//------------------------------//
// Mission 7, Part 7: You Bring The Lightning 
// Story: Semper Pie 
// by deathtap 
//------------------------------//

“Hold the line!” A shout echoed through the night as another flash brightened above them.
 
Providence placed her hoof on the table tightly and clenched her teeth as the light drew closer. In another moment, she felt the ground shake followed by a terrific clap and the tumble of thunder. Another massive lightning spell had hit within the camp. She closed her eyes out of relief when it was clear that she had survived yet another strike.
 
“Put that fire out!” came the same voice from outside her tent.
 
Seconds later a head poked inside and looked at Providence. “Ma’am, it isn’t safe here. Please follow me. We’ll take you to the tunnels.”
 
“And the others?”
 
“We need to maintain the wall. Most have gone into the main tunnel entrance as well, so they’re safe from the attacks, but a few have to remain to maintain our defenses. We are working on limiting losses but they have the advantage at the moment, ma’am.”
 
“How many?”
 
“Ma’am…” came a hesitant response.
 
“How. Many.”
 
The Elite sighed. He did not want to be the one to tell her. “Ten so far, ma’am.”
 
Providence nodded slowly. They would be mourned later. But right now, she needed to concentrate on the task at hoof. “Their names?” she asked as she stood up to go.
 
“We have them for your books, ma’am,” the Elite replied quietly, “as per usual. But we must go. It’s not safe for you here.”
 
“Thank you, Harbinger.”
 
“You do me honor by remembering my name, ma’am.”
 
“I remember as many of your names as I can. It’s just…”
 
Harbinger looked down and Sandy’s head poked through the tent flap. The strange pegasus saw Providence’s face and looked at her with a mixed expression of pity and resignation. He walked to her side and bowed low, his wings beating quickly to compensate. “They died well.”
 
“I know.” Providence closed her eyes for a moment, then looked from Sandy to Harbinger with determination in her eyes. “Let’s go.”
 
As they exited the tent, another bolt of lightning hit the far side of the peninsula. It was lucky how such a powerful weapon seemed to constantly miss and hit random points, mostly around the camp. In fact, several unicorns had found that if they used their spears in strategic locations they could sway the power of the strike slightly.  
 
“They cannot aim it properly,” Sandy said with a nod of his head, “they would have made short work of us ages ago.”
 
“All we can do is hope that they get frustrated with their long-range siege weapon and come for us. We aren’t prepared for this type of battle. But they get closer, and we’ll show them why we are called the Elites.”
 
They galloped towards the walls of the Caldera and spotted the larger part of their group, including the majority of the camels that accompanied Pani, safely tucked away within the larger cave entrance. Only a small number had willingly stayed behind at the wall to ensure that their enemies didn’t overrun their defenses. These Elites, on the brink of madness from the toxin in their blood, would be their rear guard.
 
Providence turned around and watched them in utter awe. The way they held their ground, their masks lowered across their faces as they stood on the wall, their very presence an open defiance to their attackers. Each time the lightning whitened up the skies from a potential strike, Providence could not help but wince yet those Elites stood there without flinching. Providence wrote that image in her mind. She hoped that she would remember this and write about it in her books. She had to. Each strike seemed like a photograph; a flash from their weapon, imprinting the image deep into her mind. She saw the rawest form of bravery. To stand tall in the face of deadly odds unafraid and unyielding.
 
These were the Elites. Her Elites.
 
It was them that had struck first. Their cowardly attack, unprovoked, had cost the lives of many Elites. Perhaps if she had thought about it more, perhaps if she had contemplated things a bit deeper, then perhaps they would have lived. But hindsight was always twenty-twenty.
 
The only entryway onto the peninsula was now buried under rubble blocking any safe way up. Providence knew, deep down, that if the group were made up of normal Guards than a lot more might have been killed. The overly suspicious nature of the Elites coupled with their attuned battle-instinct to safe themselves made them react almost instantly to the threat. The Guards were good, there was no denying that. As a fighting force, the Guard were feared, but they were soldiers in their core. They were not used to the dirty tactics used by others, something that the Elites specialized in.
 
In had all started hours ago. The skimmers from the enemy had all stopped a very good distance away. Cleverly out of range of any siege weapons, if they had any siege weapons. But their caution would prove to be their undoing. If they had struck with their full force on the entrance and forced their way inside, things might have been very different. But, thankfully, that was not the case.
 
After parking their vessels, and starting their own preparations by assembling the tower, they sent what could only be called an envoy out to meet them. A solitary skimmer drew near the entrance to the peninsula. Semper and a small group went down to meet them, with Providence safely protected at the top of the ‘Gate’, as it had been nicknamed. She could see down to the sands below and watched as a group in Night Guard armor jumped out.
 
The natural wind and breeze carried their voices up the natural slope to her and she could hear them speaking quite clearly. They stood a bit away and shouted a greeting, then claimed that they were there under orders. The even had the audacity to claim to have been sent from Canterlot. The Elites, suspicious to their core, did not lower their stance nor their weapons.
 
And neither did Semper.
 
Thinking back, there were definitely two things had not added up. First off, the armor of the Guard would have been obvious to any used to seeing them, but none of the Elites wore Guard armor. The Watu had little in similarity with one another, let alone Guard armor. These Night Guard either chose to ignore this, or did not know. And how could a member of the Royal Guard not recognize that? The sleek in design of the Guard contrasted heavily of the sharper angular edged design the Elites wore.
 
The second were the masks every Elite wore. Guards did not wear them.
 
But the third was how they knew about the stone. Even the Elites did not know about it until they had reached the Caldera and there wasn’t any outside their group that were informed of what their intentions were. Not unless there was a leak, but that was impossible. The only reasoning they could know about it was because of the tome, and then again it was transported in secrecy in the hooves of two Border Guards. Not the Royal Guard.
 
And finally, the fact that Royal Guards were sent instead of their Border counterparts.
 
Of course, the Elites did not deduct this, perhaps save for a very special few. They were suspicious as always and were ready to strike. They were always ready to strike. Like a snake wound up in the corner, they were waiting for the right moment.
 
Still, it was Semper that allowed for the charade to continue and pretended to be welcoming, cordially inviting them closer so that the Elites had a better shot at them.
 
Between him and the Gate stood a few Elites, the rest inside, their crossbows facing out and ready. Not a single one of them lowered their bolts or relaxed their stance. This would prove to be a fatal mistake for some, and a significant problem for the others.
 
It was Semper who finally asked them one simple question: under whose orders were they sent. The Night Guard impersonators did not expect that question and could not give an answer.
 
But they came prepared.
 
Two rushed Semper in an attack. A bubble of magic formed around him and closed in tight, trying to constrict him to death. None of the Elites waited and fired a salvo at the Night Guard that were standing outside. They made a futile attempt at fighting back, but were cut apart from the bolts in a matter of seconds.
 
But Semper was still stuck.
 
An Elite unicorn formed a barrier around Semper instantly breaking the bubble around him and he landed on his hooves and coughed twice. He pointed at the skimmer.
 
At once the quarrels hit the vessel, but it had already started to move towards the Gate.
 
“Get out!” an Elite shouted and exited the entryway followed by a dozen or so Elites. Others turned and fled up the tunnel towards the top.
 
But there were many still inside.
 
The skimmer flew across the sand, much faster than their wind could carry. It was obviously propelled by something else. An engine, perhaps. She would never know. All she knew was that a row of shield formed in front of her as strong hooves pulled her back away from the entrance.
 
What their plan was, Providence would never know. Was it to bring the explosions up under a guise of peace? Perhaps as food supplies or water. Probably. But Providence highly doubted that they would willingly destroy their only way up towards the peninsula.
 
And destroy it they did.
 
The explosion propelled her in the air, such was its power. The narrow corridor that led up acting like a cannon, in a way. She tried to regain her posture on the air, but instead landed with a heavy grunt as she turned to see dust, smoke, and dirt rise from the collapsed entryway.
 
It had all happened so fast.
 
In one moment, there were greetings and a general aura of tension, followed by the shouting and that fighting. In a span of a short few seconds it was supposed to be over, but they had overlooked the one thing. A unicorn, it had to have been a unicorn, hidden in the skimmer, out of sight. There were so many questions. Perhaps the unicorn thought it was heading away from the danger and did not realize, until it was too late, that he or she was actually going in the opposite direction. A miscalculation to the highest extent. Or perhaps revenge for a fallen comrade, cut down in front of their own eyes as the Elites made short work of the others.
 
Again, none could or would ever know.
 
But one thing was perfectly clear. The way up was now blocked and the groups were isolated from each other. There was no way up the sides. The natural defenses and the wildlife surrounding them made sure of that.
 
Going up the sides of the plateau was futile. The attackers had learnt that the hard way when a small group of pegasi charged towards the Caldera. They were decimated by smaller wyrms that picked them out of the air, and the few that made it to the side were cut apart from something that hid in holes along the sides. Just as Pani had forewarned. These new creatures sprang out, biting the pegasi with their beak-like mouths and pulled them into their burrows. She could hear some of their screams echoing beneath her hooves in the ground below before a sudden, final hush.
 
No pony had seen Semper or the other Elites that exited out his way. Although many survived the explosion through the alert nature, plenty did not. The bodies of several that had managed to make it out were broken from the power of the explosion. There would be no time to bury them. A few more were too badly injured and, despite Providence’s protests, were given the mercy of a painless death.
 
That image, to her, would haunt her for the rest of her life. Their smiling faces as their life ebbed away. It was the smile that got to her. How horrible their lives must have been to be able to smile so gently at the prospect of death.
 
Their names, as before, were listed. She would put them in her book.
 
Without Semper, it was now Providence who had to take charge of leading her rabble. At least that was what the Elites were waiting for. Her ordered them about. She asked them to do things, which they took as orders, but they always happily did whatever asked.
 
“Basher?”
 
“Yes, ma’am.”
 
“Gather the others. I’ve decided. We will focus our efforts into finding a way into the Caldera. If there’s a way through, we might be able to get out the other side or something. I don’t know, but staying here is pointless. I want all the Elites to work together to help. There’s no point in keep watch. They can’t come here. We’ll back away and hide inside this tunnel. Hopefully that will buy us time as they try and search out the others.”
 
“Yes, ma’am. We’ll sent up some false trails to the other tunnels in case they do many it up.” He turned to go.
 
“Good. Oh, and Basher?” The Elite in question stopped and looked at Providence. “All of us are going inside. Nopony stays out there.”
 
“But…”
 
One look silenced him. “All. Like I said. No point in being out here.”
 
“As you wish, ma’am.”
 
“Also, take all the supplies we can. We don’t know how long we’re going to be stuck inside these tunnels. And take any you need to help you. Let’s get out of here.”
 
“Of course, ma’am.”
 



 
It was early. Without proper time-keeping equipment, the exact time was impossible to state, but dawn was close. The Princess would be raising the sun above the horizon soon enough.
 
“There!” Samidra exclaimed, pointing towards the bright Cultist camp without much trouble. She did not need to point it out. The lights were streaming all over the place, so strong was the denizens of the desert had not approached.
 
The night had been nothing short of terrifying for them all. However, the ensuing battle had helped them considerably. Their approach, for the most part was undetected. But they had also been very lucky.
 
The desert and its ever-changing temperament had changed so much so quickly, trying to swallow everything back into itself. The sea of sand had shifted so much over the days that the blood of the wyrm that had oozed from the gigantic corpse was now buried deep below. Other creatures, large and ferocious, had made quick work on huge parts of the body that not even the skeleton, or carapace or whatever wyrms had, was not spared. Nothing but sand remained.
 
After the skirmish with the scarab, they had made straight for the lights, the wind at their backs propelling them quickly with much requirement from their own spells or wings. They had made short time and reached a particularly large dune. Or so they thought. It was actually the half-buried body of the wyrm itself.
 
Using caution and a good amount of skill, the two skimmers found a gap in the carcass big enough for them to slip through with enough room on both sides to keep the desert’s beasts far enough away. They had cut a significant amount of distance from themselves and the Caldera, and perhaps that was what the Cultists themselves were vying for. The body of the wyrm a major problem that they did not foresee.
 
Once past the body, they made their way towards the lights. Soon, on the way, they saw what the scarab’s abilities first-hoof were. Many skimmers had been decimated, crushed, cut apart, smashed to bits, with the broken and half-eaten remains of a number of ponies lay strewn about around each vessel. Some large octopus-like creature was flinging around several bodies, slamming them against the sand, as if playing with them. It paused briefly to observe the skimmers floating by, then resumed its play.
 
But that wasn’t all. Several scarabs had met their ends as well; their bodies being torn apart by other creatures in the darkness. The Cultists had fought hard, perhaps not knowing about the halos or the lights, or learning quickly to adapt.
 
Static noted that the creatures of the desert were observing them from afar and prostrating themselves, similar to other predators in front of prey, or warn off any potential scavengers. None could not afford to waste a single moment of nourishment in such an inhospitable place. Due to this, apart from the threatening gestures, almost all of the creatures ignored the two skimmers once they had passed on by. Still, they took great care in creating a wide berth around any macabre feasting.
 
Static wondered how the young Samidra had taken to the sight of so much death and gore, but if she was phased by it she hid her emotions well. Not that was saying much. Her previous freak out at the scarab’s presence had taken a toll on her and she remained quite numb until they grew closer to the light of the Cultists encampment.
 
The thestral, used to being with the dead, sat silently for the most part. She hid her eyes when something especially gruesome, either for the dead or for a creature’s appearance, and Static noted that her lips moved in silent prayer, perhaps asking her version of the Lunar Goddess to grant them some semblance of peace for their journey onwards.
 
And thus, the rest of the night passed without much note.
 
So, here they were now looking at the large base. And large was an understatement. There were far more skimmers than they had expected, even with the tracks they had come across on their journey. This was a force that outnumbered their entire fighting capability at least ten to one, and that was from what they could see. Perhaps there were more.
 
Despite not being seen, Static did not want to chance attracting unwarranted attention and approached the lightshow as slow as he felt was safe in wide patterns that utilized the dunes to hide any line of sight.
 
According to Samidra, there was only one place where they could go up the Caldera and the path to that entrance was now blocked by the army of Cultists who were laying siege on the peninsula. There was no way up the sides. Static offered to teleport, but Samidra shook her head at that.
 
“It won’t work. If that were the case, we would have done so ourselves. The place rejects magic. As if a shield were surrounding it. Teleporting into that, even if you could make a connection, would most likely kill you. There’s no way in.”
 
But something was off. If the Cultists were not going for this single entry point with such a large force, then something was wrong. They had enough ponies to mount a sizeable assault, yet they were lay siege to the peninsula from a safe distance away. Had the Elites managed to create a significant enough blockade? Could a band of marauders like them fight as a single contained unit? Somehow Static doubted that. The Elites were ambush killers, not an organized military force. That took years of training and discipline, and Static doubted that even the efforts of Semper would be able to ingrain months of training into already habitual warriors when there was no need to.
 
“What now?” Sonic asked as the skimmers slowed to a crawl.
 
“I don’t know. Let me think,” Static responded. He slumped where he sat and closed his eyes and wiped his brow. He was exhausted from the overuse of his magic.
 
 “What is that thing?” Sonic asked pointing to a tall metallic pole.
 
“An attenuation tower, I think. Judging from the way it’s put together; they must have brought it here in pieces then fixed it together.”
 
“Explains the deeper skimmer trails we saw,” Onslaught muttered and nodded in understanding.
 
“Those towers are used to amplify electric-based magic. They are incredibly dangerous because there’s no way to control your spells using that thing. You can sort of aim it, but it’s actually quite useless apart from increasing the power output of the magic. They were used quite often before the Unification. They’ve been banned for eons because of how dangerous they are.” Static opened his eyes and looked up at the stars high above him. “The concept is simple, but amplification takes more than just powering a manna battery and then unleashing it. They are also very hard to control.”
 
“They don’t seem to have any problems,” Raze whispered and watched as the tip of the tower began to glow with a brilliant blue hue before a bright lance of electricity arced its way across the sky. It touched the clouds, it seemed, before it came back down and slammed into the peninsula with a blinding flash followed by an ear-shattering clash.
 
“Just because things are banned doesn’t mean they’re not used. But I’ve never seen one that big before. It is strong, but all the shots I’ve seen and end up hitting the same place. Something over there is attracting the lightning.” Static sat up and narrowed his eyes. “Look, we need to get passed the Cultists and deliver this map.”
 
“How we going to do that?” Onslaught asked. “They’ve blocked our path, both from getting to the entrance and the entrance itself, if logic stands to reason.”
 
“I know, but this is our only objective right now. It looks like we’re going to have to split up into two teams. One creates a diversion, the other to head over to the entrance to the ramp.”
 
“Then what?”
 
“Hope that we’re wrong and that the Elites are waiting for us,” Static said limply. “Look, it’s that or we just wait out here and do nothing. And that is going to get us discovered.”
 
“How do we split?”
 
At this Static stared at his group. Three trained killers, two Guards, a displaced thestral who happened to be a medic of sorts, and a camel filly who was way too young to be a situation like this in the first place, and a small batch of breezies completely out of their element. Not exactly a very diverse choice. Common sense told him that he needed to have at least one Guard with whomever goes to deliver the map to ensure it gets properly hoofed over, but instinct was shouting at him to stay with Sonic. For them to both stay outside.
 
“I’ll make is easy on you, Static,” Raze said when she could not bear the silence any longer. “We will deliver your map. We are good at sneaking around. You guys might be strong, but you’re not really that… discrete? No offense, but we can almost smell your self-righteousness from here.”
 
Sonic opened his mouth, but Raze smiled and raised her hoof.
 
“You Guards are just like that. It’s easy to tell your kind because of how you carry yourselves. It’s a Guard thing, I suppose. We can see, hear and smell you coming from a mile away.”
 
Static smiled as he saw Sonic smell his forehoof-pits.
 
“I am going as well,” Samidra stated glaring at them. “I want to know if my father is safe.”
 
“Are you sure? We are essentially going into what could be a trap,” Onslaught muttered, “you’re much safer out here instead.”
 
“For now,” Static replied. “You really don’t know the history between them and us. If things go bad, they will ignore everything else and go straight for the Guard. Usually.”
 
“Yeah. They kinda hate everything from our mane to our guts and anything else that represents Celestia. They’re nuts.”
 
“Sonic has a point. They’ve got a serious grudge against those that represent Her Highness, so they’ll go out of their way to make sure to get us,” Static replied. “In that case she would be safer with you as oppose to us. We’d make ideal decoys because they will come after us.”
 
“The Guards have a point then,” Onslaught replied. “It might be better to take the camel with us. We can always say that we’re her escorts and she’s our charge. They might buy that from us as Elites.”
 
“Assuming they don’t know we’re helping the Guards,” Raze countered. “Even if they were to buy such a lie, why are we here? What is our purpose? No. That would only lead to more questions that would inevitably lead to our execution.”
 
“We can say she’s a slave maybe?” Onslaught suggested.
 
“Again, won’t work,” Raze replied. “I don’t think they would not know about Freeport. Cultists are usually hiding in plain sight within Equestria.”
 
“Bodyguards? That we are returning to our group there?”
 
“That they are trying to destroy with their tower of lightning?” Raze shook her head. “No.”
 
“Point taken.” Onslaught shook his head and laughed quietly. “They’ll just skin us alive.”
 
“We might be able to convince them to give us safe passing in exchange for something,” Raze replied.
 
“What?”
 
She shifted her tail suggestively. “There’s always a ‘something’ if you’re desperate enough.”
 
“No,” Sonic said stepping in front of Raze. “I… I don’t… I mean, that is to say… that I… well…”
 
Raze gently put her hoof on Sonic’s face. “You’re kind, Guard. Very kind, but our mission must come first. And if these cultists are as dangerous as you say they are, then we must play our parts. Even I must. I’m flattered that you think so highly of me despite this face.”
 
“I don’t care about what you look like outside!” Sonic all but shouted. When he realized what he said, he blushed furiously. “Sorry…” he mumbled something, “b-b-b-but… I don’t want that.”
 
That made Raze smile. “Thank you, Sonic. That’s very sweet of you, but rest assured that nothing is going to happen if we’re careful. Besides, I don’t think many would be as friendly as you are when it comes to my looks.”
 
“I… it’s just…”
 
“I promise that I won’t do anything unless I have to,” Raze replied.
 
Sonic did not like that way that was worded, but he also so the stubbornness in Raze to know that she was not going to budge on her stance either. “Promise?”
 
“I promise,” Raze said and walked over and placed a hoof on Sonic’s cheek. “Now focus on what we must do, not what we want.”
 
“Then it will be myself and Sonic out here,” Static interrupted. “And don’t worry, Sonic. If we do our job properly, then the chances of the others making it are higher.”
 
“Then a you will create that distraction,” Onslaught intoned. “It will take around two hours before we reach the entrance, if we are not hampered. With their skimmers, I doubt we’d stand a chance. Our best bet is to hug the cliff and try to use it as cover. We will need to get closer first, but there is only wide open space between the dunes, and going further up would only cause delays. We won’t make it before dawn, and they will spot us from miles away.”

“Use the skimmer?” Sonic asked.

“No, that would make our position even more obvious.”
 
“So, you’d need to get as close to the cliff as possible, eh?” Static muttered to himself and closed his eyes for a second. He looked back at the camp and a small smile appeared on his lips. “Wait. Sonic, can you see what’s holding that tower up?”
 
“Um,” Sonic narrowed his eyes. Raze nudged a pair of binoculars against his haunch and he grinned sheepishly and took them with a mumbled ‘thanks’. His sharp pegasi eyes were far sharper than those of the unicorn, but binoculars were always a good addition. “I see cables running about halfway up the tower and seem to be tied down into the desert somehow.”
 
Raze took the binoculars and nodded. “Yes. Four to be exact.”
 
“In what direction?” Static asked, remembering that Raze was also a pegasi.
 
“North by northeast and in four equal parts from there,” Raze replied. “Why?”
 
“I think I have a plan. It’s crazy, but it’s something.”
 
“What plan?” Sonic asked.
 
“A plan to cause enough of a distraction that it might be enough to help the others get through with getting seen. Maybe.”
 
“Yeah?” Sonic looked at Static. “Well, we’re all ears.”