"Ngh!"
That hurt!
Gritting my teeth and pressing on, I applied the bandage roll to two more places before tucking it back into my saddle bag. It wasn't until the fighting had ended and we all had a moment to breath that we really took a moment to survey the damage. We'd all come out a little worse for wear but not too bad, considering who we were pitted up against. We still had both ammo and charge in our crystals. Both Talon and Alpha had made it out okay, not to mention we finally had the crate under our control. But not everything was good news.
The struggle had been bloody for both sides. We had clearly outnumbered the agents of Black Forest, but they took their fair share with them. The body count on the Dogs of War had been left at about thirteen, half their numbers, and a few of the bodies had been left unrecognizable. Only their dog tags hinted towards their identities. Those still breathing suffered injuries ranging from splinters to broken bones.
We in Talon Company held no casualties, however we were seriously injured. Stonewall lost three fingers, Sunburst suffered a broken leg and cracked ribs, and Firecracker had a dislocated wing. I found about three large cuts—two on my sides and one on my leg—that were nonfatal but still deep, among other lesser cuts. I ended up using enough coagulant to stop a severed limb in order to keep from hemorrhaging. Seems Talon, Moon Runner and Grace got the luck of the draw, as they suffered no serious injuries.
It took almost half an hour for everyone to get back into the swing of things. I'm surprised it didn’t take longer.
"Okay," began Alpha, "now that we've licked our wounds and buried the dead, we need to move this, she jammed a thumb towards the crate behind her, "any ideas?"
"What about the Griffons?" one Dog called out. "They're mostly uninjured; can't they fly the thing back with ropes around them?"
took a moment to roll her eyes and sigh. Being a Hippogriff, it was easy to mistake her for the much more common Griffon. Still, all it took was one look behind her to see what she really was.
Too bad no one ever did.
"That wouldn’t be very effective." Talon responded. "The crate is very large and heavy. Even if we used our other two fliers, we would be constantly stopping every dozen meters or so just to catch our breath."
"What about the Iron Feather?" Moon Runner inquired. "Can't we use it as transport?"
"That won't work either, at least not now. I've been trying to raise Source Code while everyone recovered, but I can't get a clear message out or back. My guess is that we're still too deep in the jungle and would need to move further out before we got anything close to a clear communication."
Firecracker was busy twisting her head around before beaming a smile and dashing off into the trees.
"What about the Minotaur?" Gamma asked. "He looks strong, stronger than all of you. And if I'm not mistaken," he pointed to Stonewall's neck, "that's an amulet that amplifies raw strength, right? That should make the whole trek a lot easier!"
"Nope, sorry, no can do." Stonewall replied with a shake of his head.
"You're bullshittin' me, right?" Gamma shot back. "Your arms are the size of logs and you're built like a mountain! You really gonna let your laziness get in the way of your job?"
Stonewall expression never changed.
"First of all," he started, "I'm not lazy, I'm thinking rationally. That box is big enough that we could stuff you and five of your fattest friends inside and you'd still be able to squirm around. Now realize that this box is packed with metal that weighs more than you—more than me!
"Second, even if I could lift it, I would not be able to make the journey back without collapsing from exhaustion not even a mile in. And if that still isn’t enough for you to understand—"
Stonewall promptly raised his left hand where only his thumb and index finger stood tall among blood soaked bandages.
Needless to say, Gamma was not amused.
"Hey guys!"
We all turned to see Firecracker coming out of the trees dragging two logs across the ground.
"Why don’t we use these?" she asked.
She moved in front of the crate, logs in tow, and placed them adjacent to the box and parallel to each other.
"We can use them like treads for the box and just pull it along towards somewhere where we can get word out to Source Code to come lend a hoof!"
"Yeah, but one problem," noted Gamma, "the box will fall off once it reaches the end of the logs."
"So we cycle the logs back forward." She answered in a way that made it seem like it was the most obvious answer.
"But we only have two logs!"
"No we don’t. There's, like, five more just beyond those trees." she pointed. "And they'd all work too, I checked!"
"That’s actually very clever." Alpha acknowledged. "We could use the ropes to pull the crate along and cycle the logs to keep everything moving, and since the majority of the weight will be dispersed over the logs, we won't have to worry that much about fatigue."
She immediately waved over a couple of her soldiers and gave them the order to follow Firecracker to the remaining logs. Talon had Moon Runner and me follow as well.
~~~
The trek was a little rough at first, trying to work out the timing of the changes, rhythm and angle of the logs, but soon enough we had it under control. Despite Talon originally wanting me and Stonewall to pull, we rotated as we pulled the crate along, allowing for distribution of the workload so as to avoid fatigue as best we could.
This time, I was helping out for a second time along with Grace by pulling from the air while a couple of Dogs pulled from below. The ropes were a little snug and rubbed against my cuts but it was actually a lot better than I expected.
Time tread along with us as the glow of the day gradually dimmed, and with the fading light, the jungle seemed to become more and more restless. Strange new sounds hooting and howling from the trees and exotic eyes glowing with curiosity from behind canopies and shrubbery, it was enough to make anyone uneasy.
The moment was interrupted by distant booms and rumbling, reminding us that while we worked to deliver a single box, a war was still being fought just beyond.
Firecracker let out an impressed whistle.
“Well that’s one city that won’t be standing around for much longer!”
“To think that we could hear it so clearly from all the way over here; just what the hell are they doing to each other?” Moon Runner mumbled.
“Crazy isn’t it?”
A few of us turned to look at Gamma.
“They’ve been killin’ each other for about twenty years now with no sign of slowing down. You’d think that those two peace-lovin’ princesses would’ve stepped in at some point to try to do somethin’ about it! I mean, who’s gonna argue with not just one, but TWO Alicorns? They could have this all wrapped up in no time at all!
“Instead they sit back from the comfort of their cushy castle and let others try and figure this whole mess out!" he chuckled to himself. "But I guess its no surprise. I mean, they’ve got no authority here, and no business savin' anyone that’s not a pony. Still they could at least pretend to do somethin'. Loan the Elements of Harmony, hold a press conference, or send some sort of condolence letter—damn—somethin'!"
Grace and I just continued to pull along, not paying him any mind. Its true that the princesses haven’t had any impact on the state of affairs here, but I didn’t think that meant that they were just sitting idly by on the sidelines either. They don’t seem the type. I'm sure they’ve tried plenty of times to lend aid here and other places too where there's trouble.
But I guess when you find yourself with a lot of power like they do; you're bound to find just as many others who'll hate you for it.
"Hell, I heard that even the prince of New Eden is actually gettin' off his ass and tryin' to get them all to stop fightin'," Gamma continued, "and that guy is like a freakin' hermit!"
"Would you mind doing everyone here a favor and shutting up?" Grace calmly asked, voice laced with icy venom.
"I'm sorry." Gamma half chuckled, "I don’t think I heard you right. Mind runnin' that one by me again?"
His paw slowly slid its way down to his weapon, clearly trying to intimidate her.
"All you've done since we've met you is nothing but complain." Grace continued unfazed. "If you’ve got the energy to be running your mouth off like that, than put it to better use by helping with this crate."
"You got some real nerve, thinkin' you can tell me what to do! You think you're better than me?"
"I don’t think," she stated as she pulled out a shimmering blade, "I know."
With a quick flick, she released the piece of shrapnel off into the trees. A few branches fell before it buried itself into a trunk with an audible thud. A quick screech soon followed as an overgrown tiger skirted out of the bushes nearby and came wildly dashing at us.
Gamma pulled out a sonic pistol and fired a few rounds into the tiger's path, uprooting shrubs and kicking up a lot of dirt. That seemed to be enough to deter the would-be predator as it skittered off into the thicket.
An echo of growls and chittering called back from the trees as undergrowth was trampled and squeals were cut short. The trees themselves actually seemed to be moving along with the cacophony that accompanied it.
Everyone stopped for a minute as we began to grasp our new situation. The jungle was calling out, and it was hungry. Although we had started with a full day in stock, that time was quickly fading and giving way to a night filled with restless predators.
"Given the current circumstances," Gamma began, moving his rifle into a 'ready' position, "how about we save the dick measurin' contest for later?" he smirked to Grace.
Grace herself was also prepping herself by drawing her twin pistols.
"Agreed."
Needless to say, I was on edge. For the first time since coming here, I actually felt the weight of dozens of eyes staring at me, sizing me up for sinister purposes. I could hear the ragged breathing of the starved and the chorus of snarls from those getting excited just by seeing my wings flap or my head swivel.
It finally dawned upon me just how large this place was and how small we were.
Like ants exploring a living room carpet.
Still we pressed on, hopeful that we would soon manage to transmit a clear signal to the Feather for pick up.
If the daytime was filled with constant peril, just what the hell did the night have in store?