Chapter 15: Lurking Behemoth
Chapter 15: Lurking Behemoth
“The unknown is not what to be afraid of, it’s only when the unknown becomes known that one can decide whether to be afraid or not.” - Markus Peterson
Gryphus Airspace, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
May 18th 2020, 1610 hrs
Luna fired her beam again in order to distract Wechselbalg long enough for Riddle to deliver a powerful uppercut from below. The changeling queen growled and screeched, ordering more of her troops to increase their attacks on the civilians below, forcing the assault team led by Luna to pick up the pace. Luna fired her beam again, but Wechselbalg saw her through and flew back to dodge another uppercut from Riddle, completely unaware of Kite’s rapid descent towards her head. The small bluish white griffon brought his two fists together and smashed Wechselbalg on her head, disorientating her enough for Rod to sneak his way from below and punch the Zaubenschaft gem on her Z.O.E. armor. A large crack was formed on the gem, and Wechselbalg was growing desperate to defeat her assailants.
“Breaker, Ricochet, and Razorback, bishop formation,” Cygnus ordered, to which the three recruits complied. The three griffons flew towards Wechselbalg and delivered three attacks at her left side one at a time. The changeling groaned, but before she could react, another “bishop formation” conducted by Riddle, Kite and Ronin. This attack was quickly followed by an attack Cygnus called “the Rook,” which involved Stalker ramming her on her front at high speed: cracking the armor even more.
Growing even more desperate, Wechselbalg roared and called the changeling soldiers to aid her. The changelings complied and began to swarm Luna’s group with their attacks. Some of them even morphed into their assailants to confuse the griffons. Luna saw this act and casted a spell that would mark the transformed changelings to distinguish them from the others. Thanks to this act, the changelings were easy pickings for the griffon forces.
“This is Altair Alpha to all remaining units, keep those changelings away from the two Z.O.E. drones,” Saetos said sternly. “We can’t have any distractions on their engagement, we need to keep the skies at their end clear of any hostiles.”
“This is Verde 1, we’ve neutralized all mercenary forces on Sector 17” Jet stated through his comm. “We’re currently en-route with Zeakros to engage those changelings.”
“This is Lancer squadron, we’re also thinning out some changeling forces at our end to lighten your load,” Thunder Flicker announced. “Sweeper squadron is currently working in tandem with Dragon squadron to pick up some strays that may come too close to your location.”
“Wonderbolts here, there’s a lot of these bugs coming for the Z.O.E.’s location,” Soarin’ stated. “We can pick them off one by one, but we need some assistance.”
“This is Crimson 1 of Crimson squadron,” Blade spoke at his end. “We’re currently picking off the changelings at our way. Just hold on, Wonderbolts, we’re coming to help.”
Black Star managed to evade another punch from Esser and retaliated by putting him into a headlock. This gave Cygnus enough time to direct Red Tail and Tallman to fire their arrows at the glowing gem embedded on Esser’s chest. The brown griffon was able to dodge the incoming arrow attack and slash Black Star’s face so the dark griffon could let him go. Unable to cope with the pain, Black Star let go of the brown griffon, but the latter was unaware of an incoming attack from Geier. The vulture griffon managed to slash the Zaubenschaft gem, causing small crack to form on the surface.
“Still got your moves I see, Zubov,” Esser said as he prepare to deliver another strike at the vulture griffon.
“And I never knew you’re still alive, Sergei!” Geier responded as he evaded Esser’s attack by folding his wings, letting him drop to the ground as another arrow was shot by Tallman. Esser growled and tried to attack the GRG member, but Kestrel blocked his attacks and pushed him to the exact spot where Gilda and Rave were waiting to attack him. Both griffonesses flew in a confusing pattern to disorientate their opponent before attacking Esser from both sides. The brown griffon’s chest would have nearly smashed into a pulp if it weren’t for the Z.O.E. powering his body, but as it turned out: this attack was merely a distraction to give Rosepink an opening to attack Esser’s power gem.
The small pink griffon winced in pain when her fist made contact with the gem, despite that she already reinforced both of her talons with armor. Another crack formed at the Zaubenschaft gem but the blow also dented Rosepink’s armor, forcing the pink griffon to make a hasty retreat. Esser quickly targeted the pink griffon, causing her to panic, but Kestrel intercepted the brown griffon before kicking him away. This attack was followed by Black Star as he intended to pin Esser to the ground. Both griffons landed on the ground hard, causing the hardened concrete of the streets to crack. Black Star and Esser struggled as the former tried to expose the Zaubenschaft gem so the GRGs could take the shot from above.
Cygnus had ordered Black Star to do this because Esser’s strength wasn’t as strong as before and his cracked gem was leaking high magical energy. After a brief but violent struggle, Black Star managed to lock Esser face up, exposing the Zaubenschaft gem. Without any delay, the dark griffon reached his comm and yelled,
“I’ve got him. Do it!”
After hearing those words, Cygnus ordered both Red Tail and Tallman to fire their arrows. This time, Esser couldn’t move an inch. The arrows were fired, but a gust of wind blew them of course, resulting in them missing the gem and striking Esser’s shoulders and right arm. This shot of pain gave Esser enough juice to free himself from Black Star’s grip and knock the dark griffon into a small house. Esser winced in pain as he pulled the arrows out as he glared at the two GRG members with murderous intent.
“Nice try…” he hissed before he poured more energy to his arm and threw both arrows directly at the GRGs. Tallman saw the incoming arrows and tried to evade, but the arrows were moving far too fast for him to evade them. In a last desperate attempt, Red Tail pushed his superior out of the way, and the arrows struck him on his side, just between the ribcage.
“RED TAIL!!” both Tallman and Kestrel yelled in horror when they saw the griffon began to plummet from the skies. Kestrel dashed to the falling griffon, trying to catch him before he hit would the ground. She caught him just in time and laid him down to the streets before Tallman also landed nearby to check on his subordinate. Red Tail tried to breathe, but the arrows had penetrated his right lung, so he didn’t have much time left. Tallman tried to call the medics, but they were too far away to reach them in time. Realizing that he wasn’t not going to make it, Red Tail spoke,
“Colonel… m-m-my fiancée…”
“No, don’t give up now, soldier,” Tallman snapped. “She’s waiting for you.”
“No… I’m clocking out here…” Red Tail wheezed before coughing painfully. “I won’t make it, colonel… so please… tell her that I-I… I… ”
Red Tail never did finish that last word as he gave out his final breath before drifting into darkness. Tallman only stood up and turned his face away. Kestrel on the other hand, paid her last respects by closing the griffon’s eyes before she stood up as well. Losses in this battle were inevitable, but Red Tail’s death shook Tallman to his core. He was an aspiring officer and had a lot of potential to be a leader and a husband to his mate.
Well, none of that mattered now.
Black Star saw the entire scene with unmeasurable rage building up inside him. Despite that he and Red Tail never spoke that much, he and the latter survived the ambush at Drakenridge Mountains with the others. That was enough for the dark griffon to feel a terrible loss with his death. Esser, the culprit for Red Tail’s death, only stood there before he walked over to him and spoke,
“Shame… if he hadn’t move from his place, his superior would be the one who bit the dust.”
Black Star was slowly losing his patience as Esser continued.
“What a waste, but that’s war. War claims whatever it likes, be it youngsters, adults, old veterans or even parents… ” Esser said casually. Black Star clenched his fists, trying quell the overwhelming rage boiling inside him. “I wonder, if I have finished my business here and burn this kingdom to the ground. I might pay that little pink mare Firefly and her friends a visit they will never forget.”
Those last words broke whatever was left of Black Star’s patience. Slowly, the dark griffon growled,
“You leave her out of this…”
Esser raised one of his eyebrows with interest. Though he didn’t show it, he felt a slight sense of dread when he heard Black Star’s voice. The dark griffon then look up and set his piercing eyes on his target before he repeated,
“Leave her out of this sick game… she has suffered ENOUGH!!”
Before Esser could react, Black Star yelled in fury as he flew at the brown griffon at high speed. Both griffons streaked above the houses. Black Star brought down his fist at Esser’s face repeatedly while dragging the brown griffon’s body across the concrete street.
Nearly everyone present or above the area could hear Black Star’s rage towards the brown griffon. The rage-fueled battle continued until both fliers were nearing the outer wall. Seeing his chance, Black Star threw Esser directly into the concrete wall, destroying a portion of it which quickly came down upon the brown-feathered griffon.
An exhausted Black Star flew to the top of the wall and saw the remains of the part of the wall where he threw Esser. Suddenly, something caught his eye at the ruins as something was moving beneath the destroyed wall. Black Star kept his distance as a familiar figure made his way out from the rubble. Esser emerged from the ruins, badly bruised, but still alive and strong enough to make his escape. Black Star wanted to pursue him and kill him right then, but a sudden beeping noise from his earpiece prevented him from doing so. The time had run out, and the Z.O.E. Mk.II must be shut down to prevent more damage. As Black Star began to reach his earpiece to shut down the Z.O.E., he heard an explosion coming from behind him. He turned around and saw a piece of the aqueducts had crumbled down into some of the houses.
“What the hell?” he thought in bewilderment.
Before Esser’s sudden retreat, Luna and her team managed to deal a crippling blow to Wechselbalg’s armor. The changeling couldn’t even fly straight, let alone hover in place. Her Zaubenschaft gem was cracked, with bits of it beginning to crumble away. Some kind of blue mist was leaking out from the gem, weakening Wechselbalg with every passing minute.
Luna saw that her opponent was weakening and not in shape to fight anymore, so she issued a warning,
“It seems that thou art in no shape to continue this battle. Surrender now or face a humiliating defeat!”
Wechselbalg merely responded with a snarl; she had no intentions on giving up. Princess Luna sighed,
“Then so be it.”
Wechselbalg roared for the last time before she charged at Luna head on. Once again, Cygnus directed the griffons to attack the changeling queen, this time, intending to finish her once and for all.
“Ronin, Stalker, Flank her from both sides. Rod, keep her distracted while White Tip aims the Zaubenschaft,” Cygnus ordered. Ronin and Stalker quickly moved in and started to attack Wechselbalg from both sides. The changeling queen tried to defend herself from the mother-son duo. As Ronin and Stalker’s attacks subsided, they were replaced by Rod as he delivered a quick slash at Wechselbalg’s right eye: blinding her in the process. This gave White Tip a wide opening for her to take the shot with her bow and arrow. Wechselbalg noticed the arrow and evaded it before she lunged herself directly at the alicorn princess in a desperate attempt to defeat her. Luna struggled with her opponent, but both of them were unable to stabilize their fight in time: resulting in them crashing into one of the aqueducts in the area. Wechselbalg took the full brunt: destroying one of the pillars supporting the aqueducts, while Luna was lucky enough not to be caught along. Soon the whole weakened structure came down upon the false changeling queen and the alicorn princess.
“Princess Luna!!” Nearly all the ponies in the area shrieked in unison when they saw what had happened to their princess. Several griffons were also worried about her safety and quickly flew down to help her. Before they could get near, a giant explosion made up of the same blue mist erupted from the place where Wechselbalg was buried. Slowly, the blue mist changed into red and formed a monstrous image of a red-eyed griffon. Everyone in the area was taken back by the screeching griffon before it dissipated into thin air, leaving no trace at all.
“What in the world is that…?” Thunder Flicker muttered.
“I don’t know, but that has to be the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Quick Chaser responded from his end. Unknown to the griffons and the ponies, the remaining changeling soldiers seemed to have snapped out from their battle instinct and couldn’t remember why they were here in the first place. This made them easy to be captured by the griffon-pony forces. Meanwhile, the griffons and several ponies around the ruins of the aqueducts snapped out from their fear-induced trance and quickly flew down to pull Princess Luna out of the rubble. However, they were relieved when the alicorn princess used her magic to get herself out.
“Do not worry, I’m fine,” she spoke in an assuring tone. “The battle is over for now…”
However, before they could leave the area, some of them heard a weak voice coming from the rubble. The voice sounded bug-like, putting everyone on edge.
“She still lives?” the dark alicorn mused. Slowly, both forces approached the rubble until the voice called them out again. This time, it sounded desperate.
“H-H-Help… help… me…”
One of the ponies, a member of Lancer squadron, immediately rushed in to clear the rubble despite the others’ protests. Luna also had the same idea as she helped the pegasus lift some of the heavier rubbles. When the others asked her why, she responded,
“I could no longer feel any malice coming from her. I think that whoever or whatever had possessed the changeling queen has been destroyed when the structure came down on her.”
“You heard her, now stop standing around and help me!” the pegasus demanded. The others wasted no time and started picking up the stones pinning the changeling down. Once the stones and rubble were removed, they quickly pulled Wechselbalg out. The changeling’s state was not good. Though she was still alive, almost all of her exoskeleton was crushed. Her purple blood, mixed with the blue liquid from the Z.O.E. armor, were pouring out from the gashes all around her body and her mouth. Her breathing was shallow, and she was weakening in every second.
Riddle immediately rushed in and inspected the weakened changeling. He was amazed that Wechselbalg’s mind wasn’t completely destroyed by the strain of the Zaubenschaft. The blue griffon quickly called Cygnus and Saetos to send in the medical teams for the changeling. She was dying, and Riddle, along with everyone else, wanted to know what kind of secrets she could have possibly hold inside her feeble mind.
After the medical team had departed with Wechselbalg, Luna turned towards the blue griffon and said,
“I thank you for your help, Aquila and all of your comrades. Equestria shall hear the tales of the Northern Eagles of how they protected their land from the enemy, just like our own Angels of Equestria…”
Riddle felt honored when he heard that. Getting a praise from someone was never easy, but receiving a praise from one of the Royal Princesses? Now that only comes once in a lifetime, especially when his squadron was viewed by the alicorn princess as an equal to Mirage Squadron… and Riddle was a big fan of them.
“Thank you, Princess Luna” were the only words Riddle could muster at that point. However, Luna also had other things in mind relating to her unexpected visit.
“Please, may I request to have an audience with your king?”
Before Riddle could respond, Valdar’s voice came in to Luna’s comm and answered,
“This is Valdar. I’m sorry about the situation, but you have my full attention. What is the matter, princess?”
Luna then explained to the griffon king about a national meeting Princess Celestia was preparing with the world council to discuss about the Ulysses threat. The solar princess was requesting for Valdar’s attendance on the meeting so he could relate to the other griffon nations from around the world. Realizing the importance of this meeting, Valdar decided to answer his call, but he hesitated because he will be needed more here in Gryphus to maintain order to the once beautiful capital of the Griffin Kingdom. However, both Cygnus and Saetos assured him that they would monitor the situation while he was away.
Assured by his friends’ words, Valdar finally agreed to attend the meeting. Once the orange griffon had arrived on the area of the destroyed aqueduct, Luna immediately casted a teleportation spell that would transport her and Valdar to Canterlot. Seconds later, the orange griffon and the alicorn princess disappeared from their subjects’ eyes.
During this time, the remaining changelings and a few unlucky mercs were quickly rounded up by the griffons on all parts and sectors of the city. Once that was done, the griffons declared their victory by cheering as loud as they could. Some of them, soldiers and civilians alike, even began to sing a small verse of the kingdom’s national anthem.
When the dark skies cleared
The sun shines through
We the griffons shall stand as one
With our wings spread wide and our hearts as one
We’ll bring glory to our land!
Kite yelled “Woohoo!” as loud as he could while performing a somersault before more cheers and singing erupted from all corners of the city. Even the EAF forces joined the cheers and sung along with the griffons. It seemed that the hatred caused by the years of uneasy alliance between the two nations had finally faded on this day. Every doubt, distrust, and fear caused by the war were swept away. Rod decided to take the praise up a notch by yelling,
“Come on everyone, let’s hear it for the ponies and the Four Wings of Aquila!”
Soon, more loud cheers and applause erupted from the city. Needless to say, Kite and Kestrel felt honored to be hailed as heroes for the first time in their lives. Black Star who was still perching on the ruined wall, smiled when he heard the cheers coming from the city. Although the cheers were loud, the ones who lost their companions and families during the battle silently paid their last respects before carrying the bodies up to the hospital.
Several squadrons, both EAF and griffon forces, also paid their respects for their fallen comrades by performing the missing flyer formation all around the city. The captured changelings were carried by the GRG to the Griffin Palace where they would be escorted to the dungeon until further notice. Wechselbalg, on the other hand, was carried to the hospital to treat her wounds under Riddle’s orders. The blue griffon said that it was a miracle her soul and mind were still intact after wearing the Z.O.E. armor for so long. The false changing queen could hold some secrets behind Esser’s warped game.
But for now, the griffons and the ponies deserve to enjoy their victory.
Gryphus Command Center, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
May 18th 2020, 1930 hrs
Riddle sat on his chair, facing the giant computer screen as the machine processed the data he recently inputted. Nearly two hours had passed since the battle of Gryphus, and with the deaths of Ghunter Kriegstreiber and some of the important figures of Murtair Militia, along with the shocking revelation of the true culprit of this conflict and the Equestrian War, Riddle felt that he was ready to unwrap the bindings that kept the dirty secrets of this entire war from being seen by truthseekers.
For now, he was alone on this room. Cygnus and Saetos were still helping on the recovery of wounded soldiers and civilians, while the rest of Aquila squadron had already left just a while ago for their own personal reasons. Kite decided that he would help the other recruits on the recovery, while Black Star and Kestrel decided to spend some time together.
The mere thought of the two griffons spending some time alone caused Riddle to chuckle to himself, remembering how he spent his first date with his wife all those years ago. Just remembering her made his heart ache. He really hoped that his wife and his cubs were safe from the ravages of war.
“Hold on, Gertrude… ” he spoke quietly. “I will come back for you and for our children.”
As soon the blue griffon finished his words, the computer finally finished processing the data. Riddle quickly typed in a few more commands to show the acquired data on the screen. The first piece of data was Esser’s own profile stored within the Zone of Endless. The blue griffon read the profile several times and it finally confirmed his worst fears.
He needed to call the others about this.
Black Star and Kestrel weren’t exactly happy about this situation. They were finally given the chance to spend some time together until an emergency message from Riddle told them and Kite to meet him on the GCC. Cygnus and Saetos were also informed about this, and they were curious about what kind of data the blue griffon had discovered.
The two griffons flew in silence until Kite joined them from their right. The small griffon gave them a salute before he spoke,
“Good evening, ma’am. Captain Black Sta— I mean, Blake.”
“Good evening, kid,” Black Star answered.
“Good evening to you too, Milvus,” Kestrel added. “How’s the recovery?”
“Oh it’s going great, we hit some trips here and there, but hey, faults are common,” Kite explained. “I wonder what could have spooked Sir Wonderfalke all of a sudden.”
“Yes, his voice sounded quite agitated when he called us earlier,” Black Star mused.
“Well, whatever it is, I think we’re going to find out soon enough.” Kestrel said as the trio neared the command center. The three griffons landed before entering the main building. Once they entered the main control room, Cygnus, Saetos, and some of the squadron leaders: Ronin, Rod, Jet, Blade, Silver Quill, Honey Rays and even Gilda, were there. When Kestrel asked the two pegasi about the rest of the EAF squadrons’ whereabouts, Honey Rays explained that they were still helping on the recovery process, but they will stay for the planned assaults on Sudentor and Stonehenge.
Kite immediately hid behind Black Star and Kestrel when he saw Cygnus’ looming form amongst the leaders. Kestrel immediately saluted the tall swan griffon, while Black Star just kept his eyes focused on the screen.
“At ease,” Cygnus spoke with a commanding tone. “So, you three must be the rest of the famed Aquila Squadron.”
Cygnus however noticed the cowering Kite hiding behind the two griffons,
“What’s wrong with him?” the swan griffon asked. Kestrel just gave a nervous chuckle and replied,
“He’s shy around strangers, especially when he’s facing one of the most famed griffon aces the kingdom has ever known.”
“I see, then tell him to ease up. I’m not going to hurt him.” Cygnus said with a smile. Kestrel then did just that before the group turned towards the giant monitor. Saetos and Cygnus immediately took a seat on their posts as Riddle decided to break the silence,
“Alright. All of you were probably wondering why I called this little get together. You’re going to find out after I tell you all a little bit of truth I’ve been keeping from… well everyone up to now.”
Everyone present looked at each other in confusion, especially the members of Aquila Squadron. What was the truth Riddle had been keeping from them? Did he still did not trust his own comrades until now?
“The truth is about the Exile armor. I’m sure some of you have already know what it could do to the user,” Riddle stated flatly. Rod and Ronin glanced at each other. Even Jet knew a fraction of the details about the armor after Scunner told him in a nutshell.
“But, there’s still one more twist of truth about the armor. Cygnus probably knows about this aswell,” Riddle explained. Cygnus just confirmed his words with a single nod. “The armor is officially known as the Zeal of Exile Magic and Strength Amplifier, or Z.O.E.M.S.A. to distinguish it from the Zone of Endless and it was officially created by Grunder Industries under the financial support of the Usean government. The goal was pretty obvious, and the test subjects who wore the prototypes of the armors survived the entire ordeal. I know, because I witnessed the tests myself. The project had a bright future ahead, but the top brass of USEA wanted more… especially when the tensions between the Griffin Empire and USEA was at its highest peak due to the mining rights at that time. So they requested me and another scientist, a genius young colt named Shockwave, to improve the Zeal’s designs and power output. I initially refused, but Shockwave’s words persuaded me to continue, so, he and I created the concept of ‘Mind Imprinting’ or mind-to-digital sublimation for the Zeal of Exile project.”
“Mind imprinting?” Rod began. “You mean like the one that Juggernaut was using the imprinted mind of the Demon Lord?”
“Correct, but that’s only the nutshell. Mind imprinting was a very tricky concept to realize since we had to copy a person’s entire memory and upload it into the Zone of Endless world. Luckily, Shockwave knew what he was working on, and he immediately requested for some of his acquaintances to build a machine specifically for this purpose. The machine was finally completed just before the Usean Rebellion, and it was called the Electro Neuron Synapse Interface or ENSI for short. The ENSI works by attaching a tube to a person’s upper spinal cord in order to link the user’s brain and the Zone of Endless. If the link is successful, then it will be easy for us to copy his or her memories and store them into the virtual world.”
“That is why the ENSI is considered by many as the bridge that connects between our world and the virtual world: a huge step forward ever since steam engines were created.” Cygnus finished the explanation with a nod. Riddle decided to continue.
“The ENSI was a revolutionary breakthrough, and we knew that it was more than capable to do things other than linking a person’s mind with the virtual world. So, we decided to put our money with Project Dision, a highly experimental extension of the Z.O.E.M.S.A. with the goal of uploading the entire mind, personality, and consciousness of a person into the Zone of Endless.”
Riddle then turned his attention back to the computer, pressing one of the buttons to reveal Esser’s profile to everyone on the room. When the profile was shown on the monitor, the blue griffon continued,
“And this guy was the first and only person ever whose mind and consciousness had successfully been uploaded into the virtual world.”
Everyone in the room stayed silent as they read the brown griffon’s profile. It turned out that Esser’s real name was Sergei Raufbold, and he was born as a Golden Eagle-Liger griffon in the Principality of Belka. He was 34 years old, held the rank of Hauptmann, Belka’s own word for Captain, and the previous commander of the 66th Tactical Griffin Squadron “Beast” until… his death over the Comona Islands.
Nearly everyone present in the room with the sole exception of Riddle felt their blood ran cold within their veins. Sergei “Esser” Raufbold has been dead for nearly two decades… then who was the person commanding the mercs and the changelings just two hours ago?
“Impossible…” Black Star stammered with cold sweat running beneath his feathers. Kestrel also had the same reaction as she held Black Star’s talon tight.
“No way…” the pastel griffoness muttered in shock.
“So… he’s a zombie?” Kite responded, earning several looks from around him. “I mean… how else is he supposed to be alive other than selling his soul to some mumbo jumbo dark magic or something.”
“Well, there’s only one way, lad,” Riddle began. “Somehow, they managed to complete a third Zeal of Exile without me knowing it. Building one armor alone is no easy feat, you must balance the amount of magic provided by the Zaubenschaft and the amount of magic the user could take in his body. Also, one of the trickier parts of the armor’s mechanism was that the sublimated mind of the uploaded user must work in tandem with the user wearing the armor in real time. Until this day, not one user has successfully synchronized with any of the sublimated minds.”
“Like Frostbite and that changeling…” Black Star finished. “But what about Esser? I saw him wearing the third Z.O.E. armor during our battle. What makes him so special other than being dead for almost two decades.”
“I was getting into that, Blake. Not only did they succeed in creating a third unit, they managed to open the high security containment which was used to store Esser’s virtual self after Project Dision was terminated,” Riddle said with his tone slowly becoming more ominous. “Somehow, they managed to recover Esser’s dead body and implanted the Z.O.E. so that brown-feathered bastard could come back from the dead. Esser’s body may be dead, but he still lives inside the Zone of Endless world, and he decided to take his revenge on the whole world…”
“But why?” Kestrel asked. “We have nothing to do with his death!”
“I think you’re forgetting something, captain,” Riddle answered. “Esser’s virtual self lived in that cramped confinement for more than two decades. That is not the kind of place for an already disturbed person like Esser should live, let alone after realizing that his real counterpart was already dead.”
“The mind is a fragile thing,” Ronin finally spoke. “If you push your mind to the very edge of insanity, you will not be able to come back.”
“So basically, he went down insanity road for 20 years because someone killed him, and he decided to kill us all in retaliation,” Rod concluded with a frown. “Yeesh, and I thought Rad was crazy.”
“True that,” Jet added, nodding in agreement. Suddenly, the door swung open as a GRG member entered the room. He excused himself for the disturbance before he spoke,
“I have an urgent message for Sir Wonderfalke regarding the patient named, Wechselbalg under the orders of Doctor Gregor from the Gryphus Hospital…”
“Just cut to the point, lad,” Riddle cut him, earning a sheepish chuckle from the GRG member.
“Okay… the patient’s dead, sir.” A few audible gasps were heard, and it soon followed by Riddle’s annoyed groan. The blue griffon quickly regained his composure and motioned the GRG member to continue. “The patient Wechselbalg slipped into a comma just 10 minutes after she was brought into the ICU. Her heart stopped beating at approximately 1845 hours, and she was declared dead 5 minutes later after various resuscitations had failed. The doctors concluded that the cause of her death was from severe blood loss added by the total failure of her brain, and other major organs due to the prolonged exposure of the Zaubenschaft.”
Nearly everyone, especially the ones who had engaged the changeling, felt some remorse, knowing that they were the ones who inflicted most of those injuries upon Wechselbalg. Riddle quickly snapped out from his guilt and asked the GRG if there was any more information beside Wechselbalg’s passing. To his relief, the GRG nodded in confirmation.
“There’s one other thing. After Wechselbalg’s death, the doctors who were treating some of the severely injured changelings reported that most of them suffered a mild case of amnesia. They couldn’t remember anything about the entire siege nor a commanding queen. Hell, some of them didn’t even remember being in a war in the first place.”
This piece of fact left the griffons deep in thought. The changelings’ sudden amnesia was a clear clue about the connection between Wechselbalg and the specialized Z.O.E. armor she wore. After seconds of thinking, Black Star finally got the answer.
“There’s one possible explanation for that: brainwashing,” he began. “It might be possible that Esser commanded Wechselbalg to put the changeling mercs under her command by placing some kind of brainwashing spell on them… I saw what she could do during our battle. She created illusions, and she commanded her army through her roars, clicks, growls. and even through telepathy…”
“It’s a possibility,” Riddle stated. Suddenly, Cygnus’ comm beeped as a transmission came in. The swan griffon answered it, and after a brief conversation, he turned it off and said,
“Duty calls, Ratsel. The troops have requested me and Saetos to survey the destroyed aqueduct. We need to repair that thing, or else the citizens won’t be getting fresh water.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Riddle sighed. “See ya, Edgar, Saetos.”
The two griffons then left the room without another word. Riddle also dismissed the other squad leaders, stating that they had enough history lesson for the evening. Gilda, who had been unusually silent for the entire duration of the reveal, left first with a huff. Though she was not showing it, she felt a little bit disturbed by the fact that Esser was basically a walking and flying corpse. The ponies followed soon after, with the griffon leaders following behind their tails. Kite also left the room, stating that his friends were probably wondering where he was right now. Finally, both Black Star and Kestrel decided to leave, but not before thanking the blue griffon for the valuable information he just provided.
“I gotta say, my mind definitely needed some rest after all of this,” Black Star stated just before he left. “Especially after learning that my opponent is a literal ghost from the past.”
“Anything’s possible, Blake,” Riddle smirked. “Go, get some rest you two. You’ll be needing plenty of energy for tomorrow.”
Black Star and Kestrel just responded with a nod, though they were trying to hide the blushes on their faces when the blue griffon slightly emphasized the words ‘you two’. Once they were out, Riddle turned his attention back towards the computer, silently musing about things related to Esser and sometimes things related to the safety of his family. One question still remained on his mind:
Why was Esser’s Z.O.E. able to avoid detection from the magic detector gauge?
“I guess all questions will be answered when the time comes…” the blue griffon silently thought with a frown.
Meanwhile…
Ponyville Station, Ponyville, Equestria
May 18th 2020, 1945 hrs
Rainbow Dash was not happy right now. Earlier today, she and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony were called to Canterlot by Princess Celestia for the second time this week and so far, she hadn’t learned anything about it. Even two of her best friends,Twilight Sparkle and Rarity, refused to tell the others about what the solar princess could have told them.
“I know that it’s a little bit unfair leaving you girls in the dark,” the purple unicorn spoke, “but Princess Celestia said that this must be kept to a number of individuals. If it was to spread, then it will cause panic at an unimaginable scale.”
“You mean like the parasprite invasion a little while back?”Applejack questioned with a smirk. Twilight could only turn her attention to her friend before she answered,
“Well, sort of. Only much bigger.”
“How big, exactly?” Rainbow Dash jumped in as she hovered above the purple unicorn. Twilight could only groan in annoyance. She already knew where this conversation might lead to. “Come on, Twilight. If this is about another crisis…”
“Yes! But this one really made Princess Celestia very concerned, and not just her too. Personally, I think this thing is worse than any of the crises we’ve ever faced,” Twilight stated grimly. Her words were filled with worry and concern. She took a moment or two to regain her composure before continuing. “I’m sorry, girls, But the answer is still no.”
After finishing those words, Twilight casted a teleportation spell and disappeared before her friends’ eyes. Rainbow Dash just grumbled and landed beside her timid friend, Fluttershy. Rarity on the other hoof, just sighed and said,
“I’m sorry, darlings. This hurts me and Twilight more than it hurts you.”
“Nah, it’s okay, sugarcube,” Applejack responded with a smile. “I know that we’re friends and all, but I know there are some secrets that should be kept to ourselves. Right girls?”
“Eeyup!” Pinkie Pie, the energetic pink earth pony answered with a giggle. “The only thing matters is that we’re still best friends!”
“Yeah, I guess so…” Rainbow Dash said with a defeated tone. Fluttershy just responded with a single nod and smile. With the tensions settled, the five mares said their goodbyes and departed to their homes. Rainbow Dash was busy pondering about what she should tell Firefly about all this. Suddenly, something in the night sky caught her attention. She stopped and hovered as she saw four streaks of light zipp across the star-filled sky.
“Huh, I didn’t know that there was a meteor shower tonight.” She thought in curiosity before she shrugs it off and continued her journey back home.
The former industrial city of Hoffnung, Neue Gryphus/Belka
May 18th 2020, 2134 hrs
Esser sighed in relief after he managed to put his dislocated shoulder back into place. He barely made it through the entire siege alive, no thanks to that squadron: Aquila. He was lucky that his specially made Zaubenschaft was tougher than the normal ones due to a special ingredient inside of it, but still, he still needs to get this one fixed or else he would be trapped inside that virtual cell again.
His thoughts were interrupted when Svenson approached him with a single comm in his talon.
“What?” he asked flatly.
“It’s Hog, sir,” Svenson answered. “SITREP.”
Without any second to waste, Esser grabbed the comm before speaking into it,
“Talk to me, Hog,”
“Well, someone’s in a foul mood tonight,” the green unicorn joked from the other end. “Sorry about that. So, how’s the siege?”
“It went smoothly, all according to plan,” Esser smirked. “The bad news is, the changeling queen is out for the count.”
“Oh man, that’s the last armor we had…” Hog groaned. “So, we have no choice to go on Phase Two, eh?”
“Yeah, just don’t throw up when you’re installing those Z.O.E. prototypes on your dead comrades,” Esser chuckled.
“Don’t worry, I’ll do it for the sake of knowledge and science,” Hog said in a dark tone.
“Funny to hear those words from a unicorn,” Esser sneered, causing Hog to laugh at his end.
“Science is interesting; it explains the unexplained wonders of nature,” Hog said nonchalantly. “Oh, almost forgot. S.A.I.T.N. Type-0 is now at 90%. It’ll be ready to be used by tomorrow.”
“Excellent,” Esser said sinisterly. “Thanks, Hog. You’re really a best friend for a ghost like me.”
“Right back at ya, Sergei,” Hog answered before the transmission ended. The brown griffon then changed the frequency to contact the person in charge of surveying the construction of the Valkyrie in the Avalon Dam, located in Mund Valley. It took a few seconds to get the frequency right, but finally, a shaky but familiar voice was heard from the comm.
“Y-yeah?”
“Rohling, my man,” Esser began. “What’s the status on our little project?”
“BUCK YOU, Esser!” Rohling snapped “If Kriegstrieber’s still alive, he would have thrown you back to where you—”
“Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah, whatever. I only wanted to know how the big guy doing.”
“Oh, he’s doing great…” Rohling answered sarcastically. “Heck, he’s doing better than great. He kept staring at the workers and me with those red eyes—”
Suddenly, there was a loud mechanical groan coming from behind Rohling. The unicorn screamed like little filly once he saw the owner of the voice.
“H-H-He’s looking at me right now!!” he shrieked. “He’s getting closer!”
“Hm, sounds like his old draconic instinct are back,” Esser chuckled, ignoring Rohling’s pleas. “And judging by the sound he make, he’s hungry.”
“Hungry?! Where the hay do we find that amount of gems to feed him right now!?” Rohling snapped before he yelped again as another mechanical growl was heard.
“Oh, I’m not thinking about gems… because the food is already there…” Esser chuckled. “Right in front of him…”
Rohling immediately realized what Esser meant as the mechanical groans and growls kept getting louder from the comm. The unicorn panicked.
“No! Esser!! WAIT!!! NOOO—ARGHHH—*static*…”
The comm’s transmission was cut off after the sounds of ripped flesh and broken bones were heard from it. From that day on, Rohling was not heard from again. Esser then handed the comm back at Svenson before he stared at the cloudless sky above. A single bolt of light streaked passed the night sky, causing the griffon to smile sinisterly.
“The show’s about the begin…”
Black Star could only watch helplessly as the flames of war spreads through Equis like a raging storm. They had failed, he had failed. Esser cannot be stopped and he managed to purge the entire Griffin Kingdom and the rest of the world into the flaming depths of Tartarus. His laughter could be heard from everywhere.
“Let there no one to be spared…”
The Royal Princesses have fallen to his might, his Z.O.E. was no match for the two once godly beings. Even the fabled Elements of Harmony failed to stop him. They were destroyed and the bearers were burned to dust.
“Let the world be baptised by the flames…”
Marie, Ratsel, Milvus… even Firefly, everyone had died. He was the only one left that defied Esser’s madness for so long. But what’s the point of continuing if you don’t have any reason to live anymore?
“History had been burned by the fire from the heavens… a new age of prosperity will rule over Equis…”
Black Star clenched his fists before he kneeled down, tears forming on his eyes as he recalled his own failures. He failed again, and it’s only logical if he took his own life right now. No, that’s the easy way out, that’s what cowards do and he’s not a coward! Not anymore!
“That is the gift Ulysses had given us…”
Suddenly, a large dark shadow loomed over the kneeling griffon. Black Star looked upwards and saw a giant dragon, made from metal and powered by the Z.O.E.s bearing its’ teeth at him. Above the dragon, he saw the recognizable form of Esser smirking in delight. Black Star scoffed and stood up, he’s been waiting for this.
The two glowing red orbs that made the dragon’s eyes watched as Black Star flared his wings and took flight. Once the dark griffon was high enough, he dived right into the steel jaws of death as the dragon fired its flame at him: engulfing Black Star from head to tail, reducing him to nothing…
Black Star’s quarters, Military Academy, Griffin Kingdom
May 19th 2020, 0635 hrs
Black Star opened his eyes and found himself staring at the ceiling of his own room.
“Another nightmare…” he thought with a frown. Black Star sighed and looked through the window on his left. The morning sun had barely risen out from the peaks and the morning fog still lingers over the city.
“Well… at least I didn’t oversleep this time.” Black Star thought with a smile. Then, he felt something warm just to his right. He moved his right arm and felt soft fur brushed between his talons. His gold eyes shrunk before they moved to the side to see who or what was lying on his bed with him.
Then he saw it or rather, her. He saw Kestrel’s form sleeping soundly beside him. Black Star turned towards the window before he snapped his attention back to her, hoping that this was still a dream, but no, she was still there.
“Dear Celestia…” Black Star thought as cold sweat drenched his feathers. “What did we do last night!?”
Black Star nearly panicked as he recalled the events from the night before after he and Kestrel left the GCC. No, they couldn’t have possibly done it. The law clearly states that unmarried griffon couples were prohibited to have any form of sex whatsoever until they are properly married. Black Star slapped his forehead and drag his palm across his face, if he and Kestrel really did have sex last night then he’s in a bigger predicament than he currently was right now.
A sudden movement from his right nearly made him jolt from his bed. Kestrel groaned as she woke up from her slumber. The pastel griffoness yawned before she spoke,
“Morning…” She then noticed Black Star’s blank face staring at her. “Uh, why are you looking at me like that?”
“Last night…” he began. “We didn’t… did we?”
It took nearly a minute for Kestrel to register what Black Star was talking about. Her response was a loud laugh that could have woken the inhabitants of the academy.
“No! Of course not!” she finally answered. “Did you think I was really that desperate for attention? Hah, and I thought Milvus was the one with the big imagination!”
Though he felt a little bit insulted, Black Star was relieved by her answer. Soon, Kestrel’s laugh died down as she continued.
“You passed out in the halls, and I carried you here before I slept beside you, since I was too tired to go to my own room. It must be the side effects of the Z.O.E. Mk. IIs.”
“Yeah, must be…” Black Star repeated as he did some arm stretching. “Ah, my whole body hurts.”
“Me too,” Kestrel groaned when she tried to stretch her arms to her legs. “Fatigue combined with the side effects.”
Suddenly, the door slammed open as a familiar bluish white griffon came into the two older griffons’ views. Kite’s sight wasn’t focused at the two when he came in as he was too busy putting his scanner on his wrist.
“Black—I mean Blake, Captain Turmfalken,” he began. “Sir Wonderfalke called us to the GCC, he said that it’s… imp… ortant…”
Kite’s words trailed off when he finally saw both griffons sharing the same bed. His face immediately flushed red as he chuckled sheepishly.
“Uh, okay. Not a good time is it? Ehehe… bye!” he chirped as he quickly closed the door. Kestrel, fearing the worst outcome of this little misunderstanding, immediately shouted,
“Milvus Hawksforth! Get your ass in this room right now!!”
Kite quickly turned around and went back into the room with fear clearly written on his pale face. He immediately dropped to his knees and begged,
“Please ma’am, I won’t tell anybody, I swear! Just don’t kick me out of the squad or the academy!”
However, Kestrel only chuckled at the small griffon’s response.
“Calm down, Milvus. I’m not going to kick you out,”
“Y-You’re not?” Kite stuttered. “But I saw you two…”
“Marie just fell asleep in my bed, kid,” Black Star said bluntly. “We didn’t do anything else aside from sleeping together.”
Kite blushed in embaressment after he heard that.
“Sorry,” he squeaked before he realized the message he was suppose to deliver to the two griffons. “Oh, I forgot. Sir Wonderfalke called us to the GCC. He said that it’s important for the Stonehenge air raid today.”
Both Black Star and Kestrel looked at each other. They wondered what kind of information the blue griffon had in store for the Stonehenge mission. Without any second to lose, the trio left the academy and flew towards the command center. Along the way there, Kite decided to let his thoughts loose for a bit.
“I’m glad that you two aren’t doing it,” his words made both Black Star and Kestrel blush for a bit. “Seriously, it would be even harder trying to explain it to Sir Wonderfalke.”
“Okay, Milvus. That’s quite enough,” Kestrel chuckled. “Let’s just focus on our tasks for today.”
“I agree.” Black Star added with his usual tone. Though Kite still had one more thing to say,
“Sorry ma’am, it’s just… well, to be honest. I’m kinda supportive of your relationship with Blake.”
Kestrel could literally feel the steam coming out from her head, and Black Star was trying his best to hide the ever growing blush on his face. Kite noticed the two griffons’ silent reaction to his words and smiled to himself. He really did learn a thing or two from Sir Wonderfalke.
“There’s no doubt now, these two are made for each other,” he thought with a smile.
The trio finally arrived at the main entrance of the GCC, where they saw Jet and Wave standing near the door. The green griffon greeted them and said that Sir Wonderfalke and the other leaders were waiting for them in the briefing room. Black Star also congratulated Wave on his spinal recovery, the latter said that he was eager to jump into the action again.
When the group entered the briefing room, they noticed that nearly every squad leaders both from the griffons and the EAF were present, but none of the newly arrived EAF squadrons like Lancer or Sweeper squadrons were there. When asked why, Saetos gave them the answer.
“Despite Princess Luna’s offer, Valdar decided to send the additional EAF squadrons back, stating he can’t afford to risk anymore equine lifes.”
“So we’re the only EAF squads left to help you guys win this,” Silver Quill, leader of Crossbow squadron stated. “Don’t worry, we can take the challenge. It’s time for us to take the stage.”
“Don’t get too cocky, Silver,” Honey Rays smirked. “One more wrong step and you’ll end up getting shot down again.”
“If I were you, I’d listen to the lady,” Soarin’ chuckled, prompting the other Wonderbolts to laugh as well. “You know the reason why the others called you King Bailout?”
“Ah shut up, Soarin’,” the brown pegasus spoke, but the griffons seemed to be interested in his particular moniker.
“King Bailout?” Rod asked in confusion.
“Let’s just say that Silver Quill had the tendency to get shot down, a lot,” Soarin’ laughed, “most of them during training exercises.”
There was no denying it; the griffons also found this amusing as well. Ronin tried to hide her laughter by covering his beak with her metal talons while Gilda laughed the loudest. Riddle, Cygnus, and Saetos had their fair share of laughs as well, and even the normally composed Black Star couldn’t help but to chuckle in amusement. Silver Quill, who was fuming at this point only responded,
“Hahah, very funny guys. Could we hear the briefing now?”
“He’s right, everyone quiet down now,” Riddle called out as everyone’s laughter soon died down. The blue griffon then motioned Saetos to turn on the monitor to display the newly obtained data. At first, the monitor showed the emblem of the Griffin Kingdom with the loading bar below it. Once the bar was filled, a couple of pictures were shown on the monitor. Upon close inspection, everyone realized that the pictures showed the recently drained Avalon Dam taken from different angles.
“Alright, here’s the point,” Saetos began. “Aside from this newly acquired data we received from recent recon flights, we have also discovered that since the invasion, the Belkan and mercenary forces had been slowly retreating back to their den.”
The monitor then showed the picture of Ghunter Kriegstreiber and Esser with the word DECEASED crossed over the mint unicorn’s portrait. The monitor also showed the red arrows, representing the enemy’s troops withdrawing from occupied areas like Dinsmark and Hoofstio.
“We believe that following Kriegstreiber’s death at the talon of Sergei Raufbold: the apparent true master of this conflict and the Equestrian War, the troops’ ranks and command fell into disarray, causing severe panic before the total collapse of their military. Bottom word, Belka is practically unable to defend itself nor mount a second strike towards us. I’m sure the Hoofstians will be pleased to hear this.”
The pictures and data about Belka’s retreat from the front lines were soon replaced by the aforementioned photographs of the Avalon Dam.
“Anyway, back to the original mater. Recent reconnaissance flight have confirmed that the Avalon Dam located in Mund Valley has become active once more. The recon also confirmed that the presence of the remaining Belkan and mercenary forces around and in the area. The gravity dam itself was designed by the Belkans as a multifunctional facility capable of producing electricity and as well storing and launching Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles like the V-2.”
Most of the ponies and griffons cringed when they heard the word “V-2” being announced as the monitor showed the basic blueprints of the V-2 missile. Saetos then continued,
“The real problem is not with the missiles, but rather this piece of evidence gathered by the same recon flight before they were eliminated by an unknown attack.”
Saetos then brought up two pictures that showed some kind of mechanical head extending from the main shutters of the dam. The pictures looked blurry, as if the recon flight was in a hurry to take them before they were shot down by the enemy. Whispers were heard from everyone inside the room as they tried to make out what the head really was. Riddle decided to put an end to the debate as he inserted an unmarked disk into the computer. Once the data was successfully uploaded into the computer, Riddle typed in a few commands to show the data to everyone in the room. What they saw was a blueprint titled “Valkyrie” that depicted the skeleton of a giant dragon armed with various machines and weaponry attached to its body.
Several gasps and surprised mumbles were heard from the ponies, as Riddle began,
“This is Neue Belka’s secret weapon and the sister project of both the Fortress Intimidation and the Burning Talon: Valkyrie. A mechanical monstrosity created by using the corpse of the dragon prince, Hraesvelgr.”
Some of the ponies were speechless, they didn’t know that the two weapons that have caused their nightmares on the previous war had a sister project, and so far to the ponies, Valkyrie met all of their standards for being a true living nightmare. Saetos then continued Riddle’s explanation,
“The Griffin Empire claimed the corpse after Hraesvelgr’s father: King Aigaion refused to have anything to do with it, calling his own son a traitor for siding himself with the Belkans. At first we didn’t know what to do with the corpse since the scales and the bone were fireproof. Our answer finally came when the astronomers found an asteroid, Polyphemus was on a direct collision with the asteroid, 1010EQG Ulysses. I’m sure some of you know the full story…”
Indeed, the Wonderbolts and some of the ponies could only nod with a grim expression. The griffons also felt a little bit uncomfortable by the explanation of Ulysses. Saetos knew that most of their families suffered after the disaster.
“Now, our engineers think they can modify Hraesvelgr’s entire corpse and turn it into an anti-asteroid weapon system that could intercept asteroid fragments in space.”
A few impressed looks were present on everybody’s face. It’s true that the sky's the limit, but they always wondered what could have lied beyond the clouds and the blue skies. Saetos the continued,
“As groundbreaking as the plan was, we still needed time and money to complete this monstrosity. With the Burning Talon and the Fortress Intimidation were already being built, the Valkyrie soon followed after. However, Princess Celestia was uncertain of our plans, so the construction of these three mammoth projects were halted several times and we’re running out of both options and time. When Ulysses struck Equis, only the Burning Talon was completed but it was still not enough to counter the asteroids… the financial breakdown that tore the empire apart closed the curtains for any further development for the Valkyrie…”
“Until the Belkans under the guidance of Esser Raufbold by posing Ghunter as the false leader decided to resurrect the beast from its’ slumber…” Riddle continued.
“Kriegstreiber personally directed me to be the supervisor of the project under the simple truth that Ulysses’ remaining fragments are going to hit us again. When I found out what his true intentions, I immediately deleted the files, blueprints, everything related to the Valkyrie. The blueprint shown here is the only existing copy after the purge and I plan to burn it after this mission.”
“And here comes the actual briefing…” Saetos continued on. “Sorry if you didn’t like our history lesson.”
“No, it’s okay, sir,” Red Moon, the lunar guard said in assurance. “We learn something new every day and this is no different.”
“Still, a dragon that can fly into space…” Hammerdown added in awe. “Now that’s pretty damn impressive.”
“Well thank you for the compliment,” Saetos answered as he continued, “As I said before, the Belkans have drained the gravity dam so they could resume their work on the Valkyrie. We believed that the mechanical dragon is being stored inside one of the large chambers inside the dam which was previously used to store large amounts of V-2 warheads. Once more, we needed to neutralize the Stonehenge Type-0 located on the city of Sudentor.”
The monitor soon showed a picture which showed the four unmistakable railgun cannons being positioned around the city of Sudentor.
“According to Sir Wonderfalke along with Captain Rod from Northwind flight and Colonel Mizukami from Southwind flight, the railguns are now completely operational and could ground all aerial flights from in or out of Sudentor. That’s why we needed to destroy this weapon along with the Valkyrie today.”
The screen closed the picture of Stonehenge and brought up two operational names. One was named Operation Annihilator and the other was named Operation Valkyrie. Riddle clicked on the first operation and it showed the names of the teams that will participate on that sortie. The names listed on Operation Annihilator were; Aquila, Northwind, Southwind, Ursa Major, Verde, Swallow, Regal, Selene, Avion, and Newt.
“If your squad’s name is in that first list then listen closely,” Saetos began as Riddle clicked on Operation Annihilator, revealing the details of the operation.
“Since Stonehenge is capable of launching ordinances at long range, it would be very difficult for us to try to enter Sudentor’s airspace without detection. Once more, Stonehenge uses a special satellite codenamed Menhir-3 to pinpoint the target’s location and feeds the information to Stonehenge’s 400 supercomputers. Though the range of the weapon was short in astronomical terms, it’s still capable of launching those specially made burst missiles near Gryphus’ front door.”
Riddle then showed a digital rendering of the Stonehenge Type-0, along with its statistics.
“An ECM tower positioned at the center of the turret network jams all radar and radio comms around the cannons and the railguns themselves were built using specially made steel that was light enough but strong enough to withstand the stress of launching multiple missiles in a quick succession, so you can throw away any chances to put a dent on those things through physical attacks alone. That’s where Ursa Major squadron steps in,”
The digital model of Stonehenge was zoomed out as four red arrows labeled “Ursa Major” came in from the north.
“They will carry four Guided Penetration Bombs (GPB) that will be dropped at the base of the railgun cannons, causing the cannon to collapse under its own weight. However, they still needed radar coverage for the bombs.”
Soon, another set of arrows labelled Aquila, Verde came into the picture, while four arrows labeled as Regal, Selene, Avion, and Newt approached the railgun network by ground.
“Aquila squadron’s task is to work together with Verde squadron to provide air support for the ground forces as they destroy the jamming tower’s generators located on the marked sectors. These generators were previously used as a backup generator if a power outage occurred, but they since modified it to power the jamming towers. Not only that, the generators also powered the railguns’ anti-air defense systems scattered around the network. Be advised, these guns have a deadly accuracy and will track your movements once you’re within range. Northwind, Southwind and Swallow squadrons tasks are to distract the cannon fire away from the main teams until the generators are offline. Once the jamming has ceased, and the guns are offline, Ursa Major will deliver the bombs and the rest of the squadron will keep the skies clear from any enemy fliers that may halt their advance.”
Honey Rays silently gulped in fear when she heard her team’s main objective.
“This will be a tough mission for all of you, but if you succeeded in destroying the railguns, it will surely put a crippling blow to Belka’s air superiority, and we will be one step closer to put an end to this madness.”
Riddle then clicked, and the whole screen went back to its main menu.
“Any questions for this operation?” Saetos asked, but only silence met his answer. “Good, dismissed.”
The ones who were named on this operation quickly left the room as Saetos began the second briefing for the second operation. Though Black Star exited the room first, he and Jet overheard that the second team’s task was to infiltrate Avalon and sabotage the entire facility in order to prevent Valkyrie from being deployed.
“Blake, Johann, are you two coming or what?” Kestrel called out from the other end of the hall. The two griffons responded to her call and followed the rest of the group. Jet finally taken notice that Kestrel had been close to Black Star ever since they came back from the Waldreich Mountains, and the pastel brown griffoness even started to call him by his first name more often. The green griffon cleared his throat and asked,
“So, how’s your relationship with the captain? You two seems to be getting awfully close to one another since that sortie near Ground Zero.”
“We reconciled, Johann,” Black Star answered. “We managed to work things out and I’m planning to talk to her about our future once this is over. ”
“Ah, damn. Not you too,” Jet groaned as both of them neared the exit. “I really need to find myself a mate.”
“Don’t worry,” Black Star assured him by patting his shoulder. “There’s still plenty of griffonesses in the sky.”
Once both griffons were outside, they were greeted by the rest of the group. Jet quickly went back to his squad while Black Star took his position as Riddle’s wingmate. Kestrel gave the dark-griffon an assuring smile in which he responded by giving his own smile at her. Kite on the other hand tried his best to stay calm for this mission. He heard that the unicorn battalions and an additional squadron were going to rendezvous with them at the Belkan border to make this mission a bit easier. But still, facing a railgun network designed to shoot down asteroids sent chills down his spine. Even some of the ponies were nervous about this mission. The decisive mission that would change this war for the better.
“Alright, everyone. You’re cleared for take-off!” A GRG member announced through the megaphone. Aquila took into the skies, followed suit by Verde, Northwind, Southwind, Swallow, the Equestrian Royal Guards 4th Division “Regal” and the Lunar Guards 3rd Division “Selene”. The squadrons had a long flight ahead and all of them knew that there is no turning back on this mission.
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actually, the task of the Valkyrie was to escort those who died in battle to the halls of Valhallah, as well as being great warriors in their own right
4880637 Hey, I just use Google. Thanks for the info tho.
And we enter the home stretch...
4885467 Really? It's still far away based on my calculations. :P
4886666 Oh. Well, sorry then.
Oy, Esser is (essentially) undead? Zombie-Cyborg Dragons? Yikes!
4886884
An undead, psychopathic, genocidal maniac to be more precise. Yes, Valkyrie is essentially a walking/flying cyborg skeleton. Here's the artwork for your viewing pleasure.
th06.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2014/233/b/2/valkyrie_by_slowusaurus-d7w5j8y.png
4889325
That thing is...
This is going to be a VERY unpleasant fight, isn't it?
4892844 We shall see... heheh
So many references... and good ones at that. You've even put Rainbow in, thanks :)
So, we're getting closer to the end. You're doing really good.
4904734
4904787
I hope you can assign the proper tropes for the story and the characters, since I'm kinda bad at it when doing a mock up TV Trope page on the story in my computer. ^^;
It's kinda hard to write long action scenes. If I'm not careful, I'll end up repeating the same action for a different character. Rainbow's there just to show that she had no idea about the second Ulysses Impact Event which will happen near the end of the story. Twilight, Rarity and the other unicorns in Equestria were basically ordered by Celestia to keep it quiet to prevent mass hysteria.
Only five more chapters to go!