//------------------------------// // IX - Destructive Path // Story: Half-Hoof: a Resonant Hope // by Alfoals Trottenbauer //------------------------------// When Ace got to the city, he was quickly greeted with two ponies, a stallion and a mare carrying a severely wounded mare. Each one was clad in a green uniform with hoofplates bearing the symbol 'Lambda'. "You're Sparks, right?" The stallion asked. "Yes." Ace answered. "You have to go in there, there's more ponies in need of help. The Combine's overrun us here." The mare interrupted, nodding her head toward the city to indicate. Ace galloped in the direction. The city was in shambles, gunships and helicopters roamed the skies. A row of walls and emplacement guns divided the square in half. A mare galloped close to a mounted gun, about to throw a grenade, only to get shot down. The grenade dropped in front of her and detonated. Ace pointed the laser on his rocket launcher at a mounted gun in the center. He fired, causing a gap in their defenses. Resistance ponies flooded through the new opening, still being gunned down. A ray tore through the skies, fired a beam and hit a chopper, the elevation causing the beam to arc to a large portion of the other air units. The ones that were hit disappeared in a flash. More enemy soldiers arrived on the other side and quickly opened fire. Three squadrons of Metropolice let loose drones with razor-sharp rotors. "We've got Marehacks!" A stallion shouted above the uproar. The Marehacks flew and tore through throats. Ace dropped the rocket launcher and levitated his shotgun. A marehack hovered towards him. Ace fired the gun at the object's rotors. A grenade let out low tones under Ace's hoof. He dropped the shotgun and levitated the ordinance, throwing it in the Combine's direction. The grenade exploded, sending the soldiers in the air. The resistance kept flooding through the gap, quite a few dying. He followed the resistance. APCs veered in front of them, drifting. Metropolice on mounted guns fired upon the mass, Ace threw a grenade into a hatch of one of the vehicles. It detonated, sending the cop flying into the air. The resistance proceeded to the gates of a large building. Three-legged creatures with two glowing blue eyes burst the gates open. Needles shot everywhere. A few stuck into Ace's armor. The needles exploded. One of them raced towards him. He didn't have any time to dodge it. The creature collided with him. Spikes pierced his armor and through him. "Armor compromise detected. Attempting to minimize damage." His suit announced. The creature still kept going with him still on it. They ran into a wall, the spikes moved further into his body and pinned him to the surface. Ace hung by the blades. "System failure. Shutting down." The armor stated. He punched the creature in the eye with his hoof. It started howling. He kept at it, until the creature ran off, dropping him as a result. He looked at the wound. He trotted at an awkward limp. He cantered to his gun and picked it up. The rebels had mainly dealt with the hunters. The gate was open. Adrenaline washed out the pain. Ace galloped into combat, he continuously fired into the large grouping of metropolice. He pulled a secondary trigger, sending a grenade into the area. It exploded when it made contact with a metrocop's head. The resistance kept pouring through. The Combine finally started to withdraw. They chased them away, firing at them. "They're retreating!" A stallion cheered.