“H-hey, it... might not be a megaspell. For all we know it could just be some sort of… really big gem. Those have a lot of latent magical energy too, you know,” I said, trying desperately to rationalize away the glowing object as anything other than an instrument of destruction. “They could just be retrieving those to power some sort of generator… and they were shelling Hopeville, because… they already have enough energy, and the dragon guys… want more?” I looked over to Night Strike, who was tossing the makeshift goggles back into my saddlebags, visibly shaken. She sat down in the seat of the Valkyrie ahead of me, letting out a long, shuddering sigh as she stared out of the window.

I stood up, stepping over to her and placing a hoof over her shoulder. “Okay, okay, I know this is bad, but it’s not like we’re completely screwed, right? We’ve still got the Valkyrie and megaspells ourselves, and a couple other bombs, right? They’re not going to start slinging theirs around unless they want to be on the receiving end of several themselves, right?” I continued, trying to comfort myself as well as her. Night Strike sat still for a moment before nodding slowly, taking another deep breath.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right, it’s just… I guess I’ve never really thought about it before. Even after Hopeville, I never really thought things would get this out of hand. What’re we going to do, we don’t even know where they heck they are! And what happens when they’re ready to deploy whatever those things are, or whatever project Cerberus is? Robo-dragons, Harriers, one-ton bombs, 28-centimeter railway guns, who knows what else they have!?” She looked back out of the cockpit of the Valkyrie, her brow furrowing. Oh, Celestia, I don’t like that look. She turned and placed her hooves at the controls, lights flickering on as she did.

“N-Night Strike, what are you doing?!” I half-yelled, reaching out to grab the chair to balance myself as the plane shuddered. The plane began to roll forward, forcing me to take my seat back behind Night Strike to keep myself from falling over onto the floor. The engine roar grew louder as we picked up speed, the wheels bouncing off of rocks in the terrain as we began to hurtle forward. “What the hell do you think you're doing?! You’re not seriously thinking of bombing them right now, are you?” I cried, watching as the ground fell away outside. Glancing over my shoulder, I could just see the tip of the lighthouse and the rotating lamp slip beneath the back of the plane as we took off. My mind jumped to the thought of Crash Dive and Scouring watching our escape, a pit growing in my stomach. Oh, this is gota be one of the worst ideas we've had in recent memory.

Turning back to face the front, I watched as Night Strike turned the plane south slightly, making her way back towards the crater that used to be Seahoof Armory. She let off a small breath, relaxing in her seat. “Alright, calm down Sparky, I’m not going to bomb them. But we need to figure out where these guys are actually located, or we’re completely without any options other than waiting to see where they strike next. Look back at those pictures and try to figure out where they were headed, and I’ll get us there as best as I can. They can’t be too hard to miss unless they’re completely underground... even then, we might spot something.” Oh, yeah, that definitely makes me much more reassured. Just going to go flying right into enemy territory, no idea what’s there, definitely can’t end poorly in any way, shape, or form. Still, I looked back to the display on the Valkyrie, switching between filters to try and spot any sort of interesting details in the photos. The back of my mind wondered how exactly this computer was advanced enough to display photos in any color other than green while I clicked over to another picture.

“I’m not getting anything other than that they’re all pointed roughly the same way. Our best bet would just be to follow the corpses and hope we come across their base,” I said, trying to hide my feelings of impending doom from my voice as well as I could. I continued to scan the various pictures as Night Strike turned in the sky, the radioactive crater coming in over the horizon. Oddly, though the memories of exploring ground zero of Shady Shores picked at my subconscious, the explosion looked almost peaceful from such high up. The ground was completely wiped clean, barely any evidence that the military base had ever existed. Night Strike squinted, trying to spot the wrecked remains of the dragons as she slowed the Valkyrie from its blistering speeds.

Switching from the photos to the live feed, I began to scan the ground along with her. “I think I see the robots, turn about…” I quickly consulted the compass on the array of instruments in front of my seat. “28 degrees east.” Night Strike nodded, following my instructions. The robots were soon in view, and the Valkyrie was flying along the trail of mangled electronics. I looked up from the screen to gaze out of the window at the passing countryside. The basin in which sat the armory raised up into the distance into a small collection of peaks. Night Strike pushed a lever forward, the engine roar growing louder as the Valkyrie picked up speed. “Ok, so any kind of special stealth tech we have on board? You sure this thing can’t turn invisible so we aren’t targeted when we come within 20 miles of the place?”

Night Strike shrugged, looking down at the controls. “I dunno, you were the one with the manual, what’d you do with it? I’ll take us a bit higher at least, maybe the cloud cover will help.” She said. Oh, sure, now the manual isn’t considered just a paperweight to you. 'I'm the pilot, I don't need to read it'... ugh. I regretted leaving my saddlebags back in the lighthouse as Night Strike pulled us higher, causing me to pull away from the window to avoid the intensified sense of vertigo. We were soon flying just below the clouds, occasionally the bottom of one bumping against the glass cockpit, pushing it out of the way. “See anything yet?”

I looked back down at the console screen, but could see nothing but a dense forest of trees and a thin river cutting its way through the ground below. The ground was slowly growing closer again as we approached the peaks, which appeared to be much flatter than they had looked from a distance. “Hold up… I think there’s something in the distance,” I said, fiddling with some of the controls to turn the camera away from straight down. Placed atop the hill, hidden partially from view by the peaks surrounding the plateau was a sprawling complex. Buildings sat at each end of the mountain, all surrounded by fence and high towers. Among the dozens of buildings sat what appeared to be an even larger amount of guns, all, now more easily visible as we approached, with several figures stationed around them.

The most impressive feature of the base, however, was a cluster of large circular doors embedded into the ground. Each looked to be at least as wide around as the Valkyrie was long, and several large guns were sitting guarding the silos. I gulped, momentarily forgetting about the situation as we approached. I was snapped out of my stupor when an explosion suddenly rang out above us, a cloud of shrapnel and dark sulfur pouring down from the sky. The Valkyrie shuddered as the shockwave smashed into us, Night Strike pulling up on the controls to try and hide ourselves among the clouds. I grabbed onto the arms of the chair instinctively, watching though the console as the complex below us flashed by. A few large flashes of light could be seen from below, and seconds later more explosions blasted up around us. “Shitshitshitshitshitshit, they've got flak guns!” Night Strike cried, yanking on the controls and sending us spinning to the side. “Hurry up and get a picture or something before they blow us outta the sky!”

I took hold of the camera controls, pointing it towards the complex as we banked and turned to avoid the anti-air fire. I tapped the button several times, hoping that at least one of the pictures would be usable as we were bombarded by the flak shells. “Okay, I got some, just go go go go!” Suddenly lights appeared from below, cutting through the darkness to fixate on us. Oh, this can’t be good. The familiar sound of fire spewing into the sky could just barely be heard above the explosions and engine roar. Through the camera I spotted a horde of dragons taking to the sky, several spewing jets of flames about as they followed the lights towards us. “Holy Celestia fuck me silly, just drop a megaspell and get out of here!” I shrieked, attempting to search the console for the button to ready the weapon. As I slammed my hoof down onto the console, another explosion caused the Valkyrie to shudder, and I could see out of the window that part of the wing was now skewered by a large chunk of metal, sparks leaping between it and the rest of the wing.

“It’s ready, drop it drop it droooop it!” I cried out in panic. Wrestling with the controls to avoid a few of the dragons’ fire, Night Strike pressed one of the buttons, the sound of the bomb bay doors opening below us as something clicked. Peeling away, Night Strike pushed a lever up as far as it would go, the Valkyrie’s engines straining as they were pushed to their limits. We were picking up speed, dashing away from the base as the dragons began to fall behind, unable to match our speed. Faster and faster we flew, myself gripping the chair for dear life when a thunderous explosion suddenly echoed all around, the plane screeching through the sky.

I peered back out of the window, noticing the that had been damaged was beginning to glow, the repair talismans working quickly to fix up the electronics. As I looked behind us, though, I wasn’t able to spot any signs of damage or an explosion, only a mass of metallic figures circling the base. “Night Strike… are you sure you dropped the megaspell?” I asked. Now that we were no longer in immediate danger, she looked down at the console in front of her, panting slightly from the excitement. Her muzzle scrunched as she stared at the buttons, glancing back to me for a second before breaking eye contact. “Night Strike… please tell me you didn’t release the controls for the megaspell we’d taken out for Shady Shores… did you?” She simply gave an awkward, non-committal whine as she tilted her hoof back and forth. I dropped my head into my hooves, shaking it. Of course she did.

“Hey, it’s not my fault! I only have a single button up here, you were the one who routed the power to that bomb rack! I thought you knew which ones were empty!” She took a breath, shaking her head as she glanced out the back of the cockpit. “I... think that explosion was us just shattering the sound barrier... Yeah, we’re going pretty freakin' fast right now.” she said, looking down at the dials and guages in front of her. With some swiftness, she pulled the trottle back, the deceleration taking us both as everything stopped being so much of a blur. I just shook my head again, fighting the urge to unbuckle and smack her upside the head. “Well, we can’t go back now, they’ll have us shot out of the sky in a second. At least we got some pictures, right? That’ll help us form a plan of attack at least.” She gave a small grin, trying her best to look cheerful. Her smile faltered as I looked up from my hooves, my gaze piercing enough to have struck a bloatsprite dead on the spot.

Night Strike sighed, looking forward again as she began to pilot us back towards the lighthouse. “Ok, so I might have just royally screwed any sort of chance we just had to take out that place in one swoop, but we can’t start crying about it now. We’ll head back to the others and see if they can help us think of a plan. I’ll let you put all the blame on me, is that enough?” She said, smirking back to me a little. I rolled my eyes, not wanting to admit that the chance to have her chewed out rather than me would certainly help matters.

Looking down at some of the captured photographs, I gave a worried groan. “Let’s just hope that they don’t try and launch some all-out attack on Vanhoover now that we’ve basically just set every alarm they had on red alert.” Night Strike nodded, mirroring my expression as we flew through the sky.

---

It wasn’t very long before the tall figure of the lighthouse peeked up over the horizon, Night Strike beginning to slow the Valkyrie down to prepare for landing. As we approached the cliffs, I was just able to make out the three figures of Aerith, Crash Dive, and Scouring standing outside of the lighthouse’s shack. The wheels whirred as they were lowered from the bottom half of the plane, Night Strike continuing to pull back on the controls to keep the Valkyrie from straying off into the ocean. With several bumps and six new wheel marks dug into the earth and snow behind us, we came to a stop just beyond the land bridge. Standing up, I moved for the cockpit hatch, swinging it open and allowing Night Strike and I to head out.

Hardly a second after we had stepped down from the metal stairway onto the damp soil were we confronted by the other three, Crash Dive fuming while the others looked more relieved. “What the FUCK made you two decide that flying off without any sort of warning or notice, not mentioning where you were going, or what to do if something went wrong, was a good idea!? I want to know your entire thought process from beginning to end before I tie you to the edge of these cliffs and waterboard you!” She yelled, spit flying from her mouth.

Night Strike stepped forward, biting her lip as Crash Dive’s glare shifted towards her. “Uhm… well… sooooo… we were looking at the photos of the bombing site, and we saw that the dragons had, uh… m-megaspells… and so I decided to fly off and try and find the place… maybe bomb it pre-emptively and such… then, eheh, funny sort of thing, we were going to drop a bomb, but Static got the wiring wrong and-“ She was cut short by Crash Dive, who was now leaning in so close that her and Night Strike’s muzzles were millimeters apart.

“So you’re telling me you saw that the enemy had megaspells, and rather than act like a rational pony, you decided to go gallivanting off on an impromptu bombing run in hopes of getting off on another massive megaspell detonation? You put your fucking libido ahead of your sense of self-preservation?!” Night Strike’s jaw dropped, her eyes widening as she stepped backwards. I tried to step between the two, Crash Dive turning to face me. “And what the fuck made you think it was fine to just go along with that? You didn’t try and stop her? You can’t tell me that thing isn’t built with some kind of launch abort system, you had every available moment to stop this, but instead you think that this couldn’t go wrong? That you’d be fine? You want me to remind you how I found you two? Crashed so hard into the ground, it’s honestly amazing your skulls weren’t shattered from the impact. Must be because of how bloody thick they are!” Crash Dive glared daggers between the both of us, who were struck dumb. She let off a huff, seeming to think her point was made. “Anytime you two want to come down off from that high of heroism of yours and remember that you’re not immortal, I’ll be here.” She turned away, walking towards the lighthouse.

Night Strike and I stood frozen in place, neither of us entirely sure how to react. Eventually Scouring spoke up, turning his head to watch Crash Dive leave. “I… uh… sorry about that. Had a feelin' she was upset, but if I’d known she was going to… well… look, should prob'ly just head back inside fer now.” He began to slowly make his way towards the lighthouse, Aerith, Night Strike and I following once we’d broken out of our stupor. The door squeaked on its hinges as we stepped inside, all of us entering just in time to hear the door of Crash Dive’s room slam shut. Aerith and Scouring slid into the booth in the kitchen while I sat opposite them along with Night Strike. All of us sat in silence for a few more minutes, Night Strike giving an awkward cough.

“Well, uh, um, anyways, we did manage to get a bit of a look at that place and snapped a few photos. We know it has to be where that Cerberus guy is hanging out, because some robo-dragons tried to attack us. Any, uh… ideas on some sort of assault plan?” She asked. Aerith gave a blank stare, while Scouring shrugged a little, looking down at the table.

“Well, we don’ really know anything about the place, even with whatever photos you might have gotten. Air-to-surface recon’s only goin' to get you so far. At least, I’m assuming that the place was at least as defended as Seahoof Armory.” Yeah, comparing the two is like comparing a bazooka to a bb-gun. We’re screwed. Scouring looked over his shoulder towards the hallway, as if expecting to see Crash Dive leaning around the corner, staring at us. He lowered his voice and locked eyes with me, only occasionally shooting glanced back towards the stairs. “You think you might be able to… you know… sneak in? Get more intel on the place first? I don’ think Crash Dive would be very keen on the idea, but considering how ye did back at the old slaver pen, and how they’re goin' to be expecting a full on assault any time soon now, it might be our only option, lad.”

I gave a small grimace of fear, clenching my teeth a little as I avoided eye contact. “Uh… well… I’m not really keen on… dying, so…” My voice trailed off as I tapped my hooves together. Night Strike pushed her hoof into my shoulder, giving a small grunt of annoyance.

“Oh, come on, Static. You keep whining about how we never do things your way, now you get the best opportunity to go sneaking around in some high tech military base, the whole day depending on you, you being the sole and glamorous hero? Don’t you lie, you’d be in and out of there in a flash. Besides, with that new suit of yours fixed up, nopony will ever know you’re there. As long as you don’t bump those big cute flanks into them.” She laughed, a faint twinge of worry in her eyes. I only gulped, the color draining from my face.

Sent in alone on a suicide stealth mission? Oh, this is going to be just grand.

The small, weak laugh died on my lips as I patted Static on the back, chewing at my lip. It'd... it's a risk, but we don't have any other option, really. I wish we did. Aerith leaned herself forwards in the booth, bringing up a screen. 'He won't have to go in alone. I can make myself invisible too, and we'd be a hell of a smaller target for them than the Valkyrie. If things go south, I can probably get us both out of there quickly, too.' Aerith's small smile was a bit of comfort, myself having rested a foreleg around Static's neck in a small hug. Aerith and Static tacking this... that's a little better. The alicorn paused for a moment, leaning to the side and looking back to the doorway. 'Though, we could use a distraction when we go in... If you can bomb an area somewhere outside the base with one of those one-ton fuel-air bombs when we go for our insertion, that could be enough. Static, Scouring, mind lending a hoof?'

The earth pony beside me blunk a few times, color returning to his coat as he looked around, a little dumbstruck. His eyes met mine, and I held him a little closer - I'm swearing to Celestia now, we're both going to get through this or die trying, and the second one isn't an option - leaning in to give him a slight nuzzle. Aerith picked herself up to her hooves as Scouring followed her lead, both of them starting to make way back to the storage area in the basement of the lighthouse tower. Myself and Static both followed behind them down the hallway, everything relatively silent aside from the creaking of wood boards under heavy hooves. As we passed by Crash Dive's bedroom, though... she was definitely crying. Nnh, guess Aerith and Scouring just couldn't hear over his power armor... My eyes met Static's for a moment, us both stopped outside her door.

"Ahm... you can go on ahead, help them with getting the bombs loaded. We can only fit two, so, eheh... I'm gonna go and talk with Crash Dive. I don't think that outburst earlier was just because we, um..." I rubbed at the back of my head, Static resting a hoof on my shoulder. He gave a nod, a faint hint of a smile on his muzzle as he leaned in to place a light kiss on my cheek, trotting on to the lighthouse tower. I drew in a breath, releasing it in a small sigh, looking back to Crash Dive's bedroom door. The power armored pegasus on the other side was still letting off small sputters and whimpers, ones that grew ever so slightly louder as I took hold of the handle and pressed inside.

Yanno, as I stepped inside the small, cosy room, it'd just occurred to me that I'd never been inside Crash Dive's own bedroom before. The pegasus had laid herself out on her bed sans her power armor, muzzle buried deep into the old pillow as her pink mane was scrunched in a mess, her disfigured wings resting against the sides of her undersuit. Huh, she wasn't lying, it really is an anchor... She drew in a short gasp and lifted her head as the door shut behind me, looking over to myself with her reddened, sore eyes, cheeks damp with fresh tears. She sniffled as she let her head fall forwards, pushing herself up with her forelegs and trying to collect herself. I moved myself over to her, leaning myself on her matress.

"Hey. You, um... you going to be alright, Crash Dive? I haven't seen you like this..." I let myself trail off as she rubbed at her eyes for a moment, a sigh eventually escaping my lips. Sitting myself down on her matress' edge, I looked down to my forehooves, trying to think for a moment. "I'm... I'm sorry. It was all my idea, I should've told you about the megaspells first before taking off. I just... I didn't know what to do, and my first instinct was just to take off and try to blow them apart before they could do anything about it. Them having megaspells, especially ones that small and portable... the thought just terrified me."

Drawing in a deep breath, I let it out in a light huff, letting my shoulders slump. She was only making light sniffles now, at least. "It's just... what you said... dropping megaspells from the Valkyrie, it isn't anything like the other times. Those, they were done in, um... they were like the old films my dad loves, when it's a controlled environment, for the spectacle. Using them in combat, like on Seahoof... I can't know if we're too close to the blast, or what happens after it goes off. It's just... it's not something I want to do, at all. I don't want to die by a megaspell... I don't want to die, I don't want Static to die, I don't want any one of us to die. Not now, not ever."

Shuddering breaths escaped myself as my own vision became blurry, hooves gripping the edge of the matress as I blunk and felt cool tears starting to roll down my own cheeks. Oh, come on ya stupid pegasus, you're supposed to be here to help calm down Crash Dive, not get worked up yourself... but I'm scared. Small whimpers escaped my lips before I felt the matress shift underneath me, the pink-maned pegasus lifting herself to wrap her forelegs around me in a hug. Her cheek pressed against the back of my head for a moment before she shuffled herself back, eyes meeting my own as I rubbed the blurryness from them. "Th-thank you. I'm... I'm sorry, too. When I heard you both just take off, not any warning or anything, I... I really thought you wouldn't come back." Her voice quieted off as she looked down between us, sniffling slightly. "I-I've been having these dreams lately... you, and Static, both climbing into the Valkyrie and going up, chasing after something in the sky, and then it all just vanishes in a bright white flash. It... it just terrifies me to think about it, if anything like that actually happened..."

Pulling her into another gentle hug, the pink-maned pegasus whimpered beside me for a few moments, managing to calm herself down a little faster this time. Bright white flash... I kinda doubt we'd ever have to try chasing something like a megaspell-carrying ICBM in the Valkyrie. Even if we did, I could probably hit it from range, anyways... or dad could. Heh... maybe I should tell her about it... I pulled back from the hug, looking back to Crash Dive. "I don't think that it will. I've been having... well, had, a few strange dreams myself. There's always this unicorn there, who's said she's my dad's adoptive mother. Last time it happened, we were on a picnic blanket on a hill, under the shade of a tree... She told me that my dads, Static's dads, and pretty much half our home wasteland are coming down to find us. That's at least two tanks, a few Vertibucks, and enough firepower and experience to take on an army." A small chuckle escaped my lips as Crash Dive passed on a bemused grin, rubbing a hoof against her muzzle. I gave her a gentle pat on her back, careful to avoid her wings. "It's all gonna be alright when they get here, and me and Static aren't going anywhere until they do. I promise."

The grey pegasus answered with a small nod, pulling herself back to her hooves and moving back over to her power armor. "If you think so, I'm willing to believe you on that. Just, forgive me if I have a few doubts until we see it happen, heh." Her power armor closed shut with a hydraulic hiss as I moved back up beside her, wearing a smile on my own muzzle. The TOG, War Mare, vertibuck support and Featherweight and Buzzy in the attack wagon... that'll be a welcome sight. We both moved for the door, opening it just in time to see Static walking backwards and guiding the nose of a fuel-air bomb down the hallway. Rather understandably, Crash Dive was quite confused at the sight.

Static looked up at us as we stared out, the earth pony coming to a stop as the carefully-levitated bomb kept moving, the nose detonator prodding him in the chest in the hallway. He let off a sharp gasp before stumbling back, eyes wide as he moved a hoof to rub at his chest. Everyone froze in the hallway, all eyes staring at the bomb in the middle. After a moment, Static let off a shuddering sigh, shaking on his hooves. "W-wuh... uh... right... everything al-alright with you, now?"

Crash Dive blunk a few times, looking between the hallway and myself for a moment, before looking at Static. "Can... Can I just ask what the hell you're planning on doing with that?" The earth pony let off a weak chuckle as I moved a hoof to rub at the back of my mane, joining him. Oh, right... we were doing that... Crash Dive looked towards myself for a moment, letting off a long sigh. "Oh, Luna above... okay, can we not go off bombing anything else today, please? Look, uh, you said you took pictures of the place, doesn't the plane need time to process them, or something? Is there anything else we could do while it does that, that doesn't involve reducing something to rubble or less?"

Scouring let off a cough as he and Aerith started moving the bomb back to the bottom of the lighthouse tower, Static chewing on his lip as he thought. Eventually he let off a sigh, looking to the side. "Well... I guess we could sort out transport for our stuff for when we do head back home now, save a headache later. There's no way we'd be getting it all on the Valkyrie, and that's before you factor in all the extra people who'd be coming with us, too. Trains are still pretty fast and reliable things for getting a lot of stuff from place to place, right?"

Static gave a shrug as he looked at us both, Crash Dive answering with an apparently satisfied nod and trotting out into the hallway. I followed behind her as Static turned about as well, Scouring and Aerith reappearing from the lighthouse, the power armored pegasus looking over her shoulder at us. "Alright, then, heading up to Maple Station while everything gets worked out with the photos, so instead of blindly bumbling in we actually have some clear ideas to go on. If they're already fortified, we need as many advantages as we can get on side."

Crash Dive pressed on out through the doorway, followed by Scouring and Aerith, while Static brought me aside for the moment, taking a glance out towards the doorway. "Alright, thank you for calming her down, but are we sure we don't want to at least get the Valkyire loaded up now? I mean, well, we almost had the bomb out... I thought you'd want to-"

I let off a sigh, lifting a hoof to place it on Static's muzzle and cut him off. Too much excitement today already... "Look, we've both had a long day already as it is, and... honestly, I think Crash Dive would appreciate some downtime, with us being able to relax somewhere safe. Besides, you know you like how the dinners are at the Roundhouse, and you won't have to drive us all there for once~" A smile crossed my muzzle as the earth pony looked a little sheepish, his stomach letting off an audible growl. Sheesh, we had breakfast only a couple hours ago, ya bottomless pit... I let off a chuckle, heading for the doorway. "C'mon, they're probably all onboard already."

"Alright... hopefully dinner and chartering a train won't set us back too much. We only have so many caps, yanno?" Answering him with an eyeroll as the door shut behind us, the morning sun cast long shadows over the cliff's edge as we made way across the landbridge and onto the shore. The cockpit hatch door was already opened, the few loose blue feathers laying in the muddy snow around it leaving little to wonder who managed to squeeze their way in to work the bomb bay doors. Well, least Aerith can make sense of all those buttons...

There was a small thud of something heavy hitting metal as Static moved up onto the short access ladder behind me, myself blinking and looking back towards him as I settled myself in the pilot seat. He blunk in surprise in response, looking down at his hooves for a moment, before pulling the ladder up and the door shut behind him. A small huff escaped him as he settled in his seat, my hooves starting up the engines as he fitted his headset on... eh, probably was just Scouring or Crash Dive getting themselves settled. "Sheesh, I'm not that heavy... Ahm, uh, Valkyrie to HMS Cadence, Valkyrie to HMS Cadence, do you read us Fowler? Over."

"HMS Cadence, Flight Coordinator Fowler, we copy you Valkyrie. Surprised you even bothered calling, making it a habit of unauthorized takeoffs lately. Lucky the skies aren't nearly as busy as they used to be. Requesting permission for takeoff? Over." The hydrogen turbines began to spool up behind us, myself hitting the button for the vertical turbine, that one joining in the cacaphony as well. Manual vertical take-off, should at least keep things smooth for everyone.

"Uh, yes, requesting permission for takeoff, we're heading up to Maple Station for the rest of the day." The turbines hummed thir idle hum as my left hoof moved for the throttles, right taking hold of the familiar control yoke. A faint thumping noise could be heard somewhere behind me - Egh, come on guys, get yourselves settled. "Will, um, will we need to request permission on the return? Kind of think we'll be late home tonight... uh, over."

"If I'm not here to grant clearance later, will just advise you to take a route that doesn't send you near Hopeville. Sounds of things, they've managed to get most of the AA gunners back on their hooves. Clearance granted, free to take off at any time." Giving a nod - mainly to myself - my hoof pushed the throttle levers forwards, the engines whining up behind us to full tilt. Slowly, the massive bomber rose up into the air, the satisfying thunk of the langing gear mechanisms locking in place sounding out inside the cockpit, along with one or two more thumps. Hrm, really hope that noise isn't anything serious... "Oh, and you had better not hit any mach numbers heading there or back. I don't care if that damned thing can do ten times supersonic, I'll personally row ashore to tear you a new one if you break the sound barrier again without a damned good reason for it. HMS Cadence, over and out."

The headset fizzled as Static turned it off of open comms, myself leaning up in the seat to see more out of the windscreen. Alright, might be best of we plan the route now... I turned attention to the compass on the control panel, rear hooves working the rudder pedals to start swinging the nose around to point north. "Static, what bearing has us pointing directly towards Maple Station? Fastest route is a straight line, after all."

The earth pony was quiet for a moment, another few thumps barely audible over the turbines catching my ears. Hmmh, oh, if it's anything serious the repair talismans can sort it out... probably. "Looks like 38 degrees will have us pointed pretty close, ETA from here at cruising... ten minutes. Hmh, can't haul ten ton's worth of bulky stuff in this, though..." A chuckle left my lips as I brought us around, watching the compass as the numbers passed by anti-clockwise. Eventually 38 degrees showed, my forehoof held tight on the throttles as we settled in the air.

"Oh, c'mon Sparky, it's got some workable space. Maybe after we use up the megaspells, we could make the bomb bay like the inside of the TOG... okay, might be a bit more cramped, but still. Here we go..." Pushing all four of the main engines' throttles forwards, the loud whining filled the air for a moment, a slight tilt forwards on the stick letting air start to move over the wings and get us going. As I flicked the switch over for horizontal flight... Oh yeah, starting to love that feeling of acceleration.

The engines let off their distinct howl as we picked up more and more speed, the bare forests and hilly landscape below shooting by in a blur... assumedly. Again, not the best cockpit design for pilot visibility. Least the cloud banks darting past gave some sense. Static gave a small shudder behind me as I made slight adjustments with the controls, keeping us in the right direction. "Wuh. I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to watching the landscape go by that fast..."

Giving a shake of my head, I looked over my shoulder for a moment, catching the blue earth pony leaning forwards and over the side of his seat with his foreleg pressed against his muzzle. Yeah... can't really see Static as being a pegasus. Well, at least one that flies often. "Come on, get your stomach together and focus on getting us there. I've got no view of the ground up here, remember, just, uh... we could probably safely set down on the tank gunnery range, that's pretty flat and open. For the most part, anyways."

After a few moments, the clacking of knobs being turned a few times caught my ears, myself leting off a sigh and looking down at our airspeed... and quickly pulling the throttle back, after noticing the mach number just to the left of it nearly edging over to 1. Static grumbled as the decelration pressed us against our restraints, myself bringing the engines back up as we reached a nice 600km/h or so. The clacking filled the air for another moment, before the earth pony paused. "Huh... when we land, remind me to clean the lens of the upper turret's camera, wherever it is. Big smudge on it... Ah, wait, nevermind, the smudge blew off. Weird... okay, looks like we're almost at the town, the gunnery range... got it. Can bring us in now."

Another bout of deceleration took us as I brought up the airbrakes, letting out a small grunt as we slowed back down. A quick switch over to the vertical flight mode and a bit of flare in the nose brought us to a smooth hover, followed by a smooth touchdown as Static guided us in. The muddy, churned snow crunched underneath the landing gear as it took the weight of the Valkyrie, the engines whining down as a long sigh escaped me, leaning back in the pilot seat. Heh, hell of a lot more comfy than a three-day trip by half-track...

Static had unbuckled himself, hopping out of his chair before turninga orund and leaning over it again, hitting the switch for the bomb bay doors. They both opened with a satisfying thunk, myself undoing my own harness and opening up the cockpit's hatch, dropping out onto the snow. Hello, Maple Station, been a while, hasn't it? Crash Dive, Scouring, and Aerith all trotted out from underneath the Valkyrie as the bomb bay doors shut back up again, Static dropping out of the cockpit hatch and shutting it behind himself. The alicorn rubbed a hoof against her neck, a text screen popping up as her horn flared. 'Nngh, too much to ask for a proper seat or something back there? Your flying could use a bit of work, pretty stop-and-go, or at least it felt like it...'

A dry chuckle escaped me as Static moved over to us, myself rubbing a hoof at the back of my head. Not my fault it's fun to just push the throttle to full... okay, it is. Well, ordinance doesn't complain about my flying! As Aerith nursed her neck, a metallic clatter from atop the Valkyrie drew our attention, followed by having five pairs of wide eyes watching as a duffel bag and an iced-over olive-drab gryphon fell from where the Valkyrie's forward turret was, Hispano stumbling about slightly on her visibly shaking limbs. Eventually she managed to look towards us, standing on her back legs and pointing a talon. "Y-you... o-owe th-this g-g-gryph-... explanat-t-tion... nnfgh..."

She faltered for a moment before going limp and falling forwards, a blue magic aura catching the wind-blasted gryphon before she met the dirt, Aerith rushing over to her side. I, for my part, could only stand and stare. Hispano fell off there... that banging, it was probably her trying to get our attention, wasn't it? And the smudge on the gunsight... Aerith had gathered up Hispano's duffel bag and strung it around herself, gently resting the gryphon on her back, as Static scratched at the back of his own head. He glanced towards me for a moment, watching as Aerith looked to us for a second before taking off towards the town. As we all watched the alicorn and gryphon get farther away in the sky, the earth pony pretty much summed up all our thoughts for us.

"Well... wasn't expecting that."

---

"...So, massive fortified enemy base just down in the southeast mountains, eh? Well, you're lucky Avery's got that dustbin mortar then, should make short work of any bunkers or what-have-you they've got. I'm certain I can piece together some HESH shells for 'er, too..." After working out some arrangements for Hispano to recover, and letting Static then head off to sort out a train for us, or something, I'd made my way back over to the Tank Ghouls' shed, the largely empty space only being occupied by Mad Jack and Avery for the moment. The red earth pony hopped down from atop the tank's hull, setting the dirtied rag he was going over the inside of the mortar's barrel with aside before trotting back over. "Then just comes a matter of sorting out crew for everyone... regrettable to say, not many of the old tankers are left nowadays, and myself, Rheinmetall, and Rangefinder'll need at least two or three extra heads per tank if we want a full fighting force."

"Why two or three? Me and Rangefinder seemed to do alright heading over to Battered-Sea, and dealing with that massive monster there." I leaned myself against the side of Avery, watching as Mad Jack moved about to one of the storage boxes on the side. Opening up the lid, he rummaged about in it for a bit, before pulling out a... long sword? Well, um... I guess there might be some use for that in a tank's toolbox? Maybe?

Mad Jack inspected the sword for a few moments, carefully setting it atop the track cover and going back to rummaging, giving his head a shake. "Heh, suppose you've only had experience running tanks when it's just you and your one father in yours, then. Can't be sure what your landship might have extra, but most tanks need to have at least three trained crew in them to work at full capacity, a driver, gunner, and commander. Hm..." Rummaging for a few more moments, the old tanker proceeded to pull a bow of all things out of the box next, along with a few arrows. Okay, now I'm just confused... you'd think a pistol or something would be better, at least easier to handle. He set them with the sword for the moment, taking a step back and looking about the workshop.

"I believe I might know a place that could offer some assistance on that front, actually. Bit of a ways off to the north, but they've got the largest group of tanks I've ever laid eyes on since the bombs, and last I checked they were actually still building more to train new crews in. Let's see if I remember their frequency..." Mad Jack had led me over to a workbench area, setting himself down on a chair nearby an old radio setup. He spun himself around once, letting off a light chuckle before taking hold of the dial, switching the system on and running over the frequencies. "Maple Station calling Cordite, Maple Station calling Cordite, anyone picking me up?"

I scratched a hoof at my head as Jack fiddled with the radio a bit more, just slightly confused. Cordite? There's a place named after a shell propellant? And, beyond that, they're actually still building tanks? Hm... he said that it's to the north... huh, maybe we can stop over for a few nights while we're heading home. The radio fizzled and popped for a moment, before another voice came over it, a stallion with Mad Jack's accent answering. "Cordite BT-42, Poppy Gardener speaking, what's your trouble Maple Station?"

There was a small moment of pause before Mad Jack's eyes went wide, a large grin taking shape under his thin grey moustache. "Hah, Ol' Pip, brilliant to hear you again! It's Mad Jack, just wanted to call in a favor from the top brass, if I could. We've got the makings of a small tussle on the horizon down here, if you've any tankless crews on hand wanting some proper combat experience, we could use three or four of 'em for ours. Hell, come and join in the fun too, if you'd like!"

"Jack! I haven't heard from you since your last trip up through Vanderhoof, glad to know you and that daft tin box're still trundling around. I'll be certain to forward your message along, know of a few crews that wouldn't mind a chance to get their hooves dirty. Should see some of the greenhorns we've got now, ever since that white slug o' the north was seen passing through Filly Crossing with the ghost mare, everyone's been wanting a chance to give tanking a shot. Poor cocky sods, the Valiant's taken more hooves than ever as of late..." Mad Jack and myself shared a blink, listening to the stallion on the other end trail off. White slug of the north? Ghost mare? What could... where's Filly Crossing?

Mad Jack let off a light chuckle, pressing on the radio button again. "Eheh, sorry, we're a little out of the loop, been dealing with a fair bit down here as it is and our local station doesn't get much news outside of our bit of wasteland. What's this about a great white slug and a ghost, Pip?"

"Oh, it's the hot news nowadays, there's this whole great convoy heading down from the north pole, of all places! Apparently along with this giant white landship, they've also got the star of that old ghost story, ah, the one about the War Mare. Not sure where they are now along the highway, though my understanding is... oh, bah, that's right! I think they're actually heading your way, something about a lost child. Or, something involving archery, I think... maybe they're after your longbow, Jack, hah!" ...in a time like this, I'm not sure if I should be glad that my first thought is to be happy that I'm not crazy and my near-death dreams were true. Mad Jack's eyes met my own wide ones, myself staring down at the radio on the table, the old tank ghoul reaching to press the microphone button again.

"Heh, believe it's the former, Pip. Least of all because as it happens, one of those kids is standing right here..." There was a moment of silence after Jack released the button, assumedly the voice on the other end just as stunned as me. A soft smile crossed the old earth pony's muzzle, his hoof clicking the button. "Say, Pip, any chance I might be able to ask another favor? When they reach Cordite, could you pass a message on to them?"

"U-uh, yes, of course! Ahm... sorry, one moment... right, what'd you like for it to say?" Mad Jack passed on a nod to myself, moving his chair to the side and leaving the radio free for me. It took me a moment to start moving, resting my hooves on the workbench and pressing the button, the radio crackling slightly as I tried to get my brain back into gear. Message to dad... keep it together Strikey.

"Uh... Let... let them know that Night Strike and Static Charge are both okay, more than okay, we're both alive and doing great. We'll... w-we'll stay down here, waiting for you, and we'll also have a train ready to get us all back home, too. We... we... we m-miss you... and... and... we'll meet again, some sunny day... I'm sorry..." My blurred eyes saw my hoof lift from the button, faint whimpers escaping myself as I stood in front of the radio. A red hoof placed itself on my shoulder, Mad Jack gently resting his foreleg around me in a small hug as he moved over, nodding gently. I sniffled, rubbing at my damp eyes, a smile on my own muzzle - I'll see you again soon, dad.

"And... got it. I'll get this message to them fast as I can manage it, can promise you that. I'll have a chat with the boys after getting things in motion, on leave right now and we aren't too far out as it is. Should be able to be down there in the next few days." The radio fizzled for a moment as I tried to keep myself together, my sleeve already rather thoroughly stained with tears and cheeks hot from the grin on my face. The stallion's voice came back over after a second, myself blinking a few times and looking back to the set. "Come on, buck up and hang in there. Can tell you the last time a group like this headed down, they were going a lot further and didn't have something like the War Mare to make us Cordite crews hesitant about an attack order. Hell, some of the old timers like me might even want to help lead 'em south. They'll be in welcome hooves after they reach Cordite."

"Thanks Gardener, we'll be waiting for you. Maple Station, out." The radio shut off with a loud click as The old tank ghoul turned the knob, myself still wiping my eyes clear as I leaned up against Avery. It... I can't really believe it... how far away are we from home, anyways? Wonder if anyone has an intact world map, or something... thousands of kilometers, in the TOG of all things... Mad Jack trotted up beside me, resting a hoof on my shoulder again. "You going to be alright? You can stay long as you need, me 'n Avery wouldn't mind the company, heh."

"Yeah... y-yeah, I'll be fine. Just... just feeling a little overwhelmed right now, is all. Lot to take in." I took in a long breath and held it, letting it out on a relaxed huff. Okay, they're coming down here, they know we're here, and we're getting a lot of help, too. These are all good things. Just gotta hold out until then. Mad Jack passed on a nod and smile, leaning back on his hooves beside me. A small sigh escaped my lips, as I gave my head a quick shake. "Alright. I think I'm gonna go find Static now, let him know. Uh... your radio here, can you reach the HMS Cadence? Just so we can be updated on how things are going, if you get any messages from your friend, or anything."

"Think I should have the range to reach them, yes. Will let Rheinmetall and Caution Tape know, we'll keep you posted best we can. Just be sure to let us know when the fun'll start, too, eh?" Mad Jack patted a hoof against my shoulder, trotting back over to Avery's side as I passed on a nod and started making way for the door. Taking the handle in a hoof, the old ghoul spoke up again, carrying the large sword with him as he reappeared past Avery's forward track. "Oh, and, ah, heh, do feel free to bring Rangefinder back up here sometime. You'd think a pony of her majesty's aerial scout wing could find her own way here, but put her in her tank and she may as well be reading a map of the Rhoar Valley upside-down to get around Vanhoover."

We shared a small chuckle as I passed on a nod, trotting out into the afternoon lights of the railyard. Rangefinder, almost forgot... we'll sort something out. Everything's alright now, at least, everything'll work out in the end...

---

"K A O S Radio~"

"You and I are listening to Radio KAOS on this fine Vanhoover evening, and from the sounds of things it's at least been a lot calmer than this morning, heh. For those of you who missed it or are just now joining us, it'd seem that the Vanhoover Five managed to get themselves into a bit of trouble earlier today, including royally pissing off our own resident ghoul here aboard this warship. From what he told me, apparently before the bombs fell any aircraft capable of flying supersonic was very much not supposed to do that over land, especially not over a densely populated place like Vanhoover itself, heh. Thankfully no injuries were reported, so I think they can get a pass this time. All I'll say is that, with the cloud cover clear, I don't think we have much of a need for anything like a sonic rad-boom nowadays, heh. Sure they had a good reason for it, at least.

"Moving on to other news throughout the wasteland, things seem to have finally settled out in Hopeville, thanks to the determined efforts of the Triage and all the medics that came to assist with casualties, as well as one of the Tank Ghouls from Maple Station. Plans to rebuild are underway as we speak, so for those of you who migrated over to Maple Creek following the attack, don't worry, it shouldn't be too long before you can return home.

"Speaking of settlements under construction, the new town of Glowing-Sea has taken full root in the crater formerly known as the Battered-Sea Power Station, and have their apparently quite heavily-armored doors open to all travelers who're looking for a place to stay or trade. Also, while I would like some visual confirmation about this, apparently some enterprising residents have managed to pull and hatch a few eggs that were at the very bottom of the crater, and are actually domesticating the little monsters that came out of them. Vanhoover Five, I know you've probably got a lot on your plate right now, but if you could just check in and see if these tamed anglerponies are real, us here at Radio KAOS would quite appreciate it, heh.

"It's a clear Vanhoover night out there tonight, and I think I feel in the mood for something a bit chill. I'm still not entirely sure this title isn't a euphemism for something, but here's Roger Trotter's Dark Side of the Moon, anyways, heh. Enjoy."

---

"Five hundred and forty thousand caps. Five hundred. And forty. Thousand caps. Why in the name of Celestia's holy snow-white flanks did I let you convice me to charter a train from here to back home?" It was late in the day after Static had finished negotiations and we were able to get things settled. Crash Dive and Scouring elected to both busy themselves around town, while Aerith and Hispano had agreed to a small chat with us over dinner, after she'd gotten back on her... talons. After pretty much putting her through a near-supersonic icy wind tunnel, was the least we could do, really. And yet, despite the incoming promise of lots of warm, tasty food, Static seemed wholly determined to be in a sour mood tonight. "Ugh... anyways, that thing you mentioned earlier, are you sure that the guy on the radio actually is gonna get a message to our dads? And that he'll actually recognize them if he sees them?"

I took a long sip from my bomb-bottle of Sparkle-Cola, swallowing it down and setting it on the table, leaning back into the booth seat. "Mmh, he pretty much said that they were traveling via TOG, I think there's a pretty damn good chance that there's only one of those around. Even if not, apparently Rolling Tracks is with 'em too, and she's some sort of ghost story where he's from. If they don't recognize the TOG, they'll be sure to recognize her and War Mare." A small chuckle escaped myself as I moved a hoof around Static, leaning forwards with him. He looked back at me with worried eyes, as I returned a smile. "Come on, Sparky. Mad Jack seemed to know him, and it means we know with absolute certainty that our dads are coming for us. We just need to stay down in Vanhoover until they get here."

The earth pony let off a sigh as he sat up, leaning back into the booth cushions. A small bout of applause filled the Roundhouse as the current set finished up, the lights fading on for a while. "Alright. We kind of need to stay around anyways, help with the whole eventual attack on the base thing..." Static took a sip from his own bottle of Sunrise Sarsaparswilla, looking out across the busy roundhouse. The idle chatter and clinking of silverware against old plates almost drowned out the grumbles of his stomach... almost. He looked down at it for a moment, a small grimace crossing his face. "Nnf, when's Aerith and her friend supposed to get here? Starting to starve here, and the show's about to start soon, too."

"Sheesh, you are just a bottomless pit, aren't you, Sparky? Give 'em some time, we do sort of owe Hispano something for all her trouble. Besides, do you really wanna piss off the gryphon that uses a twenty millimeter autocannon as her primary weapon?" Static answered with a roll of his eyes, myself wearing a smirk. You've handled a .308 to the hoof, let's try to avoid any higher calibers from here on. The door at the far end of the Roundhouse opened and shut, the blue alicorn and the olive drab gryphon eventually showing up and taking place on the other side of the table, Hispano rubbing a talon against her forehead.

"Nngh, fuuuck, I haven't felt like this since I was dared to hop into one of those Dizzitron things for an hour... ugh." Aerith wore a weak smile as she gently pated a hoof on Hispano's shoulder, the waiter eventually coming over and placing a few more menus in front of us. Myself and Static both placed our orders, while Aerith just asked for a couple bottles of Sparkle Cola, her and Hispano both looking over their own menus for the time being. Taking ours, the waiter left, Hispano setting her menu down and letting off a sigh. "So. Anyways. Sorry about the whole hitching a ride thing, I thought I could get your attention before you took off. Just my luck my duffel bag got caught in the prongs of that turret-thing on top... Anyhow, explanation time. Who wants to go first?"

"Well, um, how about the whole big autocannon thing, and how you know Aerith? I mean, one of Night Strike's dads carries two of them around, but he's around twice as big as most ponies. You're hardly taller than us." Static gave a shrug as he took another sip from his bottle of soda, Hispano bracing herself against the table and giving her back a stretch. She let off a small sigh, leaning frowards, Static setting his bottle back down. "And, uh, yeah, you and Aerith, what's the story there?"

The gryphon let off a long huff as she paused to think, a waiter coming by and setting two more bottles of Sparkle-Cola onto the table for Aerith and her, as well as another bottle for myself and one of Sunrise for Static. "Autocannon. Well, she used to be my sister Suiza's, a few years back, she cared for and loved it more than anything. Then, one day, she went off on a standard job, found herself in a firefight... she goes down in a bed of killing joke, and, well..." A long sigh escaped her, looking to the glass bottle and popping the cap off. "In a way, they did eventually manage to find her. Suiza's always been right by my side for a little over a decade now."

Myself and Static both shared a glance. Killing joke? What's that, some sort of, uh, plant, I guess? Huh. And what did she mean by her sister being right by her... wait... she doesn't mean that her sister actually IS the autocannon, now, does she? That... is that even possible? Hispano took a long gulp from her bottle of Sparkle-Cola, letting off a small grunt before leaning herself back. "As for Aerith... just about ten years ago, down in Bridleshade. I was traveling with this group from way up north at the time, from the Inuvik, we were passing through on our way south. I think one of the group used to live there before Cauterize, something like that... well, we got there, and for our trouble we found this troublemaker taking potshots at us with a cheap hunting rifle, yelling at us to go away. Least, until she met Suiza..."

'I hadn't seen an autocannon like that since before the war, always loved the sound of those firing overhead while in basic training. She was just kept so pristine, like you hadn't fired her once, it all just came back to me and I couldn't think of anything else. It... it really helped me at the time.' Aerith wore a wide smile as she brought up her screen, the gryphon sat beside her reaching over to bring her into a small hug. Aww, that is a pretty cute first meeting, in a way...

The waiter from earlier returned to take Aerith's and Hispano's orders and menus, myself finishing off my first bottle and starting on the second as Static watched him trot off. The earth pony grumbled something about lousy service, prompting me to give him a small poke in the side. He shot me a glare, that I answered with a nod towards the alicorn and the gryphon sitting across from us - patience is a virtue, Sparky. Hispano finished off another gump of Sparkle-Cola, looking back towards us. "So, what's your deal with the whole bomber-thing, anyways? Something that can go that damn fast isn't something you'd just find laying around."

I let off a dry chuckle as Static muffled a groan, letting his forehead fall onto this crossed forelegs on the table. At least it's warmer to tell it all in here than on a warship... and we're actually able to eat during it. "Well... it's a long story..."

---

It was already well late by the time we finished bringing Hispano up to speed over things, and were able to head back home - this time, thankfully for her, with Hispano riding on the inside of the Valkyire. After our goodbyes, everyone just about managed to pull themselves across the landbridge and into their bedrooms, myself and Static both quick to snug up underneath the heavy comforter on our bed. I held the earth pony close, nuzzling against his soft, warm blue coat, his own hooves rubbing against my wings gently. A soft sigh escaped my lips as we both laid there, myself pushing back to meet his eyes on the pillow.

"You know, Static, it's gonna be a dangerous mission you're going on tomorrow... like, way more dangerous than something like us going around old ruins." He blunk a few times, lifting his head up and looking at myself, as I just looked down between us. "I just... I'm not gonna ask you if you're alright with going through with it, I just want you to know that... I'm... I'm really, really scared about what I'd do if anything happened to you. I love you, Static. I don't want to miss you."

The blue earth pony didn't say anything at first, only wearing a small smile on his muzzle and leaning over to pass on a long kiss. Reaching a hoof up to hold him, he parted after a moment, letting off a sigh of his own. "I love you too, Night Strike, and... I'm scared, too. But I have to do this, for everypony, the more we know about them, the better chances we'll have when it comes time to take them down." He... he was right. I wish he wasn't, though... or at least he didn't have to go. He placed a hoof on my chin, lifting my head back up to meet his soft gaze. "I promise that I'll do everything I can tomorrow to make sure I get in and out as quickly as possible. Then we won't have to be apart again."

A soft breath escaped me as I gave him a slow nod, a small smile coming on my muzzle. We won't have to be apart after this, once we figure out what to do, we can get everything together and just blast them apart before they suspect a thing. Then we can stay, wait, and then go back home, and everything'll be alright again... Static gave a small nuzzle, letting off a light chuckle. "You know, Strikey... how about we get our minds off of everything, for tonight? I mean, we've got a comfortable bed, heavy, warm covers... and I've got quite a lovely pegasus right here beside me~"

A blush met my cheeks as I felt Static move his hooves to massage between my wings, myself shuddering from the sensation. Ooooh... that would be nice. I wrapped my own hooves around him, pulling him close and looking deep into his beautiful golden eyes, letting a light giggle escape my lips. "Mmm, you're quite a lovely earth pony yourself, you know... let's forget about tomorrow, together." A wide grin corssed his muzzle and he pulled the blanket up a little more snugly around us, keeping us both held in tight embrace as all thoughts and worries left us for a few fleeting, wondorous moments. One calming soothing thought remained, clear in my head, as our night finally, properly began.

Everything's gonna be alright.

“Alright, bombs are loaded, engines are primed and running at normal, weather’s hopefully not going to screw us over with a freak thunderstorm, I think we’re good.” Night Strike was looking over her forward console on the Valkyrie, flicking a few switches, as I sat myself in the seat behind her the next morning. Beside me stood Aerith, who was peering out of the cockpit down at Crash Dive and Scouring standing by the Clydesdale. She had ditched her trademark suit and hat, instead carrying nothing but the big-barreled gun from the bunker and a few magazines of ammo held in a courier bag slung over her back. It at least sounded like it was suppressed when she fired it earlier... hope it's enough. “You've got everything you need, right, Static?”

“For the fifth time, yes. I’ve only got two things to bring, and I’m wearing one of them, it’s kind of hard to forget them.” I responded, a little exasperated. Night Strike waved her hoof in front of myself and Aerith, her other one pushing a group of levers forwards on the controls. I clutched my umbrella to my chest as the engines’ characteristic whine began once again, building to the familiar roar as they reached full speed. Aerith stumbled a bit as the plane started to roll forward, bracing herself against the back cockpit access doorway to keep herself from flopping to the ground. The Valkyrie picked up speed, myself just able to see Scouring giving a quick salute to us as we rolled by, Night Strike pulling back on the controls and lifting us into the air. We climbed quickly, Night Strike easing back on the controls to place us just below the clouds as we streaked across the sky.

She turned back to me after making a wide turn, and headed towards the base. “Okay, so, you go in, try to find some sort of plans or schematics to the base, maybe whatever they're doing there, too, and get out. If I find out you tried to carry back a whole warhead and got caught because of it, I’ll blow you up with it myself,” Night Strike glared back at me, a twinge of something behind her eyes. I gave her a skeptical look in return - I’m not you, Night Strike, remember? She shook her head, looking down at the floor and letting off a long sigh. “Yeah, I’m... I'm sorry, I’m just a bit paranoid, y'know? Last time you were on a secret mission was back at the airbase, and it’s not really like those guys would’ve shot you dead if they found you. This... these stakes are much higher.”

I gave her a small smile, trying my best to hide my own panic. “It’s alright, Night Strike. I’ll be fine, and Aerith’s coming along too. Worst case scenario, she can teleport us away, and everything'll be good.” Night Strike nodded, looking back to her controls, guiding us all towards the base. I glanced over to Aerith, lowering my voice. “…you do know how to teleport, right?” She seemed to think for a moment, wearing a weak smile as she let off a weak, mute chuckle. Oh, well then. A few more minutes passed as we headed towards the base, Night Strike starting to slow down the Valkyrie.

“Five kilometers out... head back to the bomb bay now, guys. I’m going to do the drop about a kilometer and a half away, from this height that should be close enough. I really don’t want to try and get any closer to those guns than I absolutely have to.” I nodded, unbuckling myself and heading down to the bomb bay after Aerith. Holding on tight to a railing on the small step before the bay doors, we readied ourselves in the space we had, the bombs swaying a bit in their holdings as we flew along. I looked over to Aerith, who gave me a small nod, pulling down her pair of goggles over her eyes. Suddenly the doors opened wide, the howling rush of wind whipping through the bay as I clutched the handle for safety. Gulping, I tried to not stare at the enormous drop below, Aerith’s feathers ruffling in the wind. A crackle of static was heard from the intercom, and Night Strike’s voice came through, only barely audible above the roar. “Alright, now’s the time. I’ll swing away and drop some of the bombs a couple kilometers south, it should keep their attention away from you for a bit.”

I gulped, staring down out of the bomb bay doors. The ground whizzed by far below us, causing me to lean back against the wall, my stomach now a mess of knots. Nope nope nopenopenope, this isn’t going to work. We’ll find some other way. I’ll just- my thoughts were cut short as I felt Aerith place a hoof on my back, before shoving me forward. The wide assortment of expletives that left my mouth just then were lost to the rush of wind as I tumbled down through the air, Aerith leaping out right behind me and catching fast. Night Strike peeled the Valkyrie away, turning south of the base as I flailed my limbs in some futile attempt to stop my ever quickening descent. Aerith pointed herself towards me, falling through the air as her horn shimmered before she vanished from sight. I felt her hooves wrap around my waist, a screen popping up in front of my vision as I heard her wings unfurl and felt as the sensation of falling was instead aimed eastwards. 'Alright, shut up ya big baby, and turn on that suit. We might be less of a target than the Valkyrie, but they'd still see some crazy earth pony flying at them in a black stealth suit on a clear day like this.'

I gulped, trying to get my bearings as I looked down at the armor. My heart still pounding in my chest, I reached up and tapped a few buttons, the plate humming slightly as the armor shimmered. A moment later, and I wasn’t able to see myself dangling in the air. Aside from the occasional shimmer in the ground below, there was no way to tell I was there at all. Oh, Celestia, please let me keep my breakfast down, I really do like pancakes and syrup more going in than coming out. I tried to not stare at the ground as Aerith brought us in lower, barren treetops shooting by at an alarming rate. Focusing instead on the complex that sprawled out ahead of us, I watched as pony-sized figures rushed to one end, all manning guns and mercifully turning them away from us. Explosions rang through the air, and I looked up to see the Valkyrie speeding away, two bombs falling onto the mountainsides far off in the distance. The guns in the complex began to fire off, but their shots detonated short, exploding well behind the plane.

Aerith’s wings fluttered a bit as we crossed above the barbed wire looped along the top of the large wall surrounding the complex, flaring to bring us to a stop on the other side. My legs were shaking as Aerith planted us down inside the base, a sigh of relief barely audible under the fire of the anti-aircraft guns. “Okay, first things first, we need to find some map of this complex. I’d say a comms station, or repair wing would be the place to check first.” I muttered under my breath. A tiny screen appeared within my visor, Aerith projecting a small checkmark as response. Looking around, and... NOT seeing her, I realized there was no way I’d be able to follow her around in the slightest. Probably should've thought about that. “Alright, follow me. Assuming you can... I suppose.” I began to creep around one of the buildings, searching for any clue on which direction to head.

The base was, honestly, quite surprisingly barren, only a few guards were actually posted around some of the buildings, and no building had more than one. Many of the others appeared to have no security at all, save perhaps a small camera hanging near the doorway. As we crept along, loking across the complex, it quickly became apparent why this was the case. I stepped backwards out of instinct as a robotic dragon stepped around one of the buildings, walking along the road between the silo doors. Its tail swished slowly back and forth, the oversized blade on the end gleaming in the light as each step was accompanied by the whir and click of several gears and servos. It spun its head left and right, surveying the ground around as it stomped along. I held my breath, standing stock still as it passed. I felt something poke my side and I whirled around, only to see nothing but the side of the building. Ah, right, Aerith. It’s going to take a bit getting used to this armor.

Making my way forward, I slid around the side of the garage as the dragon made its way along, the sounds of explosions dying down as the guards stopped attempting to shoot down the long gone Valkyrie. It was rather surreal being able to walk along is plain sight, none of the guards seeming to notice the faint shimmer of the stealth suit as I wandered along the complex. Okay, let’s see, comms station, where would you be? Spotting a large radio tower in the corner of the base, I began to head in its direction, still staying away from any guard posts that I could. I don’t exactly trust this armor to be fully foolproof... especially considering this was the only time I used it for longer than five minutes.

Coming up to the building below the mess of metal that was the broadcast towers and wires connecting them, I leaned down to peer through the keyhole. Inside sat a pair of the smaller robo-dragons, hunched over an array of buttons, knobs, and dials not unlike the ones that were in KAOS’s studio. Robots, really? Well... i I guess if the infrastructure's already here, then... huh. Tentatively, I placed my hoof on the door handle and pulled. To my surprise, the door was unlocked, and I was able to easily slip inside. The robots at the console, bizarrely wearing the large headphones there, were scribbling down notes on sheets of paper spread out in front of them. One leaned over, punching down the button on a microphone, an unnerving robotic voice coming out of it's mouth. “Squad Charlie’s just finished a sweep of the valley between here and Saddlebrook, no sign of anyone between the two bases.”

A crackle of static came over the intercom, and a non-robotic voice responded. “Good to know. Have them send a few troops back to patrol areas east, we’ve been getting more traffic than I’d like.” The comms officer robo-dragon gave a curt response, and scribbled down the orders before turning to begin tapping out a series of beeps. Occasionally, it would glance back to a separate sheet of paper to the one it'd written the message down on, still tapping away on the small lever. I stepped up behind it, looking down at some of the notes spread out on the console. Many were unintelligible scribblings, a jumble of words and numbers that meant nothing. Frowning, my eyes continued along the table. At the end, sitting up on it's side, was a folder packed full of papers, and printed on the front in big red lettering was ‘Project Cerberus: Codes and Ciphers’. I crept around the officer’s chair, glancing back to make sure neither of them were watching as I reached out to take the codes.

Suddenly, two quick loud snaps met my ears, and I whirled around just in time to see the gun Aerith brought along floating in mid-air, with the two robots now dead, sparks coming from the holes and oil pooling out onto the console. “What the hell was that about?!” I hissed, stuffing as many of the papers into the compartment of the armor I’d found the Sarsaparilla recipe in as I could. “Somepony...thing might have heard that! Are you crazy!?” The gun lowered itself, and I could tell Aerith was attempting to pull off a pitiful look despite her current state of visibility. Not friggin' helping, really. “Shit, now they’re going to know somepony was in here when they find these two dead, we gotta get the plans and book it before this whole place goes on red alert!” I slapped a hoof over my visor as the stomp of a full-size robotic dragon could be heard, another one passing by the station on patrol. My lungs held a full breath as I prayed it couldn’t somehow see through walls, but, mercifully, it simply continued on its way.

I let out a long sigh, looking back down at the other dead robots. “Okay, okay, fine, cut off their communication, it wasn’t a *completely* horrible idea, but we need to get out of here a-sap once we get those plans.” I muttered. The gun rolled its tip through the air, vanishing as Aerith’s magic shrouded it once again. Peeking through the door back out into the main compound, Aerith and I slipped through upon seeing the coast was clear, and we began to make our way across the base once again. Come on, there’s gotta be some surface level repair bay, right? They have to have something on the building designs or layout, even just a simple map saying 'you are here'. Probably with that pointer overlaid on a festering bloodsprite's nest.

As we trotted across the base, we again passed by the large doors embedded into the ground. Each silo door was surrounded by several large hazard lights, pulsing dimly. My heart began to pick up its pace again as several more dragons surrounded the doors, each one scanning the area around them, shifting into an aggressive stance even as some of the robotic guards passed too close to them. A small sign appeared in my vision again, an arrow appearing to direct my vision towards a hangar where a few more dragons lay inside. Of course, should’ve known the repair bay would’ve been fixing those things up too.

We slowly made our way towards it, spotting a small group of various robots all gathered around one of the dragons. Sparks flew as a pony-shaped one was attempting to sharpen the wings, the sparks bouncing off of his faceplate as another sat atop the dragon’s back, fiddling with the wires and circuitry inside. Avoiding a protectapony that was pushing a cart of tools from a workbench over to the robot being repaired, Aerith and I stepped into the hangar. Looking about to ensure no one was watching, I wandered over to one of the workbenches. Peeking inside, I spotted several blueprints, each one detailing one piece of the dragons’ many mechanisms. As I was attempting to pull some out, however, I heard a mechanic shout to another, right behind me. “Oi, grease trap, get the IFF guide over here. This thing’s a mess, and we are not booting it back up while it’s still possible it might make it so we have to build more replacements.” I only barely scrambled out of the way in time before one of the Mr. Handy-styled mechanics hovered over to the bench, moving one of it's pincer arms down to reach into the mess of paperwork.

Rummaging around for a moment, it gave a grunt of annoyance before pulling out the entire box and carrying it over to the robo-dragon. “Outdated paper instructions, you'd think they'd consider uploading these things to the database so we didn't need to fan through them all the time.” It muttered to itself as it continued to dig through the pile. I grumbled, annoyed at missing the plans, but I felt Aerith tap on my shoulder, causing me to look over. A small office sat in a shack in the side of the hangar, another pony-shaped thing pouring over paperwork. Heading towards it, we could see through the window that it was surpisingly an actual pony, the officer looking over some blueprints in front of a terminal, circling a few areas and jotting down notes beside them. Behind him was a large circular metal ring, surrounded on almost all sides by a railing and a control panel. As we watched, the ring shuddered, and it began to sink into the ground, metal plates closing in over the hole it left as the large elevator dropped into the ground.

Stepping carefully into the office, the stallion looked up over the computer, confused as the door swung open of its own accord. He watched for a moment before looking back down at his work, shaking his head. Troting behind him and looking over his shoulder, I could see him marking up a stack of blueprints for a level of the complex, with the terminal open on a database access screen. He circled another section, scribbling in more notes before flipping the paper over to work on another floor. Looking over to the window, I wondered if anything would spot him if I tried to knock him out. But before I could get the chance, a klaxon suddenly began to ring, the stallion jumping up out of his chair and tensing his wings. In a panic, I pulled up my umbrella, jabbing it into his neck. Just as quickly as he had leapt up, the officer crumpled to the floor, banging his head badly on the table as he fell. “Code red. Code red. Intruder alert, repeat, intruder on base. Communications center is without operators.” Oh, fuck.

Scrambling, I gathered up some of the papers on the table, Aerith taking a few and stuffing them into her own courier bag. Shoving the officer aside, I also fumbled with the console, backing out of the screen it was on and looking over the choices left. Recent updates, board room recordings, other info... holy shit, this really was a whole database. A large holotape came over in front of me in a blue aura, Aerith's magic plugging it in and hitting the data transfer, myself giving her a nod... for all the good that'd do, and looking out the window. The mechanics all rushed over to one end of the hangar where several robotic limbs were waiting, appearing to quickly swap between their maintenance tools and defensive weapons, before rushing out into the main field.

With the transfer finished, Aerith and I scurried out of the hangar, hurrying towards the wall around the base. I could hear Aerith’s wings unfurl again behind me, and suddenly I felt myself being lifted up into the air. We barely cleared the barbed wire, Aerith dropping down roughly on the opposite side and beginning to canter away from the base. I tried following the sound of her hooves, but the alarms and roars of mechanical dragons from the base almost drowned them completely out.

Panting, I shouted out. “Aerith, dammit, turn visible again, I don’t know where you’re going!” I punched a button on my suit, causing it to shimmer and the cloaking system to fade as I slipped down the side of the mountain, dropping out of view of the base. Looking around, I tried to spot Aerith on the mountainside, a small stitch in my side from the pain of running. Off in the distance I managed to spot her, looking exhausted as she lay panting on the ground. I hurried over to her, helping her back to her hooves as she gave a small smile, her horn glowing to cast another sign into the air.

'Thanks. Sorry, staying invisible for so long was a lot more draining than I thought it would be...' She looked up, spotting a few dragons beginning to circle overhead. 'We need to get moving. Night Strike said that she'd head around and be waiting for us at the dam. I should be able to teleport us both there... hopefully. You know where it is from here, right?' I nodded, looking back down the mountain, my vertigo returning as we began our descent down the steep mountainside.

At least, I hope I do.

"Come on, Fowler, I know me and the Valkyrie can find them! It's been hours!" My hoves tapped nervously on the metal interior of the Valkyrie, hanging tight onto the controls with one hoof while the other held the headphones to my ear. Static and Aerith were still out there, and the robo-dragons that did follow me were at least dispatched by the automated turrets, so it wasn't like I was entirely in danger of getting attacked when I went to get them, but, nngh! I can't handle waiting like this! They could be in danger, maybe she can't teleport after all, or maybe the stealth suit broke while he was in the middle of grabbing a holotape or something, or maybe that carbine wasn't silenced after all and that test shot was a fluke!

"Lass, for the love of Cadence calm down! It's only been a little over an hour, and you've been yellin' in my ears for most of it! Take a breath, hold it, and turn down your bloody volume knob." Taking in a deep breath, i let it off in a quick sigh, Fowler grunting on the other end. Okay, yeah, maybe I'm overreacting, but celestiadamnit I have good reason for it! I love him! "Right, look. I've got the radar onboard here scanning far over the horizon as she can, just about make out whatever's going in in the area you were headed, and there hasn't been anything that's cause for concern out of there yet. It's not built for detecting ponies, but if the robots are as big as you said, then I would've seen them scrambling. They're probably out and heading your way now."

Another long huff escaped me as I slumped back in the seat, shuddering slightly. Keep it together, Strikey... "...y-yeah, yeah, alright, thanks. I'm just... this whole situation has me on edge, the last time we did this we were somewhere it wouldn't have been as lethal if he was caught, and with Aerith also being there with what's basically a brand new gun for her... can you blame me for being a little worried?"

"A little worried is one thing, what you're doing now is making me think you'll have a heart attack before the day's out! Your friends are gonna be fine, you're the Vanhoover Five for goddess' sake." That... was a point. Good, bad, whatever, it was still a point. Another sigh escaped me as I sunk back into the Valkyrie's pilot seat, Fowler answering with one of his own. "Look, it'll be fine, don't worry yourself too much. Too young for that. I've got to switch channels, been waiting on a response here and their light just started blinking... promise you'll keep it together 'till your friends return?"

"I... I promise, I can do that. Thanks, Fowler." The radio fizzled to static as the old ghoul switched over, myself dropping the headset and staring out through the Valkyrie's canopy. Keep it together... it's fine, it's fine, no freak-outs. Just breathe. Static is good at sneaking like you're good at blowing things up, this is his area of expertise. Aerith can turn whole bombers invisible if she has to, and she knows how to make use of that carbine. They're gonna be fine.

A probably far less than dignified scream escaped me as something thudded hard against the back of the Valkyrie, my wide eyes staring up through the glass canopy as my heart thundered in my chest. With another loud thump, I was met with the blue eyes of Hispano, the gryphon giving her head a tilt before finally hopping off of the plane and landing on the side with the door. She stuck her head in, as I tried... to not have a heart attack. Damnit, Fowler, why'd you have to say that? "Woah, uh, heh, probably shouldn't have done that landing... what's going on, Night Strike? Look white as a ghost."

Eventually I managed to slow my heart back from full-auto fifty MG, just taking a few breaths to get back to a coherent state. Okay, I'm good... right. I leaned myself forwards, looking back over at the gryphon. "It... Static and Aerith both went off to break into this fortified base in the southeast mountains, and I'm stuck waiting for them to get back. They were just looking for a map of the place, or something, anything to help us with the eventual big assault when it comes. I'm just... really worried."

The gryphon leaned herself against the cockpit steps, looking off to the distance for a moment, in the direction of the base. I rested my forehooves in my lap, just trying to stay calm. "I'm sure they're doing fine, between that umbrella and Aerith's invis-abilities, they've got a good chance on the whole. Trust me, there are way worse places out there that they could end up having to get through, ones that are a lot less accessible than via bomber insertion. Better than a fancy magic camera..." Hispano let off a weak chuckle as I looked over at her, doing my best to not think about Static and Aerith getting into trouble. The small smile she had on her beak faded as she looked southeast again, sitting down on the cracked road. "Hey, mind if I stick around? You... look like you could use the company. I could probably spot them as they come in, too."

I passed on a small nod, pulling myself up out of the pilot's seat and hopping down out of the bomber, Hispano shuffling back to let me by. Company, that's always a good thing when you're stressed out, yeah. And spotting them as they come in... well, I guess if they left invisible, then her being able to see them sooner than me will be welcoming. Hope Aerith's wings haven't gone and fallen off because she's carrying Static, heh... "Y-yeah, that'd be nice. We can get a good view on the floodplain from the dam."

Hispano gave a nod as she picked her duffel bag back up, walking alongside me as we both moved out of the parking lot and across the massive concrete structure. A huge torrent of water roared down near the bottom, the generators inside spinning away and sending power out to Hopeville and beyond, myself letting loose a small sigh in the crisp air. Damn, it feels like a lifetime ago when we first got to this place... a lot's happened the last two months. I looked out across the forested hills below, the wider river cutting through the trees and curving off east. A little farther beyond that was the town of Bridleshade, with it's somewhat thoroughly destroyed self, and past that... well, maybe I should be looking more to the east instead. Yeah, just, follow Hispano's lead... oh, why are you looking worried!?

"I see 'em... we might have a problem. How fast can you get that plane of yours started up?" The gryphon came to a stop on the dam, dropping her duffel bag and pulling the zipper open, starting to go through it's contents. It really did take a lot out of me to not have my hooves just give out right then and there - we might have a problem? What the hell does she mean by that!? "It looks like Aerith's been teleporting them both, I dunno how far away that base-thing is from here but she is not looking right. When they get here, she needs to get on the plane and get to Hopeville as soon as possible, got it?"

"I... I... I'll get the Valkyrie started, bring her in through the bomb bay, there's plenty of space and Static can help." Spreading my wings, I took to the air and landed back over by the Valkyrie, wasting no time in climbing up into the cockpit and dropping into the pilot's seat. Primers, engines one through four, on. Hydrogen talismans, running. VTOL... can't have it running when they get in, okay, so it won't be that fast a takeoff. Bomb bay doors, open. Looking up, I could just about see Hispano on top of the dam, a sudden blue flash of light producing Aerith and Static. They both seemed to stumble on their hooves, Hispano catching Aerith as she fell over limp, the alicorn's horn looking visibly charred and blackened even from this distance. Oh, this was a horrible idea, why did we go with this idea?!

Eventually Static managed to get himself together and let Hispano rest Aerith on his back, the gryphon feeding her a healing potion as they all rushed over to me. The engines whined loudly as they fired on, the group disappearing under the wing and causing a few soft thumps as they clambered in. Static shot through the bomb bay access door, jumping into his seat and closing up the bomb bay, myself firing on the vertical engine to match the rest. Okay, to Hopeville, just a quick jaunt.

We quickly lifted from the ground as the engines howled with the throtle, my rear hooves swinging the nose back west as we switched over to vertical flight. Knobs clacked away behind me as Static settled himself in, bringing up the forward camera and guiding us back. It really wasn't that far a flight - makes sense, considering we walked to and back from the dam in one day not too long ago - but, with Aerith as she was... it felt longer, to say the least. The tall structure of the Triage drew close, Static guiding us down onto the road just outside the town, the landing gear compressing softly as the engines whined down again.

The earth pony behind me leapt from his chair after we stopped moving, the hydraulics opening the bomb bay heard clearly as he headed back to it to assist Aerith and Hispano, myself unbuckling as well and looking back. Okay, Triage is right here, they should be able to get looking at Aerith as soon as they get in the front door... might be nice to try and radio ahead, though, I guess. Picking the headset up from the floor and fitting it on, though... my heart can't handle this, damnit! "Valkyire, come in goddess-damn it! Unidentifieds heading your way from the southeast!"

"What!? Who... how far away, and how many?" Steadying myself on the center console, I stared out through the canopy, watching as Static and Hispano rushed Aerith over to the hospital. Southeast... that must be robo-dragons. Or Harriers... please let it not be Harriers. Okay, don't panic too much now, Hopeville has plenty of AA defenses, and it's really not like they'd throw a whole fleet of robo-dragons at us at once. Right?

"Looks like... three or four, all heading over the Vanhoover floodplains now, at that speed no more than five minutes out. If you've any defensive armament on the Valkyrie, I'd get on it A-SAP. I'll get Hopeville on alert, too, try and lead them over there if you can." Three or four... well, at least we're at Hopeville already. Moving in front of the console, I started to look over it, trying to find what I needed to switch in order to get the upper turret into the fray, too.

"Copy that, Fowler, we're at Hopeville now. I'm gonna try and get the automated turrets running on the Valkyrie... oh, why did I just skim over the manual?" The headset broke over to the static of nobody on the other end, as the screens in front of me flickered between different inputs. Okay, uh, offensive armament?... bombs, cannons, gunship controls... well, the turrets are used for the gunship bit, is that it? Nngh, ah... no, damn it. Okay, uh, defensive armament then... there's an afterburner control for the secondary seat? Huh. No, wait, I need the automated turrets. There's the option, and... "...insufficient power for automatic operation. Main engines must be running at combat throttle. Oh, you've gotta be shitting me!"

Turning attention back up through the canopy of the Valkyrie, I looked towards the southeast, not able to see much past the treeline outside the town. Five minutes out... fuck me with a seventeen-pounder... okay, breathe, just get your stuff and get into Hopeville, and, well, also pray they won't see the Valkyrie. Or at least pray that they can be shot down well before them destroying the Valkyrie is a concern. Grabbing my lightly-packed-for-once duffel bag, I let myself drop out of the cockpit door, galloping a few meters before spreading my wings and flying into town. Okay, I -have- fought these things before, one at a time, solar burst grenades and slugs are pretty effective, and the guns already here will have the punch to get them down, too... can't hurt to have more helping, though.

Making a tight left bank, I landed myself in front of the Triage, momentum carrying me through the doors and making me stumble to a stop as I looked around the waiting area. Static and Hispano were both easing Aerith onto a stretcher while Cora had started tending to the alicorn, all eyes looking over to myself as I caught my breath. Man, today's taken a lot outta me already. "Hispano... need help, cannon, robo-dragons... I think you guys might've been followed!"

The olive-drab gryphon blunk a few times as Static looked over at me, wide-eyed. "What!? But, stealth suit, and the teleporting too, I... I swore we weren't! There's no way!" The earth pony paced back and forth, trying to keep himself together, as Hispano started to move for the door alongside me. I started to follow her out as well, before Static placed a hoof on my shoulder, getting my attention. "Wait, do you know what kind they are? We saw one of the big ones undergoing repairs while we were there, I could-"

The sound of machine guns opening up outside cut him off, followed by an unnatural roar, everyone in the room looking up at the ceiling. Our eyes met as more of the air defenses joined the fray, myself dryly swallowing. "You've done enough today, Static, just keep yourself, Aerith, and whatever you found safe. I'll be back once this is all over." Leaning in, I gave him a quick kiss, the earth pony seeeming to be a little less frantic as he answered me with a nod. It's only four or five robo-dragons, and we'll just have to help make sure they don't survive to escape. Easy... I hope.

Turning about, Hispano had already brought her autocannon out and held it at the ready, a heavy jump off the street and flap of her wings getting her airborne as I followed suit. Unzipping my own duffel bag, Thumper came out as well, my free hoof digging through and grabbing for one of the blue-glowing Sparkle-Burst grenades. If there's ever a time when I get to use these, it's probably now... we both landed on top of the hospital, the few autocannon and machine gun turrets already opening fire on the group coming in from the southeast. The gryphon beside me only stared at the robo-dragons for a moment, before tapping my shoulder and pointing upwards. I followed her into the air, the automatic gunfire getting a little less ear-piercing. "Okay, aside from them being fucking massive flying robots, what're we looking at far as their weapons go?"

"I've only seen them using their claws and other sharp bits, and a sort of fire breath-thing. Take the head out and they're dead, though!" Hispano gave a curt nod as she pulled her flight goggles down and readied Suiza's massive bolt, myself adjusting Thumper in my hooves. Fire breath, claws, large size, well, guess we just need to not let them get close to us... that's sorta reassuring, massive flying thing made for a more short-ranged combat style - is what I wish I could've thought, up until the point one of them opened their metallic jaw and loosed a massive ball of plasma at the hospital roof. "Okay, that's new!"

"Plasma-breathing robot dragons, this bit of Equestria is a lot different from how I remember it!" Hispano brought her gun to bear on one of the four, firing off a scattered burst, a few of the rounds cutting through the metallic wings and exploding on the other side. The dragon she fired at turned attention towards her, lines of machine gun tracer fire pinging harmlessly off of it's body as it let off a piercing metallic roar. Okay, guess they designate targets based on threat level... Thumper, please don't let me down!

Hispano dove to avoid a second ball of plasma as the dragon broke off from the other three, myself just hovering in the air and watching for a moment. Okay, okay, uh... damnit, snap outta it! The large robo-dragon was stalled for a moment as the gryphon loosed a longer burst, one shot managing to blow a section of its side armor off, myself diving in to assist. Sparkle-Burst, fifty percent more boom than Solar-Burst, so 75 pounds of TNT equivalent. Gotta make these shots count... and be sure Hispano isn't too close, too. The robotic dragon drew closer, still focused on the gryphon as she headed out over the lake, Thumper's stock coming to my shoulder as I dove forwards and took aim. Well, I needed to get some practice firing at a flying target, anyways!

The lake shore passed underneath as I caught up, Hispano already well ahead with the dragon between us. It fell within Thumper's sights, myself aiming a little ahead of it as it shot off another ball of plasma at the gryphon. The thump from Thumper's muzzle slowed my flight as the blue ball of explosive power flew forwards, miraculously managing to land square on the dragon's back. Everything ahead vanished in a bright bluish flash, myself stopping in the air as the blastwave shook everything about, sending large waves across the water below. The mangled wreck of the robo-dragon soon followed afterwards.

A breath left me as the light faded, looking around for a moment, before a taloned hand grabbed me by my jacket and yanked me back in towards the shore. Letting off a small scream of surprise, and getting myself reorientated, Hispano eventually released me, grabbing the handle of her autocannon again. "C'mon missile-flanks, there's still three more of the bastards!" Three more... right. Shit.

Heading back in alongside her, two had begun slamming themselves against the side of the hospital, thick chunks of brickwork being torn off by their claws as one of them emptied a prolonged blast of flames against the walls. Shattering glass cracked through the air, as well as the screams of some of the ponies inside, Hispano already starting to open up on the two laying waste to the building. Oh, fuck me with a tank gun... I shoved a normal high explosive shot into Thumper, getting close as one of the two dragons peeled off, starting to fly towards us. Hispano focused fire in on it, myself taking aim as well... before large shells began whizzing by near us both, some managing to punch through the dragon's stomach and cause it to lurch around in the air. More armor plating was blown off as some shots exploded outside it, myself and Hispano both scattering to avoid the fire ourselves - oh, right, AA autocannons. Hope they're careful.

The dragon rushed overhead, tracer fire emptying into it's armored stomach and exposing more mechanics as I took aim with Thumper again. Okay, this is just a normal HE shot, but with that armor missing... please do something. Thumper thumped, the shell flew up, and the dragon recoiled as the round detonated right in it's innards, scrap falling to the ground below. It roared again, the still-intact head focusing in on me, the jaw opening wide as a plume of heat fired from it, followed by a massive fireball. Snapping my wings to my sides let me drop just in time to avoid it, the intense heat of the fire radiating against my back as it flew over and sizzled out in the water. Have I mentioned how it's a good thing I don't wear pants?

Spreading wings once again, I rushed and weaved, the heavy beats of the robotic wings behind me loud and menacing as I was trailed by the mechanical beast. Celestia above, Thumper, I wish you were an autoloader... large canons fired from the town as I gained altitue and brought us back over it, explosions and metal punching holes in metal filling the air behind me as the guns caught sight of the dragon again. Making a sharp left bank, I dove down to the deck, one of the large shell craters whizzing by only inches from my stomach, and thankfully also making it so my flightpath after that completely stupid maneuver didn't result in me eating too much dirt. Altitude, Strikey, remember to check your fucking altitude next time!

The mangled robo-dragon became a massive fireball behind me as more large guns emptied against it, the head engulfed in thick flames as it plummeted from the sky. It impacted on the far side of the shell crater, burying itself inside a destroyed house, myself stopping to try and get my breath back. Okay, two down, two to go... wait, we only saw two attacking the hospital, and that was one of them, so-

My train of thought was interrupted as a massive ball of plasma shot past me, the acrid smell it left behind in the air filling my lungs as I threw myself away from it's path. Frantically looking around, the active robo-dragon's metal body glinted in the road and caught my attention, its wings ripped to shreds by the anti-air gunfire. Well, it's not airborne, that's a good thing... right? I quickly pulled another Sparkle-Burst grenade from my duffel bag - hopefully this end of town is deserted enough that collateral damage isn't too much fo a concern - slamming it into Thumper, before looking back to where the robo-dragon was... and instead finding it leaving large gashes in the road as it charged, carried on it's metallic claws. It lunged itself off the lip of the crater, myself diving to avoid it, only to end up a little less lucky with the flightpath as I slammed into the scorched earth beneath me and tumbled, hard.

A sharp shot of pain went along one side of my body as my outstretched wings hit the dirt, Thumper falling from my grasp as I rolled down the side of the crater. The robo-dragon landed with a heavy thud behind me, letting out a loud mechanical roar, the thumping of it's claws against the ground filling the air as I dragged myself back to my hooves. Okay, okay, uh, wing-AAGH! No, no, flight's no longer a thing now, great. I stumbled my way over to Thumper, pulling him out of the mud and looking up towards the crater's edge, before turning and running in the opposite direction. Can't fly, gotta get as much distance between myself and it as I can before I can fire this thing, unless I want to break more stuff. Fuuuuuuuck...

I just about managed to get to the other side of the shell crater as the dragon reached the lip, a huge ball of plasma slamming into the dirt next to me and kicking up a spray as it left a new burned crater. I turned myself around, bringing Thumper to bear, only to stumble on the soft dirt and land on my broken wing again. With a scream, my aim fell off the dragon, the round firing and slamming right into the dirt in front of it. The flash blinded me for a moment, before my ears rang loudly with the close blast and a bluish-tinted mushroom cloud rose up before me, my breathing heavy and ragged. Well... I mean, they are blue-colored. Kinda pretty, really. Certainly more than I can say for the robo-dragon... that's aiming it's still mostly intact mouth right at me. Oh, fuck me with a Royal Equestrian Ordinance 17-pounder.

The dragon's mouth glowed a greenish white for a split second as I pondered my next existence as a glowing pile of goop, before the sharp crack of none other than a Royal Equestrian Ordinance 17-pounder filled the air, followed by the dragon vanishing in a bright green flash. As my eyes resettled on the far edge of the crater, the dragon was replaced by another mushroom cloud, myself just laying in the mud for a few moments and waiting for the cloud to clear. The lack of robotic dragon after it did prompted a heavy sigh from myself, letting my head fall back. Seventeen-pounder gun... thank Celestia and Luna above you haven't left here yet, Rangefinder.

For the second time, I dragged myself back onto my hooves, and proceeded to get myself free of the crater. A dampened cheer went up from the other side of the town, the welcoming dozer blade and smoking muzzlebrake of Fyre at the end of the road bringing a smile to my muzzle. My broken wing fell to my side as I grimaced, putting Thumper back into my duffel bag and stumbling forwards. Okay, if they're cheering, and... nope, not hearing any gunfire or crashing or anything, so the fourth one must be down... that's enough excitement for today. Rangefinder, please take me over to the Triage if you can, hang me off of Fyre's gun if you have to...

The heavy beating of large wings filled the air behind me, before Hispano landed to my front and came over beside me. My eyes met hers... filled with worry, what's up, cannongriff?... and I felt her heft me onto her back, the cool air of flight catching against my cheeks as we both took to the sky. I think... I think I'm gonna just... close my eyes, now... yeah...

---

"Yanno, I'll admit, when I came up here with dad, taking on four robotic dragons was really not one of the things I thought I'd end up doing." Hispano rested herself next to Aerith's bedside, as I laid back and sipped from a bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD in my own hospital bed. Shattered nearly every bone in my left wing thanks to my fantastic flying - at least I'm technically better at flying the Valkyrie. I let off a sigh, looking to the doorway, trying to listen for the sound of three sets of hoofsteps in the hallway to signal Fyre having arrived with Static, Crash Dive, and Scouring aboard. The gryphon beside me let off a small chuckle, turning to look at me. "But I also gotta admit, it's a hell of a lot more fun than I thought I'd get, too. You guys are crazy."

Finishing a gulp of that sweet healing nectar of the goddesses, a chuckle escaped me, shuffling about in the bed. "Just an average day for us... well, no, yeah, today ranks a solid fifty outta ten on the crazy-o-meter, but, you know. We're the good guys, batshit insane stuff is just one of our occupational hazards. Among the usual stuff..." Grimacing as I sat myself up, I rested my hooves in my lap, looking over to Aerith and Hispano. The gryphon had held the alicorn's hoof in one of her talons gently, wearing a smile on her own beak. Heh... brain, please don't ruin the moment, they're just good old friends. Same way Hispano is a good, new friend to us...

The alicorn stirred in her bed, myself sitting up as Hispano looked back to her, Aerith's eyes fluttering open as she brought a hoof to her head. She blunk a few times, looking around, before meeting eyes with the gryphon beside her. Hispano was quick to pull her into a tight hug, Aerith returning it and shuffling herself up to a sitting position, Hispano giving one last quick squeeze before breaking it and leaning back. "Ah, ya big dum-dum, you're a blue alicorn, you're not supposed to teleport. You miss out on all the fun if you do."

Aerith let off a silent chuckle as she rested herself back, looking around the room again. Her eyes met mine, and I passed on a weak smile and wave of the hoof, her expression changing to a look of confusion. She glanced between myself and Hispano for a moment, before she tried to bring up a magic screen. The sudden jolt of pain made her put both hooves to her temples, Hispano quick to catch her as she recovered herself. "Woah woah, take it easy, your horn's still burnt out. You were only out for a few hours, give it a day of resting before you go... well, just, try to not use magic until tomorrow, okay? I'm gonna be right here with you."

Aerith blunk a few more times, eventually able to calm herself back down, looking over to myself again. She lifted a hoof, pointing towards me, Hispano following her gaze and confused expression. I let off a small chuckle, turning to show off the splint to her. "Broken wing, bad flight maneuver. Four of the big robo-dragons came after you guys, me and Hispano were able to take care of 'em, though. Only some damage to the town, heh..."

Aerith passed on a weak smile as Hispano leaned back, wearing a smirk of her own. Hoof-to-claw with four large robo-dragons, and I got out of it with just a broken wing and furthered case of tinnitius... and I thought my dads' stories were hard to believe. When he gets down here, I just hope some of the carcasses are still around to give me some credit... nngh, and speaking of my tinnitus, gotta love how it comes and goes... wait. Tinnitus causes a constant ring, that's... that's more of a jingle. And the sound of four sets of hoofsteps... and somepony talking ears off.

"...The explosion was just so huge! I was over by the railyard helping them unload one of the freight cars loaded with supplies for the Mercy when the sub just went up like an old bomb, part of me swore someone hit us with a megaspell of all things! Made me wonder why anyone would bother throwing a megaspell at Destruction Bay, though, I mean, I know the name's not what the place is aboot, but still. Still haven't a clue who blew the thing up, though..." ...correction, not somepony, some moose. Jean cheerfully trotted through the doorway, as Static rubbed at his head, Crash Dive and Scouring following in behind. The moose medic wore a smile as she gave a nod, looking between myself and Aerith. "Oh, goody, you're both awake! I'll go let the doctors know. You three can find your way back outside, if it takes a while, right?"

Static let off a quiet groan as he rubbed at his ears, looking up at the cheerful moose beside him. "Yeah, yes, we're good. Thank you, uh, Jean, rig-hrk!" With a speed I didn't really think someone of her size could manage, Jean grabbed Static up in a tight hug, the surprised earth pony, flailing his hooves about in the air as he struggled to get free. After a moment, she let him go, Static flopping to the floor and gasping for breath as Jean made her exit, wind chime earrings jangling as she trotted off. Eventually he managed to pull himself back to his hooves, looking back out the doorway. "All mooses... meese... whatever, they can't be like that, can they?"

"Ah, she's just her, reminds me of myself. She's probably got me beat when it comes to hugging people to death, though." Hispano let out a small laugh as Static rubbed at his stomach, trotting forwards in the room. Meanwhile, Scouring's power armor whirred as he carried something that looked like an enlarged holotape over to a desk terminal over in the corner, plugging it in. Hispano glanced towards him for a moment, before looking back to Static. "So, you guys know what's so important that you had four flying robot tanks after you yet?"

Scouring tapped away on the terminal as the storage thing whirred away, seeming to concentrate on it. "Nae, no, not yet, but I'm willin' to bet it's somethin' doing with what's on here. Only problem is, lot of the files were corrupted 'cos ye didn't eject the drive before disconnectin' it." Scouring seemed to glance towards Static as he said that, only for Aerith to grimace as the earth pony seemed more surprised than ashamed. Might be misplacing some blame there, Scouring. His armored hooves continued to work the keyboard for a little while longer, before he let off a small chuckle, wearing a grin. "There we go... only manage to save about half of what ye got, but that's still a whole lotta stuff. Lesee... hm... 'Steven Electromagnet'? The hell's a Steven? Ah... board room recordings, that sounds a bit more interestin'."

The power armored unicorn selected one of the options on the list that came up and turned the volume up on the terminal, letting us all hear it. It seemed to catch just the end of a conversation - or, well, maybe it was actually a shouting match. "How in the name of the clouds above did you manage to screw up a simple fucking scout and retireval mission like that?! Do I have to foalsit you, Corporal? Do I have one single competent member of this squad left!?"

"Well, Sergeant, considering Private Dead Weight is still alive and is working with the same group that's handing our flanks to us on a silver platter, if you wanna be technical, yes." The second voice seemed a bit younger than the first, certainly less gruff-sounding. Power armor whirred loudly for a moment, as I looked over to see Crash Dive stumbling on her hooves, staring wide-eyed at the terminal. Private Dead... anchor cutie mark... oh, fuck me with a fuel rod, this was her old squad. "It's the damn robots' fault for relaying that intel, if we knew they only took off for a go-around in the first place we would've never even tried using that mortar to soften that town up."

Just as the first voice was about to sound like yelling again, another, accented voice broke through, yelling on it's own. "Stars above, what is the problem with you idiots!? I send you on a simple mission to get the stockpile of M-29 recoilless guns and their M-388 warheads from Seahoof, and it ends with the whole fucking place razed to the ground!? I would have assumed the remnants of the Equestrian military would've been more capable than this... then again, looking at the current state of the world, it should be no surprise that anything you touch ends up vaporized in a magical fireball!" The third voice let off a sigh, and... Scouring, your expression is really not a happy one right now, buddy. "We have at least managed to retrieve an acceptable portion of the stockpiled warheads, so that is a good thing. They were more important than the recoilless guns. So. Can either of you explain why, exactly, everything in the west for a whole kilometer radius is irradiated wasteland?"

"Bad intel, your robotic dragons said that the bomber took off and headed back north where it came from. They went north, then came back around to drop a megaspell on us. Miracle I got out of there before they arrived, not that anyone seems to care." The second voice responded to the third, while the first only growled in the background.

"What ACTUALLY happened was this sad excuse for a soldier thought it a good idea to use a siege mortar there to blast apart the town, and the ONLY reason I haven't personally fed him to one of the dragons you have left is because your smaller dragons can't fit in the cockpit to operate a Harrier." The first two voices started their yelling match back up, the third trying to cut in in the few breaths they took every so often. Rather surprisingly, and tinnitus-inducing...ly, the third voice suddenly jumped in volume, making the speakers of the terminal crackle for a second.

"ENOUGH! FOR THE LAST TIME, NO FIGHTING IN THE WAR ROOM!!" ...Okay, I admit it, that did catch me offguard, and I did have to hold back a chuckle. The third voice let off a loud grunt, before regaining himself. "By the Gods, I HATE that film, and I HATE they named this room that! Just, get out! Go argue amongst yourselves somewhere else, I need to focus on the project. At least with the warheads we have some better firepower... I SAID GET OUT!"

The recording came to an end, and Scouring... well, looked whiter than usual. He had to blink a few times, settling back on his hooves, before looking around at all of us. "The... the warheads he was talkin' about... the ones they have. I know about 'em. Mountain Springs has a server database we rescued and transported in from an old pre-war base to the north, one o' the things on there was about the places they had megaspells stationed. The M-388s were used over in Germaney, a place called the Foalda Gap, were expectin' that to be a major front o' the war. These warheads... they're twenty-ton artillery shells in a thirty-five kilogram package."

There wasn't a closed eye or shut mouth in the room after he said that, myself just trying to piece together what that means for us. So, a bunch of thirty-five kilogram bombs with blast yields equal to twenty tons of TNT apiece, and when you factor in the three Harriers that can carry two thousand kilograms of ordinance each, the robo-dragons that can carry Celestia knows how much too, and let's not forget the fucking 28-centimeter railway guns that've fired megaspell warheads in the past, that we still don't know what the hell they've done with...

"...we gotta get working on that plan."