Sunrise and Cloudburst didn't make it out of bed until past noon, and only left each others hooves because both of their bellies were angrily growling for food. By the time they made it to the Frozen Flank Canteena everypony was long gone, and they decided to enjoy their unscheduled day off rather than try and report in late, they knew Crimson would understand. While the two lovebirds were busy basking in the afterglow the rest of Gale Team sat in one of the briefing rooms of the Morninglight command hub. The unicorn mare giving the briefing was clearly a desk officer, her uniform was too clean, too well pressed, neither her lavender mane or tail had a single hair out of place, and her peach colored coat had clearly seen a spa treatment recently. Her voice was soft and melodic as she clicked through the slides, the display went through a series of maps, charts, and pictures as she explained in great detail the objectives of the flight. Meanwhile, Gale Team seemed thoroughly uninterested by the rather stale and dry briefing. They had heard this all before, it was the same briefing almost every single patrol, and by now they knew it nearly word for word.
“Major Blossom, I hate to interrupt, but is there any new intelligence on the griffins? Not to be disrespectful, but we've done this patrol four times this week; we know the details of the route and what to watch out for.” Crimson said respectfully as the rest of Gale Team quickly brought their attention back to the screen.
“Well, I suppose I have gone over this information before.” She said with a sigh and flipped through all the standard slides quickly until she got to the newer ones.
“We have been studying the Griffins’ battle armor, and we believe we have found a coloration between their armor, their rank, and fighting prowess. In Griffin culture the most skilled warriors are given high positions of power within the military. These high positions of power are reflected in the ornate, and often rather gaudy, armors that they wear.” She explained, and flipped to a picture of a griffin general flying through the sky, his armor adorned with ornate gold carvings and bejeweled with gemstones all over.
“So...” Misty said, still half asleep, her groggy state impairing her ability to put two and two together.
“The shiner and more expensive looking the armor the more dangerous the griffin is, that simple enough?” Major Blossom asked in a very annoyed tone as she glared at the half awake mare, clearly irked that she was forced to dumb down her explanation.
“Shiny equals dangerous, got it.” Misty replied, her hoof on her chin the only thing keeping her from smashing face first into the desk.
“Any further questions?” Major Blossom asked, quickly regaining her composure, and melodic tone.
“No Ma'am.” Gale Team responded in unison.
“Dismissed, get your gear and move out.” She replied as she levitated a small stack of files beside her and left the room.
Gale Team gathered their mission documents up and trotted down the busy hallways of the command hub trying not to get run over by the ponies of the support staff, who rushed through the halls as if their tails were on fire, making the inner passages chaotic to say the least, but they were still better than leaving the dryness and warmth of the building to reach the hangar bays. Hangar bay three may have been the smallest of all the hangars on site, but it was still enormous compared to the claustrophobic passages of the command hub. This was the hanger designated for the volunteer corps, and every single inch of the walls going up to the ceiling was utilized to store the gear and personal effects of everpony in the corps. As Gale Team gathered their armor and other gear from their storage cages, a few maintenance ponies scurried around the bay grabbing parts and making repairs to the various devices damaged by battle, or simply by the cold. The armor and weapons of the volunteer corps were all second hoof gear that was deemed no longer fit for service by the REAF, and on most of the gear it was easy to see why.
“Ya know, given how old and worn this armor is, do you really think it would stop anything?” Blaze asked as he strapped on his battle barding.
“At least yours doesn't have any holes in it.” Radar chimed in as he slipped his on, the set clearly missing a couple of the armored plates it once held, leaving the fabric to sag as if they were unused pockets.
“Like it even matters, honestly when was the last time any of us even saw a griffin around here, let alone fought one. We're a rear area base, we'll be lucky if we get a shot at some parasprites.” Misty said after downing a can of Buck Yeah energy drink, perking her right up.
“Well maybe if you all stopped blowing all your bits so impulsively, you could afford some better armor.” Crimson Wing replied bluntly as he landed in the middle of his unit.
Unlike the rest of the members of Gale Team Crimson Wing's armor wasn't some shotty piece of crap or a shot up left over the REAF handed down. His armor was new, crisp, tight, and far more advanced than any other set in Hanger three. His armor was a glistening silver with red trim all over, emblazoned upon his red winged side in bright red letters read “Captain Crimson Wing”, and just behind it, where his cutiemark would have been were eight decals of griffin claws, signifying how many confirmed kills he had to his name. He was the only member of Gale Team who had seen real action, and he was only two kills away from being a double ace. Whenever he put on that armor it was as if he was a different pony, gone was the mischievous buck that had been ribbing Blaze all morning, and in his place stood a confident, serious, battle hardened, and skilled warrior and leader who could handle any challenge that came his way. The Armory was the next stop for Gale Team, and the unicorn in the armorers cage's face lit up when she saw Crimson Wing approaching, knowing that the Captain had a nice fat pouch of bits for her, to pay for all the custom work she had done on his Pegasus Integrated Combat System. Crimson stepped into the arms bay, and the unicorn strapped on the heavily enchanted weapon system that seamlessly integrated itself in with his armor, all the advanced enchantments making the heavy weapons, sensor and tracking systems, as well as the defensive systems feel feather light. On each side of him protruded the six gleaming barrels of his brand new Skyshredder machine guns, select fire two, four, or six thousand rounds per minute, voice activated, and with a recoil dampening enchantment so the massive firepower didn't knock him off course when it opened up. As if that weren't enough the Skyshredders had been paired with two six pack style miniature missile launchers, one on each side.
“Guns...” Crimson whispered and the two rotating barrel assemblies spun up smooth as silk.
“Linked, balanced and installed to your specs, Crimson.” The bubbly pink coated unicorn with the ammo bandoleer cutie mark said as she smiled proudly.
“You do beautiful work. Tell High Proof she can bill your drinks to my tab tonight.” He said with a smile after setting down a nice fat sack of bits, which made the unicorn squeal in delight.
Crimson exited the bay looking like a one pony army, leaving the rest of Gale Team feeling rather poorly equipped. Their weapons were either obsolete, or cobbled together from two or three broken weapons the REAF had cast aside. Their primary armaments were light machine guns that were not designed for pegasi to use in aerial combat, and ironically were nearly as heavy as the rest of their flight gear put together. Although Blaze and Heavy lift had it the worst. Blaze had the unhappy task of also having to carry a full size single shot rocket launcher that was a slightly modified earth pony weapon, and the bulk and weight of the weapon seriously restricted his movement. Heavy Lift on the other hoof, had a whole different kind of burden to carry. His task was to carry the skywagon that held their long range arcane spell booster array dome, as well as its operator, Radar. With everypony ready, the rag tag team of ponies made their way outside to the flight line, and prepared for take off.
“Morninglight Control this is Captain Crimson Wing, Gale Team requesting immediate take off.” He said confidently as his heads up display finished its final checks.
“Gale team this is Morninglight Control, you are clear for take off, vector 020 out of the blizzard barrier then continue as planned, good hunting.” The controller chimed back, and Gale Team lifted of in unison.
The snow was nearly blinding as they passed through the blizzard barrier, but as soon as soon they pierced it the sky immediately cleared. The skies were a beautiful blue, the bright sunlight washed over them making the ice crystals on their armor and PICS glisten, before they melted away. The beautiful white capped, purple mountains of the Dragonsback range stretched out as far as the eye could see, clear into the griffin territories. A low deck of clouds obscured all the little mining towns and villages that mined the northern lands rich gem supplies, which they were tasked with defending. Heavy Lift and Radar broke off from the formation, and climbed up high to scan the area while the rest of Gale Team scanned the peaks, hoping to spot something that would liven up the dullness of the routine patrol. Not five minutes later, their hopes were answered with a soft crackle of their radios.
“Pegasus Warning and Control System Wind-Walker to Gale Team. Several unidentified contacts detected seven miles out from you, and closing.” Radars voice nervously chimed over the radio.
“Are there any other patrols up right now?” Blaze asked, the nervous excitement of a soldier who had never seen battle riling up inside of him.
“No... Wait, we have an urgent message from Morninglight control, patching them through.” Radar said as he magically amplified the signal so it could reach Gale team clearly.
“Gale Team we have confirmed reports that a Griffin Airship as well as a full flight of escorts is inbound to attack Morninglight Airbase, move to intercept them!” The controller said frantically with the sound of chaotic scrambling in the background.
“Do we have any support scrambling?” Blaze asked, his excitement starting to mix uncomfortably with the butterflies that had formed in his stomach.
“Negative, there are no other teams that will be able to scramble in time, you're on your own.” The controller said and the line went dead silent.
“I figured you were going to say that, this is going to cost you extra.” Crimson said with a confidence that bordered on cockiness.
Blaze and Misty looked forward at their captain with a smile, his confidence growing infectious as the three flew off toward the enemy formation. The safeties came off, and they fell into battle formation as they drew in close to their target.
“Dive below the cloud deck and hit them from below, that will catch them off guard. We need to hit them hard and fast while we have the element of surprise.” Crimson said calmly as he quickly formulated his plan.
The three pegasi dove below the layer of clouds, weaving back and fourth as they skimmed the side of the mountains. They waited until they could hear the roar of the airship's engines right above them before bursting through the deck all guns blazing. The airship was different than any Blaze had ever seen, instead of resembling a sea faring vessel with a large balloon strapped to it instead of a sail, this was completely different. The airship had two cigar shaped armored balloons nestled against the fuselage with long wings spanned out on both sides and twin tails coming out the back of each balloon that connected in the rear via a long span that served as the rear elevator controls. The imposing airship was via a massive pusher prop at the rear of the body of the aircraft that sat between the two tails. The mighty airship had a three tiered design with one deck above and one below the main body. On the upper tier were the smaller guns used to pick off airborne threats as well as space for the griffin fliers to perch themselves, while the underbelly held the six massive fortification destroying cannons in three armored turrets, that would have looked more at home on a battleship than anything to grace the skies, paired with smaller automatic cannons. As soon as Gale Team caught sight of it, they knew that this was not a standard Harbinger class airship. The underside of the airship had a mural upon it of a griffin clad in the one of the most ridiculous looking, gaudy, gold plated armors Blaze had ever seen locked in mortal combat with a dragon. The massive cannon barrels were tipped with claws to make it look like the massive weapons were arms with outstretched talons, ready to strike, and the rest of the ship had gilded ornamental carvings and artistic lines making it seem more of a work of art than a warship.
"Guns..Fox two, Fox two!" Crimson yelled into his mic as his HUD gave him the locked on tone, and two missiles erupted forth from his PICS as his Skyshredders spun up and unleashed a hailstorm of lead at the propeller of the mighty ship.
“Don't bother aiming for the balloons, they're more than those guns can puncture, aim for the prop; if we damage that we can slow it down.” Crimson said after his two companions had bitten down on their triggers and released a burst into the balloons.
The two rookie pegasi bit down on their triggers again, and once more fired a wild burst, the recoil from the non-enchanted weapons making them incredibly hard to aim while trying to quickly climb. As they climbed up past the bottom deck Crimson quickly came up with step two of his by the strap of his saddle plan.
“Misty you're with me, we'll draw as many of them off the ship as we can, Blaze you land up top and try to sink that rocket into their powder magazine, that should be enough to fireball the whole airship.” Crimson said in a calm but intense tone as the three pegasi cleared the top deck.
The Griffins couldn't believe their eyes as the three ponies zoomed up from below them, until mere moments before they had thought that they had the element of surprise, but now they were dead in the clouds and had lost their engine to only three ponies without being able to fire a single shot to stop them. The griffin soldiers puffed out their chests proudly, and let out a roar in unison before taking off after Crimson and Misty as the two flew high above the ship, before turning and opening fire on the exposed flight deck, catching a few griffins as they were just lifting off. The burst from above tore into the meticulously polished hardwood flight deck sent splinters of broken wood flying as Blaze landed, on the stern of the ship. His mane itched, and a shiver raced up and down his spine as he crept forward along the side of the ship, wishing that he could find a sign that said something like "Danger do not launch a rocket into this hole or you'll blow up the ship.". The ship shook and rocked a bit as every gun on the upper tier that could be aimed high enough opened fire, trying to swat Crimson and Misty from the skies. He grew hopeful as he approached an open hatch that would let him down into the bowels of the ship, but these hopes were short lived. He felt like someone had pumped ice water into his veins as a cold feeling shot down from his ear tips to his hooves, as he saw the tall furred and feathered form emerge from the hatch. The female griffin was dressed head to claw in heavy glossy black metal armor with sterling silver trim, in a blur of feathers she turned to him and wrapped her razor sharp claw around his throat. Blaze whinnied and flailed as he felt her claws slice through his neck armor and start to dig into his tender flesh, he felt his warm blood start to trickle down as her claw tips pricked into his neck. He stared up into her cold angry eyes terrified, and bit down on the trigger of his light machine gun. The griffon’s eyes went wide, and her final sight was her own terrified expression reflected in the black mirrored visor of his helmet, an instant before the muzzle flash.
"Guns! Aaah fuck! Flares! Flares!" Crimson shouted into his headset, and the Skyshredders roared and a second griffin, his tenth kill, fell limp from the sky, followed by two bright red flares falling away from his armor, diverting a missile launched from the airship.
“Captain there's too many of them!!” Misty screamed into her headset before biting down on the trigger of her PICS sending a burst of automatic fire into another griffin, and nearly sending her into a spin with the recoil of the weapon.
The griffins swarmed all around them, taking any opportunity they could to unleash a volley of bolts from their drum fed automatic crossbows. The bolts scraped deep gouges in Crimson's armor as they ricocheted off of his advanced suit. Misty was not so lucky, the bolts that hit her armor shattered the poorly aged brittle armor plates sewn into her battle barding. She was starting to slow down, her body was aching from the bruises that now covered her body from every deflected shot. She began to shake as she felt the strain of every flap of her wings. Her armor felt heavier by the second, and her vision began to blur; she had never flown this hard with so little rest before and she was at her limit. Then it happened, a bolt hit her helmet, the world went black for a moment, and she came to a hover, her body refusing to do anything more. The griffin that had been tailing her took sharp aim, and pulled the trigger. A volley of three bolts flew free from the weapon, and they flew straight and true. Misty's eyes shot open as she felt her body recoil in searing pain as the three bolts pierced her armor, and buried themselves into her soft flesh. One had pierced her wing, sending her immediately into a dive, another hit home in her chest, just behind her left foreleg, and the final bolt found its mark in her thigh just below her cutiemark. She let out a sharp scream into her mouthpiece, and she began to fall towards the jagged rocks below. Crimson's pupils went wide as he heard that scream, he banked sharply, and spotted Misty falling, as well as the griffin who had shot her as he took aim at the falling filly. With a soft spoken angry word he let loose one of his missiles, and a moment later the griffin exploded. Only a scant few singed feathers, and an empty helmet were left to fall back to the ground.
“Pop your cloud ,Misty!” Crimson screamed, his voice pained as he watched her fall, unable to do anything to help or he too would be skewered.
“I'm hit bad captain.....I don't know if I can reach it.” She squeaked, her voice sounding pained, followed by a very wet cough he knew was full of blood.
“You have to try, Misty! Don't you dare give up on me!” He yelled to her, as he flew in a serpentine pattern, firing wildly at any griffin that came into his line of sight to try and draw them away from her.
The wounded pegasus winced and whined as her every movement sent jolts of sharp pain coursing through her body. She slowly clicked open a cover on her harness, and tapped the big red button under it before her leg fell limp, refusing to move another inch. A split second later she felt a soft puffy cushion below her, and she slowed to a stop before the puffy white enchanted cloud enveloped her, giving her a chance to take an emergency healing potion to stabilize herself. With Misty out of immediate danger Crimson turned his attention to the group of Griffins that had given chase. He narrowed his eyes and darted forward, pouring on the speed, and easily pulling ahead of the heavily laden griffins. Then once he had put nearly half a mile between himself and his pursuers, he looped up and came around one hundred and eighty degrees and started flying directly at them. His heart raced, his wings flapped as hard and fast as they could, as his pupils darted back and fourth over each of them while his PICS identified each griffin as a little red box on his HUD.
“Guns...”