Mission 2, Part 12: The Taking of the Heldenhaft
The captain of the Heldenhaft watched as the ponies boarded his ship. He watched as his beloved crew fell to their pathetic weapons and their blasphemous magic. Only the holiest can cast such power, and his King and Emperor was the only living being allowed to do such things. Sadly, his power was busy holding the pony evil at bay with their demon-witch they call Celestia ever trying to use her malignant influence to pollute the Gryphon Empire. No! He would not allow it. The pony slaves were free and he meant to sink them and their ship to the bottom of the ocean. Death was what they deserved.
Then again, how had it come to this. The ponies were swarming them like bees from a kicked hive. The Eleonora was crippled, they had seen it happen from a distance. Who could miss such a show? Explosions, lights, even a battle, yet here they were. They had expected to come up on a defenseless ship, to take it without any issue. Yet here they were. United. Perhaps they had seen a common enemy and took to allying themselves before getting back to senselessly butchering each other. The captain remembered his childhood days and the tales he had heard. Ponies eating their young, killing their old, enslaving others before them. Barbaric race. They had no to rule over a nation, let alone worship their witch. They were unclean, impure, and evil. Only the Gryphon had the right to command the life of those inferior to himself. Only the Gryphon was superior to others.
"Captain, many of the crowbait are headed towards the reactor," one of the crew stated.
"Make sure that they do not succeed in freeing the assets."
"Yes, captain. What about the main deck, sir? We are losing control of it."
"Leave it. Reinforce the hold. It is clear that these fools think that they stand a chance of capturing this vessel." The captain laughed and shook his head. "Their magic benefits them in open combat. We draw them into the narrow passages beneath where our bolts have a better chance at claiming them. If they get past our defenses... we have other measures."
The captain eyed a large red leaver behind the First Mate's post. On it were the letters REE. Reactor Emergency Ejector. If they should be able to get past all the Kämpfers, then abandoning the ship was the last resort option. Pulling that leaver would eject the main reactor core sending it straight down towards the ocean. Or in this case, into the Eleonora. It was doubtful that it would actually harm the large ship, but the gryphons were blessed with the ability to stand on the clouds, a gift to their race by their benevolent King, who had given this magic to his children even as his powers were being fully utilized in pushing the Equestrian threat at bay. The skies here were proof of that. The pony's queen witch whom they worshiped by sacrificing the young of other races, especially Gryphons, deserved a long and painful end for the suffering. The crowbait witch had caused the Gryphon King and his ancestors nothing but heartache for all these long centuries.
"Where is the Zerstörer?" the captain asked.
"He is butchering them under the ship, sir, as I wish I were."
"Then ask him to come back. They are not after sinking the ship. They wish to take it for their own. Perhaps he should take a contingent of ours down there and take the ship below. Then we can blow this one from the skies." One did not order a Zerstörer. Only those of the Royal line or the senior most of the admiralty could issue orders to these chosen ones.
"Captain, your words are both wise and true. You must have the Royal blood in your veins," the crew member stated bowing low.
"The words you speak are insincere, but I shall not hold it against you. You are ignorant of my birth and being associated with our Royal line is almost blasphemy for one such as myself," the captain replied. "Go. Give my orders."
This, of course, was the custom. It was not the appropriate place to exercise it, but the respect of the Royal blood came even at the price of one's soul. None could stand idly by and allow custom not to follow. Without custom they would be nothing more than barbarians, like these crowbait. Without custom they didn't deserve to have a king as wonderful and as kind natured as their divine King. They were nothing like these crowbait, these inferior creations. These blasphemous monstrosities whose very existence was the bane of all who lived.
"Move, move, move!" Cinder yelled as he led the way towards the lower decks. He hated this. The griffins seemed to know every time they were about to turn the corner. They had lost several of them to the bolts, but it was the canines that seemed to be taking the brunt of the losses. Their over-eagerness had let to plenty of them running straight into a wall of griffin crossbows. He couldn't help but feel a little pity for them, but he could not dwell on it too much. In battle, the slightest hesitation or hint of pity were enough to get you killed.
"Bolts!" a yelled came just as a unicorn and a dog dove back for the corner.
On the opposite wall a series of dull thumbs echoed as the barrage missed the two and embedded themselves on the far wall.
"Quick! Fire back!" Cinder shouted.
The unicorn nodded, peered around the corner and fired a shot. He leaned back and started to reload just as Cinder reached him.
"How many are there?" Cinder asked.
"Three, but there were at least six when me and the mutt peered around the corner."
"Mutt name is Rocko. Rocko good dog."
"Yes, yes. You're a good boy. Saved my flank, you did." The unicorn reached over and patted the creature. He wagged his tail and looked so disappointed when he stopped. "The others could have taken cover and are reloading."
"How far till we reach the reactor room?" Cinder asked.
He was unfamiliar with capturing a vessel like this. Sure, he knew the theory. Take the reactor, you take the ship. Without the reactor, a ship like this could not fly. Not like the pirate's balloon ship, which this unicorn was a part of. This airship ran on magic and could pull weights many times heavier than the old fashioned balloon method. There were disadvantages and advantages to each, which was why both were still very much employed in service. Most long voyage ships used balloons, but most of the heavy ones, like this one, carried a reactor. The main problem was that a team of unicorns had to use their magic to charge their reactor at regular intervals, and the fact of the matter was the griffins had no unicorns so how could they get a behemoth like this to float?
"So, Watu. What do we do?" the unicorn asked Cinder as he looked back to see that they were very much alone.
Cinder cursed himself. The others must have gotten lost, or was it they who got lost? He looked at the unicorn. "Call me Cinder. That is my real name."
"Real name? Why? They give you a nickname in the Watu?"
"Yes. We're all given... 'dark' names in the Watu to instill fear. Mine is Soulless."
"Soulless?" The unicorn actually laughed. "That is pretty cool, you know. Name's Gray."
"It is?"
"Well then, Gray, Rocko, we're alone out here, and we may be the only ponies -- and dog," Cinder added before the dog could open his mouth, "capable of securing that reactor room. So, we're going to charge out there and take it by force!"
"There's one small hitch to your plan, Cinder."
"Oh? That is?"
The unicorn sighed. "The drop system. The griffins have it in case the unicorns inside don't listen and cause trouble. They drop the core and the ship crashes down right on top of them. It's happened before."
"How do you know that? You've taken a griffin ship before?" Cinder asked, his eyes wide open.
Gray smiled. "Something like that. Look, if you want to survive this, we've got to disable that mechanism first. To do that, we need to go where the lever connects with system."
"The lever? You mean the source of the switch? Let's take it down! Disable it!"
Gray shook his head, "Not unless you want to fight the captain and the rest of his personal bodyguard. If only Bones were here. No, we go below the bridge and find the wires or whatever and short them out or cut them. Sound good?"
"Sounds great! You lead." Cinder gestured with his hoof back the way they came.
Gray blinked. "Uh..."
"Go on... wait. Wait! You don't know where to go?" Cinder all but screamed.
"Nope," the unicorn replied quietly.
"But I thought you said..." Cinder chose to ignore it. His brain had to concentrate on other things. "Fine. I guess we'll just have to search every nook and cranny. Follow me!"
Rocko looked at two of them. "Nose knows. I smell. Will help. Need..." he made a growling sound and gestured with his paws.
"A," Cinder imitated the canine right down to his paw gestures with an upturned sound at the end denoting a question.
The dog nodded quickly. "Yes, yes!"
"You understand what he's trying to say?" Gray asked looking at the Watu with renewed respect in his eyes.
"Not at all."
Gray slammed his hoof against his face.
Bones was having such a wonderful time. He grinned as he attacked the enemy, laughed as he pierced them with his javelin, chuckled as he lobbed his daggers and giggled as they lay gurgling on the deck floor. In fact, a lot of griffins became acutely aware of the blue pony and many of them began to back away from him. His skill was unmatched by those there and it seemed no matter what they threw at him, he would come back for more. The Watu, familiar with the ethics of battle, rallied to him and with their masks side by side seemed like an endless tide of death. They used fear to push into the newly forming griffin line and started to push them back towards the bridge.
Just when things were going right, the entire line stopped in their tracks and two Watu placed their hooves on Bones' shoulders.
Bones stopped and looked. The griffins had backed up right up to the bridge and above them standing in a row were a line of crossbows pointed straight at them. This was not something that the pirate was used to and he laughed as he raised his shield in front of his body. The other Watu followed suit and waited.
"Behind!" A call yelled, and the rear Watu responded as another line of griffins came in from behind them.
"Incoming!" another yell was heard followed the the dull sounds of wood and metal being struck as a volley of bolts hit the shields.
"We're caught!" A Watu noted. "We're caught from both sides!"
"Watch the flanks!" Another stated.
"Above!"
Shields went up in the nick of time as a group of griffins fired a salvo at the line below them. The Watu, crew and the others were not used to fighting like this. This was not longer a brawl. It had evolved into an organized battle, and the griffins were showing that they had the know-how to carry off the appropriate maneuvers at the right time.
"What do we do?" a voice called out.
"They're cutting us down!"
"We're done for!"
Bones gripped despite their situation. "Well, when in doubt, kill!"
And he charged into the griffin lines ahead of him. The griffins above the bridge fired a second volley towards the single pony rushing towards them and one bolt seemed to pierce his side, but on he came straight into their lines. As soon as the griffin and pony touched shields, the ship lunged to one side in a steep bank.
The Watu, canines and some of the griffins fell and some even went over the edge of the airship, but the pony crews compensated naturally and attack violently trying to get to that crazy pony alone ahead of them. They needed to break the lines, break the organized method of the griffins.
"That wasn't it!" Gray shouted at Cinder as he replaced the lever.
At once the ship lunged back to its level position the three of them standing back on the flooring.
"This one?" Rocko asked and grabbed one of the secondary levers and pulled.
The ship tilted forwards and they soon felt the airship descending quite rapidly towards what they assumed was the ocean. Hoping it was the ocean.
"Put it back! Put it back!" Gray and Cinder yelled in unison.
The dog obliged seconds later, the sudden shift making the entire airship shudder as it leveled out in slowly.
While Gray was shouting at the canine, who was lowering his head and putting his tail between his legs, Cinder noticed something strange about the way one of the joins was shaking. He narrowed his eyes and approached the object in question. A red colored pipe when straight up, and from here went along the corridor and took a sharp left at the end of the hallway. He turned towards Gray who had stopped shouting at Rocko and pointed.
Gray nodded. "That's got to be it. We need to cut it."
"How?"
"I don't know!" Gray retorted, still angry that the dog had nearly killed them all.
"Rocko smash!" the dog stated. Before Gray could stop him, the dog extended his paw and with long, diamond-hard claws, sliced through the mechanism in a series of powerful blows. After that, the dog inspected his work, then his claw. "Rocko paw is broke."
It most certainly was. The dog whimpered a little bit and Gray felt terrible and he took a piece of cloth from his satchel and tied it expertly around the wound. "Keep this on and stay close to us. When we get back to the Eleonora, I'll get one of the docs to look at it, okay?"
"Yes... alpha."
"A-a-a-a-alpha? m-m-me?" Gray thought about it. "You know what? Why not? I've always wanted a pet."
Cinder smirked. "A diamond dog? You've always wanted a pet diamond dog?"
"Well... no, but I'm not complaining. There, there. I'm going to take good care of you," Gray said petting the humungous brute. "But until then, you've got to keep up and make no sound, okay?"
"Yes, alpha."
"So, now what?" Cinder asked looking from Gray to Rocko. "If the mechanism is really cut, then we're done, right? We can sit back and wait until the rest of the Watu take the ship."
"Wrong." Gray turned to look down the hall. "There's one more thing we've got to do, and we've got to do it now."
"What's that?" Cinder asked following Gray as he started walking.
"We've got to save some ponies."
Cinder did not know what he meant, but judging from the way Gray was acting, he decided not to question it. Right now the best thing he could do was stick with them. Together they would be a lot safer than if they split up. Not only that, Rocko had proved to be invaluable, and despite one of his paws out of action, he still had his other foreleg and that extremely powerful jaw.
On they ran, down one corridor, then another, all the while keeping the red piping in sight. Suddenly they came around the corner, only to have Rocko scoop the both of them up, one in each foreleg and dove back down the ally with a yelp. Gray immediately pulled Rocko behind the alley's corner and checked. About four bolts were deep in his flank.
"You alright, Rocko?" Gray asked quietly.
The dog just whimpered.
"I-is it serious?"
Cinder checked. "It's deep. I think it'll be bad if we tried to pull them out here. It'd cause too much blood loss. We'll need to get him back to the infirmary or something."
"Hear that, boy? You'll be as good as knew!"
"I didn't-"
Gray gave a look to Cinder that would have frozen stone. He almost stumbled back, and making a Watu stumble was a rare talent.
"You'll be just fine," Gray intoned. "Stay here."
Rocko looked at Gray then lay his head down with a resigned whimper. "If alpha says."
"What now?" Cinder asked still a little annoyed at being silenced the way he was.
"We're in the reactor room. They've fortified their positions, which means that the bridge is likely under attack. Just because we cut the lines from the primary core to the bottom doesn't mean they can't release the reactor."
"Yeah, you keep saying that, but... why?" Cinder asked. "It makes no sense! Why would you release the only thing that keeps the ship afloat?"
"You have no idea how much the griffins hate our kind. They believe we eat our young and that we are creatures that know nothing except how to kill, murder, maim. All that good stuff." Gray laughed humorlessly.
"What?" Cinder asked. He had fought with griffins before, but he never gave it any thought. They were the enemy and it was his job to kill them no matter what. To actually think about what went on inside their heads did not even cross the young stallion's mind. "That's... ignorant!"
"You have no right to speak, Watu."
Cinder bit his tongue. That was the second time this stallion had shut him up. He would have killed him for less if he were a fellow Watu, but something stayed his blade. He wondered why that was, but he also knew that some part of him he had respected the older pony. If a diamond dog called him an alpha then he couldn't be that bad.
"Well, we're stuck here until we can find someway to slip past them," Cinder pointed out.
"I know! I'm trying to think of something. Anything..."
Suddenly there was a shout, followed by the sounds of bows being fired and a huge clash. Gray and Cinder took a peek to see what the commotion was and found that from the other side a group of Watu had managed to press right up and against the griffin line protecting the reactor. They rushed in quickly, the volley from the griffins ricocheting off of the shields brandished in front of them.
"Come on!" Gray whispered and quickly trotted towards the nearest griffin who was looking at the attacking Watu with keen interest.
Cinder followed Gray and sneaked up on the unsuspecting griffin and a quick twist of his blade he fell in a heap at his hooves. Gray in the meantime had made his way over to one of the hatch doors and looked around. He frowned and crouched low trotting towards Cinder.
"What's wrong now?" Cinder whispered harshly to be heard over the commotion taking place a few dozen paves away from them on all sides. "Just open that door and let's get out of here!"
"That's not our mission. We're here to capture this ship and we can't do that if the drop system is still active and not secure."
"Didn't we break it?"
"We broke the one connected to the bridge, not the one that's here for the last line of defense to use in case things head south."
"Fine. Where is it?" Cinder asked looking around hoping to spot something.
"I don't know. It's been a while since I've been on one of these," Gray muttered the last part to himself.
They search until Gray yelled, "There! That's it!"
Cinder eyes narrowed themselves and he placed a hoof on Gray's shoulder. "There? How are we supposed to get all the way up there? There's not a pegasi here!"
Gray shook his head. "That's the trouble with you Watu. You always give up too quickly."
As he spoke those words, Gray undid the hook where the dead griffin had latched his crossbow and searched through the deceased's quiver until her found a light blue tipped quarrel with the emblem and symbol of the Griffin Empire on it. A dark looked flashed across the eyes of the older unicorn that Cinder could not miss even if he had wanted to. There was a lot of anger in those eyes.
Gray aimed the crossbow up at the button and fired. The bolt struck the underside of the platform and exploded in a ball of ice that enveloped the surroundings of the button. He loaded a second round but a bolt whizzed by his head as he dodged to the right in the nick of time.
"Hold them off," Gray ordered.
"You have got to be kidding!" Cinder replied and looked at the cautiously advancing griffins. "We're outnumbered and I don't have a weapon."
"Improvise!" Gray muttered as he loaded another ice quarrel.
Looking around, Cinder looked for something that he could use against the advancing griffins. There was nothing of obvious usability in his general vicinity. There was nothing he could do except pretend. He stuck his head out of the hiding place and pointed the hilt of his sword at them and which got them all to dive behind some nearby alcoves in an attempt to avoid getting shot.
When nothing happened, a couple griffins poked their head out of hiding and looked. Cinder made a quick jerk with his hoof and the griffins all dove behind their respect hiding places again. Thinking during a battle was sometimes detrimental to the overall potential success of a mission. Manipulating your opponents was a skill that few could do, and when it does happen it usually was because of dumb luck and Cinder was counting his lucky stars.
The second quarrel exploded on impact and a thinker sheet of ice formed over the button.
"Stop them! They're sabotaging the Drop Unit!" The commander shouted trying to maintain control of the line of the masked murderers charging their lines from the aft. Unlike most of his fellow Gryphons, he did not buy into ponies being the ruthless savages that they make them out to be. No, he had lived through too much and seen more than his share of what went on beyond the storm barrier that was the boundary of the kingdoms. "Go on!"
"He's got a crossbow!"
The commander growled. "There's a dozen of you cowards here! If one of you dies, who cares? Would you rather live and forever be remembered as the Gryphon who hid from a single crowbait because they held a crossbow?"
The young zealots stood up at once and charged without a second thought. Easy to manipulate brainless, unthinking creatures such as them. It was a shame that they were so blind to the reality around them. Even after all this time, their delusional captain had made zero attempts at securing the reactor room. The ponies had even disabled the last resort mechanism from the bridge and the only one left was the lever being shot at with ice quarrels by two stray ponies who had somehow appeared from the starboard hall.
The commander expected that the pony would kill one or two of the charging Gryphons who didn't even have the common sense to hold their shields out in front of them. That was why he hated rookies. What took him by surprise was what came out of the same hallway the ponies had come from moments later.
Dogs. No, that's not right. Just one dog. A big one.
It took the three Gryphons by surprise and it tore through them with its massive paws and bone crushing teeth. It reached out and caught one of the Gryphons by the leg and swung him around like a club smashing others with brutal ferocity.
"Form a line!" The commander shouted.
Ten Gryphons at once formed the line, knelt and aimed at their quarry.
"Fire," The commander said in a tone that seemed to border on boredom.
The pony, the one with the crossbow and quarrels, let out a cry of anguish and the other one flew over to the dog and pulled him behind a high barrier just in time before his line of crossbows were ready. The commander gave the sign for some of the other Gryphons to come and flank them but it was too little too late.
Moments later the ship lunged to one side sending everybody sprawling to the deck floor. Moments later is leveled off and a loud grinding sound echoed through the reactor room. At once the commander knew what it was and stood atop the highest point nearest to him. With a loud voice he yelled: "Don't let them take this ship! Pull that lever!"
"Oh come on!" Gray shouted as his quarrel didn't do anything. He heard a noise and turned to see ten griffins aiming towards him. He let out a cry of horror before he felt his legs give way and he fell to the floor in a heap as the bolts whizzed on overhead. Cinder had kicked his legs out from under him, saving his life.
"T-thanks."
"Don't thank me just yet! We aren't out of this!"
They saw a number of the young griffins running towards them at breakneck speeds. Cinder reached for the crossbow, but Gray was already aiming it towards the lever above them once again. A feeling to dread filled Cinder's bowels. Was he really going to sacrifice his life? For what? The mission? No. Cinder understood. Unlike with the Watu who watched out for their own skins, this was about the bigger picture. They could not afford to let the airship crash. It wasn't about the mission; it was about survival.
Gray fired. The quarrel exploded, and the griffins were nearly on top of them.
Cinder stood up and drew his blade and placed the mask over his face. If he was going to die, then he was going to make them remember him.
Just then a loud growl followed by the heavy sounds of footsteps erupted to their left. Even Cinder flinched and prepared to face the incoming threat when he let out a cry. Out of the dark hall came Rocko, his fangs bared and his claws stretched out and open. He seemed to ignore the pain in his the broken paw and he rushed into the line of ill-fated griffins. The group he crashed into stood no chance. With the element of surprise, he had carved his way through the line by crushing, biting, tearing and slashing the line that had formed when the griffins advanced. It was a perfect flanking maneuver.
Cinder stood up and gave an approving roar.
"Get down!" Gray called out as the griffin commander shouted something.
A volley of bolts hit the canine square on the side, but that was not all. Seconds later two of them erupted in a ball of hot fire as the quarrels ignited. A sickening stench of burnt flesh wafted into the air, and the canine whimpered as he stumbled and collapsed where he stood in agony.
"Rocko!" Gray screamed and made to go for the dog, but he was over taken by Cinder who used his speed to fly to the canine.
Cinder spat in both his hooves and pulled Rocko by his good paw, his wings beating like those of a hummingbird's, and he pulled the dog until he was safely protected behind a solid, paneled railing. Just in time too, it seemed as the griffins were starting to advance again. Things were looking bleak as the line advanced slowly and cautiously. The griffins kept watching the hallway, looking out for any potential ambushers.
Suddenly the ship shifted violently to the side, tilting at an unusual angle causing everyone to stumble or fall. Gray had managed to load his crossbow and took the opportunity to stand, since he was used to these violent movements aboard the Lipizzan who did not have the luxury of resisting extreme angles like a normal manna powered airship. He knew what had happened, experience had told him as much. The bridge must have been taken. The griffins had lost control of the airship and, in normal circumstances, the battle would have been over now. However, this was no pony ship and the griffins held pride much higher than life when it came to priorities.
Gray turned and saw the commander staring up at the ceiling. It was as if he were waiting for something. But what?
A loud bang echoed in the silence and everyone turned to see where the noise had come from. Somewhere down the hall the sound of metal slamming against metal echoed almost deafeningly. Nothing.
Now the griffin commander turned his head to look at Gray and both understood the circumstances of their situation immediately. The griffins would try to release the reactor core from the manual lever, something that the griffin commander had deliberately ignored as a threat. Now he understood why Gray was so intent on sabotaging it and the look on his face told as much. The only way to save the ship from the ponies was to sink her.
If there were only pegasi, it wouldn't have mattered. But there were unicorns, earth ponies, and all manner of sentient beings aboard. Slaves off all races were there, as were the canines.
"Protect that lever!" Gray roared and fired another ice bolt at the intended target in an attempt to let his allies know what he was referring to.
Never have pony, dog or griffin fought so hard for something so bland. The canines clawed for it, without the ability to fly they scaled the tall pole on top of which held a platform painted in red and yellow diagonal stripes. With their long arms wrapped around the pole as if it were a tree, the dogs made for the platform but were stopped as they came to it over their heads creating a practically impenetrable barrier as it was never intended to be used by non-flyers. Gray shouted at them to get down as they had made themselves easy targets for any griffin with a crossbow. But the griffins were uninterested in the canines, their focus was fully on throwing the lever on that platform.
Every available pegasi in that room and every unicorn defended pushed any griffin advance back as they swarmed the platform that held the lever. Unicorns, with their magic, teleported right on top of it and made their stand with shield and crossbow. As more ponies made their down into the lower decks, their ranks swelled and soon it was evident that the griffins stood no chance. Resigned to their to their fate, each threw down their weapon and lay down.
Gray rushed over to Rocko who whimpered as he raised his head to greet him. "Rocko tired. Sleep now?"
Swallowing hard, Gray looked forwards at a Watu who looked over the canine. He looked at the wound, the mask giving away no emotion whatsoever. Then the Watu's eyes looked forward and Gray saw a near imperceptible shake of the head and the Watu got up and walked towards the next of the wounded.
Funny how such a small movement could have so much weight behind it.
Despite their extremely brief encounter, the Gray couldn't fight the tears that formed in his eyes. This dog had risked his life for him. This dog had saved him. He had heard that a dog's loyalty and love were unparalleled, that no creature on land, sea or air could match that unquestioning faith and loyalty. That immeasurable love. Once a dog looked to you as their alpha, until they were released from their charge, they would follow them wherever they may go, even into a manticore's den.
"Yes, Rocko. You can sleep now. I'll join you later."
"We hunt, alpha?" Rocko asked.
"Yes. We'll hunt. Together. Promise," Gray whispered and stroked the massive head as he felt its weight rest on his hind legs. "We'll hunt together soon."
The dog's whimpering stopped as the breathing slowed down. The pain seemed to evaporate with each passing breath and, after a few more, it stopped altogether. One of the griffins in custody looked at this and said something in their native tongue. As to what it was, Gray didn't know nor care. All he wanted to do was continue to stroke his faithful dog's head in appreciation for his ultimate sacrifice. It seemed rather silly, actually, but he could not help it.
While Gray sat where he was, Cinder watched from where he stood. He and the others got ready for the next phase of the operation -- seizing the reactor core. The last and final part of taking the ship for their own.
Everything was a lie.
That was what it seemed to the young Gryphons who watched the gray pony stroking the large canine's head. It was clear that the dog had died from his wounds, but it wasn't the fact that the dog was dead that irked them. It was the kindness they saw. They were told that ponies were cruel, that they had no love for anything, not even each other. That they were barbaric and showed no mercy. That they ate their young and killed others without remorse. Yet here they were, sitting in a group while being watched by several other ponies, alive and unharmed. Prisoners. How were they prisoners to a race of brutal, bloodthirsty killers? They had surrendered and they were treated with dignity and respect. Although their crossbows were loaded and ready to be used at any time, they did not randomly attack them.
But it was the simple act of unquestionable love and kindness between the pony and dog that bothered them the most. It seemed too... contradictory to what they've been taught.
"He's... he's showing it kindness!" Auric blurted. "Am I seeing things? That crowbait showing kindness to the fleabag!"
"No. I can't believe it. They are merciless, ruthless monsters! They're keeping us here until we are cooked and eaten!" Hansh replied throwing himself to the ground in anguish. "We're doomed! Our dishonor will see to our deaths! We deserve to die for failing to protect this airship."
The commander smirked at the ignorance of the lower castes. They were so easily manipulated through their blind faith in their king. That worship that so easily commanded the masses. It was always a joke with the higher castes, that the lower ones would believe anything if the king or those of royal lineage told them something, and if they didn't believe it then they'd only have to raise them up a single caste rank and they'd sing a different tune. For the Gryphon, it wasn't money that they wanted, but to be as close to the royal family as possible. For those in the royal family was blessed with immortality -- so long as the princess died and their cursed influence no longer stole the Gryphon King's holy powers. The unholy witch siphoned the kings powers until the royal magic could no longer sustain him as he would rather his magic protect the children of his kingdom then preserve his life. He would pass on his duty to the next in line while he 'slept' to regenerate a new body, then he would come back again in a new vessel. In this way, the son and father would always rule over the Gryphon Empire.
It was incredibly ridiculous to think that so many believed in that story.
The commander watched as the ponies were staring at the reinforced hatch with mixed expressions. Most were clearly utterly clueless as to how to open it, while others stayed away. It was strange that something so common caused such fear bu, unlike the lower castes' fear of the ponies, their fear of this iron door was rational. They had no idea what lay them, nor did they wish to risk life and limb to open it.
Except for that gray stallion. The commander watched as he stopped stroking the dead fleabag, saying something in the pony tongue that made the others obey. It was clear that this pony was in charge, or did he take over from those who were in charge due to the sheer force of his presence. It seemed to be the latter as the other commanders, clearly denoted by the uniforms they wore, moved out of his way.
"They will open the reactor!" one of the other lower castes shouted.
"Keep calm," the commander stated. "No griffin will die if they open that hatch."
His words seemed to calm them as they waited and watched to see what was going to happen.
Gray felt the strange panel and pressed a few buttons. Of course the combination would be different, the mechanical locks were unique to each airship. The strange symbols seemed to mock him, to taunt him, to let him know that no matter what, no amount of guessing was going to open it. He turned to the griffin commander, the one that had ordered the others to fire upon Rocko, who lay peacefully on the floor.
"Open it."
The griffin replied something in his tongue, one that he did not understand.
"Open. It." Gray stated dangerously, putting his blade against the griffin's throat. "I know you can understand me. You're not like th others, you're not some mere underling. Open the door!"
The shout echoed in the reactor room.
"You didn't zay ze magic vord," the commander replied, his accent thick with the griffin tongue.
Gray stuck out his lower jaw, but complied. "Please. Please open the reactor door."
"Vhy? So you can kill all of us? I zink not."
"If we open it, we will let you and the rest of your kind go," Gray announced.
No one said anything to contradict him.
"Are you really auzorized to make zuch a promise?" the griffin asked skeptically. "You are not wearing za... how do you say, coztume?"
"Uniform."
Cinder appeared beside Gray. "Give us the code, griffin! Or you'll wish that-"
"Easy," Gray warned. "The others here won't know the code. Only he does."
"Let me have ten minutes with him. We in the Watu know how to break the his spirit. After all, aren't we the kind that eat our young and slaughter the weak?" Cinder shouted the last few words and placed the edge of his blade close to the griffin's throat.
The griffin pushed it aside casually. "Don't compare me to zees... lower class. I am not like zem. I know you need me. Zo, I vill help you if you spare my troops."
"Your troops?" Gray and Cinder asked.
"Zees, ones. Promise zis, and I vill give you ze code." The commander smiled politely. "Zhey are... innocent."
"Innocent?" Gray shouted slamming the griffin against the wall. "You killed my friend!"
The commander's eyes drifted to the dead dog lying on his side. "True, but zhen, you also killed much of mine, ja?"
"You don't consider them as friends! You griffins don't consider anything beneath your so-called birthright anything more than tools!" Gray shouted. "I know your mentality and how it works."
"Zhis is not up for negotiation. Accept, or spend the next month finding code yourself."
"I've already agreed and the others will honor it. What's the code?"
There was some confusion as to how to type the code into the system. It was strange, the mechanical lock snapped back into place whenever the wrong button was pressed, but each time it was right a distinct noise would echo inside from the room. Eventually the griffin himself typed it in and the door gave a dull thud as it lifted itself up a few inches to the floor level. Immediately there was a loud, hissing noise and steam or some form of vapor engulfed the area.
"Unicorns! On me!" Gray shouted. "You won't need your weapons."
At once the door swung inwards and nobody said a thing. A few dogs were whimpering quietly from their wounds, but apart from that, there was no sound. After a moment, Gray trotted into the door closely followed by Cinder. Several others followed after, curious as to see what was inside.
Bones ran his blade across the griffin captain's face. He was dead, of course. Bones had carved his way to him as soon as he spotted the uniform. A zealous mania seemed to have taken him when he saw the uniform and he utterly ruined the captain ruthlessly. The other Watu were right with him as the stormed the bridge, the battle was extremely heated. The extremely cramped space gave the griffins an advantage, but the boarding party had overwhelmed them.
The griffin captain had gone for the level that was supposed to drop the reactor, which Bones had completely forgotten about in his mindless frenzy, and threw it. Only after that did Bones seem to remember what he was supposed to do, and he executed the captain with savage glee.
Now all that they needed to do was secure the reactor core, and the fact that they were still airborne meant that they still had a chance. More and more Watu-led groups had headed into the interior and griffins were throwing their weapons down left, right and center. They had given up.
All save one.
It flew a few hundred feet to the starboard-aft level with the airships altitude. Untouched, unharmed, and still fighting the pegasi that swarmed around it, but none had the nerve to venture close to the Zerstörer, as the griffins had called it. It, because whatever it was did not seem to be a living, breathing being. It was a flying death trap.
"Why don't we just shoot that thing out of the skies?" One of the Watu asked, pointing towards the Zerstörer.
"Don't be silly!" Bones exclaimed, shaking his head and placing a hoof on the speaker's shoulder. "What fun would that be?"
"F-fun, sir?" The Watu gulped.
"Let's get his attention!" Bones stated excitedly. "Burn the griffin flag!"
No one moved. Did they really want to attract that being's attention to them?
"Bones. No. We don't want to attract his attention here, okay?"
"Aw! Why not?" the crazy pirate asked.
"Because we're trying to take this ship, and a fight between us and him wouldn't help. We need to find a way to get him to surrender somehow."
"But how?" Bones whined. "Can't we just kill him? Let's just use the cannons instead. It might be boring, but it'll also be kinda cool, wouldn't it? Pow! Boom! Bam! Bloody rain... ah, that would be something."
Everyone stared at the blue stallion with mixed expressions on their faces. Even the Watu with their masks froze where they stood.
"What? You know you want to see that!"
"No, Bones, no. We certainly do not want to see that! What in Celestia's name is wrong with you?"
"There's something wrong with me?" Bones asked, his head tilted slightly to one side.
Cinder froze in his tracks. He couldn't believe his own eyes and took off his mask to get a clearer look at the room he now stood in. It was a nursery. Shelves of dolls lined every cabinet, pink walls brightened the room and in the center was the manna reactor used to power the airship. The magical properties that it absorbed were send through to the engines via large pipes that let downwards in to the floor.
"W-what's going on here?" Cinder shouted in surprise.
"I'm not sure. I've never seen anything like this before," Gray replied calmly. "Tell your Watu to stand guard here. Don't touch anything, understand?"
All Cinder could do was nod. This was like nothing he had ever faced before in his entire life. He barely even knew what he was looking at, the concept of a child's playroom was a completely foreign concept to him, although he understood that was what this was for. Perhaps that was why it was in the most vital and protected part of the airship. But it created more questions than it answered. What was it doing here? What was it for? He just couldn't even begin to guess. Truth be told, a part of him was actually excited about what he saw. He could barely remember his life before his parents were captured and sold, having sold themselves to buy Cinder's freedom. He saw toys that represented a part of his life he never had and up until this moment he never understood how cheated he actually was.
Ignorance is bliss, was the saying. How true in its most foulest of forms.
Gray said something and Cinder noticed two figures at the other end of the room. They seemed excessive fearful when they saw Gray, and seemed to be trying to get as far away from him as they could. They even trotted towards himself, but when they saw him with his mask on, they whimpered and turned and fled the opposite way.
"It's okay," Gray said gently holding his hoof out as if he were trying to call some nervous woodland creature. "We're not going to hurt you. You're safe now."
Neither of the unicorns looked very convinced despite his words and remained as far away as possible. He would have approached closer, but both of them seemed to get hostile whenever he did so. There was something not quite right about the unicorns, and Cinder could not help but take note of how they seemed both mystified and terrified at their presence.
"Why are they like that?" Cinder asked.
"That's a long story," Gray replied. "They're not used to seeing other ponies, let alone unicorns."
Cinder tilted his head slightly, confused by that statement. "Not used to it? But they are ponies. How can they be no used to it?"
"No all ponies are born on our continent, and not all ponies are born free," Gray shot back annoyed at the questioning.
That seemed to satisfy Cinder's curiosity. It explained everything, from the way they stole glances at them all, the way they seemed to fear them blindly, and the way they could barely speak their language. What life must they've had all this time? Cinder could not even begin to imagine.
They were whispering to each other standing in front of something and made sure that whatever it was remained safely behind them. Then, whatever it was seemed to peer between the legs of one of them and looked curiously at the growing audience forming around the entrance to the reactor.
It was a little griffin, a child, no more than a few years old. It looked at them with eyes full of curiosity and wonder. Obviously it had no fear of the large gathering forming and seemed intent on greeting the strangers in her room. That explained the toys. Why there were toys in a reactor room bothered Cinder to no end but now that the child was revealed, a new question formed in his mind. Why was there a kid in the reactor room? It was well known that manna reactors were harmless, the ambient magical energies did not have any adverse effects on a living creature's disposition, but why would they be locked inside one? What was this room?
It looks like a fortified prison of some sort.
Just then one of the unicorns said something, but Cinder nor Gray could understand what was said. They spoke in the griffin's local language.
"Bring the griffin commander here!" Gray shouted and knelt down in front of the mares.
His orders were obeyed and within the span of a minute the commander in question stomped into the room and it was clear he was very uncomfortable being there. He shifted nervously on his talons, rubbing his forearm, and licking his lips and kept looking back the way he came, gulping every few moments as he took a few more steps inside.
"What is this place? The unicorns being here I understand, but why this... daycare center?"
The commander looked at Gray. "To maintain absolute obedience from ze Zerstörer, absolute control is required. Ze best way to is making sure that ze Zerstörer has to stay protective of airship. Is vital."
"I... don't understand what he's getting at," Cinder confessed.
"Hostage. The little griffin is a hostage."
"Yez! Hostage." The commander gulped. "We must go. Ze Zerstörer will come and she vill not be very happy zeeing ze door open..."
No sooner had those words left his mouth when a tumultuous cry erupted from outside the door.
"Stand down!" Gray shouted. "Stand down! Fighting's over!"
There was a series of shouts, but it seemed to calm down and before long a griffin bedecked in full armor stepped inside the reactor room. Instantly the unicorns bowed and threw themselves upon the floor as the Zerstörer stood before them all. It was strange seeing this armored powerhouse standing there unarmed.
Weapons at the ready, none made a movement.
Save the little child. The little griffin ran past the ponies and straight into the Zerstörer's embrace. The two unicorns inside the reactor gasped in horror at this and said something in the griffin's tongue, but neither tried to stop nor do anything to prevent the two from embracing. In fact, the Zerstörer seemed to take a step back away from the child. When the young griffin's forearms wrapped themselves around the gauntleted foreleg, the image of a stalwart killer evaporated and, as the helm was removed, an image of a happy mother took its place. The transformation was so sudden and completely different that Cinder wondered if the two were suddenly switched. Still, the metal plate separated the child's touch from its mother.
"Explain!" Gray demanded.
The commander rubbed the back of his head. "The Zerstörer is... not considered... like us. They are... how do you zay? Purposeless? Zhere only function is protecting ze ship from-"
"From us. They used her child as a hostage to make sure that she would never stop protecting the ship. Ever. She'd also stay within an acceptable proximity to the ship," Cinder stated.
"Well... in part, yes. Zhe lies told. Zhe daughter has... disease, yes? Deadly. Only magic can protect. Save. Excuse to put her inside reactor. Unicorns bring up child, child is safe. Slaves born through lies. Told zat zhe ponies all died out, that zhe air outside reactor is... deadly. All ponies dead, that zhey are last."
"Protect the ship and in exchange, 'protecting' her child with magic from the reactor? It is genius. A perfect form of control," Cinder stated. It was brilliant. He, of course, did not understand the cruelty behind the method. What was family to a Watu? The concept was an idea that was too foreign to have any impact, but every Watu knew how important it was to Equestrians. Seemed it was equally important to the griffins.
The Zerstörer said something angrily, but the commander ignored her.
"Told zat ze child, if the mother touches, will die. Lies. All lies." The commander turned to the Zerstörer and said something. At once the griffin threw off her armor armor and hugged the child viciously, caressing it and smothering it with the kind of love only a parent could give. Only a mother could give. The unicorns, seeing this, burst into tears of joy and ran up to the Zerstörer and all three of them shared in their tears of joy.
Family. They were a family.
The commander turned his head away. "First time since hatchling was laid that mother touch."
Cinder growled. "That's barbaric!"
"Fresh coming from a Watu like you," Gray replied. "I didn't know you knew what the word barbaric meant."
Cinder opened his mouth to retort, but the pirate had a point. He thought about making a new argument when he was distracted by a soft and gently touch on his flank. "It seems barbaric."
"Tell the... Zerstörer that she is free to go wherever she wants, that we will give her safe passage to where she needs to go. All we ask is that she frees these ponies and let us take the ship." Gray looked at the two mares. They had allowed their curiosity to get the better of them and one was touching Cinder on the head while the other looked on in great interest. "They cannot return to the griffin empire, that I will forbid. They might not remain with us on our respective vessels, but they are free ponies from now on. They are no longer your slaves."
There was a moment when the commander and the Zerstörer talked. Suffice to say, the Zerstörer was unimpressed by what she had learned. It was clear that these tactics were kept a secret from her and that she had been used all this time to protect a ship with her body never once contemplating about escape because of fear of her daughter's life. That explained everything that they had seen in this bizarre room.
Eventually, the reactor room was emptied. The toys and whatever could be moved out was taken by Watu who found the little toys incredibly entertaining. The little griffin was so happy to be able to hug its mother than it didn't care nor make a fuss when the toys were being moved. The unicorns found it hard to convince themselves it was safe, and even when the door was wide open and the rest of the Watu were moving in and out, it took a long moment before either one would venture beyond the threshold of the doors. It actually took the Zerstörer to actually get them to leave the reactor room. They stayed close together, all four of them as they were escorted down the hall towards the stairs that led upwards to the deck.
"Why two mares?" Cinder asked as he watched them go.
"I don't think it was done intentionally. I think that they made a mistake. I think it was supposed to be a mare and a stallion, only that they couldn't tell them apart. I think that we've just discovered the fate of unicorns that are born into the griffin's empire from enslaved parents. Perhaps telling them it was their duty to reproduce to help preserve the species."
Cinder stopped. "They... brainwashed them into thinking they're the last? And kept them prisoner here?"
"I believe so. But let's not dwell too much on this. That's not our concern. We've got the ship, now we've got to find out what we're supposed to do with the prisoners."
"What happens if the newborn isn't a unicorn?" Cinder asked.
"Dunno," Gray replied and walked off.
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Okay, dude, these chapters are real great. But, when is the last part of this fucking so-far-twelve part-er? It's kinda getting on my nerves at this point. I mean, what does any of this have to do with Semper, or Pinkie, at this point? it seems likes these parts could've been made into a separate story entirely.
Forgive me if I sounded rude. Just, giving an opinion
4338759 i agree. it gotten to the point where im close to just give up on reading. i enjoy learning about his past and all but i really enjoyed where one chapter was semper's past then the next was during the present and when he visits. here is just annoying.
Another thing: I believe AU is an appropriate tag for this story.
I actually had to look back at the earlier chapters to remember that this story is actually going somewhere. Don't get me wrong, I love this story and how it's progressing, but if there are more 12+ part missions involved in telling the story then it will most likely become too long for new people to try to pick up. Other than that excellent work!
Where the heck is semper?
You know, you make these missions sound so important...but after around the third back and forth between your OC and what's really going on, I became severely afflicted with a terrible condition called boredom, It's a novel experience, but it gets old quickly when you don't actually say anything about the protagonist.
The fatal flaw is that a large portion of the word count is completely unnecessary. You tell a simple story in a speedy manner without leaving anything to digest. I skipped over several portions in the story simply because it felt like I was chewing on the bones of your story. It's almost like chicken, in that there's vary little meat present, and you have to angle your head awkwardly to get at the good pieces.
4341061 Thanks for the feedback.
I'm just astounded with the sudden influx of new readers. Where'd you all come from? Did this get added to a popular group or something?
4341696 I'm not sure. I saw it in the popular stories off to the side. Thought it might've been interesting...and I'm pretty certain it's in at least one popular group. 'Course, we can't all know that Semper typically means 'always', and it's usually used in conjunction with other Latin words to form specific military jargon.
Yeh love the story and been reading it since the beginning. I really enjoy the battles and how this was to explain why Zecora came to Equestria but I was really hoping we could see what happened to Pinkie after the ship was taken, not to be thrust into another ship battle. I could've understood If this battle was after we saw some more of Pinkie or even Zecora in present day but right now it's starting to feel like a totally differnt story and that your forgetting Pinkie and Semper. He just gave an order and he wasn't even in this fight. I was waiting for him to come into the battle and was really disappointed. I'm not sure if these two unicorns are two background ponies that we know of or just going to disappear, or if the baby griffin may have been Gilda or something but I doubt that was the case. I just feel like The story is no longer about Semper and Pinkie.
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Well, I like it. Seriously, I am enjoying this story immensely and can't wait to see what happens next. Two thumbs up, and have a great day!
4342110 The armor they wear. I thought I explained that in the training chapters. Perhaps not good enough considering that you're asking about it. I'll have to go back and go over it better. Or maybe I took it out because I felt that it needed far more explaining than necessary.
Anyway, the armor they wear prevents direct attacks on their body via magic, which is why they wear a criniere along the back of their necks. I am aware that in the show there are some armor types that do not have this protection. I am going to just say that they're more decorative/traditional armor (like the Grenadiers armor for the Queen of England, or the Beefeaters) because most of the actual armor, and for most of the guards on duty, they wear a the criniere along their necks. Even Luna's guards do.
Does this protect civilians? No. But then again, in Equestria there isn't really a need. And, before I give away anything, I'll stop here.
Other people have commented on this, but I have to say this as well. I think you're getting lost in the ship battles. Honestly, I skimmed the last two chapters because I wanted to read about Semper Pie, not the Watu, Wish or the Griffins. I started reading for Semper's story and his eventual reunion with his beloved little sister Pinkie. This entire chapter was completely unrelated to Semper. In complete honesty I think half of the Mission 2 story arc could be cut out and reworked into an entirely different story. I'd be interested in reading that story, but for this story the focus really needs to be on the main character Semper and working towards his reunion with Pinkie.
4455319 Im agreeing with him here, there two more chapters out of 28 and he hasnt even bloody arrived in Ponyville. Dont get me wrong, i like a bit of action, but more than a third of this story is COMPLETELY off the topic that i came here to read.
Your Griffons are fucked up.
Wow, the Griffins are like the Imperium from Warhammer 40.000, just fucked up. Yes, that is no contradiction.
Poor Rocko
Bloody Nazi Griffons
There seems to be a discontinuity in the scenes here with the Zerstörer. Right after we see it doing some more fighting and Silly Bones being the comedy relief about how to fight it, we jump to the scene on the ship where the griffon commander unlocks the nursery, and then the Zerstörer shows up out of nowhere. There's no indication of her retreating from the aerial battle to enter the ship, not even a hint of "Oh if we unlock the nursery she just automatically knows it's open and she's gonna come here".
If the two unicorns were supposed to be a stallion and a mare in the infirmary, it feels a little oddly illogical. If they reproduce, then their foal would grow up alongside the griffon chick as best friends, something that would run counter to the architects of this system's desire to continue the promotion of fantastic racism to keep their fascist system continuing forward. They'd have to kill and/or brainwash one or both of the chick and foal so they don't come out into open griffon society and say "Oh hey, ponies and griffons can actually make friends with one another".
I recall saying quite some time ago that countering the chatter of 'old mare's tales' with 'Oh but we have an immortal goddess ruling over us' was a false equivalency, since the latter seems fantastical only from our perspective, not from that of ponies who grow up in that world. It's a similar thing for the griffon captain to snort at the lower castes who believe the propaganda they hear about the Royal Family. Something like that would sound like bunk to us, sure, but what about to griffons who live in a world where the ponies have an immortal goddess sitting on a throne? From that perspective, believing that your royal family 'hibernates' to regenerate a new body and come back in a new vessel suddenly doesn't sound so weird.