The dull, grey light of dawn shafted into the bedroom. HyperBlitz awoke and stretched his golden wings. He did not bother putting on any armor before leaving his room. He was beginning to feel welcome in the new base, for he had been there for well over a week. The Pegasus found his way through the main room and into the meeting room. CharmingRhythm sat there looking at a map of the surrounding area.
“Rhythm,” Hyper spoke to get his attention.
Rhythm glanced up just as he took a bite from an apple. He mumbled “whut” with a full mouth.
Hyper let out a huff of amusement. He collected his thoughts. “Don’t you think it’s about time we addressed that node?” Hyper requested.
Rhythm gave a blank stare for a moment, the gears in his brain turning. He finally said “I’m gonna be honest, I completely forgot about it. I remembered the Hybrid camp, but not the node.”
“Rhythm!” Hyper called out with a grin, rubbing his forehead with a hoof.
“Hey, sorry! We’ve been busy. I’ve had my mind on other things,” Rhythm justified while extending his right foreleg. “But yeah, I guess we should disable it. It’s our job to get rid of Hybrid activity in this area.”
“So we should all get ready to set out?” Hyper asked.
“Yeah. In about an hour,” Rhythm decided.
“Is it going to actually be an hour?” Hyper kidded.
Rhythm rolled his eyes and stated, “Yes, it will be.”
Hyper went straight back to his room. He began fitting his armor on, and checked if his Energy Power Device had a fully charged crystal. He slipped the boot-like weapon onto his left foreleg and clamped it tight. The rest of the stallions began readying themselves for the job.
EchoBeat was the only one hesitant to leave for the mission. He spoke to HyperBlitz. “Don’t you think one of use should stay back? You know… just in case there’s any Hybrids that come this way.”
Hyper assured him, “Echo, we haven’t had any problems with Hybrids at the base yet. I doubt they're going to show up right when we go out. But if you want to stay here, I’m sure Rhythm will let you. You can keep working on your gardening.”
Echo nodded his head appreciatively.
HyperBlitz launched himself into the air and soared above the other stallions as they made their way toward the node. FeatherTune soon followed his example and took to the sky. They flew low to be sure they would not alert any Hybrids. They neared the node and took shelter behind a row of cacti. Hyper landed almost face first into the cacti. The stallions gathered around to plan their attack.
Around the node were several Hybrids, protected by crates, barrels and other scraps. Some other cacti and shrubs lined the area too.
“There’s a lot more Hybrids than I remember seeing there,” Feather observed.
“We’ll have to fight through them first before we can get the node,” Rhythm announced. “Any ideas on how we should do this?”
“I mean, aren’t we just going to do what we usually do?” Hyper said. “Run in there and improvise.”
Rhythm pivoted his head to him and raised a brow. “We’ve made plenty of plans before attacks.”
“Yeah but we always end up doing something different,” Hyper pointed out.
“He’s right,” Feather told Rhythm.
“Maybe some of us can draw them away from the node while others disable it,” Spinning suggested.
“Yeah but a few may stay behind to protect it,” Blazing countered.
“I think we should get them out into the open. We don’t want to fall into any cactuses when we're running around,” Rhythm decided.
“Cacti,” Feather corrected.
“Come on, Feather.” Hyper bounded forward, “Let's go distract them.”
Hyper floated above the ground and began firing down blasts of energy at the Hybrids. A short, heavily armored Hybrid took notice and started running towards them. It had no guns or blades, but still thought it stood a chance against the areal Pegasi. One Hybrid with less armor and a single bionic eye began firing at HyperBlitz. The yellow Pegasus easily dodged the lasers by swooping to and fro.
Hyper eyed the ground and saw BlazingFlair run at top speed towards the stocky Hybrid that was pursuing them. The Hybrid did not take notice of Blazing until too late. He thrashed into the Hybrid, sending it crashing into the ground. With a lifted EPD, he began dousing the foe in red energy that ignited into flames.
Circling back around, Hyper dove towards the gun Hybrid with the glowing eye. He ignored the lasers that directly hit his flesh and armor and raised his left foreleg. Energy charged in his weapon, and when he was a meter away, he released that energy. A surge of blue engulfed the enemy, and with Hyper’s collision, the extra force was enough to make a killing blow.
Feeling proud of himself, Hyper landed to take a breather. His eyes slanted upwards towards the node. There were still at least five more Hybrids left. Spinning and Rhythm attempted to get to the node, but were outnumbered. The Unicorns still shot their energy at them but it did not slow them. A crackle of electricity sounded in Hyper’s left ear. FeatherTune had fired a bolt down on a large, study Hybrid, but it was not even phased.
“Are you kidding me?!” Feather exclaimed.
Hyper realized there was something off about this Hybrid. It had a style he had not seen before, and had extra armor made of a rubber-like material in addition to it’s metal armor. It swung it’s foreleg around, which was a large saw. None of Hyper’s friends could seem to make a dent in the Hybrid as it continued it’s rampage. I could try my dive-bomb on it, Hyper considered.
Darting over them, Hyper created a large distance between him and his target. He swirled around and locked eyes on the massive Hybrid, which seemed tiny in the large gap between him. Lifting his hoof again with charging energy, he hurtled towards the cyborg and at immense speed. Aiming for the Hybrid’s flank, Hyper would arrive at any second…
But the Hybrid took notice and swung around, it’s side no longer exposed. HyperBlitz didn’t have time to divert, he would have to soar past it. The heavy Hybrid lifted it’s bladed foreleg just as Hyper made contact.
Slice.
All of the team watched in horror as their friend fell to the earth and tumbled rapidly across the desert soil. A wave of blood followed Hyper, spewing from his side and staining the sand. Finally he stopped rolling. His own blood was plastered all around his body just like the dirt.
His right wing was a couple dozen meters away from his body, laying next to the Hybrid.
HyperBlitz had made no sound during the slash or his pounding against the ground. As soon as he realized what had just happened, he screeched “YOU MOTHERFUCKER!”
CharmingRhythm thought quickly as he suppressed a queasy feeling. There was no way they could fight the rest of the Hybrids with a pony down. His horn blared cyan as he amplified his voice. “Everyone: retreat!”
There was a second where nothing happened, all of the stallions were staring at the wounded Pegasus. They whipped their heads around to Rhythm. All of them galloped north. BlazingFlair helped HyperBlitz to his hooves.
Hyper shouted, “My wing! Get my wing!”
Periwinkle magic lifted the severed limb and levitated it towards SpinningNote. Blood oozed out of the base of it, trailing behind Spinning as he ran.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Rhythm cursed as he galloped, slowing his pace down just enough for his team to catch up.
Hyper was in no condition to run, his muscles were sore from the crash. His eyes burned with pure hatred and rage.
“We have to get them! They fucking cut off my wing! They deserve to die!” Hyper growled through clenched teeth.
“No- we have to leave!” Rhythm insisted. “We’ll get them later.”
With their slowed pace, the Hybrids began to chase and near them. Blazing threw fire energy at them just as Rhythm shot pure energy blasts at them. Rhythm lifted up a barrel with his magic and flung it towards one of the Hybrids. FeatherTune electrocuted them from the sky, attempting to stun them.
“He’s losing a lot of blood!” SpinningNote announced with worry in his voice. “C’mon Hype, keep your wing- er, stub, raised.”
The Hybrids were further behind them now, but Rhythm knew they needed to get to the base, fast. He did not want to risk Hyper falling unconscious from loss of blood. Rhythm kept his eyes facing forward, diverting them from the appalling injury.
Suddenly FeatherTune shot over them, in the direction of the base. Rhythm tried to call out to him, but the cream Pegasus was racing away as fast as he could. At first Rhythm was frustrated that Feather would leave them behind, but quickly realized he could have been going to the base for medical supplies.
Arriving at the base out of breath, FeatherTune slammed open the door. The bang made EchoBeat jump, his eyes wide with fear. His expression softened as he saw Feather, but his body was still tensed up.
“Feather, what are you-”
“Get me potions, and bandages,now!” Feather huffed.
“What?” Echo blurted out with a scattered brain.
“Get that stuff that closes wounds, and healing potion- and bandage wraps! Do it now!”
EchoBeat cantered off to the bathroom where they kept their medical supplies. Echo grabbed bottles with his teeth and threw them at Feather’s hooves. He found the bandages and brought them to Feather, who had already scooped up the bottles.
“Here-” Echo took the potion bottles and lay them in a bandage. He rolled it up and gave it back to FeatherTune. He nodded to Echo appreciatively and raced back out of the building.
FeatherTune found his friends still trekking through the desert, still a good walk away from the village. Feather landed on Hyper’s right side and placed the bandage wrap on the ground. He shuffled through the bottles and identified the one for topical treatment. He pulled the cap off with his teeth and started pouring the contents onto Hyper’s wing stub.
HyperBlitz grimaced in pain as the liquid flowed over the gory wound. It began to bleed less as scabs started to form, mended by the elixir. Rhythm levitated a healing potion and prompted Hyper to drink it. There were tears in his eyes as he guzzled it down. Now Spinning took the bandages and started wrapping them around the bloody stump.
“What are we supposed to do about this!” Spinning exclaimed as he picked up the severed wing again.
“We have to keep it!” Hyper cried. “I need to go to a doctor- they’ll be able to stitch it back on!”
The rest of the stallions exchanged unconvinced expressions.
EchoBeat had been waiting for them outside the base building. He saw them nearing the village and galloped over to them. He skidded to a halt as he saw the scene, his eyes wide with dismay.
“What happened!?”
“What does it look like?!” Feather snapped.
“Hybrids,” Blazing muttered dreadfully.
“They’ll pay for this!” HyperBlitz yowled.
“Not now,” Rhythm told him, trying to keep calm. “We need to get you inside.”
Team Xero made their way towards their base. Echo caught sight of the severed wing and cringed.
“Aw, for Celestia’s sake, that’s disgusting!” He let out.
“Hyper wants it to be sewn back on,” Spinning explained.
“I’m with you, Echo,” Rhythm whispered as he passed by the red stallion.
Inside the base, Rhythm ordered Hyper to stay in his room and try to rest. SpinningNote wrapped up Hyper’s right wing in bandages and set it aside. Rhythm noted that they were almost out of bandages, they would need to get more once back in Los Pegasus. They were all distraught at Hyper’s loss.
“Feather,” Rhythm directed, “Get some food and water for Hyper. He needs to keep up his strength.” He turned his attention to Echo. “Take inventory on what medical supplies we have.” The two stallions he instructed split off in different directions.
Blazing and Spinning stood in the main room with Rhythm. “What about us?” Blazing wondered.
Rhythm put a hoof on his forehead and gazed at the floor. “I don’t know. We’ll have to plan another attack sometime. Those Hybrids will know we’re here now. For right now, let’s all just rest.”
CharmingRhythm faced away from the two other stallions. He made his way towards the hallway and his bedroom, his tail drooping to the floor. The feeling of defeat, anger and gloom creeped through every part of his being. Never did he think that something he had experienced, losing a limb, would happen to one of his own teammates.