//------------------------------// // Taking the Plunge // Story: Born of Sin: Descent to Madness // by Not so New Brony //------------------------------// Inside the central observation room, Stedson was busy going over some of the proposed changes to the Iron Feather’s training program that the instructors had submitted to him for his approval. He tossed one of these proposals into the reject pile when he saw Whiplash’s name on it and was about to check on the next one when one of the technicians on duty interrupted him. “Doctor Cog, sensors just detected a battlecruiser warping into the station’s outer perimeter.” the technician stated while typing away at his terminal. “ID match confirmed, it’s the Hydra. Vice Admiral Day is here.” “Open a channel to them.” Stedson ordered. The technician nodded as he typed the commands into the system. One of the monitors in the observation room flickered before Steel Gaze’s face appeared on screen. “Inspector Gaze? I wasn’t aware that you were joining the Vice Admiral for his visit.” Stedson said in faked astonishment. Steel Gaze glared at him before answering, “If you must know, Vice Admiral Day requested that we accompany him for the inspection after Inspector Thrift insisted on it.” “I take it that the others are with you as well?” “Indeed, Inspector Keeper and Thrift will be joining us. You don’t have a problem with that do you, doctor?” the pegasus asked, narrowing his eyes at him. “None whatsoever. Shall I come and personally greet the vice admiral upon your arrival?” Stedson offered, trying to change the subject. “Fine, just make sure that you show him the utmost respect he deserves, or you’ll have me to answer to. Is that clear?” Steel Gaze said threateningly. Stedson nodded calmly in response, “Crystal clear…” The inspector let out an audible growl of annoyance before cutting off the video feed. Stedson then got up and walked out the door, he looked forward to his last meeting with Day. He was so eager that he found himself humming a catchy tune as he walked down the hallway. It’s going to be a happy day, a happy day indeed. Due to the Hydra’s size, it was unable to pass through the asteroid field that surrounded the hidden station so Happy Day and his entourage of inspectors took a shuttle, which was much smaller and far more maneuverable than the bulky battlecruiser, to the space station. Steel Gaze was in his seat aboard the shuttle, drumming his metal fingers impatiently on the armrest while he and his fellow inspectors waited for the shuttle to arrive at the station. Unfortunately, his constant drumming was wearing on Peace Keeper’s nerves. “Must you make such a racket?” the unicorn complained. Steel Gaze stopped his drumming, “What did just say?” he asked, his voice tinged with annoyance. “I said: Must you make such a racket? Honestly, some of us have important matters to attend to and I certainly can’t do that with all that noise you’re making. Why can’t you do something more useful than glaring at others?” Steel Gaze suddenly got up and grabbed the collar of Peace Keeper’s suit, pulling him out of his seat. “I don’t want to hear this from someone like you so why don’t you take your stupid lectures and shove it up your-” he stopped when he felt Spend Thrift’s hand on his shoulder. He glared at the earth pony, “What do you want!” he growled. “Whoa…easy there Gaze, the boss wouldn’t be happy if he saw you two fighting like a couple of schoolcolts in the playground. Now would he?” Spend Thrift said as he gestured to Happy Day, who was sitting at the front of the shuttle, busy reading a report on his datapad. His words had the desired effect when Steel Gaze let go of the unicorn, they glared at each other for a few seconds before the pegasus stomped off to the front of the shuttle, muttering something about having a word with the pilot. “You have my thanks Inspector Thrift…” Peace Keeper said as he straightened out the creases in his suit, “…though I have been meaning to ask, why are you out of uniform?” pointing at his colleague’s attire. Unlike the other two inspectors who had decided to wear the black uniforms of Dominion Intelligence for the inspection, Spend Thrift wore a brown business suit instead. “Oh, I was planning to go gambling in Consortium Space after this and I thought the uniform would draw too much unwanted attention.” He explained. “Couldn’t you just change after the inspection?” the unicorn suggested. “What, and waste all the time I put into my good looks?” he said as he ran a hand through his mane before flashing a smile at the unicorn. Unable to find an appropriate response, Peace Keeper nodded and quietly sat back down. Steel Gaze soon returned and the two inspectors noticed that his sour mood had improved; as he now had a smug look on his face as he walked back to his own seat. He didn’t even glare at Peace Keeper “What’s gotten you in such a good mood?” Spend Thrift asked. “Oh, the pilot and I just had a nice little chat about flight schedules.” he answered, chuckling darkly. He smiled when the shuttle’s PA system turned on, the pilot voice sounded nervous as he shakily made his announcement. “M-m-may I have your attention please. We will be arriving at Ca-Castanar Station mo-momentarily so please re-return to your seats and prepare for do-docking.” When the announcement was over, Peace Keeper gave his colleague a disapproving look, “Really Inspector Gaze, strong-arming the pilot? The poor stallion sounded like he was about to cry his eyes out. Could you be any more crass?” Steel Gaze didn’t react to the remark and merely shrugged his shoulders, not bothering to give a proper answer before settling back into his seat. The rhythmic drumming of his fingers soon resumed, annoying the unicorn to no end. Spend Thrift smirked as he watch Peace Keeper grumbling in his seat, sulking like a young colt who didn’t get his way. He excused himself before returning to his own seat as well. He smiled when he saw the station coming into view through the porthole. “Right on schedule…” After his less than enthusiastic greeting to Happy Day, he had the guards escort the stallion to the observation room. Stedson then went over to the trio of inspectors and greeted them as well, but with a bit more emotion. “Good to have you here on Castanar Station again, inspectors. I take it that you’ll be joining Vice Admiral Day and I for the inspection as well?” Stedson inquired. “It is good to see you again Doctor Cog, but no, we won't be accompanying the Vice Admiral on his visit.” Peace Keeper stated. “You…You’re not?” Stedson stammered, clearly not expecting this at all. “No. We’re here to carry out a separate inspection of the facility while you show Vice Admiral Day the Iron Feathers.” Peace Keeper explained, “He’s been looking forward to seeing their progress with his own eyes.” “Shall I have one of my assistants guide you around while I attend to the Vice Admiral?” Stedson offered. “No.” Steel Gaze said, interrupting Peace Keeper own response, “That won’t be necessary doctor, we’ll carry out the investigation on our own…” he leaned down to Stedson’s height, “…unless you have a problem with that, do you doctor?” Stedson quickly recovered and replied, “None at all Inspector Gaze.” and stared right back at Steel Gaze, who didn’t expect the normally cowed pegasus to challenge him so openly. So he intensified his glare but Stedson didn’t back down one inch, which infuriated the pegasus inspector. He balled his hand into a fist, ready to put Stedson back in his place but stopped when Spend Thrift intervened. “We’re kind of running kind of late already Gaze, so mind leaving it for later?” “This isn’t over doctor…count on it.” the pegasus inspector promised before stomping off angrily down one of the hallways. Peace Keeper sighed at his colleague’s behavior before he turned to Spend Thrift. “Shall we be on our way then?” the unicorn asked. “Nah, you go on ahead, Keeper. I’ll join ya in a bit after I have a little chat with Cog here.” Peace Keeper let out a frustrated sigh at the improper form of address before leaving to join the disgruntled pegasus. Once he was sure they were alone, Spend Thrift turned to Stedson and frowned, “You do realize that little staring contest of yours with Mr Gaze was a waste of time don’t you, Doctor Cog? After all, time -” “-is money.” Stedson finished for him “I know that Mr Pincher, I just wanted to have a little bit of fun with Inspector Gaze before I see him among the dead.” The disguised mercenary cocked his eyebrow, giving him a strange look. “Very well Doctor Cog, I’ll allow that…‘slight delay’ in the schedule. However, I suggest that you be on your way before Day starts getting suspicious.” Stedson frowned at the mentioned of the stallion’s name and nodded, “Of course, Mr Pincher.” he then trotted off to the observation room where Happy Day awaited him. “Hmm, guess I better set the stage before the main event starts.” Penny Pincher said to himself before making his own way down the hallway to join the two inspectors. While Vice Admiral Day and his entourage were away at the station, the Hydra maintained its position outside the asteroid field. The Hydra was an old Behemoth-class battlecruiser, which while still in use by the majority of the Dominion Armada, were slowly being retired to make way for its more modern successor, the Minotaur-class. The Hydra itself was a survivor of a border dispute with the Confederates decades ago in which the Dominion lost control of the world. Due to the higher ups wanting to forget the humiliating defeat they suffered, compounded by the high cost of repairs, the damaged cruiser was left to rust away in a disused dry-dock on Dylar IV. So nobody complained when the Vice Admiral paid the shipyards a visit and restored the decommissioned vessel for his own personal use. Especially when he bribed the dock workers and officials to look the other way. Aboard the ship, its crew was tense as they had been ordered to be on the lookout for anything amiss. Though the ship was in a relatively remote location and far from prying eyes, it was still outside the fringes of Dominion-controlled space so the captain had ordered the crew to be on high alert and the shield to be active at all times in case of a surprise attack. Some of the crew-members thought the captain was just being paranoid due to the Vice Admiral being involved, but orders were orders, even if they thought it was a bit much. However, the captain’s precautions paid off when a volley of missiles came out of nowhere struck the Hydra’s shields, which flared from the impact, stopping the missiles from damaging the hull. More missiles impacted the shields before alarms went off throughout the ship, the crew mobilized as they reported to their battle stations. “Will someone turn off that blasted noise and tell me what the hell hit us!” the captain demanded. “Sir! Scanners just picked up an unidentified capital class cruiser with multiple fighters moving in on our position from the portside.” The crewman then put the image of the enemy vessel on screen. “Damn pirates, of all times for them to show up.” he muttered. "What are your orders, captain?” “Helmsman, turn the ship around so we can bring our forward guns to bear.” “Yes sir.” The helmsman called out as he carried out the command. “Scramble our fighters to intercept the first attack wave. Charge up the laser batteries and tell the crew to prepare for ship-to-ship combat. And contact the garrison on Castanar Station, alert them of the situation, we’re going to need their help if things get out of hoof...” he paused for a moment as he considered his next order, “…and start charging the main cannon.” “Captain, are you sure? It’s just one ship.” a crewman spoke up. The captain narrowed his eyes at the crewman.“Are you trying to give me an order, lieutenant?” The crewman quickly shook his head. “Then carry out the orders I've given!” The crewman gulped and nodded before relaying the orders to the rest of the ship. Inside the station’s command centre, Penny Pincher was busy typing in several commands at one of the many consoles as he went about disabling the station’s automated defenses and sensors.He had just finished shutting down the last of the sensors when one of the other terminals starting beeping. Someone was trying to contact the station. Having an idea of who it was, he accepted the transmission. A few seconds passed before he heard the voice of what he assumed to be the Hydra’s communications officer coming from the monitor. It was an audio-only transmission. “Castanar Station! This is the Hydra requesting immediate reinforcements! We are under attack by multiple unknown hostiles! I repeat we are-” “Brace for impact!” someone shouted, before something exploded in the background, breaking the signal into static before it reestablished itself. “I repeat! This is the Hydra requesting immediate reinforce-” Penny Pincher then cut the transmission, he had heard all he needed to know. He then pulled out a pocket watch from his suit and looked at the time. “Hmm, right on time. Things should get interesting very soon.” He said to himself before he brought one of the sensors back online. It showed him a view of the Hydra and its squadron of fighters as they fought against the first wave of the Diamond Dog’s attack fighters. “Very interesting indeed…” Laser bolts and missiles blanketed the area around the Hydra as its laser turrets fired on the enemy fighters, trying to shoot down the high-speed fighters, but they kept cloaking themselves before the gun crews could get a proper lock on them, making them miss their targets nine times out of ten. One of these cloaked fighters fired a salvo of missiles, some of which made it past the point defense system and struck the battlecruiser’s shields, causing it to fail and fade away. “Captain! The shields are down!” a crewman shouted. “Then get them back online!” the captain ordered as he slammed his fist down on the armrest, “Damn it! How the hell did they get their hooves on our cloaking tech!” the captain growled before his console lit up, giving him the latest damage report. Although the shields had kept the ship itself safe from the brunt of the attacks, they still suffered heavy losses. Three of their fighters were shot down in the enemy’s last attack and four more had been crippled, leaving the ship with less than half their fighters still operational. Though he'd hate to admit it, the pirates were extremely skilled. “Where the hell is my reinforcements!” the captain shouted impatiently. “They’re not responding any of our hails, sir.” The comms officer replied, “Something must have happened at the station.” “Damn it, so we’re on our own then. What’s the status on the main cannon?” “The Yamato Cannon is at 78 percent charge and rising.” “Good, tell all fighters to disengage and return to the ship to rearm. We’re going to finish them in one -” he was interrupted when the alarms suddenly went off again, “Oh, what’s going wrong now?” the captain muttered under his breath. “Sensors are picking up multiple energy signatures near the enemy vessel.” “Put it on screen!” the captain ordered. A holographic screen projected itself before the crew, showing them a view of the enemy ship. He saw the space behind the enemy capital ship becoming distorted as it twisted in on itself before exploding out in a brilliant flash of light, blinding him and the rest of the bridge crew as they tried to shield themselves from the light. When the captain was able to see again, his eyes widened when he saw that a fleet of ships had appeared out of nowhere, form up around the capital ship. The enemy fleet consisted of the one capital ship, accompanied by three cruisers, two frigates, and a troop carrier, all of them bearing the distinct logo of the Diamond Dogs on their hulls. Many of the Hydra’s crew though that it was the end for them and scrambled to prepare themselves for the oncoming onslaught, but minutes passed by and nothing happened. Confused by the lack of alarms and explosions, they cautiously looked back at the screen, and saw that the enemy fleet hasn’t opened fire on them. The mercenary fleet was silently holding its position, as if they were waiting for something. This made everybody aboard the battlecruiser very uneasy. “What are they waiting for…?” the captain muttered to himself as he and the crew anxiously waited for the enemy’s next move. The tense silence was broken when one of the consoles started beeping. “Sir, someone is hailing us.” “Is it the enemy fleet?” “Negative sir, it’s from Castanar Station. Should I respond?” “From the station? Could be the garrison commander.” he muttered before he turned to the communications officer, “Very well, make it so.” Another holo-screen appeared next to the one with the enemy fleet on it. The screen flickered as the transmission was established. The captain raised his brow in confusion when he saw one of the inspectors on screen instead of the garrison commander. “Inspector Thrift, what are you doing there? And where the buck is the garrison commander? We have an emergency situation here!” “Now, now captain, there’s no need for such language.” The captain became wary when he noticed that the inspector’s voice was off. “And as for the commander, he’s right over there.” He said before standing aside, showing the garrison commander on the floor along with the rest of his command staff. “Though I doubt he’s in a talkative mood at the moment.” “What did you do to them?” “They’re not dead if that’s what you’re thinking. Not yet at least.” He added threateningly, “Putting that aside, allow me to properly introduce myself…” the fake inspector then closed his eyes and reached for the metal band around his neck, and pressed a button. The captain and his crew became wide eyed when they saw the color in the ‘inspector’s fur and mane change as splotches of brown appeared on them, making him briefly resemble a pinto pony. The color spread out over his body until his fur and mane was completely brown. He opened his eyes just as the last of the blue in them darkened to brown as well. He smiled when he saw the crew’s reaction at his ‘transformation’. “I am Mr Penny Pincher, El Contador for the Diamond Dog Security Firm. And I’m here to ask you for your surrender.” The captain quickly recovered when he heard the mercenary’s demands. “Do you expect me to surrender just because you asked?” The captain shot back. “No. I expect you to surrender because it’s the only way for you and your crew to make it out this alive...Or would you rather face total annihilation at our hooves?” Penny Pincher asked coolly. The captain grew quiet when he heard this. “You have five minutes to decide before I order my men to open fire.” The screen then went dark, the transmission now ended. Knowing that such a decision shouldn’t be made alone, the captain turned to his crew for an answer. Unfortunately a significant number of the bridge crew were were resocs, mindlessly waiting for his next order, whatever it may be. More than half of the handful of officers under his command shook their heads at him, silently voicing their opinion on the matter while the rest stayed silent. He had his answer. “Open a channel to the garrison.” A few seconds passed before Penny Pincher’s face reappeared on the screen. “Ah captain, you’re a little earlier than I predicted, but I take it that you have come to a decision?" the mercenary asked expectantly. “Yeah…Buck off!” he swore, “Everyone back to your battle stations!” he ordered, the bridge crew immediately returned to their duties as they prepared themselves for the fight of their lives. He then turned to one of the crew and asked. “What’s the status on the cannon?” “The Yamato Cannon is approaching maximum charge, captain.” “Good, target the capital ship and fire on my command.” the captain then turned his head back to the screen; Penny Pincher had an unnervingly calm expression on his face. “I highly recommend that you reconsider your decision captain. The Diamond Dogs could use you and your men among our ranks.” Penny Pincher offered, hoping to defuse the situation. “Buck you! The Dominion doesn’t make deals with mercenaries and we’re not going to start now!” “Captain, the Yamato Cannon is locked on target.” One of the crew called out. The captain then stood up, swept his arm out in a dramatic flourish and gave out what could very well be his final order. “Fire!” The bow of ship hummed with power as the Yamato Cannon focused the energy for its attack but the the cannon unexpectedly went silent. Before they could wonder why the cannon didn’t fire, a violent explosion rocked the ship, sending the captain tumbling to the ship floor. A moment passed before the alarms suddenly went off , “What the buck was that?” the captain swore as he got back into his seat, “Did the enemy fleet open fire?” “Negative captain, the enemy fleet is still maintaining its position. Most of the damage seems to be concentrated in one of the engine rooms.” The crewman answered before another series of explosions were set off, sending tremors through the Hydra. The bridge was soon flooded with damage reports and distress calls from all over the ship as it continued to rumble from the explosions. The captain instantly regretted his decision when he looked at his console and saw the growing list of damages throughout the ship. Over a half of the hangar bays had been lost to the explosions while the rest had been set on fire, all their fighters, now reduced to burning wrecks. Half the forward gun batteries had been lost in explosions, along with the gun crews operating them. Fire control teams were calling for backup as they struggled to put out the fires spreading all over the ship. More reports kept pouring in as more of the Hydra’s systems started to fail one after the other, only a few of the more critical systems still remained operational as the ship was slowly being torn apart. One of these was the communication system, which received one last transmission. The captain looked up at the flickering screen to see Penny Pincher shaking his head disappointedly at him. “I tried to be civil with you…even offered you and your crew a place in our organization.” The mercenary sighed, “We would have rewarded you generously too, but you threw it away. And now, you’ve forced my hoof.” He then raised his closed hand to the screen, showing the captain what he held. His eyes widened when he realized what it was. It was a detonator, and it was armed! His ears perked up when he heard a distinct beeping noise coming from under his seat. “Goodbye captain.” He said, and pulled the trigger. The captain let out one more defiant shout, before the bomb detonated and engulfed the bridge in an explosive inferno. Penny Pincher watched the column of smoke spewing from what remained of the Hydra’s bridge as the rest of the explosives tore the battlecruiser apart. It wasn’t long before the reactors overloaded from the fire damage, causing a chain reaction which created a powerful blast, turning the battlecruiser into a massive fireball. Once the fire dissipated into the vacuum of space, all that was left of the Hydra were pieces of its scorched hull that the Diamond Dog fleet passed over as they moved in to establish a perimeter around the asteroid field as planned. The troop carrier then deployed several dropships that made their way to the station. He then switched the video feed to the facility’s interior and smiled when he saw that everyone didn’t seem to have noticed the Hydra’s destruction, most probably due to them being too focused on the Vice Admiral’s visit and the inspection. He looked back at his pocket watch and saw that they were ahead of schedule, which pleased him quite a bit. “Hmm, now to see if Doctor Cog’s ‘daughters’ are all that they’re cracked up to be…” he said before pulling something out from his suit. It was the data drive Spend Thrift had delivered to him a few months ago. He plugged it into the console and accessed the device; It contained only one audio file. He programmed the computer to play the file throughout the facility after a while, more than enough time for his men to reach the station and secure the docking bay for reinforcements. He smiled when he heard gunfire outside the command centre, indicating that the insertion teams had finally arrived. He stepped outside and saw his power armored subordinates finishing off one of the station’s guards. They instinctively pointed their weapons at him but lowered them when they realized who he was. “Ah, you’re right on time, secure the command centre for me but don’t kill the prisoners unless I say so, got it?” he said as he eyed the squad of mercenaries who acknowledged the order with a series of nods and salutes. “Good, I need two of you to come with me. I have an appointment with the good doctor to keep.” Inside the main training hall, 588 was honing her skills in hoof-to-hoof combat alongside her sisters as they practiced their punches and kicks on the punching bags before them. The instructors passed them by, silently nodding at the progress they made. She stopped when she saw Stedson on the walkways above them. He was leading Happy Day down to the chamber where she and her sisters disposed of their ‘beloved’ pets. “You there! Who said you could stop!” one of the instructors barked, it was Whiplash, one of the stallions that were responsible for 36’s ‘adoption’. 588 gritted her teeth as she felt the urge to break the stallion’s neck right there and then but she knew she had to wait for the signal. “Sorry sir! I was just a bit tired.” She lied, faking a wheeze. Whiplash frowned at her weakness. “Well suck it up soldier and get back to it!” he barked. “Sir!” she saluted before turning back to the punching bag. She then imagined Whiplash’s face on it before delivering a forceful punch into the bag of sand, the next face was Happy Day’s which received a similar treatment. She soon fell into a rhythm as she continued punching the imaginary faces on punching bag over and over again, eagerly waiting for the chance to take on the real thing. Whiplash nodded approvingly at 588’s sudden improvement in her performance before he turned around and spread his wings. He was about to take off when the facility’s intercom turned on and started filling the training hall, and the rest of the facility, with music. “What’s going on? This better not be someone’s idea of a joke.” Whiplash growled as the music was already grating on his nerves. “If I find out whoever did this I’ll…” his voice trailed off when he and his fellow instructors noticed that all the Iron Feathers had stopped training and were just standing there, all of them with big smiles on their faces. “Hey! Who said you could slack off?” Whiplash demanded, and approached one of the Iron Feathers but she ignored him. He glared at the insubordinate filly and grabbed her by the shoulders, “I’m talking to you, soldier!” He shouted and was about to turn the filly around to face him, when he heard somone scream. He turned and saw an instructor under attack by the Iron Feathers. The stallion managed to fight off some of the Iron Feathers before their sheer numbers overwhelmed him. The fillies started pummeling him mercilessly with their precision gloves, which were soon splattered with his blood. The other instructors rushed to save him but immediately found themselves fighting for their own lives when the rest of the Iron Feathers turned on them as well. Whiplash pulled out his gauss pistols and aimed at a nearby Iron Feather, but just as he was about pull the trigger, an Iron Feather jumped onto his back and plunged a scalpel into his left shoulder, causing him to drop one of his guns as he cried out in pain. He grabbed a fistful of her mane with his free hand and pulled her and the scalpel she held onto, off his back before slamming her hard into the ground, “Time for you to die!” he growled, and fired his pistol. 588 rolled out of the way, dodging the shot just as it hit the spot where her head had been seconds ago. She threw the bloody scalpel right into the instructor’s face. “Arghh! My eye!” Whiplash screamed before he pulled the scalpel from what was left of his left eye; he threw the bloody blade away and glared at the smiling filly with his one good eye. “You! You’ll pay for this!” he swore before taking off into the air, dodging a second scalpel as it flew past him. He fired at her with his one pistol but with the loss of one eye, his accuracy suffered as his shots went wide off their mark. His pistol soon ran out of bullets, forcing him to reload in the air. 588 simply stood there, watching him with the ever-present smile on her face, as if she was taunting him to make his next move. Crying out in frustration, Whiplash suddenly went into a dive, firing potshots at the Iron Feather. A wicked smile crept onto his face when he saw his shots were steadily getting closer and closer to his target but his smile vanished when he saw the filly holding his other gauss pistol in her hands. She raised the gun and fired a single shot. He gasped when he felt the round tear through one of his wings, followed by the sensation of falling before he met the ground with a bone breaking crash. 588 lowered Whiplash’s pistol and walked toward the instructor as he laid there on the floor in a heap. He tried to defend himself with his pistol but the Iron Feather simply kicked the weapon out of his grasp, disarming him. Whiplash glared at her, “Well, what are you waiting for?” he shouted in between labored breaths, “Finish me!” 588 was more than willing to oblige him and raised her pistol, but changed her mind and said, “No, you’re not getting off that easy…” and fired at his legs. He cried out in agony when the rounds tore through his flesh and shattered the bones underneath, crippling him even further. She threw the gun away and pulled out another scalpel. Realizing what she was about to do to him, Whiplash tried to crawl away, but with his crippled limbs, he didn’t make it very far before the filly plunged the scalpel into his back. The filly hummed along with the music, which drowned out the instructor’s screams as she took her time cutting into him. She needed to warm up before she gets to Happy Day. After all, it would be a shame if he died on the operating table before she was done with him. Just go and listen It'll start with a smile It won't wipe off your face no matter how hard you try… The Diamond Dogs’ assault was well underway when 588 finally stepped out of the training hall; her sisters were still busy dealing with the remaining instructors. Their former instructors may have been more experienced but it was only a matter of time before her sisters overwhelms them. 588 hummed along to the music as she made her way through the facility, making sure that she avoided any fighting along the way to the disposal chamber. She didn’t want to waste any more time than she already had. She just couldn’t wait to ‘operate’ on the stallion that cause her and her daddy so much suffering. The smile on her face grew even wider as she imagined all the ways she would cut into Happy Day as she vivisects him, and how he would scream from the agony. She wondered if he would scream as loud as Whiplash did before he passed out. Who knew a stallion could scream like that. The music started to fade as she went deeper into the facility where the disposal chamber was located, but the smile remained on her face. She almost broke out into a run when she saw her destination so close but resisted the urge to do so when she heard Stedson talking to someone. She stopped just outside the doorway and listened in. “Stedson, when the Dominion finds out mercenaries captured a top secret facility, they’ll come after you. I can get you out of this.” She heard Happy Day say as he tried to bargain for his life. “This station doesn’t exist,” Stedson replied. “You can’t get me out of this, you killed me twelve years ago remember? I’m just waiting for a certain someone to show.” 588 decided to make her entrance and walked into the chamber. “Speak of the devil, there she is!” she smiled as Stedson introduced her to Happy. “This is 588. She was a very close friend of 522. I told her what really happened to her sister.” The filly's smile faltered for a brief moment at the mention of her late sister. Seeing this, Stedson changed the subject. “Fun fact, she also holds that nine hour record I mentioned earlier. She’s been looking forward to this for a while.” “I plan to break that record today.” She said with a smile that grew wider when she set her sights on Happy Day. Her smile made the stallion’s blood run cold when he saw the predatory look in her eyes. “Stedson don’t do this!” Happy Day shouted desperately but Stedson ignored him and turned to the mercenaries. “Guards, do us a favor and break his remaining legs. Then take him to medical. 588 needs to practice her first aid,” requested Stedson. 588 became ecstatic at this since she’ll get to use everything she needs for a proper procedure but held in her excitement as she watched Stedson lean in closer to Happy Day and said. "You broke my wings Happy. But you also let me live out my dream, so I can let that go. But what you forced me to do to 522... I'm afraid I just can't look the other way on that one." With an affirmative nod from Penny Pincher, the guards broke both of Happy’s legs with a kick from their power-armored legs. The stallion screamed in pain, his screaming soon turned to whimpers as the guards lifted him up by his bleeding forelegs and dragged him out into the hallway, with 588 following behind. The fighting in the facility had more or less stopped by now, with the Diamond Dogs victorious so the trek to the medical bay was relatively uneventful save for Happy Day’s occasional pleas for mercy, which were mostly ignored by the guards and the single Iron Feather following them. “Please…I promise that you’ll never see me again…just let me go.” Happy begged again when they entered the medical bay. The guards tossed him onto one of the operating tables and locked him in place. The guards turned to leave until 588 stopped them. “Wanna stay and watch?” the filly offered, the guards shrugged to each other before they took a seat on the other tables. The guards watched on curiously as the filly went about collecting various surgical tools for Happy Day’s ‘operation’, the majority of which were scalpels and sutures. They wondered what she would do with so many tools. “Wha-what are you going to do to me?” Happy Day asked fearfully as he watched the filly approach him, she had a needle in one hand and some sutures in the other. She ignored him as she stuck the needle into one of his bleeding forelegs and started stitching up the wound, before doing the same to the other foreleg. Her actions confused Happy Day but made him slightly hopeful of his survival. “Are…are you letting me go?” he asked. “Nope…” she replied, before exchanging the needle and sutures for a scalpel and forceps, “…I just didn’t want you to bleed to death before I broke my record. Can’t have that, now can we?” the stallion merely gulped at her words as he made another plea for his freedom. “Please…I’ll do anything you want…just let me go!” he begged, any shred of dignity he may have left, long gone as he started crying his eyes out. 588 stopped just as she was about to cut into his flank. “Anything huh…?” The filly asked as she playfully tapped the forceps against her chin, pondering on what she would want from him. “Yes! Anything you want!” Happy cried out hysterically as tears started to flow down his cheeks. The guards almost pitied for the poor stallion. Almost. Her smile returned when she thought of a good response, “What I want, is for you to scream for Mercy!” she declared before stabbing him in the shoulder. He screamed as she made the first of many incisions. While the Diamond Dogs were busy securing the facility and rooting out any remaining pockets of resistance, one of their soldiers was making his way to the docking bay. He stopped when the gates opened up and a fresh squad of Diamond Dogs entered the station. The soldier quickly checked the ammo count on his gauss rifle and saw that he had only 15 rounds left, hardly enough to take on a whole squad. He tensed up when the mercenaries got closer to him; one of them gave him a hard look. He started to sweat under the mercenary’s scrutinizing gaze and was about to make a run for it when the mercenary pulled away and said, “I see that you got a little roughed up in there huh?” the mercenary commented, pointing at the soldier’s power armor. The soldier blinked under the tinted visor and looked at his power armor. The suit was badly damaged, parts of the armored plating was either missing or riddled with bullet holes, the worst of the damage was the left shoulder where the pauldron appeared to have been blown off, exposing the servos underneath, which were giving off sparks and smoke. “Y-yeah…one of those damn resocs got lucky. I was going to get this fixed back at the transport.” The soldier replied, gesturing to the smoking servo. “Better grab a replacement suit then, faster that way.” He said before turning to his squad, “You guys go on ahead, I’m gonna help this guy with his suit, don’t want somebody to jump him while he’s like this.” his team nodded to him before moving on. “You don’t have to do this. I’ll be fine on my own.” The soldier protested. “Nah, its fine. Come on.” The mercenary insisted as he led the soldier to the docking bay. The gates slid aside as the soldier followed his self-appointed guide to one of the dropships docked next to the Hydra’s shuttle, he noticed the trails of blood near the shuttle, indicating what had happened to the crew. They went up to one of the dropships and entered through the open bay doors. Inside, he saw that the dropship carried a small armory’s worth of equipment as a number of spare suits of power armor lined one side of the walls while weapons and spare cases of ammo lined the other. “Here.” The mercenary said as he gestured to the empty suits of power armor, “You can get changed and-” the rest of the words died in his mouth when he suddenly found himself looking down the barrel of the soldier’s gauss rifle being held close to the his helmet. “What the buck are you do-” the soldier cut him off midsentence when he pulled the trigger and fired all 15 armor piercing rounds straight into the helmet, killing the Diamond Dog as he fell in a heap on the floor. “That was for Peace Keeper, you buckers…” Steel Gaze said as he raised his visor. He opened up the power armor and fell out onto the floor of the with a thud. His DI uniform was torn and bloody from the injuries he had accumulated during the Diamond Dog’s assault. He struggled to his hooves before dragging himself past the dead mercenary and up the ladder to the cockpit. He was thankful that there was no one inside as he didn’t have the energy left to fight let alone subdue anyone else at this point. Once he got into the pilot’s seat, he closed the troop bay doors and started the ship’s engines, which got the attention of some Diamond Dogs who were escorting Penny Pincher to his ship. “What the hell? Who authorized that transport for launch?” the squad leader yelled into his comlink. “No one sir. The pilot is not responding to us.” At that moment, the dropship fired off its thrusters and lifted off the hangar floor. “What the, someone’s hijacking one of our ships! Shoot it down!” the mercenary ordered as he and the rest of his squad opened fire on the ship but it fled into the asteroid field before their weapons could do any significant damage to it. “Damn it! Tell all ships to target that dropship and blast it to pieces!” the squad leader yelled into his comlink. “Roger that.” “That won’t be necessary sargeant.” Penny Pincher said as he opened his communicator. “All ships, cancel that last order. Let that ship go.” “But sir!” the squad leader protested, he was silenced when Penny Pincher raised his hoof. “Not to worry sargent, my associates and I will handle this…” Penny Pincher looked at the retreating dropship and smiled. “…It appears that Miss Sparkle will have her scapegoat after all.”