• Published 12th Jul 2013
  • 1,546 Views, 85 Comments

Ace Combat: Gryphon Wings - Bwaak



Ten months after the Equestrian war, the Griffin Kingdom is on a road to recovery from the tyrranical rule of Red Cyclone. But an old threat from the past threatens to plunge the whole world into chaos.

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Chapter 8: Out the Frying Pan...

Author's Note:

Warning. This chapter contains gore and scenes that would make your back hurt.

Also, if you read Scunner's lines; be sure to read it in Craig Fairbrass' voice.

Chapter 8: Out the Frying Pan…

Drakenridge Mountain Range (West), Sector T10, Griffin Kingdom
April 25th 2020, 1400 hrs

An overwhelming sense of dread flowed through Riddle’s body when he heard Black Star’s emergency message. When he checked his scanner, it showed there was indeed a single contact approaching at high speed. Riddle quickly gained some altitude to avoid the red juggernaut’s path, but due to the fog, he couldn’t really see which way the juggernaut would come at him.

Suddenly, the scanner showed that the contact made a turn towards his position. Riddle didn’t have time to react and only managed to change his position at the last minute when the red juggernaut finally appeared in front of him.

The brief glimpse of those soulless blue eyes went by as the armored red pegasus flew past him and hit a structure of the Burning Talon. The blow made the structure collapse onto the mountainside and caused the other smaller structures around it to come loose as well.

Riddle landed on the ground and watched the entire structure come down. Metallic creaking and groans echoed throughout the area, earning the griffons’ attention. Jet, who watched the whole structure come down on the red pegasus, wasn’t able to comprehend how the pegasus had that much power to topple a solid structure like that.

“Wha…” before Jet could finish, something moved from below the ruins, like something crawling its way out from the carnage. Riddle was quick to react to this.

“Verde 1! Get out of here now!!”

His warning came too late, as the red pegasus launched itself directly at a shocked Jet. Incredible pain surged through Jet’s body as the red pegasus hit him in the stomach, forcing every all the air in Jet’s lungs to come out from his beak. Jet coughed up some blood before his sight blurred into black, losing consciousness.

With a single blow, Jet was sent flying towards the rocks below. Luckily, his subordinates were quick to react as Archer and Lanner managed to catch him.

“Verde 1’s down!” Archer announced. “I repeat, Lieutenant Johann is out!”

Riddle gritted his teeth in anger when the red juggernaut turned his sights to him. The same empty blue eyes pierced right through him, and the ominous pulsating blue glow from the ridge of the Exile armor was able to be seen through the fog. Riddle growled before activating his comm to warn all griffon forces to retreat from the area.

“Aquila 1 to all units, don’t engage that red pegasus. I’m issuing an order to cease engagement and retreat!”

“This is Aquila 3. Sir, you can’t be serious!?” Kestrel snapped.

”This is no time for an argument, Captain Marie Turmfalken!” Riddle snapped back. “This pegasus is beyond your level; he’s able to kill you in one hit. Take Kite with you and get out of here now!”

Kestrel was too stunned to respond. She could hear the overwhelming fear coming from Riddle’s words. Was this pegasus really that good? Could he be one of the subjects of the Zeal of Exile armor Black Star talked about?

If these were indeed true, they were severely outmatched, despite having a superior number.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the red pegasus emitted a ghastly neigh before diving straight down at Riddle’s position. The blue griffon stepped out of the way, letting the pegasus land on the ground with sheer brute force, sending dirt and rocks flying everywhere. Riddle managed to jump clear of the blast, but the red pegasus used this chance to deliver another attack to the blue griffon.

This time, Riddle couldn't escape.

The red pegasus roared before tackling the blue griffon to the ground. The blow from the attack broke Riddle’s scanner, cutting off his current position from the others’ radar scanners.


1415 hrs

The rest of Aquila squadron panicked when they saw Riddle’s signal disappear from their scanners; the other squads had also noticed Riddle’s sudden disappearance too.

“Aquila 1, you’re lost from radar. Are you still there?” Rod called in worry. The only response he got was the sounds of groans and growls as Riddle struggled against the red pegasus. A sickening crack was heard before the radio went dead.

“Aquila 1, I repeat. Are you still there, sir?” Rod asked again. Much to his and the others’ horror, only static met their answer. Rod opened another channel to contact Archer. “Northwind 2, what’s going on over there!?”

“This is Northwind 2, we’re unable to confirm the situation because of the thick fog,” Archer answered. Another hellish neigh was heard from below, followed by Riddle’s scream. “I can’t confirm the situation, but Aquila 1 really needs some help!”

“This is Black Star, I’m on my way,” Black Star spoke through the comm as he flapped his wings faster. He managed to pinpoint the last location of Riddle’s radar contact before it went dark. He carefully maneuvered through the fog before arriving at the spot. On his left, he saw a fresh crater, but before he could search for the blue griffon’s location, Riddle’s battered body landed in front of him.

The blue griffon was in a complete mess: his right arm has been bent in the opposite direction, blood flowed from his nostrils and beak, and his whole body was covered in bruises. Luckily though, he was still alive.

Black Star bent down and started to inspect further damage to the blue griffon’s body, but before he could inspect any further, the red pegasus landed in front of him. Black Star carefully took a step back as the pegasus’ piercing blue eyes glared at him. The dark-feathered griffon also saw some stitches on the pegasus’ stomach, confirming that this pegasus was the same one who attacked him and Riddle two days ago.

“He took Riddle down, ignoring the others,” Black Star mused before closing his eyes. He sighed and opened them again. “There’s no doubt, I’m next on his hit list.”

The pegasus growled as Black Star took a fighting stance, ready to fight the pegasus, despite knowing that he would die by doing so. The pegasus only snorted when he saw Black Star ready to fight him. Slowly, the pegasus’ stiff mouth curved upwards as more of the mysterious blue fluid came out from this pale gums: forming a sickening smile, as if he was amused of the dark griffon’s decision.

Black Star narrowed his eyes and tried to shove the disturbing image away. The pegasus neighed again before rushing forwards to attack the dark feathered griffon. Black Star was ready. When the pegasus was close, Black Star dropped to the ground back first, letting the pegasus soar above him. He then brought his legs together and delivered a horse-kick at the pegasus’ lower abdomen, causing him to crash head-first on the rocky ground behind the griffon.

The pegasus shrugged off the injury before turning to face Black Star again. His smile was still present, but his skull was nearly flattened by the impact. Several of his teeth were missing, and the blue fluids, mixed with his dark red blood, flowed out from the wounds. The pegasus neighed again as he prepared himself for another attack. Black Star clenched his talons, ready for another attack, but to his surprise, the pegasus did the opposite and retreated into the thick fog.

Black Star growled; it seemed that the pegasus wasn’t some mindless brute like he was two days ago. He could think, and this fact alone sent cold shivers down Black Star’s spine. The sounds of hooves clopping was heard from his left, prompting the dark griffon to turn towards that direction.

“This is pointless…” Black Star thought. “I will gain no advantage if this continues. Must get to higher grounds.”

Black Star spread his wings and took into the air. This turned out to be a fatal mistake. Turns out, the pegasus actually wanted him to gain some altitude, and he wasted no time delivering his attack to the dark griffon.

Black Star was taken off-guard by the pegasus’ sneak attack. Both combatants tackled each other as they fell to the ground. Slowly, Black Star struggled to position himself on top of the pegasus, hoping to use the pegasus’ body as a cushion. However, the red pegasus saw through his plan and broke away, leaving Black Star falling on his own.

The dark griffon managed to slow his way down, but the red pegasus tackled him again after he touched the ground. The two continued their brawl, despite that both combatants were now tumbling down the slope. Black Star felt immense pain every time his body contacted the rocky surface, and he also heard the sounds of bones cracking from the red pegasus’ body.

Meanwhile. Riddle slowly stirred from his consciousness, groaning in pain as he tried to get up.

Scheiße…” Riddle muttered as a surge of pain came from his broken arm. Using his functional arm, Riddle tried to contact anyone for some help, but was unable to do so when he found the remains of his broken earpiece. Riddle groaned in pain and frustration as he rolled his body before lying face up.

He heard Black Star’s growls and yells from the bottom of the slope, obviously fighting the red pegasus in his place. Riddle felt guilty about letting the young griffon fight in his place. He was clearly outmatched to the bone, and yet he was still willing to fight for his safety.

Fortunately, Riddle managed to catch a glimpse of the other griffons flying to his position through the fog. The griffonesses Kestrel and Archer landed first, with the latter still carrying Jet’s unconscious form, followed suit by Kite, Rod and his squad, and Verde’s remaining squad.

Upon hearing the brawl between Black Star and the red pegasus below, Archer immediately dispatched Lanner and Wave to assist the black griffon. The two compiled and flew down to assist their comrade. Archer gasped when she saw Riddle’s current state, while Kestrel quickly tended his wounds.

“By Celestia’s mane, did that red pegasus really do this to you!?’ Kestrel stammered.

“Obviously, captain… ” Riddle said flatly. Kestrel let out a small sigh, glad that Riddle still had his mischievous streak.

“I can’t believe the Belkans had a pegasus this powerful within their ranks,” Archer spoke grimly.

“Completely false, Archer,” Riddle responded, now sitting while Kestrel carefully tended his wounds. “That pegasus doesn’t have any ties to Belka’s army whatsoever… ugh!”

“Easy there, sir,” Kestrel soothed as she carefully tended Riddle’s twisted arm. “Sir, this arm must be twisted back to its place. It will cause more complications if it stays this way.”

Riddle only nodded at Kestrel’s statement before taking a deep breath, waiting for the inevitable pain. With a swift motion and a sickening crack, Kestrel snapped the arm back to its former position. Riddle whimpered in pain, but the pain was soon dulled when one of Verde’s members injected some pain killers he brought with him on Riddle’s arm.

Riddle took his time to get used to the pain, Archer was also waited patiently until the blue griffon was ready to speak again again.

“OK, what do you mean by that, sir?” Archer asked again. Riddle sighed before he starts his explanation.

“Did any of you remember the news about Gründer developing some kind of power armor?” The griffons excluding Kestrel and Kite nodded. “Well, that’s the result down there.”

Kestrel frowned when she heard that. There was no mistaking it now. That pegasus was a user of the dreaded Zeal of Exile armor developed by Gründer. The other griffons seemed to understand the nutshell of the situation, but still didn’t understand what the armor could actually do. Seeing their predicament, Riddle decided to explain the outline of what the armor was capable of.

Riddle explained that the armor will boost the user’s physical strength up to 50 times more than their original strength and increase their endurance to severe wounds, basically transforming them into superpowered juggernauts. Riddle’s further explanation made the situation even worse.

“The Zeal of Exile or the Z.O.E. armor uses the concept of “mind uploading,” which means the user is basically using the combat tactics and moves of whoever’s mind the armor had imprinted itself on. Unfortunately for us, the armor have imprinted its engagement mode on the most dangerous pegasus in history: The Demon Lord himself.”

Only then did the griffons realized how severely outmatched they are in this situation. The Demon Lord was known to be brutal and merciless on his opponents. Killing injured foes and hunting retreating enemy forces even when the operation was complete.

“How do we stop it, sir?” Kestrel spoke first. Riddle’s response was a little slow.

“There’s a way, captain. But I’ll need you, Archer, Kite, and another two griffons for this,” Riddle explained. The blue griffon also asked to borrow Rod’s scanner. After he tweaked it for a bit, Kestrel’s, Archer’s, and Kite’s scanners showed four locations around the ensuing battle.

“Circle the pegasus on the spot I marked on your scanners. Wait for my signal there.”

Without any further delay, Archer and Kite flew upwards along with Rod and Scunner, who agreed to participate in this plan. Kestrel was hesitant about leaving Riddle like this, but the blue griffon assured to her that he will be fine.

“I’m tougher than I look, captain. I survived the Belkan war and nearly got killed thrice in my life,” Riddle smirked. “Besides, Black Star needs your help more than I do.”

Kestrel wasn’t sure on how to respond to Riddle’s statement. She only muttered a single “roger” before flying to her spot. Riddle quietly smirked when he saw the griffoness’ reaction. He just hoped that this plan would be sufficient enough against a pegasus with the strength of an entire army.


1440 hrs

Black Star dropped in exhaustion after the red pegasus threw him away. Blood slowly dripped from his forehead after he headbutted the pegasus when he tried to strangle Wave to death. Lanner was on the ground, unconscious after the red pegasus uppercutted him from 12 meters away. Wave was currently engaging the red pegasus with little success on harming him.

Black Star was out of options. His scanner was completely shattered, his skull hurt like hell, and his stamina had run out. The red pegasus definitely learned from his mistakes from two days ago, every tactics and combat moves he used were more unpredictable, if not outright impossible to avoid without receiving a bruise or two.

“Damn!” Black Star cursed as he watched Wave getting pounded to oblivion. The red pegasus grabbed the griffon’s left wing and twisted it, earning a chilling screech from the griffon, accompanied by the sickening crunches of twisting bones.
That did it, Black Star couldn’t bare to watch anymore.

With a mighty yell, Black Star spread his wings and flew towards the pegasus at high speed. The red pegasus who still had that sickening grin noticed his attack and brought up Wave, intending to use him as a living shield. Black Star saw this and decreased his speed, giving the red pegasus an opening to deliver a punch directed towards the dark griffon’s face.

Black Star felt like his head was going to fly off as the blow sent him tumbling to the ground. When he finally stopped, he could only watched in horror as the red pegasus lifted Wave up above his head before bringing his back down to his knee, dislocating one of his vertebrae. Wave’s motionless body dropped on the ground. He was now completely paralyzed and at the mercy of the red pegasus.

The red pegasus growled through his wide grin as he prepared to finish Wave off by crushing his skull. But before he could do that, Black Star saw the small form of Kite dive down to deliver a powerful uppercut to the pegasus’ chin. Kite flinched. He felt like he just hit a rock, but his attack worked, and the pegasus was thrown about 3 meters from his original position.

Using this valuable opening, the griffons from Verde and Northwind squadrons flew in and took Lanner and Wave away from the scene. Black Star began to lose his own consciousness as he saw the form of Kestrel landing in front of him.

“Come on, you dolt. Get up,” the pastel griffoness scoffed as she wrapped her limb around the dark-feathered griffon. Black Star instantly complied out of reflex as he stood up and let Kestrel carry him to safety. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was Scunner’s rage-filled battle cry as the dark yellow griffon bombarded the red pegasus with all kinds of attacks. Black Star’s vision soon grew more blurry as the griffon drifted into unconsciousness.


Riddle carefully watched the entire plan put into motion. He had ordered Kite to distract the red pegasus, now dubbed Juggernaut, so the injured griffons could be dragged to safety. Scunner was also sent in to halt his movements to buy some more time for the injured griffons. He watched the scanner as Scunner’s signature broke away from the engagement with Juggernaut hot in his trail.

“This is Scunner, wanker’s on my tail. What now, sir?” the dark yellow griffon asked.

“Scunner, you are to head for Archer’s location. I’ll give her the signal to attack once you two are within her range.” Riddle answered.

Scunner complied and headed straight for Archer’s spot. If Riddle could smile right now, he would have, but the pain prevented him from doing so. His left arm would take months to recover, even with special herbs and magical potions imported from the Zebras.

The sounds of wings flapping didn’t gain his attention, as this plan needed his timing to work. Northwind and Verde squadron’s members along with Kestrel and Kite finally brought the unconscious forms of Lanner, Wave and Black Star. The group carefully placed the trio on a flat surface. Once that was done, Kestrel and Kite flew back to their respective spots.

Two of Verde’s members, along with a member of Northwind squadron, quickly examined the trio’s injuries. One of them, a former medical corps member who went by the name Sickle was mortified when he saw Wave’s state.

“Dear Celestia… “ Sickle muttered.

“What’s the problem?” his comrade, a metallic blue griffon who went by the call sign Wire, asked him.

“One of Wave’s vertebrae had been dislocated from its place, and his left wing was twisted out from its socket,” Sickle explained. “Wire, can you and Aqua carry him back to the kingdom?”

“Hold on a second,” Wire responded as he flew back to the ruins to find a suitable makeshift stretcher for Wave to lie on. Meanwhile, Lanner began to stir, groaning in pain as he opened his eyes.

“Uhhh… what happened? Why am I feel like shit?” he asked. Sickle explained that he was knocked out during his battle against Juggernaut. Lanner just stared in confusion; he had some trouble understanding Sickle’s explanation. The former quickly came up with a conclusion.

“Looks like you suffered from a light amnesia. I’ll fill you in later. Right now, just rest buddy. You’ll need it.”

Lanner, still confused about the situation, answered with a nod and lied back down. Riddle however, managed to send the signal at the precise moment when Scunner and Juggernaut were close to Archer’s position. The griffoness managed to land a blow to the Juggernaut at the cost of cracking her finger bones.

Juggernaut was left dazed by the attack, allowing Scunner to use a moderate-sized rock as a battering ram to attack him. Juggernaut grunted through his eerie grin, but before he could recover from the attack, Riddle signaled Kite to deliver his swipe-and-go attack to distract him so Kestrel could attack him using a rock as a makeshift weapon.

Kite did as exactly what he’s told to do, the swipe opened a large gash on the right side of the pegasus’ face. Juggernaut tried to chase the small agile griffon down, only to be interrupted by Kestrel’s wing slap and a powerful hit by the griffoness’ rock weapon.
The dazed Juggernaut finally received the final blow from Rod as the griffon brought another rock down to his head. The rock shattered to pieces, and Juggernaut was sent spinning to the ground, forming a large crater when he crashed. It seemed the griffons finally emerged victorious from this battle.

“Yeah! IN! YOUR! FACE!” Kite yelled excitedly. Scunner even offered him a high five along with Rod.

“I can’t believe it worked,” Rod spoke. “We actually stopped that Juggernaut!”

“Don’t celebrate yet, lads and lasses,” Riddle spoke through their comms. “It’s only a warm up. The real battle starts now.”
After Riddle finished his words, everyone heard the sounds of rocks being shifted and pushed away from the crater. The Juggernaut slowly picked himself up while dusting off several debris that latched on his blood-red coat.

He was a complete mess right: his skull had been cracked like an eggshell, allowing the blue fluid and dark red blood to ooze from the open gash. His right foreleg was bent in awkward positions and bones could be seen sticking out from the broken ends. His maniacal grin was replaced by an angry scowl that could make even the strongest griffons and ponies whimper in fear.

Juggernaut inhaled before letting out probably the loudest roar ever to come out from the mouth of a pony. He was now even more pissed off than before.

“Alright, once he’s airborne, spread out, and don’t let him catch you,” Riddle spoke through everyone’s comms. The griffons immediately complied when Juggernaut spread his wings and flew into the air. As Riddle had instructed them, they dispersed when Juggernaut reached their current altitude. The red pegasus growled when he saw glimpses of the griffon forces hiding behind the thick fog.

Before Juggernaut could even see it coming, Kestrel appeared behind him and smashed another rock behind his skull. Juggernaut was about to strike back, but Kestrel had already disappeared into the fog. Then, just like before, he was hit by another quick strike from Rod before he too disappeared behind the curtain of the fog.

Juggernaut shook his head before growling in annoyance. Even though the engagement had just begun, he’d already grown tired of the griffons’ games. He plans to attack at whoever dared strike him from behind again. However, his plan was quickly shattered to pieces when another attack delivered by Archer managed to send him flying to the rocky hillside. The force of the impact caused several rocks to came loose, creating a rockslide which crushed the Juggernaut below.

“Northwind 2 to Aquila 1,” Archer began as she and Kestrel both watched the aftermath of the rockslide. “The Juggernaut is crushed by a landslide.”

“Yes, I can hear that,” Riddle responded. “He’s still not dead though, not until we destroy that Zaubenschaft gem on the center of that armor.”

Archer mentally smacked herself for forgetting that fact before she and Kestrel went back to their positions.

If she recalled, Riddle explained that the armor was powered by the Zaubenschaft gem. The gem itself was an artificial magical gemstone which was created by fusing a normal gem imported from Drakonia with unicorn magic by means of scientific methods. The Zaubenschaft had a direct link to the Zone of Endless world and was able to store any magical properties. It also could store imprinted memories of individuals whose minds has been uploaded into the Z.O.E.. Because of this, the Zaubenschaft was the perfect power source for the Zeal of Exile armor.

“Fortunately, Sir Wonderfalke said that the Zaubenschaft was the most fragile gem if compared to the other precious stones,” Archer thought as she hovered in her position with Kestrel on her right. Both griffonesses exchanged looks, each of them holding a large rock as weapons.

“One precise blow from this rock, and that Juggernaut is done.”

Juggernaut roared again after emerging from the rockslide. His broken foreleg was gone, and a bloodied stump with strands of muscle and arteries were now hanging in its place. The Zeal armor was dented, and the Zaubenschaft was slightly cracked with some strange blue aura leaking out from the cracks.

Juggernaut quickly set his lifeless eyes on the griffons hovering above him, he snorted and let out a bone chilling shriek before flying up to engage the griffons.

“He’s making his move,” Kestrel spoke through the comm.

“Good, let him deliver the first blow,” Riddle responded. “Just stay cool and stick to the plan.”

Kestrel and Archer muttered a single “roger” while keeping their eyes on Juggernaut. The red pegasus wasted no time delivering his attack on the nearest target: Archer.

Archer ducked and avoided Juggernaut’s left punch. She immediately did a summersault and kicked the pegasus on his chin. Juggernaut was sent flying backwards and into Kestrel’s line of attack. The pastel griffoness moved in to deliver her attack: a quick strike on Juggernaut’s spine.

When Kestrel’s fist contacted Juggernaut’s back, the griffoness found that the pegasus’ skin wasn’t as hard as before.

“He’s weakening.” Kestrel smirked as she watched Juggernaut being thrown 4 feet away from her. Juggernaut growled and turned to face the pastel griffoness, but before he could make his move, Scunner and Rod appeared from above and delivered two precise kicks at the pegasus’ stomach.

Juggernaut coughed some blood and the blue fluid as he crashed onto the rocky mountain surface for the third time. When he finally dusted himself off from the debris, Kite appeared and slashed him squarely in his face, followed suit by Archer’s stone-reinforced punch. Juggernaut was thrown from the blow and impacted the rocky ground head-first.

Before he could get up, Rod and Scunner grabbed his remaining limbs and tried their best to hold him face-up to expose the Zaubenschaft for an attack. Though Juggernaut was already severely weakened by the non-stop barrage of attacks being thrown at him, he still had enough strength to nearly lift the two adult griffons into the air.

“Bastard’s still… ugh… got some juice!” Rod gritted his beak, trying to stay on solid ground.

“The gem’s wide open, take the bloody shot!” Scunner yelled as he tried his best to keep the mad pegasus from struggling himself free.

Archer squinted her eyes before she dove down to deliver her final attack. Unfortunately, Juggernaut saw the impending attack and used every single drop of his strength to lift Scunner and used him as a shield.

“Bollocks!” Scunner yelled when he found out what Juggernaut was planning to do with him. “Archer, abort the attack, abort! Blue on Blue!”

“Damn!” Archer cursed as she slowed down to abandon her attack. This gave Juggernaut a slip he desperately needed to break free from the two griffons’ grip. He headbutted Scunner, causing the dark yellow griffon to release his grip, leaving Rod to restrain Juggernaut on his own. As the red pegasus was about to attack Rod, Kestrel appeared behind him and uppercutted the pegasus, causing him to fall to the ground and expose the Zaubenschaft.

Kestrel wasted no time pouncing the pegasus while bringing her clenched rock down towards the gem. The rock impacted the gem and shattered it to pieces, causing a small burst of magical energy, which caused Kestrel to be blown back several feet from the defeated Juggernaut. What happened next managed to surprise every single griffon near the twitching corpse.

The remnants of the gem dissolved into a pitch-black mist before it formed a ghostly shadow that turned into a screaming form of a red-eyed pegasus. The griffons took a step back. Kite yelped and hid behind Kestrel as the shadow pegasus rose into the air. The pegasus screamed and neighed for a short time before disappearing into thin air, leaving Juggernaut a crumpled and bloodied corpse on the ground.

Rod immediately threw Juggernaut’s lifeless limb off him before taking a few steps back to see the unmoving corpse. The other griffons landed nearby with their eyes fixated on Juggernaut’s corpse. Kestrel slowly reached for her comm and broke the silence.

“Aquila 3 to Aquila 1, target is neutralized…” she said slowly. “The juggernaut is dead… “

An audible relieved sigh was heard from the other end.

“That’s good to hear, captain…”

“I can’t believe it,” Kite slowly began before he flew into the air excitedly. “Sir, your plan worked! I can’t believe it worked! Sir, you’re a genius!”

“Well, he made those armors, Kite,” Kestrel said with a shallow chuckle. “He knows about those armors’ weaknesses as well.”

“But still, it was awesome!” Kite yelled before he circled in the air before landing back on the ground from exhaustion. Kite mentally cursed himself about forgetting that he’s already passed his limit during the fight against Juggernaut, and right now, he just wanted to let fatigue wash him over.

Scunner quickly reacted by holding the small griffon up long enough for Kestrel to pick him up and put Kite on her back. Soon, the small bluish gray griffon slept peacefully on her back.

“Let him rest,” Scunner said to Kestrel. “This battle is over, he deserved it.”

“No,” Kestrel responded. “The battle’s not over until we capture that bastard Kriegstreiber and his cohorts.”

Kestrel took a brief glance at the sleeping Kite, causing a small smile to form on her beak.

“Still, that doesn’t mean some of us deserve a little rest… “

“Captain Turmfalken’s right, this war will be over when we take the fight to Sudentor and take Neue Belka down,” Riddle added. “Alright, we got the transport and an extra gift in the form of Juggernaut’s bloodied corpse. I’m sure the guys from the intel department would be delighted to examine Juggernaut’s corpse… “

The griffons silently nodded at Riddle’s statement. Soon, the group went back to Riddle’s position with Rod carrying Juggernaut’s corpse. Wire had already put Wave and the other injured or unconscious griffons on large metal plates which served as makeshift stretches.

Sickle mentioned that he had slapped Wave’s dislocated vertebrae back to place, but it will take weeks if not months for him to recover. All of the wounded griffons were carefully placed on top of the transport 13346 Bravo with the pullers being forced to co-operate under a death threat.

Kestrel silently frowned when she saw Black Star’s unconscious form being carefully loaded on the transport. Her frown deepened when Juggernaut’s covered corpse was loaded next to the dark-feathered griffon.

“What’s your secret?” Kestrel silently thought before Riddle motioned the group to take off and head back to the capital.


Gryphus Hospital, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
April 25th 2020, 2004 hrs

Riddle kept his beak shut as the doctors worked on his broken arm. It had been nearly six hours since the operation, and the sight of the griffon capital and the hospital bed were enough to made Riddle feel at home. Kestrel’s decision to twist Riddle’s arm back to its place was a wise one. The doctors detected several fractures on his arm bones and the joint was completely twisted out from it’s socket. They said if the arm wasn’t put back to it’s original spot immediately, it would be impossible for the special imported zebrican remedy to repair the damage on the joints.

Beside him, Wave, Black Star, Lanner, Jet, and all the griffons from the operation were forced to enter the hospital to asses their wounds from fighting the red Juggernaut. Fortunately, all of their injuries weren’t going to interfere with their duties. Rod’s Northwind squadron lost a flier in the operation, but they were quickly sent to the front lines two hours ago to strengthen the border between Pisa and the route to Gryphus.

Jet’s Verde squadron lost two fliers during the cave-in with the leader still lying unconscious beside Riddle. The green griffon suffered a bone-crushing blow to his stomach, and his ribs were cracked in 17 places. It was a miracle Jet was still able to breathe after the ordeal.

Riddle quietly sighed in relief, thinking how lucky he was when Kestrel decided to snap his arm back to it’s place. Across the room lied Black Star, still unconscious and his wounds being treated by the doctors. Beside him was Lanner who was still trying to overcome his amnesia. A rather beautiful griffoness nurse sat beside him and helped him recall the events prior to his memory loss.

So far, Lanner’s mind seemed to slowly remember the events before the weapons stock’s collapse, but he was still struggling to remember what happened afterwards.

“Maybe my memories will return if you kiss me on the cheek…” Lanner smirked playfully after he noticed the nurse’s gorgeous appearance. The griffoness frowned and slapped him before storming out from the ward.

“Or you can just slap me until my amnesia’s gone… “ Lanner spoke with a tiny voice while trying to rub off the stinging pain on his cheek. Riddle chuckled in amusement when he saw that.

“Smooth move, lad.” the blue griffon thought before the door swung open as the nurses and doctors came in with a stretcher.

“Over here, careful with that.”

“Easy there.”

Riddle watched as the nurses and doctors carefully maneuvered the stretcher on the designated spot. On the stretcher, Riddle saw the heavily bandaged form of Wave: unconscious and crippled, but alive. Out of all the griffons who went in the hospital, Wave probably had the worst injury of them all. Riddle wasn’t even sure if the damage to his vertebrae would ever heal, even with the zebrican remedy. He saw too many of his comrades during the Belkan war get paralyzed for life from such injuries. Wave’s future as a soldier of the Griffin Kingdom looked dim.

“Um, excuse me?” A voice called from Riddle’s right. The blue griffon turned to see the owner of the voice and found one of the doctors standing beside him. “Are you Sir Wonderfalke?”

“Yes I am. What is it, doc?” Riddle responded.

“I came here with the autopsy report of that pegasus body your squad brought in. Valdar personally surveyed the entire autopsy himself, and we’re quite shocked to find the gruesome details of that pegasus.”

The griffon doctor took out some papers from his saddlebag and handed them to Riddle. Before he could press on the matter, the ward door swung open as a nurse came in with a paper in her talon.

“Doctor Schmidt, you are needed on the emergency ward,” the nurse spoke as she handed the paper. Schmidt took the paper and took a brief glance at the nurse. “Another victim to those brutal mercenaries, Helga’s underling.”

“I see,” Schmidt responded before he turned his attention back at Riddle. “Duty calls, sir. I’ll leave those papers with you.”

“Sure, now go help that poor lad,” Riddle said, to which Schmidt responded by a single nod. Both griffons quickly exited the ward, while another griffon came in. She was a Steller’s Sea Eagle-Lion griffoness with black feathers and a bluish white coat. The griffoness let out an audible sigh as she mumbled to herself.

“Damn mercenaries, no pride and honor whatsoever…”

“Well, they kill to live, that’s their principle.” Riddle responded without taking a glance at the griffoness. The white griffoness stopped and stared at Riddle for a moment before she approached him.

“So, you’re the famed Sir Wonderfalke… “ she began. Riddle answered with a single nod, not taking his eyes off the autopsy report, until a talon blocked his view. Riddle looked upwards and saw the smiling griffoness offering him a handshake,

“A pleasure to meet you, sir,” the griffoness bowed a little before continuing. “I apologize if I interrupted your reading.”

“Oh, no. No problem,” Riddle smiled as he returned the handshake. “No problem at all, miss… “

“Helga Mizukami,” the griffoness answered. “Call sign Ronin. Captain of the 57th Tactical Griffin Squadron “Southwind”.”

“Mizukami?” Riddle raised an eyebrow. “Are you a Neighponese?”

“Yeah, I was born on Hoofkaido in a small griffon community. My parents were fishers, hence the name,” Helga or Ronin explained with a chuckle. “I moved here to pursue a different life, and I got it. Got married and have a cub that your friend, Black Star annihilated.”

“You mean Stalker? Ah, yes. Now I know the reason why his beak was larger than any of the recruits,” Riddle laughed a little, but soon cleared his throat. “Oh, no offense of course.”

“None taken, sir,” Ronin bowed again before she let out another sigh.

“I heard that your underling was injured,” Riddle spoke.

“Injured? No, more like nearly ripped apart…” Ronin sighed, her voice soon changed into a more darker tone. “Those filthy mercenaries would have torn his wings apart if I hadn’t intervened. Because of that, two of my other wingmates are dead, ambushed by another group of mercs. All of them had a bright future ahead of them…”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Riddle stated. Soon, he put away the autopsy report before glancing back at the griffoness when she spoke again.

“I heard that you and your team faced a “superpony” or something. Was he really that good?”

“That’s not even the half of it,” Riddle responded. “That Juggernaut was an unstoppable brute, but like all brutes, they can be stopped by careful planning and tactics.”

“Yeah, I also heard that you commanded the entire team to take down that “juggernaut.” Ronin smiled. “We really need more griffons like you in the army.”

“I wished that could happen too, but sadly, I mostly operates from a distance.” Riddle admitted. “I’m not a very combative griffon. I prefer to use my mind in battles.”

Suddenly the ward door opened again, this time a griffon soldier wearing a blue vest with some greens streaks came in and approached Ronin.

“Captain Ronin, ma’am.” The griffon saluted. Ronin saluted back.

“First Lieutenant Condor,” Ronin responded. “What brings you here?”

“Ma’am, they need us on the front lines again. His majesty’s orders.” Condor responded.

“I see, I’ll join you in a minute. You are dismissed.”

“Ma’am.” Condor replied while giving a salute before exiting the room as Ronin turned her attention back at Riddle.

“Duty calls, sir. I’ll be seeing you.”

Ronin gave the blue griffon a bow before she turned towards the exit. Once the griffoness was out of his sight, Riddle turned back to the autopsy report. After reading through the whole thing within a limited amount of time, the report finally confirmed his suspicion and horror.

The autopsy conducted by Doctor Gregor, along with several other doctors and nurses, had revealed that the pegasus was a member of the Wonderbolts who went missing just a few short months before The Equestrian War.

According to the reports found in some newspaper clippings, as well some data stored in the Z.O.E.: The pegasus, formerly known as Frostbite, went on a training exercise together with Spitfire and Soarin’ along with some members of the Griffin Kingdom army. According to Spitfire, Frostbite was last seen conducting some aerial maneuvers with one of the griffon soldiers over the Crystal Mountains. The pegasus never returned home, nor was seen ever since.

This incident dealt heavy blows to the already strained relationship between the Griffin Kingdom and Equestria back then, causing distrust and racism between the two species, despite the efforts of the Royal Princesses and Lightbeak to maintain peace and harmony between the two countries.

What was even more confusing was when the Griffin Kingdom claimed that they never sent a squadron or a team for a joint exercise mission with the Wonderbolts. Riddle immediately knew who were to blame for this incident.

“Changelings working for Gründer, no doubt,” he silently thought. “They forced that poor colt to wear the Zeal of Exile armor until the Zaubenschaft killed his very soul and body, replacing it with the imprinted soul of the Demon Lord.”
At the last paragraph of the report, Doctor Gregor wrote that Valdar will return Frostbite’s body to Equestria personally and explain why he died. The doctor hoped that Valdar will quell the misunderstandings and give Frostbite’s family a word of assurance that the culprits will face justice.

Riddle carefully placed the report on the small table beside his bed before bringing up his talons up to his face. The feeling of guilt and dread started mixing together inside his mind. Riddle took a inhaled and exhaled to release stress from his mind.

“There’s no need for that, Wonderfalke.” Riddle mumbled to himself. The blue griffon then carefully shifted his position to prepare himself for a good night’s rest.

The ward door opened again as Valdar and Kestrel entered the ward. Riddle just stared in complete boredom before he greeted the orange griffon.

“Evening, King Valdar, Captain Turmfalken.”

“Evening, sir,” Kestrel nodded.

“Evening, Sir Wonderfalke,” Valdar responded. “I see that you have read the report.”

“Yes I did,” Riddle sighed. “I’m more concerned about your actions when you hand over the body.”

“Don’t worry, I already contacted Princess Celestia about this,” Valdar assured. “She will inform Frostbite’s family about this, and hopefully, calm them down for tomorrow.”

“Well that’s good to hear,” Riddle said in a bit of relief, before turning his attention to Kestrel. “Captain, where’s the lad, Kite?”

“Milvus is getting some rest with the others. They were quite stunned when he told them your strategy to defeat that Juggernaut,” Kestrel explained. her expression soon changed as she continued. “But aside from that, I want to ask you something, and it better be the truth, sir.”

“Is it about S.A.I.T.N.? Then you’re about to get the answer now, captain,” Riddle responded as Kestrel moved closer to hear his explanation. “S.A.I.T.N. is the acronym for the Strategic Asteroid Interceptor Turret Network.”

Kestrel let those words sink in for a moment before the look of shock formed on her face.

“No way… you don’t mean…!” she stammered, Riddle only nodded to confirm her fears. “Great, Stonehenge… We’re dealing with Stonehenge… are you fucking kidding me!”

“Well, its prototype at least,” Valdar corrected. “Stonehenge Type 0, the first railgun turret network our country and Neue Belka had ever built.”

Kestrel was rendered speechless and decided to take time off to calm her nerves. Riddle and Valdar couldn’t blame her for the reaction. No griffon soldier would want to fly straight into the barrel of Stonehenge, let alone, try to destroy it.

S.A.I.T.N. or Stonehenge Turret Network was the biggest project the Griffin Kingdom and Neue Belka had ever built, only to be toppled by Project Valkyrie, which included Fortress Intimidation, The Burning Talon, and Valkyrie. Both projects were built to prevent a massive disaster that could eradicate all life from the planet…

After a while, Kestrel finally calmed herself down and was stable enough to ask Riddle and Valdar the most important question,

“How can we destroy it?”

Valdar took his time to answer the question, and so did Riddle.

“It’s easy to say it… “ Valdar began.

“… but it’s harder to do it,” Riddle finished the statement. Valdar then turned his back on both griffons as he continued,

“The ISAF forces on the east destroyed the Type 2 unit in USEA… The Emareian forces on the northwest destroyed the Type 1 unit on Estovakia, but we’re not sure if we have enough power to destroy the Type 0 unit in Neue Gryphus, given our country’s post-war state.”

“The Type 1 unit? You mean that oversized railgun our Estovakian brothers built?” Kestrel guessed with a frown.

“Yes, it was part of the Stonehenge project,” Riddle pointed out. “I know, I saw the blueprints and designed some of the features of it.”

“It seems that everything you created ended up being a major trump card for the enemy forces,” Valdar chuckled.

“I know, and I still hate myself for that.” Riddle replied dryly. “Back to the original matter, we really need some help on this one. Those EAF forces the princesses have sent us won’t be enough to launch an offensive to reclaim Pisa.”

“Yes, Pisa is a major stepping stone if we want to take out that railgun network and keep Kriegstreiber’s forces from occupying Sudentor,” Valdar said in agreement. “I hope the Royal Sisters won’t mind if I requested more help from them.”

“I’m sure they won’t mind,” Kestrel added.

The situation was silent for a moment after Valdar told them that he was needed back at the command center. Riddle watched in silence as Kestrel sat by his bedside, her eyes darted around the ward before resting on a certain black feathered griffon.

“Worrying about Blake, captain?” Riddle spoke at last. “You came here because of him, right?”

Kestrel turned her head slightly at Riddle when she heard that. She immediately turned her head away before she spoke,

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Drop the tough act, captain,” Riddle said flatly. “I saw it through the moment you said that you have reasons not to trust Blake, and it’s more than a simple hate for such a trivial thing like betraying his country.”

Kestrel never responded to Riddle’s statement. She just sat there, unsure of how to respond to his question.

“Well anyway…” Riddle spoke again. “I really should be getting some rest after today. Good night, captain.”

“It’s complicated… “ Kestrel finally responded.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You heard me, sir… it’s complicated,” Kestrel repeated without turning to face the blue griffon. Riddle stayed silent for a couple of seconds before shrugging at her response as he laid his head on his talons before drifting into sleep. Kestrel felt the silence of the ward creeping in as she kept her eyes glued on the sleeping form of Black Star. Her frown was still present on her beak, but something else flowed beside it…

Tears.

Her glassy green eyes watched carefully as Black Star began to shift uncomfortably on his bed, tossing around as sweat formed beneath his feathers and coat.

“Nightmares…” Kestrel silently thought. “Relieving his past actions no doubt…”

This will be a long night for both griffons.


“Stop…”

Flames danced around the void that is Black Star’s own subconsciousness. Ghoulish forms of ponies and griffons danced wildly with the flames, while their laughter echoed through the void.

“Please… stop…”

The flames kept getting bigger and bigger as they danced and circled a small patch of the void which had the cowering form of Black Star shivering in fear. The ghouls kept laughing and berating the griffon for his mistakes, tormenting him with glee as they watched the former toughest member of the Griffin Army being slowly destroyed by his own self-loathing and guilt.

“Stop it…”

Black Star clutched his head as the voices of laughter and mockery kept filling his ears. One of the ghouls managed to gain enough courage to shove the griffon from his spot. The other ghouls saw this and decided to follow the act. Black Star soon found himself being pushed, pulled and hit by the laughing ghouls.

“I can’t take it anymore!”

Black Star yelled and ran through the dancing flames. The ghouls tried to grab him, but they only managed to pluck out his feathers. When Black Star finally stopped, half of his feathers were gone. The dark griffon looked left and right for a possible way out. When he tried running again, he tripped on something, causing him to fall over. Black Star stood up and turned to see what could have tripped him, to his dismay; he finds the charred corpses of Firefly’s parents again.

“No… No no no no no NO!!” he screamed in disbelief as he tried to escape from the scene, only to find a demonic-looking Firefly staring him down.

“Firefly…” he spoke with a weak voice. Unknown to him, seven other figures emerged from the flames and formed the rest of Mirage Squadron; each of them were equally demonic-looking as Firefly. The pink pegasus began to smile wickedly as her face starts to distort when the smile grew bigger and bigger.

“Wrong answer, Blake…” “Firefly” spoke in a very masculine voice. Black Star took a step back when the burning corpses rose to their hooves and grabbed Black Star’s wings and limbs. Black Star could only stare in horror as the pegasi of Mirage squadron combined themselves into the familiar form of Red Cyclone.

“Don’t tell me you have forgotten your old chum…”“ Red Cyclone snickered as he stuck his giant face right on top of Black Star.

“You’re no chum, you’re a monster, Rad!” Black Star responded.

“Why thank you for the compliment, Blake. Unfortunately, we need to get rid of that though attitude of yours.”

Red Cyclone snapped his fingers, and barbed chains appeared from the ground, wrapping themselves on Black Star’s limbs. Once that was done, Red Cyclone immediately brought his fist down to the incapacitated Black Star.

Even though this was a dream, the pain was very real to him. Red Cyclone started cackling like a maniac while he was beating Black Star to oblivion. The dark feathered griffon could almost hear the voices from his past echoing through the void

"... Is this some kind of a cruel joke!? 'CAUSE I'M NOT LAUGHING.... !"

"... How could you... !"

"Treacherous dog...!"

"...We're done, ... Don't speak to me again.... "

Suddenly, a beam of light pierced through Cyclone’s chest, causing him to gasp in pain. Slowly, Red Cyclone turned around to see the source of the light.

“What in the… NO! NOT YOU AGAIN!!” Cyclone screamed when another beam of light pierced his skull and through his right eye. Red Cyclone roared in pain as countless more beams burned his body to dust, extinguishing the flames and freeing Black Star from the chains.

Black Star carefully stood up before he brought his arm up to shield his eyes from the light. Black Star couldn’t see it at first. but soon, he could make out the form of a tall alicorn pony with a flowing mane and tail made of twinkling stars.

“You…” Black Star spoke slowly upon realizing who the alicorn was.

“Greetings, Blake,” Princess Luna smiled to him. Her words were soothing, and Black Star finally felt comfort radiating from her words for the first time in ten months.