Prologue
It was a cold night as Little Strongheart sat at her father’s nightly camp fire. The night was clear and the moon was full in the sky, casting its light on the ground in an almost ethereal glow. There was nothing around for as far as the eye could see save for their campsite. The fire crackled as one of the logs settled into the fire, throwing sparks skyward like a swarm of glowing fireflies.
The wind blew down the valley sending a chill through the princess of the buffalo tribe. She let out a shiver and pulled her blanket closer around her in an attempt to block the offending cold. As she looked to her father she could see that the wind had not fazed the great chief. He just merely sat in front of the campfire staring into the blaze in a state of meditation as he drew slow puffs from his pipe. The light of the campfire casting shadows across her father’s weathered face, showing all wrinkles across his weathered face. Occasionally she would watch as the smoke creeped out of his nose and crawl over his face as if her father’s very soul was escaping his body with every breath to convene with their ancestor’s in the afterlife at the great council fire.
She looked once again into the sky to gaze at the stars, each one twinkling like a diamond in the moonlight. About that time she saw one of them begin to move in the sky. Slowly at first but it soon picked up speed until it became a streak of light that reached across the black expanse, and as soon as it was there it was gone. The young princess had never seen such a sight and quickly called to her father.
“Father!”- She said pointing to the sky where the star had once been, yet the chief did not move a muscle and instead took another slow drag from his pipe. –“That star just fell from the sky. Why did it do that?”
Chief Thunderhooves just exhaled, allowing the smoke to permeate his skin before speaking to her, -“That was not a star my daughter. That was a warrior who has reached the end of his time on this world and is traveling into the great beyond. Every star in the sky represents all the people in this world. When we are born into this world a star is placed in the sky and when we die our star fades away.
“But warriors are given special privilege if they die bravely in battle, when they die their star flies across the night sky in a dazzling display of light so that everyone will know of their deeds.”
Little Stronghooves continued to look up at the sky in awe, wondering who this warrior was that her father spoke of.
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“Do you know the way to heaven?”
He could remember everything from that day, and yet he remembered nothing. It always came rushing back to him every time he closed his eyes like the water of a turbulent river, consuming him to such a point that it felt like he couldn’t even breathe. He can only make out certain things as the visions come to him in a discombobulated mess. The smell of burnt gunpowder burning the insides of his nose while the sounds of combat consume him, the feeling of his blood running down his face from some unseen head wound. He can feel that the bone of his left wing is broken by the pressure that the appendage is sending to his brain as it continues to swell. While the person that he had called his brother stood above him, the barrel of their pistol pressing hard into his skull as they asked the same question every time he had this dream.
"Do you know the way to heaven?"
He just smiled, not because he doesn’t fear his impending death. He smiles because maybe in the end he was never really alive at all. The last thing he hears before it all goes white is the hammer slamming against the firing pin.
Bang.
How long has it been now? How long had he lived in this uncertain existence, which felt like a dream? Even when he woke up from the dream it feels like he had just opened the door to another dream.
He slowly opened his eyes to the sound of someone calling to him, trying to get his attention.
“Hey Black, it’s time to go!”
“Yeah, yeah…”- he said as he lazily sat up on the comfy couch that he had been asleep on moments before.
Black Night, or Black as he was referred to by his coworkers, was an all black pegasus and even though he was only in this late twenties he could always be found asleep somewhere. He rubbed his hand through his unkempt short black hair as he tried to get his yellow irises to focus on the room around him. Yawning again as he stretched his powerful black wings he began to lace up his black combat boots, pulling the cords tight against his foot.
Standing from the couch he grabbed his tactical vest and rifle as he walked out the door and up a flight of metal stairs, his boots making a hollow clunk with each step. As he reaches the top of the stairs the view spreads out to show the main deck of an all steel ironclad, save for the glaring detail of the giant red blimp-like envelope that floated above him. For this ship didn’t need to travel by water as it passed through a layer of clouds, the name Celestia’s Remorse painted on its stern.
Airships like the Remorse used to roam across the skies as masters of the air in the past, but because of the recent war between the Kingdom of Equestria and The Coalition of Species they have been pretty much made obsolete by the rapid increase in weapons technology. Now the few that remain not rusting in a scrap yard serve on in many different roles from private transports for the rich to, like the Remorse, home for people of less reputable lifestyles.
Black gave one last yawn before throwing the vest on, being careful so as to not get it caught up in his black wings. Upon clasping the clips on the vest he slung the rifle in front of him, checking to ensure the chamber was clear before slipping in a magazine and racking forward the bolt. Reaching into a pants pocket he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, shaking the container slightly to raise a single stick above the top he plucks it out with his mouth. He grabs his lighter as he places the pack back in his pocket and flicking the lighter aflame he cups it with his free hand to block the fragile flame from a passing breeze as he lights the end of the cigarette. Taking a drag from the cig he begins to reminisce about his time on the ship so far as he felt the nicotine begin to work on his body.
It had been two years since he had joined up with the crew of the Celestia’s Remorse and started his life as a gun for hire, commonly referred to as Angels by the majority of folk. Although the nickname usually wasn’t used to describe people like him in a positive light. After the war the world seemed all too eager to cast aside all signs of the conflict and return to a peaceful quiet life. Armies were disbanded, all expect for the most ceremonial positions, weapons were melted down and reforged into plows and tools to build houses, and soldiers who had known nothing but fighting were now left without a purpose. Many soon found jobs in the growing economies of a new world trying to make itself into shining peaceful utopia.
But no matter how peaceful the world may seem to the masses, there are always dangers that creep in the shadows that need to be taken care of or jobs that certain countries would rather not sully their good image by partaking in, at least not publicly. That is where the Angels came in, taking the jobs that countries couldn’t do or didn’t want to do and in turn becoming their client’s saving angel. In the end it didn’t matter what the job was as long as the money was good.
Black Night had been picked up at the end of the war by the Remorse’s crew out of a military hospital, and soon had become indebted to them after they had paid off his medical bills. Now he had to work for them to pay his debt off so he could move on with his life. As he continued to think he took another puff on his cigarette, the embers softly lighting the black skin of his face.
The sky was black tonight, not even the moon was out, which would help provide them the extra protection that they would need to do what they where about to do. Walking over to the railing he looked over the edge down to the layer of cloud cover many feet below him. He heard the voice that had woken him up calling to him again. Turning, he saw a large orange skinned man who looked to be in his mid forties and unruly brown hair. The man wore the same black tactical clothes like Black but was armed with a scoped rifle as opposed to Black’s red dotted assault rifle. Also strapped to the man’s back was a sleek looking black backpack. He walked over next to Black by the rail and leaning back against it casually tossed his black skinned counterpart a smile.
“So Black, what do you think of the op? Go in, save a hostage, and evac out before they even have time to react.”
“Don’t like it at all,-” Black replied with a small grin of his own, “-But then again that’s why they came to us.”
Black pulled an earpiece out of his pant’s pocket and placed it into his left ear before speaking again, “-Lightning, are you reading me?”
A female voice came over the other end, -“Loud and clear Black. Here comes your final mission brief. You have cloud cover between five and ten thousand feet. Recon shows that there are three guards on the roof of the compound, and another six in the courtyard. Your target is on the second floor, third window from the left. Do you have the picture of the target for positive ID?”
“Roger that.”- Black replied as he pulled a picture from one of his vest’s many pouches.
The picture showed a girl around eight years old chasing after another kid at what looked like was a park. Her tanned skin contrasted sharply with her white hair which was accented with the white feathers that were associated with a griffin. Her tiny brown wings were a blur on her back as she tried to catch the other children. Looking at her smile that went from ear to ear Black had to wonder how scared she must be now being held hostage by her abductors, but he quickly forced the thoughts out of his mind and focused on the mission at hand.
Lightning continued with her brief, -“Black, your job will be to grab the package, while Big Oak you have top cover until Black is ready for evac. From there you will cover the evac, and we’ll meet you at the pickup. If there aren’t any questions get ready, drop zone in ten seconds.”
“Copy that,” - Black said in an almost bored tone as he and Oak stepped up onto the railing. He gave Oak a little smile as he pulled a black ski mask over his face and gave a salute -“See on the other side partner.”
With that he closed his eyes and allowed gravity to take over as he fell over the side of the airship. He could feel the wind whipping at his face; trying to angrily hold onto him as it howled past his ears. Slowly he opened his eyes, the wind drying them almost instantly. Looking around he began to get his bearings as the cloud layer approached quickly, he saw an object off to his right knowing that it was his associate Big Oak.
Soon he found himself reaching the cloud cover, which offered no resistance as he effortlessly passed through. For a few moments his world was consumed by the clouds, all he could see was an opaque grey as it washed over him. The moment didn’t last for long as he was soon out the other side and he could now see his target approaching.
The compound was nestled into the side of a cliff off in front of him. It wasn’t situated on the cliff like the castle at Canterlot, but instead looked like it had been carved actually out of the cliff side itself. The compound was square in shape and he could see that it stood about three storied tall judging by the rows of windows that he saw. There was no fancy architectural flair on the outside which told him that this place was originally build as either a monastery or outpost, but it’s original tenants had long since left. Leaving it open to be used by its newest guests.
It was the perfect spot to take a hostage, because due to the design of it, it could be easily protected from all sides by a small group of armed gunmen. In fact he could see the trio of guards standing on the roof looking around the compound for any sign of intrusion, but lucky for him they weren’t currently looking up.
He spotted his target on the side of the building, not that it was hard to, being as it was the only window that was boarded up. He began to judge his distance. He had to time this right, too soon and he’d slow down to much and run the risk of the guards on top of the building spotting him. Too late and he would hit his target too fast and run the risk of injuring himself in the process.
Two thousand…one thousand…five hundred… now!
He quickly extended his black wings, which caught almost immediately in the rushing wind and pulled him back. His vision blurred as the negative g’s hit his body, but he fought through it because he still had to hit his target as the window became ever increasingly closer.
He braced himself as he folded his wings back close to his side and curled into a ball. As he hit the window he felt the wood fight him for a moment before it shattered under his assault. Hitting his shoulder on the stone floor of the room he came rolling to a stop, his rifle up at the ready. His body protested against his self inflicted abuse, but he pushed the pain to the back of his mind something to worry about later after he got out of here. Finding the door to the room he swung the barrel of his gun to face it, in anticipation of someone coming at his sudden disturbance.
No sooner than did his barrel grace the door than did a figure come through, throwing the heavy wooden door open with such force that it slammed against the wall. He didn’t wait to give the figure a chance to prepare as he quickly put three rounds into his center mass, dropping them dead in the doorway. After a moment of waiting and seeing no one else try to enter the room, he moved to the door and dragged the body into the room before shutting and locking it.
Looking around the room while he had a moment he spotted his target sitting up in the bed, face pale from fright while she clutched the sheets close to her chest. She looked so scared and frightened like one would expect that a young girl of her age would be given the current situation. Their eyes meet and he could tell by her expression of horror that she was shocked beyond movement, and he didn’t have time to wait for her to come out of it.
Moving towards her she raised her hands in defense and began to claw desperately at his shadowy form as his arms reached out for her. She managed to latch onto one of his arms; he could feel her nails digging into his arm through his sleeve. He ignored the pain and yanked her off the bed as he pulled a harness out of one of his many pants pockets and began to put it on the frightened girl, who seemed to have given up on fighting him. As he finished pulling the straps tight across her he clasped her to his vest using the set of rings and hooks.
Khalia watched in apprehension as the black winged figure that had burst through her window just moments before lifted her up and strapped her to him. She felt him reach into one of his pockets and pull out what looked like a brick of white clay and slam it onto the door to her room. Since being kidnapped three weeks ago she had lost all hope of being rescued and upon first seeing this figure burst through the window and kill the guard she had thought that a demon from Hades itself had come to take her away. She still didn’t know who or even what he was but she hoped that they were there to help her.
Black finished placing the explosives on the door so as to cover their escape. By that time he knew that it was time to leave, but he had to make sure that Oak was in position, for fear of his charge being hit from the three gunmen that he had left on the roof above him. He could hear boots coming up the stairs outside the room and knew he didn’t have long.
“Oak?”- He asked expectantly into his comm set.
“Go.”- Was all he heard.
That one word is all he needed to hear as he ran towards the window that he had just come through minutes before. As he leaped out the window he heard the other gunmen banging on the door, and as soon as the effects of gravity took him again he pushed the detonator button which ignited the charge he had left in the room. He heard the explosion behind him and saw the fireball out of his peripherals as it light up the sky around him.
As he fell away from the compound cleanly he gave the all clear to Big Oak, for him to proceed with his escape as well. He felt the girl tighten her grip on his shirt as they fell, obviously frightened at their descent. The valley floor below him rushed towards them, and it seemed that they would crash into the trees that were steadily becoming bigger in Black’s vision. When he was about two hundred feet from the ground he slowly extended his wings and began to pull out of the dive, settling into a level glide just above the treetops.
Now that he and the target were safe and away he began to look around the sky for his partner. He found Big Oak high and back on his eight o’clock, the artificial wings from his glider pack extended out from his sides, providing cover for their escape. With a flap of Black’s wings he made his way towards the pickup point for their rendezvous with the Celestia’s Remorse. He was so focused on guiding them across the valley, that he almost didn’t hear the small voice of his charge.
“What are you? … Are you some kind of demon who means to take me to Hades?” - The little griffin girl asked, as she buried her face into his shirt and tightened her grip on him not daring to look into his yellow eyes.
Black Night gave a little chuckle as he replied to her, - “Sorry, I’m just a humble angel of mercy.”