but even this level of tightness would not even faze her.

'You know what they would say? *You are the Resistance*, it is a phrase used by most individuals these days because it represents us in a whole.

I have taught you many things Jack, but if there is one thing you taught me... It is staying away from everyone is not always the best course of action, sometimes you prefer to stay near those who you care about, i don't really have anyone in that regard except for you.' The voice said to him.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

"Things have been rough with our group but that happens in these situations... None the less we all need to stand by each other and take this together. If we do that then perhaps we stand a chance of defeating Valtrex. We can save the universe, Jack. We just have to stand united!" She paused after saying that "Anyways you should probably get that training underway, We don't have much time as is."

---------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile back at the city,

Maple still felt upset about what had happened. She was only trying to keep Jack safe but had really offended him. She barely even knew if she was forgiven. Ever since the new body, she and Jack had only been growing more and more distant. She wanted to remedy the situation but she didn't want to go now otherwise he'd probably get mad again.

Woody walked over to the balcony she was standing on "Still blaming yourself?..." Woody looked down "Yea... I know you are. You were only doing your thing Maple... Don't worry about it. You always want to take care of battles yourself but you need to learn it takes an army to keep everyone safe. You can't get through this with some losses..." 

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"You are right, we have to. And don't worry about my training, give me 45 minutes tops and I will be more ready than ever." He said with determination.

He then started killing infected with his knife, at first it started out small as he was calmly fighting, but as time went on he started to get more aggressive and aggressive in terms of his fighting style, instead of dodging the attacks from the infected he now started to jump straight into them and  kill them in the fury that he had within him.

It was after 40 minutes that the street of that town was filled with dead infected, and Jack's fur was covered in their blood almost completely, which made it look like he went to hell and back.

He stood there panting as he was fighting an infected, but he was completely exhausted from his earlier fight, having killed about 56 infected with nothing but his knife had given him quite the fight.

at this point, the fight between him and the last infected was rather pitiful, at moments he was just incapable of dodging at all, and instead let himself be pushed back to the ground, and quickly push off the infected with the strength he had left.

But suffice to say, he had the training of his life.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Evelyn froze the last infected and pushed it over the frozen statue if it shattering on the ground. "You alright? That was a lot of infected..." She said out loud but she also spoke to Kiran at the same time via the mind link 'so what exactly is outbreak you're so worried about? I mean we're alone now so why not tell?...'  After helping Jack Evelyn started to pace a bit not wanting to help still.

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"Y-yeah, I am alright, just need a moment," Jack said as he was panting hard.

'Things are starting to look dark, it involves the Equestrians and their current status in the city themselves. Many praise them as a sort of saviours and bringers of hope, but not everyone shares that same idea, not much is known what most Vernomians think about the situation, but...'

'As you might know, Terrans and Raukan are very patriotic and have a very strong sense of culture and belief, but with the Equestrian visitors being treated as an Honoured guest, some believe the general population is being seen as inferior and undermined. But that is not the biggest part in it.'

'The Equestrians haven't exactly been very friendly when it comes to cultural understanding, and as you know we are very connected to our history and accomplishments, but... The Equestrians are not particularly acting like they should, instead of acting like acting like *Respectful guest*, they have had acting like they are right at home, voicing all of their opinions without a second thought, which is one of the biggest mistakes they could ever make here, you know why? Many of us look for hope, and we see that hope in the form of beliefs, from the death of Aliah to the accomplishments that inspire us all, but then we can have a situation where an Equestrian walks in a barfs out *This is stupid and weird, why would you believe in the actions of a dead guy?*.'

'Because let me tell you.. they are rather eager to express something that with the way they are acting, which comes to the bad news... Chances are very high there are going to revolt, large groups of individuals who want change, which could involve in a civil war between everyone in this very city. And you know what the first act would be? The assassination of Karth Spire, so far he has been friendly and very generous to the Equestrian visitors, this is good, but in the eyes of the others? They see this an act of treachery to our kind, thinking that we are supporting a race that insults our very beliefs with their attitude. Why do you think Jack had a such an explosion of anger before? He felt like the Equestrians were seeing us as a bunch of martyr's and not equal to their own kind.'

'It might be a little hard to notice, but give it a days time, and everyone will start fighting among themselves, Terrans are no strangers to such civil wars, since their entire race is based on the ideology that was caused by civil war itself, I think you know what will happen should this arise?' Kiran thought to her.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

'Well how do we stop it then? I could chat with them about this... But I don't see how it's such a problem... They share their opinions on things because they are closely connected with this... I know we all are... But what are they supposed to do... Stay quiet? Let everyone else decide what to do on a problem that affects them too.' Evelyn thought back anger 'I mean those equestrians are pretty stuck up but... You can't blame karthspire for it. They say Equestrians are bad but they havn't harmed anyone... So if they do they're worse.' She shook her head upset. 'We NEED to stop this'

Edited November 7, 2017 by Maple Bat

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

 

"Won't be easy to stop it, because from what I have heard there had been alot of rumours, meaning we *don't* know who thinks what, for all we know there is someone among them that will walk up to Karthspire and put a bullet in his head in order to attempt and grab that empty spot for leadership once he is out of the picture.'

'But think for a second, with Fluttershy being held hostage by a deranged slave dealer, Jack's sister on the verge of transforming into a conversion centre, and some of them feeling very guilty about Jack's situation, do you really think they will think clearly themselves about this situation? You will be adding yet another pressure point that they have to worry about. Why do you think I didn't want to tell anyone except Jack? Because *opinions* are going to get involved, if you want to have everyone keep a cool head, keep it among the 3 of us for now, Perhaps only tell Karthspire or at the very least Celestia, because those 2 will think twice before telling others, I am serious here... This need to be dealt with in subtlety for now, or else the very ones who are trying to start this grudge will hear about it as well.' Kiran thought.

"He is right, we should wait to tell everyone else unless when we know for sure who is behind this entire grudge, we already got like 3 major situations going on, did you see how devastated Maple was? And if i am not mistaken, what Kiran is trying to say in short terms, this is not just a grudge, when he meant the assassination of Karthspire, he was talking about a grab for power." Jack explained.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

"Right. That makes a lot more sense... Using chaos and confusion to accomplish a goal... We should hurry an go warn them then... No... Perhaps not... I am a somewhat important figure, however, If I just stay by him... Maybe I can stop it without anyone knowing I know?" It sounded like a statement but was really more of a question asking 'will that work' "I do agree however... Telling others will only get it spread around."

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

'That could work, but you would have to do it after you get back from that conversion center, and also an important advice, do keep Jack with you at all times, because there is one thing that I might have overlooked a few moments ago, they might be after Karthspire, but they might take hostages for if they get in a tight spot, and Jack is most likely, he might be strong but he has trouble keeping his guard up in such unexpected moments, they would surely take that chance.'

'Tough at the same time, they are still civilians, we can't do anything to those we suspect unless they have committed a crime or anything in that regard, but you are already familiar with that I presume, just keep an eye out for anything suspicious. If anyone of Jack's friends suspicious, use the invasion rumours as an excuse, we won't want to arouse any suspicion.'

'But if you have any information or suspicion, just tell me instead, because in that city I've got quite a few contacts back from the early day's, then we can do some investigating.' Kiran thought

"That does sound like a good plan, you are after all a pretty important figure here Evelyn, you have the authority of a law enforcement if I am not mistaken, so we got a really good advantage there should we need to investigate someone." Jack mentioned.

Jack tried to climb onto her back but he couldn't really reach it.

"A little help please?" He asked her with an embarrassed smile.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Evelyn lifts Jack up via her wing sliding him onto her back "Yea it will be helpful... But I mean... That's only if I decide to leave Karthspire's side... Which is going to be really difficult each time I need to make that choice." Evelyn took the last moments of peace in. Because everything was about to go down hill "Ready?"

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

'Good point there, but there is a solution for this, you know Zukir right? That grumpy and silver grey Vernomian? He tends to act as Karthspire's bodyguard and second in command but is not always able to do it, because of political matters and other things, my advice is, when he has to go somewhere else because of duties, you take his role until he comes back, perhaps it is smart to tell him about this entire situation, he can't really do his job to his maximum if he doesn't know what he should expect.'

'While you are all attacking that conversion centre it won't be much of a problem as Karthspire is leading the attack, but once you all get back, things will get very serious, because we don't know when or how they could strike, be prepared for worst case scenario's.' Kiran advised her.

"I am ready, tough i can't say i am looking very good with all this blood splattered on my fur.. o well, let's go!" Jack said.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

"It'll wash off when we get back... Hopefully. But out here there's no were to wash it." Evelyn took the skies before continuing saying "I mean it's not gonna look like you straight up killed someone... Everyone will probably believe it's infected blood. Since everyone sees you as such a messiah... I'll admit even I feel that way about you." She smiled to Jack hoping he knew what she meant by 'messiah'

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"Y-you really think so?  I mean, i know i am pretty well known in most parts of the galaxy, but i never expected anyone to think of me that way. I guess i am really my father's son huh?" Jack said, tough he blushed a bit about what Evelyn thought of him, but it was not in a bad way, it was a good thing to him, but he didn't know how to properly express it.