//------------------------------// // This Means War // Story: The D.S.P.I. // by DungeonMiner //------------------------------// Silver slammed into the room and grabbed his kit as quick as he could. He loaded a magazine of bolts into his pneumatic crossbow and ran, heading back to the mess hall with all speed. TWI’s voice rang out again, through hidden speakers. “Multiple breaches detected. Areas A and C are in imminent danger. Teams Alpha, Gamma, and Omega, report to A. Teams Beta, Phi, and Tau, report to C!” Silver took a sharp right, barreling down a hallway to head towards the Armory. He was the first one there, and what he saw was terrifying. Ponies, or what once were ponies, climbed into the hallway. Their fur was basically gone, and their skin was a pale, disgusting grey. Their teeth, once flat, were ground down to thin, needle-like points, and their eyes were sunken into their heads. Their skin was stretched thin against their bones, and their lips were stained red. He didn’t even think twice about firing into them. Bolts slammed into the monsters, and they stumbled in the onslaught. The silver-tipped bolts pierced their thin, grey skin, and two of them fell to the ground. There was not a drop of blood. He fired until the magazine went dry, and was quick to reload. And that was not quick enough. The monsters already began to recover, standing again, even though they were completely filled with bolts. A string of cursing followed his reloading, and the beasts were quick to begin their advance. They stamped forward, moving toward him with hunger in their eyes and teeth bared. Only for the heavy fire of Chestnut’s mini cannon to interrupt them. They deadly rounds bit into the grey skin, snapping bone in half as the heavy weapons pony moved closer. “Got your back, Boss!” “And I’m glad you are!” Silver said, as a thermal shot scorched overhead. “You need to stop running ahead, Assault!” Silk said, as her long rifle whined to cool. “I can’t keep saving your flank all the time.” “I’ll take that under advisement,” he replied, before he began to fire his crossbow once more. Three of the beasts were down, hopefully for good now that they had been hit with something more serious. Unfortunately, whatever beasts went down there were three to replace them climbing from the breaches below. Sparky shot by, unleashing a pair of bolts into the monsters, while Neon and Amber both shot into the room, firing their weapons. “Molotov incoming!” Lemon yelled, before a glass bottle smashed into the mob, lighting them ablaze. Mandible leapt up next to Silk on a catwalk, firing bolts from his light crossbow. “Keep laying down fire!” Silver yelled. “Don’t let them get up!” Chestnut laid down suppressing fire, aided with shots from Amber, Sparky, Neon, and Mandible. Silk was slower waiting before one of those monster’s popped up above the lip of the hole in the floor before sending a searing shot over the heads of her teammates. The beasts’ heads fell, charred and cooked, and one of the monsters stopped to smell his now fried comrade. The other teams, Gamma and Omega, finally appeared, laying down their own fire as all three heavies began to cover the field. Silk was joined by another two snipers on the catwalk, and together, they began to fry to ghouls where they stood. Sparky began running with two more scouts, and before long, all three teams were working together, each meshing together with his own duty. “Hey,” a dark grey pegasus cried, sliding up next to Silver with his own obsidian/silver blade. “You guys doing alright?” “Be doing better if you weren’t late!” Silver answered with a grin. “You hear that boss?” the new assault yelled to the unicorn with the potion cannon, “They’re saying we’re late!” Unicorn demo smiled. “Well I guess we’ll just have to hit the ghouls twice as hard to make up for it! Let’s go Gamma team!” A cheer went up, followed by the air filling with crossbow bolts. “You hear that, Omega?” an earth pony agent said, draped in her mirror cloak. “Sir, yes, sir!” replied the last four ponies. They were bandaged, slower, and looked like they had recently gone through hell. “Well I’m not going to let them do the job for us, even if we’re not back up to full. I say we double their kills, what about you?” “Sir, yes, sir!” they answered, before they practically threw themselves at the enemy, the five ponies eager to prove themselves, injured though they were. Silver’s radio suddenly burst to life. “Alpha Team, come in! This is Heavy of Beta Team!” “Beta Heavy, this is Alpha Assault, I read you!” Silver answered, firing into the monsters. “You’re the new guys, right?” the Beta team heavy asked. Silver blinked. “New...ish?” “Alright, you about these?” “Info would be good,” Silver admitted. “These are ghouls. Smarter than zombies, twice as hungry, and more importantly, intentional. This isn’t an act of nature, this is an attack.” “Oh, wonderful,” Silver muttered. “Go for head and neck shots!” the Beta Heavy continued. “Everything else is wasted ammo.” “Roger that,” Silver said before he began yelling at his team. “Go for head and neck shots!” “You got it, Boss!” Chestnut said, before he adjusted his aim to be slightly higher. Half-inch balls of sun-blessed silver slammed into the ghouls, ripping their skin and tearing them apart as every barrel of Chestnut’s mini cannon was beginning to glow red. “I can’t keep up the suppressing fire, my canon’s starting to overheat!” “Support, Agent, Scout, Medic, Demo, keep them pinned while Heavy cools his weapon.” “Yes sir,” Lemon said, before firing another grenade. It exploded in a shower of glass, and the liquid hissed whenever it touched the dead flesh of the ghouls. “Sniper, keep knocking them out,” Silver ordered, before drawing his blade. “Can do,” Silk replied, before another shot of heat and light slammed into a ghoul, leaving the air smelling of smoke and cooked flesh. Silver jumped forward, bringing his obsidian and silver sword down into the skull of the monster in front of him, and felt it split the bone. He ripped the blade away, and swung for the neck, cleaving it apart before he moved to the next ghoul, who swung wildly as he tried to attack the unicorn. Silver ducked beneath the blow, and made his own, driving the sword straight between the eyes. He really did love this blade. “Teams Phi and Tau!” Beta Heavy cried into the leader’s radio channel. “I need back up, here! My team’s occupied, and I need to cool down.” Silver thought about letting the heavy know he was still on the radio, but instead focused on striking another ghoul. His team and the others hitting the enemy hard, and were slowly gaining ground on the breach. “Keep pushing forward!” Gamma demo yelled, firing potion grenade after potion grenade. “You heard the stallion, push!” Omega Agent said. Silver smiled, and began pushing with the rest, forcing the enemy back to the hole they dug through the concrete. “Let’s go, Alpha Team! We’re pushing them back!” And suddenly a scream cut in on the radio, and all three of the leaders heard Beta Heavy’s last, panicked shriek. “Calling all teams!” a new voice cut in. “This is Phi! We need support! They ghouls have something big over here, and we need back up. Beta Team is down, I repeat, Beta Team is down!” Silver shared a look with both the Agent and Demo from the other teams. “We’ll take care of this,” Gamma Demo said, before he fired a grenade into the hole. Silver nodded. “Alpha Team! With me! Beta’s down, and they need backup!” They picked themselves at his order, and quickly began to pull back, retreating from the room as the both Gamma and Omega Team took up the reins. They left the room, turning to run through the hallway, and running straight for the training rooms. They quickly turned the corner, and were instantly met with the sight of three corpses littering the hallway. “Always a good sign,” Mandible muttered, before they found themselves staring at the breach, and the monster responsible. The beast was massive, five time larger than a pony, and three times as wide. Its chest and forelegs were massive, while its head was minuscule. Its skin was the same pale grey of the ghouls, but its muscles were massive, leaving the skin stretched thin and splitting across its body. Phi and Tau had both taken heavy casualties, leaving both at half strength, and most of their comrades on the floor. Some already were missing chunks from their flesh. “Demo, hit ‘em hard!” Silver yelled. Lemon responded with an explosive round straight for the beast’s head, and fire and sound answered her. “Move up, Team!” Silver ordered. “Move up and bring him down!” Chestnut answered with the roar of his mini-cannon. Silk took to the air, trying to find a good firing position, while the others began to move forward, firing into the beast. Silver-tipped crossbows dug deep into the monster’s skin, and the scorching shots of the TS longrifles seared its flesh. “Hit it with everything you have!” Silver yelled, before a pony walked past him. Fluttershy simply sauntered past Silver, as if the entire battles was simply not happening. She walked through the crossfire, completely unbothered for the silver and flying wooden stakes that filled the air around her. “You know,” she said in Manticore’s voice, “for once, all of us were enjoying the time off. We were all happy for thirty minutes, and then you come along,” she said, speaking to the ghoul that was trying to defend itself against the onslaught of attacks the ponies were pouring on him. “If I’m honest, I’d be using words my hostess doesn’t like, so let’s just say peeved. I am peeved beyond belief, and I am going to make sure you feel every second of it.” She hissed, baring her fangs, and spreading her leathery wings in fury, before leaping into the air, pouncing for the monster’s neck. Her teeth bit into the beast’s flesh, and she ripped the muscle free, tearing the ghoul apart. She spat the flesh out as the beat moaned in pain, before growling. “I’ve always hated ghouls. You taste the worst.” She bit again, before tearing through the monster’s arm. “Sniper!” Silver yelled. “I have a shot!” Silk yelled, hanging from a pipe by her hind legs. “Well, don’t keep Manticore waiting!” he told her. “Roger, sir!” she answered, before a scorching shot fired straight into the ghoul’s head. Fluttershy smiled as the ghoul screamed as his flesh bubbled. “Let’s see if you taste better cooked!” She bit him again, ripping and tearing at him while the ponies around kept firing into it, trying to bring it down. Silver’s radio crackled again. “Alpha Team, where are you?” Spike’s angry voice asked him. “We moved to C to support Phi and Tau,” Silver answered. “I already moved Manticore towards C! Omega has taken damage, and Gamma can’t keep these creeps down.” “We’ll be right there!” Silver yelled. “Alpha Team, back to A!” “But we just got here!” Sparky grumbled. “Double time!” Silver yelled, ignoring the complaint, and leading them back across the compound. “Spike’s mad at us for moving.” “Great,” Mandible replied, “so the boss is going to chew us out after this too.” “Just be happy he’s not big enough to actually chew us out,” Lemon replied. “Less talking, more running!” Silver ordered as they galloped back down the hallway. They burst back into the lobby in front of the armory, and were met by a sea of ghouls. It seemed they were trying to overcome with quantity what the other side had tried to complete with quality. Omega team was down to just their agent, firing her lone crossbow into the ghouls, while Gamma, down to seven ponies, tried to take on the hoard. Luckily, the Commander was there. His strange flintlock firing its trademark, purple needles, and each one found its mark in a ghoul’s forehead. His free hand cut through throats, and broke necks with a furious, frightening ease. “If you are assigned to a post, you stay there!” he growled as Alpha team entered the room, and Chestnut began firing his mini-cannon into the crowd of ghouls. “Sorry sir, we were—” Silver began, before Spike interrupted him. “Don’t apologize, shoot!” Silver obeyed, firing his pneumatic crossbow into the crowd before drawing his blade. Crossbow bolts and scorching blasts of magical heat filled the air, and ghoul bits and pony blood began to litter the ground. But slowly, eventually, they pushed the mob back, beating back or killing the ghouls back towards the breach. “Demos,” Spike called, as they moved closer to the edge of the pit. “Special Grenade designation 00-AB1!” Both Lemon, and the leader of Gamma team both loaded a glass flask. “Where do you want it, sir?” Lemon asked. “The pit!” Spike yelled. “Where do you think?” Both ponies answered with a shot into the breach, where a thick, clear, viscous liquid covered the ghouls in the breach. A Spike took a deep breath. Dragon fire caught the ooze, and it went up in an instant, transforming the breach into a massive bonfire. Ghouls transformed to ash before their very eyes, and the heat was so great it even began to melt the concrete. The blaze lasted ten seconds, no more, but it was just enough to do the job. Spike looked down at the scorched breach, and shook his head. Another puff of flame lit a cigarette, and he took another long drag before he spoke into his radio. “Manticore, how are we doing?” “We’re pretty much finished here, Commander.” “Roger that. Velvet Storm, can you order us some concrete and give me a report of our losses?” “Right away, sir,” came the reply. “The rest of you are dismissed until further notice,” he said, before he turned, and walked away. ===ᐁ=== It took three hours before a full report came across Spike’s desk, and he was not happy about it. Phi and Tau were both down to half strength, and would probably have to united into a new team. Beta was gone, Omega was down to one person, and Gamma was down a pony. The only team that had managed to get through this attack was Alpha team, and the only reason they had done so well was the large amount of time they had spent traveling between point A and point C. And that was just casualties. The tunnels the ghouls dug were some fifty miles long, before reaching a collapsed section. With the point of origin unreachable, the only option at this point was to fill it back up, and seal it. The cost in concrete alone would be a fortune. Of course, the meaning behind the tunnel was far more alarming. The ghouls could not move quickly, not without tools, but searching the tunnel revealed nothing in terms of excavation equipment. Conservative estimates had the ghouls digging for twenty years. This was a deliberate, intentional, and long-term attack, and it was an attack. This was an act of war. Someone, somewhere, wanted the D.S.P.I. destroyed. Someone with patience, and someone with the means to mobilize a small army of ghouls. It...could it be Him? Spike almost froze at the thought. It...it… It couldn’t be. Ghouls were below Him. But He had the lifespan. He had the power. Spike claws clenched at the thought, almost ripping the report he held as rage began to flood his being. He...if He were behind this… Spike threw the reports down onto his desk, and stormed out of his office. The dragon fumed as he walked down the hallway, and smoke rose from both his paper cigarette and his nostrils, both thick and black. If He were behind this...if He was somehow behind all of this. Spike came down to the old wooden door, the one with the simple candle carved into it’s face, a replica from a bygone time, and entered, roughly. The room was as dark as he left it, and filled wall-to-wall with his things. He ignored them all, however, as he walked up to the centerpiece of his hoard. The smooth, crystal surface was almost glowing in the darkness, and Spike’s fury seemed to subside as he rested a claw along it. It...it couldn’t be Him. It didn’t seem like His handiwork. He would be more precise, more devastating, and would leave Spike alive and cursing. The ghouls were too clumsy. They could have killed him and left the department alive, and that wasn’t how He played things. Spike sighed, as he stared at the transparent magenta crystal beneath his claws. If...if it wasn’t Him… “Not yet…” Spike muttered. “Not yet…” He stared at the crystal, and its center, before signing one more. “Soon…” he promised. “Soon.” Spike took another breath, and let his claw slip off the immaculate, transparent surface. He turned back to the room, in all its darkness, and all the memories that hung from wall to wall, the monument of everything...everything that was taken from him. “Soon…” ===ᐁ=== Silver sat with the leaders of the last three teams. The demo from Gamma, named Chrome Shift, and the Sniper from Phi, named Hunter all looked down the briefing table. Spike sat at the end of the table, frowning, cigarette still in his mouth. “Gentlecolts,” he said, addressing the team leaders. “This was nothing less than an attack on the department.” They nodded, listening intently. “And this, whether you realize it or not, means war,” Spike continued. “With this attack, the Princess has authorized me to activate all projects of the department, including some projects which have some...psychological effects on the subjects.” Hunter and Chrome both frowned. “We will also be receiving aid from both the Crystal Empire and the Griffonstone branches,” Spike told them. “And what about us?” Hunter asked. “You are going to be working,” Spike answered. “While we have been attacked, we have no idea as to who is behind this. The first thing we need to do is identify the threat, then we can begin to properly engage them.” “So…” Chrome began. “So you’re going to have a week. Heal up, prep yourselves, acclimate to your new arrivals, and then you’ll be sent on a few reconnaissance missions.” “Yes, sir,” they replied. “In the meantime, I’ll keep my ear to the ground, use my contacts. We’re not going to let this go. This, gentlecolts, is war.”