Super Soldier in Another World

Michael directed the Franklin Mini-Carrier to land in the ashy fields behind the Fiendwall, Belaine staring up at it with open surprise. With his enhanced hearing, he could pick out the sounds of the Fiendwallers beginning to stir from their slumbers below. Defenders were already sallying out, Tongues of Zodd doing the same as they heard the Franklin approach, the large square body of the vehicle clear even in the night sky.

Thus far, he'd kept his identity a secret from the Fiendwallers, going by 'Higgins' instead of Michael, pitching his voice deeper than it was so they wouldn't recognize him. Cat had played into that as well after initially meeting Gali, the mayor glad to meet more Outworlders willing to defend the Fiendwall. As a result the people seemed glad to see Michael now, and they'd stay that way as long as they didn't find out who he was. He leapt from the top of the wall, landing cleanly on the ground before darting towards the escape shuttle where Cat was, hope burning in his chest.

Nate could be on that ship, he really could be, the bastard might be alive! He struggled to banish the hope from his chest, knowing that only disappointment would replace it once the crew emerged. Michael quickly opened the pod door, seeing Cat already rising from her sleeping bag.

"We've got friendlies!" Michael told her excitedly, "Mini-carrier is about to set down, come on!"

Cat's bright brown eyes lit up as she stood from her sleeping bag, readying her gear as Michael turned back towards the carrier, the vehicle now landing a few hundred feet away from the shuttle. Belaine floated down gracefully beside him, staring at the carrier.

"I believe that is the same vehicle I saw that man leave on." Belaine told him.

Michael tried not to shake as tons of ash was blown away from the carrier's jets, coating his armor but leaving Belaine untouched, the ash simply falling to the ground as if hitting an invisible wall. The ramp then began to lower, Michael approaching it with apprehension. Would Nasty Nate be there, or was he still missing in action? He steeled himself, accepting that Nate was just dead- he couldn't let himself think otherwise.

The despair he'd feel if Nate wasn't here would send Michael into a melancholy that he wasn't sure he could recover from. When the ramp fully lowered, he saw around sixty armed Ternans standing there, faces grim as they stared across the way toward Michael. He scanned their faces, his heart sinking to his stomach when he found that he couldn't see Nate among them. Conductor Mcgraffe, a tall lean man in dark tungsteel armor wrapped in a leather coat, approached, the red lenses of his armored mask mirroring Michael's own.

Michael snapped to attention, resisting the urge to ask about Nate as Mcgraffe and the other Ternans fanned out, a few exo-troops and divers intermingled with the marines and other conductors. A few of them surprisingly gave respectful nods to Belaine, implying that this was the very same group of Ternans that she'd led out of Castle Blackgaze. He still couldn't see Nate though, despair creeping into his heart as McGraffe put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's good to see you marine, I'm glad you're okay." He told him with a nod, "Save the briefing, do you need food, water? Any sort of supplies?"

Michael shook his head, "No sir, there's a lot I need to tell you about, but first, the locals over in that wall are friendly." He said, indicating the gathering crowd of Tongues and Defenders in the breach.

"Leave the natives be until I can talk with them." McGraffe said over the radio, the Ternans ceasing their advance.

They likely weren't going to attack the Fiendwallers anyway, but it was good that McGraffe gave the order.

"Private Michael, I would like a full report on what you've gone through since your landing, along with any intel you might have about this world. Hoplite Thirty-seven gave us a briefing…" He hesitated, "Before he went AWOL."

Michael nodded, "I know he went AWOL sir, I saw it happen."

McGraffe nodded, "He informed us that you could still be in the Fiendwood, but we couldn't find any trace of you, nor anyone else on the continent, no signals anywhere. We've been scrounging food and ammo from the pods we did find however." He sighed, shaking his head, "It's a damn shame that so many good people died in that shithole. Even worse that we lost Thirty-seven." His head hung.

Michael understood, he wasn't the only guy in the Eighth Arm that had spent his childhood looking up to Thirty-Seven. McGraffe was certainly older than Michael, but they were both centuries younger than Jason's career as a Hoplite.

"I'm planning to find Hoplite again." McGraffe told him firmly.

Michael winced behind his helmet, "Sir, I don't think we can capture him-"

"You misunderstand, son." Mcgraffe shook his head, "I just want to talk with him again. I… I can't force him to do anything, I know that- but I can at least try to convince him. We need him."

Michael felt conflicted… he'd accepted that Jason wanted to be his own man, no longer a tool, but he was still loyal to Terna, and McGraffe was right– The Eighth Arm was gonna need Jason now more than ever. But he knew that McGraffe didn't have a chance in hell at convincing Jason back into the fold, it just wasn't possible, he was firmly against serving Jyn at this point.

Still, despite that thought, he said, "We can try, sir."

"That's all we can do, son." McGraffe sighed before turning back to the carrier, "For now, let's get you and private Ortega loaded up, we have a lot of work to do."

"Yes sir, I do have a question for you though." He began nervously.

McGraffe nodded.

"Is private Nate Tripman onboard the carrier?" Michael asked.

"Private Tripman, come out of the cockpit please." McGraffe said over the radio, "One of the soldiers we found is Private Michael Higgins, and he's asking about-"

"What!?" A familiar deep voice bellowed over the comms.

Michael's heart raced as he saw the steel door leading to the carrier's cockpit open. What emerged was something that brought bloody tears to Michael's eyes. Nasty Nate himself, wearing dark tungsteel armor with a shit wide grin on his face. It wasn't possible, that wasn't him, that had to be some screwed up illusion meant to get Michael's hopes up. This was all too good to be true.

He blinked, but Nate, instead of vanishing, was now sprinting towards him. Michael's jaw dropped as Nate reached him, throwing his arms around him in a tight hug. He was really here- he wasn't a fake- he choked as he returned the embrace, hearing that Nate was openly crying. Michael had to struggle to hold back his enhanced strength as he held onto his brother for dear life.

"You son of a bitch! I thought you were dead!" Michael wept.

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"No way dumbass!" Nate cried, "Takes more than some shitty aliens and lame zombies to put me down, I knew you'd be alright too!"

McGraffe took an awkward step back as Mike n' Nate continued to weep, Belaine staring at them with wide, shocked eyes.

"I thought you preferred women-" Belaine began.

"We do!" They both yelled, startling her.

There was a difference between romantic love and bromantic love, and he n' Nate were the latter. Chicks just didn't get that apparently, not on Earth and not on Ahkoolis either apparently.

"Did you just say 'we do'?" Cat asked, emerging from the pod fully, "That a legal thing?" She asked with a mischievous grin.

Nate froze when he saw her, mouth falling agape as he released Michael, "Cat…?" He asked, taking a step toward her, "Girl, is that you?"

She glowered at Nate from across the way, "Do I look like anyone else?"

Nate shook his head quickly, "What? Nah gorgeous there's only one a you on this rock." He smirked, before thrusting his fists in the air excitedly.

Michael wasn't sure what was going through Nate's mind, but it had to be pure euphoria, the guy was practically twitching with unspent energy. If the circumstances were different, Nate mighta started getting a party going right that instant, but things weren't that simple.

"I'm glad that you three have reunited," McGraffe cut in, "But you'll have to catch up later. Private Michael and Cat, please provide your reports." He then turned to Belaine, "And it is good to see you, Miss Belaine." He nodded.

Belaine nodded back, "Likewise, I'm glad you made it here safely."

McGraffe turned back to Michael, "Alright son, what do you have?"

Michael took a deep breath before he began explaining everything that had happened to him after crashlanding, he left nothing out, not even his forced mutation at the hands of the Romai. Cat interjected here and there, also adding her own experiences after her landing. After it was all said and done, McGraffe looked to Michael.

"They turned you into a vampire?" McGraffe asked him, "What the hell?"

"That's what I'm sayin'." Michael shrugged, "I ain't exactly peachy about it."

Nate than shot him a sideways glance, "You uh, you got superpowers?"

"Pretty much." Michael responded, "I'm strong n' fast now but I can't go bareskinned in the light no more…" He said, his head hanging low.

Nate looked like he wanted to say something, but held off, firming his jaw.

"I see, so that's why you're wearing your mask." Mcgraffe noted, "I thought it was to stay dry in the rain out here."

Michael removed his mask, eliciting a gasp of shock from McGraffe, "Your eyes, your skin- you weren't kidding." He folded his arms, "I don't suppose you have the teeth too?"

Michael pulled back his lips to reveal one of his fangs.

"How strong are you?" McGraffe asked, "And how fast?"

Michael blinked, "I can bend steel bars n' dodge bullets."

Nate drew his lips to a line, that stare intensifying as he looked at Michael almost… expectantly.

McGraffe paused a moment, before asking, "...Strong enough to apprehend Thirty-Seven?"

Michael immediately shook his head, "Not a chance sir, he'd kill me in five seconds."

McGraffe sighed, "I see, well we'll have to keep an eye on you to see if this mutation affects your psyche at all. I'm guessing that you need to drink blood now right? Can you subsist on animals or does it have to be people?"

Michael was almost surprised with how straightforward McGraffe was on asking these things. The conductor didn't seem at all put off by Michael's mutation, and neither did Nate for that matter.

"Been drinkin' animals lately, but…" He hesitated, "I drank a few bad elves a few days ago."

"You said you were infected by one of these vampires, and that it made you this way, correct?" McGraffe asked him, "If we're going by stereotypes, that means you were bitten."

Michael nodded, "Yes sir."

McGraffe let out a sigh, "Good, it would be problematic if vampirism was airborne. I'm more concerned with this 'Lithia' woman. You said you have to turn her into one of you, right?"

"If I wanna keep my soul yah." Michael nodded, "I ain't peachy about it sir but I think we just gotta stay out of her way, don't think we can handle her."

"Well let's just hope she can't find you again." McGraffe replied, "We don't need anymore magic monster people swooping in out of nowhere, we have enough of that going on as it is."

"Mike," Nate began, "You sold your booty to some crazy death-goddess bitch?"

"I had too bro, it wasn't exactly a choice." Michael sighed, shaking his head, "She'd a killed me if I didn't. She's gonna be able to find me again apparently too, after she figures out how I can turn her into a vamp."

"Isn't it just a bite?" McGraffe asked.

Michael shrugged, "I don't know if there's gotta be somethin' special about it I gotta do or not, n' that's what I told her. She's doin' research right now apparently, but sir if she comes back, please don't try n' stop her. She'll kill us all." He told him seriously, "Please."

"...Very well. You said she's more dangerous than Kazon, I'll take your word for it." McGraffe told him with a firm nod, "Now, I'll need to go talk with those locals over there. You said they're friendly but I'll still approach with caution. I'll be informing them that we intend on staying here until we can retrieve the stolen equipment you told me about, we can't leave munitions in the hands of the elves."

"Yes sir." Michael nodded as McGraffe departed.

Nate's shoulders slackened before he turned to Michael, "I'm so damn glad yer safe bro, even if ya got funny eyes."

They shared another hug, "Likewise, even though ya got the same screwed up face."

"Comin' from the ugliest guy in the corps?" Nate asked, shoving him by the shoulder, a smile on his face.

"The ladies don't think I'm ugly, right girls?" Michael grinned, turning to see Cat and Belaine staring at them with flat expressions.

Neither of them replied.

"Thanks a lot…" Michael muttered, "But yeah, I can't believe y'all really made it!"

"Well yeah, I was there with 'em." Nate crossed his arms, "I'm the biggest badass in the Eighth Arm- er, save the Hoplites I guess."

"And the Paladins." Cat lifted a brow.

"Hey girl you ain't gotta go comparin' me to them guys! They're more borg than person anyway, don't even count." Nate complained, "Now, after this is all said n' done, how bout you n' me go grab that drink?"

"In your dreams." Cat said with no real heat in her voice, a small smile on her lips.

"Dreams come true, baby." Nate winked, "You're standin' right here aintcha?"

Cat groaned and shook her head, "Shut up." She smiled again.

Michael leaned his head back and smiled. He'd done exactly what he'd wanted, keep Cat safe n' reunite her with Nate. Something had finally gone his way completely!

"Oh by the way Mikey," Nate turned, wrapping an arm around Michael's shoulder before whispering in his ear, "Ya remember when we were kids?"

Michael scoffed, "No I got dimensiona." He said sarcastically.

"Dumbass, it's dimmysia, not dimensiona." Nate countered with a glare.

"I didn't know ya could be fat and stupid but here ya are," Michael grinned, "It ain't dimmysia, I know that."

"Ya ain't the expert and I ain't fat!" Nate whispered harshly, "But hey, when we were kids ya remember the agreement we had right?"

Michael stared, "Uhhhhh."

"Bout the super-powers." Nate told him.

Michael's eyes widened, "Oh, right… wait, ya ain't sayin' that-"

Nate nodded, "Yah I'm turnin' in that card bro, I want super powers too, vamp me up."

"Bro no way, being a vampire sucks." Michael told him with a shake of his head.

"Dude, you promised." Nate glared, "You ain't boutta go back on a pinky swear?"

Michael groaned, "Dude please, ya can't walk in the light n' ya gotta drink blood, it ain't worth it."

"I don't give a shit bout walkin' in no damn light. Once ya figure out how, you gotta vamp me up." Nate pointed a finger, "We pinky swore."

"We ain't kids no more-" Michael began.

"'If we get superpowers, we gotta learn how to share 'em with each other'." Nate quoted, "Pinky swearsies bro, you don't go back on a pinky swear."

Michael put his face in his hands. He'd thought he'd only have one promise of vampirism to keep, but now here Nate was, bringing up the damn pinky swear. This was a problem, because Michael would not go back on a pinky swear, especially not one made with Nate. Michael had to convince Nate that being a vampire was bad so he'd take back the request, otherwise he'd have no choice but to comply.

It shouldn't be hard, he'd tell Nate all about how awful it was to be a vampire, then he'd forget about it… right?