Night Stalker’s eyes slowly opened, his body already adjusted to waking up on time. His vision adjusted a moment before he noticed that something wasn’t quite right. A large… something was looming over him. The pain in his still sore body reminded him of what happened yesterday… and it clicked just what, or rather who, was in front of him.
“What the-!?” was all he managed to blurt out before a fist connected with his face hard enough to smash him both through his bed and the floor beneath, crashing into the floor of the room below, startling Jack Hunt.
“NOT PREPARED!” was the only explanation he received before the massive displaced opened a portal and disappeared.
Rainbow Dash ran her hand through her mane, the hot shower doing wonders for easing her sore muscles from yesterday’s training session. After turning off the water she opened the shower door and prepared to step out, only to find a certain armored displaced standing in front of her. Her cheeks flushed red and she couldn’t decide between wanting to hit him or covering herself.
“The buck are-!?” she exclaimed, only to be cut off by a huge boot slamming into her stomach with enough force to smash through the wall and right into Steam Gear who happened to be walking there at the time.
“NOT PREPARED!” was all she heard as she groaned.
That son of a-!
“F-Fluffy…” came a dazed voice. Rainbow suddenly realized just what situation she was in and blushed again. She turned to see the stallion still under her, who wore an expressions somewhere between shocked, mortified, and ecstatic. He seemed to finally snap out of it as she grabbed his neck and raised her fist. “I-I-I can delete this from the security footage!” he quickly shouted.
Rainbow turned to see the security camera in the top corner of hallway. She grit her teeth and gave him a half-hearted punch to the chest before walking back through the hole in her bathroom, grabbing as towel as she headed into her room and closed the doors.
“... To experience both heaven and Tartarus simultaneously,” he muttered as he got up and headed to the security room, still remembering the feel of her feathered wings against him.
Pearl Spark touched up the last bit of styling her mane as she looked in the mirror. A wince of pain in her shoulder caused her to drop the brush, which she caught with her magic. She levitated it back into her hand and turned back to look at the mirror, only to find it wasn’t her it was reflecting. She stared slack jawed for a moment, trying to process what she was seeing, before the figure in the mirror punched her in the face, causing her to fly back and become embedded into the wall.
“NOT PREPARED!” the being shouted before pulling himself back into the mirror and walking away.
Pearl Spark groaned for a moment before she slid out of the body shaped crater in the wall and fell flat on her face. She then noticed her broken brush.
“Mother-bucker!”
Evil Breaker panted for a moment as he finished his form, having gotten up earlier than usual for his practice in the dojo. He levitated his water bottle over to him and screwed off the top. The next thing he knew something hit him in the chin and sent him flying upwards hard enough to smash through the ceiling. After recovering from the shock and pain he pulled his head out of the floor of the briefing room and fell back to the floor of the dojo on his back. He then saw a familiar fist sticking out of his water bottle. It quickly wrote “NOT PREPARED!” into the dojo floor with the water that had spilled out before flipping him the bird and disappearing back inside.
Evil Breaker just scowled, then turned to one of the speed bags. Just because a male Pinkie Pie was putting him and his team through insane training didn’t mean he would miss his workout.
Hammer Fist made sure the door was locked, all the windows were locked, and the blinds were closed before opening his closet. He then gently opened up the chest stuffed into the back to reveal an old but well-kept for stuffed bear. He let out a quiet squee as he picked up and hugged his oldest “friend”, letting out a content sigh. He knew he should’ve discarded or gave away the thing to somepony else by now, but nothing helped ease him quite like it did.
Suddenly the stuffed animal somehow wriggled out of his grip and fell on both feet on the floor, taking a fighting pose. Hammer First was too shocked at the thing even moving, much less what it was doing, and was completely unprepared for it to hop up and land an impressively painful punch right between his legs. As he held his jewels and collapsed to the floor, the bear spoke with a painfully familiar voice.
“NOT PREPARED!” it bellowed before suddenly falling limp. Hammer Fist whimpered and let out a few tears, not only for the pain he was in but because he felt like an important part of his foalhood has just been killed.
All five members of A-Squad met in the cafeteria for breakfast, all glancing towards each other and exchanging angry, frustrated, or pained looks with each other.
“... You guys, too?” Dash asked. They all nodded in response. She sighed as they all sat down and she reached for her muffin. Just then her mouth snapped open as an arm somehow shot out of her own throat, grabbed the muffin and pulled it inside, both disappearing. Everypony else just stared before Gilgamesh's’ head popped out of her left ear, face covered in muffin crumbs.
“Not prepaaaaaaaaared,” he whispered in a sinister voice before disappearing back inside of her ear canal.
Rainbow’s eyes were wide and she shook in both fear and disgust. “I feel violated.”
Cruger chuckled as he looked at Gilgamesh’s antics from a temporary setup in the Runner Bay. It turns out that the R&D team had already rigged something to use the turbine of Delta Runner 2 to power a massive hot-air popcorn maker for a movie night, and Cruger didn’t want to have to miss anything by going out to refill his bowl.
“‘Sup dog?” came a familiar voice from behind him. “Enjoying the show?”
“Although it is entertaining,” Cruger said without turning to look, “think you could turn down the toon physics a hair? I know that you’re trying to get them to be prepared for anything, but let’s try to stick to things that are physically possible for now.”
“Why? They need to prepared, both from unconventional attacks and from being attacked at their most vulnerable. I thought at least Night Stalker would’ve slept with a weapon under his pillow or something.”
“Actually according to him that’s just a myth, the lump makes getting comfy next to impossible, plus it’s the first place they look. He keeps his personal gear in a concealed compartment in the floor next to his bed.”
“Hm. Not bad, but I probably could’ve easily taken that and killed him with it if I wanted to.”
“I’d just watch out for his counterpunch, lack of skill isn’t the reason he’s no longer an assassin.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it. He’s one of the few members of your whole group that doesn’t seem to think strictly like a cop. That’ll be good for him, especially if things with Grumm are going to get as bad as they did in the show.”
“He already used a giant monster attack on my base as a distraction for another to sneak into my base and steal R&D’s entire production database. Fetch says it should encrypt itself if not viewed on a SPD terminal, but he hadn’t gotten around to actually verifying that feature. I’d say things are getting pretty bad already, might need to bump up a few things on the whole to-do list.”
“Well, I already seem to be taking the role of Sergeant Silverback to some extent. I don’t suppose you’re working on S.W.A.T. armor?”
“Mk 3.5, luckily it was in my personal database so it didn’t get swiped.”
Gilgamesh chuckled. “I looked up that episode last night, so I know what you’re talking about. Also kinda funny to see you getting kidnapped by a pair of souped-up street thugs.”
“I’m not that Cruger, although I do give you permission to laugh for a week if it does happen, no longer than that though.”
“Nah, I’ll cut you a break. My base character isn’t exactly known for his competence either.” Gilgamesh held quiet for a moment before speaking up again. “Um, hey Cruger? I uh, got something I need to ask you.”
“Go ahead,” Cruger said as he put down his popcorn.
“I know I volunteered to train them, and I’ve got plenty of ideas how, but… Well, I’ve trained armies, not cops. I’ve trained my soldiers to do everything it takes to win, to use whatever force and dirty trick necessary, to be prepared for an enemy just as willing and desperate to kill you as you are to kill them, because only one of you is getting out alive. I had to, because we were fighting an enemy that wanted not just to claim victory but to wipe every one of us out. But you guys are police, protectors. I’m not sure what I’m going to teach them is going to mesh… but at the same time, I don’t want them to die because I didn’t give them the proper training. What do you think?”
Cruger sighed, “Way to put me on the spot. Well, to be honest, there’s only one major difference.”
“What would that be?”
“Why, life and death?”
“What do you mean? Like, the difference between goals of armies and police?”
At that moment, a certain shadowy mare ran past, screaming as she was chased by a very angry looking vending machine.
“Why is Dusk getting chased by a vending machine?” Cruger asked, “and why am I not surprised by it?”
“If I had to guess, disproportionate retribution against the class clown?” Gilgamesh suggested.
“Anyway as I was saying,” Cruger continued, “soldiers need to ensure that the enemy dies, cops need to make sure as many people as possible live.”
“Even a giant monster murdering civilians beneath it’s uncaring footsteps? But,” he frowned, “I see your point. Soldiers protect the citizens by keeping the fighting away from them entirely, at least in an ideal situation. Cops have to do the same with them caught in the crossfire. But, that leads me back to my question. Should there be some things I shouldn’t be teaching them?”
“Double taps come to mind, as well as spray and pray. Focus on CQC, primarily submission techniques, target identification, and look- Just from the way you carry yourself I can tell you know more than enough about combat, real combat, but if anyone is going to teach my men how and when to take a life, it will be under my direct tutelage.”
The angry vending machine from a moment ago suddenly comes flying from where it had chased Dusk before crashing into the ground at Gilgamesh’s feet, some familiar looking torn clothes in its dented in gaw.
“... I hope she has enough left so that she’s not giving everyone else a show,” Gilgamesh commented.
Cruger sighed as he pressed a button on the console, “Have a support team report to Runner Bay 1, we have a wardrobe malfunction and a crazy vending machine.”
“Wow, does that happen enough that you just make that call? Please don’t tell me your guys in logistics have a keyboard code for team kills,” he joked.
“Let’s just say that more than a few guys call R&D the nuthouse, remind me to tell you about the chicken cannon.”
“Heh, are you sure Pinkie isn’t a member here? Sounds like something she’d do. Anyway, I think Dash and I need to have a talk about leadership. She needs to realize what it really means to be A-Squad’s Red Ranger. Spoiler alert: It’s not just the person who leads A-Squad,” he said before cutting open a portal with his naginata. “Also, thinking of making neighponeses for dinner. Sushi, takoyaki, ramen, tempura, all that good stuff. I’ll check the kitchen again and let you know what I need, k?”
“I’ll have a yakisoba, but for right now,” Cruger looked at his now empty popcorn bowl, “I require more kernels.”
Gilgamesh chuckled before stepping into the portal.
A-Squad flinched as they saw Gilgamesh falling out of a portal and landing on one of the seats at their table. “‘Sup guys?”
“Dude, not cool with the whole appearing out of my body thing, not to mention snatching my muffin,” Dash said with a shudder as she glared at Gilgamesh.
“You must be prepared to be attacked at your most vulnerable,” he replied. As if to prove his point, he caught a knife that Night Stalker threw at him between his fingers. “Anyway, Dash, we need to talk,” he continued as he tossed it aside.
“Yeah what is it?”
“How well do you know SPD? I’m talking about the members, not the system,” he asked as a blast from Pearl Spark’s horn stopped before it reached his head, hovering there for a moment, before shooting straight up. “Also, nice job guys, way to take every opportunity you can. Keep it up.”
“Well enough, I know my team, I know my backup, and I know the guys who take care of my gear,” Dash replied before taking a shot at him under the table.
Gilgamesh moved to another seat in a flash of movement before continuing. “Not good enough. Tell me Dash, what do you think it means to be A-Squad’s Red Ranger?”
“I lead my team to fight monsters, duh.” As she was speaking, Night placed a concussion mine on an empty seat.
Gilgamesh sighed as he shook his head, the mine levitating off the table before imploding in on itself. Gilgamesh pulled a neighponese tea set out, seemingly from behind himself, and began a tea ceremony. “Trixie Lulamoon. Captain. Unicorn. Member of the Spy and Sabotage division. Wields throwing and combat knives, flashbangs, and grenades. Adept in illusion spells, creator of the Enigma spell. Trained in Zebafrican shaman arts by Zecora. Became the first pony to perform changeling disguise magic, taking it further than they ever had by performing feats like making her body as hard as metal. Spent her time training under Zecora at my own suggestion after being freed from the Alicorn Amulet and joined the war effort both to protect Equus and to make up for her past deeds. Holds Princess Twilight Sparkle in high regard and sought her approval, even when the Princess was initially ranked lower than her. Refuses to buy more than one drink for 2nd Lieutenant Rainbow Dash due to the one time she passed out drunk, putting all her drinks on Trixie’s tab.”
Dash scoffed, “Of course you know a senior member, and I don’t pass out.”
Gilgamesh continued, seemingly ignoring her response. “Wriggler. Staff Sergeant. Changeling. Wielded two throwing sickles and scimitar. Proficient and melee combat, rather lacking in magical abilities except for levitation spells, which he was particularly adept at. Participated in the invasion of Canterlot during Shining Armor and Cadance’s wedding. Stated that he found pony dancing and music to be particularly interesting and was thinking about finding somepony to study under, particularly for musicals. KIA at the battle of the Omega Ambush.”
“So you know who the fighters are, big whoop, you need to know who might have your back.”
Gilgamesh continued, performing the tea ceremony as he went. He began listing name after name, each one including their ranks, species, weapons, abilities, and whether or not they were KIA at minimum. Ranks went from Commander Rudolph of the Reindeer to Private Strong Stance of the Equestrians. Some he only knew the base information of, others he knew down to their favorite foods and even what kind of tells and twitches they had in combat. By the time he had reached his fifteenth name all of A-Squad was just sitting there and listening. By the time he reached the thirtieth he had begun to attract the attention of the other SPD members in the cafeteria. By the time he reached the sixtieth there were quite a few impressed expressions looking at him. Some of the names weren’t even of soldiers, including cooks, blacksmiths, and even record takers. Something everyone noticed was that a lot of the KIAs happened at something called “the Omega Ambush.” Gilgamesh’s eighty-second name caught Rainbow’s attention in particular.
“Rainbow Blaze. 1st Lieutenant. Pegasus. Wielded two short swords and wing blades. Ex-Wonderbolt Reserve, but never was called onto the main team before he retired. Born and raised in Cloudsdale, single father to Rainbow Dash who he raised on his own after her mother left right after her birth. KIA due to his wounds at the battle of the Omega Ambush. Managed to stay alive long enough to tell his daughter he was proud of her before he died.”
Dash cringed slightly before responding, “Yeah yeah I get it, you know them all, but you’re the big boss, I’m just a division lead.”
“That might be what you think now, Dash, but let me ask you this,” he replied before taking a sip of his tea. “If something happens and Cruger isn’t here or can’t be contacted because he’s not in the same universe, or too busy with another assignment, or, heaven forbid, something happened to him, who do you think everyone in SPD will be looking to for leadership?”
“We’ll just follow the Hydra contingency,” Dash smirked, “in the event that the SPD Commander is unavailable in an emergency situation, the heads of each division, acting or otherwise, will assume joint command under the direction of the member with highest seniority.”
“And do you know who would be in charge of each division if that was to happen right now? Do you know how they act and how they think well enough to work with them? To play to their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses? Do you know just how they like to solve their problems?”
Dash opened her mouth, but then closed it and grinned sheepishly. “Well, I think it would be Sorrow Song that would be in lead, she’s Cruger’s right hand and all.”
“And what if something happens to her? What if she gets killed or kidnapped?”
Dash tried to come up with a counter argument, but failed, “I’m last in the chain of command for the Hydra Contingency anyway.”
“Which means that if everyone else dies, goes missing, or is incapacitated, you’re in charge.”
“Shut up,” Dash retorted as she fired another shot under the table.
Gilgamesh appeared behind her, her blaster in his hand. “The chain of command is just that, Rainbow Dash: a chain. And, as the expression goes, a chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link. You may not want to think about what could happen if the worst happens and you become the senior authority here at SPD, and in fact it may never happen. But it can happen, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that many catastrophes were preceded by someone thinking ‘that’ll never happen.’ You’re not just the leader of A-Squad, Dash. When you’re out there in the field, you are the senior on-site member, and Cruger won’t always be there to take that responsibility from you. Command can issue you orders but they aren’t at the center of the action, which means it’s up to you to make the snap decisions.”
“I can issue orders to my team just fine,” Dash sulked as Night placed another mine on the chair Gilgamesh just vacated.
Gilgamesh sighed. “Dash, I’m not trying to be an asshole here, but sometimes you need to hear things you don’t want to. Back in my universe, I didn’t start at the top of the system, even though everyone around me wanted me to take that position. I knew I wasn’t suited to that task, but I did take the Commander position alongside many of the other world leaders, while Celestia took the Supreme Commander position. Basically, I was the equivalent of one of your Hydra Contingency senior officers. But I learned, I taught, and I did what was necessary. Within about two years Celestia stepped down and I took charge, and by that time I could truly say every soldier was mine. Not because I was their CO, but because everyone in the military had been trained by me or had be trained by someone who was trained by me. And that’s where I learned one of the most important lessons as a leader: Every time things go right, it’s because of you. And every time things go wrong, it’s also because of you. When you’re out there in the field A-Squad’s actions are your actions. When you’re out there with more than just A-Squad, the lower ranked teams, their actions are yours as well.”
“Fine I get it, I need to work on some stuff,” Dash said, “now if you don’t mind, I’m trying to have breakfast.”
“You can work while you eat,” Gilgamesh replied, dropping a handful of files on the table, the first one labelled “Dusk Rose.”
“OH COME ON!!”
“Got to get started on it sometime Dash. I knew at least the most basic of information of every member of my military by heart, and at its peak that was over five million members. I think you can at least learn the names, faces, and positions of the two hundred or so members of SPD within a few weeks,” he said before walking off. He then stopped for a moment, snapped his fingers, and Midnight Strike had suddenly been moved to new seat. A beeping came from under him and before he could even react was exploded into the air. “We’ll be having another training exercise at 15:00 hours in the Simulation Room, same as yesterday. Use whatever assets you deem necessary,” he ordered before walking off.
As Dash looked at the folders, a rather devious thought came to mind. If Gilgy said she could use whatever she wanted, she would.
“Don’t worry Dash, we’ll give you a hand,” Pearl Spark said as Night fell to the floor with a thud, grabbed a folder before sitting down next to her.
“Thank’s guys,” Dash chuckled as the rest of them grabbed a folder, “now it’ll only take a small eternity.”
The rest of the crew chuckled as well before turning to their folders. After a few minutes, Pearl spoke up, “Well, this won’t take too long if they’re like this.”
“What do you mean?” asked Hammer.
In response, Pearl turned the folder around to reveal it’s contents. Whole sections of her bio were redacted, primarily the earlier parts, as well as her race for some strange reason. There was enough to get the basics, but details were unobtainable. Also, her medical section consisted of a single slip of paper that read ‘Classified: Need To Know Only’.
“I really hope this isn’t some kinda test,” Dash said, “but if that’s the case, I know just what to do.”
“And what would that be?” Hammer asked somewhat nervously.
“I’ll sic Rarity on her.”
As the rest of A-Squad laughed, Night poured over the report on Doc Plague. “Well, this is interesting.”
“What is?”
“Looks like our dear commander isn’t the only one who spent a thousand years in stasis,” he replied as he pulled the bio section from the folder and placed it on the table. Unlike Dusk’s there wasn’t any redactions, although what they saw almost made them wish it was.
“This guy was an old-timey plague doctor and a changeling?” Breaker asked somewhat incredulously.
“Apparently he was one of the pioneers for the cure,” Night continued, “apparently he got pretty close too, before he got infected and decided to wait it out in a rather experimental stasis spell.”
“Oh, is that why he’s always wearing that hazmat suit? Habit and all that?” Pearl asked.
“Something like that,” Night replied as he tucked the files back in the folder. He’d be having enough trouble sleeping, no sense in disturbing his teammates.
“Speaking of very long naps,” Hammer said, “looks like they’re more common than you think.”
“Don’t tell me the lunch lady’s a millennial too.” Pearl moaned.
“Nope, Grey Ghost. Looks like he’s the kid of Luna and, his father’s redacted. Anyway, it looks like after, something, he went into a time dilation field.
“Isn’t anyone who works here normal?” Pearl said.
“Looks like a few are,” Dash replied, looking over Bright Shine’s folder, “although to be honest it’s mostly relative.”
“Looks like Gilgamesh had a point,” Hammer said as he pored over Steam Gear’s file, “we didn’t really know our coworkers as well as we thought.”
Dash shushed him, “Do you want Gilgamesh to hear you?”
“I. HEAR. ALL,” a booming voice echoed through through the halls. “Nah, just kidding. I’m only doing this to annoy you,” it added moments later in a less dramatic voice.
“Laugh while you can buster,” Dash said as she looked over the folders, “laugh while you can.”
Gilgamesh lay on his back on a hammock, listening to the waves crash against the shore while he sipped on a pina colada. He had set up the simulation room for a relaxing beach getaway and waited for 3:00 PM to roll around and for A-Squad to show up.
Hopefully she’s got some brains under all that brawn and has managed to pick up on my hints, he thought. Just then a timer went off, showing that it was almost the appointed time, and rolled out of the hammock.
“Ok, Steam Gear! Kill it!” he ordered to the control box. The scenery derezzed until the Simulation Room was back to normal.
As the simulation faded, the door opened and A-Squad walked in, fully kitted out, although for some reason Dash was carrying a large red toolbox.
“Glad to see you’re punctual!” he announce. “Please, take your time to set up what you need.”
“Thanks,” Dash said before she set the toolbox on the ground, “done.”
“... Huh?”
“You see, when you interrupted my breakfast, you made a big mistake,” Dash kicked the toolbox, causing it to to fall open and reveal a device that deployed and start spinning, a glowing disk appearing over it, “you made me mad.”
With that, various holes opened up in the ceiling, causing more toolboxes to fall from them and deploy.
“Well, nice to see your rage doesn’t make you stupid,” he replied, folding his arms and smirking. “But please tell me you have something more than teleporters up your sleeve.”
As if in response, the floor under him shot upward on a spring, catapulting him into the air. Rather than smashing into the wall his body stopped suddenly and he began to hover in the air. “Well, well, well. When did you set this up?” he asked before taking a sitting position in mid-air.
“Got started after breakfast,” Dash replied as various people appeared from the teleporters and the area shifted to look like something out of Tron, “you of all people should know how fast I am.”
Gilgamesh looked over the rapidly increasing numbers of SPD members appearing out of the teleporters and smiled. “So you finally figured it out, huh? I gotta admit, that’s faster than my own Rainbow would’ve picked up on it back in her first year of service.”
“You’re the one who basically shoved it in my face,” Dash said as she drew her morpher, “ready to get schooled?”
Gilgamesh slowly descended to the floor. “I’m the teacher here, Dashie. And it’s time for a good old lesson right out of the School of Hard Knocks.”
“We’ll see who learns what, SPD Emergency!”
Gilgamesh smiled and held his arms out to the side. As the music began, there were two flashes and rocket launchers appeared in his hands. He took aim at A-Squad and smiled. “Dodge,” he smiled, and fired.
Scattering almost immediately, only a few being caught in the initial crossfire, one of the personnel took the opportunity to don a cardboard box and sneak around behind Gilgamesh in the growing combat, but, when she tried to stab him, a large exclamation point appeared above Gilgamesh’s head, which he then grabbed and used to smack the mare like a golf ball into the other side of the stadium sized room.
“YOU’RE NOT SNAKE!” he shouted before snapping his free hand. Two burst of smoke puffed out before his feet, filling the air with the sound of whirring metal, revealing twin, crimson machine gun turrets that were already firing wildly at the other SPD members before the smoke could fully dissipate.
Seconds later, the turrets clicking with empty chambers, one of the C-Squad troopers took the initiative and threw a gleaming knife the size of his forearm at him, screaming wildly drunken slurs about father and elderberries. Gilgamesh lazily dodged the unbalance projectile, dispersing his weapons into buzzing bits of metal and wire with a single sweep of his left arm, only to keep his momentum going as he reached behind his back, pulling out a stuffed cow.
“Dost thou even know what thou reference!?” he shouted, lobbing the bovine, leaving the poor trooper to gaze dumbly up at the descending projectile before it flattened him like a mountain before Zeus’s lightning bolt.
And in the background “Adlib adlib, intentional dialogue, stuff that makes the story progress,” giggled a white pegasus with golden locks to Gilgamesh as he backpedaled from a string of sniper fire.
“HOW DO YOU KNOW THESE REFERENCES!?” he shouted, mowing through a line of cadets before leaping the distance from him to the hard-light platform sheltering the sniper, spiraling through the air before throwing his shield, striking the sniper right in the forehead and knocking them out.
“Sounds like A-Squad has been perusing the Commander’s video collection” Fetch muttered, smirking, glad there were enough bodies to at least keep this Gilgamesh busy for more than a few seconds as the scanners continued recording energy expenditures, heat signatures, and even evaporated sweat composition of the tower of muscle safe within the confines of the control room. “Oh dear,” he frowned, looking at the latest combat printout, “Good thing he is on our side.”
Exhaling, Marri watched from the observation deck. “This would be so much easier without any pegasi,” she muttered, pushing a blade of shadow out from her hooves and through the reinforced glass. Further shaping the spell, thickening its two-dimensional edge just enough to keep from burning itself up through the air, she sent it hurtling, hopefully, towards the Displaced oversized arm muscles. But, at the last moment, the blade suddenly froze in mid-flight, inches from Gilgamesh’s back, held by an invisible force. Sending an elbow to shatter it with a twist of his back, he jumped, hovering eye to eye with only the glass of the observation deck between them.
“No backseat fighting!” Gilgamesh shouted, smashing the window with a flick of his wrist, sending a rain of shards cutting into her arms, shielding her face, as he grabbed her by the front of her uniform and tossed her into the battlefield below.
“Bullshit. I call bullshit! I’m done!” Cried Doc, leaving the sparking control room to Steam Gear and Fetch for the comfort of a drink, lots of drinks.
PRINCESS HEART rushed a few feet behind the descending Gilgamesh, horn aglow with a sickly green flame. “Ok lets try this one on him: Transmorph!” she yelled, firing the spell.
Gilgamesh, rolling his eyes at the oncoming beam of energy nearly twice his size, reached behind himself and pulled out an orange street sign pointing left, labeled ‘detour’. Planting it easily through the reinforced ground directly in front of the blast, to everypony’s shock and awe, the spell turned a sudden ninety degrees and flew off into the unsuspecting Dusk in a brilliant rainbowed explosion.
“P-phhht!?”
“Holy crap, she’s a fluffle-puff pony!” Gilgamesh exclaimed, clapping his gauntlets to the sides of his helm.
“Huh?” PRINCESS HEART asked, shoulders falling, head lolling to the side in her utter confusion. That was not the spell she’d cast.
“Somepony hit him!” Rainbow Dash ordered, unloading her blasters in his shifting direction. Night Stalker flew up across from her and followed suit as the rest of A-Squad attacked with magic blasts or blasters in kind.
“IDEEE-AAH!” Gilgamesh sang, jumping at Dusk and disappearing into her new, cumulous-like fur.
Dusk, to her credit, only started screaming as she began running back and forth, in a circle, her arms tangling in her new, thick fur as she tried to remove the mad displaced.
“How the hell did he do that!?” Hammer Fist shouted. Before anyone could answer his question missiles began to shoot out of Dusk’s fur in all directions.
“Scatter!” Evil Breaker shouted as he and everyone else struggled to avoid the hailstorm of explosives that was somehow radiating out from a very frightened and confused Dusk.
At that moment the Simulation Room booted up a new program, one that encased the fluffle-pony in a dome of metal. The sound of muffled explosions came from inside. Rainbow turned to see Stream Gear in the command booth giving her a thumbs up, having obviously changed the terrain to their advantage.
Just then Gilgamesh burst out of the metal dome, holding the now soot covered and scorched Dusk in one hand before punting her at Pearl Spark, whose body got stuck in the all-consuming fur up to her legs just before she began to run around in a panic.
Dusk quickly regained her bearings before pushing herself off of Pearl, after getting the other mare untangled from her fur she then glared at Gilgamesh before running off.
Gilgamesh drew his naginata, taking a stance as wind swirled around him. “Hissatsu, Part 1,” he began before launching up into the air. “ULTIMATE ILLUSION!” he shouted before slamming his weapon into the ground, causing several pillars of energy to erupt from the ground across the room, sending anyone unlucky enough to be caught in it flying. Even the pegasi and griffons in the air felt the blast, being knocked into the ceiling. Immediately afterwards, Gilgamesh had summoned two submachine guns and began firing them in all directions while performing what could only be called a breakdancing spin.
The troopers, ducked and weaved, doing what they could to avoid the the hail of lead being fired everywhere. Steam Gear initiated another program, providing several walls for the troopers to hide behind.
“Well if this is how you’re gonna fight then let’s kick it up a notch a bit Gilgy!” PRINCESS HEART said. “Protectga, Shellga, Hastega!” She yelled, circles of white energy blooming briefly, enchanting around everypony within earshot as she began stride regally towards the collective opponent.
“Well, isn’t that interesting?” he commented, stopping his assault. “Mighty Guard!” he called, causing the buffs of Haste, Protect, Shell, Reflect, Float, and Regen to activate simultaneously.
PRINCESS HEART only smirked in response. “Oh ho, big maaan,” she cooed. “Stoneskin II, Carbuncle!” She yelled out, further buffing everypony, summoning the cute Carbuncle to her side, and then casting reflect for good measure. “Now then, let’s duel Gilgy!” She said, horn spiraling green flame into her hand, growing in size until, in a flash, the flames were replaced by her special weapon. “CHANGE MACHINE GUN: Gunblade mode! Banishing Strike!” She yelled charging Gilgamesh, teleporting just to the side of him before striking at him. But, to no avail, and, just like every other attack, it too failed, Gilgamesh easily catching the blade between his thumb and forefinger. But still PRINCESS HEART grinded, because even without damaging him, touch was all that she needed for her enchanted weapon to strip the displaced of all his enchanted buffs.
“Interesting,” he commented. “But you’re not the only one that can do that. Dispel!” he shouted. A bright light enveloped the entire room, removing all of PRINCESS HEARTS enchantments to the sound of shattering glass, as he slammed his knee into her royal stomach, winding her, before lazily backhanding her away.
Struggling to her hooves, the second fall back from the roof still making her vision skitter across the floor, Marri did her best to focus on the brown-armored behemoth from what little she could make out of her unblackened eye. “COMMANDER!” she shouted, violet light streaking up through her tangle of a mane, “MOVE EVERYPONY OUT!” as the magic continued to ball into her outstretched palm.
The air shifted, holes dropping atop everypony in the room, leaving Marri to struggle in silence before she heard the clank of the man in the armored suit turning his full and undivided attention upon her.
A burst of conditioned air opened above her, and as it descended Marri pushed the palm sized orb of, now, blinding white light from her as she disappeared from the training room, leaving the sliver of dead skin she’d peeled from herself to just begin floating down to the dust of the floor before the delayed spell activated, cleaving the atoms within.
An explosion of pure energy radiated out through the Simulation Room, sending a small mushroom cloud rocketing into the roof before doubling back down to the floor even as the contained shockwaves reverberated within itself, shaking the the whole floor.
The members, safely outside in the hall, raised their heads from their huddled positions, turning to the camera feed to look upon the damage back inside.
“And you complain about what I do,” Steam Gear said to Fetch.
“Holy crap, did that really just happen!?” PRINCESS HEART stated, jaw dropping as automated decontamination fields started up.
They all watched from the observation room, stunned at what their teammate had did. Marri, however was focused on something else. “Where is he?” she asked. True enough, the room was empty of any signs of Gilgamesh.
“Did you atomize him!?” Evil Breaker asked, clearly disturbed at the idea.
Just then something wrapped around their midsection before pulling them into a hole in the air. Then were then deposited back in the Simulation Room right as the scrubbers had finished their jobs. Everyone looked to their waists to see they had been grabbed by lassos of licorice.
Gilgamesh stuck his head out of hole in reality. “Using your body and your segmentation abilities to make a mini-nuke. A for effort, but you forgot I could do this, didn’t you?” he asked as he dropped out of the hole. He raised one arm of and clenched his fist, a violet aura erupting from around him and electricity crackled along his arm. He turned to them, his eyes glowing red. “And now this ends,” he announced in raspy voice before slamming his fist into the ground. The explosion sent them all flying with enough force to embed themselves into the metal walls. As for the floor itself, it was cracked all the way through, and impressive feat considering the strength of the HQ’s metal.
Gilgamesh dispersed his more intimidating displays before applauding. “Bravo to all of you! That was quite a show, and you all give it your best effort! Still, you didn’t hit me, but I think I might let you pass anyway after an impressive display like-!”
Suddenly from out of nowhere a large black mass of fur swung in on a vine and glomped onto gilgamesh’s head with the sound of someone crashing into a tree, almost knocking him over. As he recover his balance he pulled the fluffy offender off his face to find FluffleDusk smirking triumphantly at him.
“Phhht!”
Gilgamesh just stared for a moment before smiling. He lifted her above his head and shouted. “YOU PASS! BEHOLD YOUR SAVIOR!”
“Oh you don’t get off that easy,” Hammer Fist said as he whacked him with a sledgehammer, which he didn’t even flinch from “that’s for what you did to my foalhood!”
“I was gonna apologize for that,” Gilgamesh assured him.
“Catharsis is more satisfying.”
“Meh,” he shrugged before tossing FluffleDusk to PRINCESS HEART. “That’s your problem to figure out. Everyone else, you’re off for the rest of the day! I’m making neighponeses for dinner!” he announced as he casually walked towards the exit.
Cruger grinned as Gilgamesh walked out the doors, “So, what do you think of my crew now?”
“They’re… adequate,” Gilgamesh replied. “They’ll need more practice in teamwork through. Both as Squads and a whole organization. Also, I think I should give them more options.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, maybe a joint training exercise? I could possibly pilot the Omega Cycle as a giant monster stand in.”
“Good thinking. In the meantime, with your permission, I’d like to see if I can teach them to use a few different energies and fighting styles. I think if they have more abilities and options available to them, they’ll think more creatively. Personally, I think the best weapon is one that can’t be taken from you.”
“Quite a few SPD personnel are way ahead of you, or didn’t you notice the improvised nuke? That said, Kamehameha?”
“Please, as if I couldn’t pull off something even more devastating. And more hadouken, but not limiting it to that either. See, I’ve learned that there’s no problem in having some redundancy in your arsenal. For example, I have multiple options for flight and levitation, back ups in case one of them fails.”
“Versatility, one of the four things that separates a fighter from a warrior in my opinion, the others are control, knowledge, and power before you ask. Anyway, there’s something we need to do first,” Cruger said, fingering his sword.
“Oh?”
“So, you faced off against SPD, ready to face their commander?”
Gilgamesh smiled. “We’re doing this already? I hope you realize I haven’t used anywhere near my full power against these guys, or even all my techniques.”
“What a coincidence, neither have I.”