In an upper Water District room with slightly more metal plating and slightly less exposed, jagged blue rock and rusty bulkheads, Defense Force pegasi milled around nervously, doing stretches and giving pep talks and sharpening spears against the walls. They were woefully outfitted, carrying only a few advanced Sosan weapons between the lot of them - likely the product of shipments the Spirit had somehow failed to snatch, despite being ran by the same pony who organized the shipments in the first place. Much of the armor they had looked hoof-fashioned, with the occasional wingblade or clawed hoofguard mixed alongside woven uniforms or nothing at all. All of the pegasi were on edge... and yet there was one corner of the room that, even in their preparations, none of them wanted anything to do with.
"Nyaaaaah." Valey yawned, stretched, and rolled her shoulders, keeping weight off of her burnt hoof and giving an eager glance to any pegasus that got too close. "If we have to do this, we might as well start already... What's taking the Sosans so long? It's just climbing a mountain!"
"Waiting does give us the chance to rest," Gerardo countered. "I can use it, and I took much less of a beating than you in that battle. I say we be grateful for the downtime and use it to try to puzzle out exactly how we're going to get out of this mess."
"Not much of a chance there," Valey muttered. "Herman's obviously lying about not sending his mercs to get me, since they herded us right to him. He wants us here, and obviously has a way to prevent us from leaving. Or two. Or ten." She glanced aside at Gerardo. "They did herd you, right? I only followed you guys."
Maple sighed, cradling Starlight's unconscious form. "I don't think so. It was Howe and Neon Nova's idea to come up here. Right, Gerardo?"
Gerardo tapped the floor with a talon. "True. However, that was as a solution to a questionably problematic problem of their own making, which may or may not have been solved... and only came to be after we briefly parted ways with them whilst they were in the company of their former mercenary cohorts. It is not impossible they were, in fact, working with the other mercenaries to herd us."
"The thing is," Valey grumbled, "we're stuck here now. We can't bail. We're going to get hauled into this fight, and we're going to have a ton of Sosan cannons firing at us. Could we get to the other side of the bridge without being blown to smithereens? Yeah, maybe. I can dodge, and the honchos probably wouldn't shoot you... but I bet the mooks would. But even if we reach the Sosans and go, 'Hey, Herman is misleading the Defense Force...' yeah, of course he is. They already know that. They're not going to stop. Maybe we could get out on their side at best... which I suppose is still pretty good. But Herman's either going to have some way that us doing that benefits him, or it'll be impossible."
"Remind me why we can't simply leave, again?" Gerardo asked, gazing at the room of ponies.
Valey nodded. "I just told you, Herman obviously has it covered somehow. My guess is it's like this: because between the four of us, we can't be fast enough to avoid getting caught. If it was just me, I could slip away, but all it takes is one hostage and we're screwed. So unless you want to ditch Ironflanks and Starlight..." She looked venomous at the possibility.
"You said Herman could benefit from us surviving this fight and reaching the Sosans, and maybe getting them to not massacre the Defense Force, right?" Maple hummed. "I'm just thinking... he has to be prepared for us dying there, too. So if he wins both ways... either there's some reason we couldn't make a difference he knows about, or what he wants doesn't depend on the outcome of this battle at all. Don't you think?"
"Hmmm..." Valey chewed her cheek. "Well, yeah, the mercs definitely did want me impaled. Seriously though, have I mentioned I'm done with Ironridge? I'm so tired of trying to guess around Mr. Thinks-of-Everything and his upstart unicorn wannabe when he's so good at figuring out what I'm going to do. I hate being his tool. We need... meh..."
"If I may," Gerardo offered. "Perhaps our best move would be to act as unpredictably as possible? If Herman is as good at reading you as he says he is, let myself or Maple call the shots. He's had far less time to acclimate to us, after all. What do you suppose is the last thing he'd expect of us?"
Maple swallowed, hugging Starlight. "Great. More important decisions placed on my shoulders... Why does everyone keep thinking this is a good idea? I have no experience at this, get us into trouble just as often as I don't, have only been in Ironridge for three days..."
Valey's nostrils flared. "You know, there's a difference between doing something Herman wouldn't see coming and staying safe. I doubt he's expecting us to jump off the dam, but doing that wouldn't do us much good. Still... eh... you got any ideas? Might as well consider them, as long as they're not stuff like trying to weird Herman out by kissing him, or the like."
Gerardo blinked, his eyes widening. "That's it!"
"Buh?" Valey frowned. "I was joking! You can't actually make me kiss-"
"Hear me out," the griffon said, proudly strutting. "Herman apparently predicted you vandalizing... Well, permitting Howe and Neon Nova to vandalize the altar we visited based on your innate distrust of him and desire to foil any plan that had his yakkish hoofprints all over it, did he not? It follows that the thing he'd least expect you to do... to find unpalatable beyond consideration... is to deliberately spend time around him. Or has he not, as I've gathered from my every interaction with him, gone out of his way to make you dislike him immensely?"
Valey grimaced. "Okay, that's disgusting."
"See what I mean?" Gerardo grinned. "This is something you would never even think of doing, and thus something he can count on not happening. I have no idea what it would accomplish, but it may very well throw a wrench in whatever he's planning."
Maple swallowed. "You know he could wait at the back himself and just order us up front to fight, right?"
"Another problem," Valey snorted. "You realize that annoying a yak up close who just said he wants you dead is a good recipe for getting turned into melon paste, right? Herman is really strong. You guys wouldn't last a second if he decided to take you out himself. How does this plan keep our rears intact?"
Gerardo winked. "Well, first off, I hardly imagine Herman will want to spare soldiers to persuade us to do anything if his goal is to force them into combat. Once the fighting begins, I have a strong hunch the only one forcing us directly to do anything will be Herman himself... and that will still entail us sticking together. As to the second issue... there are four of us and one of him?"
"Nuh-uh." Valey shook her head. "Three of you. I do not want to get in a fight with Herman. If I was in peak condition, I could fight him to a stalemate because he'd never be able to hit me, but one blow and I'd basically be toast. And that guy's so big and hairy that punches and even magic and stuff barely phases him. You'd need something special to even hurt him."
"Alas." Gerardo looked away at the wall. "I had high hopes for this plan, but it seems it is indeed being stabbed full of holes. Back to the drawing board, then, as it were..."
"Well, here's one we can use," Valey offered. "Be as lazy as possible. Once the fighting starts? Hang back unless someone shoves us forward. Play defensive. Pull rank wherever possible. Commander gets to go in the back, and all that. It'll mean sitting still and watching what's probably going to turn into a mass execution without lifting a hoof to stop it... but it could see us through long enough to get an opportunity, or for someone else's plan to collapse. Remember, Ironridge hasn't really had a war before, just skirmishes and stuff. There's a pretty big chance of panic, chaos and something completely unexpected happening that blows everyone's plans to shreds anyway." She nodded at Maple. "And if Herman tries to tell us to get up front, he'll have to follow us to make sure we don't stop the moment we're out of his reach. That way, at the very least, we get him to the front lines too. And if worst comes to worst... I guess we really can jump off the dam and try to find a way to survive."
Gerardo raised an eyebrow. "That sounds both remarkably callous and pragmatic of you."
"Hey, I owe Ironridge nothing." Valey shrugged. "The one and only thing I care about protecting now is Starlight. And if anyone has an issue with that... well, they can take a hike. Anyway." She glanced around at the room full of ponies. "If we have a chance to do something, we do something, but I don't see it happening. It's too bad these Defense Force mooks are way too scared to save themselves."
"They certainly look scared..." Maple gazed out sorrowfully at the pegasi, some of whom almost appeared to be in shock.
"Yeah, for most of them this is probably the first time they'll ever see actual combat." Valey shrugged, emotionlessly following Maple's gaze. "Too bad for them it'll be a firing squad and not a real fight. They'll be complete toast."
"I wish we could save them..." Maple sighed, averting her gaze. "What are the odds you can use your status to just... tell them to leave, or something?"
Valey looked at the floor. "Basically nothing," she said with a shrug. "Ironflanks, the Defense Force is mostly a volunteer organization. It's not all that big compared to Ironridge as a whole. One to two hundred active duty ponies in a city of over a million. I bet half to three quarters of them answered the call to arms tonight, if that. In this room? Maybe fifty. These are the ponies who most believe in all the propaganda about the lower districts being nasty no-nos, to whom I've been a terrible boss, who... you get it. If I tell them to knock it off and go home, they'll do nothing but see it as a chance to finally one-up me and be even more determined to be here. So their lives are on the line. To them, so is their home... and these are the ones who are willing to die to defend it. Barely, but we can't break all their resolve at once. And that's even before considering that Herman and Selma are here."
"Maple..." Starlight's weak voice cut in. "Head hurts... dizzy..."
Instantly, the conversation was swept away as Maple and Valey's attention went straight to Starlight. Gerardo watched too, from a greater distance. "You're awake?" Maple asked softly. "Please tell me you're okay..."
"Ow..." Starlight whimpered, holding a hoof to her stomach. "Worse than... when I went off the waterfall..."
Maple carefully brushed her forehead with a hoof, avoiding touching her horn. "We'll find a way to get you back to Shinespark's machine. Things are dangerous right now, but we have a plan. I want you not to use your magic again until we get there, okay?"
"No... duh..." Groaning, Starlight scrunched her eyes shut, nestling her face into Maple's dust-colored coat.
"Hey, at least she's coherent and understands us," Valey chirped, leaning in closer. "...Huh. Ironflanks, your coat is way cleaner than it should be for someone who just tromped through the Flame District. Did you take a bath when I wasn't looking?"
"Probably the magic," Maple murmured, rocking Starlight softly. "I know I feel clean. Almost too clean, like someone scrubbed me inside and out with a very hard brush..."
"Valey's safe?" Starlight muttered. "We got off the elevator?"
"Yes, sweetie," Maple hummed, stroking her mane. "We did. We survived those mercenaries. Howe and Neon Nova left, but I won't miss them. You did a good job..."
Suddenly, a blue warning light began flaring, and Selma's voice blared over an intercom, washing over the entire room. "Defense Force, the time has come! The Sosans are cresting the mountain! Assemble to meet them at the eastern dam bridge in five minutes! Defend your city now or forever be the ponies who did not answer at the hour of greatest need!"
"Well..." Gerardo straightened up, adjusting his ruined uniform and shaking his feathers. "I believe that is our cue. Here's to living to see another day."