//------------------------------// // Damnatio Memoriae // Story: Ghost Recon: Phantom Hunt // by TJAW //------------------------------// Agon Province 0712 hours October 18, 1196 CE Day 7 Operation Invisible Hand The Ghosts, Viper Team and Artemis moved north through the desert on their way to Agon City. They kept an eye out for local fauna; there was no telling what kind of creatures lived in this desert. Intelligence suggested that the Griffon Army used human equipment lightly modified for their use. Unfortunately, precise information on what weaponry was being used was unavailable, though Mitchell’s sighting of Smith & Wesson Model 59s or domestically produced clones thereof in Canterlot suggested that those would probably show up. After an hour or so of travelling, they neared the peak of a ridge, giving them a clear view of Agon City. A sandy incline would allow them to slide down when they were ready to move. The group got on their bellies and began observing the area through binoculars. Agon City’s architecture was a mix of brick-and-mortar structures in some areas, and Pueblo-esque buildings in others. It was like a timeline of the city’s growth. The southwest of the city was a mix of the latter two architectural styles, and faint clouds of smoke could be seen coming from the area. There was a conflict going on in this city. And it was likely being fomented by the Strangers. That was definitely a good place to start looking for them. “UAV phase, sir?” Reeves asked. The simulated demotion to reinforce chain-of-command was still in effect, else he would’ve had one of his men launch one himself. Mitchell was considering suspending that protocol, which had been a rear-echelon decision made when the mission to Cuba was planned. “Yeah. Beasley, put that Raven in the air,” Mitchell responded, then ordered. “On it.” The rifleman opened a package he’d carried in on his back and began assembling the UAV. He started it up and launched it. The feed linked into their Crosscoms almost instantly, and Mitchell took control. The drone took under a minute to reach the area they were interested in. He repeatedly switched between the color video camera and infrared camera on the machine. “At least two companies of Royal Griffon Army troops in the AO, probably more than that. At least one RPG.” Mitchell spent another two minutes utilizing the drone. “Warhound lead, I’m transferring the UAV’s control to your end. Keep it on station as long as you can, try and find an RGA command post or any unknowns. When the power hits bingo bring it back and send out the other Raven.” “Copy. How should we act if you need us as a QRF?” “Plans haven’t changed from what they were. Bring Albatross around and have it touch down on the nearest LZ to our position. Have them open up with the GAU-17 if necessary. Just remember, even if we can convert water to hydrogen fuel for our birds, we’re still in the desert, and we need 30% of the tank to make it back to Canterlot.” “Wilco.” “Good, Mitchell out. Ghosts, Vipers, move out.” Viper Team put on Ops-Core FAST helmets. Not all of the Ghosts wore protective headgear, only Mitchell, Beasley and Smith, who each wore a Crye AirFrame helmet. Nolan wore a baseball cap, Diaz wore a boonie hat, and Jenkins didn’t wear anything besides his Crosscom. The group slid down the incline of the ridge they’d been observing from, bringing them to the level of the city. The soldiers and their armed advisor cautiously made their way to the conflict area. A few frightened civilians caught glimpses of them before shutting their windows. “Be advised, you have eleven unknowns in a three-story building coming up on your left at the next intersection on that road. All unknowns are equine, probably not locals,” Warhound’s leader, Rafael Serrano, informed them. “Acknowledged.” Mitchell set a waypoint on the building with his Crosscom. The teams began hugging the wall while moving towards the building, keeping a low profile. When they reached the building adjacent to the target, they stopped. A quick FLIR scan with their Crosscoms didn’t show any occupants. Quickly and quietly, they moved in. Once they were certain the building was secure, they set up defensive positions. Most of them took drinks from their Camelbaks and canteens. Mitchell opened a pouch on his hip and removed a Cole Specialist Systems Tri-Rotor. The Frisbee-sized UAV had been developed by a then-employee of Fourth Echelon three years prior, during the Blacklist attacks. It had a fifteen-minute battery that recharged when inactive, low noise signature, a directional microphone for eavesdropping, and the newest models had multiple vision filters. The variant Mitchell was using eschewed the four-shot less-lethal weapon system but retained the self-destruct charge. Unfortunately, it could only travel 150 meters from the operator before the signal dropped like a rock. Still, it was invaluable for urban operations and ISR. The captain activated the drone and took control, his Crosscom giving him the drone’s perspective displayed on the left half of the monocle, and a game console-styled controller providing his interface. The audio/visual feed streamed to the others’ Crosscoms as well. The UAV floated out the window and ascended to the top floor of the target building. Scott counted three ponies; two unicorns, one pegasus. They were bound, though they seemed resigned to their situation at the moment. He noticed something about them after a moment, that their clothes were the same as the Strangers who’d attacked a week ago, though with some subtle ornamentation. The Tri-Rotor’s directional microphone picked up hoofsteps heading in from the left. The audio wasn’t as clear as if he was there in the room, but they sounded different than what he’d come to associate with “normal” hoofsteps. They sounded heavier. The prisoners looked up at the arrival, then down shamefully. “You know why you’re here,” a dignified feminine voice said with an air of disappointment. Most likely the same individual he’d heard cantering in. “Yes, Madame, but we were told to eliminate her by one of your envoys. We thought the order came from you,” A prisoner responded. “You should’ve been able to tell the orders were counterfeit, you’re not stupid. Your organization has been overzealous for too long, risking the Aegis Assembly as a whole. The premature attempt on Celestia was the final straw. Your branch’s responsibilities now fall to the Aegis Forces. The Strangers are hereby dissolved.” The source of the voice stepped forwards. It was an alicorn with a silver coat, sapphire eyes and flowing obsidian mane. She wore a maroon cloak, and a charcoal vest beneath it. “Yes. What is our fate?” “You know the penalty for betrayal,” The alicorn responded coolly. She lit her horn with a shimmering pearl light, with a corresponding light emanating from a spot on the left side of her torso. She drew a pistol – a CZ-75 variant by the looks of it – and fired a single shot into each of their chests. The volume of the weapon’s sound and muzzle flash were significantly larger than a common pistol caliber should’ve produced. “Open an Aegis Gate,” The mare said to someone out of sight. “I’m returning to my temple. Tell Lupe and the others to continue our operations here.” A flash came from behind her, and she walked towards the light. A strange sound came from the same spot, and the light disappeared. “Captain, I just lost one of the unknowns on thermal,” Serrano said with concern. “Just disappeared. The others are already heading west, back towards the combat zone.” “Copy, Warhound. Keep us posted.” Mitchell recalled the drone, and reviewed the video. “Damn it. Who the hell was that?” “Don’t know, but it looks like things here are more complicated than we thought,” Artemis piped in. “She looked like the statue we saw in the Everfree Castle on our last op,” Reeves said. “The statue was in bad condition, but the colors sort of match.” Mitchell paused for thought before speaking. “The Strangers may not be an issue anymore, but it looks like their parent organization is up to the same things. And if the attempt on Princess Celestia was just ‘premature’, it was going to happen sooner or later. The threat is still real, and the mission is still on,” Mitchell said. “I’m saving the feed from the drone. As soon as we have more intel on operations in this region, we’ll send images and audio of that alicorn Jane Doe back to Canterlot. Maybe Princess Celestia can ID her.” “Was that a Bren Ten?” Reeves wondered aloud. “Sure looked like it.” “Looked like one. Muzzle flash makes more sense with 10mm Auto behind it.” Jenkins noted. “Maybe she’s even got magic bullets for it.” “This Warhound, we’ve found an RGA command post half a klick from your position, engaging an enemy group in cover. There’s a platoon-size presence there, with unknowns heading their way. Marking it on your Crosscoms. Out.” “Alright, pull up the tactical map on your Crosscoms,” Mitchell ordered. “Here’s the gameplan: Viper Team and Artemis are going to head northwest and search for those bodyguards, or anyone like them. They should have information on this ‘Aegis Assembly’s’ presence in Agon. The Ghosts and I are going to head west-southwest to the RGA command post and attempt to obtain available intel on Aegis, Strangers, or any other third party to this conflict.” “ROE?” Reeves asked. “Aegis forces are hostile. Engage at will, capture if there’s a solid opportunity. The RGA don’t know about us being here, and we’ll do what we can to keep it that way; barring that, let’s try not to make them our enemies. Move out.” The group exited the building cautiously and split off, heading towards their respective objectives. The smell of smoke, gunpowder and burning flesh steadily intensified as the Ghosts approached their goal. Paul Smith, who’d been on point, raised a fist and took a knee. The others stopped as well. “You hear that?” He asked. The sound of dozens of wingbeats could be faintly heard above the close by din of battle. And they were getting louder. About platoon’s worth of Royal Griffon Army soldiers soared northwest over the Ghosts towards the fray, assault rifles in their talons. The Ghosts couldn’t get a good look at what sort of rifles they were. “I can almost hear Ride of the Valkyries,” Nolan remarked. After the soldiers were gone, Smith signaled all-clear. “Go.” They resumed their advance. It was brisk and tense as they all kept an eye out for ambushes. They were within three hundred meters of the target when they heard a cacophony of gunfire break out. Within half a minute the shooting stopped, and all that could be heard were the screams of the mortally wounded, soon silenced by sporadic gunshots. “What the hell was that?” “Don’t know. Warhound lead, can you get us a feed on the CP?” “Affirmative.” After seventeen seconds by Mitchell’s count, red diamonds started appearing on his HUD and those of the other Ghosts. There were exactly 12 of them. “ID on the OPFOR?” “Negative. Not RGA. Be advised, there’s a wooden clock tower south of your position with a view of the CP. Two targets inside, probable sniper’s nest. No visible footmobiles outside the tower.” “Copy. Diaz, Smith, take that building. Eliminate any hostiles, take up a sniping position.” The two of them nodded and moved out. After a few minutes, two red diamonds disappeared, and the sniper-spotter team radioed back. “Two down. Building secure. We’ve got overwatch, Captain.” “Enemy composition?” “Mixed griffon-equine force. Either Galil SARs or Vektor R5s; sidearms look like Hi-Powers. No ballistic protection I can see. Might be a different unit of the same CECS special operations unit Viper Team ran into a few days ago. Lots of RGA casualties, real fresh, probably where all that gunfire came from a few minutes ago.” “There’s plenty of cover in the camp, you could probably sneak in,” Diaz continued. “There’s a lot of bodies, and not a lot of spec ops still here. I’d guess most of ‘em bugged out after the fight, and the ones still here are just gathering intel.” Serrano piped in. “The large tent in the center looks like a commander’s. I bet that’s where any intel will be. Thermal from the UAV shows three equines inside, probably officers. Fourteen griffons bound and gagged in a nearby tent to the north.” “Acknowledged. Jenkins, Nolan, infiltrate from west of the command tent, stay low. Beasley, stay on me. Diaz, Smith, stay on overwatch. Everyone go quiet.” The Ghosts drew their sidearms – HK45Ts with flat dark earth frames – and screwed on sound suppressors. The ambient gunfire and explosions that echoed through the city would further disguise the sound of their weapons. Their HK416A5s were already running 10.5-inch barrels and suppressors, but they wanted extra quiet for this. Jenkins and Nolan split off and headed west. Mitchell and Beasley waited for a few moments and sprinted to cover, near the base. The two pairs moved towards the command tent. After they passed the outer array of tents, Mitchell stopped and hugged a wall. Three hostiles were nearby according to his Crosscom. “Three right on top of us,” He whispered. “One equine, two griffons,” Diaz said. A trio of red diamonds signified three enemies a few meters away, just around the corner on their right. “They just stopped. One’s pulling out some smokes. Another has a lighter.” Mitchell and Beasley raised their sidearms. “You take the equine, I’ll take the griffon… Go,” Mitchell whispered. They rounded the corner and double-tapped their targets. Beasley’s dropped without issue. Mitchell’s target tried to scream and charge, but all he could manage was a gurgle and a lunge, so Mitchell made his double-tap a Mozambique Drill and put one in the target’s head. The victims dropped unceremoniously and the operators hid the bodies inside a tent that was populated with RGA corpses to avoid raising any alarms. There was already plenty of blood from the original occupants of this camp, and the desert sun would soon dry out the blood from the fresher kills, unless the clouds off in the distance got there first. “Targets neutralized. Bodies hidden.” “Jenkins, Nolan, two ponies coming up on your left,” Smith said. “Got ‘em… Bodies hidden. We’re at the target and waiting on you, Ghost lead.” Mitchell and Beasley proceeded further towards the tent. A lone soldier unfortunate enough to be in their path was shot by both of them, and his body promptly hidden. The two regrouped with Nolan and Jenkins, who were hiding in a storage tent technically separate from the command tent but more or less part of it. “Ghost lead, Viper lead is requesting aerial coverage,” Serrano informed him. “We’ve got about half an hour before we have to bring the Raven back here. Do you need coverage?” “Negative, we can handle this. Give Viper what they need.” Mitchell drew his knife and thrust it through the fabric separating him from the command tent. He sheathed the blade and stuck a flexible fiber-optic camera through the hole he’d cut. It was a slightly improved version of the one used by Rainbow, with color, night vision, and a short-range “black-hot” thermal sensor. There were three ponies inside, all pegasi. Two had dull gray-blue shoulder stripes, and one had dark red stripes. The stripes were an inch wide and three inches long, and ran parallel to the ponies’ forelegs; they weren’t bright, gaudy colors that would compromise their camouflage too much, and were probably meant to facilitate quick battlefield identification amongst allies. Subdued rank patches marked their flanks. The blues had single pale olive horizontal stripes on a black shield. The red-stripe had a similar insignia, but with twin stripes. The red-stripe was most likely the senior. “I see three of them. Probably officers. Two have blue shoulder-stripes, one has red shoulder-stripes. Red’s being treated like a higher ranking officer and has an older-model Uzi with a folded metal stock; he’s our guy. We’ll stack up at the south entrance to the command tent and flashbang them. Beasley, Nolan, load your M26s with XREP slugs. Jenkins, you’ll be the one flashing them. Move.” The Ghosts left the sub-tent and circled to the south side. The flaps hung limply, giving a dim view of the interior. They hadn’t been spotted yet. Jenkins pulled an M84 flashbang from his vest and readied it. Beasley and Nolan changed magazines and cycled the bolts on their M26 MASS underbarrel shotguns. Mitchell readied several zip-ties and his sidearm. “Go.” Jenkins pulled the pin on the grenade in his hand, and threw it into the tent. Just under two seconds later, the weapon detonated inside. The sound of the detonation kicked the Ghosts into action. Beasley and Nolan moved in first and fired a single Taser XREP slug from their underbarrel M26 MASS for each of the three hostiles, the impact and effect of the electroshock projectiles incapacitating them further than the flashbangs had. Nolan rapidly zip-tied the incapacitated ponies, who were still recovering from the effects of the flashbang. The XREP slugs kept their muscles beyond their control, and would for long enough to zip-tie their legs together. “Clear!” The Ghosts shouted one-by-one. “HVTs are shaken up, but they’re secure,” Mitchell reported over the radio. The ponies groaned as they recovered from the assault. After around twenty seconds, they’d be lucid enough for interrogation. Mitchell looked around. There were maps attached to cork bulletin boards, with maps of the city and the region as a whole. He made sure his Crosscom had a clear shot of each, for later analysis. Areas of high activity, suspected equipment caches, strongholds, and other facilities for the Free Wing Army were circled in red, and each had a letter next to it to indicate what the circle was meant to note. Some had been crossed out. The Strangers – Aegis Assembly now, apparently – were listed as “Unidentified Opposing Force” and had the same symbology, but were color-coded black. The suspected CECS forces were colored orange. RGA forces were blue. After the captives’ recovery time was up, Mitchell knelt next to them and began interrogating them. *** Alicia Diaz swept the sights of her suppressed HK417A2 around the camp, watching for anything that might endanger the rest of the team. They swept for a few minutes after the flashbangs went off. “Diaz. Rustling in the tent north of the team.” Smith said to her. She shifted her aim northwards. There were fourteen orange diamonds inside, signifying the potentially hostile RGA prisoners taken during the CECS raid. They probably would’ve been interrogated by CECS operatives later, when the main raiding force returned. The canvas on the outside of the tent was flapping, and definitely not from the breeze. It was too far for the IR function on her Crosscom monocle to make out, and in any case, between the thick canvas and abundance of bodies inside it would’ve been impractical to try and discern what was going on inside the tent that way. Her best guess was that the prisoners were trying to escape their binds, or one of them had done just that and was cutting others free. A griffon in OD fatigues emerged from the tent, followed by a few others. “Captain, RGA prisoners in the tent 50 meters north of you just got loose,” She said. “Suppress them. We finished with the prisoners and we’re imaging documents now. Twenty seconds.” Diaz and Smith both fired their rifles at an area near the RGA regulars to deter their advance. Their weapons were completely inside the building and had suppressors mounted to mask their weapons’ report further and conceal their location. No sniper worth a damn stuck their barrel out a window. The bullets kicked up dirt where they hit. Some got in the eyes of one of the griffons just as he looked towards the sniper team. The relief at not being compromised didn’t last long. Several of the RGA soldiers had gone into another tent and come out with weapons. “Captain, the escaped RGA are armed.” She put a few more rounds in the dirt between the rest of the team and the griffons. “I reckon it’s not long before they figure out this busted-up place is a good spot for a sniper and put two and two together.” “We’re on our way out now,” was Mitchell’s response. “I’ve marked a waypoint north of your position. We’ll rendezvous there.” After another twenty-ish seconds of carefully paced suppressive fire, Smith patted Diaz on the shoulder and they bugged out. *** Viper Team and their equine advisor moved northwest. The sounds of fighting intensified and they could hear a firefight along an adjacent street. A brief whoosh and the sound of burning wood came from the same direction. “Warhound lead, this is Viper lead. I hear a firefight nearby and sounds of a flamethrower. What’ve you got?” “Muzzle flashes coming from the street and buildings. Flames coming from infantry. RGA must be desperate if they’re using flamethrowers in an urban AO.” “Copy. We’ll keep an eye out.” Reeves paused. “Flamethrowers?” Artemis asked. “Don’t worry, if you get lit you won’t flail around on fire. The smoke inhalation will get you in less than two seconds. The ugly stuff is post-mortem.” “You’ll scare the girl, boss.” Montes chuckled. “Immolation isn’t a new risk for me. I’ve dealt with dragons before.” Brooks motioned for the team to stop and press against a nearby wall. “Firefight’s moving our direction on a parallel street,” he said. “Warhound, Viper. Enemy size?” “RGA force is platoon size at least.” “Everyone hold, watch for threats,” Reeves ordered. “What’s the best way to kill a dragon?” he asked as he swept his carbine across the street, looking for threats. “The throat has the thinnest coverage of any vital area. You could hit the eyes, but that’s tough. Any other way takes too long with arrows. Dragons don’t turn up much in these parts, in case you’re wondering.” “Alright. What sort of creatures might show up and ruin our fun then?” “Can’t think of any around here, unless we go into ancient temples or caves.” “Viper, firefight is moving away from you. Activity in a small two-story building a hundred-ten meters north. Big chimney, domed roof. Can’t get a clear view but it’s definitely not RGA inside- dammit!” “What?” “Stray round hit the UAV, I think. If it starts acting up, I’m bringing it back.” “Understood. Let’s move.” Viper Team advanced towards their new target, stopping when they were just in view of it. There were carts of food, stands and other signs that this used to be a marketplace. The team used the concealment to their advantage, getting a closer view of the building. It was an old wooden thing. From what was left of a sign on it, it had once sold pastries, candies or confections of some kind. The soft red paint was flecked with dirt and the walls had been pitted and punctured by the ongoing insurrection. Reeves rested the foregrip of his short-barreled, suppressed Mk 16 on one of the stands and looked through the Aimpoint sight. He saw a unicorn walk by one of the second floor windows. He wore splinter-derived desert camouflage and had a weapon slung across his back. “Target spotted, unicorn. Armed with an AUG. Looked like the carbine model, 16-inch barrel. Warhound, target count?” “Six, two on the top floor, four on the ground floor. They’re mostly on the west side. One of the guys on the top floor is standing in one spot, maybe reading something. He might be the boss.” “Copy.” The team moved from cover to cover, approaching a door on the east side of the building, which had all of its windows boarded up. Presumably the door was boarded up too. Reeves was unsure why they would board up the east side and leave the south side, initially worried it was a trap. He concluded from a FLIR scan with his Crosscom, some old bullet holes and the mostly-abandoned surroundings that the previous owners had only done the one side before deciding that a boarded up house wasn’t as good a solution to the problem of not dying as not being near a warzone in the first place. He looked at Brooks and made a heavy knocking motion. Brooks nodded and placed a breaching charge on the door. The team stacked up, with Reeves and Brooks on either side of the door to enter first, followed by Raynor and Montes, then Matsuo and Caputo, then Artemis. “On three. One. Two. Three.” Brooks hit the detonator and the door exploded inward. The team went in by twos just as they’d stacked up. One pony had been killed by the blast wave and was laying against the southern wall by the stairs in a crumpled heap. Reeves put two rounds in a hostile that had been walking by a window on the west side and Brooks did likewise for one next to the first. Montes and Raynor were right on their heels, and Montes put three into one standing by a table on the north side. The others followed them in and they were all inside in slightly under five seconds. Reeves, Montes and Raynor maintained their momentum and headed up the stairs with Reeves on point. Montes threw a flashbang upstairs. One of the two ponies upstairs used telekinesis to point his AUG downstairs without revealing himself and fired blindly. Some of the bullets flew inches from the operators heads, but on a whole were aimed too high. The flashbang detonated during the burst and the firing stopped. The three of them continued upstairs and Montes kicked the closer stunned Aegis in the throat, then put his boot on the unicorn’s horn. Raynor fired a 40mm airfoil round from his Mk 13 EGLM, temporarily incapacitating the other pony. All in all, the house took less than fifteen seconds to clear. It was great time for a two-story building, but the simple internal layout and relative lack of enemies had undoubtedly made the job much easier. The need to take two alive had probably added two seconds in this case. Montes zip-tied the front and hind hooves of both ponies together and Artemis cast a ward over the captured unicorn’s horn to ensure he wouldn’t try anything. Then they were positioned upright with their backs against a wall. “So who wants to talk first?” Reeves slung his rifle across his chest, pulled out his knife and held it to the unicorn’s throat. He looked at his earth pony comrade. Is he asking permission to talk? The earth pony looked back and narrowed his eyes slightly. The unicorn blinked twice. They probably don’t even know what I am, but they’re not talking. Not even to ask what I am. Well, judging by the looks I just saw, the earth pony is the boss here. “Me and my buddies just wiped the floor with you and yours and you don’t even spit in my face to honor their memories? Do you even care they died?” “Of course we do. But something that juvenile won’t move the dead.” “Fair enough.” Reeves sheathed his knife, stood up and grabbed the recently fired AUG that was laying on the ground. He then walked over to the table and went over some of the documents on it. He took pictures with his Crosscom monocle, and then wondered if the term “screencap” was more appropriate given the device’s nature. That took about two minutes, after which he skimmed through what they actually said. Something about a Champion in Agon Province and something about C13 members. The big boss coming to town to take care of some troublemaker’s personally. There was a bit about escalating tensions and expanding spheres of influence, too. Reeves didn’t spend much time on it. He estimated he had at most ten minutes before somebody showed up to give them trouble over the explosions and gunfire. “Interesting stuff. So that alicorn was your boss?” Nothing. “Don’t answer that, a rhetorical question. How about these Champions or the C13 guys?” Reeves looked over the AUG he’d picked up. “Nice. No markings or serials. Don’t know if it’s made here on Equis or just modified.” “You look at it like you’ve never seen one before,” The earth pony said condescendingly. “Nah, I just haven’t seen a ‘sanitized’ Steyr AUG before. I wonder if it works the same way they do back home.” He ejected the magazine and put it back in after inspecting it. He racked the charging handle and an unfired cartridge flew out. “Well, less rails, but otherwise it’s like the ones I've cross-trained with. Still, it’s been a while since I shot one.” Reeves pointed it at the prisoners. “I kind of want to see if trigger is mushy like I remember it.” He shoved the barrel into the mouth of the unicorn and pushed him to the ground. The trigger was pulled almost to where it would break and fire the weapon. The prisoner screamed incoherently. “You know, unless I hit his spine or something important your friend is going to die slowly and very, very painfully,” Reeves shouted. The gun was pushed far enough into the prisoner’s mouth that the vertical foregrip was touching the pony’s chin and he was gagging from the barrel being so far in. “Now, if you want to see your friend get a second breathing hole, by all means keep being silent, because if you don’t talk I’ll kill a lot more of your buddies until I find somebody who will, I promise you that!” The cold and condescending demeanor of the earth pony shifted to one of worry and then panic. He made the call to limit the damage done. “Okay! Okay!” “The Aegis’ goals here, what are they?” Reeves shouted. “I- I don’t know all of it!” “Well you better spill what you do, because I’m short on time!” “We’re here to- to make trouble, make sure this war keeps dragging on!” “Why?” Reeves shouted again. “I don’t know!” “Guess!” “If Agon breaks off like Griffonstone did, King Agamemnon will probably be assassinated by malcontents in his court, or at least step down. I-I think we have his successor under our control.” “The C13? The Champions? Who are they?” “The C13 is a group of thirteen with special skills. The Champions too, but they’re second only to the Wielder of Aegis, the alicorn. I don’t know her name, I swear!” Reeves pulled the trigger. The hammer dropped, but the firing pin found an empty chamber. He pulled the rifle out of the pony’s mouth. The unicorn coughed and the earth pony was speechless. The magazine hadn’t been inserted far enough for Reeves to chamber a round. He dropped the rifle and drew his sidearm. He shot both of them, holstered it and grabbed his carbine. “Let’s get out of here.” The team regrouped downstairs. “The hell was that up there?” Brooks asked. “Probably not torture.” There were no objections. They’d seen far worse done by good guys and bad guys. If it meant they had a better chance of making it back to Earth alive, then they’d live with it. What surprised them most was Artemis not objecting. “Someone will probably check out what the noise was and find the mess we left them. Let’s regroup with the Ghosts before that happens.” Half an hour later, the Ghosts and Viper Team linked up in an old adobe house in the southern area of Agon City. The place was boarded up, but there was nothing of value inside. No food, weapons, nothing. But it made a nice shelter, and the fighting was just far enough away that they could relax a little bit. The two teams shared what information they’d gathered. Both the Aegis Assembly and the CECS were interfering in the war. For the Confederated Eastern City-States it was a proxy conflict with the Allied Western Territories. The Aegis Assembly viewed it as a means to regime change and installing a puppet. Neither was particularly appealing. “Warhound, have the Osprey’s crew patch me through to Canterlot.” “Copy.” There was a delay of a few minutes while a line of communications was set up. A system of using UAVs as go-betweens to get better signals had been worked out prior to the mission, but it was cumbersome. Their technological advantage had been severely reduced by the lack of satellite coverage and other communications infrastructure they were used to having on Earth. Finally, a link was established. There was no live visual feed this time, they were stretching their capabilities as it was. *** Princess Celestia trotted to the command center the humans had set up inside her castle after she was told that the teams deployed to the Griffon Kingdom had come up with a report. She wasn’t looking forward to meeting with nobles and regional governors that afternoon, but this was likely going to be far worse than any arrogant aristocracy. “Do you remember how to use this?” Lieutenant Rosen asked, gesturing to the communication tool on the table. “I do.” “Good. The connection here isn’t too good, so if the audio quality is low, that’s why.” “Captain Mitchell, can you hear me?” “Loud and clear. First things first, the Strangers have been disbanded and their leaders executed by the mare behind all this. Their ‘responsibilities’ have been passed on to their parent group, the Aegis Assembly. Second, the reason CECS forces are in Agon Province is because this whole conflict has turned into a proxy war between them and the AWT, who are supporting the griffons. Third, the Aegis intend to prolong this conflict or end it in such a manner that King Agamemnon either abdicates or is assassinated. We believe the next in line to the throne is an Aegis puppet.” It was a lot to take in. “What do you think the end game is for this Aegis Assembly?” “Best guess?” “Please.” “Influence over major world governments. What we don’t know is how much control she wants or how much she has. She may already have the CECS and AWT in her pocket, or just have some power over some individuals. I want to say it’s that simple, but we don’t know who this alicorn is or if power is an end to her or just the means to something else.” “Alicorn?” It didn’t seem possible. Theoretically, there could be other alicorns out there, ascended rather than born as such, but the process for that was supposed to heavily favor the benevolent. This alicorn certainly wasn't benign. “I’ve got a picture of her, I was hoping you’d have some idea of who she is. Sending it now.” There was a delay between him saying that and the image appearing in front of Celestia. It was extremely distorted at first but it gradually became clear. She was more anxious than she could remember being in her life. If what she was hearing was right, this mare was responsible for widespread death and suffering and had almost killed her. The image appeared. It was an alicorn mare. It was her sister. Athena. Thoughts raced through Celestia’s head, trying to make sense of the impossible situation. Why was she doing this? The last they’d heard from one-another was ages ago. They hadn’t parted amicably, not after their violent confrontation, but it seemed unlike Athena to be this vindictive or hold a grudge. Her elder sister was an idealist, not a vicious sociopath or a sadist. And why now? Why wait centuries? It couldn’t be right. But it was right. This was appalling. They had clashed before but whatever had happened since they’d last met had changed Athena. And now her sister had tried to kill her and had bloodied her hooves in a power play. This couldn’t keep going. She had to be stopped somehow. Celestia realized that her skin was heating up. She had to get a hold of herself. Athena can’t be stopped if she isn’t found. “Ma’am?” Mitchell asked. “That mare is my sister, Athena. She was banished centuries ago after a… a very passionate policy disagreement led to us fighting. She attacked, I had no choice.” I’m trying to justify why I’m alone again. But I don’t need to justify my own actions to myself. I made those decisions as well as anypony could have. “She left the area through a portal. An Aegis Gate maybe. Some of her lieutenants are still here. If we hunt them down, we might be able to find out where she operates from, but getting them to talk won’t be easy and time isn’t something we have a lot of with how dynamic this battle is.” “Hmm.” Athena always did have a trusted entourage. If she’s making this sort of power play she must have delegated quite a bit of power to her lieutenants. Giving some of her power to them and using them as her envoys seems like her. For that level of magic to be given to another, there needs some mechanism of control and transfer. So… “Captain Mitchell, if Athena’s disciples must have some sort of artifacts or emblems that are regulating whatever power my sister has given them. They’re not the source of the power and if they lose these talismans I can’t predict the results, but if you can find these artifacts and bring them to me, I may be able to begin a process of tracking her down.” “Are you asking me to kill them?” She couldn’t bring herself to say “Yes” outright. “I’m asking you to do what you need to do to get those talismans. If you need to eliminate them as threats permanently, then that is what you need to do.” It surprised her how easily she gave the order. “From the information we’ve gathered, we’ve got a dozen or so places the Aegis could be in this city. We don’t have the resources to check every one, and sooner or later this intel will go bad, if it hasn’t already, and we’ll lose the trail. Any advice on finding our targets?” That was a good question. “Do you have anything showing where these Aegis have appeared?” “Yeah, but there’s no pattern we can find cross-referencing times and locations. It’s random, more or less. The center is the obvious answer, but aerial recon doesn’t show anything there, just a bunch of buildings that’ve been blown to hell.” “What if there are multiple epicenters for these appearances?” “Maybe, hold on.” There was a short pause. “Now we’ve got five or so possible epicenters of Aegis activity. We looked at this possibility but we’re not sold on it.” “There are ley lines running through that city, I’d guess Athena’s followers would make their camps on them to amplify their magic.” “I’ll take your word for it. Artemis, can you show us where these ley lines are on this map? Great. That narrows it down to two locations on the eastern side of the city. A manor in the northeast and an old mining camp in the southeast, target zones are a few klicks from here. We’re sending the raw intel we’ve gathered so far to Rosen… Hmm.” “What is it?” “Looks like storm clouds coming in. Isn’t the weather was all controlled on this world?” “Only in places where ponies live. Why?” “How many ponies would it take to cover a fairly large city with a thunderstorm?” Captain Mitchell sounded slightly on edge. “Only a dozen or so to start it, four to maintain it, if they’re good at their jobs. Why?” “That’s what I was afraid of. A paramilitary group like the Aegis could easily pull that off. It’s going badly for the Royal Griffon Army here. A thunderstorm would provide good cover for an offensive by them and the rebels.” “Reasonable, but it also sounds like conjecture. I’m not ready to chalk up every misfortune to Athena and her group.” “You’re right. Either way, bad weather is good news for insurgents fighting a conventional force that doesn’t have any form of personal night vision equipment. Whether it’s natural or not, the rebels will take advantage of it.” “Anything else?” “No ma’am. ” “Good luck, Captain.” “Thanks. Mitchell out.” Celestia sighed through her nose. She needed time to think over all this. She’d argued with Athena over the absorption of central Helian nations into Equestria centuries ago. Athena had argued against it on both non-interventionist grounds and the grounds that it would create tensions with new neighbors. It had created tensions at the time and there were small irredentist movements in countries to the north of modern-day Equestria, but nothing much ever came of them in the long-term. There had been an incident where the Griffons and the Royal Guard clashed shortly after the expansion of Equestrian borders and Athena had used it as evidence in her arguments. Athena feared a war that would devastate Equestria. Celestia didn’t. It was that simple difference in opinion that led to a fight, initiated by Athena, broken up by Luna, and leading to the banishment of a princess. What changed her from a peace-loving isolationist to this? *** Captain Mitchell brought up a map of the city on the group’s Crosscoms. “The Ghosts and I will take the manor. Viper, take the mining camp. Stay in contact with us and play it safe. Captain Reeves,” He consciously chose Viper lead’s non-simulated rank. “I trust you to know if and when you’ll need that Osprey’s gun.” Reeves nodded in acknowledgement. “What about Warhound’s backup?” “That manor’s not huge, but it’s too big for six people to clear, especially with how little we know going in. The Raven is doing sweeps of both targets and returning to our little camp at the Osprey. Once we’re in position to assault our targets, we wait until dark for the Osprey to drop Warhound off at the manor. When we assault, you assault, we don’t want one group giving the other advance warning.” “How much of a window does my team have for air support from that GAU-17 before the bird is at bingo fuel?” “I don’t know. Assume ten minutes, but ask the pilots if you need to. After we get these artifacts, we’re heading back to Canterlot. The ponies carrying them are a secondary objective. Any questions?” There were none.