Night Strike, Hispano, and I wandered down the line of boxcars that composed Maple Station’s market district, a distinct array of smells wafting through the air that only made my stomach growl more while Scouring and Crash Dive followed closely behind. We passed by a small noodle stand, my head turning to watch as the pony running the station was pouring out steaming pasta into cups. Night Strike chuckled, tugging on my coat gently. “Come on, can we at least find someplace that sells more than one kind of food, Sparky?”

I grumbled along with my stomach as I was forced to abandon the stand, following after Hispano down the line of cars. The griffon stopped in front of a stand where several chunks of meat sat skewered on a grill. Another griffon was standing behind the grill, occasionally rotating the food as Hispano leaned up on the counter. “Hey, can we get ten Shishkies?” My stomach growled once more and I let out an embarrassed chuckle. “Alright, twelve.”

The griffon gave a small nod and began to prepare the food as I reached in to fiddle with all our caps. Okay, ten caps a stick, Hispano can get her own, and with a .05% interest that’ll add a few more caps that Scouring and Crash Dive owe me… I shook my head, chastising myself silently. Come on, Static, you can’t keep charging them for stuff like this. Just slice an even 6% off their shares of the final profits, they won’t notice. I scooped out the appropriate amount of caps and handed them over to the clerk as Hispano collected up our grilled food. The griffon tore into the bits of meat a lot more aggressively than a level I’d consider comfortable. Yeesh, you sure she doesn’t eat what she kills like that too? “Sho, watsh’s the nesht plan?” Hispano asked through a beakful of food.

Night Strike shrugged, tearing off a bit of food herself, only for her eyes to widen a moment later as she tried to push the meat back on the stick “AAaaaaah, okay, too hot, too hot still!” She pressed her tongue into her sleeve, trying to alleviate the burning. After a moment she lowered her foreleg, focusing back on the question. “Ah, well, I suppose at this point it’s just waiting to hear back from everypony about when they’re ready. And hoping the Cerberus guys don’t try and attack us while we’re still prepping.” She took another tentative bite of the food, careful to not fry her mouth again.

“I hope you aren’t planning on spending that time wandering around for more soda, Strikey,” I joked, doing my best to avoid dropping my four sticks of meat as I greedily chomped down on some of the chunks. Night Strike just rolled her eyes, waving one of the sticks around in a dismissive manner. I swallowed my food with a large gulp.

“Static does have a point, as much as I may be loathed to admit it. We’ve spent time preparing everypony else for this battle without taking any time to cover even basic combat training for either of you.” I gave a slightly confused look over my shoulder back at Crash Dive, Night Strike looking equally bemused. Not to brag, but it’s not exactly like we’re completely new to this idea of being shot at. Crash Dive gave a small snort of indignation, tossing aside her bare skewer. “So, you think a few raider skirmishes and dropping a couple bombs makes you combat experts, does it? That’s exactly the kind of attitude I’m talking about. If either of you starts to get cocky out on the battlefield, you’re going to get either yourselves or someone else killed.” I swallowed a large chunk of meat painfully, never a fan of whenever Crash Dive’s more militaristic attitude cropped back up. “I suggest that as soon as we can, we begin some training regiments. We want everypony to be in peak condition for when we start our attack.” Night Strike nodded, seeming satisfied with the excuse to practice blowing more things up. Hispano let out a small ‘whoof’ of air as she finished off her food.

“Well, more power to you guys, I suppose. I probably won’t be sticking around for that, got more than enough training as a Talon. Growing up as one kinda helped, had enough of drill sergeant dad that I don't need another one in my life...” Crash Dive gave her a bit of a glare, Hispano giving a smug smile. “See, right there, that’s what I’m talking about... oh, something I forgot to mention, Aerith came up here with me, too. Left her at the Tank Ghouls' shed, said something about getting her soundbox looked at. The docs back at Hopeville weren’t too happy to have her flying so far after recovering, but you try saying ‘no’ to an alicorn...” As if on cue, I spotted a familiar figure gathered standing at the counter of a station selling hayburgers. Aw, and they’d have been 12 caps cheaper in total, too… Stupid Hispano not knowing how to check prices.

Aerith turned her head to see us approach at the same time she shoved the burger into her mouth, giving a rather unflattering, albeit humorous, image. "Hey, good to see you’re doing just fine. Thought you were sticking around with the Tank Ghouls for a while.” Hispano said after taking a large gulp of meat. Aerith gave a slightly embarrassed look before trotting up to join our group. “Next time, you should probably give a bit of a warning, you know that? It’s harder to find somepony in this town nowadays than you might think.” Aerith waved her hoof, taking another bite of hay as we reached the end of the shops. As we prepared to loop around and head back towards the Valkyrie, I heard somepony call my name.

“Heya, Static Charge! That’s you, right?” I turned around, confused to see a young pony approaching. She bore a rather striking resemblance to the seamster in town... impressive for a mare, to say the least. The mare held a bundle of cloth in her hooves, various wires running around the bundle as well. “Hey, you, uh, dropped off that stealth armor of yours a while back, right? Well, I’ve got it right here for you! Now, what was the agreed upon price? I believe... 1000 caps?” The mare grinned, while I raised an eyebrow looking her over. She can’t really be serious, can she?

“You mean the suit we picked up a couple weeks ago? The heck is that, anyway?” Night Strike said. Before the mare could react, Night Strike had lunged forward and swiped the bundle of cloth from her, letting it unfold as she held it in the air. A plain black jumpsuit unfurled to reveal a mess of wires hastily taped and glued along the legs of the suit, with a few fuses shoved in for good measure. To top off the ridiculous look, a stealth-buck had been haphazardly sewn into place on the chest, several loose wires hanging off of it. The mare’s smile faltered as she glanced nervously between us.

“I… um… I’ll... I'll just go…” She turned around and fled, leaving the rest of us standing dumbfounded. I looked over to Night Strike, who was still holding the crude imitation stealth suit as Scouring tried to stifle a laugh. Night Strike eventually dropped the suit, the stealth-buck clattering loudly to the ground as several more loose wires and metal popped off of it.

“Well… that happened.” Night Strike finally said. I giggled a little, following Crash Dive as she began to trot away from the town. Shaking her head, Night Strike caught up with us as we crossed a few tracks that a few ponies were pushing a cart full of repair parts along. “Sheesh, you’d think if somepony was trying to embezzle you of all ponies, they’d come up with a better excuse than that. Then again, maybe that armor might’ve actually been useful. Why sneak by all the guards when you can laugh them to death, Sparky?” She poked me in the side and chuckled.

I simply rolled my eyes, all of us heading towards the Valkyrie. “Ay uh, Crash Dive, you sure you want to be headin’ back to the lighthouse? Preppin' for battle inn’t a bad idea, but there isn’t exactly that much ground there to cover. And, well, even I’m not sure I trust Night Strike to not accidentally blow something up there if you're lettin' her get some range time in with her grenade rifle.” Scouring said. Night Strike gave a small ‘hmmph’ of annoyance, but didn’t speak up beyond that.

Crash Dive frowned, muddling things over. “I suppose not, but I don’t think we have a better place. Anywhere else will likely either be too close to friendly towns, bathed in radiation, or going to get us made into bug food.” She glanced down at the ground as we walked along, still thinking to herself.

"Well, the tank ghouls have that whole firing range here, and Royce has that shooting range at the northern edge of town, too. If they think it's far enough away for their big guns, it's gotta be good enough for Thumper." Night Strike piped up beside me as we pressed on back through the railyard, heading towards the repurposed railsheds with all the tank tracks leading from the doors in the snow. "And, besides, I think Static might be better off just getting in more sneaking practice, so if he has to do any more of it it won't go as badly and leave me worried sick."

Crash Dive let off a small sigh, the snow crunching underhoof as we continued onwards, a few flurries coming down from the clouds above. Wouldn't have been spotted if Aerith hadn't have shot the robo-dragons in the radio station... but, I guess some practice sneaking about wouldn't hurt. "I guess as long as we're here anyways, that'd be a decent enough choice. But it'd be pointless to have Static sneaking around here, he's too familiar with the town's layout already. We need somewhere we haven't been for too long, don't know the ins and outs of yet."

"What about that place south of here… Gemville, or something? Me and Night Strike hardly went anywhere in it the last time we passed through.” I suggested. Crash Dive thought it over, scratching her chin a little as she did. We continued past the tank garages, where a loud clatter was heard and I glanced over in time to see Mad Jack hopping up and down on one hoof as he clutched at the other, a large wrench laying on the ground a few feet away. He uttered several unpleasant phrases before angrily kicking the wrench away, and returning to tending to his tank.

“I suppose that would work. The place is relatively empty, and it doesn’t hold any sort of strategic use to anypony, so I don’t think Cerberus will try poking around there if they weren’t already.” She nodded a little, starting to like the idea. We were soon stepping up to the Valkyrie, the power armored pegasus stopping in front of the cockpit door and looking out across the snowy field we'd landed in. Eheh, uh, kind hard to get going if you're blocking the way, Crash Dive... then again, watching as more and more snow began to fall around us, maybe waiting for this storm to pass wouldn't be a bad idea. At least if we were going to be flying anywhere in the Valkyrie, anyways... "Alright, new plan. We'll stay overnight here, so at first light tomorrow we can start with training. Weather should be clear by then, we need as much daylight as possible for you to sneak around. Everyone good with that?"

Aerith clapped her hooves excitedly as she fell over to hug Hispano, her horn alighting with another sign that as far as I could tell read 'Sleep-over!'. The gryphon chuckled as she steadied herself, Scouring seeming to answer with a shrug and nod while Night Strike was looking at the sky, chewing at her lip as she did. As she looked back at us... yeah, not gonna be flying anywhere with her wearing that look. Crash Dive gave a curt nod, before starting to trot back into town, everyone besides Night Strike following her. She patted a hoof against my shoulder, wearing a soft smile. "Well, look at it this way, uh... we can get dinner at the Roundhouse?"

My forehoof met my forehead as I let off a long sigh, starting to trot back into town with the rest. I swear, at this rate we'll barely have any caps by the time we get back home...

---

"Uuuuuugh, Come ooon Sparkle-Cola RAD, don't fail me now..." The sun was barely cresting the mountains in the east as we all made the trek out of the hotel and headed towards the firing range, Night Strike being as awake as usual in the early morning hours. I could only give my head a shake, trotting alongside her behind Crash Dive, Aerith and Hispano making up the rear.

The power armored pegasus gave off a grunt as she looked back towards Night Strike, passing on a glare she usually reserved for me. "You'd better wake yourself up one way or another, before I have to do it for you. The Valkyrie's the fastest way we've got for getting places, and you're going to have to fly them down to Gemdale and get yourself back here before we've lost too much daylight. Sneaking around at night would be too easy for them."

I let off a small huff, passing my own glare on to Crash Dive. Well, glad to know she's looking out for our best interests... then again, I suppose that does make sense. It is harder to see that shimmering when it doesn't have any light to catch in the first place. Night Strike let off a small groan beside me, still walking along... or, looking at her, maybe it was more of a snore. Yeah, maybe I'm with her on this one, I would rather she be fully awake before getting in the Valkyrie.

"U-uh, yanno, Gemdale isn't that far away, maybe we ask one of the tank ghouls if they could bring me and Aerith down there? I-I mean, they could use some practice... town-driving, too, right?" A weak chuckle escaped me as Crash Dive shifted her glare over to myself, causing me to fall back a little. "H-hey, it's nothing against her, I just remember the last time she was asleep and in control of the Valkyrie it ended with us crashing on a shoreline. That's a far cry from a built-up area."

Just as Crash Dive was about to speak up, the rumble of a large engine and clattering of tracks drew our attention over to the nearby tank ghouls' shed, myself looking over to see the newly-arrived boxy-turreted tank pulling up to the doorway, Poppy Gardener resting on the top of the turret. If that thing only has a three-pony crew, and there isn't too much inside that turret... well, it's probably fast for being that small, right? The moustached earth pony looked over at us and gave us a friendly wave, before his expression changed to a grimace and I heard the sound of a pony falling face-first into the snow behind me. Fillies and Gentlecolts, Night Strike has officially gone nighty-night... Crash Dive let off a long sigh, looking back at the passed-out pegasus, before waving a hoof toward me. "Ugh, fine, go and ask. I'll deal with her..."

Passing on a nod, and trying to hide a look of relief, I headed over to the disproportionately-sized tank, the engine queting as Poppy Gardener leaned over to face me... or, us. Flying with wings is an unfair advange when it comes to stealth. "Heh, wasn't expecting to see any of you awake this early in the morning. From the looks of Night Strike, I suppose neither was she... Well, anyways, what might you all be up to that has you moving about so early?"

I let off a weak chuckle, rubbing at the back of my head. Just gotta ask for a ride... "Eheh, well, uh, actually, I was wondering if you might be able to give myself and Aerith... and Hispano a lift down to a place called Gemdale, just to the south of here. We were originally gonna have Night Strike fly us down in the Valkyrie, but... well..." I looked back to where she was laying, Crash Dive still trying and failing to wake her up. Sheesh, did someone swap her Sparkle-Cola out for tranquilizers or something?... because if they did, that wouldn't be a bad idea actually, stabbing things with knock out drugs would probably be easier than relying on the umbrella all the time.

The old tanker ghoul let off a small chuckle, leaning back on the top of the turret. "Heh, you're in luck then, we were about to set off to the south anyways. Were heading down to Hopeville, apparently you'd led Rangefinder down south and not brought her back up yet, is my understanding. Gotta make sure all the tanks are together and all that, eh?" Poppy Gardener let out a small laugh, myself joining him weakly. Oh, yeah, right, Rangefinder... we are kinda bad at leaving ponies scattered around, aren't we? The tank commander nodded to the back of the tank, where the rear of the turret was being opened up. "Well, come on inside, should be enough room for all three of you. We'll try and head back up the same way when we come back through to pick you up, might be a while though considering an M4 like Fyre is a sight slower than the BT-42. Hope that won't be too much of a bother."

Passing on a nod, I hefted myself up onto the back of the small tank, adjusting my saddlebags and leaning down to move into the spacious turret, looking over to Aerith and Hispano. They both seemed to be smirking, letting off small chuckles as they... spread their wings. "Eheh, if it's all the same to you Pip, I think we'll just fly ourselves. Don't wanna get Suiza dinged up, just finished polishing her last night." The tank commander passed on a nod as he dropped back down into the turret, myself following him as the thickly-jacketed unicorn beside me shut the back doors, the engine giving a few revs. I made myself comfortable as Gardener barked a command into a microphone, and we began to start moving, myself looking down to my pip-buck and scrolling over to the radio. Hopefully this can go louder than a tank engine...

"1-2-3 o’clock 4 o’clock rock
5-6-7 o’clock 8 o’clock rock
9-10-11 o’clock 12 o’clock rock
We’re gonna rock around the clock tonight!"

---

The loud rumble of the tank's engine eventually - finally - died down a little, myself letting off a soft groan as I stopped bracing myself in the turret. Guh, okay, fast as this ride was, I think I can appreciate the more comfortable ride that the TOG grants for being so slow now... Poppy Gardener gave my back a few pats as we stopped, the gunner beside me - uh, Quick Fire, right? - undoing the latches for the turret's rear doors and opening them up. The moustached tank ghoul gave off a small chuckle, as I flopped myself around to try and climb out of the turret. "Right in the center of town, far as we can tell, hope that'll do for ya. We oughta be back through a little after noon, depends on how long a coffee break Short Shift'll need. Ahm... ah, looks like we're here ahead of 'em."

Gardener let off a small chuckle as he pointed a hoof towards the sky, myself following it to see the sight of Hispano coming in for a landing. I dropped off the back of the small tank and to the snowy road below, the gryphon flaring her wings and bringing herself to a stop, dropping down in front of me with a smile. With a quick nod, Gardener ducked back into the turret, the hatches closing and the engine of the small tank revving, before it sped onwards to the south. Alright, well, we're here, let's get started, then...

Hispano watched the small tank speed off into the distance for a short while, before looking back to me, and letting off a small laugh. "Woah, yeah, blue-green -really- doesn't suit you for a color... eh, when you get done losing breakfast, we've already got a few things set up for you to try sneaking around in. Aerith's up first, if you wanna get changed into that sneak-suit you've got we'll be waiting for you. Be glad she convinced me to not make the first one a live-fire course." The gryphon let off a chuckle that I joined her in weakly, not entirely sure if she was joking about that. Really wish that she was... I might be able to handle a rifle round to the hoof, but I'm willing to bet a round like what her gun fires would leave me a little less... whole, afterwards.

"Eheheh, ah, yeah, I'll... go find a place to get changed, then. You gonna be on lookout in the meantime, or something?" I began trotting along the road, looking for a suitably non-destroyed building to get changed in, Hispano following along. She gave a small shrug, the large gun on her back clattering a little as she adjusted it. Eventually, a nearby shop seemed good enough, myself heading for the entrance before stopping and looking back to her, letting off a weak chuckle. "Also, eheh, you were just joking about the whole live-fire course thing... right?"

Hispano let off a small chuckle, leaning up against the side of the shop. "If you're thinking I'd do something like waste a few perfectly good twenty-millimeter rounds purposely missing you just for training, you're more of a dum-dum than I pegged you for. I'll go tell Aerith you're getting ready." That prompted a sigh of relief from me, and I pressed onwards into the shop. Well, good to know I probably won't be getting shot at today... The gryphon took a step back from the doorway, spreading her wings wide, a small chuckle escaping her. "...besides, that's what Aerith brought her Tommy Gun for, anyways."

Hispano took too the sky with a heavy flap, the snow erupting in flurries around her as I couldn't find the time to respond. Oh... boy, I hope she was kidding about THAT, too... Letting off a sigh, I pressed on to the back of the shop, undoing my saddlebags and pulling out the black fabric. It didn’t take too long before I had slipped off my jacket and into the sleek armor, the visor giving everything a slight orange tint. Slipping my umbrella under one of the wires on the back, I trotted back out to the street, finding a set of hoofprints that definitely weren't mine in the snow, as well as a message: Gem Factory, diamond heist. I grinned beneath the helmet, pressing a button on the front of the suit - this ought to be easy enough. The material shimmered for a moment before I flickered out of view - or, as out of view as old zebra technology could achieve in broad daylight, anyways.

Looking around, I spotted the old mining facility that we had explored the first time we had stopped in the area, and began to head off towards it. I slowed down a bit as I approached the front door, thinking for a moment - there’s no way Aerith would leave the front door without a trap. Scanning the outside of the building, I spotted a few windows at the very top… of course, the one time I don’t have Night Strike or Aerith here to lift me up. Continuing my search, my gaze landed on top of several conveyor belts running from the quarry below, a few unprocessed gem-bearing rocks still laying untouched on them. Why do gems come out of the ground with cut faces, anyways?...

Walking over to the long metal frames leading to the processing building, I hoisted myself up onto the belts, crouching down and beginning to sneak along the track. Lowering my head, I crawled through the large ducts leading into the facility. The visor began to glow ever so slightly, allowing me to see in the darkened pathway - well, it’s no magic-sensitive goggles, but that’s definitely helpful. I noticed a sudden drop in the belt, leaning my head forward to glance down. Below sat a mine cart full of gems and dirt, the stones glittering in the light. Carefully, I scooted forward, trying my best to avoid dropping immediately down into the cart of noisy gemstones. Unfortunately, as I tried to use my hind hooves to keep a grip on the belt, I realized there was nothing to grab and slipped, landing with a clatter into the cart full of admittedly slightly pointy rocks. Ow...

I shook my head, getting my bearings before sitting slowly up, trying to disturb as few stones as possible. Glancing around, I tried to spot any signs of Aerith, peering down across the main factory floor. Just as I had suspected, a slightly glistening tripwire had been drawn across the front door, tied to several buckets of gems hanging above the entrance. Well, I guess this entrance was still a little quieter than the main one, anyways. Slinking out of the cart, I landed softly on the ground, before darting away in case Aerith was coming over to investigate.

I looked around the factory floor, trying to remember the layout of the place. If Aerith wanted to hide a diamond, where would the best place for that be…? I began to slowly creep around the main factory floor, staying in the shadows underneath the various conveyer belts and large processing machinery. Looking around, I spotted an office overlooking the main floor, the glass of the window shattered. Noticing the stairs were broken, I grumbled as I tried to spot some other path up to it, and I was quickly able to spot a few bits of machinery below the destroyed stairs. Wandering over, I hoisted myself up the furnace, careful not to place my hooves on any rusted pieces of metal in case they were to break and fall away. Shimmying my way up some of the pipes, I was soon able to lift myself up by the railing of the stairs, my muscles aching a bit as I wandered up to the office. Eugh, I'm willing to bet the interior of Fort Maple is a little less dilapidated than this...

Stepping through the broken door, rather than some elaborately made trap surrounding a diamond, I was met with a simple office with a terminal sitting on the desk. Ugh, maybe it wasn’t here after all… Still, out of curiosity, I stepped up to the terminal, flicking the power on. The screen blinked to life, green lines flowing up from the bottom as the boot-up sequence began. Yeah, yeah, RobronCo termlink error, copyright 2023, it’s always the same. After a few tense moments of the fans humming away, a few options appeared on the screen; Quarterly reports, not interesting, trade agreement with Vanhoover, not relevant. Yeesh, it’s almost as if ponies writing crap down 200 years ago don’t always have the most interesting things to say. Map of the mines? Now that’s something that might actually be useful... depending on how much hasn't collapsed due to the balefire blast in the pit, anyways. Plugging my Pip-Buck into the computer, I began to download the information off of the terminal, only to look up out over the factory floor, and notice a brilliant white gemstone resting on the edge of one of the rafters. Oooh, Aerith, you little flying cheat.

Once the information was in, and I made sure I safely ejected my pip-buck's uplink before removal, I ran over to the window, leaning out to wrap my hooves around the girders connecting bits of the ceiling. Hoisting up onto the rafters, I began to crawl forwards towards the gemstone, my mind already trying to think of some way out of the facility once I had it. I suppose I could easily disarm the trap on the front door, no way I can make it out through the intake ducts again without a lot of noise. Drawing ever nearer, I reached out, trying to swipe the gem off of the girder. Stretching my hoof, I just barely managed to grab it, before I suddenly felt something wrap around my hind leg. I had barely enough time to yelp before I was yanked upwards, dangling upside-down by my right hind leg as I clutched the gem in my forehooves. I heard a soft chuckle as Aerith materialized in front of me, grinning widely as she watched my shimmering form swing back and forth in the magic rope.

I really hate anti-burglary enchantments.

"Alright, let's see how well you really do with that rifle. Steady yourself." It was a little after 10 by the time my body finally decided to play ball and not fall asleep again, myself at least a little thankful that Crash Dive did let me sleep in - I'm not a morning pony, don't look at me like that. The northern edge of Maple Station was definitely a fair bit less lively than the southern one, at least making it a little more reasonable for there to be a firing range out here. I held War Crime against the bit of fence, fitting a full magazine to her and racking the long bolt, bracing her stock in my shoulder while I took aim down her scope. Right then... um...

"Uh... targets, Crash Dive?" Looking up from the shoulderpad and over to the power armored pegasus beside me, she seemed to be scanning the distance through her helmet's goggles, looking off to the hills and trees well out there. Waiting for her for a few moments more, she came to a stop, focusing in on something. Alright, well, she sees something... I rested my cheek back down, shuffling to aim the rifle roughly in the same direction, waiting for her.

"Treeline, broken stump near some rocky mounds. Fire when ready." Treeline and a broken stump... well, yeah, not like I needed range or target heading. Then again, I suppose I won't get that in a combat situation, anyways... Scanning along the hillside, the offending stump eventually came into view, myself letting off a small huff. Not making it easy for me, are you? That's gotta be... Fourteen hundred, fifteen hundred meters, maybe? Well, I can probably hit that with one round, at least...

Squeezing the trigger, War Crime barked once, the first round flying downrange as the barrel recoiled in, the motion ejecting the spent casing to the snow and loading another large bullet from the 20-round clip, the firing pin flying forwards to strike the primer again, the process repeating. I let go of the trigger after the third round, watching through the scope; a second or two later, the first round buried itself into the snowy hillside just below the stump, second one flying high and splintering a tree in the background, the third one managing to strike home... barely. A hit's a hit, and where'm I gonna be sniping stump-sized things from a kilometer and a half away, anyways?

Crash Dive let off a small grunt beside me, looking at the stump closely. "That's at least two meter's spread at 1390 meters, lucky it's calm winds today. Not too bad, seem to be able to handle the recoil relatively well. Probably never gonna be a proper sniper with that thing, but, well, it's not really what I'd call a proper sniping weapon to begin with." Responding with a sigh of my own, I pressed the magazine release and pulled the now slightly lighter thing from the rifle, racking the bolt once to eject the round already in the chamber. Yeah, sniping isn't for me... at least, long-range sniping, anyways. Grenade rifle sniping, maybe... the power armored pegasus wore a glare as she watched me unload War Crime, fitting it onto my back. "And what do you think you're doing? We've stil got some training that needs to be done."

Looking about for a moment, a cloudy sigh escaped me, before I turned eyes back to meet the glowing red ones of Crash Dive's helmet. "C'mon, Crash Dive, when am I gonna have to be properly sniping? It's not like I'm gonna be able to get a shot on a robo-dragon from a kilometer and a half away, at least one that'll damage it, anyways." She didn't respond, but at the same time I think she got the point. So far the only way we've managed to kill those big bastards is with autocannons or big explosives, or a tank shell in one case, anyways. I'm very much willing to bet that at the distance she has me shooting, War Crime'll just ping harmlessly off their hides.

Crash Dive eventually let loose a sigh of her own, turning and starting to walk off back to the center of town, myself following her. She was quiet for a long few moments, before releasing a quick chuff. "Well, if you aren't going to be on a firing range, we're going to have to find something else for you to do instead. Like it or not, you're still in no shape to take on my old squadron yourself, regardless of what your fancy jet can do..." ...okay, fair point there in return, even with Thumper and War Crime, maybe charging headlong in a fight against a bunch of trained Enclave soldiers backed up by robo-dragons and Harriers probably isn't the best of ideas. Then again, we haven't really seen all the Valkyrie can do yet, too... hell, we haven't even used her cannons since that first accidental shot back in the hangar.

I slwowed in my tracks, looking off to the southwest, and the firing range with the landed bomber that was there. Forty millimeter autocannons... flying is one thing, aiming the guns, though, well... I spread my wings, catching up with Crash Dive and landing beside her, wearing a grin. She seemed to be a little confused for a moment, myself letting off a small chuckle. "If I have to be training with something today, it might as well be something that can hurt the dragons. You did say that we should stick around because the Valkyrie's the only thing that can shoot them down, and it does have two forty millimeter autocannons in the cheeks..."

The power armored pegasus paused for a moment, before moving an armored hoof to her forehead. Hey, you're the one who said we should be training... "Oh, sweet Celestia..."

---

"Valkyrie, you'd better be damn careful with those guns hot. A pair of forties'll make mincemeat of anything in their way, doubly so for anything that isn't armored... as in, a town." Fowler grunted over the cockpit radio as I got the Valkyrie to a running state, all needing to be done now just throttling up and taking off. Bit odd not having Static behind me to help, though, I will admit... "You've at least got something to fire on out there, right? Much as I'll appreciate having something with some bite in the air, kind of defeats the point of gunnery training if you haven't a thing that's safe to shoot at."

"Relax, Fowler. The Tank Ghouls are working on dragging a rusted-out boiler onto the range right now for me, I'll only make passes that don't put Maple Station at risk. I think I only have... yeah, forty rounds per gun on this thing anyways, can't do too much damage when I'm empty." Well, forty max. Only actually have thirty-five loaded, when you take into account the one shot that Static spent back in the hangar and the four pulled out for replication and subsequent reloading... hope it doesn't take them too long for that. One hoof rested on the throttle as I pressed against the headset again, looking around the cabin. "So, anyways, am I clear for takeoff?"

"Aye, ahm... hold, Valkyrie." Well... okay then, I guess. Ugh, you'd think I'd just be able to go, how many ponies would be flying around?... you know, besides all the Vertibucks that were landed here a couple days ago. Little late on that info, brain, but thanks anyways. I let off a small sigh, leaning back in the seat, looking at the control yoke for a little while. After a few moments, Fowler eventually came back on, myself getting back into takeoff mode. "Right, sorry about that, radar's been a little on the fritz today. They're having a look at it now, keeps picking up a few blips in the airspace but I haven't ben able to confirm them yet. Clear for takeoff, stay wary though. HMS Cadence, out."

Unknown radar blips... great. And whoever designed this thing didn't think to put a button on the pilot's console that automatically turns on the defensive tesla cannon turrets, so that's gonna be fun, too. At least I can take off, now. Taking a breath, and listening to the four and a half massive engines running behind me, I slowly eased the throttle forwards, listening and feeling the rumble as the massive aircraft lifted up off of the earth. Hokay, smooth takeoff, let's just get a fly-around and then I can start on an attack run, I suppose. Huh, wonder how hard it'd be to aim the guns while hovering, would give me more time on target or something... I can probably do something that allows me to maintain altitude while in vertical mode, right?

Swinging the nose around to the south, the central turbine spooled down as the main four took over, air flowing under the Valkyrie's wings and letting us not plummet from the sky. Rolling the massive craft to the left, the expanse of lands heading east rolled out ahead of me, the mountains and the faint sight of the rail lines leading to them well off in the distance catching my eyes over the instrument panel. Well, I mean, it's annoying when it comes to landing, but I think the reflex sight on the canopy should at least make aiming the guns easy enough... hopefully.

Completing the swing around and aiming the nose down, I leaned up in the chair, easing back the throttle as the crisscrossing railyard caught the corner of my eye below. Firing range should be just a short ways out of town, and I'm betting they put the boiler somewhere on the western edge just so it'll be far enough away from town... at least, that's the hope. Just gotta find the thing...

As I neared in on the range, a rusted lump on the snowy expanse caught my attention for just a split second... pretty much nowhere near the reticle, and by extension well beyond the reach of my guns short of a maneuver I'm pretty sure I wouldn't survive making. Well, first strafing run is a bust, but at least I found the target... I guess. Pulling back on the yoke brought the nose back up, myself easing back on the throttle to stay relatively slow as I settled back into level flight and flew off a ways to the northwest, prepping another pass around. Figure-eight seems like a good way to do it for a single target, I suppose.

Banking around and aiming downwards again, I went back to scanning the ground ahead of me, trying to find that rusted boiler. C'mon, I had this thing just a second ago... ugh, wait, the range is on a hillside, isn't it? Ah, fuck me with a seventen pounder, that'll complicate things. Letting off a breath, I kept scanning the ground ahead, a little more confident on the approach. The rusted hulk of metal eventually appeared over the snowy hill, the gunsight not too far off of it. Okay, just a little up on the stick, and maybe some rudder and... damnit, missed it again. Ugh, strafing with an air craft is a lot harder than strafing with regular guns.

Setting up for my third pass, I swung well out to the east, coming in right over the town. The firing range was at least barren enough for the boiler to be fairly obvious, and beyond that the lengthy approach did make it much easier to actually get the reticle over the target. Not gonna have long, better make this count... Drawing in a quick breath, my hooves squeezed the trigger for the guns, both of them sounding out loud beside me for a quick six-round burst. Looking out the window, the red tracers and other shells impacted the ground around the boiler, large snow and dirt clouds kicked up in their wake. Right, if I remember correct, it's a blend of HEWP/APHE/HEFI/AP-T shots, so that at least did something nasty to it... if they hit.

Pulling up, I put myself in a wide right bank, swinging far off north and leveling off after a short while. Coming in over the town seemed to work pretty well, let's see if I can get another pass in like that... Swinging around and nosing down, I did seem to be coming in a little further north than hoped, but at least it'll be a different angle. Careful teasing of the controls managed to get the reticle over the boiler once again, and I let loose a longer salvo of ten shots, watching the rounds pepper the ground and spark as they struck metal. Definitely some hits in there, at least... Well, you know what they say about throwing shit at a wall.

Nosing up the Valkyrie, I started another turn to the north, looking out of the canopy to the ground below. A thick white plume caught my attention far in the distance, myself leveling off to head towards it. Huh... well, it's a bit off the legputer map, I think, but I guess it'd be worth checking out. Wonder what it might be. Throttling back, again - these engines are too powerful for this thing's own good - I tried to hold the Valkyrie in a right bank, getting a good look out the canopy at the ground below. Alright, smoke cloud, what exactly are you...

The source of the cloud drew near, a few details eventually making themselves able to be picked out against the snowy lands below - for example, the fact that whatever it was, it was moving fast enough to be shoving snow out of it's way while it did. A few cars trailed behind it, some looking like the ones that the seamster's shop was in... Wow, for being in an aircraft that can break the sound barrier like a forty-mil slug can break a lock, I am really slow. The train passed by beneath, heading in towards Maple Station, myself looking at the cargo aboard. Lesee, three passenger cars, a couple box cars, a tank car, and... were those tanks on the flatbeds? And some sort of truck, too, I guess... and some sort of turret bolted to the last car, too.

A turret that, as I shot past the end of the train, I finally noticed was starting to aim at me. Oh, crap.

Small, bright tracers shot past the canopy as I heard the metal of the Valkyrie get peppered by the flak fire, my hoof shoving the throttle open and swinging around eastwards to hopefully outpace their turret's spin. Okay, just gotta get back to Maple Station and land, I'm sure they'll realize it was a mistake when we explain- the Valkyrie shook as the rounds impacted the tail, red warnings flashing up on the canopy as the small railroad town shot past underneath me. Hitting the airbrakes and throwing her back into hover mode, the large jet bomber came to a heavy stop, the central turbine providing some reverse thrust as I kept the nose up. Okay... think I'm not getting shot at now... good.

Catching my breath, I eased the nose of the Valkyrie back around, the controls feeling a little more sluggish to respond than before but miraculously at least still functioning. Hovering the Valkyrie back over to the gunnery range, I brought her down slowly, a relieved sigh escaping me as the landing gear took her weight. Shutting her engines down, a timer flashed up, counting down how long it'll be until it's repaired, I guess. I patted over myself as I undid the restraints, hooves only shaking a little. Still in one piece, that-that's good... eheh...

"I think... I think that's enough gunnery practice for now."

---

"...you -might- need a bigger shed." The Tank Ghouls' shed was alive with the rumble of engines as the four new vehicles trundled inside, Rheinmetall and Mad Jack watching on from Porschia and Avery, respectively. All of the new arrivals bore the same logo as the BT-42, the white circle surrounded by the word Cordite - must be Gardener's friends, I suppose - the whole group coming to a stop inside the shed. The rumble of their engines quieted as they turned off, hatches beginning to clatter open and their crew climbing out.

A ghoul from the lead vehicle, some sort of rather flat tank with five large road wheels either side and a very sharply-angled turret, landed on the ground as he hopped down from on top of it, trotting over to us with a smile on his face. Much like Gardener, he wore a beret over what was left of his mane, as well as a set of simple khakis, Rheinmetall seeming to clamber off of Porschia to rush over to the stallion. "Hah, Second Leiutenant Ironside, is that really you? Miene Gottinen, it must've been years since I last saw you! Still running zat small Crusader, I see."

The tank commanders held each other in a quick hug, Ironside letting off a raspy chuckle. "Heh, told ya last time Rheinmetall ya daft Germane bastard, it's Captain Ironside now. How's Porschia been handlin' that new drivetrain we found for 'er? Still lightin' herself on fire as much as she was?" Both ghouls shared a chuckle as Rheinmetall gave a shake of his head, myself hopping down and heading over to get a look at all the tanks. They can have their reunion, I won't interrupt. Now, what's this one, then...

The somewhat boxy tank rested light on it's ten road wheels, the top half of the tracks covered by thin sheets that covered up the idlers and drive sprockets halfway. The strangely-shaped turret mounted a rather decently sized gun, in a similar setup as the TOG's and Avery's, with the armor-bit attached to the gun inside the turret. Always kinda seemed a little odd, you'd think having a plate on the outside too would be useful, at least for some more armor protection. I mean, you don't have to worry about it as much nowadays, but still... anyways. Gun caliber... sixty millimeter, maybe? Probably good enough for anti-tank work, back in the day. And that hatch there beside the driver's position, that seems a bit too small to've been an original design choice. Kind of an odd choice to have the turret hatch so large, though, the doors are basically as wide as the thing...

Moving to the second tank in the row, it was really quite significantly shorter than the first one, at least as far as track length is concerned. I honestly couldn't believe a tank could be that small... the only thing that gave something of an appearance of length to it was a pair of thick metal bars braced and sticking out of the back, that seemed to be hinged at the tank and curved upwards by the end. Otherwise, it was quite a boxy little thing, not helped by the metal crate on the flat back of the turret that... seemed to be solely there to carry a teapot. Well... okay then. Giving the side-hatch on the turret a closer look, just barely able to make the stamping out on the oddly dark-blue painted metal, it seemed to read 'Nucleana T-8'... I guess that's the name of the tank, then? Or, well, the tank's designation, I suppose... eh, whatever. It's small, it's probably light, it should go pretty fast, right?

Moving to the third one down the line... I am really certain that a significant portion of those oddly-colored sections in the armor were not part of the original design. As I tried to figure out exactly what they were, the side-hatch of the tank swung open, a ghoul mare leaning out and looking around. Well, might as well ask, I suppose... The mare's eyes eventually met mine, and I flashed her a quick smile as she rested herself on the cast armor. "That's, ah, a very... interesting tank, you've got there. What's up with all the silvery circles on the armor, though?"

The tanker mare let off a small chuckle, adjusting herself in the hatch, another pony poking their head out of a hatch at the back of the turret. "Ah, mon ami, what you gaze upon here is the Liberty Bell, one of the finest tanks from Prance's long-lost factories. Each section of armor you mention is a memento of the great battles she once faced in her long history, and she wears each one proudly as medals of the days she refused to die!" The ghoul tanker had raised a hoof triumphantly to the air, the pony in the turret letting off a sigh and bringing a hoof to their forehead in response. After a moment of defaning silence, the mare coughed, letting off a weak chuckle. "Eheh, uh, sorry. She was made as a training tank, the armor isn't hardened so the shells fired at her just end up stuck in it. We just ground them flush afterwards."

Training tank? I mean, I guess you'd need some way to train new crews, but... huh. Unhardened steel armor... "That... doesn't seem very safe. Aren't you worried about them popping loose while under fire, or maybe being even worse than what your... 'armor' is?" I scratched at the back of my head as the ghoul mare answered with a shrug, turning attention back inside the vehicle and disappearing for a moment. I trotted up to the doorway a little closer, getting a quick peek inside - sheesh, that turret looks like it only has space for one, maybe two if you really squished 'em. Thinking about it... yeah, that T-8's turret has got to be crazy-cramped too, probably. Jeez, we just get the rejected tanks, or something?

The mare reappeared at the doorway, making me jump slightly as she wore a grin. "Most of these shells never penetrated in the first place, just went in far enough to get stuck. Far as we know of them from the inside, they're just small bumps in the armor. Would give more armor in those places, I'd believe." I took a small step back as she leaned out of the tank a little ways, a cigarette held in her mouth that she was quick to light with a small match. She took a long drag from it, huffing a cloud out into the tank-filled railshed. "Besides, it's a rare day that we face something which can actually have a hope of hurting us, anyways. Last time was, what, that run-in with the Whitehorse Militia? Pfeh, they were firing high explosive at us, absolutely ridiculous..."

"It was APHE, Epine, just was that it was being fired from a Neighpon-made 57mm. Glorified howitzers, those, wouldn't mind knowing where they got their hooves on a Type 89's turret to stick on that runabout, though..." The pony at the back of the turret climbed out of the tank, hopping down and landing with a clatter of hooves against the concrete. He looked between us both for a moment, giving his legs a stretch, before focusing on the mare in the tank. "I'm going to find a drink, come get me once the Captain is done getting reacquainted. Maintenant je me souviens pourquoi je déteste travailler dans la tourelle..."

We watched as he trotted off, the mare in the tank - Epine, I suppose - letting off a quiet huff of smoke. "Oh mon dieu, pas encore... Don't mind him, it was just a long trip for us. Aren't used to traveling via rail, Liberty Bell's fast enough by herself that we can get around most places." Giving the outside of the tank a few pats with her hoof, Epine rested herself in the doorway, myself passing on a shrug. Hey, if I just got off a train ride from some distant place of Equestria, I'd be pretty exhausted too. Epine shuffled about a little, looking over myself. "So, mon cher, what's a mare like yourself doing hanging around with a bunch of old tankers like these? You're quite young yet, I would've thought you'd be out on the town, meeting nice stallions and so on. Hardly seem the type to find company with a bunch of ghouls and their war machines."

I let off a small chuckle, leaning up against the side of her tank, careful to not press against the shell impacts just in case. As I was about to start explaining, though, the ghoul from earlier returned, shaking his head laughing and trying to get himself back to being coherent. "Oh, goddesses, I've heard a lot of tall tales but that just takes the cake. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see you two again, but... robot dragons, seriously? Next you'll tell me there's a sea monster out in the harbor or something. Come on lads, you don't need a fanciful tale for us to see each other." The stallion trotted over and leaned himself against Liberty Bell, one hoof rubbing at his eyes. Oh, boy, he's in for a shocker... after a short while, he finally calmed himself down, looking up at me while still getting a few last chuckles out. "Heh, so, the lads said you were the reason Pip radioed us down here, you the one gawking these mental tales at 'em enough they're taking it as the truth?"

Epine seemed to glance between us both from the tank, her eyes wide and brow furrowed slightly. Yeah, I know, hard to believe something like that. Letting off a sigh, I moved back to all four hooves, the tank ghoul ahead of me still trying to calm down fully. "I doubt you'd be laughing if you saw the state they left Hopeville in, or Saddlebrook. I know what I've seen and had to shoot down a few times myself, and I think Gardener and Rangefinder will back those 'mental tales' up once they both get back, too. You think he'd have called for help like you if it wasn't something actually serious?" Oddly enough, Ironside was wearing Epine's same shocked expression now as he looked at me, silent. Huh, maybe I really am getting good with the talky-word stuff.

"Erm, well, I suppose not... but, really, robot dragons? I mean, if nothing else if we'd have known this earlier, we might've been able to come better prepared, with some anti-aircraft vehicles, or something. What on earth are us tanks supposed to do against flying enemies? None of our guns exactly elevate that high up, and it's not like we've got air-burst shells, anyhow." ...damnit, he did have a point there. It would be a little silly if the dragons just stayed grounded while taking cannon fire, and based on how well I managed to pull off strafing earlier I doubt it'll be too easy for anypony at the Vanhoover Air Base to be able to learn how to shoot a dragon out of the sky, too. Then again, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that Cerberus might have ground robots, too, and just deployed the dragons because it's easier for them to get from place to place... maybe.

"Well... having some armored vehicles is better than nothing at all, and if nothing else you'll be able to help us with taking and holding some of the overrun places so we can be better positioned for the main attack on their big fortress. Their wings are easy targets anyhow, and when they're on the ground the only things they have to fight with are plasma breath or mouth flamethrowers, and they do not take tank shells to the body that well, either. It's better than having a whole town get wiped out trying to kill just one, and you'll have air and naval artillery support, too." ...and, back to the shocked faces. Oh, there's a lot of explaining to be done, for sure, I just wish I wasn't the one to have to do it.

Epine's cigarette fell from her slack jaw as she could only stare at me, glancing back towards Ironside for only a moment. "Mon Dieu, vous devez plaisanter! Soutien aérien? Artillerie navale? Es-tu mente ou juste folle?!" I jumped a little as the tanker mare broke into a bit of hysterics as far as I could tell, not really picking up on what she was saying. When I said I was getting good with the talky-word stuff, I meant the talky-word stuff as spoken in Equestrian, not... whatever her native language is! Epine seemed to let off a long sigh, lifting a hoof to her forehead. "Sorry, I just... okay, just, what do you mean by air and naval artillery support? What kind of war are we fighting?"

"The... kind where we're hoping to have the edge in sheer unrelenting firepower? Eheheh..." Letting off a weak chuckle, nopony else seemed to be laughing, myself clearing my throat. "Ahm, I mean, we have allies at the Vanhoover Air Base and onboard the HMS Cadence, they're working on preparing for everything too. We don't know what Cerberus is planning, but we need all the help we can get if we want to make absolutely sure he won't finish it. He's already stolen a large amount of tactical megaspell warheads with the help from the robo-dragons, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to see what'll happen if he gets a chance to use them."

That seemed to get them back to being more shocked than annoyed, at least, Rheinmetall and Mad Jack nodding soberly in support as Ironsides looked over to them. The old tanker stood himself upright, adjusting his khakis slightly and clearing his throat. "Well, if that's the case then I suppose we'll at least do what we can to help. We've been through what happened the last time some lunatic with too much power had access to things like that, if we can prevent it from happening again then I think we'd all want to jump at the chance - and so we shall." Ironside lifted a hoof up in front of himself, one of my own forehooves moving to grab it as he gave it a firm shake, a smile crossing his muzzle. "Captain Ironside, formerly of Her Majesty's Third Royal Tank Regiment, at your service."

Us both setting our hooves down, Ironside looked to Epine, the mare quickly raising a forehoof to a salute. "Leiutenant Epine, Seconde Division Légère Mécanique, at your service as well. No madstallion shall lay waste to Equestrian soil again under our watch." Wearing a smile fo my own, I returned the salute quickly, managing to get a chuckle out of Ironside at least. Looking past the front of Liberty Bell, the odd metal tail of the small tank in the middle caught my eye again, myself looking back towards Ironside and nodding towards it. It's a meet and greet, might as well meet and greet everyone.

The old tanker ghoul let off a soft chuckle, seeming to understand what I meant. "Ah, right, them, they're some older trainees from Cordite, haven't grown out of their T-8 yet. They'll go where we do, though, shouldn't have to worry about them. Ought to work their 4-pounder just fine..." The old ghoul trotted over to the blue-painted tank, pausing beside it for a moment before continuing forwards. Well... Eh, I suppose I don't have to meet everypony, long as they know what they'll be doing well enough.

A rumble filled the air at the far end of the shed, myself taking a few steps towards the doorway as everyone else seemed to watch on with me. Heh, that must be Gardener and Rangefinder, and Static, Aerith, and Hispano, then. Suppose we can finally all get a lunch together... though, the white-colored chassis combined with the fixed casemate and high-pointing gun seemed to indicate otherwise. The odd, not-a-tank vehicle trundled in through the doors, finding a bit of empty space to turn into, allowing me to finally spot the painted-on 'Avenger' nametag on the side of the fighting compartment... and grimace as I heard whatever stallion from B Company that was driving it manage to drive it into the wall. Ouch.

The artillery piece eventually managed to right itself, trundling down the empty space where Deathtrap and Sensha's tank usually would've been to park up just before hitting Porschia's side, the familiar BT-42 and 17-pounder armed M4 following in behind them, their engines shutting off one by one. A small bout of laughter came up from the small howitzer tank's back, as well as a soft groan, Poppy Gardener hopping off of his tank's back and followed by the stealth suit-clad earth pony. While the tank commander took to greeting his colleague, Static slowly moved himself over to me, seeming to grunt with each step. Sheesh, what kind of training were they doing...

The blue earth pony wore a weak grin as he finally got close enough for me to follow alongside him, as he moved himself over to a nearby chair and fell into it with a huff. Okay, there's being tired, and then there's being dramatic, Sparky. I sat myself next to him, the earth pony picking himself up and leaning back to catch his breath, his head rollong to look at me. "Have I... have I ever mentioned how much I love the fact that the TOG is such a slow tank before? Hurk... guh, how they manage to handle that thing's suspension without getting sick is beyond me. Just need a while, then I oughta be able to keep a meal down again..."

I let off a small chuckle and gave a slight shake of my head in response. Ah, Static...

---

"K A O S Radio~"

"Good evening North Vanhoover, and what an evening it is. Would like to apologize for any errant sounds or interference you might hear in the background, as it turns out a whole lot goes into getting a radio station like this one all back to her former glory, eheh. We're still looking for volunteers to come and help out over here, so if you want to lend a hoof, don't hesitate to place a call. We'll be sure to arrange transport for you, one way or another, heh. Fear of heights, probably not advised to have.

"Moving on to news throughout the wasteland, it would seem that the maintenance service up the line from Maple Station has been completed after long last, and the first inbound train in a long time has arrived. Regular rail service is planned to resume in a couple week's time, and with it a boost to the town's economy as well. I think I'm right in saying that my hat's off to the Road Crew in charge of that section of track, finally getting that work done over winter can't have been the easiest thing by a long shot. We all appreciate what you do, guys, this wasteland wouldn't be nearly as much of a prime travel destination without ya, heh.

"Out of Hopeville, I'm happy to report that one of the tank ghouls that'd come down here after helping set up Glowing-Sea is finally finding her way back home to Maple Station, with the assistance of a newly-arrived group and their rather peculiar vehicle. As this particular tank ghoul was described to me as once being an aerial scout for Equestria's military, can only imagine how much of an embarassment it is for her to have to have help getting back there from such a relatviely short distance away. Don't suppose this would be a good time for me to suggest you tankers think about implementing a buddy system, is it?

"Moving on to the last bit of news, and the part I'm sure a lot of you want to know about, what the Vanhoover Five are up to. Well, I can say with absolute certainty one thing they've been doing a lot of over the last few days is making some new friends. We've got word from Maple Station and the Vanhoover Air Base that the Five have been swinging by there, making sure everything's in tip-top shape and maybe finally finding a chance to relax after all that they've been up to. I'd say take it, guys, you've earned it, heh.

"You're listening to Radio KAOS, and from the urging of some of the new arrivals, the next album will not be The Final Cut by Roger Trotters, eheh. Still, hopefully not too many of you will wind up Amused to Death by it, anyways, heh. Enjoy."

We all sat down at a pair of tables that had been pushed together at the Roundhouse pub, Hispano shrugging off her large gun and leaning it against the table as she pulled her chair out. I still clutched at my gut a little, the rockiness of the tank ride having quelled my normally ravenous appetite, the pegasus beside me letting off a sigh. “Oh, calm down, Static, you were fine on the boat, but riding in a small tank was a bad trip? And how the heck did you drive the half-track with such a weak stomach?” Night Strike said, giving me a light push on my shoulder. I groaned a little, shaking my head as I reached for the glass of water a waiter was now placing in front of me. Blugh, just don’t ask me to talk before I get something cold in me. Taking a sip as the waiter began to take the others’ orders, I turned to look at the stage, where a ghoul was heckling a few of the audience members.

“You know, for a pony that goes around smacking people with an umbrella, you sure do have a weird obsession with caps. What's up with that? You’re hardly a mercenary ‘kill for any price’ type, especially with how you did back in Bridleshade, and you aren’t exactly in need of weapon maintenance and ammo all the time, either.” Hispano gave a stretch after a few moments, leaning back in her chair. Night Strike gave a soft snort, grinning as she rolled her eyes in response, looking towards the stage. I looked back to the table, blinking a few times as I tried to shake off the remaining dizziness - wuugh, it looked so smooth from the outside, how can it be that rough inside?...

Calming down, I shrugged a bit, taking another sip of water. “I dunno, who doesn’t like having more money? I was always running deliveries for my dad once he stopped trying to keep me out of the wastes all the time. If I didn’t get picky about getting the right price, we’d have probably been cheated out of half of our caps. Drill Bit never wanted to pay full price whenever he ordered new dental coats. ‘Course, he probably got the money back from all the appointments.” I rubbed my cheek a little, remembering a particularly painful check-up.

Hispano raised her eyebrows, looking both impressed and confused. “Sheesh, you guys actually have a dentist up there? How the hell does Vanhoover barely have a full police force, and Hopeville’s Triage seems pretty understaffed, but you guys have enough security you’ve got a professionally trained dentist?” I took another sip, averting my gaze. Well, I never said he was -professionally- trained. Just somepony with a talent for causing things pain would be a more apt description... “So, anyways, what’s the plan for the rest of the night? You guys heading back on out right away, then?” Hispano leaned back in her chair, as Aerith fiddled with her silverware. I shrugged, not having been focused on any plans past ‘stop feeling like you’re going to vomit on somepony’, which I suppose I could at least mercifully check off my list at this point.

“Eh, probably just hanging around, doing stuff and things, all that kind of non-descript jazz,” Night Strike joked as the waiter left to gather our drinks. Hispano rolled her eyes as we turned our attention to the comedian, who was now having a strange battle-of-wits with a drunk heckler sitting near the front of the stage. The pony looked about ready to fall under the table, and yet was somehow winning the argument. Well, I suppose it’s as good an entertainment as any nowadays...

---

Trotting out of the bar a few hours later and a couple pounds heavier, the sun still hung in the sky, if just barely. “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m heading back to see those tanks again. I bet I can persuade Epine into showing what that new tank of hers can do before the night's out, she said it was pretty fast.” Night Strike gave off a small nod as she began to trot back towards the tank shed. Hispano hefted her cannon's carrying strap over her shoulder, letting off a soft grunt as she gave us a small wave.

“You guys have fun, I probably ought to check in with Dad, see how things are going with the guys on the warship. Also might get more target practice in while there's still a free range up here, never can have enough, y'know?” She broke off from the group, spreading her wings wide and darting off towards the edge of town. As I watched her leave, my gaze followed the line of railcars, stopping on the control tower at the far edge of the yard. My jaw dropped as I remembered the Triage researcher Aerith and I had met there - Sheesh, she’s probably been wondering when the heck we were actually going to bother giving her our report of Shady Shores, hasn’t she? Guh, our fault for being so distracted every time we came back through here...

“Oh crap, ah, I’ve got to go talk to somepony. I’ll meet you guys there!” I said, hurrying off towards the control tower. Night Strike looked over to Aerith, confused, but the alicorn held the same look of realization as she placed a hoof over her face. Trotting briskly towards the yard tower, I slipped between a few ponies wandering through town, soon reaching the bottom of the steps. I hurried up the snow-covered wood stairway, only to slip and fall, banging my chin painfully on the step above me. Gaah, ow! That was stupid, that was stupid!

The sound of a door opening above reached my ears, and I spotted the researcher learning over the railing to see me get back to my hooves. “Oh my goodness, are you alright? Ah, come on, let me have a look...” She trotted around to help me up the stairs and into the shack at the top. She quickly sat me down in a nearby chair, pulling the door shut behind us as her hooves started moving myself about. Ugh, can I have one day where I'm not injured in some way before the end of it? “Alright, consider yourself lucky, it just looks like a few bruises. I’m sure I have a spare potion for helping with the pain lying around, if you need it. What in Equestria were you in such a hurry for, anyways?” She began to rummage around in her desk, pushing aside papers in search of the medicine.

I rubbed my tender chin, my legs aching a bit where they had collided with the steps as well. “Sorry, I only just remembered that you sent us off to inspect Shady Shores. We did that… admittedly, a long time ago, if you still need the report. Honestly, nowadays it's... kinda more just a place to go if you're a ghoul...” I said, letting off a weak chuckle. The researcher pulled a small vial of red potion out from a collection in one of her lower drawers, passing it to me. I gave a small thanks before popping the cork out and drinking it down.

“Oh, is that all? You didn’t need to risk a smashed larynx just for that, I got a report from the Hopeville branch ages ago! You sent them the robot, right?” I nodded as the potion went to work fixing up my wounds, and I handed back the bottle. She dropped the vial into her desk before waiving for me to follow, leading me over to another table. “Well, from what I could study of a sample they sent up, I think I’ve actually managed to figure out something useful those creatures can actually be used for. Take a look at this!” The mare grinned widely as she picked up what looked like a broken piece of carapace from one of the anglerponies.

“This carapace is even more protective than I originally thought, none of the specimens we managed to procure before had anything this thick! And best of all, it’s already molded to fit pony physiques! With a bit of sanding, polishing, a few straps, and possibly an undersuit for mounting, we could actually make this stuff into proper armor!” The mare beamed as she set the shell plating back down, rifling through her notes. My eyes went wide as I gave an impressed look - well, that’s certainly a better use for those things nowadays than whatever it was Pearl was programmed to make them do originally. I mean, you'd still have to find more of them to actually make more of the armor, but still... “I sent a message to the Triage a while back, if they can have that robot send up the chemical components of the chitin. Would love to be able to research this more, this stuff is about as tough as an inch-thick steel plate. The only major problem I can see is weight, exoskeletons were never meant to get this large and this armor definitely shows that. Those anglerponies must have some serious muscles to be able to haul this stuff around constantly. Then again, if they do stay in water most of the time, that would counter-act the weight somewhat through buoyancy…” The researcher trailed off, mumbling to herself as she pulled out a few more notes and began to scribble things down. After a few moments, she let off a sigh, looking back towards myself

“Well, anyway, thanks for checking in. If I’m lucky, I’ll get enough support to start armoring some of the ponies up here with what we have of this stuff. Well, assuming they ignore the leftover viscera that might still be stuck to the inside. We should probably make sure we have a proper cleaning job done on these before we send them out, too...” She scraped off a bit of flesh that was attached to the inside of the carapace, before flicking it into a trash bin. I stood for a moment, not sure what to do, as the mare ignored me and began to pull out a few more research papers.

“Of course, I… guess I’ll head out, then.” I began to make my way towards the door, the mare giving a wave in my general direction as she poured over her notes. Stepping back out into the chilly air, I quickly made my way back down the steps, careful not to slip again, before trotting off towards the tank shed once again. I passed by the shed where the engines that powered the town resided, a few incomprehensible shouts just barely audible above the loud but steady exhausts of the motors. It wasn’t too long before I was stepping inside the garage to see several ponies all gathered in a circle, all watching something. The sounds of scuffling could be heard among cheers and jeers, a few of the ponies letting out cries of triumph here and there.

I hurried over to see what the commotion was about, trying to peer past the shoulders of everypony else. In the middle of the impromptu ring stood Mad Jack and an unfamiliar mare, both of them slowly circling each other. Mad Jack was wearing an aloof grin while the mare’s cold yet determined expression gave me a case of the chills. Mad Jack suddenly made a lunge for the mare, but in a movement so quick I could barely register it happening, the mare ducked down under the stallion and swept at his legs, knocking him off balance. Jack tumbled down onto the mare’s back for a moment, before she bucked out with her hind hooves, sending Jack tumbling down to the concrete floor. He let out a grunt of pain as the wind was knocked out of him, stunned. He lay there for a moment, gasping for breath as the mare stood tall, a small smug smile crossing her own face. My eyes went wide as I gave a look of amazement - how the heck did she manage to take him down that quickly?!

A few of the ponies gathered around cursed as others cheered, and the sound of caps changing hooves could be heard briefly as the unfamiliar mare helped Mad Jack onto his hooves. Despite his defeat, he gave a smile and trotted back to his tank, limping slightly on one of his hooves. “The heck was that all about?” I asked Night Strike, as I spotted her amongst the crowd.

“Jack had a bit too much to drink, started barking about how nopony could beat him in a hoof-fight. Ironside said he’d never seen Epine lose in a barfight yet, some of the other tankers started placing bets, you can probably figure out the rest from there. Never sen Mad Jack that hammered before...” She chuckled. “Honestly, you missed some of the good stuff. Jack might’ve actually won if he hadn’t already been drunk enough he was seeing double... and had kept his helmet on.” I spotted Crash Dive standing away from the crowd, Aerith and Scouring exchanging a few of their caps as Aerith grinned smugly. Night Strike gave off a small chuckle, as she turned and started towards them. “I told you not to take that bet, Scouring. You don’t bet on a drunk fighter.”

Scouring rolled his eyes, grumbling a bit. “Ya’ve never seen what Decisive can do once he’s got a bottle o’ scotch in him. It’s like he cannae even feel his teeth being knocked oot anymore.” I looked back to watch Epine take a seat around a table, pulling out a bottle of Sunrise Sarsaparilla from her saddlebags. I tried to contain a smirk as I watched the respect for the mare seem to drain from Night Strike’s face. C’mon, Strikey, it’s just a soda brand. Walking over to Epine, I tried to strike up a conversation.

“Hey, uh, Epine, right?” She looked over to me as she took a drink of soda. “Uh… do you mind if I ask where you learned that take-down? That was a pretty impressive move.” She looked me up and down as she drank her soda, leaving me to stand in awkward silence for a moment.

“If you really want to know that, it was way back when I was first training in the barracks at Maresailles, but I’m willing to bet that you’re only curious because you want to learn it yourself,” she said, taking another sip. Welp, I tried to not be so obvious. “And without any sort of basic training in unarmed combat, the best I think you’d be able to do is give somepony an uncomfortable back rub. Do you actually know anything about fighting with your hooves, or are you just good at using that... umbrella, of yours?”

I was taken aback somewhat, my expression turning sour. “I think I know enough that I can learn how to sweep somepony’s legs. And I’d like to see you block a Hell Hound’s claws with your bare hooves.” Epine gave me a small chuckle, before she stood up to toss her now empty bottle of soda in the trash.

“Ah, calm down mon ami, I’m only tugging your tail. The move is quite easy to learn, so long as you haven't merde pour le cerveau, don’t need to get so sensitive.” I opened my mouth to object, realized she had a very good point, and closed it again as I tried to hide my embarrassment. “Just, ah, be ready for a few painful hours.” She took a stance in front of me and motioned for me to move in. I did so, and before I knew it I was on the ground, gasping for air. Oh boy, this isn’t going to be fun…

---

I rolled over in bed, groaning as I felt my Pip-Buck leg shaking and beeping loudly. Fumbling about with my eyes still shut, I smacked the wrist-mounted computer a few times, before managing to press the snooze button. Good thing these things are nigh-indestructible... Slowly opening my eyes, I sat up in the small hotel bed, wobbling a little as I tried to remain awake and not flop back down asleep. Guh, what were even doing last night, again?... Oh, right, testing out the strength of my spinal column. Throwing the covers back, I half-fell out of bed to find Scouring still snoring noisily, his armor resting at the foot of his bed. I rubbed my sore limbs from yesterday’s training as I went to rub some warm water over the healing bruises.

As I got the shower running, I heard Scouring stir in his sleep, snorting a few times as he slowly woke back up. There was a knock at the door, and Scouring groaned before throwing back his own covers to answer it. Gingerly tending to my wounds, I leaned out of the bathroom to check who was at the door. Unsurprisingly, it was Crash Dive, Aerith and Night Strike standing behind her. “Five minutes, Valkyrie. We’re heading out as soon as we can.” She began to trot back down the hall, the others following suit. Scouring nodded, closing the door and turning around to slip into his armor as I stepped out of the bathroom. Sheesh, I know she’s an early bird, but it’s not like it takes us four days to get here anymore. Scouring trotted over to the bathroom to splash some water on his face, as I slipped on my jacket and slung my saddlebags over my back, wincing a bit from the weight. Guh, yeah, not sure if a nifty takedown is really worth this much pain. I really should grab a healing potion when we get back to the lighthouse...

It wasn’t too long before Scouring and I were heading down the hallway towards the lobby. The perpetually exhausted receptionist still sat in her office chair, her head bobbing up and down as she tried to remain awake. She reached for a mug sitting on her desk, taking a sip as her eyes remained shut, heavy bags underneath each one. Does she survive solely on coffee alone? How the heck is she not dead? Unless... eh, nah, I doubt she'd be related to Jumper Cables.

Scouring and I stepped out into the cool morning air, the sun only just starting to rise above the horizon. We trotted along the outskirts of town towards the large twin tracks in the snow created from the tank ghouls' many vehicles. The large bomber sat just beyond the outermost row of railcars, Aerith, Night Strike, and Crash Dive standing near the short ladder into the cockpit as they waited for us. Upon noticing our arrival, Crash Dive and Aerith began to climb up into the bomb bay, as Night Strike continued to wait by the door.

“Morning. You still fighting through a broken back?” Night Strike asked as Scouring went to join the others in the bomb bay. Nodding, Night Strike gave a look of pity before we headed up into the cockpit, the small door closing behind us. Agh, oww, I doubt that whoever designed this thought about ponies recovering from injuries... “Well, it should be relatively uneventful until we can get back to the lighthouse. Shouldn’t be shot at by any more trains, at the very least.” I raised an eyebrow, but Night Strike didn’t notice or care to explain as we slipped into our appropriate seats.

The engines roared to life as they always did, Night Strike taking control of the plane. We rolled forward slowly, the central turbine kicking into gear behind me as we began to rise upwards, Night Strike easing the controls around to point us southwestwardly. The ground below us raced by as the turbines mad the switch and we picked up speed, myself taking hold of the armrests as we took a particularly sharp turn. Out of the cockpit window, I was able to spot the edge of the wasteland that marked the bomb that destroyed Shady Shores' detonation radius, the ground still looking as if it was glowing from all the latent magical energy.

Night Strike turned us further south, racing along the coastline towards the lighthouse. I glanced out of the window, watching as the cliffs flew by below us, the ocean splashing up against them in the early morning sun. As I looked down below, though, I noticed something off in the distance. The submarine pen that stood at the edge of the cliffs looked… busier than it should have, for being abandoned. I leaned forward, trying to get a better look as Night Strike noticed the same thing as well. Drawing closer, I finally remembered the valkyrie's forward camera, flicking in on to look through it at the concrete bunker, and seeing... “Uh, Night Strike… I don’t think I like the look of this.”

Several jets of flame shot up into the air, and three large robotic dragons took to the skies, swiveling about to focus in on us. Oh yeah, I definitely don’t like the look of this.

"Everybody, hold on!" The robo-dragons from the sub pen shot past as we continued south, the flames they were spewing upwards at us engulfing the canopy for only a moment. Dials clacking filled the air behind me as Static fiddled with his console, hopefully working to get the turrets online, as I hit the airbrakes and started to swing us around, out to sea. If they're gonna focus on us, let's try and not put the lighthouse in danger... The tesla cannons on the top of the Valkyrie started to open fire as we completed the turn, myself sitting up to scan out over the sub pen, trying to catch sight of the flock to start gunning them down.

First pass... wasn't quite a bust, as I did manage to spot a few more of them, but naturally getting the guns on target is a different story. Damn it, don't they know that piloting a plane is more difficult than actually flying with wings?!... which is why they're taking full advantage of that fact. Thanks, brain. Balls of plasma shot up from below as a few of the dragons managed to catch up with us, a crunch of metal heard from the left before the tesla cannons opened up with a constant burst, and Static opened up with a scream.

"AAAAAHHH, GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF!!" Looking back out the canopy, the glint of a large metal beast clinging to the wing just caught my eye, my hooves clinging to the control yoke tight. Ooh, sorry about this, guys... Moving a hoof just to punch the throttle forward, both gripped the yoke as I wrenched us over into a fast left roll, grunting as the G-forces tried to throw both of us against the right side of the cockpit, and - from the sounds of the clunks behind us that I seriously hoped weren't from the bomb bay doors opening - succeeded in throwing our three passengers to the right side of the bomb bay. Holding it, the sound of tearing metal resonated through the fuselage, prompting me to level off and look back. Okay, hole in the left wing, not the worst thing in the world...

The talismans were starting to get to repairing the damage as I swung us around for another pass, this time managing to get the reticle on one - well, I mean, it helps when they fly straight at us. A ball of plasma burst from it's mouth as my hooves held the trigger, the least bit thankful that I was reminded to have the guns topped off last night before we left. The first few rounds had already left the barrels as the ball of plasma flew by our right, the whole craft being bucked sideways midair as the wing's edge caught the ball, some loud whining coming from the engines. Mercifully, the few shots that had flown true from the cannons had connected, and by the time the Valkyrie was flying back as it should've - mostly - the dragon was no more than a mess of scrap metal falling out of the air.

Warnings flared up on the console behind me, Static addressing them as I worked the controls to keep us flying level. Fuck me, I prefer the fire-breathers over the plasma ones, they're just as hard to kill but at least they're shorter range! Fighting with the rudder pedals, we'd gone well out to sea before normal flight had been resumed, the right-side engines running a bit less loudly than they had been, assuming they were, anyways. Static let off a sigh as I peered ahead, looking over the nose to see Deadstallion's Island going by underneath. HMS Cadence... that would help, wouldn't it?

Throttling back, and feeling us slowing down a little faster than we usually would've, I put us in a slight right bank, starting an orbit around the island. Finally releasing the control stick with a hoof, I pressed against the headset, looking out to the warship below... or, trying to. Didn't think there'd be that much smoke coming from the funnels. "HMS Cadence, HMS Cadence, this is Valkyrie, we've got trouble, do you copy? Over!"

"Roger Valkyrie, we've got you covered, all starboard AA batteries are being crewed as we speak. We're monitoring what we can on the radar, jammy bastards are flying too low for us to spot electrically but we've only seen three so far. What's the damage on your end? Over." The heavy cruiser shot by underneath as we came around the first full circle, myself starting to slowly have to correct more on the stick as the right wing stopped dipping so much. Well, whatever it was, it's getting better, at least. Static's voice came through over the set, breathing a little labored.

"Small hole in the left wing, getting smaller, right wing's been caved in on top of the engines but is getting repaired too. Both right-side engines are down though, won't come back up until the wing's back into shape. Considering it was a plasma ball the size of a boulder from a Daring Do film, though, kinda lucky all things considered." The earth pony let off a weak chuckle as we started our second circle, myself nearly having to hold the yoke left to keep the right bank going. The hell did Static do back there?... A few more knob clacks were heard, and soon the Valkyrie eased back to normal flight, myself resuming the bank to keep the orbit. That's better... "Uh, and, um, definitely more than just three there, I counted about six or seven, we've downed two for certain. Over."

The radio crackled for a few moments as a muffled voice was heard over the other end, Fowler speaking up again. "Copy that, we'll have all eyes peeled. All four starboard Bofors mounts are good to go, and the ROQF 4-inchers are laying on target as well. You are free to land if needed instead of buzzing around, too, you know. Over." I let off a weak chuckle, sensing the faintest bit of annoyance in Fowler's voice as he stopped sending, looking at the dials and stuff in front of me as we continued to orbit. Okay, left side engines are still normal, right side... still down. And there isn't a runway for a horizontal landing on Deadstallion's Island. Shit.

Static seemed to come to the same realization, speaking up behind me as we went into our third orbit. "Please tell me you're not seriously considering landing vertically? We're still out two engines, and I don't know if the Valkyrie can do that without all four and a half. Safely, anyways."

Passing him a glare over his console - or, trying to, anyways - I gave a shake of my head, still watching the dials in front of me. How crazy does he think I am? "Of course not, we're just going to have to try and stay airborne over here until the engines are back up again. That or try baiting a few out to sea for the Cadence to handle... I don't think landing back at the lighthouse would be a good idea with them so close." The earth pony behind me let off a small huff - or maybe a sigh of relief - as a banging started from behind us, myself looking back towards the rear of the plane. Oh, come on, please don't tell me the central turbine is acting up, too...

Thankfully, as the cockpit door suddenly burst open with a very furious-looking power armored pegasus moving through it, it turned out that damage to the turbine was the least worrying thing so close to the cockpit right now. Celestia help us. "What in the absolute FUCK was that flying back there?! Do you think we appreciate getting thrown around like a bunch of ragdolls in a clothes dryer?! What in the name of all that is good and holy made you think pulling maneuvers like that was a good idea, I swear you managed to rip some of the damn plane apart with them!" I gnawed hard on my lip, letting off a quiet whimper, Static seeming to join me for the moment. Yeah, ordinance doesn't yell so loudly either. Crash Dive looked out of the canopy to the ground below, seming to blink a few times in confusion, before looking back towards us. Well, she seems a little less angry now, at least... "...Why are we over Deadstallion's Island?"

"W-well... to answer all of your questions, uh..." Static shuffled over to the far side of his chair as Crash Dive looked towards him, myself trying to keep us in the steady orbit. Easier said than done with my hooves gripping the controls so tight, honestly. Static let off an audible gulp, the cloudy plume from the HMS Cadence passing by us once again. "Th-there's r-... robo-dragons, all around the sub pen. We took out two of them, that was the whole crazy flying thing, but they managed to get a hit on our right-side engines. We're waiting on the repair talismans before we head back into the fray."

The power armored pegasus paused to process that info for a few moments, looking between us sternly. "Alright. Well, in that case, could you at least do a low, slow pass so we can hop out before one of us gets injured? Since the Cadence is still moored up, we can head to the radio deck and stay on comms, just to stay in contact. If you're going to be pulling maneuvers like you were again, we'd rather not be onboard for it." Well... she had a point. We've done mid-air drops before, at least, and I'm sure Aerith would probably at least be able to help cushion the blow when they touch down, like with Static. Can't exactly land to let them off...

I gave off a nod from up front, starting to drop us down towards the island in a slow descent. "Alright, we'll try to drop you off as close to the Cadence as we can, and hopefully pick you up after they're all down. Just, uh, try to find some space to stand that isn't on the bomb bay doors, heh." Crash Dive responded with a nod, shuffling herself around in the cockpit and heading back into the bomb bay of the Valkyrie, the door shutting behind her. Flicking some switches on the console ahead of me, the flaps lowered behind us, making it at least a little bit less dangerous to be flying this slow. Better than risking the central turbine with only two engines, anyways...

As we made another circle for the approach, Static let off a soft grunt behind me, tapping on his console with a hoof. "Doesn't make sense... what do you think Cerberus wants with the sub pen? We've already taken all the gold, and there isn't anything else there besides some flak guns and ghoul corpses..." I blunk a few times, letting us head out over the water a little bit so we'd have a straighter path. That... was a good question. Maybe they needed more flak guns for themselves? They seemed pretty well-defended already, though... come on, Strikey, think, what else is at the sub pen. Dead ghouls, a terminal telling about a shipment of gold aboard a sub, and a sub wreck formerly home to a bunch of Anglerponies that we destroyed with a megaspell depth-

Oh, fuck me with an ROQF 17-pounder.

"HMS Cadence, do you copy us? This is urgent, DO NOT fire on the submarine pen, repeat, DO NOT fire on the sub pen!" The radio fizzled as I pressed a hoof to my set, swinging us around for the drop-off. "We have reason to believe that there are one kiloton yield megaspell warheads being transported from that location, and I don't know what an eight-inch HE shell would do to them if one of them got hit. Repeat, DO NOT FIRE ON THE SUB PEN!" The bomb bay doors opened behind us and locked in place, the island below disappearing from my view over the nose of the plane. There was a quick screech of metal, Static clacking through a few dials for a moment, before the earth pony let off a sigh... followed by a quick squeak.

"U-um... they... they fired on the sub pen." My hoof fumbled with the throttle, yanking the thing all the way back for just a moment as my brain worked through what Static said. My hoof then managed to push it forwards, giving us back some speed as the nose began to dip slightly over the ocean, getting us back to level flight. I held it there long enough to stare back wide-eyed at Static, the earth pony flustered. "I-I-I mean, m-maybe your message didn't get through? I just saw a muzzle flash, the main turret-things on the back don't look like they were turned at all, so maybe they were just clearing a barrel, or something!"

As if to answer us, like he was able to hear the frantic screaming from the cockpit, the radio buzzled loudly as Fowler chimed in. "SECONDARY BATTERY, DUAL-PURPOSE GUN! One of the spotters for the 4-inchers saw a dragon getting close, loosed a proxy-fuse shell at it and it seems to've splashed the bastard. We've no intent of firing on the sub pen lass, so just fix yerself and get back in the fight! And don't leave your hoof on the bleeding send button!" ...okay, so he -was- able to hear the frantic screaming from the cockpit. Whoops. The sailor ghoul let off a small grunt, clearing his throat. "Main batteries are still undergoing stocking and repairs, and we're still short a hundred heads besides. We can make do, but we won't be shelling the shoreline proper for a while yet. Get back here and help finish this fight so we can focus on repairs ourselves. Over."

"C-Copy, Fowler. Engines three and four will be coming back online shortly, we'll head back when we have more power to route to the tesla cannons. Over." The radio fizzled as Static closed the connection, letting off a long huff. Okay, so that was one to the forward guns... at the price of fourteen shells between them, which isn't ideal... one to the tesla cannons and some clever flying, and one to the HMS Cadence. If there are more, we can handle them, just gotta try and not take the plasma ones head-on. The dials clacked on the console behind me, Static clearing his throat. "Alright, talismans are showing green lights on our right side engines, I'll get them started up. Remember the days when we just sold big guns to towns, rather than fought robo-dragons in the air at... five hundred kilometers an hour? Can we go back to those days?"

"Sure, and while you're making that wish I'd like a side order of banishing whatever Cerberus is to the moon, thanks. Come on, Static, we've come back from worse, and we've still got each other, at least." Looking back towards him, I passed on a small smile, the earth pony leting off a sigh. He returned the smile after a moment, his hoof pressing another button, the two engines starting back up and instantly giving us a small kick of acceleration. Passing on a nod, I held the orbit of the island for a few moments longer, pressing the button on the headset. "HMS Cadence, Valkyrie calling, we've got four burning and are just finishing up to head back in. Oh, and uh, if you can get a request up to Radio KAOS, think we could get some suitably awesome battle music going? With all four reactors going, the transmissions might frazzle their circuits or something. Over."

I let off a small snicker as I heard a grumble on the other end of the line, the connection closing as I fiddled with my pip-buck a bit, Static letting off a grunt behind me. "Mm-hmm, you have a good reason for asking for that? Do you think the radio signals will actually fry their circuits, Strikey? Because I don't think that's how that works..." The radio came on to KAOS, though it was only static for the time being. Guh, darn minimum range, or whatever it was...

"I have absolutely no idea if that actually works. Would be nice if it did, though, wouldn't it?" Passing on a grin, Static just brought a hoof to his forehead, knobs clacking behind me. Leveling us off, we sped onwards back towards the sub pen, the first few bars of an electric guitar ringing out loud over my pip-buck radio. Hm, I know this one... Attacking the one lodge full of raiders, duh! Oh yeah, this is definitely what the doctor ordered. My grin grew a little wider as I pushed the throttle open to full, feeling the kick of acceleration as the shore, the sub pen - and the dragons - grew close, fast. Strikey's out for robo-dragon blood!... or, oil. Hydraulic fluid, maybe? Brain, ruining the moment here.

Dipping the nose only slightly, a pair of the robotic beasts caught my eyes through the canopy gunsight, both hovering in place, seeming the least bit confused at the sight. Or, maybe not, as flames burst from their mouths far in front of us, myself responding in kind by teasing the rudder to the right just enough to line up one of the dragons. Hooves squeezed the trigger, and after a loud seven-round burst the steady flame turned into a full-on fireball as the rounds struck home and ripped through the metallic skin, my back hooves letting the rudder return to center as I pulled back hard on the yoke. Better if we didn't crash into the other dragon, yeah.

The tesla cannons began opening up as I leveled us off again, cutting the throttle so we didn't overshoot too far. The airbrakes did their best as we started slowing down again, the wing dipping as I put us in a bank for a turn around, pulling back on the yoke again. As I pulled it hard for a swift spin, though, something clunked behind us, and I felt a sudden kick press us to our seats as we darted about even tighter than expected. The jolt made me push the yoke back forwards and level us off, myself gasping for breath as we sped back to the sub pen. "Wha... what was that?!"

Static clacked through a few menus, myself stowing the airbrakes and bringing us back up to speed. "Hm... I think you pulled back hard enough to activate the central turbine, gave us that little kick. How about you -not- do that again." Okay, turbine-assisted nose-ups, that's... something. Might be useful, maybe. Think about it later, we've got robo-dragons to kill right now. I let off a small breath, focusing abck on the gunsight, looking out at the sub pen for more targets.

The concrete structure shot by below us as no big mean metal beasts caught my eye, the cockpit growing silent save for the sound of the radio... which I decided to turn down just a little. Yeah, kinda wears off the novelty quick, thinking about it. Eh, it's at least something else to listen to over the whine of the turbines. Static seemed to be concentrating for a few moments, before the Valkyrie suddenly jolted from below, both of us letting off startled screams. I scanned over the console to my front as Static did the same with his, my hooves pulling the yoke back to keep us level - Nngh, feels like we just picked up a half-truck on our nose, or something.

Static let off a quick gasp, some bolts of electricity flying out in front of us before being followed by a massive spray of flames, myself joining him in a scream. "Pull up, pull up hard, now!" The frantic earth pony behind me shouted loud, his hooves hammering something on his console as mine yanked the yoke back as before. The clunk was accentuated by a screech of metal, the turbine roaring loudly as we pulled an insanely tight backflip, finding the ocean and shoreline where the clouds and sky should've been. Rolling us back upright, I gasped for breath, feeling the blood starting to return where it should be and my vision getting a little less blackened. Oh, that was even less fun the second time...

Static let off a long sigh behind me, catching his breath. "Phew... one of them caught us in a blind spot of the turret cameras, guessing it was hiding somewhere behind the sub pen. Unfortunately for it, that blind spot is sort of also where the central turbine's exhaust is..." It took me a moment to get what he was saying, a grin coming to my muzzle as I let off a small cackle. Oh, you clever, clever earth pony... He let off a long sigh, as I slowed us down for another pass on the sub pen, the song statring to wrap itself up. The headsets fizzled as he opened up the line again, dials clacking behind me. "Valkyrie to Cadence, Valkyrie to Cadence, we've managed to down another two. What've you seen on your end? Any more? Over."

The radio crackled for a moment, myself taking us southward to start an orbit around the sub pen. Fool us once, get roasted by a jet turbine, fool us twice, I'll turn you into scrap with the rest of the rounds in the guns... "HMS Cadence, aye, one got a shot off at us, put a big scorch mark on our side but we're none worse for wear. Bastard went up like an oversized plasma grenade when we got 'im, heh. My count, that's six dealt with, that's the number you saw, aye? Over."

"Just about, yeah, we'll be circling the sub pen for a while to see if we can't find and kill any more. We'll be heading back to the island afterwards, gotta pick our friends back up, heh. Over." I let off a long sigh as we settled into a slow circle above the concrete structure, Static clacking through a few more knobs at his console. Well, if that was all the robo-dragons... oh, this has been a long morning already. The earth pony behind me let off a light huff, leaning back in his chair. "I'm not seeing anything else on the cameras, thermal, magic, infra-red are all clear. A robotic dragon would be pretty obvious, after all, heh..."

I let off a soft chuckle to join him, reaching a hoof to rub at the opposite foreleg. Man, who knew flying was such a workout? I think I'll be good to just take the rest of the day off, already... Looking out the window to the concrete structure below, a sigh escaped me, myself focusing in on it. Well... maybe I can relax after taking care of that, anyways... "We gotta see how many of the megaspells they managed to escape with, if any. Even just one... they're twice as powerful as the ones we've got in here, and I dunno how much they weigh. If they're light enough for a plane to carry them, we've gotta find some place to get rid of them."

Static was silent for a moment, before letting off a small hum of thought. "Well, why not just ditch them in the ocean? I doubt the robo-dragons can swim, and it's better than taking them somewhere they could be rewired like we did and then set off." After a third circle, I leveled us off, heading back to Deadstallion's Island. Well... yeah, I guess that might actually work... save for one very obvious, and very detrimential issue. Thanks for reminding me, brain.

"Mmhm... does the phrase 'depth bomb' sound familiar, Static? There's kind of a good reason we can't just do that, namely, the fact that these megaspells are -explicitly designed- to detonate when they hit a certain depth in the water, and we don't really want to cause even more damage to the HMS Cadence, or make a tidal wave that wipes out Glowing-Sea." The earth pony let off a small sigh behind me, the island off the coast coming into view fast. I started slowing us down as it disappeared from my view, the smoke clouds from the HMS Cadence's stacks being my main marker.

"Well... what about whatever you and Scouring did to the one we used on the submarine? Didn't you rewire the detonator so it wouldn't be depth-triggered, or something? Or... what about Pearl, couldn't we just have her and the Triage work with the bombs so they're healing megaspells instead?" I blunk a few times, starting to ease the Valkyrie into vertical flight for the landing. Considering how many bottles of whiskey Scouring had after rewiring that thing, I doubt that he'd be up for doing it however many more times we were looking at. Pearl and the Triage, though... I hadn't thought of that. "I mean, we'd still need some way to get them around after seting them up with the healing spell, but it's better than them being the destructive kind, right?"

The Valkyrie's landing gear compressed under it's weight, myself looking out of the cockpit to check how I did unguided. Huh, not too bad a landing, really... Leaning back in the seat and shutting the engines down, I leaned back in my seat looking back to Static and wearing a wide grin. A small chuckle escaped me as my hoof pressed the buton on the headset, the radio buzzing. "HMS Cadence, can you patch us through to the Hopeville Triage at all? Oh, and the Vanhoover Air Base, too..."

---

"...two, three, four... they're all still here. Doesn't even look like they tried getting into here at all..." Myself, Scouring, and Aerith all were down in the ordinance storage area of the sub pen, while Static and Crash Dive waited up on top for our other friends to arrive. Pearl and a few other scientists from the Triage for re-tooling the megaspells, a few pilots from the Vanhoover Air Base to hopefully take them off for safe-keeping until needed, everyone we'll need to get this done. Of course, when you do take into consideration that the storage bays look exactly as we left them so long ago, you can't help but wonder... and slightly panic.

'If the dragons weren't after the megaspells after all, then, what were they here for?' Aerith's screen flashed up in our vision as Scouring trotted over to one of the bombs, his horn alighting and opening up the casing to examine the insides. I peered in with him, chewing on my lip - Mmh, no, that all looks like it did last time, no tampering or whatever. I am not feeling good about this. The alicorn looke out to the water of one of the bays for holding the submarines, another horn coming up. 'You think they might've been after the gold, or something? We didn't exactly advertise the fact that we took it, they might not've known.'

"Eheh, lass, you remember what we did after they got all the gold outta that sub? If they've got all the info on Project Cerberus, wouldn't be a stretch to imagine they could fit two an' two together, and realize we blew the thing up with one o' these." The power armored unicorn let off a weak chuckle, tapping his hoof against the bomb's casing. Well, that does make sense... but if it wasn't the megaspells, or the gold, then, what? Scouring shut the access panel, falling silent as he rested himself against the depth charge, seeming to think. "Hm... I gotta check somethin', sure there's a terminal around here somewhere. You can start getting these topside yerself, aye, Aerith?"

The alicorn responded with a quick nod, her horn alighting as she encompassed the topmost of the neatly-stacked bombs and began to lift it up. It floated in the air for a moment, a slightly surprised expression crossing her muzzle. 'Hm, feels like these weigh just about one ton apiece. If they weren't bigger diameter-wise than the other megaspells onboard the Valkyrie, you could probably load a few of them on to replace teh ones you've already used. You left the latches intact, right?'

I blunk in response, Scouring's trotting echoing through the concrete dock behind us, thinking. We did leave the latches intact... and they aren't -that- much bigger than the ones we've still got loaded, either, we could probably fit two onboard without much fuss. Two more kilotons to use... I gave my head a shake, leting off a small grunt. No, no, can't do that, we've gotta get these cleared out and changed over so they can't be used against anyone in anger. They still look the same when they detonate, sorta, at least... "Let's just get them out of here so Pearl can work with them, and the Vanhoover Air Base can take them."

Aerith passed on a small smile as she picked up a second one from the three left laying in the rack, the both of us making the short trek topside with the weapons. As we passed through the still-destroyed doorway and onto the snowy fields, the sound of a set of hooves rushing over on the sub pen's roof caught my ears, myself looking back to see Static leaning over the side. He wore a smile as he caught his breath, resting on the short concrete wall. "Heh, good timing guys, looks like Pearl is gonna be the first to arrive. That, or the one moose doctor is hauling a cart over here for some other reason... I'm just glad I'm up here either way."

Answering him with a roll of my eyes - oh, come on Static, Jean isn't that bad - a skidded wagon headed by the large moose soon pulled up along the inland-side of the sub pen, Pearl and Nurse Laundry hopping out of it along with a few other medics I didn't fully recognize. The ever-eager AI scientist wasted no time at all in hovering over, letting loose a gleeful giggle. "Oh my gosh, you guys're gonna let me mess with an actuall full-scale megaspell? This is so totally awesome, I mean, the Ministry of Peace did give us the mass healing one, but I was mainly more focused with working on the Anglerpony project at the time, so I didn't really see much of it. Oooh, think they'll let me make a few tweaks to the spell? I know I could probably make it cure any genetic disorders the ponies in the effect radius might have, too..."

The sound of windchimes jangling over to us filled the air as Jean unhitched herself from the wagon, the other medics starting to look over the megaspells by Aerith. "Ah, now hold your mutated horses there, Pearl, the HMS Mercy's not lookin' for a cure for the ghoul gene with these. Keep it in mind, though, never telling if they might be later!" The moose gently - relatviely, anyways - elbowed Pearl's chassis, turning attention to myself as the AI hovered over to the megaspells. Wait, the HMS Mercy? What was she talking about? Jean wore her perpetual grin, glancing over at the two bombs we'd brought up, before looking back to myself. "So, how many of these did'ja say you had for us? I mean, after Doctor Pearl works her magic and gets them outfitted with the right spell, o' course. Wouldn't do to try deploying one only for it to end up making more work for us, eh!"

"Uh..." Yeah, no, kinda lost here. Why would the HMS Mercy want megaspells? I mean, granted, they will be healing megaspells, but still... it isn't a battleship, or missile cruiser, is it? Because that'd at least make a bit more sense as far as giving them a bunch of warheads goes. Unless they're even more well-equipped than I thought... but if they were, they wouldn't have had to all ride down here on the Seaddler. Jean blunk as she waited for a response, the chimes on her ears jingling as she tilted her head. "Ahm... well, uh, raw numbers, besides these two I think there's still about seven of the bombs still in the pen, two in the opened storage room and probably another rack of five in the one next to it, but, um... where'd you get the idea about taking them all for yourselves from?"

Jean let off a weak chuckle as she leaned back on her hooves, rubbing at the back of her neck. Sheesh, everything aside I'm surprised that old helmet can fit her... "Eheh, well, see, we've already got a few like these, contained healing megaspell bombs that is, and I kinda just got excited aboot hearing you finding so many of 'em in one place that, well..." The moose let off a heavy sigh, looking back up after a moment. "The Mercy can use whatever we can get our hooves on, especially when it comes to healing megaspells. Just thought that since you were sharing those nifty grenades with us, you wouldn't mind if we took a few of these, too... I mean, we have been doin' our part helping out all o' you guys."

"Well... I mean, I guess we do need to get rid of them... but we already sorta have an arrangement with the Vanhoover Air Base to take them. Ah, just for the time being, I mean... one or two could be useful in the big showdown with Cerberus, after all." A weak chuckle escaped my lips as Jean seemed to think for a moment, dropping to her haunches and tapping a hoof against her scruffy chin. Even when she's sitting down, she's taller than me... I wonder if Featherweight is part moose. Her windchime earrings jangled as she gave a few small nods, setting her hoof back down.

"I suppose we can't really send 'em back immediately, and an air base is probably gonna be more secure than a hospital for storing ordinance... You promise me that we can take the rest of 'em when all's said and done, eh?" A smile came to my muzzle as I answered the moose with a nod, a big grin coming to her own muzzle. Well, that was easy enough to sort ou-hrk! A faint jingle was all the warning I got before I felt myself getting squeezed into Jean's rough reddish-brown coat, the breath escaping my lungs as she let off a gleeful squee, shaking me about slightly. Oh, that popping sound probably wasn't good. "Oh, thank you so much! The Mercy'll be ecstatic to hear we've got so many more healing megaspells to use, we won't forget this anytime soon!"

After a few more moments where I swear the edges of my vision were starting to go black, Jean finally released me, leaving myself gasping for breath as I flopped in the snow. A weak chuckle and small apology left her lips as I picked myself back up, breathing the slightest bit heavy as my hooves steadied me. Whuff, okay, maybe she could dial it back a little... light laughter came from above us, myself looking up to see Static watching us from atop the sub pen. "Eheheh, hang on there, Jean, we've still got some stuff to discuss yet, at the very least a compensatory finder's fee. Strikey, you don't have any broken bones that they could use as a bargaining chip against us, do you?"

A long sigh escaped me as I flopped backwards onto the snowy ground, followed by a forehoof to my forehead. Oh, come on, Static...

---

"K A O S Radio~"

"You and I are listening to K A O S, that's Radio KAOS, and to start off I'd like to apologize for the sudden song switch earlier today, got a rather urgent request in from the Vanhoover Five for some more energetic music to go along with their antics, heh. Much as you might think, us DJs aren't omniscient, sometimes we gotta have a request for what to play every now and again. Will say that they seemed to've enjoyed the background music at least, and I'd like to think that it helped out a little in their fight, heh. Also, just to curtail it now, no, I won't be doing requests all the time now, so don't waste the batery power calling in for that.

"Speaking of the Five, though, the biggest news in the wasteland today comes out here near the coast, where this old warship I'm on had it's first little taste of action. After-action reports say that the anti-air gun batteries of the HMS Cadence have two more tally marks to put up today, after managing to shoot down two robotic dragons that were on the attack. Considering the reports also say four more were downed by the Vanhoover Five, I can't help but feel that maybe we oughta try and step up the pace here, guys. Surely, what, eight forty millimeter autocannons have gotta be able to take down more than just two can, eheh.

"In other news, the Anglerpony farms up in Glowing-Sea are apparently in full swing now, with the town finding a healthy economy - with the assistance of a branch of the Hopeville Triage - manufacturing new armor from the exoskeletons of the little beasts. Wasn't able to get exact numbers, but apparently this armor shielding is able to resist gunfire up to about .308 rifle caliber, making it not too bad at all. The overall stench of the stuff, on the other hand, well... let's hope they provide complimentary air fresheners with it, heh.

"You're listening to Radio KAOS, and it's a crisp, clear northern Vanhoover day out there, and I'm feeling a bit in need of a mellowing out. So, here's Roger Trotters' Radio KAOS on - you guessed it - Radio KAOS, heh. Enjoy."