The Terminator Eagle - Emblem of the Terminator Militia
The Terminators: Army of Legend is a military supercrossover fanfiction series by author Sir Areis Lionheart, published to fanfiction.net in 2011 (though developing as early as 1999).
It chronicles the trials and tribulations of former child soldier Alex Vaughn and the fabled Alpha Company as they rise to become one of the most feared and well-known forces in the history of the world, comprised of familiar characters collected from the "Base World", where all worlds real or imagined "eventually end up".
The majority of the series centers specifically on the High Command, the leading division of Alpha Company, currently comprised of:
- Founder Alex Vaughn
- His second-in-command and "wing-second" Spyro the Dragon
- Cynder the Dragon
- Terrias the Servine
- Rainbow Dash
The Terminators: Army of Legend on Fanfiction.net
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The Official Terminators: Army of Legend Wiki.
As of July 2019, all stories of the series have been deleted by the author and are no longer available.
The series contains examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: Alex, Zack, Ruby, Elliot, compared to Terrias, Arratroth, Piermont, etc.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Zack Dawson after being bested by his old friend Alex in Volume V. Also General "Necro" in Volume III, especially once you realize WHY he's fighting in the first place.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Alpha Company experienced being ostracized by their fellow peers in Volume I and Volume II.
- All There in the Manual: The official wiki of the series goes into details on the operations and other little tidbits of facts that are never mentioned in the series itself, including operational names and casualties.
- Anti-Villain: Zack Dawson, who bounces back and forth between this and Knight Templar.
- Ascended Demon: Necrodusk, the archdemon that Alex was born with, is a clear-cut example of this. Then you later find out he is actually one half of the Archangel Messorem.... Also technically Azazel (no, not that one...) although he was
never really very evil to begin with... - Author Avatar: Alex Vaughn is stated by
Word of God to be an idealized version of himself. - Author Appeal: Alex and his comrades often enjoy a nice multiplayer session on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 or Halo: Reach, while Alex and Terrias at least greatly enjoy getting their asses kicked in Dark Souls in between battles.
- Badass Longcoat: Terrias the Servine sports one, and pulls it off alongside a SPAS-12.
- Berserk Button: Alex to Ruby, Ruby to Alex, and in a completely different way, Ruby's unborn child to Piermont.
- Big Bad: Many throughout the volumes, most notably General John “No-Tongue” Roberts for the first volume, United States President Barry Mabao for the third and fourth volumes (though he often hides behind General “Necro” and General Mason), Zack Dawson for the fifth volume, Ares of the sixth volume (although this is questionable as Harbinger, the commander of the Reaper Armada, serves to be the The Man Behind the Man), Archdemon Deitus of the seventh volume, Vergil and Chris-Chan for eight, General Plastro for nine, Sonichu for ten and eleven. Three of those enemies, General “Necro”, General Mason, and General "No-Tongue", eventually join up to become the Legion of Doom.
- Big "NO!": Alex after Cheet is trampled in the stampede, Ruby after Alex falls to his supposed death in the beginning of Volume VI.
- Black Knight: Alex is one when clad in his “riding armor”, alternating between Skyforged Daedric armor and the Black Knight armor from Dark Souls.
- Break the Badass: Alex after Cheet and Ruby's deaths. Also Alex throughout most of Volume V. Piermont after Alex's assumed death in Volume VI.
- Celestial Paragons and Archangels: Later in Volume V, Alpha Company is discovered to be resurrected from this. Go even further, Alex and Ruby, who are the reincarnations of ancient archangels Messorem and Vitam.
- Chekhov's Gun: A vial of blood given to Alex by Ruby in the beginning of Volume VI, he later needs it in Volume XI to bring her back after she's killed in action.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Ruby, who is first mentioned in the prologue of Volume I, and Zack Dawson, first mentioned in Volume II. Actually, the entirety of the Volume II chapter "Chasing Ghosts" is a copy of a chapter of the SAME title in Volume V (in which the exact same thing happens, only from another perspective).
- Children Are Innocent: Inverted, Alex was a child soldier, and Alpha Company is comprised of some well known child icons.
- Cliffhanger: Most volumes end in a cliffhanger:
- Volume III: The Shade King attacked the Kremlin, framing the bombing on the Terminators, and in response, the Maxia pair with the Russians to level New York City for some reason. After fighting through the Maxia and their Russian allies, Alex eventually ends up on the roof of the Empire State Building, where after duking it out with the Big Bad, Alex is bested. Badly injured but refusing to submit, he tackles the Shade King sending both of them plummeting to the ground. They survive the fall, but as Jazz is about to pull the trigger to finish the Commander, Terrias arrives Just in Time to spare the Commander. As Jazz gets the best of Terrias, The Cavalry comes in before they, too, are squashed by Jazz. The volume ends with Jazz weighing down Alex and Terrias with stones before shooting them in the head, pushing them into New York Harbor.
- Volume IV: Alex, Rainbow Dash, and their squads go BACK into the fire, ignoring orders to evacuate, despite the presence of a nuke that's all too ready for detonation. They fight to the roof of the Big Bad's lair, and right before the big bomb goes off. The volume ends with Alex wondering around the apocalyptic wastelands, a la the Aftermath portion of the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, searching for Dash before finally finding her and zapping the both of them out of harm's way.
- Volume V: After having finished off Zack Dawson, destroying Eden, and postponing Armageddon, the volume's finale sees Alex dying on the operating table, bleeding out from getting his arm hacked off.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: After the botched assassination attempt on President Mabao shortly after the beginning of the Second Civil War, Alex and his then-protege Spyro are captured and subjected to this. Alex also turns around and does this later in the story against General “Necro” after driving his invasion force from Skyrim, made even more disturbing as resurrected General “Necro” ends up being Laughing Mad throughout the whole affair.
- Crossover: Many, including:
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Siege of Cyrodiil from Volume IV. What makes it even better is that Alpha could have ended the battle before it hardly began, they just rode backseat so Ulfric Stormcloak could have his Moment of Awesome. Another example plays on the other side of the spectrum, the Reapers coming in and totally trashing the coup in Moscow late into Volume V.
- Darker and Edgier: To the extreme, compare Alpha Company's members to their original appearances in their respective canons and series.
- Deadpan Snarker: Sapphire and Piermont fill this role... at least Piermont does until ''Volume VI'', then Rocket Raccoon takes it over.
- Demon Lords and Archdevils: Archdemons are considered to be Lucifer's equivalent to the Archangels, with different classifications. Necrodusk is considered to be one of these before his Heel–Face Turn.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Happens periodically throughout the series.
- Eldritch Abomination: Archdemon Deitus, although the form he commonly identifies with (and could be safely considered his "true" form given the appearance of his son), is that of a massive satyr with oily black tentacles sprouting from his body, which he uses to drain the life force of his foes to feed his own immortality.
- Eldritch Location: The Omniverse, and to a lesser extent, the Inner Dimension that lies between the Base World and the Omniverse.
- Experienced Protagonist: Disregarding the Prologue of Volume I, by the time we first meet Alex, he's a general in the Tan Army (after only being there for a year mind you).
- Evil Counterpart: Zack Dawson to Alex Vaughn.
- Face–Heel Turn: Alpha Company and the High Command in the sidestory Requiem. Piermont after he crosses the Moral Event Horizon in Volume VIII.
- Fallen Angel: Archdemon Deitus, the son of Messorem and Vitam, the two archangels themselves, and Necrodusk.
- Fallen Hero: Alpha Company and the High Command in the sidestory Requiem, Zack Dawson, Piermont, Tiberius.
- Foreshadowing: Plenty, too many to count.
- For the Evulz: The reasoning behind the Shade King's actions (especially the massacre), also General “Necro”'s motives after his return.
- General Ripper: General “Necro” and the Maxia Regime prior to his death.
- Genre Savvy: Zack is very genre savvy, and even tries to go out of his way to avoid filling in the 'stereotypical villain' role.
- Guardian Angel: Ruby was this to Alex before her fall from grace.
- Guardian of the Multiverse: Arguably Ember, although she may not necessarily be fully aware of this. The Omniversals, who are introduced in Volume V and are also omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, could qualify as this.
- Headbutting Heroes: Spyro and Piermont, Elliot and Terrias, Alex and Sapphire, Alex and Tiberius...all of them, except for Elliot and Terrias, manage to eventually evolve into Vitriolic Best Buds.
- Heroic BSoD: Alex has one in Volume V after breaking from his post-traumatic stress disorder, and has another, much more heartbreaking one following Ruby's death in Volume X
- Heroic RRoD: Piermont has one...or actually several...in Volume VI, after Alex is presumed killed, Terrias has one when the "Shade King" possesses him in Volume IV, Piermont has one after he crosses the Moral Event Horizon in Volume VIII, and Tiberius also has one in Volume XII after he, his sister, and Aphrodite begin to deteriorate while they're still alive.
- Heroic Dolphin: Ruby and Sapphire, especially Ruby. Later Gabriel, Omega, and Echo.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Several:
- Alex and Rainbow Dash opt to continue towards the headquarters in Phoenix to confirm the death of the Big Bad even though there are threats of a nuclear bomb primed for detonation.
- Tails pilots a bomb into what's basically a black hole to save the world.
- Terrias sacrifices himself to hold off seemingly endless waves of Neo-Maxian soldiers to ensure the safe extraction of Alpha Company.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Alex and Terrias....questionably.
- Hold the Line: Spyro and the rest of the “Night Crew” in the capital building during the assault on Necropolis. Then again with Terrias who hijacks a railgun to cover Alpha Company's extraction in Volume V after the botched attack on Eden.
- Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action: In Volume VII, Alex and Ruby somehow manage to actually reproduce...granted they are reincarnations of ancient angelic lovers and are merely fulfilling The Prophecy.
- Through divine intervention, Alex is temporarily turned into a dolphin, enabling him to impregnate Ruby
- I Have Many Names: Alex alone has "The Commander", Archangel, Thanatos, Alex, Blood Knight, and others. Piermont goes by his actual name or Pierre, Spyro goes by Spy, Spearow, Seraph, "Purple Boy", among others. Terrias has "Tare-Tare", Ares, and Blackbird.
- Intellectual Animal: ALL of Alpha Company.
- Interspecies Romance: Alex and Rainbow Dash, Alex and Ruby the Dolphin, Alex and Cynder the Dragon...
- Ironic Echo: "I am NOT your father, and you are NOT my son". First spoke by Messorem to his son, Deitus, then again by Deitus to HIS son, then for a THIRD time by Alex, the final reincarnation of Messorem, to Deitus again.
- Zack Dawson's 'self-fulfilling prophecy' speech. First said in Volume V to Alex. Said again by Alex to his son, also named Zack, in the sidestory Requiem. Even more ironic, Alex had fulfilled Zack's prophecy.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Piermont, underneath that cold, asshole shell is a shy and caring creature... At least until Volume VI and he starts to descend into madness.
- Kids Are Cruel: Alpha Company has the worst life in school. Also, to a lesser extent, the reformed LKA, spearheaded by Alex's kid brother
- Kill Sat: The Ring superweapon, and the ARK, also technically the City Minecrawlers (which are massive tanks, the literal size of Central Park that drop out of the fucking sky).
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The series tends to do this on a few occasions.
- Legion of Doom: Played straight with the Elite Five of the Caeda Militia.
- Let There Be Snow: Upon Alpha Company's first arrival in the Southern Wastelands in Volume III...except it's not snow, it's ash from the nearby wall of dragonfire that has killed literally everything around it for miles around.
- Living Toys: Quite literally, Alex Vaughn was a part of the Tan Army during their war with the Green Army, the very same as the Toy Story variety.
- Losing the Team Spirit: After Alex is presumed to be killed in Volume VI, Alpha Company soon disbands.
- Love at First Sight: Alex and Rainbow Dash, Alex and Ruby. Justified as Alex is the final reincarnation of the Archangel Messorem, Ruby is Archangel Vitam, his ancient lover, reincarnated, and Rainbow Dash is assumed to be one of his trio of lovers.
- The Man Behind the Man: Deitus is revealed to be the mastermind behind all previous antagonists...the Man Behind the Man BEHIND the Man may be invoked by Vergil although his exact evil plan is more obscure and harder to figure out, likely because he's an Older Than Dirt Cosmic Entity, rumored to have existed before God, that's borderline Eldritch Abomination, a literal Multiversal Conqueror (he's even called a multiversal!) and pretty much a God of Evil to boot, arguably worse than Satan himself!
- Massive Multiplayer Crossover: We cannot emphasize the supercrossover in supercrossover military fanfiction enough.
- Meaningful Echo: ''You're the Inspiration'', sang by Alex to Ruby in Volume VII as a serenade of sorts... He sings it to her (or tries to) again as she's dying in Volume X. The feels are real.
- Meaningful Name: Not including some of the preexisting characters (such as Simba and Nala), Messorem (Latin for Reaper or Harvester), Vitam (Latin for Life), Ruby (although the origin of her name is much more gruesome...when she was found and rescued, the water was ruby-red with her blood as a result of the injury to her eye), and Sapphire, who's named for the coloration of his body...a brilliant, sea blue.
- Mission Control: General Elliot to Alpha. Elliot can also be considered The Ace.
- No One Gets Left Behind: The mentality of Alpha Company, especially with the High Command. In the fourth volume, despite threats of a nuclear bomb and demands to get the hell out of there, Spyro and Terrias lead their unit back into the danger zone to rescue fellow comrade Alex and his unit, who themselves pulled a Heroic Sacrifice to make sure the Big Bad was gone for good.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Archdemon Deitus the Immortal, ironically the son of Archangels Messorem and Vitam. The Reapers could also be considered this.
- Ominous Floating Castle: Vergil lives in one come Volume VIII, built from the ruined walls above the Terminator capital of New Alexandria, Montana after capturing the city late in Volume VII.
- Our Angels Are Different: Alpha Company are the final reincarnations of Archangel Messorem's Old Regime, who fought against Lucifer's forces in the War in Heaven.
- Pietà Plagiarism: Alex after Cheet dies in Volume IV, then again by Alex in Volume X after Ruby's death.
- Pragmatic Hero: Alex and Terrias are pretty much the very example of this trope.
- Present Day: The series begins in 1996, and new updates are usually around the current day, if not exact.
- President Evil: Barry Mabao, commander of the Maxia Regime, the main antagonistic force throughout Volume III and IV.
- Product Placement: Innumerable video game and franchise references, plus actual brand names, with few to no fictional brands mentioned.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Much of the events in the downtime chapters are about actual events that happened with the author, such as schooling, schooling experiences, moving into a new home, etc.
- Rogue Protagonist: Alpha Company and the High Command in Requiem, Alex and Terrias in Volume VI, Piermont in Volume VIII after he crosses the Moral Event Horizon and tries to commit infanticide, and Tiberius in Volume XII.
- Rule of Two: Ares and Thanatos, The Tartarus Unit, The Devil's Hands...
- Sacrificial Lamb: Rapid in Volume I, technically Crash and Cheet in Volume IV, Necrodusk in Volume XI, and Athena in Volume XII.
- Sacrificial Lion: Tails in Volume V, Simba and Rudolph in Volume VI, Ruby in Volume X, and Dash in Volume XI.
- Say My Name Alex cries out for Cheet after he's trampled in the stampede in Volume II. Alex also calls out Dash's name after her Heroic Sacrifice in Volume XI.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Archdemon Deitus the Immortal/Archdemon Deitus the Lifehunter, imprisoned in Purgatory by way of an ancient book and a mysterious key and bound to his throne through the mystical Chains of Eternity.
- Secret Relationship: Alex and Spyro (implied), Cynder and Ember, also Alex and Rainbow Dash shortly after their first mating.
- Shout-Out: The entire world of the Terminator Militia is a shout-out to franchises of all kind, all across the board. Just a few examples...
- The Gothics is home to:
- Plus you have the Regions — Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos.
- The Realms
- Swizzle Firma
- The Systems Alliance (who later combines with the UNSC).
- And who can forget that Alex was once a part of the Tan Army before they united with the Greens and became the Green/Tan Collective?
- Sir Swearsalot: Piermont. Here's a game for you to play, try finding a sentence where he doesn't drop some kind of profanity, also to a lesser, but still quite large extent, Elliot.
- Slowly Slipping Into Evil: There are strong implications that this is happening to Alex, This also happens to Piermont starting in Volume VI, ultimately culminating in him crossing the Moral Event Horizon about halfway into Volume VIII.
- Snow Means Death: In the sidestory Requiem, Alex and his son fight to the death on the peak of one of the Himalayas, while it's snowing. Also Alpha Company's first encounter with the Southern Wastelands in Volume III... even though it's not snow, it's ash from the nearby wall of dragonfire raining from the sky.
- Storming the Castle: Attack on the prison in Volume I, the attack on the Necropolis in Volume III, storming Compound “C” in Volume IV, also storming Eden in Volume V, the attack on Mount Purgatory in Volume VII and XI, CWCville and Vergil's Fortress in VIII, Plastro's base in IX, and the attack on Mount Olympus in Requiem.
- Super-Empowering: Technically Alex, as he can give his soldiers the mutation serum, which rewrites your genetic code to give you “incredible abilities”.
- Team Title: The High Command of Alpha Company, the Commander's Wing of Dragonriders, etc.
- The End of the World as We Know It: Alpha Company vs. the Reaper Armada, also Alpha Company vs. Filios Diaboli.
- The Siege: The numerous attacks on New Alexandria, the Siege of New York, the LKA's Last Stand, and many, many other battles throughout the series.
- Token Religious Teammate: Sapphire the Dolphin, who himself seems a Shout-Out to the religious merc Thane from Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. Also, the Terminator Militia (Alpha Company specifically) is referred to as an "army of God", complete with divine intervention in highly unlikely scenarios. Justified, as Alpha Company are the reincarnations of the "Old Regime", effectively God's honor guard prior to the War in Heaven (when Satan was cast down).
- Took a Level in Badass: Ruby, who started off as a sickly, dying dolphin afraid of her own shadow, before becoming a soldier stronger than Alex. Word of advice, do not threaten ''her'' Alex. Also Zinnia, who, in Volume II, was an odd girl with a carnal appetite for her Pokemon. She returns in Volume VI as an efficient warrior, like a modern day ninja.
- Tsundere: Kira the Harpy.
- Villain Team-Up: The Caeda Militia, which is composed of the LKA (Volume I and II), the Maxia Regime (Volume III and IV), and the Brotherhood Cult (Volume IV).
- Weak Boss, Strong Underlings: Alpha Company tore through a crapload of tough enemies and generals only to find President Barry Mabao, who went down mere minutes after coming face-to-face with them.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Zack Dawson in Volume V. Alpha Company in the sidestory Requiem.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Alex invokes this a number of times in his unit, especially apparent during their assault on the LKA's stronghold in Junior Town in Volume II, the attack on the Necropolis in Volume III, Alex's torture of "Necro" in IV, and his execution of General Mason in V. Zinnia to Alex and Alpha Company following their betrayal in Requiem.
- Year Inside, Hour Outside: Alex and Terrias felt like they had been trapped in the Devil's Arena for years, in reality, it had only been a week.
