(Here, I got something for you. Why not have someone try to scout out and find Julion, and they find him in my post below, listen to him, and report back to Crim, telling him it seemed that Julion is driven by revenge for some fallen comrade named Sapphire and still seemed to have a spark of good deep inside him somewhere. Then Crim could decide what to do from there.) Red Eye quivered as the rifle stayed aimed at his head. The Soldier had beaten him into submission and now almost seemed to realish in the moment, then, he could hear a low, sinster chuckle, "Get to your hooves slaver!" When he didn't get up in time, the butt of the rifle came crashing down on his head, elicting a yelp from Red Eye, a response which amused Julion, "How pitiful, the stallion who once seemed to be on top of world, a whimpering mess, don't worry. It's only going to get worse. Julion forced Red Eye to his hooves and made him watch as Stern was strapped to a table and slowly pulled apart limb by limb, with heavy weights on his body pressing down. Red Eye's biological eye widened at the sight, "No! NO!" he screamed, weakly kicking at Julion who simply chuckled, "Oh don't worry, that fate would be much too...Lenient on a sinner such as yourself. Forcing Red Eye to the balcony of the building which from he could over look the entire city, and watch it burn, "No...for your crimes, you get to watch your world burn." Julion whispered sinisterly into Red Eye's ear, "Then you shall know true pain. The pain I have gone through every day for the last 5 years. And it all comes down to you, and that accursed town of New Appleloosa. You will hang as an ornament, with ropes pulled just tight enough to the point your joints are almost popped out of place, when the pain is at its most excruciating, and you shall have food and water placed just out of reach while your former slaves mock you and destroy everything you stood for. And you shall watch as the light slowly fades from your mind, a new Equestria arise, one better than ever before. You will have no refugee. Then, when you are almost dead, you will be pulled back, brought back to health, then you shall share Stern's fate, only much slower, and much more painful. Then you shall know the pain you have caused. Then, your body will be strung up high for all to see, and left to rot." Red eye looked at Julion horrified as ropes were tied tight around his hooves, "For Sapphire." Julion said simply before bucking the defeated tyrant off the balcony. His screams where loud enough for the whole city to hear, and then a sickening sound of limbs being stretched to their very limit and a blood-curdiling scream came from below. Julion felt no mercy, no regret, only that only one last obstacle remained before his revenge could be completed. He had to find Calamity and give him a fate worse than death. Then and only then, could Julion be at peace.
(Alright, cheers. I had an original idea basically being an ultimate showdown between the Federation and Commandos, where only one side would gain a "Victory". I'll go with this approach) A lone guardian dressed in black stood on the wall, watching Julion deliver a beat down to Red Eye. While he was far enough from danger, a device was used to transmit whatever he was saying directly back to Command in Las Pegasus. Once the Guardian got what he needed, he cloaked himself before simply vanishing without a trace. High Command were going to have a field-trip with this one, especially Crimson and his Guardians. It seemed that some good was alive inside of Julion, all they had to do was bring it to life. If not, then nothing could be stopped until either Crimson or Julion dies.
Dawm and Rain snuck through the Commando seige slowly but surely, finely making it to Las Pegasus They quickly,explained to the gate guards that they are pretty much unarmed beyond their rifles which wouldn't be too much good for causing an internal attack that they had to deliver aessage to Crimsom Once in, the two paid no attention to the city, which was probably for the best as they could see the look of defeat on the civilians, they had been under seige for quite some time and food for the civilians was running low, rations had to stretched in order to last. But they had to try to stay strong for as long as they could. At least the desalination plants meant they had water. The two finally made it to the base of the tower that was the center of government and tried to explain that they needed to see Crimson when the first shell from the new Commando artillery slammed into a nearby building. The door guard's eyes instantly widened and almost tossed the two inside and began trying to get as many civilians as could fit on the first floor of the safe building as the bombardment began in earnest, but Dawn and Rain snuck onto an elevator in the distraction and went up to the command floor...
When the elevator opened with the sound of a 'ding', Dawn and Rain would have found the beautiful appearing Command Centre in chaos. Crimson was located in his office, roughly a staircase above the military command centre that was in chaos. The guards knew about the arrival of two ponies, but didn't care much about it. If security ' apparently' let them up, then they were safe. One guard helped the two onto another floor up a staircase until they reached Crimsons office. When the door was opened, they only seen the Eternal looking out the window. It had been a common to watch the 'King' of Las Pegasus to look out into the horizon of his city, watching the city as every day felt like his last. To see it come to life after near total destruction to rebuild the city and eventually create a small nation over 120 years ago, to suddenly see all the good work he has placed onto the wasteland suddenly sit in the doorstep of oblivion. Crimson would spend literally an entire day in his office at times, watching and waiting until the inevitable happened. His face and body, while appearing as if he was in his late 30s showed that the 240+ year old was finally watching the end of his world. His face shown signs of defeat like his generals and fellow Eternals, and it was a grim reminder that the wasteland shown no mercy, even to the strongest. He said nothing as Dawn and Rain entered his office as pre-war music played softly in the background. He looked out the window as the bombardment begun again. Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
Rain stepped forward, "Uhm. Crimson sir, we have something you might want to hear. My name is Rain Showers. I escaped from the Commandos after being with them against my will for 3 months. We have come to the realization that rather than pick off the lowest hanging fruit, the Commandos have left Tenpony alone as an unwitting broadcast of their propaganda as DJ-Pon3 will report anything that happens. That means...even though Tenpony is closer to the main Commando attack force, they are coming here first." the ground rumbled slightly from a large, nearby explosion, "And once they get here and take over this place, they will divide up everyone into four lines. One will be forcebly turned to fight for them through some brainwashing or something, one will be forced to work for them, another will be slaughtered, and the foals will be taken to be turned into perfect Commandos. That's how they've gotten so big, and every last soldier in that army will fight to the death for Julion, they don't care about pain. Your only hope is to well...try to make the Soldier surrender, or somehow change his mind. And you have until he reaches here, or else the army will continue to attack even if the Soldier is killed until this place has fallen."
Silence filled the room for a while until Crimson finally turned around to see Rain and Dawn. He looked at them until a simple question escaped his lips. "And how exactly do you think I can do that?" Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
"Sneak out and intercept the army." Rain replied, "Or challenge him to a deal. Any time there's a disagreement in the Commandos, it is settled by a duel if they can't talk it out. It is a matter of honor, The Soldier would be forced to accept. Send some word out or something."
Crimson thought for a moment before he walked over to a specific part of his office, which opened up to reveal a heavily decorated black set of Guardian armour. He stood upright as spread his hooves outright as pieces of the armour soon attached to his body. Soon, Crimson was in full armour as he walked out of the dresser. Once in armour, a long red coloured blade appeared that seemed to spark with red electricity. Once in its holster, Crimson looked at the two. "I'll go talk some sense to Julion. If we end up fighting, then who knows what would happen." Crimson said before walking out of his office Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
Julion lead the Commando army out of Fillydelphia, captured ponies in tow, on their way to Las Pegasus, a march that would take a few weeks...
Crimson went across the city and took a Vertibuck half way from where the supposed Commando army was supposed to be located. From there, he went by himself and headed east towards Julion and his entire army. Any scout that would dare encounter him was either smart enough to know to avoid the Eternal or was stupid enough to commit suicide. Crimson would encounter Julion about a day later.
(Okay, I'll start) It wasn't until about 3' in the afternoon until Crimson finally spotted the advancing Commando army. The environment around him was an enormous empty plain leading towards Las Pegasus, while a large hill appeared on Julions side. Crimson stood directly in the middle of the path while the Commandos started to head over the hill. Eventually, an entire army stood on the hill while a singular pony in Jet Black stood at the bottom.
Julion saw the pony as he creasted the hill, knowing instantly who it was, and instantly ordered Alpha squad into a skirmish line on the crest of the hill while telling the rest of the army to stay behind the hill. Switching on aa megaphone, Julion yelled at the figure, "Surrender now or die!" He yelled simply
Crimson didn't do anything other than stare down the Solider on the hill, before looking at him and speaking loudly "I challenge you to a duel, Solider. If the Commandos are as proud and honorable as what I believed they used to be, you wouldn't back down from such a challenge." he said before looking at the rest of the army. When it comes down to fighting, Julion had a magical advantage. But in terms of raw combat ability, Crimson was well beyond what was expected of an Equestrian. Just as the two entered another period of silence, it began to rain. "I'll let you make terms if you accept. What is it going to be?"
Julion grinned, "I accept. But it shall not be a fight to the death." He responded, "I want a battle of mind."
"By all means" Crimson then went up the hill to meet Julion face to face. "Now, any rules that I should know about. I'm expecting you to fight dirty either way."
"Oh the rules are very simple, whoever breaks into each other's mind first, wins." Julion told Crimson with a cocky smile as his eyes turned red and his visor raised, "Don't worry it will all be over soon, I've always wanted an Enternal to join my army." Then suddenly Crimson's world shrank away into darkness, finding himself in front of an absolutely massive concrete and titanium wall that was an unknown thickness, it seemed to be shaped like a dome,ans there was absolutely nothing in the blackness to assist. Then, a headache could be felt, Julion already at work at tearing down the defenaes of Crimson's mental defenses. To focus too much on defending his mind would mean Julion cpuld stay on the offensive, but if Crimson went full offensive, Julion would no doubt crack his mind first. There had to be balance, and the headache, which Julion knew how to make hurt extremely bad, would make it hard to concentrate...
Crimson took a deep breath once the headaches began to start. Focusing on offensives would mean that he would ultimately get crushed and would lose his will in the process, adding an unstoppable force of nature onto the Commandos, something that must not occur. He smirked at Julion as he already tried to begin defensive against the Soldiers relentless attacks against his mental defense, which seemed to take tiny chunks of his defense off at a time. However, just as a normal pony would have broken in by now, Crimson remained calm and collected to retain a balance. Just as Julion would have felt like he was winning, he was suddenly hit by a mental attack against him that would have put quite a substantial hit against Julions defenses and even the playing field. Of course, Crimson went back to retaining a balance after the attack. He couldn't continue to attack, attack, attack. A balance must be found. Much to the displeasure of the Commando, Crimson wasn't showing any signs of weakness.
Julion pursed his lips slightly, thought for a bit, then suddenly the crack healed again (the two can't see each other by the way, they're in seperate reprenstations of their minds), "I have far more exprience in this than you." A voice that obviously belonged to the soldier echoed in his head, "I can heal every crack you make, and each heal only make my defenses stronger." Julion then continued to chip at the brick wall of Crimson's mental defenses, making a good sized dent before doing Crimson didn't know how to do, he summoned a sledge hammer.
Crimson felt the next blow slamming into his mind, causing him to curse underneath his breath. Things were getting out of hoof, Julion could heal any attack that Crimson made and managed to get stronger in doing so. The lack of experience made things worse, but the Eternal was still holding out quite well. Just before Crimson was going to switch for an offensive blow, he felt something like a hammer smash through a part of his defensive wall. Crimson lost his balance for a second before regaining composure, the attack itself almost felt like it tore through his own soul. While the wall managed to be rebuilt quickly, he needed to ensure that nothing more powerful than that happened. Crimson formed several ball shapes before they suddenly launched with the force of a bullet and hammered themselves into Julions wall. Nothing more complex than cannon balls could be formed due to inexperience, but being able to make that many was impressive. Crimson returned to a balance after that move, wanting to see how Julion would react and how to counter act him. He needed to win this battle or at least bring it to a stalemate, failure would result in the death of the Federation and unfortunately, a free world. ---------------- Honey found herself back home in Las Pegasus to a city under siege, avoiding the Commandos whenever possible along the way. It seemed that the end of Equestria was occurring the way she predicted it would end, but seeing it actually come into motion was scary. Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
