Prologue: Escape (V2)

Prologue: Escape

"important encounters are planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other" - Paulo Coelho

6 miles east from Sudentor, Neue Gryphus
April 21st 2125hrs

Black clouds covered the night sky, indicating an approaching storm in the area. A lone griffon flew through the dark skies, his black feathers and fur blending him into his surroundings. His eyes squinted as he saw the glimmering lights on the horizon. In about ten to fifteen minutes, he should be able to reach Sudentor; the capital city of Neue Gryphus.

Black Star could only sigh in relief. He’d been traveling for twelve hours, not counting how many times he stopped for nourishment and rest. He’d been avoiding any contact with the Griffin Kingdom ever since the Equestrian war ended just ten months ago. His former comrade Zeakros was now on the throne, and possibly wanted his head for what he and Red Cyclone had done to the previous king.

Every time he stopped at a small town or a village, he always find a wanted poster with his face drawn on it. The poster mentioned that he was a Class-A war criminal, wanted for crimes such as; Treason, griffocide, and ponycide.

The latter still brought up some ugly memories from his past.

“Mommy… Daddy… What happened to you?! Please wake up! Say something!”

He stood in silence as the filly tried to wake her parents in vain.

“What... What are you... WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THEM!?”

Her big teary eyes glared at the large figure standing before her. Black Star turned around and stared at her. The filly froze in horror.

“… Your parents were planning to stage a mutiny against the Griffin Kingdom. As its sworn soldier, I had to make sure such thing would not occur. They have been put to rest forever.”

He watched as the filly’s expression turned from sadness to unfathomable rage.

“I will... I will NEVER FORGIVE YOU!... I’LL MAKE YOU PAY!!”

“Stupid…” Black Star muttered, flinching as the memory played back in his mind. He shoved it aside and kept focusing on his destination ahead, completely unaware about what was waiting for him there.

???, Sudentor, Neue Gryphus
April 21st 2130hrs

Sudentor, the northern industrial city of the Griffin Kingdom and capital city of the Neue Gryphus state. The Griffin Kingdom claimed the industrial city for economic purposes after the previous reich of Neue Gryphus falls. While the Equestrians had an advanced knowledge for magic, the griffons had their industrial and architectural might on their side, though they still resorted to small spells and enchanted amulets.

With their understanding of advanced technology, Neue Gryphus, along with the Griffin Kingdom, helped both their own country and Equestria develop radio communicators, radars and satellites. Because of this, both races now had little trouble communicating with each other over vast distances. Though both races made an oath to never use these technological marvels for war, that hadn’t stopped the former General of The Griffin Kingdom from exploiting these technological gems to ignite the coals of war.

And he was not alone.

At a darkened building in an industrial complex, just outside the downtown district, a griffon had found himself in one hell of a predicament. The griffon looked more like a falcon than an eagle, with blue feathers sprouting all over the front side of the body. The lower half lower feline body resembled a panther.

In front of him was a buff-looking unicorn with a darkened coat and a buzzcut mane. The unicorn’s cutie mark was concealed to hide his identity.

“For the last time! I didn’t know about the damn thing!” the griffon shouted, slamming his magically cuffed talons on the table.

“Stop playing around, Riddle,” His interrogator snapped, “You’re the only one who knows the equation, so cut the bullshit and tell the truth.”

“Scher dich!” the griffon spat with a smirk.

Bad idea.

His interrogator’s horn glowed, and the griffon found his head being smashed directly into the table. The interrogator got up and walked behind the incapacitated griffon.

“I’m getting tired this, Riddle,” he growled, “You better tell us the where’s the location or I’ll—”

“That’s enough, Rohling,” a voice cut him. The interrogator turned around and saw a mint unicorn standing behind him along with a few guards. The spectacled unicorn’s cutie mark was hidden behind his lab coat. The guards themselves hid their faces and cutie mark; the first one was a pegasus, while the second was an earth pony.

“Commander Kriegstreiber,” he spoke, “Forgive me. He’s still not cooperating. I tried truth spells, physiological torture, everything! It’s like his mind has been sealed shut.”

“Then find his breaking point!” the unicorn, Kriegstreiber snapped. “Everypony and every griffon has a breaking point.”

He eyed the griffon; Riddle for a moment, and then motion the guards to leave. He turned his attention back to Rohling and spoke,

“Find that breaking point, and you better find it fast. You know our customer doesn’t want to be kept waiting.”

Kriegstreiber motioned his guards to get out, to which they complied. He turned around, but as he was about leave, he turned to Rohling and spoke darkly,

“And believe me. She really doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

Rohling’s pupils shrank in horror.

“Y-Yes sir! I’ll do my best, sir.” Rohling stuttered while saluting his superior. With that, Kriegstreiber left the unicorn back with the griffon in the room. Rohling went back to his seat and stared at the bruised Riddle. The griffon just looked down on the floor.

“Now where were we?”

“I need some water,” Riddle interrupted.

“What?”

“I need water,” Riddle repeated, “I’m thirsty.”

Rohling eyed Riddle for a moment and sighed in annoyance. He got up from his seat and trotted outside to get some water. A few minutes later, he returned with the glass of water.

“There’s your water,” He spoke with an irritated tone. “Now drink up. We have work to do.”

Riddle just stared at the glass of water, not moving an inch.

“Come on, drink it already!” Rohling snapped.

Once again, silence was his only answer. The unicorn began to lose his patience.

“Oh for the love of…” his horn glowed and the glass levitated but before he could bring it to Riddle’s beak, the griffon brought up his cuffed talons and hit the glass. The glass was thrown at Rohling’s face; spilling water into his eyes.

Riddle hopped up on to the table and tackled the dazed unicorn into the ground. Before Rohling could recover, Riddle kicked the unicorn’s head with all his might. His head was thrown back and hit the wall behind him, knocking him out.

Riddle turned and headed straight for the door. He couldn’t use his wings because Rohling casted some sort of spell on them. He exited the room and made his way through the hall, which split into two directions; one lead to the testing lab, while the other lead to his freedom. But as he walked to the exit, he heard hoofsteps coming from the other end.

“Guards.” He retreated back to the second hall and waited for the guards to pass. Once they passed him, he rushed to the exit, just in time, since the guards had finally found the unconscious Rohling.

“Was zur Hölle…!!” one of the guards yelled in surprise. Another guard quickly activated his communicator.

“This is Braun Four to Braun One. Hüttensänger has escaped I repeat; Hüttensänger has escaped. Requesting immediate facility lockdown.”

“Roger, Braun Four, facility lockdown will commence in three minutes,” a voice was heard from his comm. “I will send some reinforcements to recapture Hüttensänger, over and out.”

“Oh great…” Riddle groaned in annoyance. His talons were cuffed, and his wings were useless, there was no way he could get out this facility under these conditions. He had to break the magic-enforced cuffs if he wanted to escape. He finally reached the exit in time, but more hoofsteps came from his left. He went back into the hall and waited for the guards to pass, but he decided to catch one of the guards in hopes of getting his cuffs off.

When the last guard pony galloped past the hall, Riddle jumped on him and closed his snout, keeping him from alerting the others. The guard tried to use his magic, but his concentration was interrupted by the blue griffon’s painful peck. Riddle dragged him into a storage room where he smashed the guard’s comm to pieces before speaking to him.

“Alright, I need you to break these cuffs.”

The guard pony keep glaring daggers at him. Riddle just sighed impatiently.

“Look, it’s either you help me get out, or I’ll make this a very unpleasant night for you.”

The guard just gave him a puzzled look. Riddle sighed again before he grabbed the tip of the guard’s horn. The guard got his message.

“Y-You wouldn’t!” he stammered,

“Yes I will,” Riddle glared boredly. “Trust me, I know over 10 different ways to break this horn, and all of them involves you getting the short stick… and probably getting disabled for the rest of your life.”

“B-But without my magic, then what!?” the guard shot back.

“I’ll just find another guard, and show him or her your state. Simple as that,” Riddle shrugged. “Alright enough with the silly questions. Do it now.”

Without any second wasted, the guard’s horn glowed, and the cuffs opened. Riddle stretched his talons for a bit before talking to the guardspony again.

“Listen, I need another info.” He pointed at his wings, “Your friend Rohling had put some kind of spell on my wings, and because of that, I can’t move them. Care to deactivate it?”

“I-I-I-I don’t kno—” the unicorn trailed off before Riddle cut him mid sentence. His patience slowly drained away.

“I really have no time for this so cut the bullshit, foal,” he growled.

“I really don’t know how!” the unicorn yelled, “But, Rohling said the spell should wear off in about two hours.”

Riddle seems satisfied with the pony’s answer, he’d been in this facility for a while, so the spell should wear off any time now. He quickly brought his fist into the unicorn’s face and punched him, knocking him out.

“Thank you,” he said before heading to the door. More guards passed by, but didn’t notice him hiding behind the storage door. He sneaked through the hall and found himself by the exit again. Now all he needed to do was to climb that fence.

Suddenly a bright light shined on him from above followed by a loud voice,

“There he is!”

Riddle cursed under his breath and ran for the fence but when he tried to climb it, he was shocked by the electricity running through the fence. He looked around and saw the guards closing in. Without any second thoughts, Riddle bolted into the hall he just came from with the guards hot in pursuit.

“Braun Units, prepare the stunning spells,” the lead guard ordered. “We need this griffon alive. Lethal force is not authorized.”

“Roger, Braun One.”

Riddle groaned. Since he had to find another way out, it would be impossible for him to climb that electrified fence, and searching for the fence’s main power switch to get rid of it was not an options. He tried stretching his wings, and to his surprise, they managed to fully extend, though he couldn't flap them to fly.

Suddenly an idea popped up into his head. It sounded crazy to his brain’s logic, but was worth a shot. All he need to do was find an entrance to the roof.

The guards kept firing their stunning spells, but Riddle managed to avoid every one. The pursuit continued through the hall and into the stairs. The guards below tried to shoot the spells to no avail.

“He’s heading for the roof!” one of them shouted,

“Stop him there! Don’t let him fly away!” his leader ordered.

Riddle’s exhaustion began to show when he reached the top floor. His energy drained completely as he struggled to the edge of the roof. City lights twinkled like fireflies in the horizon. Regaining his strength, Riddle stretched his wings again, but they still wouldn’t flap. The door bursted open, and the guards came pouring out from it. He was completely surrounded.

“Stay where you are!” the lead guard yelled. Riddle ignored him and glanced down to the ground. The frown on his face grew deeper.

“Don’t move! Or we will shoot!” the lead guard yelled again. Riddle slowly grabbed the edge of the roof, and before the guards could react, Riddle threw himself off.

Collective gasps was heard as the lead guard rushed to the edge of the roof, fearing the worst, but Riddle’s supposed mutilated corpse wasn’t on the ground. Instead he saw the griffon gliding across the fence before stumbling onto the ground on the other side.

“Oh no,” The guard squeaked.

“Boss isn’t going to like this.”

Riddle landed hard on the ground. His blue feathers were covered in dirt. He groaned as he picked himself up. He didn’t notice the patches of dirt on his feathers.

“Damnit, I just cleaned this!”

Riddle dusted himself before heading out to the wilderness. The city of Sudentor lied on the horizon, and it was going to take a long walk if his wings didn’t work normally. Once again, he stretched his wings but still he couldn't flap properly.

“How long does that stunning spell last anyway?” he thought as he tried to flap his wings again. Once again, it proved fruitless. “Screw it, I’ll walk my way back.”

He heard the sounds of wings flapping through the blaring alarms. He turned around and saw the pegasi guards taking off from the base, carrying ropes to subdue him. Riddle made a break for it. His exhausted body screamed at him, begging him to stop and rest, but he didn’t care, resting and getting captured again wasn’t an option for him.

The guards keeps getting closer to his position, desperately he tried to flap his wings again but it won’t respond. He gritted his beak and tried again; once again to no avail. He turned around and saw the guards inch closer to him. He growled and tried to flap his wings again, forcing his Celestia damned muscles on his wings to work.

Then he felt it. The familiar feeling of his wings flapping through the clouds high in the air. The feeling of being unbounded from the earth.
The feeling of freedom.

The guards didn’t have time to react when Riddle flew into the air; he headed straight for the city. They tried to keep up, but the griffon was too fast for them. Soon the griffon vanished under the blanket of darkness of the night, forcing the pegasi guards to stop their pursuit.

“This is Blau 1 to Braun 1,” the lead pegasi guard spoke to his comm. “Hüttensänger has escaped, I repeat; Hüttensänger has escaped.”

“This is Braun 1. Not to worry, Blau. Kriegstreiber has sent Endlich 4 to intercept Hüttensänger.”
The lead pegasi guard widened his eyes, obviously surprised, but he shrugged it off.

“Roger that, Braun 1. We’ll return to base.”

The leader called his team back to the base, to which they obliged. After all of his team went back, the leader glanced back at the direction where Riddle was last sighted.

“Oh you’re in for it now, griffon!”

Chapter 1: Exile (V2)

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Chapter 1: Exile

“The past is a ghost, the future a dream, and all we ever have is now.” - Bill Cosby

2 Miles east of Sudentor, Neue Gryphus
April 21st, 2349 hrs

Black Star nearly arrived at the city. His stomach growled furiously. He needed to get into the city and find himself a decent meal, hopefully unnoticed. Since he left the Kingdom, Black Star left all of his money back home. He had reduced himself into a petty thief stealing food just to stay alive for the last ten months.

Because of this, he had his fair share of close calls with the local authorities on each town he stopped by. One time he nearly got caught by the Equestrian guards in Stalliongrad.

Yep, good memories alright.

The sounds of thunder roared in the darkened skies above the city. Black Star could feel several water droplets hit his face. He needed to speed his flight up. The last thing he wanted to do was to fly through a storm and spend the entire night drying and preening his feathers.

Suddenly, his flight was interrupted when a hot air balloon flew on his flight path. Out of instinct or his military training, he evaded the balloon, but before he could recover, he saw a large blue griffon heading straight for him.

He couldn’t avoid it in time. A mid-air collision between the two griffons was inevitable.

Riddle found himself falling from the air after something hit him head on. He tried to regain stability, but his wings wouldn’t respond correctly. He saw the other griffon falling beside him, but wasn’t able to slow down in time. He was falling to his death.

In a last-ditch attempt; Riddle flared his wings to slow down his descent, but it was too late. The ground was already close when he tried to glide his way down. He soon found himself tumbling on the soil before stopping on the foot of a hill. The other griffon landed nearby and rushed to where he crashed.

“Hey!” he called out. “Are you alright?”

Riddle groaned as he picked himself up. His feathers were dirty again thanks to the fall. The other griffon arrived, and Riddle was finally able to take a good look at him.

The griffon's black feathers blended him well with the night, while his gold eyes stood out from the darkness. He seemed to be in his early-to-mid-twenties, and, by judging the hardened expression on his face, he was probably a soldier of some sort.

“Are you alright, sir?” the griffon repeated,

“I’m fine,” Riddle groaned as he stood up. He gives his limbs and wings a quick stretch before turning his attention to the young griffon in front of him.

“You should have payed more attention,” Riddle said.

“Terribly sorry about that,” the dark griffon apologized, though his expression remained the same. “It was my fault. I didn’t see that blimp until the last moment.”

“So did I, but we’re still, alive and that’s what matters,” Riddle said. “Where are you going anyway?”

“I’m heading to Sudentor,” the griffon replied. “How about you?”

“Same direction,” Riddle responded. The griffon just let out an “Oh” before an awkward silence fell before them. Moments later, Riddle realized something.

“Oh where are my manners?” Riddle chuckled sheepishly as he offered his talon for a handshake. “I’m Riddle, former member of the Neue Gryphus Defense Force. Current occupation, scientist.”

“Black Star,” the young griffon replied as he grabbed Riddle’s talon and shook back.

“Black Star?” Riddle repeated, his eyes narrowed a bit.

“Yes, and I’m sure you’ve heard of me,” Black Star said gravely, closing his eyes in shame.

“Yes. I’ve heard of you,” Riddle began. Black Star could feel a little bit of venom from his voice. “You along with that arrogant oaf, Red Cyclone assassinated Lightbeak and started a war that nearly burned Equestria to the ground. You and him are considered to be war criminals and a disgrace to the Griffin Kingdom.”

Black Star didn’t respond as the blue griffon glared at him. Riddle hated arrogant griffons that looked down on other species, especially ponies. Riddle himself didn’t have any problems with them.

To him, the ponies were a peaceful race, in contrast to the warlike griffons. He was amazed to how the Royal Princesses and the so-called Elements of Harmony managed to keep Equestria out of harm from various threats.

Especially the threat that nearly decimated the whole world.

Red Cyclone was nothing but an arrogant fool who wanted to challenge the Princesses’ rule. His death was caused by his own doing. Even if he did succeed in winning the war, Riddle seriously doubted that he and his blind followers would win against the alicorn sisters.

Riddle suddenly remembered something. He checked the direction from which he came from before turning back to face Black Star. He had a slight worry written on his face.

“Well, it’s been nice meeting you, but I have my own problems right now, and I won’t turn you into the authorities.”

"How can I trust you?" the dark griffon said.

"I give you my word," Riddle replied as he stretched his wings and turned away. "Farewell."

Riddle flapped his wings and took off into the air, but he froze when Black Star called out to him.

“Who are you running from?”

The blue griffon didn’t turn around.

“I can tell by your body language.”

Riddle sighed as he faced the Black Star again.

“That obvious, huh?” Riddle groaned, earning a rather shallow chuckle from Black Star.

“Nah, just a gut feeling,” he joked. “But seriously, you look dreadful.”

Riddle was close to his breaking point.

“Listen, I don’t have time to explain the situation right now,” he spoke. Black Star’s expression didn’t change. “But let’s just say you and I shouldn’t be here right now.”

“I see,” Black Star nodded. He flapped his wings and flew to Riddle’s current altitude. “Then you better explain it fast so we can get out of here.”

“And why should I tell you?” Riddle asked him.

Black Star just shrugged.

“I give you my word. Besides, I will gain no profit by betraying a word from a knight such as yourself.”

` “How’d you…” Riddle muttered after hearing that last sentence. Black Star smiled and said:

“Again, I can tell, sir. I’m smarter than I look,”

“Right,” Riddle thought. “Cold, calculating and cunning. He’s Black Star allright.”

Riddle wasn’t convinced by his words, he’s still doubted that Black Star could be trusted, but he still need to get out from the city. And he wasn’t getting anywhere with a curious griffon tailing him with all sorts of questions.

“Alright,” Riddle sighed, “long or short version?”

“Short,” Black Star answered.

“Alright. Some company wants something from me, and it involves some new weapon they’re trying to recreate.”

“And you refused to take part in it?” Black Star concluded.

“Correct,” Riddle sighed. “The weapon’s usage contradicts my views. Unfortunately they won’t take no for an answer.”

“That bad, huh?” The dark griffon sighed, earning a nod from Riddle. Both of them was about to say their goodbyes until something in the skies caught Black Star’s attention: a small red object that was heading for their location, diving towards them. As it draws near, Black Star pointed at the darkened skies.

“Watch out!” He yelled as he pushed Riddle out of the way. The attacker grazed him, causing him to lose balance and fell along with Riddle. He could feel the ground shake as the attacker landed with sheer brute force; throwing bits of dirt and pebbles from where the attacker landed.

The two griffons gazed at the newly formed crater in front of them. When the dust cleared, they could finally see who their attacker was.

It was a pegasus. It had a red coat, and it wore red armor, which somehow had a pulsating glow around its ridges. The two griffons swore that they could see the same glow emitting from the pegasus' bulging veins underneath its blood red coat.

The pegasus glared at the two griffons with its empty red eyes, sizing them up and analyzed the two half-eagle creatures. Black Star couldn’t help but to feel intimidated by the pegasus' gaze. The pegasus looked nearly equivalent to that ace Mobius during the war, and Riddle knew by judging the pegasus' appearance and behavior that this was not an ordinary pegasus.

The more he stared back at the pegasus, the more he felt disturbed by him. His gaze was empty and devoid of any life. Both griffons could see a blue liquid of some kind flowing slowly from the pegasus' left drooped ear, causing Riddle's eyes to widen in shock and horror.

"No. It can't be," Riddle thought as he tensed his muscles, ready for the impending strike from the brute in front of him. Black Star saw Riddle's reaction and also readied himself for battle.

An eternity seemed to pass before the pegasus stretched his wings and flew directly into Riddle. The griffon managed to evade the attack, allowing the red pegasus to hit the hillside. The impact sent soil and rocks flying everywhere. Before debris cleared, the pegasus charged at the blue griffon again. But this time, Riddle couldn’t evade in time.

He could only put his talons in front of him in a last-ditch effort to defend himself.

The pegasus punched Riddle head on, sending him flying to the next hillside. Black Star could only watch as Riddle disappeared from his view. He knew was impossible for a pony to send a griffon flying with a single punch. If he decided to intervene, he wasn’t even sure if he could stand a chance against this pegasus. But Riddle needed help, and he was the only one around who could help him.

Black Star stretched his wings and flew towards the red pegasus, the pegasus noticed him and ascends into the skies, evading his attack. Black Star flew upwards and locked his gaze into the pegasus. The two circled around for a moment before Black star makes his first move by bringing his talon straight into the pegasus’ face.

The pegasus dodged the claw swipe and retaliated with a punch to Black Star’s gut. The pain was unimaginable. Black Star gasped as he felt some of his guts being thrown back and the air inside his lungs being forced out. He cringed in pain as he slowly flapped down to the ground. This gave the red pegasus an opening for an attack. But before he could deliver it, Riddle tackled him from below and tossed him away.

“Try harder you mindless beast.” he growled.

The red pegasus stabilized and glared at the blue griffon. Without any delay, he charged again, but Riddle was ready for this. When the pegasus was close, Riddle flew upwards. When the pegasus was directly underneath him, he grabbed the pegasus' wings and tossed him down to the ground. The pegasus shrugged off the attack before flying up to face Riddle again. This time, Riddle wasted no time bringing his talons into the pegasus' head, but the pegasus evaded his attack and retaliated with single kick aimed at Riddle’s neck. The griffon evaded it, but to his surprise the pegasus launched another attack directed at the his right arm.

Riddle couldn’t evade it in time, and the hoof make contact with its target. Riddle growled in pain when he felt the bones on his arm cracked by the blow. Before he could recover, the pegasus lunged at him again, and Riddle didn’t have time to react. Both combatants were locked in a brawl as they fell down from the skies. Riddle noticed that he was in a very bad position for a landing. He grabbed the pegasus and placed him underneath, planning to use the pegasus’ body as a cushion.

The two struggled some more before landing hard into the ground, Black Star, who had just recovered from the punch, covered his eyes from the debris. When the dust cleared, Black Star saw Riddle crawling out from the newly made crater. Inside the crater, he saw the red pegasus lying face up, not moving.

Riddle coughed as he limped towards Black Star, who immediately ran to assist the wounded griffon.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“He busted my right arm...” Riddle croaked as he coughed again. Black Star sighed as he helped Riddle sit down. He didn’t know how bad Riddle’s injury was, and he felt that a few of his ribs were cracked where the pegasus had punched him. The only option left for him was to head for Sudentor and get medical help.

“Come on, we need to go to Sudentor,” Black Star spoke. Riddle thought about this for a minute before nodding in agreement.

As they prepared for the long journey ahead of them, both griffons heard something moving from behind. Black Star turned around and saw the red pegasus lunging directly at them. He threw Riddle aside and grabbed the pegasus' front hooves in time.

The two were now locked in combat.

Black Star tried to push the pegasus away, but the pegasus kept pushing him back inch by inch. With his talons locked on the pegasus' hooves; he could only depend on the his retractable claws for a solid grip on the ground. Riddle managed to recover and saw him struggling against the red pegasus.

“No!” he yelled as he tried to stand up. His right arm gave out immediately and he fell back down. “That pegasus is beyond your level. Don’t fight him! Run while you still can!”

Black Star already knew what Riddle meant. He was no match for this pegasus’ incredible power, but if he tried to run, there was no doubt that the pegasus would take Riddle away and drag him back to his own problems.

Thinking that his warning fell on deaf ears, Riddle groaned and picked up a small pebble and threw it at the pegasus' head. The pegasus growled like a Manticore as he turned around to face Riddle, his empty red eyes glaring at the blue griffon. This gave Black Star an opening he desperately needed. With a mighty heave, he pulled the pegasus towards him and punched his face with all his might.

He felt like he had just punched a brick wall, but the blow was effective. The red pegasus was thrown back about three feet from him. But soon he was back to his hooves, growling in anger as he started flapping his wings. Riddle noticed this and used every ounce of his remaining strength to fly straight for the red pegasus. The two beings were thrown back on the crater.

Riddle coughed in pain, but before the dust cleared, the red pegasus tackled him. pinned him down on the ground, and started choking him, completely unaware of Black Star, who was armed with a rock behind him. The dark griffon hit the pegasus' head with the rock, dazing him until Riddle gained enough strength to kick him off of him. The pegasus stood up again but, Black Star continued to pound him with the rock until the pegasus managed to block one of his attacks and retaliate with a single head-butt to Black Star’s chest. The griffon cringed as he felt more of his ribs crack from the blow.

Riddle was getting sick of this, but he knew that the pegasus was virtually unstoppable when he was wearing that armor, and taking the armor off would be hard in their current condition. He gazed around the crater, hoping to find something to stop that red juggernaut. Finally, he spotted a rock with a pointed tip, and a new plan popped up in his head.

“Kid, bring that pegasus here!” he yelled out.

“What’s..ugh…your plan!?” Black Star replied as he continued struggling against the red pegasus.

“Just bring him here and I’ll fill you in with the rest!”

“I need a distraction first,” Black Star replied back. Riddle quickly grabbed another pebble and threw it at the pegasus' head. Black Star took his chance and pushed the pegasus towards Riddle’s position. Once he was close, Riddle grabbed the pegasus' wings and moved him to a path straight for the rock.

“Now push him forward!” Riddle commanded, to which Black Star obliged. The two griffons were now pushing the red pegasus towards the pointed tip. The red pegasus struggled when he saw the pointed rock inching closer and closer towards his back, but the two griffons kept pushing him back until his coat and skin contacted the tip.

“PUSH!!”

The two griffons poured every last piece of their strength to impale the red pegasus with the rock. The tip went through the pegasus' back and resurfaced from his stomach; soon dark red blood came out from the hole. The pegasus neighed in pain; struggling in vain to free himself, but after a few seconds, he stopped moving, and his hooves fell limp. The pulsating glow on his veins and armor died out along with his life.

The two griffons can only stare at the corpse in silence before Black Star fell down and coughed in pain.

“Oh no.”

Black Star needed immediate treatment after all he’d been through, and he too, needed his right arm to be examined for any bone fractures. There was only one place that the two griffons could go.

“C’mon kid,” Riddle said as he placed Black Star’s right arm around his neck, “We’re going to get you some help.”

“B-But what about…” Black Star coughed before he was shushed by Riddle.

“Shut your beak, you’re in a bad state, and so am I. We don’t have any choice, but to go to Sudentor and get medical help.”

Black Star pondered. Sudentor was his destination before he met Riddle and that red pegasus. But if he was brought inside a hospital, there was no doubt that some ponies and or griffons would recognize him and report back to the Griffin Kingdom.

But he was in no condition to hide. He needed urgent medical help, or he would surely die from his injuries.

He really didn’t have any choice.

“Sudentor it is,” He thought before everything went black.

Chapter 2: Deception

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Chapter 2: Deception

Sometimes, you will need more than skill and luck to survive....

Drakenridge Mountain Range, En-route to Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
April 22nd 2020, 1045 hrs

As Riddle already predicted, Black Star’s cover was blown to pieces the minute they entered the hospital. The doctors were kind enough to heal their injuries and give them some food, but they still called the authorities. In response, the authorities called the Griffin Kingdom, since Black Star was their responsibility.

The kingdom’s royal guards arrived around 4 o’clock in the morning, and they quickly arrested Black Star, as well as Riddle for assisting a Class-A war criminal. The lead guard was surprised to see that him of all griffons would help a fugitive like Black Star. When he asked why he helped him, Riddle lied that "He didn’t know who Black Star was at the time."

Now, both griffons were contained inside a wagon pulled and escorted by the royal guards. They were already in the air for over six hours, and they were scheduled to arrive in Gryphus in about two hours.

Riddle quietly sat in his spot inside the wagon with his talons and wings cuffed. In front of him was Black Star, also cuffed with the addition of a muzzle on his beak to keep him silent. Beside him was a royal guard stationed inside the wagon to keep an eye on both griffons.

Overall, the Griffin Kingdom’s royal guards' appearance was similar to the Equestrian royal guards. Some minor differences were that the griffon guards had several blades attached to their wings and talons.

One thing that bothered Riddle was that most the royal guards escorting them were young, and judging by their expressions, had little battle experience.

"Must be new recruits," Riddle thought. "The war really exhausted the whole griffon community until there was no one with enough battle experience to join either the royal guard or the military."

The guards were all coordinated by a single lead guard flying in front of the wagon. The guard was an eagle griffon with dark brown feathers and coat. His body showed several scars and hoofmarks which told that he had also been involved in the war. The recruits called him, Metal Sphere.

The trio remained silent most of their journey with the exception of occasional status updates asked by Metal Sphere to the royal guard inside the wagon.

"Metal Sphere to Red Tail. What is the status on the prisoners, over."

"This is Red Tail," the guard responded. "Everything is okay sir. Red Tail out."

Metal Sphere sighed as he closed the transmission. Everything was going well until one of his subordinates, a griffon with dark feathers and coat, called to him.

"Sir, my radar is detecting several contacts heading for our location," he said worriedly.

Metal Sphere was surprised to hear this, but he kept his composure and replied, "Any IDs on them, Crow?"

"No valid IDs sir," the griffon guard called Crow replied. "Whatever they are, they’re too small and fast to be griffon forces."

Metal Sphere knew what species that fit Crow’s description.

"All royal guards listen up. Assume defensive formation." He commanded. "Stay sharp and keep your eyes open."

"Roger!" his subordinates replied as they went to their defensive positions. Four guards formed a V-formation with Metal Sphere leading them, while the rest formed a defensive barrier around the wagon.

"Who's attacking, sir?" a young guard asked Metal Sphere.

"The ponies," Metal Sphere hissed. "But they’re not the Equestrians."

Both Riddle and Black Star heard the commotion and decided to take a peek from the wagon’s small window, despite Red Tail’s protest.

"What’s going on?" Riddle thought out loud as he watched the guards form a defensive barrier around the wagon. Black Star was analyzing the situation in his mind.

"I’m not sure," the dark griffon responded though his voice is muffled by the muzzle, "but it looks like we’ll be expecting some company."

"Hey! You two," Red Tail shouted after his protest went unheard by the two griffons. "Get back to your seats immediately!"

Both griffons just turned around and glared at him. In an instant, Red Tail’s bravery was chucked out the window and he found himself pathetically being glared to death by two of the most dangerous griffons he’d ever known.

"B… but it’s okay… if you don’t want to… hehe." Red Tail chuckled sheepishly as cold sweat poured out from his skin, soaking his feathers.

Both griffons rolled their eyes as they turned back to see their current situation. From the distance, both griffons could see several dots coming from the southeast. They saw the royal guards tense up as the unknown fliers got closer to their location.

Metal Sphere’s hunch was correct; the unknown fliers consisted of ten pegasi, and they were all wearing gray suits with some blue streaks that conceals their manes, faces, and cutie marks. Metal Sphere decided to contact these unknown ponies.

"This is the 14th Royal Guard Division of the Griffin Kingdom to unidentified fliers. Identify yourself and state your intentions immediately."

There was no response.

As they approached the convoy, the lead pegasi motioned his wingmates to separate and fly in groups of three while the leader flew alone in front of them. Each group separated and surrounded the convoy in short time.

"I repeat. This is the 14th griffon Royal Guard Division to unidentified fliers. Identify yourself now!"

Metal Sphere squinted his eyes as his second demand went unheard by the unidentified fliers. The ponies had the numerical advantage but that didn’t deter Metal Sphere a bit. He had fought in the Equestrian War, and he remembered some tricks and tactics used by the ponies. But what worried him was his inexperienced underlings. They had just completed their training, but they had little to no experience battling equines.

Metal Sphere watched as the lead pegasi motioned one of his wingmate to give him a megaphone. The wingmate flew back to his position as the lead pegasi turned the megaphone on.

"This is the Neue Gryphus 84th Tactical Pegasus Squad to griffon forces," he began. "You have someone that belongs to us, and we demand that you return him immediately."

"Him?" Metal Sphere thought. "Must be Wonderfalke."

He turned to one of his underlings and requested a megaphone, to which the soldier complied. Once he received the megaphone, he turned it on and responded to the pegasi leader:

"This is Metal Sphere, leader of the 14th griffon Royal Guard," the old griffon said. "I’m afraid we can’t comply to your request."

"And why is that?" the pegasi leader asked, slightly annoyed. "He’s the chief scientist of Grunder Industries, and the company has requested us to take him back so he could finish his work."

"I’m sorry but I can’t let you take him away," Metal Sphere argued. "You see…"

Riddle and Black Star continued to eavesdrop on the conversation. Black Star noticed that Riddle’s frown got deeper and deeper ever since that pegasus squadron arrived

"You know them?" he asked.

"Yes," Riddle growled. "They’re mercenaries hired to capture me last night, and there’s no such thing as the 84th Tactical Pegasus Squadron in the Neue Gryphus military."

"So they lied about that too." Black Star nodded thoughtfully. "It was all a set up so they could drag you back to their plans."
Black Star shook his head in disbelief. "This is a trap."

"You’re a fast thinker, Mr. Star." Riddle spoke. "We’ve got to warn the royal guards."

"Warn us about what?" Red Tail squeaked behind them.

The two griffons turned around and faced the young guard who was sitting in the corner, trying to make himself look tiny and unnoticeable.

"Really?" Riddle deadpanned. "All this time you didn’t hear anything?"

"No, not really," Red Tail said sheepishly. "I was too busy being scared and all…"

Black Star sighed in disbelief and went back to the window while Riddle walked to the cowering griffon and said, "We need to warn your superior about this. Those pegasi are trying to get me and they’re willing to kill you all to do it."

"Wait. What?" Red Tail yelled. "Seriously!?"

"Yes!" Riddle said impatiently. "Now warn him!"

"It’s too late for that," Black Star said to the two griffons behind him. "They’re already making their move."

Riddle and Red Tail looked at each other before rushing to the small window.

"…I knew there’s no use talking to you griffons," the lead pegasi hissed. "You bird-headed freaks are always too stubborn for your own good."

"That’s what makes us who we are." Metal Sphere shot back. "You are not taking him away."

"So that’s your final word?" the lead pegasi sighed. "Very well. Blau Squadron, you’re all cleared to engage! Eliminate all griffons except Hüttensänger."

His wingmates immediately rushed towards the griffons in high speed. The griffon guards grabbed their spears held their positions around the wagon, while Metal Sphere growled as the lead pegasus charged at him from head on.

Metal Sphere dodged the pegasus’ attack and grabbed his wings before throwing him away from the wagon. The lead pegasus growled in anger as Metal Sphere took a stance in front of the wagon, daring him to attack.

The pegasus charged at the griffon again. Metal Sphere was about to dodge when another pegasus struck him from left. The griffon used the blunt end of his spear to combat the pegasus, but the leader sneaked up behind him, grabbed the spear and began to choke him with it.

"You should have taken our offer, griffon," he spoke maliciously. "Now you will die for that mistake."

"Not today." Metal Sphere hit the leader with the back of his head and slashed the other pegasus on his chest before kicking him away. He used his spear to combat against the leader as both of them began to trade blows.

The leader was quick on his wings as he evaded every attack the griffon threw at him, but Metal Sphere’s defense were superb. The leader’s blows were deflected effortlessly by the old griffon.

But the same thing couldn’t be said for his subordinates.

The other griffon guards tried their best to hold Blau squadron’s attacks, but most of them were overwhelmed and attacked without mercy by the ponies. Crow managed to fend off two pegasi, but another one jumped from behind and tackled him. He tried to free himself, but the pegasus’ attack were more than enough for him.

The pegasus punched him on the face, dazing him. The pegasus quickly flew towards him and delivered a precise buck to his neck. Crow's body slammed against the wagon before falling into the snow-covered mountains below.

The griffon trio felt the wagon shake as they saw one of the guards' body fall downwards into the mountains. They also saw more guards being overwhelmed by the pegasus squadron. Both Riddle and Black Star couldn’t stand and watch any longer. They needed to do something before the royal guards were wiped out.

"Hey you!" Riddle yelled at the frightened Red Tail. "Open our restrains. I know you have the keys."

"I can’t!" Red Tail protested. "I only have the keys for the wing restrains. The keys for your talons are with Metal Sphere, and he says I’m not suppose to free you!"

"Listen, if you don’t free us right now, we’re all going to die." Black Star snapped. His cold voice frightened the young griffon a bit. "Riddle, your boss and I are the only ones who have experience battling equines."

Red Tail was about to retort, but he was cut off when he heard one of his comrades screaming in pain from outside the wagon. The situation for the griffons looked bleak, the majority of the guards were dead or incapacitated by the pegasus squad. What’s worse, Metal Sphere was slowly being overwhelmed by the squadron. Running out of options, Red Tail finally made his decision.

"Dear Celestia. I’m so fired!" he thought as he pulled out the keys and unlocked the restrains on Riddle’s wings first before moving on to Black Star’s.

Both griffons gave their wings a quick stretch while Red Tail opened the wagon’s doors. The trio flew out, just in time, as the last of the two griffons who pulled the wagon were attacked and killed. The wagon proceed to fall straight down into the mountains.

The trio managed get a glimpse of the situation. There were only four or five griffons left including Metal Sphere battling the pegasus squadron. The equines’ attacks intensified, slowly driving the griffons back.

Black Star frowned deeply. These equines were savages if compared to their Equestrian counterparts across the seas. Not being ruled by the princesses’ love and justice really made their hearts grow dark.

The trio flew to Metal Sphere’s location and helped him ward off some of the pegasi. But before Riddle could ask about the keys, Blau 1 grabbed Black Star from behind and threw him at one of his wingmates. Black Star stayed calm as he dodged the second pegasus’ attack and retaliated with a swift head butt to the pegasus’ stomach.

The pegasus was thrown off balance, but Black Star was not finished with him yet. He flapped his wings until he got enough momentum to slam his cuffed talons at the pegasus’ head. The pegasus was knocked out as he fell to his death to the mountains below.

"You!!"

Black Star turned and saw the infuriated looking Blau leader. The leader was about to attack, but he found himself grabbed by a cuff-free Riddle. The pegasus hit the blue griffon with the back of his head and targeted his stomach. Riddle manages to evade the blow and retaliated with a vicious claw swipe to the leader’s left eye.

The leader screamed as he tried to stop the bleeding in vain. His left eye’s sight began to blur before turning completely black, turning him partially blind. Soon, more wingmates come to aid their injured leader.

"Are you alright sir?" one of them asked.

"My eye…I lost it!" he growled as he glared at Riddle with his one remaining eye. "You! You took my eye! YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!!!"

The lead pegasi roared as he lunged towards the blue griffon. Riddle dodged it with minimal effort, but the leader quickly changed his course and flew at him again. Once again, Riddle dodged him effortlessly.

"Hold still, you freak!!" he roared as he flew straight for the blue griffon again. This time, Riddle didn’t bother dodging the attack.

"If you say so," Riddle said as he quickly grabbed the leader’s hooves and locked him in place. Once that was done, he curled up his back feet and kicked the pegasus away with all his might. The leader was thrown into an uncontrollable spin, but his wingmates quickly caught him.

The leader was beyond furious, not only because Riddle managed to blind his left eye, but also humiliated him in front of his wingmates. He had enough. He activated his comm and yelled to it: "This is Blau 1 to all units in the area! New orders, you’re cleared to engage the griffons. Leave no survivors!!"

"But sir," one of his wingmates objected. "We still need Hüttensänger—"

"I don’t care!" Blau 1 snapped angrily. "Kill them all!!"

The ponies halted their assault after receiving the order. Some of them were hesitant, but in the end, they complied with the order and resumed their assault. Now their attacks were more brutal, but less coordinated than before. Black Star, now free from his cuffs, immediately targeted two pegasi who were attacking a young guard.

He turned to face Metal Sphere before he yelled, "This is Black Star, requesting to engage the pegasi at will."

Red Tail was hesitant about letting the criminal go on his own, but Metal Sphere had a different thought on his mind.

"Permission granted, Black Star. Go ahead," He said with a stern tone. "Take Red Tail with you. I’m sure he’ll learn something by watching you."

Black Star nodded and went to assist the remaining guards. Red Tail was shocked to hear this and was about to retort, but Metal Sphere raised his left claw, silencing him and motioning him to follow the dark griffon.

"Stay close to him," Metal Sphere said to the young guard before flying off to assist the other guards.

Once Black Star arrived, the two Blau members stopped attacking on a guard and immediately snapped their attention to him. Red Tail panicked at this, but the dark griffon just calmly took a defensive position.

"Red Tail," He said to the young griffon hiding behind him.

"Y...yes?" he stuttered.

"Go over there and tend your friend," he ordered. "I’ll take care the rest."

Red Tail seemed hesitant at first, but eventually he complied with the order and rushed to his wounded comrade, leaving Black Star to face the two Blau members alone.

The first Blau attacked him with a punch to his torso, but Black Star evaded it and delivered a blow to his stomach before swiping his head with his wing. Seeing his comrade disoriented, the second Blau member entered the fight.

He pounced the dark griffon from behind but Black Star quickly grabbed his hooves and throws him to the front. The member recovered and faced the dark griffon before giving him some punches on his body. Black Star blocked his attacks while keeping an eye on the first Blau, in case if he decided to re-enter the engagement.

Suddenly, a third Blau member dove into Black Star from above and bucked him back. The first Blau member rejoined the battle and began to throw some blows at the dark griffon. Black Star was slowly being overwhelmed by the attacks when the second Blau member decided to join in.

Red Tail watched as the pegasi continued their relentless assault towards Black Star. He didn’t know if he should help him or not, since fighting wasn’t really his thing, and he only joined the Royal Guards just because his parents forced him to.

"What are you doing?" his friend groaned. Red Tail turned at his wounded friend who was glaring at him. His face was badly bruised with hoof-marks, and blood was seeping out from his nose. He was also breathing irregularly, and he couldn’t flap his wings normally.

"Don’t just hover here and watch. Help him," his friend said again.

"B...but..." Red Tail tried to protest, but his friend silenced him.

"Help him…" his friend repeated before the light of life vanished from the his eyes and the griffon soldier’s limbs went limp.

Red Tail could only look at his friend’s corpse in disbelief. He just saw his comrade die in his claws. The screams of pain from other griffons echoed through his head. Slowly, he released his grip from his comrade’s lifeless corpse and watched him fall to the snowy mountains. His anger boiled, and his adrenaline began to flow, just as a pegasus tried to attack him from behind.

Screeching like a hawk, Red Tail gave the pegasus an elbow jab to his snout before punching him away. The pegasus was dazed by this sudden retaliation. He quickly sets his sights on Red Tail as both combatants circled around. Red Tail attacked him first, but the pegasus blocked his attack and punched him in his guts.

"Too weak!" the pegasus spat. Red Tail was thrown back but he quickly recovered from the blow and launched another attack. The pegasus evaded it but Red Tail immediately brought his fist to the pegasus’ stomach. The pegasus gasped in pain, giving Red Tail enough time to kick him away.

The pegasus quickly recovered from it, and growled in anger. He flapped his wings and flew towards Red Tail. Before the pegasus could even react, he was quickly taken down by Black Star who managed to break free from the three pegasi from above. The crippled pegasus decided to retreat from the action for his own good.

"Th… thanks." Red Tail said between gasps of air. "But I… I thought you were…"

"I managed to knock one of them out, the rest flew away after they saw that," Black Star replied coldly. He saw the still ensuing battle around them. They were heavily outnumbered and couldn’t possibly won the battle. They needed help.

"Hey kid," he called to the young griffon, "do you have a frequency reserved for emergency situations on your communicator?"

"Uh yes," Red Tail replied while tweaking his comm a bit. "Do you want me to call for help?"

"Yes. We couldn’t possibly win this battle," Black Star said. "Call them in."

Red Tail wasted no time and quickly tuned in to the right frequency. When he finally found the frequency, he immediately spoke, "Gryphus control Altair, this is the griffon Royal Guard, 14th Division. Can you hear me?"
It took several seconds before a voice answered his call;

"This is Gryphus Command Center call sign Altair Beta. I hear you loud and clear GRG 14th Division. What is your situation?"

"Altair Beta, we’re declaring an emergency. We have been attacked by hostile equine fliers—"

"WHAT!?" the controller, Altair yelled in disbelief and anger, cutting Red Tail off. "Did those alicorn sisters lost their minds!?

Black Star decided to intervene to stop any misleading information from getting to the controller’s head.

"It’s not the Equestrians, Altair Beta control," he spoke to Red Tail’s comm. "I think we’re dealing with possible Neue Gryphonian rogues."

"Wha…? Who is this? Identify yourself!" Altair Beta demanded.

"I think you already know who I am," Black Star smirked.

"B...Black Star?" Altair Beta stammered. "I thought you…"

"It’s a long story," Black Star said simply. "Right now we have more serious matters to worry about. We didn’t have any radar, so I can’t pin-point our last location directly, but we’re somewhere over the Drakenridge mountain range south of Gryphus."

"Ah yes, I can see you on radar," Altair Beta responded again, surprisingly calm after the outburst earlier. "This is Altair Alpha, sorry for that. The new recruit couldn't hold his own tongue. Hold on, I’m sending reinforcements ASAP. I’m also keeping this channel open if you needed further assistance."

"Roger that, Altair Alpha," Black Star said before turning to Red Tail. "Alright, we need to survive until the reinforcements arrive. Stick close to me."

"Uh, okay. Acknowledged," the griffon responded worriedly.

Meanwhile, Riddle was facing Blau 1, along with two of his wingmates. The first pegasus made his first move by flying towards Riddle at high speed in which the blue griffon easily evaded. It turned out this was a mere distraction to allow the second pegasus to attack him. The pegasus manage to land a hit on Riddle’s right shoulder, but the griffon retaliated with an uppercut to his jaw, effectively knocking him back.

The first pegasus charged again, and so did the infuriated second one. Riddle quickly dodged the first pegasus’ attack and delivered one blow to his stomach. He then evaded the second attack, he grabbed his wings and threw him at his comrade.
Having seen enough failures from his squad, Blau 1 entered the fight and engaged Riddle on close combat. Both combatants traded blows and punched at each other, though Blau 1 was having difficulties due to his eye. Finally, Blau 1 managed to slip an opening that Riddle needed. The griffon quickly took this chance to strike at the pegasus’ face, but the pegasus blocked the attack, giving him time to deliver a buck to Riddle’s stomach.

Riddle gasped and coughed in pain. He felt that one or two of his ribs were broken again by the impact. Blau 1 along with his two wingmates surrounded him, blocking any possible escape route.

"Did you think you can defeat us all by yourself?" Blau 1 scoffed.

"Wasn’t planning to," Riddle said in pain. The two Blau squadron members didn’t understand what the blue griffon, said but Blau 1 understood it perfectly. As if on cue, Metal Sphere appeared behind one of the Blau members and hit his head with his spear. The other Blau member quickly lunged at the old griffon, but Riddle grabbed his tail and throws him at Blau 1 who managed to evade it.

"Griffon scum!" Blau 1 lunged directly at Riddle, but Metal Sphere blocked his path, forcing him to face the old griffon again. With an enraged growl, Blau 1 delivered his first attack on Metal Sphere, but the griffon blocked it with his spear and retaliated with claw swipe aimed to Blau 1’s face. Blau 1 narrowly evaded the swipe, but he was forced to back down a bit, allowing his wingmates to attack the griffon.

One pegasus managed to lock Metal Sphere into combat, while the other one was pulled away by Riddle, and soon both combatants were now chasing each other. Metal Sphere battled the pegasi the best he could, but his age and stamina had slowly depleted since the battle began. With each punch and swipe he delivered and every attack he blocked, his fatigue slowly began to affect his performance. Finally, Metal Sphere inadvertently gave the pegasus an opening, causing his spear to slip out from his talons. Blau 1 quickly dived in and grabbed the spear before flying up and faced the tired griffon.

"You’re losing your touch, old bag." He smirked before attacking Metal Sphere with his own weapon. The old griffon guard tried his best to hold out against Blau 1’s attacks, but his wingmate made it difficult to do so. With each blow Blau 1 delivered with the spear and every attack he blocked from the second Blau member, Metal Sphere became more and more disorientated.
Blau 1 saw his chance and brought the sharp end of the spear and charged towards the tired griffon. Riddle, who manages to knock the other Blau member along with his reinforcements, noticed Blau 1’s attack on Metal Sphere. His eyes widened as every ounce of adrenaline was pumped into his muscles.

"NO!!" he screeched as he flew as fast as he could to stop the attack. Metal Sphere also noticed Blau 1’s attempt. He tried to evade the attack, but it was too late.

Seconds later, Metal Sphere found himself being impaled by his own spear. Blood poured out from the wound. The spear missed his vital organs, but he was still in danger of internal bleeding.

He looked up and saw Blau 1 grinning wickedly at him.

"You’re finished," he chuckled sinisterly, completely unaware of a fast moving blue griffon charging at him.

Riddle roared as he hit Blau 1 with the side of his body. Blau 1 felt his left arm and ribcage cracking from the impact. Before he could even recover, Black Star kicked him from behind, and finally, Red Tail, who was enraged over what Blau 1 had done to his leader delivered a powerful claw swipe to his body.

As if luck have decided to mock him that day, two more royal guards who managed to survive the first attack decided to join in and beat the living Tartarus out of the pegasus. Their motive for swarming a helpless pegasus varied; one wanted revenge for wounding their captain, but the other one wanted some payback for his father who was killed by the Equestrians in the war.

Meanwhile, Metal Sphere started to descend. The pain was agonizing, and it was affecting his flight. Luckily, Red Tail noticed him and quickly flew towards him. The griffon placed his right arm over Metal Sphere’s shoulders and the left arm over the bleeding wound.

"You’re going to be alright, Captain," Red Tail assured to the weakened Metal Sphere. "Help is on the way."

Metal Sphere could only nod in reply as he clutched his wound in pain.

"Captain!" one of the Blau members shouted when he saw Blau 1 getting mercilessly attacked from all sides. The other members noticed that too and quickly flew in to assist their captain. Riddle noticed the incoming swarm and warned the others.

"Incoming!"

The griffons saw the incoming attack and quickly broke from the engagement. Black Star evaded a buck from a Blau member, but Riddle was subdued by two members at once. Riddle struggled to break free, but one member punched him on his face while the other restrained him.

"Be still, griffon!" the member barked. Riddle just ignored him and struggled some more, causing him to be punched again by the pegasus. His cheek was red hot with pain, but he continued to struggle, receiving blow after blow to his face.

"Keep him quiet, Blau 3!" the other member shouted from behind. Blau 3 responded by preparing for a punch he thought would be strong enough to knock the blue griffon out. But as he brought his hoof down to Riddle’s face, the griffon dodged in the last second, and the hoof impacted his friend instead. The pegasus was knocked unconscious and soon fell down to the mountains.

"Blau 5 is down!" Blau 3 said in horror as the now-freed Riddle faced him. He recklessly attacked the blue griffon, only for Riddle to evade his attack, but it was soon followed by another attack which Riddle also evaded. The pegasus’ temper started to rise with each missed blow he delivered to the griffon in front of him.

Finally, the pegasus screamed and launched his final attack. Once again, Riddle evaded it, but at the last second, he grabbed the hoof and pulled the pegasus toward him while preparing his own attack. Riddle punched the pegasus on his stomach, followed suit by an uppercut, effectively knocking him out.

Riddle saw the pegasus fall down to the mountains and shifted his attention back to the still-ensuing battle. He let out a loud sigh before he flew back to support anyone he saw.

1301 hrs

Despite already losing six members to the griffon forces, Blau 1 was still determined to kill Riddle and the other griffons on the spot. The griffons were still heavily outmatched by the rogue equine forces. Riddle, Black Star, and the other royal guards’ strength were slowly depleting, and Metal Sphere continued to bleed excessively through his wound.

The situation didn’t look good for the griffon forces.

But then, a glimmer of hope rose for the half eagle-lion creatures.

"Blau 7 to Blau 1, I’ve got several contacts coming from the north," a member called Blau 7 informed. "Contacts are confirmed to be griffon reinforcements."

"WHAT!?" Blau 1 snapped furiously. He knew his plan just went down the drain when he heard that. As much he wanted to kill Riddle right there and right then, he couldn’t do it if his squadron was being attacked by the reinforcements.

In the end, retreating was probably the most logical action to take.

"Blau squadron, cease attack immediately. We’re going back," he ordered after setting his comm to a wide frequency. "Anypony who doesn’t comply will be left behind."

"Roger!" his remaining wingmates answered in unison. Soon, the pegasi stopped attacking the griffons and retreated to the south. Blau 1 gave Riddle one last glare before retreating as well, just in time for when the griffon reinforcements arrived on the vicinity. Riddle and the other griffons sighed in relief, but to him and Black Star, their problems had just begun.

Riddle saw the reinforcement group getting closer to their location. Once they were close, Riddle could see who was leading the group. The leader of the reinforcement group was a griffoness with light brown feathers with a darker shade of brown on her coat. Her piercing eyes were green, and several dark brown blotches covered her cheeks and wings. She along with the reinforcements wore the same royal guard attire that Metal Sphere’s group wore.

The female griffon saw both Riddle and Black Star. Her face immediately dropped into a frown when she saw the latter. She turned her focus to the wounded Metal Sphere. Her face quickly showed concern for the old griffon soldier.

"Ridgeback, you and your underlings tend Metal Sphere’s wound ASAP," she ordered one of her wingmates, in which he obliged. Then he turned towards her two other wingmates.

"Corvine, you and Osprey restrain Black Star," she said with disgust as she spoke his name. She glanced at the dark griffon, scowling. "Keep him contained and out of my sight."

"Roger, Kestrel," both griffons responded in unison before they flew towards Black Star. They expect the dark griffon to show some resistance, but the two guards found Black Star willingly offer his talons and wings to be restrained and his beak to be sealed shut. The two griffons did their work while the leader, Kestrel approached Riddle with a thoughtful look, though her frown was still present.

"Who are you suppose to be?" she asked.

"Just a griffon who got himself caught up in this mess," Riddle shrugged. Kestrel didn’t seem impressed by his answer. "Just call me Riddle. I’ll save the main intro later."

"Why don’t you just introduce yourself right now?" Kestrel said as she crossed her arms. "We don’t take kindly to foreign griffons, especially Belkans."

"Relax. I’ll reveal everything once we get to Gryphus, but until then, no spoilers," Riddle replied. Kestrel’s frown deepened. "Besides, shouldn’t you be more worried about your superior?"

Kestrel was about to retort, but the words never came out from her beak. She glanced at her superior, who was now being laid on a portable stretcher. His whole chest was wrapped in bandages, though blood was still flowing out from the wound. In the end, she ignored Riddle’s mind games and had him cuffed too, though she still allowed him to fly with his own wings

"I don’t know who you are, but if you try doing anything stupid, I will not hesitate to take you down," Kestrel warned the blue griffon. “So keep your beak shut.”

Riddle didn’t seem fazed by her threat and only nodded in response. Satisfied with the response, Kestrel ordered her underlings to escort the remaining griffon forces before beginning their long flight to Gryphus.

Blau 1 wasn’t happy one bit. He just got humiliated by the griffons, lost his eye to Riddle, and was forced to retreat when the griffon reinforcements arrived. Now, he was thinking of how to deal with his enraged superior for letting their High Valued Individual (HVI) escape to the Kingdom’s talons.

"A… are you alright sir?"

His thoughts came to a screeching halt when he heard his subordinate.

"Do I look alright?" he bluntly replied. The member wanted to reply, but Blau 1 gave him a one-eyed glare that practically said: “Don’t answer it, you idiot.” The member quickly got his message and flew back to his formation.
Blau 1 carefully rubbed the dried scar below his eye. His anger boiled with each rub he made and each thought of that damned griffon.

“One day,” He thought with a scowl. “One day, you will pay, Ratsel Wonderfalke.”

Chapter 3: Homecoming

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Chapter 3: Homecoming

Drakenridge Mountain Range, En-route to Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
April 22nd 2020, 1345 hrs

Kestrel’s squad along with the survivors of the ambush flew back to Gryphus in silence. The cold howling winds were the only music to their ears as they made their way up to to the griffon capital.

Unlike most Equestrian or other griffon cities and or capitals, Gryphus was located high on the tall mountain peaks of the Drakenridge mountain range. Legends say that the early griffon nomads who founded the Kingdom chose that place to hide their precious treasures from dragons and from other griffons. Equestrians always believed that griffons were fiercely protective of their territory and will do anything to protect it.

Because of this, the griffons were often viewed as good guardians and their statues are often built in places the ponies believed need some extra protection.

Gryphus is also surrounded by a mountainous terrain, giving the capital a sense of being protected by a natural fortress. To this day, only Celestia and a handful of strong pegasi can enter Gryphus by flight. Normal ponies need to be teleported to the kingdom since they’re incapable of getting there by their own wings or hooves.

As the group broke through a thick layer of clouds, a familiar but bitter site greeted their eyes.
In front of them was a giant crater, roughly about the size of Ponyville. It’s center had been completely covered in snow, but it’s rim is still perfectly visible from a bird’s eye view. Some will say that this is a remnant of an ancient volcano, but the griffons and some ponies knew the ugly truth behind this crater.

Riddle still remembered it well, the apocalyptic event that nearly tore the world apart.

Even thinking about it made Riddle cringe a bit. Nearly thousands of innocent ponies and griffons died in that event, and the scars only made it worse. A total of two wars broke out outside the Griffin Kingdom after the event, and the causes were pretty much obvious from the looks of it..

Even though the Griffin Kingdom was also affected by the event, the Kingdom managed to get back to it’s feet and rebuild itself from the damage. Each griffon still remembered that event, even though some of them were born after it. Kestrel slowly distanced her squad from the crater and continued to the general heading of the capital.

The mountain peaks grew higher and higher as they approached the capital’s vicinity. Thick clouds obscured their vision, and bone chilling winds blows from every side, but these didn’t stop the griffons from getting to their home. Kestrel started to tweak her communicator a bit and then listened carefully. Seconds ticked by as Kestrel continued to listen carefully to her comm. She was searching for a distinctive sound emitted by a beacon that showed them the right flight path to Gryphus.

After a few minutes of silence, a familiar beeping sound was heard from her comm. Kestrel quickly changed course and followed the beeping. She was quickly followed by the group. The winds started to pick up as the group entered a thick layer of clouds clinging to the tall mountains.

“Kestrel to all units, we’re entering Gryphus airspace.” Kestrel ordered the group. “Stay close and don’t separate!”

The royal guards yelled “roger!” in response while both Riddle and Black Star only nodded in confirmation.

The winds picked up as the group passed through more clouds, and soon, small ice crystals formed around the edges of their feathers. Few griffons shivered and fell behind, but they were soon helped by the others.

Kestrel kept her eyes forward and focused on what lied ahead. Soon, she started counting down after the beeping signal on her comm started to pick up the pace.

“Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven…”

The other griffons picked up some speed as each of the signal’s beeping began to get closer together on each tempo.

“Six… Five… Four… Three…”

Riddle flew over to Red Tail and the other guards, who were carrying the wounded Metal Sphere. He gave them some help carrying their wounded leader. The griffons flapped their wings as hard as they could as the beeping signal slowly merged together to form a single continuous line.

“Two… One… Zero…”

As if on cue, the thick clouds dispersed and the sunlight burst through; revealing a magnificent sight to all griffons.

Gryphus, the capital city of the Griffin Kingdom lied ahead. Large districts and the capital itself were carved into the mountain peaks, effectively turning the city into a large natural fortress. Large industrial complexes were also carved into the mountains, giving an easy access for raw materials to be transported to the factories. Long aqueducts were built around the city, transporting fresh water from the mountains to the city. The griffons also built heaters along the aqueducts to keep the water from freezing.

The capital itself resembled the Equestrian capital, Canterlot, though with some minor differences. Legends say that after many years have passed since the alicorn sisters overthrew the spirit of chaos, Discord, early griffon settlers offered some help to build the capital city of Equestria. With their architectural knowledge, the griffons successfully carved Canterlot into the mountain.

All in all, Gryphus really was a sight to admire. The griffon society managed to develop technological wonders in a world filled with magic and powerful deities that can control the planet’s rotation and the moon. Ponies focused on their magics, while griffons focused on science. The two concepts might clash with one another, but the two races managed to tolerate each other and were more than happy to share their knowledge with one another.

That was until that mishap that went by the name of Red Cyclone.

The group continued to fly towards the city. The rocky texture of the mountains was soon replaced by small houses and eventually large urban homes. Riddle kept his eyes on the capital while Black Star tried to avoid any unfriendly stares from below. Kestrel then turned slightly to the left where she set her eyes on a large complex beside the capitol building. She then motioned the entire group to follow her, and soon they began their descent to the complex.

Once they were close, a griffon guard on the ground guided them in for a landing. One by one, the griffon guards, including the two guests, landed on the field in the middle of the complex. Riddle finally had the chance to see the complex up close. It was a military training ground, no doubt. He could see several trainees staring at the group from across the field. One of them, a small male falconide griffon, caught his attention.

“Alright, let’s wrap this up. Ridgeback, take Metal Sphere and the other wounded guards to the infirmary.” Came the authoritative voice of Kestrel in front of him.

“Roger, Kestrel,” Ridgeback responded before he and his underlings carried Metal Sphere inside the building, followed suit by the remaining guards. The griffoness took a disgusted glance at the restrained Black Star before speaking again. “Take that filth into the dungeon and note his majesty about the capture.”

“Right away, ma’am,” the black griffon who Riddle guessed as Corvine nodded as he drag the incapacitated griffon towards the building.

“What about him, ma’am?” another griffon asked the leader while pointing at the blue griffon. Kestrel’s response was a long sigh.

“I’ll deal with him.”

Riddle could only smile at his own thought when the griffoness approached him with a frown plastered on her face.

“OK, we’re in Gryphus. State your identity,” She spoke harshly.

“Geez, didn’t your mother told you how to speak politely to a stranger?” Riddle retorted, earning himself a snarl from an already irritated Kestrel.

“Don’t play mind games with me, Belkan,” She snarled.

“Now where did you get that idea from?” Riddle asked casually. “I was telling you to be more polite, and you said that I’m messing with your head? Hah, you’re paranoid one, aren’t you?”

Kestrel was about to retort but, Riddle lifted his talon, gesturing her to let him finish.

“But I’m afraid my name will have to wait. May I ask, what time is it?”

Kestrel was getting tired of this. He just broken his own deal and was obviously going to replace it with a new deal, but she had better answer his question to know what information he has inside that twisted mind of his.

“It’s nearly 1423 hrs,” she answered flatly.

“Damn,” Riddle cursed while Kestrel only raised her eyebrow, clearly detecting something wrong with him. “I know this might sound absurd, but I need an audience with your king right away.”

“What makes you think I would let a stranger like you waltz inside the palace?” Kestrel frowned. “You will be taken to custody and will be questioned for what you did.”

“Did what exactly? Helping a fellow griffon in need?” Riddle asked.

“You assisted a war criminal! A scum who betrayed his own kingdom!” Kestrel objected, pointing accusingly at Riddle. “Helping that filth is the worst mistake you’ve ever done. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“What makes you think I should be ashamed of myself?” Riddle raised his eyebrow. “I did the right thing. And in turn, he helped me escape from my own problems. As a matter of fact, your leader, along with his cohorts could’ve been killed in the mountains if it wasn’t for him—”

“Enough!” Kestrel barked, silencing the blue griffon. She motioned her two underlings over and gave them an order. “Take this smart-ass down to the interrogation room. And keep him quiet until I’m there.”

“Roger ma’am,” one of the two underlings said before taking Riddle away. She growled when she saw Riddle still had that small smile on his beak. Once Riddle was out of her sight, Kestrel gave out a loud sigh before she heads down to the main building.

She had a feeling that this was going to be a long day.

Below the Palace grounds, Underground dungeon, Griffin Kingdom
1430 hrs

Black Star found himself being thrown by the guards into the dungeon cell, still bounded and completely helpless.

“Enjoy your stay.” The guard said coldly before leaving the dark griffon alone in his cell.

“Hmph, not even a thank you,” Black Star snickered in his mind. Soon, the griffon propped himself upon the wall, finally finding a comfortable position if he was going to stay here until his execution.

The sounds of water droplets echoed through the dungeon, and the occasional thumps and clangs from the pipes above were the only sounds that were able to keep him company in the dark. But another sound made its way to his ear. A loud metallic clang came from beside him, prompting Black Star to turn to his side to pinpoint the exact location the sound came from.

It's came from another cell beside him, and he could see another figure sitting there in the dimly lit dungeon.

"So, they finally got you,” a gruff voice said from the figure inside the cell.

“And I see that you are too,” Black Star inquired. “Believe it or not, I gave myself in, but it’s only a small price to pay for keeping a knight’s word.”

“Is that so?” the figure chuckled quietly as he moved closer towards Black Star, his messy feathers and scarred beak were barely noticeable in the dark.

“Tell me, who is the knight you’re referring to?” the figure said mockingly. “Is it one of those aristocratic Belkan twits that promised you freedom? It’s always the Belkans, isn’t it?”

“You’re awfully interested about this, aren't you?” Black Star said. “But I already know the reason why, since you sought the same goals and worked for them, Geier.”

“Ah, so you do remember me Star,” The figure laughed. “I’m touched. I was beginning to think that everyone have forgotten me.”

“How could they forgot the biggest traitor in the Kingdom’s history?” Black Star smirked. “Not only that you betrayed our kingdom, but also the Equestrians. And then you betrayed the Belkans as well.”

“I did what I had to do,” Geier shrugged nonchalantly. “A mercenary has to do what he does best, work for the highest bidder.”

Black Star stayed silent as Geier continued.

“They finally got me near the border, caught me red-handed for trying to smuggle out some foreigners from Neue Gryphus to the Kingdom. And you probably know the rest.”

Geier sighed for a moment before chuckling slightly. “But I never protested. I’m a bad guy, and I deserve to be locked up and be executed. Once I die, my soul will spend an eternity in the fiery pits of Tartarus.”

Geier turned towards the dark griffon and smiled, “But for some reason, I’m still alive. Maybe being alive is proof that I’m good.”

Black Star just stared at the griffon before turning away. Geier’s words really made him lost in his thought. He survived the war, living with the guilt for what he had done in the past and escaping capture from the Kingdom until his meeting with that mysterious griffon, Riddle.

The only punishment for a traitor like him and Geier is death. But for some reason, Geier was still here, locked up like a common criminal scum in the dungeon. This fact really confused him, and there was a spark of hope inside his mind that said he might have the chance of being spared from the death sentence by being forgotten like Geier, but the logical side of his mind denied that hope and told him to just accept his fate.

He’s a traitor, he’s a murderer and he deserves that sentence.

All of his thoughts came to a stop when Black Star heard a loud metallic clang from the hallway. Soon, he heard the sounds of several footsteps coming toward his cell.

“I guess they didn’t forget about me after all,” Geier chuckled. “Welp, looks like my time has come.”

Black Star stayed silent when the footsteps were slowly getting louder and louder. Finally, two guards came into his view, and behind them was a griffon Black Star knew all too well. His glare deepened when the griffon ordered both of the guards to leave, to which they hesitantly complied. Once the guards were gone, the griffon unlocked the cell and entered it before shutting the cell doors shut.

The two silently glared at each other. Black Star's gold eyes met the glare from the griffon's sapphire eyes. Before long, the griffon cleared his throat and spoke. “Hello Blake. It’s been a long time isn’t it?”

Black Star only squinted his eyes when he heard the name the griffon used to call him. After a while, Black Star finally found his voice again.

“Valdar…”

Somewhere in Sudentor, Neue Gryphus
1555 hrs

“…and that concludes the mission’s debriefing, sir,” Blau 1 finished the report with a scowl still present on his face. His superior, Kriegstreiber just sat there, his eyes and ears twitching and his anger boiling. Finally, he gave out a loud growl as he levitated his glass of water and threw it into the wall.

“DAMN IT!” he cursed before trotting over to Blau 1. “You said that your team are the best hunting dogs for the job. You said you will take that griffon back to me! YOU said that that task will be easy!”

“Indeed, I said all those things, sir.” Blau 1 said while rolling his eyes in annoyance.

“Then where is he? Where is Ratsel Wonderfalke? WHERE IS HE!?”

Blau 1 merely stood there in silence, keeping his remaining eye on the unicorn pony in front of him. There was no doubt that everypony inside the building could hear the outburst but chose to ignore it. Kriegstreiber growled in frustration when Blau 1 failed to gave a response to his question.

“I knew I shouldn’t have hired you pirates in the first place,” the unicorn ranted. “Not only that, my assistant’s foolishness helped him escape, and now you alerted the whole kingdom of our plans!”

“It doesn’t matter, sir,” Blau 1 said calmly. “Even if they decide to act, they will be far too late to stop the development of Valkyrie.”

“You think I didn’t know that?” Kriegstreiber spat, giving the pegasus a venomous glare. “But you forgot one thing: He knows the secrets! That griffon knows too much about the plan, and he’s our only ticket of acquiring the secret that would lead to our plans' success.”

Blau 1 was about to reply, when the huge monitor on his office started to blink. Soon the words [INCOMING VIDEO MESSAGE FROM: AS] appeared on the screen.

Kriegstreiber widen his eyes in horror before shoving Blau 1 out of his office and locking the door. Then he pushed a button under his table, and soon, metal shutters closed the windows and the doors, making sure anyone stayed out from his office.

Once that was done, he clicked a remote and opened the video message. The screen was black for a moment, but soon a figure stepped out from the darkness, and a cold feminine voice was heard through the speakers.

“How is the progress, Kriegstreiber?”

“Not so good, my lady,” the unicorn said hesitantly. “The armors you requested have been completed, and test subjects were able to operate at 100 percent, but…”

“But what?” the figure asked. Kriegstreiber gulped and continued,

“The griffon, Ratsel Wonderfalke won’t co-operate with us and won’t spill the secrets about the project. H... he escaped and alerted the Griffin Kingdom about the situation… ”

“Then you have failed,” the figure growled. “Your armors are wasting my valuable time, Kriegstreiber, and I have grown tired of waiting. Once more, your incompetence has cost you one of your greatest minds in the project. The deal is off, Kriegstreiber. I will do it myself.”

“Wait! My lady please! Give me another chance!” the unicorn pleaded in front of the monitor. Causing the figure to look down on the unicorn.

“Why should I give you another chance when you clearly used up your last one?” she asked.

“Please my lady, if you give me another chance. I promise to deliver twice the armors you wanted in addition of the Valkyrie to strengthen your forces.”

The figure was silent for a moment as she rubbed her hoof on her chin, weighing her decisions and the offer Kriegstreiber just said. Finally, she sighed and spoke again,

“One month.” She said slowly. “One month, that is all.”

“Oh, thank you my lady.” Kriegstreiber bowed to the figure. “Thank you so much.”

Blau 1 sticked his left ear on the door, hoping he could hear something from Kriegstreiber’s office but so far, the sounds were muffled by the metallic doors. Blau 1 finally gave up and trotted away from the office and heads down to the hallway, heading to the training grounds to sharpen his skills.

“So, have you figured it out yet?”

Blau 1 halted as he heard a gruff voice coming from the right hallway. He turned around and saw a brown eagle griffon leaning against the wall while crossing his arms. The griffon's red eyes and the strange smile plastered on his beak made Blau 1 hesitant for a moment.

"Damn, I thought I'll get used to this freak's look by now!" he thought before answering the griffon's question.

“Nothing yet, Esser.” he answered. “I still haven’t figured out whose been supplying the materials for this backwater project.”

“I have one guess.” The griffon, Esser said thoughtfully. “But it’s probably false. We haven’t heard from her since that wedding. By the way, what happened to your eye?”

“Shut your beak, freak.” Blau 1 growled. “I lost it to that griffon. No matter, next time I’ll see him..”

“Hey, hey. Don’t get so worked up about it.” Esser said after he wrapped his right arm around Blau 1, earning a venomous glare from him. “You’ll get your chance. You’ll see.”

Blau 1 simply ducked and escaped the griffon’s grip.

“Don’t touch me, griffon.” He spat. “Kriegstreiber might have employed you to work alongside with my team but that doesn’t mean we’re friends.”

The pegasus lifted his front hoof and pointed towards the griffon’s head.

“If you dare touch me again, I’ll make sure you’ll never have to do it again.”

Esser just chuckled at the threat and said, “Sure, whatever you say Blue.”

Blau 1 just turned around and trotted away to the training grounds. Leaving the smirking Esser all by himself.

“That stupid colt thinks he can kill me? Heh, he’s in for a surprise.”

He chuckled at his own thought before heading down the opposite direction.

Chapter 4: Zero-One-Seven (V2)

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Chapter 4: Zero-One-Seven

Military Training Grounds, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
April 23rd, 0832 hrs

Morning in the palace grounds. The cold mountain air still lingered in the air, even though Celestia’s sun had already risen from the darkness. The training grounds were already buzzing with activity as new recruits trained to become the kingdom’s army.

Unlike the ponies, griffon soldiers trained to become the best of the best. Military training in the kingdom was very strict and competitive. The strong will be chosen, while the weak will be thrown out in disgrace. But since the war passed, the kingdom found itself lacking in military power, and most of the strongest griffons were either dead or imprisoned.

In short, the Griffin Kingdom really needed some decent military power, but due to the country’s post-war state, many griffons focused more on rebuilding their society or rather chose not to join the military with varied reasons.

These factors really bothered Kestrel when she watched the recruits train on the grounds. The training camp re-opened five months ago, but only a handful of new recruits joined in. Many of them were proud and eager to join, but one of them didn’t even fit the image of a soldier. The strong ones were often lacking some brain cells, clearly preferring to use brute force rather than to use their brains, while the submissive ones actually had the mind of a tactical genius, an element needed to become a soldier.

Kestrel thought about if the two classes of recruits could team up and join forces to complete for a challenge, but the weaker ones were often bullied by the stronger ones. They would fight each other rather than against the enemy. Kestrel often had to make the difficult choice of dumping the bright weaker ones in favor of the strong but dumb ones.

This stressful thoughts were doubled when she heard the news that Metal Sphere died of severe internal blood loss. Her mourning for her mentor would have to wait because without Metal Sphere leading the 14th, a new leader was needed, and she chosen by default to be the replacement.

Kestrel had to hold her thoughts when the trial run ended, and the recruits soon landed one by one in front of her.

“Breaker,” she said as she approached the first griffon who landed who gives a salute in response.

“Yes ma’am,” he responded.

“Three minutes, thirty seconds,” she said after looking at her stopwatch. “That’s ten seconds faster than yesterday. Great work.”

“Thank you ma’am,” the griffon, Breaker said as Kestrel moved on with the second griffon.

“Stalker, three minutes, fifty-nine seconds.” She said with a frown. “That’s five seconds slower than yesterday.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Stalker said. “I’m not in good shape today.”

“Save it for later, Stalker. Drop and give me fifteen push-ups,” Kestrel barked as the young griffon groaned and dropped to the ground before starting his push-ups. Kestrel moved on to the next recruit.

“Rosepink, four minutes, ten seconds. Not bad.”

“Thank you ma’am,” The female recruit said.

“But not good enough. Five more laps, now!”

Rosepink yelped and took to the skies as fast as she could while Kestrel continued.

“Max, four minutes, twenty seconds. Goose, four minutes, twenty-one seconds. Both of you drop and give me twenty.”

The two griffon recruits quickly dropped and started their push-ups, though Max wasn’t very satisfied with his instructor’s decision.

“Why am I have to do this? I’m faster than him!”

“Correction. You are only a second faster than him,” Kestrel corrected. “Besides, you two are twin brothers, and twins should share each other’s pain.”

Both twins groaned as they continued their push-ups, Kestrel continued to review the other recruits’ performance. Nearly all of them got hit by her wrath, and soon every griffon recruit was either doing push-ups or flying back on the track for a number of laps given by the instructor.

One griffon in particular finished dead last and took the major punishment from Kestrel. The griffon was a bluish gray falconide griffon with dark brown eyes, and his small frame wasn't very impressive for griffon standards.

“Come on Kite, only five more! Come on!” Kestrel barked at the griffon, Kite. His only response was a grunt as he pushed his body upwards then bringing downwards. He continued this cycle four more times before collapsing into the ground, exhausted to his bones.

“Still too weak, Kite. Do ten more!” Kestrel barked again.

“I can’t ma’am,” Kite squeaked. “I’m at my limit.”

“Geez, stop being such a weakling, Kite!” Breaker yelled from behind. Kestrel just gave a simple glare to tell the recruit to shut up before turning her attention back at Kite.

“Nonsense, soldier! The griffon army has no limits!” Kestrel squawked at the young griffon. “Now do ten more!”

“Y… yes ma’am,” Kite chirped tiredly as he began his push-ups again, but after he made two push-ups, the griffon collapsed, his energy being completely drained.

“Sorry, ma’am….” he croaked.

Kestrel just brought her talons up to her face and sighed.

“Alright, alright. You can rest for 5 minutes.”

Kite immediately dropped on the ground with a thud while panting heavily. The rest of the recruits just stared at the griffon apathetically.

“Typical for him,” Stalker remarked, “being the weakest in our group.”

“Yeah, why did he sign up for the military anyway?” Max added.

“I heard he’s quick on his wings,” Goose jumped in. “Though, he was better joining the interceptor division rather than us, battlers,”

“Yeah!” Stalker laughed. “His punches are weak as jelly!”

“If he already knew that, then why he’d join us in the first place!?” Max asked again.

“Maybe he just wants to,” Goose shrugged.

“Or maybe his parents forced him in,” a crow griffoness added. Earning an approving nod from Goose. “Let’s face it. Most parents wanted their kids to be tough fighters rather than fragile interceptors.”

“Who asked you, Rave?” Stalker squawked. “Nobody wants you to explain rhetorical questions all the time!”

“Well sorry, Sir big-beaked-idiot,” Rave sneered while waving her talons dismissively. “I, a tactician, must learn to explain every single statement and code given by anyone.”

“You just did that so everyone would know what a smart-ass you are,” Stalker shot back.

“Says the loud mouth,” Rave taunted, angering her colleague. The two griffons glared each other before spreading their wings, an obvious sign that they were armed and ready for combat. Kestrel saw the two armed recruits ready to beat the snot out of each other. She narrowed her eyes as she spread her wings and flew towards the two, catching them by their heads and hitting them before throwing them into the ground.

“Save the fighting for the real thing, soldiers!” she squawked, staring down at the downed recruits. “Did you forgot the rules of this academy?”

“N… No ma’am,” both griffons squeaked.

“Then what does the number one rule say?” Both griffons just looked at each other, obviously hesitant to answer the question. Kestrel saw this and groaned, “All of you! Get your asses here right now!!”

All the recruits heard this and quickly lined up in front of their instructor with Kite dead last. Kestrel landed in front of them, pacing around them for a bit before she spoke,

“Let me repeat the number one rule and the most important rule in any battlefield. Work. Together.”

Some of the recruits, especially Breaker and Stalker, silently rolled their eyes. Kestrel continued.

“Every soldier is unique, but a lone soldier can’t defeat a whole swarm of enemies. He or she needs to have some backup if the shit hits the fan. It’s true that a bruiser like Stalker can fend off several enemies at once, but he still needs a tactician like Rave to guide him around some of the more tricky opponents.”

Kestrel’s eyes now rested on the recruits.

“All of you need to not just to remember that rule but, also apply it to your lives. Fighting your own allies is is a sure way to get your ass handed to you both by karma or others. I already told and explained this rule to the ones who died in the Drakenridge mountains, and the ones who survived are the ones who actually listened to me.”

The recruits began to murmur to each other. They heard about the incident involving the 14th GRG and the “Neue Gryphonian” rogues. Each of them had their own thoughts about that. Simple minded recruits thought that the whole thing was a some sort of payback by the ponies for the war, and they were actually trying to start the whole thing again by attacking the griffon forces. The smarter recruits thought that the incident might have been an actual attack by a rogue squad posing as Neue Gryphonian forces, and the whole thing will be covered up by the head state of Neue Gryphus as a mere training accident.

They were even more curious with the mysterious newcomer that hitched a ride with the survivors. Stalker and Breaker snickered silently, remembering their instructor’s little chat with the blue griffon yesterday. Rave, being a thinker and a bookworm, tried her best to identify the new griffon’s identity.

“Judging by his accent, he definitely came from Neue Gryphus,” she thought. “But who is he? I remembered seeing someone like him somewhere…”

“…teamwork is essential in any battle,” Kestrel continued. “If you don’t do it, then the battle is over for you and your mates before it’s even started.”

The recruits glanced at each other while Stalker silently sighed in boredom. Rosepink was the most troubled after she heard that.

“Is that all clear, soldiers?” Kestrel asked.

“Yes ma’am!” the recruits answered in unison, Kestrel only nodded in response before she spoke again.

“Now I want you all to run the course again, but this time, make sure everyone makes it through the finish line together!” Kite gulped when the female griffon’s piercing green eyes glared at him when she emphasized that last word. “Now let’s go, come on! Move it!”

One by one, the recruits took off from the ground and headed for the course nicknamed, The Gauntlet by the instructors. Breaker was in the lead, hardly paying attention to his comrades behind him.

“Hey, keep up!” he yelled without turning back.

“Yeah, yeah Mr. Boss,” Stalker sneered while making “blah blah” gestures with his claw. The others snickered at this except for Kite who was already falling behind, still tired from the last run. Rave noticed this and flew back to help him.

“Come on, pipsqueak.” she squawked as she tugged him. “We need to stay together.”

“A-alright.” Kite squeaked as both griffons rejoined the formation. The recruits circled around The Gauntlet for a bit before Breaker dived in, followed suit by the others. Kestrel watched silently from the ground activated her stopwatch as the recruits commenced their run.

The first obstacles on the course were twenty hoops, each of them barely large enough for one griffon to pass through, let alone a whole group. Breaker squinted his eyes as he picked up some speed while lining himself with the hoops. The others tried to keep up, but they were no match for Breaker’s speed.

As the lead griffon approached the hoops, he retracted his wings and passed through the hoops with ease. When he reached the end, he stopped in mid-air and turned around.

“Come on dweebs. Keep up,” He yelled before flying into the next course. Stalker growled at this as he mimicked Breaker’s move and passed through the hoops, followed suit by the twins, Rosepink, Kite, Rave, and the others.

When they were all through, Breaker was already on the next course, the paint-ball run. The automatic computers controlling the paint-ball guns locked on the griffon’s moves as he sped through the course, occasionally evading several rounds that were too close for comfort. Within 15 seconds, Breaker had already finished the run and gave the others an arrogant smirk before moving to the next course.

Stalker did the best he could, but at least five paint balls hit his body. The pain was dulled by the feathers, but the skin still stung around the area. The twins, Max and Goose, though slower than Breaker, by far exceeded his performance in this course. Their coordination was flawless, as each twin guided one another through wave after wave of paint balls and occasionally, guided the others through as well.

But no one had expected Kite of all griffons to match the twins performance. Rave was clever enough to use some of terrains as a shield, while Kite, much to the other recruits’ amazement, used basic but insanely quick avoiding maneuvers to avoid the paint balls. Though he never showed it, Kite was actually faster than any of the griffon recruits. Even Breaker couldn’t help but to glance back to saw Kite’s performance. His quick time response and memory from flight training really made him stand out during this course more so than the last. His downside was his weak endurance and stamina.

The next course was probably the most challenging course for the recruits, even for Breaker. It was the wind course, which simulates the strong wind shear surrounding the capital. Each recruit must pass through the strong cold winds emitted by giant fans to pass through the other side and into the next course.

Breaker grunted as he battled the strong winds from either side of the course. Ice started to build up on the tips of his wings as he struggled through the winds. With a slight growl, Breaker poured every single ounce of his strength into his wings and flapped his way out from the course.

The rest of the recruits experienced far worse than Breaker. Stalker occasionally lost his bearings and would have nearly crashed on the ground if it wasn’t for the twins helping him out. Rosepink almost got blown away, but she was saved by another recruit. Kite and Rave struggled as they flapped their way out of the winds, with the former always getting blown off course. Luckily for him, Rave was there to help him out whenever the winds were too much for him.

“For a lightning fast flier, you’re pretty weak,” Rave remarked as she and Kite slowly made their way through the howling winds. “You got some skills back there, but here? Not so much.”

“Tell me about it,” Kite answered. Rave only smirked in response. The two griffons finally escaped the ice cold winds and quickly headed to the next course.

Kestrel watched silently from the ground, using binoculars to see the students’ performance. Once again, Breaker was going solo and not giving any regard to the other recruits. Stalker was actually doing alright with the twins, though he obviously didn’t want their help. Rosepink was now working in tandem with three other recruits named Razorback, Decoy, and Ricochet.

She was also impressed when she saw Kite’s performance on the paintball course and how Rave worked together with him on the wind valley course.

“That young lad really showed some progress isn’t he?”

Kestrel nearly yelped when she heard that. She turned around and saw a smiling Riddle behind her, waving his talons in a friendly manner.

“Good morning, Captain.” He smiled warmly. Kestrel’s response was a growl and spreading her wings.

“What are you doing here, Belkan?” she demanded. “I thought the King had—”

“Locked me up and threw away the keys?” Riddle finished her sentence, earning a snarl from her. “Now why would he do that to his old friend?”

“Don’t play games with me Belka—” Kestrel stopped immediately as her frown was replaced by a look of utter shock. “Wait…what? Did you just say his old friend?”

“Oops. I just say that aloud, did I?” Riddle said.

“You just did,” Kestrel deadpanned. “Now stop with these games, and tell me your name.”

“Nope, ladies first.” Riddle retorted.

“Why should I reveal my name to you?” Kestrel asked in suspicion.

“Well, I just said I’m an old friend of Valdar didn’t I?” Riddle answered. “You can trust me madam. You have my word for it.”

“Fine,” Kestrel sighed in annoyance. “My name is Marie Turmfalken. Callsign, Kestrel. Official commander of the 14th Griffon Royal Guard and the Captain of the Griffin Kingdom Air Force.”

“Hmm, you’re quite young for a captain of the whole air force.” Riddle mused.

“Actually it’s just a title, I’m not THE commander per-se. It’s the old rank used in the Equestrian War that gave some griffons a lot of confusion, but it had been changed since. I may not be the commander, but my position is slightly above the average captains of the Air Force.” Kestrel explained. “That gives me some control of the lower tier captains as well,”

“Interesting,” Riddle mused as Kestrel continued. “So in a sense, you’re like an elite member, correct?”

“Right, but It’s not my decision to take that position. It was his majesty’s wish to place me there ever since that bastard betrayed us….and we’re getting off topic…”

Kestrel was clearly annoyed by Riddle’s word and mind games by now.

“OK, no more games. I revealed my name to you, now you must do the same.”

“Alright, alright.” Riddle chuckled before clearing his throat. “My name is Ratsel Wonderfalke. Callsign Riddle. Former chief scientist of Grunder and member of the Neue Gryphus military.”

Only the sounds of the howling winds met the blue griffon’s answer. Kestrel’s lower beak would have hit the ground in a comedic fashion when she heard the blue griffon’s statement. Kestrel shook her head before turning away from Riddle and counted down from ten.

“Is there something wrong, captain?” Riddle asked the balked griffon soldier.

“Wait, wait. I’m not ready for this!” Kestrel said as she continued to count. Finally when she reached zero, she turned around and faced Riddle with a determined look. Riddle just stared at her, waving his talon.

“Uh…”

Kestrel’s head dropped down as she sighed in defeat. “I’m sorry for not recognizing you, Sir Wonderfalke.”

“Ah, it’s okay, Captain Turmfalken,” Riddle said dismissively. “There is no need for an apology. I doubt every griffon would recognize me, let alone be patient with me if I fiddled with their nerves.”

“Well, you did a good job on me.” Kestrel chuckled sheepishly, but her face soon turned serious again. “But I still can’t believe you out of all griffons would help that traitor… May I ask why you did it?”

“Well, why not ask him yourself?” came Riddle’s response. As if on cue, Kestrel turned upward and saw Black Star, unbounded, though he still had that stoic look on his face. The female griffon’s wings flared, and she took a defensive position as the dark griffon landed beside the blue griffon.

“Speak of the devil…and he shall appear,” Black Star said in his usual cold voice.

“You sure know how to make an entrance, Blake,” Riddle chuckled out loud while Kestrel snarled as she circled the dark griffon.

“How did you escape?” she spat.

“Easy, Valdar let me go,” The dark griffon replied in a matter of fact tone causing Kestrel to balk in response.

“What?”

“I think you heard me quite clear,” Black Star stated. “King Valdar released me from the dungeon and is reassessing my execution.”

“But…Why did he…?” Kestrel was cut off by Riddle as his voice also turned grave.

“Because we have a major problem at our talons,” he said coldly, “a problem that could spark another war with the Equestrians and possibly the whole world, and like it or not…”

Riddle pointed his talon at Black Star as he continued, “…he’s going to help with this problem.”

Kestrel couldn’t respond to Riddle’s sudden revelation. She tried processing her mind, but the available facts made it even more confusing than it already was. Black Star saw her reaction and told her that maybe a brief explanation would clear things up a bit.

“Alright then….” Kestrel sighed. “Lead the way…”

“Very well. I’ll start from the beginning….”

Below the Palace grounds, Underground dungeon, Griffin Kingdom
April 22nd, 1435 hrs

Black Star kept his eye fixed on the griffon in front of him as Geier watched the scene beside him in amusement.

“Heheh, well well,” he chuckled. “The Ol’ King himself have arrived.”

Valdar ignored the griffon’s remark and continued to stare down the dark griffon in front of him. Black Star finally found his voice first.

“What do you want?” he asked coldly.

“Just paying a visit to an old friend,” Valdar answered, “and to say a proper thank you.”

“Thanks for what?” Black Star scoffed, “starting the war?”

“Yes, that and for ending it,” Valdar answered, Black Star raised one of his eyebrow in dull interest. “I recalled that you’re the one who gave that mare, Firefly the necessary intel to destroy that fortress safely, and you’re the one who revealed Cyclone’s deception to me and the others.”

“I did what I had to do. I never sought for salvation from your hands by doing that act,” Black Star said dismissively. “Rad’s games were dragging out for too long. His goal to reunite the Empire was nothing but empty words. He only wanted power, and now he had that power blasted right in front of his face.”

“Yes… his death was truly by his own doing...” Valdar nodded as he sat down near the cell doors. “By the way, we’ve found him.”

“Is that so?” Black Star smirked.

“Yes, we found his remains when we dismantled that fortress,” Valdar answered. “Poor fellow, he’s now nothing more than a thick charred skull.”

“Heh, Rad’s always been a thick headed fool,” Black Star chuckled. “And you dumped him on the sea correct?”

“Correct,” Valdar nodded in response. The two went silent for a second until Valdar spoke again. “I see we’re still chatting like friends.”

“I’m surprised myself,” Black Star answered. “Considering I’m now chatting with the person who wants my head in a guillotine basket.”

The two laughed for a moment, savoring the moment like two friends would do. Black Star knew Valdar or Zeakros since he joined the army. Though Valdar was obviously older than him, the two were alike in many ways. Both griffons were tacticians who prefered using their brains over their brawn to win a battle.

The laughter died down as both griffons went back to their rightful moods. Black Star decided to make his move first.

“Well, that chat was great and all, but seriously.” His slight cheerful tone changed back to his usual monotonous tone. “Why did you come here?”

Valdar sighed, “To ask for your help.”

Black Star merely tilted his head slightly in response, obviously interested in why Valdar would ask him for help out of all griffons. Geier, however, chuckled in amusement from the other cell.

“Looks like Old King Cole can’t get his claws dirty!” Geier mocked.

Valdar ignored Geier’s reaction and waited patiently for Black Star’s response.

“Why do you want my help for?” he said in curiosity. “I thought I’m next in line to enter Tartarus.”

“Tartarus isn’t ready for you yet, Blake,” Valdar stated as he began to explain. “We have a major problem in our talons. A problem that could threaten our whole kingdom and maybe the world.”

“What’s the problem?” Black Star asked. Valdar sighed as he spoke,

“You know Gründer Industries, right?” Black Star nodded in response. “Just a month ago, I began to notice some financial holes in Gründer’s budget reserve. I asked the CEO, Kriegstreiber for some explanation, and he said that a some of the ordnance the Kingdom requested costed much more than we expected. I knew he was lying. I already counted the numbers, and the budget holes were too large for a simple fix on the ordnance we requested.”

“Well, Riddle said that they’re building some kind of W.M.D…” Black Star stated. “…and he doesn’t want anything to do with it.”

“He told you, didn’t he? I guess Riddle also trusted you on this,” Valdar remarked. “But I’m afraid that he only told you the nutshell. He revealed to me that Gründer is working on Project Valkyrie.”

“Valkyrie?” Black Star said in surprise. “I thought that Project was officially put on ice since two of the products were destroyed during the war.”

“Yes, the Project was indeed put on ice after the destruction of both The Burning Talon and The Fortress Intimidation,” Valdar nodded. “But did Cyclone ever tell you about the third project?”

Black Star widened his eyes in shock. He never knew that Valkyrie had a third project, neither did he know if Red Cyclone knew about it or not.

“No... he didn’t.” Black Star said slowly. “What is the third project?”

“The name and the central focus of the project itself, Valkyrie,” Valdar said ominously. The name caught the attention of Geier as he moved in closer to hear Valdar’s explanation. “A mechanical monstrosity born from the dead body of the once great dragon prince, Hraesvelgr.”

Black Star knew that name, Hraesvelgr. The once great prince of the dragon race and the protector of the former Principality of Belka. He learned from his time as a military cadet that Hraesvelgr betrayed the Belkans after the latter surrendered to the former Griffin Empire and the surrounding nations.

Ultimately, Hraesvelgr joined an armed extremist group and destroyed the city where the treaty was signed. He also attacked an airbase deep within the country of Hoofstio, a small republican country south of Neue Gryphus for unknown reasons, but this turned out to be his greatest mistake.

The Demon Lord of The Round Table, the once feared ace of aces during the Belkan war, was stationed on the base when it was attacked. He and his wingmate managed to take off and track down the prince before taking him down in the Waldreich Mountains, the natural border between Neue Gryphus and the kingdom. The reports said that the body was claimed by the dragons, but this seemed unlikely, since Hraesvelgr was labeled a traitor by the dragons for siding himself with the griffons of Belka.

But now he knew that the kingdom had the corpse all along and plans to reconstruct the dragon into a machine for the kingdom’s aerial defense. This idea sounded absurd if not downright insane to the dark griffon. He knew there are better ways to have decent aerial security than having a giant robot dragon flying around to protect it.

There was something more to this. He just know it.

“Is that all?” Black Star asked, to which Valdar shook his head.

“No, there’s more. Beside Project Valkyrie, Wonderfalke also told me about another project called Exile.” Black Star raised his eyebrow in interest. “He said that Exile was supposed to be some kind of armor that boosts the wearer’s powers, though he didn’t reveal the details of it. He just said that the armors are very unstable and could possibly harm the wearer.”

This explanation made something tick inside Black Star’s brain. He remembered his and Riddle’s battle with that armored red pegasus. Could that armor be the Exile armor Valdar’s talking about? If so, he can only imagine the horrifying potential if the armors were mass produced. Countless armies of juggernauts will definitely ruin anyone’s day.

“So, Gründer is building a mechanical dragon and a power armor that makes an individual insanely powerful,” Black Star said in conclusion, smirking a bit when he said that ‘mechanical dragon’ part. “And you want me to stop them?”

“Not just you. Ratsel Wonderfalke was more than happy to offer some help and I’m sure Captain Marie Turmfalken would help too. You’re not alone on this one,” Valdar said. Black Star still gave no response to the griffon’s offer. Valdar decided to add another offer to boost the black griffon’s morale.

“Listen Blake, if you do this, I will reconsider your punishment. You can escape death and be a free griffon.” Black Star only stared apathetically at him as he continued. “I’m offering this chance to you to redeem yourself. You’re a good griffon and you know it but, that incident with that mare Firefly left your morale in ruins. This is a chance to atone for your mistakes and move on.”

Black Star soon heard voices from his head again. His logical side still kept its skepticism. This whole offer was too good to be true, and Valdar was obviously lying to him. But his side of hope told him to do it. Not just for him, but for Firefly and Equestria as well. Seeing Equestria go down in ashes as the fires of war ravaged the whole world wasn’t an option for him.

That mare has suffered long enough…surely you don’t want her life to be destroyed again…?

If you do this, you could forgive yourself for what you did…

You can live a normal life again… no more wanted posters… no more nightmares…

No more Black Star…… Only Blake…

“…and that’s how I’m here,” Black Star finished his explanation. This revelation made Kestrel dive deep in her thought. This was no doubt a situation the kingdom had to face since Neue Gryphus is the kingdom’s industrial state, more so with Gründer Industries, the main and only distributor for the griffons’ technological marvels.

Ever since the Urusean conflict in the west subsided, the main company responsible for providing the necessary tech for the Urusean griffons was disbanded and replaced by Gründer’s own branch in the war torn country. Now with Gründer stirring up some heat in Neue Gryphus, there was no doubt that an armed extremist group would surface inside the state very soon.

“Hmm, that’s a bad situation indeed,” Kestrel said at last. “If the king wishes me to join in this, then so be it. I’ll defend this kingdom with my own life.”

“Wonderful.” Riddle smiled as he shook Kestrel's talon. “Welcome to the squad, Captain Turmfalken.”

“Squad?” Kestrel asked in confusion.

“Oh that’s right,” Riddle said in realization. “Valdar also said that we needed to form a new special squad or a task force to provide some decent backbone to the kingdom’s military.”

“And that’s why we’re here,” Black Star continued. “Valdar wanted us to pick a recruit as the fourth member in our squad.”

As soon as Black Star finished his sentence, the recruits finally came back from The Gauntlet. Breaker landed first, followed by Stalker and the twins, Max and Goose. Rosepink landed along with Razorback and Decoy, while Ricochet landed behind them. The last ones were Rave and Kite.

Kestrel immediately stopped the stopwatch before turning to face the recruits.

“Six minutes, fifty-nine seconds. Not bad,” she said with a slight interest. “But I ask, Breaker…”

“Yes ma’am.” The griffon responded.

“Why did you go solo?”

Breaker was silent while the other recruits glared at him.

“Ooh… busted,” Stalker whispered mockingly. The other recruits snickered at this except Rave who only noticed the two new arrivals beside their instructor. She recognized Black Star immediately, but she had a hard time recognizing Riddle.

“Um..ma’am,” Rosepink spoke, earning Kestrel’s attention.

“What is it, soldier?” Kestrel responded. Rosepink immediately pointed her talon at Riddle and Black Star.

“Who are those guys?” she asked. Kestrel looked at the two griffons before turning back to the young griffon. Before she could respond, Riddle stopped her and spoke,

“There’s no need to introduce me, captain. I can do that myself,” he said to Kestrel before turning to the recruits. “Greetings, my name is Ratsel Wonderfalke, a former member of the Neue Gryphus military.”

The recruits’ reaction were mixed; some of them knew Riddle and started murmuring in amazement, while others payed more attention to Black Star who stood behind the blue griffon. The black griffon was avoiding his gaze from them.

“You’re Wonderfalke?” Rave said in amazement. “By Wonderfalke you mean the respected knightly family of the old Belkan order?”

“Kind of,” Riddle said sheepishly. “And please don’t call me sir or whatnot. The knight tradition was already dead for several generations. The pompous palace talks also get on my nerves.”

Rave immediately stepped forward and shook Riddle’s talon in excitement. “I’m a big fan sir! It’s a pleasure meeting you in person. I knew all your contributions on the Talon and the Intimidation!”

Riddle just gave an uncertain smile in return. “Uh, yeah. Thanks.”

“Oh save your fangasm for later, Rave. You’re scaring him,” Stalker scoffed before looking at the blue griffon and nodding at him in acknowledgment. “It’s a pleasure, sir.”

“Thank you lad,” Riddle answered. Breaker, however, was more interested in Black Star. He slowly approached the black griffon before clearing his throat to get his attention.

“What?” Black Star said flatly.

“Is it true then?” Breaker said slowly. “You’re the one who betrayed our kingdom, but also ended the war?”

“And what of it?” Black Star responded.

“You didn’t look like it,” Breaker scoffed. “Black Star the Terrible? Black Star the Ghost? Hmph, you look like some washed out military cadet with no experience whatsoever.”

“Is that so?” Black Star said in interest. “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, kid, it’s a sure way to get yourself judged by your friends.”

“Friends? Who needs them?” Breaker said out loud. “I can handle things myself, like that pegasus Mobius.”

Black Star could only stare at the overconfident griffon recruit in amusement.

“Arrogance, a sure way to get yourself killed,” Black Star thought with a smile.

“Don’t get too cocky, kid,” Riddle said, catching the recruit’s attention. “Even Mobius had allies during his heyday. Heck, all famous aces had allies.”

“What are you implying, sir?” Breaker said cockily. “Are you going to preach to me so I can work together with those lowly dweebs over there?”

“What did you say, you arrogant punk!?” Stalker snapped angrily as he and the other recruits advanced towards Breaker.

“You’re an ass, Breaker. You think you completing the Gauntlet faster than us means you’re better than us?” Ricochet scoffed.

“I was right,” Rave added. “You’re not just an arrogant prick, but you’re a moron as well…”

“Alright, that’s enough, all of you!” Kestrel snapped, silencing the recruits. “If you say one more word, you all must go through The Gauntlet all over again!”

The recruits immediately backed down when they heard Kestrel’s threat while Riddle and Black Star watched the entire scene in amusement. Riddle looked at the situation with full interest. While the other recruits started insulting each other when Breaker stirred up hornet’s nest, only one remained silent and composed.

Kite only watched the scene with a blank look, unsure whether to join in or to just sit there and do nothing. He didn’t seem offended by Breaker’s statement. He knew his limitations and added with the fact that a soldier won’t lose his composure whatever the situation he’s in.

Suddenly an idea popped up into Riddle’s mind.

“Alright, I see that you all wanted to be the best, and I’m here to pick one of you to be in a special squad,” Riddle said. The recruits immediately snap their attention at him.

“Are you forming a team, sir?” Rave asked. “If so, why?”

Riddle sighed a bit before he looked at Kestrel. She nodded grimly before Riddle turned his attention back at the recruits and spoke again,

“I’m afraid I should tell you all the whole truth…”

The recruits listened the blue griffon’s explanation with mixed interest, but gradually, their interest grew more and more as Riddle explained every detail regarding Valkyrie, The Burning Talon, Fortress Intimidation, and the war ten months ago. After he finished, the recruits were silent with concern written on their faces.

“Damn…” Stalker croaked.

“Now that’s a problem,” Breaker said as he and Rave nodded thoughtfully. The twins just whispered to each other while Rosepink’s face became paler than snow.

“Uh, sir..?” Kite stuttered, raising his talon. “Why did you need only one of us? Would it be better if you choose all of us to be in the squad?”

“Yeah, sir. Why is that?” Rave added in agreement.

“Your king wished a four unit squad,” Riddle explained. “Any more will be too much to handle, since you’re all rookies with ego issues.”

This statement offended the recruits, but they were quickly cooled off by a single glare from Kestrel. Rave only nodded thoughtfully before asking the blue griffon,

“Exactly how do you plan to choose one of us sir? I think it’s rather obvious that you would choose Breaker for this.”

“Breaker? Ah, the lad truly had potential to become a soldier but, his arrogance has really blinded him from it’s true purpose.”

“What did you say?” Breaker snarled, flaring his wings in anger. “You think I’m not good enough for your special squad?”

“Breaker! Stand down!” Kestrel barked sternly.

“It’s OK, captain. If he had a problem with me, then I would gladly resolve it with my own claws.” Riddle said to the female griffon before facing the arrogant rookie with a smile. “You think just because you’re big and strong means you can be the best? Truly a simple and foolish thought. Your might alone won’t win the war. Don’t try too hard to be a hero, lad. You’ll get yourself killed faster than any of your comrades.”

Breaker’s patience finally snapped as he delivered a claw swipe to the blue griffon’s face. To his surprise, Riddle grabbed his right talon and twisted it enough to make Breaker yelp in pain. But Riddle wasn’t finished yet. He then turned the recruit around and brought his body into the ground before pinning him down with his weight. The recruits’ reactions were predictable.

“Whoa… Breaker just got owned!” Stalker said out loud.

“That was fast!” Rave said in awe.

“Radical,” Max smiled.

“About time that bastard got his end,” Goose added with a chuckle.

“Gah! Let me go!” Breaker growled as he tried to wiggle his way out from the blue griffon’s grip to no avail.

“You lack convictions of a soldier,” Riddle smirked as he held the angry recruit down. “That arrogance of yours will get you killed in a battlefield.”

“Easy for you to stay… ugh!” Breaker said through strained breaths. “You’re just a scientist!”

“Not meaning to boast, lad, but I serve my country during the Belkan War,” Riddle said in a grave tone. “I survived the Round Table, I saw my friends die one by one… and they’re all just as excited as you during training…”

“Sir… I mean, Wonderfalke, that’s enough,” Kestrel said sternly. “He got the message.”

Riddle quietly released his grip from Breaker. The young griffon brushed off the dirt from his tan feathers before glaring at Riddle angrily. He’d been humiliated in front of the other recruits and his instructor, and he wasn’t going to let that pass. No way.

As he was about to pounce Riddle again, Kestrel stopped him by grabbing his head and brought it down to the ground. Once again, Breaker found himself being pinned to the ground with minimal effort.

“Stand down, soldier!” Kestrel said coldly. “One more stunt like that and you’re out. Got that?”

Breaker just growled in response, but after a while, the young griffon finally groaned.

“Roger, ma’am…” he hissed.

Satisfied with the answer, Kestrel let him go and told him to join the other recruits and keep his beak shut, in which he spitefully complied. Riddle, however, was talking to Black Star in secret. The two griffons spoke to each other, finally ending with both of them nodding to each other. Riddle turned around and faced the recruits.

“Alright, now I’ll begin the test.”

“Test? What test?” Stalker asked.

“A simple test to test your skills,” Riddle explained. “The last one standing or erm…flying is the one I pick to become the new member of the squad.”

“Finally…” Breaker smirked as he cracked his knuckles in anticipation. “Time for some pay back, old man.”

“Oh, but you’re not going against me,” Riddle chuckled before stepping aside to allow Black Star to stand on his place. “This fine fellow will be your opponent.”

Black Star just gave the recruits a piercing glare and a devilish smirk; causing the recruits’ excitement to drop like a rock. The black griffon just cracked his neck before he flew into the skies. Kestrel immediately detested Riddle’s decision, but the blue griffon assured her that Black Star could be trusted and would go easy on the recruits.

“Trust me, captain,” Riddle smiled. “He knows what’s he’s doing.”

“I hope you’re right, sir…” Kestrel responded uneasily.

“Come on,” Black Star taunted. “Who’s first?”

Breaker was hesitant at first. Though he still had his doubts, he and the others had to face what was a dangerous war criminal responsible for starting the war. The other recruits also felt the same way. Black Star wasn’t some griffon they could simply take on. He was dangerous, he was cunning, and he once held Kestrel’s rank of elite captain of the Griffin Air Force.

Remembering what he’d done in the Equestrian War, members of the griffon army had an unofficial nickname for the dark griffon.

The Ghost

“What’s the matter?” Black Star said again, clearly taunting the recruits. “Too scared to face me?”

“As if!” Stalker yelled as he flew up and prepared to ram the griffon head on. Black Star simply dodged the attack and retaliated with a swift jab to Stalker’s shoulder, throwing the griffon off balance. Breaker used this moment to strike Black Star from below, but the dark griffon saw it coming and moved out of the way.

Breaker missed his target, but before he could attempt a second strike, Black Star already threw two precise punches into his stomach and left arm. Breaker grunted in pain as he backed off while keeping his sights on the griffon in front of him. Black Star returned his glare with an apathetic look.

Breaker took a brief glance down before smirking. Black Star squinted his eyes as he flew upwards and did a somersault, avoiding the twins’ strike from below. Breaker used this chance to strike the dark griffon, but to his surprise, Black Star did another somersault and avoided his attack. But he was not finished there. When he nearly completed the loop, Black Star brought his talons together and delivered a powerful uppercut to Breaker’s beak.

The tan griffon growled in pain as he clutched his beak, while the twins just looked at each other before splitting up to try to surround their enemy. Max flew straight in and delivered a punch which Black Star avoided. The black griffon then retaliated with a claw swipe, but to his surprise, Max avoided it before he yelled,

“NOW!”

Goose appeared right behind the black griffon with his talons already clenched and headed straight to Black Star’s skull.

“Special delivery!” Goose chuckled. “Hope you like it!”

Black Star watched silently as the fist came closer to his head. With an annoyed sigh, he ducked, letting the fist swing harmlessly over his head. Then he grabbed the fist and pulled Goose before throwing him into his twin. Both twins managed to evade one another, but before they could recover, Black Star flew straight into them, forcing them to hit the deck and dive for cover. The black griffon stopped in mid-flight and turned around, only to face a roaring Stalker coming straight at him.

Stalker delivered five to six punches to Black Star’s chest and stomach. The griffon ignored the pain and started to block the yellow griffon’s attacks. Stalker delivered more punches and claw swipes, but all of them were blocked by the black griffon.

“Damn! He IS good!”

While the two were preoccupied with one another, Breaker, who managed to recover from the uppercut earlier, sneaked behind and tried to tackle Black Star from behind. Black Star noticed this as Stalker delivered another punch headed for his stomach. He quickly moved to the side and the punch missed him and headed straight for Breaker’s face.

“Oh sh-”

Breaker didn’t have time to finish his curse as he was sent flying backwards by the punch. Stalker just looked at what he just did in shock, completely unaware of Black Star’s fist coming straight for his face.

The blow sent Stalker spinning into the ground. Kestrel wasn’t amused by this sight.

“I thought you said he’s holding back!” she yelled at Riddle.

“Don’t worry. Trust me,” Riddle assured the worried instructor. Kestrel wasn’t buying it and turned back to see that the other recruits had joined in the battle.

Ricochet tried using his lightning fast reflexes to deliver some fast blows at Black Star to no avail. The black griffon always saw through his attacks and blocked each and every one of them. Their duel was cut short by Decoy, who managed to lock Black Star’s limbs from behind.

“That’s it D! Keep him like that!” Ricochet yelled as he extended his talons, switching from punches to claw swipes. Black Star responded by hitting Decoy with his head, causing the young azure griffon to release his grip, giving Black Star enough time to grab Ricochet’s talons and throw him at his dazed comrade. The two griffons impacted one another and fell to the ground.

“These poor fools don’t know how to fight properly,” he thought with a frown. “This is just too easy.”

Suddenly, Black Star felt the air pressure around him change as a lightning fast shadow appeared behind him. He narrowly dodged the attack as another figure came from his front and launched an attack. Black Star blocked the attack, only to have the first figure tackle him and kick him in the stomach.

The blow wasn’t as powerful as Stalker or Breaker’s attacks, but it was enough to make him lose his balance. As he regained his balance, Black Star looked up and saw his attackers.

Kite and Rave were already hovering above him with the female recruit having a confident smirk while the smaller recruit kept his eyes focused on him. Kite was panting, though Black Star could clearly see his determination in his eyes.

“That was fast. Interesting,” Black Star thought with a smirk as Kite made the first move by diving towards him. Black Star only hovered and prepared himself for the attack. To his surprise, Kite changed his course at the last minute and brought his attack from the side. Black Star was quick to react to this, only to find out that Kite abandoned his attack and changed his course again. This time, he was coming at him from below.

Black Star flew upwards, but Kite caught him off guard as he zipped through him and readied himself for an attack from above. Black Star could only bring his talons up to cover his head as the small griffon’s punch contacted him. But this wasn’t over yet. Rave managed to use this time for an attack, she dived down and delivered a kick to Black Star’s chest, knocking him out from the sky.

Kestrel watched as the black griffon landed hard on the ground, groaning a bit as he dusted himself off from the debris.

“Hmph, those two had some serious potential,” Black Star thought as he spread his wings and went back up again. But he was intercepted by Rosepink and Razorback.

“Ah, ah.Try again, oldtimer,” Razorback said as he pulled the black griffon down, giving Rosepink a chance to slash him.

“Forgive me!” Rosepink yelled as she brought her talons into Black Star’s chest. The griffon smirked as he blocked the blow and did a barrel roll while diving into the ground. The two recruits followed him, but Black Star stopped in mid air, causing Razorback to miss him and fly straight into the ground. Fortunately he managed to slow down at the last minute.

“Oh man…” the orange griffon groaned.

Rosepink was left alone with Black Star in front of her. She was shaking like leaf and obviously didn’t have the courage to fight the scary dark feathered griffon in front of her. Black Star saw her predicament and decided to end it peacefully. Black Star slowly approached the scared griffon recruit with a grim look plastered on his face. He moved his face closer to her before yelling,

“Boo!”

“Eeep!!” Rosepink screamed and flew away, hiding behind one of the buildings. Kestrel can only smacked her talon into her face in disbelief while Riddle tried his best not to laugh at the scene.

“Are you laughing sir?” Kestrel asked.

“Sorry… heh heh!” Riddle choked as he put his talons over his beak in a vain attempt to conceal his laughter.

Black Star just stared at the building where Rosepink hid herself. He sighed, clearly not impressed by the young griffon’s reaction. He felt the air pressure change again as Kite appeared behind him with his fist ready to strike his neck. He evaded it, but he found another punch coming straight for his face.

The blow sent him spinning, but he managed to recover. Kite kept his eyes focused as he dived down to deliver another attack, Black Star quickly flew upwards and kept going, gaining altitude and distance from the lightning fast flier, but Rave was already waiting for him in the skies.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she sneered as she brought her claws straight to Black Star’s forehead. The black griffon blocked the attack, but Kite managed to catch up to him and delivered a kick to his side. Rave followed suit by a swift claw swipe to his left cheek.

Black Star grunted as he regain his balance and hovered to face his attackers.

“Got to switch techniques,” he thought before lowering his altitude, surprising the two young griffons in front of him.

“What is he doing?” Rave thought out loud. Kite only shrugged in response. Black Star finally stopped near the ground and hovered, not bothering to take a defensive position.

“Ah, so he’s using the ground as a shield…” Rave thought with a smirk. “He’s planning to take Kite out before going after me. Hmph, not a very good plan.”

Black Star saw Rave trading this new intel with Kite in silence. A small smile formed on his beak. His plan was going smoothly.

Kite stayed behind as Rave dived down to deliver her attack, but to her surprise, Black Star never moved from his spot. She hesitated for a moment, giving a chance for Black Star to deliver his attack. Kite saw this too and decided to aid his partner. But his plan was halted by the twins reappearance.

“There’s no way we’re getting you take our spot, pipsqueak!” Max shouted as he and Goose headed straight down to Black Star. Rave found herself in a pinch. Her strategies were shattered the moment Black Star dodged her attack. Even if she already thought one step ahead of him, Black Star seemed to think beyond that. He saw through her moves, tactics, and attacks, evading every last one of them and delivering his own, which Rave barely had time to dodge them.

But the twins’ appearance soon changed that.

Both griffons faced Black Star in a three-on-one battle with Rave carefully coordinating their attacks. Soon, Black Star find himself overwhelmed by the recruits relentless attacks.

“You can’t escape!” Goose said as he tried slashing Black Star’s chest. “We’ve got you surrounded!”

“Yeah, we’re gonna take that position!” Max added. This statement gave Black Star an idea.

“We?” He began, dodging another attack from Rave. “I thought there’s only one free slot on the squad’s roster.”

The twins realized this and looked at each other. Before long, the two began to argue on who was supposed to take the free slot, causing Rave to groan in annoyance and giving Black Star enough time to ram Rave, effectively knocking her out and deliver the finishing blow to Goose. Max was shocked to see his twin fall down and soon, his temper went into his head and he attacked Black Star.

“Why you…!” he screamed in rage, but his attacks were evaded effortlessly by the dark griffon. Black Star finally had enough and decided to end the griffon’s rampage. Max tried to slash his chest again, but Black Star grabbed his talon and used it to punch him. Dazed and vulnerable, Max was an easy target for him. Black Star grabbed the white feathered griffon and threw him into the ground. Max landed not far from his twin.

“Three down. One to go…ugh!”

Black Star’s thought was cut short by a kick to his chest. When he looked to his front, Kite’s talons had already clenched into a fist and struck Black Star’s face. The dark griffon lost his balance, but he quickly regained it and hovered, keeping his eye leveled at the bluish gray griffon.

All eyes on the ground watched in silence as both griffons circled each other. Black Star’s intimidating look made Kite hesitant for a bit, but he shrugged those doubts off and kept focused on the goal: bringing his opponent down. He flapped his wings to gain altitude before diving down towards the dark griffon at high speed.

Black Star’s muscles tensed as the lightning fast flier came closer towards him, but he evaded him at the last minute, only to find Kite’s claws clinging to his chest. Before long, Kite was now clinging at his back, punching at the back of his head repeatedly. Black Star tried to shake the small griffon off to no avail. Soon, both fliers descended into the ground, giving Black Star a chance to gain the upper hand.

Black Star dropped himself to the ground, but Kite released his grip and escaped at the last minute. The small griffon ascended, leaving Black Star on the ground. The dark feathered griffon growled as he spreads his wings and followed Kite into the skies. Both griffons kept ascending until Kite stopped, giving Black Star an opening to attack, but he never took it. Instead, he kept ascending, prompting Kite to follow him.

“Come on kid, is that the best you got!?” Black Star yelled below as he continued to gain altitude. Suddenly, Black Star stopped ascending and dived down, missing Kite by mere inches. Kite squinted his eyes and followed suit. Both griffons continued to dive down towards the ground as Kite slowly gained speed to catch the dark griffon in front of him. His tail began to blur and trailing some colorful sparks of electricity. Black Star looked back and smirked as he changed his course. Kite noticed it and began to bleed some airspeed so he could turn and kept his pursuit.

On the ground, the rest of the recruits watched in shock as Black Star shot out from the clouds with Kite hot in pursuit. They watched as both griffons turned from the training grounds and headed straight for the palace. Both griffons turned and twisted through the tall palace towers and flew through the open arches and gates before disappearing into the clouds again.

Both of them broke through the clouds and flew into the city airspace. Black Star made several turns and twists around the aqueducts, causing Kite to slow down just to follow his movements. The small cheetah griffon saw an opening which gave him enough time to close in for an attack at his dark feathered opponent. Black Star saw through his plan and lowered his altitude: flying through the Gryphus market alley.

Several griffons panicked and jumped out of the way of the high speed pursuit between Kite and Black Star. The latter landed short at the end of the market alley before he jumped upwards, taking into the skies once again. Kite who had been avoiding banners, basket towers and other griffons pulled upwards to follow.

“Damn, they’re really into it…” Stalker commented. “I never knew pipsqueak can be so… ah, what’s the word!?”

“Agile,” Rave finished the sentence, causing Stalker to groan in embaressment. Breaker wouldn’t show it, but he was actually dumbfounded by Kite’s speed and agility.

Before they could say anything more, Black Star reappeared right on top of the training grounds and flew to the end of the field and landed there. Kite followed suit, but landed nearby. He immediately collapsed onto the ground, clearly exhausted from the engagement.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Riddle called out to the two griffons. Black Star folded his wing, closed his eyes, and nodded as he walked over to Kite along with Riddle and Kestrel. Honestly, Kite didn’t expect to succeed on this test, so he was more than surprised that he was the only recruit to survive against the dreaded Black Star.

“Well done, lad,” Riddle began. “You really got Black Star winded up there….”

Black Star kept his look but couldn’t help but flinch a little when he heard that.

“And your speed will be really useful in missions. Don’t you agree, captain?”

“Yes.” Kestrel nodded. “His speed was quite surprising when I first saw it on the training course. I wonder why he’s been keeping it a secret until now.”

“Regardless if it’s a secret or not, he’s proven himself to be the best.” Riddle said before turning to face the other recruits. “As for all of you: you did your best, and if you cast your selfishness, there’s no doubt that you’ll be a good team.”

“Thank you sir!” The recruits yelled in unison. Riddle nodded and turned back to Kite before extending his right talon to him.

“Welcome to Aquila squadron.”

Kite was silent at first, unsure on how to react to this sudden info. But then a huge smile formed on his beak as he extended his own talon and shook back.

“T… thank you sir!” he said happily. At this moment, the other recruits came to him and congratulated him. Rave playfully rubbed her fist into the small griffon’s head, messing up his feathers. Breaker just gave a quick “Well done” to him before turning away with a smug look, prompting Stalker to hit him on the shoulders. Kestrel couldn’t help but smile at the scene, while Black Star just turned around and gazed at the skies over the southern border.

“It’s too early for a celebration,” he thought with a frown. Then Black Star felt a cold breeze coming from the south. His feathers fluttered along the breeze as he continued.

“A storm is brewing….”

Gryphus Command Center, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
April 23rd, 1156 hrs

It was a slow morning for the officers working in the command center. The majority of the controllers had either left for a quick snack or gone home. Now, there were only two controllers watching the radar screens.

One of them was a middle aged griffon with black fur on his body and white feathers covering his head and wing. The other was a dark yellow feathered griffon in his late twenties. Both of them had the same call sign written on their name tags: Altair.

The younger griffon yawned as he stood up from his seat and turned to the older griffon.

“Sir, I’m going out to take some fresh air.”

“Again?" The older griffon asked. “That’s the fifth time, Marcus.”

“I know sir it’s just…ah!” The young griffon, Marcus groaned. “It’s so boring today!”

“I know it’s boring, Marcus, but it’s our job,” the older griffon said sternly. “We’re the eyes and ears of the Griffin Kingdom. It’s our job to keep the kingdom safe from any intrusions.”

Marcus sighed when he heard that. He’s got a point.

“Look sir, I—” Then a loud beep interrupted him. The older griffon’s eyes immediately glued to the screens in front of him.

“What is it, sir?” Marcus asked. The older griffon didn’t respond at first as he monitored the radar screens. A full minute passed by when the old griffon let out a curse and headed straight for the emergency telephone reserved for calling the king.

“Marcus, I want you to keep monitoring those radars and keep me updated on the contacts,” The older griffon ordered. Marcus immediately jumped to his seat, keeping his eyes on the screens.

“What the…!?” He said in shock. The radar showed a total of twenty hostile contacts coming from the southern border and heading straight for the urban areas surrounding Gryphus. The contacts bared IDs used by the Neue Gryphus Defense Force. Marcus turned back to face his superior.

“Sir!…are we….!?” he stammered

“Yes.” The older griffon replied in disgust, still waiting for someone to pick up the phone. “They finally snapped.”

Chapter 5: Declaration

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Chapter 5: Declaration

Not everyone can be trusted, not even your close allies

Southwestern Urban Areas, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
April 23rd 2020, 1214 hrs

“All civilians proceed to fly towards the capital. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill,” a griffon Royal Guard shouted through the megaphone, hovering above the tangled mass of griffon civilians below while his subordinates helped to ease the traffic flow of the civilians.

“Mommy!” A young griffon cub cried out. The cub was still covered by white downy feathers, and his wings were still not strong enough to lift him up into the skies. The young cub sniffled as he stumbled a bit, completely ignored by the other griffons as they flew up to safety.

Chaos. That was the right word to describe the situation on the urban areas surrounding the capital. The Neue Gryphus Forces had yet to arrive, but Valdar already took action by sending the Griffon Royal Guards to the urban areas to evacuate the civilians. Many confused griffon families were forced out from their homes and instructed to fly towards the capital.

“Daddy!” The cub cried out again, being in the verge of tears. Luckily for him, a Royal Guard heard his last cry and rushed over to help the little cub, but his way was blocked by the heavy traffic of panicked civilians.

The guard flew up and finally got the cub’s location. Without any further delay, he dived down and reached the cub’s location. The cub was frightened by his appearance, but the guard quickly took off his helmet and assured to him that he was here to help.

“What’s your name little buddy?” the guard asked.

“Erich… ” the cub answered meekly.

“Erich? That’s a good name,” the guard smiled. “My name’s Red Tail. Don’t worry, Erich, we’re going to find your parents.”
The cub, Erich was hesitant at first, but after Red Tail assured to him again. He finally nodded and let the pastel brown griffon carry him. Red Tail flew up, trying to get a bird’s eye view of the civilians below.

“Red Tail!” The pastel griffon turned around when he heard that. His superior was the one calling him. “What the hell are you doing? This is no time for sightseeing!”

“Sorry, Colonel Tallman, sir,” Red Tail apologized as he showed his superior the frightened Erich sitting on his arm. “I found this cub, sir. He’s lost and I’m trying to find his parents.”

Tallman sighed in response, “Fine. But once you’re done babysitting, report back to me, Sergeant.”

“Yes sir,” Red Tail said as he saluted his superior. “C’mon buddy, let’s find your parents.”

The cub only nodded in response as the pastel brown griffon flew above the civilians, constantly asking them for any information.

Meanwhile

En-Route to Gryphus Command Center, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
1214 hrs

Riddle, along with Black Star, Kestrel, and the recruits flew towards the command center after they heard the air raid siren. Most of the recruits’ reaction was shock and confusion, They didn’t expect a war to happen today, yet alone a full scale one from the industrial state.

“Damn, I never thought they could’ve done such a thing!” Stalker growled, earning a groan from Rave.

“We all didn’t see it coming, Stalker,” she squawked. “So shut your large, overgrown beak and fly.”

“What did you say?” Stalker snapped.

“Shut your beaks. Both of you!” Kestrel yelled, silencing the two griffons. Kestrel sighed as she turned her attention to her front. The command center was getting closer with each flap of their wings, but she also noticed that Riddle was flying faster than any of them, as if his life depended on getting there in time. She looked to the side and saw Black Star flying beside her, his eyes full of thought and focused on his front. She snorted in disgust and distanced herself away from him.

Kite tried his best to keep up, but his little showdown against Black Star earlier left him severely exhausted. Rave noticed this and flew back to help the small griffon get back into formation.

“I got ya, pipsqueak,” Rave said to him. Kite only nodded in response.

Soon the group reached the command center, and they were quickly greeted by the old griffon operator and Valdar. The recruits and Kestrel bowed to the latter while Riddle gave Valdar a handshake and Black Star just gave a simple nod to him.

“Good to see you here,” Valdar began before motioning them to the main control room. “Come, there’s no time to waste.”
The group followed the orange griffon to the main control room. On the way, Riddle got acquainted with the old operator.

“My name is Saetos,” the old griffon said to him. “Call sign Altair Alpha. Main radio operator for the Gryphus Command Center. It’s good to see you in person, Mr. Wonderfalke.”

“Likewise, Saetos,” Riddle nodded. Along the way, Kestrel noticed that after acquainted himself with Saetos, Riddle moved to Valdar and whispered something to him. Valdar soon nodded grimly, and Riddle spread his wings and took off into the opposite direction.

“Where is he going?” Kestrel asked.

“He’s got some business to take care of,” Valdar explained. “He’ll be back.”

The group soon reached the command center, and most of the operators who had gone out earlier returned to their post and were relaying new information to the Royal Guards and other units, such as squadrons and medical support on various locations all over Gryphus.

Saetos immediately rushed to Marcus’ post and asked him, “What’s our current SITREP?”

“The situation is slowly stabilizing, sir.” Marcus responded. “The evacuation hit some walls here, but is proceeding smoothly. About 43 percent of the civilians are now safe behind the walls of Gryphus.”

“Alright, what’s the status on the bogies?” Saetos asked again.

“That’s the strange part, sir, they’re not going anywhere,” another operator responded. “Most of the bogies have assembled into two teams, but they’re not entering the Windshear Region.”

“They’re hesitating?” Saetos mused.

“No,” Valdar shook his head. “They’re planning something.”

He then turned around and faced the newly formed squadron.

“Captain, I need Aquila squadron to be ready if anything goes south,” Valdar said before opening a saddlebag he brought with him. The group watched as Valdar pulled out three radio communicators along with three portable radars into view.

“Put these on. A little bit of info, Captain: since Aquila is a special unit in our military, you will not be wearing vests. Instead, your squad ID has already been installed in these devices’ software, so other units will be able to recognize your squad just by reading their radar or by making radio contact with you.”

Surely enough, when Kestrel and Black Star activated the communicators and radars, the squad’s, ID along with the emblem were detected on both sides of the radar devices. Black Star’s ID was registered as AQUILA 2, while Kestrel’s was AQUILA 3. Black Star handed over Kite’s devices, in which he accepted before activating them as well. Now, Black Star’s and Kestrel’s radars showed a third signature registered as AQUILA 4.

“But what about Sir Wonderfalke and the other recruits?” Kestrel asked.

“He already took his, and he’ll be joining you soon in the battlefield,” Valdar explained. “As for the recruits, they will provide some assistance to the Royal Guards evacuating the citizens. They will be under Major White Tip’s command.”

“Well, you heard him. Off to your station now!” Kestrel ordered sternly.

“Yes ma’am,” The recruits yelled in unison as they bowed to Valdar before exiting the command room. After that, Valdar ordered Aquila squadron to be dispatched to their post immediately. Their post was an area dubbed Sector 27, a major urban district home to thousands of griffon families. Black Star left without saying a word while Kestrel and Kite bowed before their king before exiting the room.

Valdar returned his attention to the operators as he watched them performing their duties.

Gryphus Airspace, En-route to Sector 27, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
1225 hrs

Aquila squadron flew towards the south in a tight V formation with Kestrel in the lead and both Black Star and Kite beside her. The trio watched below as the slow moving traffic of civilians flowed smoothly towards the capital. She still doubted Black Star, and because of that she wouldn’t let him to lead the squad. Black Star just shrugged nonchalantly and let her be in command, remarking that “He wasn’t fond at leading anyway,” much to her annoyance.

After a good three minutes of radio silence, their comm began to crackle into life as Saetos’ voice came through the radio.

“This is Altair Alpha to Aquila Squadron 017. Report current status.”

“This is Aquila 3 to Altair Alpha, everything looks good, and the evacuation is running smoothly from our view,” Kestrel answered. “We’re still heading towards our post.”

“Roger Aquila. Be advised that your post has been changed. You’re now assigned at Sector 37 due to a large number of bogies converging near that location.”

“Roger that, Altair Alpha, but what about Sector 27?” Kestrel asked again.

“Not to worry, the 68th Tactical Griffin Squadron, “Crimson,” along with 28th Tactical Griffin Squadron “Silver” will cover that area,” Saetos answered. “You will be tagging along with the 78th Tactical Griffin Squadron “Verde.” Contact them as soon as you have radar contact.”

“Roger, Altair Alpha, will contact allied squadron when we have radar contact. Aquila 3 out,” Kestrel said, ending the transmission before turning her head around to face Kite. “Alright Kite, this is the real deal. Stay close to me, and stay frosty. Remember everything I’ve taught you.”

“Yes ma’am,” Kite nodded. Kestrel then turned to face Black Star.

“And you, don’t do anything stupid,” she spat. “If you try even a little–”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be the last thing on your mind, Turmfalken.” Black Star said, cutting her off. Kestrel responded with a simple glare which he ignored completely. Kestrel just sighed in annoyance before turning right towards Sector 37 with Black Star and Kite in tow.

They flew in their current heading for about 10 minutes before Black Star noticed several friendly contacts on his radar.

“Turmfalken, I have multiple friendly signatures showing up on my radar. It must be Verde.”

“I can see that.” Kestrel said in annoyance as she tweaked her comm for a bit to find the right frequency. Once she got the right one, she opened a new channel and spoke to the speaker.

“Verde Squadron 078, this is Aquila Squadron 017, Aquila 3 speaking through. Confirm your ID.”

Almost immediately, a voice belonging to an adult griffon replied through the comm.

“This is Verde 1, call sign Jet. We confirm Aquila, it’s good to be flying with you today.”

Soon enough, the Aquila fliers could see ten griffon fliers ahead of them. When they moved closer, all of the griffons were wearing green vests with numbers from #1 to #10. The leader, a griffon who went by the name Jet, noticed their arrival and flew over to greet them.

“So you’re Aquila Squadron,” he began as he scanned every single member of the new squad in front of him. He’s genuinely shocked when he saw Black Star. “Certainly an odd bunch… but I could never expect you to be leading this squad, captain Turmfalken.”

“Oh, I’m not leading, Jet,” Kestrel stated. “I’m just a stand in. The leader will be here shortly.”

“I sure hope that he won’t miss the opening attack,” Jet replied. Now his eyes rested on Black Star. “And you… what are you doing here, Blake?”

“I was going to ask the same question to you, Johann,” Black Star answered. “I thought that you’re still doing community service as punishment for your actions during the war.”

“Actually, I finished them all. Cutting up loose ends from the war wasn’t easy, but I did it,” Jet smirked. “What about you, Blake? I thought you were next in line to enter Tartarus.”

“Valdar gave me some slip; that’s all there is to it.” Black Star explained. Jet seemed satisfied with this short explanation. It was true that he’s one of the many griffon soldiers who participated during the Equestrian War. They were truly deceived by Red Cyclone’s words until Black Star revealed every dirty secret Cyclone hid behind his wings. Jet was disgusted by his actions, truly feeling regret after the war, for he was one of the griffons who managed to get equine blood spattered on their talons.

After the war, Valdar was chosen by the people to lead the Griffin Kingdom, and his first rule after re-establishing harmony with Equestria was to punish those who were at fault during the war, including himself. Many traitorous griffons were either banished or executed, while the others who stayed loyal to the kingdom received an extended community service, which included the dismantlement of both the Fortress Intimidation and the Burning Talon.

Jet really paid his debt to the kingdom, and now, he could be free to fly in the skies once again.

Suddenly, an emergency notice was sent to their radars as Altair’s frequency opened up again.

“All units, be advised, another group of hostiles is converging with the first two groups positioned near Sector 27 and 37,” Saetos announced. “Strong magical reading confirmed on the new groups.”

“Magical?” one of the griffon units’ leader sounded through the radio. “Altair Alpha, are you saying that the new group consists of unicorns?”

“It’s highly possible, Crimson 1,” Saetos said grimly. “All units, maintain your positions. We need to… Wait, hold on. The magical reading just spiked through… ”

All griffons tensed when they heard this sudden information. A few seconds passed before Saetos spoke again. This time, he opened a widespread frequency, so the other units could hear him as well.

“All units working on the evacuation, speed up your efforts, the bogies are preparing to teleport through the Windshear Region. All squadrons, battle formation! They’ll be in front of your face at any second.”

“Alright, that’s our cue,” Kestrel said to the two griffons behind her. “This is Aquila, we’re ready.”

“Verde here. Ready to engage.” Jet announced.

“This is Silver 1. My team is ready.”

“Crimson Squadron here. Ready to attack.”

“This is Colonel Tallman of the 15th GRG,” Tallman’s voice sounded. “We’re continuing the evacuation ,but we will engage if attacked.”

“This is Major White Tip of the 12th GRG. The same goes for us!” another Royal Guard division leader announced.

“Us too,” another one added. “Let’s do this!”

As soon he finished that declaration, a thunderous yell was heard from everybody’s communicators. Even the squads gave out their battle yell, ready to strike the invaders. They soon winded down as Saetos started to announce the magical reading from the command center.

“Magical reading at 89 percent… 92 percent… 95 percent… 98 percent…”

Each griffon team saw a magical bubble forming right in front of them. The Royal Guards also saw a similar sight on the ground. The Royal Guards took out their weapons while the griffon squadrons narrowed their eyes.

“99 percent… teleportation… NOW!”

As soon as Altair finished his sentence, the bubbles bursted into a sparkling confetti.

On Sector 27, a team of ten adult pegasi hovered in the bubble’s place. Their leader was an adult dark blue pegasus stallion with a dark brown mane and eyes. His team wore gray vests and their cutie marks were concealed by an emblem: a wasp. But some of them wore purple vests and had a different emblem.

On Sector 37, another team hovered on the place of the teleportation bubble. The team consisted of ten adult mares. Their leader was a yellow pegasus mare with a red mane and eyes with dark streaks of color covering her mane. Her team all wore purple vests, and their cutie marks were also concealed by an emblem: a lilac.

The leader looked at both teams, clearly not impressed by Jet’s squadron or Black Star and Kite’s appearance. But when she saw Kestrel leading them, a smile formed on her lips.

“Well, what do we have here…”

Meanwhile on the ground on both sectors, the Royal Guards and some civilians were greeted by a team of numerous unicorns who wore brown vests. A unicorn saw one of the half eagle lion creatures and immediately attacked without ever giving a single thought.

“We’re attacked!” A Royal Guard yelled through the comm, barely avoiding a concentrated blast from one of the unicorns. “We’re engaging!”

“Damn ponies!” One Royal Guard cursed as he brought up his arrow and took aim at one of the unicorns.

The dark blue pegasus heard the ensuing attack on the ground and smirked.

“All Grau units, you’re all cleared to engage,” he ordered. “Stick to the plan.”

“Roger!” his team responded in unison before rushing to face both Crimson and Silver squadrons.

“Crimson squadron engage!”

“Silver squadron engage!”

Both griffon leaders yelled as they and their squadron both rushed to face the invaders, and soon, both teams clashed with the enemy squadron. Crimson 1 immediately took out one of the pegasi with a single punch, but soon he found himself surrounded, and his wingmate had to bail him out.

Ever since the Equestrian War ended, the griffons now understood not to take the ponies too lightly. Although they’re small and look pretty harmless, the ponies proved themselves to be formidable foes. They were able to hold the griffon’s attack on Stalliongrad, liberated two of their most prominent cities, and managed to destroy two of the griffons’ powerful superweapons.

Veterans of the war now had the basic knowledge to combat the equines, but since their kingdom already reconciled with Equestria, many saw this knowledge to be useless. But now, many young griffon soldiers finally understood that this knowledge might be able to save their asses in this battle.

Silver 1, being one of the veterans who saw first hand of the ponies capabilities, didn’t hold back on this fight. His squadron had the numerical advantage, but he ordered them to use hit-and-fly tactics, he also ordered his wingmates to never hold back. He wasn’t not going to make the same mistake most griffons made during the war. This tactic worked well, and the enemy’s number slowly decreased.

Silver 1 managed to knock out another pegasus, but he soon found himself being a target for the leader, the two tackled as the leader punched his face repeatedly. Silver 1 retaliated with his own claw swipes as well, but soon, the pegasi leader called his wingmates to surround the griffon soldier. Luckily, Crimson 1 and one of his wingmates managed to thwart the attack before Silver 1 could be mercilessly beaten to a pulp. The leader clashed with Crimson 1 for a bit, but when Silver 1 decided to join engagement, he groaned and bailed out.

Seeing his squadron being slowly incapacitated, Grau 1 turned his attention to the ground and saw some of the civilians trying to escape amongst the crossfire between the Royal Guards and the unicorns.

“Grau 1 to all remaining units. Target the civilians, ignore those scumbags and try to take as many as possible. The more you kill, the better the pay.”

His wingmates stopped attacking the griffon forces and dived down to target the civilians. Many of them yelled in excitement at the prospect of getting more bits than they initially thought.

“Alright, more money for us!” one of them laughed.

“Oh no you don’t!” Crimson 1 yelled as he and two of his wingmates dived down and intercepted the pegasi before forcing him to retreat. “Crimson 1 to Altair Alpha, the aggressors are targeting the civilians. I repeat, the aggressors are attacking the civilians!”

The situation on Sector 37 wasn’t very different from the situation on Sector 27. Both Aquila and Verde squadrons battled against the enemy squadron with Kestrel leading the engagement. Black Star always found himself being outnumbered by the enemy, but thanks to his superior defense and quick timed assaults, he managed to prevail.

Kite made sure he used every single last of his stamina on taking out the enemy as quick as possible. Many of the pegasi squad members didn’t even see him coming before they were hit by Kite’s quick claw swipes.

Kestrel herself battled the leader of the squad, the yellow pegasus mare. Kestrel grunted at each attack she delivered to her, but what really made her angry about this situation was that the mare was smiling as she evaded each attack with minimal effort.

“Tsk, is this all you got?” she sneered whilst evading another claw swipe from Kestrel. “Shame really, I really wanted you to go full out on me.”

Kestrel ignored her and delivered another attack in which she effortlessly dodged. The pegasus smirked maliciously as she brought her hoof up and brought it down to the griffon’s head. Kestrel managed to block the attack, but the mare wasn’t done yet. She then smacked Kestrel’s side with her hind leg. Kestrel grunted in pain, but she quickly shove those thoughts away and focused back to her opponent.

“Oh, did that, hurt little birdy?” The pegasus mocked. “I’m sorry, I’ll make sure to double the pain with this next attack.”

“Not a chance,” Kestrel growled as she tackled the pegasus head on. Both combatants fell down into the ground. The mare managed to free herself from Kestrel’s grip and flew up. Kestrel stopped her fall and gazed upwards, her green eyes pierced right into the mare’s red eyes.

“Come on, little birdy, just try and catch me,” she smirked while giving Kestrel a wink before flying away. Kestrel growled and decided to pursue her target as another message was patched into everyone’s comm.

“Altair Alpha to all units. Be advised, the aggressors are attacking the civilians.” Saetos announced. “We cannot afford to lose even one innocent life on their hooves. Intercept them before they can do any harm to the civilians.”

“Low life equines!” a random griffon soldier cursed through his radio.

The yellow mare stopped her flight and hovered, prompting Kestrel to stop and hover as well.

“Aw poo, your operator just spoiled the surprise,” she spoke playfully, but her tone soon changed into a more malicious one as she continued. “Hah, no matter. You’re too slow to even stop us now!”

With that word, the yellow mare dived down to the nearest civilian, but Kestrel quickly intercepted her and threw her away.

“Look behind you~” She smirked. Kestrel snapped her head back, as a hoof narrowly hitting her skull. Kestrel grabbed the hoof and gave the pegasus two hard punches to her face before kicking her away. When Kestrel was about to engage the yellow mare again, two more squad members blocked her way, much to her frustration. This gave the yellow mare time to search for her next target. She licked her lips hungrily as she locked her eyes on a Griffon Royal Guard who was battling a unicorn and the yellow pegasus’ wingmate. He was carrying a cub on his arms.

“Jackpot!” she thought as she dived down to deliver her blow.

Red Tail used the unicorn’s own stunning spell to stun the pegasus long enough for him to kick her away. He then, delivered two claw swipes to the unicorn’s face before finishing it with an uppercut, effectively knocking him out. Erich grabbed Red Tail’s talon tighter, fearing he might fall from the griffon’s arms.

“You okay, bud?” Red Tail asked the little cub.

Erich was about to respond when he saw the yellow mare coming straight for his and Red Tail’s location. The cub screamed and pointed above, prompting Red Tail to look around and see the yellow mare’s hoof inching closer towards him. Kestrel too saw the yellow pegasus’ attack, but there was not enough time for her to dive down and save the helpless Royal Guard. Both griffons and the crazed pegasus were unaware that a beeping signature registered as AQUILA 1 was heading straight at them in high speed.

Red Tail couldn’t block it, she was too close. He could only close his eyes and waited for the inevitable.

Suddenly, he heard an object collided with the yellow mare. He opened his eyes and saw Riddle had punched the yellow pegasus away. The red maned mare managed to recover from this attack and snarled at the blue griffon.

“Hüttensänger,” she hissed.

“Violet,” Riddle responded back. “Seriously, can you mercenaries just call me Riddle? That name you just called me doesn’t even fit my image.”

“What image? You’re just a falcon’s head attached to a panther’s body,” the yellow mare, Violet mocked.

“And you’re just a little battle whore with the plant species Syringa vulgaris glued on top of your cutie mark.” Riddle duly pointed out, successfully earning a glare from Violet. She didn’t realize that Riddle was only stalling her so Kestrel could make her move.

Kestrel tackled Violet until both combatants dropped to the ground, startling several civilians in the process. Violet groaned as she got back up and attacked Kestrel again, giggling like a lunatic while doing so.

“Sneaking up on me, huh?” she laughed. “That’s a dirty trick, little birdy, and I like it!”

Kestrel growled at her words and promptly kicked her into the skies before swatting her away with her large wings. Violet was dazzled by the attack. but she quickly recovered from that and continued laughing.

“Ohoho… That’s good. That’s good…” she cooed while licking her lips in anticipation. “Yes! Do your worst to me! Let’s fight some more!!”

With a mad cackle, Violet charged at Kestrel again, Kestrel grunted as she evaded the mad yellow pegasus’ attack by flying to her side, but Violet grabbed her wings in the last second and threw her away before bucking her in the stomach. Kestrel managed to block her attack, but Violet came rushing towards her again with a mad grin on her face.

“This pegasus is insane!” Kestrel thought as she readied herself to block Violet’s attack.

Luckily for her, Violet was interrupted by a quick strike from Kite, and her hind legs were grabbed by Black Star. Violet saw the dark feathered griffon behind her and scoffed.

“Cih, party pooper ~ no prize for you handsome,”

She immediately smacked Black Star with her tail, but the dark feathered griffon remained unfazed and threw her away. Kite then used this chance to strike her in the stomach, sending the yellow mare spinning to the ground.

“Altair Alpha to all units, we have confirmed that all civilians are now out of the danger zone. Continue to engage the hostiles,” Saetos announced after opening a broad band frequency. Many griffons were relieved when they heard this.

Before Violet could hit the ground, a magical bubble was cast by one of the unicorns to protect her. The unicorn quickly released the bubble and sent Violet back to the action. The unicorn in question had a green coat and a dark yellow mane with yellow streaks on it. He wore a brown vest and had a boar emblem sticked on top of his cutie mark.

“Thanks, Hog!” Violet thanked the unicorn as she went back into the battle. The unicorn, Hog just watched the ensuing chaos when she and her team battled Aquila and Verde again.

“Well at least she’s enjoying herself,” Hog thought as he received an incoming transmission.

“Yes? Yes sir, everything is going as planned. Alright, good. You’re cleared, sir. Their channel is wide open. Over and out.” Hog closed his channel and removed his comm before tweaking it for a bit. Once he was done, he wore the comm again and activated it.

“This should work.”

1315 hrs

Valdar kept his eyes on the operators working in front of the radar screens, giving warnings and reliable information to the griffon troops defending the line. He was pleased with the performance of the griffon soldiers handling the mercenary forces, given that their country just barely recovered from a war. He was also more than eager to join his men in battle, but he knew that being a king had its own restrictions.

Saetos reported that the mercenaries’ numbers had now decreased from 64 percent to 43 percent. It was only matter of time before the rogues decided to retreat. This fact bothered him since the beginning of the assault. The mercenaries’ attacks were uncoordinated, reckless, and seemingly without any proper planning.

Valdar continued to muse about this while Saetos was informed by another operator that a transport unit was requesting permission to leave Asgard, the kingdom’s main industrial complex.

“Patch him up,” Saetos demanded. “This is Altair Alpha to transport, state your ID, destination, and call sign.”
After a couple of seconds, a gruff voice answered his demand.

“…This is transport 13346 Bravo, call sign Sagi. Requesting for clearance to leave the Griffin Kingdom to Equestria, over.”

“Transport 13346 Bravo. Sagi, we cannot comply at this time due to an attack within our borders,” Saetos stated. “Please stand by until hostile forces are neutralized.”

“Negative, Altair Alpha. We’re on a tight schedule. We have to leave immediately.” The transport unit, Sagi insisted.

“I repeat, Sagi, we cannot give you clearance yet …”

“Sir, I have received an incoming transmission of unknown origin on our airwaves,” Marcus announced, cutting Saetos off from his transmission. This new information gained Valdar’s attention.

“Can you pinpoint the source?” Valdar asked. Marcus just shook his head.

“Negative, the source has been jammed, and there’s no way to neutralize the jammer at this state… hold on,” Marcus paused as the main radar screen emitted a loud beep, gaining Valdar’s and every operator’s attention. “The transmission is a live video feed… coming from Sudentor!”

“Patch it up on all channels.” Valdar ordered in which the operator complied. Saetos typed in several key commands to the computer before pressing “enter,” and the main screen quickly displayed the video feed: a live camera recording in front of the Sudentorian city hall.

The video showed a massive crowd of Belkans ranging from griffons to ponies gathering in front of the city hall. They were chatting, or rather, having a heated argument with one another, and soon, the orange griffon and his operators could see several ponies fighting against two or more griffons, and the crowd slowly turned into a riot.

“What is happening?” an operator asked in confusion.

“Shh, keep watching…” another operator whispered.

Valdar remained fixed to the screen as a familiar mint unicorn stepped outside from the city hall accompanied by a blue pegasus who was wearing an eye patch, and a brown, red eyed griffon.

“Kriegstreiber…” Valdar’s frown deepened.

The griffon was dragging something along that looked like a body. The crowd exploded into frenzy. Most were yelling “Who the hell are you!” and “Where’s Razorwing!?” as Kriegstreiber stepped into the booth box and activated the microphone. The brown griffon let out a screech, calming the crowd down before motioning the mint unicorn to speak.

“My fellow Belkans, we’re all gathered here today not to argue with one another like simple minded creatures… but to unite, against a common enemy!”

Kriegstreiber motioned the brown griffon to step forward in which he complied. The brown griffon spread his wings and took flight, dragging along the body behind him. The crowd started to murmur, but it soon exploded into shock as the brown griffon showed the body in front of them.

Valdar narrowed his eyes. He recognized the body as the now former head of state of Neue Gryphus: Gerhard Razorwing. His body was covered in bruises and deep claw marks. Fresh blood still trickled down from his wounds.

“My fellow Belkan brothers and sisters, this is the kind of treachery that the Griffin Kingdom has done to us. We were once proud knights of the old days. We rightfully claimed this land to be our home, and we have the right to expand our territory to great lengths, how did those wretches of the north react? They casted us out! Banned us from expanding our territory! Invaded us! Forced us to use the seven pillars to seal our holy Fatherland from them!”

The crowd roared in response, clearly approving everything Kriegstreiber had said. The brown griffon smirked as he hanged the body of Razorwing on the main flagpole and tied the Neue Gryphus flag around his neck like a cape.

“This is the body of our so-called leader! Hmph, a leader worth dirt, that’s who he is!” the unicorn roared as the crowd yelled in unison, bringing their talons and hooves up into the air. “He betrayed every single code of the old Belkan order! He served the Griffin Kingdom, not Belka! He’s nothing more than Valdar’s watchdog to keep an eye on us, but no more! Today we stand as one! Today we shall reclaim our justice! Honor! And freedom! Today, Neue Belka is born!!”

The crowd roared in response as the griffons and the pegasi flew up into the air. The unicorns cast spells that erupted into small fireworks and the earth ponies rocked the ground with their hooves.

The griffons in the command center could only watch in silence as the crowd dispersed, and the brown griffon flew close to the camera.

“Hope you enjoyed our little broadcast…” He chuckled before bursting into full laughter. His maniacal laugh was cut short when the video feed ended.

The operators were either still in shock or in complete disgust. Everything the unicorn said in his speech ranged from being half truths to blatant lies. Belka was the first one to draw the sword against the world. Its citizens were arrogant and power hungry. They needed to be stopped. Belka committed atrocities far worse than the kingdom had done during the Equestrian war, and finally, Belka was the first and only country to use a weapon banned by Celestia herself.

Valdar let out a small ,unnoticeable growl. Belka, the now long gone Principality of the south, has returned with more than a vengeance. Valkyrie was still on their hands, and if the kingdom didn’t stop its development, the war could go on their direction. The Griffin Kingdom was unprepared for this, but he was not going to let this one pass.

He didn’t have any other choice.

The griffons on the front lines kept fighting whilst listening to the live broadcast from Sudentor. Some of them were very displeased if not outright disgusted by the entire speech.

Kestrel couldn’t believe what she just heard. Belka, or Neue Belka, was actually declaring war against the kingdom. She shoved this thought aside as she evaded another attack from one of Violet’s wingmates. Violet herself was currently fighting Black Star, though she showed less enthusiasm when she fought him.

Kestrel evaded another attack from another pegasus. She then brought her talons together and swung them down. This hit the pegasus’ head, leaving her dazzled and eventually forced her to retreat. Violet saw this and whined,

“Buck! Can’t you imbeciles do anything right?” She then dodged another attack from Black Star and retaliated with a punch to his stomach. Black Star grabbed her hoof before it could touch his body and brought his free limb into a wide arch. The attack impacted Violet’s face, pushing her back for a bit. But instead of groaning in pain, she was chuckling in delight.

“Ah, that was a good hit,“ she began as she rubbed her cheek. Her eyes now rested on Kestrel. “But you’re not really my type. Ciao!”

Black Star only raised one of his eyebrows in confusion as Violet winked at him and went straight for the griffoness.

“Turmfalken, eleven o'clock!” he yelled at her. Kestrel snapped to her left and saw Violet rushing straight for her.

“Hello lil’ birdy! Did you miss me?” she cooed, earning a disgusted snarl from Kestrel.

“Would you please stop calling me that?” Kestrel groaned as she tackled the yellow pegasus. Violet laughed and laughed as she and Kestrel continued to battle each other. The battle went on until Violet’s comm beeped. She let out a groan as she stopped the engagement and opened the transmission.

“Yeah, hun?” she began.

“Violet, the package has been sent. We’re going back.” Came the voice of Grau 1 from the other end.

“Aww, do we have to?” she whined.

“Affirmative, orders from the top,” Grau 1 said sternly.

“Alright fine, but you owe me one battle after this.” she smirked.

“Fine, Grau 1 out,” Grau 1 replied as the yellow mare closed the channel and turned her attention back at Kestrel.

“Well birdy, it’s been fun but I gotta go~”

“Not a chance,” Kestrel growled as she moved closer to her. “We’re taking you in.”

Violet just stuck out her tongue in response as the same teleportation bubble formed around her.

“I’m afraid that’s not your decision…”

The bubbles also formed around the defeated or unconscious mercenaries. Soon the bubbles gave out sparks of magic.

“See you later, little birdy…” she smirked playfully as the bubbles vanished into thin air along with the pony inside. Kestrel and the others saw the other mercenary forces also vanish. The battlefield now became silent with only the sounds of the howling winds blowing around the valleys and mountains.

“Altair Alpha to all forces, all hostile forces have disappeared. No threats detected.”

All griffon forces remained silent, trying to grasp the situation before them. On Sector 27, Both Silver and Crimson squadrons, along with the Royal Guards began to push Grau squadron and the unicorn battalion back when all of them vanished without a trace.

Then they began to regroup, and each leader gave a headcount. Miraculously, all members of the squadrons were there. Some of them had injuries ranging from a big shiner on their eyes to broken bones.

“Did… did we win?” a griffon from Crimson squadron began.

“I think so… “ Crimson 1 answered weakly.

“But why didn’t it feel like it?” Silver 1 pointed out.

“I was wondering the same thing… “ Crimson 1 said thoughtfully.

Back at Sector 37, Verde and Aquila squadron use this time to regroup as well. Like Crimson and Silver, all members of both Aquila and Verde managed to survive. Jet only had a broken rib bone, Black Star had bruises on his left talon and upper part of his body, Riddle broke his middle finger, Kite sustained minor bruises on his talons, and he was on the very edge of exhaustion, and Kestrel had bruises all over her body.

“That’s it?” Jet began. “We won?”

“No,” Riddle answered grimly as he turned his head towards the Windshear region. “This is just a smoke screen… a distraction.”

“For what?” Kestrel asked. “That revolution in Belka?”

“No, there’s more to that,” Black Star said.

“Indeed.” Riddle answered. “And whatever it is, I don’t like it.”

After hours of searching, flying, and evading the enemy’s attack, Red Tail was finally able to find the cub’s mother within the walls of Gryphus. She was overjoyed when she saw her baby again, tears of happiness flowed down from her eyes as she hugged her baby. Red Tail could only smile at this scene before he flew away to report back to his superior.

He found Colonel Tallman, slightly injured, but still capable to finish the evacuation in time. The old griffon soldier noticed Red Tail’s presence and frowned.

“Where have you been?” he began, causing Red Tail to flinch. “I told you to report back once you’re done babysitting!”

“I’m sorry sir. I stumbled into a few problems while searching for the cub’s parents,” Red Tail explained. “The good news is, I found his mother.”

“Hm, fine work soldier,” Tallman praised him. “I’m sure you’ll be a fine parent one day.”

This statement made Red Tail blush in embarrassment at the possibility of him having a child with his mate. Sure they were already dating for a year now but he still weighed his options between marriage and his job. This reaction made Tallman laugh in amusement.

“Don’t get too worked up soldier. I’m sure you’ll do fine,” he snickered before returning to his stern self. “Now I want you to check your injured teammates. You know what to do.”

“Yes sir,” Red Tail answered as he flew off to find his teammates. Tallman sighed in relief as he landed on the ground and walked through the gate. Inside the tall walls of the palace complex, the growing crowd of the civilians began to calm down as the Royal Guard motioned each group to a different section of the palace, hoping to distribute the large numbers of griffon families evenly within the complex.

The civilians were scared and confused. Some of them who were caught between the crossfire were still shaken by it, and a number of them had been injured by the mercenaries. The medical team did their best to tend the civilians and assured to them that everything will be okay. Some of the griffons knew that all this assuring was just an act to cover up the ugly truth behind this attack. Some of them managed to eavesdrop on the Royal Guard’s comms and conversations about the coup d'etat in Neue Gryphus and the worst possibility that the kingdom was going into a full war with its rebellious state.

Now some of them were anxious why the Royal Guards won’t let them return to their home. One griffon father asked Colonel Tallman about this. The old griffon just sighed and answered,

“I don’t know either, sir. We still haven’t got the word from the king yet.” The father couldn’t say anything after hearing that, and Tallman resumed his patrol duties. Near them, the cub that Red Tail found was clinging to his mother’s arms, obviously scared and confused by the situation.

“Mommy, why can’t we go home now?” Erich asked his mother.

“I don’t know, sweetie,” the mother replied, giving her cub a sad smile. “I don’t know.”

1404 hrs

An hour has passed since the sudden disappearance of the hostile forces. Valdar had called all forces from the griffon army to assemble in the courtyard. From the Medical corps and Royal Guards to squadrons and task forces were all gathered there, with each of their minds swarming with questions.

The civilians were placed in fifteen individual sections inside the palace walls. Each sections housed nearly 500 griffon families and provided more than enough food for them. The civilians were also anxious about this as they watched the giant television screen on each section which showed the crowded courtyard.

Aquila squad was standing in front of the crowd. Kestrel carefully tended Kite’s bruises while Black Star preened his wings. Only Riddle remained silent and unmoving, Black Star noticed this and saw his cold expression. His eyes no longer showed the mischievous griffon scientist who liked to mess around Kestrel’s head. His eyes seemed distant, as if the blue griffon was diving deep inside his mind. Black Star made a mental note to ask Riddle about this.

Every griffon in the courtyard soon shifted their attention towards the balcony, where Valdar stepped forward and revealed himself. His expression clearly showed concern about the situation. He then rose his right wing to silence the whole crowd before taking the microphone close to his beak.

“My fellow soldiers and citizens of the Griffin Kingdom, brothers and sisters,” he began. “You are all probably wondering why I called you here. Just an hour ago, there’s been an uprising in Neue Gryphus involving the MegaCorp, Gründer Industries… ”

At this time, Valdar’s assistant turned on the giant projector placed on the palace wall and showed the recorded video feed. All griffons, citizens, and soldiers alike gasped as they watch the brown griffon hanging the body of Razorwing on the pole with the flag of Neue Gryphus tied around his neck.

Kestrel’s and Riddle’s frown deepened when they saw the entire crowd raised their hooves and talons. But to Riddle, some of them just stood there, unsure of how to respond to Kriegstreiber’s speech. Some of them even ran away from the scene.

“… and the attack on our soil conducted by mercenary forces employed by them was nothing more than a distraction, for the coup initiated by Neue Belka.”

Then the video cut off and changed into a graffiti painted on the wall on the tallest building in Neue Gryphus. The graffiti was in fact the emblem of the Neue Belka movement. The emblem consisted of a large demonic griffon clinging to a gold metal frame which contained the colors black, gold, and white: Belka’s former flag. On the bottom, two red ribbons with the word Stolz written on the right and Ehre written on the left.

“Arschlöcher, Riddle growled in disgust when he saw the emblem. Valdar then continued his speech.

“Together with the mercenary forces, Neue Belka aims to re-establish the old Belkan order and to reclaim their lost land. We have confirmed that several cities near the Hoofstian Republic and the southern border of the Griffin Kingdom have fallen into their control, and it’s only a matter of time before they take full control of our southern border. For the time being, all civilians must remain inside the palace walls. You can make demands to the Royal guards if there were any valuable items left behind in your homes… ”

As soon Valdar finished this statement, several families began to talk to several Royal Guards stationed on the refuge camps. The leaders soon sent their underlings to pick up the items the families had requested.

“…I have already requested some assistance from Equestria. The Princesses have agreed to send the Wonderbolts, as well as three of their EAF forces to strengthen our defenses. They will be here tomorrow.”

The soldiers silently nodded in agreement. With the brutal mercenary forces on Belka’s side, the Griffin Kingdom needed some help to win this war.

“Until then, I want all of you to remain alert at all times. That will be all.”

With that, Valdar gave a slight bow to his citizens and retreated into the palace. The soldiers dispersed and went back to their posts. Aquila squadron, however, was instructed to enter the palace by Saetos under Valdar’s command.

Riddle entered first with Black Star following closely behind him, but Kite, who was unable to walk anymore due to his exhaustion, was picked up by Kestrel. The griffoness placed the small griffon on her back before she too followed both griffons inside the palace.

Riddle and Black Star walked slowly and silently through the hallways. Soon, Kestrel managed to catch up while Kite slept on her back. Black Star’s face softened when he saw Kite sleeping peacefully without a care in the world.

“What are you looking at?” Kestrel silently snapped.

“Nothing,” Black Star shrugged as he focused back to his front, and to some extent, Riddle. The blue griffon still had that thousand yard stare present on his dark blue eyes. Black Star remembered his mental note and decided to ask him now to pass the time.

“Thinking of home, sir?” he began.

“Yes,” Riddle answered bluntly. “I know what you’re going to ask, Blake. Yes, I’m worried about my family.”

“Family?” Kestrel cut in. “Don’t tell me your family was still in Sudentor when the rebels took over.”

“Affirmative, captain,” Riddle answered in a somber tone. His voice trailed off as he continued. “I called them this morning. I said that daddy is in the kingdom for some business work. My wife only said “be safe…” and then, Neue Belka happened… “
Riddle gave out a sad sigh.

“Haven’t heard from them since.”

“I’m sure they’re okay,” Kestrel nearly yelped when she heard Kite’s voice coming from her back. Apparently, Kite had been woken up by the three griffons’ conversation.

“I mean, not all Belkans are bad, right? So, maybe they managed to escape and are currently being sheltered by other Belkans who oppose the whole Neue Belka thing,” Kite explained. “We need to keep our hopes up in times like this. It keeps us focused on our goals.”

“He’s right,” Kestrel nodded. “This is no time for grieving, sir. If you believe your family is safe then, so they are. The faster we win this war, the faster you can see them again.”

“Maybe you’re right captain,” Riddle said slowly. The group continued their walk through the hallway until they arrived in the main throne room.

Black Star remembered the room well. He remembered when he told Edge to spy on Red Cyclone, and he remembered Cyclone’s laugh echoed through the throne room and into the hallways after he killed Silverbeak. Soon, the black feathered griffon dove deep into his mind.

Black Star found himself in a dark void. No floors, no ceilings, no walls, just him: him and an unknown light source shining above him. Soon, thoughts and memories from the past began to flood his mind.

Why did he tell Edge to spy on him? He could have done it himself and possibly stopped Cyclone from killing Silverbeak right there.

“Idiot! Why did you do that!?” A voice echoed through the dark void. Black Star turned around, but he couldn’t see anything past the darkness.

“Quiet,” he snapped. A shadow played with his tail, prompting him to turn around, but the shadow dissipated and formed right in front of him.

“You could have stopped him fool! Why didn’t you do that!?” the shadow snapped angrily. “Many lives could be saved if you took that one step, Blake! But no, you decided to play along until that bastard burned Equestria to the ground!”

When he heard the word “played along,” the image of Firefly popped up in front of him. The pink mare’s image soon disappeared as the shadow wrapped itself around her and swallowed her whole. Now the shadow took a form which resembled a griffon.

“Blake, Blake, Blake. Did you really think that joining that old fart’s team would redeem yourself?” the figure mocked in a voice Black Star knew all too well. The dark feathered griffon took a step back as the shadow’s beak formed a malicious smirk. The shadow soon changed its appearance again, this time taking form of a figure Black Star hoped to never see again.

Red feathers, red eyes, and a maniacal grin plastered on its beak.

“You couldn’t stop me even when you could!!” The Red Cyclone shaped shadow screeched at the griffon as it dissipated into its former form. The wrapped itself around Black Star’s body and began to squeeze his life out of him, laughing maniacally while doing so.

Black Star snapped back into reality when Kestrel slapped his face with her right wing.

“Wake up,” she snapped. “The king is here.”

Black Star shook his head to ease the stinging pain on his face. He saw Riddle already having a conversation with Valdar and Saetos. Once they stopped their talk, Valdar motioned them to follow Saetos to the Command Center.

When the group arrived at the Command Center, the entire room already winded down with only a few operators working on the radars. Saetos explained that ever since Neue Belka made itself known, most of the operators were transferred into several radar stations scattered around the Griffin Kingdom to maintain tight security on the borders and the surrounding areas.

“What you see here is what we got left ever since the war,” Saetos said grimly. “We still needed new recruits to get our strength back.”

“Then we have to make sure we make the best of it,” Riddle stated as he sat down in front of one of the computers and started to type on its keyboard. The rest of them soon watched him opening the Z.O.E. before inputting some keywords and searched the Equestrian database section. Saetos quickly caught on Riddle’s motive, and he too took another computer and started working.

The Z.O.E. or Zone of Endless was an endless virtual world created by the griffons during their industrial and technological revolution just a few decades ago. The Z.O.E. was initially a military-only project when it was created, but Princess Celestia had recognized that the virtual world had a lot of good potential for everyday life. Because of this, the griffons modified Z.O.E. so it can be used for data storing, communication bridges, and more.

“What are you doing, sir?” Kestrel asked.

“Searching for any data on our equine friends that attacked us,” Riddle answered without turning to face the griffoness. Black Star silently went to Riddle’s side and watched the blue griffon searched the Equestrian database for any information.

“There,” he spoke while pointing to a document marked as Exiled Equestrian Citizens. Riddle clicked on the document and soon, various data on exiled ponies appeared on the screen. Most, if not all of the exiles’ names, faces, and data were all censored, implying that these individuals were exiled for the greater good of Equestria. Any remaining data on the censored exiles were their initials.

The three griffons searched through the pages of endless data for any information on the mercenary forces. Kite became bored after fifteen minutes and decided to head back to his bunker for some rest.

“Ma’am, permission to be excused,” he said with a tired tone.

“Permission granted,” Kestrel nodded. Kite saluted the griffoness before exiting the room, leaving the four griffons to search the database.

Nearly five minutes after Kite’s departure, Kestrel saw an image which reminded her of the red maned pegasus she faced.

“Wait, there! That’s one of them,” she exclaimed while pointing at the screen. Riddle immediately clicked on the image, and soon, the red maned pegasus’ data was displayed. Nearly all of her data were expunged from the archive; only her nationality and reason of exile were left untouched.

{Reason of Exile: Suspect displayed a very severe case of masochism and sadistic tendencies towards others. ██████████ was exiled due to acts of anarchy and her involvement with a mercenary group which defied the princesses rule.}

The words mercenary group had a hyperlink which led them into another file named “Murtair Militia.” The griffons looked at each other before reading the contents of that file.

{Murtair Militia: A group of multinational mercenaries that was formed during Celestia’s lone reign over Equestria. This group consisted of ponies who were exiled from Equestria and other countries with varied reasons, ranging from practicing dark magic to assassination attempts on political figures. The group’s existence has been always a bane on not just Equestria, but to other countries as well. In 3 years, there had been a total of five civil wars erupted in the griffon countries on the far north, and suspicions began to grow of this group’s involvement on these wars, since they have been sighted at each of the aforementioned wars. Recent sightings have confirmed that the group consists of three aerial squadrons and at least two unicorn battalions. Any attempts to identify these pirates were highly unsuccessful because the members’ high regard for anonymity, and further attempts to arrest them proved to be more challenging than we thought…}

As Riddle, Kestrel and Saetos kept reading the description, Black Star saw the mugshots of the group’s confirmed members. All photos of the ponies’ eyes and mouth were blocked, but Black Star easily recognized one of them as Violet.

The group continued to comb through the file for any information about Murtair and their involvement with Neue Belka. So far, the data they collected proved to be insufficient for any counter plans to be created. Groaning in slight frustration, Riddle decided to hack into Gründer’s, or to be more precise, Kreigstreiber’s main computer database for any useful information.

The hack was a grueling task that took six hours of continuous breaking through the firewalls. Kestrel soon grew tired and decided to rest back on her quarters at the academy. Now, only Black Star, Saetos, and Riddle were left in the command center. The clock showed 11:23 PM, and Riddle managed to blast through the last firewall, opening access to Gründer’s main database and hopefully, Kriegstreiber’s personal files.

Riddle searched the entire database until he found the file he was looking for. A smile formed on his beak as he muttered,

“Alright, Ghunter Kriegstreiber, let’s see what you got for us.”

Carefully, he opened the files and combed for any useful data. A particular file caught his attention and he quickly opened it. Sure enough, the file contained most of the information they needed to make their first move in this war. Black Star smirked in approval when he read the file in silence. Saetos quickly left the command center to inform Valdar while Riddle copied the file into the command center’s computer.

“Jackpot,” He thought in satisfaction.

Chapter 6: Hunting Season

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Chapter 6: Hunting Season

Military Academy, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
April 24th 2020, 0356 hrs

It was still early in the morning on Gryphus, but Black Star couldn’t sleep peacefully. His eyes were bloodshot, and his frown deepened whenever his eyes tried to close on their own. He couldn’t believe what was happening to him: nightmares from his past actions were growing worse and worse whenever he tried to sleep at night, and now, the dark forces behind his torture had found a way to torment him during the day as well.

Every time he closed his eyes, images of burning corpses, a crying filly, and a desolate landscape filled with countless bodies of equines and griffons filled his mind.

Black Star wasn’t exactly proud of what he had done during the war. He had ruined a filly’s entire childhood, was forced to orchestrate a war, and was too late to prevent even more bloodshed caused by his so-called friend.

“Damn,” Black Star cursed as he nearly drifted into sleep again. He slapped himself to keep himself awake, but the stinging pain soon faded. and exhaustion began to wash over his mind. Black Star tried to prevent his eyes from closing, but it was too late as he drifted into sleep.

Black Star found himself inside the void again. He walked around, shifting his eyes left and right to keep an eye out for the shadow, but his attention turned to a spark of fire, which lit in front of him and soon grew into an inferno. Black Star could only watch as the raging inferno consumed everything in its path.

The griffon tried to fly upwards, but he couldn’t. Something was wrong. He couldn’t feel his wings anymore. He turned around, and his eyes nearly jumped out from their sockets when he saw both of his wings were gone.

“What!?” He thought in disbelief as he turned his attention back to the blaze inching towards him. Black Star yelled as he lept into the flame and ran through it, ignoring that the fire could burn his body into a crisp.

To his surprise, the flame didn’t hurt at all. He ignored this fact and continued to run forwards until he saw two figures lying just a few meters in front of him. When he got closer, the figures were revealed to be the smoking remains of Firefly’s parents.

“Oh no. Not this again,” Black Star muttered as he backed off. His nightmares always led to this scene: him and the charred corpses. But the outcome of the nightmare varied randomly, so he couldn’t predict what happened next. His eyes darted around, checking every corner of his vision for any sign of his little shadow friend.

“Where are you,” he demanded. “I know you’re here somewhe—UGH!”

Black Star was taken by surprise when one of the corpses grabbed his left talon. He managed to shake it off, only to find that his left talon was slowly turning to ashes. Black Star stumbled onto his back, staring in disbelief at his now stumped left limb. He then heard ghastly moans and groans coming from all around him.

The flames now formed demonic figures of numerous ponies, from pegasi to earth ponies; all of them marching slowly towards him. He tried to escape, only to find that his back limbs were grabbed by Firefly’s parents. Soon, his hind limbs turned into ashes,

He was completely at the mercy of these demons.

Black Star look upwards and saw ghostly images of Mirage Squadron hovering above him, each of them staring at him in complete disgust. The seven pegasi soon warped themselves into a single shadow in which it took another form: Red Cyclone’s form.

“Sleep tight, Blake…” The shadow Red Cyclone chuckled sinisterly. He roared into full laughter as the demons grabbed Black Star. The dark griffon screamed in pain as his body slowly turned into ash.

“No! STOP!! AAAAARRRRRRGGGHHH…”

“Wake up!”

Black Star opened his eyes and shot upwards, finding a startled and annoyed Kestrel by his bedside. He scanned the entire room in silence with cold sweat soaking his feathers. Kestrel raised an eyebrow in confusion as she stared at the frightened griffon before her.

“Something’s not right,” she thought. “This isn’t like him at all.”

“Is there something wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Black Star sighed as he got up from his bed before stretching his wings.
“Nightmares, that’s all.”

“Well, get ready, you dolt,” Kestrel scoffed as she turned around and walked to the door. “I only came here under Sir Wonderfalke’s orders to wake you up. The reinforcements are due to arrive in ten minutes.”

“And why should I care?” Black Star remarke. His answer was a glare from the pastel brown griffoness.

“Because the king has requested us to greet the Equestrians along with him and the Royal Guard leaders,” Kestrel pointed out. “Also, we will be greeting Princess Luna as well.”

Kestrel then exited the room, leaving Black Star alone. The black feathered griffon checked the clock. it showed 07:12 AM.

“I overslept,” he thought with a frown. Black Star quickly grabbed his comm and portable radar and gave his wings a quick preening before exiting the room, stumbling into Kite and Rave in the process.

“Oh, good morning sir!” the young griffon greeted. Rave just gave him a quick huff before turning her head away; apparently still mad about her humiliation from yesterday.

“Morning,” Black Star replied shortly. The three griffons then proceed to walk through the corridors, heading for the training grounds. Black Star noticed that Rave was keeping a rather tight grip on Kite’s back. Black Star decided to break the silence first.

“Are you two going for the command center?”

“Yeah, but Rave was just going to accompany me until we’re there,” Kite explained. “After that, she’ll return here for some more training.”

“Really?” Black Star said thoughtfully. He noticed the luminescent blush on Rave’s cheeks which confirmed his suspicion. He chuckled under his breath, but soon went silent again as the trio continued to walk through the corridors. Once they were outside, Black Star saw Breaker and Stalker doing a little flight maneuvering together. The black griffon smirked, the humiliation Breaker received yesterday had melted a portion of his pride. Stalker, on the other hand, was still hesitant training together with the tan griffon.

The two stopped when they saw Black Star walking behind Kite and Rave. Breaker’s face dropped into a frown while Stalker flinched a little before he gave a nervous sideways glance at Breaker; clearly remembering about that unintended punch he gave to the latter.

Black Star only kept his gaze at front before he glanced at the palace. Many griffon civilians were flying around it doing their morning routines, clearly accepting their temporary home. The skies were clear of any clouds and Celestia’s sun was shining brightly, as if the world have forgotten the attack from yesterday and the war.

Black Star stretched his wings and flapped them for a bit, warming up his muscles for the flight ahead. Before he took off, Kestrel passed overhead and heads straight for the capital, with Rave and Kite following closely behind.

After stretching his wings as well his back and his limbs, Black Star took into the skies and followed the trio to the capital.

Gryphus Command Center, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
0730 hrs

Once the three griffons arrived at the command center, Rave immediately asked for permission to leave, to which Kestrel complied. Before she left, she gave Kite a playful punch at his shoulder, earning a chuckle from him.

“Do your best, pip,” she said to him before she flew away. Kite waved goodbye before turning back to face the two older griffons who were smiling at him.

“What?” he asked in confusion.

“Nothing,” both Kestrel and Black Star said simultaneously. Both griffons realized this and looked at each other before Kestrel gave Black Star a death glare which he ignored completely. Kestrel scoffed and entered the palace, with Black Star and Kite following behind.

When they arrived at the command center, they saw a sleep deprived Riddle finishing his last cup of coffee while typing on the computer. Saetos was sitting beside him, he too looked like crap from lack of sleep. When Kestrel asked them why they looked like this, Riddle answered that they had been up all night formulating a plan for the upcoming operation.

Then, a Royal Guard entered the room and asked Riddle about the status of the plan under Valdar’s request. Riddle yawned before he clicked a button on the computer which ejected a small disk. He then gave the disk to the Royal Guard.

“It’s all good,” Riddle stated before yawning tiredly. “I predict a 75% success rate of this operation with a three griffon unit, a supporting griffon squad, and two equine forces.”

“I see,” the Royal Guard mused. “His majesty will be pleased to hear this. Thank you, Sir Wonderfalke.”

“Look, just call me Riddle, OK?” Riddle waved tiredly, nearly collapsing onto the keyboard.

“Three?” Kestrel thought in confusion. Before she could ask Riddle about this, the Royal Guard said that they were needed in the main courtyard by Valdar to greet the Equestrian reinforcements. Black Star was hesitant at first, but Kite assured him that the ponies had already forgiven the griffons for their atrocities.

Black Star was a little convinced by the young griffon’s words as they walked to the courtyard, but he still keep his skepticism. He just hoped that the Wonderbolts wouldn’t attack him on sight, remembering that he personally crippled their leading members on the war’s opening days. Kite, however was worried about something else.

When the group arrived at the courtyard, Valdar and several of the high ranking military officers were already there. Valdar wore his red cape for a formal greeting since Princess Luna would be teleporting the equine forces herself. Colonel Tallman of the 15th GRG, Major White Tip of the 12th GRG, and another griffon Royal Guard leader wore their armors and full gear. Kestrel felt left out since she was leading the 14th GRG, but she kept her professionalism by standing beside the other leaders for the greeting.

Black Star, Kite, and the Royal Guard member stood at the back, but Valdar motioned them to take a step forward to stand beside him. Black Star and Kite were hesitant, but ultimately complied to Valdar’s request.

Minutes ticked by as the group waited patiently for the reinforcements to arrive. Kite was nervous to his bones and started to shake like a leaf when the teleportation bubble formed in front of them.

“It’s alright, kid,” Black Star assured the young griffon. “She’s not going to bite.”

“B… but, I heard that she’s Nightmare... ” Kite stuttered nervously.

“Nightmare Moon is gone, kid,” Black Star cut him off. “You can trust me on that.”

Kite went silent, albeit still nervous about meeting the Princess of the Night for the first time. He had read the history books during his school days and he was interested in the Princesses of Equestria. Princess Celestia and Luna, who were named as Dagr and Nótt in the griffon history books, were responsible for the wonders of Equestria. They defeated the God of Chaos, Discord, and sealed the tyrannical ruler of the Crystal Empire, King Sombra in the far north.

At first, he thought these stories were fairy tales due to their absurdity, but when he found that they were all true, he could only imagine the horrifying outcome if Red Cyclone challenged the Princesses himself.

“He was toast no matter what,” Kite thought as he wiped some of the sweat off from his feathers. His heart rate began to rise when the bubble exploded into a burst of magical energy. In its place, now stood twenty equines, with one of them slightly taller than any of them.

”So that’s her,” Kite thought in awe as he saw Princess Luna stepped forward to greet Valdar in person. Valdar bowed to her and she too bowed back to the griffon king.

“King Valdar,” she began with a smile, “it has been a while.”

“Likewise, Princess,” Valdar smiled back. “Thank you for accepting our offer.”

“There is no need to express gratitude, Valdar. Equestria is always happy to aid our allies in need,” Princess Luna stated. Then she stepped aside to allow the Equestrian reinforcements to meet the griffons. The Equestrian teams consisted of four different teams.

The first was the Wonderbolts, led by Soarin’ under Spitfire’s orders. Under his command were Surprise, Misty Fly, Fleetfoot, and High Winds. The second team was a unicorn company consisting of five unicorns. They were led by a light blue unicorn, who went by her call sign: Quox. The third team was an earth pony battalion consisting of five ponies, and they were under the command of Bertz, a dark yellow stallion. The fourth and final team was a division of the Equestrian Royal Guard, which consisted of five guards, each with varying coat and mane colors. They were led by a pegasus stallion called Hammerdown.

All of them bowed to Luna before meeting the griffon king, whom they also bowed to. As each of the ponies met the griffon Royal Guard leaders as well as Riddle and his squad, Soarin’ for the first time in ten months after the war, faced the griffon who shot him down on the opening days of the war.

Soarin’ studied Black Star’s features, but there was something off about him. No longer he saw the merciless griffon soldier he encountered in the border. In his place now stood an exhausted, sleep deprived griffon who seemed to be deep inside his own world. Soarin’ coughed to snap him out of it, Black Star shook his head slightly as he groans before noticing Soarin’ standing right in front of him.

“Oh, it’s you,” he began. Soarin’ kept his mouth shut as the black feathered griffon searched for the right words. “Listen, about what happened on the border… ”

Soarin’ raised his hoof to silence him, but to his and the other Wonderbolts’ surprise, he extended his hoof to him and smiled.

“What happened back there is all behind us now. We have already forgiven you and your country for starting the war,” the light blue pegasus said. “We’re allies now, so don’t get so worked up about it.”

Black Star only stared at the light blue stallion in silence before he too extended his talon and shook Soarin’s hoof as a smile formed on his beak.

“Thank you,” he said shortly. The other Wonderbolts sighed in relief under their breaths, relieved that their second-in-command wasn’t holding a grudge on the black feathered griffon.

The rest of the introduction went smoothly with no problems on either end. Princess Luna and Valdar oversaw the entire introduction of their subjects, but when Luna saw Black Star’s expression, she could tell that something was very wrong with him.

“He looks troubled,” she silently thought. “I wonder what kind of nightmares he endures every night?”

Before long, Princess Luna stated that she was needed back at Equestria and would like to leave immediately. Before she left, she said her farewells to the Equestrian forces before turning to Valdar and spoke,

“Look after them.”

Valdar gave a nod in approval, just as a teleportation spell was casted by the princess of the night and she soon vanished from the courtyard. Valdar then turned to face the newly arrived Equestrians.

“We have no time to waste,” he began before he motioned them all to enter the palace. “Follow me to the briefing room.”

The griffons followed their king back to the palace with the ponies following behind them. Some of the ponies were nervous when they entered the griffon palace for the first time since the war began. Many of them expected the griffons to ambush them right there and then. One of Quox’s team members even whispered to his friend about this. One of the Royal Guards overheard his whisper and laughed.

“Don’t worry, we’re not going to attack you,” he chuckled. “Besides, we will gain no profit by doing that act other than being curb stomped by your princesses.”

The pony blushed in embarrassment when he heard that.

Soon, the group finally arrived in the briefing room. The briefing room was filled with monitors and radar screens more advanced than any Equestrian tech. Several griffon officers were busy inputting new data on the computers; two of them were Riddle, and Saetos themselves. The ponies gazed at the briefing room in awe.

“… *whistle*… Man, the mission control at Cloudsdale looks ancient compared to this!” Fleetfoot said out loud, earning a few satisfied looks from the griffon officers typing on the computers.

“Not to worry,” Valdar said when he heard Fleetfoot’s statement. “We’ll be sharing this gems with your country very soon. I assure you that your mission control will look like this, maybe even better.”

Some of the ponies, including Fleetfoot and Soarin’, squee-ed at the thought of improving their homeland’s technologies. Though magic still applied in Equestria, the ponies needed something else to help them with their everyday lives. The griffons who already succeeded with their industrial revolution offered technological gems to the ponies. Needless to say, the ponies, especially Princess Celestia, were amazed by how far griffons had pushed their technological knowledge to the limit. They had created computers, scanners, radios, and even an orbital satellite to transmit the signals around the world.

Princess Celestia saw a bright future for the world if these technological gems were put to good use, but she also dreaded what would happen if someone decided to use them for warfare. The Princess agreed the griffons’ proposition under one rule: that this technology shall never be used for warfare.

The griffons agreed, and soon, the techs were distributed all over Equestria and its surrounding nations. During this era, the equine world became a better place, but even old habits of the griffons still found their way out from the darkest pits of Tartarus.

Valdar went to meet Saetos and discussed about the upcoming sortie. Both he and Riddle nodded, saying that all the data were ready to be shown and briefed. The orange griffon soon motioned the group to sit down on the seats positioned in front of the monitor before leaving the room. The Wonderbolts and Aquila squadron were seated in front while the other units sat in the middle to back rows. Other than the Equestrian units, other griffon units were also there as well. Two of them were Jet and his Verde squadron and another squad of griffons who wore orange vests with blue streaks on them. The squad was led by a large harpy griffon seated in the back row.

Once they were all seated, Saetos grabbed the microphone while Riddle activated the large monitor in front of them. The monitor flickered to life as the emblem of the Griffin Kingdom appeared on the screen with a loading bar below it. The screen changed again and now showed a digital map of the Griffin Kingdom, Neue Gryphus, and the surrounding nations.

“Alright, let’s start the briefing,” Saetos began. “First, I would like to say thank you for the Equestrian forces who decided to aid us in our time of need.”

The ponies nodded in acknowledgment as Saetos continued.

“As you all know, yesterday at approximately 1317 hours, Gründer Industries have staged a rebellion inside Neue Gryphus,”

The screen now showed the Neue Belka emblem with the recorded video feed playing on the top left of the screen. The ponies cringed when they saw the body of Razorwing being hanged on the flagpole.

“This terrorist group, dubbed Neue Belka, aims to restore pride and honor to their former nation and to reclaim their lost land.”

The emblem shrunk and was placed in the top right of the screen while the main screen showed the map of Neue Gryphus. The words “Neue Gryphus” were erased and replaced with “Neue Belka,” and the entire country’s mass was shown in red with arrows shooting out to Hoofstio, and the southern region of the Griffin Kingdom.

“In under one day, Neue Belka managed to take over various areas of Hoofstio as well as the southern Griffin Kingdom. We feared that if we don’t stop them in time, Hoofstio will be the first one to yield to them, followed short by Dinsmark, Pisa, and eventually the rest of the southern region.” Saetos explained grimly. “As we speak, the Griffin Army has already been mobilized to the southern region to strengthen the dwindling forces at Dinsmark and Pisa. Crimson squadron along with Silver squadron were already dispatched to aid Hoofstio’s Air Forces to prevent the invasion from spreading.”

“Where does my squadron come in?” came the booming voice of the harpy griffon.

“I was getting into that, Colonel Rot,” Saetos stated. “Ursa Major squadron will be dispatched to Pisa to assist the forces there. Be advised, these mercenary forces are tenacious; they will do anything to take everything from us during this war. Hit them hard and don’t show any mercy.”

“Roger that, we will bomb them to Tartarus!” the harpy griffon known as Rot boomed in confidence.

“Lieutenant Johann can dispatch three or four fliers from his squad to escort Ursa Major until their delivery is complete,”

Jet nodded as he sorted out the three fliers who were going to support Rot’s team for the battle ahead.

“The Wonderbolts and Bertz’s team will be heading towards Hoofstio to support both Crimson and Silver on their operations. The rest of you should remain here on standby along with Aquila squadron.”

After Saetos finished his sentence, he ordered all the squadrons he assigned to be dismissed, in which they complied immediately. Soon, they left the briefing room and headed for their posts. The Wonderbolts had to be teleported by some of Quox’s unicorns to pass the Windshear Region.

Once they were all gone, Aquila squadron, Jet and his remaining wingmates, and the rest of the Equestrian forces turned their attention back to the screen as a new assignment was displayed.

“Alright, Aquila squadron, here’s your first official sortie: the data extracted from Gründer’s database, as well as Kriegstreiber’s personal files and memos, suggest that Kriegstreiber’s assistant will have a meeting with a possible informant from the kingdom.”

“Great, more traitors… “ Kestrel thought while giving Black Star a look of disdain which he usually ignored.

“According to the file, the meeting will discuss something about trading weapons and a new location about a secret stash that they retrieved yesterday. We don’t know the details yet, so our plan is simple: retrieve and interrogate the informant until he spits out the information we need.” Saetos explained. “The informant’s call sign is Lammergeier, and after an extended search through the citizens’ databases, we have finally found the possible identity of the informant himself.”

The screen now showed a bust shot of a middle aged bearded vulture griffon. Most of the reaction from the griffons (excluding Riddle, Saetos, and Valdar) were genuine shock as they couldn’t believe that the traitor would be him of all griffons.

“Is that…!?” Kestrel stammered, Saetos only nodded grimly to answer her question.

“Indeed, it’s non other than the CEO of the Gryphon Technologies: Aggrypa,” Saetos explained. “We know it was him since he’s got quite a history with the monarchial rule of this country, and fortunately, the electronic mail he sent to Kriegstreiber left his name and server untouched.”

“In other words, the guy is an upper class twit,” Riddle remarked, earning several chuckles from the others.

“Anyway… recent intel confirmed that Aggrypa and his bodyguards are en-route to the meeting place located at an open valley of Schmierfett Canyon, east of Pisa.”

The screen now zoomed in and showed a 3D digitized map of the area surrounding Schmierfett Canyon.

“The meeting is due within six hours. Aquila squadron, you along with Verde squadron must get to this location before the meeting takes place. Once you’re there, wait for the signal from our end until Quox’s company and the Equestrian Royal Guards are in position. Once the signal has been given, neutralize any hostiles in the area so the ponies can move in and secure Aggrypa along with possible ground threats.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Hammerdown commented.

“Yeah, like he said,” Quox added. “We’ll teleport there as soon as we can. Don’t start the party until we show up.”

“I won’t guarantee it,” Jet answered as he turned to Kestrel. “Isn’t that right, Cap’?”

“Well, I won’t guarantee that it’s going to be a party either,” Kestrel replied flatly. “This is not a game, you two. We don’t know what information they’re trading during this meeting. One wrong step and the info will be lost!”

The room fell silent after Kestrel’s minor outburst.

“I’m afraid she’s right,” Saetos added. “This is not a game anymore. This mission decides the outcome of the incoming days, if not the whole war.”

Everyone in the room let those words sink in into their heads. Truer words had never been spoken. If this mission ended in Aggrypa’s escape, or even worse, death, then the information will truly be lost, and he will take the secrets to his grave.

“Aquila and Verde squadrons will be referred to as Raubvogel while the ground units will be Jäger. Now, any questions?” Saetos asked, but everyone remained silent. “Good, dismissed.”

Everyone in the room stood up and left as the monitor was turned off. Kestrel, however stayed behind until everyone left the room completely. Riddle, who was about to leave the room for the command center, noticed her and asked,

“What are you still doing here captain? Don’t you have to go on this mission.”

“What about you sir?” she asked. “Will you be joining us?”

“I can’t, captain,” Riddle shook his head. “I stayed up all night, and I can’t even see my own claws without my coffee.”

“But who will lead the squad, sir?” she asked again.

“Blake will.” Kestrel nearly blanched when she heard that. “Hm? Is something wrong, captain?”

“Sir! You can’t be serio—“

“I am serious, captain,” Riddle cut her off mid sentence. “I trust him with my life, captain, so why can’t you do the same?”

Kestrel never answered, she only sighed as she turned around and headed for the exit. She opened the door, but paused before turning her head slightly to face Riddle.

“I have my reasons, sir,” she responded flatly before exiting the room, leaving a very thoughtful look on Riddle’s face. The blue griffon mused about her statement before he finally let out a chuckle as he left the room for the command center.

“Griffonesses… “

Black Star was walking back to the main courtyard along with Kite behind him. They, along with the ponies, had already put on their comms and radar scanners for the mission. It would be challenge reaching Schmierfett Canyon within six hours because of the distance between the canyon and Gryphus.

Schmierfett Canyon used to be a river that started from multiple glaciers within Drakenridge mountain range and converged into a single river which carved the canyon itself before ending in Mund Valley, Neue Gryphus where the river was blocked by the Avalon Dam.

Fortunately, Quox and her team agreed to teleport Aquila and Verde along with them halfway towards the canyon. When Kite asked why Quox wouldn’t just teleport all of them at the canyon, Quox only sighed before responding,

“Our limited amount magic won’t be able to teleport all of you to the canyon,” she explained. “Contrary to popular belief, unicorns didn’t have a limitless supply of magic like the princesses have. Sorry about that.”

“Oh, that’s a bummer… ” Kite sighed in disappointment, remembering his weak stamina. Black Star the patted the young griffon’s head and spoke to him,

“Don’t worry, I’ll carry you if I have to.”

Kite only stared at the black feathered griffon with a blank look, unsure how to respond to his statement. Soon, Kite could only give his warm smile and the words, “Thank you, sir!”

Black Star found some comfort within those three words, knowing that someone was genuinely putting their trust on him and not out of fear. Oh, how he missed those days as a regular griffon citizen where everything was still normal, and Rad never existed on his life.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” came the voice of Kestrel from behind him. “I’ll be informing you two that Sir Wonderfalke wasn’t able to join us in this sortie, and he pointed you to be in command of this squad.”

Black Star could just feel the disgust coming from the tone of her voice, especially when she said that he will be in command of Aquila squadron.

“Why did he do that?” Black Star asked, causing Kestrel to scoff in response.

“He trusted you, Black Star. With his life. Now come on, we better get going.”

As soon as she finished that sentence, she spread her wings and took off without saying any word. Kite could only look at Black Star in confusion before he too took off and joined Kestrel in the air. Finally, Black Star took off into the air and joined the other two griffons. Despite her dismay, Black Star took the lead position, and soon, the squad waited until Quox and her team could finish their teleportation spell.

Soon, the translucent bubble formed around the griffon squads and the Equestrian forces before they vanished in a burst of magical energy.

Meanwhile

Outskirts of Gryphus, En-Route to Schmierfett Canyon, Griffin Kingdom
0930 hrs

The black and red feathered bearded vulture griffon, Aggrypa, was sitting quietly inside his own personal wagon towed by his own men. In his talons were some important documents he needed for the weapons exchange with that unicorn’s assistant from Neue Gryphus.

Despite his own confidence, Aggrypa was worried as hell. Ever since the declaration of war from Neue Gryphus was announced, the Griffin Kingdom’s government, especially Valdar himself, began to show some suspicion towards Gryphon Technologies’ involvement with Gründer Industries.

Truthfully, he betrayed his own country to save his company’s skin from Gründer’s claws. That mint unicorn, Kriegstreiber, threatened him that if he failed to deliver the supplies for Neue Belka, then a mercenary squadron will be sent to pay him a little “visit.” Now, there was no doubt that Valdar’s men will hunt him down, remembering that little memo he sent to Neue Belka with his name still attached to it.

Aggrypa sighed when he replayed Kriegstreiber’s threat over and over inside his mind. He needed to get to this meeting quickly before the hunting dogs could arrive to capture him. He opened his comm and spoke through it,

“Bernard, inform our client that the meeting will be moved from 1 o’clock to 12 o’clock.”

“Yes sir,” came Bernard’s voice before Aggrypa changed the channel. “Gene, step it up a little. We need to arrive before the king’s hunting dogs come.”

“Affirmative, sir,” came the voice of Gene as Aggrypa felt his wagon moving even faster than before. The clouds outside dispersed when the wagon went through it as the wagon accelerated to their destination about four hours away.

En-Route to Schmierfett Canyon, Southern Griffin Kingdom
1057 hrs

Tracking… Raubvogel Team

Aquila squadron and Verde squadron streaked through the cloudless blue skies. Their heading was fixed to their destination ahead. It had been an hour since Quox’s company teleported them to a small town two hours away from the canyon, and the griffon forces had parted ways with the Equestrians and remained in radio silence until they could rendezvous near the mouth of the canyon.

As Riddle had already requested, Black Star was leading the formation with Kestrel and Kite behind him. Jet and his team were flying beside them. After an hour’s worth of silence, Jet decided to break the silence first.

“So… Blake,” he began, prompting Black Star to turn his head slightly at his direction. “Care to tell me the reason you flew back into this mess?”

“As I said before, Valdar gave me a slip, that’s it.” Black Star replied flatly.

“No, there must be something else,” Jet retorted.

“Both of them owe each other’s life,” Kestrel cut in, much to the two’s surprise, “or so I’ve heard. It’s a surprise he still cared for another griffon’s life.”

Black Star remained unfazed by Kestrel’s insult and kept staring at the blue skies in front of him. Fortunately, Kestrel’s words seemed to answer Jet’s questions as the green feathered griffon went silent and mused about the griffoness’ words.

Fifteen minutes passed by until an emergency notice from Saetos was received on their comms.

“Altair Alpha to Raubvogel and Jäger, we got an urgent mission update for you. Sir Wonderfalke will explain it through. I’ll patch him up in a second.”

Barely a second passed by when Riddle’s voice was heard from Altair’s channel,

“This is Riddle, to all units participating in this mission. Be advised, the meeting schedule between Aggrypa and the assistant has been moved from 1300 hours to 1200 hours. You lads better pick up the pace!”

“This is Aquila,” Black Star began. “We’ll speed things up right now, we can see that canyon mouth from here.”

“Verde here, the same goes for us,” Jet added.

“This is Quox of the EAF 13th Unicorn Company,” Quox said from her end. “We’ll try to teleport along with the Royal Guards as fast as we can.”

Without any further delay, the griffons dived down towards the canyon mouth on the horizon while the Equestrians extended the range of their teleportation magic to arrive at the area as quickly as possible.

Kite’s stamina soon wore out he began to have trouble keeping up, prompting Black Star to return to him and fulfil his promise to carry the small griffon all the way to the rendezvous point. Kestrel saw this and she only huffed in response.

The brown rocky textures of Schmierfett Canyon soon began to enter the group’s vision as they made their way to the rendezvous point to wait for the meeting to commence. The Raubvogel team arrived first, just in time when they saw Aggrypa’s convoy arrive near the mouth of the canyon.

A few minutes later, Quox and the Royal Guards arrived at the point and quickly set up an invincibility spell to keep them hidden from Aggrypa’s body guards’ sharp eyes. The team also maintained radio silence as they played the waiting game.

Schmierfett Canyon, Southern Griffin Kingdom
1144 hrs

Tracking… Aggrypa

Aggrypa waited patiently inside his wagon with his bodyguards keeping an eye out for any hostiles in the vicinity. His breathing intensified when paranoia kicked in. Aggrypa snapped his head toward the window. He thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye, but there was nothing but rocks and dirt.

The waiting game was excruciating for him. He saw his clock, which only showed 10 minutes had passed since they arrived. He thought his paranoia was making him see things that weren’t even there, but he was completely unaware that both teams from Griffin Kingdom and Equestria were slowly getting into position, ready to strike their prey at any moment.

Aggrypa’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest when one of his bodyguards knocked on the wagon’s door.

“Sir, the client has arrived.”

“Yeah, coming,” came the weak reply from Aggrypa. He collected all the documents and papers before stepping outside to greet his client. Kriegstreiber’s assistant, Rohling was standing there, and he was accompanied by several unicorns. One of them was Hog.

Aggrypa slowly approached the dark gray unicorn before putting on his fake smile to ease the tension of the situation with minimal effort.

“Greetings, shall we begin?”

Tracking… Jäger Team

Quox quietly watched the entire meeting along with her company and the others. She already ordered her team to disperse and surround the wagon with each Royal Guard supporting each member. The griffons positioned themselves high on the cliff faces and they were ready to strike once the order’s been given.

“This is Quox to Altair… ” she whispered to her comm. “My team and the Royal Guards are ready. Waiting for the signal.”

“This is Aquila,” came the voice of Black Star. “We and Verde have a good position to strike them on command. We’re ready.”

“Good,” Saetos sounded. “All teams, commence the operation in 30 seconds.”

Both teams silently complied to Altair’s request and started counting down. They made sure to open their channels so each team wouldn’t desynchronize the countdown.

29… 28… 27… 26…

The countdown continued as the team watched Aggrypa show Rohling the documents. The dark unicorn smiled for a bit when he handed the documents over to his assistant.

22… 21… 20… 19…

Aggrypa continued to show the dark gray unicorn the other documents and papers, including a black envelope with no visible words written on it. Both teams tensed their muscles.

12… 11… 10… 9… 8…

The countdown grew close as both teams readied themselves to strike the unsuspecting prey below them. Aggrypa continued to discuss important subjects to the Neue Belkan forces. The countdown nearly reached its end. Both teams were ready to attack.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

“All teams commence the operation!”

Following Saetos’ voice, Quox’s team immediately deactivated their invincibility spells on both teams. Aggrypa’s and Rohling’s group below were shocked to see the EAF and Griffin Kingdom forces appear above them.

“SHIT!!” Aggrypa shrieked as he grabbed any papers he could find and ran back to his wagon. Rohling only let out a curse before he ordered tohis bodyguards,

“Braun Squadron, eliminate those scumbags now!!”

“With pleasure, sir.” Hog replied as he charged a stunning spell and aimed it at one of Jet’s men.

“This is Altair Alpha. All units, engage at will!” Saetos ordered. Both teams immediately complied before they headed straight down to engage the bodyguards.

Hog and the other Belkan unicorns fired their stunning spells at Aquila and Verde, but their aim was sloppy, and the griffons evaded them with ease. Black Star was the first griffon to tackle with one of Hog’s men. The unicorn fired offensive and defensive spells at random, but Black Star remained unfazed and evaded through them before landing a hit on the unicorn’s head, knocking him out instantly.

Aggrypa ordered his bodyguards to engage, but they found their way blocked by the Equestrian Royal Guards. Hammerdown was the first one to face one of the bodyguards.

“Move, equine!” the bodyguard growled while flaring his wings, attempting to intimidate the small armored pony before him. Hammerdown kept his stern look before he pounced the griffon into the ground, causing his subordinates to attack the other bodyguards as well.

Kestrel managed to separate one of the unicorns, and was currently battling him one-on-one. Unlike the other unicorns, who mostly used their magic to attack, this one seemed to know the basic hoof-to-talon attacks and defense. Despite the unicorn’s impressive display of close combat, Kestrel managed to end the fight by using her wings as a shield before she jumped and delivered a kick to the unicorn’s face.

The unicorn dropped on the ground. He stood up and decided to retreat, letting the rest of his team fill him in. Soon enough, Kestrel faced three unicorns at once, who wasted no time on bombarding her with all sorts of offensive spells, forcing the pastel griffoness to gain altitude.

“Cheap tactics.” Kestrel scoffed as she dodged another burst of magic from the unicorns. She flew around to dodge the rest of the spells while Kite passed above her with a griffon bodyguard hot on his tail. The bodyguard growled in annoyance when Kite stopped in midair, causing him to overshoot the small griffon.

“Nope, wrong way!” Kite yelled at him before he flew towards the opposite direction. The bodyguard growled when he chased after him, only to find out that Kite changed his course again and flew towards him. The bodyguard tried to catch him, but Kite evaded his claws and kicked him in the stomach. This routine continued over and over until the bodyguard was exhausted and his body was covered in light bruises.

“Stay still, you brat!” he roared. Kite then immediately stopped just below him and shrugged.

“Okay, if you say so.”

The bodyguard smirked and dived down to deliver his attack ,but he was intercepted by Black Star. The dark griffon’s fist contacted his lower beak, stunning him and giving Kite enough time to gain enough speed to perform a body slam at him. The bodyguard fell unconscious as he crashed on the cliff face before tumbling down.

“Is he dead?” Kite asked the black feathered griffon worriedly. “I didn’t mean to hit him that hard… “

“No, he’ll live,” Black Star replied, “albeit with broken bones, and severe head trauma.”

Kite flinched a little when he imagined the bodyguard’s pain right now. Both griffons then heard Kestrel requesting some backup fighting Hog’s squadmates. Both griffons complied and dived down to engage the unicorns. Black Star and Kestrel found themselves clashing against Hog, while Kite offered them some decent aerial support through hit-and-fly tactics.

Hog was outnumbered two to one, but he kept his cool and blocked most of the two griffons’ attacks. Suddenly, a notice from Altair Alpha sounded from the comms.

“Altair Alpha to all units. We’ve detected ten bandits coming from vector 188 to your location. ETA, 2 minutes.”

“Thanks for the warning, Altair. Aquila out,” Black Star responded before he switched his channel and contacted Jet. “That’s your cue, Johann. Greet the guests.”

“Roger that, Aquila,” Jet replied as he and his squad turned to the west. “Leave them to us.”

Verde Squadron sped off to the west to intercept the incoming reinforcements. Back at Black Star and Kestrel, both of them began to gain the upper hand against Hog. The green unicorn’s defensive spells began to take more time to form, and his offensive spells were slowly decreasing their power. Realizing he can’t win this fight, Hog backed down and ordered some of his squadmates to take over.

“Running away, coward?” Kestrel asked the green unicorn. He chuckled in response.

“Call it a tactical retreat. It will be foolish of me if I were to stay and fight both of you again.”

After finishing that sentence, Hog teleported away, leaving Black Star and Kestrel to engage the rest of his squadmates. Despite Kestrel’s disdain on working together with the dark griffon, both of them maneuvered each other through the waves of offensive spells casted by the unicorns before slowly taking them out one by one.

In the meantime, Verde managed to intercept the pegasus squadron from the west. One pegasus was quickly neutralized by Jet, causing the other nine fliers to attack him all at once. Jet’s wingmen dived into the battle and engaged the hostile fliers.

One flier from Jet’s flight was forced to bail out after he was overwhelmed by two pegasi at once. Jet and his remaining squadmates faced the remaining nine pegasi, unfazed of being outnumbered. Jet growled as the leader delivered his first strike at him. One of his wingmates, a griffon who went by the name Lanner, blocked the attack, giving Jet enough time to deliver his own attack to the leader. The lead pegasus dodged Jet’s attack, only to find Lanner’s claws were already inching towards him.

The lead pegasus was slashed square on his face. Jet wasted no time bringing his talons together and smashed it on the pegasus’ lower jaw.

“Good night,” Jet stated as the pegasus went spinning towards the cliffs. The sickening sounds of cracked and broken bones were heard when the leader tumbled down on the cliffs before his body stopped at the bottom of the canyon, unmoving.

This sight enraged the rest of his wingmates, but due to their leader being out of the action, their moves became uncoordinated, giving Verde an easy win for this battle.

Rohling kept his head down from the missed shots and blows thrown by the battling forces. He noticed that Aggrypa had fled into his wagon, carrying the documents he needed to complete the exchange.

Slowly and carefully, Rohling made his way through the battlefield until Kite noticed him. He panicked and galloped when the cheetah griffon flew towards him. Luckily for him, Kite was distracted by a shot coming from a unicorn. Rohling sighed and made his way to the wagon.

Aggrypa clutched the documents close to his rapidly beating heart. Fortunately for him, his wagon was made from composite material strong enough to repel any attacks from the outside, but it still couldn’t repel any magic blast.

His luck ran out when a stray shot damaged the door, causing the bearded vulture griffon to yelp as the door fell to the ground. Aggrypa quickly leapt outside and grabbed the door before struggling in vain to get it back to its former position. His attempt was interrupted when a familiar dark coated unicorn appeared in front of him.

“Oh, it’s you. Tell your boss my apologies, but he cannot have these documents due to unfortunate circumstanc—ERK!“

Aggrypa was cut short when Rohling used his magic to choke and levitate him up before throwing him to the ground. Aggrypa tried to pick himself up, but Rohling pinned him down with his magic before bringing him up to face him.

“The documents… now!” he demanded, but Aggrypa’s delayed response made him growl and tossed the griffon to his wagon. Aggrypa groaned in pain, but Rohling levitated him again before pinning him to the side of the wagon.

“My patience is running thin, griffon,” he spoke maliciously. “Give me the documents now, or I will be forced to take it from your cold lifeless claws!”

“Okay, okay, you can have it!” Aggrypa pleaded as he handed over the documents to the dark unicorn. Rohling smirked when he examined the documents, but his satisfaction was cut short when a stray blast impacted one of the documents, ripping it to pieces and scattering the rest of the documents all over the ground. What was even worse, the blast gained Black Star’s, Kestrel’s, and Quox’s attention to them.

“You! Hold it right there!” Quox demanded. “We’re taking you in!”

“BUCK!” Rohling cursed as he teleported himself away along with several pieces of the documents. Aggrypa also let out his own curse as he spreads his wings and flew into the canyon as fast as he could. Quox tried to hit him with several stunning spells, but the griffon already disappeared around the canyon’s turns.

“Quox to Aquila and Verde! Be advised, Lammergeier escaped into the canyon. I repeat, Lammergeier has escaped into the canyon!” Quox yelled to her comm. “Requesting any griffon unit to pursue, over!”

“Damn! This is Verde. we cannot pursue at this time, we’re still engaging the reinforcements at our end!” Jet responded.

“This is Aquila 2, we comply,” Black Star cut in. “I’m still engaging the hostile unicorns, but Aquila 3 and Aquila 4 might be able to pursue him.”

“This is Aquila 3, I copy. Will pursue Lammergeier with Aquila 4,” Kestrel replied before she and Kite flew towards the canyon entrance. Kite was uncertain about flying inside the tight corners of the Schmierfett Canyon but Kestrel assured to him that everything will be fine as long he remembers his training.

Kite smiled before taking a deep breath and letting it out as both griffons entered the canyon.

The pursuit had begun.

1223 hrs

Aggrypa continued his flight inside the canyon walls. If his hunch was correct, the canyon will lead him to the outskirts of Pisa. He planned to use the chaos of warfare engulfing the city to conceal him long enough for the kingdom’s forces to give up the search and leave.

But first, he had to get there.

He was snapped out from his thoughts when he nearly collided with the canyon wall. He evaded the wall and turned towards another opening on the canyon. That was too close for comfort. Aggrypa let out a sigh in relief. He must remained focused inside the canyon. One wrong move, and he will be having rocks shoved down his eye sockets.

Then he heard an echo of one of the stones crumbling from behind him. He stopped and turned around to find two griffons from the kingdom’s air force in hot pursuit. He shrieked and bolted away, descending even further to the river below.

Kite dusted himself in mid-flight after he grazed the tip of the walls, causing several stones to come loose and fall into the river below. Unfortunately, this alerted Aggrypa of their presence. Kestrel groaned when the vulture griffon bolted away, prompting both griffons to flap their wings faster to accelerate.

“Alright, Kite. Stay sharp and keep close to me.” Kestrel said to the young griffon.

“Ok, ma’am,” came the reply from Kite. The two griffons then accelerated to keep their sights on Aggrypa’s tail.
The pursuit took them around the canyon’s rocky edges. Narrow misses were inevitable. Kestrel, being an adult griffoness, needed to keep her wings close together to avoid them from clipping the edges of the canyon. Kite on the other hand, was having a hard time focusing on Aggrypa’s tail and keeping an eye for the hazardous terrain around him, but his small frame gave him an advantage of maneuvering around tight corners which caused Kestrel to climb to avoid them.

“Focus, Kite, you can do this!” Kite quietly thought to himself as he prepared to made another tight turn up ahead. He tensed his muscles before making the tight turn, the jagged edges of the rocks nearly grazed his left wing, but he was able to stabilize at the last moment and kept his bearings straight on the canyon opening.

Kestrel climbed to avoid the jagged edges of the turn and descended again when the opening was wide enough for her to fly through. She was very impressed of her underling’s performance on those turns. She then rejoined with the young griffon as both of them made another turn on a wide gap which Aggrypa could barely turn to due to his ever increasing paranoia.

Aggrypa panicked as he made another turn around the jagged corners of the canyon. He nearly stumbled upon a boulder when he made that turn. He took a glimpse to his back and saw Kestrel and Kite were still hot on his tail.

“Y… You will never take me alive!!” He screeched as he flapped his wings harder to escape, and so did Kestrel and Kite.

The changing canyon geography became more and more difficult for Kestrel to maneuver in, but Kite remained undeterred. This was his first mission as a soldier of the Griffin Kingdom, and he was not going to screw this one up just because of a little canyon terrain. However, Kite soon felt his muscles beginning to ache, a growing sign of his depleting stamina, but there something else also caught his attention.

“Ma’am, twelve o’clock above you!” Kite yelled, which caused Kestrel to look up and see a pegasus wearing a gray vest with several blue streaks on it diving straight at her. The pastel griffoness brought up her talons in defense as the pegasus tackled her.

“Damn, this is going to take a while,” she groaned as she readied herself to engage the pegasus. “Kite, I’ll handle this S.O.B.. It’s up to you to capture Aggrypa!”

Kite immediately complied with that order and resumed his pursuit of the vulture griffon. If the changing terrain wasn’t difficult enough to handle, the incoming interceptors definitely took the cake. Luckily for Kite, his speed made him almost impossible for the pegasus interceptors to catch him, and some of Jet’s wingmates dispatched by him were there to keep the interceptors off his tail.

“We’ll take care of this, go catch that snitch!” one of Jet’s wingmates, who goes by the name Wave, stated to Kite as he engaged the newly arrived interceptors. Kite smiled and resumed the chase, feeling reassured that everyone got his back. Aggrypa made another sloppy turn at a tight corner, causing several rocks to came loose. Kite avoided the falling debris and kept his eyes locked at the vulture griffon in front of him. Occasional radio chatters were heard from his comm, but he payed no attention to it.

His only objective now was to bring the treacherous Aggrypa into custody.

“This is Quox, we rounded up some of the bodyguards. What is the status on Lammergeier, over,” Quox asked through the radio,

“This is Aquila 3. Don’t worry, Quox. Aquila 4 is currently chasing him through the canyon,” Kestrel answered. “Be ready to take the S.O.B. into custody when he gets him.”

“Roger that, Aquila 3, Quox out.”

Aggrypa descended and made a tight turn near the river’s surface, grazing some of the growing plants on the riverside. He was followed suit by Kite, who managed to evade the plants when he did a barrel roll before stepping on a stone sticking out of the cliff face to propel him forward.

Aggrypa cursed when he saw that and increased his speed to no avail. He was beyond exhausted, and he was nowhere near the canyon’s end. The vulture griffon began to pant, and his flying became more and more unstable with each flap of his wings. Kite saw this and decided to end this chase once and for all. Using every last drop of his energy, Kite flapped his wings and accelerated. Within 6 seconds, Aggrypa’s tail was within his reach, and he wasted no time on grabbing before pulling it towards him.

Aggrypa yelped when Kite grabbed his tail and tried to kick the small griffon away, but due to his pampered life style and lack of combat experience, the kicks felt like nothing but irritating slaps to the small griffon. Kite sighed in annoyance as he grabbed Aggrypa’s legs before subduing his wings to stop his mobility. The blow worked, and Aggrypa was completely dependant on Kite to carry him back to the rest of the group…

Until the small griffon realized that he was not strong enough to lift him.

Both griffons began to plummet down into the river, screaming all the way down. Luckily for them, they were near the river’s surface, causing both griffons to ditch into the river with Aggrypa unfortunate enough to be used as a cushion by Kite. Both griffons struggled to get to the riverbank, but Aggrypa was thrashing wildly: yelling that he can’t swim, much to Kite’s annoyance.

“If you don’t stop trashing around, we’ll both drown, you dweeb!” Kite yelled as he tried to get to shore. “Now stop whining, and help me pedal!”

Aggrypa reluctantly agreed to the small griffon’s request and pedaled, well more like waving his talons wildly around the water. Both griffons finally reached the shore, tired and exhausted to their bones. Aggrypa was the first one to break the uneasy silence between them.

“You know what, kid?…… I’m done with those fascists…. done!” Aggrypa took another breath to continue his rant. “… I’ll tell you guys everything….… once we’re back… ”

Kite could only let out a small sigh in response before an incoming message came from his comm. The entire communicator and the portable scanner were made waterproof by the designers, since they were constantly exposed to freezing weather, and sometimes needed to be thawed out. The comm was okay, but the portable scanner was turned off when it collided with the water’s surface.

“Aquila 4. Kite, you’re not showing up on radar. What is your status?” came Kestrel’s worried voice from the comm. “Kite, what is your status? Milvus, answer me!”

“This is Kite… don’t worry, ma’am… I’m okay with Aggrypa…” Kite finally responded, earning a relieved sigh from Kestrel. “We took a dip in the… river… “

“What?”

“Nevermind that, ma’am… I got him. Requesting extraction immediately. Aquila 4, out.”

Kite kept his channel open while he stood up and shook his entire body to shake the water off him before tapping on his scanner to turn it on. He could hear Quox stating that her team was on their way to pick up Aggrypa and him. After a prolonged effort, the scanner was up and running again. It showed Quox’s group moving and teleporting steadily towards his position along the canyon.

1235 hrs

The situation back with Black Star began to shimmer down. Most of the unicorns retreated after the dark griffon, along with several of the Equestrian Royal Guards, drove them back. The pegasus interceptors also retreated after several of them were downed thanks to Kestrel and Jet and his squadron.

Black Star evaded another offensive spell from one of the last remaining unicorns before diving and slashing his neck, severing one of his major arteries. The unicorn panicked when he saw the excessive blood pouring out from his neck. He tried galloping away, but soon he stumbled before succumbing to his wound.

“Y… y… you monster!”

Black Star turned around and saw one of the unicorn’s squadmates backing down in horror.

“Y… you… killed him!!” he stammered while pointing an accusing hoof at him.

“Yes, I did,” Black Star responded apathetically. “And I will do the same with you if you don’t get out of here now.”

The unicorn quickly got his message and galloped away, screaming his head off. Black Star sighed as he reached to his comm.

“This is Aquila 2, no more hostiles at my end.”

“I can see that.”

Black Star looked upwards and saw Kestrel landing close to him, still having that ever present scowl she had when she was near him. She activated her comm and switched to Altair’s frequency.

“Aquila to Altair Alpha, we got Lammergeier,” she stated. “Quox is currently en-route to secure him.”

“Good work, Aquila,” Saetos responded. “Once you’re all set up, you’re all cleared to return home. Altair Alpha out.”

Kestrel and Black Star let out a sigh of relief, knowing that this operation was a success. They got Aggrypa alive. Now it was only a matter of taking him back to Gryphus and extracting whatever information he had in his brain.

Suddenly, an emergency notice was sent by Altair to every unit working on the operation.

“Spoke too soon, we just got several hits on our radar,” Saetos said. “Contacts confirmed to be five bogies flying in formation. They are en-route to your position in high speed.”

“This is Aquila, we copy.” Black Star responded as he and Kestrel flew up, ready to face the hostiles. “We’re ready to intercept.”

5 miles east of Schmierfett Canyon, Southern Griffin Kingdom
April 24th, 1238 hrs

BLAU
Murtair Militia
1st Air Force, 3rd Pegasus Squadron

Blau 1 wasn’t happy about the entire situation. The meeting was in shambles, that fool Aggrypa was captured by those scums, and the interceptors he sent to capture Aggrypa were forced to retreat, courtesy of the kingdom’s forces.

Furthermore, when he learned that Riddle himself was leading Aquila squadron, he couldn’t wait to get some payback for his lost eye.

“Blau 3 to Blau 1, I’m detecting 2 signatures straight ahead,” one of his wingmates announced. “Confirmed their IDs to be Aquila squadron.”

“He’s here… Wonderfalke, “ Blau 1 growled as he stroked the eyepatch covering his blinded eye. “He’s going to pay for what he did to me! Blau squadron. Engage them at will. Show no mercy!”

“Roger!!” his team shouted in unison as they trailed off into the canyon.

Schmierfett Canyon, Southern Griffin Kingdom
1241 hrs

Black Star, Kestrel, and Hammerdown could finally see the reinforcements coming straight at them. Quox and the other Royal Guards had requested them to hold off the pegasus squadron until they could reach Kite and Aggrypa’s location. Hammerdown decided to come along with several of his subordinates to offer some support to Aquila.

The group waited in silence as the pegasus squadron approached them, Black Star smirked when he saw the flight lead still had that burning hatred for Riddle in his remaining eye. Once they were close, the pegasi dispersed and surrounded the group, eerily reminiscing the scene back on the Drakenridge mountains.

Blau 1 approached them and started looking around for someone, his frustration grew when whoever he was searching for wasn’t there. He snapped his attention at Black Star and pointed his hoof at him.

“You! Where’s Wonderfalke? Where is he!?”

“Sir Wonderfalke is absent on this mission,” Kestrel said in a matter of fact tone, causing Blau 1 to snarl at her.

“No one asked you, lowly freak! I asked him, and I demand that he answer hi—OOF!!”

Blau 1 was cut off mid sentence by Black Star who punched him in his stomach. This act provoked Blau 1’s squad to attack the group in unison. The Royal Guards were the first ones to act while Kestrel flew upwards before initiating her hit-and-run tactic.

Blau 1 growled when he recovered from the blow. His nostrils flared as he snorted at the dark griffon before him.

“Filthy dog!!” he roared at him, delivering punches left and right. “How dare you attack me!”

“You showed an opening…” Black Star calmly responded, trying his best to block his blow while delivering his own. “Next time, keep your eyes open.”

This statement only angered Blau 1 to his boiling point. The mad pegasus went berserk over him, but Black Star remained calm and evaded his attacks, though one or two blows managed to hit his body. Blau 1 roared as he prepared another attack, but he was interrupted by one of Hammerdown’s wingmates. Blau 1 growled again and began to deliver insults at the pegasus about attacking his own kind. The pegasus, a young colt with a light purple coat called Featherdust, merely scoffed and said,

“Those who defy the Princesses are worth dirt.”

Blau 1 was infuriated upon being insulted like that, but before he could do any damage to Featherdust, Black Star grabbed Blau 1’s head before he kicked them away. Featherdust joined the action as he gave Blau 1 a body slam, and the armors he wore doubled the pain for the gray blue pegasus.

“AARGH!”

Blau 1 nearly blew his head off as he roared before re-engaging both Black Star and Featherdust, but both combatants used his own anger against him. The battle looked one-sided for the leader, but his wingmates actually did better than him. Fortunately enough, the Royal Guards were actually able to keep up with the mercenary squad’s attacks. After the war, the training for the Equestrian Royal Guards was doubled under the orders of the Princesses themselves.

Learning from the griffons’ method of training, Shining Armor, the current captain of the Royal Guards, staged a perfect training method for his underlings. The Princesses even requested Valdar to send some of the more experienced GRG leaders to come and survey the training themselves. It took months to re-train the entire Royal Guards, but the training finally payed off for the ones engaging the mercenaries.

For the mercenaries, this rude awakening baffled their minds. If they recalled correctly, the Royal Guards were mostly very incompetent at performing their duties. Now, these new and improved members of the Royal Guards were actually pushing them back little by little.

“Damn! When did Celestia’s meat puppets become this good!?” yelled one of the Blau members as he clashed against a mare Royal Guard with a dark red coat.

“Shut up and engage!” responded one of his wingmates in annoyance. The Royal Guards felt immense satisfaction when they heard this, but Hammerdown told them to not let their pride to get to their heads and focus back on the objective.

Blau 1 finally managed to kick Featherdust in the chest, causing the colt to retreat and leave him to face Black Star on his own. The two combatants clashed again, and this time, Blau 1 managed to tone his anger down, giving him some boost in his reaction time in blocking the dark griffon’s attacks. After a brief but heated battle, both Blau 1 and Black Star stopped and glared at each other.

“I see you have improved,” Black Star began.

“Speak for yourself, filth,” the gray blue pegasus scoffed. “I only improved so I can take out that old falcon!”

“But he’s not here, and I’m your opponent now,” Black Star stated as he readied himself for another clash with him.

“Heh, you’re not even worthy for me!” Blau 1 sneered as he activated his comm. “Second flight, you’re cleared to move in.”

Black Star heard an audible “roger” coming from Blau 1’s comm before another message from Altair was received.

“Altair Alpha to all units, second flight of enemy reinforcements approaching from vector 180.”

“This is Verde, roger that, Altair Alpha. We’re moving in to intercept,” came Jet’s response as his team flew to the west to intercept the reinforcements. Quox also noted that her team had a visual on both Kite and Aggrypa down on the riverbank. It was only matter of time before they retrieved them.

This fact angered Blau 1. Aggrypa was now within the kingdom’s reach, and he will ruin everything Neue Belka had planned. With a roar, Blau 1 bolted away and disengaged from the fight completely. When one of his wingmates asked his intentions, the gray blue pegasus responded that he planned to enter the canyon and kill Aggrypa before he could speak out the truth.

Black Star saw this and followed suit. Blau 1 noticed Black Star pursuing him as he began to perform fast aerial maneuvers in hopes of shaking off the griffon from his tail, but Black Star was quicker than he thought. The black feathered griffon followed him and performed every single maneuver the gray blue pegasus performed with minimal effort.

“Gah! Why don’t you just go away!” Blau 1 growled as he turned around and delivered a punch which Black Star avoided by flying to the side.

He then grabbed Blau 1’s head before bringing up his fist and delivering a slap to the pegasus’ left ear; effectively disorientating him. As the dark griffon was about to deal the finishing blow, one of Blau 1’s wingmates charged at him as the others flew in and assisted their crippled leader.

“Why… why… why! WHY DID I LOSE TO YOU GRIFFONS AGAIN!!??” Blau 1 shrieked as he struggled from his wingmates’ grip. The pegasus began to roar and neigh like a primitive equine as his mind started to suffer a breakdown from the losses he suffered. One of his wingmates contacted Hog’s Braun squad to teleport them away, stating that the mission had failed.

“… And prepare the straight jacket, I think Blue is having a breakdown, again.” The wingmate stated worriedly. A loud sigh came from the other end of the comm.

“Alright, we’ll have you out of there in no time. Hog out.”

Before the kingdom’s forces could react, the entire mercenary squadron was covered in the teleportation bubble before vanishing without a trace. Jet reported to them that the same thing happened to the mercenary forces at their end. This sign marked the end of the mission for them.

“No enemy presence detected in the canyon’s airspace,” Saetos announced. “Quox and Aquila 4 have retrieved Lammergeier. Mission accomplished, all teams RTB.”

“This is Aquila 2 to Altair Alpha. Roger that, we’ll do a headcount first before heading back. Out,” Black Star responded before he closed the channel and let out a breath of relief.

The group landed down, and Hammerdown started to do a headcount on his team. Hammerdown and most of his underlings suffered minor bruises and claw scars when they faced the bodyguards earlier. However, Featherdust suffered from multiple cracks on his ribcage and needed medical attention immediately.

Once the team regrouped back at the canyon's mouth, they began their preparations for the journey back home. Aggrypa was cuffed despite his protests and had to be carried through land. Quox had also collected the scattered pieces of the documents on the ground, hoping that it contained additional information.

Using the remains of Aggrypa’s wagon, the Royal Guard managed to built a makeshift stretcher for Featherdust to lie on. Kite’s wings were too wet to lift him off the ground, Kestrel was kind enough to let him ride on her back all the way back to Gryphus.

Before they took off from the ground, Kestrel noticed a single piece of paper stuck to a twig. Fearing that the paper might hold some information, Kestrel walked to the twig and snatched the paper before examining it.

“Turmfalken, we’re leaving,” Black Star called out.

“Just a minute,” Kestrel responded before she turned her attention back at the paper. The paper was half-burned by the magic blast shot earlier, but she could make out some scribbles of pen written on the paper’s surface.

{Rounds stored safely S.A.I.T.N. for conquest… }

Chapter 7: Through the Fog

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Chapter 7: Through the Fog

Anything happened in the dark must come out in the light.

Sudentorian City Hall, Sudentor, Neue Belka
April 24th 2020, 2128 hrs

Kriegstreiber let out an annoyed sigh as he wrote down some paperwork in his office. He never would have thought that leading a revolutionist group would be this hard, but so far, the mercenaries. with some help of the blinded Belkan forces, managed to take Dinsmark: a city under Griffin Kingdom territory that was once part of the Principality of Belka. He was, however, displeased when Grau squadron reported that many Belkan forces were annihilated during the siege of Pisa, but this bad news was dulled by Pisa’s fall under the Belkan Army.

Hoofstio, on the other hand, had been showing some fierce resistance, despite the Belkan forces had used the city of Lumen as a spearhead to invade the small republican country. Furthermore, Hoofstio had been fortifying their defense around Airspace B7R: AKA, The Round Table.

The Belkan Army knew that if the Round Table was under their control, invading Hoofstio would be a breeze. However, The kingdom had already sent their top squadrons, along with the Equestrian Wonderbolts, to guard The Round Table from the advancing Belkan troops.

This piece of fact didn’t bother Kriegstreiber one bit. By tomorrow, he will have sent Lila Squadron along with Grau Squadron to assist the Belkans on taking over the Round Table. The two brutal mercenary squad would just be enough to snap the defense line on The Round Table.

His thoughts were interrupted when the muffled screams of Blau 1 from the isolation ward penetrated to the office. He growled as he activated the desk comm before speaking to it,

“Rohling, keep him quiet! I’m busy.”

“Right away, sir,” came Rohling’s response before Kriegstreiber turned off the comm. Seconds later, a knock was heard from the office door.

“Enter,” Kriegstreiber responded in annoyance. The door swung open, allowing a smiling Esser to enter the office. The brown griffon held a piece of meat with several bite marks on it.

“Oh, it’s you. And what the hay are you holding there?”

“Food,” Esser replied nonchalantly, taking another bite from the meat. Kriegstreiber nearly threw up at the sight.

“Ugh, this is why I hate you griffons in the first place…” he groaned as he turned around to get the disgusting image off his mind while trying to continue his work. “What do you want, Esser?”

“Nothin’,” Esser shrugged. “Just a little request to clean out some trash.”

Kriegstreiber stopped his work and turned to the brown griffon.

“What?”

“Y’know what I mean,” Esser said, his psychotic smirk now widened, making Kriegstreiber uneasy. “Cap’n Blue of the pirate seas had been getting kinda cuckoo ever since Wonderfalke slashed his eye out. I suggest we put him out of his misery.”

“No! I will not allow you to kill him just because of a measly problem like his pride getting chopped into pieces like that!” Kriegstreiber yelled at the brown griffon. “We still need him for the invasion efforts.”

“Yeah, yeah, but he obviously can’t do it with him throwing tantrums all the time, now can he?” Esser smirked before taking another bite from his meal as he leaned closer to Kriegstreiber’s face. The mint unicorn only stared at Esser’s red eyes uneasily.

“He’s got a point,” he thought as Esser broke the stare and continued,

“What I’m trying to say is, rather than kill him directly, you should let him wear that Exile armor we’ve been working on,” Esser pointed out. “The less he babbles around about pride and all that nonsense and does some action more, the better.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, griffon,” a cold voice said behind him. Esser turned around and saw Grau 1 standing on the doorway. The dark blue pegasus trotted inside while continuing where he left off. “Blue may be a prideful simpleton, but he and his squadron are under my command, and I wouldn’t let him wear those death traps until I say so.”

“Yeah, sure whatever, Gray,” Esser replied cooly, clearly remained fixed with his suggestion. Grau 1, or Gray, only frowned at his response. “So, how much did your squad kill today?”

“Ten,” Gray answered. “Eight civvies, and two griffon bombers.”

“Really? Is that all?” Esser chuckled before taking another bite from his meat again. “I can easily kill two times more than your entire squad did.”

“Don’t get cocky, griffon.” Gray spoke slowly. “Despite their country’s post-war state, they still can pack a punch. I lost four fliers to those scums.”

“Just four? Hah, glorious!” Esser laughed. “That means my team will be up for the next mission!”

“In your dreams, sicko,” a sly female voice called out from the door. Gray only sighed quietly as the owner of the voice trotted beside him before resting her flank to his. “C’mon, Gray. Why did you leave me like that? Let’s go another round, just for tonight… ”

“Violet, please, I’m tired already. I’ll fight you tomorrow,” Gray tiredly stated. Violet only pouted at his response.

“Aww, you’re no fun at all…” she said in a mock filly’s voice. Her expression soon changed when she saw Esser. “As for you, freak. My team will be the one who is going to face those griffons from Aquila, not to mention I will meet my sweetheart again.”

The yellow mare sighed lovingly, silently mumbling on how she will rip Kestrel’s wings off and will hang her body on her room as her trophy and personal toy. Unfortunately, her whispers could be heard by the other occupants of the room. Kriegstreiber was mortified when he heard that, Gray just rolled his eyes, while Esser burst into a fit of laughter.

“Oh, that’s gold! Ahaha…” the brown griffon chuckled, earning a scowl from Violet. “Using her body as a toy? AHAHAHAHA!! I heard worse nonsense than that!”

However, Kriegstreiber was very annoyed on how the other mercenary leaders decided to barge into his office and babble about their personal dreams in front of him. He finally had enough and decided to shut them up, but before he could do so, a hellish shriek got to him first, and it silenced the mercenaries. Seconds later, the desk communicator beeped. Kriegstreiber quickly activated it and listened for the caller.

The caller tried to speak, but the thrashing sounds and the screaming ponies in the background kept him from doing so.

“Sir! Endlich 3’s condition is unstable!” The caller said desperately. “We have to… AH!”

He was cut off by a crashing sound, which was soon followed by a ghastly neigh from the other end. The caller regained his composure and continued.

“We have to deactivate the Exile now!”

“No, don’t deactivate it!” Kriegstreiber snapped. “Tranquilize him and while he’s subdued, reduce the armor’s output to 20 percent, that should keep him quiet.”

The mint unicorn turned off the comm before letting out a curse.

“Those fools, I gave them the proper instructions on how to handle those armors! Didn’t they read the bucking manual!?”

“Manuals are overrated, boss,” Violet stated as she sat down on the couch. “We live in the age of technology and all that. We practically can get everything we want through computers.”

“Oh, shut your mouth, battle whore,” Kriegstreiber snapped. “Honestly, I can’t even find the reason why I employed you pirates in the first place!”

“I think the reason was ‘We’re good at killing, as long you have money’.“ Esser chuckled as he patted Gray’s mane, earning a low growl from him and Kriegstreiber. “Am I right, guys?”

“Says the one who leads a mercenary squad himself,” Violet remarked, rolling her eyes. “You’re worse than us, Esser. The only thing that made Kriegstreiber let you work with us was he couldn’t help but to feel sorry for your ass when you came crawling on the doorstep begging for a job.”

“Funny, the last time I remembered, I was standing and made a deal with him like a true professional.” Esser shot back at her. He then switched his attention back at Kriegstreiber. “Anyway, aside from Blue, I was wondering on development of the S.A.I.T.N.. You know, we still need Wonderfalke’s codes for it to work.”

“For once, bird-brain has a point.” Violet stated. “Those oversized guns of yours are useless if we don’t capture that falcon.”

“No need to worry, Vi,” another voice cut in from behind them. Everyone turned their heads and saw Hog entering the room while inputting some data into his portable scanner. “I admit, the supercomputers controlling the S.A.I.T.N. were the most advanced griffon tech I’ve ever seen in all my years. The entire thing operates like four rows of hundreds of domino pieces. One wrong piece, and the entire software comes crashing down and won’t work.”

“And I’m assuming that’s the bad news?” Violet said boredly.

“Correct,” Hog nodded. “However, the system codes can be overridden completely by inputting new command keys on the original slots, which contain Wonderfalke’s fail-safe codes. I can piece together the old codes, and then erase them to put in the new codes. If my hunch is correct, I should be able to get one of those turrets working in three days.”

“Well, thank you for this piece of information, Hog,” Kriegstreiber said. “It’s a lot better than to hear these two morons bickering about their nonsense and whatnot.”

“Why thank you, sir.” Hog nodded. “I’m also here to inform you that the production of the Exile armors are now proceeding smoothly. The armors should be ready for testing within two weeks at best.”

“Good, but what about the Valkyrie?” Kriegstreiber asked.

“I’m afraid Valkyrie’s construction will be halted several times due to Wonderfalke’s dropout from the project,” Hog explained. “We tried recovering the copies of the blueprints, but Wonderfalke seems to think one step ahead of us. All of his data storage, archive, everything had been permanently deleted from the Z.O.E..”

“Tell me something I don’t know!” Kriegstreiber snapped.

“Well on the other hand, we managed to recover several fragments of the blueprints from a… well… anonymous source.” Hog explained, emphasizing the last part of his statement. All the mercenary leaders, excluding Esser, tensed when they heard that. Even Kriegstreiber couldn’t help but shiver when he heard Hog’s explanation.

“The blueprints were very vague, and I suspect that they were beta concepts of the Valkyrie. But I’m sure with a little bit of tweaks here and there, and replacing the outdated parts with the newer ones, the Valkyrie will be ready in one month.”

“Well that’s good to hear,” Kriegstreiber spoke bitterly. The mint unicorn turned around and muttered to himself, “Now, how am I going to explain to her about this… “

“Pardon?” Hog’s ears perked when he heard that last statement.

“Nothing important,” Kriegstreiber snapped at him. “Now, I kindly ask all of you to leave me alone for tonight. Please, I got a lot on my mind right now.”

Gray and Hog nodded in comply as they exited Kriegstreiber’s office without a word. Violet soon left while giggling to herself, followed suit by Esser. However, the brown griffon stopped near the door and turned around to face the mint unicorn.

“Have fun explaining this to her.” He chuckled as he threw the remaining piece of meat to the trash bin located near the desk. Esser continued to laugh as he shut the door behind him. The mint unicorn took a brief glimpse at the meat, but the sight made him gag in disgust.

“Lunatic…” Kriegstreiber muttered as he pressed a button under his desk.

Esser could hear the sound of the metallic clang when Kriegstreiber isolated himself from the rest of the world. He chuckled as he imagined the mint unicorn cowering like a wimp in front of the screen while giving pathetic excuses to her.

“Enjoying yourself?” came a familiar voice from his front. Esser squinted his eyes and saw Hog in front of him, apparently waiting for him.

“You read my mind, Hog,” Esser chuckled as the green unicorn trotted beside him. Despite the strained relations between Esser’s squad and the Murtair Militia members due to the latter’s racism towards griffons, Hog was the only pony who didn’t mind the brown griffon’s presence at all, and in turn, Esser also respected Hog’s hospitality towards him.

“So,” Esser began. “I heard that you faced two of the kingdom’s aces.”

“I did,” Hog nodded. “They were good, especially that griffon with the black feathers.”

“Black feathers, black feathers… I wonder why that sounds familiar…” Esser mused for a bit before realization struck his mind. “Ah, you must be talking about Black Star, the Ghost!”

“Black Star? You mean one of those griffons that initiated the coup that lead to the Equestrian War?” Hog concluded with Esser nodding to confirm his statement.

“The one and only.”

This left Hog mused about the black griffon’s reemergence after disappearing for ten months. He knew that it would be irrational for Black Star to just return and offer his assistance to the king who wants his head in a guillotine basket.

There must be something else that made him this way, but what?

“I sense Black Star will be a recurring nuisance for Neue Belka in the future,” Hog stated. “I would like to request to our client that we must neutralize him first.”

“Yeah, good luck on that, Hog,” Esser scoffed. “Ghunter’s too much of a moron for him to realize that one griffon could turn the entire war to the kingdom’s favor. Besides, Black Star’s not the only problem.”

“Indeed, he’s part of a squadron called “Aquila,” Hog nodded. “That squad was formed by Wonderfalke, and it consists of some of the toughest soldiers my team had ever fought.”

Esser’s ears perked when he heard the word “toughest.” “Tough” means they were strong, strong means a formidable opponent, and formidable opponent means a challenge for him and his squad. The same strange, sadistic smile formed on Esser’s beak as he thought about facing Aquila and battling them all himself.

“Hm? Is there something in your mind?” Hog asked when he noticed Esser’s smile.

“Just imagining things,” Esser responded, earning a shallow chuckle from Hog.

“I hope you’re not dreaming about ripping your foes to shreds,” Hog spoke. “Your smile reminded me of Violet’s ever since she fought against that griffoness.”

“Pfft, please, nearly everything related to killing and bloodshed turns her on,” Esser scoffed. “That whore will target everything that manages to hit her hard enough.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Hog chuckled. “But that aside, I detected an unpermitted breach on our network last night. I suspect Wonderfalke was the one who hacked the network, since he is the top leading scientist and researcher at Gründer Industries. Plus, I learned that he personally designed most of Gründer’s security systems and Z.O.E. network.”

“That old bastard still got some tricks behind his wings,” Esser commented.

“I think the word “many” will fit instead of “some.” Hog cut in. “Every Time I tried to close the breach on the firewalls, the hole stayed open. I suspect Wonderfalke may have installed a bug of some kind on the walls to prevent any attempts to close it.”

“And it leaves our network wide open for them to access and gather any information that idiot of a leader puts into his computer,” Esser concluded. “We are really knee-deep in a shithole aren’t we?”

“I’m afraid so,” Hog nodded. “For the meantime, I will try to get that wall to close again. You will deal with Aquila Squadron, but be sure to ask Kriegstreiber’s permission if you have decided on anything.”

“I will, Hog,” Esser said as he stopped and watched the green unicorn disappear into another turn on the hallway. The brown griffon then walked on the opposite direction and heads straight for the underground floors. He chuckled sinisterly as he muttered,

“I will…”

Drakenridge Mountain Range (West), En-Route to Sector T10, Griffin Kingdom
April 25th 2020, 1201 hrs

Tracking… Raubvogel Team

It was a cold day for the Griffin Kingdom forces to conduct their latest sortie. Thick dark clouds laid huddled together as far as the griffons’ eyes could see. Despite the freezing weather, Aquila, Northwind and Verde Squadrons flew to their destination through the thick clouds. All of them wore goggles to prevent ice crystals that could harm their eyes.

Following yesterday’s successful retrieval operation conducted by the allied forces, Aggrypa was brought into the kingdom’s custody and was accused of treason with a possible death sentence if he wouldn’t cooperate. The vulture griffon immediately begged Valdar for mercy and stated that he would tell everything he knew to the intel departement.

Aggrypa spit out nearly everything he could remember; it took seven grueling hours to extract the information from him, and another two hours to confirm that he was telling the truth. His words was also backed up by the scattered documents Quox and Kestrel picked up.

According to Aggrypa, his company had secretly been supplying the Neue Belkan forces with numerous techs under a death threat. He also revealed that he wasn’t the only traitor living under Valdar’s beak. Nearly fifteen corporate individuals who worked at the Asgard industrial city complex were suspected to have some kind of involvement with weapons transfer and a possible development of a W.M.D..

Interrogation Room, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
April 24th, 1918 hrs

Aggrypa sat quietly inside the small room lit by a single lightbulb above. His wings, talons and paws were firmly cuffed, and the only form of entertainment he had in this room was a small radio with the newspony or news griffon talking the latest news on the war.

“Despite the best efforts from the Griffin Kingdom, the city of Pisa finally fell into Belkan control after a grueling six-hour battle. The kingdom’s forces were forced to retreat and create another defensive perimeter around Gryphus to prevent the Belkan army from advancing any further.”

Aggrypa let out another bored sigh; he had heard this news over and over again, and it started make his ears hurt just by listening to every word spoken by the newspony/griffon.

“If this is the method of torture they used, they were doing a good job,” Aggrypa commented to himself to ease his boredom. After a few seconds passed by, the vulture griffon let out another sigh. He was now talking to himself.

“It’s official, I’m going crazy…”

He groaned and banged his head onto the table with a loud thud. This was quickly followed by a creak coming from the door as Valdar entered the room accompanied by two Royal Guards.

“Evening, Aggrypa,” the orange griffon began as he sat on the chair opposite of the vulture griffon. “I hope you don’t mind my absence for twenty minutes.”

“Yeah, I do mind actually,” Aggrypa sighed. “I nearly went insane with that radio blabbering about the war.”

Valdar responded by turning off the radio before he spoke to him again,

“Alright, let’s start where we left off,” he began as he puts a recorder on the table. Aggrypa took his time, but eventually started to tell the griffon king any information he might have missed. Valdar listened closely as Aggrypa told him about the underground weapons trade and the possible culprits behind them.

When Valdar decided to ask Aggrypa about S.A.I.T.N. along with the burnt paper. Aggrypa shook his head in denial after he examined the paper.

“No, I’m afraid they never told me about this,” the vulture griffon responded. In response, Valdar motioned one of Quox’s underling, a unicorn mare who went by her call sign: Sapphire, who specialized in truth and lie detecting spells, to check if he was lying or not. Sapphire confirmed that Aggrypa wasn’t lying about his involvement with S.A.I.T.N., but the vulture griffon decided to tell them what he knew regarding this enigmatic acronym.

“I may not have any involvement with this… S.A.I.T.N., but I did see the acronym typed on the papers inside the black envelope I brought during the the exchange.”

Valdar immediately told Sapphire to inform her leader to check for the black envelope. Unfortunately, the top half of the envelope was burnt to a crisp, but the bottom half remained untouched.

The bottom half mentioned the same industrial complexes, along with the individuals Aggrypa listed during his first interrogation. There were also some notes about where the weapons’ stock was being stored; it was somewhere within Sector T10. This information would provide some useful intel for Aquila’s next sortie, but Valdar would have to wait, as he had to deal with the possible traitors inside his own country.

Valdar quickly took action by sending the Royal Guards to raid the suspected complexes, but what they found there shocked them to their bones.

Nearly all of the griffon workers were encased in colorful cocoons placed in the basement. When they were freed from their gooey prisons, the workers were deep in shock, and only a minority of them could be interviewed for further details.

Most of the information gathered by the Royal Guards was sketchy, because they were unable to extract further information from even the sanest victims found inside the cocoons All of them mentioned the same words over and over again.

Sucked dry… impostors… insects… black demons… love feeder…

Valdar and many griffons knew there was only one species that fits the description.

Changelings were notorious for their vampiric lifestyle, feeding the love from a victim until they were sucked dry: leaving nothing but an empty shell. Their last recorded activity was during the royal wedding in Canterlot, where their queen, Chrysalis attempted an invasion on the Equestrian capital. The griffons were even more surprised that Celestia was beaten in an one-on-one duel with the changeling queen.

However, they were eventually thrown out from Equestria by a powerful magic blast, produced by the royal couple themselves. Their last known whereabouts were unknown, but many guessed that they were still scattered in the badlands, south of Equestria. This fact brings up the guess if some of the changelings managed to escape the badlands and ended up entering griffon territory.

There had also been some sightings of other changeling hives being led by different queens living in different parts of the world, and there’s always a possibility that a group of rogue changelings decided to leave their hive and make a living as mercenaries, mainly operating as spies.

If so, then Neue Belka would use this opportunity to hire these changelings for their covert ops, replacing the enemy’s main players and take the opposing country down from the inside.

This revelation caused quite a stir amongst the ranks as the griffon soldiers started to suspect and blame each other for being a changeling in disguise. Even Valdar was questioned if he was the real one or not. However the situation quickly died down when the GRG found no traces of changeling intrusion inside the capital.

This gave some relief to Kestrel, as she wouldn’t have to worry about anymore traitors or to some extent, disguised enemy personnel lurking inside the capital, although she was still worried about that little scrap of paper she found on Schmierfett Canyon.

That single piece of paper managed to render Valdar, Saetos and Riddle speechless when the pastel griffoness informed them about it. When she asked the trio about it, they wouldn’t answer her, shrugging her off with “we need more evidence” or something that goes the same line.

Kestrel also noticed that Black Star went just as silent as the other three when he read the paper. This made Kestrel even more suspicious about this, and she wasted no time bombarding him with all sorts of questions.

But the only legit response she ever received from him was an apathetic stare from the dark-feathered griffon before he disappeared into his quarters.

Now, with Riddle finally able to lead Aquila Squadron again, the team was sent to Area T10: the former site of the Strategic Laser Turret Platform, or better known as the Burning Talon.

“C’mon, what’s the secret?” Kestrel huffed silently to herself as the squad passed through another thick layer of clouds. Due to the region’s mountainous terrain and freezing temperatures, Quox’s 13th Unicorn Company was unable to accompany them on this sortie along with the Equestrian Royal Guards. Because of this, Valdar decided to send Northwind Squadron, which was lead by Valdar’s wingmate to aid Aquila and Verde.

Furthermore, Saetos had informed them that the radar site near Sector T10 was in need of repairs, so the operators in the Gryphus Command Center would not able to see them during this operation. Radio contacts were still possible, but Saetos’ signal was lost about 30 minutes prior due to poor weather conditions. The team was now on their own.

Seconds after Kestrel shrugged off her thoughts about the secret being kept from her, Raubvogel team began their descent into their destination. Sector T10 was still 5 minutes away, but the griffons from both teams could already see the remnants of the massive structure on the horizon.

“Alright, lads,” Riddle’s voice began on everyone’s comm. “You all know the drill, deactivate your scanners and maintain radar silence throughout the operation.”

The griffons quickly deactivated their portable scanners and the IFF signal on their comms, making them almost invisible to the enemy’s radars. The griffons continued their descent when small snow crystals began to fall around them. Thanks to their keen eyesight, the griffons could now see the ruins of the Burning Talon clearly. Around the ruins, they saw some Belkan troops carrying the weapons out from inside the caverns.

While Aquila and Verde continued their descent, Northwind Squadron dispersed with each member stationed on different locations around the ruins. Some of them hid around the crevices of the mountains, parts of the ruins and on the clouds. Northwind 1 took the highest place along with one if his wingmates. He activated his comm and spoke through it,

“This is Northwind 1 to Aquila and Verde, we’re in position, you’re clear to land on the northwest part of the ruins.”

“Roger that, Northwind 1,” Riddle responded. “Keep an eye on us up there, Aquila out.”

“This is Verde 1, roger that,” Jet added from his end. Aquila and Verde then proceed to land on their designated spot, just below the remains of the destroyed tower before making the tower’s base. Jet motioned his subordinates to spread out and cover as much ground as possible, while Aquila and Jet continued their advance towards the tower.

Riddle carefully lead his team through the crevices in order to reach the tower, resorting to their wings if the gaps were too wide or too high to reach with their own claws. Due to his weak frame, Kite was forced to fly all the way up and wait for the rest of the team to reach him.

Suddenly, Kite’s ears perked when he heard hoofsteps coming from his left. His suspicions were confirmed when Northwind 1 silently contacted them.

“Northwind 1 to Aquila, you got two hostiles moving towards your position.”

“This is Aquila, thanks for the warning,” Riddle answered as he motioned his group to cease their movement. Kite lifted off and hid behind a nearby boulder. Soon enough, two Belkan officers, a griffon and a pegasus showed up from a cave, carrying a large crate with one of Asgard’s weapons manufacturer logo written on it.

“Geez, how many of these things must we carry anyway!?” the pegasus whined, causing the griffon to groan in annoyance.

“For the last time, a dozen more!” the griffon snapped. “Honestly, if you don’t like this job, then why bother taking it in the first place?”

“I don’t know what’s worse,” the pegasus scoffed. “My mother’s nagging or you griffons’ squawks!”

“Ah, shut up, you equine filth!” the griffon squawked in response as both of them rounded the corner and disappeared from the allies’ sight. Kite let out a sigh of relief before he motioned the rest of the team to continue their climb. Riddle arrived first, followed short by Black Star and Jet, then Kestrel. Riddle quietly contacted Northwind 1 to keep an eye out for any hostiles nearing their location as his team and Jet were ready to infiltrate the cave.

“I got it,” Northwind 1 responded. “I’ll holler if there’s an enemy unit approaching. Northwind out.”

Feeling reassured, Riddle and his team entered the cave with the former leading on front. From deep inside the cave, they could hear the echoes of Belkan officers, be it griffons or ponies, squabbling at each other. Once they moved even deeper into the cave, the voices became more and more clear until the team saw a light source from the other end of the dark cave.

“Stay frosty…” Riddle quietly whispered to the griffons behind him as they moved in. The lightsource nearly blinded them when they finally reached the other end of the cave.

The griffon team peeked and saw the once massive, collapsed inner structure of the Burning Talon had been converted into a large weapons’ storage base for the Neue Belkan forces. Some parts of the Burning Talon’s structure were still at their respective places, but most of them had been completely scorched or destroyed when the the laser facility exploded. Now, most of the structures had been replaced by the natural rocks and boulders from the mountain the facility was carved into.

Jet quietly whistled in awe as they saw numerous weapons’ stockpiles being transported out of the base. He and the others could see some changelings working with the Belkan forces, confirming the former’s involvement in this war.

Unfortunately, Northwind 1 informed them that the two Belkan officers from earlier had re-entered the cave to carry out more supplies. Aquila and Jet quickly distanced themselves from the cave opening and hid behind a large boulder. Kite watched as the two officers reappeared and made their way down to pick up more supplies while still arguing with each other.

“Damn, I never knew the griffons of Belka hated their equine brothers,” Kite muttered under his breath.

“It’s racism, kid,” Black Star stated. “Still one of the greatest problems in our world.”

“It’s sad, but it’s true… “ Kestrel responded to his statement with a frown. “Even though the Princesses have introduced peace and harmony to both species, not all ponies nor griffons accepted it with open claws or hooves.”

“Just be glad that we’re not like them,” Riddle said simply. “Most of those Belkans’ minds were still clouded by their own pride, completely lost inside their own little world and unwilling to accept the bitter reality.”

“Bitter reality meaning, they had already lost their country due to their own arrogance long ago,” Jet concluded. The green griffon sighed silently before he continued. “Man, I really feel sorry for these guys.”

The team silently agreed with Jet’s conclusion. Belka’s own pride was what really brought them down during the war. The soldiers were too stubborn to retreat, and they wouldn’t accept defeat that easily, leading to the Seven Pillars.

Suddenly, Jet’s comm cracked to life as one of his subordinates, Lanner contacted him.

“Verde 5 to leader, we managed to infiltrate the base at our end,” Lanner paused for a moment. “Bloody hell, this storage base is a damn gold mine!”

“Yeah, Lanner, we can see that.” Jet responded flatly. “Remain in your position, me and Aquila squadron will try to get a closer look.”

“Roger, Verde Leader. Verde 5 out.”

Jet closed his frequency as he followed Aquila down to the storage base, hiding occasionally when enemy personnel were within range. Lanner also went down to the base with his teammates, while Jet’s other wingmates, lead by Wave, who just arrived at another end of the base’s entrance, remained on their position.

The group came to a stop as two changelings walked past them, talking and hissing about the arrival of the weapons’ transport. Riddle and the others managed to eavesdrop on their conversation and caught the numbers 13346 and the call sign Bravo.

“13346 Bravo… “ Kestrel whispered thoughtfully. “Why did that name sound familiar?”

“It’s the rogue transport that took off without permission from Asgard,” Riddle explained. “While we’re engaging those mercenaries two days ago, I caught up some transmissions coming from the command center. That transport was really in a hurry for something.”

“Bastards… “ Kestrel growled as they watched the two changelings disappear into the exit. The group moved again, finally arriving at the bottom. Lanner also informed them that they had reached the bottom as well, taking out a Belkan pony who was getting too close for comfort.

Riddle scanned the entire base, dodging occasionally to avoid any eyes from detecting him. The base was undoubtedly even bigger when they were at ground level. Using his keen eyesight, Riddle managed to detect two large containers which had some black notes attached to their sides. Black Star also saw the containers before he and Riddle looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

Those containers must have a connection to S.A.I.T.N..

The group started to make their way around the base and into the direction of the containers. Though they tried to remain undetected for Celestia knows how long, this didn’t stop a couple of Belkan officers from noticing their presence.

One Belkan pegasus saw Kite stumbling for a bit, but he was quickly silenced by Jet’s precise blow to the back of his head. Another Belkan griffoness noticed Riddle’s blue tail disappearing into one of the crates. Her curiosity was quickly ended when Kestrel grabbed her from behind and knocked her out by delivering two quick strikes at the back of her neck.

This routine continued until the group arrived at the containers’ location, but the containers were surrounded by numerous Belkan officers. There was no way for them to investigate the containers without alerting them.

They need a distraction.

“Aquila to Northwind 1, come in Northwind 1,” Riddle whispered through his comm as he waited for Northwind 1’s response.

“This is Northwind 1, what do you need Aquila 1?”

“We found our package, but it’s surrounded by Belkan officers,” Riddle explained. “We need a distraction, over.”

1315 hrs

“Alright, we’ll see what we can do. Northwind out,” Northwind 1 said as he ended the transmission. He looked at his wingmate and nodded. Northwind 1 contacted his other subordinates about the plan while he and his wingmate carefully maneuvered the cloud they had been sitting on to a nearby entrance.

One of Northwind 1’s subordinates, a griffoness who went by her call sign: Archer, picked up a stone near her hiding place and threw it near a patrolling Belkan guard. The guard turned and quickly followed the source of the sound while contacting the other guards about this. Archer carefully made her way up to the mountainside and took a position above the unsuspecting Belkan.

Archer smirked when the other guards arrived. With a swift motion, Archer dived down and attacked the Belkan guard right in front of his teammates’ eyes.

“Buck! They’re here!! The allied forces!” the guard shrieked. Soon, the whole base was alerted of their presence.

At Northwind 1’s end, their trap was set near the entrance. Both griffons now waited for the right moment to stomp the cloud to electrify any Belkans who came out from that cave. Their plan went smoothly as the Belkan officers from inside the storage base came pouring out, huddled together in groups. Northwind 1 and his wingmate stomped on the cloud, producing a bolt of lightning which jolted the Belkans below.

Northwind’s little distraction caused the entire Belkan personnel inside the base to panic, sending them into a complete paranoia-fueled frenzy. The crews began to load some of the weapons into large crates before they were loaded into another entrance of the cave, possibly to load them into the rogue transport: 13346 Bravo.

“C’mon! C’mon! Let’s speed things up here!” a Belkan crew pony yelled to the others, earning many annoyed squawks and neighs from his comrades. Riddle and Black Star smirked when they saw the Belkan crews had abandoned the containers.

Unfortunately, a Belkan griffon spotted them before they could make their move…

“YOU! The allie—!!!” He was abruptly cut short when Wave, who managed to sneak his way through the chaos grabbed, his beak and plunged his talons into his throat. The griffon’s muffled cry could be heard from his covered beak, causing Wave to squeeze his talons deeper into his throat.

After a brief struggle, the griffon’s limbs went limp as the spark of life left his eyes. Wave let go the dead body and let it slumped to the ground. Jet quickly motioned his team to create a perimeter around the containers while Aquila investigated the containers.

“Make it quick, sir,” Jet said to Riddle before he went to his position. Aquila made their way to the containers and began finding a way to open them. Suddenly, the whole lights inside the storage base went dark, signaling the approaching enemy forces to their position.

“Oxide 2-4, do you read me? This base is compromised. We’re going dark to engage enemy forces inside the base,” a voice said through the comm of the dead griffon. “We’re sending the bugs for this job, watch out for their tricks, even if they’re on our side. Oxide 2-1 out.”

“You hear that?” Riddle began. “This place will be swarming with changelings real soon.”

“Don’t worry, they have to get past us first!” Jet responded.

“And if they get too close, we’ll crush them like the bugs they are!” Kestrel added.

“Well, I like your determination, Marie, but would you be so kind on helping us open this thing?” Black Star said dryly, causing Kestrel to frown at him in response. Because of the darkness, Riddle felt his way through the container. He frowned when he felt a large lock that kept the container doors shut.

“We need a key to open this lo—“

“Found it, sir.” Kite chirped, cutting Riddle off as he struggled to lift a long metal pole with a double hook end. “I think it’s a crowbar. We can use it to open than lock.”

Black Star remained silent as Kite handed the crowbar to him before he handed it over to Riddle. Kite also mentioned that there were more crowbars behind the container. Without a word, Black Star grabbed one of the crowbars and waited beside Riddle.

“Should we?” the dark feathered griffon asked as he lifted the crowbar. Riddle’s response was a sigh.

“It’s the only way to get this lock open…”

Black Star gripped the crowbar tightly before he swung it and hit the container, missing the lock completely. The thunderous metal clang echoed throughout the darkened cave, possibly alerting the changelings of their position.

Surely enough, the sounds of hissing and buzzing sounded from the entrance where the team entered the base. Several lights coming from the changelings’ flashlights were also visible from the bottom.

“Changelings incoming,” Jet muttered. “Verde 5 through 8, you guys take the position near that entrance. Me and Verdes 2 through 4 will be on standby on the bottom.”

“Roger!” came the simultaneous reply from Jet’s squad as they flew to their respective positions. The changelings soon came swarming in. Riddle counted about twenty one members or more.

“Oh boy, an entire swarm…” Riddle frowned.

Some of the changelings had blue eyes and wings, while the others sported purple and even orange eyes and wings, meaning that some of these changelings were not part of Chrysalis’ hive. All of them wore jet black vests with no visible numbers or any identifications on them. Their leader was the only one who stood out among them, wearing a green metal helmet and armor over his vest, which looked similar to the Royal Guards.

Black Star ceased his actions and stood still, using his feathers to blend into the darkness, while Riddle, Kite, and Kestrel hid behind the container. Jet’s team also took cover as the changeling leader began to shout orders to his subordinates.

“Search the bottom! Don’t let them catch you off guard!”
The changelings hissed in response to their leader as five of them moved to the path which lead them down to the storage base, followed suit by the others. Jet managed to keep the green feathers on his tail out of sight as a changeling passed his hiding position.

“This is bad, there’s too many of them!” Jet thought as another changeling passed by.

Meanwhile, Black Star continued to stand still in his spot, not moving an inch. The enemy really outnumbered them in this situation. Fortunately, a small stone came loose from above the base and fell to the ground, making a loud thud when it impacted the stone floor. The changelings immediately reacted to this and headed straight for the sound’s location. This gave Riddle an idea.

“Aquila 1 to all units,” he whispered in his comm, “try to make enough sound as possible. Make them disperse and take them out one by one.”

The griffons quickly caught on to Riddle’s plan. Jet’s subordinates began by throwing several rocks at their opposite direction, creating so much noise, that made the changelings respond by sending more units to investigate the disturbances, unaware that the griffons were already lying in wait for them in the darkness.

A changeling with bright orange eyes arrived at the source of the sound, only to find the stone thrown by one of Jet’s subordinates. Realizing this was a trap for them, he tried to warn the others, but his warning came too late, as one of Jet’s subordinates tackled him from behind and dragged him into the darkness. Soon enough, the other changelings were taken by surprise and were quickly dragged away from their spot.

“What’s happening down there?” The changeling captain muttered when he noticed the sudden decrease of his subordinates. Another changeling’s snarl was silenced when he too was dragged off into the darkness.

Realizing that the griffons had the advantage in the complete darkness, he decided to switch the lights back on, not realizing his mistake. When the lights were turned on, Jet was already in front of him, bringing his sharp talons into the changeling captain’s face, causing the other changelings to attack the now very visible griffon forces.

The changeling captain managed to recover from Jet’s blow; his armor and exoskeleton prevented Jet’s talon from doing damage to him.

“All changeling units, attack!” the captain hissed. The griffons also engaged the changelings, and some of them even flew up and battled in the base’s wide chamber. Riddle instructed Kestrel and Kite to assist Verde on handling the changelings while he and Black Star would try to open the container. Both griffons nodded in response as they flew to engage the changelings.

Black Star brought the crowbar back and swung it towards the lock, hitting it dead center. The hard metal slam surprised the changelings long enough for the griffons to gain some advantage. Riddle grabbed another crowbar before, he too, swung it towards the lock. This time, the blow dented the lock.

“Three more swings should do it, Blake!” Riddle stated to the dark feathered griffon as the latter readied himself to strike the lock again. However, the changeling captain noticed their actions and decided to stop them from finding out what was inside the container.

With a mighty snarl, the changeling captain dove down to Riddle and Black Star’s location. Riddle and Black Star noticed his loud arrival, at Riddle quickly brought the crowbar at his eye level while Black Star focused back on the lock.

When the changeling captain was close, Riddle swung the crowbar but the blow missed the changeling by several inches. Before the changeling captain could gloat about Riddle’s missed blow, he never noticed Black Star’s crowbar swinging at the back of his skull until the hard metal surface impacted him.

A sickening crack was heard as the crowbar cracked the changeling’s exoskeleton, knocking him out immediately.

“The captain is down!” one changeling hissed.

“Doesn’t matter! Keep engaging!” Another changeling barked. Despite their tenacity, the changelings were quickly disorganized without a leader. and most of them chose to retreat. Some of them even tried to convince their stubborn comrades to come along with them.

Despite the disarray, some of the changelings managed to knock out three of Jet’s subordinates and inflicted a severe wound to Kestrel’s left arm. The pastel brown griffoness gritted her beak, trying to overcome the excruciating pain while she continued to engage the large changeling who wounded her in the first place.

The changeling let out a sinister bug-like growl as he readied himself for another attack, only to be interrupted by Kite’s swift jab to his chin. The changeling staggered back, but before he could fully recover, Kestrel let out a screech before kicking him in the abdomen. Kite used this chance to gain some distance between him and the changeling. Once he was far enough, he flew back at high speed and rammed the crippled changeling, sending him crashing to a weapon stock tent. Soon, the whole tent came crashing down onto him, incapacitating him.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” Kite asked in concern as he saw the bleeding wound on Kestrel’s left arm. “Your arm…”

“It’s just a scratch, Kite,” Kestrel stated as she picked up a portable bandage and wrapped it around the wound. “Scratches heal overtime.”

Though Kite felt assured by Kestrel's words, he was still hesitant about letting his instructor be alone for now. He decided to contact Riddle for further instructions.

“Aquila 4 to 1. Sir, Captain Turmfalken has been injured,” Kite explained, unknowingly earning a glare from Kestrel. “The wound looks bad.”

At this time, Kestrel decided to cut in.

“This is Aquila 3 to 1. It’s just a scratch, sir, nothing life-threatening.”

“But, ma’am!” Kite interrupted. “That wound’s too deep to be scratch! You should—”

“I would not leave my duty as a soldier, Milvus.” Kestrel said sternly, shutting Kite’s beak. “I will continue fighting, despite the risks it provides.”

Kite wasn’t able to find the right words to reason with his superior, nor he could call her out for being stubborn. The recruits of the Gryphus Military Academy always knew that Captain Marie “Kestrel” Turmfalken was known for her stubbornness and refusal to back down from any fight, hence why they were put under heavy training by the pastel griffoness.

Kite glanced back at the covered wound. The bleeding had already stopped, but the pain must have been unbearable, as he saw Kestrel flinching for a bit. Finally, he found his voice again as he stepped forward.

“At least let me fight with you, ma’am,” he stated.

Before Kestrel could respond, a loud screech came from behind her. She quickly brought her right talon for defense, but due to her wound, her reaction wasn’t fast enough to block the changeling’s attack. Kite however, was ready and quickly sprinted forward to face the changeling. Kite’s sudden attack made the changeling’s blow miss Kestrel completely, giving Kestrel enough time to turn around and face the changeling with Kite.

The changeling crouched like a lion waiting to strike its prey, and the two griffons did the same. The changeling let out a hiss before shooting a concentrated magic blast at Kite. The small griffon stepped out of the way, but the changeling paunced him when he did that. Both struggled from each other’s grip while trying to inflict as much damage as possible. The changeling soon found himself being lifted by Kestrel, and before he even realized it, she threw him up into the ceiling.

The changeling screamed in pain as his body slammed into the rocky ceiling before falling to the weapons’ tent below. The ceiling where the changeling crashed came loose, and rocks fell right on top of the changeling, killing him and detonating the weapons stock.

The griffons and the changelings stopped their engagement and noticed the small explosion. Their minds still processing the situation, but soon, their minds quickly led to a frightening conclusion.

Explosion means fire, and this place was loaded with time bombs.

One of the changelings was quick to react to this and activated his comm.

“Hex 3 to all units, leave this place immediately! This place is going to Tartarus!!”

The changelings ceased their engagement and fled towards the exits as another explosion rocked the base. Jet wasted no time by warning his subordinates to “get the hell out of this base.”

Meanwhile, Riddle and Black Star managed to open the container right before Kestrel defeated the changeling and caused the explosion. The container was loaded with four huge, uniquely-shaped missiles, each positioned at its own slot within the container.

Both griffons struggled as they dragged one of the missiles stored at the bottom from the container. Kestrel and Kite finally returned to the container with the former, apologizing for accidently jeopardizing the entire mission.

“We need to get out of here, sir! This place is going to blow!” Kestrel continued, but Riddle was still fixated on the missile.

“Sir!”

“Not now, captain,” Riddle said without looking back as he carefully analyzed the missile. The present frown on his beak grew more and more as he carefully analyzed the missile’s structure externally.

“Multiple highly combustible warheads. Warheads presumed to be a highly modified version of the burst missile that can cover more area within its blast radius. Sleek design to achieve speeds of 6 kilometers per second… There’s no doubt about it, these are S.A.I.T.N.’s rounds… ”

Riddle was mortified when he finished that conclusion inside his head. His dread caused him to slump to the ground, unable to respond to Kestrel’s desperate calls to leave the burning base. He finally snapped out of it when his comm crackled to life.

“Northwind to Aquila, sir, the transport is trying to escape. Verde has confirmed at least one large container is aboard the transport! I’m currently en-route towards their position, but I need some help. Northwind out.”

Hearing this, Riddle immediately ordered everyone to get out from the base. Jet’s remaining units, the changelings and Riddle’s squad flew towards the exits with Riddle and Black Star following close behind. Remembering Northwind’s message about the escaping transport, Riddle activated his comm and contacted Kestrel and Black Star.

“Aquila 2 and 3. Once we’re outside, pursue the transport along with Northwind 1.”

“This is Black Star, Aquila 2. I copy,” came Black Star’s monotonous response.

“This is Kestrel, Aquila 3. Roger that, sir. Will pursue transport with Aquila 2 and Northwind 1,” Kestrel added. Riddle could hear disgust in her tone when she announced Black Star’s call sign.

Another explosion rocked the the entire base as the raging inferno reached the containers. Every griffon and changeling sped up their flight as they raced towards the exit, forgetting that they were suppose to be fighting each other just a while ago.

The flames continued licking the S.A.I.T.N. rounds, heating up the warheads to critical levels. Aquila squadron, Jet’s remaining subordinates and some of the changelings managed to escape just in time when the warheads finally exploded, ripping apart the base and causing a massive cave-in. Unfortunately, one of Jet’s subordinates got crushed by the falling rocks and boulders along with remaining changelings.

Another explosion was heard; this time it was powerful enough to breach through the mountainside and destroy the remaining structures of the Burning Talon. Thick black smoke rose from the hole and the exits, but Black Star and Kestrel paid no attention to it.

Their priority now was to stop the transport from escaping with the remaining container.

Both griffons immediately switched on their radars and turned left, heading for the other side of the destroyed base. Black Star opened his comm and contacted Northwind 1.

“Aquila 2 to Northwind 1. Rod, what is your status?”

“This is Northwind 1. I’m still in pursuit of the transport.” Northwind 1, or Rod, responded. “They aren’t throwing anything at me just yet but I detected several changelings and Belkan pegasi en-route to my position.”

Rod’s statement was indeed correct as Black Star and Kestrel saw multiple signatures on their scanners.

“Roger, Northwind 1. I’ll thin out the swarm while you and Aquila 3 pursue that transport. Aquila 2, out.”

Kestrel just looked at Black Star with an unimpressed look on her face.

“Do you expect me to follow your orders?” she snapped.

“Actually, yes. I’m second-in-command after all,” Black Star pointed bluntly. Kestrel just snarled at him, causing him to speak again. “Listen, it’s either you engage those bastards with an injury like that, or you pursue that transport, which take less engagement.”

Kestrel wasn’t able to respond to his statement. After a brief glare directed to him, the griffoness sighed and uttered a disdainful “Roger” at him before increasing her speed to pursue the transport. Black Star stopped in midair and turned around to see the incoming enemy forces flying right at him.

With a determined look, Black Star flew to the swarm and engaged any enemy units he could take. Despite being outnumbered, Black Star didn’t plan to stop as he kept giving quick jabs and slashes left and right. He even kept his comm open to listen to the mission’s progress.

“This is Aquila 3,” Kestrel’s voice sounded through the comm. “Northwind 1 and I are in pursuit of the rogue transport. Will neutralize the transport’s pullers if they won’t co-operate.”

“Roger that, Aquila 3,” Riddle’s voice responded. “What about Aquila 2’s status, over?”

There was a brief silence from the other end.

“He’s engaging the enemy swarm behind us, sir… he’s on his own.”

Before Riddle could reply, Kite suddenly cut into their comms.

“Sir, requesting permission to assist Captain Black Star!”

“This is Verde 1, I agree with the kid,” Jet’s voice came in. “We can’t just leave him alone like that, I’m ready to dispatch Wave and Scunner to aid him.”

Almost immediately, Riddle complied with their requests. Kite wasted no time by kicking into his high gear and accelerated towards Black Star’s location. Jet’s subordinates, Wave and Scunner, followed behind the small griffon soldier.

Their predictions were correct, Black Star was slowly being overwhelmed by the sheer number of changelings and pegasi attacking him. What was worse, the changelings morphed themselves into the fitting image of the Belkan pegasi and began to adopt their fighting styles, causing Black Star to find himself fighting multiple pegasi with the same face thrice in a row.
His luck finally ran out as a changeling pegasus managed to land a blow on his left abdomen, causing the dark-feathered griffon to flinch and give an open shot for the others to attack him. The changeling pegasus laughed in amusement, until a fast blue blur hit him from the back: breaking his spine.

The other changelings turned their attention towards their fallen comrade until the same blue blur zig-zagged through them, delivering fast strikes at their faces, wings and eyes. The Belkans also got attacked by the blue blur, but before they could recover, Wave managed to separate two Belkans from the fight, giving Scunner an opening to enter the battle with a primal yell.

“Eat this, ya Belkan wankers!!”

Before the Belkans could react, they were brutally beaten by Scunner’s relentless attacks, while Wave and Kite took their time by picking off the strays. Soon, the numbers began to decrease due to the majority of the Belkans were workers or paid laborers guarded by the changelings.

The changelings, though decent fighters, were actually holding back to save what little energy they had during their infiltration at the Asgardian industrial complexes. Living without their Hive to provide any decent food for them was a major flaw for their current lifestyle.

Kite slowed down to catch his breath when the threat posed by the Belkans and the changelings had been lowered thanks to his, Wave’s, Scunner’s and Black Star’s actions. Fortunately, Black Star only suffered a slight bruise on his left abdomen, and it only cost his ability to move his left arm for a while. What was even more relieving, Black Star’s comm soon crackled with life as Kestrel delivered the information most of the Griffin Kingdom forces had been waiting for.

“This is Aquila 3, Kestrel to all units. The transport is surrendering. Northwind 1 and I will escort it back to the Burning Talon for further orders.”

“Roger that, Aquila 3. Send my regards to Rod as well,” Riddle responded. “I’ll relay this information to Altair, over and out.”

As soon the Belkans heard that the transport was in allied hands, their leader, who managed to escape from Aquila and Verde’s claws, cursed through the wide open radio channel,

“Scheiße! Damn allied forces!! All Belkan units, cease engagement. Retreat and exit the airspace!”

A changeling spoke next.

“Hex 3 to all changeling units, fall back! Abort operation! Abort!”

One by one, the changelings made their escape from the griffon forces alongside their Belkan allies. Scunner at first wanted to pursue the fleeing enemy forces, but Wave told him not to, followed by Jet’s affirmation to let them go, disappointing Scunner.

“Bollocks… “ the griffon mouthed as he flew back to the ruins of the Burning Talon. Wave only rolled his eyes as he followed his comrade behind. Kite let out a sigh of relief before he approached Black Star to ask about his current condition.

Before he could speak, his scanner detected a fast-moving target heading towards their location Kestrel noticed it too, and decided to warn the rest about it.

“Aquila 3 to all units, I just picked up something fast on my radar, it’s headi— AH!!”

Her words were cut short as a fast-moving red blurr streaked passed her.

“Aquila 3, what happened? Can you please repeat your message?” Rod asked through the comm.

“This is Aquila 3! Something fast just went passed me and Northwind 1!” Kestrel stammered. “It’s heading straight for your location!”

Black Star and Kite didn’t have time to react, as the blur shot pass between them.

“What the hell was that!” Kite yelled, as he nearly got himself hit by the red blur. “It’s moving too fast for any normal griffon or pony!”

As soon as he heard that, the unmistakable feeling of dread crept through Black Star’s body. Series of flashes and images of the fateful night he encountered Riddle and their brutal battle against that red juggernaut…

“CRAP!!” Black Star cursed loudly before he abandoned a stunned Kite in his spot and headed straight for the Burning Talon. He wasted no time contacting Riddle about this new threat.

“Aquila 2 to 1. Sir, he’s back! That red juggernaut is back!”

Kite and Kestrel, who had listened Black Star’s desperate calls, were speechless, especially Kestrel. She knew that Black Star wasn’t the type to loose his cool demeanor like this.

Whatever this new threat may be, it was dangerous enough to put even Black Star the Ghost on his edge.

Chapter 8: Out the Frying Pan...

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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.

Chapter 9: ...and Into the Inferno

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Chapter 9: …and Into the Inferno

Military Academy, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
May 16th 2020, 0715 hrs

Morning light shines the capital of the Griffin Kingdom. As usual, the residence of the capital began their daily activities when Celestia’s sun peeked through the tall mountains. Black Star stirred from his bed and opened his bloodshot eyes.

“I overslept again…” he quietly thought as he noticed the morning sun shine through the window. Carefully, he stood up and did his usual stretchings before he opened the window. Fresh mountain air filled his nostrils, but he didn’t care about it much. He’d been through another nightmare, but thanks to Princess Luna’s well-timed interference, the nightmares had been toned down.

“At least she made the nights more durable than before…” Black Star thought as he watched the sun slowly rise from the east. “But even she can’t stop the nightmares like mine…”

Black Star carefully recalled the last time the Princess of the Night said those words to him.

Black Star sat on the ground in silence with Princess Luna standing before him. She had just saved him from another nightmare, with the remnants of said nightmares becoming nothing more than a few puffs of black smoke and clouds hugging the corners, trying to stay away from the dark coated alicorn.

“I must say, Blake. Your nightmares are very persistent on tormenting you,” the lunar princess spoke to him.

“I’ve noticed,” Black Star responded flatly, clearly not caring one bit about speaking with somepony with great power like Luna. “They kept coming back… even though I tried every possible way to suppress them.”

“Maybe suppressing them isn’t the right action for you, Blake,” Luna answered. “The more you deny these nightmares, the stronger they get.”

“Thanks for the damn info…” Black Star muttered, keeping his head down. Luna’s smile began to fade as she watched the griffon sitting before her. She never saw anyone this miserable in their dreams, Black Star’s guilt about killing Firefly’s parents must be greater than she initially thought. She knew that Black Star was unable to let the guilt go and let himself be tormented by it.

“I know that you’re suffering from you guilt, Blake, and these nightmares that tormented you for ten months was the result of your inability to forgive yourself for what happened in the past with Firefly.” Luna spoke with a powerful voice, but then, she lowered her voice, and Black Star could hear shame radiating from her last words “Even I have to admit that I’m unable to rid yourself from these nightmares… I’m truly sorry for that.”

Black Star lowered his head even more, seemingly resigning to his fate.

“However,” Black Star’s ears perked up again when the lunar princess spoke again, “I can cast a temporary spell for you so you can at least endure the nightmares from this night onwards, but the only way for you to be rid of these nightmares forever is to forgive yourself, Blake…”

After finishing her sentence, Black Star felt a burst of magic surge through his body. The dark remnants of his nightmares hissed and back up even more as they felt an enormous magical barrier around Black Star.

For the first time in ten months, Black Star felt safe and secure inside his own mind.

“Thank you…” Black Star spoke with a small voice. Luna only smiled warmly at his gratitude.

“No need to thank us. Everyone deserved redemption, Blake. Including you…”

After finishing her sentence, Luna spread her wings and took into the air. Black Star suddenly realized something.

“Princess Luna, wait!”

“What is it, Blake?” Luna responded as she hovered in the air.

“Please, do not inform Firefly of my current whereabouts,” Black Star spoke.

“May we ask, why?”

“It’s for the best, princess…” Black Star admitted. “I’m still unable to swallow the guilt of seeing her again… She reminds me too much of my greatest mistake.”

Luna took the moment to consider Black Star’s sudden proposal. Finally, she let out a small chuckle and gave the black feathered griffon a wink of reassurance.

“Very well, this will be our little secret.”

With her last word, Luna resumed her ascension towards the moon before disappearing in a bright flash of light. Black Star was now alone again, watching the large full moon giving him a small bit of warmth and protection as Luna’s words echoed through his distant mind as he slowly drifted from his sleep to reality.

Forgive yourself…

Forgive myself…

“Forgive myself…” Black Star muttered those words while watching rising sun and the citizens of Gryphus flying around the capital. Black Star sighed as he turned from the window and picked up yesterday’s newspaper to to re-read it to kill some time. The newspaper was already four weeks old, as the front page news was covering the return of Frostbite’s body to his family. The picture showed Valdar and Celestia handing over Frostbite’s corpse to the pegasus’ father who was on the verge of tears.

The reunion between the deceased pegasus and his family was quite heartbreaking. Frostbite’s mother fainted at the sight of her son’s corpse, and his father was trying his best to hold his tears when he accepted his son’s body. Valdar immediately apologized to Frostbite’s family and vowed to bring justice for the killers. The griffon king even stayed for a day to attend Frostbite’s funeral in the “Garden of The Fallen”..Another photo on the newspaper revealed Frostbite’s grave was marked:

Here lies Frostbite.

Wonderbolt 3

A brave Wonderbolt and the first victim of war.

Black Star sighed as he put the newspaper away. It had been four weeks since the encounter with the red Juggernaut… or should he say Frostbite, which caused all members of Aquila, Verde, and some members from Northwind squadron to be excused from all military duties until they could fully recover.

Jet’s Verde squadron soon went back into the air under orders from Valdar. Jet, who had since recovered from his injuries, was glad he could fly again, but the green griffon was reluctant on leaving Wave, who was still recovering from his spinal injuries behind from the actions. Wave assured his teammates that he wass fine and the doctors predicted that he should recover within three weeks thanks to the zebrican medicine.

Good news aside, the Belkans managed to hack away what little remnants of the griffon forces were defending front lines. Approximately over 60 griffon soldiers had been killed in action, and more were captured by the Belkans. The casualties were the result of the sudden push by the Belkan and mercenary forces after the Juggernaut incident. Crimson and Silver squadrons reported that they suffered heavy losses and were forced to retreat along with the Wonderbolts and other Hoofstian forces, leaving Hoofstio at the mercy of the Belkan forces.

Their last report that they were currently packing things up in Valais Air Base to return to Gryphus under Valdar’s orders. The Hoofstian forces, though reluctant to leave their country behind, decided that they were going to aid the griffon forces first before liberating their country from the Belkans again. Luckily for them, the neighboring griffon and pony nations around Hoofstio agreed to make a stronghold to prevent the Belkans from claiming more grounds.

The griffon forces also received more help from their equine allies from the south in the form of five new squadrons which arrived just a week ago. The squadrons consisted of two pegasi squadrons, two unicorn battalions and the Lunar Guards.

Black Star didn’t know who the two pegasi squadrons’ names yet, and the same could be said for the two unicorn battalions. He only knew the name of the Lunar Guard’s leader, Red Moon: a pegasus stallion with bright golden eyes who had some bat-like features on his wings. Black Star had to admit, Red Moon’s appearance reminded him of himself at times.

Thanks to the newly arrived help from Equestria, the griffon forces managed to retake a strategic sector near the city of Pisa. Black Star heard from the chatting recruits that a large scale operation was planned soon to retake Pisa to gain more ground.

Pisa was the jewel of the Drakenridge mountains and the city held the many preserved ancient griffon cultures, customs, traditions, and even ancient structures from the early founding days of the Griffin Empire.

His thoughts came to a halt as two familiar griffons flew near the window. Black Star smiled when he saw Kite and Stalker chasing each other and doing some combat maneuvers together.

“Damn, I knew that you’re fast, but I never thought that you were this fast, pipsqueak!” Stalker yelled as he dove to the ground with Kite flew upwards into the sky. Both griffons passed each other as they laughed in joy.

“Heh, and I never knew you could be this persistent, Stalker!” Kite squawked as he prepared himself for another dive. Suddenly, Kite found himself being tackled from behind as a familiar feminine voice chuckled behind him.

“Watch your back, pipsqueak!” Rave giggled as she wrapped her limb around Kite’s head and gave the small griffon a noogie. “… and watch your head too!”

“Hey, Rave. Stop that!” Kite laughed as Rave let him go. The crow griffoness stuck out her tongue and flew away. Kite laughed and followed suit.

“Hey, get your own partner, egghead!” Stalker squawked in annoyance. “Kite’s teaching me some maneuvers!”

“You snooze you lose, Sir Big Beaked idiot!” Rave mocked him with a sing-songy voice, causing Stalker to growl and chase the two griffons. The trio chased each other around the military academy, laughing and having a great time with one another; until Black Star noticed Breaker coming out from the building in a hurry. The tan griffon’s face showed some concern as he tried to locate his three friends. When he finally found them flying overhead, he yelled as loud as he could,

“Oi, dweebs! I think you guys better come inside and see this!!”

Rave was the first one who heard Breaker’s call.

“See what exactly, hm?” she sneered. “Your over-inflated ego?”

Stalker and Kite snickered at Rave’s remark while Breaker only frowned in response.

“Oh ha-ha, very funny Rave. I’m dead serious here! There’s something you guys gotta check out right now! It’s on the news!!”

The three young griffons looked at each other, they never seen Breaker this distressed before.

“Yeah well, you can show that later…” Stalker said while rolling his eyes. “We still got some training to do.”

“Guys, I’m serious here. C’mon!!” Breaker whined. The three griffons glanced at each other before Rave let out a groan in defeat.

“Okay fine. You win, Breaker.”

Rave descended first, followed by Kite and eventually, a groaning Stalker. Black Star, who was also interested in what could have made Breaker like this, exited his room and headed straight for the main dining hall where the other recruits gathered around a large TV screen which showed a news griffoness reading the news.

“Oh, Black Star! Good morning!” Decoy greeted the dark feathered griffon with a grin. Rosepink immediately hid herself behind Ricochet’s wings though the latter assured her that Black Star won’t scare her again.

“Morning,” Black Star answered. “What’s going on here, and why is Breaker acting strange?”

The recruits glanced at each other and mumbled something. Even Decoy’s cheerful smile was gone and replaced by a solid frown. Before any of the recruits could give the black griffon an answer, Breaker with Rave, Kite, and Stalker entered the hall from the same door Black Star came through.

“Oh, you…” Breaker frowned at Black Star before he turned his attention at Ricochet. “Hey, Rico. Is it on yet?”

“No, not ye— Oh hell, speak of the devil… It just started!” Ricochet answered as the news griffoness on the television screen began to read the news the recruits were all waiting for. Breaker flew into the group and hovered above them while Black Star and the trio just walked to the group while not taking their eyes off the screen.

“Just earlier this morning; the astronomers at the Asgardian Space Monitoring Center have detected four massive chunks of asteroids on a collision course with our planet. More information will be provided by our reporter, Ferdinand broadcasting live on Asgard…”

The screen now showed the griffon reporter, Ferdinand, standing before the main building of the Asgardian Space Monitoring Center with another griffon dressed in a tie and white lab coat standing beside him.

“Thank you Karen. This is Ferdinand, reporting live from the spot with the chief of the ASMC, Granz,” the griffon reporter spoke before he turned to Granz and held up his microphone. “Sir, it is said that your men have discovered four asteroids heading towards Equis. What exactly threat do these asteroids possess to the planet, and may we know more about them?”

“Well, for starters, the ASMC have confirmed that these asteroids are none other than the leftover fragments of the 1010EQG Ulysses asteroids that impacted Equis nearly two decades ago…”

Most of the recruits were intrigued by the asteroid’s name: Ulysses. However, Black Star and Rave knew all too well about that name. Rave in particular was horrified at the prospect of these asteroids impacting the planet again, she had read the books and she fully knew the outcome of the planetfall. Black Star could only frown when he thought about Ulysses.

The 1010EQG Ulysses was responsible for wiping out nearly 10% of the world’s population, and it was also responsible for the creation of the Stonehenge railgun networks, the superweapons of Project Valkyrie, and many more asteroid interception weapons that the ponies or the griffons had built.

“… as for the threat, we predict 7.9 percent mortality rate if the four chunks remain intact upon impact. The percentage will decrease if the chunks break up on entry.”

The recruits at this point began to chatter amongst each other with Rave pointing up some facts that she read on the books in regard of the previous planetfall and what would have happened if these new asteroid fragments impacted Equis in the future. Black Star kept his eyes glued on the screen and continued to watch the broadcast.

“A live broadcast, hm? I wonder what the Equestrians think about this…”

Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria
May 16th 2020, 0747 hrs

Princess Celestia, a powerful alicorn and ruler of Equestria, stood in silence as she watched the live broadcast from the ASMC in the throne room. She and her sister, Luna had detected the asteroids’ presence last night, and the older alicorn had remained troubled ever since. Her sister, Princess Luna who just arrived back from her morning strolls noticed her sister’s troubled look.

“Is something a matter, sister?” the lunar princess asked before she saw the live broadcast on the monitor. Luna frowned as she found the answer to her own question. “Oh, I see. Ulysses…”

“Indeed, Luna,” Celestia answered. “I can’t believe it’s already been twenty years since that event, and now it seems that the past had decided to come back to haunt us again…”

The younger alicorn didn’t respond at first. She never saw her sister being this concerned except during the Equestrian War. She knew her sister’s pain, since Ulysses was a rather touchy subject to the solar princess, let alone be discussed among ponies. Even the snooty nobles refused to speak another word when Ulysses was brought up.

“We understand your pain, sister…” Luna began. “It is not your fault. Your ties to the Elements of Harmony were already weakened when you tried to…”

“I know, Luna, I know,” Celestia answered. Her tone was filled with guilt and sadness. “But I had to do something, Luna! I was suppose to protect this planet from disasters like Ulysses… I tried, I really did, but I failed, and the heavens finally rained down upon us.”

“Then… what should we do now, sister? Shall we inform this to the Elements of Harmony?” Luna asked after a brief silence. Celestia closed her eyes and shut down the monitor before turning to face her sister. She nodded in silence.

“What should we tell them?” Luna asked again. “The truth?”

“No, just tell them to come here. The truth can wait until they arrive…” Celestia answered. Luna merely replied with a single nod before she teleported out from the throne room, leaving Celestia alone with her guards. The solar princess told the guards to leave her for a moment, stating that she needed some time alone.

“Yes, your majesty.” The lead unicorn guard nodded before he and the other guard trotted to the main doors. Celestia was now alone in her throne. The solar princess sighed as she began to charge magical energy on her horn before releasing it into the air. The magical energy exploded in mid-air, and the particles soon formed the image of the planet Equis.

Celestia keep her eyes locked as another object coming from the distance broke up into millions of pieces, and soon, the pieces rained down on the planet.

“I hope we can do it this time…” she quietly thought.

Gryphus Castle/East Wing, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
May 16th 2020, 0800 hrs

Riddle let out another loud yawn as he finished tinkering with a communicator device. The blue griffon put the device on the desk and sighed in satisfaction.

“There, that should do it,” he smiled. Riddle had been up for hours, not counting on how many days he spent in his room designing and creating a new type of portable weapons for the last four weeks. He finally decided to work on this little project he dubbed “Z.O.E. Mk.II” ever since the disastrous encounter with the Juggernaut Z.O.E. in sector T10. His ears perked when he heard the door opening from behind him, revealing a maid holding a tray of food and Valdar standing behind her.

“Y’know, I can get food by myself,” Riddle squawked. “I’m 48 years old. No offense, lassie.”

“Well consider this as a thank you gift from me, Sir Wonderfalke,” Valdar responded before motioning the maid to put the tray on the a nearby table. “I admit, this Z.O.E. Mk.II will surely be a useful weapon in our arsenal.”

“There’s no doubt about it, Valdar. Though this version of Z.O.E. will be weaker than the first one,” Riddle pointed out. “It will only boost the wearer’s power about 10 times, and it will only work when a secondary unit is close by. I know, because I purposely designed the Zaubenschaft gems powering these to prevent any juggernaut mishaps in the future.”

Riddle then grabbed two of the modified communicators and a pair of bands containing the glowing Zaubenschaft gems.

“Care to try one? It’s not lethal, I swear,” the blue griffon offered. Valdar stared at the devices for a short time before he shrugged.

“Eh, why not?”

Valdar wore the band around his upper limb and put the comm on his right ear. Riddle also did the same with his devices. The maid watched in silence as Riddle took a brief glance at Valdar while speaking,

“You might feel a little tingle… and a brief taste of coconuts on your tongue…”

Valdar only raised his eyebrow in confusion as Riddle activated the Z.O.E. Mk.II. The Zaubenschafts glowed red and blinked as both devices tried to synchronize with one another. A loud ping was heard from both comms as the Zaubenschafts finally turned green. Both griffons immediately felt an amazing surge of power rushing through their bodies.

“Woah…” Valdar mouthed as he flexed his body. “I never felt this good before.”

Riddle only smirked as he grabbed a large solid metal ball and hands it over to Valdar.

“Alright, try crushing this ball,” Riddle challenged the orange griffon. The maid gasped at Riddle’s sudden challenge at the griffon king. For her, such behaviour would not be tolerated well by the king, but to her surprise, Valdar only shrugged and smirked at Riddle.

“Very well, I accept,” The orange griffon spoke as he grabbed the metal ball with his two talons, which he finds incredibly light due to his enhanced powers, and began to crush it. Riddle’s smile grew as Valdar began to put several dents on the ball, and soon, the orange griffon’s talons pierced the solid metal ball.

Valdar growled as he applied more pressure on the ball, forming more cracks on the dents. The maid watched in amazement as Valdar let out a roar as he finally crushed the metal ball with his own two claws, and the remains of the metal ball fell onto the floor with a loud thud.

“Oh… my…” the maid squeaked after witnessing what she thought was an impossible feat. Valdar carefully cleared shrapnels of the metal ball from his claws.

“Extraordinary…” Valdar muttered in amazement before he glanced at Riddle, who just responded by deactivating the Z.O.E. Mk.II. Both griffons groaned as they felt their strength being drained from their bodies. The maid quickly grabbed Valdar by his shoulder and propped him up while Riddle had to use his workbench to keep himself up.

“Ugh… I assume this is… the side effects?” Valdar groaned.

“Yep… that’s why the device should… ugh… remain on… until every unit… is back to base,” Riddle stated between breaths. The maid helped Valdar taking off the devices before handing them over to Riddle. “The Zaubenschaft… was never designed… to be used as a power source… for living beings. I merely reduced the gem’s energy output so it’s compatible for biological usage…”

“Heh, too bad we can’t use the gems like the ones implanted on the Elements of Harmony…” Valdar chuckled, though Riddle only responded with a skeptical look.

“I do not believe those rumors, your majesty, nor do I plan to trust those stories right now,” Riddle spoke flatly while he was busy cleaning his workbench and put the Z.O.E. Mk.II into a small box placed on the right of his bench. “If I were to see these… Elements of Harmony in use. I must see it myself, but until then…”

Riddle closed the box before he made his way to his bed.

“… those artifacts will remain a legend to me.”

After he finished his sentence, Riddle drifted into sleep, letting exhaustion wash him over. Valdar gave the maid a quick look, telling her to get out from the room as quietly as possible. The maid slowly made her way out with Valdar closely trailing her from behind, the maid felt uncomfortable leading the way with the king behind her. It seemed that all standard respect for royalty didn’t apply to Riddle, yet alone, in this room.

When both griffons were finally out from the room, the maid realized that Riddle had slept before eating his breakfast and decided to wake the blue griffon to remind him about his meal. However, Valdar quickly stopped her and said,

“Don’t worry, he likes his meals cold.”

The maid quickly nodded and requested to be excused from the spot, to which Valdar agreed. The orange griffon sighed as he made his way to the briefing room to prepare for the massive briefing in the afternoon, because tonight:

The Griffin Kingdom and the Equestrian forces are going to make their move.

S.A.I.T.N. Turret #4, Sudentor, Neue Belka
May 16th 2020, 0805 hrs

Hog was nervous as he re-checked the data on his portable scanner. It had been an exhausting four weeks for him as he worked nonstop to replace the old codes inside S.A.I.T.N.’s or Stonehenge’s four hundred supercomputers. For now, he had succeeded in freeing Stonehenge’s fourth and third massive turrets from the fail-safe codes.

“Civvies cleared, Stonehenge turret number 4 ready!” spoke one of the Belkan officers near the turret through Hog’s comm. The railgun turret network had been inactive for so long. that some of the lower class citizens of Sudentor began to use the cannons as their makeshift homes, so the military had to force out some of the citizens living in the cannons.

“Alright! Let’s get this thing moving!” the green unicorn said through his comm to the Belkan officers flying around the huge railgun. “All Belkan units, move away from the cannon.”

The Belkans immediately complied at his order, although the griffon officers complied in contempt rather than respect as Hog began to put several commands into his scanner. Multiple pings were heard from the scanner, prompting Hog to enter several more commands into the scanner. Soon, a loud metallic groan was heard from the base of the cannon. Small tremors shook the ground as the cannon roared back to life.

Hog’s smile grew as the large barrel of the cannon began to tilt sideways and the whole thing finally stopped in that position. Hog couldn’t help but to drop his professionalism and squee like a little colt at his success.

Stonehenge Type 0 was partially ready to be back in service.

“Alright guys, that’s one down! Let’s go free three more!” Hog exclaimed to his comm as the Belkans and his group began to move towards the third cannon located at the far end of the city.

While Hog was busy waking the cannons from their slumber, Gray and Violet’s squadrons were conducting their daily aerial exercise together above the city. Despite their success in capturing “The Round Table” and Hoofstio, Hog’s Grau Squadron lost five fliers, while Violet’s Lila Squadron lost ten fliers. Gray was very affected by this loss, and he decided to double up the training for his underlings to prepare the final push to Gryphus two weeks from now.

Violet, however, didn’t care that much about her team’s loss as she focused more on dreaming to meet her “beloved little birdy again.” Gray tried to reason with the yellow mare not to underestimate the griffon forces, but Violet shrugged it off, saying that her team will be enough for the job on the final push to Gryphus.

Gray couldn’t really complain, Violet’s squad was composed of nearly twenty bloodthirsty mares like their leader. Her squad’s members’ behaviour were ridiculously vicious, even when they’re not conducting a sortie. This fact was enough to put Gray’s subordinates on the edge at all times.

Still, they still looked tame in comparison to Esser’s flock of pirates.

Violet giggled as Gray threw another jab at her midsection which she dodged effortlessly and retaliated by sending a double hoof kick at his head.

“Head’s up, hun!” the yellow mare cackled as Gray evaded the kick before gaining some distance between him and her. Violet’s wingmares continued to battle against Gray’s subordinates; each of them had a psychotic grin on their faces. Some of Gray’s men also had huge grins plastered on their faces. Gray noticed this and shook his head.

“Great, your wingmares are beginning to affect my soldiers,” Gray sighed. Violet only giggled in response before she approached Gray.

“And that’s a good thing for us; it means we’re getting closer together…” Violet cooed as she brushed her red mane near Gray’s face. “All we need now is take over Gryphus, kill more of those catbird freaks and take lil’ birdy with us.”

Violet wrapped both of her front hooves around Gray’s neck as she whispered to his ear.

“…and we can be one big happy family.”

“C’mon, Vi, you’re making me blush,” Gray spoke nonchalantly as he brushed Violet aside, earning a small chuckle from the yellow mare. “We still have some training to do.”

“Ooh, playing hard to get, hm?” Violet cooed while licking her lips hungrily. She then took a stance and continued, “After this battle, you’ll be begging to have some piece of me…”

Gray only smirked in response.

“Wanna bet?”

Both pegasi began to clash with one another as their subordinates continued to battle around them. Unknown to them, Esser was watching them from afar. The brown griffon chuckled to himself while rubbing the bandages that covered his chest. Before long, Blue, who had been released a week ago from isolation, approached the brown griffon and tapped his shoulder to gain his attention.

“Oi, I got some news for you and the others,” he spoke bitterly. Esser didn’t even bother to pay attention as he continued. “Apparently those griffon scums said that fragments of the Ulysses asteroid is approaching the planet. I think it’s all propaganda crap, trying to scare us and—”

“I’m sorry, but did I gave you the permission to talk to me?” Esser interrupted the dark blue pegasus with a sneer. Blue only frowned in response while Esser just chuckled in amusement.

“If you want to share your opinions on hardcore facts like Ulysses, please, share it with someone else. I’m busy at the moment.”

“Busy at what, slacking off?” Blue scoffed. “I haven’t seen you doing anything since that oaf Kriegstreiber hired you.”

“Heh, that’s a nice example of the ‘pot calling the kettle black,’ I recalled that you haven’t accomplished anything either, beside getting your sorry plot kicked by us griffons.” Esser pointed out. Insulted, Blue snarled at the brown griffon before delivering a punch straight for his beak.

“SHUT YOUR BEAK, SCUM!”

Esser just raised an eyebrow before he caught Blue’s hoof with lightning-fast reflexes. Blue was completely thrown off guard before he realized that Esser had already swung his elbow at his stomach. Blue coughed in pain before he stared at the brown griffon hovering above him with that same strange smirk on his beak.

“How… did… !?” Blue asked between pants, Esser’s response was a roar of laughter.

“Silly, Cap’n Blue. I told you I’m stronger than any of you, buuut you guys didn’t listen,” esser mocked him before he grabbed Blue by his neck and his tone changed into a darker one. “If you ever do that stunt again, I’ll make sure to put you in permanent retirement.”

Blue couldn’t believe it, all these years fighting griffons, hating and berating their race for being different meant nothing to him. He thought he didn’t had a sense of fear towards the griffons, but he was wrong. Blue could tell that something was very wrong with Esser ever since day one. Now, with Esser staring him down with his red eyes, Blue felt like he had just being pointed at by one of Stonehenge’s barrels straight into his face.

Snapping out from his world, Blue only nodded in response before Esser let him go. The dark blue pegasus quickly flew off to the Sudentorian City Hall as Esser’s comm beeped, indicating that he had received a message from someone. Esser only chuckled in response as he turned the comm off. Esser soon turned his sights over the distant mountain peaks separating Neue Belka from the Griffin Kingdom.

“Tonight’s going to be interesting indeed.”

Gryphus Command Center, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
May 16th 2020, 1547 hrs

Black Star and Kite traversed the hall of the GCC in silence with a few griffon officers running back and forth around them. Just an hour ago, Aquila Squadron received an order from Valdar to attend a briefing for a large offensive campaign the kingdom was about to conduct. They still hadn’t received any details about the operation yet, but Valdar assured that everything will be explained through the briefing.

Realizing the awkward silence between them, Kite tried to start a conversation first by coughing to gain the dark griffon’s attention.

“So,” he began. “I heard this operation will be an emancipation effort to free Pisa from the Belkans.”

“I think so too,” Black Star replied shortly.

“Yeah…” Kite nodded, internally cursing himself. This conversation wasn’t going anywhere. “Umm… uh…”

“What’s on your mind, Milvus?” Black Star asked suddenly, surprising Kite for a second. “I could tell by your failed attempt to start a conversation.”

“Uh… well… to tell you the truth, sir. I’m kinda nervous…” Kite admitted. “I mean… besides the operations on gaining some… intel from the Belkans, I.. I’ve never been on a large scale operation like this…”

The two stopped when they finally arrived at the door to the briefing room. Black Star glanced at the nervous Kite and smiled while rubbing his head with his talons.

“Don’t worry, kid. I’m sure you’ll do fine.” Black Star assured before he opened the door.

Inside the briefing room, nearly all of the squad leaders, including the Wonderbolts, Crimson and Silver squadrons who arrived nearly two hours ago were present. Hammerdown and Red Moon, along with their Royal Guards were also present, sitting in the front with Riddle and Kestrel. The only squadrons that were not there were Ronin’s Southwind Squadron, Quox’s 13th Unicorn Company, and Rod’s Northwind Squadron.

Both griffons made their way to the front row and took their seats beside Red Moon with Black Star sitting right next to him. Kite tried to hide his laughter when he noticed the uncanny resemblance between Red Moon and Black Star.

“What’s wrong with him?” Red Moon asked the dark feathered griffon. Black Star only chuckled before he responded,

“Don’t worry, he just knew about us being similar in appearance.”

The lunar guard responded with an “oh” before nodding thoughtfully. Everyone’s attention shifted to the large monitor screen as Saetos started the briefing.

“Everyone here? Good, let’s start this briefing shall we?”

The monitor flickered to life as the emblem of the Griffin Kingdom appeared on the screen with a loading bar below it. After the connection with the Z.O.E. was established, the emblem and the loading bar were replaced by a digitized map of the Griffin Kingdom, Neue Belka, and the surrounding nations. The area of Neue Belka was shown in red with the invaded territories were also shown in red.

“Thanks to the efforts of our brothers on regaining tactical ground near Pisa, I think it’s time we made our move towards the city to reclaim it from the Belkans. Now, our intel has confirmed that the city was heavily fortified with automatic AA guns placed on the rooftops and flak guns surrounding the city,” Saetos explained as he changed the screen to zoom in to the city Pisa. The bright blue dot labeled as Pisa soon showed images of the fortified city taken from different angles.

Some griffon were disgusted seeing their beautiful cultural city being turned into a fortress. Many of the AA guns were placed on historical sites, and some of them were even destroyed to make space for the heavy ordinances.

“Belkan bastards…” Jet muttered under his breath.

“According to our intel, the main defense lines were divided into four sectors positioned at the western and the eastern gate of the city. These defense sectors housed several flak guns and automatic AA guns capable of firing 30mm to 50mm rounds with each shot.” Saetos explained. The monitor now showed four red dots with each two dots positioned on the eastern side and the western of the city. “The annihilation of these four defense sectors will pave way to the ground forces to storm the city from the east and west gates.”

The monitor now showed two blue arrows heading towards the two defensive sectors. The arrows contained three squad names: Verde, Silver and Ursa Major.

“Verde Squadron’s task is to neutralize the majority of the AA and flak guns on the eastern sectors to make way for the Ursa Major bomber squadron so they can deal the finishing blow. Silver Squadron’s task is identical albeit in the western sector.”

Jet and his squadron quietly nodded at their task. Rot, the large harpy griffon leading the Ursa Major squadron, smirked at the prospect of bombing the Belkans to oblivion, while Silver 1, a gray feathered griffon named Silber, began to discuss a strategy with his subordinates.

“Once the sectors are neutralized, we shall began phase two of the operation: “Combine and Conquer”. The unicorn companies along with griffon aerial support will storm the city through the gates, but remember, this is only a smokescreen for the main force to be teleported here…”

The monitor showed the unicorn companies, which included the two new EAF forces. The two griffon forces were labeled as Southwind and Northwind while the EAF forces were labeled as “Jade” and “Newt”. Then, another arrow which contained Quox, Aquila, and Bertz’s team appeared from the north end of the city.

“Quox’s ‘Avion’ Company will teleport Bertz’s ‘Thunder’ Battalion with Aquila squadron providing aerial support,” Saetos pointed out with Quox, Bertz, and Riddle listening carefully from their seats. “Hammerdown and Red Moon can dispatch members of their teams to the forces invading the city from the front to provide some support.”

Both leaders of the Equestrian guards nodded quietly as Saetos continued.

“Meanwhile, Ursa Major squadron, along with Crimson squadron, can move on to eliminate the AA guns around the city to ease the strain of our fliers. The Wonderbolts, Verde, and Silver squadrons can join in the battle to eliminate the Belkan troops once the AA guns were destroyed, but you’re cleared to aid the first strike team if they’re having some difficulties on their task.”

Soarin’ raised his hoof in acknowledgement and Jet responded by giving him a thumbs up.

“If things goes smoothly, then Aquila, Avion, and Thunder can move on to phase three: ‘Seek and Capture’.”

The monitor began to show some slightly blurred images of several unicorns exiting a transport balloon. The griffons and some of the Equestrian forces immediately recognized one of them as Kriegstreiber.

“Once again, our intel has confirmed that the leader of Neue Belka, Kriegstreiber, is in the city. The reason for him being in the city is unknown, but there’s one thing for sure, he won’t be leaving anywhere until tomorrow morning,” Saetos stated. “We can use this small window of opportunity to finally capture Kriegstreiber. Sir Wonderfalke predicted that without their leader, Neue Belka’s already unstable movement will tear itself apart within weeks or even days.”

Kestrel took a glance at the already smirking Riddle.

“I hope you’re right, sir,” she quietly spoke.

“Maybe I’m right, maybe I’m wrong,” Riddle shrugged. “Only time will tell.”

The two quickly turned their attention back as Saetos continued on the briefing.

“This operation will be called ‘Silent Owl’, and if this operation succeeds, it will be a major turning point for us in this war. We can use Pisa as a spearhead to mount a full invasion effort to free Dinsmark and Sudentor from the Belkans within this month,” Saetos explained. “Of course, you’re all probably know why we need to hit their capital fast.”

The griffons quietly nodded, fully knowing the reason behind this planned mass invasion effort. However, some of the EAF forces who had been fighting on the front lines asked why they needed to end this war as quickly as possible. Saetos’ answer was to bring up some images of the Stonehenge railgun turrets placed around Sudentor.

“Do any of these look familiar to you?”

The ponies studied the images carefully. Some of them widened their eyes in shock when they realized what the railgun turrets really are, but a small minority of the ponies didn’t even recognize what the structures were and guessed that the Belkans possessed the same laser technology like the Burning Talon, due to Stonehenge’s resemblance to the former laser facility.

“I wouldn’t blame you for not knowing about this. Princess Celestia made the right call to keep these weapons’ existence a secret from you,” Saetos explained grimly. The monitor soon showed the blueprints of the Stonehenge Turret Network, as well as the images of the three facilities which had been built.

“What you’re looking right now is the Strategic Asteroid Interceptor Turret Network Type 0 or Stonehenge Type 0. These four massive railguns were the basis of our country’s effort to destroy the incoming Ulysses 1010EQG asteroids. Each cannon can fire an explosive 120cm round containing small burst missile warheads that can reach the range of 596 kilometers, about the half the range of the final design: Stonehenge Type 2.”

Riddle saw that some of the ponies gulped in fear. He couldn’t blame them; nopony in this briefing room would expect to face a giant superweapon designed to shoot down asteroids as their enemy.

“It is crucial for us to retake Sudentor and neutralize these cannons before it can be deployed into service, and it all starts with the success of this operation. That will be all, dismissed.”

Following Saetos’ closing words, the monitor was turned off. and everyone got up from their seats and headed outside to prepare for the invasion. Black Star waited for everyone to exit the briefing room along with Kite. The dark feathered griffon noticed Kite’s troubled look and asked,

“Still nervous?”

“Uh-huh,” Kite nodded. “I expect for General Saetos to provide some decent boost of morale, but…”

“Heh, trust me. Saetos may be a laid back guy, but he’s terrible at encouraging the troops to fight,” Black Star chuckled. “Hence why our morale dropped like an anvil once The Burning Talon was destroyed in the last war. The guy keeps pointing out sharp facts on briefings and debriefings.”

This made Kite felt lighten up for a bit, smiling as he walked to the exit along with the others. The small griffon gave Black Star a thumbs up for the talk in which Black Star responded by spreading his right wing. On his way out, Black Star felt a hoof touching his shoulders, prompting him to turn around and find one member of the Wonderbolts smiling at him. The Wonderbolt had a white coat, purple eyes, and a yellow mane and tail. Her expression suggested that she was a very energetic mare.

“Hi! Can we walk together?” she asked with a smile.

“Um, sure,” Black Star responded shortly. Both griffon and pony walked to the castle courtyard in silence, though Black Star could feel that the pegasus was keeping her eyes on him. Feeling a little uncomfortable, Black Star decided to ask her intentions,

“What?”

“I think I know you, Mr. uhh…” the yellow maned Wonderbolt trailed off as she tried to remember Black Star’s name despite never actually meeting him before.

“Call me Black Star,” the dark feathered griffon answered.

“Oh yeah, duh! How could I forget your name like that! Silly me!” the Wonderbolt laughed to herself. “I’m Surprise, but you probably didn’t know me.”

“And you claim to know me,” Black Star said thoughtfully. “We never met before… have we?”

“No, of course we haven’t met before!” Surprise giggled, confusing Black Star even more.

“Then how did you… ?”

“My friend Firefly told me about you!” Surprise answered with a wide grin, causing Black Star for the first time in his life, balk in response.

“She did? Wait a minute… You know Firefly?”

“Of course I knew her, silly!” Surprise giggled. “We used to be the bestest best friends! We even auditioned for the Wonderbolts together! Well… until you ruined her day.”

“More like destroyed her childhood…” Black Star sighed.

“But that’s in the past now, nothing to worry about!” Surprise assured the dark griffon by patting her hoof on his side. “I mean, she had already forgiven you, right?”

Black Star could only nod in response with a dim smile on his beak. He had to give Surprise credit for trying to cheer him up. True that Firefly forgave him for his deeds, but he wasn’t not sure if he was ready to forgive himself. Both of them continued to make their way to the courtyard in their own pace (though Surprise was bouncing merrily along the way). When they finally arrived, two griffon squadrons were already covered by Avion Company’s teleportation spell. Surprise waved good bye to the dark feathered griffon before she joined the rest of the Wonderbolts.

Black Star looked around to find his team, which he finally found them standing near Bertz’s Thunder Battalion. Kestrel immediately glared and scolded him for being late.

“Sorry, I got lost for a minute,” Black Star apologized, much to Kestrel’s shock.

“D… did he just apologize?” Kestrel thought with a perplexed look on her face. Unfortunately, Riddle noticed her expression and decided to ask,

“Is something wrong, captain?”

“No! It’s nothing…” Kestrel responded, slightly yelling at the first part. Riddle’s response was a smirk before he noticed Bertz had approached him.

“Sir, we’re ready to move,” the dark yellow stallion spoke.

“Good, tell the lass, Quox to teleport us,” Riddle answered which Bertz acknowledged by signalling Quox and her team to teleport them. Quox and several of her subordinates trotted to them and said,

“We’ll teleport you to the main rendezvous point. We still have many squadrons and teams to teleport.”

“But, that means your energy will be spent before the battle,” Kite said with worry.

“Don’t worry, we had some help from Jade Company to teleport some of the teams,” Quox smiled. “We’ll make sure we are ready to put that warmonger into custody.”

“Alright, enough with the chit-chat,” Riddle interrupted them. “Aquila 4, go to your position near Aquila 2 and 3.”

Kite gave Riddle a quick salute before he ran to his spot. Though Kestrel was still uncomfortable standing with Black Star on her side, the dark griffon’s unexpected apology from earlier mellowed her heart a little. Soon, Riddle walked back to his position as Quox and her underlings began to cast the teleportation spell around Aquila Squadron and Thunder Battalion.

The familiar transparent bubble formed around both teams with sparks of magic crackled around it. Within 10 seconds, the sparks intensified and both teams soon found themselves being engulfed by the bubble. The griffons and ponies of Aquila and Thunder watched the brief images of the courtyard, the city of Gryphus, the cold landscape flashing around them as they’re being teleported to their destination. The group also noticed the rapidly changing colors of their coats and feathers; all of them were standing inside a bizarre light show.

“W0w, triPPy…” Kite commented with a slight giggle; his voice was slightly distorted. Riddle guessed that Quox and her subordinates must have used a more powerful version of the teleportation spell, seeing that the travel time took longer than the average “hopping” teleportation spell used during the sortie on Schmierfett Canyon.

The lightshow came to an abrupt end as the group finally arrived at their destination…

…Ruins of Vona, 3 miles north of Pisa, Griffin Kingdom
1630 hrs

The teleportation bubble burst as the group began to survey their surroundings. Around them were structures… well, more like scorched ruins of houses. Riddle immediately frowned when he finally got a good look at the surrounding area.

“What is this place?” one of Bertz’s subordinates asked, rubbing his hoof on a charred brick on the ground.

“Vona,” Riddle answered. “A small town near Pisa. Past population: two-hundred. Current population: zero.”

The stallion was mortified by the grim answer.

If he remembered correctly, when Pisa was overrun by the Belkans, some of the civilians managed to escape to Vona where the griffons of said town were issued to leave their town when the soldiers from Gryphus arrived. They were about to pack things up and leave, but alas, fate was cruel to them.

The rabid mercenary forces of Murtair Militia ravaged the town, killing griffons left and right. Young, old, didn’t matter, they only cared about filling up their fat tabs with their high kill numbers. After the killing spree, or massacre to be more precise, the mercenaries burned Vona to the ground along with several other towns surrounding Pisa. When the griffon forces finally arrived three hours later, all they found were charred ruins and smoking corpses before they were forced to retreat by a sudden strike from the enemy forces.

When the news reached Gryphus, Valdar wasn’t happy. Riddle remarked that it was the first time he’d seen Valdar so angry.

“Well buck, too much information…” the stallion squeaked, his ears dropping in sadness. Bertz tapped his hoof on the stallion’s shoulders and said,

“Don’t worry, we’ll get those bastards.”

After those words, Bertz and his team were called by a griffon officer to get into position immediately. Griffons were also known for their high regard for the dead, but sometimes, they knew they had to overcome that nature in order to do drastic things, even if they had to disrespect the dead by building a base on top of these ruins.

Aquila Squadron was also called to patrol the perimeter with Ronin’s Southwind Squadron, Riddle had to say; the light blue griffoness was quite delighted when she saw Aquila flying with her team. Within fifteen to thirty minutes, the other griffon squadrons were teleported to their own posts around Pisa, occasionally dealing with enemy forces sent out to thin the invasive force.

Nightfall came when the final teams from the EAF forces finally arrived on their spot. Saetos informed them that Operation “Silent Owl” will commence at exactly 1900 hrs. The clock showed 1848 hrs, 12 minutes before the operation. All teams felt their muscles tense. This is it, the operation that could change the tide of this war.

No slip ups now.

Chapter 10: Battle of Pisa

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Chapter 10: Battle of Pisa

Together we stand. Divided we fall ~ Unknown

Eastern Sector, East Gate to Pisa, Griffin Kingdom
May 16th 2020, 1857 hrs

Tracking… Assault Team #1 (Verde, Silver and Ursa Major)

Verde Squadron hovered about one mile from the eastern gate. They had maintained radio silence and turned their IFFs off, making their signatures smaller on enemy radar. Jet and his wingmates tensed their muscles as the clock ticked by. He and Silber had agreed to strike the sectors one at the time in order to divide the enemy forces behind Pisa’s gates. Jet’s team would move in first while Silber’s team will follow after ten minutes.

“Altair Alpha to all units, one minute to the operation,” Saetos’ gruff voice spoke through everyone’s comm. “Assault Team #1, report in.”

“This is Verde Squadron, we are in position,” Jet affirmed.

“This is Silver Squadron, standing by at the western gate,” Silber added.

“This is Ursa Major Squadron, we’re ready!” Rot boomed from his end.

“Preparations complete, ready for the assault,” Saetos spoke. “Commencing “Silent Owl” in 30 seconds. Verde Squadron, you’re cleared to move.”

Jet responded with a single “roger” before he motioned his team to fly down towards the first sector of defense. He motioned four of his wingmates lead by Scunner to attack the first sector while he and the others moved in to secure the second sector.

The clock finally struck 1900 hours as Scunner’s group dove towards the left side of the first sector. A Belkan pony officer was caught off guard when Scunner tackled him on the ground before silencing him via a quick jab to his head. The other Belkans saw the sudden attack and quickly alerted the whole defense line.

“They’re here! The allied forces!” one Belkan earth pony yelled.

“Alright, Operation “Silent Owl” is a go. Assault Team #2 prepare to attack once the signal’s been given.” Saetos’ robotic sounding voice boomed.

Scunner let out a battle cry as he and Wire assaulted the Belkan troops came pouring in from all directions. Fortunately for them, most of the Belkans positioned here were earth ponies, so they faced minimal resistance on fighting them on the ground.

“This is Jade Unicorn Company, we’re on standby.” A young mare’s voice responded to Saetos’ call.

But that can’t be said for the ponies who actually had small machine guns positioned near the big computer-controlled AA guns which started firing into the air.

“Fire!” one earth pony yelled as he fired bullets straight at Scunner and Wire. Both griffons evaded the bullets just in time, but that couldn’t be said the same for an unlucky earth pony who tried attacking them from behind.

“Aqua, neutralize those machine guns now!” Scunner squawked to his comm.

“On it,” Aqua’s voice answered from the other end. Soon enough, a deep blue feathered griffon appeared above the machine gun and dove straight at it. Aqua grabbed the barrel and, using the momentum of his flight, ripped the weak structure from the fuselage. The pony cursed and tried to attack Aqua in retaliation, but he was silenced by the blue griffon’s strong kick, which sent him flying to one of the automatic AA guns.

A loud groaning was heard as an AA gun roared to life. The computers detected the griffons fighting the ponies on the ground and it tried to shoot the feathered soldiers on their spot, but the computer’s sensors grew increasingly confused as the griffons’ I.D. and the ponies I.D. mixed with each other; friendly fire was inevitable.

The situation grew worse as another AA gun stirred to life, Scunner blocked an earth pony’s buck and punched him away before he realized the barrel of the second AA gun was pointing straight at him.

“Ah hell… “ Scunner squawked before he took off into the air to gain some mobility. The AA gun fired its shells at the leopard griffon who tried his best to avoid the bullets. Luckily for him, another AA gun also tracked his movement and fired at his direction, only for the bullets to hit the second AA gun’s barrel: causing an explosive shell to jam inside and exploded, destroying the AA gun.

Scunner mentally said “yes!”, but he still had two more AA guns firing at him. Meanwhile, Aqua and Wire managed to destroy two flak guns by fooling the first AA gun’s computer to shoot at them while they were standing behind the flak guns. Registering the incoming fire as a threat, the flak guns turned their barrels towards the AA gun and fired at it, destroying the first AA gun.

“Verde 6 to Verde 1, two AA guns destroyed!” Aqua exclaimed. “What’s the SITREP over there, cap’?”

“This is Verde 1, we’ve also destroyed the flak guns, but there still two AA guns firing at us,” Jet stated. “I’m sending the signal to Altair Alpha to begin the bombing run.”

As soon as Jet sent the message to Altair, Rot’s booming voice came in through Assault Team #1’s comms.

“This is Ursa Major 1, we’re delivering the package now. E.T.A., 90 seconds!”

Sure enough, Verde’s members were able to see two griffon bombers flying towards the sectors. The Belkan forces quickly sounded the air raid siren and several searchlights began to comb the dark skies. It was literally like a scene from the old war days, tracers lit the sky as the Belkan officers tried their best to shoot the bombers from the ground.

“Foolish Belkans! Did they really think they can hit us at this altitude!?” Rot laughed as he watched every single bullet miss him and his wingmate by several meters. Both griffons had to wear protective goggles to cover their eyes from the ice that could form in the altitude they currently flew. Rot was having a good time, while his wingmate wasn’t enjoying the bullets at all.

“Woah!” his wingmate yelped as a bullet narrowly grazed his right wing. “Sir, how much time left?”

“30 seconds!” Rot yelled. “Pay attention to your scanner, Gills. We dive once we hit the mark!”

“Yes sir!”

Thirty seconds passed like an eternity for Gills. When the two finally reached their mark, the two griffons made a nosedive towards the targeted sector before releasing their payloads: two 1000 lb Self-Forging Fragments Submunition (SFFS) bombs.

“Pickle, pickle!” the two griffons declared. Rot then contacted Scunner to warn his team about the bombs.

“Ursa Major 1 to Verde 4, Scunner, package is sent! Clear out the area!”

After that, Rot and Gills quickly turned away from the airspace. Scunner and his team didn’t wait for any second warning and quickly flew off to safety. The Belkans quickly galloped for their lives as they knew what will happen next. The bombs dispersed into numerous bits of explosive shrapnel as they approached the sector. Soon, the shrapnels ignited, and the first sector was engulfed in a huge fireball.

“This is Verde 4, Sector 1 is destroyed,” Scunner announced to his comm.

“Good work!” Saetos complimented. “Verde 1, what is your current SITREP?”

“Second AA gun is destroyed, sir,” Jet stated. “Ursa Major 2 and 3 is en-route to deliver the package.”

“This is Ursa Major 2,” an adolescent griffon’s voice sounded. “We’re nearing the drop point. E.T.A., two minutes.”

“Altair Alpha this is Silver 1,” Silber’s voice sounded. “We’re moving in to attack the third and fourth sectors at our location. Silver 1, out.”

“Altair Alpha copies all, continue with the operation. Out.”

Jet managed to dodge another machine gun attack by hopping to the side, distracting the machine gun operator so Lanner and two other Verde members could disable the machine gun and drive the Belkan pony away. Another AA gun turret sets its sights on the griffons and fired at them.

“Verdes, break!” Jet exclaimed as he and his team flew out from the firing line, leaving several unlucky Belkan ponies to be ripped to pieces from the heavy rounds. The AA gun kept firing at the griffons, foolishly trailing them into the flak guns when Jet and his subordinates employed the same trick Scunner and the others have used on the first sector.

The AA guns quickly silenced the remaining flak guns, allowing the second sector to be exposed from the skies. Ursa Major’s second bombing run made swift work of the second sector, leaving the eastern gate completely defenseless.

“Altair Alpha, this is Verde 1,” Jet began. “Eastern defense sectors are annihilated. It’s a straight shot to the city!”

“Roger Verde 1, I’m informing the first group of Assault Team #2 to make their move,” Saetos responded. “Keep an eye on the first team when they enter the city. I’m handing you over to Altair Beta until the two remaining sectors are destroyed. Altair Alpha out.”

“Understood,” Jet nodded before he and his team flew back to escort the main assault team.

Meanwhile, Silver Squadron managed to destroy two of the main AA guns on each of the two sectors and were employing the same tactics by distracting the remaining AA guns to destroy the flak guns.

“Flak guns are out on both sectors,” Silber stated through his comm. “Ursa Major, deliver the packages now!”

“Roger that Silver 1, we’re on our way right now. E.T.A. 87 seconds!” Rot’s baritone voice roared in response.

“This is Newt Company,” a voice belonged to a stallion sounded through the comm. “We’re moving into the eastern gate along with Southwind Squadron. I heard Verde is also escorting us, we’re counting on you griffons to cover our flanks!”

“Southwind 1 here, don’t worry,” Ronin said in confidence. “You’re safe with two of the Griffin Army’s top squadrons flying cover.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Jet added.

“Alright guys, enough with the chatter,” Altair Beta’s or Marcus’ voice sounded. “This is Altair Beta to Assault Team #2 first group. Continue your heading towards the eastern gate, once Ursa Major has eliminated the two sectors on the west, the second group will move in from their end.”

“The enemy couldn’t possibly handle two invasive forces at the same time,” Saetos added. “Let’s tear them apart from both sides.”

With the main spearhead for the second strike ready, Crimson Squadron patiently waited for Silver and Ursa Major to finish their job. Both Rot and his wingmate hit the mark perfectly and dropped two SFFS bombs at the fourth sector, followed by two more bombs dropped by another flight of bombers at the third sector. Both sectors, including the unlucky Belkans who didn’t escape in time, were quickly incinerated by the bombs.

“Damn it! They broke through the defense lines!” one Belkan pony cursed in dismay.

“Shut your mouth and retreat to the city!” another Belkan, presumably the commander, squawked in response. “Fortify all the defenses, scramble all pegasi and griffon fighters. We’re not letting them enter this city!”

“This is Silver 1 to Altair Alpha, we confirmed that the last two sectors were annihilated,” Silber spoke to his comm. “The path to the gate is clear for the second phase.”

“Roger that, Silver 1, go join up with the second strike force,” Saetos ordered. “Phase Two will begin in 90 seconds. All units of Assault Team #2, get in position immediately.”

All teams on Assault Team #2 responded with a loud “roger” from their respective ends as they moved into their positions in front of the gates. From inside the city, the Belkans sounded more sirens in an attempt to warn other Belkan forces about the advancing allied forces. Several Belkan griffon squadrons who watched their equine brethren get annihilated by the bomber squads from the clouds finally decided to engage the allied forces out of spite and their commander’s orders.

“Pathetic ponies,” one of the Belkan griffons remarked. “Can’t even hold four sectors like a true Belkan.”

“Yeah, let’s show them how it’s done!” another Belkan griffon exclaimed in agreement as he and his comrades dove towards the first strike unit.

“Altair Beta to strike force one, there’s a large flight of Belkan griffons heading towards your location,” Marcus warned.

“This is Southwind Squadron,” Ronin spoke through her comm. “We’re ready to intercept those brutes.”

Following those words, both squadrons ascended into the dark skies to engage their Belkan counterparts. Jet who flew beside Ronin noticed a small metallic ching coming from the griffoness’ talons. When he looked, he was surprised to see a pair of metallic talons covering each of Ronin’s claws.

“I thought the Royal Guards were the only ones to use that,” Jet thought in interest. He soon shoved those thoughts away as one of the Belkan griffons rested his eyes on him.

“You’re mine!” the Belkan squawked. Jet only smirked as he brought his two forelimbs up into a defensive stance. Soon, both griffons clashed against each other, followed suit by their wingmates. Another Belkan flight split off and engaged Ronin’s squad with the leader facing the black and blue griffoness. The two hovered for a moment as the Belkan decided to break the silence first.

“This battlefield is no place for you, griffoness,” the Belkan snarled. “Go back home and stay in your place!” Ronin only chuckled in amusement as she brought both of her armored talons together and formed a battle stance.

“Sorry, I’m not taking advice from sexist brutes like you.” Ronin smiled. The Belkan squawked in anger as he threw the first strike at Ronin. The metallic blue griffoness evaded the attack with ease and retaliated with a swift elbow jab at the Belkan’s stomach.

Before the Belkan could retaliate, Ronin brought her metal talon directly at the Belkan’s face. The Belkan felt enormous pain as the talon cut through his feathers, skin, and flesh like butter. His pain was quickly cut short when Ronin brought her other armored claw into his neck, cutting through his throat and severing all major blood vessels with ease. He was dead before his body could hit the ground.

“Southwind 1, killed one Belkan,” Ronin stated through her comm.

“Meteor 2-1 is down!” one of the wingmates’ exclaimed in fear. Ronin merely clashed her blood-covered talons together before turning to the dead Belkan’s subordinates.

“Anyone else?” she asked darkly. Most of them hurriedly scampered off, not wanting to share their leader’s gruesome fate, but some of them yelled and charged at the metallic blue griffoness; anger had blinded their minds.

“Kill that witch!” one of them roared.

“Fine,” Ronin sighed before she activated her comm. “Southwind Squadron, battle formation. Engage the enemy at will!”

“Roger ma’am!” her underlings responded in unison before they charged into battle. The situation quickly escalated as both sides began trading blows against each other. One Belkan tried to attack Ronin from behind, but thanks to Jet’s timely interference, the attack was aborted, and the Belkan was thrown away by the green griffon.

“Verde 1, below!” Ronin gasped as she was about to thank Jet for his interference. Jet looked down and saw a Belkan who managed to sneak his way from below. The Belkan succeeded grabbing both of Jet’s legs.

“You are mine!” The Belkan roared, completely unaware of Scunner’s presence behind him.

“Correction,” Scunner began as he wrapped both of his limbs around the Belkan’s neck. “You are mine, mate.”

The Belkan tried to struggle, but he was hit in the back before being knocked out by a swift uppercut delivered by the leopard griffon.

“Verde 4 here, bagged a Belkan!” Scunner exclaimed. “Moving on to engage the rest.”

“Altair Beta here, about 12 percent of the Belkan squadrons are downed,” Marcus stated. “All units, continue the attack.”

1921 hrs

Silber grunted as he evaded another attack delivered by one of the Belkan squad leads before retaliating with a vicious claw swipe to the Belkan’s neck. The attack managed to confuse the Belkan long enough for Silber to finish him off with a single punch between his eyes, sending the Belkan falling to his death.

“The captain’s down!” one of the Belkan griffons exclaimed in shock.

“Shut up and continue to engage!” another Belkan squad lead squawked. “You will be able to avenge your leader’s defeat with the annihilation of the allied forces!”

“Sorry, not going to happen.” Crimson 1, an orange feathered griffon named Blade spoke casually. He used the Belkan leader’s little speech to sneak up on him from behind. In response, the Belkan swung his right arm at Blade, but the orange griffon blocked the blow with his left arm and delivered a powerful peck right at the Belkan’s head.

“Argh!” the Belkan growled in pain before regaining his sights on the orange feathered griffon. “I’m going to wipe that smug off your face!”

“Once again,” Blade smirked. “Not going to happen.”

The Belkan let out a primal yell as he flew towards Blade at high speed. His rage prevented him from noticing two figures flying from below before it was too late. The Belkan was caught off guard when two powerful kicks hit his chest and stomach, dealing a critical blow at his liver. The Belkan griffon coughed some blood before he plummeted down, sending a wave of panic towards his squadron.

“Nice kill, Crimson 2 and 5,” Blade complimented his two subordinates. “C’mon, let’s get back to the action.”

Both griffons responded with a single “roger” before they engaged more targets around them. Without both leaders to guide the remaining Belkan soldiers, the remaining squads quickly fell to disarray, because no one was competent enough to lead their comrades. Silber and Blade noticed this golden opportunity and quickly ordered their wingmates to pick the Belkans off one by one. Soon, both of their comms beeped when Altair Beta came in through their radios.

“Altair Beta to second group. Requesting SITREP.”

“This is Silver 1, the Belkan squad leads are neutralized, and we’re currently mopping up the remaining forces.” Silber answered.

“Good work. Keep up the attack.”

Silber closed his comm just in time when a Belkan pounced him from behind, locking his arms around the gray feathered griffon. Silber quickly grabbed both arms and threw his head back as hard as he could, effectively dazing the Belkan long enough for Silber to throw him forward before finishing him off with a double kick to the chest.

Silber took his time before he reached to his comm again,

“Silver 1 to all Silver units, try to outsmart the remaining Belkans, but don’t kill them,“ he spoke. “Most of them are likely to be new recruits with little to no combat experience. Kill the leaders and non lethal takedowns for the subordinates.”

“The Belkans are using rookies as their frontline shield?” Ronin spoke at her end. “How low could they get!?”

“I guess pride and honor doesn’t apply to these guys anymore.” Jet added from his end.

“Cowards!” Ronin hissed.

Silber could only sigh after hearing those words. It hurt him that his former countrymen would resort to such thing. His father, a Belkan and a well known decorated war veteran, would have never put rookies in the line of fire like this, and he would certainly be pissed if he were still alive to see this.

“Altair Beta to all units, the Belkan squadrons are down to just 20 percent. Pegasus squadrons, you’re cleared to move in to support the griffon squadrons.” Marcus stated.

An audible series of “rogers” and “copies” was heard from the pegasus squadrons’ respective ends. The remaining Belkan forces panicked when they saw multiple EAF signatures coming from east and west.

“Enemy reinforcements,” one of them yelled. “It’s the Equestrian forces!”

“Don’t give up, maintain your ground!” another Belkan said in assurance. Despite his and some of the Belkans’ confidence, many Belkan soldiers choose to disengage and return to the city. The first pegasus squadron arrived near the eastern gate and quickly took care the remaining Belkan griffons. All five members wore bright orange vests with numbers from #1 to #5.

After their timely appearance, their leader quickly introduced her squadron and herself towards the two griffon squadrons.

“This is the EAF 13th Pegasus Squadron ‘Swallow’ to Altair Alpha,” their leader, a bright pink mare named Honey Rays began. “We and the allied griffon forces managed to send the enemy forces packing at our end.”

“This is Southwind 1, we confirmed visual on the retreating Belkans,” Ronin spoke. “Shall we make our move now?”

“This is Altair Alpha, affirmative Swallow 1 and Southwind 1,” Saetos responded. “EAF ground forces on the first group, prepare yourselves for Phase Two.”

“Jade Company here, roger that,” Jade 1 an orange unicorn mare with a curly two color mane named Arrow Fall answered. “We are ready to storm the gate at command.”

Another channel opened up as Silber’s voice came in from his end.

“Silver 1 to Altair Alpha, my squadron along with Crimson and the EAF “Crossbow” squadron managed to send the Belkans out from this airspace. We’re ready to cease the western gate.”

“Roger that, Silver 1,” Saetos answered. “Altair Alpha to Newt Company leader, prepare for Phase Two.”

“Newt Company here, we’re ready to begin the assault!” Newt 1, a gray unicorn stallion called Fire Crackle answered. Soon, the griffon and the pegasus squadrons positioned themselves above the unicorn companies. The Belkans also saw that both unicorn companies formed a massive symbol which contained the roundels of the Griffin Kingdom Army and the EAF. The Belkans saw the glowing roundels, and the commander decided to take action,

“This is it, brothers and sisters,” the Belkan commander exclaimed through a widespread frequency. “Prepare yourself for the attack. They shall not reclaim this city! For the glory of Neue Belka!”

All Belkans roared in response, earning the the allied forces’ attention. Saetos immediately used the GCC’s own widespread frequency before he spoke,

“Alright, griffons and griffoness, fillies and gentlecolts. The real battle starts now. Initiate Phase Two… Now!”

After hearing the last three words, both unicorn companies alongside the fliers headed straight for the gates. Fire Crackle was yelling as he and his team galloped straight at the gate with Silber flying above him. Arrow Fall exclaimed the following words to her comm,

“May the sun and moon shine upon us!”

Belkan Central Command, Pisa, Griffin Kingdom
May 16th, 1945 hrs

Kriegstreiber looked at the monitor in silence. He heard that several Belkan patrols encountered small pockets of allied resistance around Pisa, and he brushed them off as a minor threat, but he couldn’t believe that the allied forces were actually trying to take back the city tonight.

Around him, several Belkan officers were trying their best to send out more troops on the front line, but so far, it didn’t make any slight difference for the situation.

“Buck!” one Belkan pony cursed as he turned towards the Belkan commander who stood beside the mint unicorn. “Oberstveterinar Orel, sir. The enemy is attacking the east and west gates!”

“Which gates?” Oberstveterinar Orel, a large bronze feathered griffon asked.

“Both of them, sir!” the pony responded. “Oberst Kruger is trying to handle the situation but—“

“It’s not really going his way, is it?” Orel finished with a frown. The pony wasn’t able to respond, causing Orel to walk over and grab the comm right from the pony’s hooves. The griffon changed the frequency into a widespread one before he spoke,

“This is Oberstveterinar Orel to all units, override frontal command Alpha One by Oberst Kruger. Send reinforcements to all defensive sectors and give them all you got. Send in the unicorn battalions to neutralize some of the enemy’s offensive spells.”

“B… but what about Oberst Kruger, sir?” the same Belkan pony asked beside him. Orel glared at the pony beside him.

“Oberst Kruger had failed his duties as a frontal commander of this battle,” he explained grimly. “Send out every available forces we have, including you and every combat ready person in this room.”

The pony and some of the other officers gulped when they heard that.

“Us, sir?”

“Yes, since our leader had the most wise decision to send in rookies to defend this city, I have no choice but to use every strength we have left,” Orel responded, causing Kriegstreiber to glare at him in anger. “Also, send in a message to Sudentor and call in one of those mercenary squads. Tell them to come here ASAP.”

The whole room was silent after hearing Orel’s words. Everyone could feel the intense anger radiating from Kriegstreiber. Orel’s words were a sign of disapproval of the mint unicorn’s leadership, and the griffon just went out and declared his spite right in front of Kriegstreiber.

“Is that clear, soldier?” Orel asked the pony again.

“Uh…” the pony tried to respond, but Orel’s patience was running thin. The griffon spread his wings, causing the pony to back up in fear.

“I said, is. That. Clear?”

The pony nodded immediately before Orel handed him back the microphone. Soon, the officers quickly scrambled out from the room and headed for their respective positions, leaving just four or more officers to watch the monitors. Orel too, was about to leave the room until Kriegstreiber teleported in front of him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.

“Winning this battle,” Orel answered dully. “Now step aside, sir.”

“You are violating direct orders from me!” Kriegstreiber snapped. “You as a Belkan should have known to consequences for such acts!”

“I’m fully aware of that, but as the main aerial commander of the Belkan Army, I can’t stand your ridiculous orders that would jeopardize this entire operation!” Orel roared. “Let alone, taking those orders from a filthy equine like you.”

Orel pushed Kriegstreiber aside and walked pass him. When the bronze griffon opened the doors, he turned his head slightly and spoke,

“You belong in an office, not in a battlefield.”

Orel then shut the door behind him, leaving Kriegstreiber inside the room with the remaining officers to keep him company. Slowly, the mint unicorn walked towards the nearest chair and took his glasses off with his magic before letting out a groan.

“Bastard’s right, I’m no leader… just a colt pretending to be one,” he sighed. Suddenly, his comm beeped, and the mint unicorn quickly answered it. It was Hog.

“Sir, Gray’s squad just got an urgent message from Pisa. Did the allied forces—”

“Yes, Hog. Pisa is now under attack from those scums,” Kriegstreiber said in annoyance, “and I just got demoted to second banana by Orel.”

“Ouch,” Hog responded. “Anyway, I just want to inform you that turret number three is now online, as well as the completion of the missile port groves on Valkyrie’s spine.”

“Well that’s good to hear, Hog, but can either of them be used right now?”

“I’m afraid not, sir.” Hog stated. “We still need to get Stonehenge’s barrels cleaned, and Valkyrie’s missiles are still in their testing phase.”

Kriegstreiber wanted to bash his head repeatedly after he heard that. His time was running out.

“But the good news is that Gray’s team is now on their way towards Pisa, and I also took the liberty of sending Violet’s and Esser’s squad as well,” Hog explained. “They should be there in about an hour.”

“And what about you and your team?” Kriegstreiber asked boredly. Hog’s response was a chuckle.

“Sorry, sir. We’re busy with Stonehenge at the moment. May our forces prevail in the battle. Oops. Sorry, sir I’ve got to go!”

Kriegstreiber was about to respond, but Hog already closed the channel. Realizing that he couldn’t do much since Orel put him down from the top ladder, Kriegstreiber sat on one of the seats and began monitoring the ensuing battle via radar screens.

“You think you’re tough, Orel?” Kriegstreiber muttered to himself. “I’ll show you that I can still play my part in this game.”

Eastern Gate
1952 hrs

Jet grunted as he threw a Belkan pony away from his path, allowing Arrow Fall and her team to gallop through with minimal resistance. The unicorns of Jade Company managed to get a quick look at the large gate build on the large clay walls that surrounded the griffon city of Pisa. Inside the gate, the assault team could see the dim flickering lights from the buildings and the large ancient towers scattered around the city. The towers were built by ancient griffon settlers during Discord’s age of chaos and Pisa was the former capital of the Griffin Empire until the more secured city of Gryphus was built to take Pisa’s role.

The griffons did all they could to preserve these ancient structures so they could keep up with their advance in technology. They even installed large reinforced metal frames around the towers to keep them from crumbling away, and now, the presence of heavy AA guns built above the towers may have endangered the towers’ fragile state.

A few Belkan unicorns positioned on top of the large gates and the towers fired their offensive spells at the incoming allied forces, but several of Arrow Fall’s subordinates were quick to react by casting a large magical shield around the team.

“Jade 1 to air units, we encountered heavy magical resistance coming from above,” Arrow Fall spoke to her comm. “Request air support, over.”

“This is Southwind 1, roger that. Moving in to support.” Ronin declared as she and her team flew towards the enemy positions. The Belkans quickly switched their attack towards the incoming griffon squadron, giving Jade company an opening to attack them from below.

“Open fire!” Arrow Fall yelled as her subordinates began launching offensive spells at the enemy. Several Belkans casted magical barriers to protect them from the spells, but the barrier was useless against the griffons’ physical attacks. One by one, the Belkans were quickly eliminated by Ronin’s squad, but due to the latter’s soft spot for ponies, the griffoness ordered her team to perform non-lethal takedowns only.

Ronin’s scanner beeped as more Belkan griffons took off from the nearby buildings, ready to assist their equine brothers.

“Southwind to Verde 1, we have a large concentration of griffon fighters coming this way,” Ronin spoke to her comm. “Your squadron handle the ground forces, we’ll take care those fighters.”

“Verde 1 copies, Southwind. Moving in to support the ground forces.”

More Belkan forces came pouring in under Orel’s orders to defend the eastern gate, but before they could engage the allied forces, an emergency message was heard from the lead Belkan’s comm.

“Sir, the western gate is under attack—Whoa!” the owner of the voice yelped as an attack nearly hit him. “We need support over here!”

“That’s a negative, Panzer 3-4.” The lead Belkan responded. “We’re currently facing the enemy forces at the eastern ga—“

“Panzer 2-1, send some of your men to the western gate,” came Orel’s voice, interrupting them.

“B… But sir!” Panzer 2-1 stammered.

“That’s an order, Panzer 2-1. Either you comply, or let your comrades die in the western gate.”

“Y… yes sir! I’ll send them over right now,” Panzer 2-1 answered, but before he could send some of his team, he was attacked by Jet from behind. Panzer 2-1 tried to retaliate with some spells, but Jet’s movement was too quick for him. The green feathered griffon delivered a blow to his stomach before he kicked the unicorn away.

The rest of the Belkans tried to attack Jet from all directions, but thanks to Jet’s squad backing him up and Southwind squad’s assistance, the enemy forces were quickly dealt with.

“Panzer 2-1, where are those reinforcements?” Orel asked again.

“This is Panzer 2-3, Panzer 2-1 is unable to comply due to heavy attacks from the griffons!” Panzer 2-3 answered. “We can’t send our forces either, there’s too many enemy units over here!”

“This is Panzer 3-4, the same goes with us! We can’t handle them all!” Panzer 3-4 added with a panicked tone. The unicorn’s comm soon got cut off when the unicorns of Newt Company overwhelmed his troops. Jet and Ronin came up with an agreement earlier; Verde squadron will assist Jade Company closer to the ground, while Ronin’s Southwind squadron will take out any griffon fighters coming their way.

Jet and his team doubled their pace as more and more Belkan soldiers came pouring out from every corner of the buildings near the gate.

“Southwind 1 to Verde 1, I see a large concentration of hostile forces coming from your right and left,” Ronin warned. “Mixture of earthies and unicorns.”

“Verde 1 here, thanks for the warning, Southwind, I see them now.” Jet responded. “Scunner, take four members with you and deal with the ones coming from the left. The rest can handle the ones from the right.”

“Roger that, Jet. Leave ‘em to us!” Scunner replied eagerly before he, Aqua and three other members broke off from the main formation. Jet flew upwards as the rest of his team engaged the Belkan troops coming from the right, dealing critical blows to both groups to ease his team’s load. The ones engaging the Belkans on the right occasionally needed some assistance or two, but the same couldn’t be said for the ones engaging on the left.

Scunner roared as he tore the Belkan troops right down to the middle of their group, scattering them and making them easy pickings for the rest of his group. One earth pony tried to get up, but Aqua grabbed and kicked him in the face, knocking him out before Lanner’s foot stepped over him as he battled against a large unicorn who shot offensive spells at him from multiple directions.

Lanner tried his best to avoid the incoming spells, but one shot finally hit him in the right shoulder, knocking him from his feet. The unicorn grinned as he charged another spell that would end the griffon right there, not even noticing a large black shadow approaching him from behind. Before he even knew it, three metal talons grabbed his neck, and another set of talons grabbed his horn.

Lanner watched as Ronin struggled against the unicorn, riding him around as the unicorn jumped around madly. After struggling for fifteen seconds, Ronin managed to break the tip of the horn, causing the unicorn to scream like a little filly. Ronin threw the tip away and gave an assuring smile at Lanner before she flew upwards to engage the Belkans, leaving the unicorn to weep over his broken horn.

Lanner just stood there confused at the odd sight until another unicorn’s attack snapped him out. Jet also did his part by diving into the center of the Belkan troops and taking out any enemy units within his talons’ reach while Ronin and her squad were multitasking with great timing and well placed attacks. Ronin had separated her squad into two groups: one group led by her wingmate, Butterclaw. who engaged the griffon fighters above with Swallow squadron, while Ronin and three other members assisted Verde squadron on taking out the enemy ground units.

“These ponies really don’t know how to give up, do they?” Ronin asked Jet through her comm after she evaded another magic blast from the ground.

“My team had seen worse in the Equestrian war, ma’am!” Jet responded from his end.

“Really now?” Ronin chuckled in response until her comm and scanner beeped. “Heads up Verde and Jade, there are more ponies inbound to your position.”

“This is Jade, we see them,” Arrow Fall responded. “Verde squadron, think you can thin them out a little?”

“This is Verde 1, we’ll see.” Jet responded. He and his squad were about to engage until Marcus’ voice came in to their comms.

“… patching over to Verde squadron. You’re now online, sir.”

“Thank you,” another voice came in. “This is Royal Guard Leader Tallman to Verde squadron, get out of the way if you want to live.”

“What?” Jet blinked before he and his squadron complied with that order out of reflex. Before they could ask Tallman why he issued that order, they heard a few rounds of bullets being fired at the incoming Belkan forces. The bullets tore apart the ponies galloping on front, sending bits of their vests, coat and flesh all over the place. More Belkan forces behind them stopped and gasped in horror when they saw that and soon, they shared the same fate as their comrades.

Both Verde and Southwind squadrons were stunned when they saw what happened. When they turned around, they saw several vehicles pulled by armored griffons with guns mounted on top of them moving towards their location. Above the vehicles, they saw multiple griffons dressed in full battle armor with the leader flying in front of them.

“Is that… the Royal Guards?” Ronin asked in confusion.

“Affirmative, Colonel Mizukami.” Tallman’s voice sounded. “This is the 15th GRG “Mindripper” to Altair Alpha and Beta, reporting for duty.”

Then another voice came in.

“This is Major White Tip of the 12th GRG “Distantthunder.” We’re ready to engage the enemy forces at the western gate.”

“Altair Alpha copies all, continue with your duties,” Saetos responded. Without wasting any time, both divisions of the royal guards stormed into the city. Jet saw that Tallman’s juniors were carrying some sort of small-sized firearms that shoot gunpowder and mobile gun turrets that could launch 20 mm rounds. White Tip’s group on the western gate on the other hand used archers as their long range weapon. Silber reported that the majority of the Belkan forces were quickly annihilated thanks to the royal guards’ arrow barrage.

Western Gate
2007 hrs

“Geez, you griffons are really putting everything into this invasion, huh?” Crossbow 1, a brown coated pegasus stallion called Silver Quill remarked as he and Blade took down two Belkan griffons.

“This is our city,” Blade responded. “We’ll do anything to win!”

“He’s right,” Marcus’ voice cuts in. “We need to succeed on this operation. If we fail, then we’re going to lose more life on this war.”

“Belka needs to learn their place on the modern era,” Saetos added grimly. “This is not the past anymore, and their ancient ideals are worth dirt to us.”

Silver Quill was slightly shocked to hear both operator’s declaration. He used to think that griffons were a fanatical race that were obsessed on preserving their old codes and ideals, but when he heard Saetos’ statement, he and the other equines with similar minds realized that the griffons were already moved on with time, adapting their old ways and cultures into the modern era.

“Newt 1 to Crossbow 1 and Crimson 1. Hey, can you guys hear me?” came the voice of Fire Crackle on both leaders’ comms. Blade responded first,

“This is Crimson 1, what is it, Newt?”

“We got a word that the Belkans are holding some civilians in a small nightclub near 56th Street,” Fire Crackle explained. “We are the nearest unit that can get to them, and Altair Alpha had already given us the green light to help them. Could you guys provide support?”

Both griffon and pegasus leaders glanced at each other with Silver Quill nodding in determination. Blade answered with a smirk and nod before he reached his comm and responded,

“Alright, Newt 1. We’ll provide support. Get those civvies out of there.” Blade then turned to face one of his wingmates. “Crimson 2, Rapier. You’re in charge until I get back.”

The griffon, Rapier answered with a quick salute before Fire Crackle’s voice was heard again.

“Thanks, Crimson 1. We’re on our way. Newt out.”

After finishing his word, Fire Crackle, along with three members of his team, galloped towards the direction of the nightclub. Saetos had informed them that the nightclub “Tower’s Corner” was located near the smallest clay tower on the area, just west of their position. Their path was already blocked by several Belkan ground forces and their aerial support. Fire Crackle immediately shot his offensive spells in the form of explosive fireballs, knocking several Belkans of their hooves.

The aerial support which consisted of two griffons and one pegasus moved in to support, but the pegasus was grabbed by Blade from behind and was thrown away before his comrades could help. The griffons tried to attack Blade, but one of them got hit by Silver Quill’s buck, and the remaining Belkan decided to retreat rather than to fight a losing battle.

“The path is clear,” Silver Quill spoke. “You’re cleared to—Agh!”

Before he could finish, the brown pegasus was hit by a stunning spell on his wings. Unable to fly, Silver Quill began to drop out of the sky like a rock, but Blade caught him before handing him over to the pegasus’ wingmates. The attackers used this golden opportunity to attack the allied squadrons, but luckily for the latter, one of the royal guards under White Tip’s command managed to disable the attacker with a single arrow strike to the chest.

The Belkans tried to fight again, but more arrows rained down upon them, causing the Belkan unicorns to make a hasty retreat. Using this opportunity, Fire Crackle, along with Blade and a few of Silver Quill’s wingmates, made their way to the nightclub.

Once they arrived, Fire Crackle ordered two unicorns to sneak to the back while he and one member waited on the front. The gray unicorn took a brief glance and saw that there were indeed civilians inside the nightclub; most of them were young griffons, and they were covered in hoof and claw marks. What was worse, he could hear the anguished screams and moans of griffonesses from the back of the club, and the two ponies Fire Crackle sent to the back confirmed the worst case scenario; the griffonesses were being raped.

Fire Crackle hissed quietly at the sight before signaling two of his men to wait for the signal to start the chaos inside. Then, he turned towards the fighters hovering above him.

“They got the civvies wrapped up pretty good. They got the all the boys beat up, and they’re banging the girls out back,” Fire Crackle explained in disgust. Blade and the two Crossbow members’ expressions soon changed when they heard that. “Once the signal’s out, give those bastards hell.”

Blade only nodded and cracked his knuckles in response while the two pegasi clopped their hooves once, obviously ready to pound the Belkans. Fire Crackle smirked and signaled his two subordinates the signal. Soon, all hell broke loose from the back of the nightclub. The young griffons who were held hostage by the Belkans decided to aid the allied forces and forced the Belkans out from the club with every last drop of strength they still had.

“Belkan scum! Get the hell out!” one of them exclaimed as he punched a Belkan pony into the window: shattering it. The rest of the Belkans ran out only to meet their fate at the hands of Fire Crackle, Blade and the Crossbow members.

“Could you guys get any lower!?” Blade roared as he flew upwards with a Belkan griffon in his claws. Once he was high enough, Blade twisted the griffon’s wings out of their sockets before he continued. “In the Griffin Kingdom, there’s only one punishment for such acts.”

Blade then let go of the Belkan, sending the terrified griffon screaming down to the streets. Blade watched in anger as the all familiar sound of crushed bones was heard when the Belkan hit the ground head first. The rest of the Belkans were quickly wiped out by the combined forces of the civilians and the allied forces. Once the nightclub was secured, Fire Crackle, along with Blade, escorted the civilians out on the streets and contacted the GRG to secure them, though the ones who were raped had to be carried out.

“It’s okay, you’re safe now,” Blade spoke to calm a crying griffoness.

“N… no, I’m not… “ the griffoness mumbled between sobs. Blade could only sigh while Fire Crackle asked for a SITREP to his subordinates,

“All of the civvies are secured, sir. All of them were beaten up pretty bad though,” one member explained. “But, I got some bad news.”

“What is it?” the gray unicorn asked.

“We found six dead bodies in the back,” the member spoke somberly. “Griffons: two males, four females. Probably executed on spot.”

“Alright, I’ll report this to Altair,” the gray unicorn responded. “When the Royal Guards arrived, we’re continuing with our mission. Newt 1 out.”

Fire Crackle groaned after he closed the comm. Altair won’t be happy about more civilian casualties.

Eastern Gate
2019 hrs

“They did what!?” Marcus yelled through the comm as Fire Crackle did his best to explain the SITREP about the hostages.

“I don’t need to repeat myself, sir,” Fire Crackle’s weak voice responded. “I feel disgusted just by mentioning it.”

“Alright, alright. I understand.” Saetos answered after calming Marcus down. “Just get them out of there.”

Saetos then turned to his widespread frequency as Fire Crackle closed his channel.

“Altair Alpha to all units, be on the lookout for civilians on every corner of the city. If you see the Belkans holding them down, try all you can to help them.”

All the leaders immediately complied to that order. From the western side, Rod from Northwind Squadron had reported that the Belkans held more civilians inside the ancient arena. In response, White Tip sent a few of her underlings along with Crimson and Northwind squadrons to help liberate the civilians from the Belkans’ grip. In the east, Ronin and Jet reported that the encountered more and more civilians hiding inside the buildings with most of them being guarded by one or two Belkan soldiers. What’s worse, a few of the civilians were forced to fight by the Belkans under false reassurance that their family/loved ones would not get hurt.

Sooner than they expected, both forces reported that they found many dead griffons of varying ages scattered on every corner of the city. The minority of the females’ bodies showed bruises and claw marks around their private areas, while the most of the male ones were almost unrecognizable due to being beaten to death. Despite this, most of the bodies didn’t even have a single wound on their bodies, leading to one conclusion: spells or black magic were used by unicorns to kill these civilians.

These despicable acts by the Belkans only stirred the already overwhelming rage that burned within the griffon and EAF soldiers. Their determination to free the remaining innocent lives ultimately made them stronger and perfectly willing to fight until their last breath.

The Belkans, however, were growing desperate with each step the allied forces had taken towards the center of the city. Some of the soldiers fighting on the front line decided to just give up and leave the area immediately, much to Orel’s protest.

“Damn it!” one Belkan pony cursed after he saw another brigade get annihilated by the allied forces. “Why can’t that blockhead of a commander see that this is a hopeless battle!?”

“Watch your mouth!” a Belkan griffon snapped at him. “He’s still our commander, show some respect!”

“I can respect him if he issued a retreat right now! We’re losing!” the pony snapped. As if he’s prayers have been answered, Kriegstreiber’s voice came in.

“Then so be it,” the mint unicorn’s voice sounded on all channels. “This is the Neue Belka leader to all remaining Belkan forces. Retreat to the south if you want to fight for Belka in another day.”

“This is Oberstveterinar Orel to Kriegstreiber. Ghunter, what the hell are you doing!?”

“Saving my troops, Orel,” Kriegstreiber responded calmly. “Your current orders are now being overridden due to inadequacies of the remaining forces, and the result will be suicidal if we continued fighting.”

“But this city is our territory now!” Orel snapped. “We have the right to defend it at all cost!”

“And wiping out our remaining forces? Sorry, not an option.” Kriegstreiber responded. “To all Belkan forces, you will not be following Orel’s orders anymore. Head south if you want to survive, Kriegstreiber out.”

Orel tried his best to reconnect the frequency, but it was too late, Kriegstreiber had already cut off all remaining channels that were connected to him, effectively cutting Orel off from the main communications line. Orel’s anger nearly burst out from his head, but the griffon soon calmed down when he saw some of the Belkan griffons chose not to abandon him and continue on with the battle.

Unknown to him and Kriegstreiber, their little chat had sealed their fate on this night.

Chapter 11: Game Over

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Chapter 11: Game Over

Northern Wall, Pisa, Griffin Kingdom
May 16th 2020, 2034 hrs

Riddle listened carefully to a pair of headphones connected to a communication hacking device, with the rest of Aquila squadron, Bertz and Quox’s companies waiting patiently around him. Black Star sat beside him, waiting for his order to type in a few commands on the device’s computer. The blue griffon’s smirk grew when he heard Kriegstreiber and Orel’s banter over the radio.

“There you are,” Riddle quietly mumbled before he turned to Black Star. “Go for it, Blake.”

Black Star nodded and immediately started typing a few commands into the computer. The monitor soon started processing the commands.

Things were quiet outside the northern wall; almost no Belkan soldiers were positioned at this section of the city, providing the third strike team a sense of relief and safety on this entire operation. Despite this fact, some of them were severely disgusted by Fire Crackle’s and the others’ reports on the civilian hostages within the city. Kestrel still had her scowl present after hearing the reports.

“Damn Belkans, could they get any lower than that?” she growled. Riddle quickly cleared his throat and answered,

“Oi, I’m still a Belkan, captain Turmfalken.”

Kestrel immediately blushed in embarrassment and apologized to the blue griffon, causing Black Star to chuckle quietly. Then, the computer beeped as it finished processing the inputted commands. Black Star quickly typed in a few more commands and displayed the results on the screen.

“Alright, we finally got Kriegstreiber’s location,” the black feathered griffon began as he showed the results to the rest of the team. “His last transmission was traced back to this place:Torre Della Liberta.”

“Torre Della Liberta? The tower of freedom?” Kestrel cut in, her anger boiling. “Did they turn the city’s landmark into their base of operations?”

“I’m afraid so,” Riddle spoke grimly. “That’s why need to drive them out from here, and judging by our friend’s chat with Orel, they already did.”

Riddle stood up along with Black Star as both of them took to the skies, motioning Kestrel and Kite to follow. Riddle looked below and spoke to both ponies,

“Bertz, get your team ready. Quox, can you and your team teleport us to the vicinity of Torre Della Liberta?”

“I visited Torre Della Liberta during my fillyhood, sir,” Quox boasted. “I think I can take you guys to the obelisk located near it.”

“Then you better start cooking that spell, Sparkles. We need to move in before that snake slips away,” Bertz spoke, causing Quox to glare daggers at him.

“Bertz, remind me to kick your flank to Tartarus once we get back,” Quox growled at the dark yellow earth pony. “I told you to never ever call me by that name!”

“Sparkles?” Kite asked thoughtfully as the small griffon descended before hovering above the blue mare. Quox’s response was a blush of embarrassment.

“It’s nothing! Come on, get back to your position, we’ll have that spell ready in a minute!”

Kite didn’t even know how to react after hearing Quox’s minor outburst, so he turned to Black Star in hope he would have the answer to his predicament. However, Black Star just stayed silent and told Kite to let it slide via hand gestures. Kite responded with an “okay” shrug when Quox stated that the teleportation spell will be ready in 20 seconds.

Three teams prepared themselves as the countdown reached zero before they were engulfed by the same teleportation sphere and vanished with a blinding light.

Vicinity of “Torre Della Liberta”, Pisa, Griffin Kingdom
2040 hrs

The three teams soon appeared within the complex of Torre Della Liberta. Some of Bertz’s team members whistled in awe when they saw the “tower of freedom” itself. It was a large clay tower reinforced with steel frames with decorative sculptures covering the side of the tower. Kestrel and Bertz quietly scolded them for not focusing on the mission’s objective while Riddle decided to contact Marcus to inform him about the current situation report.

“I see, then happy hunting, sir. I’ll keep you notified of the other SITREPs. Altair Beta out.”

Riddle then closed the comm and turned towards the team,

“Alright, we’re on our own for now. Let’s move!”

Following those words, the team quickly headed for the large tower located at the center of the complex. The area was huge, and it housed several ancient monuments, including the obelisk, statues and structures from the old founding days of the Griffin Empire. What was odd though was that there were almost no Belkan soldiers patrolling the vicinity, save for several Belkan fighters passing overhead, but they were more focused on the battle than on the two gates.

“Heh, they didn’t notice us at all,” Kite spoke with a grin. “Capturing that unicorn will be a breeze!”

“Don’t get too cocky, lad,” Riddle said quietly. Black Star felt an uncertainty in his tone. “There should be one or two soldiers trying to stop us right now. I have a bad feeling about this…”

“And for a good reason, Sir Wonderfalke!” a voice responded. Riddle turned upwards and saw the bronze form of Orel descending from the dark skies. Behind him were several pegasi wearing familiar grey vests with a wasp emblem covering their cutie marks. Quox nearly yelped when another pegasus landed near her; Riddle immediately recognized him from his brown mane and eyes and deep blue coat.

GRAU (Wasp)
Murtair Militia
1st Air Force, 1st Pegasus Squadron

“Gray, leader of Grau squadron and Murtair Militia…” Riddle said slowly. Gray responded with a smirk. “What brings you here, I wonder?”

“Cut the crappy jokes, Wonderfalke,” Gray answered. “We’re here to stop you and bring you to custody for treason against Neue Belka.”

“Since when did you care about all that stuff, Thundercracker?” Riddle snapped back with a smirk, Gray’s smirk soon dropped when he heard that last word. “I thought ever since Princess Celestia banished your family along with that maniac who conducted illegal experimentations, you stopped caring for any of that stuff about nations, countries…”

“How did you know?” Gray hissed at the blue griffon. Riddle just laughed in response.

“Grau 1, don’t listen to him,” Orel warned. “He’s playing with your mind!”

Gray, however, was too enraged to heed Orel’s words. His identity, along with his bloodline, had been exposed, and he was not going to let Riddle walk away with that information or worse, telling the solar princess all about it.

“You will take those secrets to your grave!” Gray yelled as he flew towards the blue griffon at high speed. Black Star was quick to react by grabbing Gray’s forelimbs and spinning him out from his course. Gray quickly recovered from his spin and hovered above them, his brown eyes met with Black Star’s golden eyes.

“Black Star the Ghost huh?” he began. “It’s a pleasure meeting you in person.”

“Can’t say the same for you,” Black Star responded before he ascended into the dark skies to meet his opponent. Both fliers stared at each other for a moment before Gray made the first move. Black Star evaded Gray’s attack, and soon, both of them were locked in battle.

Gray’s wingmates immediately dash towards the rest of Aquila squadron, but Quox’s Avion Company already shot some offensive spells at them. Both Kestrel and Kite soon joined the fight and engaged the Grau members. Quox turned to Bertz, and his team and ordered,

“Bertz, it’s up to you and your team now! Go inside the tower and capture that warmonger!”

Bertz merely responded with a single nod before he and his team galloped towards Torre Della Liberta. Orel tried to stop them, but his path was blocked by Riddle.

“You dare stand in my way, Wonderfalke,” the bronze griffon spat. “And to think that you used to be my friend.”

“I’m still your friend, Braunfalke,” Riddle replied. “It was you who still blindingly holds to Belka’s extinct ways and principles. Time has changed, Braunfalke. Can’t you see that this whole reclaiming Belka’s honor through war is just a bunch of bull!?”

“Time has indeed changed, Wonderfalke,” Orel growled. “But for Belka, it will always remain the same! Belka will rise again, and anyone who opposes it will die!”

After finishing those words, Orel squawked and tackled Riddle onto the ground. Riddle managed to push Orel off him by kicking the bronze griffon upwards, giving him time to roll to the side. Riddle stood up and watched as Orel squawked again and dove towards him.

“Traitorous scum!!” Orel hollered as he inched closer towards his target. Riddle merely jumped out of the way and flew into the sky. “Get back here, Wonderfalke!”

“Not an option for me,” Riddle responded calmly. Orel took to the skies and flew towards the blue griffon with all of his talons outstretched. Riddle calmly put both of his forelimbs up into a defensive pose before he folded his wings at the last minute, causing Orel to overshoot him. Riddle used this time to grab Orel’s legs and threw him down onto the ground.

“Your fighting is weak, Braunfalke,” Riddle commented. “Being old sucks doesn’t it?”

“Shut your mouth!” Orel snapped back before spreading his wings and taking flight. Orel drew the first slash, but Riddle avoided it. He then retaliated with another claw swipe directed straight at Orel’s left eye. The bronze griffon saw through and flew back to avoid it. When Orel was about to attack again, he was interrupted by Gray, who was thrown back by Black Star’s punch.

2046 hrs

Bertz and his team galloped inside the Torre Della Liberta with minimal resistance. They only encountered a few guards and patrols, but quickly dealt with them with ease.

“Looks like all the top-ranking officers already left for battle,” Bertz thought. “This should be easy.”

His team moved on through the empty halls until they stopped at a branch. One way was marked “Weapons Loading Bay” and the other “Main Control Room.” Bertz already knew which way his team should pick, but he was also curious about what kind of weapons the Belkans could possibly store in the loading bay.

“Thunder 6 to 10, you guys check the Weapons Loading Bay,” the brown earth pony ordered. “Me and Thunder 2 to 5 will capture that bastard. If any of us don’t report in within 10 minutes, call for reinforcements.”

“Yes, sir!” the Thunder members spoke in unison before going to their separate ways. Bertz and his group made their way quietly to avoid detection. Avoiding the patrols were easier than taking them out, since most of the officers stationed here were inexperienced rookies who only handled the communication lines.

The first group finally reached the main control room. The group was about to move in until the door opened, causing the group to hide around the corner. To their relief, two pony officers came out from the room and went to the opposite direction. Bertz managed to catch their conversation briefly.

“…I think we should ditch this city right now rather than to stay and fight.”

“Good idea, but you heard the commander’s orders. We need to stay here—”

“And what? Get clawed to death by those griffons? Not a chance, I still got a sister in Neue Gryphus awaiting my return…”

“I suppose…”

Once both of them were out of sight, Bertz and his team moved in front of the door and took a peek. Inside the control room, there were only two ponies working in front of monitors, and one of them had the unmistakable mint coat.

“It’s him!” Bertz whispered. “Thunder 3, send the notice to the others.”

“Roger,” Thunder 3 whispered in response before he turned his comm and opened the channels reserved for Altair, Aquila and Avion.

Meanwhile…

2046 hrs

Gray shook the pain off and flew back to confront the black feathered griffon again. Black Star remained silent, his eyes focused on his approaching opponent.

“I’ll give you credit, Ghost,” Gray spoke as he wiped a trickle of blood coming out from his nose. “You’re the first griffon ever to hit me on the face.”

Black Star kept his beak shut as he flew towards Gray to attack him. Gray flew to the side, but Black Star spun his body around and used the momentum gained on his wings to slap the pegasus. Gray managed to bring both of his hooves up just in time to block the attack, only to find Black Star’s claws already closing in on his face. Gray dodged the attack in time and did a summersault to attack the dark-feathered griffon from below. Black Star immediately flew upwards to avoid Gray’s attack, prompting the blue pegasus to chase him from behind.

Both combatants flew around in the night sky, and Gray found that it was very difficult to chase an opponent who blends well with the darkness. Before he even knew it, Black Star was gone from his sights. Gray stopped and hovered in midair; he didn’t even realize that the pursuit had took him higher above the city. He could see several tracers and magical spells being shot in every corner of the city. Looks like the Belkans weren’t giving up this city just yet.

Then, as if like he appeared out of thin air. Black Star delivered a double kick straight at Gray’s left ribcage.

“ARGH!!” the dark blue pegasus screamed as he felt several of his ribs breaking off from their place. Soon enough, his breathing quickens; his chest was obviously in no shape to help him breathe in high altitudes. Gray quickly descended, but Black Star was relentless. The dark griffon appeared once again and delivered a vicious claw swipe at Gray’s stomach: ripping his coat and skin.

Gray growled as he tried to endure the pain and continue with his descent.

“Crap, I’m really in the disadvantage here…” he thought with a scowl. “It’s true what they said during the Equestrian war. He really moves like a ghost!”

As if he was being called in, Black Star reappeared again from the darkness; this time he was aiming his strike at Gray’s spine, intending to end this fight once and for all. Gray, however, was ready for him and spun his body to create momentum in his right hoof. The hoof spun right into Black Star’s face, successfully hitting the dark griffon and sent him spinning.

Black Star quickly recovered from his spin and faced Gray again, only to find that the blue pegasus had already lunged at him. Black Star wasted no time bringing his talons to the front and grabbed both of Gray’s hoof, but the energy Gray had collected during his sudden strike at Black Star threw both combatants off, and soon, both of them were spinning to the ground.

Both fighters tried to regain altitude, but the spin rendered their wings useless at the moment. Black Star and Gray glared at each other as they slowly neared the ground. Gray was the one who broke the silence first.

“If you don’t let go, then we both die!”

Black Star kept staring at his opponent with his gold-colored eyes, seemingly unmoved by the pegasus’ statement.

“Did you really want to die!? Let me go!” Gray repeated. Black Star kept his silence.

“You suicidal bastard! LET ME GO!!” Gray yelled, getting desperate to free himself from Black Star’s grip. The dark griffon quickly snapped out from his trance and let the blue pegasus go by kicking him. Gray wasn’t able to stable his flight in time; he crashed side first near the obelisk. Black Star managed to regain his bearings and tried to slow down, but he too crashed near Gray’s location.

Black Star groaned as he rolled his body upwards. His comm crackled to life as an incoming transmission from Thunder came in.

“Thunder 3 to… *static*… we have Kriegstrei—*static* … location… we—*static*—moving in… *static* ”

Black Star winced as the static noise grew louder until the comm sorted out, damaged from the blow of the crash. He checked his scanner; its screen was cracked because of the crash, but it remained on long enough to give Black Star some information on the approaching Grau squadron and Thunder Battalion’s position.

“Damn…” Black Star sighed before he heard someone coughing from farther away.

Gray coughed as he tried to stand up, only to fall back after finding that he sprained his left hindlimb and broke both his right hoof and wing. His right side also had deep scratch marks that exposed his light skin. Black Star’s injuries were not as severe like Gray’s, but it was enough to put him out from the action for tonight.

“Clever… ugh… Ghost…!” Gray squeaked before several of his wingmates flew in to carry him away from the battle. “This is not over, Ghost. You may have won this round, but next time… you won’t be so lucky.”

Black Star’s response was a scowl as he watched Gray and his team left the ground and ascended into the night. The dark feathered griffon was about to lie back down until Kestrel came into his view, enraged and wanting to end the battle right now.

“Hey, come back here!” Kestrel yelled as she flared her wings to prepare for pursuit. However, Black Star stopped her by saying,

“No, the battle’s done for tonight,”

Kestrel wasn’t so sure about his words.

“Maybe for you, but I still got enough juice left to pursue them!”

“Just let it slide, Marie,” Black Star responded weakly, earning a glare from the pastel griffoness. “There’s no use for pursuing an already defeated opponent… we have won this battle.“

Kestrel kept her green eyes locked at the dark griffon as she approached him. She turned towards the fleeing enemy forces before her, sighing in defeat as she opened her field aid kit.

“Nice choice of words coming from a traitor like you,” Kestrel spoke while she motioned Black Star to sit. Black Star remained silent as she inspected his wounds. She then continued with a darker tone. “You may have fooled everyone here to think that you had reformed for the better, but not me, Black Star. It’s useless to fight your fate. No matter how hard you try, you will always be the griffon who started the coup that threw our kingdom into chaos.”

Once she was done patching up Black Star’s wounds, Kestrel stood up and gave the dark griffon a final glare as she spoke,

“Oh, one last thing. Don’t you ever call me by my first name again.”

“Duly noted,” Black Star responded with his monotone voice, earning Kestrel’s glare again.

Meanwhile, Kite who was too busy staring at the retreating Grau members, remembered that Kriegstreiber was still at large, and he decided to aid the Thunder Battalion to capture the mint unicorn. The metallic blue griffon opened his comm and contacted Riddle, but the small griffon realized that Riddle was in no condition to answer his calls right now. Changing his mind, Kite decided to contact Kestrel and told her that he wanted to join Thunder’s effort to capture Kriegstreiber.

“Alright, Kite. You have already proven yourself capable in Schmierfett Canyon with Aggrypa,” Kestrel responded. “Good luck, and happy hunting.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Kite replied eagerly before he sped off into Torre Della Liberta, just in time when Thunder made their move by storming the main control room. The chaos was heard through their comms.

“Move! Go, go go!”
“What in the… !”
“Kriegstreiber, you are hereby under arrest for treason against the Griffin Kingdom! Come silently, and we will not use force.”

“Like hay I would!”

“He’s teleporting away! Stop him!”

The hunt begins now.

2058 hrs

“Altair Alpha, this is Thunder 1. We’re currently pursuing Kriegstreiber on Torre Della Liberta,” Bertz stated to his comm while he and his team galloped through the empty halls. “He’s got enough magic left to teleport out of the room, requesting assistance, over.”

“Roger that, Thunder 1. I’ll hand you over to Altair Beta’s assistance, since he’s in charge of our magic detecting radars,” Saetos responded. “He’ll be with you shortly. Alpha out.”

“Altair Beta to Thunder 1, come in Thunder 1.” came Marcus’ voice through Bertz’s comm.

“Thunder 1 here, read you loud and clear. Go ahead,” Bertz answered.

“Thunder 1, I got small magical reading on the tower’s west side. It could be him.”

“West side? That’s the weapons loading bay!” Bertz said in realization. “Thunder 2, contact our second group. We’ll trap that rat there!”

Thunder 2 nodded before he contacted Thunder 6 to inform them about the situation. However, Thunder 6 stated that his group were already in pursuit of Kriegstreiber when the unicorn accidentally teleported behind them. Right now, the chase had brought them out of the Torre Della Liberta and into the backyard.

“This is Thunder 6 to Thunder 1, the target is currently on his way back to the city,” Thunder 6 reported.

“Roger that Thunder 6,” Bertz answered. “I already relayed the information to Quox’s team so they can help us on this chase. We’re gonna find a tight turn so we can trap him. Don’t lose sight of him.”

“Thunder 6, roger that.”

Kriegstreiber kept his pace by galloping as fast as he could, occasionally teleporting into a different path when some of Bertz’s ponies got too close. The mint unicorn decided that it will be a wise move to find some decent aerial support.

“Gray, you hear me!? I’m being chased by those scum. Requesting air support!”

“Roger that, sir. I can send my team to help your escape,” Gray responded from the other end. “Just head south and go outside the walls.”

“Hmph, easier said than done—GAH!”

Kriegstreiber nearly tripped when one of Quox’s team members teleported near him. When he regained his focus on his front, he saw two Avion members already galloping towards him. Kriegstreiber instantly charged up his horn for another teleportation spell, moving him to a safe distance from Avion’s grasp.

“This is Avion 2 Warlock to Avion 1 Quox. The target teleported again!”

“Horseapples!” Quox cursed before she changed the frequency. “Avion 1 to Altair Beta, we lost sight of him again. Need assistance ASAP.”

“Roger Avion 1, stand by,” Marcus responded. “Got him, he’s at the top of the wall and moving fast. I’m detecting several mercenaries escorting him from above.”

“Roger that, Altair Beta, we can see him now!” Quox changed her frequency again. “Aquila, we need you to clear the skies for us!”

“This is Aquila 1, negative. Cannot comply at this time,” Riddle responded shortly, obviously still tangled in his battle against Orel. “Aquila 2, what’s your status?”

“This is Aquila 2, cannot comply either. I busted my wing during the battle against that mercenary leader,” Black Star stated bluntly. Quox’s patience ran thin with each denied call, but her call was soon answered.

“This is Aquila 3, I’m heading over to your location right now.” Kestrel stated. “Aquila 4 is already en-route to your position, and he should be able to help you.”

“Roger that Aquila 3, I see that little griffon right now,” Quox said with a smile. Kite had indeed arrived just in time. “Thanks for the info, out.”

Quox kept on galloping while she called Kite to help them distract the mercenaries so she and her team could teleport to Kriegstreiber’s location. The small griffon soldier responded with a salute before he flew towards the wall. Having not participated in any engagement aside from keeping Gray’s wingmates busy, Kite let loose all of his energy in an instant burst of speed, taking one of the mercenaries by surprise.

“What was that!?” one merc blurted out after he saw his comrade fall and tumbled on the side of the wall. Another member who had engaged with Aquila earlier on immediately recognized the blue blur.

“It’s him, one of Aquila’s members!“ his friend stated. “All Grau units, keep your eyes open for that blue blur. He’s a fast one.”

Before any of them could react, Kite made his move again by tackling another Grau member. The metallic blue griffon slashed the pegasus on his chest, but the pegasus retaliated with a punch to his shoulder. Kite winced at the pain before his scanner showed that two more contacts were approaching him. Kite avoided another attack and kicked the pegasus as hard as he could before disengaging from the battle before he became surrounded.

“All units, concentrate your attacks on that griffon!” one pegasus roared as he and his teammates prepare to pursue the small griffon. Kite sighed as he turned around and hovered to face the mercs. Two mercs flew towards him and lifted their hooves to strike the small metallic blue griffon.

Kite simply responded by folding his wings mid-flight and let gravity do all the work. The mercs were caught by surprise when they overshot the small griffon and watched him fall down before he spread his wings again and headed towards Kriegstreiber’s location. Both pegasi immediately followed suit and flew as fast as their wings could allow.

Kite kept his course locked, but he decided that it would be better to keep his flight path random so the enemy couldn’t predict where he was going. The plan worked although it costed him more of his stamina, but it’s a risk that he could take. The mercs tried their best to keep up with the small griffon’s movements, but they only ended up wearing themselves down. Despite this, one merc noticed that Kite’s flight pattern began to grow more and more predictable with every flap and turn he made.

Smiling at the prospect that the griffon was also exhausted, the merc used every last drop of his energy to make a dash towards the weary griffon. His grin grew as he closed in inch by inch towards Kite, completely oblivious of Kestrel’s form flying above him. When he finally noticed the griffoness’s presence, he noticed it too late. The only thing he could do was to watch as Kestrel’s talons inched closer and closer to his eyes.

The pegasus shrieked as the talons pierced his eyeballs; the pain was doubled when Kestrel pulled her talons back, ripping the eyeballs out from their sockets. Kestrel grunted as she kicked the pegasus hard on his back, breaking it and eliminating any chance of survival.

“Good night,” Kestrel muttered grimly as she watched the pegasus fall before his body impacted the ground with a sickening splat. One of his comrades went ballistic at the pastel brown griffoness, exclaiming that he will avenge his comrade’s death.

“Hmph, cute,” Kestrel commented as she dodged the merc’s attack. The merc grew more and more ballistic as Kestrel continued to evade his attacks. The merc finally slipped up, allowing Kestrel to grab his hoof and use it to hit his face, dazing him and leaving him open for an attack. Kestrel grabbed the merc’s head and without hesitation, twisted it backwards. Her green eyes watched as the lifeless body of the merc left her grasp and fell towards the ground before they shifted towards the ongoing pursuit taking place on top of the wall.

Kite kept his distance from Kriegstreiber’s tail, but he kept his eyes locked on him, occasionally reporting to both Quox and Bertz about the mint unicorn’s moves. As of now, Kite reported that Kriegstreiber was trying to teleport again, but for some reason he was unable to do so, giving Quox’s Avion team a chance to move in.

Kriegstreiber kept trying to perform a teleportation spell, but his horn refused to work; it only gave out small sparks of magic, indicating that his supply of magic had already been depleted. What was worse, he noticed that the unicorn team lead by Quox began closing in at his position.

“Oh hay no!” Kriegstreiber cursed before he reached to his comm. “Kriegstreiber to Grau squadron. Hello!? I’m in trouble here!!”

“This is Grau 6, what’s your current position, sir?”

“On top of the wall! I’ve got two of these allied bozos closing in from the top and side, and I can’t teleport to safety!” Kriegstreiber yelled between pants. “Do something!”

“Roger that, stand by.” Grau 6 responded coolly before signing off, much to the mint unicorn’s displeasure.

“Stand by!? Hey are you listening!? HEY!? GAH, Celestia-damned pirates!”

Kite noticed the mint unicorn’s tantrum and decided that it would be best to end the chase right here and now. The small griffon reached his comm and announced that he was moving in to secure the target in which Quox and Bertz acknowledged. In turn, Quox relayed the info to Marcus.

“Roger that, Avion 1. Report back when you have the target on custody… Wait, hold on.” Marcus suddenly paused before continuing. “Ursa Major 4, please explain your sudden change of course.”

There was no response from Ursa Major 4’s end. Instead, Rot’s booming voice came in from his end.

“Ursa Major 4, cease your attack immediately! That is not the enemy!”

“I’m sorry, but Ursa Major 4 won’t be answering to your calls anymore…” the sinister voice of Grau 6 responded from Ursa Major 4’s comm. Before Marcus could respond to Grau 6’s statement, Kite’s scanner showed Ursa Major 4’s I.D. approaching in high speed from above. The metallic blue griffon turned and saw the unconscious form of Ursa Major 4 being strapped to a bomb with a pegasus carrying both the griffon and the bomb. Kite noticed that Grau 6 wasn’t slowing down; his mind quickly led to a conclusion.

“Kamikaze attack!” Kite hollered. “Abort the capture for now! Abort! Abort!”

Kite quickly broke off from his course along with Quox and her team, who galloped away from the wall, just in time when Grau 6 and his ticking time bomb flew past the small griffon. Kriegstreiber, who had been listening to their comms, wasn’t prepared when he finally noticed the bomb closing behind him.

“What the…!!?”

The bomb, Grau 6 and Ursa Major 4 exploded when they hit the top of the wall, throwing the mint unicorn into the air. Out of instincts and the adrenaline being pumped into his system, Kriegstreiber somehow mustered enough magical energy to teleport out from his fall and into the streets of downtown Pisa, along with several chunks of the wall.

Slowly but surely, Kriegstreiber stood up after the debris landed around him. As he was about to gallop again, he growled when a sharp pain shot up from his right hindlimb.

“Damn it, I must have landed harder than I thought,” he thought before he tried to limp his way through the empty streets.

“I just lost contact with Ursa Major 4,” Marcus announced. “Aquila, what the hell is going on down there?”

“This is Aquila 4, one of the mercs used Ursa Major 4’s bomb for a kamikaze attack,” Kite stated. “Ursa Major 4 along with the merc were obliterated along with a good chunk of the northern wall!”

“This is Quox to Altair Alpha, one of my team members got caught under the rubble,” Quox yelled. “Requesting rescue, stat!”

“Roger that, Avion 1, the medical corps is on their way right now.” Saetos answered.

“Aquila 3 to 4, what’s the status on Kriegstreiber?” Kestrel asked as she made her way to Kite’s position. The other mercs had to retreat under Gray’s orders.

“Unknown, ma’am. The bastard teleported out before I could see his position,” Kite responded. “Altair Beta, please relay the updated position of the target to Avion and Thunder.”

“Roger Aquila 4, stand by,” Marcus responded as he opened two channels reserved for Quox and Bertz. “Altair Beta to Avion 1 and Thunder 1, I’m updating the target’s location into your scanners. He’s making his way south through downtown Pisa and he’s currently passing the Venicese district.”

“Roger that Altair Beta,” Quox responded. “Bertz, get your team over here. It’s going to take all of us to hunt that bastard down inside the city.”

“Wilco, Quox. We’re on our way.” Bertz replied as he and his men galloped towards Quox’s location. After a full minute, the ground forces rendezvoused with each other, allowing Quox to teleport all of them to their designated site. Kite and Kestrel immediately headed towards downtown Pisa when their scanners were updated with Kriegstreiber’s location.

“Damn, I haven’t been here in years,” Kestrel muttered as she and Kite flew above Pisa’s tall buildings. Kite however was more focused in finding Kriegstreiber and kept his eyes locked on the scanner, but something else on the scanner also caught his attention.

“Ma’am, hostile pegasus squadron inbound!”

“Another one?” Kestrel responded. Suddenly, her comm crackled to life before an all too familiar voice was heard.

“Did you miss me birdy?”

“You!”

Before the two griffons could react, five pegasi wearing purple vests passed them on the right side. Kestrel could swear she saw Violet winking at her when her squad made the pass.

LILA (Lily)
Murtair Militia
1st Air Force, 2nd Pegasus Squadron

“Aquila 3 to Altair Beta, we had another hostile squadron!” Kestrel exclaimed. “Requesting reinforcements ASAP!”

“Roger Aquila 3, stand by,” Marcus responded before he relayed the information to Saetos in hopes of there being a squadron that could help Aquila.

“Altair Alpha to Aquila 3, I’ll have Southwind 1 from Southwind Squadron over to help you now,” Saetos answered.

“Roger Altair, thank you.” Kestrel responded before she turned towards Violet again.

“Now why in the world would you call for reinforcements, birdy?” Violet spoke in a mock dejected voice. “It’ll ruin the fun you and I are going to have.”

“Then let’s dance, mercenary,” Kestrel replied while forming a battle stance. “You and me, right now.”

“Ooh! That’s the spirit!” Violet said in excitement before she lunged directly at the pastel griffoness. Soon both combatants were locked in battle. Violet’s wingmares, however, found themselves without a leader and without an order to engage.

“Great, I’m bored now,” one of them groaned. “Our leader is having a great time, but she forgot about us!”

“Then let’s search for a suitable prey!” one of them suggested. She then checked her scanner and found Kite’s signature heading towards Kriegstreiber’s location. “Ha! There’s one right now!”

“Then what are we waiting for!”

The four bloodthirsty mares then proceed to head towards Kite’s location, hoping that the small griffon soldier could satisfy their bloodlust. Kite, on the other hand, noticed the four hostile contacts heading towards him. He took immediate action by diving towards the ground before leveling off at 20 feet. Kite studied his surroundings and decided to use the buildings as his own advantage.

“They’re fast, but let’s see if they can catch me through this!” Kite thought in determination as he zipper past the buildings in high speed. However, his fatigue began to take it’s toll, restricting him from using his full speed.

The Lila squadron members detected his rapid movement and decided to play along with Lila 2, saying that whoever can catch him first gets the biggest pay and a chance to “play” with his corpse. Driven by this, two Lila members lowered their altitudes while two of them flew above the building line. Still, none of the Lila members noticed Quox’s Avion Company teleporting near Kriegstreiber’s location and a dark shadow flying above them.

Kite panted as he passed another building. He really wanted to stop flying for a bit to catch his breath, but Lila Squad’s presence prevented him from doing so. So he kept going, no matter how much his body ached and begged him to stop.

“If I stop now…*pant*… I’m dead,” Kite muttered to himself.

“In the next couple of minutes, you are,” said a female voice. Kite looked to his side and saw one of the Lila members saluting at him. “Hello little one, shall we play a game?”

“I’m on duty right now, ma’am. So nope!” Kite responded as he rounded another building before letting out a burst of speed. The Lila member just giggled in excitement and resumed her pursuit.

“He fell for it,” she chuckled. “Get ready to catch the bird, Lila 3.”

“Roger that, Lila 5. I’m in position,” her wingmare answered.

“Hey don’t forget to leave a piece of him for us!” Lila 2 exclaimed from above, unaware that the shadow following them was getting closer. With a swift motion, the shadow grabbed Lila 4’s snout while Lila 2 wasn’t looking. When she finally noticed that her friend was gone, it was too late. Almost like a ghost waiting in the darkness, Black Star slashed Lila 2’s face before kicking her hard in the chest. The crippled pegasus didn’t have any time to react before she impacted one of Pisa’s skyscrapers.

Black Star hovered for a second before he landed on one of the buildings, cringing in pain as he tried to fold his damaged wing. His wing still hurts like hell, but when he heard that Kite was in trouble, he couldn’t resist to help. The dark-feathered griffon knew that Kestrel would probably yell at him for doing this stunt.

Reaching to Lila 4’s communicator, he changed the frequency to warn Kite about the trap the Lila members had in store for him. Kite answered his call and thanked him for the warning.

Sighing in relief, Black Star sat down and muttered,

“Good luck, kid.”

Meanwhile…

Esser watched the entire battle in silence with his two wingmates hovering beside him. He and Lila squadron had just arrived fifteen, minutes ago and he already let Violet and her vicious flock go to engage the allied forces. He and his squad, on the other hand, remained on standby, even if his thirst for battle was already yelling at him to go and look for blood.

But alas, he had something else in plan for tonight.

“Looks like Violet’s an even match for that griffoness there…” one of Esser’s wingmate spoke.

“Yeah, and she’s a cutie,” another member spoke. “Oi, Esser. Care to tell her name, or I’ll just go down there and ask her out myself?”

“No one’s going down there until I said so, Svenson,” Esser spoke flatly. “You remembered what I said earlier, don’t you?”

Svenson stayed silent before slumping his head down in shame, earning a chuckle from his wingmate.

“Serves you right for falling in love at the wrong time, bud.”

“Oh shut up, Heimer.”

Esser ignored his wingmates’ banter and kept his eyes on the battle unfolding when Kite encountered the Lila members. His strange smirk returned when his eyes caught a certain mint colored unicorn.

2134 hrs

Kriegstreiber galloped through the empty streets of the Venicese district, slowly leaving downtown Pisa and making his way south. So far, he didn’t see any glimpse of either EAF units or griffon units that were sent to capture him. Figuring that he lost them all, the mint unicorn stopped and took this valuable time to catch his breath.

“Horseturnips, I must have shed nearly 10 pounds from all that running…” he muttered to himself. He let out a sigh as he slumped down on the stone sidewalk. “I’m getting too old for this.”

However, unknown to him, Quox’s Avion Company, along with Bertz’s Thunder Battalion, had already took position around Kriegstreiber’s location. Each turn, each corner and each street had at least one member of both teams, and they were ready to capture the unicorn. But things quickly go south the moment one of Bertz’s team members made a loud noise which alerted Kriegstreieber.

Realizing he wasn’t alone anymore, Kriegstreiber pooled his remaining magic for another teleportation spell, but to his dismay, only small sparks of magic came out from his horn.

“Ah, crap,” the mint unicorn cursed before resorting to plan B: run like hell, which prompted Avion and Thunder to pursue him. A few of Quox’s teammates had enough magic to teleport near Kriegstreiber, surprising him and making him even more desperate to escape. The mint unicorn tried to call for help, but none of his calls were answered. Gray was incapacitated along with his team, Violet was too busy satisfying her bloodlust, not realizing that her squadron was forced to retreat thanks Kite and Black Star’s actions, and no news from Orel nor Esser’s team. What was worse, the remaining Belkan forces were annihilated by the joint allied forces, meaning that apart from the mercenary squads, Kriegstreiber was the only Belkan left on the city.

The last shred of his hope was the cyanide pil he carried between his teeth. Crunching it would end this nightmare, and Rohling would take over his position by default.

Fate had other plans for him, though.

As he was about crunch the little pill, Kite’s screech from above made him turn and accidently drop the pill to the ground. Before he could realize that it was gone, Kite made a nosedive and grabbed the pony with his claws, digging them into the unicorn’s bright green coat. Both of them rolled for a bit on the hard rock-covered road, before stopping at a good distance from the nearest four-way intersection. Kriegstreiber grunted and tried to crawl his way out from Kite’s grip, but the metallic blue-feathered griffon kept his talons locked, causing him to be dragged by the mint unicorn as well.

“You’re… under arrest!” Kite spoke while straining to keep Kriegstreiber in place before the other teams could arrive.

“You… ugh! Are not… Ah! … Taking me… alive!!” Kriegstreiber spat as he continued to crawl his way out with little success. After minutes of struggling, the mint unicorn finally slumped on the road, exhausted to his very bones. Kriegstreiber let out a final neigh of defiance before succumbing to his fate. Realizing that this was over, Kite reached to his comm and activated it before he spoke,

“Aquila 4 to Altair Beta, mission accomplished. We got him!”

“Good work, Aquila 4. I’ll alert the GRG to pick him up.”

“Roger that, over and out.”

With that final word, Kite closed the comm and lay down face up, chuckling between pants at a job well done. Black Star, who was still on his roosting spot, only smiled when he heard the transmission. Violet and her remaining team quickly retreated when they heard the transmission, followed suit by Gray’s remaining wingmates. Kestrel and Ronin were relieved that Kite was safe and was able to complete the mission on his own. Riddle, on the other hand, had just killed his friend Orel after snapping his neck in midair. Sighing partially in guilt and relief, Riddle closed the eyes of his dead former comrade as Kite made his announcement.

“Well done, lad,” he thought with a smile.

Soon, Quox and the others arrived on Kite’s location. Bertz’s teammates quickly called Altair Beta of their successful capture, while Quox and her team casted an anti-magic spell to neutralize Kriegstreiber’s horn while Bertz cuffing him up. Before long, the GRG also arrived with a large wagon similar to the one Black Star was placed when he was captured at the opening days of the war.

When the door was closed and Kriegstreiber was secured, Saetos opened up a wide frequency and spoke,

“Altair Alpha to all units, confirmed all hostile forces are eliminated. Operation Silent Owl is a success. Unfortunately, it comes with a heavy cost on our side. All units, salute our fallen brothers and sisters. May their souls rest in eternal slumber.”

The victory of retaking Pisa was a silent one for both griffon and pony. The soldiers took this moment of silence to pray for the fallen: civilians and soldiers. An hour later, Pisa’s lights were turned back on after they had been shut down by the Belkan forces. Every single surviving soldier and civilian carefully picked the bodies up and laid them together within the ancient arena. Even the dead Belkans were placed together with them, Though they were the enemy, the griffons still respected the dead.

Ancient Arena, Pisa, Griffin Kingdom
May 17th 2020, 0230 hrs

It had been five hours since their battle came to an end. Although it was a victory for them, there was too much death and destruction left in the wake of the battle. Riddle, who was too tired to fly anymore, carefully made his way through the rows of dead bodies to search for the body of his friend. He finally found Orel’s body among dozens of dead Belkan soldiers. Though he died in battle, Orel’s expression was peaceful, as if he died while he was asleep.

“I’m sorry old friend… I truly am.” Riddle whispered before he turned around and walked away. The rest of Aquila squadron was sitting on the seats of the arena along with many more wounded soldiers and civilians. Verde squadron only lost their member: Aqua after he was hit by a stray magic blast. The blast only stunned him in midair, he died when he impacted the ground. Southwind squadron and Northwind squadron lost a total of six fliers; two died from the assault, and two more died recently after succumbing to their wounds. Both Crimson and Silver squadrons had a fair share of losses as well: a total of three fliers from both sides.

On the EAF side, the ground forces, which included Avion, Thunder, Newt and Jade suffered a total of ten losses and three critically wounded. Among the wounded was Quox’s teammate, Sapphire, who was nearly crushed to death when Grau 6 did the kamikaze attack. Both the entire Royal Guards and the Lunar Guards had miraculously survived the ordeal, though some of them still received a major wound or two. The two pegasus squadrons had also survived the battle intact, though some members needed attention after being hit by a stunning spell or a slash from the enemy.

Black Star winced as Kestrel bandaged his right wing. It was obvious that the black griffon wouldn’t be flying for a while. Kite sat beside him, finishing his fourth bottle of water just to keep his body from overheating. The cool water really did their job; all of the small griffon’s aching muscles were soothed when the water flowed on his feathers. Kite sighed when he emptied another bottle of water by soaking himself with it.

“Uuh, I need some rest…” Kite spoke tiredly, ignoring Black Star and Kestrel’s glances beside him. The small griffon then did just that, falling asleep in his current position. Kestrel just sighed at the sight.

“He’s really worn out. I wouldn’t blame him for collapsing like that, given that this was his first major battle,” she spoke.

“Yes, I noticed,” Black Star responded. “He told me this afternoon.”

“He must really trust you,” Kestrel said again.

“Yeah, the kid really looks up to me despite me having ledger dripping with blood,” Black Star remarked, causing Kestrel to turn and look at him. Black Star’s eyes weren’t focused on her, but they were focused at the center of the stadium. “Look at that.”

Kestrel also turned and saw the center of the stadium. Many dead and more wounded soldiers and/or civilians were brought in. Black Star continued,

“This isn’t war: this is a nightmare. A nightmare that I caused.”

Kestrel glanced at Black Star again, her eyes didn’t show any sign of emotion towards the black griffon.

“If the Equestrian War never happened, we would still have enough aces to win this without sacrificing so much…” Black Star spoke grimly. “Silverbeak, Greyback, Echo, and all those aces, I’m sure they’d jump into this war without a second thought. But, they’re gone now, all because of Rad’s empty words… and my foolish actions…”

“It wasn’t you…” Kestrel began. “It was a puppet, manipulated by Rad’s words, but the puppet had enough and cut the strings, informed the Equestrians and ended the war before it could claim more lives.”

Black Star didn’t respond to Kestrel’s statement. He knew that she was talking about him.

“Rad played with your mind, Black Star,” Kestrel continued. “The cause of the war was him and him alone, nothing more.”

“I’m just glad he’s not here anymore…” Black Star responded as both griffons turned their attention towards the night sky. The stars were still visible despite the early morning fog that always rolled into the city. After hearing Black Star’s statement, Kestrel couldn’t help but to feel his pain, but she couldn’t, knowing that there were other reasons why she hated him so much. That thought lingered inside the griffoness’s mind before exhaustion took her over.

Black Star was a little bit surprised when Kestrel used his shoulder as her makeshift pillow, though he didn’t really mind about her sleeping beside him. Unaware to both of them, Riddle who finally made it back from below watched the scene with interest. The blue griffon smiled as he thought,

“That’s one move, captain. I hope you’re ready for the next one.”

Unknown location, Griffin Kingdom
0257 hrs

Kriegstreiber kept his mouth shut as the wagon he rode made a sudden climb to avoid the Drakenridge mountain range. It was over. His status as leader of Neue Belka was over the minute that accursed griffon, Kite tackled him from above. No, he was already doomed the moment he stepped one hoof into Pisa. He really wanted to tell the guards outside to take his own life now, having failed to do it on his own, but was death the only legitimate path to freedom?

After all, he helped staged a coup that nearly bring the Griffin Kingdom to it’s knees. The griffons’ allies to the south, the Equestrians, especially their princesses, wouldn’t tolerate a traitor like him. It’s either rotting for a thousand years in the dungeon, or even worse, banished to who knows where.

Suddenly, the wagon jerked, causing Kriegstreiber to nearly drop from his seat. Before long, another bump occurred before the wagon came into a full stop.

“What in the… ?” Kriegstreiber began before the padlock was unlocked and the door was opened. Kriegstreiber couldn’t see who opened it at first because of their dark bodies, but soon, he saw a familiar brown-feathered griffon came into his view.

“Esser…”

“’Sup, Ghunter,” Esser greeted cheerfully. “Having a bad night, I see.”

“You have no idea,” Kriegstreiber spat. “Where were you, Esser? Hog said that your squadron was suppose to show up along with that battle whore’s squad. And get me out from this thing!”

“Yeah, about that. My squad’s got distracted by one of the enemy’s squad.” Esser lied before he motioned the dark figures to unbind Kriegstreiber from his shackles.

“I see. Next time, a little bit of warning.” the mint unicorn responded. “By the way, how did you find me?”

“We never lost sight of you,” Esser replied. “The changelings disguised themselves as the GRGs that were supposed to come and pick you up on Pisa.”

“What did you do them? The GRGs.” Kriegstreiber asked. Esser merely shrugged and took out a piece of meat from the saddlebag he brought with him, causing Kriegstreiber to blanch in disgust. “For pete’s sake, Esser. This is not the time to eat! I’m asking you what did you do to those guards!”

“I already answered your question,” Esser responded as he took a bite from the meat. “Where do you think I got this meat?”

Kriegstreiber’s pupils shrank in horror when Esser spoke that last word. When he took a closer look at the meats Esser had been gorging ever since he threw that bone into his trash can, the meats and bones did resemble the hindlegs of a pony. Esser’s been eating ponies ever since day one and this night, he’s been eating griffons too. Kriegstreiber then proceed to vomit in front of the brown griffon.

“Now, now. That’s not very polite, sir,” Esser spoke darkly. Before Kriegstreiber could even react, Esser grabbed his neck and stabbed him in his stomach.

“Wha…! Are you out of your… — ARGH!!”

Kriegstreiber screamed in pain when Esser dug his claws deeper into the unicorn’s flesh.

“Actually, I’m completely sane, sir. Never been saner in my entire life,” Esser responded with that strange smile on his beak. “Listen, I just got a word from her this morning, and she was very disappointed about your progress.”

Kriegstreiber couldn’t even respond, let alone breathe properly. Esser’s grip was stronger than he expected. He tried flailing his hooves around, trying to call for help from the changelings, but they only stood and watched as Esser continued.

“She said that Valkyrie had been a waste of money and resources, and she decided to move on with the Zeal of Exile project without your interference, heh,” Esser chuckled. “She also said that I’m charge now, so that means you have got to go, Ghunter…”

Kriegstreiber was horrified when he stared at Esser’s red eyes. It was like he was staring at death itself, and now, death will come to him very soon. When he tried to charge a spell, Esser grabbed his horn and broke it off with ease. Kriegstreiber choked, unable to scream anymore. Then, Esser grabbed his head and twisted it backwards, killing the mint unicorn instantly.

Esser chuckled when he let go of the motionless body of Kriegstreiber, but he wasn’t done yet. Esser grabbed the unicorn’s head, then, using his brute force, tore the head completely off from the body. Esser then looked at Kriegstreiber’s lifeless eyes and said,

“Don’t worry, Ghunter. Your mercenaries will be safe with me. I’ll guarantee it!”

After finishing those words, Esser tossed the head back into the wagon before he picked up the body and threw it in as well. He then turned to Svenson and said,

“Burn it down, boys, we’re going to have a barbeque party tonight.”

“Yes, sir.” Svenson nodded before he and his comrade, Heimer motioned the other changelings to gather some wood to burn the wagon down. Esser, who still had that strange smile, chuckled darkly as he watched at the direction of Pisa.

“Play time’s over, allied forces…”

Chapter 12: The Last String

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Chapter 12: The Last String

I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion. ~ Alexander the Great

Military Academy, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
May 18th 2020, 0640 hrs

Daily life of the griffon citizens of Gryphus began show as Celestia’s sun continued to rise above. Although it was a bright and sunny morning, most of the citizens were depressed. A day had passed since the liberation of Pisa, but the victory costed a total of 63 casualties from allied forces; most of them were civilians. Yesterday, many griffons mourned for the loss of their comrades and family members who had died in Pisa. A massive viking’s funeral was held in Pisa as a last respect for the deceased. The dead Belkans however, were piled in a single hole before being burned like their allied counterparts, but there was no mourning for them. The only griffon who stayed beside the pit was Riddle, praying that his friend Orel could rest peacefully in the celestial realm.

Those thoughts didn’t bother one griffoness as she made her way above the houses of Gryphus and flew towards the military academy.

Gilda the griffoness held a single piece of paper tight on her talons as she neared the military academy. She just went back from Valdar’s throne room when the orange griffon called her in from her workplace, the former site of the Fortress Intimidation. The griffon king said that she had done her job well during the last few months, and he gave her status back as an official citizen of Gryphus, but under one condition:

She had to participate in the war as a soldier of the Griffin Kingdom.

Gilda snorted when she replayed Valdar’s words inside her mind. She really didn’t car much about this war, but due to Valdar’s request, she coudln’t say no. If she said otherwise, then her status as a refugee would be in effect again.

After 15 minutes of flying, Gilda finally arrived at the military academy. Already there were multiple young griffons lining up to the front door, obviously excited about joining the army to protect the kingdom.

“Hmph, spoiled patriotic cubs,” Gilda huffed before she landed behind them. “I’m sure they will run back to their mommies after seeing what the real war is about.”

Gilda took a deep breath before exhaling it, hoping that this breathing technique will help her cope the boredom of waiting in a line. She waited for an hour before she finally faced a member of the GRG who was in charge of enlisting the new recruits to their designated squadrons.

“Next,” the griffon spoke boredly before he faced Gilda. The griffon paused for a moment when he noticed the brown griffoness. “Oh, it’s you. They told me you were coming.”

“Really? Then you must know why I’m here,” Gilda responded flatly.

“Of course. Let’s see now, you are Gilda Fe—”

“Please, save the last name,” Gilda snapped. The GRG member just raised his eyebrows.

“Alright, let’s see; never enlisted in the army before until the Equestrian War, where you unofficially enlisted as Gryphus 3.” The royal guard glanced at Gilda with her returning with a simple glare, obviously not wanting to remember any of that. “Shot down and saved by Mirage 1 from the EAF forces over the airspace of the Fortress Intimidation. Status revoked as a refugee until the dismantlement of said fortress was completed...”

“Yeah, yeah, thanks for the history lesson, professor,” Gilda squawked impatiently, earning several looks from behind her. “Am I in or what?”

“I wasn’t finished,” the royal guard said bluntly, causing Gilda to groan in annoyance. The royal guard ignored her continued, “As I was saying, status revoked as a refugee, yadda yadda, fortress was completed. Once her duty has been fulfilled, under the orders of King Valdar, Air Griffon First Class Gilda F. will be joining Southwind Squadron as its ninth member to fill the empty slot left by the deceased and to strengthen the kingdom’s army.”

Gilda paused for a moment when she heard that she was going to be Southwind 9. It wasn’t entirely a bad position for her, but on the other hand, she would have to listen to Ronin’s talk about honor in the battlefield, which was the one thing she hated about her. Still, it was still better than to join the medical corps, which involved her sitting around and doing nothing except to help wounded soldiers.

“Cool, I’ll take it.” Gilda said with a smirk.

“Very well, here’s your registration ID. Please fill it all in, including your last name,” the royal guard member said boredly as he handed over the papers needed to complete the enlistment. “Once you have done that, please move to the back to pick up your squad’s vest, communicator, and scanner. You’ll be leaving in the next hour under orders from the top.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” Gilda said as she imitated the GRG’s salute, annoying the royal guard. Once she finished filling up the registration form, the royal guard handed over a piece of paper containing a set of numbers: 11-00-19 and told her to give this number to whoever’s in charge of giving the squad’s vests, comm and scanner. She did as she was told to do on the next stand. She received the standard Southwind Squadron vest with number 09 stitched on the right side, along with the comm’s earpiece, speaker and a portable scanner.

“Cih, did they actually measure these vests?” Gilda said in annoyance when she tried the vest on. As she suspected, the vest barely fits her frame. Once that was done, Gilda, along with the other new recruits, were ordered to go to the main training yard to prepare for the long flight to Pisa.

Ever since Pisa was liberated from the Belkans, the city was established as a secondary base of operations by the allied forces. From then on, all front line operations would depart from that city. Marcus and a few other radar and radio operators were reassigned there as Altair Beta; their job was to maintain aerial dominance over Pisa. Saetos would continue to monitor Gryphus, Talos, and Asgard’s airspaces as Altair Alpha.

“Move it, rookies!” another royal guard shouted. All the gathered rookies immediately took their positions in the training yard; all of them wore differently colored vests. Gilda took her time to get in position despite a royal guard member was yelling at her. It was Red Tail.

“Come on, move it. We don’t have all day!” Red Tail shouted, causing Gilda to glare at the much smaller griffon. Red Tail hesitated when he saw Gilda’s gold eyes piercing through him. It was like being glared by Black Star and Riddle all over again.

“Damn, why me!” Red Tail thought with a sad frown. Gilda huffed proudly before she continued her way to her spot. When she finally arrived, she scowled upon seeing a familiar crow griffoness standing beside her.

“Oh, it’s you, egghead,” Gilda said boredly to her, Rave also frowned and responded,

“Well, if it isn’t the alpha bitch. What are you doing here?”

“I want to say the same thing to you,” Gilda snorted. “I thought eggheads like you and that pipsqueak Hawksforth aren’t cut out for the army.”

“And here I thought that refugees like you weren’t allowed to be soldiers,” Rave shot back. “FYI, Milvus had already been recruited into a team.”

Gilda raised one of her eyebrows in interest.

“Oh? Which squad was it, huh? The Med corps? Search and Rescue squad?”

“Task Force 017, Aquila Squadron,” Rave answered smugly. “He’s the fourth member and is currently in active service.”

If Gilda was drinking a glass of tea or coffee right now, she would have done a spit take.

“I’m sorry, what!?” Gilda nearly yelled. Rave maintained her cool and smirked.

“You heard me, the little pipsqueak is all grown up and playing in the big leagues,” Rave stated, “while you, the ace of the Junior Speedsters’ camp, is doing nothing but refugee work because she wants a little attention, am I right?”

“I hate you, Ravencroft.” Gilda hissed. Rave just chuckled and responded,

“I hate you too.”

“Well that’s nice, Rainbow Dash is a squad leader, and now, Hawksforth is in a squad!” Gilda thought. “I wonder what Hawksforth is doing right now… Hmph, probably struggling to keep up with the others.”

Secondary Base of Operations, Pisa, Griffin Kingdom
0845 hrs

“Uh, sir. Are you sure this is safe?” Kite asked nervously as he watched the glowing Zaubenschaft gem inside the modified band he wore on his right arm. Kestrel and Black Star also wore the same band and the modified comms while Riddle was busy typing on the computer.

“Valdar and I have tested this on ourselves, and the only risk we encountered was a sudden loss of stamina and energy from our bodies,” Riddle explained. “Other than that, this thing is completely safe for limited use.”

“Limited?” Kestrel said in concern. “Sir, with all due respect, can we wait until we’re in top condition to test this thing out?”

“Nope, war knows no time, captain, and so are we,” Riddle stated as he finished typing on the computer. He then wore the same comm and band before he walked towards Black Star. “You don’t see Blake complaining about this.”

Kestrel glanced at Black Star, who remained perfectly calm, despite that he, Riddle, Kestrel, and Kite were about to test a new unspecified tech based on the Zeal of Exile technology. Black Star didn’t show it, but he was actually just as nervous as Kite and Kestrel about this. He was afraid that they were all going to end up like Frostbite.

“Alright, lads and lassie, keep your breathing steady, and don’t mind the small tingle on your tongues.”

The trio glanced at each other, definitely unsure about all of this. Before Kestrel could object, Riddle already activated the Z.O.E. Mk. II’s, causing the Zaubenschaft gems on the bands and comms to glow red and blink.

“Uh, is it suppose to glow red and beep?” Kite asked nervously.

“The gems are trying to synchronize with each other, no harm,” Riddle explained. “And it should be done right about… now!“

A loud ping was heard from the comms, and the gems finally turned green, indicating that the four gems were now fully synchronized as a single power unit. The four griffons now felt an enormous surge of power rushing through their bodies. Kestrel gasped when she saw that there was a flash of green in Black Star’s eyes. She also noticed that there were multiple green veins visibly crawling up underneath her scales and feathers from the activated bands.

“Synchronization complete, power up successful. Our strengths are now linked, and we are in tandem with one another,” Riddle stated as he flexed his forelimbs. He turned towards his stunned subordinates and asked,

“How do you feel?”

“Wow, I feel I could do anything right now!” Kite jumped excitedly as if he was in a sugar rush. He spread his wings and flapped hard, causing him to nearly crash into the ceiling. Black Star and Kestrel were amazed at Kite’s display of power.

“Woah, that was close—WOAH, WOAH!!” Kite yelped again when he tried to stabilize his flight, only to find himself being propelled sideways by his newfound strength. The small griffon tried to control his flight, but was unable to do so. Kite soon crashed into the wall with bits and pieces of the wall coming off and hitting the small griffon. Kestrel quickly ran towards him in an amazing burst of speed.

“Woah…” the pastel griffoness thought before she stopped at Kite’s location.

“Milvus, are you alright?” she asked in concern.

“Actually, yes I am, ma’am!” Kite said with a smile. “That didn’t hurt one bit!”

Kestrel was amazed beyond words. She picked up a piece of rubble and crushed it with her talons. Like Kite said, it didn’t hurt at all, and the rubble was reduced to dust.

“Extraordinary…” Black Star mouthed in amazement. “So this is the power of the Z.O.E.…”

“Well, a tiny piece of it,” Riddle stated. “Any more, then your body will burst like a balloon, unable to cope with all that raw power.”

“At least this power is enough to make any soldier wearing this thing invincible for a short time,” Black Star responded. “This thing does have a limiter, does it not?”

“I calculated that a 15 minute time limit for this thing,” Riddle said. “Any more will cause severe muscle and tissue damage, not to mention brain damage from overexposure to the gems.”

“I see,” Black Star muttered as he flexed his fingers, trying to feel the power flowing through his veins. “Then we might as well try it right now.”

Black Star immediately flew towards the nearby window and opened it. The shining sun didn’t bother him one bit as he took a step outside and took flight. Kestrel felt that Black Star shouldn’t be left alone with all that power and followed suit. They were soon followed by Riddle and Kite from behind.

Black Star can’t believe what he was doing right now; with this newfound power he could fly faster than he could before, achieving his top speed in less time than ever. He noticed that his senses were also enhanced, allowing him to see further. His reaction time had also been doubled.

For the first time in 20 years, Black Star grinned like a little child and hollered,

“WOOOHOOO!!!”

The dark griffon did a quick barrel roll before folding his wings to dive towards the ground. Once he was close enough, he spread them and flapped hard, avoiding collisions and flying back into the air at high speed. Kestrel also couldn’t contain her excitement as she maneouvered around Pisa’s tall towers, and thanks to her enhanced senses, she was able to avoid the hanging cables and wires which connected the buildings.

Kite grinned from ear to ear as he challenged himself to break his top speed, not noticing that a trail of small colorful sparks began to form from his tail. Riddle, on the other hand. took his time to adjust his bearings and strength before going all out like the rest of them.

“I missed days like this!” Riddle thought with a smile. “Let’s see if I can catch that lad, Milvus.”

With a great burst of speed, Riddle accelerated and followed the small griffon soldier. Kite was enjoying his time so much that he didn’t notice Riddle catching up to him until the last minute.

“Woah, sir! I never knew you were this fast!” Kite exclaimed.

“I’m half peregrine falcon, lad. I could reach your top speed in less time in my younger days,” Riddle stated. “Watch for the time. It’s already passed 5 minutes.”

Kite gave Riddle a thumbs up before he separated from him. Riddle then ascended while maintaining his top speed. Kestrel went right past him as she was in a dive. The pastel griffoness slowed down and hovered, taking a small break from all the excitement. She chuckled for a moment before noticing Black Star’s rapid climb before disappearing into a puff of clouds. She smirked and went after him. Black Star came out from the clouds and did a double barrel roll before flying away, prompting Kestrel to chase him as well.

The two griffons did some aerial maneuvers together, earning several looks from the griffon citizens in and flying above the city. Southwind Squadron, who was in the middle of their daily training session with Northwind Squadron, saw both Black Star and Kestrel dancing in the skies; they also noticed Kite’s rapid descent before the small griffon went right past their flight.

“Sorry!” Kite yelled before he zipped away.

“That was fast…” Ronin mouthed. Her eyes were glittering with amazement. “Faster than the Neighponese katana slashing technique… Rod, what do you think?”

“Yep, that’s the first time I saw a griffon flying at such speeds,” Rod responded. “If he were to accelerate more with each flap, he would have performed the Sonic Rainboom by now.”

The two griffons then resumed their team’s joint exercise while Kite continued on with his test flight. The small bluish white griffon had learned that whenever he was farther away from either Black Star, Kestrel, or Riddle, his enhanced strength also decreased. He concluded that these Zaubenschaft enhanced bands and comms needed to be close together for them to work in full capacity. Kite turned and headed back towards the others’ location. Kestrel soon joined him on his left, then Black Star from above.

“Aquila squadron, we have 5 minutes left. Return to the main building immediately,” Riddle spoke through their comms as the blue feathered griffon entered their view from the front. Once they were together, they banked right to return to the main command building, located just south of the Torre Della Liberta. One by one, the members of Aquila entered through the window. Riddle turned to them and spoke,

“So, how did it go?”

“I’m loss at words…” Kestrel spoke with a light chuckle. Black Star remained silent and gave a thumbs up, although his smile was still present. Kite was too busy preening his feathers while chuckling like a child to respond. Riddle took the reactions as a positive feedback from them and prepared to deactivate the gems.

The four griffons immediately felt their stamina and power being drained away as the gems flickered for a bit before sorting out. Kit,e who still had that goofy smile on his beak, slumped on the ground and spoke,

“Besides that, I’m… I mean my head is spinning right now…” he panted. “My body feels like shit… but… it was worth it…”

“Uhh, these side effects could prove dangerous if we’re in the battlefield…” Kestrel spoke tiredly.

“Yeah, I still need to fix this for a bit more…” Riddle responded. He then told them to gather the Z.O.E. Mk. II’s before he stored the devices for safe keeping. Suddenly, a GRG member opened the door and said,

“Sir Wonderfalke, the king has an emergency sortie for you and your team.”

0910 hrs

“What’s the SITREP, Marcus?” Riddle asked the young griffon after he and the rest of Aquila squadron entered the briefing room. Marcus explained that intel had tracked four transports which had taken off from Hoffnung, Belka’s former industrial city which was destroyed by arson committed by the Belkans.

“For now, the transports have already arrived on the Mount Schrim quarry. We suspect that the mining site stores the weapons they stole from Gryphon Technologies, and they are currently trying to bring them back to Sudentor.”

“In order to feed those four massive railguns,” Kestrel finished.

“Correct, captain.” Marcus nodded. “That’s why we need to intercept these transports before they arrive at Sudentor.”

Marcus motioned several griffon officers working on the computers to display the map on the main monitor. The officers did what they were told, and the map was soon displayed. Four red arrows marked as TGTs made their way from the mining site and stopped at the red dot marked as Sudentor.

“We calculated the interception route so your squadron, along with two additional teams, can move in and secure the cargo of these transports,” Marcus explained. “Due to the urgency of this mission, you will be briefed on the way to the rendezvous point. You will meet the two additional squadrons outside. That is all.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Riddle said. Marcus responded with a salute. Not a minute to lose, Aquila squadron exited the room and headed towards the main exit. Once they were outside, they saw both Northwind and Southwind squadrons waiting for them, with each squadron having two new members. One of them who joined Southwind squadron looked familiar to Black Star.

“Sir Wonderfalke!” Ronin said in excitement as she bowed at Riddle. “It’s an honor to fly alongside you on this day.”

“Likewise, Colonel Mizukami.” Riddle nodded as he bowed back, respecting the griffoness. Rod also expressed his delight to fly with Aquila again. Black Star however was more focused on Southwind’s newest member.

“That griffoness, I swear I saw her before…” Black Star thought. When the answer was on the tip of his tongue, Riddle called him to get in formation as they prepared to leave for the rendezvous point. The three squadrons took into the skies and headed south; into Belkan territory.

7 miles north of “Ground Zero ,” Waldreich Mountain Range, Neue Gryphus/Belka
May 18th, 1056 hrs

The three squadrons remained in radio silence as they entered the snowy mountain peaks of the Waldreich Mountain range. Marcus told them that the transports should be entering the airspace from the north. The three griffon squadrons remained in radio silence, reducing their radar signatures on the Belkan radars. Once more, they were currently flying near one of the most infamous sites on the history of Equis.

Seven miles on the horizon, lie a large crater which was created when a weapon dubbed V-2 was dropped there under orders of the Belkan military party which ruled the country during the Belkan war. V-2 was developed as a W.M.D. by the Belkans.The weapon itself used many newly discovered elements that were destined to revolutionize the future of warfare on Equis. However, the Belkans ultimately used seven V-2’s to destroy their own cities in order to prevent the allied forces from advancing any further to North Belka: the suppose “holy” fatherland of Belka. The seven bombings were often referred to as The Seven Pillars of Belka by the chroniclers.

V-2’s creation lead to many criticism and controversies from the world. Princess Celestia was outraged when she found out what the weapons could do during and after the use. She immediately issued a worldwide ban on V-2 type weaponries to prevent a catastrophe like the Seven Pillars from happening again. The ban attracted many criticism from other griffon nations who were developing their own weapons, but soon, they realized that the ban was the wisest decision the solar princess had ever made.

Because of the mysterious effects from the V-2 bombs, this region of the Waldreich Mountains were constantly bombarded with heavy snow storms regardless the seasonal change. The snows were permanent and only affected the area where the V-2’s were dropped. Anyone who tried to get close to the crater would suffer many mysterious symptoms, such as sudden fatigue, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and sometimes loss of hair, fur or feathers for no clear reason. The victims usually lasted for days, suffering from more strange symptoms like swelling on their skins, redness, itching, and mysterious burns before succumbing to the mysterious illness. No known cure or treatment existed. Because of this, the area was closed from the public, and no one was allowed to enter.

“All units, let’s keep a safe distance from that crater,” Riddle began. “I don’t want any of us to get that mysterious sickness.”

Though nobody responded, all of them silently complied with that order with. They followed Riddle’s slow turn to the left, taking them further into the mountain peaks. Once they arrived at their designated spot, the entire team waited for the transports to arrive. It was cold due to the perpetual winter, the near freezing temperatures made Riddle, the only griffon who wasn’t quite adapted for cold weather, to shiver. Riddle was a lowland griffon, a griffon species that was much more adapted to warmer climates in countries such as Belka, Nordland, or Estovakia. Their feathers and fur were shorter compared to their much more adapted brothers and sisters hailing from the Griffin Kingdom, which was built to live high in the mountains. Rod noticed this and asked,

“Sir, I think we should descend to a lower altitude. It’ll be much warmer there.”

“No, I’m fine,” Riddle lied. “I’ll hold out for a bit. The mission comes first.”

Rod hesitantly nodded and tried to put his concerns away. Ronin was also concerned for Riddle’s well being, and so was Kestrel and the rest of Aquila squadron. One of the Northwind members even offered his vest for Riddle to keep himself warm. Though reluctant, Riddle accepted and wrapped the vest around his forelimbs.

The wait was a long one; some of the griffons even snatched a few puffs of clouds and merged them together, creating a small island cloud in the sky for them to rest. During the wait, Black Star returned his attention back at the familiar griffoness within Southwind’s ranks. His mind started working again, trying to find the possible identity of this familiar newcomer. Finally, he figured that it would be easier to ask her name rather than guessing who she really was.

“Hey, you!” Black Star began. A few Southwind squadron members looked at him, excluding the griffoness. “No, not you guys. I meant the brown griffoness in the back.”

“Oi, Gilda. He’s calling you!” a member called the brown griffoness. Black Star’s mind immediately clicked when he heard that name: Gilda.

“That’s right, she’s Rad’s friend during the war,” The black griffon thought as Gilda sighed in annoyance before turning her attention to him.

“Yeah, what do you want?” she asked with an arrogant voice.

“Nothing… you’re Gilda right?” Black Star responded. Gilda huffed in response before she spoke,

“Yeah that’s my name, what about it? How do you know my name, have we met before?” Gilda asked again.

“No, we didn’t,” Black Star answered before turning his head away. The dark feathered griffon could hear the word “dweeb” being thrown at him by the brown griffoness. It’s good to know that she didn’t recognize him as Rad’s partner. Kestrel was curious about this and decided to ask Black Star about it.

“What was that all about?”

“You know about that final duel over the Fortress Intimidation?” Black Star asked her.

“Yeah, I know about it. I was there,” Kestrel nodded. “It was between that pegasus with the rainbow mane and that cocky griffoness, right?”

“Yes. It’s just that I was talking to that griffoness barely a minute ago,” Black Star pointed out.

“Her? She’s the one?” Kestrel repeated, a bit shocked.

“Yes, and she’s Rad’s former associate too,” Black Star explained. “I’m surprised that she’s here in the first place.”

“Well, we need more griffons if we want to mount an attack on Sudentor.” Kestrel shrugged. “The king probably gave her the slip, just like you.”

“Don’t compare me with that fool, Marie,” Black Star huffed. “She’s strong, but her mind is clouded by arrogance, and that could kill her someday,”

“Hmph, sure, keep telling yourself that,” Kestrel said before turning her head away. “You might not see it, but you’re still the same fool I grew to hate.”

Black Star merely glanced at the pastel griffoness with a frown. The group continued to wait in total silence until Riddle’s comm beeped. It was Marcus who called them.

“Aquila, I just spotted the transports heading their way towards your current location,” Marcus stated. “They should enter the airspace within 6 minutes.”

“R-roger that,” Riddle responded through his shivering. “I see them now in my scanner.”

“Sir Wonderfalke, if we may, my squadron shall take them first,” Ronin said in determination. “Once they’re occupied with us, Northwind and then your squadrons will move in to pick them off one by one.”

“Sounds like plan, go ahead, Southwind 1. Just don’t get killed,” Riddle said in approval. Ronin smiled before she and her team hopped off the floating island, heading towards the transports at high speed. The transports were guarded by multiple griffon escorts with the addition of changeling soldiers thrown in. The lead escort, who was none other than Esser’s number two, Svenson, quickly alerted the whole escort fliers about the impending attack.

“Beast 2 to all units, we’ve got company moving in from twelve o’clock. Engage at will, don’t let them reach the transports!”

Multiple “rogers” were heard from the escorts before they accelerated to engage the incoming allied squadron. Ronin smirked, taking this move as a challenge from the Belkans.

“Southwind 1 to all units, engage the escorts at will. Don’t falter your attacks!” she hollered, which her team complied immediately. Gilda’s frown was soon replaced by her arrogant smirk as she pick up some speed until she was flying side by side with Ronin. Svenson also accelerated as he activated the Zaubenschaft gem hidden on his earpiece, the sudden burst of power gave him enough speed to streak across the cold mountain air like a jet.

Ronin saw this and brought up her armored talons while decreasing her speed. Svenson let out a primal roar as he inched closer towards the metallic blue griffoness. Ronin merely responded with a stance, fully prepared for whatever Svenson’s attack may be.

Svenson’s talons finally reached the griffoness first, but he was unprepared when Ronin suddenly brought her other limb on a wide arc from below. The uppercut hit Svenson’s beak, sending the griffon spinning upwards and into the range of Gilda’s attack. The brown griffoness brought her two talons together and delivered a massive blow towards Svenson’s chest. Svenson gasped as he felt the air from his lungs being forced out by the sudden jab at his ribcage, but thanks to the Zaubenschaft powering him, the pain was dulled into nothing.

Gilda roared and flew towards the cyan griffon, intending to attack him again. Svenson blocked Gilda’s attack with ease, but was soon caught off guard by Ronin’s vicious armored claw swipe directed towards his chest. The pain struck him greatly as blood began to pour out from the three freshly made gashes, giving Gilda some time to deliver a double kick towards the wound, maximizing the pain. Svenson flew back for a bit; he needed some time before the gem could repair the wound. Retreating and letting the others fight was the best option for now.

Ronin and Gilda were about to pursue Svenson, but a changeling blocked their way. The insectoid equine soon morphed its body and turned into a spitting image of Ronin. The changeling Ronin made a bug-like screech, calling the other changelings to move in and engage Southwind squadron. Ronin’s other wingmates arrived just in time to answer the changeling’s call for battle. Soon, both sides clashed to maintain air supremacy. Ronin still had her eyes fixed at her twin. The changeling Ronin did her battle stance and provoked her to made the first move. Ronin merely let out a chuckle.

“Alright, I accept,” Ronin spoke as she did her stance: right arm parallel with her head and left arm in front of her beak. The changeling Ronin screeched and attacked the original. Soon, both of them were locked in a fierce battle. The transports were quickly alerted by the sudden attack and decided to turn back to the mining site.

“We’ve got another hit on radar!” one Belkan transport crew declared. “Another allied squadron coming from the rear!”

True to the Belkan’s words, Northwind Squadron had indeed sneaked up behind the transports while the escorts were busy fending off Southwind Squadron. Some of the changeling escorts screeched when they saw that the transports were in danger and quickly turned their backs at Southwind.

Some members of Southwind squadron immediately tackled the changelings, only to find more escorts taking off from the transports. Rod, being in the lead, immediately clashed against one large changeling who morphed its body into a large griffon. Archer quickly dived in to support her leader, but she was caught off guard by another changeling who turned itself into her.

“Oh boy,” Archer groaned before the impostor delivered a punch at her face. The griffoness easily evaded the blow and retaliated with her own punch. The blow contacted the impostor’s face, dazing him for a bit. Both combatants clashed, but Archer was clearly having the advantage due to the changeling’s predictable moves to save his energy. The changeling was soon overpowered when Archer slashed his face and delivered a powerful headbutt to his stomach where the armor was thinner than the rest of his body. The changeling turned himself back before fleeing from the battlefield.

“Archer, neutralized an escort,” the griffoness announced.

Rod also dealt with the large changeling by using his own strength against him; he delivered the final blow by spinning his body before hitting the changeling away with his large wings.

“Escorts are down to 20 percent, just a little more,” Marcus announced. Rod knew that this was the perfect time for Aquila to move in and finish off the rest.

“Aquila, you’re up!” Rod exclaimed to his comm.

“Roger that, moving in,” Riddle complied from his end. The transports who had already turned back towards the direction of Mount Schrim detected yet another rallied squadron closing in from the side, and this time, there was no escorts left to defend them. One crew detected the four signatures closing into them. Suddenly, one of them broke off and headed for the transport flying behind the rest.

“Crap, he’s engaging Wal 4!” the crew cursed. “We’re sitting ducks up here, where’s our bug escorts!?”

“Aquila 4, requesting permission to engage the transport on the rear!” Kite exclaimed. Riddle gave the small griffon the green light while he and Black Star focused their attention to the lead transport. Kestrel was given the task of herding the transports further apart to make them easier to attack.

“Aquila 2, I’ve picked one transport out for you,” Kestrel spoke. “You’re clear to engage.”

Black Star didn’t even respond as he closed in on the second transport on the left, the pullers tried to speed up but they were still too slow for the dark-feathered griffon. The griffon pullers yelped when they felt the black griffon land on top of their wagon before making his way towards the front. The pullers were struck by an overwhelming fear when Black Star glared at them from above.

“Please! Have mercy on us!” one of the pullers stammered.

“Then turn towards the north and into Griffin Kingdom territory,” Black Star said flatly. “Keep silent and don’t do anything stupid. If you do, you’re both dead.”

The pullers looked at each other before nodding furiously at the black griffon. Soon, transport number three turned towards the north and kept their heading straight at the border. Black Star decided to contact Marcus about the second transport.

“Aquila 2 to Altair Beta, I’ve got one transport willing to co-operate with us,” he began. “I told them to head for the border.”

“That’s good to hear, Aquila 2,” Marcus answered. “I shall inform the GRG to escort the transport until further notice, Altair Beta out.”

“Damn, I repeat, where’s our escorts!?” one transport crew spoke angrily.

“This is Svenson, Beast 2. All escorts are currently engaging the allied squadrons,” Svenson stated calmly. He then shifted his attention to something else, “Beast 3, Heimer. Tell those battle whores that they’re up.”

“Huh, alright then. About damn time,” Heimer’s guttural voice responded from an unknown location. Kite continued to close into the last transport, suddenly, his scanner beeped and showed multiple hostile signatures right in front of him: inside the last transport.

“Aquila 4, I’m detecting a large number of hostile units inside the transport,” Kestrel spoke through the comm. “Milvus, fall back! You’re in too close!”

The warning came too late as the wagon door of the transport burst open, allowing a familiar yellow-coated pegasus, along with her vicious flock, to come out from the transport. Kite immediately braked hard to his left and used a burst of speed to gain some distance from the enemy squad. Kestrel cursed at her end and decided to move in to help the small griffon.

LILA (Lily)
Murtair Militia
1st Air Force, 2nd Pegasus Squadron

Some of the Lila members were already chasing the small griffon, though they were unable to get close due to Kite’s speed. Violet, however, decided to wait on top of the transport. She licked her lips in anticipation when she finally saw Kestrel moving in to support the smaller griffon. With a loud giggle, Violet jumped off the transport and spread her wings, heading towards the pastel griffoness’s location. Kestrel told Kite to aid Riddle handling the first transport while she fended off the additional enemy units. The task wasn’t too hard for the griffoness, but her eyes soon focused on a familiar yellow mare as the latter came closer to her.

“Come on, birdy, let’s finish off the fight we had on Pisa,” Violet challenged the griffoness with a smirk. Kestrel stayed silent and did her own stance, accepting her challenge. Both combatants yelled as they flew towards each other. Violet began the offensive first, but Kestrel kept her cool and blocked all attacks from the yellow mare. Violet’s vicious smile grew and grew with every punch, kick, and slash she and Kestrel delivered at each other.

“Impressive stuff, birdy! You really have improved from our last battle!” Violet giggled excitedly. Kestrel just snorted in response.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” the pastel griffoness said. Violet grinned and flew upwards before delivering a double buck to Kestrel’s chest. The griffoness managed to block the attack by grabbing both of Violet’s hindlimbs. However Violet spun her body in midair, causing Kestrel to let go of her.

The yellow mare panted heavily as her chuckle grew into a maniacal laughter. She dived at Kestrel again, but the griffoness parried her attack by diving down and kicking her in the back when the yellow mare was in position. Although she was hurt, Violet kept laughing like a maniac. She turned around and headed towards the griffoness again: seemingly oblivious to her surroundings.

“I love you, birdy!” Violet screamed in madness, causing Kestrel to flinch in disgust. The yellow mare continued while delivering blow after blow at the pastel griffoness, “Let me kill you, so we can be together forever! Let me take you away from all of this! Just. Let. Me. Kill. You!!”

“Not an option, you sick freak!” Kestrel yelled in response as she blocked every blow from the yellow mare. This pegasus had finally lost it. Not only did Violet have a very obsessive crush with Kestrel, she was clearly a sadomasochist as well: treating pain like a sexual pleasure. Kestrel could deliver a claw swipe, a punch, or a kick, but none of that would work against an opponent like Violet.

What’s worse, Violet’s wingmares had reported to their leader that they were currently engaging the rest of Aquila squadron. Black Star was doing fine on his own, but the sheer number of the squad slowly wore him down. Riddle and Kite managed to use their mind and speed respectively to face the Lila members. Ronin saw Aquila’s predicament and decided that it would be best to help them.

“Butterclaw, you’re in charge for now. You and Southwinds 3 to 7, keep those remaining changelings busy,” Ronin began. “Southwinds 8 and 9, you’re both with me. We’re going to help Aquila.”

“Roger that, ma’am!” Southwind 8 responded. Gilda, on the other hand, just shrugged before she spoke,

“Wilco, ma’am.”

The three griffons flapped their wings as fast as they could to reach Aquila’s positions. They saw that Black Star had already received some help from Northwind squadron’s members. Ronin sent Southwind 8 to help Black Star while she and Gilda continued their heading to help Riddle and Kite. Black Star was relieved when more reinforcements arrived, allowing him to take a breather from the engagement. Kite was also glad when the reinforcements arrived, but he was shocked to his very bones when he found out that Gilda was the one who assisted him. The brown griffoness finally noticed the bluish white griffon and smirked,

“Yo, Hawksforth. Long time no see.”

“Please tell me that you’re just a figment of my imagination,” Kite groaned. Gilda’s response was a loud chuckle.

“Oh I’m very real, Hawksforth. I’m even more surprised that you’re part of a squadron now,” Gilda sneered. Kite just responded with a nervous shrug, earning another laugh from the brown griffoness. Suddenly, a changeling disguised as a Northwind member tried to tackle Gilda from behind, but Kite was quick to react by diving into the changeling and using the sheer momentum he gathered from the dive to hit the changeling away. Gilda was stunned, whistling in awe at Kite’s speed.

“Huh, not bad…” Gilda squeaked before a Lila member distracted her. Soon, both Kite and Gilda fought the member together. Slowly but surely, the Lila members were being pushed back. Some of the Northwind members used this valuable opening to capture the remaining transports so they would co-operate under a death threat. One by one, the transports turned away from their initial direction and headed towards the border. The changelings also retreated for some unknown reason, giving the rest of the squads more opening to engage the Lilas. It seemed that this mission was going to be a success...

“Our plan is going smoothly,” an unknown voice sounded on all of the transports’ comms. “All transports, commence Phase 2.”

The pullers looked at each other when they heard that order, their faces clearly showing fear beyond comprehension. A few of them were scared, but ultimately they complied with that order.

“For Neue Belka…” one griffon puller spoke somberly as he activated a button hidden below his feathers. The other puller did the same, and soon, a loud beeping was heard from the transports. The escorting Northwind and Southwind members heard the beeping and decided to fly closer to investigate. Archer, who was escorting transport number 3, heard the beeping coming from inside the wagon. Growing suspicious, Archer decided to investigate,

“Northwind 4, check inside the wagon,” Archer commanded her wingmate, earning a few nervous glances from the pullers. The wingmate complied and flew towards the back of the wagon before opening the doors. What he saw nearly made his eyeballs jump out from their sockets.

“Bombs… and a timer!” he exclaimed. Archer’s whole body and the world around her seemed to go in slow motion as she ordered all the escorts to break away from the transports. All of them reacted fast, flying away from the ticking time bombs, just in time when one of the transports exploded into a fireball, consuming the pullers. A few seconds later, the second and third transports exploded.

“What the hell!?” Rod cursed when he saw the explosions from the distance. “Archer, what happened?”

“It’s a trap, sir!” Archer exclaimed. “The entire transports were decoys filled with explosives!”

“Altair Beta to all units, what’s going on down there?” Marcus asked in confusion. “The transports are disappearing from rada—Damn! There goes the final one!”

Black Star noticed the fourth transport’s explosion from his position. He remembered the pullers’ eyes when he threatened them to turn back. Those images were going to haunt him days to come. Kestrel also stopped her engagement with Violet when the explosions occurred. Kestrel was rendered speechless by the sight while Violet only laughed like maniac.

“Oooh, it’s so beautiful! Like a fireworks show just for us!” she giggled madly. Kestrel gritted her beak in anger as she was about the engage the mad pegasus again, but something diverted her attention. Soon, Marcus’s voice was heard from everyone’s comms.

“Altair Beta to all units, we’ve detected something moving at high speed towards your location. Heading, vector 175. High magical readings confirmed!”

Riddle’s mindset immediately concluded the worst case scenario. Marcus kept posting every update on the target’s location. Whatever it was, its speed was beyond any griffon or pegasus could ever hope to reach. The Aquila and Northwind squadron members immediately sensed a major déjà vu from their last sortie in area T10 where they faced that Juggernaut.

“All units, gain some distance and regroup in groups of three or more!” Rod ordered his squadmates. “Stay calm and don’t let your teammates stray too far!”

Aquila squadron was ordered to regroup as well. Kestrel had to drag herself out from Violet’s grip to comply. Ronin, who didn’t have any idea about what was about to happen, repeated Rod’s orders to her own squad. Her instinct told her that thing was about to go very south for today.

“Bogey’s speed is decreasing,” Marcus stated through everyone’s comms. “Confirmed another bogey approaching from vector 095. No magical readings confirmed.”

“Another one!?” Riddle thought. “Impossible, there were only two active Z.O.E. armors ever built! They couldn’t possibly make more of them without my data!”

“We’re surrounded!” Ronin exclaimed in worry. “Aquila 1, Sir Wonderfalke. Do you have any information regarding the enemy?”

“Zeal of Exile users, more Juggernauts,” Riddle said bluntly, striking fear into every single griffon unit present in the airspace. “Maintain your ground and stick close together, I don’t know what this one can do.”

“Z.O.E.s already? Sheesh, Esser’s such a party pooper!” Violet whined. “Lila squadron, continue with the engagement. Move in for the kill!”

Violet’s bloodthirsty squadmates didn’t wait for any second orders to engage the terrified griffon units. Some of them already tangled themselves with some of the Southwind squadron members, including Gilda. Ronin, however, didn’t see anything funny with this situation. She was disgusted of Violet’s nature of not heeding warnings and continued to fight despite that it would endanger her squadmates. With a loud yell, Ronin let go the very last piece of her soft spot for the ponies and engaged the Lila members.

Violet didn’t pay any attention towards the rest of the Southwind members; her mind was solely focused on meeting with Kestrel again. She eventually found her, glaring at her from above. Violet chuckled hungrily as she licked her lips in anticipation.

“Ready to finish this, birdy?” she asked.

“I was about to say the same thing,” Kestrel said bluntly. Violet grinned at her bravery and laughed loudly before she lunged directly at the griffoness. Kestrel brought up her talons just in time to block Violet’s attack, sending both combatants spinning towards the cold mountain peaks.

“Captain Turmfalken!” Kite said in worry as he was about to help his superior, but Black Star blocked him with his wing and said,

“Don’t intervene, it’s her fight now.”

Kite was a little unsure about this, but ultimately decided to let Kestrel fight by herself. Both Violet and Kestrel recovered from their dive and ascended to their former altitudes. Both hovered for a moment before Kestrel made the first blow by slashing Violet’s right cheek. The yellow pegasus tasted the blood flowing from her cheek and smiled, clearly getting more excited. Kestrel maintained her stance as Violet retaliated with another a blow directed at Kestrel’s back. The griffoness ascended and clenched both of her fists together. Violet saw this through and responded by grabbing both of Kestrel’s legs and pulled her down to her level.

“Not so fast, birdy!” Violet laughed as she spun her body, using the momentum to swing her left hoof directly at Kestrel’s head. The griffoness brought up her left talon and blocked the blow, but the force was enough to throw her off balance.

Violet kept on laughing as she spun her body again, intending to use her right leg to attack the griffoness. Kestrel managed to recover quickly enough to block the attack again by grabbing Violet’s leg. The yellow mare soon found herself being spun by the griffoness before the latter threw her away. Violet managed to stabilize her flight and made a quick pass to taunt Kestrel. The pastel griffoness remained undeterred as she saw Violet changing her tactics from close combat to a high speed attack. Violet made several passes to test the angle of attack. Kestrel remained in her position, playing along with the yellow pegasus’ game.

Violet’s tactics eventually spelt doom for her on that day.

Violet finally had enough of the high speed pass and gained as much distance from the pastel griffoness, who had her back turned from the yellow pegasus. Thinking that Kestrel gave up on the fight, Violet laughed harder as she bolted straight at the griffoness, intending to crush her skull in midair. Kestrel made a quick glance and saw Violet’s reckless attack on her.

“I win,” Kestrel silently muttered to herself before she spun her body around and brought her right leg up directly to Violet’s path of attack. The yellow mare’s expression changed drastically as she watched Kestrel’s paw nearing her face. There was no point in evading it now. She was too close and too fast to stop. The blow, combined with Violet’s own momentum, cracked her skull and snapped her neck with sheer brute force.

Violet made one last audible “Oh… ” before she fell down to the mountains below.

After witnessing their leader’s brutal defeat, the Lila members panicked and retreated, but some of them swore vengeance on the allied forces for killing their leader. Kestrel didn’t heed those words and went back to Aquila’s formation, exhausted, but satisfied with her victory. Kite gave Kestrel an assuring smile while Black Star muttered “good job” at her for defeating Violet. Kestrel was flattered of course, but the old issue of the two Z.O.E. units approaching the area was still a major concern for the allied forces.

As the first Z.O.E. unit got closer to the area, an ominous buzzing sound was heard from everybody's comms. Some of the members thought that their comms were malfunctioning, but the others concluded that this must be some kind of a jamming signal. The three griffon leaders checked their scanners and confirmed that it was indeed a jamming signal. All of their scanners were glitching wildly and showing multiple “ghost” signatures on radar. Marcus’ voice was soon drowned out by the radio noise, prompting several griffons to turn off their comms.

“Jamming?” Black Star muttered grimly as he turned to Riddle. The blue griffon looked just as worried as the rest of them, clearly not anticipating for a jammer equipped Z.O.E. unit. They soon had their answers when Kestrel got a visual on a single bandit approaching from the south. Once it got closer, the griffons finally got the first hand look on the second Z.O.E. unit.

It was a changeling, colored blood red from head to tail. It was hard to determine the gender of this drone, but some of the griffons presumed that this changeling was a female, or at least it was. She wore the distinct red Z.O.E. armor with the single large Zaubenschaft gem powering the whole armor and her body. The changeling’s mouth was carved into a sinister slasher smile with the same blue liquid flowing from between the gums and exposed muscle.

This changeling Z.O.E. kept hovering in place, seemingly not acknowledging the allies’ presence around her. Some of the griffons tried to attack her, but their respective leaders told them to fall back, since nobody knew what she was capable of, other than emitting strong jamming signals. The changeling Z.O.E. let out a sinister bug-like growl that resembled a giggle when the second unknown Z.O.E. unit approached the area without gaining any attention from the griffons.

“Ehem, hello? Anyone there?” a familiar guttural voice sounded from above, gaining everyone’s attention. Some of the griffons were partially relieved to find out that it wasn’t another Z.O.E. unit, but Esser’s presence was enough to put Riddle on edge. “Hello my brothers and sisters! Welcome to the show titled, ‘The Fall of the Griffin Kingdom!’.”

The reactions from the allied griffons were predictable. Some of them were confused by his statement, but others were outraged by Esser’s bold statement. The brown griffon soon let out a high pitch screech to silence the griffons around him. This was doubled by the changeling’s sudden growl to put everyone on edge.

“Woah, easy there folks. The fun’s not starting yet,” Esser said in false assurance. “You see, I put together this little plan to bring all of you together, leaving Gryphus partially defenseless for short amount of time.”

“Defenseless? Y-You don’t mean!?” Ronin stammered. Esser nodded in confirmation.

“Bingo, onna. My forces is already en-route to Gryphus now, and there’s nothing you folks can do about it,” Esser explained with a smirk. One young recruit from Northwind was outraged by his statement and flew in to attack Esser, despite Rod’s warnings. Esser merely sighed and caught the griffon’s claws with his one hand. Esser growled sinisterly as he crushed the griffon’s arm before punching the recruit hard in his face, breaking his skull and sending him down into his early grave. Many of them were startled by the amazing display of power, but Kestrel had other things in mind.

“Your forces? I thought Kriegstreiber was the leader of Neue Belka!”

“Not anymore, sweetie,” Esser spoke sinisterly as he brought out Kriegstreiber’s broken glasses out from his saddlebag. “Ol’ Ghunter won’t be a problem anymore for you and for me. Let’s just say that he was invited to a one hell of a barbeque party.”

Many griffons immediately knew what Esser was talking about. Some of them who never had equine meat nearly threw up when the thoughts came in mind. True that the griffons did consume equines in the past, but since the princesses came into power, the practice was considered taboo for griffons. Esser kept his cool and surveyed the griffons around him. After seconds of searching, he finally found the griffon he was looking for.

“Blake, old chum! Good to see you again!” he spoke as he approached the dark feathered griffon. Kestrel glanced at Black Star, who kept his expression flat and unreadable as Esser continued, “I’m also here to say thank you to my chum, Blake!”

“You’re no chum of mine,” Black Star responded coldly, causing Esser to laugh in response. “I don’t even know you.”

“Oh but you did, Blake. I’m Rad’s friend from the war!” Esser said casually. “Y’know, the mysterious client that had been supplying Rad’s projects?”

Black Star’s mind ticked when he heard that. Indeed, he remembered that Rad used to call a mysterious client and asked him about the supplies he needed to finish The Burning Talon and the Fortress Intimidation. Everything fell into the right places, it all made sense to him.

“But why say your thanks to me? Rad’s the one who started the war!” Black Star suddenly blurted out. Esser just laughed in response.

“Silly Blake, my thanks to you wasn’t for starting the war. I’m thanking you for not killing that filly all those years ago. If you did, she wouldn’t be alive to return to Equestria and form that team, squadron or whatever,” Esser explained. Black Star’s eyes widened in shock as the brown griffon continued. “I actually had to thank those so-called Angels of Equestria for this. If it wasn’t for them eliminating most of your aces in the war, my plan would have been too difficult to achieve.”

“Your plan?” Black Star squeaked. His mind couldn’t even register the conclusion he just came up when he heard Esser’s last statement. “Impossible… You don’t mean… !”

“Oh, but it is!” Esser said simply. “All those words Rad told you about reuniting the kingdom to form the Griffin Empire again, it was all bullshit! garbage! a bunch of baloney! The reality was that he’s just another pawn like Kriegstreiber for me to execute my plans, and I should’ve known that red-feathered oaf wasn’t up for the job I’d given him!!”

Black Star, Kestrel, and everyone else couldn’t believe what Esser just told them. The entire Equestrian War was not orchestrated by Red Cyclone, but by the maniac hovering before them now. Rad’s death was meaningless, he was just another pawn, a puppet controlled by Esser.

Black Star felt an overwhelming sense of dread and guilt, was he truly responsible for helping Esser’s plans into motion? Did he made the mistake of letting Firefly live? Everything he believed in right now, everything he did, was all for nothing.

“I… I… I don’t know anymore…”

Chapter 13: Remembrance

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Chapter 13: Remembrance

Gryphus Command Center, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
May 18th 2020, 1130 hrs

Saetos hummed one of his favorite tunes as he walked back to his workstation with his right hand firmly grasping a mug of hot coffee. Everything around the capital had been pretty quiet ever since the intrusion of the capital nearly a month ago. The griffon’s workload had also been lessened when the allied forces managed to liberate Pisa from the enemy forces. Saetos had to admit, it was nice that the capital was peaceful again and out from the reach of the flames of war, but the peaceful period also brought the usual boredom he experienced before the Neue Gryphus Insurgence.

But that was about to change today.

Just as Saetos entered the main control room, an alarm which was used to notify the communications officer about an impending enemy strike blared to life. Saetos immediately put his mug away and ran towards the main computer. The old griffon typed in a few commands on the computer, trying to see what was going on. He was shocked to see that the two radars located near the Schmierfett Canyon and the nearby Erinnerung Crater were offline from some reason. Saetos gritted his beak and typed in more commands, desperately trying to see what the hell was going on. He tried accessing to the main radars, but the system needed its daily reboot. Saetos just sighed and tried to call any griffon squad patrols that could give him some visual around the capital while the computer finishes its reboot.

He checked the schedule; the 21st Griffin Air Force Unit “Drossel” was the only squadron that was near the area where one of the radars went dead. He searched for the right frequency before calling them in,

“Drossel 1, this is Altair Alpha. Can you read me?”

Only static met his answer.

“I repeat, Drossel Squadron this is Altair Alpha, please state your status.”

“... *static*… They’re everywhere!!” yelled an unknown griffon soldier. It made the old griffon anxious.

“Drossel Squadron, what happened? Drossel respond!”

“This is Drossel 3, I’ve taken over command of the unit after Drossel 1 and 2’s deaths!” Drossel 3 yelled in desperation. “We’re currently engaging with changeling forces! How the hell did they break through!?”

“Doesn’t matter, I’m sending over another squadron to assist you. Just hold out a little longer!”

Suddenly, another voice cut through the transmission.

“This is Warhound 2 of the 108th Griffin Squadron “Warhound” to Altair Alpha, we encountered fierce enemy resistance over at the Erinnerung Crater airspace! Requesting reinforcements!”

“Stand by, Warhound 2. I’m sending over a squadron right now!”

Soon Saetos found himself answering calls for help from multiple frequencies. While he was answering them, he caught a glimpse of the main monitor. The reboot was completed, and the main radar was online again. However, the monitor showed Saetos what he didn’t want to see in all his years of working in the GCC.

Multiple enemy forces were currently closing in on the capital, and some of them had already breached the Windshear Region. An air raid siren was sounded nearby, indicating the enemy’s presence to the old radio operator.

“Damn…” was the only word that came out from Saetos’ beak.

Meanwhile…

5 miles north of “Ground Zero”, Waldreich Mountain Range, Neue Gryphus/Belka
May 18th, 1200 hrs

The changeling Z.O.E. now dubbed as Wechselbalg by Riddle screeched as she engaged both Southwind and Northwind squadrons’ top members. Archer, confident from having already engaged the previous Z.O.E., clashed with Wechselbalg for a short moment, but she soon found out that this Z.O.E. unit was more tenacious than its pegasus counterpart. Wechselbalg emitted a bug-like screech that sounded more like a giggle before the Zaubenschaft gem on her armor glowed, pumping more power to her body.

Archer was caught off guard when Wechselbalg’s attacks suddenly increased. The former wasn’t able to dodge them all, but luckily for her, Rod intercepted Wechselbalg’s attacks and drove her away from his wingmate. Ronin let out her battle cry as she too joined into the fight. Even with her lightning fast reflexes, she couldn’t slash the changeling in close range.

“Tch, what’s with this changeling!?” Ronin exclaimed as she tried to slash Wechselbalg again to no avail. “She’s too fast!”

“Southwind 1, fall back!” Rod responded. “Don’t engage her at close range. She’ll kill you with one hit!”

The warning came through as Ronin did what Rod told her to do, and just in time, as Wechselbalg decided to stop evading the former’s attacks and go on the offensive. Wechselbalg tried to swipe the metallic blue griffoness, but Ronin already flew back a couple of meters away from her. The griffoness could feel the huge amount of air being displaced when Wechselbalg made that swipe.

“いやらしい…" Ronin squeaked in amazement after realizing the amount of power Wechselbalg stored inside her body. The griffoness quickly turned tail and make her hasty exit with Wechselbalg following suit, but Rod flew in and slammed her away. Wechselbalg recovered from the impact and hovered for a moment before screeching at the brown-coated griffon. Rod wasted no time and flew away as fast as he could, intending to buy some time until Riddle could formulate a plan to handle this Z.O.E. unit.

Meanwhile, Gilda and Kite were having trouble facing Esser’s wingmate, Svenson, in close combat. Gilda admitted that she was impressed by Kite’s speed, but it wasn’t enough to defeat Svenson. Powered by the tiny Zaubenschaft gem, Svenson was able to perform maneuvers no pegasus or griffon could even hope to perform. Even Kite had difficulties keeping up with him. Despite Svenson clearly being faster than them, he was vulnerable against heavy attacks that Gilda usually delivered. Both Gilda and Kite felt awkward about helping each other out since the former usually bullied the latter in their younger days.

“Yo, Hawksforth,” Gilda called out. “How long do we have to do this!?”

“I don’t know, G,” Kite answered, “I guess until Sir Wonderfalke comes up with a strategy to beat that red changeling!”

“Unbelievable, I’m putting my faith in a nerd…” Gilda thought to herself.

Riddle was indeed trying to come up with a plan to handle Wechselbalg, but he was unable to get the full picture because he never studied a changeling’s anatomy before. He was even more worried with Black Star’s state. While he already ordered Kite and Kestrel to engage Wechselbalg, only the small griffon complied with that order. Kestrel, on the other hand, remained with Black Star, who became unusually silent after hearing Esser’s words about him being the true master of the Equestrian War.

“Come on, Blake,” Riddle thought as he observed the unfolding battle before him. “Snap out of it!”

“Black Star! Hey!! Black Star!!” Kestrel yelled at the black-feathered griffon in mild annoyance and anger. Black Star wouldn’t respond; his usual cold and focused eyes weren’t there anymore. Instead, they were replaced by a thousand-yard stare that seemed to go on forever. Esser had already flown away from the battlefield, stating that he must lead the army advancing towards Gryphus. Svenson took his place as commander for now.

Black Star, on the other hand, just hovered there, not heeding to anyone’s calls, be it an order or a call for help. Although the battle was swift to anyone who participated in it, for the dark-feathered griffon, time seems to slow down. His whole world came into a complete stop as his nightmares finally overcame the spell Princess Luna had cast on him a month ago. Flashes of his nightmares: flames, corpses, the red sky began to form right in front of him. Black Star’s breathing quickened as he darted his eyes around.

He was no longer in the present…

“Black Star! Black Star…!!”

Black Star gazed at his surroundings.The snowy peaks of the Waldreich Mountains had disappeared, replaced by lush greeneries that spanned as far as his eyes could see. Something ticked inside his mind; Black Star had seen this view before.

“This is Waldreich before… before V-2…” the dark-feathered griffon mused. “But why am I here?”

“To witness the beginning of the end…” an unfamiliar voice answered his call. Black Star looked up and saw a black mass hovering just above him. When he flew closer to the mass, Black Star noticed that the mass resembled a bird, but due to its ever changing body, the creature’s true form could not be determined. Finally, the griffon gathered enough courage to ask this creature,

“Who… what are you? Are you… ”

“Yes, I am the embodiment of your nightmares, but that does not matter right now,” the creature answered before a limb and a finger formed on his body. “Look, the show is about to begin.”

Black Star turned towards the direction the creature pointed its “finger” at. All he saw was the cloudy skies and the thick fog that rolled beneath them. Suddenly, a flash of light nearly blinded him, and then he saw something that would scar him to his very bones.

A giant mushroom cloud rose from the horizon. The giant cloud emitted so much light; it was as if a second sun had just formed from the horizon. The creature chuckled as it and Black Star saw the cloud rise into the skies. Seconds after, a deafening sound pierced through Black Star’s eardrums. The dark-feathered griffon knew that he just witnessed the V-2 bomb being detonated in the horizon: claiming thousands of lives.

Something wasn't right.

“If this is my mind, then why am I seeing an event that had happened before I was born!?” Black Star nearly yelled at the creature. The creature just turned and gave the griffon the simple answer.

“I’m not just your nightmares, Blake… “

The creature then morphed its face into Red Cyclone’s face.

“I am the embodiment of all the nightmares of this pathetic world!” the creature roared as the world around them dissolved into nothing, leaving Black Star back in the void yet again. The creature then morphed its’ face into Esser’s smirking face. “Esser” then roared in laughter as the familiar ghouls began their unholy dance and chants around the dark-feathered griffon: taunting him of his failures and mistakes. Black Star closed both of his ears in desperation, trying his best not to hear the insults being thrown at him, but it proved fruitless. Unable to cope with the failures anymore, Black Star let out an anguished scream as small tears began to form on his eyes.

“STOOOOP IT!!!!”

Kestrel noticed that Black Star’s condition was growing worse and worse; the dark griffon was now shaking like leaf. His eyes twitched and darted around, his breathing quickened, and he kept mumbling nonsense. Worried for him, Kestrel tried to poke Black Star’s shoulder just to get a reaction from him. The dark griffon yelped and turned towards her, glaring at her with his blank eyes. Kestrel was worried as she got a perfect look at Black Star’s eyes. They had already lost their natural shine, and the pupils had shrunk down so much they were nearly invincible.

“No… NoNoNoNo! NO!! DON’T TOUCH ME!!” Black Star shrieked. “STAY AWAY!!”

“Black Star, it’s me!” Kestrel tried to calm the black griffon down to no avail. Black Star twitched and tried to slash Kestrel away, much to her shock. “Black Star! Snap out of it!”

“Get away from me!!” Black Star screamed in desperation before he turned around and flew away. “GET AWAY!!”

“Black Star!!” Kestrel yelled at the fleeing griffon. “Black Star, get back here!”

Her calls were ignored by him; the dark-feathered griffon just kept screaming nonsense on his way down: covering his ears as if there was a crowd yelling at him from all directions. Black Star finally landed on the ground and ran through the snow-covered dead trees covering the mountains. Kite saw what had happened and decided to call Kestrel in,

“Captain Turmfalken, what happened over there?” Kite began. “Why did Black Star—”

“I don’t know, Milvus… I… I think something happened inside his mind,” Kestrel answered in worry. “I think he snapped, and if we leave him like this…”

Kestrel paused for a second, thinking what should she do next. She couldn't just leave and search for the dark-feathered griffon. They were in a middle of a battle. She had to help Riddle and the others on the new Z.O.E. unit, but she couldn’t just leave an emotionally wrecked griffon alone near a death zone. After nearly a minute of thinking, Kestrel made up her mind.

“Milvus, please tell Sir Wonderfalke about the situation. I’m going after Black Star myself.”

“But captain!” Kite tried to object.

“That is also an order, Milvus. Kestrel out.”

Before Kite could say anything, Kestrel already descended to the area where Black Star had disappeared. The air was warmer in low altitudes, but the griffoness never noticed it. The only thing she had in mind now was to find Black Star before he gave himself into utter desolation. Once Kestrel neared the ground, she could see Black Star’s claw and paw prints in the snow. The griffoness landed and began to follow the tracks, hoping to find Black Star as soon as possible.

“Black Star!” she called out as she made her way through the snow-covered landscape. Only the howling winds answered her. The snow wasn’t too deep, so the griffoness didn’t have too much trouble walking through the dead forest. The sounds of twigs breaking were also heard when the griffoness accidently stepped on them.

“Black Star!!” Kestrel called out again, but there was still no answer. “For Celestia’s sake, Black Star, at least make a sound or something!”

Again, there was no answer. The forest was deathly silent. Only the howls of the winds blowing through the dead trees kept Kestrel some company. She also heard some grunts and yells coming from the still ensuing aerial skirmish above, but she didn’t pay attention to that. The only sound mattered to her was Black Star’s voice. Kestrel kept her pace as she tugged through the snow, calling out several times in hopes of Black Star would respond to her calls.

Finally, after minutes of yelling and searching, Kestrel heard Black Star’s mumbles coming from her right. She wasted no time and ran towards the source of the sound. Then, she finally found him: sitting on the snow, using his own wings to hug himself tight. Black Star looked like a wreck to the griffoness; he was twitching, either from the cold or something from his mind. His eyes were blank and weren’t focused to anything; he just stared at the trees without any real reason. He kept mumbling nonsense to no end. Words like “failure,” “fault” and “mistake” were occasionally heard through the nonsense.

This sight really tore Kestrel’s heart apart; never in her life would she see the normally focused, self-controlled griffon like Black Star being a total wreck like this. The pastel griffoness knew she had to try snapping him out from this state.

“Black Star?” she began quietly, but the dark-feathered griffon didn’t respond, ignoring her presence. Kestrel remained calm and repeated again,

“Black Star?”

Once again, the dark-feathered griffon ignored her and kept mumbling more gibberish. Kestrel tried and tried again, but Black Star kept ignoring her. Running out of options, Kestrel finally gathered enough courage to say his real name: something she hadn’t done for a long time.

“B… Blake?”

This time, Black Star turned and stared at her. Not only his eyes were blank, but they were bloodshot too. His face no longer reflected the image of a griffon soldier. Instead, it showed what a broken and traumatized individual would look like. Kestrel feared that she might have been too late to save the dark-feathered griffon from his inner torment.

“Blake, please… if you can hear me… please snap out of this,” Kestrel began. “You can’t stay like this.”

Black Star didn’t answer at first as he turned his attention away from the griffoness. Finally, he responded,

“I can’t… can’t do it… can’t do it… too late… too late…”

“Blake… “ Kestrel tried to gain his attention again, but Black Star kept going on and on.

“Too late… too late… late…”

“Blake,” Kestrel repeated, slightly emphasizing her words so it would go through the broken griffon, but Black Star remained catatonic.

“… late… late…”

“Blake!” Kestrel yelled as she delivered a painful slap directed at the dark-feathered griffon. Black Star stopped his rambling and remained silent; the slap seems to work on snapping him out from his madness mantra. Black Star was silent for a moment before he turned to Kestrel and said,

“… I needed that…”

Kestrel smiled slightly. It seems Black Star could still be saved. However, the dark-feathered griffon then turned his head and placed it between his legs with his arms, hugging them tight. Kestrel decided to sit down beside him; she might be able to snap him out if she stayed with him for a moment. Both of them were silent for the first couple of minutes until Black Star decided to break the silence first,

“I know what you’re thinking, Marie,”

Kestrel just glanced at him in worry.

“You’re going to try talking me out from all this, but you can’t…” Black Star continued with a somber tone. “I don’t know where my own morale belongs anymore. I tried, to wipe my own ledger… Try to wipe it clean, so I can have clean slate… nothing to worry about and I believe if I tried hard enough… to do what’s right, I can finally have peace both body, and mind… but I just… can’t…”

After finishing that sentence, Black Star grabbed a handful of snow before throwing it at a nearby tree. The snowball missed the tree and hit the snow-covered ground, causing Black Star to groan in annoyance.

“You’re right… I can’t fight my destiny. I’m always going to be one of the factors that caused the war… the war that brought our mighty kingdom to its knees… the war that I could have prevented if I wasn’t such a coward… a failure… a fucking embarrassment…!”

“You’re not a coward or any of that, Blake,” Kestrel said softly. “”You’re the bravest griffon I’ve ever known. You’re willing to help Wonderfalke despite that being clearly outmatched.”

“How did you know?” Black Star asked. Kestrel just chuckled and said,

“Sir Wonderfalke told me yesterday. I asked why he owes his life to you, and he gave me the full story. I never expected you to do that sort of thing: risking your life for others.” Kestrel paused for a moment before she continued. “You’re brave, Blake. Brave enough to let that filly Firefly alive so she could form that squadron which thwarted Rad’s plans during the war, and you’re also brave enough to reveal Rad’s manipulation to our troops. More griffons and ponies could have died if it wasn’t for you…”

“So, you’re saying that I’m some sort of a hero?” Black Star asked bluntly. Kestrel just shrugged.

“You could say that.”

“Still, that doesn’t make a damn difference now…” Black Star said quietly. “We’re too late to stop that maniac from invading the capital.”

Silence fell between both griffons as Kestrel tried to think some way to convince Black Star to find his way again. Finally, she got an idea.

“Blake, if it would make you feel any better…” she began as she moved closer to him. “Remember when we first met?”

Black Star remained silent as he recalled the old memories of him meeting with the pastel-feathered griffoness for the first time.

“Yes, it was snowing… right?”

Kestrel smiled. Now this was going somewhere…

20 Years ago…

Military Academy, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
December 30th 2000, 0800 hrs

It was a cold and snowy day in Gryphus. Hearths’ Warming Eve, a holiday celebrated by the ponies, had already passed, and everyone in the world was waiting for the coming of the new year. Black Star, or rather Blake, who was just 8 years old at this time. visited the Military Academy with his mother. His father joined the military ranks when he was 18, and Blake wanted to do the same thing when he reached that age one day. His mother, a beautiful yellow-feathered griffoness, approved of his dream and decided to take him to the military academy to see the glimpses of his later life.

Blake was beyond excited as he and his mother entered the main building. The military instructor at that time was very nice to him and his mother and showed them the entire facility. He even got to meet some of the recruits who decided to stay in the academy for the holidays. When he asked them why didn’t they just go home to their mommies and daddies, one recruit just sighed and answered,

“Kid. Unlike you, we don’t have a family anymore. They’re gone since the disa— Oh, I mean when the heavens fell before us.”

“The heavens fell?” Blake repeated in pure curiosity. The recruit just chuckled and patted the little black-feathered cub.

“One day you’ll learn.”

Blake giggled before he and his mother were taken outside to look some of the training grounds. Along the way there, Blake spotted a small pastel-feathered griffoness cub who was accompanied by her parents talking to another recruit, probably her own brother. Blake couldn’t help but to look twice at her.

“She’s pretty…” Blake thought with a smile. When the griffoness noticed him staring at her, Blake immediately blushed and turned his attention away. The dark-feathered cub took a tiny glance at her again and found her waving sweetly at him. Blake just responded with a nervous wave, causing the griffoness cub to giggle.

When the little tour was over, Blake’s mother thanked the instructor before they were getting ready to depart for their home. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the same pastel griffoness cub from before. She was getting ready to leave with her parents with her presumed brother watching and waving goodbye. She also noticed him and gave him a small smile and a wave.

When she and her family had already left, Blake decided to ask his mother about the griffoness cub.

“Mom?”

“Yes, sweetie. What is it?” his mother answered softly.

“Umm… mommy, who are they?” Blake asked as he pointed to the griffoness cubs’ parents flying away. His mother looked before she gave an answer,

“They’re the Turmfalkens, sweetie. They just moved in a couple of days ago and lived in the house next door. Don’t tell me you forgot already?”

Blake just chuckled in embarrassment; he never really did notice, since he was always out and playing with the other griffon cubs far from his house and neighborhood. He made a mental note to come and visit these Turmfalkens if he could.

“I remembered when you first arrived on my house’s doorstep,” Kestrel chuckled. “You looked so nervous when you asked my parents if I could go outside and play.”

“I’m even more surprised that you were a tomboy back then,” Black Star added, slightly comforted after recalling those memories. Kestrel just frowned at him and asked,

“And you think I’m what? A spoiled girly princess?”

Black Star just waved his talon, confirming the griffoness’ statement. Kestrel gave out a small laugh.

“You were such a boy back then,” she said. “It’s hard to believe that you used to be like that!”

“Yeah, I get that a lot. I still miss my parents though. I wonder what they’re doing right now… “ Black Star answered before he recalled more of his past.

9 Years ago…

Military Academy, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
November 12th 2011, 1000 hrs

A nineteen year old Blake paced around in his room in the Military Academy. He managed to enlist in the ranks, and he was accepted as a member of the new generation of soldiers of the Griffin Kingdom. Both of his parents had never been prouder of their son, but something unexpected happened. While his father was a soldier, his mother worked as a diplomat for the kingdom and was suddenly called away to attend a meeting in North Point: a neutral griffon-pony nation located in the far east, just near Neighpon. His father also departed to North Point to escort his mother.

What really troubles Blake was that he just read the news saying that the tensions between Urusea and the rest of the eastern bloc, which included North Point, had been severed. As of now, all contacts from the east were blocked by the Urusean military.

“Come on, Blake. I’m sure they’re fine!” his roommate said in assurance. “Stop worrying so much!”

“Edgar, the eastern block is infamous for its local civil wars ever since the Uly— I mean, that disaster,” Blake said flatly. “They even conducted a full scale rebellion when some of their countrymen were about to sign the whole “mining agreement” with our kingdom.”

“You do have point there, Blake,” the griffon, Edgar said thoughtfully. “Nevertheless, we should keep our hopes up. Your folks are tough right? So they should be fine with all the madness going on around them.”

Blake sighed, Edgar’s right. He’s worrying too much about this. He knew his father is a capable officer of the Griffin Kingdom Army, and his mother was quite a decent combatant for a diplomat. If both of them were together, then he should have nothing to worry about. Suddenly the door creaked open as a gray-feathered griffon peeked in.

“Gregor,” Edgar began. “Have you heard of knocking before entering?”

“Sorry, Ed,” the griffon, Gregor apologized. “I tried knocking nearly a minute ago, but you guys didn’t notice so… yeah.”

Both Blake and Edgar immediately apologized to their friend before asking why he was knocking at their door in the first place.

“Captain Metal Sphere has called all of us to the main training yard,” Gregor explained. “He said that we’re having a guest from the top brass.”

“The top brass?” Blake asked. “What the hell did they want from us?”

Gregor just shrugged.

“I have no idea, the captain only told me that,” the gray griffon admitted. “Now come on, he’s waiting for us!”

The trio then exited the room and made their way outside the building. Though the sun was shining today, the air was cold: marking the arrival of winter. Many griffon recruits both male and female had already gathered at the main training yard. and their instructor, Metal Sphere, wasn’t quite pleased by the trio’s tardiness.

“I’m sorry, sir. It won’t happen again,” Blake said sternly.

“Alright then, now you three, get in the front of the line and remain on standby until somebody other than a recruit comes and tell you three something to do.”

“Yes, sir!” the trio said in unison before they took their positions in front of the other recruits. Gregor wasn’t exactly pleased about being late, and the same could be said for Edgar and Blake. A few chuckles and snickers came from behind them; the other recruits were clearly enjoying the trio’s punishment. Blake took a small glance and saw Marie, his childhood friend giggling at his predicament.

“Oh man, you’re an idiot, Blake,” The dark-feathered griffon thought to himself. “You just humiliated yourself in front of her.”

The recruits soon went silent when the guests arrived. It was Colonel Silverbeak, a high ranking member of the Griffin Army, and he was accompanied by several other griffon soldiers. One of them who had a bright red feathers and coat caught Blake’s attention. Silverbeak soon revealed his intentions for visiting them today.

Turns out, he was currently forming a new elite squadron called “Gryphus” and he was seeking members for the squad. The rules and regulations were strict; that would push anyone who wanted to join the squad to their very edge. Blake was interested by this request, and so were the others. The dark-feathered griffon felt that this was the chance to prove himself to the kingdom. If he was strong, then he will be able to help his parents at North Point. Blake knew he would have a fierce competition to take the empty seat, but something had bothered him throughout Silverbeak’s visit.

He felt like the crimson-feathered griffon he saw earlier kept his eyes on him. Watching him, observing him, and he even saw his nodding thoughtfully before he turned his attention away from him. Something was going on inside this griffon’s head, he just knew it.

The last five months were tough for the recruits. Blake kept trying to perfect his flight maneuvers and aerial combat just to impress the top brass in the selection, which was going to be held seven more months from now. One day, Blake finally collapsed after pushing himself too hard in a joint maneuver exercise with Gregor and Edgar. Both griffons had carried him back to the building. The nurse said that Blake just needed some rest.

“I wouldn’t blame him though; we nearly didn’t have any proper rest for the last couple of days,” Edgar spoke. He and Gregor were now back in the former’s room, while Blake was already sleeping on his bed. Gregor just nodded in agreement.

“Yep, and it’s all because of that stupid elite squadron selections months from now,” Gregor sighed. “Honestly, I’d rather work my way up rather than to be chosen as a member of the spoiled elites.”

“Well, some of us had their own dreams, Gregor.” Edgar shrugged. “Now come on, we really should leave and let Blake rest for the day.”

Then the two griffons did just that: they exited the room quietly and closed the door behind them, hoping that Blake wouldn’t wake up from that. What they didn’t know was that Blake never slept in the first place, the dark-feathered griffon opened his eyes and gazed the ceiling. He really pushed himself to the limit today, but resting was the last thing he had on his mind. Pampered or not, joining the elites was the only chance for him to prove himself, and he was not willing to be placed as a second banana to some other recruit.

Blake grunted as he made his way through the hallway. His body protested him for not resting, but he ignored it. He needed to perfect aerial combats so those “spoiled” top brass could see that he was worth something in their eyes. When Blake finally reached the exit, he heard a cough coming from behind him. He sighed; he just got caught.

“Where do you think you’re going?” a feminine voice said. Blake kept quiet as the owner of the voice walked over to him. It was Marie, and she was not in a good mood.

“I said, where you think you’re going?” she repeated.

“More training,” Blake answered simply as he tried to open the main doors. Marie stopped him and said,

“You’re going to get yourself killed, Blake. Three of our guys had been sent to hospital, all because of the same reason you are here now.”

“Marie, please. Gryphus is the only chance. I got to prove myself,” Blake responded. “If I’m in, then I got a straight shot to North Point, save my family from those Uruseans. I know, I already asked them, and they said that the kingdom will have some involvement on the eastern block.”

“There are other ways to do this, Blake,” Marie snapped.

“I don’t have any time,” Blake said bluntly. “My parents don’t have any time.”

“And now you’re doubting them,” Marie said, prompting Blake to turn and face her. “I know them, Blake. My parents know them, and I know that they are safe from harm. They’re probably the ones who were worried, worried about you.”

Blake wasn’t able to respond, his mind still worried about his parents, but what would they say if they made it back without a scratch and find their son had died from exhaustion? In the end, Marie’s words got to him.

“Come on, I’ll help you get back to your room,” Marie said softly.

“But, my room is in the boys section…” Blake pointed out, but Marie just giggled.

“Everyone’s in the cafeteria right now. No one will notice.”

“You were so stubborn back then.” Kestrel smirked, but then she frowned. “I guess that’s your defining trait.”

“Yes, and look what it got me to…” Black Star sighed.

“I’ve noticed,” Kestrel nodded. “It leads to your bravery, focus on your own tasks and your unflinching resolve.”

Black Star kept his mouth shut as more and more memories came flooding in. This time, it contained the most fatal mistake he’d ever made in his entire life.

7 Years ago…

Palace Courtyard, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
January 5th 2013, 1245 hrs

Blake stood proudly as numerous cameramen took his picture. He did it: he made through the elites’ selection ceremony, and he was chosen as the third honorary member of the highly acclaimed Elite Gryphus Squadron. Though he was two years late and was unable to attend the first selections, he took Marie’s advice and waited until he was ready for the third round. The situation on the eastern block remained stable, despite the growing concerns about Urusea’s rising technological and military might.

He was sure that his parents would be very proud at him. All he had to do now was to wait an order for deployment on the eastern block.

Beside him was the same red-feathered griffon who was called Red Cyclone by the other senior members of Gryphus Squadron. Red Cyclone currently held the rank of Captain and was the leader of Gryphus Squadron. His red eyes may have looked intimidating to the others, but the senior members claimed that he was a very capable leader of Gryphus Squadron and was very charismatic, which earned him the spot within the top brass. When the ceremony was over, Red Cyclone told Blake that he was given some time to pack up his things back at the academy before moving into Gryphus squadron’s base inside the palace.

“You have a bright future, Blake,” Red Cyclone told to the dark-feathered griffon with a smile. “With you joining our ranks, you’ve made our kingdom proud, and I’m sure that our kingdom will become much more powerful than before.”

“You really think so, sir?” Blake smiled.

“I never doubt my words,” Red Cyclone smirked as he patted the dark-feathered griffon’s head. “Believe me, Blake. You will change everything when the time comes.”

Blake felt his confidence grow when he heard those words. He just couldn’t wait to tell his parents about this. Back at the academy, his friends threw a big party to congratulate him for passing the selections. Even the usually grumpy Metal Sphere praised him for his success. However, some of them were disappointed when Blake told them that he was moving out from the academy. Edgar and Gregor stated that they were going to miss him on their daily training sessions, and Marie was visibly upset about him leaving. Blake assured to them that he would find some time to visit them. The party lasted for the entire night until Metal Sphere had to disband it himself. When morning finally came, Blake had already brought his bags outside and was ready to leave, but Marie’s voice stopped him. The pastel griffoness looked troubled.

“Is there something wrong, Marie?” Blake asked. “If it’s about me leaving this academy behind, I already promised you guys that I will visit—”

“That’s not it, Blake,” Marie suddenly blurted, surprising the dark griffon. “I just can’t… um… I will never get to… ah!”

“Marie…” Blake started, but the griffoness kept her stuttering as she searched for the right words. It’s true that she had been friends with him since their childhood, but what he didn’t know was that Marie had always been harboring strong feelings towards him. Blake was the first boy she’d ever made friends with when her family moved in.

“No… it’s just that I… AH Screw it!” Marie yelled as she grabbed both of Blake’s shoulders, keeping her green eyes straight at Blake’s gold ones. “I… love you, Blake… and I’m afraid that if you leave… we might never see each other—”

“Marie,” Blake cut in as he moved his face closer to hers. “You’re not the only one. I always kinda liked you when we were kids. The first time I saw you… like when you waved at me, I thought I just saw a pretty little angel standing on the snow.”

“Blake… you really felt that way too?” Marie said softly, Blake just nodded as he continued,

“Yes, for a long time. I really want to tell you about it, but I didn’t have enough courage to spit it out, and I guessed you did too.”

Marie just chuckled when she heard that. Her laugh soon drowned out when she looked at Blake’s eyes again.

“Listen, I have to go. This is my job now, Marie. I promise that I will visit you every day if I have to, just to spend some time with you. Maybe, after this is done and my parents are home again, we could talk more about what the future has in store for us.”

After hearing those words, Marie smiled and planted a small kiss on Blake’s cheek. Both griffons then hugged each other, which lasted for an eternity for them. After the hug, Blake said farewell to the pastel griffoness before he lifted off with his bags and flew towards Gryphus. Marie stood there for a moment before she went back to the building.

Together with Red Cyclone’s leadership, Blake and two other senior members of the squadron flew missions outside the kingdom. One day, the kingdom’s forces finally had the official green light to go to the eastern block. Blake was more than eager to join on this mission, and Red Cyclone was kind enough to talk to the top brass about letting his team join the kingdom’s forces, who were about to be sent to North Point.

On February 1st, they finally took off from Gryphus, and for the first time, Blake could see the world with his own eyes. He knew that the world was big, but he couldn’t believe how beautiful it was when he first laid eyes on it. All of his life, Blake only saw the snowy peaks of the mountains around Gryphus, but now, he was gazing at vast plains that made up the Schayne Plains and the warm valleys around Hoofstio. Red Cyclone said that if Ulysses never impacted the planet, all of these beautiful sceneries would still be the part of the Griffin Empire.

“I know it’s a wise decision to let these countries separate from us, but still, it’ll be great if all of this were ours again…” the red-feathered griffon said to Blake during their long flight to the eastern block. “If only Lightbeak had more guts to step out from his den and invite all of these countries to join our kingdom once more.”

Blake thought about these words in silence. Red Cyclone did have a point. King Lightbeak was a good monarch ever since he took the throne from his father, who died during the Ulysses disaster. While his rule was peaceful and just, not many griffons, especially the top brass, were pleased when he was forced to let griffon states such as Nordland, Ratio, Sapin and Fato liberate themselves from the crumbling Griffin Empire, or else strain the already weakened kingdom. What’s more, his rule over the kingdom had a bad effect to the former hardened warriors who inhabited in it; there were no wars and no serious incidents.

The Griffin Kingdom nearly became a utopia just like their southern neighbor, Equestria. For some, it was paradise, but for the others, it was like some kind of a joke to their old ways.

During his stay in North Point, Blake was reunited with his parents. They were very proud of him when he told them about him being in the elites. Also, Blake trained harder to perfect his combat maneuvers, and he soon found out that he was more suited for battle during the night. His feathers and fur blended him well with the darkness; he nearly defeated Red Cyclone once. That’s how he got his intimidating moniker: Black Star the Ghost.

Little did he know that by the time he earned that name, his fate was also sealed.

6 years ago...

June 5th 2014, 1200 hrs

“What?” Blake, or Black, Star said in confusion as the now promoted Major Red Cyclone handed him some papers. The red-feathered griffon just made a gesture so he would read them. When he read some of them, he caught the glimpses of the words: “mutiny” and “investigation”" on them.

“I just got an order from the top brass,” Red Cyclone began as he walked around the dark griffon. “They have confirmed that a supposed mutiny against our kingdom was being staged at the area written on those papers.

“And they want us to suppress them before it gets out of hand?” Black Star concluded. Red Cyclone just shook his head and answered,

“No, this is a solo mission, Blake, and I’m trusting this mission on your shoulders.”

“Me?” Black Star said in confusion.

“Yes, you,” Red Cyclone spoke again. “It’s time to prove yourself, Blake. Whether you’re a capable soldier of the Griffin Kingdom or not. You had your orders, go.”

Without any other word, Black Star stood up and saluted the red-feathered griffon before he walked out from their base with the papers. Red Cyclone just chuckled darkly as he watched the dark-feathered griffon disappear into the clouds.

Black Star read about the location along the way. The papers said that it was within the Equestrian territory. Black Star grew suspicious. Did the ponies want to start a war with his kind? If so, then he would have no choice but to eliminate these warmongers before they could act. Finally, after an hour’s worth of lying, Black Star reached his destination, but something was not right. All he saw was a little home, not a massive training camp as he imagined. Still, it was worth checking out since he had his orders.

Black Star knocked the door, hoping that this house was empty and it was all just an elaborate trick set up by Red Cyclone and the other members from the squad.

“Coming…” a mature female voice was heard from the inside. Black Star tensed, someone or somepony was inside. When the door finally opened, he saw a pegasus mare looking quite shocked to see a griffon in front of her doorstep.

“Um… can I help you sir?” she stuttered.

“You’re joking right?” Black Star thought with a frown. Soon, another pegasus showed up from inside the house. This time, it was a stallion, and he looked just as confused as the mare.

“Can we help you sir?” the stallion asked nicely. Since he had no other way, Black Star explained the whole situation with them. Needless to say, both ponies were shocked to hear that they were accused of something they would never do.

“Preposterous! Why would we scheme a rebellion against your country?” the stallion said sharply.

“I’m sure that your superiors must have made some kind of mistake,” the mare added. “We’d never do such a thing; if we did, then we have defied the very rules of our country.”

Black Star knew it: this was a mistake. These pegasi had never plotted against his country, not now and not ever, but still, he needed to contact Red Cyclone just to clear up the misunderstandings. However, the red-feathered griffon’s answer nearly bleached his mind.

“It’s a trick, Blake. They’re double agents working for their princess and were trained to keep their scheme concealed.”

“But, sir! I-I know they’re telling the truth! I talked to them, I…”

“Listen, Blake. This is a level one order from the top brass. Meaning that if you don’t execute this order, then they will have your head in a basket,” Red Cyclone explained in worry. “It’s either you take their lives, or the top brass will take yours.”

Black Star was consumed by an overwhelming sense of dread. He felt like being pinched by two unstoppable forces, and he had to move one in order to let the other go. It was him, or those two pegasi. He promised Marie that he would return for her and his family, but he couldn’t just kill those two innocent ponies. In the end, he chose the worst choice of them all…

“Forgive me…” he said slowly to both pegasi before he made a vicious slash at the stallion first. The mare screamed, but she was quickly silenced when Black Star grabbed her throat started suffocating her. The stallion recovered from the blow and made a body slam at him. Black Star’s combat and predator instinct took over as everything around him turned red.

When he finally snapped out from his trance, he found both pegasi lying in front of him: unmoving and bathed on their own blood. Black Star brought up two of his forelimbs and saw the blood trickling down from his talons. He didn’t know it yet, but Black Star had just made his own life a living hell from this point on. In order to get rid of the evidence, he decided to burn the entire house down; everything must be destroyed.

Black Star smashed another oil lamp on the floor before lighting the oil up with some matches he brought with him. Slowly, he watched the flame make its way to the large oil puddle where the dead pegasi were laid. Black Star had to turn his sights away as the flames licked the dead bodies, slowly turning the once bright multi colored coats and manes into charcoal. The smell of burned flesh pierced his nose, but it was soon replaced by the smell of charred wood as the flames slowly engulfed the whole house.

As Black Star was about to leave, he heard someone entering from the front door. He took a tiny glance and saw a little pink filly entering the burning house. She looked quite confused at first, but then her expression changed when she saw the already burned corpses.

“Mommy… Daddy…?”

Black Star remained silent as the filly rushed over to the burned corpses.

“Mommy... Daddy... What happened to you?! Please, wake up! Say something!” she yelled desperately as she shook one of the corpses. Black Star felt his heart being pierced by a spear; he just murdered the parents of this little filly. But, he still had to play his role in this, and this was the chance. He could motivate this little filly to avenge her parents’ deaths, even if he had to get rough on the poor filly.

What happened next was too painful for the dark-feathered griffon to remember.

“And that’s how I ruined a filly’s entire childhood…” Black Star said sadly. “And gave myself endless nightmares that tortured me every time I went to bed.”

“But that’s not all the cause, is it?” Kestrel asked. “Y’know there’s one more thing that made you like this, the incident that made me…”

The pastel griffoness wasn’t able to finish those words. Black Star knew fully well what she was talking about: that one incident that set off the chain of events that changed the lives of so many Equestrians, and griffons.

Southern Drakenridge Mountain Range, Griffin Kingdom
September 18th 2018, 0140 hrs

Lightbeak choked in pain as he felt several talons being pierce into his chest. He couldn’t believe it: he just got back from a political visit to one of the former Griffin Empire nation and this was his welcoming gift? He personally ordered Gryphus Squadron to be his bodyguards throughout the visit, but he would never expect them to betray him like this. Lightbeak tried to scream, but Red Cyclone in front of him dug his claws deeper.

“Shhh, it’s alright, sir,” he spoke sinisterly. “It won’t take long.”

“Treacherous… dog…!” Lightbeak choked before his entire body went limp. Satisfied with his deed, Red Cyclone released the body and spat on it.

“Now that’s done, we can proceed with the next stage of our revolution that will bring the Griffin Kingdom back into its former glory,” he said with pure delight. Black Star just kept his beak shut, but the other two members of the squadron didn’t see anything glorious by murdering their own king.

“Cyclone, is this really necessary?” one of them began. The red-feathered griffon just turned and glared at him with those piercing red eyes.

“Are you questioning my authority, Lieutenant?” Red Cyclone hissed. The griffon just shrank in fear, but his comrade had more courage to challenge Cyclone’s authority.

“Maybe not him, but I do!” he exclaimed. “This isn’t a revolution, Red Cyclone. This is mutiny!”

“Drastic measures had to be done to achieve our kingdom’s best interest,” Red Cyclone spoke causally. “Didn’t I tell you guys that before?”

“But not like this! This is madness, Colonel!” the griffon yelled. “Lightbeak may be weak, but because of him, we achieved the peace our forefathers had long sought! This is a betrayal to our kingdom’s very principles, and I, a sworn soldier of the kingdom. must inform the other about this!”

Red Cyclone just sighed when he heard that little speech. He turned to Black Star and nodded slightly. The dark feathered griffon closed his eyes and muttered,

“Roger that…”

Before he could even react, Black Star lunged at his comrade with blinding speed. The griffon was shocked to see his friend suddenly attacking him without any reason, calling him a traitor and all sorts. The other griffon tried to flee from the scene, but Red Cyclone brought him down and smashed his skull at a nearby rock. After a fierce skirmish, Black Star finally incapacitated his own comrade.

“Well done, Black Star,” Red Cyclone spoke. “You managed to quell the rebels before they could take action…”

Black Star winced slightly when he heard those words. Red Cyclone continued on,

“Gather some wood, and burn the wreckage along with that weakling, Lightbeak. Make it look like an accident.”

Black Star merely complied in silence and did what he was told to do. Smoke quickly rose from the burning wreckage, and the smell of burning flesh began to pierce both griffons’ noses. When Black Star asked the red griffon about the incapacitated members, Red Cyclone merely responded,

“They won’t last long. The night will claim them.”

Although reluctant, Black Star had to comply and left his two comrades to die in the mountains.

“You did what!?” Marie said in disbelief. Black Star had been feeling uneasy with the entire assassination and decided to talk about it to his girlfriend. As he suspected, she didn’t take it very well. She looked very angry. “Blake! How could you!”

“Marie… please, Red Cyclone said that it was for the best for our…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Marie slapped him hard on his face. The pain really stung, but what hurt him more was that Marie wasn’t pleased with his actions. He tried to get up, but the pastel griffoness made a quick backhand at him. Out of reflex, Black Star grabbed her talon before it could strike him. He finally made eye contact with the griffoness; Marie’s green eyes were burning with anger and disgust.

It seemed an eternity passed by until Marie regained her composure and scowled at the dark-feathered griffon. Black Star just stared at her and waited for the inevitable.

“Let go of me…” she hissed. He immediately complied. Marie then turned her back on him and walked away. She stopped and took a small glance at him before she said,

“You’re a disgrace, to your kingdom, to your family and to me. It’s over, Blake… don’t ever speak to me again.”

Black Star just stared in silence as the griffoness spread her wings and took off, leaving him all alone. Black Star wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but he felt that his entire world came crashing down after hearing those words. The dark griffon sighed and decided to return to Gryphus on foot. Along the way, he heard a radio broadcast stating that Silverbeak had been promoted to general and the chief commanding officer of the griffon army. Red Cyclone himself was also promoted as his advisor. Black Star knew that he was responsible for all of this.

“What have I done…?”

“And that concludes my own tale…” Black Star said solemnly. “From how I met you to becoming the biggest fool this planet had ever known.”

“It’s not your fault, Blake,” Kestrel said softly. “As I said before, both that maniac Esser and Rad manipulated you to do those things. You shouldn’t blame yourself.”

“But I made my choice, Marie. I could have stopped the war from happening, but I’m too scared... no! I’m a damn coward!” Black Star snapped, half yelling. “A fucking coward and an idiot to boot! I couldn’t even see through Rad’s bullshit! HOW COULD I’VE BEEN SO STUPID!!”

Kestrel winced when Black Star finally burst his top. The dark griffon then banged both of his fists at the tree he had been leaning on. Each blow he delivered made the tree shake snow off from its branches. After minutes of yelling and hitting the tree with his bare hands, Black Star finally stopped. Kestrel moved in closer to comfort the depressed griffon.

“Leave me alone, Marie…” he said slowly.

“No,” Kestrel said quietly. “My task right now is to snap you from all this… self-loathing. You’ll break if you continue to be like this.”

“That’s not so bad…” Black Star said without facing the pastel griffoness. Kestrel finally lost her patience and grabbed the dark griffon and put his face directly in front of hers.

“What? You’re planning to slap me again?” Black Star guessed boredly, but Kestrel remained silent and continued to glare at him. Soon, both of them finally locked their eyes into one another.

“Tell me what you see, Blake,” Kestrel demanded. Black Star just sighed.

“I see you…” he answered flatly, but Kestrel just shook her head and asked again.

“No, tell me what you see in my eyes. What I feel about you now.”

Black Star slowly complied at her request and began examining her features. Usually, Kestrel’s expression towards him had always been sharp, distrust and full of disgust ever since he told her about the assassination. But now, he didn’t see any of that within her eyes. Instead, he saw a glimmering hope that the griffoness was ready to forgive all of his misdeeds. When Black Star realized this, Kestrel smiled at him and said,

“You think that everyone wouldn’t forgive you after what you’ve done. Well, you’re wrong now. After hearing your tale, I realized that you’re just an unwitting pawn forced to do things you weren’t comfortable with. Those misdeeds, faults and failures, they were never your fault. You were just unlucky enough to be caught in it and made into a scapegoat.”

Black Star was surprised to hear all these things coming out from Kestrel’s beak. The griffoness continued on,

“I’m such a fool myself, blindingly accusing you out of rage and spite. But now, I finally see the real you, Blake… and I forgive you.”

It took nearly forever for Black Star to find his voice again.

“You… Y-You serious?”

Kestrel merely responded by planting a small kiss on his right cheek, the same place she’d kissed him all those years ago when they made their confession. At first, Black Star just stood there like a statue, but slowly, the light returned on his eyes, and his beak slowly curved upwards into a smile. Tears of happiness also began to form in his eyes. Without any delay, Black Star hugged her and said,

“Thanks…”

Kestrel also hugged him back. Tears were also flowing from her eyes: overjoyed that the Blake she knew had returned for good. Though she was choking on her own sobs, she whispered something to Black Star’s ear.

“Just promise me that you won’t leave me again…”

Black Star nodded silently, strengthening the bond between them. As if on cue, their comms suddenly went back to life as Riddle’s voice came through,

“Aquila 2 and 3, what happened down there? You two had been silent for nearly an hour!”

Then, Kite’s voice came in,

“This is Aquila 4 to 3. Ma’am, is Black Star still there?”

Kestrel glanced at the dark griffon and smiled before Black Star decided that he would answer the small griffon himself.

“Yeah, I’m here, kid. I’m back for good,” he said with his newly founded confidence. “Also, call me Blake from now on. Okay?”

“Oh… uh… Y-Yes sir! I mean, Blake! I mean Sir Blake... Argh!”

Both Black Star and Kestrel laughed when they heard Kite’s stuttering before they spread their wings and lifted off to join the others. Turns out during their absence, Riddle managed to send the changeling Z.O.E. into retreat and the other changelings followed her as well. Kite stated that he was forced to work together with Gilda, much to his own and the griffoness’ displeasure. Ronin and Archer were worried about Black Star’s state during his despair, but the dark griffon assured them that he was fine now.

With all the teams present and only minor injuries sustained despite losing one member: Aquila, Northwind and Southwind squadrons were ready to return to Gryphus and stop Esser’s forces from taking the capital. Without the changelings or the Belkans flying around, their trip back should be easy, but Riddle and the squad leads were suspicious about this. Their suspicions were doubled when they hadn’t heard from Marcus ever since Wechselbalg’s jamming.

Finally, after nearly a minute, Marcus’ voice was finally heard from everyone’s comms. But his first words to the three squadrons were,

“… *static* Warning! We’ve detected two high speed bogeys inbound to your *static*… area!”

Before anyone could determine the identity of the bogey, two large explosions erupted near them.

“What!?” Riddle gasped when he saw the explosions, but his and everyone’s horror; the two massive fireballs retracted into their cores before two new bigger explosions erupted around the first: forming powerful shockwaves that nearly knock everyone out of the skies.

“Hog, you petulant fool!” was the only words the popped up inside the blue griffon’s mind.

Chapter 14: Turning the Tides

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Chapter 14: Turning the Tides

5 miles north of “Ground Zero,” Waldreich Mountain Range, Neue Gryphus/Belka
May 18th 2020, 1316 hrs

The explosions managed to send the entire team into disarray. Some of the recruits were already panicking, but their leaders and seniors calmed them down. Despite that, they were still panicking inside their minds.

“What the hell is that!?” Rod exclaimed.

“何！” Ronin cried in her native language.

“What the hell happened?” Gilda muttered before she contacted Marcus. “Oi, Altair! What’s going on down here?”

“I don’t know,” Marcus answered. “We determined that it was some kind of burst missile, but it’s too small to be a standard one.”

“No… “ Riddle said slowly before he switched to a widespread frequency.

“Aquila to all units, be advised, those are Stonehenge’s rounds: a special type of burst missile. They’ll explode upon reaching their target before unleashing a large amount of flammable gas, triggering a large secondary explosion. You’re dead if you get caught in either the explosions or the shockwaves they generate.”

“That means they’re going to hit us again!” Kestrel concluded.

“Altair Beta to all units, we’ve detected more rounds approaching from the south,” Marcus announced. “All units, lower your altitude to 2,000 feet if you want to survive!”

“What, 2,000 feet?” Gilda whined. “What do you expect us to do? Fly underground!?”

“Use the mountains as cover; it’s the only way. Everyone, make your flying patterns unpredictable, keep your speed up and stay low,” Riddle announced. “Just go back to the capital; I’ll catch up with you guys later! Blake, you’re taking lead.”

“Roger that. Good luck, sir,” Black Star said before he ended the transmission. The blue griffon then brought up his scanner and started tweaking with it. His eyes were full with determination.

“Hog, you bastard. I’m not losing to you just yet!”

“Northwind 1 to all units, follow Aquila 2’s lead,” Rod said through his comm. “Keep close and don’t stray out.”

“This is Aquila 2, everyone follow behind me, and I’ll mark out the route,” Black Star added from his end.

“Roger that, right behind you,” Kestrel responded.

“Aquila 3 here, I’ll follow your lead!” Kite exclaimed.

“Northwind squadron, wilco.”

“This is Southwind, we’re counting on you.”

Both Black Star and Kestrel held their talons together as they descended lower towards the ground. Kite followed their movements along with Northwind and Southwind squadrons tailing him from behind. Riddle stayed behind and landed in the dead forest while he continued to tweak his scanner. He was planning to hack into Stonehenge’s supercomputers to prevent the cannons from firing their rounds for a while, but he soon found out that the new security systems installed on the railguns’ supercomputers were too though for him to break in.

“All squadrons, I’m inputting the data regarding blast zone’s radius on your scanners,” Marcus explained. “The red zone indicates the radius of the blast. Get out of this zone before my countdown reach zero!”

All the squad leads and their members complied in unison as they maintained their focus on the ever changing terrain around them. Mountain peaks passed by left and right, and some of the dead trees managed to graze one of the Southwind members.

“Incoming fire from Stonehenge, estimated time of impact: 20 seconds.”

All of their scanners now showed a bright red ring on right and on the left side. Their scanners beeped furiously, indicating that they must get out of this zone or else the shockwave would knock them out from the sky.

“Come on, faster!” Black Star yelled to his comm. Everyone behind him did what they were told and picked up the pace. Soon, their scanners went silent as Marcus continued with the countdown.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three and… impact!”

Two new explosions formed from behind them, and soon, two much larger secondary explosions erupted in their place.

“Damn, I could feel the heat from here!” one Southwind squadron member stated.

“Whoa, look at that!” a Northwind member yelled as he pointed below the explosion. The fireball managed to light up some of the dead trees, and soon, a blaze began to form in the area.

“So they’re capable of doing ground strikes too?” Ronin mused in horror. “I never knew that a weapon designed to shoot down asteroids could…”

“Colonel Mizukami, for now let’s just focus on getting back to Gryphus,” Rod called. “We can worry about these things later. Right now, it’s either we escape or be engulfed by those explosions!”

“Two more… no three rounds incoming!” Marcus announced. “E.T.A. 30 seconds!”

Once again, the same drill repeated, and the griffons quickly made their way out from the blast radius. What caught them off guard was that the third round’s blast radius appeared in front of them.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven… “

“Crap! Turn! TURN!!” Black Star yelled as he made a quick turn to the right, with the rest following suit. The last of the griffons finally made it out from the third blast radius as Marcus’ countdown reached zero. For the third time, three orange fireballs formed in the sky before being followed by three secondary explosions. Two of the last griffons could feel the shock wave hitting their body, and they almost crashed if their comrades were not there to help them.

“AH! They shockwave’s crushing me!” one of them yelled.

“All units, maintain your speed and heading,” Marcus stated. “You’re almost out of the airspace.”

“This is Aquila 2, Altair Beta, what’s the status on Aquila 1?” Black Star asked in worry.

“I’m still picking up his signature inside the airspace, he’s still alive,” Marcus answered, providing a sense of relief to the Aquila members.

Meanwhile, Riddle finally managed to break into Stonehenge’s software. Before he could shut down the system, an explosion erupted right above him, sending the blue griffon packing. Riddle flapped as hard as he could to avoid the secondary blast, but he was soon caught in the shockwave the explosion generated: causing the griffon to crash into the ground.

Riddle groaned as he tried to get up. He checked his comm and scanner and found that the comm was damaged a little bit. What he did not know was that the tracking device installed inside the comm was damaged beyond repair, causing his signature to drop off from the radar.

“Aquila 1 just disappeared from radar!” Rod announced. “Altair Beta, did you see him on your scope?”

“No, he dropped off on mine too,” Marcus replied nervously.

“Tch, Marie, you’re leading. I’m going back for him,” Black Star said in worry, but before he could turn back, a familiar voice came in through their comms.

“Don’t worry lads and lasses, I’m still here.”

The team was relieved when they heard Riddle’s voice. Soon enough, the blue griffon approached them in his own pace. Things were quiet with only the sounds of the howling winds blowing through the cold mountain peaks.

“Wait a minute,” Kestrel began. “What happened to the rounds? The explosions?”

“I don’t know,” Black Star responded. “But I’m not sticking around to find out.”

“They must be testing the cannons’ firepower,” Riddle concluded. “and we’re unfortunate enough to be their test targets.”

“That maniac’s handiwork, I guess,” Kite jumped in before he sighed in relief. “Still, that was a close one.”

“Yeah, too close,” Rod nodded in agreement. “This isn’t over though.”

“You’re right. That maniac Esser is attacking our capital,” Ronin stated. “We need to get there before it’s too late!”

“No, you guys go ahead,” Riddle said before he he turned his attention towards the general direction of Pisa. “I think it’s the perfect time to use those devices.”

All the Aquila members immediately knew what the blue griffon was talking about.

“Sir… are you sure?” Kestrel began. “I mean, those things could drain our energy before the battle even starts.”

“Don’t worry, I got an idea.” Riddle smirked.

Gryphus Airspace, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
1450 hrs

Once again, chaos fells on the griffin capital. Every available griffon fighter stationed in the capital, along with the GRGs, were doing their best to fight off the changeling swarm. The battle already lasted for two hours, and the griffons were being pushed back, little by little by the overwhelming changeling forces with the additional help from Esser’s Beast Squadron and the mercs.

“Wonderbolts! Fall back to the third defensive lines!” Soarin’ ordered his wingmates. in which they complied after they and two other griffon squadrons failed to hold off a massive changeling army commanded by Blue of Blau squadron and a changeling commander.

“Come back you cowards!” Blue shouted at the Equestrian elite squadron to no avail. Blue internally cursed himself. After the deaths of Gray and Violet, it was just him and Hog now. Violet’s death shook him pretty bad, but he could never forget how Gray died in that maniac’s claws…

Sudentorian City Hall, Sudentor, Neue Belka
May 17th 2020, 0500 hrs

Blue just sat in the main briefing hall with Violet sleeping soundly with her wingmares at the other end. The yellow mare soon woke up when she saw Gray’s bandaged form emerged from the medical ward. Violet immediately wrapped herself around the wounded Gray and said,

“Don’t you ever make me that worried, ever again!”

“Chill, Vi. Everything’s okay now, we just have to wait for that feathered oaf’s return with our client,” Gray responded calmly, making Violet smile mischievously.

“Ooh, now that’s the Thundercracker I know!”

“Hey, hey. Save it on your weekly makeout sessions, you two,” Blue said in annoyance. “I’m tired as buck, and that oaf still hasn’t shown up!”

“Looking for me?” a familiar guttural voice said behind him, prompting Blue to yelp from his seat and took a defensive pose. Esser just chuckled at his reaction before he waved at the two pegasus beside him and smiled. “Yo, sorry I’m late.”

Both Gray and Violet darted their eyes around, Esser had come all by himself, and Kriegstreiber was nowhere in their sight. Blue noticed this as well and asked,

“Hey, griffon. Where’s the client?”

Esser just raised one of his eyebrows and opened up the saddlebag he brought with him, the three pegasus saw a familiar pair of glasses being held by Esser and for some reason, the whole room suddenly smelled like burned meat. Gray was the first one to realize the awful truth behind this smell.

“Esser… what did you do to our—”

“I ate him,” Esser answered nonchalantly, causing both Gray and Blue to cover their mouths in disgust while Violet just cringed. “What? His meat isn’t that bad, y’know?”

“You. Ate. Our client!?” Blue roared before he lunged at Esser and pinned him on the floor. “Why?”

“He’s no longer useful to us…” Esser answered with a smile, Blue suddenly noticed that there was a flash of blue in Esser’s red eyes. Before he even knew it, Esser grabbed him by the neck and threw him near the window. Violet’s other wingmares woke up and saw the ensuing brawl between Blue and Esser. Blue tried to get up and fight again, but Esser once again grabbed him by the neck and started to choke him. “And if you don’t stop hurting me, you’re next on my menu.”

Blue immediately got the message and threw both of his hooves up. Satisfied, Esser let go of him.

“As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted,” Esser began. “Ol’ Ghunter will not be a part of this conflict anymore, and I hereby elected myself as the new leader of this piece of crap team.”

“Why the hay should we listen to you?” Gray stated flatly. Esser only smirked at him before he lunged at the dark blue pegasus and pinned him to the ground. Violet tried to punch Esser away, but she soon found out that her punches were worth dirt to the griffon. Esser slapped her away, but her wingmares caught her before she could impact the hard floor. Gray tried his best to lessen Esser’s grip on his neck, but thanks to his injuries and Esser’s overwhelming power, he could only stare and watch as death approached him.

“Any last words, big boss?” Esser asked him. Gray tried to speak, but the lack of air prevented him so. “Eh? Said that again, I can’t hear you!”

Esser lessens his grip at Gray’s neck, allowing him to take some air to speak.

“Rot in hell… griffon…”

“Oh, but I already did,” Esser answered with that strange smile plastered on his beak. He then lifted Gray by his neck and continued, “I came back because I got bored with it!”

Before anyone else could stop him, Esser clenched his fist, crushing Gray’s neck. Violet could only gawk helplessly as she watched the body of her lover fall limp on the floor. Blue was speechless. How in Equis did Esser summon such destructive power? Before anyone else got the chance to say anything, Esser turned to them and ate the piece of Gray’s ripped throat.

“Anymore questions?” he asked nonchalantly. Both Blue and Violet, along with the latter’s wingmares glanced at each other before Blue chuckled nervously and said,

“Uh, what’s our next plan?”

Blue hated Esser with every single cell in his body, but he had to comply to his orders, or else he would be the next buffet on Esser’s plate. His teammates didn’t like it either, and neither did Violet’s surviving wingmares, who had just returned from their failed sortie in the Waldreich mountains which claimed their leader’s life. These bloodthirsty mares kept attacking everything in sight, angered by their leader’s death and vowing to pay with blood.

The changeling army continued to march on towards the capital, but the GRGs, the Wonderbolts and the additional griffon squadrons were not going to give up their capital that easily. Warhound squadron, which had lost five fliers during the sudden attack, fought valiantly until none of them were left alive. The same could be said with Drossel squadron, who were nearly wiped out at the start, leaving only Drossel 5 to fight the massive swarm on his own. The brave griffon fighter finally met his end when a changeling blasted him from behind, giving an opening for one of Violet’s wingmares to dive in and smash his body into the pavement.

Valdar personally surveyed everything on the command center along with Saetos. For now, everything looked bleak for the Griffin Forces. About half of their forces were already eliminated, and the rest were being hacked off little by little by the approaching swarm. They already tried to call out some reinforcements in Pisa, but high jamming, which suddenly appeared above the city, prevented them from doing so. Valdar growled and grabbed an earpiece and a scanner lying near a computer before he walked to the exit of the command center. Saetos turn around and asked,

“Hey! Where are you going?”

“Helping my brothers and sisters,” Valdar answered in determination. “I’m going out there.”

“Don’t be stupid, Valdar!” Saetos snapped. “You’ll be killed if you—“

“I have to go!” Valdar responded sternly, Saetos could feel the overwhelming authority from his tone. “It is my sworn duty to protect this kingdom. Just keep the skies clear, Saetos.”

After finishing those words, Valdar took his red cape off before taking to the skies. Saetos cursed inside his mind before he turned his attention back towards the radar screen.

“Where’s the source of this jamming!” he thought before he tried to pin-point the source of the jamming waves. Nearly all the radar was unable to detect the source, and Saetos can’t contact any griffon units that might have seen the jammer. With every passing second, the changelings and the mercs inched their way closer towards central Gryphus, causing the civilians who lived behind the walls to panic.

The griffons on the frontlines including the Wonderbolts were surprised when they saw Valdar diving into the battle. The orange griffon’s fighting skills were still sharp as he parried every single blow the changelings delivered at him, he even stated that the others must call him by his old call sign: Zeakros during battle. Soon after issuing his troops a temporary retreat, Valdar began to issue some orders to the remaining griffon troops and GRGs. Because of their disadvantage in numbers, Valdar decided that it would be best to engage the hostiles in a guerrilla warfare: picking them off one by one.

“Told the civilians to join too, we need every single bit of strength we have left!” Valdar declared to his troops. “This is not our darkest day, the Griffin Kingdom will prevail!”

The troops roared in determination before they flew to their places. The civilians also joined in the battle and tagged along with several of the griffon troops hiding behind the houses and dark alleyways of Gryphus, waiting for their prey to arrive. The Wonderbolts were tasked to maintain air superiority over the city along with two griffon squadrons and the remaining recruits at the academy.

While the tactic clearly worked well against the enemy, Valdar still hoped for some reinforcements to arrive. Then, as if his prayers had been answered, a GRG member informed him that he saw multiple fliers approaching from the Drakenridge mountains. When they got closer, the GRG member confirmed them to be griffon fliers.

Valdar smiled. Looks like help had finally arrived.

1510 hrs

Aquila, Northwind and Southwind squadrons saw the griffon capital on the horizon, and they could see multiple smoke pillars rising from the city. Despite Riddle’s orders, Northwind and Southwind squadrons decided to wait for his squadron so they could arrive at the capital together.

“So, it has begun,” Riddle said before he turned towards Kestrel. “Captain, can you see anything?”

“Crystal clear, sir,” the pastel griffoness answered. “There are a lot of changelings and mercs in there.”

AQUILA
Griffin Kingdom Air Force
2nd Air Division, 17th Special Task Force Squadron

“Looks like we have to go all out on the first blow,” Black Star said thoughtfully. “I hope that these Z.O.E. Mk.II’s will do the job, sir.”

“Don’t worry, sir… uh Blake,” Kite cut in. “Sir Wonderfalke already said that he’d reduced the power output, so they will last longer.”

“Well, that’s in theory,” Riddle shrugged. “But we’re going to find out soon enough. Aquila 1 to Northwind and Southwind squadrons, engage at will. Aquila squadron, activate the Z.O.E. Mk.II’s in 60 seconds.”

The rest of the members said, “Roger” in unison before they dispersed. Riddle and Kite flew towards sector 27, while Black Star and Kestrel headed towards the sector 37. Behind them, both Northwind and Southwind squadrons also separated into two groups. Rod and his group flew towards sector 17, the area where Valdar was situated while Archer led her group to sector 27. Ronin, Gilda and several Southwind members decided that they would assist Black Star and Kestrel in sector 37 while Butterclaw led the last group to the skies above, hoping that she and her group could wipe out some of the changeling fliers.

The changelings on sector 27 saw the approaching griffons and snarled. Their leader quickly ordered his swarm to attack the two griffons, but Riddle and Kite remained calm before they activated their Z.O.E.

“Aquila 1 engaging!”

“Aquila 4, engaging!”

The Z.O.E.s’ power surged through the griffons’ bodies following those words. Three changelings who were about to strike them were easily dispatched. Riddle and Kite’s sudden appearance boosted the morale of the remaining griffon troops and civilians fighting in that sector. Riddle and Kite worked in tandem to eliminate as many changelings as possible, hacking away any overhead threats to the ground troops.

“Come on people, we can do this! We can defeat them!” one of the civilians yelled as they took off from the ground along with the griffon soldiers and engaged the remaining changelings. The changeling leader was forced to retreat and requested more changeling units to be deployed to that sector.

“I don’t care how many, just send in a whole swarm!” the changeling leader yelled to his comm. “I don’t want to upset our queen!”

Sure enough, Riddle saw a new swarm of changelings approaching their location. Due to the jamming, he couldn’t determine how many units that were sent in.

“Everybody, maintain your ground,” he yelled to the remaining troops. “We’ve got another swarm, engage at will and don’t hold back!”

Nearly everyone present yelled in response, ready to face the changelings. A fierce aerial battle ensued when the forces finally collided with one another. While the other changelings engaged the griffons in an aerial battle, some of their comrades accompanied some unicorn and griffon mercenaries to infiltrate the city from below, but they too were halted when more civilians had come down from the palace walls to protect their city.

“Charge!!” one of the civilians yelled as the others attacked the enemy forces. Though the changelings and the mercs were much more experienced in combat, they were unable to cope with the sheer number of the civilians and were forced to retreat. One of the changelings managed to hide inside a bakery, but he soon found out that the griffon bakers weren’t too happy seeing him inside their shop.

The changeling quickly darted towards the exit, but the griffon bakers were already in pursuit. Together with the civilians, the griffon bakers managed to send some of the enemy forces out by throwing their baked goods and hot pastries at them.

“Get them while they’re hot!” one griffon baker with an accented voice yelled as he threw some éclairs at the enemy forces. The baked goods did a good job immobilizing the enemy for a short time before they were finished off by the wave of angry civilians. Despite that the enemy was being forced back, civilian casualties were inevitable. The remaining mercs of Murtair Militia doubled their aggressiveness, angered by the fact that two of their leaders were dead by the griffons’ talons. Both sides fought valiantly, and neither side had any intentions about giving up.

Sector 37

Black Star managed to fend off another merc while Kestrel was busy engaging two changelings at once. The griffoness managed to keep up with the changelings’ attacks thanks to the Z.O.E. powering her and Black Star’s bodies. Everything seems to go in slow motion for her as she parried blow after blow the changelings delivered at her. A split second window was more than enough for her to deliver a powerful swipe at the first changeling’s head which cracked his exoskeleton. The second changeling was caught off guard by this, and Kestrel used this chance to deliver another swipe using her other limb. The blow impacted the changeling’s face; sickening cracks were heard from it before both changelings crashed on the roof of a house.

Kestrel breathed a sigh of relief before another changeling hissed at her, challenging her into a fight. With a smirk, Kestrel rushed towards the changeling just as Black Star was throwing a mercenary pegasus at another changeling. Both grunted as they hit each other, but Black Star wasn’t finished yet. He quickly gathered enough speed and rammed both of them, sending them crashing into the streets below. The dark griffon’s victory was short lived as yet another changeling grabbed him from behind. Both struggled to gain the upper talon/hoof until the changeling screeched in pain as he felt several talons cutting through his exoskeleton with ease. Distracted by the pain, Black Star turned the tables by grabbing the changeling’s head and throwing him at his front. Before Black Star could strike again, Ronin flew past him from behind and rammed the changeling away.

The metallic blue griffoness gave him a thumb up before she flew away to engage more targets. Black Star could only smile as he set his eyes on a mercenary battling two civilians. As Black Star flew over to assist them, Gilda flew above him with two mercs hot in pursuit. The griffoness huffed and led the mercenaries away from the furball before stopping in midair, causing one of the mercs to overshot her. The second mercenary found himself unable to stop as Gilda brought up her right talon directly at the merc’s face. The blow worked, but Gilda quickly flew away before she stuck out her tongue at the remaining merc. Angered, the merc chased the griffoness, only to meet his end when a Southwind squadron member intercepted him from below.

“Got your fly for ya, Southwind 9.” the member stated. Gilda just huffed and replied,

“Thanks, Condor.”

After finishing their glances, both Gilda and Condor went back to the furball to engage more hostiles. Blue, who was within the sector at that time, noticed the sudden drop of changeling forces due to Black Star and Kestrel’s flawless execution of disarming and neutralizing the changeling and the merc forces. Blue immediately remembered his humiliating loss at Black Star’s talons at Schmierfett Canyon and decided that this was the perfect time to get even with him.

“Black Star the Ghost!” he yelled, causing Black Star to turn and see him hovering above. “I still remember well how you disgraced me and my squadron over that canyon!”

Black Star kept his beak shut as Blue descended before raising his right hoof at him.

“Time for some payback, Ghost, and this time, your loss is inevitable!”

“Just try it,” Black Star responded flatly before he and Blue rushed towards each other in high speed. It seemed Black Star was delivering the first blow, which Blue anticipated by raising both of his front hooves in front of him. However, Black Star slowed down and grabbed both of Blue’s hooves and threw him away, right in Ronin’s line of attack. Blue was not able to dodge the metallic blue griffoness’ armored claw swipe in time, and once again, the pegasus was slashed in his face.

“Argh!” Blue cried as multiple slash marks formed near his old wounds and nose. His anger nearly blew his head as Blue screamed and began his attack at Ronin.

“Primitive brute, how dare you slash me again!” he yelled furiously, but Ronin just chuckled in response.

“Technically, I didn’t slash you,” Ronin laughed. “You just got in my way.”

“Shut UP!!” Blue snapped as he tried to deliver some strikes at the griffoness. “You still intervened in my fight! Have you know no honor, you stinkin’ bitch!”

Ronin’s smiled quickly dropped when she heard that. All of her patience for this pony was gone in an instant as she quickly switched to the offensive, startling the pegasus.

“You are mistaken…” Ronin growled as she slashed Blue again. This time, three massive gashes appeared on Blue’s flank. “I come from a land where honor is more valuable than one’s own life.”

Blue was not able to respond as Ronin slashed him again. The pegasus was now at the mercy of the angry griffoness.

“W-wait! STOP!!” Blue squeaked, but Ronin paid no attention to him and kept on attacking. The pegasus couldn’t believe it. He was actually losing to this griffoness, and it was not just his body that was wounded: Ronin was slowly destroying Blue’s pride as well.

“You insulted my honor, you uneducated fool…” Ronin growled. “You don’t know the true meaning of honor, and that’s why…”

“PLEASE, NO!!” Blue pleaded as Ronin grabbed his neck and brought him down to the ground. Blue closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable blow that would end his life, but it never came. Instead, Ronin brought her index finger up and carved the first letter of her own name in kanji on Blue’s right cheek. When she was finally done, she released her grip and spoke to the terrified pegasus,

“… I’m letting you go. So you can live the rest of your life in shame, knowing fully well who had defeated you.”

Ronin then bowed and thanked Blue for the fight before she flew away. Blue only rubbed his freshly made scar on his cheek as tears of his own shame began to pour down. Realizing that he was practically wounded and his own pride had been crushed to smithereens, Blue got up and flew away, never to be seen again…

Blue’s absence caused a temporary panic amongst the mercenary’s ranks, but Heimer quickly took command and ordered them to engage the griffons in tandem with the changeling forces. Black Star saw Heimer flying above him, but the latter was preoccupied with directing tasks to his army.

“If he’s here, then that bastard Esser must be somewhere in this airspace!” Black Star thought. “They weren’t expecting me to be present. I must lure him out.”

“Marie, you’re taking command,” the dark-feathered griffon said to the pastel griffoness. “I’ll try to lure Esser out. Keep me posted if you can.”

“Are you sure, Blake?” Kestrel said in worry. “You saw what he did to that squadron member, he’s in a whole different league than us.”

“I’ve been through worse, Marie, and it’s worth a shot.” Black Star smiled. Though she was reluctant to let Black Star go alone, her newfound trust for him assured to her that the dark griffon was more than capable to take Esser down. Kestrel nodded and told him that she will watch his back. Black Star then ascended until he was out of the ever growing furball. Heimer saw the dark-feathered griffon approaching him and exclaimed,

“You!”

The griffon roared as he and Black Star’s attacks met in midair, Black Star’s blow was more powerful as it managed to knock Heimer several feet away. The dark blue griffon growled after recovering from the blow, but Black Star rushed at him again, and Heimer was forced to block his attack. Both Black Star and Heimer’s eyes flashed green and blue respectively as the Zaubenschaft gem pumped more energy into their muscles. Black Star’s punch managed to send the dark blue griffon away despite that he blocked the attack perfectly. The dark-feathered griffon swore he saw a small shockwave being produced around his fist when he delivered that attack. Heimer recovered from the attack and chuckled,

“So, you’re powered by the Zeal too, huh?”

Black Star remained silent, a habit he carried since his adolescence when dealing with talkative opponents. It was to close his mind off from distractions. Heimer seems to notice this and laughed again.

“Silent one, eh? No wonder they call you the Ghost,” he sneered.

“My actions speak louder than words,” Black Star stated bluntly before he charged at Heimer again. Suddenly, Heimer flew to the side as Black Star passed him. Swiftly, the dark blue griffon grabbed Black Star’s tail and swung the dark-feathered griffon as hard as he could, throwing Black Star several meters away from him. Heimer then went for the offensive, but Black Star saw him coming and used his current position to kick Heimer when he was close.

Another shockwave formed when both of Black Star’s legs impacted Heimer’s chest. The dark blue griffon was sent screaming into the ground before he totaled the roof of a house. Kestrel saw the whole thing, and she was amazed at the amount of power Black Star had when using the Z.O.E., but something didn’t add up. Riddle already told them that the Z.O.E.’s power output was reduced 50% so they could fight longer, so why did Black Star’s Z.O.E. was behaving like it was at full power? Something was not right about this.

Unknown to Black Star and Heimer, Wechselbalg was observing the fight in interest. No one knew that she was wearing a special kind of armor which allowed some trace of intelligence inside her mind, unlike Juggernaut. A bug-like growl escaped her mouth as she decreased the jamming noise she had been emitting for the last two hours and descended to confront the dark-feathered griffon directly. She made a couple of loud clicks and growls to call out several changelings to escort her.

Kestrel and the other griffons suddenly noticed that their radar and comms were back online, but what really caught their attention was that the changelings were cowering before going into a full retreat.

“What on Equis?” she asked before she decided to contact Riddle about this.

1534 hrs

Riddle and Hammerdown were the first ones in sector 27 to notice the changelings’ sudden retreat. Hammerdown’s team was ordered to guard Gryphus with the other GRGs, and they were doing a good job defending this sector from the enemy forces. They also noticed that the jamming had disappeared, and their comms and scanners are back online.

“Jamming’s gone,” Hammerdown said. “That should make these things easier.”

Suddenly, Riddle’s comm crackled to life as Kestrel’s voice came in.

“Aquila 3 to 1, come in. Can you hear me, sir?”

“Yeah, I’m here.” Riddle responded. “Captain, are you seeing this?”

“Yes sir. The changelings… why would they?” Kestrel said in confusion.

“I don’t know, captain, but whatever’s the reason, it can’t be good,” Riddle said grimly.

“Sir Wonderfalke, look up there!” Kite suddenly shouted while pointing to the sky. Riddle and Hammerdown turned and saw what the small griffon was pointing at. They saw a single changeling being escorted by six changeling fliers, and they were heading for Sector 37. What was worse, the changeling in the middle had the unmistakable Z.O.E. armor. Riddle quickly turned towards his comm.

“Captain, are you still there?”

“Yes sir. I’m still here,” Kestrel responded. “What is it?”

“You’ve got a whole changeling squadron heading towards your area,” Riddle explained. “Their leader is Wechselbalg, the changeling Z.O.E. from the Waldreich Mountains!”

Kestrel was concerned when she heard Riddle’s warning about the incoming squadron. She suddenly heard a loud bug-like roar as she saw the changeling squadron flying overhead. She immediately changed her frequency to warn Black Star.

“Blake, you’ve got a whole squadron coming for you!” she yelled. “Get out of there!”

Black Star heard her cries, but it was too late for him to escape. Without any warning, one of the changeling escorts fired an energy beam from his horn, causing Black Star to take evasive actions. The other changeling escorts soon fired their own beams at the dark griffon. Realizing that he was their only target, Black Star flapped his wings as fast as he could.

Wechselbalg roared, which sounded more like laugh of amusement, before she went after Black Star herself. The dark griffon’s comms and scanners went dead as the changeling Z.O.E. emitted a jamming noise that didn’t just affect the griffon’s equipments, but his senses as well. Soon, Black Star began to see Wechselbalg everywhere around him, laughing maniacally. The pain on his ears was doubled when he heard a high-pitch screech coming from all directions.

Black Star tried to engage the changelings, but his fists went through every single changeling h attacked. He knew that these were just illusions made by Wechselbalg to fool him, but he couldn’t tell which of them was the real one. It seems that the changeling was planning to defeat him by exhausting him first before moving in for the kill.

Kestrel saw Black Star’s predicament and decided to help him in any way she could. However, another loud clicking noise was heard, and soon, her way was blocked by the changeling escorts. Despite that she was doing a good job eliminating the escorts, more of them kept coming. Soon, she was overwhelmed by the sheer number of the changelings. They needed help and fast.

“Aquila 3 to… Ah! any available unit,” she began as she evaded a changeling’s beam. “Requesting assistance, Aquila 2’s in trouble, and I’m overwhelmed by these escorts! Ugh! Please, help!”

“This is Southwind 1, we’re still taking care of these mercenary brutes on the ground!” came Ronin’s reply. “We are unable to help at this time.”

“Northwind 1 here, unable to help,” Rod began. “We’re clearing up some enemy forces over here too!”

“This is Altair Alpha to all—*static*—units!” Saetos suddenly cut in. “I was able to track the origin—*static*—jamming, it’s coming from the changeling unit with the high magical reading!”

“That Z.O.E. changeling is the source!?” Rod exclaimed. “Sir Wonderfalke, I thought the armor could only power the user!”

“It does, but I still don’t know how that changeling is able to produce such high jamming waves!” Riddle responded. Then Valdar’s voice came in.

“This is Zeakros to all units free at this time: try to help Aquila 2 and 3 in Sector 37. Take down that changeling Z.O.E!”

“She’s mine!” Gilda exclaimed after Ronin gave her the slip to help Kestrel and Black Star.

“This is Northwind 1, I’m en-route!” Rod stated as he flew at high speed, fully ready to face the second Z.O.E. powered unit.

“This is Jet of Verde squadron,” a familiar voice came in. Everyone checked their scanners and saw Verde squadron entering the airspace from the windshear region with numerous other griffon units and other reinforcements behind them. “We hear your aid, moving in to support!”

Riddle and Valdar also noticed that the new signatures had EAF I.D.’s embedded in them, and one of them was emitting powerful magical readings that nearly caused their magic measurement gauge to malfunction.

“Hey, Hammerdown,” Riddle called out to the armored equine fighting beside him. “Take a look at these magical readings. They’re off the scale.”

Hammerdown inspected Riddle’s scanner with interest, his eyes soon widened when he recognized who could have emitted such powerful magical readings.

“No way…” he said in awe as his mouth curved upwards into a smile. “It’s one of the royal princesses!”

Riddle was shocked when he heard this. In all his life, he never saw either one of the royal princesses in person, but that was about to change today, because one of them was here, and she was heading for the changelings’ location.

Black Star and Kestrel continued to block the neverending assault from the changeling forces and their so-called queen: Wechselbalg. The dark-feathered griffon kept trying to deal one blow to the changeling Z.O.E., but her movements and her illusions made him miss every time. It’s a good thing that the Zaubenschaft gems kept the pain at bay, but the sheer number of the changelings and the illusions made it very difficult to concentrate on a single target.

Suddenly, Wechselbalg was struck by a magical beam that shot through her head, creating a large hole in her skull. The large Zaubenschaft gem quickly got to work repairing the damage while Wechselbalg hissed when she saw her attacker. Black Star who was caught off guard by the sudden attack slowly turned around to see attacker and for some reason, he felt a familiar presence: a presence that calmed his heart and mind during his nightmares.

Behind him, hovering just a few feet from him was Princess Luna herself, and she was dressed for battle from head to hooves. The dark griffon had to admit, her armors resembled what she wore when she was Nightmare Moon, but this armor had a lighter tint on some parts. The alicorn princess then flew to Black Star before she gave him a warm smile.

“Nice to see you in person, Blake,” she spoke. Black Star felt uneasy about speaking to a powerful deity in person. Luna saw this through and laughed.

“Do not worry, Blake. I’m here not as a political visitor, but as a warrior fighting for the same cause as you and your fellow countrymen,” she explained. “And I can see why you were having some much trouble with this enemy.”

Wechselbalg could only growl as she inspected her new opponent from head to hooves. She then let out a powerful screech that seems to order all the changelings in the area to focus their attacks on the lunar princess. Luna noticed this and cast a spell that disabled the entire changeling army’s magic.

“It’s just you, Black Star, and me,” Luna declared. “Don’t bring your minions into this bout of ours.”

Wechselbalg growled in frustration before she let out another screech. In an instant, the changelings turned and focused their attacks back on the fighting griffon soldiers and civilians. The other EAF reinforcements, which revealed themselves as Lancer, Sweeper, Hornet and Dragon squadrons quickly went to the attacked sectors to assist any griffon units they could find.

Lancer 1, an amber colored pegasus named Thunder Flicker, led his team to Sector 27 to Riddle and the Equestrian Royal Guards. Sweeper squadron, which was being led by a blue coated pegasus called Quick Chaser, descended into Sector 37 and helped Kestrel neutralizing the changeling units around her and on the ground. Hornet and Dragon squadrons led by Dragon 1 or Flare Star headed for Sector 17 to assist Valdar and Northwind squadron battling the mercs and the changelings.

“Come on, boys and girls!” Thunder Flicker’s voice sounded on every EAF units’ comms. “Let’s drive these bastards out from our allies’ front yard!”

“You read my mind, Thunder!” Quick Chaser responded before he and his squadron engaged the enemy squads along with Kestrel and the civilians.

“Hornet 1, complies!” Hornet 1 said in confidence.

“Dragon squadron here, ditto with us!” Flare Star exclaimed. “Let’s kick those bugs and mercs back where they came from!”

“Don’t forget about us!” Soarin’ said, he and the other Wonderbolts got a sudden boost of morale when they saw Princess Luna’s and the EAF’s appearance. “Wonderbolts, engage!”

“Verde squadron, engaging!”

“Silver squadron, engaging.”

“Northwind squadron, engaging!”

“Southwind squadron engaging!”

“Crimson squadron engaging!”

Soon, numerous other griffon and EAF units announced their presence through the comms, and the morale for the allied forces on both the griffons and the EAFs blasted through the roof. The brutal mercs and the cunning changelings soon found themselves overwhelmed by the allied forces, but their “queen” kept ordering them through their minds to engage without a break.

Believing in their false queen, the changelings morphed themselves into their enemies and began to battle against the allies to their very last breath. The mercenaries were forced to use dirty tactics when facing the civilians, but those tactics didn’t work so well when they faced the soldiers. Despite the sudden boost of power on the allies’ side, losses were inevitable. Some of the civilians fell during combat, but this only fueled the desire of their comrades to keep on fighting the enemy. Even the small cubs and younglings helped their elders by dealing swift distractions so the elders could defeat the enemies.

Wechselbalg ignored her troops and focused more on both Luna and Black Star in front of her. With a roar, the changeling charged an energy beam and shot it directly at the lunar princess, but Luna deflected the attack by casting a shield. This gave Black Star enough time to fly at the changeling and ram her; knocking her back several meters. Luna was impressed by Black Star’s power, but the changeling recovered from the attack and charged at the dark griffon. Black Star flew to the side, but the Wechselbalg grabbed his paw at the last minute. The griffon was thrown away, Luna quickly reacted by catching Black Star using her magic, but Wechselbalg used this opening to attack the lunar princess.

Luna quickly brought her right hoof up and blocked the attack; she could felt the overwhelming power Wechselbalg had poured into this punch. Luna kept her head calm as she watched Wechselbalg deliver another attack using her left limb. Luna merely tilted her head to the side and the punch flew passed beside her head harmlessly.

“Such power,” the lunar princess thought with interest. “Is this the power that these griffons had created through their science?”

Wechselbalg roared again before Luna used her magic to force the changeling back from her, she then released Black Star and flung him directly at the Z.O.E. unit.

“Blake, let’s begin this little bout!” Luna exclaimed. The dark feathered griffon merely responded with a single grunt as he prepared to deliver another attack at the changeling. Another shockwave formed as the punch collided Wechselbalg’s chest, throwing the changeling nearly 10 meters away.

Luna charged up another spell before she exclaimed “Huzzah!” when she shot it at the changeling Z.O.E.. Wechselbalg managed to block the shot by blocking it with her bare hooves. Luna was very impressed by this changeling’s display of power and wondered how much power she actually possessed. Black Star wasted no time and charged at the changeling again, but Wechselbalg evaded his attack and flew upwards before bringing her back legs together and let gravity charge up her attack.

Black Star saw this coming and rolled his body sideways to evade the attack. Luna charged a bigger and stronger attack and fired it again at the Z.O.E. unit. Once again, Wechselbalg blocked the attack. This time, Luna’s beam nearly burned her exoskeleton, though the Zaubenschaft quickly repaired the damage in an instant. Luna’s interest grew when she saw this little act while Black Star moved in to deliver another punch at her, hoping that he could at least break her tough exoskeleton. Wechselbalg roared before she too flew upwards to greet Black Star’s attack. The dark-feathered griffon saw what she was planning to do and moved sideways to avoid collision with her, but Wechselbalg already saw this through and brought her hooves up at the last second. Black Star felt enormous pain when the changeling’s hoof impacted his neck, but thanks to his enhanced body, nothing critical was damaged other than receiving a bruise on his neck.

Luna finally decided to battle the Z.O.E. in close range in order to test the power of this so-called “queen.” With a loud battle cry, Luna rushed in and clashed with the changeling while Black Star looked on.

“This isn’t working, even with Luna’s power. This battle will end up in a stalemate.” The dark griffon thought. “She’s tougher than Frostbite.”

“Aquila 2 to 1. Sir, we need some plan to deal with this,” Black Star said, calling for Riddle’s help.

“Aquila 1 here, negative, can’t help you,” Riddle admitted. “I never studied a changeling’s anatomy, yet alone a Z.O.E. with electromagnetic properties. But I can tell you this: she seems to communicate with the other changelings through her roars, clicks and hisses. Magic and manipulation should be noted as well, but we need more info from a changeling expert to know her weaknesses.”

“That’s why it’s a futile effort to fight her, folks!” a familiar voice came in to everyone’s comms. Princess Luna suddenly sensed a high magical reading coming from above and quickly broke off from the engagement. Wechselbalg also stopped her attacks and hovered while a familiar brown-feathered griffon descended beside her.

“Esser…” Black Star hissed after he saw the griffon that caused this whole madness. Quickly, he climbed up to confront the brown griffon along with Luna. The lunar princess felt uneasy when she saw Esser’s form. His presence just screamed bad news to her.

“Where have you been?” Black Star asked in disgust.

“Oh, I see you have returned from your brink of despair. That’s good, I can have more fun with you that way!” Esser laughed, but Black Star didn’t see anything funny about this. “Now where was I… oh yes! About her.”

Esser scratched Wechselbalg’s ears, causing her to purr at the brown griffon.

“See? She likes me, and she will obey anything that I tell her. And there’s nothing you morons can do to stop her.” Esser explained with a dark chuckle. “A funny story actually, when I first found her, she was an outcast from Queen Miasma’s hive from Manehattan. She said she wanted to be a queen herself, but ol’ Miasma kicked her out because of that, and so I thought: ‘Hey, why doesn’t she become a queen to the rogue changelings we have employed for these last couple of years.’”

“Placing a puppet queen to control your old puppets,” Luna growled. “Quite a clever plan coming from a lunatic such as yourself.”

“He’s not just a lunatic, princess,” Black Star began, gaining Luna’s attention. “He’s the true mastermind behind this conflict and the Equestrian war. Red Cyclone was just another pawn in his sick game.”

Luna was stunned. She and her sister thought that the war was over with Cyclone’s death, but she now knew that Red Cyclone was nothing more than another puppet controlled by a maniac. Luna’s expression changed instantly; she was now fuming with uncontrollable rage towards Esser, but the brown griffon didn’t care much about the angry alicorn hovering in front of him.

“You foul beast…” the lunar princess began before she used her Royal Canterlot Voice on him. “Thou will face justice for all the atrocities thou had done to our land! Prepare to face our divine wrath!”

“Just try it, namby pamby pony princess!” Esser smirked as he formed a battle stance. Wechselbalg quickly caught on with the situation and touched the glowing blue gem to pump more power to her body. Though Luna was more focused on defeating Esser, Black Star still harbored immense hatred for the brown griffon. He manipulated him, played him like dummy, killed hundreds, and he was not going to let him win this war.

With a loud yell, Luna unleashed a powerful beam that managed to shake Gryphus to its very foundation. Esser just looked on with a bored look before the beam hit him dead-on, blasting him into the ground. Chunks of stones and bricks were thrown as Luna’s beam continued to burn the brown-feathered griffon, while the changeling Z.O.E. decided to attack Black Star.

The dark griffon was more than ready for her as he parried her first blow with ease before he grabbed both of her hooves and used them to hit their owner’s face. Black Star then used this opening to deliver a powerful double kick to Wechselbalg’s chest, and once again, a powerful shockwave formed between both combatants as Wechselbalg was thrown away and crashed into a couple of houses below.

Luna’s beam diminished as the lunar princess growled at the grotesque display below her. Esser was still alive. He lay on a large crater, nearly burnt to a crisp, but what really made him stand out was the large purple-colored Zaubenschaft gem embedded on his chest.

“Impossible,” Luna thought with a frown. “How could he survive that attack?!”

Soon enough, the Zaubenschaft began pouring more energy to repair all the damage Esser had sustained during the blast. His charred skin was rejuvenated, and all of his feathers began to sprout from his skin in a matter of seconds. Luna could not believe it, but Esser somehow had access to a some kind of regeneration spell or whatnot. She also had detected a strange magical presence coming from Esser’s Zaubenschaft gem: a dark presence...

“That’s your turn, princess,” Esser chuckled before he flew up to face the alicorn princess, the same strange smile forming on his beak. “Now, it’s my turn.”

Before Luna could react, Esser dashed towards her at high speed before delivering a powerful punch directed to her chest. Luna felt enormous pain as the punch shattered her chest armor, and the shockwave it generated threw her back. When Esser was about to deliver a second attack, a roaring Black Star intercepted Esser and tangled with him briefly before Esser head-butted him away, throwing him back.

Esser then proceed to deliver another punch at him which caused the dark-feathered griffon to be thrown back several hundred meters before Esser flew over him and rammed him again, generating a powerful shockwave that nearly made him crash into the ground. Black Star quickly regained his senses and retaliated with a double kick when Esser was about to ram him again.The kick threw Esser into the sky and into Luna’s firing range.

The lunar princess charged up another spell, but she was interrupted when Wechselbalg tackled her from behind. Luna struggled against the Z.O.E. drone, but her strength nearly matched her own as she was able to keep both Luna and her own body from falling to the streets below. Luna soon grew tired and cast a fire spell that ignited Wechselbalg’s wings, giving the dark alicorn time to escape from her grasp. She then fired another blast that knocked Wechselbalg into the air and delivered an uppercut before the changeling could recover.

Luna had to admit: she really did learn something useful by watching those action movies in order to catch on with modern entertainment. Still, her new moves wouldn’t make any difference if Wechselbalg kept on regenerating from her wounds. She needed to destroy that gem, but she couldn’t get close due to the changeling’s lightning-fast reflexes.

Black Star, on the other hand, was still busy engaging with Esser. So far, the brown griffon had the upper hand on their battle. A shock wave formed with each blow they exchanged to one another due to their severely heightened strength, causing their battle to be heard from all over the city.

Kestrel could not watch any longer and flew up to assist Black Star in his duel. Esser was caught off guard with the griffoness’ appearance as she delivered a powerful blow to Esser’s face. Black Star initially protested against her interference, but Kestrel just responded,

“I’m helping you, Blake. You really need to remind yourself that you’re not alone on the battlefield.”

She then grabbed Black Star’s right palm and brought it up between their faces. She gave him a warm smile and said,

“We’re in this, together!”

Black Star quickly smiled in confidence after hearing those words.

“Just try to keep up, Marie,” he said simply. Earning a chuckle from Kestrel.

“I was able to keep up with you from our childhood,” she stated. “This is nothing compared to that.”

“Heh, a battle couple huh?” Esser smirked as he wiped a single drop of blood from the corner of his beak. “Now this is getting interesting!”

Both Black Star and Kestrel remained calm as Esser flew towards them, laughing with glee. Black Star parried with the first blow while Kestrel delivered a quick jab at Esser’s left rib. The griffoness winced; it felt like she just kicked a rock, but thanks to the Z.O.E. powering her muscles, she was able to deal a powerful blow to the brown griffon. At the same time, Black Star brought up his free limb and sent a crushing blow to the right side of Esser’s skull. The brown griffon’s spine nearly snapped from both attacks, but Esser wasn’t about to give up just yet. He then grabbed both of the griffon’s heads and spun his entire body, throwing off both Black Star and Kestrel.

Both griffons regained their balance and attacked the brown griffon again. Despite that Esser was not able to keep up with their attacks, he was able to overpower both of them and send them packing with a single blow. Black Star and Kestrel knew that they needed more help dealing with this overpowered flyer. Luna also had some difficulties keeping up with Wechselbalg. Regardless of her immense magical power, the lunar princess, who had little battle experience for over a thousand years, was not able to withstand Wechselbalg’s physical attacks.

Luna fired her magical blast again. This time, Wechselbalg did the same by firing her own beam at the alicorn princess. The two beams collided between the two combatants before the unstable energy building up from the two beams exploded, causing both Luna and Wechselbalg to be thrown back.

Before Luna could call for some help, a fast-moving blur managed to deal a powerful blow to Wechselbalg’s head. The changeling tried to recover from her spin, but another attack quickly sent her back several meters from her current position. Wechselbalg recovered from the blow and snarled at the two newcomers hovering beside the alicorn princess. Riddle and Kite felt their adrenaline, along with the power of the Z.O.E. flowing through their veins after their timely interference; Luna was slightly taken back by the appearance of these two griffons.

“Who are you two?” she asked. One of her questions was immediately answered when she recognized Riddle’s face. “You… You are Ratsel Wonderfalke, correct?”

“It’s an honor to meet you in person, Princess Luna,” Riddle spoke, trying his best to be formal even at the time like this. “Let us lend you a helping hoof… or talon.”

“But, are thou—” Luna tried to speak, but Kite cut her in mid-sentence.

“We know what we’re doing, princess. That’s why we brought some friends!”

Sure enough, nearly all of Kite’s friends from the academy flew up and joined their formation. Major White Tip, a white griffoness and leader of the GRG division “Distantthunder,” was leading the formation after she was called from Pisa. Breaker, Razorback, and Ricochet were there too, while Stalker, accompanied by his own mother Ronin, hovered on the back. Luna’s confidence grew when she saw the numerous griffons that came to help her. Her smile also grew when she other griffons of the GRG flying over to support Black Star and Kestrel in their fight.

Black Star and Kestrel could see Gilda, Rosepink, and Rave hovering in front of them while some members of Metal Sphere’s GRG team including Tallman and Red Tail hovered behind them. To Black Star, the most surprising guest on their team was Geier, the griffon he met within the dungeons of Gryphus. The Vulture griffon only gave him and Kestrel an assuring smile and a thumb up. Before the pastel griffoness could ask about their presence, Altair’s radio frequency suddenly came into their comms, but an unknown voice was talking through.

“Everyone’s in position? Good, now we can start the battle.”

Kestrel was the first one to ask the identity of this new voice. The owner of the gruff-sounding voice was more than happy to introduce himself.

“This is Edgar “Cygnus” Grint of the Griffin Kingdom Air Force. I’m taking command of all Z.O.E. engagement from Altair Alpha from here on out,” he spoke properly. “It’s good to be back in action, well… unofficially at least.”

Nearly all of the griffons were stunned. Edgar “Cygnus” Grint was the former General of the Griffin Kingdom Air Force until his retirement just two years before the Equestrian War. He was the leader and only survivor of an Urusean elite squadron who was shot down by a famous mercenary squadron. He was known for his flawless tactics that usually involved chess pieces.

Also, Cygnus was not a member of the raptor griffon species that dominates the current griffon population of the world. Instead, he was part of a rare kind of griffons who had other avian species as their front bodies. On Cygnus’ case, he was a swan-tiger griffon and his size made him tower above all griffons in the GCC.

Riddle then respectfully handed Luna an earpiece at Cygnus’ request. Carefully, the dark alicorn wore the earpiece before Cygnus’ voice was heard on her comm.

“Forgive me, princess, but in order for this operation to succeed, you must follow my every command. This decision is all up to you.”

The griffon didn’t have to wait as Luna smirked and responded,

“Lead us to victory, Cygnus.”

Wechselbalg let out one final roar of defiance as the griffon forces took their positions around the changeling. Esser, however only smirked in satisfaction when he saw the griffon forces closing onto him.

Chapter 15: Lurking Behemoth

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Chapter 15: Lurking Behemoth

“The unknown is not what to be afraid of, it’s only when the unknown becomes known that one can decide whether to be afraid or not.” - Markus Peterson

Gryphus Airspace, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
May 18th 2020, 1610 hrs

Luna fired her beam again in order to distract Wechselbalg long enough for Riddle to deliver a powerful uppercut from below. The changeling queen growled and screeched, ordering more of her troops to increase their attacks on the civilians below, forcing the assault team led by Luna to pick up the pace. Luna fired her beam again, but Wechselbalg saw her through and flew back to dodge another uppercut from Riddle, completely unaware of Kite’s rapid descent towards her head. The small bluish white griffon brought his two fists together and smashed Wechselbalg on her head, disorientating her enough for Rod to sneak his way from below and punch the Zaubenschaft gem on her Z.O.E. armor. A large crack was formed on the gem, and Wechselbalg was growing desperate to defeat her assailants.

“Breaker, Ricochet, and Razorback, bishop formation,” Cygnus ordered, to which the three recruits complied. The three griffons flew towards Wechselbalg and delivered three attacks at her left side one at a time. The changeling groaned, but before she could react, another “bishop formation” conducted by Riddle, Kite and Ronin. This attack was quickly followed by an attack Cygnus called “the Rook,” which involved Stalker ramming her on her front at high speed: cracking the armor even more.

Growing even more desperate, Wechselbalg roared and called the changeling soldiers to aid her. The changelings complied and began to swarm Luna’s group with their attacks. Some of them even morphed into their assailants to confuse the griffons. Luna saw this act and casted a spell that would mark the transformed changelings to distinguish them from the others. Thanks to this act, the changelings were easy pickings for the griffon forces.

“This is Altair Alpha to all remaining units, keep those changelings away from the two Z.O.E. drones,” Saetos said sternly. “We can’t have any distractions on their engagement, we need to keep the skies at their end clear of any hostiles.”

“This is Verde 1, we’ve neutralized all mercenary forces on Sector 17” Jet stated through his comm. “We’re currently en-route with Zeakros to engage those changelings.”

“This is Lancer squadron, we’re also thinning out some changeling forces at our end to lighten your load,” Thunder Flicker announced. “Sweeper squadron is currently working in tandem with Dragon squadron to pick up some strays that may come too close to your location.”

“Wonderbolts here, there’s a lot of these bugs coming for the Z.O.E.’s location,” Soarin’ stated. “We can pick them off one by one, but we need some assistance.”

“This is Crimson 1 of Crimson squadron,” Blade spoke at his end. “We’re currently picking off the changelings at our way. Just hold on, Wonderbolts, we’re coming to help.”

Black Star managed to evade another punch from Esser and retaliated by putting him into a headlock. This gave Cygnus enough time to direct Red Tail and Tallman to fire their arrows at the glowing gem embedded on Esser’s chest. The brown griffon was able to dodge the incoming arrow attack and slash Black Star’s face so the dark griffon could let him go. Unable to cope with the pain, Black Star let go of the brown griffon, but the latter was unaware of an incoming attack from Geier. The vulture griffon managed to slash the Zaubenschaft gem, causing small crack to form on the surface.

“Still got your moves I see, Zubov,” Esser said as he prepare to deliver another strike at the vulture griffon.

“And I never knew you’re still alive, Sergei!” Geier responded as he evaded Esser’s attack by folding his wings, letting him drop to the ground as another arrow was shot by Tallman. Esser growled and tried to attack the GRG member, but Kestrel blocked his attacks and pushed him to the exact spot where Gilda and Rave were waiting to attack him. Both griffonesses flew in a confusing pattern to disorientate their opponent before attacking Esser from both sides. The brown griffon’s chest would have nearly smashed into a pulp if it weren’t for the Z.O.E. powering his body, but as it turned out: this attack was merely a distraction to give Rosepink an opening to attack Esser’s power gem.

The small pink griffon winced in pain when her fist made contact with the gem, despite that she already reinforced both of her talons with armor. Another crack formed at the Zaubenschaft gem but the blow also dented Rosepink’s armor, forcing the pink griffon to make a hasty retreat. Esser quickly targeted the pink griffon, causing her to panic, but Kestrel intercepted the brown griffon before kicking him away. This attack was followed by Black Star as he intended to pin Esser to the ground. Both griffons landed on the ground hard, causing the hardened concrete of the streets to crack. Black Star and Esser struggled as the former tried to expose the Zaubenschaft gem so the GRGs could take the shot from above.

Cygnus had ordered Black Star to do this because Esser’s strength wasn’t as strong as before and his cracked gem was leaking high magical energy. After a brief but violent struggle, Black Star managed to lock Esser face up, exposing the Zaubenschaft gem. Without any delay, the dark griffon reached his comm and yelled,

“I’ve got him. Do it!”

After hearing those words, Cygnus ordered both Red Tail and Tallman to fire their arrows. This time, Esser couldn’t move an inch. The arrows were fired, but a gust of wind blew them of course, resulting in them missing the gem and striking Esser’s shoulders and right arm. This shot of pain gave Esser enough juice to free himself from Black Star’s grip and knock the dark griffon into a small house. Esser winced in pain as he pulled the arrows out as he glared at the two GRG members with murderous intent.

“Nice try…” he hissed before he poured more energy to his arm and threw both arrows directly at the GRGs. Tallman saw the incoming arrows and tried to evade, but the arrows were moving far too fast for him to evade them. In a last desperate attempt, Red Tail pushed his superior out of the way, and the arrows struck him on his side, just between the ribcage.

“RED TAIL!!” both Tallman and Kestrel yelled in horror when they saw the griffon began to plummet from the skies. Kestrel dashed to the falling griffon, trying to catch him before he hit would the ground. She caught him just in time and laid him down to the streets before Tallman also landed nearby to check on his subordinate. Red Tail tried to breathe, but the arrows had penetrated his right lung, so he didn’t have much time left. Tallman tried to call the medics, but they were too far away to reach them in time. Realizing that he wasn’t not going to make it, Red Tail spoke,

“Colonel… m-m-my fiancée…”

“No, don’t give up now, soldier,” Tallman snapped. “She’s waiting for you.”

“No… I’m clocking out here…” Red Tail wheezed before coughing painfully. “I won’t make it, colonel… so please… tell her that I-I… I… ”

Red Tail never did finish that last word as he gave out his final breath before drifting into darkness. Tallman only stood up and turned his face away. Kestrel on the other hand, paid her last respects by closing the griffon’s eyes before she stood up as well. Losses in this battle were inevitable, but Red Tail’s death shook Tallman to his core. He was an aspiring officer and had a lot of potential to be a leader and a husband to his mate.

Well, none of that mattered now.

Black Star saw the entire scene with unmeasurable rage building up inside him. Despite that he and Red Tail never spoke that much, he and the latter survived the ambush at Drakenridge Mountains with the others. That was enough for the dark griffon to feel a terrible loss with his death. Esser, the culprit for Red Tail’s death, only stood there before he walked over to him and spoke,

“Shame… if he hadn’t move from his place, his superior would be the one who bit the dust.”

Black Star was slowly losing his patience as Esser continued.

“What a waste, but that’s war. War claims whatever it likes, be it youngsters, adults, old veterans or even parents… ” Esser said casually. Black Star clenched his fists, trying quell the overwhelming rage boiling inside him. “I wonder, if I have finished my business here and burn this kingdom to the ground. I might pay that little pink mare Firefly and her friends a visit they will never forget.”

Those last words broke whatever was left of Black Star’s patience. Slowly, the dark griffon growled,

“You leave her out of this…”

Esser raised one of his eyebrows with interest. Though he didn’t show it, he felt a slight sense of dread when he heard Black Star’s voice. The dark griffon then look up and set his piercing eyes on his target before he repeated,

“Leave her out of this sick game… she has suffered ENOUGH!!”

Before Esser could react, Black Star yelled in fury as he flew at the brown griffon at high speed. Both griffons streaked above the houses. Black Star brought down his fist at Esser’s face repeatedly while dragging the brown griffon’s body across the concrete street.

Nearly everyone present or above the area could hear Black Star’s rage towards the brown griffon. The rage-fueled battle continued until both fliers were nearing the outer wall. Seeing his chance, Black Star threw Esser directly into the concrete wall, destroying a portion of it which quickly came down upon the brown-feathered griffon.

An exhausted Black Star flew to the top of the wall and saw the remains of the part of the wall where he threw Esser. Suddenly, something caught his eye at the ruins as something was moving beneath the destroyed wall. Black Star kept his distance as a familiar figure made his way out from the rubble. Esser emerged from the ruins, badly bruised, but still alive and strong enough to make his escape. Black Star wanted to pursue him and kill him right then, but a sudden beeping noise from his earpiece prevented him from doing so. The time had run out, and the Z.O.E. Mk.II must be shut down to prevent more damage. As Black Star began to reach his earpiece to shut down the Z.O.E., he heard an explosion coming from behind him. He turned around and saw a piece of the aqueducts had crumbled down into some of the houses.

“What the hell?” he thought in bewilderment.

Before Esser’s sudden retreat, Luna and her team managed to deal a crippling blow to Wechselbalg’s armor. The changeling couldn’t even fly straight, let alone hover in place. Her Zaubenschaft gem was cracked, with bits of it beginning to crumble away. Some kind of blue mist was leaking out from the gem, weakening Wechselbalg with every passing minute.

Luna saw that her opponent was weakening and not in shape to fight anymore, so she issued a warning,

“It seems that thou art in no shape to continue this battle. Surrender now or face a humiliating defeat!”

Wechselbalg merely responded with a snarl; she had no intentions on giving up. Princess Luna sighed,

“Then so be it.”

Wechselbalg roared for the last time before she charged at Luna head on. Once again, Cygnus directed the griffons to attack the changeling queen, this time, intending to finish her once and for all.

“Ronin, Stalker, Flank her from both sides. Rod, keep her distracted while White Tip aims the Zaubenschaft,” Cygnus ordered. Ronin and Stalker quickly moved in and started to attack Wechselbalg from both sides. The changeling queen tried to defend herself from the mother-son duo. As Ronin and Stalker’s attacks subsided, they were replaced by Rod as he delivered a quick slash at Wechselbalg’s right eye: blinding her in the process. This gave White Tip a wide opening for her to take the shot with her bow and arrow. Wechselbalg noticed the arrow and evaded it before she lunged herself directly at the alicorn princess in a desperate attempt to defeat her. Luna struggled with her opponent, but both of them were unable to stabilize their fight in time: resulting in them crashing into one of the aqueducts in the area. Wechselbalg took the full brunt: destroying one of the pillars supporting the aqueducts, while Luna was lucky enough not to be caught along. Soon the whole weakened structure came down upon the false changeling queen and the alicorn princess.

“Princess Luna!!” Nearly all the ponies in the area shrieked in unison when they saw what had happened to their princess. Several griffons were also worried about her safety and quickly flew down to help her. Before they could get near, a giant explosion made up of the same blue mist erupted from the place where Wechselbalg was buried. Slowly, the blue mist changed into red and formed a monstrous image of a red-eyed griffon. Everyone in the area was taken back by the screeching griffon before it dissipated into thin air, leaving no trace at all.

“What in the world is that…?” Thunder Flicker muttered.

“I don’t know, but that has to be the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Quick Chaser responded from his end. Unknown to the griffons and the ponies, the remaining changeling soldiers seemed to have snapped out from their battle instinct and couldn’t remember why they were here in the first place. This made them easy to be captured by the griffon-pony forces. Meanwhile, the griffons and several ponies around the ruins of the aqueducts snapped out from their fear-induced trance and quickly flew down to pull Princess Luna out of the rubble. However, they were relieved when the alicorn princess used her magic to get herself out.

“Do not worry, I’m fine,” she spoke in an assuring tone. “The battle is over for now…”

However, before they could leave the area, some of them heard a weak voice coming from the rubble. The voice sounded bug-like, putting everyone on edge.

“She still lives?” the dark alicorn mused. Slowly, both forces approached the rubble until the voice called them out again. This time, it sounded desperate.

“H-H-Help… help… me…”

One of the ponies, a member of Lancer squadron, immediately rushed in to clear the rubble despite the others’ protests. Luna also had the same idea as she helped the pegasus lift some of the heavier rubbles. When the others asked her why, she responded,

“I could no longer feel any malice coming from her. I think that whoever or whatever had possessed the changeling queen has been destroyed when the structure came down on her.”

“You heard her, now stop standing around and help me!” the pegasus demanded. The others wasted no time and started picking up the stones pinning the changeling down. Once the stones and rubble were removed, they quickly pulled Wechselbalg out. The changeling’s state was not good. Though she was still alive, almost all of her exoskeleton was crushed. Her purple blood, mixed with the blue liquid from the Z.O.E. armor, were pouring out from the gashes all around her body and her mouth. Her breathing was shallow, and she was weakening in every second.

Riddle immediately rushed in and inspected the weakened changeling. He was amazed that Wechselbalg’s mind wasn’t completely destroyed by the strain of the Zaubenschaft. The blue griffon quickly called Cygnus and Saetos to send in the medical teams for the changeling. She was dying, and Riddle, along with everyone else, wanted to know what kind of secrets she could have possibly hold inside her feeble mind.

After the medical team had departed with Wechselbalg, Luna turned towards the blue griffon and said,

“I thank you for your help, Aquila and all of your comrades. Equestria shall hear the tales of the Northern Eagles of how they protected their land from the enemy, just like our own Angels of Equestria…”

Riddle felt honored when he heard that. Getting a praise from someone was never easy, but receiving a praise from one of the Royal Princesses? Now that only comes once in a lifetime, especially when his squadron was viewed by the alicorn princess as an equal to Mirage Squadron… and Riddle was a big fan of them.

“Thank you, Princess Luna” were the only words Riddle could muster at that point. However, Luna also had other things in mind relating to her unexpected visit.

“Please, may I request to have an audience with your king?”

Before Riddle could respond, Valdar’s voice came in to Luna’s comm and answered,

“This is Valdar. I’m sorry about the situation, but you have my full attention. What is the matter, princess?”

Luna then explained to the griffon king about a national meeting Princess Celestia was preparing with the world council to discuss about the Ulysses threat. The solar princess was requesting for Valdar’s attendance on the meeting so he could relate to the other griffon nations from around the world. Realizing the importance of this meeting, Valdar decided to answer his call, but he hesitated because he will be needed more here in Gryphus to maintain order to the once beautiful capital of the Griffin Kingdom. However, both Cygnus and Saetos assured him that they would monitor the situation while he was away.

Assured by his friends’ words, Valdar finally agreed to attend the meeting. Once the orange griffon had arrived on the area of the destroyed aqueduct, Luna immediately casted a teleportation spell that would transport her and Valdar to Canterlot. Seconds later, the orange griffon and the alicorn princess disappeared from their subjects’ eyes.

During this time, the remaining changelings and a few unlucky mercs were quickly rounded up by the griffons on all parts and sectors of the city. Once that was done, the griffons declared their victory by cheering as loud as they could. Some of them, soldiers and civilians alike, even began to sing a small verse of the kingdom’s national anthem.

When the dark skies cleared

The sun shines through

We the griffons shall stand as one

With our wings spread wide and our hearts as one

We’ll bring glory to our land!

Kite yelled “Woohoo!” as loud as he could while performing a somersault before more cheers and singing erupted from all corners of the city. Even the EAF forces joined the cheers and sung along with the griffons. It seemed that the hatred caused by the years of uneasy alliance between the two nations had finally faded on this day. Every doubt, distrust, and fear caused by the war were swept away. Rod decided to take the praise up a notch by yelling,

“Come on everyone, let’s hear it for the ponies and the Four Wings of Aquila!”

Soon, more loud cheers and applause erupted from the city. Needless to say, Kite and Kestrel felt honored to be hailed as heroes for the first time in their lives. Black Star who was still perching on the ruined wall, smiled when he heard the cheers coming from the city. Although the cheers were loud, the ones who lost their companions and families during the battle silently paid their last respects before carrying the bodies up to the hospital.

Several squadrons, both EAF and griffon forces, also paid their respects for their fallen comrades by performing the missing flyer formation all around the city. The captured changelings were carried by the GRG to the Griffin Palace where they would be escorted to the dungeon until further notice. Wechselbalg, on the other hand, was carried to the hospital to treat her wounds under Riddle’s orders. The blue griffon said that it was a miracle her soul and mind were still intact after wearing the Z.O.E. armor for so long. The false changing queen could hold some secrets behind Esser’s warped game.

But for now, the griffons and the ponies deserve to enjoy their victory.

Gryphus Command Center, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
May 18th 2020, 1930 hrs

Riddle sat on his chair, facing the giant computer screen as the machine processed the data he recently inputted. Nearly two hours had passed since the battle of Gryphus, and with the deaths of Ghunter Kriegstreiber and some of the important figures of Murtair Militia, along with the shocking revelation of the true culprit of this conflict and the Equestrian War, Riddle felt that he was ready to unwrap the bindings that kept the dirty secrets of this entire war from being seen by truthseekers.

For now, he was alone on this room. Cygnus and Saetos were still helping on the recovery of wounded soldiers and civilians, while the rest of Aquila squadron had already left just a while ago for their own personal reasons. Kite decided that he would help the other recruits on the recovery, while Black Star and Kestrel decided to spend some time together.

The mere thought of the two griffons spending some time alone caused Riddle to chuckle to himself, remembering how he spent his first date with his wife all those years ago. Just remembering her made his heart ache. He really hoped that his wife and his cubs were safe from the ravages of war.

“Hold on, Gertrude… ” he spoke quietly. “I will come back for you and for our children.”

As soon the blue griffon finished his words, the computer finally finished processing the data. Riddle quickly typed in a few more commands to show the acquired data on the screen. The first piece of data was Esser’s own profile stored within the Zone of Endless. The blue griffon read the profile several times and it finally confirmed his worst fears.

He needed to call the others about this.

Black Star and Kestrel weren’t exactly happy about this situation. They were finally given the chance to spend some time together until an emergency message from Riddle told them and Kite to meet him on the GCC. Cygnus and Saetos were also informed about this, and they were curious about what kind of data the blue griffon had discovered.

The two griffons flew in silence until Kite joined them from their right. The small griffon gave them a salute before he spoke,

“Good evening, ma’am. Captain Black Sta— I mean, Blake.”

“Good evening, kid,” Black Star answered.

“Good evening to you too, Milvus,” Kestrel added. “How’s the recovery?”

“Oh it’s going great, we hit some trips here and there, but hey, faults are common,” Kite explained. “I wonder what could have spooked Sir Wonderfalke all of a sudden.”

“Yes, his voice sounded quite agitated when he called us earlier,” Black Star mused.

“Well, whatever it is, I think we’re going to find out soon enough.” Kestrel said as the trio neared the command center. The three griffons landed before entering the main building. Once they entered the main control room, Cygnus, Saetos, and some of the squadron leaders: Ronin, Rod, Jet, Blade, Silver Quill, Honey Rays and even Gilda, were there. When Kestrel asked the two pegasi about the rest of the EAF squadrons’ whereabouts, Honey Rays explained that they were still helping on the recovery process, but they will stay for the planned assaults on Sudentor and Stonehenge.

Kite immediately hid behind Black Star and Kestrel when he saw Cygnus’ looming form amongst the leaders. Kestrel immediately saluted the tall swan griffon, while Black Star just kept his eyes focused on the screen.

“At ease,” Cygnus spoke with a commanding tone. “So, you three must be the rest of the famed Aquila Squadron.”

Cygnus however noticed the cowering Kite hiding behind the two griffons,

“What’s wrong with him?” the swan griffon asked. Kestrel just gave a nervous chuckle and replied,

“He’s shy around strangers, especially when he’s facing one of the most famed griffon aces the kingdom has ever known.”

“I see, then tell him to ease up. I’m not going to hurt him.” Cygnus said with a smile. Kestrel then did just that before the group turned towards the giant monitor. Saetos and Cygnus immediately took a seat on their posts as Riddle decided to break the silence,

“Alright. All of you were probably wondering why I called this little get together. You’re going to find out after I tell you all a little bit of truth I’ve been keeping from… well everyone up to now.”

Everyone present looked at each other in confusion, especially the members of Aquila Squadron. What was the truth Riddle had been keeping from them? Did he still did not trust his own comrades until now?

“The truth is about the Exile armor. I’m sure some of you have already know what it could do to the user,” Riddle stated flatly. Rod and Ronin glanced at each other. Even Jet knew a fraction of the details about the armor after Scunner told him in a nutshell.

“But, there’s still one more twist of truth about the armor. Cygnus probably knows about this aswell,” Riddle explained. Cygnus just confirmed his words with a single nod. “The armor is officially known as the Zeal of Exile Magic and Strength Amplifier, or Z.O.E.M.S.A. to distinguish it from the Zone of Endless and it was officially created by Grunder Industries under the financial support of the Usean government. The goal was pretty obvious, and the test subjects who wore the prototypes of the armors survived the entire ordeal. I know, because I witnessed the tests myself. The project had a bright future ahead, but the top brass of USEA wanted more… especially when the tensions between the Griffin Empire and USEA was at its highest peak due to the mining rights at that time. So they requested me and another scientist, a genius young colt named Shockwave, to improve the Zeal’s designs and power output. I initially refused, but Shockwave’s words persuaded me to continue, so, he and I created the concept of ‘Mind Imprinting’ or mind-to-digital sublimation for the Zeal of Exile project.”

“Mind imprinting?” Rod began. “You mean like the one that Juggernaut was using the imprinted mind of the Demon Lord?”

“Correct, but that’s only the nutshell. Mind imprinting was a very tricky concept to realize since we had to copy a person’s entire memory and upload it into the Zone of Endless world. Luckily, Shockwave knew what he was working on, and he immediately requested for some of his acquaintances to build a machine specifically for this purpose. The machine was finally completed just before the Usean Rebellion, and it was called the Electro Neuron Synapse Interface or ENSI for short. The ENSI works by attaching a tube to a person’s upper spinal cord in order to link the user’s brain and the Zone of Endless. If the link is successful, then it will be easy for us to copy his or her memories and store them into the virtual world.”

“That is why the ENSI is considered by many as the bridge that connects between our world and the virtual world: a huge step forward ever since steam engines were created.” Cygnus finished the explanation with a nod. Riddle decided to continue.

“The ENSI was a revolutionary breakthrough, and we knew that it was more than capable to do things other than linking a person’s mind with the virtual world. So, we decided to put our money with Project Dision, a highly experimental extension of the Z.O.E.M.S.A. with the goal of uploading the entire mind, personality, and consciousness of a person into the Zone of Endless.”

Riddle then turned his attention back to the computer, pressing one of the buttons to reveal Esser’s profile to everyone on the room. When the profile was shown on the monitor, the blue griffon continued,

“And this guy was the first and only person ever whose mind and consciousness had successfully been uploaded into the virtual world.”

Everyone in the room stayed silent as they read the brown griffon’s profile. It turned out that Esser’s real name was Sergei Raufbold, and he was born as a Golden Eagle-Liger griffon in the Principality of Belka. He was 34 years old, held the rank of Hauptmann, Belka’s own word for Captain, and the previous commander of the 66th Tactical Griffin Squadron “Beast” until… his death over the Comona Islands.

Nearly everyone present in the room with the sole exception of Riddle felt their blood ran cold within their veins. Sergei “Esser” Raufbold has been dead for nearly two decades… then who was the person commanding the mercs and the changelings just two hours ago?

“Impossible…” Black Star stammered with cold sweat running beneath his feathers. Kestrel also had the same reaction as she held Black Star’s talon tight.

“No way…” the pastel griffoness muttered in shock.

“So… he’s a zombie?” Kite responded, earning several looks from around him. “I mean… how else is he supposed to be alive other than selling his soul to some mumbo jumbo dark magic or something.”

“Well, there’s only one way, lad,” Riddle began. “Somehow, they managed to complete a third Zeal of Exile without me knowing it. Building one armor alone is no easy feat, you must balance the amount of magic provided by the Zaubenschaft and the amount of magic the user could take in his body. Also, one of the trickier parts of the armor’s mechanism was that the sublimated mind of the uploaded user must work in tandem with the user wearing the armor in real time. Until this day, not one user has successfully synchronized with any of the sublimated minds.”

“Like Frostbite and that changeling…” Black Star finished. “But what about Esser? I saw him wearing the third Z.O.E. armor during our battle. What makes him so special other than being dead for almost two decades.”

“I was getting into that, Blake. Not only did they succeed in creating a third unit, they managed to open the high security containment which was used to store Esser’s virtual self after Project Dision was terminated,” Riddle said with his tone slowly becoming more ominous. “Somehow, they managed to recover Esser’s dead body and implanted the Z.O.E. so that brown-feathered bastard could come back from the dead. Esser’s body may be dead, but he still lives inside the Zone of Endless world, and he decided to take his revenge on the whole world…”

“But why?” Kestrel asked. “We have nothing to do with his death!”

“I think you’re forgetting something, captain,” Riddle answered. “Esser’s virtual self lived in that cramped confinement for more than two decades. That is not the kind of place for an already disturbed person like Esser should live, let alone after realizing that his real counterpart was already dead.”

“The mind is a fragile thing,” Ronin finally spoke. “If you push your mind to the very edge of insanity, you will not be able to come back.”

“So basically, he went down insanity road for 20 years because someone killed him, and he decided to kill us all in retaliation,” Rod concluded with a frown. “Yeesh, and I thought Rad was crazy.”

“True that,” Jet added, nodding in agreement. Suddenly, the door swung open as a GRG member entered the room. He excused himself for the disturbance before he spoke,

“I have an urgent message for Sir Wonderfalke regarding the patient named, Wechselbalg under the orders of Doctor Gregor from the Gryphus Hospital…”

“Just cut to the point, lad,” Riddle cut him, earning a sheepish chuckle from the GRG member.

“Okay… the patient’s dead, sir.” A few audible gasps were heard, and it soon followed by Riddle’s annoyed groan. The blue griffon quickly regained his composure and motioned the GRG member to continue. “The patient Wechselbalg slipped into a comma just 10 minutes after she was brought into the ICU. Her heart stopped beating at approximately 1845 hours, and she was declared dead 5 minutes later after various resuscitations had failed. The doctors concluded that the cause of her death was from severe blood loss added by the total failure of her brain, and other major organs due to the prolonged exposure of the Zaubenschaft.”

Nearly everyone, especially the ones who had engaged the changeling, felt some remorse, knowing that they were the ones who inflicted most of those injuries upon Wechselbalg. Riddle quickly snapped out from his guilt and asked the GRG if there was any more information beside Wechselbalg’s passing. To his relief, the GRG nodded in confirmation.

“There’s one other thing. After Wechselbalg’s death, the doctors who were treating some of the severely injured changelings reported that most of them suffered a mild case of amnesia. They couldn’t remember anything about the entire siege nor a commanding queen. Hell, some of them didn’t even remember being in a war in the first place.”

This piece of fact left the griffons deep in thought. The changelings’ sudden amnesia was a clear clue about the connection between Wechselbalg and the specialized Z.O.E. armor she wore. After seconds of thinking, Black Star finally got the answer.

“There’s one possible explanation for that: brainwashing,” he began. “It might be possible that Esser commanded Wechselbalg to put the changeling mercs under her command by placing some kind of brainwashing spell on them… I saw what she could do during our battle. She created illusions, and she commanded her army through her roars, clicks, growls. and even through telepathy…”

“It’s a possibility,” Riddle stated. Suddenly, Cygnus’ comm beeped as a transmission came in. The swan griffon answered it, and after a brief conversation, he turned it off and said,

“Duty calls, Ratsel. The troops have requested me and Saetos to survey the destroyed aqueduct. We need to repair that thing, or else the citizens won’t be getting fresh water.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Riddle sighed. “See ya, Edgar, Saetos.”

The two griffons then left the room without another word. Riddle also dismissed the other squad leaders, stating that they had enough history lesson for the evening. Gilda, who had been unusually silent for the entire duration of the reveal, left first with a huff. Though she was not showing it, she felt a little bit disturbed by the fact that Esser was basically a walking and flying corpse. The ponies followed soon after, with the griffon leaders following behind their tails. Kite also left the room, stating that his friends were probably wondering where he was right now. Finally, both Black Star and Kestrel decided to leave, but not before thanking the blue griffon for the valuable information he just provided.

“I gotta say, my mind definitely needed some rest after all of this,” Black Star stated just before he left. “Especially after learning that my opponent is a literal ghost from the past.”

“Anything’s possible, Blake,” Riddle smirked. “Go, get some rest you two. You’ll be needing plenty of energy for tomorrow.”

Black Star and Kestrel just responded with a nod, though they were trying to hide the blushes on their faces when the blue griffon slightly emphasized the words ‘you two’. Once they were out, Riddle turned his attention back towards the computer, silently musing about things related to Esser and sometimes things related to the safety of his family. One question still remained on his mind:

Why was Esser’s Z.O.E. able to avoid detection from the magic detector gauge?

“I guess all questions will be answered when the time comes…” the blue griffon silently thought with a frown.

Meanwhile…

Ponyville Station, Ponyville, Equestria
May 18th 2020, 1945 hrs

Rainbow Dash was not happy right now. Earlier today, she and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony were called to Canterlot by Princess Celestia for the second time this week and so far, she hadn’t learned anything about it. Even two of her best friends,Twilight Sparkle and Rarity, refused to tell the others about what the solar princess could have told them.

“I know that it’s a little bit unfair leaving you girls in the dark,” the purple unicorn spoke, “but Princess Celestia said that this must be kept to a number of individuals. If it was to spread, then it will cause panic at an unimaginable scale.”

“You mean like the parasprite invasion a little while back?”Applejack questioned with a smirk. Twilight could only turn her attention to her friend before she answered,

“Well, sort of. Only much bigger.”

“How big, exactly?” Rainbow Dash jumped in as she hovered above the purple unicorn. Twilight could only groan in annoyance. She already knew where this conversation might lead to. “Come on, Twilight. If this is about another crisis…”

“Yes! But this one really made Princess Celestia very concerned, and not just her too. Personally, I think this thing is worse than any of the crises we’ve ever faced,” Twilight stated grimly. Her words were filled with worry and concern. She took a moment or two to regain her composure before continuing. “I’m sorry, girls, But the answer is still no.”

After finishing those words, Twilight casted a teleportation spell and disappeared before her friends’ eyes. Rainbow Dash just grumbled and landed beside her timid friend, Fluttershy. Rarity on the other hoof, just sighed and said,

“I’m sorry, darlings. This hurts me and Twilight more than it hurts you.”

“Nah, it’s okay, sugarcube,” Applejack responded with a smile. “I know that we’re friends and all, but I know there are some secrets that should be kept to ourselves. Right girls?”

“Eeyup!” Pinkie Pie, the energetic pink earth pony answered with a giggle. “The only thing matters is that we’re still best friends!”

“Yeah, I guess so…” Rainbow Dash said with a defeated tone. Fluttershy just responded with a single nod and smile. With the tensions settled, the five mares said their goodbyes and departed to their homes. Rainbow Dash was busy pondering about what she should tell Firefly about all this. Suddenly, something in the night sky caught her attention. She stopped and hovered as she saw four streaks of light zipp across the star-filled sky.

“Huh, I didn’t know that there was a meteor shower tonight.” She thought in curiosity before she shrugs it off and continued her journey back home.

The former industrial city of Hoffnung, Neue Gryphus/Belka
May 18th 2020, 2134 hrs

Esser sighed in relief after he managed to put his dislocated shoulder back into place. He barely made it through the entire siege alive, no thanks to that squadron: Aquila. He was lucky that his specially made Zaubenschaft was tougher than the normal ones due to a special ingredient inside of it, but still, he still needs to get this one fixed or else he would be trapped inside that virtual cell again.

His thoughts were interrupted when Svenson approached him with a single comm in his talon.

“What?” he asked flatly.

“It’s Hog, sir,” Svenson answered. “SITREP.”

Without any second to waste, Esser grabbed the comm before speaking into it,

“Talk to me, Hog,”

“Well, someone’s in a foul mood tonight,” the green unicorn joked from the other end. “Sorry about that. So, how’s the siege?”

“It went smoothly, all according to plan,” Esser smirked. “The bad news is, the changeling queen is out for the count.”

“Oh man, that’s the last armor we had…” Hog groaned. “So, we have no choice to go on Phase Two, eh?”

“Yeah, just don’t throw up when you’re installing those Z.O.E. prototypes on your dead comrades,” Esser chuckled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do it for the sake of knowledge and science,” Hog said in a dark tone.

“Funny to hear those words from a unicorn,” Esser sneered, causing Hog to laugh at his end.

“Science is interesting; it explains the unexplained wonders of nature,” Hog said nonchalantly. “Oh, almost forgot. S.A.I.T.N. Type-0 is now at 90%. It’ll be ready to be used by tomorrow.”

“Excellent,” Esser said sinisterly. “Thanks, Hog. You’re really a best friend for a ghost like me.”

“Right back at ya, Sergei,” Hog answered before the transmission ended. The brown griffon then changed the frequency to contact the person in charge of surveying the construction of the Valkyrie in the Avalon Dam, located in Mund Valley. It took a few seconds to get the frequency right, but finally, a shaky but familiar voice was heard from the comm.

“Y-yeah?”

“Rohling, my man,” Esser began. “What’s the status on our little project?”

“BUCK YOU, Esser!” Rohling snapped “If Kriegstrieber’s still alive, he would have thrown you back to where you—”

“Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah, whatever. I only wanted to know how the big guy doing.”

“Oh, he’s doing great…” Rohling answered sarcastically. “Heck, he’s doing better than great. He kept staring at the workers and me with those red eyes—”

Suddenly, there was a loud mechanical groan coming from behind Rohling. The unicorn screamed like little filly once he saw the owner of the voice.

“H-H-He’s looking at me right now!!” he shrieked. “He’s getting closer!”

“Hm, sounds like his old draconic instinct are back,” Esser chuckled, ignoring Rohling’s pleas. “And judging by the sound he make, he’s hungry.”

“Hungry?! Where the hay do we find that amount of gems to feed him right now!?” Rohling snapped before he yelped again as another mechanical growl was heard.

“Oh, I’m not thinking about gems… because the food is already there…” Esser chuckled. “Right in front of him…”

Rohling immediately realized what Esser meant as the mechanical groans and growls kept getting louder from the comm. The unicorn panicked.

“No! Esser!! WAIT!!! NOOO—ARGHHH—*static*…”

The comm’s transmission was cut off after the sounds of ripped flesh and broken bones were heard from it. From that day on, Rohling was not heard from again. Esser then handed the comm back at Svenson before he stared at the cloudless sky above. A single bolt of light streaked passed the night sky, causing the griffon to smile sinisterly.

“The show’s about the begin…”

Black Star could only watch helplessly as the flames of war spreads through Equis like a raging storm. They had failed, he had failed. Esser cannot be stopped and he managed to purge the entire Griffin Kingdom and the rest of the world into the flaming depths of Tartarus. His laughter could be heard from everywhere.

“Let there no one to be spared…”

The Royal Princesses have fallen to his might, his Z.O.E. was no match for the two once godly beings. Even the fabled Elements of Harmony failed to stop him. They were destroyed and the bearers were burned to dust.

“Let the world be baptised by the flames…”

Marie, Ratsel, Milvus… even Firefly, everyone had died. He was the only one left that defied Esser’s madness for so long. But what’s the point of continuing if you don’t have any reason to live anymore?

“History had been burned by the fire from the heavens… a new age of prosperity will rule over Equis…”

Black Star clenched his fists before he kneeled down, tears forming on his eyes as he recalled his own failures. He failed again, and it’s only logical if he took his own life right now. No, that’s the easy way out, that’s what cowards do and he’s not a coward! Not anymore!

“That is the gift Ulysses had given us…”

Suddenly, a large dark shadow loomed over the kneeling griffon. Black Star looked upwards and saw a giant dragon, made from metal and powered by the Z.O.E.s bearing its’ teeth at him. Above the dragon, he saw the recognizable form of Esser smirking in delight. Black Star scoffed and stood up, he’s been waiting for this.

The two glowing red orbs that made the dragon’s eyes watched as Black Star flared his wings and took flight. Once the dark griffon was high enough, he dived right into the steel jaws of death as the dragon fired its flame at him: engulfing Black Star from head to tail, reducing him to nothing…

Black Star’s quarters, Military Academy, Griffin Kingdom
May 19th 2020, 0635 hrs

Black Star opened his eyes and found himself staring at the ceiling of his own room.

“Another nightmare…” he thought with a frown. Black Star sighed and looked through the window on his left. The morning sun had barely risen out from the peaks and the morning fog still lingers over the city.

“Well… at least I didn’t oversleep this time.” Black Star thought with a smile. Then, he felt something warm just to his right. He moved his right arm and felt soft fur brushed between his talons. His gold eyes shrunk before they moved to the side to see who or what was lying on his bed with him.

Then he saw it or rather, her. He saw Kestrel’s form sleeping soundly beside him. Black Star turned towards the window before he snapped his attention back to her, hoping that this was still a dream, but no, she was still there.

“Dear Celestia…” Black Star thought as cold sweat drenched his feathers. “What did we do last night!?”

Black Star nearly panicked as he recalled the events from the night before after he and Kestrel left the GCC. No, they couldn’t have possibly done it. The law clearly states that unmarried griffon couples were prohibited to have any form of sex whatsoever until they are properly married. Black Star slapped his forehead and drag his palm across his face, if he and Kestrel really did have sex last night then he’s in a bigger predicament than he currently was right now.

A sudden movement from his right nearly made him jolt from his bed. Kestrel groaned as she woke up from her slumber. The pastel griffoness yawned before she spoke,

“Morning…” She then noticed Black Star’s blank face staring at her. “Uh, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Last night…” he began. “We didn’t… did we?”

It took nearly a minute for Kestrel to register what Black Star was talking about. Her response was a loud laugh that could have woken the inhabitants of the academy.

“No! Of course not!” she finally answered. “Did you think I was really that desperate for attention? Hah, and I thought Milvus was the one with the big imagination!”

Though he felt a little bit insulted, Black Star was relieved by her answer. Soon, Kestrel’s laugh died down as she continued.

“You passed out in the halls, and I carried you here before I slept beside you, since I was too tired to go to my own room. It must be the side effects of the Z.O.E. Mk. IIs.”

“Yeah, must be…” Black Star repeated as he did some arm stretching. “Ah, my whole body hurts.”

“Me too,” Kestrel groaned when she tried to stretch her arms to her legs. “Fatigue combined with the side effects.”

Suddenly, the door slammed open as a familiar bluish white griffon came into the two older griffons’ views. Kite’s sight wasn’t focused at the two when he came in as he was too busy putting his scanner on his wrist.

“Black—I mean Blake, Captain Turmfalken,” he began. “Sir Wonderfalke called us to the GCC, he said that it’s… imp… ortant…”

Kite’s words trailed off when he finally saw both griffons sharing the same bed. His face immediately flushed red as he chuckled sheepishly.

“Uh, okay. Not a good time is it? Ehehe… bye!” he chirped as he quickly closed the door. Kestrel, fearing the worst outcome of this little misunderstanding, immediately shouted,

“Milvus Hawksforth! Get your ass in this room right now!!”

Kite quickly turned around and went back into the room with fear clearly written on his pale face. He immediately dropped to his knees and begged,

“Please ma’am, I won’t tell anybody, I swear! Just don’t kick me out of the squad or the academy!”

However, Kestrel only chuckled at the small griffon’s response.

“Calm down, Milvus. I’m not going to kick you out,”

“Y-You’re not?” Kite stuttered. “But I saw you two…”

“Marie just fell asleep in my bed, kid,” Black Star said bluntly. “We didn’t do anything else aside from sleeping together.”

Kite blushed in embaressment after he heard that.

“Sorry,” he squeaked before he realized the message he was suppose to deliver to the two griffons. “Oh, I forgot. Sir Wonderfalke called us to the GCC. He said that it’s important for the Stonehenge air raid today.”

Both Black Star and Kestrel looked at each other. They wondered what kind of information the blue griffon had in store for the Stonehenge mission. Without any second to lose, the trio left the academy and flew towards the command center. Along the way there, Kite decided to let his thoughts loose for a bit.

“I’m glad that you two aren’t doing it,” his words made both Black Star and Kestrel blush for a bit. “Seriously, it would be even harder trying to explain it to Sir Wonderfalke.”

“Okay, Milvus. That’s quite enough,” Kestrel chuckled. “Let’s just focus on our tasks for today.”

“I agree.” Black Star added with his usual tone. Though Kite still had one more thing to say,

“Sorry ma’am, it’s just… well, to be honest. I’m kinda supportive of your relationship with Blake.”

Kestrel could literally feel the steam coming out from her head, and Black Star was trying his best to hide the ever growing blush on his face. Kite noticed the two griffons’ silent reaction to his words and smiled to himself. He really did learn a thing or two from Sir Wonderfalke.

“There’s no doubt now, these two are made for each other,” he thought with a smile.

The trio finally arrived at the main entrance of the GCC, where they saw Jet and Wave standing near the door. The green griffon greeted them and said that Sir Wonderfalke and the other leaders were waiting for them in the briefing room. Black Star also congratulated Wave on his spinal recovery, the latter said that he was eager to jump into the action again.

When the group entered the briefing room, they noticed that nearly every squad leaders both from the griffons and the EAF were present, but none of the newly arrived EAF squadrons like Lancer or Sweeper squadrons were there. When asked why, Saetos gave them the answer.

“Despite Princess Luna’s offer, Valdar decided to send the additional EAF squadrons back, stating he can’t afford to risk anymore equine lifes.”

“So we’re the only EAF squads left to help you guys win this,” Silver Quill, leader of Crossbow squadron stated. “Don’t worry, we can take the challenge. It’s time for us to take the stage.”

“Don’t get too cocky, Silver,” Honey Rays smirked. “One more wrong step and you’ll end up getting shot down again.”

“If I were you, I’d listen to the lady,” Soarin’ chuckled, prompting the other Wonderbolts to laugh as well. “You know the reason why the others called you King Bailout?”

“Ah shut up, Soarin’,” the brown pegasus spoke, but the griffons seemed to be interested in his particular moniker.

“King Bailout?” Rod asked in confusion.

“Let’s just say that Silver Quill had the tendency to get shot down, a lot,” Soarin’ laughed, “most of them during training exercises.”

There was no denying it; the griffons also found this amusing as well. Ronin tried to hide her laughter by covering his beak with her metal talons while Gilda laughed the loudest. Riddle, Cygnus, and Saetos had their fair share of laughs as well, and even the normally composed Black Star couldn’t help but to chuckle in amusement. Silver Quill, who was fuming at this point only responded,

“Hahah, very funny guys. Could we hear the briefing now?”

“He’s right, everyone quiet down now,” Riddle called out as everyone’s laughter soon died down. The blue griffon then motioned Saetos to turn on the monitor to display the newly obtained data. At first, the monitor showed the emblem of the Griffin Kingdom with the loading bar below it. Once the bar was filled, a couple of pictures were shown on the monitor. Upon close inspection, everyone realized that the pictures showed the recently drained Avalon Dam taken from different angles.

“Alright, here’s the point,” Saetos began. “Aside from this newly acquired data we received from recent recon flights, we have also discovered that since the invasion, the Belkan and mercenary forces had been slowly retreating back to their den.”

The monitor then showed the picture of Ghunter Kriegstreiber and Esser with the word DECEASED crossed over the mint unicorn’s portrait. The monitor also showed the red arrows, representing the enemy’s troops withdrawing from occupied areas like Dinsmark and Hoofstio.

“We believe that following Kriegstreiber’s death at the talon of Sergei Raufbold: the apparent true master of this conflict and the Equestrian War, the troops’ ranks and command fell into disarray, causing severe panic before the total collapse of their military. Bottom word, Belka is practically unable to defend itself nor mount a second strike towards us. I’m sure the Hoofstians will be pleased to hear this.”

The pictures and data about Belka’s retreat from the front lines were soon replaced by the aforementioned photographs of the Avalon Dam.

“Anyway, back to the original mater. Recent reconnaissance flight have confirmed that the Avalon Dam located in Mund Valley has become active once more. The recon also confirmed that the presence of the remaining Belkan and mercenary forces around and in the area. The gravity dam itself was designed by the Belkans as a multifunctional facility capable of producing electricity and as well storing and launching Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles like the V-2.”

Most of the ponies and griffons cringed when they heard the word “V-2” being announced as the monitor showed the basic blueprints of the V-2 missile. Saetos then continued,

“The real problem is not with the missiles, but rather this piece of evidence gathered by the same recon flight before they were eliminated by an unknown attack.”

Saetos then brought up two pictures that showed some kind of mechanical head extending from the main shutters of the dam. The pictures looked blurry, as if the recon flight was in a hurry to take them before they were shot down by the enemy. Whispers were heard from everyone inside the room as they tried to make out what the head really was. Riddle decided to put an end to the debate as he inserted an unmarked disk into the computer. Once the data was successfully uploaded into the computer, Riddle typed in a few commands to show the data to everyone in the room. What they saw was a blueprint titled “Valkyrie” that depicted the skeleton of a giant dragon armed with various machines and weaponry attached to its body.

Several gasps and surprised mumbles were heard from the ponies, as Riddle began,

“This is Neue Belka’s secret weapon and the sister project of both the Fortress Intimidation and the Burning Talon: Valkyrie. A mechanical monstrosity created by using the corpse of the dragon prince, Hraesvelgr.”

Some of the ponies were speechless, they didn’t know that the two weapons that have caused their nightmares on the previous war had a sister project, and so far to the ponies, Valkyrie met all of their standards for being a true living nightmare. Saetos then continued Riddle’s explanation,

“The Griffin Empire claimed the corpse after Hraesvelgr’s father: King Aigaion refused to have anything to do with it, calling his own son a traitor for siding himself with the Belkans. At first we didn’t know what to do with the corpse since the scales and the bone were fireproof. Our answer finally came when the astronomers found an asteroid, Polyphemus was on a direct collision with the asteroid, 1010EQG Ulysses. I’m sure some of you know the full story…”

Indeed, the Wonderbolts and some of the ponies could only nod with a grim expression. The griffons also felt a little bit uncomfortable by the explanation of Ulysses. Saetos knew that most of their families suffered after the disaster.

“Now, our engineers think they can modify Hraesvelgr’s entire corpse and turn it into an anti-asteroid weapon system that could intercept asteroid fragments in space.”

A few impressed looks were present on everybody’s face. It’s true that the sky's the limit, but they always wondered what could have lied beyond the clouds and the blue skies. Saetos the continued,

“As groundbreaking as the plan was, we still needed time and money to complete this monstrosity. With the Burning Talon and the Fortress Intimidation were already being built, the Valkyrie soon followed after. However, Princess Celestia was uncertain of our plans, so the construction of these three mammoth projects were halted several times and we’re running out of both options and time. When Ulysses struck Equis, only the Burning Talon was completed but it was still not enough to counter the asteroids… the financial breakdown that tore the empire apart closed the curtains for any further development for the Valkyrie…”

“Until the Belkans under the guidance of Esser Raufbold by posing Ghunter as the false leader decided to resurrect the beast from its’ slumber…” Riddle continued.

“Kriegstreiber personally directed me to be the supervisor of the project under the simple truth that Ulysses’ remaining fragments are going to hit us again. When I found out what his true intentions, I immediately deleted the files, blueprints, everything related to the Valkyrie. The blueprint shown here is the only existing copy after the purge and I plan to burn it after this mission.”

“And here comes the actual briefing…” Saetos continued on. “Sorry if you didn’t like our history lesson.”

“No, it’s okay, sir,” Red Moon, the lunar guard said in assurance. “We learn something new every day and this is no different.”

“Still, a dragon that can fly into space…” Hammerdown added in awe. “Now that’s pretty damn impressive.”

“Well thank you for the compliment,” Saetos answered as he continued, “As I said before, the Belkans have drained the gravity dam so they could resume their work on the Valkyrie. We believed that the mechanical dragon is being stored inside one of the large chambers inside the dam which was previously used to store large amounts of V-2 warheads. Once more, we needed to neutralize the Stonehenge Type-0 located on the city of Sudentor.”

The monitor soon showed a picture which showed the four unmistakable railgun cannons being positioned around the city of Sudentor.

“According to Sir Wonderfalke along with Captain Rod from Northwind flight and Colonel Mizukami from Southwind flight, the railguns are now completely operational and could ground all aerial flights from in or out of Sudentor. That’s why we needed to destroy this weapon along with the Valkyrie today.”

The screen closed the picture of Stonehenge and brought up two operational names. One was named Operation Annihilator and the other was named Operation Valkyrie. Riddle clicked on the first operation and it showed the names of the teams that will participate on that sortie. The names listed on Operation Annihilator were; Aquila, Northwind, Southwind, Ursa Major, Verde, Swallow, Regal, Selene, Avion, and Newt.

“If your squad’s name is in that first list then listen closely,” Saetos began as Riddle clicked on Operation Annihilator, revealing the details of the operation.

“Since Stonehenge is capable of launching ordinances at long range, it would be very difficult for us to try to enter Sudentor’s airspace without detection. Once more, Stonehenge uses a special satellite codenamed Menhir-3 to pinpoint the target’s location and feeds the information to Stonehenge’s 400 supercomputers. Though the range of the weapon was short in astronomical terms, it’s still capable of launching those specially made burst missiles near Gryphus’ front door.”

Riddle then showed a digital rendering of the Stonehenge Type-0, along with its statistics.

“An ECM tower positioned at the center of the turret network jams all radar and radio comms around the cannons and the railguns themselves were built using specially made steel that was light enough but strong enough to withstand the stress of launching multiple missiles in a quick succession, so you can throw away any chances to put a dent on those things through physical attacks alone. That’s where Ursa Major squadron steps in,”

The digital model of Stonehenge was zoomed out as four red arrows labeled “Ursa Major” came in from the north.

“They will carry four Guided Penetration Bombs (GPB) that will be dropped at the base of the railgun cannons, causing the cannon to collapse under its own weight. However, they still needed radar coverage for the bombs.”

Soon, another set of arrows labelled Aquila, Verde came into the picture, while four arrows labeled as Regal, Selene, Avion, and Newt approached the railgun network by ground.

“Aquila squadron’s task is to work together with Verde squadron to provide air support for the ground forces as they destroy the jamming tower’s generators located on the marked sectors. These generators were previously used as a backup generator if a power outage occurred, but they since modified it to power the jamming towers. Not only that, the generators also powered the railguns’ anti-air defense systems scattered around the network. Be advised, these guns have a deadly accuracy and will track your movements once you’re within range. Northwind, Southwind and Swallow squadrons tasks are to distract the cannon fire away from the main teams until the generators are offline. Once the jamming has ceased, and the guns are offline, Ursa Major will deliver the bombs and the rest of the squadron will keep the skies clear from any enemy fliers that may halt their advance.”

Honey Rays silently gulped in fear when she heard her team’s main objective.

“This will be a tough mission for all of you, but if you succeeded in destroying the railguns, it will surely put a crippling blow to Belka’s air superiority, and we will be one step closer to put an end to this madness.”

Riddle then clicked, and the whole screen went back to its main menu.

“Any questions for this operation?” Saetos asked, but only silence met his answer. “Good, dismissed.”

The ones who were named on this operation quickly left the room as Saetos began the second briefing for the second operation. Though Black Star exited the room first, he and Jet overheard that the second team’s task was to infiltrate Avalon and sabotage the entire facility in order to prevent Valkyrie from being deployed.

“Blake, Johann, are you two coming or what?” Kestrel called out from the other end of the hall. The two griffons responded to her call and followed the rest of the group. Jet finally taken notice that Kestrel had been close to Black Star ever since they came back from the Waldreich Mountains, and the pastel brown griffoness even started to call him by his first name more often. The green griffon cleared his throat and asked,

“So, how’s your relationship with the captain? You two seems to be getting awfully close to one another since that sortie near Ground Zero.”

“We reconciled, Johann,” Black Star answered. “We managed to work things out and I’m planning to talk to her about our future once this is over. ”

“Ah, damn. Not you too,” Jet groaned as both of them neared the exit. “I really need to find myself a mate.”

“Don’t worry,” Black Star assured him by patting his shoulder. “There’s still plenty of griffonesses in the sky.”

Once both griffons were outside, they were greeted by the rest of the group. Jet quickly went back to his squad while Black Star took his position as Riddle’s wingmate. Kestrel gave the dark-griffon an assuring smile in which he responded by giving his own smile at her. Kite on the other hand tried his best to stay calm for this mission. He heard that the unicorn battalions and an additional squadron were going to rendezvous with them at the Belkan border to make this mission a bit easier. But still, facing a railgun network designed to shoot down asteroids sent chills down his spine. Even some of the ponies were nervous about this mission. The decisive mission that would change this war for the better.

“Alright, everyone. You’re cleared for take-off!” A GRG member announced through the megaphone. Aquila took into the skies, followed suit by Verde, Northwind, Southwind, Swallow, the Equestrian Royal Guards 4th Division “Regal” and the Lunar Guards 3rd Division “Selene”. The squadrons had a long flight ahead and all of them knew that there is no turning back on this mission.

Chapter 16: Stage of the Apocalypse

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Chapter 16: Stage of the Apocalypse

“This is the way the world ends: not with a bang but a whimper.” — T.S. Eliot

Stonehenge Turret Network Type-0 airspace, Sudentor, Neue Gryphus/Belka
May 19th 2020, 1020 hrs

The Stonehenge crew rushed to their respective positions. They had just received the news that a large squadron bearing the kingdom and EAF I.D.s were en-route to their position. There was no doubt that a large scale air raid directed at the turret network will be conducted.

The cannons groaned as the supercomputers pointed the cannons to the north. Many buildings and skyscrapers rumbled when the cannons lined up to their positions. When the cannons were finally aligned, the large rounds were loaded before the cannons launched them, forming several shockwaves as the rounds pierced through the sound and rainbow barrier. They even gave out colorful streaks in their wake.

As beautiful as they may have seemed, these rounds were about to cause a lot of trouble for the allied forces.

After their rendezvous with Crimson Squadron and the unicorn battalions, Avion and Newt, the Stonehenge Strike team, as they were referred to by Marcus, continued their heading towards the massive railgun network. So far, they managed to bypass the early radar warnings by flying close to the ground. Both Avion and Newt decided to teleport themselves near the facility while waiting for the allied squadrons to arrive so they could begin their strike.

The Stonehenge Strike Team even received some nourishment along the way, and after hours of flying, they finally saw the city of Sudentor along with the railgun network in the distance. Some of the ponies whistled in awe at the size of the cannons, but they were soon greeted by the railguns themselves in the form of four huge explosions forming in front of them.

“Whoa, look at that!” one of the members of Northwind yelled before the secondary explosions and the shockwaves shook the skies.

“Dear Celestia…” Honey Rays muttered in horror as she felt the heat radiating from the explosion from their current location. Soon, Marcus’ voice came in to their comms.

“Altair Beta to Stonehenge Strike Team, we will commence attack operations against Stonehenge Type-0,” the griffon radio operator announced with a strong voice. “All unicorn battalions, initiate your attack immediately. Aquila and Verde squadrons will provide cover as you advance to the generators.”

“This is Quox of Avion Company. We’re advancing towards the first generator right now,” Quox announced. “We’ll be counting on you guys for support!”

“This is Fire Crackle, Newt Company,” the gray unicorn stated. “Making our way to the second generator. We hope that the Northern Eagles will lead us to victory!”

“The Northern Eagles?” Kite suddenly cut in. “I thought we’re called the Four Wings of Aquila?”

“Stay focused, lad,” Riddle warned. “This is Aquila Squadron, don’t worry. We’ll keep you guys safe.”

“This is Verde Squadron; you can count on us too!” Jet exclaimed in confidence.

“Hold your chatter; I’ve detected another wave of attack coming from Stonehenge! All teams get out of the danger zone!” Marcus warned as multiple red spots appeared on the teams’ scanners.

“Northwind 1 to all units, disperse and keep your distance!” Rod exclaimed. “We need to distract their fire to us!”

“Southwind squadron, follow me!” Ronin ordered to her subordinates. “Make your flying aggressive; get those scums’ attention!”

“You read my mind, ma’am!” Gilda smirked.

Marcus began the countdown for the attack as both Avion and Newt continued their advance towards the generators. The teams’ movement was halted when the explosions erupted right above them, but the unicorns casted their shield spells to protect themselves from the shockwaves.

“Here comes the secondary blast, hang on!” Fire Crackle yelled before the secondary explosion ripped through the skies and rocked the ground beneath their hooves. Several unicorns from both teams fell due to the force of the blast, and some of them, who were not directly beneath the shields during the explosion, suffered 2nd degree burns on their coats.

“Avion, report damage!” Quox demanded before her team gave the blue unicorn a brief report of the damage. Only two unicorns were wounded, but they were still in top condition to fight. Newt reported that three members received minor burns, but that didn’t hinder their combat performance a bit.

“Come on, let’s go!” Fire Crackle yelled as both teams continued their advance. Suddenly, the unicorns’ scanners detected a massive amount of Belkan troops with high to moderate magical readings heading towards them. “Fire Crackle, Newt 1 to aerial squadrons. We’ve got some hostiles heading our way. Request support!”

“This is Verde, hang on Newt. We’re coming in,” Jet responded as he and his team dove towards the ground. The Belkan leader noticed the incoming attack as he immediately warn his troops,

“Panzer 1 to all units, incoming enemy squadron! Open fire!”

“Keep those allied dogs away from Stonehenge!!”

The unicorns immediately fired their offensive spells at the incoming griffon squadron. Verde squadron responded by breaking their formation, making it very difficult for the unicorns to shoot them. Some of the members realized that they couldn’t shoot down the griffons, resorting to direct combat once the griffons neared the ground. Though some of them put a valiant effort to fight off the griffons, they were eventually overpowered by Verde and Newt’s combined might. The Belkan leader finally decided to call in for additional help.

“Panzer 1 to aerial squads, requesting support! We’re being slaughtered over here!”

“This is Titan and Ater flight. Hold on, Panzer, we’re heading over to support!”

Soon, more than three Belkan pegasus squadrons and two griffon squadrons took to the skies and headed straight for the allies’ location. Jet noticed this, and he immediately called in for help,

“Aquila, there’s a large number of enemy squads approaching from the network.”

“Roger that, Verde 1,” Riddle answered shortly. “Aquila squadron, spread out and engage at will. Make all your attacks count!”

The squad replied “Roger!” in unison before they flew out to engage the hostiles. As usual, Black Star and Kestrel decided to team up and take the middle pegasus squad first. Kite immediately accelerated, planning to use his speed to deliver fast strikes to the enemy. Riddle, on the other hand, stayed in place as he started to think about a viable strategy to take down the opponents efficiently. Two more rounds were launched from Stonehenge, and they went past the main team, just as Northwind planned. Rod and his teammates quickly dispersed and let the rounds explode harmlessly in mid-air.

Black Star and Kestrel immediately engaged the pegasus squad following the missiles’ explosion. The Belkan pegasus squadron proved themselves to be more persistent than their counterparts in Pisa, but they were still no match for Black Star and Kestrel’s combined might. They were also infuriated by Kite’s quick strikes, which distracted some of the members before they were taken down by Black Star and Kestrel.

“Verdammt! This is Ater 3, unable to engage!” a pegasus growled. “Requesting retreat for now!”

“Damn, what’s with this squadron!?” one Belkan griffon yelled in frustration. “We’ve got the numbers on this fight, how the hell did they managed to eliminate one of our squads with ease!?”

“I heard about them before,” his comrade spoke grimly. “A squad who bore that eagle emblem on their I.D.s…”

“No way… the Northern Eagles!? Here!? Oh, man we’re screwed!” the griffon groaned.

“Screwed, as we may be, we have our orders… For Neue Belka!!”

With that last battle cry, his comrade engaged the griffon duo… only to be dispatched with ease by them. The last griffon decided to engage as well, not caring about the outcome of the battle anymore. He too was defeated when Black Star rammed him from the front, dazing him long enough for Kestrel to deliver a precise kick to his head. Both Black Star and Kestrel clashed their talons together before they engaged the remaining enemy squads.

Fire Crackle also ordered his men to attack the incoming Belkan troops, though slowly, they were outnumbered when more enemy troops kept coming from multiple directions. The situation was also made worse with the constant explosions caused by Stonehenge’s rounds detonating above. Quox’s Avion Company also encountered the same problem until a spear thrown by Hammerdown pierced one of the Belkan soldiers.

“This is the 4th Royal Guard Division, “Regal” to Avion, sorry to keep you waiting,” Hammerdown said through the comm. Soon, another voice came in,

“This is the 3rd Lunar Guard Division, “Selene.” Hang in there, Newt, we’re coming to help.”

Sure enough, Fire Crackle watched as the bat-like ponies swooped in and tackled some of the Belkan soldiers. The unicorns tried to stun the newcomers with their spells, but the armour worn by the Lunar Guards easily deflected the spells. Hammerdown roared as he, along with Featherdust, attacked the Belkans without any mercy: angered by the atrocities they had committed on Pisa. However, they were forced to break off when one of Stonehenge’s rounds erupted above them.

“Incoming fire!” Marcus warned as the allied unicorns immediately cast their shields spells to protect the royal guards and themselves, but despite their effort, several of the unicorns and royal guards were caught in the secondary explosion, incinerating them on the spot.

“Newt 5 is gone!” Fire Crackle exclaimed in horror. “One of the Lunar Guards gone too!”

“Avions 7 and 9 are dead…” Quox said in a somber tone.

“Regal 6…” Hammerdown growled. “All Regal units regroup now, we will avenge our comrades’ deaths!”

The Royal Guards hollered in response as they continued fighting. The Lunar Guards and the rest of Newt Company also went back to engage the Belkan troops. Crimson squadron, who was tasked to keep on a lookout at high altitude, finally decided to descend and support the ground forces. The members of Verde squadron also increased their pace by eliminating most of the Belkan troops before they could arrive at the allied ground force. Aquila was still busy keeping the skies clear from any enemy squads, and so far, they were doing a pretty good job.

More Stonehenge rounds streaked past the main forces, heading straight for the distractor squadrons. Honey Rays had to admit, fatigue began to wear her down for a bit, but she knew that the simplest slips ups on this mission would be catastrophic. Her squad immediately gunned on the throttle when the missile was close, so she and the other could watch the explosions at a safe distance.

More rounds were launched from the cannons as the Stonehenge crew was growing desperate to shoot down these annoying pests from the sky. They knew that the three squadrons were just a distraction to fool the computers while the main force was inching closer to the generators’ location.

“All available squadrons scramble at once!” the main griffon commander yelled. “Stop those dogs’ movement before they reach the generators!”

“But sir, the Northern Eagles are one of them!” one Belkan pegasus snapped.

“I don’t care! We’re not going to let those dogs get their way!” the commander barked back.

“Altair Beta to Stonehenge Strike Team, more enemy flyers are heading towards your position,” Marcus announced.

“Aquila here, I see them,” Riddle responded. “Intercepting them now.”

Marcus then switched his frequency and called the distractor team.

“Distractor team be advised, you’re cleared to move forward. Prepare for the attack signal when the generators are down.”

“Northwind 1 acknowledged, Altair Beta.”

“Southwind 1, wilco.”

“Swallow Squadron, roger!”

Then, Quox’s voice came in to Marcus’ comm.

“This is Avion 1, Quox. We’re nearing on the first generator!”

“This is Newt, second generator in sight,” the brown unicorn stopped for a moment before continuing in a weak voice. “Celestia’s mane…”

“What is it?” Marcus asked in confusion at the unicorn’s behaviour. “Newt 1, do you comply? What’s the matter?”

“There’s a whole mount of machine guns stationed on the second generator…” he began. “… and they’re already tracking our movements.”

Another explosion went off in the distance as the distractor team inched their way closer to the site. Some of the Belkan flyers panicked when they saw how close the explosion was to their position, giving Aquila and Verde time to pick them off one by one. Fire Crackle on the other hand decided to do something stupid.

“This is Newt 1, I’m charging ahead to the second generator! Selene 1, you stick close to my flank if you want to live.”

“What are you planning on doing, Newt 1?” Marcus asked.

“Something very, very stupid, Altair…” came Fire Crackle’s only response as he grabbed Red Moon by his magic while casting a large shield in front of him. Red Moon soon found himself being lifted by the unicorn’s magic before being put to Fire Crackle’s back, all the while being shot with dozens of bullets.

“Newt 1! What the hay are you doing!?” Quox demanded angrily. Fire Crackle didn’t heed her words as he and Red Moon continued their brutal path to the second generator. Once they were close, Fire Crackle increased his speed, planning to knock the door leading to the generator down. Red Moon quickly caught on with his plan and decided to join in by extending his armored hooves to the front. Both ponies managed to knock the door down and safely entered the bunker.

“This is Newt 1, second… generator breached,” Fire Crackle announced between pants. Red Moon only managed to chuckle tiredly before he muttered,

“That’s the craziest plan I’ve ever been on… Don’t ask me to do it again.”

“Hey, we’re the EAF. When danger comes, we’ll be ready to get the job done!” Fire Crackle boasted as he quoted his drill instructor’s motto. Red Moon smirked; he too knew about the motto. Then, the two ponies immediately shut the large generator down, disabling half of the automatic guns. Suddenly, an alarm blared as an electronic voice announced,

“WARNING! POWER HAS BEEN REDUCED TO FIFTY PERCENT! UNABLE TO SUPPORT WEAPONRY ON THE WEST SIDE!”

Much of the Stonehenge crew was concerned when they received the warning of the sudden power drop. The commander himself was flabbergasted by how those EAF griffon dogs managed to breach the security system so fast. Panic swept him off from his mind as he directed every single squadron stationed there to stop the allied forces in any way. He also ordered the Stonehenge crew to keep firing at the skies regardless of position to take out as many griffons as possible. Marcus quickly warned the squads about the danger.

“Looks like they’re getting serious,” Riddle stated. “All squads, go all out! Show no mercy!”

Multiple responses from different teams answered his orders. Following the wake of yet another explosion, the griffons and pegasi immediately engaged the enemy with all they had. Quox and her team also encountered the same obstacle Fire Crackle had encountered, and already the blue unicorn was planning to do the exact same thing Fire Crackle had done. The only difference was that her whole team charged together.

The rest of Avion Company kept the shield up as Quox entered the bunker with Hammerdown. The main generator was huge, as it was filling up the whole bunker. Hammerdown quickly got to work disabling the generator while Quox readied a shield spell just in case the generator decided to blow up in front of them. The blue unicorn sighed in relief after a faint groan was heard as the generator slowly shut down. Another louder alarm blared as the same electronic voice announced,

“WARNING! POWER INSUFFICIENT TO POWER ARTILLERY. COMMENCING EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN.”

Those words were like music to the allied forces. Soon, pretty much all of the automatic guns stationed around and near Stonehenge went dead, including the jamming tower, which prevented Ursa Major from doing their job. Quox decided to be the one who broke the good news,

“This is Avion 1, generator one disabled. The jamming and anti-air weaponry are gone.”

“Good job, now that’s they way you do it!” Marcus spoke in an excited tone. The griffon regained his composure before he announced, “The jamming signal has ceased, and the anti-air guns are disabled. All units, you’re cleared to make your attack on Stonehenge!”

“This is Ursa Major 1, about time you guys done it!” the harpy griffon boomed. “Ursa Major Squadron, let’s deliver these packages now!”

Soon, five friendly signatures appeared on radar from the north. At the same time, four rounds were launched at the bomber squadron. Rot saw the incoming danger and ordered his team to hit the deck. The five griffon bombers dived until the explosions’ were out of range. The Belkan flyers immediately gunned their throttle to intercept the bombers, but the allied squadrons halted their advance and engaged them head on. Both sides struggled to gain the upper hand/hoof, but they were occasionally interrupted by the explosions.

“Ursa Major Squadron, 2 miles to targets.” Rot announced. Whether his squadron was getting some clearing or not, they were delivering these bombs if it was the last thing they would ever do. One Belkan noticed the griffon bomber squad getting closer and contacted his leader. His squad leader responded by dispatching four griffon flyers to intercept them.

“Titan 3, en-route to bombers!” one of them stated. “Engaging at wil—OOF!!”

His sentence was cut short when Kite streaked past him while delivering a jab at the left side of his ribcage. His other three comrades tried to engage the fast-moving bluish-white griffon, but Riddle knocked one of them out by delivering a quick wing strike at his face.

“Sir Wonderfalke…” one of them said weakly when he saw the blue griffon. “Please, sir… don’t kill me!”

“I won’t kill you if you guys stay out of our way,” Riddle said bluntly. The griffon was silent for a moment, before he lowered his arms.

“Very well, sir. I won’t.”

Riddle gave the griffon a smile and told him to leave the area immediately. The griffon nodded and left without another word. His leader saw his actions and called him out, calling him a traitor and coward for fleeing the airspace. The griffon could only respond,

“I respect you, commander. But I respected my father’s friend more.”

The commander growled when he realized who his subordinate was talking about. He quickly flew towards the blue griffon without caring about anyone flying around him. When he finally confronted the blue griffon, he raised his arm and pointed at him.

“How dare you return to the land you betrayed!” he snarled. Riddle just sighed in response. He recognized the commander when he saw the red feathers covering the tips of his wings and the two long feathers which extended on either side of his feline tail.

“Can’t say it’s nice to see you too, Detlef Fleisher. Tired of being a university professor?”

“Silence, traitor!” the griffon, Detlef, snapped. “I heard of Braunfalke’s demise at your talons, and I’m eager to take the risk of avenging my comrade.”

Detlef roared and attacked Riddle head on, however, the blue griffon parried the attack and retaliated with a double kick to his chest. Detlef coughed but he soon find himself within Riddle’s armlock.

“Listen to me for once, Detlef,” he began as both of them continued to struggle, “Orel Braunfalke made his choice at Pisa, you know that he was dying, right?”

“Quiet!” Detlef growled as he scratched Riddle’s face, causing the blue griffon to let him go. The red griffon faced Riddle; both of them stared at each other before Detlef continued,

“I know that! He told me himself, and that’s why he was so eager to bring glory to our once holy land!”

“But he failed,” Riddle said while he held the wound near his eye. “During our battle, he said that the Belkans had lost their own honor and pride by committing those atrocities. Civilians dead by the talons and hooves of Belka’s soldiers, and Braunfalke couldn’t bear it all… not with his illness eating his life too… so he asked me to take his life. Please, Detlef, stop fighting and see the truth. What have we become? Is this all really necessary to bring back old glory days?”

At first, Detlef was stunned to hear what the blue griffon had told him. He never heard anything that the Belkans had committed those atrocities, hell, the mercs never told him anything about all of the frontline operations. His anger reached his peak before he let out a mournful screech. When Detlef finally calmed himself down, he could only turn himself away and hover there. Not moving an inch.

“I’ll be seeing you, Detlef…” Riddle said before he flew towards the still ensuing battle.

“Maybe…” Detlef muttered to no one as he saw the bomber squadron fly past him from below. Stonehenge launched another round directed at the bombers, causing them to repeat the same drill on evading the explosions. Detlef looked at the direction of Stonehenge before he turned towards the city of Sudentor. Hundreds of civilians who refused to fight were probably still being kept in the quarantine zone held up by the unicorns. Some of his friends and relatives were there too.

A flash of determination formed on Detlef’s face. He knew what he had to do.

Meanwhile, Rot finally saw the opening he desperately needed. The harpy griffon quickly gained altitude before folding half of his wings to achieve the maximum speed for the GPB. The bomb was attached to several cables that were directly linked to the griffon’s scanner, and the bomb itself had several sensors that reads the airflow: showing how much speed was needed for the bomb to be successfully launched. Rot kept his eyes glued on the scanner as he slowly reached the designated speed. Once he hit the mark, Rot released the GPB, and the cables automatically detached from the bomb.

“Bombs away!” the harpy griffon announced.

Rot watched as the bomb glided at high speed until it hit directly base of the first railgun. Rot immediately yelled in triumph as he watched the cannon slowly tip forward with the barrel hitting the ground first.

“Hit confirmed! First railgun cannon destroyed!” Marcus announced excitedly. Rot did several somersaults at his success, while the rest of his team made a go-around for the second approach. This act greatly boosted the allies’ morale as the fight slowly switched to within the airspace above the railgun network itself. Stonehenge’s remaining cannons kept on firing rounds into sky in a desperate attempt to shoot down the allied forces. The distractor squadrons quickly shifted into the offensive with Ronin and Rod leading the way. The unicorn companies on the ground also fired their beams to distract the Belkan forces. Slowly, the Belkans were thinned out, but they weren’t going to give up that easily.

With Detlef missing, Titan 2 quickly took hold of the command, and his first orders were to call more flyers from the city. Two pegasus squadrons, Comet and Specialist, responded to his call.

“This is Comet 1, roger that, boss. We can take ‘em.”

“Specialist 1 here, we shall stop those Northern Eagles once and for all!”

When Riddle noticed the two new squadrons approaching, he only groaned in response. He switched his comm’s frequency and called his teammates.

“Aquila 1 to all Aquila units. Be advised, we’ve got two elite squadrons from the Neue Gryphus Defense Force approaching. Change of plans, Aquila 2, you accompany Aquila 4 on intercepting Comet. Aquila 3 wait for my signal.”

“What about, the other squad, sir?” Kestrel asked.

“Don’t worry about them, I’ve got something in mind for them,” Riddle responded with a smirk.

Black Star, who had just finished on taking down a Titan member, quickly contacted Kite, demanding his current position.

“Below you, cap’n Blake!” the small griffon responded. The dark-feathered griffon looked down and saw Kite flying below him. Both griffons streaked through the sky and headed straight for Comet squadron. The leader saw both griffons closing in and responded by spreading his squad out so they could surround the two once they were close.

“Alright, kid. Go all out on them on the count of three,” Black Star spoke. Kite quickly nodded as he began his countdown. When he reached “three,” Kite used every ounce of his energy in a sudden burst of speed. Comet 1 and several of his wingmates were caught off guard when the griffon streaked past them, dealing fast blows which stunned two members at once. Comet 1 was too distracted by the small griffon; he completely forgot Black Star’s presence until it was too late. The dark griffon’s fist hit his face, sending the pegasus spiralling down to his grave.

“Comet leader is down!” one of the members stammered. “Who’s responsible for that?”

“It’s the Ghost, the griffon with the black feathers!” another member exclaimed. “Take him down immediately!”

Black Star grinned in excitement as he accepted the challenge in silence. He just couldn’t wait to test the power of these so-called “elites.” Another explosion was heard from the distance as Ursa Major managed to deal another crippling blow to another one of Stonehenge’s cannons.

“Second railgun cannon destroyed!” Marcus announced. “Two cannons left.”

“Alright, Aquila 3. Head for Specialist squadron,” Riddle ordered. The pastel griffoness responded with a single “roger” before she flew off. “Aquila 4, make another go around and strike Specialist from behind once you’re close.”

“Got it, sir.” Kite chirped from his end.

“Specialist Squadron, stay in formation!” the leader barked when he saw Kestrel closing in, unaware of Kite’s presence above them until the last second. The small griffon zipped past the squadron above their heads and gave all of them a single slap. The squad soon fell into disarray, giving Kestrel a perfect shot to deliver two strikes at the leader and his wingmate. With both of them dazed, Kestrel grabbed both of their heads and brought them together, easily knocking them out from the sky.

“Hmph, so much for Specialist,” Kestrel sneered at the remaining members. In a fit of rage, one of them attacked her first, but Kestrel already knew how this was going to end. She gained some altitude at the last minute before delivering a hard kick to the pegasus’ spine. Another pegasus flew in to attack her, only to met his demise by Black Star’s powerful wing smack and Kestrel’s precise kick to his neck.

“Wow, that was quick,” Kestrel remarked when Black Star approached her.

“Elites, my ass, these are all rookies with over-inflated egos,” the dark griffon scoffed, causing the rest of the Specialist members to attack them all at once. Both griffons parried every single attack before retaliating with their own attacks, knocking some of the rookies out and sending the rest running for the hills. Black Star, Kestrel and Kite used this brief opportunity to catch their breaths, but something on the city soon caught their attention.

“Smoke?” Kestrel spoke out loud.

“I hear some yelling too!” Kite added from above. Suddenly, a brief but unknown transmission was heard from everyone’s comms.

“Citizens, let us fight—*static*—… mercenary dogs… —*static*…”

“What the… whose voice is that!?” Ronin asked from her end. Only Riddle knew the owner of the voice, but before he could tell the others about it, Marcus’ voice came in.

“Hold on, I’m tracing the signal right now,” Marcus stated before he went silent for a few minutes. “Tracing complete… it’s coming from the Belkan radio station.”

“Radio station? Geez, we’re in a war here!” Rot said in annoyance. “Ursa Major, ignore the broadcast. Keep attacking Stonehenge!”

“He’s right, we should focus on the mission,” Ronin added in agreement.

The griffons and the EAF squads continued their engagement, but something seemed to bother the Belkan troops as several of them noticed the smoke pillars rising from the city. This momentary distraction gave Ursa Major a wide shot on attacking the third railgun cannon. Soon, the giant barrel came crashing down onto the ground, spewing dirt and dust into the air.

“Third railgun cannon destroyed!” Marcus exclaimed. “Now there’s only one more left!”

“That cannon is mine!” Ursa Major 5 said in determination, but he was flying too close to the third cannon’s barrel. When the cannon fired, the shockwaves generated by the launched round threw him back. Unfortunately, the shockwave also ruptured his ears, disabling the griffon’s sense of balance. Rot tried to grab him before he and the last bomb impacted the ground, but Black Star got to him first.

Once Black Star brought Ursa Major 5 to the ground, the griffon stuttered,

“I can’t do it… the world’s spinning like crazy… Ugh! Ghost, you do it… there’s no time… promise me this… please, hurry…!”

Black Star looked at the injured griffon for a moment before he stared at the GPB and the specially linked scanner. With a single look of determination, Black Star nodded before he wore the scanner on his left arm and took the bomb with him. The bomb was quite heavy, but he was sure he could lift it off the ground.

“This is Aquila 2, I’m taking Ursa Major 5’s duties in destroying the final railgun,” Black Star announced.

“This is Ursa Major 1. Aquila 2, you can’t be serious!? Let one of my teammates do it for you!”

“No can do, your comrade put his words on me, and I can’t back down from a promise!” Black Star spoke again. Riddle smirked when he remembered the knight’s promise he and Black Star made with each other when they first met. Rot sighed before he spoke,

“Alright, have it your way, Ghost. Remember, the scanner will tell you if you’re fast enough to drop the bomb. You have only one shot. May the sun and moon shine upon you.”

A smirk formed on Black Star’s face when he heard those words. Though he was struggling, Black Star kept climbing to a higher altitude. It took him nearly five minutes, but he finally reached the designated altitude before he let gravity pull him down. He half folded his wings, straightened his body and hugged the bomb closer towards his body, trying to minimize the drag as possible. The speed gauge on the scanner rocketed, but it still wasn’t enough for him to deliver the bomb. With the ground inching closer, he completely folded his wings and hugged the bomb tighter.

“I think this is the first time I’ve gone at such speeds!” he thought just before the airspeed gauge hit the designated mark of release. Black Star quickly released the bomb and pitched up, starving his brain from the oxygen-rich blood due to the high G force. Black Star nearly blacked out and hit the ground, but Rod and Ronin came to his rescue, just in time as the fourth and final railgun hit the ground with a thunderous thud.

“Fourth railgun cannon destroyed… I can’t believe it…” Marcus stammered as he tried to find the right words. “We did it… we destroyed Stonehenge!!”

A loud cheer was heard from the allied forces while the Belkan troops and flyers could only gawk in horror as they saw their trump card lie in ruins. The commander quickly called them all back, stating that they were needed elsewhere at this moment.

Black Star regained his consciousness, although he had a minor nose bleed due to his stunt earlier. Rod and Ronin congratulated him for destroying the last cannon, despite him not being a bomber griffon. Even the Ursa Major squadron praised him for the destruction, stating that he will make a decent bomber with a little more training in hand.

“Now that’s a spectacular coup de grace!” Fire Crackle exclaimed through his comm.

“You said it, Crackle. It’s ironic really: during the Equestrian War, that griffon, Black Star really put us on the edge, but here? It’s like the area’s safe whenever he and Aquila squadron are around,” Quox stated.

Though he vision was still a little bit blurry, Black Star really appreciated all the praises being thrown at him. It was like he finally found his way back after reconciling with Kestrel. Suddenly, everyone’s comm beeped as Marcus radioed in,

“All units, I’ve got a mission update,” he began. “I’ve confirmed that there’s just been a full scale rebellion in Sudentor. The civilians are planning to revolt against the mercenaries and the Neue Belkan forces!”

Everyone was surprised when they heard the news. It seemed that not all Belkans had agreed on this little conflict being staged to reclaim their honor. All members of Aquila turned to see their leader gazing off at the capital city. His home and his family were in there… somewhere. With a voice full of determination, Riddle finally responded to Marcus’ call,

“Wilco, Altair Beta. We’ll do what we can,”

After finishing those words, he ordered the Aquila units minus Black Star to engage the hostiles threatening the civilians. He also ordered Black Star to stay put, stating that “he had done enough for today”. Kestrel was unsure about leaving the dark griffon, so she decided on staying to treat Black Star’s wounds. Riddle couldn’t say no to her decision.

“Alright, but join the fight when you can, captain. Aquila 1 out.”

“Take care of you boyfriend, ma’am!” Kite exclaimed from his end, causing both griffons to blush in embarrassment. The rest of the squad also followed suit as they all headed to Sudentor, all except Sapphire, who was ordered by Quox to get Black Star back in shape ASAP. Though the unicorn was still slightly wounded from her unfortunate accident during Kriegstreiber’s capture, Sapphire managed to heal most of her wounds to allow herself back to the front lines. She and quickly got to work on diagnosing Black Star’s injuries.

Meanwhile, Riddle and the rest of the allied teams finally reached Sudentor in no time. The civilians immediately cheered when they saw the allied forces’ arrival. One of them, a Belkan owl griffon with dark green feathers, recognized Riddle’s form hovering above the city.

“Bloody hell… I never thought ‘bout seein’ him again!” he spoke with a smile. He then reached for his comm that he carried with him and contacted someone. “Oy, Fleisher. Ol’ Wonderfalke’s here with the Northern Eagles!”

“Really? Huh, then he must’ve received my message earlier.” Fleisher answered from his end. “Go up to him, Bernhard. It’s time to bring the Knights of the Round Table back together for this fight.”

“You read my mind, Detlef!” Bernhard said excitedly. He then closed the comm and flew up to meet the blue griffon. Kite and several other griffons and pegasi immediately moved to their defensive, thinking that Bernhard was a threat, but Riddle immediately recognized the owl griffon.

“Bernhard Schmidt, I never thought I could see you again!” Riddle said as he extended his talon to greet his friend. Bernhard extended his own and shook Riddle’s talons while he chuckled.

“The same could be said for you, Wonderfalke,” the owl griffon smiled. “Detlef organized this little get together to reunite some ol’ friends of ours.”

“He wants the Knights back together, huh?” Riddle mused in interest. Kite felt kinda let out and decided to ask about the identity of this owl griffon. Riddle explained that Bernhard was also a former member of the Belkan Air Force, and he led the infamous 8th Tactical Griffin Squadron “Grun.”

“A pleasure on meetin’ one of the Northern Eagles,” Bernhard said as he shook Kite’s small talons. “We’ve great stories about you lots from those mercenary dogs.”

“Uhh, t-thanks…” Kite stuttered, feeling uneasy being in the presence of a famous Belkan ace like Bernhard. Meanwhile, the mercs and the Neue Belkan forces quickly fired their offensive spells and weapons at the group, causing them to split up to avoid the attacks.

“Yikes, feisty lots are they?” Bernhard commented.

“Yep. Say, Bernhard. Do you want to experience the old glory days again?” Riddle asked to Bernhard’s delight.

“Bet your ass I do, mate!” the owl griffon said in determination. Following those words, Riddle, Kite and Bernhard quickly broke and engaged any mercs they could find. Bernhard, being a more skillful tactician, directed Riddle and Kite to places that needed more air support than the rest. Rod and Ronin immediately directed their subordinates to help the civvies while eliminating any hostile forces they could find. Gilda decided to accompany Kite, stating to Ronin that she wanted to see the small griffon’s performance a little bit more. Unknown to her, Rave who was flying as Crimson 7, overheard her plans.

“Crimson 1, requesting to engage the hostiles at will,” she asked Blade.

“Crimson 7, permission granted. Go ahead, Ravencroft.” Blade answered from his end.

“Thank you, Crimson 1. Crimson 7, breaking off!”

Rave wasted no time and quickly flew to Kite and Gilda’s current heading. The small griffon delivered his attacks to enemy forces left and right while zig-zagging among the buildings. Gilda had to admit, Kite really did have some skills that made him a worthy member of Aquila.

“Huh, pipsqueak is actually owning them…” Gilda thought out loud after she punched a mercenary. Suddenly, Rave’s form flew past her and rammed a Belkan griffon who was about to attack the brown griffoness from her side. Gilda wasn’t exactly glad about her interference.

“Egghead…” she began with a smirk.

“Alpha bitch…” Rave replied with her own smug grin.

Suddenly, both of them noticed two enemy pegasi sneaking up from behind from opposite directions. Gilda quickly brought her fist and struck the first pegasus right on his snout, while Rave brought her own fist from below and delivered an uppercut on the second pegasus’ chin. The two griffons turned towards each other and smirked before Gilda began,

“One for me.”

“And one for me,” Rave added coolly.

“First one to get ten wins?” Gilda challenged in which Rave responded with a chuckle.

“You’re on.”

Both griffons then broke their stare and started searching for any enemy unit they could find. Meanwhile, Riddle and Bernhard were finally reunited with another member of the Knights of the Round Table: An azure-coated pegasus stallion with a lance and and shield cutie mark called Dmitri. So far, the trio’s presence alone caused massive panic and chaos to the mercenary and Neue Belkan ranks with some of the rookies fleeing for their lives after realizing who they were.

“Come back, you cowards!!” one of the remaining Neue Belkan commander yelled in frustration. “Gah, useless fools every single one of them!!”

He angrily activated his comm and contacted the one pony he could count on in times like this.

“Hog, where the hell are you!?”

“I’m busy, call me later!” Hog answered in a not-so-quite-himself tone.

“Sudentor is falling to this scums’ claws, and you’re more worried about your work!?” the commander said sharply, causing Hog to groan from his end.

“Eh, actually I never cared to any of that bullshit, commander,” the unicorn stated in an eerily calm tone. “Heck, I never cared for any one of you in the first place. With the finalizations of the remaining Z.O.E. drones, Valkyrie, and now the destruction of Stonehenge, my work here is done. My only duty now was to cleanse this whole area to eradicate any evidence from the Royal Princesses, and the King who sleeps in Avalon shall be the one to do it…”

Hog’s words managed to send chills down the back of the commander. What did he mean by cleansing this whole area? And who the hell is the King who sleeps in Avalon? It took him nearly a minute before he managed to understand what Hog meant.

“N-No… you can’t do that!” he yelled in horror.

“It has already been done…” Hog answered coldly. “See you all in hell.”

The transmission was cut off, just in time when Riddle managed to pounce the scared-stiff commander onto the hard stone street. The blue griffon pinned the commander down before he demanded Hog’s location from him. The griffon commander snapped out from his trance and began to stutter,

“Wonderfalke… h-he’s going to destroy everything! Hog, h-h-he said that… The King who sleeps in Avalon has been awakened! Sudentor… destroyed… wiped off the map!”

“Calm down, mate!” Bernhard jumped in as he landed beside the blue griffon. “Now be a good soldier and tell us clearly.”

“N-no, you don’t understand! He will destroy everything!! Esser, Hog, Valkyrie… Sudentor is doomed!! We’re all going to die!!”

The griffon began to pant rapidly with his eyes darting towards all directions. He was clearly on the edge of sanity. Riddle sighed and let the griffon go, and decided that it would be best for them to search the Sudentorian city hall to find Hog. Both Bernhard and Dmitri agreed before the trio took to the skies, heading straight for the city hall while eliminating any hostiles that dared get in their way.

Once they arrived, the trio quickly got into the city hall, but they found it empty. Dmitri motioned them to split up to cover even more ground. Bernhard was unfortunate enough to find bits and remains of Esser’s victims, be it griffon or pony. Riddle, however, managed to find Kriegstreiber’s former office. The blue griffon quickly got to work by activating the computer and started typing some commands into it. To his frustration, all of the data on the computer had been erased. Suddenly, his comm crackled to life as Dmitri’s voice called,

“I saw him! He’s heading for the back exit through the mess hall!”

Riddle quickly got up and headed straight for the mess hall where he met up with Bernhard. They both saw the kitchen door swing a little bit and headed straight for it.

“Dmitri, talk to us! Where is he!?” Riddle called again.

“I’m in pursuit; he’s taking a shortcut through the alleyways!”

Riddle and Bernhard exited the building through the back exit and resumed their pursuit. They finally saw their friend flying over a corner on a nearby street. They poured more energy into their wings as they rounded the same corner and resumed the pursuit. The growls and groans of Dmitri were heard as the pegasus finally tackled the unicorn just near the duo’s location.

Finally, they saw the green unicorn struggling to free himself from Dmitri. As he tried to teleport out from the pegasus’ grasp, Riddle quickly punched him in the face, causing the unicorn to lose concentration for his spell.

“Wonderfalke…” the green unicorn hissed.

“Grimmsworth… or do you prefer Hog?” Riddle asked with a smirk.

“None of that matters now, all of you along with me shall be gone before nightfall!” Hog exclaimed before Dmitri shut him up by punching him in the face.

“Quiet, dog!” he growled. “Now tell us, what kind of message did you send to Avalon?”

“A scorched earth policy!” Hog spat between pants as his mouth curved upwards into a malicious smile. “Soon, the great King Valkyrie will come and scorch this pathetic city into nothing! We, won you fools! We got what we wanted! Esser cannot be stopped! You may have liberated Sudentor, but you still lose!”

He then used his tongue to remove one his teeth, which turned out to be a disguised cyanide pill. The green unicorn crunched the pill before the trio could stop him. Soon, foam began to form in his mouth as the unicorn’s body started to tremble.

“My task… urgh… is complete… Hail… Argh! Exiles—URGH!!”

Hog was cut off when his heart finally stopped beating, and his body went limp. Dmitri and Riddle could only stare in silence as they got up and distanced themselves from the corpse. Bernhard could only exchange several glances at Dmitri and Riddle before he asked,

“I suppose we should issue an evacuation?”

“Agreed,” Riddle responded. “Whether he’s bluffing or not, we should act before it’s too late.”

“But first, we’ve got to get everyone to stop fighting,” Dmitri pointed out. “And I doubt that Detlef could do such a thing, even with his charisma.”

“Then we tell them the truth. Bernhard, Dmitri, you guys tell Detlef about the situation. I’ll contact Gryphus Command Center to relay this information to them,” Riddle stated as he began his march back, while Bernhard and Dmitri took off and headed back into the chaos. The blue griffon opened up his comm and decided to call both Black Star and Kestrel to tell them about the situation.

“Aquila 2 and 3, are you there?”

“This is Aquila 2, what is it, sir?” came Black Star’s voice.

“Blake, we’ve got a serious situation here,” Riddle said in concern. “You two and whoever’s left up there need to get to Sudentor ASAP. Details can wait for the minute.”

“Understood, sir. Blake out.”

As soon as Black Star ended his transmission, Riddle switched his frequency and contacted both Altair Beta and Alpha about the situation.

“Understood, Aquila 1. I’ll have Marcus to scramble the GRGs to Sudentor immediately. They will secure a safe route for the civilians to evacuate,” Saetos spoke from his end.

“This is Altair Beta, already sending some GRGs. I’ll alert the second strike team at Avalon. Keep me posted with updates, Aquila 1. Out.”

Satisfied with the responses from both controllers, Riddle closed the comm as he re-entered the still ensuing chaos that engulfed the city. Mercenaries and Neue Belkan troops were beaten back, and some of the wounded ones were dragged away by their comrades to safety. The not so lucky ones were captured by the civvies and were beaten to death. Riddle kept his eye open as he made his way through the tangled crowd, avoiding punches and delivering jabs and slashes to those who dared attack him. Suddenly, something amongst the crowd caught his attention; he moved closer and saw a light blue griffoness fighting a Neue Belkan griffon with a metal pipe.

“Gertrude…!” he thought before he rushed towards his wife’s side. The griffoness, Gertrude ,mistook him as an attacker and quickly brought her pipe to hit Riddle’s face, but the blue griffon caught it just in time.

“Hold it, Gertrude! It’s me, Ratsel!” he exclaimed at the angry griffoness, hoping that she would recognize him. Gertrude’s face immediately lightened up before she embraced the blue griffon with tears of happiness rolling down from her eyes. Riddle returned her hug without a second’s thought.

“Ratsel… thank the stars you’re safe…” she choked between sobs. “I was so worried…”

“Me too, Trudy. Me too,” Riddle said softly while he stroked Gertrude’s feathers.

As the two griffons were savoring their reunion, a loudspeaker installed on top of the city hall screeched to life before Detlef’s voice sounded from it,

“People of Sudentor! Please, I request that all of you must cease your fighting and heed to my warning!”

Slowly, the battle started to die down as the crowd was curious about what sort of warning Detlef had in his mind. The allied squadrons and teams also stopped to listen to his words.

“Griffons, ponies, brothers and sisters! For far too long, we have been living inside our own cages made by bitterness and hate for the Griffin Kingdom. But that hate poisoned our minds and let that fool Kriegstreiber and his goons into our land!”

Everyone stayed silent as Detlef’s voice grew in each word he spoke.

“They deceived us, played us like puppets on strings, making fake promises that eventually leads to this! Look at yourselves, my fellow Belkans! What have we become!? This isn’t us, and there’s no doubt now that we deserve to be hated by the world…”

Loud mumbles were soon heard from the crowd as they looked at each other and to themselves. Some of them dropped their weapons in shame, knowing fully well that they had let their hatred consumed them.

“A wise griffon once told me, ‘hatred cannot be the only motivation for war; it only brings about more pointless deaths.’ Kriegstreiber fueled our hatred, turning us into mindless monsters that needed to be put down. Esser, the supposed mastermind behind this conflict, intends to destroy Sudentor, along with us by using his ace card: Valkyrie! Please, put down your weapons and let us escape before death comes to our front door.”

Several gasps and worried chatters erupted from the crowd. The allied squadrons and teams were shocked to hear this as well. Without wasting anymore time, the squadrons, along with some of the Neue Belkan troops, directed some of the panicking civilians to several exits from the city. Several mercenaries decided to flee from the scene, although a small number stayed behind and helped the civilians escape. Riddle and Gertrude, however, had other things in their minds: they needed to take their children with them.

The mass evacuation was proceeding slowly, but smoothly. Those who were already outside the city limits met the GRGs and were directed to a safe route which lead them to Pisa, Dinsmark, and several other Belkan cities.

Black Star and Kestrel flew above the large mass, crawling to the exits as they kept their eyes open for their leader. They finally saw Kite, Gilda and Rave, who were busy directing several stray civilians to the main crowd. Both griffons descended to greet the trio and asked them about the situation.

“We’ve got to get these griffons and ponies out of here, Captain Blake!” Kite said in concern. “This city’s going to be destroyed by that maniac and that dragon, Valkyrie!”

Kestrel was mortified by Kite’s reveal, while Black Star was severely disgusted by it.

“Where is he?” Black Star growled, causing Kite to back up a little bit.

“That’s the thing, sir, we don’t know,” he stated. “Hell, he could be anywhere!”

Both Black Star and Kestrel gazed at the clear skies above, silently pondering the brown griffon’s current location. Meanwhile, Riddle was finally reunited with his two sons: Elinor and Riedl, the latter being the elder. Their reunion was cut short when Riddle told them to escape with the other civilians, promising them that he would return once he was done clearing out the city.

“No, Ratsel,” Gertrude objected. “I’m not losing you again, and like it or not, I’m staying with you.”

Riddle just sighed, but before he could respond to his wife’s statement, his comm beeped, indicating an emergency message from Marcus. He activated it and let the griffon controller speake through,

“Aquila 1, I just got an update from Avalon,”

“What’s the update, Altair Beta?” Riddle asked.

“That’s it, sir. There have been no updates nor radio contact from the Avalon Strike Team. Their IDs had also disappeared from my screen,” Marcus stated. “It’s strange ,since Thunder Battalion, the team in-charge of Operation Valkyrie, always posts an update on the miss… Wait, I just got an incoming transmission from them now!”

“Patch it through, Marcus. I want to hear what he has to say,” Riddle demanded, to which the griffon operator complied. After the transmission was patched, a stallion’s voice could be heard from the static-filled transmission.

“This is Collins…—*static*—der Battalion… Is anyone there…?—*static*—”

“Collins, this is Altair Beta. Where is Lieutenant Bertz, and what is your current situation report?”

The stallion, Collins, could be heard sobbing and panting for a moment before he responded,

“They’re gone…—*static*—… Bertz, Baelz… Crossbow… Jade… everyone…—*static*— in this operation are gone… —*static*—… I think… I’m the only survivor…”

Marcus’ exasperated sigh could be heard from the comm.

“Collins… what exactly happened down there?” the griffon operator asked again.

“It happened too fast…—*static*—… that awful screech, large wings…” the stallion then changed his tone, as if he had hit a realization. Riddle and Marcus felt the urgency in his voice. “The Valkyrie!…—*static*— it has awakened… and it’s heading your way!!… —*static*—”

Both griffons went silent as cold sweat began to form on their skins. Before they could do anything, both griffons along with everyone else in and out of the city, heard an unusual sound coming from the west. Then, they felt some kind of shockwave pushing them off their feet or throwing them off balance in the air. Once the shock wave subsided, all of them found that all of their electronic devices were offline. Several lights in the buildings also went out after being hit by the mysterious wave.

“What’s going on?” Ronin said in confusion as she tried to reactivate her scanner. “My scanner and comm are both dead.”

“Same with me, ma’am!” Butterclaw shouted as she too tried in vain to reactivate her equipment. The entire city went deathly silent and everyone was still figuring out what was the cause of the strange explosion and shock wave. Rod had since gave up on trying to reactivate his and decided to survey the mass migration from on top of a building. Suddenly, something in the sky caught his attention,

Something big.

With no way of contacting everyone, Rod spread his wings and dove down as quickly as he could. He finally found Riddle and his family.

“Sir!” he yelled to get the blue griffon’s attention. “SIR! There’s something in the sky!!”

Before Riddle could even get a chance to respond to Rod’s call, nearly everyone present looked up and started pointing at the sky. The ones who could fly quickly gained some altitude so they could see the thing more clearly. What they saw was something that came out from a science fiction movie.

A large skeletal dragon with an incredible wingspan of over 30 meters landed near the mass crowd of refugees. When the dragon finally landed, his weight caused a minor tremor that caused several refugees to fall on the ground. He folded his massive wings and used them to support his body weight. The dragon was huge, bigger than any dragon the griffon or the EAF forces had ever seen in years. He was about 23 meters in length and 12 meters in height. What really made him stand out was that his whole body was composed of many jet-black bones with massive power machines installed inside his rib cage, stomach, and along the spinal cord. Robotic joints stuck the bones together while steam was floating out from them. Two metal fins were placed on either side of the dragon’s head, while two glowing red orbs made up his eyes.

Everyone froze in fear as the dragon stood still, not moving an inch since his arrival. The dragon then turned his head sideways and rested one of his eyes upon the terrified populace. Then, nearly everyone’s hearts jumped out of their chests as the dragon opened his mouth and let out a screeching roar which shook the heavens.

Valkyrie has arrived.

Chapter 17: Inferno

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Chapter 17: Inferno

“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds” — J. Robert Oppenheimer (Bhagavad Gita)

Sudentor, Neue Gryphus/Belka
May 19th 2020, 1340 hrs

The surviving Belkan populous screamed in panic and horror as the undead dragon, Valkyrie, unleashed more of his flames on a building, causing the structure to catch fire and collapse under the sheer force of the flame blast. There was no hope left for the ones who still remained inside the city. Valkyrie had destroyed the escape routes, effectively trapping the remaining civilians and allied forces within the city. Ursa Major Squadron was one of the first casualties caused by Valkyrie as they tried to attack him head on.

Ronin, Gilda and Butterclaw were the only Southwind members left alive after the rest of them were burned into ash by the dragon’s flames. Rod and Archer were also the only survivors when the rest of his team perished by the flames. Jet, Lanner and Scunner were also the only survivors on their team, with the latter suffering from 3rd degree burns on his left wing.

The Wonderbolts, along with Swallow Squadron, were the only allied squadrons left who managed to escape before Valkyrie trapped the rest within the burning city. All they could now was to watch as the dragon wreck havoc on the once beautiful city of Sudentor.

For several times, Honey Rays and Fleetfoot tried to persuade Soarin’ to help the survivors, but the pegasus could only respond,

“As much I wanted to help them… I’m afraid that not even the Wonderbolts could fight against that… that… mechanical abomination.”

“So we can only sit here and watch as our comrades suffer!?” Fleetfoot stammered.

“No, we need to escort these civilians back to Gryphus,” Soarin’ responded. “Once they’re safe, we could go back here and either watch the inferno… or do something that would make Spitfire kick us out of the team.”

The Wonderbolts immediately caught on the Soarin’s plan. An impossible mission indeed, but they would have to do it if they want to save more survivors in the burning city.

However, Aquila Squadron was nowhere to be seen after Valkyrie destroyed the Sudentorian city hall, and they were presumed dead along with the three Belkan knights by the surviving squadrons.

Quox’s Avion Company, along with Fire Crackle’s Newt Company, fired all of their offensive spells at the dragon, but the spells only bounced off the dragon’s bones. Quox however had no intentions to retreat. She was blinded by anger and sadness when she heard that Bertz perished along with the rest of his team, except for Collins, who managed to survive the ordeal.

The blue unicorn mare yelled in rage as she produced her strongest spell yet: a concentrated beam of energy similar to Princess Luna’s beam, and fired it directly at Valkyrie’s head. The attack cause minimal damage to the dragon’s thick skull, but it did succeed in pissing him off even more. Valkyrie roared as he spread his wings and produced some strong winds which knocked the unicorns off their hooves. Hammerdown, along with Red Moon, managed to slip under the dragon’s detection and deliver some of their attacks at the dragon, intending to buy the unicorns some time to escape.

“Hey, over here!” Featherdust yelled. “Come and get us, you big ugly lizard!”

“Over here, ugly!” Red Moon taunted as one of his men launched another spear at the dragon in a desperate attempt to gain his attention.

They succeeded.

Valkyrie turned, exhaling more steam from the two hollow holes that were once his nostrils in anger. The Royal Guards tensed as they were expecting another flame blast from the dragon. Alas, Valkyrie had different plans for them. The mechanical joints that ran along his spine began to creak and stutter as holes began to open on each of them. Several mechanical whirring and Valkyrie’s own groan was heard until small missiles were launched from the holes and they were heading straight for the Royal Guards.

“Regal, break, break!” Hammerdown hollered, but he and his team were too late. Two missiles managed to hit one member of the guards, obliterating him to pieces. The other guards were hit by the missiles too before they could react. Even Hammerdown perished when three missiles blasted him to pieces. The Lunar Guards also suffered the same fate, although Red Moon managed to evade a brutal death by hiding behind a ruined building.

Valkyrie roared loudly as he moved on to inspect the ruins, hoping to find some more survivors to kill. Red Moon could only hide inside a dumpster as he prayed that Valkyrie will not find him. A magical spell hit the dragon on his jaw, causing Valkyrie to growl in anger as he turned to see his attacker.

Quox kept firing her spells with tears flowing from her eyes. Although her team knew that it was futile for them to attack the dragon, they joined their leader on attacking the dragon. Valkyrie finally had enough before he charged up his flame breath. Fire Crackle saw the danger and immediately cast a barrier to protect Avion Company from the imminent threat.

“Sparkles, get your team out of there! NOW!!” the brown unicorn yelled.

Valkyrie finished charging and unleashed his flame breath. This time, the flame was more concentrated and was able to shatter Fire Crackle’s shield with ease. Quox and Fire Crackle were thrown back several meters, but her teammates were vaporized on their spot when Valkyrie’s beam grew in size, leaving nothing but blackened pony-shaped shadows on the ground where Quox’s team once stood.

“NO!!” Both Fire Crackle and Quox exclaimed in horror. Valkyrie turned his attention towards the brown-coated unicorn and gave him a loud screech that nearly burst his eardrums. Fire Crackle was scared stiff. He couldn’t move to escape, so he braced himself for the end.

Suddenly, a loud alarm was heard, and it was loud enough to earn Valkyrie’s attention. Fire Crackle and a downed Quox turned and saw a large portion of the hillside located near Sudentor open up, revealing a large tunnel which went straight underground. Valkyrie growled while baring his fangs towards the opening shutters of the tunnel. Fire Crackle saw this golden opportunity and quickly teleported to Quox’s location. The brown-coated unicorn managed to get the unicorn mare back to her feet before they galloped towards a safe hiding spot near one of the ruins.

The surviving allied squadrons also took notice on the large tunnel entrance. They didn’t care who opened it. All that matters now was that the opening shutters were drawing Valkyrie’s attention away from them. Ronin, Gilda and Butterclaw ran in silence as they moved from their current hiding spot to the next. Rod and Archer also moved from their hiding site with Jet, Lanner and Scunner running behind them.

“Man, that’s a big tunnel…” Fire Crackle thought in awe as the tunnel shutters continued to open. What he didn’t know was that this tunnel would be the their only chance of escaping this monster.

Riddle watched in silence as the shutters opened up to reveal Grunder’s main supply tunnel. His family, the three knights, and the members of Aquila Squadron, along with Blade and three more members of Crimson Squadron, were standing behind him. The tunnel itself may have been long abandoned since the Belkan War, but it managed to remain intact after all these years. Technically, it would be a perfect escape route from Valkyrie.

Now, they needed to get Valkyrie away from it.

“We need a distraction,” Riddle began. “We can’t get everyone in if that behemoth is blocking the way.”

“Leave it to us, Aquila,” Blade said in confidence. “Dragon or no dragon, we’ll clear the way.”

“Understood, captain. Good luck.” Riddle said before the Crimson members saluted him. Blade then exited the room with his members, Lance, Fencer and Rave following behind him.

“Careful out there, Rave!” Kite warned in which the crow griffoness just gave him a smile and a thumb up. Once they were outside, they took to the smoke-filled skies and headed straight for the dragon.

Valkyrie continued to inspect the tunnel in pure curiosity, until a small pebble hit his head. The dragon let out a mechanical whine as it turn to see who dared to throw that stone. It saw four griffon fliers, hovering just above his tail, and they didn’t look intimidated by the dragon at all. Valkyrie growled before he prepared to charge another flame breath. As he unleashed his flames, Crimson squadron broke formation and flew straight at the dragon, scratching the bony surface to irritate him even more. Valkyrie roared as he tried to swat the annoying flies off his head.

“Valkyrie’s distracted!” Blade exclaimed through his comm.

“Keep on it for 5 minutes,” Riddle stated before he motioned Aquila Squadron to head out and help any survivors they could find. The knights also decided to help the squad under their own will. He then turned to his wife and kids.

“Gertrude, take the kids and head for the tunnel. I’ll meet you there,”

The griffoness kissed him on the cheek and smiled.

“We’ll be waiting, Ratsel.”

Riddle gave them one last smile before he turned and activated the intercom which was linked to multiple speakers around Grunder. Riddle could only hope that the EMP blast earlier didn’t fry all the circuits. He set the volume to maximum before he spoke,

“All survivors, you are all directed to go inside the tunnel while Valkyrie is distracted. I repeat, all survivors must go into the tunnel while Valkyrie is distracted. You got only 2 minutes to act!”

All of the survivors heard Riddle’s message and decided to see if the dragon was truly distracted. Sure enough, Valkyrie was currently too busy with several griffons and began to walk away from the tunnel entrance. Rod and Archer immediately flew to the tunnel entrance along with Jet, Lanner and Scunner, with the latter being carried by his comrades. Ronin, Gilda and Butterclaw also made a mad dash to the entrance while Quox and Fire Crackle got through the rubble on foot. Gilda saw the two unicorns and groaned before she called her superior.

“Ma’am, two unicorns on our six o’clock,”

Both Ronin and Butterclaw turned and saw both Fire Crackle and Quox struggling to get through the rubbles. Red Moon also decided to help, but even with his help, he can’t carry both unicorns off the ground. Ronin glanced at both of her subordinates before nodding in determination. The three griffons flew down as fast as they could, before they, along with Quox, Fire Crackle and Red Moon flew to the tunnel entrance. Several surviving civilians also rushed to the safety of the tunnel. Once everyone was in, Blade signaled Bernhard to close the entrance via hand gestures in which he relayed the information to Riddle.

The blue griffon immediately hit the override button, causing the already unstable motors to close the door. Without any time to waste, he, Black Star, Kestrel, Kite and the three knights exited the building before heading to the tunnel entrance. However, Valkyrie finally saw through their plans. The dragon ignored Crimson squadron and lumbered straight to the tunnel entrance.

“Scheiße! Our cover’s blown!” Dmitri exclaimed in horror when he saw Valkyrie’s form walking towards the entrance. The survivors who were already inside the tunnel saw the dragon blocking the entrance and screeched at Riddle’s group.

“They’re not going to make it!” Rod said in frustration. Fire Crackle, on the other hand, couldn’t bear to watch anymore of his allies die by this dragon’s claws. He quickly left the tunnel and started shooting at the dragon’s rear.

“Fire Crackle! What the hay are you doing!?” Quox shrieked when she saw the unicorn’s stunt.

“Buying some time!” Fire Crackle yelled back.

All the while Quox was begging the brown unicorn to come back, Red Moon caught on Fire Crackle’s plan and decided to join him. The bat-like pegasus took off and started attacking Valkyrie on his face, distracting him even more. Their plan worked, and Riddle’s group managed to enter the tunnel in time, but the shutters continued to close and there was no time for them to go back. Both Fire Crackle and Red Moon already knew what was going to happen, and they could only gave the surviving teams a warm smile before the shutters were closed.

Quox was on the verge of tears when the door finally closed. She could hear Valkyrie’s screech and the unmistakable sound of his flame breath powering up and firing at the two ponies in front of him. After the dragon’s flame subsided, there was only silence. Quox finally broke down crying, realizing she just lost two more comrades. Kite immediately came to her and tried to comfort the crying unicorn, earning a jealous glance from Rave.

For the rest of the survivors, they used this time to do a head count. Aside from the teams, approximately 9 ponies and 4 griffons managed to survive the ordeal, but most of them suffered several injuries. Two of the pony survivors were unicorn mercs who were once part of Hog’s Braun Team. At first, nearly everyone in the tunnel antagonized them, but they explained that Hog also betrayed and left them to die along with the other members.

“Please, give us a chance!” one of them pleaded. “We’ll help you in any way we can!”

“Yes, anything! Just don’t kill us, please!” his comrade added in a desperate tone. “We’ve had it with Murtair Militia!”

Though most of the survivors didn’t buy their excuse, Dmitri finally spoke on their behalf,

“Though we’re not planning to trust you for now, I think it’s best for you two to stay quiet. The more ruckus you cause, the closer I am to consider on throwing you out as dragon food.”

The two mercs immediately nodded in silence while Kestrel, Gertrude, and her cubs tried their best to treat the wounded. Riddle and Black Star, however surveyed the tunnel.

“What is this place?” the dark griffon asked.

“Grunder Industries Transport Supply Tunnel, but most of us fliers called it the ACES tunnel,” Riddle answered. “This tunnel was built during the Belkan War to transport large numbers of supplies from the Walderich Mountains mining site to Grunder’s front yard. It had since been closed since the Seven Pillars, but most fliers from the Neue Gryphus Defense Force used this tunnel to test their skills by flying through this thing. Hence why we called it, the ACES tunnel.”

“First one to get to the other side wins, eh?” Black Star concluded before he continued to gaze upon the tunnel. It was certainly large enough for a makeshift shelter, but also small enough to prevent Valkyrie from getting through.

“So, what do we do now, sir?” Black Star asked again. Riddle could only sigh in defeat.

“I don’t know…” he admitted. “We can’t go back the way we came, and it’s a dead end on the other side of this tunnel.”

“So we’re stuck here,” Black Star responded with a hint of frustration in his tone. Riddle only answered with a single nod. While the two griffons were trying to come up with a solution, Gilda felt worried about Ronin’s state. The metallic blue griffoness went quiet ever since nearly all members of Southwind squadron were killed by Valkyrie, and she was still absent after they entered the tunnel.

“So…” the brown griffoness began. “How long do you plan to stay like that, ma’am?”

“As long as it takes…” Ronin answered flatly.

“Gilda, now’s not the time!” Butterclaw snapped.

“No, Natasha… let her speak,” Ronin responded calmly, causing Butterclaw to back down. The metallic blue griffoness then turned her attention back to Gilda. “What’s on your mind, Gilda?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s concern… for you, ma’am,” Gilda answered. “We lost all of our comrades… and I believe you’re taking this… quite hard.”

“Obviously,” Ronin groaned. “All of you are my subordinates, my children, and I failed… What kind of a squad leader can’t even protect her own squadron?”

“Although I agree with you on that,” another voice cut in from behind. It was Rod. “We’re fighting a cyborg dragon; there’s no chance in hell we could win against that. At least we’re still alive, and that’s something, right ma’am?”

“I agree with you on that,” Gilda nodded. “Losses are inevitable in a war, but there’s no doubt that they probably wanted us to continue fighting for their cause.”

Ronin stayed silent, but inside her mind she was baffled by the words that came out from Gilda’s beak. She had read her records; Gilda was abrasive, arrogant, and wouldn’t give a damn to her comrades without a second thought. What makes her so different now than before?

She had a hunch: it must have been that pegasus with the rainbow mane that changed her. The so-called Princess of the Skies. She heard that Gilda battled her over Fortress Intimidation and ended up losing to the pegasus. That battle must have been Gilda’s rude awakening, dealing a severe blow to her ego.

“The previous war really changed you…” Ronin said slowly, earning Gilda’s attention. “From what I’ve read about you, you’re nothing but a proud bastard who would hurt her own friends for her own cause.”

“I’m not like that…” Gilda said before turning her face away in shame. “Not anymore, at least.”

“Then it’s true? Did the Princess of the Skies changed you for the better?” Ronin smirked. Gilda just chuckled in response.

“Dashie’s always had that effect on me,” she began. “I used to be a big jerk to her and her friends. The engagement with her… and her willingness to forgive my actions really changed my view on the world.”

Ronin could only gave Gilda a warm (and somewhat motherly) smile. It felt like she just learned something new from the griffoness. Sure, Gilda was arrogant before and even now, but she slowly learned a few lessons in humility. If this keeps up then there’s no doubt, Gilda could become a fine member of Southwind Squadron. Heck, even become its leader when she retires. Butterclaw could only sigh in relief. It seemed that tensions had eased up for a bit between the two griffonesses.

Meanwhile, Riddle’s two cubs, Elinor and Riedl, flew around and gave medical supplies for the wounded. Another griffon cub and a filly also joined them in their task to help the wounded. All the elders thanked them for their support. Though Riedl wanted to aid the civilians more, his brother Elinor wanted to see his father and spend some time with him. The tiny griffon cub left his older brother and searched for his father. Finally, he found Riddle along with Black Star still surveying the tunnel.

“Dad!” Elinor shouted which gained Riddle’s attention.

“Elinor,” the blue griffon began as the cub ran towards his father’s embrace. “What are you doing here? I thought mommy told you to help the wounded.”

“I want to spend some time with you,” the cub admitted. “You have been away for so long. I missed you. Mommy missed you. Riedl missed you.”

Riddle sighed. It seemed he couldn’t get out of this one. The blue griffon lifted the cub up to his back and spoke,

“Alright, why don’t you keep dad and his friend company while we… take a walk. But promise me that you would be quiet.”

Elinor only responded with a smile and a nod. Riddle gave his own smile and said “Good boy,” before he and Black Star continued to search for a possible escape route from the tunnel.

Suddenly, the whole tunnel shook before Valkyrie’s deafening shriek was heard from the closed entrance. All the squads/teams immediately took position while the civilians backed up further into the tunnel. The tremors continued as the dragon tried to break the solid barriers which separated him from his prey.

“Everyone back up!” Kestrel yelled. “Go deeper into the tunnel!”

“Is he trying to knock those shutters down!?” Quox said in disbelief. “Was an entire city not enough to satisfy him!?”

“Persistent bastard!” Archer mouthed as another tremor shook the tunnel. Small bits of concrete which covered the tunnel started to fall from their place. Quox, still infuriated by the deaths of her comrades, stood her ground and began to charge up a spell. Even the mercs started to charge up their horns in hopes that their attacks would be enough to save their skins.

The tremors along with Valkyrie’s screech continued to shake the tunnel until a noticeable dent formed on the shutters. Kestrel immediately ordered all of the civilians to run deeper into the tunnel. Both Riddle and Black Star, along with Elinor in tow, flew to take their positions near the shutters as the dent slowly grew in size.

The dent was finally pierced through by a large black claw. The claw retreated, leaving a large hole on the right shutter. Soon enough, a large red glowing eye could be seen from the other side. The dragon’s glare was enough to make a hardened soldier like Black Star freeze in terror. Valkyrie let out a mechanical growl before he tried to knock the shutters down again. The group could only take further steps deeper as the shutters rattled violently, growing weaker by every blow Valkyrie delivered.

Finally, after withstanding Valkyrie’s blow for as long as it could, the right shutter gave way first and tumbled down with a loud thud. Everyone could finally see Valkyrie’s front claws along with the still-burning city of Sudentor on the background.

“Retreat!” Riddle yelled in terror. “I repeat, retreat from the entrance!”

Although some of them planned to stay and fight, their own logic made them do otherwise and complied with Riddle’s orders. A loud bang was heard as the left shutter finally gave way before Valkyrie extended his talons into the tunnel: hoping to catch a few unlucky stragglers. The dragon let out a frustrated growl when he came up empty handed. He let out a ear-piercing shriek before the dragon lowered and lined his head with the tunnel entrance. Valkyrie then opened his jaws and began to charge up his flame breath: planning to burn all the survivors inside the tunnel.

Everyone hold their breaths as they waited for their demise. Black Star wrapped his arms around Kestrel, and the griffoness did the same. Riddle spreads his wings and closed his eyes, hoping that his body would be enough to shield Elinor from the heat. Ronin along with the three knights: Detlef, Bernhard and Dmitri could only stand tall and proud before closing their eyes, while the others only closed their eyes and waited for the end.

But it never came.

A loud beeping was heard from the dragon, causing Valkyrie to growl in mild annoyance. The bony jaws clamped shut and the head of the dragon lifted off the tunnel. The dragon then proceed to climb up the hill side above the tunnel before spreading his wings and took flight. The survivors stayed in their places as Valkyrie’s wing flaps grew more faint with each flap the dragon took. When the sound was no longer hearable, the survivors let out a sigh of relief: knowing that the danger had past.

“D-dad…?” Elinor began with a shaky voice. “Is that the mean dragon from before?”

“Yes,” Riddle answered.

“Looks like it’s gone… for now,” Black Star spoke in relief.

“If it’s gone, that means it’s safe to go outside…” Jet added. “Right?”

“One way to find out,” Scunner said in determination as he stood up. Despite Lanner and Jet’s protest about him not in a proper shape to walk, the griffon insisted that he would check the area. Scunner limped his way to the entrance, taking careful steps around destroyed portions of the wall. When he reached the entrance, only the heat of the still burning flames greeted him. No screeches, no mechanical growls, no large wing beats. Just him, the heat and the destroyed city.

“OI! The wanker’s gone for good!!” he yelled back. “Let’s get out of here before he comes back!”

Everyone couldn’t agree more with his statement. Riddle along with his family walked first, followed by Black Star and Kestrel and Kite who helped an injured earth pony. The three knights also escorted the surviving mercenaries while they used their magic to carry two wounded griffons. Quox along with Blade, Ronin, Rod, Rave, Gilda, Butterclaw, Archer and the rest of the civvies kept a steady pace behind the knights. All of them hoped that this nightmare would end soon once they arrived in Gryphus.

The sight of the burning city greeted them once they exited the tunnel. The air was stagnant, and the smell of burning flesh came from everywhere. Some of the civilians couldn’t help but to broke down in tears at the sight of their burning homes. Even the surviving mercs were speechless when they saw the horrifying sight. Riddle, Gertrude along with the three knights merely closed their eyes in sadness while the other griffons of the kingdom gritted their beaks in anger. They estimated that nearly thousands of civilians and troops died from the attack.

“C’mon, we can’t stay here,” Riddle said somberly before the group continued their journey out of the ruined city. When they were halfway out of Sudentor, Black Star and Jet spotted a squadron coming straight at them. Once they were close, the griffons immediately recognized them as the Wonderbolts.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re all still alive,” Soarin’ began with a sigh of relief.

“Not all of us…” Riddle sighed. “Where were you? We thought that you were all…”

“We managed to escape in time with 30 plus civilians,” Soarin’ explained. “Swallow squadron also managed to escape.”

Riddle silently sighed in relief. Thank the stars that not all of the EAF squads were eliminated.

“We still got a survivor in Avalon,” Riddle spoke in concern. “Collins, he’s the only survivor of Thunder Battalion. Can you guys pick him up?”

“We can try, sir,” Soarin’ nodded. “Though we will need some reinforcements if things go south.”

“We will go with you,” Detlef said in determination as he and the two knights stepped in front. The griffon quickly introduced himself along with his two comrades, causing several members of the Wonderbolts to greet them with respect. It would be an honor for Equestria’s elite squadron to fly along with the Knights of the Round Table. But first, Soarin’ motioned Surprise and Fleetfoot to call Honey Rays and her squad to assist the wounded civilians in Riddle’s group. Communications were still offline at the moment, so Soarin’ instructed them to head towards a designated spot until the GRG transports could arrive.

Once Swallow squadron arrived, the Wonderbolts and the knights departed and headed straight for Avalon to rescue their comrade, while the survivors began their long trek to the rendezvous zone. Soarin’ was right: more than 30 Belkan civilians were there, waiting to be rescued. All of them looked distant, as if they didn’t have a will to live anymore. More than 5 GRG transport units arrived on the zone and began to carry the survivors first. Due to the urgency of the situation, some of the survivors were placed on top of the transports, and some of the GRGs were willing to carry one or two civvies all the way back to Pisa.

Aquila squadron, along with Crimson and Southwind squadrons, were the last group to depart from the evac zone. Riddle, Gertrude and their kids could only glance at their destroyed city one more time before taking off into the skies.

Meanwhile

Waldreich Mountains, Near the Griffin Kingdom-Neue Gryphus border
1539 hrs

It had been nearly an hour since Valkyrie’s arrival in a concealed base near the border. The dragon was called back when his boiler was running out of fresh water. It was critical that the tank must be refilled, or else the dragon will face the threat of overheating with catastrophic results. The cyborg dragon growled mildly as the changeling and pony engineers worked on his body, refilling his cooling tank, reloading some of the ordinances, and checking for any visible damages. Esser could only sit on the dragon’s head in complete boredom with the occasional irritating itch coming from the back of his neck.

The ENSI device which Hog had modified for him to pilot the Valkyrie was a spectacular engineering feat, but it also caused a few problems for the brown griffon. The ENSI cockpit, dubbed the COFFIN system by Hog and his mysterious acquaintances, also caused a major headache for the brown griffon, since Hraesvelgr’s animal instinct was not easy to supress like he initially thought, causing severe strain on the ENSI port which linked the two minds together. Also, the port itched like hell.

“A small price to pay if I were to succeed in my quest to destroy those who murdered me,” Esser thought with a smirk while scratching on the ENSI port at the back of his neck. He was also glad that he kept another horde of changeling and pony mercs just in case if the first horde was defeated by the allies. Their new false queen was also none other than Violet’s body partially filled with a changeling’s mind, though her familiar psychotic giggling and personality were still present. Gray’s reanimated body was also present, remaining on standby until he was needed. Suddenly, Valkyrie’s head shifted as the dragon let out an annoyed growl before Svenson’s voice was heard from below.

“Sergei!”

“What!?” Esser answered with a squawk.

“The big guy’s hungry again, and I don’t want to be his snack!”

“Alright, alright. Hold on a sec,” Esser sighed as he opened a small hatch that led inside Valkyrie’s cockpit. Once he was inside, Esser closed a couple of switches, causing Valkyrie to twitch slightly before being completely paralyzed. Esser flew out again and yelled,

“There, I shut him down for now, but he won’t be happy when we switch him back on!”

“At least that solves the food problem,” Svenson replied. “Thanks, Sergei!”

Esser just gave a salute to his wingmate with a smile. Of all griffons and equines, Heimer and Svenson didn’t really earn his hatred or insanity. The two griffons had proved themselves to be trustworthy for the brown griffon. Still, that had not stopped Esser to place a few strings just in case they decided to turn their backs on him.

Esser laid his back on the rough bony surface and gazed at the skies above. Tomorrow the cleansing will be initiated, and all equine, griffon, and their pathetic rulers will burn from the flames of the Valkyrie and Ulysses. Not those wimpy Royal Princesses, the Elements of Harmony or her could stop him from his revenge.

Everything will burn.

World Council Meeting Room, Canterlot, Equestria
May 19th 2020, 1930 hrs

Words of the results of both Operation Annihilator and Valkyrie finally reached Valdar’s ears. Needless to say, he was outraged by it. The mission objectives for Annihilator were achieved, but both teams suffered heavy casualties along with thousands of Belkans at the talons of Valkyrie. It was confirmed that all of Griffin Kingdom’s top squadrons were reduced to just two or three fliers left, while most of the EAF forces were wiped out, leaving only two squads and two members from the ground team. The fact also pierced both of the Royal Princesses’ heart like a spear. Luna was fuming while her older sister, Celestia, tried her best to keep her emotions in check.

Valdar understood their feelings completely. Those ponies were not just their subjects, they were already like their own children. The orange griffon also felt guilty about the heavy loss, since he promised the lunar princess that he would ensure the EAF’s safety.

These thoughts continued to cloud his mind, and he needed to put it aside and focus on a more serious threat: the upcoming Ulysses Impact Event. Nearly all leaders or their representatives from all over Equis attended this emergency meeting, and for those who could not make it, they were connected via live broadcasts linked through several monitors. Celestia and Luna sat on Valdar’s right side while on his left sat a griffoness dressed in full military uniform. She was the representative of Estovakia. The daughter of the late General Gustav Dvornik, the former aerial commander of the Estovakian military forces and one of the individuals responsible for the Anean Continental War.

Needles to say, all of the leaders were very concerned about both Ulysses, and the newer threat in the form of a giant mechanical dragon. Valdar had a hunch that the leader of the dragon kingdom, King Aigaion, won’t be pleased about this. It was further evidenced by the mild growling coming from the speakers from Aigaion’s monitor.

The only leaders who were not present are the changeling queens from their respective hives. Valdar had to admit, it was better off this way than to bring those vampiric bugs out from their dens. The changeling queens, especially Chrysalis and Miasma, were notorious for being very uncooperative with the rest of the nations, preferring to live out their own lives without a single care for the world. Well, except for those unlucky enough to cross into their hives.

The politicians squabbled with each other. Due to the recent events, the representative from North Point planned on reconsidering his country’s support from the Dome plan. Other countries, such as North Point’s neighbour, Neighpon, berated the former’s decision, calling them a coward. The tensions grew until Celestia silenced them with a single hoof knock on the table. The solar princess sat back down and turned towards Valdar.

“King Valdar,” she began. “Don’t you have anything to add?”

“Of course, princess,” the orange griffon nodded before he stood up. “It is true that my kingdom’s army were unable to stop Valkyrie from being deployed, even with the help of the EAFs. But that doesn’t mean we should be scared of what’s going to come!”

Everyone stayed silent as the orange griffon continued with a louder voice.

“These are dark times for Equis, sparked by the Ulysses Disaster just 20 years ago. Many wars have broken out due to our own frustration and hatred. We could have prevented the severe loss of life caused by the disaster by uniting as one, but instead, we went to our separate ways… which lead us to this state.”

Everyone kept their attention to the orange griffon. Knowing that he finally had everyone’s attention, Valdar continued,

“My kingdom also suffered in the wake of the disaster, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn’t support the princesses’ plan now. We must stand as one to face this threat, whether we succeed or not. If anyone still insists on withdrawing from this plan, then so be it. We will not stand in your way. It’s your choice after all.”

The room was silent except for the occasional growls emitted by Aigaion. The dragon king was the first one to leave by shutting the monitor off from his end. He was soon followed by two or three countries, but the rest remained. The Estovakian griffoness decided to break the silence by standing up and responds to Valdar’s words.

“Truly, our countries have many things in common, your majesty.” She then shifted her attention towards the royal princesses. “Princesses Celestia and Luna. I, Lieutenant General Irena Dvornik of Estovakia and representative of its government will aid you.”

“So are we,” an earth pony said in an accented voice. “The Neighponese Empire shall stand with Equestria to face this threat.”

“North Point, affirmative on that,” a unicorn added. “We will not let any of our citizens suffer again.”

“Us too,” the representative of Zebrica declared in determination.

Soon, many representatives and leaders from other countries voiced their opinion to support the princesses’ plans. The two alicorns were deeply moved by the support, and it soothed their aching hearts. Without another delay, Princess Celestia explained the details of the plan to them by directing the other countries’ leaders to move their unicorns to many strategic spots all around Equis, planning to equalize the dome’s strength.

Valdar could only smile in relief. It looked like things just got a little better after all. Still, he must deal with the threat of Valkyrie. The genocidal cyborg was still out there somewhere… and he and his kingdom’s crippling forces must stop Valkyrie from wrecking havoc.

Whatever it takes.

Chapter 18: Ghosts of the Round Table

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Chapter 18: Ghosts of the Round Table

“This is the Round Table. Dead flyers’ words holds no meaning.” — Tyr “Pixy” Foulke

Gryphus Hospital, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom
May 19th 2020, 2340 hrs

Black Star remained silent as he placed a black bishop piece on a white rook’s place. He had to say, playing chess with Cygnus to get his mind off the recent events really did help him relax. Kestrel who sat just one bed beside him watched the battle with interest.

“Check,” the dark griffon stated with a smirk. Cygnus just raised his eyebrow and moved his white knight to C2, eliminating Black Star’s queen and made a straight line for the black king. Black Star’s face dropped in pure dismay.

“Checkmate,” Cygnus said smiling. “You really should keep an eye out for your surroundings, Blake.”

“I did,” Black Star groaned. “Just never saw your move coming from a mile away. You beat me twice!”

“Practice makes perfect, Blake,” Cygnus shrugged. “Ready for another round?”

“I’ll pass, sir,” Black Star sighed. “I need some sleep. Maybe Wonderfalke will give you some challenge with this.”

“Hm, good point,” Cygnus pondered before he packed up the chess pieces and left. “Get some rest, Blake. Be ready for tomorrow.”

“I will, sir,” the dark griffon nodded. The swan griffon was right; after Valkyrie made himself known by wiping Sudentor off the map, there was no telling where or when the dragon would strike next.

It was also worth noting that the Griffin Army, along with the EAF reinforcements, were basically down to their last drop of strength since Sudentor. That blue unicorn mare, Quox, was still treated for burn wounds, and her mentality was still very unstable. Collins was badly injured when the Wonderbolts and the knights founded him near the bottom of the canyon. He was currently placed in the ICU, but doctors said that he would make a recovery within two months tops.

An SAR squad composed of both ponies and griffons was sent to Sudentor in hopes of finding any survivors. However, they could only find bits and pieces of burned equine and griffon flesh mixed with the ruins. The fear of infectious diseases found within the already decaying flesh put an immediate halt to the search and rescue efforts. Sudentor was now marked as a biohazard zone, and no one except authorized personnel could enter the ghost city.

Saetos remarked that this entire rebellion was far worse than the Equestrian War. The death count exceeded the numbers of ponies and griffons who died in that entire war, with a city destroyed and rendered uninhabitable by a W.M.D.. The griffons feared that the dragon could show up in their front doors at any time, raising the kill count even more.

In short, things just got fucked up in one day.

Black Star groaned while Kestrel was still sitting on her bed. They were not really sure what their next plan was since there had been absolutely no intel regarding Valkyrie’s capabilities other than he could fly for a creature his size, produce flames and high concentrated laser blasts, and fire missiles from his spines.

“We’re really neck deep on the shithole now,” the dark griffon sighed.

“Tell me about it,” Kestrel said somberly. “They really got us this time, and it’s tormenting enough to wait like this.”

“Waiting for the intel… or waiting for that thing to show up on our doorstep,” Black Star muttered. “Doesn’t matter which one, both roads leads to a direct confrontation with that behemoth.”

Suddenly, the main doors swung open as Tallman entered the room. He turned his attention towards both griffons and spoke,

“Emergency meeting, now. Valdar’s orders.”

Black Star and Kestrel glanced at each other. Looks like Valdar had returned from his meeting with the world council, and he could have possibly gained some intel about the Valkyrie. Both griffons stood up from their beds and followed Tallman to the GCC.

Once they had arrived, they noticed that all of the squad leaders, along with their remaining subordinates, were there. The three knights and GRGs were also present, sitting on the back rows. Even the trainees from the academy were present with Kite sitting near them. In front of them stood a worried Valdar and Riddle with Gertrude at his side. Saetos noticed the trio’s arrival and said,

“Take your seats; we’re in a hurry.”

The trio quickly sat down as the monitor was switched on. However, they noticed that none of the Equestrian squadrons were present. Kestrel decided to ask this herself.

“Sir, if I may ask. Where are the EAF squads?

“I sent them back to Equestria for their own safety,” Valdar answered. “We had to force them back since they still wanted to fight, but I stated that this war just became a priority for the Griffin Kingdom since Valkyrie destroyed our city.”

“That was a dumb move, Valdar,” Black Star stated. “No offense, of course.”

“None taken, Blake,” Valdar sighed before he sat on his seat.

“Dumb as it may be, it’s still the king’s orders,” Saetos shrugged before he patted the orange griffon’s back. “I think Valdar is just afraid for the ponies’ safety. He did promise Princess Luna that he would take care of them. Alright, let’s start this briefing.”

On the screen, a loading bar completed, and a map of Neue Gryphus was shown along with the city of Sudentor, but the city was crossed out. A red triangle marked as VALKYRIE appeared on Sudentor’s place before it left and headed straight for the Waldreich Mountains.

“We took a heavy blow in both operations…” Saetos began. “The culprit was none other than Esser and his mobile superweapon, Valkyrie. When the dragon left Sudentor, our satellite managed to track his movement to the Waldreich Mountains before it disappeared.”

Another window was opened up to reveal some rough sketches of Valkyrie’s blueprints. Saetos then continued,

“According to Sir Wonderfalke and several surviving eyewitness accounts, Valkyrie is equipped with a jamming device that can shut down any electronic hardware within a 15 kilometer radius, forming a protective death zone, if you may call it. It is also equipped with a flame pod and a Tactical Laser Pod Type-1: a smaller prototype version of the Burning Talon’s laser system.”

The window of the sketches was closed as Saetos continued on Valkyrie’s whereabouts.

“Back to the original matter. Just an hour ago, we detected this so-called “death radius” surrounding the Valkyrie moving towards Area B7R, the infamous Round Table known by aces from around Equis.”

The knights glanced at each other, and Riddle couldn’t help but to gulp at the mention of the name “Round Table” as the screen showed pictures of the airspace, along with its desolate terrain and current weather predictions.

“Valkyrie’s currently flying above this area at altitudes of 100,000 to 160,000 feet, which means interception of the dragon is basically impossible at this time. So, your job is to follow Valkyrie’s trail from below until it will descend on this area: the Antlertic Ocean.”

The digital map shifted from Area B7R to the aforementioned location. The Antlertic Ocean was the sea that separates Equestria and the Griffin Kingdom in the south. Since many ponies found out that it was very difficult to reach the kingdom through the Drakenridge Mountains, The Antlertic was their only option to reach the griffons’ homeland where they must cross multiple checkpoints and through multiple countries that surround Neue Gryphus. Once they arrive at the kingdom’s industrial state, it’s a straight shot towards the Griffin Kingdom.

“According to Sir Wonderfalke, Valkyrie needs to descend from his cruising altitude to make some necessary checks on his massive boiler and systems, so Valkyrie’s radar would temporarily be disabled. We calculated his scheduled descent just 5 miles offshore of Sapin. You must intercept Valkyrie at this location, or else he will have reached Equestria and incinerate his first target: the city of New Saddle,”

Suddenly, Jet decided to raise his talon at this point.

“Yes, Lieutenant?”

“Sir, with all due respect. How exactly we will able to put a dent in that thing?”

Many mumbles could be heard from the room, it seemed everyone was about to ask the same question.

“There’s only one way,” Riddle began. “We can destroy it from the inside...”

The sketches of Valkyrie were shown again, but this time, several arrows pointed to the boiler, and the Z.O.E. pod were added.

“As you know, Valkyrie’s cockpit is located inside his thick skull, so breaching it from the outside would be impossible. His ribs, on the other hand, are easier to access,” Riddle explained. “In order to bring down this behemoth, one of us must enter the rib cage and destroy, or at least, damage the boiler first: causing Valkyrie to overheat in time. Once that’s done, the lines connected to the Z.O.E. pod must be cut off in order to sever Valkyrie’s main power source.”

“Uh, sir?” Kite began with a small voice. “Wouldn't be easier if we destroy the Z.O.E. pod first?”

“Unfortunately, no, lad,” Riddle sighed. “Cutting off the Z.O.E.s first would result on the boiler being automatically used as a secondary but fatal power source. The growing heat from the steam would detonate the warheads stored inside the spines, causing a massive explosion that could harm anyone near it.”

Kite slowly shrunk down to his seat, horrified at the prospect of being caught in the blast radius of multiple weapons stored inside Valkyrie. The briefing continued with Saetos taking the lead again.

“Now you know how to bring this beast down, but you still have to catch him,” Saetos said as Riddle brought up a digital rendering of the Round Table. “The scheduled descent occurs at tomorrow morning at approximately 0705 hours. You will go fly above Area B7R following Valkyrie’s route that will be added on your scanners. The weather shows a growing rainstorm within the Round Table, so it’s best that you should leave immediately. Further informations will be briefed in-flight. This op will be called “Dragon Slayer” and there’s one more thing I wanted to ask you all…”

Saetos paused for a moment before he changed his tone to a more pleading one, though it still sounded stern to some.

“We need heroes after all this. Just make sure you guys come back alive, anything else is unacceptable. That will be all, dismissed.”

Everyone immediately stood up and headed for the door. Once they were in the hallway, Riddle went to the opposite direction along with Gertrude, stating that they would need some assistance in the form of the Z.O.E. Mk. II’s if the situation called for it. Black Star soon found out that the recruits were also asked to join on this sortie. Stalker chose to join his mother Ronin’s squad along with Rosepink. Breaker, Ricochet and Razorback chose Northwind squadron, while Max and Goose joined Verde squadron. Kestrel had to admit, she was proud that the recruits were finally able to join on this battle, but she also worried about them.

“Remember, recruits,” she said as she and the others walked to the exit. “This is the real deal. One slip up and you’re all dead. Work together and keep your eyes open.”

“Yes ma’am!” the recruits answered in unison.

Once they were outside, they were greeted by Silver and Crimson squadrons. The latter had been reinforced with a new flier, along with a group of thirty unicorns. Riddle and Gertrude also arrived with the Z.O.E. Mk. II’s and quickly placed the devices on each member of Aquila squadron. While Black Star wore the Z.O.E. band on his left arm, he asked the unicorns’ leader about her and the unicorns’ presence on the capital. The leader; a bright green unicorn mare with a lyre cutie mark answered him,

“We’re tasked to strengthen the magical dome on the Griffin Kingdom by the Royal Princesses. But we will help you guys teleport to Area B7R in a jiffy.”

After hearing the answer first hand, some of the griffons finally realized the full urgency of this mission. There was simply no time for them to fly all the way to Area B7R on their own. Before the teleportation spell was cast, a yellow coated earth pony approached Riddle and asked them if he could take Aquila squadron’s picture.

“May I ask, what’s your name, lad? And what purpose do you have in mind?” Riddle asked.

“My name is Brett Trotson, sir. I’m a journalist and reporter for the Equestrian Broadcast Corporation,” the earth pony said. “I was tasked by my superiors to take a picture of the Northern Eagles for an article.”

Riddle took a sideways glance at Black Star, Kestrel and Kite. The blue griffon just shrugged, going along with Brett’s idea, though Kestrel was not very sure about this due to the urgency of the mission. Kite on the other hand was excited to have the picture taken, and Black Star slowly agreed to this as well, causing Kestrel to sigh in defeat and say,

“I guess one picture wouldn’t hurt…”

“Oh, thank you so much!” Brett said in excitement.

The griffons took their position with Riddle being on the far left and Kestrel and Black Star on his right side. Kite took his position on the far right, just below Black Star’s left wing. Brett immediately set up his camera and took a picture of the squad.

Once that was done, the griffons thanked Brett before they went back to their original positions with the others. Gertrude and the cubs said farewell to Riddle, and the blue griffon promised that he would return alive. Scunner, who was forced out from the Verde squadron due to his injury only smirked at Jet before he spoke,

“Kick that overgrown lizard’s ass for me, mate.”

The green griffon could only respond with a single thumb up. Meanwhile, Kite was just finished placing the Z.O.E. band around his arm when he heard someone calling him. He turned and found the owner of the voice: Quox, still bound to a wheelchair with a griffon nurse on her side. Kite immediately rushed to Quox and asked,

“What is it, Quox?”

“I just want to wish you guys good luck,” the unicorn admitted. “And if… you could… I mean this probably sounds a little bit selfish, but… please take down that dragon for me...”

“Well… it’s our mission to do it,” Kite shrugged. “But why? Is it to avenge your comrades?”

“Partially, Kite...” Quox admitted with a small voice. “It’s not just for my fallen comrades… but it’s also for Bertz’s as well. He was my brother… and I just can’t accept his death in the claws of that… t-that…”

At this moment, Quox was trying her best to hold her tears. Kite never had any siblings, so he could not feel the unicorn mare’s suffering right now. But he knows that Quox must have been suffering to her very heart and soul. Slowly, Kite patted Quox’s head, earning a tiny glance from her.

“Hey, want a hug?” the small griffon asked. Quox could stare at Kite before she threw herself at Kite’s arms. Soon, the unicorn was crying her eyes out with Kite just gently stroked her mane.

“Don’t you worry. We’ll get the job done and come back alive. You can count on it.” Kite said in an assuring tone. Quox only responded with a tiny nod and a whisper,

“T-thank you…”

Kite gently ended the hug and gave Quox one last smile before he went back to his position, completely oblivious to Rave’s jealous glare directed at him and Quox. Gilda was the only one who noticed her behaviour and chuckled.

“Looks like egghead got a crush on pipsqueak,” she thought with a smirk.

Soon, the teleportation spell was cast, and the griffon squads were covered in the luminescent teleportation bubble. Before the teleportation spell was finished, Quox moved forward from the unicorn crowd and yelled,

“May the sun and moon shine upon you!”

“Yeah! Go get ‘em!” Scunner added as the rest started chanting Aquila’s name and the other squads’ names as well. Even some of the civilians who were around the area stopped on their places and joined the crowd on chanting the names. All of the squadrons inside the bubble gave one last salute to the ones outside before a blinding light engulfed them all.

Area B7R “The Round Table”, Neue Gryphus
May 20th 2020, 0030 hrs

The Neue Gryphus priority one strategic airspace B7R. AKA, The Round Table. The home of numerous battles fought in battles past. Hundreds if not thousands of griffons and ponies from multiple nations clashed against each other in this airspace for air superiority. No ranks and no nations were there to hinder them, everyone was on an equal footing. There was only one rule that applied to this airspace:

To survive.

Just two minutes after the teleportation spell was cast upon them, the griffons finally arrived at the airspace following a blinding light. The sparks of magic still lingered in the air as the griffons began to inspect their surroundings. It was dark with Luna’s moon being the only light source for them. Several thunderclaps were heard from the distance, confirming the weather reports Saetos mentioned earlier.

The three Belkan knights including Riddle could only gaze at their surroundings in silence. On the horizon lie the mountains that made up the Round Table. It brought up many sweet but sometimes bitter memories to their heads.

“Just like how I remember it…” Riddle muttered. Black Star overheard what he was saying and asked,

“I presume you have been here before?”

“My first deployment, Blake,” Riddle responded. “Operation Battle-Axe. I was still a rookie back then, and they deployed me along with my teammates into this airspace to defend it from the allied forces. They even sent three Belkan elite squads just to quell the allied forces, but none of them could match him, the Demon Lord of the Round Table.”

Black Star kept on listening as Riddle continued on.

“I saw him… flying and taking out our soldiers with his wingmate, a griffon with a single red wing. My teammates were killed… and before I even knew it, the Demon Lord was chasing me. I tried to escape, but he kept on chasing: almost like a predator locking on to his prey. Luck seemed to favor me that day… a Belkan soldier distracted him and I managed to flee from the airspace. He was the inspiration for the entire Z.O.E.M.S.A. project.”

Both griffons stayed silent until they heard their comms crackled to life. The voice wasn’t very clear, but they could tell that the owner was Marcus.

“Altair Beta to all units… —*static*— all teams… report in,”

“This is Aquila squadron,” Riddle began. “Your voice is unreadable, say again.”

“I repeat…—*static*— All squadrons, report in…—*static*—” Marcus repeated, though his voice was barely heard through the static. Luckily, Riddle heard what he said and responded,

“Aquila squadron here, on stand by.”

“This is Crimson team, fully accounted for,” Blade followed.

“Southwind squadron, everything’s okay,” Ronin added.

“Northwind squadron, reporting in,” Rod stated.

“Silver squadron, checking in,” Silber said in his usual tone.

“GRGs Mindripper and Distantthunder. We’re here.” Tallman stated on his and White Tip’s behalf.

“Belkan knights, on standby,” Detlef announced clearly. However, the static in their comms grew worse as Marcus tried to speak again.

“Alright…—*static*— it seems I got you all on my scope…—*static*—…” Marcus stated. “Damn, the radio interference is bad in your location…—*static*—…”

“It must be the heavy mineral deposits underground,” Dmitri stated. “The Round Table was notorious for rendering compasses and communication lines useless. Surely, your superior had told you that?”

An embarrassed chuckle was heard from the other side, confirming Dmitri’s suspicion about the young griffon operator’s lack of information.

“Looks like I’ll be keeping…—*static*— communications to a minimal on this op…—*static*—… Just maintain your present heading, and don’t let…—*static*—… Valkyrie out of the designated range,” Marcus said. “I’ll be posting mission updates through this ring…—*static*—…”

The group then heard a loud ping coming from their comms. Following that ping, Marcus then cut off his transmission and kept monitoring the team’s movement through his radar. Another ping was heard when Marcus sent the necessary data to their scanners, so they could read how much distance was between Valkyrie and them.

“Looks like we’re a little behind,” Riddle said when he checked the scanner. “Come on, let’s pick up the pace.”

Riddle along with the rest of Aquila squadron immediately headed towards the Round Table. The other griffon squads did not need any second call as they too followed suit. Several thunderclaps were heard along with some lightning bolts that lit up the sky, causing a little bit of uncertainty for the recruits.

“Dude, I have a bad feeling about this…” Goose said in worry.

“You said it, bro,” Max responded in agreement. Rosepink was both scared and unable to keep up with the rest of Southwind squadron. Luckily for her, Ronin and Butterclaw decided to go back and towed her along so she could keep up with them. Stalker and Gilda were also forced to wait until the trio was back.

Riddle along with the three Belkan knights remained cautious; the Round Table loved to give some surprises during the war, be it an ambush or severe weather conditions. The area was testing their weaknesses and skill to the very edge. Riddle took a weary glance at his subordinates; all three griffons were still tired from the sortie earlier, so fatigue was also their greatest enemy. He silently told them to keep the Z.O.E.s on standby if anything were to go from bad to shit, to which they complied with a single nod.

The Z.O.E.s were switched on, but were put on standby mode until further notice, just in time for when Marcus sounded the mission update ping on their comms. The griffons checked their scanners and saw multiple enemy signatures coming at them from the northwest at high altitude

“Hostile contacts, a lot of them,” Riddle announced. “Moderate magical readings.”

“Caught red handed, eh?” Bernhard said with a grim tone. Everyone then noticed more and more bandits coming from the same heading. They all knew that there was only one way out from this swarm.

“That’s one hell of a crowd,” Breaker commented with a frown.

“Aquila 1 to all units,” Riddle announced with a bold voice. “Don’t stray out of formation. Engage these bogies as one; no single ship attacks!”

Multiple “rogers” were heard from his back before they increased their speed and altitude to greet the incoming enemy swarm.

“Hex 5-1 to all units,” the leader of the enemy squad hissed, “fire your magic in 20 seconds. Give them all you got.”

“Roger, Hex 5-1. Attacking with extreme prejudice,”

Once they got close, the unknown bogies began to fire small streaks of green-colored magic blasts. Despite this, the team remained in formation as they and the swarm finally clashed against each other.

“Changelings!?” Rod yelled as he avoided a magic blast before delivering a punch to a changeling. “I thought we managed to neutralize all of them in Gryphus!”

“Looks like Esser got himself another horde as a failsafe,” Black Star growled. The dark griffon managed to catch a changeling soldier before he threw him at his comrade. The two changelings impacted each other before they fell down to the ground, nearly hitting another changeling who was being pursued by Kite.

The changeling tried his best to avoid Kite’s lightning-fast movement, completely unaware that Kite was leading him into Kestrel’s claws. The changeling screeched in pain when Kestrel’s talons dug into his eyes. His pain was ended when the pastel griffoness grabbed his neck and twisted it backwards before she parried a blow delivered by a large changeling flyer.

Kestrel clashed against the brute all the while Gilda and Butterclaw were using quick combo strikes to take down multiple enemies at once. Some of the changelings who were distracted by both griffonesses’ attacks were taken down by Ronin and her son, Stalker. The mother-son duo poured every last drop of their strength into this battle, no matter how many changelings kept pouring down from the heavens.

“We must destroy them! We can’t let them get to Valkyrie!” one changeling snarled as he clashed against Rod. The griffon was hit several times due to his growing fatigue, but Rosepink came to his rescue by kicking the changeling on his head. Before he could recover, the changeling was hit by one of his own comrades before they were finished off by Breaker and Ricochet’s body slam.

Bernhard’s tactician skills began to surface as he directed the GRGs and the rest of the squads to engage the changelings at his command. He carefully guided them through each maneuver, attack, and evasion: making sure that no one was left behind.

“Give ‘em all you got guys!” he yelled. “Or else that lizard’s goin’ to outfly us to those ponies!”

“You heard the knight. Southwind squadron, let’s pick up the pace!” Ronin exclaimed after she ripped a changeling’s wings off. Both Gilda and Stalker grinned before they went all out on the changelings. One changeling tried to attack Gilda from behind, but an arrow struck his right eye, causing him to scream in agony and forcing him to retreat. White Tip smirked as she took another arrow before aiming it at another target. Once changeling interrupted her from below, causing the griffoness to use her bow and arrow as an improvised melee weapon.

The changeling was struck by the bow before the armored griffoness jammed the arrow between the changeling’s exoskeleton, earning a shrill scream from him. While he was stunned, White Tip kicked the changeling away before she parried another attack from yet another changeling, but Black Star managed to gain the bug-like equine’s attention by striking him on his head.

“Thanks for the backup, Blake,” White Tip said in relief. “I guess you really had changed after all.”

Black Star just shrugged before he engaged the enraged changeling.

“Keep them occupied!!” the changeling yelled. “We must please our queen by this act!”

Black Star couldn’t help but to ponder in confusion after hearing the changeling’s words. Another queen? Could it be that these changelings were also brainwashed by a fake queen? If so, then they must find this queen in order to end the changelings’ onslaught. He tried calling Riddle through his comm, but only static met his answer.

“The interference must be stronger than I thought,” the dark griffon thought in frustration. Discarding the option, Black Star began to make his way towards Riddle whilst evading and delivering blows to the changelings.

“Sir!” he yelled to gain the blue griffon’s attention. Riddle turned and yelled back,

“What is it, Blake!?”

“Sir, one of the changelings…” Black Star dodged an incoming strike from a changeling before continuing his words, “…one of them said that they must please their queen!”

“Another fake queen!?” Riddle frowned. Earning a nod from the dark-feathered griffon.

“Seems like it, sir!”

“Spread the word!” Riddle ordered. “Let everyone know about this! We need to find that fake queen!”

Black Star just responded with a salute before he flew off to let the others know about this info. The swarm kept the allied squads in place, intending to delay them as long as they could. Realizing that they would be outmatched if things kept going like this, Riddle decided to amp the squadron’s power a little.

“Aquilas! Activate the Z.O.E.s. Set power to 5%!” he declared. Kestrel heard his command and quickly activated her Z.O.E., causing the other Z.O.E. devices to blink as well. Before long, Kite and Black Star activated their amplifiers too, causing the light to blink red for a couple seconds before turning green with a loud beep.

The same surge of power rushed through their veins, and Aquila squadron began to step the engagement up a little. Detlef saw Riddle’s plan and quickly directed the other griffons to speed things up. The red griffon led Northwind and Silver squadrons in taking the changelings on a direct confrontation. Bernhard, on the other hand, led Southwind Squadron in baiting the rest of the changelings from the furball so they could be dispatched by Dmitri along with Crimson, Verde squadrons, and the GRGs. The GRG members finally decided to ditch their armor so they could fight more efficiently. The blades attached on their wings made short work of numerous changelings.

“Their numbers are dropping down!” Tallman exclaimed when he noticed the slow decrease of the bug-like equines. “GRGs, strike ‘em hard!”

Some of the changelings panicked and tried to disengage, but they couldn't, knowing fully well what would happen if they disobeyed their queen’s orders. Their leader was growing desperate.

“No…nonono!! The queen will be upset!” the changeling stammered in disbelief. “Curse those Northern Eagles, Hex 5-1 to all units don’t giv—ACK!!”

Ronin’s claw strike directed on his neck cut him mid-sentence, resulting the neck of the poor bastard to be torn in three slices and left his head dangling on his spine. His body on the other hand managed to stay airborne long enough to transmit a distressed low frequency signal that could only be heard by the other changelings.

The others stopped their engagement and dispersed, as if clearing the way for someone. Sure enough, another beep came from the griffons’ comms, and a set of new targets appeared on their radars.

“New bogies incoming,” Rod stated. “They are faster than before!”

Suddenly, a rather chilling giggle was heard from their comms. After hearing the giggle, their comms and scanners went dead from the static.

“Radar jamming, the fake queen’s here!” Black Star growled. Kestrel felt her blood ran cold when she heard that giggle. It sounded very familiar to her.

“No, it can’t be!” she thought in horror. Her fears were confirmed when a familiar voice hissed through their static-filled comms.

“Did you miss me, birdy?”

“Violet!!”

Sure enough, there she was: the insane yellow coated mare that Kestrel had defeated over the Waldreich Mountains, and she was surrounded by numerous changelings and five of her surviving squad members. Though she still looked the same as she was before, there were several things that made her different. Her neck was covered by pieces of changeling exoskeleton, and her right eye was completely colored green with slitted pupils. Her psychopathic grin was still present and was enhanced by the presence of two fangs growing in front of her normal teeth. Sickly green veins were visible through her skin and coat, and the veins were centered around the large Zaubenschaft gem surgically embedded into her chest.

Kestrel did not have time to react when the undead mare laughed and charged straight at her. Black Star and Kite was about to help, but they were blocked by someone familiar. Gray had also returned, and his appearance was similar to his yellow coated comrade.

“We meet again… Ghost,” Gray hissed. Black Star could only frown as he took a battle stance, knowing that the pegasus wanted to finish their fight.

“Kid, go and support Marie…” the dark griffon ordered. “I’ll handle this one.”

Kite was hesitant at first but he ultimately complied with that order before zipping away. Both Black Star and Gray stared at each other before Gray delivered the first attack with a left hook at Black Star’s head. The dark-feathered griffon evaded the attack and retaliated with an uppercut which Gray easily blocked.

“I’m stronger than before, Ghost!” Gray declared with a smirk. “There’s no way you are a match for me now!”

“Really?” Black Star responded before he headbutted the dark blue pegasus, dazing him long enough for Black Star to kick him in the stomach. A minor shock wave formed as Gray was thrown back several feet. Gray recovered from the blow and hissed,

“A fellow Zeal user… This is just getting better and better!”

Both Gray and Black Star roared as they flew towards each other before clashing again. The three knights kept giving the other griffons orders to deal with the new horde of changelings. Southwind squadron gave all they got in this fight, with Ronin and Stalker leading the way. Gilda teamed up with Breaker and Rave, the trio deciding to pick off some stragglers from above along with Silver squadron. Both Gilda and Breaker used their strength to overpower the changelings, while Rave used her mind: blocking and delivering blows if there was an opening and retreating if she was outnumbered.

“Split their cage!” Jet yelled as he and Rod led their squadrons through the furball, intending to split the changeling horde so they could be picked off one by one. They needed to work fast, or else Valkyrie will escape their grasp.

Meanwhile, Kestrel and Kite was dealing with the psychopathic mare: Violet and her underlings. Kite was outnumbered five to one when he faced Violet’s bloodthirsty wingmares.

“Hi, sweetie,” one of them purred. “Wanna dance with us?”

“No thank you,” Kite said as he entered a stance. “I’m a soldier. I don’t dance.”

The mares laughed in amusement at his response.

“You really think you can beat us by yourself?” one of them taunted before she changed her tone into a more malicious one. “We’re going to tear you limb from limb!”

“That sounds fun!” another mare giggled.

“Sorry, my limbs are… uh… private properties…” Kite said awkwardly, feeling embarrassed by his lame comeback. The mares laughed even more, unaware that Kite had launched himself at one of them. The mare coughed blood as Kite’s head impacted her chest. The mares stopped laughing and saw in horror as their comrade started to plummet from the sky.

“Why you!” one of the mares snapped as she flew towards Kite in high speed. The small cheetah griffon moved to the side and let her past on his left while delivering a swift jab on her ribcage. A second pegasus mare dived in and rammed Kite from his front, but due to the Z.O.E. powering his body, the pain was kept to a minimum.

Kite grabbed both of her front hooves and threw her away, just in time when the third pegasus mare attacked him from behind. Kite struggled to get free, but a fourth mare appeared in front of him and started punching at his gut.

“Hold him steady, I want to make him bleed first!” the fourth mare snarled with a smirk. However, Kite used his enhanced strength to break free from the mares’ grasp before delivering a kick in the fourth mare’s gut, knocking her out from the fight.

“Bastard!” the third mare shouted. “Girls, time to get serious!”

“Don’t let this bird get too cocky!” the second mare added with a smirk.

Kite could only brace himself as he was about to face the three mad pegasi. Kestrel kept on the defense as Violet delivered endless barrages at her, never caring if her punches made contact on the pastel griffoness or not.

“C’mon, birdy! Is that all you’ve got!?” the deformed pegasus laughed with a murderous glare. Kestrel kept her cool and continued to block Violet’s attacks. Luckily for her, a well-timed slash by Ronin directed at Violet’s back distracted the yellow pegasus long enough for Kestrel to deliver a punch at her changeling eye. The attack missed, but Kestrel claws succeeded on tearing Violet’s coat and flesh: causing green blood to ooze out from the wound.

“Hehe, not bad…” Violet purred as she tasted her own blood. The deranged undead mare laughed madly again before charging at Kestrel again. This time, the griffoness was ready for her and responded with a straight kick to her face, mirroring what she had already did to defeat her back in the Waldreich Mountains.

“Did you honestly think that would work again!?” Violet yelled as she brought up her front hooves to catch Kestrel’s leg. The pastel griffoness immediately withdrew her attack, only to find Violet changing her course and giving her a hard punch to her left cheek. The yellow mare’s strength was slightly enhanced by the green Zaubenschaft gem on her chest, but it felt weaker than Wechselbalg or Juggernaut’s blows.

A weaker opponent should be easy to take down.

When Violet came charging again from the opposite direction, Kestrel only hovered and watched as the crazed yellow pegasus inched her way closer to her.

“Ha!” Violet yelled as she broke away from her course, anticipating another kick from the griffoness. She had never been so wrong.

“Gotcha!” Kestrel exclaimed as she made a quick dash at the yellow mare at the moment she passed the griffoness. The blow stunned her long enough for Kestrel to deliver two quick punches at her abdomen before finishing it off with a hard blow to the Zaubenschaft gem: cracking it halfway.

Violet coughed up the green blood in pain. She quietly chuckled between pants and coughs as her smirk grew into a psychotic grin. The yellow mare laughed as she spoke with a sultry voice,

“Ohoho... you’ve got me good, birdy… heheh… Please, PUNISH ME MORE!!”

“Come and get it, sicko,” Kestrel responded with her own smirk, causing Violet to laugh even harder. The two combatants flew towards each other before they clashed their talons and hooves in midair; completely unaware of Black Star and Gray’s battle ensuing above them.

The dark griffon, like Kestrel, had managed to crack the Zaubenschaft gem after distracting his opponent. Both combatants made one last clash before they broke off to take a temporary break. Gray was now panting and growing weaker as the magic of the gem was leaking out through the crack. His body was filled with deep scratch marks, and the green blood continued to ooze out from the wounds. Black Star also had his fair share of wounds too: he had a massive bruise on his left eye, and his body was aching to the bone. The Z.O.E. might had helped ease the pain a little bit, but he would feel it when the Z.O.E. was deactivated.

The two hovered in their places until Black Star started clapping.

“Bravo,” he chuckled. “Somehow, being dead made you stronger.”

“Can’t agree more, Ghost,” Gray responded with a smirk. “Truly the power of these Z.O.E.s will revolutionize the future of warfare in Equis.”

“Or putting this world into a downward spiral to chaos,” Black Star retorted. “Let me ask you this, Gray… why did you came back?”

“Esser pulled me back from the dead, but that’s kinda obvious,” Gray spoke, “The real reason is for me to fight you again, Ghost. I vowed that I will defeat you… or you will defeat me and finish me off.”

“You’re asking for a true warrior’s death,” Black Star mused in interest. “Better die in battle rather than being killed while you are off-duty.”

“Exactly, Ghost,” Gray nodded before he raised his hoof at him. “So, please. Give me a fight to the death!”

The dark griffon never responded as he answered the pegasus’ question by flying directly at him. Gray evaded Black Star’s attack and retaliated with a double hoof kick directed at the right side of the griffon’s ribcage. Black Star spun to the left to evade the blow while using the momentum to slap the pegasus with his wing. Gray flew back and let the wing pass harmlessly in front of him.

Black Star stabilized his flight before attacking Gray from his front. The dark blue pegasus grinned as he parried the dark griffon’s attack before punching him on his stomach. Black Star growled in pain, but it was soon dulled into nothing thanks to the Z.O.E. magic running through his veins. Black Star quickly grabbed Gray’s shoulders and readied his right arm for an attack. Gray tried to break free from his grip by punching the dark griffon on his face. Black Star was thrown back, giving Gray enough time to charge up his magic into his muscles.

“This is it, Ghost!” he yelled in excitement. “You are finished!!”

Black Star kept calm as his eyes flashed green for a moment before all of the magic was concentrated in his right arm. When Gray was about to deliver his attack, Black Star flew upwards before bringing his right arm down at the dark blue pegasus’ spine with sheer brute force, causing a small shockwave in the process. The blow destroyed Gray’s spine and folded his entire body upwards, tearing his chest open which dislodged the Zaubenschaft gem from its place and spilt green blood everywhere.

Gray coughed up some of the green blood before his broken body fell down to the desolate landscape. Though he was defeated, Gray couldn’t help but to smile in satisfaction before he was engulfed by the darkness of the night. He got his wish, and now he could rest in peace.

“Good fight… Ghost… Good fight.”

Black Star could only hover and watch as Gray’s body disappeared. He felt some remorse for the pegasus. Gray came all this way just so he could fight him again, even if he had to become Esser’s undead minion.

A surge of pain from his right arm and a loud beeping sound snapped the dark griffon out from his thoughts. He tried to move his right arm, but found it limp and unresponsive.

“I used too much power on that blow!” he thought in pain as he tried to shut down the Z.O.E. with his left arm. Once the device was shut down, the pain soon dulled away, and his right arm could move again.

Violet was momentarily distracted when she sensed Gray’s defeat at Black Star’s talons. Kestrel used this chance to strike her on her face, throwing the half changeling-pegasus hybrid to the griffoness’ left.

“Hey, no fair, birdy!” Violet yelled with a grin before she lunged herself back at the griffoness. “My honey-bunny just got killed, and you attacked me? I like you even more!!”

“Get off me, you sick freak!” Kestrel said in disgust as she tried to free herself from Violet’s grip. The mare laughed harder as she punched Kestrel’s face, trying to break her skull off her spine. Kestrel managed to hit Violet back by headbutting her on his forehead and bit down on the mare’s left forelimb. Violet screamed in a mixed feeling of pain and pleasure as Kestrel’s sharp beak dug in deeper into her flesh. Once that was done, the pastel griffoness released her bite and kicked Violet right on her Zaubenschaft: cracking it even more.

Violet quickly recovered from her blow and stared down at her heavily damaged Zaubenschaft gem. For the first time, she felt some dread. She remembered how it felt to be dead, and she was not about to feel it again. The yellow mare looked up and chuckled at her opponent.

“It seems our fun is over for now…”

“Speak for yourself,” Kestrel spat. “I’m ending this, once and for all.”

Violet only chuckled even more before she stuck out her tongue at the griffoness: eerily mirroring her own gesture back when they first met above Gryphus

“I’m afraid that is not your call, birdy…” she said in a sultry tone. Before Kestrel could even respond, the yellow mare let out a screeching roar, causing all of the changelings to stop the engagement before they flew over to her. Kestrel and everyone else could only watch in silence as the massive changeling swarm began to form a protective ball around their “queen.” Violet’s one remaining subordinate abandoned her engagement against Kite and flew to hover at Violet’s side.

Violet gave them one last grin before the ball was sealed off from the outside. Then, a green translucent bubble began to form around them as they casted a massive teleportation spell for them to escape. Kestrel rushed to the ball, trying to stop the yellow pegasus from escaping, but she was too late. Violet along with her horde disappeared from the airspace, leaving an eerie silence with only the blowing winds of the approaching storm to accompany the group’s ears.

“They’re gone!?” Jet said in confusion. Kestrel just grit her beak in anger before she let out a frustrated scream. Black Star immediately flew over to her to calm her down.

“That sick snake, got away…” Kestrel hissed.

“And there’s nothing we can do about it…” Black Star cut in with a stern voice. “Don’t blame yourself, Marie. We all didn’t see that coming.”

“But she’s still out there!” Kestrel responded in anger. “That sick-minded psychopath is still flying around, and she’s a threat to...!”

“We can think about that problem later,” Black Star cut her off again. “Right now, we still have to worry about the Valkyrie.”

Kestrel couldn’t respond to his last statement. He was right, Valkyrie was a much bigger threat than Violet and her horde of brainwashed changelings. Kite then appeared beside them and told both griffons that Valkyrie was still in their effective range.

“But Sir Wonderfalke said we need to hurry,” Kite explained in worry. “If we don’t move now, Valkyrie’s good as gone!”

Both griffons glanced at each other before all of them flew towards Riddle. The blue griffon was visibly tired from the engagement, but that wasn’t not going to stop him now. Soon, all the other squadrons regrouped before all of them continued their flight above the Round Table.

Directus Airspace, En-Route to Sapin, Hoofstio
0213 hrs

It took them nearly two hours to get past the Round Table and into the GCC’s effective radar and comm range. Saetos informed them that they would receive some reinforcements once they reached Hoofstio. The griffon operator’s words turned out to be true when the griffon squads were accompanied by two pegasus squadrons from Hoofstio’s 6th Air Division. One of the squad leaders, a pegasus stallion with a bright orange coat, contacted the griffons first.

“This is the 4th Air Force Unit “Crow” to the Valkyrie Interceptor Team, it’s good to be flying with you!” he stated. “We hope that we can watch the Northern Eagles in action today!”

“Boy, we’re getting famous…” Kite said in delight.

“This is Aquila 1 to Crow Leader, it’s good to see some backup too. We’ll be counting on you guys for some help.” Riddle responded.

“This is the 7th Air Force Unit “Magpie” to Aquila,” a mare’s voice sounded. “It’s not just us. There are a total of four Hoofstian squads ready to back you guys up. We’ll be escorting you to the Sphyrna now.”

At first, some of the griffons didn’t know what the pegasus meant by Sphyrna. Their questions were soon answered when they spotted a large airship flying at high altitude. Due to the darkness, it was really hard to tell the color of the airship, but many guessed that the bottom half was colored white with the top being dark blue. The airship had a huge propeller installed on the rear belly and two smaller propellers placed on either side of the body. Riddle’s mind clicked, and he decided to explain the airship to the rest of the team.

He said that the airship’s designation was the UI-4053 Sphyrna, and it was built by a joint collaboration between Grunder Industries and the newly founded Urusean Aeronautics Administration (UAA). The UI-4053 Sphyrna was built to serve as an oasis in the skies where fliers who had to go on a long range missions could rest while the airship moves towards their destination. A total of three Sphyrnas were built but the production came into a halt when Grunder rebelled against the kingdom.

For now, this Sphyrna was set on course with the Valkyrie’s flight path.

Once the griffons were close, the landing operator of the Sphyrna guided them in from the back, warning them to stay clear of the massive propellers. The griffons landed one by one before being directed towards their quarters within the airship. The rooms were few and small, so the griffons had no choice but to share the rooms together for the night. Aquila in particular had to share one room which barely fit for the four griffons.

Riddle just bore with it and slept on the floor. Kite chose to sleep on top of the drawers, perching like a bird before he drifted off into sleep. Black Star chose to sleep in the corner, while Kestrel got the bed for herself. At least Black Star got the pillow while Kestrel just got the mattress.

“This is uncomfortable…” Black Star groaned as he tried to make himself comfortable. The sounds of Breaker and Stalker’s squawking about their place to sleep on the other room was not helping either.

“Remind me to make some changes about the room designs, Blake,” Riddle spoke without opening his eyes, clearly trying to get some sleep. “I had some inputs on the designs of these airships as well.”

“I will, sir,” Black Star chuckled before he changed his position for the fifth time.

“For now, let’s try to get some shuteye,” Kestrel said in a tired tone. She was lying on her back with her wings serving as a makeshift pillow. “We got a big battle this morning.”

Kite only responded in gibberish, as he was already slowly drifting into sleep. Black Star on the other hand changed his position again as he thought about the battle today. They were going up against a powerful superweapon that could eradicate all life from Equis. The outcome of the battle will determine the future.

And he was not sure if he was up for the task.

“What are you talking about? Of course you’re ready for this!” he thought to himself with a frown. “You’ve come all this way just to doubt yourself? Don’t tell me that you’re going to let Firefly suffer again!?”

“No… I will not…”

Black Star continued to think about that until fatigue washed him over and dragged him into deep sleep.

Chapter 19: Armageddon

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Chapter 19: Armageddon

“The flames of hatred scorch the skies… Igniting Gaia’s funeral pyre.” – Unknown

UI-4053 Sphyrna quarters, 5 Miles offshore of Sapin, Above the Antlertic Ocean
May 20th 2020, 0634 hrs

“Blake!”

Black Star twitched but his eyes remained closed.

“Blake!!”

The dark griffon twitched slightly with his name being called, but Black Star remained asleep. Kestrel was slowly losing her patience.

“Blake, you dolt. Wake up!!”

This time it worked. The dark griffon shot upwards before staring at the annoyed grifoness.

“What?” he asked in a tired voice.

“What’s what is our sortie’s going to start in minutes, and you’re still asleep!”

Realization slowly creeped into Black Star’s mind as he remembered about the mission. He slapped his forehead before he quickly got up and grabbed his comms and things from the drawer. Kestrel’s annoyance was replaced by a slight amusement as she watched the normally composed Black Star panicking about being late for this operation. When the dark griffon was ready, both of them rushed out from the room and headed straight for the launch bay.

The sound of the open air and the countless beats made by the Sphyrna’s propellers were deafening to the griffons’ ears, and the open rear hatch revealed the dull and gray morning sky. The other griffon squads had already took off, and only Verde, the Belkan Knights, Riddle and Kite were waiting for them. Commander Flintlock, a green coated unicorn, came up to them and yelled,

“There’s no time for a briefing, guys. Valkyrie has already begun his descent five minutes ago. We need you in the air, now!”

Both griffons only responded with a nod before they joined their squad’s formation. Riddle gave one more check of the comms, scanners, and the Z.O.E. devices before the commander cleared them all for take-off. The four griffons ran towards the open hatch before jumping off into the open skies. They quickly opened their wings during the freefall and stabilized their flights before heading west to join up with the rest of the allied squads. Behind them, the three knights ascended while Verde Squadron maintained the same altitude with them. Seconds ticked by until their comm crackled to life.

“This is Altair Alpha to Aquila. The rest of the squads have already reported in. Please report your status, sir,” Saetos said calmly.

“Aquila squadron here. We’re in the green,” Riddle stated.

“This is the Knights,” Detlef began. “Currently gaining altitude and awaiting further orders.”

“Verde squadron, same with the knights,” Jet announced from his end.

“Squadron checks are complete,” Saetos answered. “Aquila, Knight and Verde, please rendezvous with the rest and await further instructions there.”

The squad leaders responded with a “roger” before they accelerated to meet up with the rest of the squads. Once they arrived, they found that the allied squads were flying in a tight V-formation, likely to save up some energy for the battle ahead. Gilda and Breaker noticed the three squads’ arrival.

“Southwind 9 to 1, the main stars are here!” Gilda smirked.

Ronin looked back and saw the three squadrons gaining some altitude to meet up with them.

“All Southwind units, move to the side. Let the main actors take the stage in this performance,” Ronin said as she and her fellow subordinates flew to the side, letting Aquila take the center position. With the whole Valkyrie Interceptor Team complete, the flyers felt their confidence grow. Riddle also noticed this and spoke,

“Ladies and gentlemen, I do not believe anyone on Equis could go against us now…” Riddle paused for a moment until he added, “…well, except for Mirage squadron,”

“Yah, got that right, mate,” Bernhard spoke from his end. Black Star and Kestrel surveyed their surroundings. The sky was still gray with ominous looking clouds lying on the horizon. They had a hunch that the weather won’t be good today. Something else also caught their attention in the form of a ten-flier griffon squadron flying on their left. All of them were wearing black vests with a yellow lightning bolt on the side. Black Star was the first one to ask Riddle about this, in which the blue griffon responded,

“I believe they are the 21st Strike Griffin Squadron, ‘Lightning,’ but most of the time they were called the Black Squadron,”

The new squadron’s name sounded familiar to the dark griffon. When he thought about it, Black squadron was also deployed during the Invasion of Canterlot. He remembered that after the war. The squadron was reassigned into a base within the Frozen North. He guessed that was the reason why they were only showing up now.

The dark griffon then noticed Kite flying out of formation to go to to his friends who were flying behind Northwind squadron. Black Star broke off from his position and flew over to the crowd, curious about what the recruits were currently doing. He soon got his answer when he saw Razorback tweaking his comm, stating that he was searching for the radio frequency.

“What are you guys doing?” he asked, surprising the recruits. Ricochet decided to answer on his comrades’ behalf.

“We’re trying to get some information about the international dome plan which will be conducted this morning,”

“Dome plan? You mean the Royal Princesses’ plan to repel the Ulysses fragments, right?” Black Star asked again.

“Right-o, espectro,” Ricochet nodded before Razorback shushed him.

“Rico, be quiet for a moment. I think I got it,” he stated as he tweaked the comm some more. All the recruits including Black Star listened closely as the muffled voice from the radio station became much clearer with each adjustment Razorback made.

“…—*static*—… This is the Equestrian Broadcast Corporation…—*static*—... reporting live in front of Canterlot castle, where the Royal Princesses are about to conduct the so-called “Anti-Asteroid Dome”… —*static*—… which apparently was brought up again after its failure during the Ulysses Disaster over 20 years ago…—*static*—”

As the broadcast continued, the other flyers also got curious and requested that Razorback should patch the transmission to their comms. Razorback immediately complied, and soon, the entire Valkyrie Interception Team was listening to the broadcast.

“… According to our sources, over two hundred unicorns from Equestria were dispersed all around Equis where they will meet the other unicorns from other cities and countries to distribute the dome’s strength around the world…—*static*—… Hold on, I just saw Princess Celestia flying out from the palace along with her sister and niece, Princess Luna and Princess Cadance…—*static*—…”

The group heard several murmurs and yells coming from all around the reporter.

“…Oh my… the asteroids…—*static*—… they are falling right now! The sky is filled with them!!”

“Look, up there!” Rod suddenly exclaimed while pointing at the skies, causing everyone to look up. Sure enough, the sky was indeed filled with countless bolts of light raining down towards the surface. The fragments looked small at first, but soon, bigger asteroid chunks began to enter the atmosphere.

“The Princesses are currently casting up their spell and… WHOA!!” the reporter jumped as a loud explosion was heard from his end. “Folks, you will not believe what I just witnessed… the princesses just released a massive beam of light into the skies, and a gold barrier… —*static*—... I think that you viewers must see this yourself. For those of you who are still indoors, please go outside and look up at the sky… it is simply too great to describe!”

At this moment, the Valkyrie Interceptor Team, who were still keeping their eyes focused on the meteor-filled sky began to see a faint gold-colored barrier that began to cover the sky. Suddenly, another beam of light shot up from behind them as the unicorns who were positioned in Sapin casted their spell to reinforce the barrier. Their spell soon met with the princesses’ barrier, thus reinforcing the barrier.

The griffons, especially Riddle, were rendered speechless by the enormous display of magic. There was nothing they could do now except preventing Valkyrie from arriving to his first target.

An incoming transmission from Saetos snapped them out from their trance. Razorback quickly closed the radio transmission as everyone else answered Saetos’ call.

“Altair Alpha to all units, we have confirmed that Valkyrie had descended to 16,666 feet,” the griffon operator boomed. “Look at your twelve o’clock just above you.”

Everyone shifted their attention from the barrier and the meteors to their front. Sure enough, they saw the ominous shape of the Valkyrie flying just above their current altitude. Many of the recruits were dumbfounded, Valkyrie was just 10,000 feet above them, but he still looked huge from their perspectives.

“This is Aquila 1, I see the bogey,” Riddle spoke to his comm.

“Affirmative, sir. You will begin your engagement on my command,” Saetos responded. “Altair Alpha to all units. All squadrons, report in.”

“Aquila squadron, on standby,”

“Northwind and Southwind squadrons on standby!”

“GRGs on standby,”

“Verde squadron on standby!”

“Crimson and Silver squadrons, we’re on standby!”

“Black squadron on standby,”

“Hoofstian squadrons on standby!”

“Belkan Knights on standby,”

“All squadrons checked in and ready for battle,” Saetos spoke. “Aquila squadron… lead the way to victory. All units follow Aquila.”

All members of Aquila squadron squinted their eyes before they ascended to meet with the colossal dragon.

“Aquila 1 to Aquilas 2 through 4. Z.O.E. at 6%, remain on standby until I give the signal,” Riddle ordered. Black Star, Kestrel and Kite replied in silence as they activated their Z.O.E.s and put the devices on standby until further notice. The rest of the squadrons quickly followed Aquila from their end. Every one of them was ready to face the massive threat flying above.

At Valkyrie’s end, Svenson, who was in-charge of the radar systems, noticed the allied squadrons’ arrival from Valkyrie’s backup scope.

“No… damn allied forces!” he cursed before he grabbed his comm to warn Esser. “Sergei, those allied scums are here!”

“What!? The allied squadron’s here?” Esser yelled from his end. “Huh, no matter. Scramble all flyers. Stall them until the repairs are complete!”

“Got it, Sergei!” Svenson responded before he changed the frequency of his comm to contact Heimer. “Heimer, send those bugs down. The allied squad’s here to slay the beast!”

“Ten-four, Svense. Over and out,” Heimer responded from his end. There are approximately twenty changelings fitted with armors inside Valkyrie’s launch port, and he told them all to scramble at once to stop the allied forces.

“This is Carapace 1, we’re ready to deploy,” the lead changeling sounded. “Carapace squadron, launch! Don’t make the same mistakes as Hex squadron!”

The changelings responded with a number of clicks and growls before the launch bay was opened. Without a second to waste, Carapace 1 jumped out first, followed by his wingmates. Once they were outside, Carapace 2 radioed his flight lead and said,

“Got a tally-ho on the bandits…” he paused for a moment before continuing with a shaky voice. “I-It’s them! The Northern Eagles, and there’s more of ‘em!!”

“What!?” Carapace 1 said as he checked his scanner. Sure enough, he saw that all of the inbound targets were marked as AQUILA. “Impossible…!”

“Oh man, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Carapace number 3 groaned. “All of them have that eagle insignia!”

“No matter, Carapace 1 to all units! Spread out and take them all!” Carapace 1 said in determination. “Keep them away from the Valkyrie!”

Though the majority of his subordinates were reluctant, they ultimately responded “roger” in unison.

0700 hrs

Riddle smirked when he saw the changeling squad dispersing to take them. He was the one who put Aquila’s insignia on all of the allied units’ IDs. The best way to win this battle was to demoralize the opponent first.

“There’s our welcoming party,” Black Star said as he saw the huge swarm coming at them. A faint sunlight managed to breach the clouds as Saetos’ booming voice sounded on their comms,

“Altair Alpha to all units, permission to engage! Eliminate all hostile targets and bring that overgrown lizard down!”

Multiple “rogers” and “wilcos” were heard from the allied forces as they continued their rapid ascent towards the changeling swarm. Seconds later, both opposing sides finally clashed against one another in a huge aerial battle. The Hoofstian squads quickly proved themselves to be in par with the griffons by taking down a number changelings in a brutal manner.

“Magpie 1, bandit behind you!” one pegasus warned to his flight lead. The mare turned and parried the changeling’s blow just in time. Both soldiers tried to land a blow to each other, but Magpie 1 soon found out that some of the changelings were very skilled in battle. A magic blast managed to blind her long enough for the changeling to stab her stomach with his horn.

The mare coughed some blood before her body fell down into the ocean, causing a brief panic in her squad’s ranks.

“Oh, Magpie 1’s down!” Magpie 2 exclaimed in horror.

“Jean, get a grip! You have to take over the command!” Magpie 3 said from his end. “Win this battle for our leader!”

With a look of determination, Magpie 2 quickly assumed control of the squad and ordered his wingmates to double their engagement. The squadron was also assisted by the griffons, who used hit-and-fly tactics to distract the bugs long enough for the equines to attack them. Despite the assistance, the changelings of Carapace squadron proved themselves to be fearsome opponents. Soon, Magpie 3 reported that Magpie 5 had been killed from being overrun by the bugs.

“Javelin 1 to all units, let’s pick up the pace!” a Hoofstian pegasus ordered to his squad. “We can’t afford to die here, survival is paramount!”

His teammates responded before they increased their pace on the battle. The griffons also had some difficulties handling the changeling flyers. Ronin occasionally found herself being pitted by three or four changelings. To make matters worse, these changelings could read her moves, and they implemented this into their combat skill. Ronin battled the changelings with all her power, but she was soon exhausted by the sheer number of the flyers around her. If it wasn’t for Gilda and Butterclaw’s timed appearance, she would have been killed by the bug-like equines.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” Butterclaw said in worry.

“Just a little tired, that’s all,” Ronin chuckled between pants. “C’mon, let’s go back to the battle.”

“No, mother,” Stalker said in a stern voice. “You’re too weak to fight right now. Rest up for a little bit, I’ll take the command for a moment.”

“Do you have what it takes, son?” Ronin asked in a skeptical tone.

“I’ll try, mother,” Stalker responded with a shrug. “After all, this is what you raised me for.”

It took some time before Ronin gave out a defeated sigh and let her son take her squad’s command while she rested. Stalker quickly barked orders to his teammates,

“Gilda, you and I are gonna make several high speed passes into the furball. Make every attack count! Rosepink, Butterclaw: stay with my mother. Guard her until she’s ready for some action again.”

Though Gilda and Butterclaw were reluctant to follow his orders, Rosepink immediately complied and flew over to Ronin’s position before taking a defensive stance. Butterclaw saw the act and shrugged before she too joined the small pink griffon on guard duty. Gilda was the last one who complied with his order,

“Oh whatever, I’ll follow your lead, Southwind 1…”

“Ah shut up, G,” Stalker groaned before both he and Gilda accelerated towards the furball. Both griffons streaked past some changelings while deliverings quick strikes at them, giving some opening for the other squad members to strike the bugs. Kestrel and Black Star worked hard to gain some air superiority by working together with the knights. Bernhard’s quick thinking and Detlef’s endless passion to destroy his enemies made both griffons a force to be reckoned with.

Bernhard directed the griffon duo to engage the changelings which had pinned Riddle down from both sides. Black Star sensed something was wrong with the blue griffon ever since their major engagement over the Round Table. Riddle tried to made some counter-attacks, but his attacks were dodged and blocked effortlessly by the changelings.

“What’s the matter, old bird?” one of them mocked. “Too tired to fight us?”

“You should have stayed in the retirement home, Wonderflake!” another changeling snarled as he dived in to attack the blue griffon. To his surprise, Riddle parried his attack and sent a crushing blow to his face, breaking his snout and snapping his neck.

“Heheh, good one,” Riddle smirked as he prepared to engage the other changelings. The blue griffon managed to hit two changelings, but exhaustion began to slow him down, leaving him open to some attacks. Luckily, Black Star and Kestrel’s intervention made sure that Riddle had enough time to catch his breath.

“Are you alright, sir?” the pastel griffoness asked in concern.

“Just tired, that’s all…” Riddle panted. “These bugs are stalling us. We need to bring this battle to Valkyrie before he escapes.”

“If only we could…” Black Star stated before a changeling tackled him from behind. The dark griffon struggled until the changeling was struck by Kite’s blow directed to his neck. The stunned changeling starts to wobble uncontrollably until Kestrel delivered the finishing blow by kicking the bug-like equine in the stomach.

“As I was saying…” Black Star began. “These bugs are going to keep us occupied here until the Valkyrie’s out of our range. We need someone to head for the Valkyrie to at least, wear the dragon out for a bit.”

“And direct the changelings attention to him so that the fight will shift to Valkyrie’s location…” Riddle finished. “Looks like some of my tactician skills have rubbed off on you, Blake.”

Black Star just gave Riddle a small smile before he spoke,

“Then who will have the honor for this plan?”

“I can,” Kite suddenly jumped in, causing Kestrel to look at him in disbelief. “I’m faster than those bugs; I can outfly them anytime I want.”

“Milvus…” Kestrel began with a stern voice.

“I know what I’m doing, ma’am,” Kite said in determination. “I knew this was bound to happen when I enlisted. Soldiers take risks… even the ones that will kill them.”

Kite paused for a moment before he continued.

“This is my choice, ma’am… and I have a promise to keep for a friend…”

Kestrel was still reluctant about letting the small griffon go solo, even if he had proven himself capable of such tasks during the past four weeks. Black Star realized her inner struggle and spoke up,

“I’ll go with the kid. Watch his back from those bugs,”

Though Black Star’s words comforted her, she was still unsure about this plan. At the end, she reluctantly agreed with the plan, but not without one last request to both griffons,

“Watch yourselves, you two. Stay alive… no matter what.”

Both Kite and Black Star responded with a nod and a smile before they flew off towards Valkyrie’s location. At the same time, Riddle opened his comm and boomed,

“All allied forces listen up! Keep these bugs occupied as Aquila 2 and 4 head towards the Valkyrie!”

Multiple confirmations were heard from his comms as the squad leads and the members responded to his order. Unfortunately, Carapace 1 noticed the two griffons from his end and quickly warned his squad.

“Carapace 1 to all units, we’ve got some stragglers heading for the Valkyrie,” he roared. “Stop them at all cost!”

The changelings responded and immediately broke off from their engagement with the allied forces. Magpie 2 was ultimately killed along with Magpie 4, forcing Magpie 3 to take over the squadron. Crow squadron lost two of its members, leaving Crow 1 to fight for himself. Joker squadron, another Hoofstian squad, was completely wiped out by the bugs’ concentrated attacks, while Javelin squadron only suffered two casualties. At the griffons’ end, only Black squadron suffered a total of three casualties. The rest of of the griffons were just tired to their bones, but Riddle’s order reignited their will to fight.

“Oh no you don’t!” Ronin growled as she tackled a disengaged changeling. The changeling hissed and tried to land a blow on the metallic blue griffoness. Ronin blocked his attack and gouged his eyes out before finishing him off with a direct slash on his neck

“Crimson squadron, attack!” Blade roared as he and his squadmates engaged the changelings once more. Some of the changelings chose to stay and fight, while the others kept on flying to pursue Black Star and Kite. They knew who their opponents were, and it would be dangerous for them to go near the Valkyrie.

0730 hrs

Black Star had to admit, even with the power of the Z.O.E., he just couldn't keep up with the small bluish white griffon flying just above him. All he could do now was to keep a steady flight and try to close the gap between them whenever Kite slowed down to catch his breath. The small griffon’s face showed pure determination, as if he was going to face his moment of truth.

Svenson noticed them approaching for the Valkyrie and decided to warn Esser about it. The brown griffon’s response nearly made him blanch.

“Really, Sergei? You want to use the ADMMs against those chumps?”

“Well, they are the legendary Northern Eagles…” Esser responded with a chuckle. “They’re not your average joes and janes. These griffons could actually ruin our plan now, even if we have the Valkyrie on our side!”

“Alright, alright, Sergei,” Svenson sighed in defeat. “I’ll launch ‘em now.”

The hatches containing the missiles soon creaked open as Valkyrie let out a series of growls. The dragon curved his back slightly before the missiles were launched from the spine.

Kite’s face paled when he saw a total of 20 or 30 missiles heading towards him and Black Star. The dark griffon’s expression also dropped when he saw them.

“Oh crap…” Kite mouthed just before Black Star gave him an order,

“Kid, break left and accelerate once I give the signal!”

Kite kept his crumbling composure before he gave Black Star a quick “roger” in response to his call. Seconds ticked by, and time slowed down as Kite watched the missiles inching closer to his face.

“Hold it…”

Kite only gritted his beak in anticipation.

“Hold it…”

The missiles were getting closer, and Kite could almost feel the heat coming from the boosters.

“Now!”

Kite grunted as he broke to his left, causing two missiles to streak past him and detonate as they impacted each other. Black Star quickly ascended and let a missile fly below him: sending it off course. Kite immediately gained his speed as he watched ten more missiles begin to follow his movements.

“Oh fuck, they’re tracking me!” Kite yelled in horror. “Captain Blake!”

“Just keep your speed up, kid!” Black Star hollered from his end. “Make quick turns when they get too close!”

“Wilco!” Kite responded before he turned hard to the right, allowing a missile to fly off course. Kite growled as he accelerated again, and the missiles kept their bead on him. He had to admit, being chased by missiles was probably the worst thing anyone could have experienced, but somehow, he found it a little bit… exciting.

Kite’s horrified look was soon replaced with a small grin of satisfaction as he continued to accelerate, completely oblivious of the colorful sparks trailing behind him. Even Black Star noticed the colorful trail and somehow, it increased his morale a little bit.

“Aquila 4, status report,” Kestrel’s voice sounded from Kite’s comm.

“I’m engaging!” Kite responded as he changed his course and headed straight for the dragon, planning to use the missiles against their owner.

Svenson couldn’t believe what he saw: the small griffon he was suppose to eliminate was still in the air, and he was heading straight for their location. The yellow-feathered griffon cursed as he got up from his seat and contacted Esser while heading for the exit.

“Sergei, I’m en-route to engage the hostiles. The missiles can’t kill him,” he said in suppressed anger, earning a chuckle from Esser.

“Told you they weren’t your average fliers. Good luck, Svense. Keep me posted.”

The yellow griffon shut the comm off when he arrived at the exit. Strong winds immediately rushed in as Svenson opened the door, unaware that Kite was heading straight for his location. Svenson was about to jump out from the exit until Kite flew past by him, angering the griffon even more. As he was about to jump out and engage the small griffon, one of the missiles impacted the door, sending an injured Svenson plummeting to his death.

Valkyrie groaned as he felt the missiles impacting his body. He turned his head and saw Kite flying towards him. Valkyrie growled and opened his mouth just as Kite made a quick pass inside it, causing the last of the missiles to hit the dragon’s mouth, damaging his flame hose.

Esser felt the impact from his cockpit, and soon, a computerized voice sounded through the speakers.

“WARNING! FLAME POD OFFLINE!”

“Heheh, not bad!” Esser laughed. “Let’s see if you can handle this!”

The brown griffon pushed a button before switching on a couple of switches on the control panel. Valkyrie let out a series of growls and groans as multiple automatic Flak and AA guns emerged from his rib cage. Kite soon find himself being bombarded by the heavy artillery, but they were still too slow to track his rapid movement.

“Aquila 4 to 2,” Kite announced. “Captain Blake, I need some help with this!”

“I can see that,” Black Star responded as he watched the tracers and small explosions filling the skies around the Valkyrie. The dark-feathered griffon immediately ascended to draw half of the guns on him. “Hold on, kid. I’m coming,”

“Make it fast, cap!” Kite yelled as he continued to outfly the bullets. Valkyrie launched more of his ADMMs in an attempt to shoot the small griffon down. Kite cursed his own luck when he saw the missiles trailing him. He grunted as he made a quick turn towards Valkyrie’s underbelly, causing some of the missiles to impact several rib.

Valkyrie roared in slight pain as Kite continued to make his way upwards towards the spine. He also found that most of the guns were now focusing their fire on Black Star on the other side, and apparently most of the explosions caused by the flak guns were able to confuse the missiles’ homing capabilities, throwing most of them off course.

Kite looked back and saw that only five missiles were trailing him now. The small griffon smirked as he made another turn towards Valkyrie’s head. The dragon noticed the griffon’s flight path and quickly opened his jaw to unleash his laser blast. Kite heard the laser unit powering up so he immediately gunned it towards the dragon’s open maw.

“Say ‘Ah,’ you overgrown gecko!” Kite exclaimed before he folded his wings and let gravity drag his body down. The sheer heat building up inside Valkyrie’s mouth caused the remaining missiles to turn away from the small griffon and head straight for the laser’s barrel before impacting it with sheer brute force.

“OH YEAH!” the small griffon hollered in excitement as he heard Valkyrie’s pained roars before he spread his wings and ascended again.

Valkyrie growled as the same computerized voice was heard from the cockpit.

“LASER POD DAMAGED! ALL BREATH WEAPONS ARE NOW DISABLED!”

Esser just smirked when he heard that. He and this giant mechanical contraption were actually losing to just two griffons. The brown griffon chuckled sinisterly as he switched on the rest of the AA guns. If he was going down, then he would drag those two with him. The sky was quickly filled with bullets and explosive rounds, with Black Star and Kite doing their best to avoid them.

“Blake, status report!” Riddle sounded from his end.

“Currently avoiding Valkyrie’s gunfire,” Black Star reported. “Still trying to get close—AGH!”

The black-feathered griffon’s transmission came to an abrupt end as the sound of a gunshot was heard on the comm. Kestrel immediately turned her frequency to call Black Star.

“Blake! What’s happening!? Blake!?”

Black Star’s grunts and groans were heard from his end until the dark griffon finally responded,

“This is Black Star, I’ve been hit in my right wing! Unable to maintain altitude!”

“This is Kite, hold on, cap’. I’m en-route!”

Black Star tried to stabilize his flight, but the pain in his right wing prevented him from doing so. The dark griffon continued to spin downwards until Kite managed to grab his left talon. Black Star looked up and saw Kite trying his best to lift the dark-feathered griffon. The small griffon growled before he tweaked his Z.O.E. to full power.

“Kid, stop! You’ll die if you do that!” Black Star exclaimed.

“And let you fall!?” Kite responded as his eyes flashed green. “NOT. AN. OPTION!”

Kite felt the incredible power surging through his veins: strengthening his muscles and repairing any damage done to his body. The small griffon gave out a screech as he finally managed to stop Black Star’s spin and lift him up.

“Kid, drop me off on the Valkyrie!” the dark griffon ordered.

“Why, cap?” Kite yelled in a strained tone.

“I’m gonna destroy that thing from the inside!” Black Star stated in determination.

“Cap’, your wing! If that thing crashes, you won’t be able to escape!” Kite snapped.

“You and Marie can pick me up later! Just drop me off there now!”

Kite was very reluctant to obey Black Star’s orders. The griffon would get himself killed if he entered Valkyrie’s body, but he too was running out of time with the Z.O.E. being in full power, and it could damage his body. Riddle’s cries also can be heard from his comm with the blue griffon begging Kite to turn off the Zeal now to prevent further damage.

In the end, Kite finally made his choice.

With a mighty roar, Kite carried the dark-feathered griffon to the Valkyrie. Though the pain was numbed by the Zeal, Kite could still feel his aching muscles begging for him to stop. Kite however had no intentions on stopping,

He had a mission, and as a soldier, it was his duty to carry it out.

After minutes of struggling, Kite finally reached the destroyed portion of the walkway attached to Valkyrie’s ribs where the missile blew up in Svenson’s face. He gently lowered Black Star on the entrance before deactivating his Z.O.E., causing him to slump over the burned metal bar.

“I’m beat…” the small griffon mouthed.

“Rest here for a while,” Black Star said. “Keep me posted with some updates… ugh!”

Black Star winced in pain as he tried to fold his wings. Though the wound was not bleeding, the bullet hit the bone and an open nerve, causing severe pain every time the dark griffon tried to move his wing. It would cause some serious complications if it would not be taken out soon.

Kite only nodded in response before Black Star made his way through the entrance, stumbling on a few occasions. The walkway was tight with barely enough space for the dark griffon to move around freely. The air was getting hotter with every step the dark griffon took. He knew he was getting closer to the boiler’s exhaust port. If he disabled it now, then there would only be the Z.O.E. pod and Esser.

His comm crackled to life as Riddle’s worried voice came in,

“Blake, what happened back there? We lost contact when we heard that—”

“I’m grounded for now,” Black Star whispered. “Currently on the Valkyrie and making my way to the boiler to disable it.”

“Blake…” Kestrel began from her end. Her voice was filled with worry.

“I will be fine, Marie. Just be ready to catch my ass when I’m done,” Black Star reassured her. A slight worried chuckle was heard from Kestrel’s end.

“I will. Go get ‘em, you dolt,”

Black Star smiled before he closed the comm as he continued to make his way through the cramped walkway. The heat was now enough to make him sweat, despite the rushing cold morning air blowing on his face. He knew that he was close to the boiler now.

When the dark griffon finally arrived in the boiler’s exhaust port which was located at the bottom of the bulk, the heat was unbearable, causing Black Star to search for the shutdown panel quickly. The grid floor, which replaced Valkyrie's chest blade, ensured that the heat will be cooled down by the cold air coming through vents, though the temperature was still like hell.

Black Star caught a glimpse of the still ensuing battle below him. There were less changeling soldiers now, but even fewer Hoofstian forces. He shook his head and focused on his front. If he could shut this boiler down, then Valkyrie will be one step closer to his annihilation.

Suddenly, Black Star felt a sharp surge of pain in his left wing, and before he even knew it, he was thrown several fleet from where he stood and nearly thrown off from the Valkyrie. A loud chuckle was heard as Black Star turned to see his attacker.

“We meet again, Ghost!” a cocky voice exclaimed. It was Heimer, and he was holding a large metal pole with his right arm.

“Heimer,” Black Star growled before he took a defensive stance. The pain on his left wing was still present, but he had to bear it for now. Heimer made the first move by swinging the pole at the dark griffon. Black Star ducked and let the pole fly overhead. Heimer swung it again, but Black Star took several steps back and evaded it again. He could feel the amount of air being displaced when Heimer made that swing; he could tell that the dark blue griffon was enhanced by the Zeal.

“I wish Svenson were here to see this,” Heimer smirked. “He always liked to see some good ol’ brawl!”

Heimer lunged at the dark griffon again and managed to pin him down with the pole. Black Star struggled to break free from Heimer’s grip, but the dark blue griffon’s strength was too much for him. He needed to fight fire with fire.

Black Star spat at Heimer’s face, giving him enough time to overpower the dark blue griffon and knock him back. He then immediately amped up his Z.O.E. to 10%, numbing his injuries down in the process. Heimer roared as he swung the pole again, but Black Star caught it and ripped it off from Heimer’s grasp. Black Star then broke the metal pole in half before throwing it away.

“Heh, your Zeal sure is something!” Heimer chuckled. Black Star remained silent, earning another chuckle from the dark blue griffon. “Silent as always, Ghost!”

Heimer laughed before he made a quick dash at the dark griffon. Black Star remained calm as he watched his opponent getting closer to his range. Once Heimer was close, Black Star quickly grabbed both of the dark blue griffon’s arms and threw him at the boiler’s exhaust port above. Heimer crashed back-first on the boiler, dislocating his spine and making a noticeable griffon-shaped dent on the large machinery. A mechanical voice soon blared to life.

“WARNING! BOILER HAS BEEN DAMAGED! BOILER HAS BEEN DAMAGED!”

The voice continued, while another warning alarm blared to life. Black Star felt the floor tremble as the joints that held the boiler in its place started to came loose. Heimer struggled to get back to his feet, but stopped in his place when he heard more of the joints come off from their places.

Black Star immediately made his hasty escape while the boiler started to tilt towards the injured griffon. Heimer could only turn around and watch in horror before the boiler came down onto him. The floor quickly gave way from the sheer weight of the boiler; prompting Black Star to grab hold a piece of the walkway that was still attached to the ribcage.

The dark griffon could only watch as the boiler along with Heimer’s crushed body fell into the sea below. Black Star sighed before he began to make his way up to the second entrance that lead to the cockpit. His comm crackled to life as Kite’s voice came through.

“Cap’ what happened in there? I just saw a large metal pod came off!”

“That’s the boiler, kid,” Black Star spoke while he climbed up. “Don’t move from your position, just keep me posted.”

“Wilco, cap’” Kite said in affirmation as Black Star continued to climb up to the other entrance.

0750 hrs

Kestrel managed to send a changeling down to his watery grave seconds before she saw the massive boiler fall from Valkyrie’s ribcage. The dragon roared in agony as steam stopped leaking out from his joints. The changelings saw this as well, and all of them found it difficult to believe that their superweapon could be damaged like that. Carapace 1 was slowly losing it.

“All Carapace units, get back to the Valkyrie! Eliminate the saboteur!”

The changelings soon diverted their attention away from the exhausted allied forces and flew straight for the dragon. Kestrel grunted as she accelerated to intercept as many bugs as she could. The other allied units followed her actions as they tried to halt the changelings’ movements. Despite their fierce determination to fight off the bug-like equines, casualties began to take their toll on the recruits.

Razorback soon found himself being attacked from multiple directions. Breaker tried to help him, but the griffon recruit perished before his comrade could get close to him.

“Razor’s down! Damn it!” Breaker cursed in anger. He couldn’t believe it: despite him being sure of himself that he would be able to save his comrade, he still failed. Slowly, anger started to envelop the young griffon’s mind.

“You bastards… I’ll kill you all!!”

“Tch! Brad, keep it together!” Ricochet snapped from his end. “You can’t take them all by yourself!”

“Just watch me, Rico!” Breaker growled, but Archer immediately blocked his path and grabbed his neck.

“Don’t be stupid, kid. Revenge will never bring you friend back!” she barked. “Calm yourself or else you will share your comrades’ death!”

Though Breaker was hesitant to comply Archer’s command, he ultimately nodded in restrained anger. Satisfied with his reaction, Archer motioned him to provide Rod some backup while Ricochet and her would take out any changelings within their proximity. Breaker complied in silence as he flew up to join up with Rod, just as a changeling passed by with Max on his sights.

The griffon tried to evade the changelings’ attack, only to find himself getting shot with a paralyzing spell that hit his right arm. Goose saw his twin’s predicament and immediately rushed in to support. The twin brothers fought against the changelings with all their power, but unfortunately, Goose was soon hit by another paralyzing spell. The spell hit his chest, causing his heart to stop.

“Goose! NO!!!” Max shrieked as he watched his brother’s limp body fall down. Using this chance, the changeling soldiers started to close in, only to find Jet and Lanner blocking their way. Jet roared as he took three changelings at once, providing Lanner enough time to deliver several hits while they were distracted. Two bugs quickly went down while the rest retreated.

“Hey, kid!” Jet began as he shook the distraught Max. “Keep yourself together!”

Max remained unresponsive, but Jet kept shaking him to snap him out. Unfortunately, the green griffon was forced to retreat when a changeling tackled him from behind, leaving Max at the mercy of the bugs. Max tried to defend himself, but the changelings eventually overpower him and snapped his neck. The griffon soon fell down and joined his twin in death’s embrace.

Jet and Lanner quickly flew into rage when they saw that. Jet broke free from his capture’s grasp and performed a wing slam at the changeling before finishing it off by stabbing both of his eyes. The changeling screamed in agony, but Jet wasn’t done yet. He then ripped out both eyes out from their sockets and used them to beat the changeling into his watery grave.

Lanner, on the other hand, began to take three changelings at once without any fear of losing anymore. All of Verde squadron was dead with the exception of Jet, Scunner and him; there was nothing for him to lose anymore. Lanner roared as he tackled the first changeling and stabbed his underbelly before grabbing another bug by the horn. The third changeling tried to attack him from behind, but Lanner used the second changeling’s horn to stab him in his chest and used the first as a boxing glove to hit the third and second away.

Both Ronin and Stalker kept their pace as they continued to engage the remaining changelings along with Riddle. The blue griffon announced that there were still five changeling soldiers left including their leader, but he also stated that most of the Hoofstian squads were eliminated or down to just one member left. Ronin looked up and saw Butterclaw and Rosepink engaging two changelings from both sides. Both griffons appeared to be exhausted to their bones, and so were the changelings.

“Did those changelings’ leader not heed for his squad’s state?” Ronin said in disgust. “He only cared for his personal goals, while his subordinates were forced to fight to the bitter end!”

“I have hunch that their leader was deluded by Esser’s words…” Riddle said between pants. “All we can do now is to keep those bugs’ attention to us and not at Blake.”

Ronin could only give the blue griffon a slight tired smile before she and her son went back to engage more changelings. Riddle groaned tiredly before he checked the state of his Zeal and the others’ as well. Kestrel had increased hers to 10%, while Kite had turned down his device to 2%: just enough to keep some the pain of his injuries at bay. Black Star was the most unusual one: his device still showed 10%, but the power was pulsating up and down in a some kind of rhythm that matched the dark griffon’s beating heart.

In all of his years working on the Z.O.E.M.S.A. project, Riddle had only witnessed one occurrence that matched this scenario. In order for this to happen, the Zaubenschaft must be perfectly linked to the user’s whole body, mind, and the user’s spirit as well. The previous user of the early Z.O.E.M.S.A. project managed to attain this perfect synchronization by keeping his mind and goals straight for the finish line: the success of the project itself.

So what kind of goal did Black Star have in mind that made him able to achieve such perfect sync with his Zeal? Riddle had one hunch, but he dismissed it.

“No… it’s too ridiculous, even for a magic powered device…” Riddle sighed as he watched the ensuing battle near the Valkyrie.

“Then again… I’ve been wrong before…”

Black Star finally made it to the top where the second entrance was. He looked back and saw, much to his dismay, an armored changeling flying towards him. The bug-like equine screeched before he tackled Black Star near the entrance. The two struggled to gain the upper hand until a sudden jerk threw the changeling off balance, allowing Black Star to slash his right wing before kicking him into the gray abyss. The changeling tried to stabilize, but due to his damaged wing, he couldn’t do anything but to fall to his death.

Black Star sighed in relief. even with the Zeal powering his body, his right wing still hurt, and the pain was affecting his performance in battle. Suddenly, another changeling flew up and headed straight towards him, only for Kestrel to catch the bug on his leg and scratch his face. The griffoness then grabbed the changeling and spun him around for a few seconds before throwing him at one of the ribcages. The impact snapped the changeling’s spine, and soon, the changeling fell to the ocean.

“Nice timing, Marie…” Black Star sighed as the pastel griffoness landed near him and began to inspect his wounds.

“Can’t say the same for you, Blake,” Kestrel said in worry once she got a close look at Black Star’s gunshot wound. “Oh lord… looks like you won’t be flying for while, even if the bullet gets pulled out.”

“I kinda knew that, Marie,” Black Star stated, earning a sharp look from the griffoness. “Anyway, back to the original matter. We need to disable Valkyrie’s Z.O.E. pod, and the entrance’s right there…”

Black Star pointed his talon at a large metal, door which was linked to a set of stairs that lead to the main Z.O.E. power room. The entire Z.O.E. pod took half of Valkyrie’s chest area, and the pod itself constantly gave out a pulsating red glow. Kestrel immediately took flight and headed for the door. She tried to open, it but the door was electronically locked, and the stairs were blocked by a dense magical barrier generated by the Z.O.E.s.

“Damn, its sealed shut!” Kestrel growled before she gave the door a frustrating kick. The griffoness took to the skies and circled around to find any other entrances, but she couldn’t find any. The entire Z.O.E. pod was firmly sealed from all sides. Kestrel growled in frustration as she landed beside Black Star.

“It’s no use, there’s no way in,” she squawked.

“Then it’s time we give Esser a surprise visit,” Black Star sighed. “The switch for the door must be inside the cockpit.”

“Are you sure, Blake?” Kestrel asked in worry. Black Star raised his eyebrow as Kestrel continued. “You’re wounded, I’m beat. I don’t think both of us can take that maniac down even with our Z.O.E.s are activated.”

“It’s worth the shot, Marie. Or else, a lot of ponies are gonna die…” Black Star answered grimly. Without any time to waste, Kestrel grabbed Black Star’s shoulders before lifting him off the platform and headed for the cyborg drake’s head. Suddenly, Valkyrie gave out a loud screech before he changed his flight heading. Rather than heading southwest like he was suppose to do, Valkyrie turned right and headed north. This caused a brief panic from the changelings and the griffons.

“What’s that idiot doing!” Carapace 1 exclaimed before he reached his comm to contact Esser. “Hey, bird-brain. What the hell do you think you are doing!?”

“Sorry, bug-breath. It seems that the COFFIN was unable to suppress Hraesvelgr’s dragon instincts anymore,” Esser answered nonchalantly from his end. “If this keeps up, then Valkyrie will reach the Crystal Mountains within two hours… well if he doesn’t blow up first,”

“…Speak for yourself… vermin…” a deep, guttural and static-filled voice growled from the comms. Carapace 1 was startled by this voice, but Esser just chuckled and continued.

“Hello there… Hraesvelgr. You had a nice rest, eh?”

Valkyrie just growled in annoyance after hearing that sentence, completely oblivious of Black Star and Kestrel’s landing on top of his skull. The two griffons had to hold on tight while they searched for the hatch which will lead them to the cockpit. Valkyrie’s constant movement, coupled with strong winds blowing on their faces, made it very difficult for them to locate the hatch.

After a good two minutes of searching, Black Star finally got what he was looking for. Using all of his might, Black Star opened the hatch before both griffons entered the cockpit. The cockpit was cramped, and Valkyrie’s two mechanical eyes were constantly shifting like real eyeballs would do. But something was very wrong here,

Esser was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is he?” Kestrel asked as she shifted her sights around the cockpit. Black Star, on the other hand went to the control console and searched for a switch that could open the Z.O.E. pod’s shutters. He silently whistled in awe at the advanced machinery lying before him. Valkyrie’s cockpit was built unlike anything he nor the entire griffon race had seen before. Small screens showing digital data of Valkyrie’s systems, speed, and altitude were placed all over the console.

So many instruments, so little time. Before Black Star could find the switch, Kestrel suddenly shrieked in pain before a sick crack was heard. Black Star turned around and found that Esser had already twisted Kestrel’s right wing out from its socket.

“You don’t give up, do you!?” he snarled before he threw Kestrel away. The griffoness growled in pain as Black Star took a weak fighting stance. Esser’s smirk grew before the two griffons clashed once again.

Esser drew a right hook and it impacted Black Star’s left cheek. The pain was bearable, but it threw him to the side of the cockpit. The dark griffon was confused. He expected a stronger punch coming from the brown griffon, but that hook just felt like a slightly enhanced punch if compared to the brown griffon’s shockwave-generating blows when they fought above Gryphus.

“C’mon, Blake…” Esser chuckled as he prepared another punch. “Wakey-wakey, time for more punchies!”

Black Star growled as he stood up just in time to catch Esser’s punch. Just as he thought, his punches were weaker than before. With a slight smirk, Black Star threw the brown griffon’s arm and retaliated with his own attack. The fist contacted Esser’s lower jaw, and it send him crashing into the cockpit’s ceiling. Valkyrie jerked before roaring in annoyance. The dragon felt that since the two were basically having their scuffle inside his head.

The dragon shook his head, causing the three griffons inside to be thrown around like ragdolls. Unfortunately, Esser’s body crashed into the COFFIN’s flight stick, causing the dragon to enter a nosedive towards the ocean.

Valkyrie roared as speed began to rattle his bones. The rest of the allied forces, along with the remnants of Carapace squadron, noticed the dragon’s rapid descent.

“Esser, you fool!” Carapace 1 exclaimed as he disengaged and flew towards the dragon. Ronin and Stalker, who were still battling him, automatically began to pursue the changeling leader.

“Come back here!” Ronin growled as she and her son tried to catch up with the changeling. Carapace 1 noticed them following and ordered one of his subordinates to shake the griffons off his tail. Stalker was the first one who noticed the incoming reinforcement, and he immediately shielded his mother from the changeling’s attack.

The blow broke something inside his left wing, causing Stalker to lose control of his flight and begin to spiral down into the ocean.

“STAN!!” Ronin shrieked in horror as she abandoned the pursuit before diving down to catch her son. Stalker tried to stabilize his descent, but it was no use. His left wing was too badly damaged to be used, so he could only activate his comm and announced,

“This is Stalker, I’m hit and going down!”

“Hold on, I’m coming for you!” Ronin snapped from her end.

“No, Mom. Just chase that changeling down!” Stalker retorted.

“I’m not letting you die, Stan!” Ronin yelled. “What kind of mother would let her son die!?”

Before Stalker could answer his mother’s statement, Rod came flying from his right and caught him.

“I’ve got you, boy,” Rod said in assurance. “This is Northwind 1 to Southwind 1. Got your son, colonel. He’s fine.”

Ronin’s relieved sigh could be heard from the comm. Stalker still felt his heart pounding even when he was safe, but he noticed that Rod was also descending at a steady pace. Turned out, Rod was also wounded with visible bruises on his face and blood was leaking out from his right wing.

“Sir, you’re…” Stalker began, but Rod quickly answered him.

“Injured, I know, and we’re bailing from the fight for now.”

“But what about your squad?” Stalker asked again.

“Archer’s got it covered.” Rod answered. “C’mon, let’s go. I hope you can swim.”

Stalker just gave a nervous nod as the two griffons continued to descend to the ocean. Once they were close to the surface, Stalker jumped out from Rod’s grasp and landed into the murky waters. Rod followed suit and quickly activated his comms’ emergency beacon so the SAR team could find them. Rod had an easy time staying afloat while Stalker took his time getting used to the cold saltwater. There was nothing they could do now but wait for rescue and watch the meteors fall on the horizon.

Esser managed to crawl his way to the COFFIN’s control stick and bring up the dragon’s nose upwards, recovering Valkyrie from the plunge. The three griffons felt their weight increasing dramatically as the dragon pulled up and stabilized. Esser checked the altitude and found it slowly decreasing. He figured that the dive must have damaged one of Valkyrie’s control surfaces.

Before Esser could do anything about it, Black Star pounced on him from behind, and both of them continued with their brawl. Though the dark griffon was busy fighting against Esser, he instructed Kestrel to look for the switch that would open the sealed Z.O.E. door. Kestrel immediately complied and limped over to the control panel to search for it.

Esser roared as he slammed Black Star’s back to the wall. The dark griffon gasped in pain as Esser turned around and started to hold him by his throat.

“Heheh, I admire your effort, Blake,” Esser began as he landed a blow to Black Star’s face. “Sadly, it will not make a single fucking difference!!”

Esser laughed again as he hit Black Star again and again. When the brown griffon paused for a moment, Black Star just spat a mouthful of blood at him before he smirked.

“Is that all… you got, you pansy?” he said through his bloody grin. Esser’s smirk grew wider as he began to pummel the dark griffon again. At his third blow, Black Star moved his head to the side, allowing Esser to punch the hardened bone wall. Sickening cracks were heard as Esser felt his knuckles break from the impact. Black Star quickly went behind the brown griffon and bit his tail, causing Esser to screech in agony.

“You motherfu—AARRGHH!!” Esser screamed again as Black Star bit down harder, snapping Esser’s tail bone. The brown griffon retaliated by kicking Black Star in his face, and the same strange grin was still plastered on his face. At this time, Kestrel finally found the switch for the door. She quickly activated it, resulting a mechanical whine to be heard from outside.

“Blake, it’s open!” Kestrel exclaimed before she tackled Esser onto the floor. Black Star released his bite and gave the brown griffon a hard kick to his face. Esser just chuckled in response as he struggled to break free from the griffoness’ grip.

“You hold him down, Marie. I’m going outside to shut that thing down!” Black Star said as he climbed up to the entrance.

“Just be careful, Blake!” Kestrel responded as she struggled to keep Esser down.

“Yeah, be careful, Blake!” Esser said with a chuckle, prompting Kestrel to hit him again on his face. Black Star ignored the brown griffon’s insult and gazed at the neck spine which separated the skull from the body. He was still grounded, so he would have to do this the old fashioned way.

Carefully, Black Star began to make his way to the body by crawling on top of the spines. Before he was halfway to the body, an armored changeling landed in front of him and gave him a snarl.

“You’ve gone too far, Ghost!” he hissed.

“I take it that you’re the head honcho of those bugs?” Black Star asked in a bored tone.

“Silence, half-bird!” the changeling, or Carapace 1, yelled. “I will not tolerate your insolence no more!!”

The angry changeling roared before he charged straight at the black-feathered griffon. Black Star braced himself for the impact, only to find Carapace 1 had grabbed and carried him up into the sky. Both of them struggled, rendering Carapace 1 unable to control his flight. Black Star saw this, and an idea quickly popped in his head.

Carapace 1 delivered a blow to Black Star’s right cheek, but the griffon dodged it and retaliated by piercing the bug’s left eye. Carapace 1 screamed in pain as he began to flail around his front limbs in a desperate attempt to hit Black Star.

“YOU’RE DEAD, HALF-BIRD!!” he roared in pure spite. “DEAD!!”

Black Star only smirked as he dodged another blow from him and pierced Carapace 1’s right eye, effectively blinding him.

The changeling screamed in agony, but Black Star wasn’t finished with him yet. He and his bug were still flying, and he could use Carapace 1’s body to reach the Z.O.E. pod. The changeling still struggled as green blood was pouring out from the empty sockets, and his mouth still spat foul words directed at the griffon.

“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that!” Black Star muttered as he made his way to the back of the changeling. He then jammed his talons inside the eye socket, earning a sudden jolt from the changeling.

“What are you doing!!” the eyeless bug demanded. Black Star kept his beak shut as he squeezed the soft tissue inside the socket. The sudden pain made Carapace 1 fly forward, earning a satisfied look from the dark griffon.

“ARGH!! Would you stop that!!” Carapace 1 screamed as Black Star jammed his other talon inside the other eye socket. The changeling’s body twitched in response and the wings beat faster. Soon enough, both of them were on a steady pace towards the Z.O.E. pod.

Once they were close to the ribs, Black Star’s comm suddenly beeped as Kestrel’s voice came through.

“Blake, Esser escaped my grasp! He’s coming for you!”

Black Star widened his eyes in shock before something hit him from behind. Carapace 1 was thrown out from his flight and hit one of the ribs, crushing his already breached skull and ending his life. Black Star, on the other hand, was thrown into the Z.O.E. chamber pod, crashing on the pod and dislodging one of the Zaubenschaft gems inside.

Valkyrie screeched as he felt his power draining away. Without sufficient power running through his artificial veins, Valkyrie’s steady descent became more and more rapid with each wing flap he took. The remaining allied forces were forced to follow him towards the surface of the ocean.

Riddle in particular was worried about the safety of his subordinates.

The air was getting colder as the coastline and the city of Stalliongrad began to take form on the horizon. A magic pillar towered over the city, likely to be one of the numerous magic pillars supporting the dome. Since they were nearing Equestrian territory, Saetos informed them that his radio broadcast won’t be able to reach them within a few minutes, since the battle slowly moved out of the GCC’s radio range.

“I’ll try to contact Cloudsdale Control to keep an eye out for you guys,” the griffon radio operator said. “Good luck, you guys. Altair Alpha out.”

With that word, Saetos cut his entire link with the team. Their fates now lied in the Equestrians’ hooves.

Meanwhile, inside the Z.O.E.’s chamber pod, Black Star managed to recover from the crash, and he tried to get a good footing. The entire pod was installed near the spine, and it took up nearly all of Valkyrie’s ribcage. The pod itself gave out an eerie pulsating red glow, almost like heartbeat. Suddenly, someone landed on the open door.

It was Esser.

“Ready for the final round, Blake?” the brown griffon chuckled sinisterly.

“When you are…” Black Star hissed in response. Esser’s grin widened before he and Black Star roared as they drew their punches at each other. Both attacks succeed in hitting their targets, resulting in both griffons to be thrown back. Both combatants stood up before tackling each other, desperately trying to gain the upper hand in this brawl.

Riddle kept his eyes on the Valkyrie. The changelings were finally defeated, but not with a heavy toll on their side. Verde squadron was almost completely wiped out, with Jet and Lanner as the only survivors. Northwind and Southwind squadrons were left with two flyers each. Rod was forced to bail out, along with Rosepink, Butterclaw, Ricochet and Stalker after they suffered injuries that rendered them unable to fly or breathe in high altitude.

The GRGs had their fair share of casualties after Tallman tragically fell in battle, leaving the remnants of his squad in the claws of White Tip. The three knights were still intact, but were severely exhausted. Detlef even proclaimed that he’s getting too old for this.

Black, Crimson and Silver squadrons also suffered some casualties, leaving just a total of eight members left from all teams. The Hoofstian squads were also down to their last few members, with Magpie 5 taking the lead.

All of them saw the dragon approaching the Equestrian city, but they were too tired to perform any attacks on the Valkyrie. All they could do now was to stay close with the dragon and pray for Black Star’s success in disabling the Z.O.E. pod.

The dragon let out another loud screech, as if he was announcing his presence to the Equestrians.

“C’mon, Blake… You can do this!” Riddle thought in worry.

Black Star gave out a pained gasp as Esser kicked him on the floor. The dark griffon tried to stand up, only to find Esser’s talons gripping his neck. Black Star desperately tried to get those talons off as Esser began,

“You really think you all can stop me!?” he laughed. “I have ascended far beyond you dirty dogs could ever hope for! Even if you kill now, my mind will still live inside the Zone of Endless, and there’s plenty of time for me to hatch my next revenge!!”

Esser tightened his grip on Black Star’s neck, choking him even more. The dark griffon was out of options. He was going to die soon if he didn’t break free from this maniac’s grip. As he was about to give up and let death embrace him, he saw a loose cable with an exposed end hanging above it…

“Don’t you get it!?” Esser continued, unaware of the cable above him. “There’s nothing you can do now!! HAHAAAAHAHAHA!!!”

The mad griffon roared in laughter while Black Star waited for him to stop. Once his laughter died down, a smirk formed on Black Star’s beak, amusing the brown griffon even more.

“What’s this? Ready to face death with a smile, eh?” he questioned.

“No,” Black Star began. “I’m ready to watch you lose!”

Before Esser could react, Black Star spit on his face and clawed his stomach, causing Esser to lose his grip and allowing Black Star to kick him away. The brown griffon was about to tackle him again until Black Star grabbed the cable and jammed the exposed end at Esser’s Zaubenschaft. Esser screamed in pure agony as thousand volts of electricity surged through his body.

“You’re right, we couldn’t stop you…” Black Star stated. “But we could stall you.”

Esser’s scream slowly turned into laughter, and before Black Star even knew it, Esser was laughing his head off as the electricity continued to fry his body. Esser gave Black Star one last menacing look before the Zaubenschaft exploded into pieces, causing Esser’s charred body to be thrown out from the chamber and fall into the ocean below.

Black Star coughed as the smoke cleared up. All that was left of Esser’s Zaubenschaft was the small pieces of it scattered on the floor. The winds quickly did their work, and the pieces were blown away, leaving no trace at all. The dark griffon breathed a sigh of relief. Looks like Esser is gone.

For now.

He quickly reached the comm and switched to a wide range frequency.

“This is Aquila 2, Black Star reporting current status,” he began with a tired tone. “Esser is no longer at play… the beast is back in his cage.”

Soon enough, several cheers were heard from the comms. Kite’s cheer was the loudest one of them all.

“Alright! Way to go cap’!” he said excitedly.

“Thank the stars…” Kestrel breathed.

“Good riddance!” Ronin exclaimed.

“Blake, you’re the man!” Jet yelled.

“Well done, Ghost…” Dmitri said from his end.

Black Star couldn’t help but to smile when he heard all the praises being directed at him. A month ago, all he could hear were insults, and curses being thrown at him, but now… he finally felt accepted by his friends again.

Still, he still felt some remorse about his misdeeds in the past… and this battle was far from over as long as Valkyrie still lived.

With a determined look, Black Star climbed up to the pod. The pulsating red light really hurt his eyes, but he had to reach it and shut it down before Valkyrie could make landfall. An alarm sounded, telling to whoever was left aboard that Valkyrie’s power was dropping below 30 percent.

“That’s not good…” Black Star thought in worry as he picked up the pace. All the while, he reached his comm and said,

“Aquila 2 to any available units, me and Aquila 3 may need some ride once this thing is off,”

“This is Kite, Aquila 4. I’ll handle Captain Turmfalken, cap’. Don’t you worry about her,” Kite chirped from his end.

“Roger that, Blake, I’ll be waiting outside,” Riddle answered. “You have exactly 10 seconds before all of Valkyrie’s systems are down. Make those seconds count, or else you’ll be trapped there.”

“Understood, I won’t die that easily!” Black Star said before he ended the transmission. Once he finally reached the pod’s platform, he could see all the instruments which controlled the power flow of the Zaubenschafts. He quickly ran down to the end of the platform and began to shut the instruments down from that end.

More alarms blared as Valkyrie’s power went down even more, but Black Star ignored them. His task now was to shut all the instruments down and make his escape before he went down along with this oversized skeletal reptile. Valkyrie roared in pain as he felt his life draining away.

In the cockpit, just before Kestrel was hoisted up by Kite, they both heard a guttural static-filled voice saying,

“No…!! …—*static*—… I can’t die again…—*static*—… NO!!! …—*static*—…”

The voice soon drowned in static, making both griffons look at each other in worry. A mechanical whirring was heard as Valkyrie continued to lose more power. Kestrel and Kite quickly got off from the head. Now, Black Star was the only one left inside the dragon’s ribcage.

Though Valkyrie was losing more power, he was still too high to ditch into the ocean. With the city of Stalliongrad right on his path, Riddle told Black Star to hurry it, up or else the equine city will serve as a landing site for the powerless behemoth.

By this time, Equestrian radar had already picked up Valkyrie’s slow descent towards Stalliongrad. Gale, the radio operator stationed in Cloudsdale, had received the early warning from Saetos, and he responded by sending the Wonderbolts towards the city and warned the ponies there of the imminent crash landing of the Valkyrie.

Gale and several other off-duty Wonderbolts could only watch on silence as the target continued to approach the populated city.

“120 seconds until impact…” Gale announced in a worried tone.

The Wonderbolt squad led by Spitfire flapped their wings as hard as they could in a desperate attempt to reach Stalliongrad. They were still too far away, and they could only watch as the massive form of Valkyrie continued to descend towards the city.

“We’re not going to make it!” a Wonderbolt called Blaze yelled in horror.

“Just keep going!” Spitfire barked. The Wonderbolts picked up their speed following her words, but they were still too far away.

“All units are down!” Black Star yelled as he ran down the platform towards the exit. “Wonderfalke, catch me now!!”

Following those final words, Black Star jumped out the exit and began to plummet down into the ocean. Fortunately, Riddle caught him just in time. Valkyrie roared in pain as his power began to reach zero. The dragon gave out one last roar before all of his systems went dead. He was now nothing more than a giant glider, still heading for the city.

The griffons and the ponies were out of options. They could not steer that thing away from the city, so they could only watch in horror… waiting for Valkyrie to make his crash landing on top of hundreds if not thousands of innocent lives.

But not for one griffon.

He knew the risk, and he was willing to take it. Despite that everyone had forgiven him of his mistakes, Black Star still felt guilty about his misdeeds. Valkyrie was one of the products of his carelessness, and he must end it.

It’s now or never.

“Riddle, take me above Valkyrie’s left wing!” Black Star yelled, much to Riddle’s shock.

“What are you—” Riddle stammered.

“JUST DO IT!!”

Riddle just sighed and accelerated. Black Star watched in silence as both of them neared Valkyrie’s left wing. Once they were above it, Black Star looked upwards and said,

“Forgive me, sir…”

Before Riddle could react, the dark griffon kicked him in the stomach, causing the blue griffon to let him go. Kestrel and Kite were stunned by the scene.

“BLAKE!” the griffoness shrieked.

Black Star ignored her cry and assumed a diving position. He then reached his Z.O.E. device and turned the power to 100%, numbing all of his pain away in exchange for exposing his major organs with the Zaubenschaft’s deadly magic. Riddle ,who managed to recover from the dark griffon’s kick, quickly dived down to catch the suicidal griffon.

“Blake!!” he yelled, but Black Star didn’t listen. Kestrel was going to lose it if he succeed. But, the need of many outweighed the need of one griffoness.

He could let more lives be destroyed by Esser’s mad game. His mistakes. His resolve.

“Just promise me that you won’t leave me again…”

A single tear escaped his eye before he closed them.

“I’m sorry, Marie…”

Black Star managed to grab the tip of the left wing. The momentum of his fall combined with the Z.O.E.’s power created a shockwave that was enough to turn the massive beast away from Stalliongrad. Black Star didn’t have any time to react when the left wing grazed the ocean first. Soon, the rest of Valkyrie followed, breaking apart when it hit the waves. Several explosions soon followed as the warheads inside the spines detonated from the sheer force of the crash.

All the allied forces in the area were stunned to see the crash. The ponies of Equestria immediately cheered, but the griffons and some of the ponies who were able to catch the glimpse of Black Star’s suicide attack were shaken to their very bones. Kestrel was the one who broke the silence first as she let out an anguished scream,

“BLAAAAAAKE!!!”

0915 hrs

Gale kept his attention on the screen despite the cheer erupting from behind him. Suddenly, a transmission from Spitfire came in. Gale quickly patched it up to his comm.

“This is Gale, what’s the SITREP, Spitfire?” he asked.

“This is Spitfire, we confirmed that the dragon has crashed into the ocean near the shore of Stalliongrad…” Spitfire said.

“But, how is that even possible?” Gale asked again. “Altair told me that the dragon became uncontrollable once his power source had been…”

“One griffon… the same one that my flight encountered during the early days of the war, sacrificed himself by pulling the dragon on his left wing… literally,” Spitfire answered in a grim tone. “If it hadn’t been for him, more lives could have gone up in flames.”

“I see…” Gale said in remorse. Then, another voice came in from Spitfire’s end. After a brief chatter, Spitfire contacted Gale again.

“Gale, I just talked to one of the griffons. He said that that there are more griffons who were forced to bail out on the Antlertic. Could you dispatch the SAR to locate them?”

“Wilco, Spitfire. Just tell them to hold out for a while, Gale out.”

Gale quickly switched his transmission and called the SAR to get to the Antlertic as soon as possible. If some of the griffons were indeed still afloat in the waves of the ocean, they needed to be rescued fast. The Antlertic was not a safe place for any flyer to bail out.

2 miles southeast of Stalliongrad, Equestria
May 20th 2020, 1034 hrs

The search and rescue effort took over an hour, but the ponies managed to locate all the survivors. All of them were injured mostly on their wings, soaked wet from top to bottom and with the risk of suffering hypothermia due to the prolonged exposure to the cold ocean water. Rosepink and Stalker in particular were immediately treated due to swallowing too much salt water.

Several Hoofstian units who were shot down by the changelings were also found alive, and even three changeling soldiers were found in the waters. The bugs were quickly subdued and silenced, and they were to be taken straight to Canterlot for questioning.

All in all, the survivors were fine aside from their injuries. But one person didn’t even make it back on land.

Kestrel had requested the SAR team to look in Valkyrie's wreckage for any sign of Black Star. So far, none of them could find the dark griffon’s body.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but we will continue the search, and we’ll contact you if we find anything,” one of the SAR pegasus said.

“Thank you…” Kestrel said in a dejected voice. Her green eyes shifted back to gaze at the sea. Her mind was conflicted. Why Black Star did this to her? Why did he sacrifice himself so suddenly? She still remembered her request to him, to never leave her side again. Was it a big lie?

In the end, she couldn’t find the answer. Her mind was already broken from his apparent death, and thinking about him more would only hurt her more.

Riddle saw the griffoness’ predicament and decided to come up to her and say,

“I know it’s too sudden, Captain Turmfalken… Even I didn’t see that coming,”

Kestrel stayed silent, though tears started to soak her cheeks. Riddle then continued.

“Even in the end, he surprised us all… and saved millions of lives. The griffon who used to be branded as a traitor, the accomplice who helped create the Equestrian War… the—”

“…Hero who saved Stalliongrad from destruction…” Kestrel said through her tiny sobs. “The dolt who aided us during our time of need, the fool who risked his life… just so he could find peace and forgiveness…”

At this moment, Kestrel couldn’t contain her sadness any longer.

“A griffon… a good friend… a caring mentor…”

Kite could not help but to shed a tear when he heard that. The small griffon quickly wiped it off his eye as Kestrel continued.

“A loving mate… my mate… Blake… The Ghost of the Griffin Kingdom…”

Kestrel finally broke down, letting all of her tears out on the ground. The others, both survivors and several SAR teams, couldn’t help but stare in sadness as the griffoness wept in grief. Rod, though injured, forced himself to stand up before he raised his talon up at level with his eyes. It was only fair for him to give the dark griffon his last respect.

Jet saw this, and he too saluted at the general direction of the crash site. Soon, all the griffons and ponies gave one last salute in respect for Black Star’s sacrifice. Kestrel, though unable to stop herself from crying, gave her respects too.

Soon the survivors were lifted back to Stalliongrad via hot air balloon in order to get more medical treatments. Only Kestrel kept her eyes fixed on the crash site, still trying her best to cope the loss of her long time friend and mate. Everything would not be the same anymore.

Everything was about to change…

Epilogue: It's Changing Everything Again...

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Epilogue: It’s Changing Everything Again…

Ponyville, Equestria
July 12th 2020, 0800 hrs

It was a bright and sunny morning in Ponyville, a great time for the ponies to begin their daily activities. Up above in the skies, a blue-colored streak passed a few clouds, causing them to break up into several smaller clouds. The blue streak stopped, revealing itself as Rainbow Dash.

The blue pegasus mare smirked as she saw a light blue-colored streak wipe out the clusters of cloud she just hit. Kite immediately stopped in midair, panting in exhaustion before he looked up to see Rainbow hovering above.

“Wow, not bad, Kite,” the pegasus praised. “You’re faster than Gilda, though you clearly haven’t worked on maintaining your stamina yet.”

“Sorry, Miss Dash,” Kite answered between pants. “I can only do small bursts of speed. I still can’t maintain it.”

“Just keep trying. Sooner or later, you’re gonna get the hang of it,” Rainbow responded with a grin. She looked around for a moment before she said, “Alright, let’s take a break for 5 minutes.”

“But, we haven’t cleared the rest of the clouds yet…” Kite pointed out.

“Hey, it’s no harm done,” Rainbow said as she plucked together a few puffs of clouds to make a small floating island for both of them. “Besides, we can clear these clouds in no time at all.”

‘Well, if you say so, Miss Dash,” Kite wondered.

“Just call me, Rainbow, kid. Don’t be too formal about it,” the blue pegasus said before she laid her head on a cloud pillow.

“Sorry, it’s a habit thing,” Kite admitted sheepishly before he sat down beside Rainbow. Both of them watched the clear blue skies in silence. Kite felt a little bit calm. Over a month ago, the sky was filled with countless bolts of light raining down towards the surface.

The aftermath of the Second Ulysses Planetfall, as it was dubbed by the ASMC, met the prediction. Although the barrier managed to hold the bigger chunks out, the smaller fragments managed to get by the barrier despite the unicorns’ and the princesses’ effort to repel them. Luckily, most of them landed in unpopulated areas or on the ocean. Still, a minority of them managed to hit several populated areas, but casualties were kept to a minimum.

The aftermath of Operation Dragon Slayer was not a good one. Numerous Hoofstian pegasi and several of Kite’s friends perished over the Antlertic. The small griffon sighed; he was going to miss Razorback’s techno babble and along with Max and Goose’s bickering.

“What’s the matter, kid?” Rainbow asked in curiosity. “Something on your mind?”

“Yeah, just thinking about my deceased friends…” Kite admitted.

“I feel you, kid… I lost several of my friends too during the Equestrian War,” Rainbow said in a grim tone. “I’m sure they’re happy that we finally won the war and brought back peace to Equestria.”

“Yeah, my friends would probably be happy too if they learned that overgrown lizard was brought down by… um…”

Kite immediately came to a halt as he was about to mention Black Star’s name. He could not bring himself to say his name after his sacrifice at the end of that mission. When Valdar finally learned of the dark griffon’s death, Black Star was immediately declared Missing In Action, though he was listed as Killed In Action within the reports.

Valdar even stated that Black Star’s parents were already notified, and the dark griffon himself will be given the “Knight of Valhöll,” a medal of honor rewarded for performing a selfless act of valor above his duty as a soldier of the Griffin Kingdom. Needless to say, Black Star’s parents were utterly devastated to hear the news. His father even regretted his decision for disowning his son after hearing his role in the Equestrian War.

For Kite, he still believed that good old Captain Blake was still alive. He was simply too badass to die like that, even if he hit the water’s surface at high speed… combined with a broken wing and numerous other injuries inflicted by Esser…

“Yeah, no need to recall that event, Kite,” the blue pegasus assured the small griffon. “Whoever that griffon was… he’s the real hero.”

Kite just gave the rainbow-maned pegasus a tiny glance. Rainbow Dash quickly chuckled and corrected,

“But that doesn’t mean you guys aren’t awesome by your own right. Seriously, you guys are basically the central pillar of morale for the griffon army now!”

“Just like you and the angels, princess,” Kite added, causing Rainbow to blush when she heard her moniker being said. “Now I knew the reason why Sir Wonderfalke was such a fan of you girls.”

How could Rainbow forget about that? While the griffon survivors spent their month recovering in Stalliongrad, Riddle had requested that he wanted to see the Angels of Equestria before they went back home. Princess Celestia actually granted his wish and let him and a few other griffons to spend their last week in Ponyville.

Riddle almost lost his composure when he faced the seven members that made up Mirage squadron. Kite even thought that the old griffon nearly suffered a heart attack when he saw the mares. Being the leader, Rainbow shook the blue griffon’s talon first, stating that it was an honor for her and her squadron to meet their “counterpart” from the north. Kestrel immediately befriended the pink flyer, Firefly due to their experience with Black Star, and Kite quickly adjusted himself with Medley and Cloud Kicker, with the latter challenging him for a friendly game of “Hoofball.”

When she met Kestrel, Firefly felt some similarities between the griffoness and herself. They both had some sort of complicated relationship with Black Star and neither one of them were willing to tell the other about it. When Firefly asked Kestrel about Black Star’s whereabouts, the griffoness only gave this vague answer,

“He’s gone… far from here…”

Firefly was disappointed with the answer. She asked Kestrel again about any efforts to find him, but Kestrel just dismissed that Valdar did not have any intentions on looking for him. Firefly stated that she wanted to speak to him, one last time for personal reasons. Kestrel could only smile in sadness; she could never tell her the truth. It would devastate the mare and the entire Mirage squad.

After all, who would have thought that the treacherous Black Star who was deemed responsible for helping to create the Equestrian War would be the one who saved thousands of lives in Stalliongrad by giving up his own life.

To an extent, the griffons chose to keep the secrets of the Neue Gryphus Rebellion behind their wings. Red Cyclone was still marked as the mastermind of the Equestrian War to the citizens, but the princesses already knew who was to blame for the two wars.

Unlike Black Star, Esser’s charred body was able to be recovered by the Equestrian SAR team. All of them nearly gagged in disgust, and some of them were scared shitless when they saw the griffon’s face.

Esser’s strange wide grin was still present even when there was literally no skin left on his face. The eyeballs were also missing along with all the feathers. Even Princess Luna was creeped out by it when the body was transferred to Canterlot for further examinations.

The only thing missing was the Zaubenschaft gem, which was destroyed in battle. The SAR team searched day and night, but they could not find any of the fragments at all. The mystery behind Esser’s resurrection died along with him, but the griffons were not too sure about his death.

He will return someday. It was only a matter of time.

Kite suddenly felt his legs being pulled, causing him to get up and find Kestrel and Firefly hovering in front of him and Rainbow. The small griffon stood up and greeted,

“Ah, captain. What are you doing here?”

“Just checking on my subordinate,” Kestrel responded with a warm smile. “Aren’t you two suppose to be clearing the skies?”

“Yeah, sis,” Firefly said while crossing her hooves. “Some of the ponies below are complaining about the clouds.”

Rainbow slapped his forehead while Kite took to the skies.

“Dear Celestia, I forgot!” Rainbow exclaimed as she took to the skies. “Thanks for the heads up, sis! See ya later!”

Kestrel and Firefly watched as the two resumed their work. Both of the chuckled before Firefly spoke,

“I swear, your subordinate reminded me of Dashie… minus the cocky attitude,”

“Milvus has a lot to learn, but I think the war helped him harden up for a bit,” Kestrel sighed. “After all, several of his friends died in that war…”

Kestrel went silent for a moment, clearly reminiscing the deaths of her subordinates. She had written all of the condolence letters and sent them to the deceased’s parents. Losses in the war were inevitable, but she still could not cope the loss of her beloved.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Firefly said as she tried to change the topic. “On the other hoof, congratulations on the promotion. It must be an honor for you to be the leader of the Northern Eagles.”

“Thank you, Firefly,” Kestrel smiled. She still could not believe it herself. Yesterday, Riddle told her and Kite that the injuries he sustained along with the non-stop usage of the Z.O.E. Mk.II had strained his old body to the very limit. For the blue griffon, that was an absolute call for him to retire from all the action.

Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, Equestria
July 11th 2020, 1820 hrs

“Sir, are you really going to retire?” Kestrel asked. “But what about Aquila? Who will lead the squad?”

“You will, Captain Turmfalken,” Riddle said. “I was about to give the command to Blake, but well… you know…”

Kestrel’s head slowly dropped down in sadness. She knew what Riddle meant. She knew that Riddle’s decision to retire would come very soon, especially when the blue griffon had not walked around that much since the battle over the Antlertic. Riddle preferred to stay within the Golden Oaks Library, which was owned by the unicorn, Twilight Sparkle: a talented young mare and a student of Princess Celestia herself.

But she was not expecting him to appoint her as the new leader. She ignored the curious glances from Twilight and her assistant Spike as she tried to process Riddle’s sudden statement. Her feelings were mixed. At first, she felt joy, but another feeling clouded her mind. Was she really worthy to take the mantle as the leader of Aquila squadron?

“I know it sounded ridiculous for me to say that, but I have no other candidates, captain,” Riddle continued. “Next to Blake, you were the only griffon worthy enough to take lead slot from me.”

“I agree with Sir Wonderfalke, ma’am,” Kite jumped in. “If there’s a griffon I need to place my trust in, it would be you, ma’am. Besides, you already did a good job as our instructor for the past two years, ma’am.”

Kite and Riddle’s words gave her a little bit of confidence, but she was still unsure about leading Aquila Squadron. She could lead an ordinary squadron composed of ten fliers, but leading Aquila was another story. Aquila was now regarded as a central pillar of morale for the Griffin Kingdom Forces, and the Equestrians even acknowledged them as the griffon counterpart of the Angels of Equestria.

She later stated to Riddle that she would need some time to make her decision. The blue griffon just shrugged in approval.

“You don’t have to give me a direct answer, Captain Turmfalken. The only thing that matters is your readiness to be a squadron leader.”

Kestrel ultimately gave her answer, stating that she will do the best as she can to maintain the squad. Although she accepted the position, she stated that she will lead Aquila squadron under the call sign “Aquila 2”. She felt that Black Star was more worthy to lead the squadron, and by choosing her desired call sign, it would technically leave the real leader spot for Black Star. If he was still alive.

Both fliers then descended to the town square, where more and more ponies started to set up their daily activities. Soon enough, they saw Applejack trotting and chatting with Rod, while Archer along with Breaker, Ricochet and Rosepink were stuck with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Rod soon noticed Kestrel and Firefly’s presence before he greeted them.

“Good morning, Captain Turmfalken! Firefly!”

“Good morning, Rod,” Kestrel smiled as she and Firefly greeted him back.

“What are you doing with Applejack?” Firefly asked in curiosity.

“Oh, I was just discussing about what the cold weather’s effects are on an apple tree,” Rod sighed. “You see, I’m trying to grow one in Gryphus, but it kept dying due to freezing weather conditions,”

“And that’s why I’m givin’ Rod some tips on growin’ them apples on the mountains,” Applejack said. “I admit, I never knew that there’s a griffon trying to grow some apples in their home!”

Nearly all of them chuckled in amusement after hearing that while Rod just blushed in embarrassment. It was true that he really did try to grow an apple tree in his home. After all, gardening was his favorite pastime when he was off duty.

Though Rod was in a good mood, Archer was not. Sweetie Belle kept her eyes locked on the griffoness’ tail and occasionally tried to hold it with her magic. Kestrel noticed this and decided to tease Archer.

“How about you, Anna? Having fun babysitting?” the pastel griffoness asked with a smirk.

“Oh shut up, Marie…” Archer growled. Sweetie Belle giggled excitedly as she successfully grabbed Archer’s tail with her magic. Unfortunately, her happiness was short lived, as her magic began to shimmer down before fading out.

“Keep practicing, Sweetie Belle! You’re doing great!” Scootaloo chirped from Breaker’s head. The tan griffon smacked himself on his face, clearly not too fond of having a small filly pegasus climbing up to his head. Rosepink tried her best not to laugh at the scene while Ricochet was busy chatting with Pipsqueak and Dinky, though the young griffon was having some difficulties answering the two’s questions.

“Is it true that you guys were fighting a robot dragon?” Dinky asked excitedly.

“Technically it’s a cyborg, but yeah, you could say that…”

“Was it scary? Did it breathe fire like all dragons do, or did it breathe something else?” Dinky asked again.

“Like ice, maybe?” Pipsqueak added with a smile.

“Well… it definitely breathed fuego…err… I mean fire, but it also could spew laser beams as well,” Ricochet explained. Dinky couldn’t contain her excitement as she yelled,

“That’s so cool!!”

“Tell us more! Tell us more!” Pipsqueak asked with a grin, causing Ricochet to take a worried glance at Rosepink, who was on the verge of laughing.

“Please help me, Camilla!”

“Nope, you said that you could handle them on your own,” Rosepink said as she stuck her tongue out. Ricochet was not amused.

“Please! You know kids better than me! I’m tired explaining all of this to them!”

Rosepink just laughed before she sighed and walked up to the two foals.

“Alright, I think Rico’s too tired to tell stories anymore,” she said to the two, causing Dinky and Pipsqueak to groan in disappointment. “On the other hoof, who wants to visit the Sugarcube Corner for some ice cream!?”

Immediately all the foals yelled in excitement. Scootaloo quickly hopped off Breaker’s head while Sweetie Belle finally gave Archer’s tail some break. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom looked at her sister and asked,

“Can I, Applejack?”

“Sure, sugarcube,” the orange mare smiled. “But don’t have too many!”

“Yaay!” Apple Bloom squealed before she joined the other CMCs with Rosepink as they headed for the Sugarcube Corner. Archer, Ricochet and Breaker quickly gave out a sigh of relief. Kestrel had to admit, she never saw Rosepink acting so cheery in the military academy. She figured that maybe Rosepink had a hidden streak that came pretty useful with kids.

The group then decided to spend the rest of the morning in the Ponyville café. Although the waiter was a bit nervous around the half eagle-lion creatures, the patrons were not nervous at all. One or two of them even greeted the griffons in a friendly manner. It was nearing 11 AM when Twilight Sparkle and her assistant, Spike came to the café.

“Wow, these ponies are actually being nice to us,” Rod said. “Way different than the situation before the war,”

“Well, you guys did help us improve our tech for a little bit, and the peace between our countries has mellowed some of the ponies’ hearts,” Twilight smiled. “I heard that Valdar has proposed to Princess Celestia to build some kind of defense apparatus in Canterlot similar to the Burning Talon,”

“Well that’s what I heard too,” Rod said before he took a sip from his drink. “Forgot about the details though,”

“It’s called Project Atmos, Rod,” Archer added with a chuckle. “Seriously, Valdar’s our friend. How could you forget his words?”

“Project Atmos?” Twilight and Firefly spoke in unison. Archer took a small sip from her drink before she explained. Before she could though, Rainbow Dash appeared above and called Firefly to join her and Kite to clean up a heavy formation of clouds near the Everfree Forest.

“Horseapples,” Firefly whined as she took off from the ground. “I’m sorry, everyone. I’ll join you guys later!”

Once Firefly was out of sight, Twilight asked Archer about Atmos, urging her to continue.

“Alright. Anyway, it’s basically a turret system that fires lasers.” Archer then noticed that Twilight had levitated a small piece of parchment. The griffoness then continued.

“Atmos is composed of eight turrets that can fire lasers independently for a short amount of time. Our country even helped built the prototype in the far southern country of Aurelia…”

“What about the one installed in Canterlot?” Twilight asked after she wrote down the important facts. Archer then continued.

“Valdar said that Grunder Industries was supposed to built the Atmos Ring, but with Grunder disbanded… A new company that goes by the name General Resources Limited will be the one who build it.”

Twilight remembered that company’s name after its reveal just two weeks after the Neue Gryphus Rebellion. Apparently, the company was created by the Co-CEO of Gryphon Technologies after the previous CEO was found guilty of selling weapons to the rebels. General Resources or GR was dead set on continuing the technological advancement of Equis.

Another company in the far east had also revealed itself to the world. The company was named Neucom Incorporated, supposedly a complete overhaul of the Urusean Aeronautics Administration shortly after its founding. Twilight guessed that these two companies will become rivals in the future…

She heard that General Resources had also announced their contributions to improve the Zone of Endless. From now on, the Zone of Endless will be called “Electrosphere”: a much more fitting name for the virtual world.

Twilight mused, so much had changed within a month. Though she was intrigued and curious about this, a part of her was afraid of how much Equis would change in years to come.

Her thoughts quickly came to a halt as Fluttershy greeted her and the group. Behind her were Medley, Ronin, and Butterclaw.

“Oh hi, Fluttershy,” Twilight smiled. “What brings you here?”

“Oh, Stan and Gilda said that I need some rest from taking care of my friends,” the timid pegasus said. Twilight was confused.

“But I thought you were scared of Gilda?”

“She apologized for her actions, Twilight,” Fluttershy smiled. “I’m surprised myself. She’s definitely changed since our last encounter.”

“I’m even more surprised that she’s willing to take care of the animals along with that Stan fellow,” Medley hopped in. “I’m still not sure about leaving the animals to those two.”

“You can trust Stan, Medley,” Ronin spoke. “I raised him, and I know that he would never hurt your animals.”

“Are you sure, Miss Mizukami?” Medley questioned. Ronin just chuckled in response.

“He’s my son, I know him better than any of you,”

Meanwhile

Stalker kept his eyes locked at the smug-faced white rabbit standing in front of him. Gilda on the other hand was busy feeding the birds with a flat look on her face. The animals were not really a problem for her and Stalker, but that little white bunny on the hand was like a demon rather like an angel. The griffoness frowned as she noticed Stalker’s little stand-off with the so-called “Angel.”

“Stan, don’t just sit there like an idiot! Help me with this!”

Stalker ignored Gilda as his frown deepened. Slowly, the griffon growled,

“Alright, you little bastard. You win this round, now tell me how exactly did you manage this place during Fluttershy’s absence?”

A smile formed on Angel’s face.

The group continued their chatter in the café until the familiar form of Pinkie Pie surprised them. The pink pony had a huge grin on her face.

“Hi, everypony and every-griffon!” she said cheerfully. “Whatcha been doing?”

“Hi, Pinkie Pie. We’re all just getting along,” Twilight smiled. “What are you doing here?”

“I just want to inform our feathered friends that I’m planning a huge “Farewell Party” at the Sugarcube Corner,” the pink earth pony explained. “I mean it’s their last day here, and the other griffons from Stalliongrad would probably come any minute to pick you guys up,”

“Hm, she’s got a point,” Archer mused. “But a party? For us?”

“Of course, silly!” Pinkie laughed as she appeared between Archer and Kestrel who were sitting near the table, surprising both of them.

“Holy shit…” Archer thought as she clutched her chest.

“Where did she come from!?” Kestrel thought in confusion.

“Just take it as a farewell party AND a “Thank You Party” from the guys at Stalliongrad!” Pinkie explained with a grin. “Everypony’s welcome, and Rosepink with the CMCs are already there! Itkindaruinedthesurpriseabitbut I don’t care, it’s still a party!”

“She’s right y’know!” a familiar voice called out from above. It was Jet with Lanner hovering behind him. The griffons smiled when they saw their friend, but they also felt sad. Jet’s arrival meant that they would have to return to Gryphus soon.

Jet’s squad, or what was left of it, was tasked to escort Valdar along with delegates from General Resources to discuss Project Atmos with the royal princesses. The meeting would end at noon, and Valdar requested for all the griffons to return with him, stating that they needed to reorganize and rebuild their scarred homeland.

Without wasting any time, the group paid for their food before leaving the café as they headed for the Sugarcube Corner. As expected, quite a number of ponies were already gathered within the bakery. The Wonderbolts, the rest of Mirage squadron, Riddle, Kite and even some of the ponies from Stalliongrad were present. The latters even thanked the griffons, especially the core members of Aquila squadron for their actions during Operation Dragon Slayer, though Kestrel stated that while they were flattered by the ponies’ words, it was really Black Star who deserved all the praise.

A moment of silence was held before the party as the griffons honored their late comrade. The mourning was soon replaced by loud music and cheers of joy as the party began.

The party ended just before noon. Valdar even attended the after-party, which lasted a full hour after the main party was finished. Once it was over, the griffons exited the bakery and regrouped on town square, where Stalker, Gilda and the rest of Crimson and Silver squadron were waiting for them.

Riddle, who was carrying several books in his saddlebag, walked alongside Twilight Sparkle as they headed for town square.

“I thank you for these books, Ms. Sparkle,” the blue griffon said. “We griffons may have the technological advantage, but even we need to learn some spells and magic to upgrade our machines,”

“Don’t mention it, Sir Wonderfalke,” Twilight smiled. “I also wanted to say thank you for sharing some information regarding the projects you’ve been working on for the last few years.”

“Just be careful about some of the projects, Ms. Twilight,” Riddle warned. “Not all of them are built for peaceful purposes…”

“I’ll keep that in mind, sir,” Twilight chuckled. Both of them continued on with their chat as they passed Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Ricochet and Rosepink. The white unicorn filly looked upset.

“Aww, do you really have to go?” Sweetie Belle whined. “You haven’t told us anything about your war,”

“Sweetie Belle, darling,” her sister Rarity began. “I’m sure it must have hurt recalling all those awful experience. Some of their friends might had fallen in battle, and you do know how upsetting it was to lose someone close to you?”

“Your sister’s right, kid,” Ricochet began. “We lost a lot of friends during that war, not counting thousands who perished.”

The small unicorn filly immediately felt guilty when she heard that.

“I’m sorry,” she squeaked.

“Nah, it’s alright,” Ricochet shrugged. “You didn’t know.”

“Just keep your spirits up! Think positive, kid,” Rosepink added with a smile. Sweetie Belle just nodded and grinned as the griffoness patted her head. Dinky, who was standing in front of her mother Derpy and step-brother Pipsqueak, spoke next,

“Are we gonna see each other again? You guys are pretty nice when compared to the meanies that tried to kidnap me,”

“This isn’t goodbye, little buddy,” Breaker said as he pat the filly unicorn’s mane. “If we had time, we’ll be back to play some more games with you.”

“Finding a soft spot for the ponies, eh, Brad?” Stalker snickered, causing Ronin to slap him on the back of his head. Everyone chuckled at the scene. “Ow! Mom, that hurts!”

“Be nice to your friends, Stan,” Ronin said sternly, much to the others’ amusement.

“Yes, mother…” Stalker said in embarrassment, bowing down before the griffoness.

“Yeah, listen to your mom, Stan!” Breaker called back with Dinky giggling below. Unfortunately, Ronin snapped her attention to him as well.

“And you must act your age, young cub,” she barked.

“Y-yes, ma’am!” Breaker nodded quickly. The others were clearly enjoying this.

“Alright, that’s enough laughs for now,” Valdar said after he calmed himself down. “Time to go, people.”

The orange griffon then turned his attention towards Mayor Mare and said,

“We thank you and Ponyville’s citizens for their hospitality; we shall never forget this,”

“You’re welcome, your majesty,” Mayor Mare smiled before she bowed before the griffon king. Before long, the half lion-eagle creatures spread their wings and took flight. The ponies said their goodbyes and farewells, to which the griffons answered back with their own.

The voices soon faded away as the griffons climbed to a higher altitude. Kestrel in particular could not help but to stare to her right: the general direction of the Antlertic Ocean. The griffoness then brought her talons to her chest as she thought,

“Blake, I wish you’re here… just to see how much things have changed since the war that tore our nation apart… If you’d been in Ponyville with us, I’m sure that the ponies would welcome you as a hero and not a monster you thought you’d become…”

Slowly, a dim smile formed on Kestrel’s beak as a single tear flowed from her eye.

“You really changed everything, Blake… you changed our country, you changed Equestria, and most of all… you changed me...”

The group soon changed their course to the north. Kestrel took one last glance before she finished her thought,

“My heart will always be with you…”

2 Miles near New Saddle, Equestria
July 12th 2020, 1655 hrs

Darkness.

All he could see was pure darkness. He felt cold, colder than the coldest winter in Gryphus.

Then, he felt something warm… coming from his beak. The warm spot quickly turned hot. Hot enough to burn his mouth.

Black Star coughed before he spat a mouthful of hot soup. The dark griffon tried to sit upright, but a surge of pain coming from his hip prevented him. Once the taste of the hot soup was gone from his mouth, Black Star took his time to adjust his eyes to the area around him. Soon, a terrified form of a mare holding a can of the soup took shape in front of him. The mare had a bright yellow coat and a cross cutie-mark.

“A nurse?” Black Star thought before he looked around him. Coconut trees everywhere and a small roof made out of leaves placed above him with several large branches holding the roof up.

“A hut… in a coconut forest? Where the fuck am I?” Black Star thought before the nurse pony slowly regained her senses and spoke,

“He’s awake…” she stammered. “Dear Celestia, he’s awake!”

The nurse then bolted out and yelled, “he’s awake! He’s awake!” like a nutjob. Black Star just stared at the sight in pure confusion before he decided to lie back down. The sting from his hip still hurt, and the same thing could be said for his right wing.

At first, Black Star was still confused about all this. Why was he in a forest? What happened that resulted in him being in such a state? Slowly, bits and pieces of his memories came back as the dark griffon began to remember.

The sortie, the battle, the dragon and… and…

The crash... the city...

Black Star brought both of his talons up at eye level, making sure that he was not hallucinating. He even pinched himself to be absolutely sure that he was not dead.

“I’m alive…” he thought with a frown before he gave out a sigh of relief. Looks like life was giving him a second chance.

He’s alive. Battered, but alive.

Before he could think his next course of action, someone else entered the hut. The figure wore a black fabric that covered his body, with only the hood exposing the snout. The dark gray snout of a stallion.

“Glad to see you up and about,” the figure started with a hoarse voice. “I thought you’ll never came through,”

There was a brief silence before Black Star asked the hooded pony,

“How long have I been out?”

“A month… maybe more,” the pony answered, earning a mortified look from the griffon. He’s been out for more than one month? That was enough time for Valdar to list his name under the section of soldiers who were killed in action.

“Damn… over a month?” Black Star repeated in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“I’m very serious, Ghost,” the pony chuckled before he took something out from underneath his fabric. It was a large roasted fish on a stick.

“Here you go, it’s on the house.” The figure said as he handed the fish to the dark griffon. Black Star was suspicious at first, but a loud rumble coming from his stomach forced him to throw the doubts away. Black Star immediately chomped down on the fish, finishing it up with several quick bites. Fortunately, the figure had already taken out several more roasted fish and laid them out on a large leaf.

“Help yourself out, Ghost. You need your strength back,” the figure said as he sat down.

“Thank you, stranger…” Black Star said politely before he paused and asked, “Oh, pardon me. You know my moniker, and yet I didn’t know yours. What is your name, stranger?”

“My name is not important, Ghost,” the stallion waved his hoof. “I’m just a spectre from the past who still lingers in this world… looking for a purpose. A dog without a master. A lone wolf who walk on paths where angels would not dare to step…”

The stallion’s words left Black Star deep in thought. The dark griffon finally found his answer when he noticed that the fabric covering the pony’s left flank was slightly removed: revealing a wing with dark blue feathers, along with numerous scars visible from the pegasus’ gray coat and a pentagram cutie-mark…

For Black Star, there was no greater honor if he were to meet one of the most well-known aces in the history of Equis. Now, one of them is sitting in front of him.

It’s going to be a long night for him and the pegasus...

[UNKNOWN TRANSMISSION RECEIVED: CODENAME UI4054AURORA]

Unknown Location
July 12th 2020, 2230 hrs

A purple-coated pegasus growled in annoyance after the monitor in front of him turned blue then into static just moments ago. Beside him stood a black-coated pegasus pony, and he seemed intrigued by his companion’s sudden irritation.

“What happened, Shockwave?”

“The data extraction is unsuccessful… again!” the pegasus, Shockwave, said before he slammed both of his hooves near the keyboard, forming a large crack on the table.

“Knock it off, Shockwave, I’m trying to sleep here!” another voice sounded from the darkness. Shockwave just sighed as he rubbed his face, trying to calm down. The dark pegasus waited for a few seconds until he asked again,

“What do you mean, unsuccessful?”

“Oh come on, do you really need to ask that, Deathwing?” Shockwave said as he threw his friend an annoyed look. “I’m sure you already know why I need the data in the first place.”

“But I don’t get why you were unable to extract the data from that thing in the first place,” Deathwing replied as he pointed at the shattered purple Zaubenschaft gem placed within a box which was connected to the computer. The gem was pulsating in a slow beat, almost as if it was mimicking a heartbeat.

“There’s always something wrong with that griffon, and you know it, Deathwing,” Shockwave said as he shut down the computer. “Heck, even our Lady Aurora was disturbed when we managed to resurrect him!”

“Oh don’t remind me of that!” another voice spoke up from behind them. It was a young pegasus pony with a yellow coat and red mane. “Lady Aurora should have killed that lunatic the moment we brought him back from the dead!”

“Trickster, are you implying that our lady has made a mistake?” Deathwing growled. The small pegasus just ignored his glare as Deathwing continued. “I’m sure that whatever reason Lady Aurora brought back that maniac is for a good reason,”

“Yeah, and he did deliver too,” Shockwave jumped in. “Thanks to him, the Griffin Kingdom is down on its knees, and Equestria is left with no powerful allies,”

“It’s a perfect time to strike them down!” Trickster said excitedly, jumping up and down. “C’mon, let’s go there right now!”

“Oh here we go…” the voice that belonged to the resting pegasus in the darkness sighed, causing the small yellow pony to growl.

“Oh shut up, Havoc!”

“Patience, Trickster…” Deathwing reminded him. “We shall make our move once our lady ordered us to do it. For now, just bear with it for a little longer… we’re all eager to return home,”

Trickster just pouted in response as Havoc went quiet again. Deathwing then turned his attention back at Shockwave.

“Anyway, that doesn’t explain why you were unable to extract the data from his Zaubenschaft,” he pointed out. Shockwave just growled in irritation. “Technically speaking, you are the best mind in our ranks since Grimmsworth’s passing. So why, Shockwave?”

“Truthfully, I don’t know, Deathwing,” Shockwave admitted. “Every time I tried to extract the data from that prototype Zeal, something like a virus of some kind inside the gem blocks my every command. I tried hacking and breaching the gem’s storage, but the virus keeps rewriting itself to stop me. That last try was the final straw for it. The virus blocked me and attacked the computer, causing it to crash.”

“Hmph, big deal, smarty pants,” Trickster squawked. Shockwave just glared at the yellow pegasus before he spoke to Deathwing,

“Remind me to clean the computer’s drive later, I don’t want any of my data to be erased by some virus.”

Shockwave then trotted towards the door.

“And where are you going?” Deathwing asked, causing Shockwave to stop in his tracks. The pegasus just chuckled and answered,

“Telling Lady Aurora about all this. Care to accompany me?”

Deathwing complied without a word. Trickster on the other hand had to wake Havoc up and tell him that they will meet Aurora and tell her about the virus. Havoc growled; he didn’t like to be disturbed like this, but if it was for Lady Aurora, he will do anything.

Once the four stallions were out from the chamber, the box which held the pulsating Zaubenschaft gems started to give out some electricity. A distant laugh was heard from the speakers as the electricity travelled up the cable and into the computer.

“… heh… heh… heh…”

The monitor soon turned on by itself, but the screen showed nothing but than static as the laughter continued.

“Heheh… hahaha… HAHAHAHA!”

The static-filled screen then began to morph into a black and white version of Esser’s face. His eyes were pitch black with red spheres replacing the pupils. His laughter echoed through the room before he growled in a distorted, static-filled voice,

“It’s not over yet…”

=======

When the heavens fell, a new era began.

Peace must be earned through sacrifices…

Even with the fires of hate still scorching the skies.

The biggest change still looms on the horizon...

END

Ace Combat: Gryphon Wings

by Bwaak

Prologue: Escape (V2)

Chapter 1: Exile (V2)

Chapter 2: Deception

Chapter 3: Homecoming

Chapter 4: Zero-One-Seven (V2)

Chapter 5: Declaration

Chapter 6: Hunting Season

Chapter 7: Through the Fog

Chapter 8: Out the Frying Pan...

Chapter 9: ...and Into the Inferno

Chapter 10: Battle of Pisa

Chapter 11: Game Over

Chapter 12: The Last String

Chapter 13: Remembrance

Chapter 14: Turning the Tides

Chapter 15: Lurking Behemoth

Chapter 16: Stage of the Apocalypse

Chapter 17: Inferno

Chapter 18: Ghosts of the Round Table

Chapter 19: Armageddon

Epilogue: It's Changing Everything Again...