Red Eyes wrote:"What does our enemy look like?"
"They are a highly trained, well equipped military group. All their gear comes from the black market, so its hard to tell who's supplying them or how they're purchasing their gear.
No one knows who they are.
They never wear any markings on their uniform and they never reveal their faces, always hidden in masks. Not one was taken alive so far. Not one face seen or fingerprint left behind.
These guys are professionals in subterfuge and infiltration" Marek said grimly.
firewing11 wrote:She looks down and sighs, "but... I'm sure there's a catch... There always is..."
Velvet_horse wrote:"Let me guess, the catch is I'm legally dead."
"...lets not get ahead of our selves.." Marek said: "We reach the facility, find the weapon and do our best to lock it down. Failing that, we'll try to disable it. Improvise from there.
No matter what, the enemy cannot be allowed access to the weapon"
Radiance wrote:"Wait" Radiance spoke up after going over what Marek had said a few moments ago "did you say slave? Who's still using slave labor after all this time and getting away with it?
Marek released a strange, grim smile: "Someone who craves power, or money.." He slowly looked at his scarred wrists:
"...you must first understand, why this happened. Why it was destined to happen, sooner or later...
From all the rich minerals and recourses in this world, one stands above the rest.
They called it - The Tilerium Crystal.
Extremely rare, more valuable than gold. Its most important property - it allows surgical integration of mechanical parts, into an organic body.
It other words, it allows cyberware. Like this-" he tapped his robotic eye:
"Usually, if you try to install a mechanical part into our body, our immune system see's it as a foreign object and tries to attack, potentially inflammating the region and causing a cascade of side effects.
The Tilerium Crystal bridges the gap between man and machine. The crystal can be processed and turned into a substance that allows installation of mechanical parts, into a pony's body. Complete with full neural control. You won't just have a metal eye, you will feel it, as if it was real, organic.
This can jumpstart our technology into a new era.
An era where you won't need awkward, stiff, wooden prosthetics" he looked at Kaylee: "A few years from now, you will be able to install a full cybernetic leg, connected directly into your nervous system.
At any rate... the Tilerium Crystal can only be found in one place on earth. My homeland. The country of Nyx. Even before ponies realized its cybernetic application, it was still insanely valuable.
My country was always small. My people, the Batponies, didn't know war. And because of that crystal, my homeland was conquered, time and time again throughout history. Changing hands from one usurper to another, as the world strived to control the Tilerium mines.
So much oppression, so much foreign culture has been spilled onto my people, that we eventually lost our history, our culture our identity. Over the hundreds of years, living under foreign occupation, we had forgotten what it meant to be free.
So when our last usurper had turned us into slaves, some of us barely noticed the change" Marek grimly looked at his scarred hands. They slowly collected into fists:
"...I have lived as a slave for forty years of my life. I have watched my people become less worthy than dirt.
You are not a Batpony, therefore, you are a Master. I am a Batpony, therefore I am a Slave. That is what our children are taught... this was our life.. for too long"
Marek slowly lifted his head. The years have not been kind to him. His scarred face showed physical and mental fatigue. The ghosts of his past vividly reflected inside his eyes.
For a moment, Marek stood very still, until he suddenly released a gentle smile and said:
"...It no longer matters. Its in the past now. I am a slave - no longer.
The Union has recently liberated my homeland and my people from slavery. I am a free man.
And my people have a chance to build their own destiny"