Shining Armor watched the battle rage from the safety of the hidden command centre, grimacing as the sounds of gunfire and explosions accompanied those of screaming men and women, and confused cries that fell on deaf ears. Both sides were taking heavy losses, and the death counter would only continue to increase.
"This is why I opted out of the military in favour of the force," Shining Armor said, lowering his binoculars and turning to the Vespanian general behind him. "Many of the enemy numbers aren't even armed with firearms, General."
"It would seem that Tirek is trying to delay us however he can," the general said. "We cannot allow him to take that nuclear warhead away. We must seize it while we have our opening. As promised, any prisoners will be handed over to the U.S., provided you can indeed get us into that bunker."
"Tirek's security system is one of the best in the world, but we the bureau has been pursuing him for so long that we've developed a knack for breaking it." That was of course a lie. This general was not included in the Vespanian government's 'need-to-know' circle regarding magic. The Vespanian queen had allowed the FBI to accompany them to combat whatever magic defences Tirek may have in-place, but Shining Armor never could have imagined that ordinary troops would be using magic themselves to fight.
Aria groaned as she tapped furiously at her keyboard. Shining Armor was thankful that she was such a talented hacker, as it bypassed the need to bring their only other option – Cadance – to this hellish battlefield. Still, it didn't look like Aria was having an easy time of it.
And then there was Sonata, impressing even the Vespanian elites with her sniping prowess and hitting targets from eight-hundred yards away. According to Aria, Sonata was the calmest of the sirens, always in-tune with the sounds of nature and her surroundings as a result. Apparently, that's how she was always able to hit her mark. Eventually though, she ran out of enemies when the Vespanian troops secured the area she had marked, and she then proceeded to bug the troops behind her.
"Hey, what time's lunch. What're we gonna have? Do you guys have tacos in Vespania? I like this rifles you have! Can I keep one? Ooh, that's a big map! What are all these pins for? Oops! I think I just knocked one over! Say, why don't we just blow the troops away?"
"Sonata, be quiet!" Aria roared, much to the satisfaction of the poor troops trying to plan their next moves. "You might be done, but I'm not! This system's harder than I thought! I'm gonna have ta… get creative… No, this won't work…"
Sonata hopped over to her friend, kneeling down and placing her hands on Aria's shoulder. "Awww, sorry! Here, lemme help! You triiiied… turning it off-and-on again?"
Aria's eyebrow twitched. Shining Armor decided to intervene before the two sirens murdered each other. "Sonata, could you keep an eye on the battlefield for me?" he asked, handing the binoculars to Sonata. "Just focus and shout if the enemy starts to come towards us, okay?"
Sonata jumped to her feet and saluted. "Yes, sir!" She swiped the binoculars and put them to her face, and then gasped. "Everyone's so small!"
Aria sighed. "Try the other way around." She glanced over for just a moment to find Sonata realising her mistake and correcting it. The blue-haired girl was simply laughing, like it was some kinda joke to her. Aria wondered why Adagio put up with her. Or why she did, for that matter.
Minutes later, Aria finally found a weakness in the enemy's systems. "I'm in!" she cried. Shining Armor and the general approached her. On her screen, she had access to the enemy's camera feeds. "Memorise as much as you can. They might already know I'm in their system, so I'm gonna have to shut down their defences soon."
Shining Armor studied every feed carefully, taking in as much as he could in the few seconds he was afforded for each image. One-by-one, the camera feeds were reduced to static. After the last one, Aria started unlocking the doors and disabling the automated turrets inside.
"Okay, that should do it. Base is open for you," Aria reported, unable to help feeling pride in her handiwork.
"Good work," Shining said with a smile. He turned to the general. "We should move fast, before the enemy has a chance to reboot their systems."
"'We'?" the general asked.
"I have to verify the accuracy of our reports, and ensure that the enemy's leader does not get away."
The general hummed in thought for a moment, and then nodded his head. "Fine, but the girls stay here. No matter how talented they are, I can't let them get involved in such a dangerous task."
Shining Armor bit his lip. True, leaving the Dazzlings behind had crossed his mind, but protecting them wasn't a priority at that time. Plus, their magic could really help them out in a bind. "… Very well then. Shall we?"
The general moved to mobilise his team. "Leaving us on our own?" Aria asked, a grin spread across her face. "Perfect chance for us to flee, huh?"
"With no magic, how long can you last in this war-torn region?" Shining asked. "Besides, we still have Adagio with us, so it really would not be in your best interests to try to escape."
Aria clicked her tongue. "It was just a joke. I know it won't be so easy to get away. Go on, have your little adventure already."
"This isn't a game. Many lives are at stake-"
None of which are siren lives, so it really makes no difference to us."
Shining Armor frowned, but he couldn't argue that mentality. After all, it was a unique situation, one that a human would be unlikely to experience themselves.
Instead, he simply left without another word, following the general through the trenches dug out by the Vespanian troops that led towards the compound.
Over forty minutes had passed since Shining Armor's departure. Aria had started to listen to the radio communications of the troops behind her, she was so bored, and Sonata continued her job of surveying the landscape ahead of them for enemy troops.
Though she couldn't see anything, there was something strange about the way the wind sounded that caused Sonata some level of concern. She lowered her binoculars and closed her eyes, allowing her ears to focus on the noises around her. She blocked out the sounds of battle before her and the sounds of chatter behind. It was faint, but there was definitely a footprint to her side. The weight of it couldn't have belonged to a Vespanian military boot, nor could the metal clanging have belonged to the standard-issue gear that they all wore.
Gasping, she turned and shouted, "Incoming!"
But it was too late. The enemy – six large men armed with military-grade assault rifles – had undone the cloaking spell around them and taken everybody in the outpost hostage.