//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 The revolution // Story: Freedoms Call // by Bronycommander //------------------------------// Chapter 9: The revolution While being very brave, Scotch Tape’s heart raced in fear. There was nothing she could do. Nothing but to wait for her life to end. A very loud shot echoed in her ears, it was deafening and she flinched from it. Silence. “Children!” Kate’s voice sounded, and the filly and her human sister got untied along with the other children. They saw the soldiers lying dead on the ground, puddles of blood forming at the ground from their heads. “You okay!” The mother hugged them tightly, overjoyed. “M-mommy…” Amy cried, burying her head into her mother’s chest, all other kids did the same, Scotch Tape also hugged her, heavy breathing as she tried to calm down. “That was too close.” A new voice ringed in their eyes. Looking up, they saw Brady, Elizabeth, Logan and Aiden walking to them. “Thank you.” All parents and children were very grateful. “No need to thank us, we won’t stop until we got rid of the KPA.” Brady replied. Elizabeth had an expression of guilt. “I’m sorry to say this Scotch Tape, but Parrish wants you back in the subway. I’m sorry that we separate you from your family.” “It’s alright. I want to help in any way I can to free Walker, I owe him that.” Amy’s reaction surprised her. “Okay sis, but be careful.” She hugged her. “I will.” “Good luck!” Kate added with a light smile. “Thanks, mommy.” Even Emily, Collin and Alex wished her luck as before they all went home. On the way to the subway, Brady explained that Walker was held at independence hall for trial and that they would get him out with a Goliath they had stolen from the shipyard. As they came back, Parrish greeted her. “Welcome back, Scotch Tape. I’m sorry to hear what the KPA did, but I promise we will do everything we can to protect your family and friends.” He had an honest expression. She smiled. “Appreciated.” He lead her to the Goliath, it was parked on the tracks, two resistance members were checking it. “Oh man, look at this thing! Ey, this is where the tide turns, people!” Parrish smiled proudly at it. A woman was lying under the Goliath to repair it. “This goes…there. What am I supposed to do with this bit?” “How’s it coming together, kiddo?” Jack asked. The woman crawled out. She was Afro-American, like Sam, having brown eyes and black hair. “It’s not like fixing a Seeker. Weeks. It could take me weeks.” “Ah…come on. Don’t be like that…” “The damage it took getting back here has fritzed things. The remote link keeps crashing. The targeting system is screwed. Still, I think the turret’s online. Brady, wanna fire a test shot?” She asked. “With pleasure, Heather.” Brady walked over to a laptop that was connected to the drone and pressed a key. With a loud bang, a quick flash flew into the tunnels, showing that the turret worked. “Yes! Heather, I knew you could do it!” Parrish cheered. Bang! A short circuit occurred, resulting in a small, blue explosion that knocked Brady down and the Goliath shut down. “No, no, no, no. This is not good. The damn surge keeps burning out everything out. Including our grip. Parrish, we’re not gonna get this ready in time." Heather checked the damage with a flashlight. “Heather, you got this. I wouldn’t have trusted anyone else with this. Anything you need, you got it. Plus, Scotch Tape can help you.” “Yes, I can!” The filly exclaimed ready to help. “Appreciated, there’s the range too, we need a staging post closer to the Hall.” “I got a plan for that. There’s a stronghold in Lombard. We capture that and we’ll be in range for trial.” Jack turned to a rebel. “Hey, get that gate open. That tunnel leads straight to Lombard.” Before Scotch Tape helped Heather, another resistance member took her measurements down for some reason, she was too focused on her work to ask. While repairing the damage, she also rewired some wires wrong on purpose. That way, the Goliath’s turret would glitch after getting online, then stopping to respond and the drone would shut down completely. This upgraded version worked exactly like the Goliath Hopper used, so she knew how it could be shut down. She wasn’t proud of it, it wasn’t right but she had to do it to protect her family and friends. Nevertheless, she and Heather managed to repair the damage quickly. “You did great work, Scotch Tape.” The woman praised her. “Thank you.” She smiled as the rebel who took her measurements down came back. He was holding something in his hand, it appeared to be some kind of mask. “For you.” “What’s that?” She asked confused. “A gas mask. You will need it in Lombard. I based it off the gas masks they used for horses in the First World War.” Now it clicked in Scotch Tape’s head. She learned that the armies in said war used Poison gas, which caused a slow and painful death. It was banish shortly after the war was over. The soldiers used Gas masks to protect themselves from the gas. Her mask suited perfectly, as it was a mix between the gasmask for humans and the gas masks for Horses from the Great War. “Thank you." Her voice was distorted by it but the joy was still audible before she took it off and putted it into her saddlebag. “Ready, Scotch Tape?” Elizabeth asked as she joined with Logan, Aiden and Logan. “Ready!” She followed them to the Lombard tunnel Entrance Logan warned, “Hey Brady, if you’re heading to Lombard you’re going to need a mask. It’s toxic out there. Take this one.” He pointed to a shelf and Ethan collected it. I guess they gassed Lombard. Good thing that they made the gas mask for me. The young foal figured out quickly. After they traveled through the tunnel and were at the subway entrance at Lombard, Parrish radioed in. “Brady, Scotch Tape, you'll need your masks out there. Norks dusted the district back in 25 when it looked like our troops would hold them off here. Killed hundreds of us. The Stuff can still burn your lungs if you kick it up. I’m uploading the location of the target stronghold to your phone, Brady. Once you capture it, Heather will join you with the Goliath. Good luck.” They all putted their masks on, walking upstairs. Everything was lightly yellow from the gas. “Be careful. As soon as you get exposed, your body shut down in all sorts of gruesome ways.” Brady cared for her safety as she looked on the map. “I know. I had experienced something familiar with gas.” She replied lightly trembling, the bronies knew what she meant. “Okay, the target stronghold is at the other side of Lombard. I suggest we first capture the transceiver.” “Good idea. Let’s go.” Scotch Tape agreed. All patrolling soldiers of the KPA were wearing hazard suits as the resistance fighters sneaked past. As neither Scotch Tape, Amy or Kate knew what happened to Chung or Chang after the riot, she hoped that Chung wasn’t among them. “Biedul & Sons warehouse houses a KPA transceiver station. Liberate it for the Resistance and we’ll be able to use the KPA network to track Nork activities in the Zone.” Philly Alpha advised as the transceiver was in sight. They took the stairs at the west part of the warehouse, reaching the roof of a small building. There they vaulted through a destroyed window to get in. The transceiver was at the other side of the wall, but the gap was too wide for a jump. Scotch Tape walked the stairs down, following a cable to a fuse box and used the switch. A lift got activated, making it possible to get across. After she hacked it, Philly Alpha contacted them again. “Signal acquired. We’re now connected to the KPA network in the Zone. Nice work. This is Philly Alpha, happy to be bringing you some good news for a change! We got ourselves a Goliath!” Several teams cheered. “Thanks to the efforts of Parrish, Heather and the wonder team Brady and Scotch Tape! Heather’s work hacking the brain did the job.” “Way to go, Heather!” A woman praised her on the radio. “Thanks guys! The real credit goes to Parrish and Brady. They were the ones putting their lives on the line.” “We’d have been dead without you, Heather.” Parrish replied. “Ya know what, you have a point!” “Okay, I suggest we take the Yates Motel next.” Brady suggested. “Lead the way.” Logan said. As it was in sight, Philly Alpha reported. “The Yates Motel is currently being occupied by the KPA. It was once a Resistance recon post, until the Norks cleared it out. If you can secure it for us I’m sure it would prove useful.” They took notice of a barricaded window after getting up a footbridge at the left of the building. Behind it was a door, locked from the other side. “There must be a way to open it.” Brady looked around until he saw a small hole in the wall. “Got it! Cook’s favorite toy!” He placed a small car with a pipe bomb on its back on the ground. “Want to try it out, Scotch Tape?” She grinned. “With pleasure! I’m pretty sure daddy would love it too.” With Brady’s phone as remote, she steered the RC car through hole, into the room where the radio was, then out of the room, to the locked door and detonated it. As the lock was destroyed, they could secure it. “The motel is ours. I’m sending in our people now to secure it for the Resistance. Good work.” “Okay, there’s a stronghold down the road.” Brady showed it on his map. “Right behind you!” Logan gave a thumps up. As the stronghold was in sight after a short walk, avoiding patrols and airships, Philly Alpha informed them. “There is an old garage in the region that the KPA have repurposed into a base of operations. If we secure it we have a great strategic position for striking back at the Norks.” This stronghold had no side door or ramp but a ventilation grate in the east part of it. Brady blew it up with a pipe bomb, then climbed in and engaged the soldiers, followed by his backup. “They got a Wolverine!” Scotch Tape yelled as it opened fire, and she went behind a wall for cover. The drone appeared to be firing blue bolts of electricity or something. “I got this!” Brady threw a hacking tool on it. “New target acquired.” The drone responded and started to fire on the KPA instead, giving the filly enough time to get to the valve and raised the pressure. Like back in Elmtree, the explosion was big and beautiful. “Nice work capturing the stronghold. I’m sending our people to reinforce you and secure the location.” “The closest strike point next to us is a Reconnaissance Outpost in the west.” “After you, Brady.” Scotch Tape liked how they made progress. “The Resistance used to have a listening post in Aelliott Logistics. Get in there, see of you can salvage anything we can use. The Norks can’t have found anything.” Dana informed them on the radio. Dead rebels were scattered in the building. “Okay, check the building. Elizabeth, Logan, you search here, we search upstairs.” “Got it.” Elizabeth found a document under a broken stillage, Logan one at pallets. Aiden found a document in the hands of a deceased soldier. “Scotch Tape stood at a locked door. “Hmm…” She saw a broken window, climbed through it to the roof where a hole was. She jumped through the hole, landing on the other side of the door, Brady followed her to open it. The last document was in the hand of a dead rebel. “There was still quite a lot of intel there even after the KPA cleared it. I’ll send some people over to collect it all. Nice work.” “Okay, let’s move to the next transceiver.” Brady leaded the team to it. “There is a ruined warehouse near your location where the KPA have set up a transceiver station. Capturing it would help our cause against the Norks in the Zone. See what you can do.” Philly Alpha informed. Inside was a locked door, it appeared to have an electronic lock, it required a third level access card to open. “We don’t have an access card. There must be another way to the catwalk where the transceiver is.” Brady said, looking around. Scotch Tape putted a hoof to her chin. “I saw a forklift outside. We can use a hack tool to get on the first floor.” “Smart.” Logan commented at her idea. “At the back of the building was said forklift, they used a hack tool on it, the forks moved up with a box on it, allowing the team to get in. A Sniper watched the area, Brady quietly killed him from behind, stabbing her, before Scotch Tape took care of the transceiver. “Transceiver decoded. Nice work, we’ll now be able to monitor KPA communications and movements across Lombard. “Okay, thanks due the transceiver, I can see a KPA stronghold and an Abandoned warehouse nearby. I suggest we take care of the stronghold first, then the warehouse. “Good plan, Brady.” Scotch Tape commented, liking it. As the stronghold was in sight, they got the Intel. “The KPA have built a stronghold next to a large chemical factory. The Norks have been heavily defending this area so they must be protecting something big. It might be worth investigating if you can.” Via a ventilation grate on the back, the humans entered it, keeping the soldiers busy while Scotch Tape headed for the valve. Come on, come on, come on! She thought as she raised the pressure, seeing her friends got slowly overwhelmed. As the explosion came, they all looked with smiles at it. “Good job in securing this stronghold. You have dealt the KPA a severe blow today. This was a major part of their plans for Lombard, let’s hope it’s a big setback.” “Okay, the warehouse’s next.” Brady leaded them. “That warehouse could be a useful location for an operation base. See if you can get in there and restore the power.” Dana informed them. Inside, they got on the first floor by using a hack tool on a forklift, finding a power button that was connected to a fuse box with a green cable. It had no power. “There must be a dynamo on the roof I suspect. Wait here.” Brady got outside to get a bike. After a few minutes, the red light on the fuse box switched to green, Elisabeth used the switch, while Scotch Tape pressed the power button. “This is a great location for us to use. It will really help us to secure the Zone for the Resistance and push back the Norks. Great work as always.” Dana praised them. “Okay, no other strike points on the map, let’s take the target stronghold.” The stronghold was shortly insight after a short walk through the wasteland. “That’s the stronghold. Now, It’s just down to you. Secure the base for us and we’re in business.” Parrish informed them on the radio. A ventilation grate was at the north part of the stronghold, so they used that to get in. Snipers were firing from watchtowers but no problem for Aiden as he took them out, one by one, giving the foal cover as she made her way to the valve. As with the other strongholds, the explosion was a beautiful sight for the Resistance. “Great job, this place is perfect. I’ve brought the Goliath. Come meet me in the garage, I’ll go over the preparations for freeing Walker.” Heather informed them. They all moved into the garage, taking their gas masks off inside, Heather was impressed. “You don’t mess around do you?! Alright people, we need to secure the area! Check for weapons, ammo, anything we can use! I need to set up signal coverage for the Goliath!” she ordered some other Resistance fighters. The garage had a desk with a PC, boxes scattered in the room and some supplies, the walls were decorated with Resistance messages and the American flag. The woman walked to the keyboard. “I swear – I spend more time at a keyboard then I did before the damn war!” She exclaimed excited as she tipped. “And got it. Our Goliath now has full signal coverage in the area. That should even the odds when we storm independence hall. Okay. On to phase two. So the Norks use flying drones to patrol the Red Zones. We call them Dusters because they drop this gas. Stuff is damn evil. If we don’t want them being used against us when we attack Indy hall, then we’re gonna need to take out all the launch sites around the city. I’m guessing they’ll be heavily guarded, but I’m not asking you to go alone. I’ll drive the Goliath from here and back you up. Be a good way to test the systems. Just be careful with her, please.” “Sure thing, Heather.” Scotch Tape replied. “Scotch Tape, you can be proud of yourself. It was a pleasure for me to work with you.” Heather patted her mane, causing the filly to smile. “Okay Brady, I’m sending the launcher locations on your phone, and bringing the Goliath online. Let’s get this done.” She tipped again on the keyboard, the garage gates opened and the drone drove by and out of the stronghold. “Okay, now I’ve programmed the Goliath to follow your phone signal, Brady. I’ve got control of the turret. Let’s do some damage!” “That sounds like fun!” Logan liked it a lot. Outside, they equipped their masks again. Scotch Tape couldn’t help but smile with pride as she saw the Goliath. It was graffiti in all colors to show it belonged to the resistance. It followed them in a matching speed. Yet, she felt guilty as she had sabotaged it. The first Launcher was at a junkyard, the launcher itself was a catapult on a truck, the drone had a rocket engine in the middle, and wings, it reminded Scotch Tape of a bat pony somehow. The Goliath’s turret had no trouble taking the soldiers out, so Scotch Tape could hack it. She grinned after it was hacked. Piece of… Launch initiated. Appeared on the screen of the console. “Abort! Abort!” She screamed, hitting the console as the catapult winded back and the engine of the Duster came to life. The Duster launched and exploded shortly after in midair, much to Scotch Tape’s relief and confusion. “O…kay…” “One down! Let’s get those others!” Heather commented. The turret of the Goliath sparked for a few seconds, showing that the effects of the filly’s sabotage started. “Weird, system glitches out on me for a second there. Seems to be working though.” Heather dismissed it. The Goliath also made quickly short work of the guards at the second launcher, so Scotch Tape could hack it, causing the Duster to launch and explode it midair. For some reason, this is fun. She thought, the others cheered. “Yes! That’s two!” Heather exclaimed happy. Bang! A small explosion occurred, the turret was on fire, but still operational. “What is with this thing?!...Sorry, lost functionally for a second. We’re good to go.” The Sabotage effect was increasing. Under a freeway was the next Launcher, even the heavily armored 718 soldiers had no chance against the Goliath as Scotch Take hacked the Launcher and the Duster got destroyed in the air. “That’s three! We’re kicking butt!” Bang! Another explosion and the turret stopped to respond as the barrel pointed down, deactivated. “Son of a- Something’s wrong. The turret’s not responding. I’m gonna have to take her back in and take a look. You’d better carry on without me, can’t risk this thing suddenly developing a mind of its own and turning on you.” Heather drove the Goliath back to the garage, Scotch Tape looked after it with a slightly guilty expression. Her Sabotage worked, soon, it would shut down completely. “What’s wrong my dear?” Elizabeth asked. “I’m just sad that we are on our own now.” She lied. “Hey, we could capture strongholds before without help, so we can do this without Goliath!” Logan gave a short morale speech, which have the young pony hope as they moved to the next launcher. This one was heavily defended, Aiden took care of a Sniper in the distance, while Brady, Elizabeth and Brady kept the soldiers busy, so their youngest team member could take care of the drone. After this was done, they moved to the last launcher, who was at the train yard. 4 soldiers and an armored car guarded the Duster. Logan took the car with his grenade launcher out, the others took care of the soldiers, Scotch Tape of the drone. “All Launchers taken out. Great work, Scotch Tape!” Brady smiled at her. “Brady, Scotch Tape, it’s Heather. You need to get back here. I can’t say more now but it’s bad.” The woman sounded worried. As they were at the train yard, Dana had a message for them “We once used the Lombard train depot to store supplies and munitions. They were secure in a container when the gas fell, so they should be completely fine. Get over there and see what the situation is.” The door of the depot was locked but Brady climbed on a container next of the building, shooting the lock through the window. Then he got on a bike, driving over a ramp to jump into the depot and activated the dynamo. “Nice work. The supplies are intact and now we have another outpost in the Zone as a bonus. You continue to impress.” They headed back to the garage after that. “I have a bad feeling about this." Aiden commented as they entered the garage. A Resistance fighter guarded the door. “It’s okay, let him through.” Heather told the guard and he stepped aside. As they stepped in, Heather explained the problem. “The Goliath is completely shut down. I can’t even query the systems to get a diagnosis, it’s just completely dead. Somebody did this, somebody knew exactly how to cripple it and I have absolutely no idea how to even begin to fix it.” She let out a frustrated groan. Scotch Tape felt sorry, as it was her fault, but she had no other choice. “Wiley went out and managed to get ahold of some schematics that might help, but he ran into a patrol and had to stash ‘em. I need those plans! His last transmission point is marked on your phone, can you please take a look, Brady? Without those schematics don’t stand a chance of fixing this.” “Okay. Let’s go!” Scotch Tape exclaimed, ready to help. “Scotch Tape, we appreciate your helpfulness, you already did enough. Go home and take some rest, you’re earned it. Elizabeth, would you escort her?” Heather asked her. “Sure thing. Come, my dear.” The young filly couldn’t complain, she really could need some rest and it was getting late. “Okay. Good luck, Brady!” Taking the tunnel back to Lombard, they both noticed that the civilians were still protesting, even kicking and beating the KPA soldiers until they were dead. Scotch Tape prayed that Chung and Chang weren’t along them. “Help!” a scream came out of an alley, a Liaison officer was threatened by an angry man who held a knife close to the collaborator’s throat. “Now you will pay, you traitor!” Scotch Tape didn’t like what she saw, the angry man was a red bar on her PipBuck. “Hey! Leave him alone!” “Why should I? He worked with the Norks, he must be punished!” “Killing him does not make you better than the KPA, who kills innocent people. Think. This man could only work as Liaison officer to feed his family and not for profit. Would you do the same to keep your family safe?” She countered. “They all do it for their own benefits! They believe the lies of Korea! Sold us out! He needs to pay!” “Oh really? Sometimes, you need to do whatever it takes to keep your family safe and feed. I ask you again: Would you do the same to keep your family safe?” “I…would probably…” “So, it don’t make you better than the soldiers if you kill him.” The attacker’s bar changed to yellow. “I guess you right. “He let go. “Sorry, man. I…I… I’m just tired of getting pushed around by the KPA.” He left. “You okay?” the child asked the collaborator who got slowly up. “Y-yeah, thanks.” He quickly left too. The woman smiled. “You did the right thing.” “I know.” Back home, Amy hugged her without a word after getting in, happy to see her again. Protesting was a crime and you could get arrested for it, Kate stayed inside to avoid this, she didn’t want to danger Amy or Scotch Tape. The parents of Emily, Collin and Alex stayed inside too to keep their children safe. Kate made Scotch Tape potatoes for dinner, she enjoyed it. “So what happened while you were with them?” “Well, mommy, we stole a Goliath to free Walker. Unfortunately, it broke down but we managed to capture more ground. Anything new about Chung and Chang?” “Unfortunately no, we haven’t heard from them since.” Kate replied. “I hope they’re alright.” The filly replied worried about their safety. A few days passed. While school was closed due the protests, Amy and Scotch Tape talked with the others via chat on Amy’s computer. It pleased Scotch Tape to hear that the others were fine but she hadn’t heard anything from the Resistance side. To pass the time, she played with Amy together and helped out in the house. In the middle of the night, the kids woke up from a strange noise, like someone had turned on the TV. Sleepy, the kids rubbed their eyes, seeing it was really on. Kate joined them. “What’s going on?” Amy asked yawning. “It’s the Resistance.” Scotch Tape said as the TV showed the Major of the town in his officer, Parrish and Dana behind him. He read a note. “Citizen of Philadelphia…It’s time to fight back, to-t…I can’t read this!” “Read it, you weasel!” Jack trained his rifle on the Major. “It’s insane! Don’t you understand?! …Strike up a revolution, and they’ll wipe out every American in the city! Resistance or otherwise!” “Lie!” “Yeah? Salt Lake City. Montrose. When was the last time you heard anything outta them?” “You expect me to believe someone who turned on his own people?” The Major slammed his first on his desk. “God dammit, I didn’t turn on anyone! Life’s not so black and white! I use my position to do what I can! …Look, there are soldiers swarming here as we speak. If you lower your weapons, I swear – I swear, I’ll do what I can to make sure they show mercy and maybe-“ “Mercy? Damnit Mercy?!” Dana yelled, not believing what she heard. “Listen, n-no listen-“ “The hell do you know about mercy?!” “Dana…” Parrish tried to calm her down. “I know all about how you use your position! You and your boys almost killed me in Riverside.” “Ah…Ah…alright Dana, alright Dana.” Parrish grew unsure if he could calm her down. “No, no, listen to me – my – I can’t, I can’t – Dana, listen to me –“ The Major tried to explain. “Dana, calm down.” Jack held his hand in a sign to stop. “Back then I had nowhere to hide.” Dana got a knife out. “Dana, Dana, we need him…you hear me?” “Now neither do you.” Dana suffered an emotional breakdown and stabbed in the throat, ramming his head on the desk. “Dana, no! God dammit!” Parrish yelled, the kids gasped in shock, Kate hugged them. The camera moved over to Parrish. “All right…Right, now, words ain’t exactly my strong point but – Ya know what, this ain’t the time for words anymore, or prayers, or hope. This is the time for action. Now you a scared and I get that. Now Walker’s gone, the Norks have got us backed into a corner, and and you’re looking for someone to, someone to tell you want to do, someone to show you a way out. But I say SCREW THAT! If you wanna be saved, you gotta save yourselves! You gotta take responsibility! You want your home back – take it! You want your life back – get it back! Pick up a gun! Pick up a brick! Fight with your fists! Grit your teeth! Get damn furious, man! Cos this is it! This is the moment, this is our only chance. Stand with us, stand with your sisters and brothers. Stand with your neighbors. Stand the hell up! If you want out of this hell, we gonna have to fight our way out.” The transmission ended. “For someone who isn’t so good with words, Parrish really did a very good speech.” Scotch Tape was impressed. “Yes. But now, let’s get back to bed.” Kate tucked them in. In the next morning, they found out that the speech had worked, the people of Philadelphia openly rebelled. Civilians kicked and beat KPA soldiers, Resistance members arrested soldiers, while other civilians burned cars. “Listen to the Resistance! This is our only chance to fight! America! We can take our home back! Come on, this is the time! We can throw them out! Come on! Yeah, take it! Take it back! I love this, feels like Philly’s coming back to life. What are they gonna do, kill us all? I don’t think so! Come on, together we can do this!” the crowds shouted. Kate didn’t take part of it to keep her children safe. She also wanted revenge but not like this. They also saw how the people executed collaborators outside, it scared Kate, she feared they would do this to her or her children. Scotch Tape looked out of the window, seeing how Brady and Parrish entered Crawford’s apartment, she wondered why. They don’t look to happy. They came out after a few minutes and got to Kate’s house. “Scotch Tape!” Parrish called out, “We need your help!” “Yes, Scotch Tape, the KPA’s gassing the city!” Brady added. “Okay, but please, spare them!” She begged. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, I never meant to!” She backed up against the wall. “What do you mean?” Amy did not understand. “They forced me to work for them, saying they would kill Kate and Amy should I not cooperate. I was the one who sabotaged the Goliath! Please, spare them!” she pleaded for mercy, breaking down, crying, covering her head. Kate walked up to her and scooped the filly in her arms, patting her back. “Shh, calm down, we aren’t blaming you. You did it only to protect us. You’re too young to resist such pressure. You did the right thing to protect us.” “Sis, neither I nor mommy are mad at you.” Amy added, giving her a light smile. The young pony stopped crying, hugging the woman. “Thank you. “Parrish, Brady, I’m sorry for everything.” She sounded guilty. “Nobody is blaming you, Scotch Tape, you only did it to protect your family, unlike Crawford who ratted us out. The Norks are gassing the city with their airships, we tried to destroy them but the Dusters are in our way. Thanks to Crawford, we know that they are controlled from a command tower at Independence Hall. We need to disable them before the airships are in position so we can destroy them.” “Okay, I’ll help in any way I can. As Reparation for being a mule.” Her voice was full of determination. “I promise your friends won’t be harmed. Let’s go!” Jack cocked his M4. “Good luck!” Amy and Kate called out as they left. Outside, the people cheered, as suddenly a loud mechanic groan ringed in their ears. Looking up, the filly spotted a KPA Airship in the sky, dropping gas over Ashgate. “Gas!” Parrish, Scotch Tape, Brady and other Resistance members equipped their gas masks while the civilians fled in panic. “We got to end this now! Brady, get to Lombard and set up those launchers! I and Scotch Tape are going straight to Independence Hall. Let’s move!” She followed Parrish, they encountered no enemy troops on the way to it, making her wonder of the KPA already pulled out of Philly. As they arrived, Jack informed Brady. “Brady, it’s Parrish, we’re assaulting  independence Hall now! We’ll get to the duster control tower or die trying. We could use your help!” The filly saw many red bars on her PipBuck as she stayed in cover leaving the shooting to the Resistance. She didn’t want to die here, but she owed it to her friends to try getting to the control tower. The red bars became less and less as the Resistance took Soldiers, turrets and Wolverines out. After it was clear, Scotch Tape followed to the hall, the gardens were scattered with blood, bodies, bullet holes, and destroyed Wolverines. “Brady, we’re through the gardens. We’re reached the Hall. The Tower’s just on the far side.” “I’m out of clips.” Dana reported to Jack. “Yeah, everyone grab any ammo you can. We got one more push. Get yourselves ready. Then group on me.” “Quickly, those airships won’t wait.” “Come on!” Jack shouted as Brady joined them, destroyed armored cars were scattered on the streets. Parrish placed a breaching charge on the door. “Okay, I’m set.” They all went to cover. “Fire in the hole!” The door exploded and they moved in, taking all KPA soldiers out they encountered until they came to a closed. “The tower’s through here! Help us,” Brady helped Dana and Parish to get the gate open. A Goliath and some soldiers waited on the other side, firing on them. Bullets hit Parrish into the gut, he fell with a scream of pain on his back, Brady grabbed him by the arms, dragging him behind the crate the filly was using as cover. The other fighting managed to kill the soldiers but the Goliath kept them at bay. “I’ll be okay keep moving, come and find me when it’s done…I’m proud of you…” “Stay with me, Jack. I can’t do this without you, come on, stay with me…I got to figure out something.” Dana whispered to him, trying to find a way to take out the drone. “Dana, Dana, you got this – I believe in you. Look after Brady and Scotch Tape, get them up there – get this done.” “Thanks for everything Jack, you’ve been like a brother to me. You saved me.” Dana grabbed a box of explosives. “We’re run out of time. This feels right. I’m going to do something good for once in my life…Make it count.” Dana ran out, Brady and Scotch Tape tried to stop her, she blocked every attempt to grab her, making them trip and fall over as Parrish yelled, “Dana? Dana, no – Dana wait. DANA!” She threw herself under the Goliath, blowing it up, sacrificing herself, the explosion threw Brady and Scotch Tape a few meters back, the filly let out a cry of pain as she landed on her back. Getting up, she saw that the Goliath was destroyed and in flames, the turret was blown off, Brady wasn’t moving. Luckily, he was only knocked out as she checked his pulse. She turned to Parrish. “Scotch Tape, get to the tower, take out those Dusters. IT’s up to you now.” She nodded, reaching for her pistol, she heard her heartbeat and she had tunnel vision as she walked to the stairs, seeing how a Korean soldier got overrun by a burning armored car, the horn blaring. “Parrish! Brady! Is anyone alive? The airships are about to drop! We’re out of time!” Philly Alpha warned. Taking out a soldier in the stairs, she saw how a KPA helicopter got shot down and crashed. “We can’t launch missiles! The Dusters are still here!” a male rebel reported. “I can see Scotch Tape! She’s going for the tower! Logan spoke into his radio as she shot a Captain into the head. “Damn, we got Norks closing on our launcher! We need to fire the missiles!” Another rebel reported. Halfway there, the filly took out another soldier, seeing how an enemy Sniper got blasted from a roof, falling screaming to his death. “Go, Scotch Tape, go! You have to bring down the Dusters!” Philly Alpha motivated her. I can’t fail! “She’s nearly there! Go on, Scotch Tape – go, go!” Elizabeth encouraged her as she reached the top, seeing the door to the tower. A Shotgunner crossed her way, she killed him with a headshot. Opening the door, she surprised the drone operator, head-butting him. He attempted to draw his sidearm but she saw this and punched him into the face a few times, then slammed his head into the console, knocking him out. “Come on!” She tipped on the console until the shutdown screen popped up and she went for the lever. “Oh no, you don’t!” A KPA officer yelled, shoving her away, punching her, then head-butted her, causing her to fall backwards on the ground. The Korean overpowered and choked the filly, she struggled against it. No! I can’t fail! I can’t… She got weaker and her vision faded to black. A loud sound brought her back, the officer flinched and fell to the side, a hole in his head. The shot had come from Jack’s Pistol, assisted by Brady. Scotch Tape pulled herself up and pulled the lever. The Duster drones shut down, crashing to the ground. “Dusters are falling out of the sky, the airships are wide open! SAMs are arming!” Logan reported. “Elmtree firing.” “Holloway firing.” “Lombard missiles away.” Several Resistance fighters reported as the launchers fired. Brady, Parrish and Scotch Tape walked outside, seeing how the Dusters crashed and the Airships got shot down. A Duster crashed into a wall above them, causing them to cover their heads from small debris. They watched into the sky, watching the Dusters and Airships go down, Logan, Elizabeth and Aiden joined them, smiling proudly at Scotch Tape, who raised her hoof into the air. Parish said to her with pride, “This is thanks to you, Scotch Tape. Today independence is reborn. The fight to keep it starts now.”