It was a bit after dawn when all of team Xero gathered in the meeting room. They settled down and directed their gazes to their mission head.
“Are we all good? I don’t want to rush everybody into this,” CharmingRhythm addressed his team.
“I think we're good,” BlazingFlair replied.
“How serious is this?” FeatherTune mused.
“It’s not really serious, it's just… important,” Rhythm directed.
“And that would be… what, exactly?” Feather pressed.
“Well if you’d let me speak,” Rhythm shot back.
HyperBlitz raised his hoof up in front of him a bit. “Can I say something before we get to your topic?”
“Yes, Hyper,” Rhythm said, all attention on him. He didn’t notice the resentful look Feather gave.
“Yesterday I saw some Pegasi flying over the camp,” Hyper told him.
“Oh, I saw them too!” Feather commented.
“Were they Hybrids?” Rhythm questioned.
“I… don’t think so,” Hyper considered. “Hybrids don’t fly that high, if they fly at all.”
“They looked like normal Pegasi to me,” Feather shrugged.
“Where did they come from?” Rhythm pressed.
“I didn’t see where they flew in from,” Hyper explained, “But I saw them fly north.”
“Weird.” Rhythm thought for a moment. “Maybe they were looking for someone.”
“Or they were spying on us,” SpinningNote suggested.
“I wouldn’t go that far just yet,” Rhythm dismissed. “We don’t know who they were, and that’s all too it for now. Thank you for reporting it, Hyper.”
Hyper nodded and smiled appreciatively.
“Now, let's get to the real meeting,” Rhythm began. “We’ve been here for over two months. I think everyone has done a great job. There’s been a ton of progress in the camp, and we’ve fought off Hybrids well. But I think we need to finally address the Hybrid camp. That’s obviously a source of Hybrids around here.”
“Wait… Hybrid camp?” Feather cocked his head.
“Uh… yes. The one in the gorge? The one you found?” Rhythm said slowly.
FeatherTune glared at the table, his mind turning.
“You can’t tell me you forgot that! You found it! Geez. And you guys think I’m worse than him?” Rhythm exclaimed with outstretched forelegs.
“It’s coming back to me!” Feather defended.
“That’s a point for Feather then,” Spinning remarked
“Huh?” Feather shot at him.
“Oh, I’m keeping score on how many times you and Rhythm forget something,” Spinning added. “Actually, that should count two points because you found it.”
Hyper busted out in laughter. “Oh gosh, that’s good, Spinning!” He was able to get out through his laughs.
Rhythm face-hoofed and tried to suppress his laughter. He then placed his muzzle into crossed forelegs.
“Rhythm’s still winning but you have a chance to catch up,” Spinning smirked at Feather.
“I remember it now, shut up!” Feather crossed his legs and furrowed his brows.
“Alright, alright,” Rhythm recomposed himself while still grinning. “Can we continue?” They all quieted down and focused on him. “We have to take care of this Hybrid camp. But we need a plan. We obviously can’t run in there without knowing it’s layout or how many Hybrids there are. I’m looking to you guys for ideas.”
“We could set it on fire,” Blazing offered avidly.
“Blazing, the camp is in a gorge,” Echo reminded. “There’s a river. They’ll be able to put out the fire.”
“Oh,” Blazing murmured, disappointed.
“We could try to draw them out of the camp and pick them off one by one,” Hyper suggested, unsure.
“I don’t know. That seems a little… tedious,” Rhythm contemplated.
“What if we create a rockfall?” Feather spoke up. “It’s in a gorge. We could collapse the walls in on them.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Rhythm said.
“But how do we even do that?” Spinning wondered.
“We could use our energy to carve out the rocks at the top of the gorge,” Echo proposed.
“That could work. But how do we not alert them? They’ll hear us,” Feather countered.
“Um, we have Unicorns who use sound magic,” Hyper pointed out.
“I’m not as good as Rhythm, but I can try to help,” Spinning stated.
“I probably will need help. That’s a large area to silence,” Rhythm replied.
“Shouldn’t we make sure there are no prisoners in the camp?” Hyper warned.
“That’s a fair point.” Rhythm nodded. “We wouldn’t want to crush any innocent ponies.”
“But if we go through the camp looking, they’ll be alerted anyway!” Spinning said.
“We might have to risk it,” Rhythm asserted. “If any of them follow us out, we’ll just have to deal with them.”
“And how do we get into the gorge?” Feather asked.
“I’m sure you and Hyper can easily get into the gorge. But I’ll probably send you out to scout the area before any of us set out. We need to understand the area better,” Rhythm explained.
“Would you like me to do that now?” Feather questioned.
“Sure. Probably best to start this as early as we can.”
“Hey, Feather,” Spinning spoke. “Take my camera with you. You can take pictures of the camp from above. Then we can learn the layout better.”
“That’s a great idea, Spin,” Rhythm commented.
“And you’d trust me with it?” Feather raised a brow. “I thought it was expensive.”
“Just wear the strap around your neck. It should be fine. And if you do drop it…” Spinning gave a wide stare at Feather and did not speak anymore.
“Alright. If you say so.” Feather found his way out of the meeting room.
“Are all six of us going?” Echo asked.
“I’d like a full team, yeah,” Rhythm responded.
“We’re going today?” Hyper said.
“The sooner the better,” Rhythm affirmed. “We have all day.”
Later that morning, FeatherTune returned with information on the Hybrid camp and a camera full of photos. Feather had reported of a ramp that Hybrids had made to exit the gorge. The team began preparing to depart. EchoBeat had stuffed his saddlebags with bandages in medicine
They all gathered around the cab, only EchoBeat stood with an unsure expression. Rhythm asked him what was wrong.
“Don’t you think we should borrow Jet and Ash’s cab too? If we do find any prisoners we won’t have enough room in only one,” Echo explained.
“Good point,” Rhythm agreed. “Hang on, I’ll be right back.”
Rhythm trotted up to one of the apartments that he knew the other recruits had been working on. He poked his head inside and saw Jet in the front room.
“Hey Jet,” Rhythm spoke and the young Pegasus turned around. “Can we borrow your cab? We’re going to attack a Hybrid Camp, and we’ll need another cab if we bring back any refugees.”
Jet thought about it for a moment. “I guess, but Ash won’t be happy about it.”
“She’s never happy about anything,” Rhythm replied. “I promise we’ll bring it back.”
They finally set out. Blazing drove one cab while Rhythm drove the other. Each of them had their own small radios to communicate with FeatherTune. The Pegasus was leading the way to the camp through the air.
“They got the whole place built up,” Feather was saying as they traveled. “Fences, and even buildings. Lots of machinery and storage. Even a fracking machine.”
“You mean an oil pump?” Rhythm replied into the radio speaker.
“Yeah. Sorry, forgot the word.”
“Now he’s even,” Spinning smirked where Feather couldn’t hear.
Several dozen meters away from the top of the gorge, they halted. HyperBlitz examined the camp from above for himself. He could see where a large steel ramp leaned against the cliffside. It took a right turn in the middle and aligned with the river. No Hybrids roamed around the bottom of it. Instead, moving shapes maneuvered through the camp and further down the gorge. There was a makeshift barn in the gorge, as well as a few smaller sheds.
Hyper landed next to his teammates. “So, how are we doing this?”
“We need a couple ponies to go down in the camp and search for prisoners. Once we get out, we’ll start carving out the top of the gorge,” Rhythm determined. “Spinning, you’re the best one of us at sneaking. I’ll come with you. The rest of you stay here, and be ready to give us backup if needed.”
“What if they see you go down the ramp?” Feather warned.
“Then we can distract them the other way,” Hyper said.
“But wouldn’t that alert them that we’re here?” Echo cautioned.
“Not if I do it over there,” Hyper responded, pointing to the area above the gorge.
Hyper said good luck to the Unicorns and made his way over the opening above the camp. Staring down, he saw where Hybrids scouted the west edge of their camp. Hyper loudly exclaimed to them. Several other Hybrids appeared from the camp, peering upward. Shots of Hybrid energy flew at Hyper, but he dodged them. He continued to make commotion, taunting the Hybrids.
“C'mon you you metal motherfuckers! I hope you enjoy your dirtnap!”
Spinning and Rhythm quickly and quietly made their way down the ramp. When they got to the gorge’s floor, they flattened themselves against a fence. Rhythm created mute spells along their path as they entered the camp. They trotted across a wooden beam bridge that passed over the river.
Spinning raised a hoof to alert Rhythm. The two of them ducked behind trashcans as they saw a Hybrid in a clearing. From the opposite side of the clearing, Spinning levitated up a barrel. He flung it in the other direction and the Hybrid dashed after it.
They both slipped into a small shed. Light shafted into the space from cracks in the wooden boards, just enough to see. There was a small lavender Pegasus working some sort of Hybrid machine. She had no metal parts, and her gaze seemed distant. The Hybrids had placed a chip in her, which brainwashed her into a slave.
“I could take her chip out now. Or should we wait until we get out?” Spinning asked.
“If you think you can do it quickly,” Rhythm replied, nodding.
Spinning stepped to the mare’s side. He began feeling the back of her neck with a hoof. When he had found the chip, he levitated a scalpel out of his toolbag. Rhythm kept watch while Spinning removed the chip. Even after the chip had been removed, it would still be a few minutes before the mare would regain her memories.
They began escorting the young mare out of the shed. Rhythm glanced around, searching for more places ponies could be kept. He noted a barn, and told Spinning to stay put while he investigated. With a silence spell, Rhythm easily missed a patrolling Hybrid. Inside the barn was dark, with cracks in the roof providing small amounts of light. He scanned over the barn a couple of times, but couldn’t find anything. He didn’t dare use his magic which could alert any lurking Hybrids.
Once again avoiding the Hybrid outside, Rhythm snuck out of the barn. He began helping Spinning push along the mare they had rescued. While she was mindless, her body trotted forward with each budge the Unicorns gave her. Getting her up the ramp was a bit more difficult for she almost refused to climb. Rhythm kept glancing down to the gorge floor, weary of any Hybrids that might catch them.
Once at the top of the gorge, they placed the lavender mare by one of the cabs. In the brighter light, her features were more visible. She had a glossy scarlet mane streaked with purple. Her aqua green eyes still stared past everything in front of her. EchoBeat was put in charge of watching her.
A few of the stallions began blasting energy into the ground. FeatherTune had replaced HyperBlitz in distracting, for Hyper had the right kind of energy they needed. Rhythm had silenced the whole area, amplified by Spinning’s magic. Cracks in the earth were beginning to show.
Echo sat next to the refugee, who was beginning to respond. She blinked a few times, and gazed left and right.
“Wh-what? Where am I?” She spoke quietly.
“It’s alright,” Echo told her in a comforting tone. He placed his hoof on her back. “You’re with us now. The Hybrids won't get you.”
“Hybrids?” The mare mumbled, trying to remember. After staring at Echo for a moment she asked “Who are you?”
“I’m EchoBeat. I’m a part of the Resistance. My team just saved you from a Hybrid camp.”
“Camp…” The young Pegasus was beginning to recall. “My friends! They were taken by Hybrids too!” She jolted up to her hooves and spun around to the other stallions. “My friends are still in there!”
“What?” Rhythm ceased what he was doing and raced over to her. “Your friends?”
“Yeah! They were with me when the Hybrids attacked us. That’s all that I remember!” She cried.
“Xero, Stop!” Rhythm commanded. Everyone froze and listened to him. “She says there’s still ponies down there! We need to get them out. We’ll finish this once we're done.”
Rhythm twirled around just as fast as he thought. He faced the lavender Pegasus.”What do they look like?”
“One’s a yellow Unicorn with a rainbow mane, you can’t miss her! The other is a grey Pegasus, he might be harder to spot,” she responded with panic in her eyes.
“Spinning, come with me,” Rhythm ordered. “Feather, Hyper, keep distracting them. Blazing keep watch out, and Echo, stay with this mare.” He dashed off to the east.
Echo could see the young pony was paralyzed by fear. He attempted to calm her down. “What’s your name?”
“I- I’m ThunderCharm,” She let out hesitantly.
“Don’t worry, ThunderCharm, we’ll get your friends back,” Echo soothed.