Flight of Firefly - Part 13 Draft complete · 4:52pm Jan 25th, 2019
After struggling to write a few hundred words a day, the dam broke once I figured out the flow of battle and I wrote the final 3000 words in the last day. Part 13 has reached 9373 words as of this writing, and the first prereader to get his hooves on the full chapter loves it. Chapter will release on Sunday morning or sooner if all prereads are received in time.
A teaser? Sure, why not...
When Storm Sergeant Blue Bolt had first proposed his plan to bring a superstorm down on our own base, Snow Squall had called it crazy. And I admit, as our surprising Harmony-fueled song ended and our newly created tempest readied to break in all its fury right on top of our collective heads, its increasingly violent winds and crackling lightning already threatening to tear both sides to shreds, I was given serious cause to wonder if he was right.
Nevertheless, I knew what was coming and was prepared to meet it, and with it, our fates. What I was not prepared for, however, was the sudden word that the initial gryphon assault was coming not from above, but below, as the healer teams who had set up shop in our vacated storm cloud vault shouted into the communication gems that a gryphon/diamond dog raiding force had broken into the large cavern and they were under attack. With a millennium of gryphon soldiers charging in from all sides, there was little we could do to assist, and I suddenly feared for the safety of not just our healers but our wounded and Gavian.
But if they were surprised, so were the gryphons, having not expected to find anything there but massive but half-full underground vault of storm clouds. So to describe this part of the battle, I offer the quill to perchance the most modest and unassuming stallion I’ve ever known:
A stallion who, even well into his 60s, is also the absolute last pony you wouldst ever wish to engage in mortal combat with.
—Firefly
Thank you, Captain. And greetings to all readers as I contribute to this tale for only the second time in as many books.
‘Tis not that I have had little to offer, ‘tis simply that old habits die hard—much like the Ravens we so oft fought, the Lances do not speak of operations past, even long past. The only reason I feel able to offer my recollections is this instance ‘tis simply because the Battles for Epsilon are a matter of public record, not special operations that must never see the light of day.
I am Swift Strike, founding Bolt Knight member and one of the few ponies publicly acknowledged to have been a Black Lance. In this, methinks I am in some ways the lucky one; so many of my brothers and sisters who died in the war or even before it remain unsung and unremembered; their names and service records unknown except at the secret Lance monument and memorial whose location I will never divulge.
Their voices and faces live on in the hearts and memories of their comrades, however, and as I begin writing, I am reminded of the old Black Lance motto: “The only easy day was yesterday.”
In this instance, and in so much of this war, the only easy fight was the previous one.
—Sergeant Major Swift Strike (ret.)
Headmaster, Foxford University
Trottingham
Before we describe the events to come, I wish it known that I did not participate in either of the first two battles at Epsilon. ‘Twas simply by my choice and the commander’s orders to stay behind, defending Gavian and the infirmary, protecting the healers as they did their alternately lifesaving and lethal work. Though more than capable of aerial combat, ‘tis certain my greatest battle gifts are in close quarters, making me the ideal bodyguard and defender of critical points.
With regards to the Gavian, if the commander was his mother, than I, in some strange way, had become his father for all the time I spent teaching and training him, enabling him to develop a hybrid combat style, one based on agility and quickness that would work well with his smaller gryphon build. Though perchance I already misspeak: he came up with that style more than me; I simply gave him a few pointers and a sparring partner who could instantly tell him what to correct.
Methinks you do misspeak, mentor—you were my inspiration and teacher in so many ways that I cannot even begin to thank you for all you did for me. You taught me to be a warrior when my own parents and nation cast me aside because they thought I could never be, and for it, yes, I do revere you as the father I never had. –Gavian
Thank you for saying so, Gavian, but no amount of training or teaching would have helped hadst you not been willing to listen and learn; to put in all the time and practice it took. I am honored by your naming me the Patrinus of your new daughter and look forward to teaching her combat when the time comes.
But before the tale of the battle begins, there is a minor story I wish to relate first, as I must report, Captain, that I have kept a secret all these years. Perchance you may recall that I told you after the battle that our two Raven captives broke free of their cells and escaped in the chaos of the battle? With sincerest apologies, ‘twas all a lie, as the story I now relate will show...
Release on Sunday morning or sooner. Be looking for it!
Good to hear. When you get in the groove it is magical.
I'm almost caught up. Just to reiterate, Fell Flight is my spirit animal 🦇
I still need to get past a writing rut I'm in.
Like how this looks, write on