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Enigma (or perhaps the daemon possessing her, it was impossible to tell at this point) roared in pain as the Inquisitor's conviction-boosted spells seared and burned her flesh. The agony caused by the orbs of holy light was unlike the honest, almost enjoyable pain caused by mere physical strikes. It was burning Enigma's mutated body with and aura of disgusting self-righteousness that made her sick... and filled her with even more rage.
"Your little... little magic t-tricks won't s-s-save you, worm!" she roared. Her throat was ruined by the Inquisitor's spell, but her words were now coming from multiple smaller mouths all over her body as a nightmarish cacophony of maddened voices. "Her Immortal Ladyship protects me from H-Her... SKULL THRONE...! I... I'll r-rip you apart piece by piece and feast on your innards while you watch! Love and t-t-tolerance... will prevail!"
She interrupted Lulamoon's next spell with another spray of acidic vomit that forced the Inquisitor to dodge. With her injured leg, Lulamoon barely managed to get out of the way. The bubbling green liquid further damaged Enigma's ruined throat and made chunks of her own half-melted flesh fall off on the chamber floor. A few of the gobs grew small insect legs and skittered towards the Warp Engine. Upon reaching it they threw themselves at it, feeding on its energy and tearing apart more of the ancient machinery that was barely keeping the horrors of the Warp contained within.
Enigma lunged at Lulamoon, tackling the Inquisitor against the chamber's wall. There was a satisfying crunch as the former magitechnologist's sheer mass deformed the Inquisitor's armor and broke something inside. Using two clawed appendages, Enigma picked Lulamoon up, shook her violently and finally threw her on the floor in front of the Warp Engine. The entire chamber was bathed in an unnatural, constantly shifting light of impossible color, the shadows on the walls taking on monstrous, unspeakable shapes that seemed to mock reality with their mere existence.
"B-behold the future of the Equestrianic Imperium, servant of the... the A-A-Anathema!" Enigma rambled. "F-Friendship is... is Magic! All hail the Dark Gods! With this power, the Equine race will fill this world with p-peace, love and... THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENTS! Where are your False Sisters now?"
*
Aboard the Spear of Winter
"Ma'am!" Lieutenant Norte called from her station. "The enemy forces around the wreck seem to be retreating!"
Sky Admiral Mistral raised an eyebrow. Then a predatory (and very much un-Ponylike) smile appeared on her muzzle.
"Hah! They must have finally realized our superiority," she gloated. "But we won't let them escape! We will make them pay tenfold for every drop of Equestrian blood they've spilled today! Order Captain Chinook to focus on destroying all enemy ground forces at all costs! Tell him to deploy all the planes and the warriors! And to use the missiles and the arcane beam cannons of his airships! He is to use his entire arsenal to wipe out those fanatics! Actually, divert an additional two airships from our own squadron to assist him! No, make that four! Leave no survivors! Let their blood spill on the soil they pollute with their mere presence!"
Normally, Norte would have been surprised and even startled by the Sky Admiral's excessively brutal and aggressive outburst, but she too was affected by the strange bloodlust that was emanating from the wreck and was only too happy to obey.
"Affirmative, Ma'am!"
*
Outside, Commander Blackguard's forces found themselves under a renewed Equestrian attack that was just as furious but also more coordinated than before. And this time, the attack was supported by direct fire by the 12 airships that had broken off from the rest of the fleet to surround the wreck. When the airships fired their arcane beam cannons, the beams had an unusual purplish-red tinge and were even more destructive than before, leaving behind long streaks of scorched, corrupted soil. The massive flying fotresses targeted everything that moved around the wreck, indiscriminately incinerating both the Novumequine defenders and whatever berserker warriors remained of the initial Equestrian attack force. The AA fire from the Cragodiles managed to shoot down several Pegasus warriors and even a couple of the planes, but the Equestrians kept coming heedless of any losses they suffered in the process. The planes targeted the tanks with their missiles, while the Pegasus warriors landed as close as possible to the enemy troops and proceeded to engage them in short-range shootouts and brutal melee fights. Within minutes, the battlefield around the wreck descended into a chaotic and bloody arena where even more blood was spilled every second...
Firecracker felt a sudden flare of anger.
"'Had everything under control', did you?" he mocked. "You're a Unicorn, for Tartarus's sake, reduced to a slave selling second-hoof wares to other slaves or placating your jailers with gifts and offerings. No. You don't have a thing in your life under control at the moment, Hard Sell. New I may be, but I'm not like the rest of you. I am an Equestrian officer, and I most definitely am not asking for 'freebies'. In fact, I might just be your ticket out of this place. I don't have any allies or resources here at the moment, but with the right contacts and devices, I might well be able to break us all free... So tell me, is your chance at freedom not worth at least this bit of information: do you have a way to communicate with the other legionnaires without detection? And if you do, what would you want in exchange for one?"
“The Sisters await your soul, Heretic. Whatever scraps that daemon hasn’t devoured.” Lulamoon gripped her rosette tight, pressing down a certain sequence of buttons hidden on the back of her sigil and activating the transponder.
*
The Cragodiles ran over any Equestrian foolish enough to land before 38 tonnes of hardened plasteel driving at 55km/h, the hull-mounted flamers and heavy bolters further clearing their path as Blackguard and his stormtroopers made use of the firing ports, ignoring the calls of cowardice coming from the increasingly unhinged enemy. “Don’t stop, full throttle back to Fort Bastion!” The commander ordered over the vox as the eight APCs sped away from the wreak. They raced over the burnt ground and continued to flatten the Equestrians in their way even as the beam cannons swept through their formation, slicing two of the Cragodiles into halves which exploded into a great conflagration. The remaining six pushed their engines harder as the area fell into darkness, the arrival of the Lady Inquisitor’s personal ship to the battlefield’s exospheric sector left only the lights of the Equestrians airships and fighters under its shadow
“Apologies for the delay, orbital support is in position now, my Lady.” Blackguard braced himself as the Cragodile splattered another Equestrian. “Time’s almost up, get clear!” He ordered the rest of his troops before adjusting his vox. “Destructive Saviour, this is Commander Blackguard. The Lady Inquisitor has deemed it necessary to purge the wreak. Requesting orbital bombardment on coordinates being transmitted now.” He tapped the shoulder of his vox operator who relayed the signal of the Lady Inquisitor.
“Acknowledged, preparing Purgation Cannon.”
Moving to the very rear of the Cragodile, Blackguard watched from the small viewpoint as a thin beam of light fell upon the wreak of the Montbel’s Valour before disappearing. The next thing anyone knew the wreak exploded into a massive vortex that started to pull in the Equestrian airships as laughter filled the air. Blackguard punched the backdoor of the Cragodile in frustration. “Damnation, the bombardment didn’t come in time.”
*
Lulamoon pulled her hammer back, still retaining enough focus to do that as her broken leg screamed at her. “Warning, armour integrity dangerously low. Seek Mechanicus assistance immediately.” She braced herself upright as she swung at Enigma again and recited her vow once more. The hammer felt lighter in her hold even as she found she could swing with greater force, the creatures that had formed from the daemon’s discarded flesh continued to gnaw at the engine, allowing more of the Warp’s effluence to escape. The Inquisitor and the daemon continued their struggle over an unobtainable prize until the engine detonated and the two were sucked into the Warp.
“What does being a unicorn have to do with anything?” Hard Sell questioned as he reared back on Firecracker. “Listen here, you little turd, you don’t know a Sister-damned thing about how the Legion operates. We are not slaves, we are shackled to pay for our crimes against what is proper and just as laid out by the Sisters Divine five millennia ago.” He shoved Firecracker again, standing over the other unicorn as the convicts who had been milling about started to gather. “I’ve been here for ten years and I was a stormtrooper for fifty years before that. I was fighting monsters beyond your comprehension before your dad dribbled the right way down your grandma’s back. Don’t you test me, boy.” Their crowd jeered and hollered as the bailiffs and commissars took notice of the disturbance and approached.
Gavel groaned as she saw the brewing fight and was about to activate the collars on everyone around when one of the commissars stopped her. “Wha-but why?” She asked as the convicts goaded Hard Sell and Firecracker on. “The Equestrian needs to learn. He’s been going around, making disturbances everywhere he goes. Maybe another beating will get it through to him.” The commissar did pull out his pistol in case Hard Sell and Firecracker’s audience decided to join in but so far they seemed content to watch.
Aboard the Spear of Winter
"What on Tartarus is that?" Sky Admiral Mistral exclaimed when the shadow of the Destructive Saviour fell upon the battlefield.
"It appears to be one of the Novumequine spaceships, Ma'am," Lieutenant Norte replied. "Our scans indicate it's powering up its weapons."
This new turn of events was enough to break through even the unnatural bloodlust induced by the Warp energies emanating from the wreck. Mistral wanted to kill her enemies at all costs, but fighting an orbital craft the size of a small city was a bit too much even for her.
Not to mention impossible.
"The filty... disgusting... cowards!" the Sky Admiral cursed under her breath as she opened a radio channel to all the remaining ships of the 5th Imperial Airfleet. The channel was not secure, but then her message wasn't particularly secretive either. "All ships! This is Sky Admiral Mistral! The enemy has called in orbital support! Retreat immediately! And reroute all available power to your shields and engines!"
She wasn't entirely sure just how powerful the weapons installed on the Novumequine ships were, but considering the size of the ships, their engines alone could be used as weapons of mass destruction. That didn't bode well for the survival odds of her own lightly armored airships, but she had to try something.
*
The beam from the Destructive Saviour struck the wreck just as the warp engine finally imploded and began to twist the local reality in ways not seen in Equestria since the Discordian Era. A massive vortex of warp energy sucked in most of the beam's energy before developing into an outright tear in spacetime. The airships Joyous Flight and the Summer Breeze were caught in the vortex's relentless pull and sucked into the Warp together with the physical remains of the Montbel's Valour and the numerous corpses littering the battlefield.
Several more airships were in the danger zone and were nearly pulled in as well, but then something strange happened. Instead of being sucked in, the ships had their magitechnological engines go into a sudden overdrive, gaining new energy seemingly from nowhere. Struggling against the vortex, the airships glowed with arcane power and, against all odds, managed to break free.
*
Aboard the Spear of Winter
Mistral stared at the vortex in disbelief. The wreck they had been fighting for was simply... gone. In its place was a glowing hellish maw that seemed to mock the laws of nature with its very being.
A series of alarm sounds and frantic beeping sounds from the bridge's various consoles brought her back to reality.
"M-Ma'am?" Lieutenant Norte managed to say after a few moments of stunned silence. "The airship captains and squadron leaders are requesting orders. What... What should we do now?"
"I..." Mistral realized there was no point in staying here any longer. Their prize was no more, and she didn't want to spend any more time near the obscene vortex that had taken its place. Sighing heavily, she said, "Our mission is a failure. Recall all the planes and the Pegasus Warriors. Set a course for the Crystal Empire for now. I...I'll have to call Archmage Zircon and tell her the bad news..."
*
The ships of the 5th Fleet picked up speed and began to head Northeast, towards the sea and the Crystal Empire. The remaining airplanes and Pegasus Warriors took a few final shots at the likewise retreating Cragodiles before heading back to their motherships.
The battle for the Montbel's Valour was over, but at what cost?
So, he's just another fanatic, Firecracker thought. What a disappointment. So much for that ally.
In fact, was there nopony here willing to even consider an alliance with him? He just knew that if he could get beyond the range of the detonation signal of his collar, he could (somehow) establish contact with his true comrades on the Equestrian side and escape this nightmare. But that prospect had started to feel increasingly unlikely because apparently he was surrounded by brainwashed idiots who believed everything their jailers told them and continued to foolishly think that sacrificing their lives for the system that had betrayed them would save their souls or something equally idiotic.
But Firecracker had had enough. He felt like he couldn't take this anymore. So what if they were going to blow his head off? At least he'd go out on his own terms instead of dying while fighting against his own country. And perhaps, as his final act, he'd get a chance to wipe the smug, self-righteous grin from the face of one these fanatics.
"You are an even greater fool than I thought if you think any amount of service will save your skin!" Firecracker snorted angrily. "You'd be better of dying free than fighting for somepony who values your life less than the trinkes you peddle!"
He lowered his head and charged Hard Sell. His horn might be useless for casting spells thanks to his collar, but it was still sharp and sturdy, and like all Unicorns serving in the Equestrian military, Firecracker had been trained to fight in hoof to hoof. He knew how to use his body as a weapon in case his magic ever failed.
As he had expected, Hard Sell prepared to dodge his charge, but Firecracker stopped it at the last moment by slamming his forehooves in the ground and istead transformed his charge into a tackle. He was a relatively large and heavyset stallion, and his bulk carried considerable momentum. Hard Sell's attempted dodge further drove the salespony off-balance, and Firecracker's tackle sent him tumbling on the ground.
Suddenly, an invisible wave of... something washed over the area. It felt like pure power... somehow twisted and alien, but power nonetheless.
Firecracker gasped.
Looking around, he realized he wasn't the only one who had felt the wave. As far as he could see, everypony in the camp looked confused and startled. The Unicorns seemed particularly affected, clutching their heads or rubbing their horns as if attempting to get rid an itch that couldn't be scratched.
Hard Sell was getting up. He looked very angry and ready to return the blow.
Instinctively, Firecracker began to think of an appropriate spell he could use to repel the salespony. A blast of telekinetic force? A levitation spell? For some reason, he had almost completely forgotten about the magic-dampening collar around his neck. He still felt the dampening effect, but somehow it felt weaker than before... Or perhaps he had suddenly gotten stronger?
Almost without thinking, Firecracker began to form a spell in his mind. He completed the mental patterns in a fraction of a second and...
Released.
The Warp Portal created by the detonation of the Montbel’s Valour gushed out magical energy, creating a vortex much like the Manehatten Choir had though this was far more potent despite being a fraction of the size. Reality bent in concerning ways around the breach, sanity-testing sights came into being for seconds before morphing or vanishing back into the gap.
Aboard the Destructive Saviour, an entire bank of ensigns were blinded as their magic monitors exploded, their systems overloaded by the sudden spike of energy released after the tracer beam struck the wreak. They laid down before their stations clutching at their ruined eyes as others dragged them away, those who started speaking of the Four Beyond were handled by the naval commissariat. Replacements were cycled in from tertiary stations as the blood was mopped up though later the call would be made for a tech priest to come in and decipher what fragmented date the console bank was producing. The decision was made by those higher up to continue firing the Purgation cannon as it was the safest way to vent the charge despite the target no longer existing.
The battlefield, abandoned by both sides, was cast in a malignant light as the hellmaw dominated the area. What hushed whispers the Equestrians heard before would have been clearly spoken now to any soul who would have dare to venture onto the field. Trees burnt by the Montbel’s Valour’s crash bent towards the centre of the crater now as who knows what happened to the corpses the portal had sucked in let alone the living crew of the two airships. The underside of the Destructive Saviour lit up brilliantly almost as though the sun had relocated to it. A great rumbling filled the air around the Warp Portal, like the distant rush of thousands upon thousands of litres of water. The rumbling grew as the area got brighter and brighter, culminating as the blast from the Purgation cannon eclipsed the Warp Portal. The burnt trees burst into flame again as even the dirt melted from the intense heat of the Destructive Saviour’s final action of the Battle for the Montbel’s Valour.
The portal was unfazed despite the destruction rained upon it, simply absorbing what energy from the beam fell within its boundaries.
Whatever strange wave had washed over the terminus town seemed to linger in the air, the disparate companies of the four regiments stationed there reacting in their own ways. The Frostskader ponies, being uninitiated in the dangers of the Warp beyond whatever foul necromancy they fought while taking the town, barely reacted with some taking the odd sensation as a sign they’d been out too long and retreated to whatever building or firepit was closest. The Jötunheimers acted like it was the prelude to an Equestrian attack as some Chaos forces would start their assaults like this and moved towards the defensive line as their priests read aloud from their scriptures, warding off whatever ill intentions were in the air. The protective engravings on the vehicles of the 57th Runic Armoured glowed as their crews ran to and fro, also expecting an incursion of some kind while large swaths of the 88th were struck particularly hard by the phenomenon. The convicts and their minders felt their brains fog over with longing as their limbs turned to lead.
Even Gavel was affected as she fell into the snow beneath her, her head filled with thoughts of home. “Gavel, on your hooves. What’s wrong with you?” Her commissar senior asked as he tried to pull her back up, her vision swimming. “Commissar Heart? Is that you?” For some reason, Steel Heart hadn’t been afflicted like the rest of them nor was Firecracker. “This is witchcraft.” He growled as he let Gavel down semi-gently, turning back on Firecracker and activating the shock collar as the red unicorn attempted his spell. “This is some foul machination of your witch-queen, isn’t it, Equestrian?”
Elsewhere in the camp, Honeypot squealed excitedly as she felt her dark patron’s touch on her soul once again, the stallion underneath her so dazed that he didn’t even register when her squeezing thighs snapped his neck. “Ooh my prince, you bless me with your strength. I am thankful you deem me worthy once more.” She purred as she pried the stallion’s soul from his quickly cooling corpse. “Let this be the first of many I gift to you, my master.”
Hey, i'm new here
I am as well.
OOC: Welcome and thank you for joining us. The region is kind of sleepy at the moment, but the Discord is still active if you want to talk. I hope you have a good experience here :)
I would love to join the Discord and all, but I stopped going on Discord about a year back because it was going against my religion and all. Anyways, I appreciate your welcoming me, and I thank you for endorsing me.
That's fine, just let me know if you have any questions and enjoy your time here.
Aboard the Spear of Winter
A fake sunrise illuminated the horizon behind the retreating airships. Distance and the automatic darkening of the ships' magical shields prevented anypony from getting blinded, but Sky Admiral Mistral still had to shield her eyes from the intense glow with a wingtip. It looked like the Novumequine ship kept firing at the portal, but to little effect. Even at this distance, Mistral could still feel the corrupting, maddening influence of the portal... and she wasn't even a Unicorn!
Speaking of the horned Ponies, several Unicorn members of her crew kept complaining about their magic working in strange ways. Their spells were either too powerful or unstable, causing all sorts of unexpected side effects. A few Unicorns had gotten sudden magical surges normally seen only in young foals who had not yet learned to control their spells (the Mess Sergeant losing control of his magic had caused quite a mess in the galley of the Spear of Winter). On the plus side, the Arcane Engineer in charge of the ship's magitechnological subsystems reported that most devices utilizing magical energy were working at over capacity, yet no damage had been detected so far. The Spear of Winter was more powerful than ever before, seemingly without any ill side effect. Mistal had received similar reports from the other airships of the 5th Fleet. She wasn't certain, but she suspected that both phenomena were connected.
A melodious but cold voice from her command console brought the Sky Admiral back to reality. Archmage Zircon had finally picked up her call.
"This is Archmage Zircon. Report immediately, Sky Admiral."
Zircon's disembodied, translucent head was floating above the console, projected by a weak illusion enchantment. It looked slightly more solid than usual.
Mistral took a deep breath. She didn't know how Zircon would react to the bad news, but the Archmage of the Crystal Empire had a dark reputation.
"Our mission is a failure," Mistral said in a somber tone, although she managed to keep her voice steady. "I repeat, our mission is a failure. The target has been consumed by some kind of arcane rift. I have never witnessed anything quite like it. The closest I can think of were the demonic portals King Asdf and his ilk opened during their invasion of Equestria in 2003, although the scale of this rift is much greater. We have not yet witnessed anything physical coming out of the portal, but..."
"Your mission a failure?" Zircon interrupted her. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Sky Admiral. In fact, Her Immortal Ladyship considers the outcome of your mission an unexpected success, and I'm inclined to agree."
"S-success? But how?"
"I'll let Her Immortal Ladyship explain it to you Herself. She recently arrived in the Crystal Empire, and she has been most intrigued by the recent developments... She will also give you your next orders."
Before Mistral could reply, Zircon stepped away and the projected image switched to Imperatrix Twilight Sparkle's elegant face. The lavender Alicorn wore a serene expression.
"Y-your Immortal Ladyship!" Mistral stammered. "T-this is truly an honor. How may I serve You? Y-you... You're not angry with our failure to learn the secrets of the wrecked spacecraft?"
"Fear not, Sky Admiral," the Imperatrix said. "You may not know it yet, but you have accomplished far more today than any new technology could have helped us during this war... Technological components would first have had to be studied and reverse engineered, and we'd have had to find ways to apply them to our existing war machines and weapons. But the arcane rift created by the destruction of the wreck seems to be essentially radiating pure arcane energy. This has empowered magic across the entire continent. Since we rely on spells and magitechnology to a much greater extent than our enemies, this might give us a decisive advantage."
"I... see," Mistral felt relieved, although at the same time, a small part of her felt horrified that Equestria would be utilizing the corrupt energies leaking from the rift. The more distance she put between herself and the rift, the clearer her head felt. She had begun to understood just how out of characted she had been acting during the battle... And not just her, but everypony under her command.
But if this helped the Equestrianic Imperium to win the war, it had to be worth it, right?
She gathered her thoughts and continued, "The Archmage said You'd have new orders for us. What would You ask of me, Your Immortal Ladyship?"
The Imperatrix nodded.
"That is correct. Our intelligence suggests that the major population centers on the East Coast, particularly Baltimare and possibly even Manehattan, are about to come under heavy enemy attack. Sky Admiral Sapphire Rune of the Second Imperial Airfleet is in charge of the defense of these regions. I want you to set a course towards the East Coast. Upon arrival, you will reinforce Sapphire Rune's forces and prepare to repel the attack. Needless to say, our capital must not fall in Novumequine hooves."
"Understood, Your Immortal Ladyship. Friendship is Magic!"
"Friendship is Magic, Sky Admiral." The Imperatrix smiled. It was not a happy smile, but a predatory one. "And don't worry. I have other plans in motion that will direct some pressure away from your positions. I've been in contact with the Brotherhood of the Black Horn, and we intend to take full advantage of this sudden boost to our magical powers while it lasts. The Novumequines are about to get a nasty surprise..."
Despite his collar supposedly canceling his magic, Firecracker's horn began to sparkle... but then his spell fizzled out without being fired. An intense throbbing headache struck his head. Despite the sudden and mysterious power boost, he still wasn't strong enough to break through the anti-magic effect. But maybe, if he just tried again, harder this time...
But before he could attempt another spell, the shock function of his collar was activated. Whinnying in agony, he fell on his belly and began to roll in the snow-covered ground, clutching at his collar. His neck felt like it was on fire and random nerve impulses made his limbs flail about in all directions. The pain ended after a few seconds, but Firecracker was still too weak to stand up or do anything but pant heavily.
A menacing figure in a large peaked cap was looming over him, questioning him about something. Did he mean the wave of energy?
"I... don't... know... what youre... talking about," he wheezed in response to Commissar Heart's inquiry. "But... but if this is... Her Immortal Ladyship's doing... then..." a quiet, pained laugh escaped his lips, "...then you're in BIG trouble!"
Up in orbit, the Destructive Saviour had retreated after firing her final shot, returning to her moorings by the occupied Equestrian station as reports were sent over to the Abbess and her war council minus whatever info the Ordo Malleus deemed necessary to censor. The opening of a Warp Portal planetside was a great source on consternation to all the Novumequines as allowing the daemons of the Immaterium to invade this world like they had in their old universe would be the gravest of follies.
While they obviously could not just abandon the war effort to focus on the exponential threat that this gaping wound in reality, it did demand that forces be directed to contain whatever might escape. The best would be to have the Silver Wardens seal it back up or have a chapter of Imperial Marines guard the area but while their refugee fleet had been protected by a number of Marines, none had transitioned with them. Barring some miraculous second fleet coming over, they would have to rely on more equine protectors. Canoness Burning Ardour volunteered several of her convent minora to assist the Jakals in containing the site while the suggestion of having the Destructive Saviour be stationed over the site until the Ordo Malleus decided on a temporary leader amongst themselves until Lulamoon either returned or was confirmed dead.
Steel Heart scowled. “Foul heathen. I should just kill you now.” He cracked Firecracker across the face as his pistol hovered overhead as Gavel groaned, pulling herself closer to her senior. “Siiirrr, don’t… Nooo grounds for…” She slurred as she slumped over again. The commissar hurriedly left the Equestrian’s side, weapon tucked back into its holster as he shouldered Gavel’s weight. “Don’t try to talk, just focus on me. I’ll get you to the medicae so no dying before that. Understand?” He walked away with her as some of the commissars from the other regiments dragged the convicts back to the tents. Firecracker, still fully in control of his limbs, was directed to go along with Steel Heart and Gavel as someone would surely examine why he hadn’t been stricken like the rest of the penal legion.
Steel Heart glared back the red unicorn following him, easing off as he noticed one of the other commissars also eying Firecracker with suspicion and focused more on getting his ward medical attention, unaware that the suspicion was on him and his apparent immunity.
Elsewhere in the camp, Honeypot was roiling in rapturous delight as her dark patron whispered sweet nothings, the corpse she was straddling rapidly deforming as her corrupting influence filled the void left by his stolen soul. “Ooh my prince. Don’t leave me so soon.” She mewled as the voices stopped, replaced by the chanting of those sanctimonious Sister-botherers. Honeypot growled, burying her face in the pillows after she’d kicked the body off of them. Though the idea of heading outside and show everyone the power of the true gods by slaughtering the Gold and Silver Hags’ slaves brought her a great deal of pleasure, she wasn’t one of those meathead Khornates. She could bide her time, maybe do something with that Equestrian. What was his name again? Firestarter? Firebreaker? Something like that, it didn’t matter. Honeypot sighed as she rolled about on her mattress, looking over at her fake altar and swearing as she realised one of the curses she had over nearly the whole legion was working.
Scrambling out of bed and around the mutated mass of flesh, she depowered the spell as the chanting of the priests passed by her tent and all across the park, the convicts and their minders found movement unhindered again.
Somewhere near New Elysium, deep below the ground
"Are you two sure you know how to control this thing?" Arch-Hierophant Alabastrine Rune of the Brotherhood of the Black Horn asked the two olive-coated Unicorns standing before her.
"Of course we are!" Flim said.
"We designed it ourselves! It's foalproof!" Flam added with no small amount of pride in his voice.
"Yes, but that was before the Rift appeared and started affecting magic everywhere in Equestria. Your machine might work differently now. It might even become unstable if used for too long." Alabastrine said. She had to admit that the two brothers were brilliant (if slightly mad) engineers, but their creations were often highly experimental and prone to malfunctioning spectacularly, particularly in their prototype stage.
And the magitechnological engine of war they had constructed was most certainly a prototype. The size of an average house, it filled most of the underground cavern where the Equestrians and their Diamond Dog allies were making the final preparations before their attack. It was essentially a giant walking tank with six spider-like legs and an oversized arcane beam cannon for a main weapon. It was protected by its own shield generators and had more than a dozen secondary weapon systems, including a battery of weaponized souls (ripped from the unfortunate sacrifices of the Brotherhood's arcano-technological rituals) that could be unleashed upon enemy targets as howling, tormented, life energy draining wraiths. It was impressive, certainly, but Alabastrine still had her doubts.
Its project name was "Devastotron-3000".
"We've run additional tests after that, and everything was working fine," Flim said defensively. "Let us use it! We can guarantee that this brand new Flim & Flam product will make the Brotherhood proud!"
"That brings up the other issue I have with this," Alabastrine said. "Let's assume for a moment that the Devastotron works flawlessly and we achieve the mission objective. Very good. But why do you insist on operating it personally? You'll be putting yourselves at a needless risk in enemy territory."
"We are the only ones who know how to operate it properly," Flam explained. "Besides, we'll have to take notes for future adjustments of the final production model. But don't worry, Arch-Hierophant! We know what we are doing! We'll be well protected, and the target is lightly defended. We'll be in and out before New Elysium can send reinforcements."
Alabastrine sighed.
Well, she thought, Let's consider this the Devastotron's trial by fire. If everything goes well, I'll approve of the mass production. And if not... well, then perhaps the Flim Flam brothers have exhausted their usefulness to the Brotherhood.
"Very well," she said out loud. "I'll authorize your presence during the mission. But you are to target only the temple in the center of the graveyard and the mystical pool of water inside. Our scrying rituals, as well as General Rainbow Dash's report from her visit, both indicate that the location contains a supernatural presence of great power. It is also of great spiritual importance to the Elysians. You are to take a sample of the water if possible, but your main objective will be the destruction of the temple. Raze it to the ground and kill everypony defending it, then retreat as fast as possible. That should demoralize the Elysians when the Imperial Airfleet launches an attack against New Elysium itself. Do you understand?"
"Of course, Arch-Hierophant," Flim assured her. "We've been through the briefing already."
"We took notes! It's all here!" Flam added and tapped a messy notbook with a hoof.
"Good. On your way then. I'll expect to see you again by the morning. Good hunting."
*
Fifteen minutes later a team of Diamond Dog demolitionists blew open the hillside entrance of one of their secret tunnels, located about eight miles to the West from New Elysium and the temple hill that was located below the massive flying fortress. Out rolled a Brotherhood strike team composed of 28 robed cultist mages and 50 Diamond Dog mercenaries armed with crude but effective shotguns. The strike team also included a Beastmaster controlling a fully grown Hydra and a team of 16 Pegasus warriors. Spearheading the strike team was Devastotron-3000, piloted by its creators who controlled the huge vehicle with their magic. It had no other crew members, since many of its systems were controlled by hapless enslaved souls that had no choice but to obey the magical commands given to them by Flim and Flam, who rested comfortably in shielded bubble canopy near the front of the spider walker.
Wasting no time, the strike team headed towards the graveyard hill and the temple atop it.
Still weak from the shock (as well as all the beatings he had taken today), Firecracker reluctantly followed Commissar Heart. He was still feeling rebellious inside, but the near suicidal overconfidence he had felt moments earlier had (mostly) subsided. If he acted the wrong way now, he'd be shot or his wead would be blown off without any chance of escape or even getting back at his tormentors... And besides, the strange wave of energy that had passed through the camp had given him a tiny sliver of hope. Was it the prelude to an Equestrian attack? He certainly hoped so. Maybe in all the confusion he would finally get his chance to defect back to his own side...
As he followed the Commissar and Gavel, they passed several tents, most of them full of Penal Legionnaires that looked sick and feverish, barely able to talk and moving only with great difficulty. Firecracker realized that almost the entire Penal Battalion seemed to be affected. If this was an Equestrian spell, it was certainly a powerful one. But why didn't it affect everypony in the camp?
Then, just as suddenly as they had become affected, the convicts seemed to regain their strength. They were peeking their heads out of their tents (to the great annoyance of the Commissars) and demanding to know what had just happened. Firecracker raised an eyebrow.
That was a good question. What on Tartarus was going on here?
The priests had been in the middle of evening prayers when the distant sound of the explosion rumbled through, catching the ear of one of the junior brothers who mentioned it to Sonorous Pontification. “Brother Receptive Ear, the crusade our brave soldiers are fight will ebb and flow though we may pray for them to sweep over our foes with ease but I am confident that the conflict will not get too close to our temple.” The old stallion moved over to one of the windows that showed the fortress cloud. “Mt. Remembrance is well within the umbrella of New Elysium’s might, any foes would have to approach under fire from the Hoplite cannons until they got in under five miles of the citadel.”
“But what if they did get in under five miles by teleporting or they sent one of their Tatzlwurms?” Receptive Ear glanced in the opposite direction as he heard something like the roar of a large animal. “Well then you’ll be getting some practical experience with the power maul, boyo. Battering a training dummy about the grounds can never truly prepare you for when you’ve smashed a heathen’s thick skull. Sisters Purity and Zealous Ire will get a chance to see how to sweep an area with their flamers as well.”
Steel Heart paused as Gavel groaned and started to move on his back. “Hey hey, easy now. No need to get up, we’re almost at the medicae.” He reached back to place a hoof on Gavel’s shoulder which the mare batted away. “I’m fine now, Sir. Whatever happened seems to have gone now.” She shimmed off him and got back on her hooves as the commissar turned around. Steel cupped Gavel’s cheek, forcing her to look him in the eyes as he stared her down for what seemed like an uncomfortably long moment. Gavel squirmed under her senior’s inspective gaze, aware of how this might look to others and tried to pull away. “Sir, really I’m fine. She on Equis, I swear.”
“We’re going to the medicae, Gavel. They’ll tell us if you’re fine or not.” Steel let go of her face and resumed his walk to the field hospital, both Gavel and Firecracker following after him.
Honeypot sighed as she looked down at the mass of tentacles and eyes beside her bed, moving back to it after ensuring none of her other curses would activate on their own. The baby Chaos Spawn would surely get her executed if anyone else saw it, she had to get rid of it. The chanting of the Sister-botherers outside was receding thankfully so she probably wouldn’t be caught immediately if she stepped outside with the monstrosity before her. The thing turned a few of its eyes to her as it made a horrid noise. She allowed her right hoof to reveal its true appearance as a claw as she hovered it over the centre eye. “It’d be easier to just kill it and bury it deep here.” Honeypot muttered to herself as the aberration hissed and wrapped a tendril around her claw. The stallion-sized lump of meat had slowly shrunken ever since she’d snapped his neck, the eyes bubbling up and popping when they got too big and all the tentacles that were clinging to her talon having used a great deal of mass. “You are really cute though.” Honeypot said, lifting it up to her face. “Maybe I could just hide you away for a bit?”
Under the cover of darkness, the strike team covered ground quickly. The Diamond Dog mercenaries ran on all fours to keep up with Devastotron-3000 while the mages either performed micro-teleportations or self-levitated just behind the behemoth war machine. The Pegasus warriors flew half a mile ahead the rest of the force, scouting for danger. Upon detecting the first camouflaged defense fortifications, they signaled to the main force using flashlights aimed away from the enemy positions (and thus nearly undetectable to any Elysians on the ground or in the air).
"Let's make the Arch-Hierophant proud, brother of mine!" Flam boasted.
"And let's make the New Elysians terrified!" Flim added.
With the speed of thought, the enterprising Unicorn brothers brought the main cannon of Devastotron-3000 to life and aimed it at the coordinates of their first targets. A beam of overcharged, hyperfocused magical energy shot out from the cannon, mocking reality as it tore through the air and struck the first fortification, vaporizing it in an instant. Flim and Flam had the beam sweep through the landscape as they moved on to the next target, leaving behind a glowing, molten scar. Two dozen tormented, howling souls were released from a crystal formation attached to the back of Devastotron-3000. They had no choice but to obey as they were directed to soar ahead and seek out enemy targets.
At the same time, the battle mages released their first salvo of long-range area of effect spells (mostly fireballs and a couple of illusions spells meant to confuse the enemy by messing up with their sense of balance and direction), while the Diamond Dog mercenaries split into two groups and began to approach the church from different directions in a pre-planned flanking maneuver.
Firecracker's mind was racing as they got closer to the medicae. He certainly didn't want to be experimented on! Especially not by the Penal Battalion's medics. Before his incarceration, he'd heard horror stories about the religious quacks that passed for doctors and scientists in the interdimensional Ponies' surprisingly primitive society. They'd probably cut him open with a bloody buzzsaw or puncture him with tubes and cords while pumping him full of various suspicious fluids.
Unfortunately, Commissar Heart didn't give him any opportunities to run away (and, he suspected, the Commissar would be able to find him anywhere in the camp thanks to his collar anyway). His only hope of escape might lie in a surprise magical attack, strong enough to incapacitate the Commissar and the medics both. Whatever the strange wave of energy had been, it had clearly boosted his magic to the point that he believed he might be able to break through even his collar's magic-suppression. He'd almost done it during his fight with Hard Sell, so maybe he could do it properly with a stronger spell and careful preparation? He could only hope so as he began to prepare another, stronger spell. He was careful not to let his outward actions betray his preparations as he continued to follow Gavel and the Commissar.
G'day all
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The sounds of the Equestrians’ attack settled the growing argument between Receptive Ear and Sonorous Pontification as the temple residents looked out at the forces approaching. “Heathens! Daring to strike at a most holy site like this!” The chaplain raged as the others signed themselves and some moved to open up the armoury. A call was sent to New Elysium to alert them of the attack and request support as one senior brother headed to the back of the temple, going past the baptismal pool which laid empty at the moment and down a staircase hidden by the golden Celestia statue.
The room beneath the temple was equal parts tomb as it was a garage with clustered walls showing iconography alongside piping and screens of scrolling technobabble. Great mechanical arms traversed the walls and ceiling, attaching plates and armaments to something in the centre of the chamber. “Tech priest! We’re under attack. We need the Trojan awakened.” The senior brother exclaimed as he barrelled down the steps, his voice nearly drowned out by the noise of the process happening before him. The sole occupant of the room did not pause their work as the chaplain approached them. “Acknowledged. Seismic activity was detected ten (1,0) minutes ago. Pattern was consistent with Diamond Dog excavation. Resurrection protocol began twenty-five (2, 5) seconds later.” A series of keys were pressed as a sarcophagus was slotted into the construct’s chest and a tube pumped a glowing blue fluid into it.
*
Her hind legs were numb, no matter how much she tried to wake them, her back half felt dull. She pushed the feeling out of mind, one of their chapter’s finest was returning after a long absence serving in the retinue of a Lady Inquisitor. Such an occasion called for a celebration and she had gathered their veterans together for some levity after one of the most taxing campaigns their chapter had endured. They would have a feast and add new tales to their annals, just as their predecessors had.
Administering Adrenaline Compound-64z.
That voice, where did it come from? It seemed so familiar, the metallic cadence of someone from the Machine Cult but she knew all the tech priests assisting her chapter and she was alone in her chambers, wasn’t she? Wait no, she was in the main hall of the chapter keep, at the head of the table and cheering on one of her captains as he retold how he fought off the Eldeer Wraithlord and saved the Amari general. No, that wasn’t right either. She… she was… why were her hind legs so numb? She could barely feel them. Everything felt so sluggish, like she was in water or something but why would that be?
Process being delayed due to unknown factors, administering second dosage of Adrenaline Compound-64z.
Electricity surged out from the collar as it detected magic not coming from the headband, Firecracker’s limbs convulsing and send him toppling into the snow as Steel Heart and Gavel looked back at him, the former with scorn and the latter with ambivalence. “Fool, weren’t you warned when they collared you? Any magic beyond the headband’s capabilities will result in corrective measures.” The commissar waited for the spasms to stop before he half-dragged Firecracker behind him. “Come on then, the medicae will see if you can still atone to the Sisters.”
The inside of the medical tent smelled strongly of antiseptics though there was a bit of incense coming from a shrine at the centre. It wasn’t the anachronistic mess that Firecracker feared it would be, looking nearly identical to what he’d expect an Equestrian one would look like aside from the nurses being in power armour. A Pegasus was holding a stallion down while an Earth Pony held onto his dislocated leg. “Just keep looking at me, that’s a good varlet. Keep those eyes on me and we… go!” A quick shove forced the leg back into its normal position as the stallion made a muffled groan. The sister stroked his head comfortingly as they checked the leg, leaving him to rest once everything seemed alright. “Ah Commissar Heart, another patient for us?” The Pegasus greeted the trio of Unicorns.
Mornin’ All. Just moved here.
Spurred on by their initial success, the Equestrian strike force quickly passed the remnants of the outermost fortifications, now nothing by smoldering ruins. Devastotron-3000 marched ahead relentlessly like some frenzied demon-spider straight from Tartarus, its weapon blazing and covering the advance of the Diamond Dog mercenaries and the Pegasus warriors. Despite having the element of surprise on their side, the Equestrians knew that they'd be hopelessly outgunned in a prolonged battle against the reinforcements from New Elysium. Now that the first shots had been fired, they had between 10 and 15 minutes at best before the massive floating fortress could organize a response. They'd have to work as quickly as possible.
By now the residents of the temple had managed to mount some defense, their return fire killing a couple of Diamond Dogs and downing one of the Pegasus Warriors. Angered by the deaths of their pack memebers, many of the remaining Diamond Dogs entered a mad, frenzied rage and ran towards the defenders in an erratic zig-zag pattern. Upon reaching the defending equines, the Diamond Dogs engaged them in melee, using their metal-clad claws and even their teeth as weapons. The Pegasi kept a cooler head, however, and performed quick evasive maneuvers while returning fire with their back-mounted machine guns. Since General Rainbow Dash had reported that many Elysian clergymares wore heavy armor, the machine guns had been loaded with armor-piercing bullets.
In addition to Devastotron-3000 itself, the Equestrians considered the mind-controlled Hydra their trump card. The Beastmaster Unicorn, who marched near the back of the Equestrian formation guarded by two Diamond Dogs, incited the massive four-headed beast into a burning battle rage and sent it to wreak havoc in the Elysian lines. Flanked by a few enslaved spirits from Devastotron-3000 and heralded by another barrage of fireballs from the battle mages, the roaring Hydra moved with surprising speed as it approached the defenders.
"That's the primary target?" Flim wondered when the enhanced image of the temple appeared as a magical projection before him and his brother. "It's... smaller than I thought. I expected something bigger and more... well... grandiose."
"Ho ho ho!" Flam laughed out loud. "At least it will leave behind a pretty rubble pile when we're finished with it. Prepare to fire the main cannon!"
Devastotron's main cannon swiveled to face the temple. Since the secondary objective of the attack was to obtain a sample of the cleansing pool's water, Flim and Flam didn't want to bring down the entire structure just yet. But they wanted to blast a hole in its wall large enough for their forces to enter (while hopefully killing everypony inside), so they fired the cannon at half power, sending a searing magical beam to strike the Northern side of the structure.
Mirror neurons fired in Firecracker's brain when he heard the faint cracking sound made by the forced re-setting of the dislocation and the pained grunt made by the patient. Almost subconsciously, he proceeded to rub his own matching leg.
The fact that the medical tent wasn't the quasi medieval horror he'd half-expected gave him some much-needed hope that he might come out of all this in one piece after all, but he remained on his guard. He was still in a very precarious position, not that there was much he could do about it for now.
Hello, welcome to the region. Sorry I did not see this post earlier. Feel free to ask me any questions & join the Discord if you want (although it's pretty inactive right now). Hope you have a nice time here :)
The priests had formed a semicircle around the doorway, swinging their mauls at the invading Dogs as the few unicorns among them fired off their spells, those being the only real ranged option available to the defenders other than the alternative firing mode of the flamers that Sisters Purity and Zealous Ire were carrying. The two mares ran from window to window, keeping the Equestrians away with brief jets of fire, sweeping the surrounding grounds and spurting burning promethium overhead to ward off the pegasi. “I’ll send you all back to your accursed witch-queen, heathens!” Sonorous Pontification bellowed as he brought down his power maul on the helm of a Diamond Dog, the graviton field surrounding his weapon amplifying the impact by a thousandfold, pulping his target in an instant as a small shockwave shoved back the other canines.
High above, two stars seemingly fell out of the sky, rocketing towards the temple mount. Two Windigo gunships with holds filled with Elysian soldiers were plummeting from near orbit, the preferred opening tactic of the 28th ‘Helldivers’. The call for help from the temple had reached New Elysium where it had been relayed to the descending aircraft, the time it would have taken for the city to relocate and be able to aim the defensive guns on the attackers deemed unacceptably long. The temple of their clan saviour deserved immediate rescue and so the gunships fell like meteors, another two stars further out also descended.
*
How could this have happened? A massive force of Khornate daemons had invaded the chapter keep, coming in overwhelming numbers as her brothers and sisters mounted a flagging defence against the tide of slaughtering horrors. Casualties were mounting up, even among the veterans of 1st Company, 2nd and 5th Company had lost half their numbers, 6th and 7th Company were cut off and only at quarter strength now while the 10th Company was now just the 10th Squad, the 3rd, 4th and 8th Companies had been annihilated to the last soul and 9th Company had vanished. The chapter was facing its end unless some miracle happened.
The ground shook as something massive landed in the midst of the sprawling hoard of daemons. Standing far taller then the Bloodcrushers and the Brass Scorpions, the mere presence of them send the Khornates into a frenzy for this was a daemon prince. Hideously scarred bat wings flared out and sent both friend and foe flying through the air as it bellowed out a challenge to what was left of the chapter’s command staff. The cerulean armour being subsumed by fleshy growth hinted at their past allegiance but the shaggy mop of rainbow hair on its head was a dead giveaway. “Rainbow, you traitor!”
Subject brain activity spiking, fourth dosage of Adrenaline Compound 64z cancelled. Resurrection Protocol deemed complete.
*
She jerked awake in her sarcophagus, the phantom pain of her lost limbs a reminder of betrayal. Someone was speaking to her, not the voice that had been invading her memories which she recognised at last as being the tech priest charged with her care. “Oh Great Trojan, return to the land of the living, oh Venerable Warrior, recall your oaths to the Sisters, oh Thunderous Wonderbolt, repay the ignoble death inflicted on you tenthousandfold. Arise Spitfire the Last, arise and do battle once more.” The Elysian priest prostrated himself before the great metal horse as the arms of the room installed its armaments. “We were betrayed.” The Trojan rumbled as she came loose from her tethers. “Who dares to attack us now?”
“Heathens who work with Diamond Dogs and enslaves millions of Earth Ponies for labour and sacrifice. They cannot be allowed to destroy the temple above.”
“Then they shall not.”
“Sisters bless your work, Hospitaller and yes I do have a patient for you. The bailiff here collapsed earlier and I would like it if you could check her condition.” Steel Heart pushed Gavel forward as the nurse nodded. “Ah yes, the strange fainting spell that took over the 88th. We’ve had a few of the other commissars come through about that. If I could have you follow Sister Splint, Bailiff, we’ll have you on your way in no time.” The pegasus guided Gavel over to a room where another unicorn just showed out an officer. “And what of the other individual behind you?”
Steel let out a scornful snort as he looked back at Firecracker. “That’s an Equestrian inductee to the legion. For some reason they weren’t affected like everyone else. That warrants an inspection, wouldn’t you agree, Sister?” The nun gave Steel the side eye, having heard of his own supposed immunity over the vox from another commissar. “Of course, I’ll handle it personally. And for yourself? I could give you an examination after him.”
"There. Above us. See them, brother?"
"Yes, I see them. Reinforcements from orbit?"
Flim and Flam had been alerted to the presense of the descending Windigo gunships by Devastotron-3000's telepathic magitechnological instruments, connected directly to their minds. Their senses extended far beyond the natural senses of any ordinary Unicorn, giving them nearly unmatched awareness of the battlefield.
"Looks like it. They could mean trouble."
"Ho ho! Not for us... Not for Devastotron! Blast them out of the sky!"
Guided by the enterprising brothers' thoughts, Devastotron-3000 moved with uncanny grace for such a big machine. It braced itself against the ground with its back legs, then pushed its front end upwards until its main cannon was pointing at one of the gunships, carefully following its flight path. The target was well beyond the range of any ordinary spells, but Devastotron was not Flim and Flam's pride and joy for nothing. It was powered by overcharged magical crystals mined from the intersection of a dozen powerful ley lines and infused with the enslaved souls of a hundred sacrificed Earth Ponies. Further, the Warp Rift in the North was empowering all magic in the continent, giving Devastotron additional power. By charging its shots, its main cannon was more than capable of firing at and destroying targets in the upper atmosphere.
Flim assumed a sadistic grin.
"Bet you didn't expect... THIS!"
The main cannon discharged, sending forth a spear of light that turned the air in its path into searing plasma. The beam was closely followed by a dozen of the Devastotron's enslaved spirits, which were ready to attack the surviving gunship and drain its occupants of life even before they could join the fight.
With Devastotron occupied with the gunships, some of the pressure was taken away from the temple, but that hardly mattered. The war machine had blasted a large hole in the Northern wall, allowing the Diamond Dogs to pour in like a tide of fur, claws and teeth. Their powerful shotguns were deadly in close quarters combat, and their speed, agility and strength made them frightening opponents in melee. As soon as the first group had stormed the temple proper, they lunged at the nearest priests and ripped them open with their claws. Above, the Pegasus warriors were making one low altitude strafing run after another, firing their machine guns through the windows. A few had landed on the roof and were looking for alternate ways in. The lumbering Hydra had finally reached the temple as well and was pounding the walls with its large, armored heads. It had grabbed one unlucky priest in the massive jaws of its rightmost head and bit her in half in front of her comrades before the head joined the others in their attack against the temple itself.
The sounds and chaos of the battle were so intense that nonpony noticed the faint tremor coming from under the temple...
"Uhhh, I assure you, I'm perfectly fine! There's no need to examine me!" Firecracker stammered as he took a step back.
Even without the bloody buzzsaws and medieval torture instruments he'd expected, the former Equestrian officer had always been deathly afraid of needles and other medical instruments doctors used to treat their patients. And doctors in general, to be honest. Maybe it was because they reminded him of his own mortality and fragility, but something about visiting doctors and getting examined by them had always given him the heebie-jeebies.
"It... it must be because of my... my exceptionally strong will!" Okay, that was pretty pathetic. But it was the best he could come up with right now. "You'll find nothing out of the ordinary, I'm sure of it!"
ooc:
Oh dear, congratulations to my friend 
Vasilinople for being the best nation in the region!
Twilight
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