As of Chapter 29, I have decided to come back to the beginning of this story and rewrite some of the earlier chapters and give them another coat of polish while also aligning them to ideas developed in later chapters. This is the second time I've done this on this scale with the first time being in The Agency: Tale of Agent Salamander. My first story, Continued Life of a Dragon Slayer is desperately in need of this treatment but that one will take a lot of work to bring up to the quality found in my other stories and its own later chapters. Chapters currently being rewritten will be marked in the chapter list with (Undergoing Rewrite) and when they have been completed, they will be marked with (R) for rewritten.

A little house-keeping before I begin:

"When text is displayed in bold, like this, it is speech from the radio and from other communication devices." Later on, it becomes the voice of a separate consciousness within someone.

You might notice something like this in a few chapters time, these are memory echoes.

"Standard text is standard speech."

'Voiced thoughts would be shown with single quotation marks,' whereas passing thoughts and observations would be shown without.

This is a written monologue when used by itself, so for example, a diary entry.

Line breaks are hard cuts between scenes.

0=0=0 is a soft cut between perspectives (This is more used in my other stories).

There is more information for this story on my profile. Such as weapons, and some things that I have had to address and clarify. But there are also some minor spoilers as some of the things I address happen in the following chapters.

Let's get into it.


"We're losing Sector Thirteen! Requesting Reinforcements!"

"Delta 1-1. Take your tanks and push through Phase Line Hera and assist Kilo company."

"Negative, Sir! We've got heavy hostiles between us and Sector Thirteen! It'll be a suicide run."

"We're being overrun! I repeat; Requesting Reinforcements in Sector Thirteen."

"Command; Sirius flight is in-bound to assist Kilo company, ETA Two Mikes."

"Orion flight is attaching ourselves to that request. Delta 1-1; We'll clear your advance, be ready to move."

"Good effect on target! Delta 1-1 advancing! We're coming Kilo!"

"Duck and cover, Kilo. You have munitions incoming, Danger Close."

"Command to Kilo company; Status?"

"…"

"I repeat; Kilo company, what's your status?"

"…"

"Delta 1-1, pick up the pace and punch through to Kilo's position."

"Roger!"

"Kilo here! Hostiles are falling back, for now! Thanks for the assist, Sirius!"

"Bolster your defences and sit tight, Kilo, Delta is pushing to your position and should be there soon."

"Sounds like hell down there." A raven-haired man said. He lifted his gaze from the magazine he was loading and looked across the table to a red-haired woman.

"They're fighting tooth and nail to stop our advance through their capital." The woman replied, looking up from the holographic battle map projected from the table. "After marching all the way down through Ishgar, claiming nation after nation in their thirst for domination, I can't imagine it feels all that great to be pushed all the way back here."

"It was looking dicey there for a bit." The man chuckled softly as he placed the loaded mag into a holder on his armour and started on another. "They got all the way down to Fiore. Feels like it was just yesterday that we were on the other side of this situation; protecting Crocus from the invaders."

"We lost a lot of good people along the way, Gray. We've got to make their sacrifices count."

"Yeah, I know, Erza." Gray placed his hand over his armoured chest where he could feel two pairs of dog-tags and rings hang. "I know that all too well…"

"Delta 1-1 to Kilo; We're approaching your location now, coming in hot from the West."

"Victor 1-1; Requesting CAS on Lased Targets in Sector Twenty-Eight!"

"Cetus flight copies. Performing CAS run on targets lased by Victor company."

"I heard they were weaponizing civilians?" A quiet voice drew the attention of the two veterans to a corner of the room. It was a young woman with her long blue hair tied neatly behind her head, she was looking up from the backpack in front of her which had a red cross over a white background on it. While the older soldiers were all in their late twenties, this woman was in her early twenties. "What happens if we come under fire by them?"

"I don't like saying this, but if we need to kill them then we will have to." The redhead replied. She gave the younger woman a reassuring smile. "We'll do our best to avoid harming civilians. If we engage them then our weapons would cause too much damage to survive."

The blunette gazed down at the rifle beside her pack, glumly. An M7 battle rifle, a bullpup rifle with an 18-inch barrel. The ammo was a hybrid-cased munition measuring at 8.6x66mm. It was her primary weapon, and that of the raven-haired man.

"Corvus flight to Cygnus flight; you have Bandits incoming from the south, proceeding to intercept."

"After what they did in Crocus, Erza, I don't really care about Pergrande's civilians. I won't hesitate to put a bullet through the head of anyone who shoots at us. Soldier or civilian."

"Gray…"

"They fucking massacred an entire quarter of the fucking capital, Erza! Bombed it fucking hell and back! And that's not including their warpath to the capital! Rape and slaughter, that's all they fucking do!" Gray spat out, the vein in his temple throbbing visibly. He slotted the full mag that he had in his hands into his rifle and magnetically attached it to the back of his armour. "I don't care, I'm killing those fucks on sight."

"To all hands; This is Captain Tsavo of the JNN All Under Heaven. We are twenty minutes from the Drop Zone. Ground units; form up in the landing bays and prepare to board the transports. Shock Troopers; assemble in your designated bays and prepare for drop. That is all."

Gray sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his anger deep down so he could focus on their mission. "Wendy, can you kick the lovebirds out of their nest. Slap the commander if he doesn't get his arse into gear."

The young woman crossed the sizable room and stopped by an exposed cross brace. Resting atop the brace were a man and woman, one with salmon-pink hair and the other blonde. She reached out a gloved hand and lightly shook the armoured man. "Sir, it's time to get up. It's almost time to drop."

"Hmm?" The man blinked a few times before he turned his dark-green eyes onto the blunette. "Thanks for letting me know, Wendy." He gently shook the woman who was curled up on top of him. "Come on, Luce. Babe, it's time to wake up…"

The blonde lifted her head from his armoured chest and gazed into his eyes longingly for a brief moment before reluctantly climbing down from their perch. Across her left breast, like the others, was a stencil of her first initial and her last name; L. Dragneel. She reached down and touched the tips of her armoured boots before bringing her hands up above her head and pivoting at her hips, working the kinks out of her body as a weighty thud echoed from beside her.

Once she was satisfied, Lucy took her SR32 DMR from where she had rested it against a nearby pillar and placed it on her back. It was a bullpup rifle, larger than the M7 in both length and calibre, with a 26-inch barrel and firing 10.4x83mm-HC ammunition. She snatched up Natsu's SPSR-14.5 and handed the even larger rifle over to him with a bright smile. "Here you go, Darling."

"Thanks." Natsu returned the smile as he attached the large anti-materiel rifle to his armour's magnetic latches on his back. As the name suggests, this monstrous weapon fired massive 14.5x120mm-HC multipurpose ammunition at an incredibly high velocity from its 38-inch barrel, nestled within the bullpup frame. The powerful weapon was as tall as the beautiful blonde beside him when she wasn't in armour at 66-inches with the suppressor. Both the SR32 DMR and the Special Purpose Sniper Rifle were semi-automatic rifles capable of hitting targets at long range with incredible precision. The three Shock Troopers assembled with the other two at the hologram and Natsu glanced between his two squad mates. "How's it looking down there?"

"Fucked, and getting worse by the second." Erza replied quickly. She brought up a 3D map of Phanagoria, the capital of the Pergrande Kingdom. It was coloured in red and blue sectors, the front lines marked in a vivid yellow. "The fighting on the ground is vicious, and the war in the air isn't much better." She expanded the height of the display, revealing both manned and drone fighters dogfighting over the city. The display went higher and wider, soon showing large ships ranging from 200 metres to 800 metres that were engaging in combat within the Mesosphere; 50 to 80 kilometres above sea-level. Further away from the furball sat just a handful of massive ships that were deploying fighters, Close-Air-Support aircraft, and transports for dropping off regular infantry and combat vehicles. "We're enroute to the city, not far out now."

"Does everyone have enough supplies? Rations, meds, ammo?" The salmon-haired man glanced between the other Shock Troopers. "We don't know how long we'll be stuck down there. And I'm damn sure that we won't be getting much support where we're going."

"I've made sure that we're packing a week's worth of supplies each." Erza replied once more. She was the squad's second-in-command, following Natsu. While she was just slightly older, and both of them were proficient in battle, Natsu's instincts and twice enhanced senses gave him the tactical advantage.

"I made sure to store more medical supplies than what we would need, Sir. Just in case we come across any friendlies that are in need of medical assistance."

"Good thinking, Wendy." Natsu smiled at the young woman and placed a hand on her shoulder, praising her thoughtfulness.

They were Fiorian special forces, Shock Troopers. Highly trained soldiers that have undergone a thorough enhancement process which saw them injected with various chemical serums that had changed their bodies. While they still looked exactly like any other human, even standing at their same heights pre-administration, they were far from normal. They could run faster and for longer, they healed quicker and their bodies were much more durable. Even their senses had been enhanced, such as alterations to their eyes that allowed for sharper sight and colour depth while also allowing them to see into the near-infrared spectrum of light which enabled them to see in almost complete darkness or in complete darkness with an infrared light source.

The Shock Troopers wore specially designed and fitted armour that protected their whole bodies with a combination of hard and soft armour. It was heavy but not cumbersome, and provided protection from chemical and biological weapons, and some types of radiation but only for a limited time. Due to the weight of the armour system, only Shock Troopers could field it without experiencing excessive fatigue that would cripple a regular soldier's combat capabilities.

However, the Dragon Slayers, Natsu and Wendy, already had their mutations from their Dragon Magic before they became Shock Troopers. Already a force to be reckoned with to begin with, they turned into forces of nature, able to move faster and hit harder than the standard super soldier. And being a hybrid being, Natsu stood above all others thanks to his demonic nature further altering his body. His allies may have called him Salamander, but the Grannies had a different name for him; Fiore's Devil. A name that sowed fear among their ranks.

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is the JNN Rising Crescendo, we've taken severe damage and are going down! Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. JNN Rising Crescendo is going down!"

"To all ships of the Joint Nation Navy's Third Fleet; This is Fleet Admiral Hunter. We're five minutes from entering the zone of combat. All combat personal to your stations. All ships bring your weapons online and be ready to fire on the hostile fleets on my command."

"Aye, aye!"

"Kill the noise." Natsu calmly ordered, sparing a glance at the radio. "We don't need the distraction right now." After Erza flicked off the radio, Natsu leaned in and zoomed the map back down to the city view. He highlighted their landing zone deep behind enemy lines. "Once we drop, I want to push to the northwest," He drew a line across to a red circle. "To here. Intel states that there are four MLRS trucks that are hassling our troops. Point defence systems are taking out the incoming rockets but it still hurts moral having high-explosives and shrapnel rain down on you." He glanced up at the faces of his squad, his eyes hardened from near-on a decade of ruthless combat in hellish warzones. "From there we begin our push to the north; towards the airport. We don't need to secure it, just take out their SAM and Triple-A defences so the fly-boys can come in, seize it, and use it as a FOB for the assault on th-"

Before he could continue, the ship shook violently for a moment and shunted back slightly with an almighty boom. All eyes turned to the wall where beyond sat the front of the ship. From all around them, similar thunderous booms echoed in through the outside. The ships had opened fire with a salvo from their Mass Acceleration Cannons. The massive coil guns were integrally mounted to the ship's superstructure and ran almost the full length of the warships.

"Sounds like they are knocking on their doors." Gray said with a shrug and turning back to the map.

"Knocking? More like kicking them in." Lucy added, brightly. Her radiant smile seemed to brighten the sterile, utilitarian ready room. "Say, Darling, what are the chances of meeting heavy resistance?"

"It's always possible. We'll be in the heart of their Kingdom, they have nowhere else to go so they'll either fight to their last or surrender. With luck, we can end this tonight." Natsu gave his wife a small smile, his tough mask slipping slightly in the radiance of the beautiful blonde. After a quick, deep breath he refocused on the map and continued to draw a rough path through the city, highlighting various targets of opportunity. "We don't have to hit all of these, but the more we destroy, the easier our guys will have it. Remember; the end goal is to reach the Government Palace and capture the royal family and parliament, we can force them to surrender once we have them in our grasp."

An alarm blared within the room, tearing their attention from the map once more.

"All hands; this is Captain Tsavo. We have reached the AO, board your transports and prepare for combat. Good-luck and Godspeed."

"You heard the man." Natsu glanced around at his squad. He grabbed his helmet from the table and slid it over his head. It sealed around his neck and the visor self-polarised. "Grab whatever is left to grab and get strapped into your Iron Maiden."

Erza hurried to the weapon bench and grabbed her MGL40 and her MG80 general-purpose machine-gun and locked them to her back. She double checked her ammo supplies, making sure she had enough 40mm smart grenades as well as flares and smokes and belts of 8.6x66mm.

The pinkette watched each one of his squad mates load up into pods along the wall, once the last was in he took his spot in his own. A padded bar came down and kept him safely pinned against the crash seat. The hatch lowered in front of him and sealed closed with the heavy clunks of the locking bolts signalling that it was fully locked in. He was pulled up and away from the room and the pod rotated to reveal a line of identical pods across a dark gap.

"Troopers, Sound Off!"

"Griffin squad ready!"

"Golem ready!"

"Werewolf squad ready and waiting!"

"Cyclops ready!"

"Phoenix squad ready!"

"Hellhound squad ready!" Natsu called out.

"Basilisk ready!"

"Banshee ready!"

One by one, each Shock Trooper squad leader relayed their status. In total, there were sixteen different squads of Shock Troopers carried aboard the JNN All Under Heaven with more squads contained within its sister ships in the formation.

"This is it! After years of holding back the scourge of humanity that is the Pergrande Kingdom! After losing our friends, families, and comrades! We have finally reclaimed the lands and nations taken by those bastards and pushed them back to their capital! This fight won't be easy, we knew that from the very beginning. But we've got them by the balls and all we need to do is to give them a little squeeze and make them surrender! It's time to make those who sacrificed their lives to get us here proud!"

"HOORAH!"

"Now, our regular brothers-and-sisters-in-arms will be leaving these ships in Condors. They'll ride to the surface in air-conditioned comfort, sipping on Midian wine, and nibbling on cheese. Not us! We're going to leave the All Under Heaven in a different method. Tell me, Troopers! How will we be leaving?"

"Feet First!"

"Damn Straight! Remember! Our job isn't to jump feet first into hell! It's to make sure it's crowded once we get down there! See you on the ground, Troopers!"

There was a sudden lurch and the pods rapidly dropped from the belly of the ship, firing off their rocket boosters with a roar. Tracers from 50mm autocannon streaked across the sky between large warships, accompanied by swarms of missiles. Bolts of light shot from the bows of the ships as their mass drivers hurled slugs into the hostile fleets with any that somehow missed their target detonating somewhat harmlessly in the distance.

Natsu looked up, above him and past the frigate All Under Heaven were stars that shined against the black void. It was the only peaceful thing that he could see, all else was chaos.

"Darling?"

The man glanced down to the left screen in front of him; it was displaying a private channel that Lucy had opened up. "Yes, Luce?"

The helmet's visor de-polarised, revealing a loving smile and vibrant chocolate-brown eyes. "I love you."

Natsu de-polarised his own visor and returned the smile. "I love you too. Safe travels."

"You too, Darling."

The channel closed and Natsu darkened his visor once more. Clouds were rapidly closing in on them from below, depressingly dark and full of water, the occasional flash of light illuminated sections. He didn't know if it was from lightning or from explosions. Fighters blew past their pods, dogfighting in and above the clouds, dodging falling debris from the warships above while slinging 30mm cannon rounds and air-to-air missiles at hostile aircraft.

As they punched through the cloud layer, they were met with the familiar sight of a burning city. Out of control fires illuminated patches of rubble and buildings alike, not showing even a hint of becoming extinguished by the rain. Rockets raced across the rooftops and rained down all across the city as Close Air Support jets strafed and bombed targets called out by the ground forces. Fiorian D30 Condor Dropships zipped across the battlefield, providing transport or supplies for troops and using the 25mm rotary cannons to rip into hostiles, carried along by their powerful thrusters mounted in the rotatable nacelles.

"Welcome to hell, Troopers!"

Natsu's pod jerked for the third time. The upper panels separated from the body of the drop pod, opening up in a drag-type chute and slowing his descent. Once he was only fifty metres from impact, the pod fired its retrorockets. The sudden shock was expected but it never failed to send his stomach through the floor. Seconds later, the pod crashed into the ground with an impact that shook his skeleton. Even with the crash chair, it was a hell of a ride.

Thuds reverberated from around his pod as the bar holding him to the seat raised up and the door's locking bolts released, allowing it to raise up. As the man stepped out, he was greeted with the sight of the four other members of his squad stepping out of their own drop pods and gathering in a circle. He activated his HUD which illuminated his squad with a green outline, displayed the names of his squadmates to the left of his vision which lit up as they talked, a small map in the top left, a compass at the top with objective markers, mission objectives to the right, and currently held weapon and the ammunition inside it and on his body in the bottom right. It was very video-gamey but why change what had worked in entertainment, they were all used to the systems thanks to it. The one thing that the helmet didn't provide them was a night-vision system due to their chemical enhancements giving them the ability to see into the near-infrared range of light, though it did have proper thermal-vision systems to let them spot heat sources when active.

"Hellhound One to Control; We have boots on the ground. Everyone's accounted for."

"Copy that, Hellhound One. Proceed to your objective and assist any troops you come across."

"Understood. Hellhound out." Natsu walked past his waiting squad and drew his sidearm; an M12 pistol, chambered in 10x28mm Super. Each member of Hellhound had one strapped to their thigh. "Let's get a move on. Staggered Line."

The squad formed a loose staggered line with Natsu at the lead. There was no power in the capital because the nuclear fusion power plants had already been seized by the Joint Nation forces and they had cut off power the city. They moved through the streets in near pitch darkness, the only illumination came from the nearby infernos and the missiles that streaked over their heads.

"You know, I was expecting a welcome party." Gray called out, casually, but he kept his head on a swivel. "I guess the Grannies don't know basic hospitality."

"I don't really expect them to be all that welcoming, Gray." Lucy chuckled. She spared the man a quick glance over her shoulder. "Were you expecting a warm meal and a kiss on the cheek?"

"Sounds better than the rations we get given."

"Anything's better than that. But a warm meal does sound good right about now. Homecooked. What do you think, Darling?"

"Your home cooking? Hell, I'd be happy even with Erza's."

"What's that supposed to mean, Natsu?" The redhead shot at the man, a very clear edge present in her voice.

"There's a reason Luce and I end up cooking every time we have some downtime between the five of us." Natsu shot back, playfully. "Though, I suppose if I want a strawberry cake or a souffle then I know just the right woman to ask."

"Umm… I always find Erza's sweets just a little too sugary…"

"Not you too, Wendy…" Erza moaned quietly, her shoulders sagging for a moment.

"I'm sorry Erza, they're delicious, but I get hyper after one slice of cake,"

"Yeah, and we all know that a hyper Wendy is like me when I was younger." Natsu chuckled but it turned into laughter when he heard the irritated growl come from the younger Dragon Slayer. "We should push through the buildings; I can't sense anyone nearby and it's the quickest way to the MLRS site."

"And it means we can get out of this rain." Lucy added as she turned her head to the sky, causing rain to bounce off of her visor.

The squad hurried to the right side of the street and Natsu busted through a door with his shoulder. He didn't bother doing a room check as he couldn't sense anyone and his instincts were not warning him of any immediate danger. As they pushed through the building and out the back door, they were met with an orchestra of missiles screaming over their heads like wailing banshees.

"I hope they don't hit any of the other squads." Gray said, looking up at the smoke trails.

"The trajectory isn't steep enough for that." Natsu noted, following the arching missiles with his eyes. "Probably heading for the regs pushing deeper into the city."

"Poor bastards. Hopefully they get intercepted before they hit."

"The laser Active Protection Systems should be able to cook them but that's a full salvo, some will get through."

"All the more reason to take them out quickly." Erza prompted, glancing at the two men.

"We better hustle then." Natsu started to run. Even though the combined weight of his enhanced body and heavy armour system should've caused distinct thumps when he ran through the alleyway, his footsteps were near-silent as the only sound that came from them was the splashing of water underfoot. Wendy was just as light on her feet as he was and Lucy wasn't far behind. Erza and Gray were the loudest with Gray's footfalls sending soft thumps out into the night.

"Darling, we should head up on the rooftops to avoid being spotted by patrols."

"Alright, but watch your step." Natsu glanced at the armoured woman then veered off and dipped down on his next step, priming his leg and launching himself four stories into the air and onto the nearest rooftop.

Just as he was joined by Lucy, Wendy, Gray, and Erza on the rooftop, another barrage of missiles screamed over their heads. Now that they had some elevation, they could see the origin of the smoke plumes. The MLRS battery had been set-up in the courtyard of a centuries-old cathedral that had become an unfortunate casualty of the war. In the distance were a small flight of five Pergrandian twin-rotor Archon attack helicopters that were firing a fusillade of small-diameter missiles into the front-lines.

"Who wants to make a bet on if I can take them out from here?" Natsu asked as he reached behind his back for his SPSR-14.5 but just as his hand wrapped around the grip, a pair of Fiorian unmanned fighters boomed over their heads and flung air-to-air missiles at the helicopters. "Those bastards are ruining my bet…"

"Yeah, I think you owe them some cash. They beat you to it." Gray laughed and he slapped the man on the back. "Should I let them know?"

"I never knew you spoke binary, Gray." Erza joked, glancing at the man as the missiles hit the helicopters and sent them crashing to the ground with their leftover armaments detonating viciously. "Mind asking them to airdrop a cake for me?"

"Piss off." Gray shot back with a short bark of laughter.

"Ease off on the chatter." Natsu ordered calmly as he drew his rifle anyway, he needed it for their objective. "Let's get on top of that cathedral and get eyes on the site."

The five Shock Troopers sprinted along the rooftops, remaining sure-footed even in the pouring rain. Moving lights illuminated the road ahead of them, a patrol was passing by. But this didn't stop the squad as they charged forward and cleared the gap in a single bound, soaring over the heads of the Pergrandian soldiers like wraiths.

Another pair of Fiorian drones streaked past, flying low over the rooftops and laden with bombs. Reaching their target, the unmanned aircraft dropped their payload which deployed fins from the tail and spun rapidly, flinging out bomblets that filled a nearby street with explosions. As the drones shot off to rearm, a pair of missiles raced after them that were launched from a newly deployed Anti-Air battery. The missiles chased down the drones and detonated against their thrusters, sending them spiralling out of control and smashing into a high-rise residential building.

Natsu landed on the cathedral's rooftop and began walking across the old tiled roof. He dropped down onto one knee at the edge of the building, sparing a quick glance behind him to check if there was any light illuminating them from behind which could give them noticeable silhouettes. "Alright, we should be fine here."

"How are we going to set up?" Erza asked as she knelt beside the man and looked down at the missile battery.

Set up within the cathedral's close were eight mobile launchers in total with sixteen munitions carriers that were currently loading missile packs onto the back of the launch vehicles; a small depot nearby which held even more missiles; numerous light armoured vehicles and a garrison of infantry to protect the battery from an assault.

"Erza, swing around to the left and set up on the rooftop there. Grey, loop around and get behind them on the rooftops on the opposite side of the cathedral close. Wendy, you swing around to the right and get up on the cathedral walls and be ready to assist either Erza or Gray but otherwise keep your head down and keep moving, take pot-shots if you want but try not to draw attention to yourself. I don't want to lose our cute little medic. Lucy and I will take up a position inside one of the busted belltowers with our sniper rifles, should give us a good overwatch position and let us fire down on the launchers."

"Alright, let's get a move on." Erza addressed the two other troopers and started heading off towards the left with Gray following her but Wendy heading opposite to them.

Natsu felt eyes on him and turned to Lucy who was staring at him. He didn't need to see her eyes to know what was going through her mind. Chuckling quietly, he said, "Keep your mind on the mission, Babe."

"Side objective;" Lucy sang quietly, stepping closer to her husband. "Get into my Hubbie's pants."

"You know we can hear you two, right?" Gray's voice came through their helmet's comm system. "Can't you two go five minutes without getting lovey-dovey or sneaking off to find somewhere to fuck?"

"With how busy we've been, I got to take every chance I'm given." Lucy giggled. She stepped back from the man and began walking toward the half-destroyed belltower. "Stop looking at my arse, Darling."

"I'm going to slap it if you keep teasing me."

"Oh? Sounds more like an incentive to me." Lucy turned her head, looking back at the man. She waved her hand, gesturing for him to follow her before she attached her rifle to her back and began scaling the outside of the tower.

"Commander, what's the call on using magic?" Wendy asked.

"Hold off on casting anything until shit hits the fan. There's enough magic getting thrown out around the city that their sensors should be overwhelmed but with how deep we are into the city, I'd rather not risk making them look over here. I think some of the other teams are taking out the sensor sites, so we should be fine to freely use magic once that's done. Just keep it to the usual rules though."

"Yeah, I've seen enough mages get targeted for bombastic displays of magic. I'd rather not end up on the wrong end of an air strike or a sniper's bullet." Erza chimed in. "No Cat-5 tornadoes, Wendy."

"Might as well tell Gray not to start an Ice Age too."

Natsu reached the top of the tower where the bells were once mounted but thanks to a stray bomb or missile, they were nowhere to be seen and the top of the tower had collapsed in on itself. Lucy was already knelt down by the half-destroyed wall, peaking over the top. He knelt down on the other side of the gap and observed the hostile site below. "Looks like they're still reloading after the last barrage."

"Yeah," Lucy glanced at the armoured man then returned her attention to the infantry, observing them through her SR32's scope. "But it looks like we've caught them with their pants down. Grunts are mulling around, not really paying attention to anything."

"We're pretty deep behind their lines. With all the crap going on at the front and high above us, I don't think they noticed us dropping in." Natsu shifted some of the bricks and mortar and laid down among the rubble. He deployed his rifle's bipod and prepared to engage the hostiles. "Is everyone in position?"

"I'm in place with my MG."

"I'm moving along the wall but I'm ready to provide support if needed."

"I'm almost in position. Rooftops are unstable over here so I'm pushing into the buildings. Came across a few soldiers but I've taken them out quietly."

"Right. Let me know when you're good, Gray, and I'll call it in."

"Yeah, give me a sec or two. I'm setting up some mines to cover my arse."

Lucy cleared away some of the rubble and laid down near Natsu, resting her own rifle on its bipod. She shifted slightly and got into a comfortable position, lining up her sights on what looked to be the outpost's commanding officer. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Arse is covered… and I'm in position."

"Hellhound One to Control; we have eyes on the MLRS site in Sector Thirty-Eight. There are eight launchers with twice the amount in ammo carriers."

"Understood, Hellhound One. Eliminate however you see fit. We would provide air support for a strike, but an AA battery has popped up in that sector and out birds are having a hard time dealing with it."

"Roger that, Control. Yeah, we saw it take down a pair of drones already, no hard feelings. Will report back upon completion of objective." Natsu shifted his weight, adjusting his position within the rubble into something a little more comfortable.

"How do you want to do this, Natsu?" Erza asked quietly. "I can lob some grenades down there?"

"Negative. I'm already cooking up a spicy little surprise for them." The pinkette detached his rifle's seven-round magazine and pulled back the bolt, ejecting the currently chambered round. He quickly snatched it back up and poured a little bit of power into the large bullet and priming it with his bomb curse, causing it to glow yellow. Once he had primed each of the rounds, he manually reloaded the rifle and attached the full mag. "Once things kick off, however, I want everyone to open fire. Focus on the soft targets, drivers first if you can."

"""Roger."""

Natsu placed his finger on the trigger and started to control his breathing, steadying his heartrate. Beside him, he could hear Lucy fall into the same rhythm, preparing herself to engage with her DMR. The pinkette slowly squeezed down on the trigger and released a round from the long, suppressed barrel. The bullet cracked through the sky, leaving a faint yellow trail in its wake. It collided with the boxy launcher mounted to the back of one of the MLRS trucks and detonated within, triggering the explosives in the freshly loaded missiles.

An almighty boom ripped through the cathedral grounds, followed quickly by a vicious buzzsaw-like series of cracks. The hail of bullets tore right through the midsection of one of the guards, bisecting him with a gruesome shower of flesh and organs. It continued on its path of destruction, blowing apart four more nearby hostiles before they could even react.

The world slowed down for Natsu as his mind went into overdrive. A steel and brass hybrid case floated across in front of his vision but he paid it no mind. His attention was drawn to one of the missile launchers which had caused alarm bells to ring in his mind, it was about to fire and as such it had become the priority target.

As a missile was leaving the launcher, it was greeted by an explosive 14.5mm bullet. The explosion ripped into the warhead and blew it apart, setting off a chain reaction within the launcher and reducing the truck to a crater in the ground.

From directly opposite the two Dragneels, Gray ducked out of cover and aimed out of one of the building's windows, sending bursts of 8.6mm into the kill zone along with the occasional fragmentation grenade. He sent out waves of ice magic, blocking the exits. "I've locked down the area. There is no path of retreat."

It only took a few minutes for the squad of Shock Troopers to render the Pergrande Missile Battery a burning wreck. And only a few seconds more to turn all the soft targets into clumps of steaming giblets.

"We made short work of that objective, right Darling?" Lucy murmured as she rose to her feet, her helmet pivoting side to side as she slowly scanned the kill zone. "I don't see any more hostiles in the area."

"Yes." Natsu replied with a small nod. He glanced to the woman as he replaced the magazine in his rifle. "I can't sense any living beings in the cathedral grounds between us."

"How are you holding up?" The blonde asked quietly, turning it her husband and leaning in closely as she placed a hand over his armoured chest plate, over his heart. "It must be rough… All the negative emotions and energy floating around…"

"I'm hanging in there. It's giving me quite the power boost though." Natsu replied in kind. He gave her a quick one-armed hug and locked his rifle to his back. "Hellhound to Control; we have destroyed the Missile Battery in Sector Thirty-Eight. Caught them by surprise so they didn't have any time to react."

"Good work, Hellhound. We'll send a Condor over to pick you up and ferry you closer to the airport."

"Understood. Hellhound out." He reached into a pouch and withdrew a smoke flare. With a quick motion, he ripped the ignition cap from device. It quickly sputtered to life and began emitting thick blue smoke from a bright blue flame. "I hope some bastard doesn't try locking this with a heat-seeker…" Natsu remarked, casually, as he tossed the smoke emitting stick down onto the cathedral rooftop and jumped down to the rooftop after it. "Hellhound; form up on me."

"Man… I'm getting sick of this rain." Gray complained as he jogged across the cathedral close and past the burning wreck and corpses. He wiped a hand across his helmet's visor to try and combat the rain as he gazed up at the large building.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Smells awful too, be thankful you don't have a nose like Wendy and I." Natsu replied. He moved to the edge of the roof and leant over with a hand outstretched. When Gray leapt up, he caught his hand and pulled him onto solid ground.

"Do I want to ask?"

"Burning bodies, fuel, smoke from the various building fires with whatever the fuck is burning in those, gun powder, etcetera… It's not pleasant."

"It's making me feel a little sick… I think there is something poisonous mixed in too." Wendy added as she floated over on some wind currents and touched down as lightly as a butterfly. "It's noxious but not deadly, so maybe it's just a chemical reaction and not a chemical weapon."

The last squad member to regroup was Erza, who leapt across the wide gap between the roof of the nearby row of buildings and the cathedral. She landed gracefully and joined the circle of Shock Troopers. "Well, if you need to consume the air for power, make sure you have enough power left over to purify it first. I don't want you to fall ill due to contaminated air."

"Hellhound, this is Condor Four-Oh-Five, callsign: Dawn Breaker. Your taxi has arrived."

"Welcome to the party, Dawn Breaker." Natsu replied as he turned his gaze toward a descending Fiorian dropship. The Condor's gimbled thrusters in the wing-mounted nacelles twisted and turned as the aircraft spun around and opened the rear hatch while drawing closer to the church. Once it was level with the roof, Hellhound stepped aboard and Natsu entered the cockpit. "How's it looking out there?"

The pilot, Dawn Breaker, glanced over her shoulder then leaned out of her chair to look back through the open door. Seeing that everyone was inside, she hit the switch for the rear hatch and started to gain altitude. "It's pretty nasty, Sir. Civilians are throwing incendiary devices onto the IFVs and tanks. They are laying traps with IEDs, and some are even fighting alongside the military."

The pinkette sighed and watched the rooftops zip by. They had to fly low to avoid SAM sites. "Civilian casualties are never pleasant, but if they are leaving us no choice then we need to defend ourselves."

"We've taken a few shots to the belly from small arms fire. But nothing has penetrated the fuselage and our thrusters are still at a hundred percent. The SAMs and Triple-A are a pain in the arse though, been dancing around them all night." Dawn Breaker spared a glance at the Shock Trooper. Like the man, her head was enclosed within a full-face helmet, with hers linking to the Condor's computers to display various metrics on her visor. "Had to do a few medevacs too, wasn't pretty. Those IEDs I mentioned, a lot of them have nails and ball bearings littered throughout them. Hardware store Claymores…"

"Ouch… sounds fucking nasty…"

"Uh-huh. Speaking off, don't mind the blood back there, haven't had time to hose my girl off."

"Darling, would you like a drink?"

Natsu turned back to the cabin and came face-to-helmet with a gorgeous blonde woman who was offering him her canteen. "Ah, thanks." He smiled and pulled his helmet off and took a drink of the offered water, it had a faint lemony taste but that wasn't unusual as Lucy nearly always put a few slices of fresh lemon into her canteen for added flavour. She always said that she hated the taste of plain water.

Lucy leaned up and kissed the man's cheek while he helped himself to a drink. She slipped past him and looked out the cockpit's windows at the burning city. "I remember when Magnolia looked like this…"

"That was a hard month." Natsu sighed quietly and capped the bottle. He reached over and placed it back in its spot on the back of Lucy's belt. "So many familiar voices screaming for help, begging to be saved."

"Dragneel…" Dawn Breaker mumbled as her eyes locked onto the names displayed on both of the Troopers' armour. She looked back to the pinkette and blinked slowly. "You're one of the Dragon Slayers, aren't you?" The pilot turned back to the skies ahead of her and let out a small noise from her throat. "I thought you sounded familiar."

"Yeah. They called me Salamander. A nickname for a fire breathing dragon."

"I don't envy you, Commander Dragneel. With ears and a nose like yours, I'd have gone insane long ago."

"…You get used to it."

"Rough… You better get ready, Sir. We're reaching the minimum safest distance I can take you. Any closer and we'll be at risk of coming under fire from the airfield's Triple-A."

"Understood. Drop us off on top of any rooftop." Natsu patted Lucy's shoulder and placed his helmet back on his head. The two Dragneels went back into the cabin where the rest of the squad stood waiting. "We're being dropped off any minute now. Once we're down, we'll make an immediate break for the airport and find a vantage point to assess the situation."

"Chances are that the entire place is littered with Anti-air pieces. How will we take them all out without giving out position away?" Erza asked.

"We'll work that out when we get there."

"From what I saw on the way down, they have CIWS dotted around the area. I could see tracers coming the airport, they were shooting down any missiles our guys shot at them." Lucy informed the squad as she joined the reformed circle. Her helmet pivoted on her shoulders as she gazed at each member of Hellhound squad. "Maybe I could use my Target Designator to paint the sites and we can call in strikes from our ships?"

"I'll have to consult with Control on that one, Luce. If they don't care about property damage, then by all means, we'll rain hell on them. But we need to keep it intact enough to set up a FOB there."

"Sounds quick and easy to me." Gray agreed with a nod of his head. "If we get a frigate to point its Fifties down here then we should be able to have some accurate fire support providing we can lase the targets."

The Condor slowed to a stop and the rear hatch opened. "Here's your stop, Hellhound! Happy hunting!"

"Thanks for the lift, Dawn!" Natsu called out as he and his squad jumped from the back of the transport, landing on the roof a few metres below.

"Another happy customer." Dawn Beaker quipped as she wrangled the Condor around and flew off to the south towards safety.

Hellhound squad turned to the north, where fountains of tracer fire sprayed through the night at incoming threats. The five Shock Troopers took off running, rapidly accelerating to a sustainable speed and leaping from rooftop to rooftop at just over 80kph – fast enough to be clocked on a suburban speed camera. They could have easily moved faster but it risked damaging the buildings underfoot and it wasn't sustainable due to burning through their body's energy reserves.

"Hellhound to Control; Interrogative."

"Go ahead, Hellhound One."

"Hellhound Four wants to know that if she laser designates the defences at the Airport, can we get one of the warships to point their guns down here and soften it up for ground forces and help the flyboys?"

"One moment, Hellhound One. I'll check on that and get back to you. In the meantime, set up in a viable position in case it comes back green."

"Understood. Hellhound out." Natsu scanned the buildings ahead of them, searching for an optimal position that overlooks the target. "Chances are that we'll need to be mobile, we probably won't be able to strike all the air defence systems from the one position."

"Darling, how about Erza and I group up and stay mobile, you find a good position for overwatch."

"Sounds good to me. Gray, Wendy, you two pair up and go with them but keep your distance. The second we engage; they'll fire up their thermals and start scanning the surroundings. Suffice to say, I'll look like a fucking violent Christmas tree."

"Commander, there's a water tower to the northwest of the target." Wendy informed the man as she moved up to his side. She pointed out the tower which was infrequently illuminated by cannon and missile fire. "That would be a good position for you, and it should defuse your heat signature into the tank of water."

"Hmm, alright. You guys break right and move along the eastern side of the target, I'll move along the western side. That should allow us to take as many sites out as possible."

The squad split into three groups with Erza and Lucy taking the lead position to the east and Gray and Wendy lagging one to two hundred metres behind. Natsu dropped down to street level and put more force into his legs, shattering the asphalt road as he launched into a full sprint. The buildings around him became blurs racing past as he streaked down the road.

Alarm bells blared in the man's head as he sprinted, knife and pistol in hand. His mind went into overdrive once more, slowing his perceived time and accelerating his reflexes as he surged around a bend and came face-to-face with a platoon's worth of hostile soldiers.

He was on them before the Pergrandian soldiers could raise their rifles. Effortlessly sliding the knife through the neck of one while drilling a 10mm bullet between the eyes of another. Natsu kicked off a third's chest, caving in their ribcage and sending bone fragments through their chest cavity while he whipped an armoured leg through the air and turned the fourth's head into a fine pink mist. It seemed that they weren't mages, not that a mage could survive long against him anyway without proper training and armour, but these soldiers fell apart like literal toy soldiers.

Five, six, seven… ten… sixteen… the hostiles were quickly overwhelmed by the lone Shock Trooper. He moved faster than they could train their guns, appearing as a blur that cut through the pouring rain. A deadly spectre that harvested the souls of the damned. In no time at all he cut the platoon down by thirty, and he showed no sign of slowing.

When he finally skidded to a stop, forty-eight bodies were strewn about the street. Some were on the asphalt, others on the concrete sidewalk or lawn. One had been skewered on a flag pole after ricocheting off a parked car; launched by a heavy kick to the abdomen.

"Squad; be on alert for patrols. I just came across a platoon-sized force and had to eliminate them." Natsu flicked the blood from his knife and slid it back into the sheath on his left thigh. He quickly checked his pistol's magazine and grimaced slightly, he didn't like putting partially empty mags back into his holders so he placed the mag-less pistol into the holster and started summoning individual rounds from his Requip's pocket dimension to refill the current mag while he moved out. Thankfully, magic on such a small scale was unlikely to draw attention with all the chaotic fighting happening all around the city.

"Lucy and I haven't come across anyone just yet, Natsu. But we'll keep an eye out and avoid conflict."

"Chances are that they'll know something is up with the troops I took out when they don't meet up with other patrols or come across checkpoints. Hopefully it will draw their attention my way and keep you four in the clear."

"We'll be careful, Sir."

Natsu slipped the magazine back into his pistol and picked up the pace once again. He was getting near the water tower so he leapt up onto a nearby building and began to run along the rooftops. There was a gap between the last building on the street and the tower, it was sitting in the centre of a roundabout. At the last possible step, he leaned in deeply and pushed off hard, causing him to launch across the fifty-metre gap and grab a hold of the railing on the tall structure. It groaned and buckled under his weight and inertia but it held firm. Once he was on the catwalk that ran around the tank, he circled around to the ladder and climbed to the very top where he grabbed his rifle and laid prone with his weapon on the bipod.

"Hellhound, this is Control. We've heard back from the fleet; they're happy to provide some assistance but your window is going to be short. We're linking your Target Designator to the Fire Control Systems, whatever you ping will cease to be."

"Hellhound copies. Light 'em up, Lucy."

Moments after he gave the order, the first barrage of 50mm shells rained down upon one of the CIWS sites. Fired from the turreted rotary cannons of the frigates on the edge of space with perfect precision, all the rounds hammered a twenty-metre diameter circle centred on the CIWS turret; destroying it and the supporting structures.

While all hell rained down from above, Natsu primed more of his 14.5mm multipurpose rounds. His goal was to eliminate any SAMs and Triple-A that he could see from his position in hopes of softening the target enough for them to call in CAS strikes to clean up the rest. "Fuck this rain…"

An alarm rang throughout the militarised airport as Natsu lined his scope up with one of the Anti-Air Artillery vehicles. The world slowed as he dialled in his focus and – as fast as his rifle could cycle – he began taking out one weapon system after the next. Each one erupted in a gratuitous conflagration, their ammo detonating like fire crackers.

"Darling, we're repositioning to get a better lock on the CIWS."

"Understood, Luce." Natsu replied. He shifted his body and fired off more primed SAPHEI ammo into the airport, blowing apart vehicle and soldiers alike.

Hellhound made quick work of the defences, opening up enough of the airspace for their air-to-ground aircraft to make runs on the remaining air defences using Anti-Radiation Missiles now that they will no longer be intercepted by the Close-In Weapon Systems.

"We're all set here, Darling. No more active CIWS."

"Hellhound to Control; reporting the destruction of Point Defence assets in the airport. Path is clear for troops to assault the base."

"Copy that, Hellhound. We have a new objective for your squad."

"Understood, send it through."

"Command has pushed up the timetable. We have ground forces are nearing the Palace but the strike force coming from the south-east have been falling behind due to heavy enemy presence along their route. We need your squad to push on to the Palace and close off the encirclement so no one can escape the area through that gap."

"Hellhound copies, Control. We'll regroup and push up through the streets so we can cut off any potential fleeing HVTs." Natsu leapt off the water tower and pushed fire out of his soles, slowing his descent until he reached the ground. While he waited for his squad to reach his position, he leaned against a building's façade and kept out of the rain in an effort to dry his gear even just a little.

After some time, footsteps lightly splashed their way toward the water tower. When Natsu glanced over, he saw the loose formation of his squad coming down the street, split into two groups on either side. He stepped out from under cover and hurried over. "Let's go wrap this war up."

"I wish she could've been here to see it end…" Gray mumbled. A hand landed on his shoulder and the raven-haired man looked up to see Natsu on the other end of it.

"She will be remembered, Gray." He said, softly. "We miss her too."

"Yeah, even with all of her quirks. She was still one of my best friends." Lucy added, solemnly. She took a deep breath and leant against her husband. "The world is going to be different without them…"

"All we can do now is finish this fight and live for those we lost." Erza brought both of her childhood friends into her arms for a reassuring hug, a loving smile hidden behind her darkened visor but visible in her warmth.

Wendy stumbled forward and buried herself into the pile of bodies, stuck between Gray, Natsu, and Erza as she hiccupped quietly. "I-I miss Carla… and Happy."

It felt like someone punched him in the gut at the mention of his adopted son and Natsu's breath got caught in his throat. "So do I, Wendy… So do I." He murmured as he rubbed his and on top of her head and while the helmet made a barrier between them, the gesture was no less meaningful. "I hate to do this, but we need to save the mourning until we are done. Then we'll have all the time in the world."

"Yes, let's fucking finish this." Gray detached himself from the group and took the lead.

"Staggered column. I'll take the rear." Natsu ordered as he stepped back and drew his SPSR-14.5 from his back. He side-stepped and allowed each person to pass, first Wendy, then Erza, and finally Lucy. They moved through the city at a jog, moving up the path of assault to the Government Palace and keeping an eye in each direction for hostiles trying to extract their leaders.

"Sir?" Wendy called out, turning around to skilfully jog backwards. "Something feels off, do you sense anything?"

"Just the usual hostility that I've been feeling from the Palace ever since we got down here. Though, now it seems to be swinging more into panic and despair." Natsu shrugged his shoulders and gaze up at the large building that drew ever nearer. "They are most likely feeling the noose slowly tighten around their necks as we encircle them."

"The air feels different somehow, I'm not sure what is causing it."

"I haven't heard anything from Control, and well, there are a lot of things blowing up higher up in the atmosphere and mixing with the water. Could it just be that?"

I don't know, Sir…"

"I'll keep an eye on things, Wendy. So, if shit hits the fan, then I'll tell everyone it's happening."

Once they reached their position, they leapt to the rooftops. They split into two groups with Gray and Wendy taking one side of the road and Natsu, Lucy, and Erza perched upon the other. Both Dragneels got into a prone position with their sights trained on the large palatial building while Erza rested her machine-gun on a brick chimney and scanned the surrounding gardens.

"Hellhound to Control; We're in position. How's the push coming along?"

"They're not far off now, Hellhound. The forces that were in their way have retreated and they were able to proceed to the objective. ETA five mikes."

"Understood. We'll hold position until they arrive." Natsu slowly moved his scope from one window to the next, checking for any hostiles unlucky enough to pop out and try and shoot their forces. He snarled slightly and gazed about; something was off. "Wendy, do you still have that feeling?"

"Yeah." The blunette called out across the gap. She shifted her position and moved behind a chimney to face them. "It has been getting worse too. Something feels off about the air."

"What's wrong, Darling?"

"I can sense an extremely malicious intent coming from within the palace." Natsu slowly rose to his knees as his gaze burned into the large building. "It just spiked higher…"

"What could they be thinking, I wonder…" Erza mumbled to herself. She checked their surrounds and glanced up at the sky, seeing nothing just yet. "If I remember right, the Pergrande Kingdom has a lot of missile silos, correct?"

"They do." Gray replied. "They have the most missile silos in all of Ishgar, each one with the capability of launching various ballistic missiles with ranges from one-fifty kilometres to over five-thousand kilometres."

"Gray's right. And that's not including mobile ballistic missile launchers." Natsu confirmed quickly. He reached over to Lucy and rummaged in a hard-case pouch by her hips. He pulled out a data pad and skimmed through its intel. His attention was distracted briefly by a subtle playful wiggle of his wife's arse and he shook his head lightly. "There are no notifications from command just yet. I'm more afraid of what Alakitasia will do if Pergrande uses any of its nuclear weapons."

The rumbling of engines reached the Dragon Slayers' ears, causing them both to glance back down the road and see that they armoured column has finally caught up. The Stellan tanks and IFVs pushed into the courtyard at the end of the road and started to spread out, with the troops unloading from the Infantry Fighting Vehicles.

"You think that we'll have a M.A.D situation on our hands?" Erza rose from her position with her machine gun and moved to the edge, she gave a quick wave to the new troops.

"Gods I hope not…" Natsu muttered before slipping the data pad back into Lucy's pouch and grabbing his rifle, he then joined Erza on the edge of the building. "Let's get down there and regroup with the friendlies."

"So, umm… What exactly would we be looking at if Pergrande did launch their nukes?" Lucy asked quietly as each member of Hellhound dropped down off the buildings and started moving to the company commander's location.

"Thermonuclear bombs." Natsu replied, gravely. "And in the very worst case; salted thermonuclear bombs."

"Salted?"

"It means they are laced with Cobalt, which when exposed to a fusion reaction goes from cobalt-59 to the radioactive isotope Cobalt-60. Very, very fucking dangerous." Natsu informed the blonde, keeping his voice calm and level to not startle her. "They put out a radioactive dosage of ten sieverts per hour. And only five sieverts is needed to kill a human within an hour. On top of that, cobalt-60 has a half-life of just over five years. So, only after five years will someone be able to last an hour inside the radioactive exclusion zone. It's a massive 'fuck you and fuck your land' weapon."

"'A human'? Does that mean that you and Wendy will last longer?"

"We're part dragon due to the mutations caused by our magic. She can last longer and remove radiation from herself and others. And I'm immune to the intense heat and blast pressure caused by the bomb going off. "

"I'm also descended from a gen zero dragon slayer, so I can take more punishment, though I'm not sure how well that will translate to radiation poisoning." Erza informed the blonde. "And you already know that Natsu's a demon, so he has a lot more resistances than he admits."

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure if radiation is counted among those, I've never tested it nor do I want to. I don't exactly want to end up sterile…"

"Demon, dragon, doesn't matter to me." Lucy giggled cutely and wrapped her arms around the pinkette. "I love everything about Natsu. You big softy."

Natsu smiled softly behind his visor and rested an arm across her shoulders. "I can also project my aura; it can protect those within a few metres of me from fire and blast damage but won't do anything for radiation or shrapnel. Kinda pointless in the vast majority of situations, though if they hit us with Thermobaric weapons then I can easily nullify it."

"Commander Dragneel!"

The pinkette lifted his head and glanced over his shoulder. A gruff-looking middle-aged Stellan man was hurrying over to the squad of Shock Troopers. "Major Donovan, what's the matter?"

The older man came to a stop by the troopers and gave a quick salute. "I just wanted to thank you for holding our position until we arrived. We hit an ambush on our path to the palace and had to take care of wounded."

"You don't have to thank us, Major. We were doing our job." Erza quickly replied in Natsu's stead. "How are the wounded?"

"Stable, Lieutenant Commander Scarlet. We had a Condor evac them to the frigate Divine Absolution and are being treated as we speak."

"Major Donovan, do you have any new orders or are we all just going to encircle the Government Palace?"

"I haven't heard anything new just yet, Commander." The man shook his head lightly. He turned to the palace as he took off his military cap and ran a hand through his short red hair. "What's the bet they bit the bullet?"

Natsu glanced over to their target and shrugged lightly. "If they did then that saves us ammo, however I can still feel people inside there." He directed his attention to some infantry making a sandbag wall and an idea popped into his mind. "Gray, can you go about and make some low walls to get the grunts some cover. Make it thick ice, wouldn't want them to catch a high-calibre round."

"Alright."

As the raven-haired man walked over to the troops building the defences, a faint rumbling blast drew the attention of the two dragon slayers to the skies above them. "Control, is everything alright?" The only response Natsu got was a sharp burst of static. "Come in, Control. Is everything alright?"

"I don't like this feeling." Wendy muttered fearfully and instinctually moved closer to the more powerful dragon slayer, seeking protection. "The air is starting to feel polluted."

"Command, are you there?"

"Com…d…r Dr…ne…l, we h…r …u. T… Pergr…de K…m h…s l…nched n…l…er m…les! …peat; … nucle… mi…s!"

"Command, the channel is full of static, you're cutting in and out! Did you say something about nuclear missiles?!"

"Af…ative! N…ear missiles … the air! Seek …ver … Repeat; S… … Immediately!"

A hole appeared in the clouds above them, forcibly parted by an intense shockwave. The blast revealed carnage freefalling to the earth, the entire Third fleet along with the remnants of the First and Fifth Fleets as well as the hostile fleets had been obliterated by a large blast. Through the hole, tens of missile trails could be seen high in the sky with potentially hundreds or thousands more remaining unseen, but even more problematic was the large missiles bearing down upon the capital.

"Major, looks like they pull the trigger on themselves after all! EVERYBODY GET TO COVER!" Natsu roared as he channelled his demonic power and produced a maroon field extending a few metres from his body. It ensured the safety of most of his squad, but there was still one who wasn't within his barrier. "Gray! Get Your FUCKING ARSE BACK HERE!"

The raven-haired man turned and started sprinting back towards Hellhound squad but a bright light caught his gaze halfway back. It seemed that his time has finally come to an end. He reached up, took off his helmet and closed his eyes. "I'm coming, Juvia…"

""GRAY!"" Both Erza and Natsu shouted at the top of their lungs. Even if they had put every last bit of strength and speed that they had into crossing the distance, they wouldn't have made it in time and the barrier needed to be actively powered.

An intense heat washed over the encircled palace, accompanied by a powerful shockwave, combined it rendered everything directly under the explosion a mass of ash, molten twisted metal, and pulverised brick and concrete. Those unprotected from the explosion became black shadows burnt into the ground, extending out in relation to their angle to the weapon.

As Gray's magical signature faded, his requip spell broke and it scattered his ammunition, grenades, and explosive devices, all of which rapidly combusted. Natsu wrapped his arms around the girls and forced them down to the ground, minimising their chances of being struck by shrapnel. He kept them held to the ground as more missiles rained down from the heavens. "We need to stay low and move to cover. Wait out the bombing."

The ground shook violently, from both the massive explosions and the various ships crashing to the earth in chunks that ranged from only fifty metres up to four-hundred metres, or in the case of the distant carriers; up to three kilometres. The four members of Hellhound squad crawled through the falling ash and between debris, scrambling for a ruin of a building, a metro station, something anything that could offer them shelter from the hellish storm.

"Sir… Natsu… Th-there's radiation everywhere…" Wendy mumbled sadly, shaking with shock as she curled into a ball once they reached the burnt and crumbled remains of a store. "Did we just get nuked?"

"It seems…" Natsu sighed and removed his helmet, sending it away to his pocket dimension with a flash of light. There was no need for head protection anymore, he doubted anyone would be in the mood for shooting each other anymore. "It seems that our worst fears have come to fruition."

The three women each removed their helmets, the armour couldn't protect them from this much radiation, so they wouldn't be much help in their current situation. If anything, they felt claustrophobic confined within the tight-fitting headpiece.

"Wendy, monitor Lucy and Erza." Natsu ordered quietly but calmly. "Treat them periodically for radiation poisoning."

"D-darling…" Lucy whispered quietly. She followed the man to the entrance of their shelter and gazed up at the flame-filled sky. The blonde slipped her hand into Natsu's timidly and moved she moved closer when his fingers interlinked with hers. "Are we in hell?"

"No…" He replied, simply. "I'd more call this purgatory. Our death is certain now, the war is over but the battle has just begun."

"I'm… I'm scared, Natsu…" Lucy rested a hand over her stomach. She had a secret she had been saving for the war's end, something that had only happened recently but she knew wouldn't be in danger… but now, now it seemed their family would be dead before it had even had even be able to grow past two. "Natsu… I'm…"

"Pregnant." Natsu finished her sentence in a whisper.

"You knew?" Lucy glanced up at him but shook her head moments later with a sad smile. "Who am I kidding, of course you would know."

"Your scent changed when it happened. I can tell when your body goes through various changes by the scents it gives off, it's only something dragon slayers can do."

"Does Wendy know?"

"Yeah… She asked me about it, I told her it had happened. She was planning on being there for you throughout the pregnancy, and after too."

Lucy took a deep breath through her nose and released it from her mouth. "So… how bad is it?"

"It seems they had some cobalt bombs after all. Only one has hit here though, the rest were thermonuclear and nuclear bombs." Natsu turned to his wife and brought her head to his chest. "The radiation is pretty strong. I can't guarantee that you'll survive beyond an hour…"

"Did you… want to give it a name?"

"Huh? Oh… Ah… yeah. Should it be a girl?"

Lucy giggled and nuzzled her face against his armoured chest. Even through the heavy ballistic armour she could feel his warmth. "I had always wanted to have a cute little girl who I could teach Celestial magic to."

"She'd be a hellion though." Natsu chuckled quietly. "If she takes after me that is."

"Maybe we could throw some names into the pool?" Erza chimed in softly as she and Wendy joined the couple, wanting to take their minds of their deadly situation. "I vote for Grace."

"For that frosty, icicle-dicked bastard?" Natsu barked out a laugh and shook his head. "Maybe for his own girl with Juvia, not ours."

"What about Anya? You know, like Aunt Anna." Wendy suggested, she sounded a little more cheerful since her mind was taken off their current situation. "And it fits with Lucy's mother. Anna and Layla."

"I like that one." Lucy giggled brightly.

"Chinatsu sounds good, I reckon." Natsu pitched in. "It's based on my name, which means Summer. Hers would mean Thousand Summers."

"If she's as warm as you are, then that's very fitting." The blonde continued to giggle, and she hugged the man tighter. "I guess it's my turn… how about Henrietta?"

"Now that's a mouthful." The pinkette laughed, earning a pout from his wife who glared up at him with puffed out cheeks. He led her by the hand back inside the ruin and sat down on a chunk of concrete that had been thrown through the wall into the storefront. "Speaking of which, if these are to be our last moments, might as well have something to eat."

As they formed a seated circle with a small fire in the centre, fuelled by scraps and wooden beams, they brought out their ration packs and started rummaged in them. The first thing they pulled out was the bars of chocolate that was issued with every pack, no matter the variant. A gentle, refreshing breeze started to circulate in and around the group, it had a faint blue glow to it. Wendy had created an active purification zone to fight off the radiation building up in their systems.

"It tastes better than it usually does." Lucy murmured in surprise, glancing at the can she was now eating from. It was beef stew that she had heated over the fire.

"There is something to say about last meals but it's not really appropriate…" Natsu replied softly, his gaze not moving from the half-eaten can in his hands. He had mentioned it before, but the current situation made it even more apparent. Lucy was starting to seem more and more sickly the more time passed by, her skin was becoming paler and her eyes were becoming bloodshot. Erza was faring better, but not by much. What's more was that he could feel people slipping away all around them, dying in whatever grave they had found for themselves. He didn't bring this morbid truth to the circle though; their moral was pretty low as it was. He noticed something else disturbing, something felt like a knife stabbed to the heart and twisted; unlike the women around him, he wasn't being affected by the radiation… at all… So, he resigned himself to eating his own 'last meal'.

Once Lucy had finished her food, she moved to Natsu's lap and snuggled into his warmth. She was looking even paler than before. She looked up at her husband and leaned up to plant a kiss on his lips. "I love you, Natsu."

"I love you too." Natsu whispered into her ear as he brought up a hand and carefully placed it against her head, holding the woman close. She was smiling as she closed her eyes, and that smile didn't falter, not once, as she faded away in his arms, taking a part of him with her. "Lucy…?" He felt water well up in his eyes as the woman became slack on his lap and he felt the last vestiges of her soul vanish from their world. Her magic faded away and what she had hidden away with Requip started to appear around them. Most of it was ammo, but there were a few personal artefacts among it. Some photo albums and a diary chief among them. "She's gone…"

"I'm sorry, Natsu." Erza whispered as she took a seat next to the man and hugged him. "It's ok to show it now…"

The man was silent as he rose to his feet with the woman he loves in his arms. He carried her a short distance away and laid her down on an empty stretch of floor. The water in his eyes finally slipped out and tears soundlessly ran down his cheeks. Natsu reached under her armour and removed her dog-tags. Like his own, her wedding ring was placed on the chain for safe keeping. He placed her tags and ring around his own neck and looked for something to cover her body with, on one of the nearby selves was a rolled-up blanket so he grabbed it and unrolled it over his wife's corpse in lieu of a flag. Once he had collected up everything that she had been carrying with her, he sat back down by the fire, feeling like half the man he had been earlier that night. He had lost his best friend, and now he had lost the love of his life, soon he'll lose his other childhood friend, and then his little sister.

"It seems to have quietened down out there." Erza murmured quietly as she gazed out the hole in the wall. Ash was falling like snow, and many buildings were ablaze.

"They would have died out within half an hour. At least, those that were out in the open. The others will die slowly, painfully." Natsu replied, hollowly. He sighed and glanced at the redhead. "That Cobalt bomb puts out enough radiation to kill someone in half an hour, Lucy lasted a little over forty minutes thanks to Wendy's efforts."

"I'm sorry I couldn't have done more…" Wendy said in a small voice. She was holding her head in her hands and crying into them. "I'm so sorry, Natsu."

"Don't be, Wendy. You gave me more time with her, that's more than I could have asked of you, and far more than what I could have done for her…"

Erza moved closer to the man and leaned against his side, resting her head against his shoulder. "I wish Gray didn't go that way… but it would have been painless."

"Yeah… he's with Juvia now too."

"We've lost so many people… and now, so, so many more."

"Can you… feel them, Natsu?" Wendy mumbled into her hands, her head lifting slightly and revealing her puffy red eyes.

"Yeah…" Natsu nodded his head very lightly and put an arm around Erza.

"Wendy…" Erza softly addressed the young woman, a kind but sad smile adorning the mature beauty. "Save your strength, don't worry about me."

"But, but…" The blunette's head shot up in shock and she stared wide-eyed at the woman.

"I'm going to die either way. There is no point prolonging the inevitable."

Wendy lowered her head slowly, burying it her hands once more as the gentle breeze faded away. She had stopped using her magic, both for herself and for Erza. The shop was silent bar for the crackle of the fire and Wendy's quiet sobs. And without Wendy's magic to slow down the radiation eating away at her, Erza drifted away silently with a sad but pleasant smile.

Natsu picked up the woman and took her over to where he had place Lucy. He left her uncovered as he decided to dig proper graves for his family. Once he had collected her scattered gear and weapons, he returned to his spot opposite Wendy. "I'm sorry…"

"I don't want to die, Natsu…" Wendy whimpered. Her body shook as she softly sobbed. "There were so many things I had wanted to do after the war… Places to see, things to eat, people to meet… and now they are all dead and irradiated."

"I know." Natsu replied quietly. "I can feel everyone and everything slowly slipping away."

"You're immune, aren't you…?"

"So it seems… I wish I wasn't though."

"What… what will you do once I'm gone?"

"Proper graves." Natsu sighed quietly and lowered his head, solemnly. "I'll dig one for all of us."

"Do you plan on… taking your own life?"

"No. I have too much pride for that, I'd never throw away the life that my brother gave me so selfishly, and if I did that then Lucy would be pissed beyond belief when I see her. I'll wander for as long as I can last. I don't know how long that'll be. But I'll try and make it back here to be with everyone."

"And for Gray?"

"I'll make him a marker since there is nothing left to bury."

"Do you hate yourself? That you'll be the last one?"

"A little." He whispered. A small hand came to rest upon his cheek and it lifted his head slowly. He gazed into the young woman's teary eyes; she was afraid but seemed to be finally coming to terms with her imminent end. "It's going to be quiet…"

Wendy rose to her feet and tried to move closer to the other dragon slayer but she struggled and stumbled forward, having to be caught by the man so she wouldn't suffer any more harm. "I'm sorry, Natsu. If I could have been able… to stick with you a little longer… I would have."

"Don't worry about it… and don't fight it, Wendy… I can't imagine how painful it must be." Natsu murmured as he brought the woman into his arms and rested one hand on her head and the other around her waist. "I'll do my best to make due until my time comes. And then I'll be reunited with you all."

"It has been… an honour… serving with you, my King." Wendy murmured faintly, her body progressively becoming more and more slack with each pause until she let out her last breath, snuggled up in Natsu's comfortable warmth.

He was alone now… his friends, his family, they were all gone. He couldn't hear anyone; he couldn't sense anyone's presence except for a group deep underground. It was a city of the dead, and most likely not the only one of its kind either. Wendy's equipment scattered around him, he gazed around at it with hollow eyes, it felt like he had been robbed of every last bit of warmth his possessed. Him, a fire dragon slayer and a fire demon, the one who was feared as E.N.D, one of Zeref's most powerful and dangerous demons felt powerless and cold.

He laid Wendy down next to Erza and folded her hands over her stomach before uncovering Lucy and moving her to the other women. The wind was howling through the ruins as he collected up Wendy's gear and stored it in his own Requip dimension, choosing to switch his weapon and ammo for the blunette's Battle Rifle. He placed it on his back and went out into the desolate world to search for a proper gravesite.

Natsu didn't have to travel far, while he wanted to bury them back in Fiore, more specifically back in Magnolia, he doubted that it would even be possible to make that trek in time before their bodies… deteriorated. So, he made due and blew a hole in the concrete in the Government Palace's gardens, creating a break roughly two metres long and ten metres wide; enough for five respectable graves. He grabbed a shovel from a nearby IFV and began to dig four holes.

By the time he was done, the sun was directly above him. He tossed the tool away and brought Wendy, Erza, and Lucy to their final resting place, carefully putting them six feet under and covering them over with dirt. He dragged over a large rock and collected up some wooden beams, fashioning them into crosses and carving their names into the face of it; Wendy Marvell, Erza Scarlet, and Lucy Dragneel, along with Lest We Forget. He glanced over at the undug grave which was meant for Gray and the man's final words flittered through his mind, 'I'm coming, Juvia'. Even though the rain woman had been buried in Magnolia, Natsu decided to put them both on the same marker and carved Gray Fullbuster and Juvia Fullbuster into the wood before sharpening each marker and stabbing them into the ground at the head of their respective grave.

He stood before his friends and gave them one last salute. "It's been an honour. I wish I could've gone with you, but it seems life has found yet another way to fuck me over. I can still sense those motherfucking cunts who did this deep down in their little hidey-hole, so my job isn't done, this war isn't over for me just yet… I hope you find the others, and when you do, tell them I said hi and that I miss them."

Natsu slowly looked up at the building towering over him, the cause of this hell he had found himself in. A growl rumbled within his throat which turned into a roar so loud that it shook the buildings around him, shattering whatever glass that was left over from the bombs dropping. His blood was boiling, rage churning within him like a volcano about to erupt. He ripped off the seals that he had placed on his aura to keep it in check and undetectable, so it never ran out of control. Concrete shattered, roads began to bubble, steel started to warp, and vehicles melted from the intense heat and raw power coming from the pinkette.

It took Natsu a few minutes to control the heat radiating from his rampant aura but once he had reigned it in, he began stalking toward the entrance of the bombed-out Government Palace. The air was so polluted with radioactive matter, burnt or burning bodies, ash, and molten plastics and metals that it made it almost impossible for him to track his prey by scent alone.

Some of the Joint Nation forced seemed to have pushed into the building for shelter but all that was left of them were corpses strewn across the marble floor that began to crack under the pressure of his power. He took special care around the Fiorian soldiers as he approached them and arranged their bodies into a line with their hands over their chests and their dog-tags wrapped around the hands. He wished he had a flag to place over them but he didn't even have one for his friends.

Discarded near the bodies, between the Fiorian soldiers and some Pegrandian soldiers who seemed to have also died from radiation, was a bullpup shotgun. He recognised it instantly as a Fiorian M18 full-auto shotgun. There was no point in letting it rust in this hellhole, and it would be the perfect weapon to slaughter the pigs beneath him. He gathered up the 10-gauge shells that it used from the Fiorian soldiers' bodies and what had been scattered around them when their requip spell died out alongside them.

"Dragon's breath? Damn." Natsu murmured as he inspected the magazine currently loaded in the shotgun. With a dark chuckle he slotted it back in and primed it with his demonic fire, utilising its adaptability to create a napalm coating on the already incendiary steel buckshot. He adjusted his kit to hold the spare shotgun magazines instead of Wendy's Battle Rifle magazines and he swapped out the weapons on his back to suit. He checked the bodies of the Pergradian soldiers, roughly searching them for maps or anything that'd tell him how to get down to the bunker. Coming up empty, he growled and rose to his feet. He'd have to search manually.

As he walked through the ruins of the palace, he thought about possible locations. It'd have to be an elevator to get as deep as they were; about five-hundred metres underground. He just needed to find out where it was. The most likely place was somewhere near the senate chambers as it would allow for easy evacuation down into the bunker. Following his hunch, he found an area where a lot of scents combined and it led to a hidden elevator.

Natsu stuck his fingers between the doors and effortlessly pried them open. Even with his enhanced eyesight, he couldn't see the bottom of the shaft. So, he grabbed a piece of metal rubble and dropped it down. It took roughly ten seconds for the bent piece of rebar to hit the bottom, it was a five-hundred metre drop; this was the shaft he was after. Natsu's snarl curled into a demonic grin and his demonic-red eyes glowed brighter, the bastards were so close now that he could taste their fear. He leapt down into the dark elevator shaft, not even bothering to use the cables to control his descent.

Down in the bunker, the Pergrande Kingdom's most elite troops, the Royal Guard Regiment, snapped to attention as a sharp ping came from the elevator. They had been on edge for a short while now thanks to the oppressive power roaming around in the palace above, it didn't help that their leaders had just unleashed nuclear weapons on their enemies.

One of the newer members of the regiment turned to a grizzled veteran. "Hey, Sir… What's going on, is that some kind of monster?"

"You could call him that, definitely… that thing up there is the Fiorian Queen's most dangerous soldier, the most dangerous Shock Trooper that she has at her disposal. We call him Fiore's Devil on account of this inhuman pressure and those evil red eyes."

"But Sir… I have red eyes." The rookie asked, glancing at the man once more with a shock expression.

"You haven't seen this monster, haven't looked him in the eyes while he slaughtered everything around you like a man possessed. I saw him in their capital, in Crocus, before I joined the regiment. We had just taken out one of those Shock Troopers by hitting it with everything we had; bombs, rockets, grenades, bullets, bullets, and more bullets. We finally put that big motherfucker on the ground but then the air changed and grew so hot that it hurt to breathe… and that's when we saw it, saw that monster, that devil."

"Listen to him, kid." One of the other grizzled veterans spoke up. "This thing isn't human; he can't be human. That thing can use magic even when we've got jammers up, I don't know how… but I've seen him create rivers of fire and flood entire battlefields in that shit. Everything it touched was covered in a sticky fire that couldn't be put out, it was napalm, that monster somehow made Fucking Napalm!"

"W-what happened in Crocus?"

"A tank had just blown that big bastard apart but as the dust from the impact settled, we saw two of the Shock Troopers. One, a woman I think, was clutching what remained of the body, but that thing was looking dead at us and through his cracked visor, I saw an eye that looked like it was staring into my soul. That looked like it could annihilate me with just a glance. He just tossed his helmet aside and then vanished… Behind me, the tank exploded, and when I turned to look, I saw him. That monster had hit the tank so hard that it had detonated the fuel and ammo within from the sheer shock of the impact. He vanished again… and people began screaming as he tore them apart with his bare fucking hands." The older man looked down at his right arm. What was once flesh, had been replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic. "I'll never forget those eyes that burned with an unholy rage as he ripped my arm out of its socket."

"Wait… If that monster is still alive up there…" Another soldier slowly lowered the rifle he had trained on the elevator, a look of absolute horror slowly dawning on his face. "He just tanked a nuke… and not just one… Fiore would've fielded all of their Shock Troopers in this battle, and if he was like that after just one dying…"

"May the gods have mercy on our souls…" A veteran murmured. His eyes wandered up once again, looking at the ceiling as the terrifying presence raced toward them through the elevator shaft.

A heavy thump came from the elevator, accompanied by the groaning of the steel cables and grinding screech of the metal elevator caving in. The elevator dinged as it rebounded from the impact but the doors didn't open.

"Hopefully you've all made peace with yourselves." One of the soldiers called out to the others as he raised his rifle. "The Devil has come for his dues."

A deep growl reverberated the air and the already on edge soldiers snapped their rifles up to the doors, shaking slightly which caused their guns to rattle. An explosion ripped the elevator doors from the wall and sent the flying across the hall, crushing two men in the process. A pair of glowing red eyes slowly appeared from out of the dark, hazy elevator and seemed to scan across the men stood before them, full of a rage so powerful that no man could speak or even breathe until someone among the soldiers shouted.

"OPEN FIRE!"

The men roared in unison, a final battle cry as a hail of gunfire erupted from machine-guns, rifles, and shotguns, peppering the open elevator doors with as many bullets and shot as they could in an attempt to kill the fearsome monster. But between the call to fire and the first bullet leaving a gun, the pinkette was already in their midst.

Natsu drove his fist through the chest of the rookie, staring the man dead in the eyes as he punched clean through his body, armour plating and all. Turning to look at the nearest machine-gunner, he threw the dying man at him before bringing his shotgun forward and opening fire with Dragon's Breath steel buckshot. Two, thee, four, five people died in quick secession, their heads blown apart by clouds of glowing steel balls.

Kicking his armoured foot forward, Natsu booted a soldier into a group of his comrades and left a yellow sigil on his chest. As the pinkette turned to engage a different group, the sigil detonated and blew the cluster of men to pieces in a bloody shower of limbs and chunks of torso. After the twelfth shot, Natsu quickly reloaded and re-engaged, firing as quickly as the gun could cycle and killing the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth soldier and so on.

It only took a few seconds for the garrison of guards from the Royal Guard Regiment to fall, leaving Natsu along in a room with fresh coating of red. Having felt him coming, it seems the remaining guards beyond the bunker's entrance hall had fallen back with the Royal Family, Members of Government, and Defence Chiefs.

Natsu placed his shotgun onto his back and drew his pistol, removing the suppressor as he walked through the hallway. His oppressive magic and cursed energies were still raging around him, shaking the bunker violently and causing it to creak and groan. The lights flickered rapidly before shattering in a burst of light, plunging the hallway into darkness. The sense of intense fear and dread coming from those within the underground structure was intoxicating. These pigs had ripped away those that kept him in touch with his humanity, the few remaining people who kept him from falling into the abyss. But all that was left now was a demon hellbent on revenge, one that had been turned into a man-made monster, a walking weapon of mass destruction with a single-minded desire to slaughter the pigs that did this to him.

The doors to the command chamber were kicked open with such force that the large steel doors were ripped from their bulky hinges and from within the darkness hovered two glowing red orbs, peering into the dim chamber, lit only with the holograms displaying missiles flying all across the world from and to every nation.

"Kill That Monster!" The Pergrandian King bellowed, pointing a pale, shaking finger at the thing standing in the doorway. "Shoot, SHOOT, SHOOT! KILL IT!"

"Kneel." A growled command reverberated in the air. No one, not even the mighty king of the Pergrande Kingdom, could resist the devil's will and each one got to their knees before it. The monster strolled into the room, pistol in hand and looking from one person to the next. "Tell me; who gave the order for the nukes?"

"I… I d-did." The King bowed his head, fighting with everything he had to not obey but the words came out anyway.

"Figures." Natsu grunted. He looked around once more, demonic eyes scanning across the Pergrandians. "Those among you who offered no resistance or voted for it, bow low, put your head to the floor."

Around the room, two-thirds of the officials bowed down, their foreheads pressing the shaking ground. The air was thick with terror as the devil soundlessly moved among them until a loud BANG cut through the silence and the clinking of a casing hitting the marble echoed throughout the room. A gasp came from one of the kneeling officials, their eyes wide as the devil executed one of the kneeling members with a quick shot to the back of the head.

"You savage!" The King roared.

"Silence, you'll get your turn soon." Natsu growled quietly as he moved from one kneeling Pegrandian to the next, cleanly executing them with a merciful shot to the back of the head and the loud report of his unsuppressed 10mm pistol. Blood was pooling on the floor of the command centre by the time he had killed the last person who fought against the King's order. He stood among the bodies and looked around at those bowing before him. He activated a curse and vines punched through the floor, wrapping around the limbs of the pigs and lifting them into the air, arms and legs spread wide.

Natsu walked up to the king and grabbed him by the jaw, forcing the pig to look him in the eyes. "I'm going to kill your subordinates, your friends, and your family one-by-one and you will not look away, understood? You will suffer like you've made me suffer, you will know what it feels like to have everything you loved die right in front of your eyes, and even with all your power, you can do nothing to save them. If only I could make you survive living out there, because I'd force you to walk in that desolate, radioactive wasteland for the rest of your life. Just. Like. Me."

Moving away from the muted king, the salmon-haired demon crossed over to one of the ministers and placed his hand on her sternum. He poured his magic into her body, causing her skin to glow eerily.

"No, no, no. Please don't kill me… I didn't want to fire the missiles, I really didn't!" The woman begged for her life as a foreign warmth spread through her chest and out to her limbs. The moment that she was filled by the strange heat it immediately skyrocketed and her skin glowed bright as an inferno raged within her. Screaming in pain, she began to writhe in her bindings, causing the thorns to cut into her skin. "AAARRRRHHHHH!"

Natsu moved away from the woman, letting her burn from the inside out as he moved to the next minister, placing his hands on the man's sternum and pouring his magic into him. Leaving the man squealing in pain, he moved to the next pig, and then the next, and the next, until the room was filled with squealing pigs with only the Royal Family remaining untouched. He began to question himself when he reached for one of the piglets but his rage pushed him on, setting fire to the prince's insides. Then the other prince, followed by the princess and finally the queen.

Natsu released everyone from the vines, letting them fall to the ground but all they could do is writhe in pain while the king looked on in horror. He reached down and grabbed the monarch by the collar, lifting him up to his eye-level. "One last thing before I go and leave you to your own little slice of hell. You will not kill yourself or anyone else here by any means, you will watch them suffer and not lift a finger to help them. And once they're dead, you'll do everything you can to live on in this hellish world that you created. Feel free to console them all you like, knowing that nothing you can do will save them and that you've got to go on living without your loved ones. Just like you've done to me. Goodbye, Pig."

"N-n-no! Please kill me! I can't go on without them!"

"I. Do. Not. Care." Natsu growled as he dropped the man and kicked him into the wall. "You shouldn't have killed my wife, killed my family. You reap what you sow." Leaving the cowering man behind, Natsu made his way out of the underground bunker, walking past the dead and dying to a hellish choir. He flew up the elevator shaft, propelled by jets of fire, and killed off his aura at the top, habitually sealing it within him once more so it doesn't cause unnecessary devastation. With one last look at the graves of his closest friends, his family, he walked off into the wasteland.


Alright, that's the first chapter rewritten. I had just finished rewriting chapter four then came back to this one. A lot of what I added was stuff I had thought about during the writing of the original version, but the major change was the addition of the bunker and Natsu killing everyone down there. It was to show a few things, like why he sees himself as a monster, why he doesn't like using Macro on people in following chapters, and why he calls himself a demon due to losing his humanity when losing his wife and family. The chapter went from 12.5K to 17.8k in word count going by Microsoft word.

One thing I'll put here is information on his weapons, this supersedes any information given in the immediate chapters unless I have rewritten them. This is only for the weapons he currently has on him and not the weapons he has in the future.

- KMXX combat knife: Based on the KM2000 combat knife.
- M12 Pistol (Suppressed): 10x28mm Super. Based on a HK USP Tactical / HK45 Tactical. Has 14-round mags.
- M7 Battle Rifle (Suppressed): 8.6x66mm hybrid-cased ammo fed from 25-round mags. Has a 1-4x optic mounted on top. Has an 18.5-inch barrel set in a bull-pup configuration. Looks like an upscaled Kel-Tec RDB Defender with the RFB's barrel.
- M18 Shotgun (Suppressed): A full-auto shotgun in a bull-pup configuration, with an 18.5-inch barrel. Fed 3.5inch 10-gauge shells from a 12-round narrow-profile double-stack box mag. Has a holo-sight mounted to the top. It looks like the Radikal Arms NK-1 shotgun but thicker due to running 10G instead of 12G, and feeding from a double-stack mag.
- MG80 General-Purpose Machine-Gun (Suppressed): 8.6x66mm H-C ammo fed from 250-round disintegrating belts. Fitted with a 1-4x optic. Essentially a futuristic MG3 with better ergonomics and QoL.
- MGL40: A semi-auto multi-shot grenade launcher that fires 40mm smart grenades capable of target tracking, airburst, timed detonation, and impact detonation. Holds 6 grenades in a rotating drum. Is based off the Milkor MGL.
- SR32 Designated Marksman's Rifle (Suppressed): 10.4x83mm H-C fed from a 15-round double-stack mag. Fitted with a 6-10x variable zoom scope. It is a semi-auto bull-pup rifle with a 26-inch barrel based on the DSR-1 (but semi-auto not bolt-action).
- SPSR-14.5 (Suppressed): 14.5x120mm H-C multipurpose ammo fed from a 7-round mag, basically a larger Mk211 Raufous which are SAPHEI. It has a 38-inch barrel and an 8-20x variable zoom scope. Based on the DSR-50, and like the weapon it is based on, it's the larger iteration of the SR32 DMR beefed up for the 14.5mm ammo it fires. Like the SR32 that it was based on, it is also a semi-auto.

The armour that the Shock Troopers wear is heavily inspired by Halo's Mjolnir GEN2's Helldiver variant (Buck's armour that was modelled after his ODST armour) minus the thrusters, special power-ups, AI interface, shield, etc. It is just unpowered heavy armour with some bells and whistles. It was deemed too unwieldy and unnecessary to put an exoskeleton on it when they could just be using bulky armoured exosuits – think Red Alert 3 Tesla Trooper – but this would limit the Shook Troopers capabilities.

I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, whether reading it for the first time or coming back to check out the rewrite. Please enjoy the following chapters, which will be getting rewrites as well soon. Look out for the (R) next to the chapter name to know when they have been completed and the updated chapter has been uploaded. I'll see you all in the next one.