Eye of the storm

by Bronycommander


Chapter 3 volunteer

Chapter 3: volunteer

The hearts of the children raced, still in shock and trying to process what had just happened.

Was this real?

Did they really find themselves in the middle of an imminent civil war?

“Are you hurt?” Miguel tore them out, sounding worried and they shook their heads.

“N-no, we’re fine.” Dinky stuttered, trying to take deep breaths with her friends.

The man opened his mouth for a reply but got cut off by a call outside. “Hey, Miguel, you’re with us?”

He got quickly outside and replied, “y-yes, I am but let me check on the youngsters first.” His eyes showed regret as he came back in. “I hate to say it but you are not safe here after this.”

“B-but where can we go?” Tungsten asked with dread, causing their host to sigh.

“Well, I think it would be best you come with me and the others to the factory, maybe you can help us.”

Dinky and the siblings could see the fear in Tungsten’s eyes, they looked at each other, then nodded, giving him a calming hug.

“I know this looks bad, Tungsten but it may be our only way to stay alive.” She spoke in a calming tone, recalling her previous adventures and he slowly nodded.

“R-righto…”

As they slowly went outside, seeing how other residents laid the bodies aside, their ears heard a painful groan. “Did he have to hit so hard?”

Their eyes fell on an Elite soldier stumbling out of an alleyway, holding his chest and they ran up to him as they recognized the voice. “Cooper!”

The young Austrian found himself hugged, smiling under his mask. “Glad to see you are alright…”

His eyes fell on the residents with unease, as they glared at him, which did not go unnoticed by the children.

“Please, let him go.” Tungsten spoke up, “He was the one who found us first and gave us shelter.”

He and his friend tensed themselves for the worst as the residents looked at each other, unsure what would happen.

It was Miguel who stepped forward. “Get out of here.”

Nodding in gratefulness, Robison made his way to a nearby parked pickup and drove away.

“Now, we better get going. You can see the factory from the bridge out.”

They looked over and saw it faintly in the distance, as well, as a gorgeous tropical rainforest, winding rivers and small, rural towns.

It was truly a beautiful sight.

But Tungsten trembled slightly. “It's awfully high...”

“Don't worry, Tungsten, just stay back from the edge.” This startled him and he almost lost his balance but she and the siblings grabbed him to prevent him from falling.

“Don’t you think you can just jump off!” Blau remarked before the other colt nodded slowly and they got into 2 small SUVs, Miguel and another resident driving them towards the factory and faintly, Dinky could swear she saw a glint coming from one of the forest higher areas.

Again, none of the children could believe it but they all knew it was the only way to stay alive. It took only a short drive to get there. There were 3 small smaller houses around the premises, a bigger one in the middle, surrounded by guard towers, with a shooting range in the corner. All buildings had some parts of the plaster missing, showing their age.

“So, what now?” Katja asked as they got out.

“We need to get inside to power the factory but the entrance is kept shut by backup generators. We need to disable them to open the factory.” Miguel pointed to one of the small buildings. “But first, we got to get the door open. Those fuel barrels might do it.” He pointed to some red barrels next to the door.

Dinky and Tungsten looked at each other, the earth pony carefully pushed one barrel at the door, then went to a safe distance before Dinky fired a spell at it.

It exploded, blowing the door open and they saw the generator, it’s parts protected by a moveable plate but Dinky had an idea already.

Her horn lit up again, firing a non-lethal spell at it. As soon as the generator got it, it started to smoke and whined before shutting down.

At the same time, the siblings took care of another generator at the other end of the base. Katja pushed a barrel in front of the door and Blau used his hind hooves to buck a stone with great force at it, blowing the door open. He did the same with the generator inside, the force strong enough op make the plating fall off from the impact. The second stone caused the generator to catch fire and was destroyed with a small bang.

“Very good, now we can get inside, we need to flip the breakers in the control room to activate the power.” Their caretaker pointed to the large building in the middle, the doors now open.

Inside, apart from generators and left behind crates, were two large switches, one of each side. The ponies took the left, the siblings, the other, using all their strength.

Just as they did this, Miguel turned around to see the man who had beaten Gabriella arrive. He gave him and the children a small surprised glance before walking over to a console, activating the master override.

With a loud roar, the factory came to life, its production lines making noises as they started to produce and the man gestured everyone to join outside.

None of the children could believe their eyes. The residents of El Abismo had arrived while they tried to start the factory, now wearing improvised armor like motorcycle helmets as they acquired their newly produced weapons, an armored truck drove past them, now colored green with very colorful graffiti all over. The graffiti featured a green worm on the sides.

“You got us those guns just in time. The Black Hand are deploying their forces across the river.” Mira to him, her friend next to him as he added,

“We won’t be able to advance the line without more fighters.

“Any ideas?” His leader asked.

“We became soldiers after what you did in the slums. Create more Chaos. More recruits will come. A whole army of Chaos!” Sargento exclaimed and the man looked at the woman with a neutral expression.

“This is what you wanted from the start?”

Oscar Espinosa owns this island. The people can’t fight back without losing their jobs, their homes. And even if they tried what chance would they have against the Black Hand?” She stated in return with pity in her voice, “We have a mutual goal, Rico. You help these people defeat the Black Hand, and we’ll help you to get to Oscar Espinosa.”

“Ok, Mira, we’ll do it your way then. What’s first?”

With an eager grin, Luis held up a shotgun and pumped it. “I got some ideas, Rico! I will radio your eyeball with more information.”

Mira, on the other hand, looked in slight awe at the new army. “A whole army of chaos.”

It was there where the kids could get a good look at her and Luis. Both had brown hair and eyes, Luis’s hair was short, while Mira’s was locked into a short, knotted ponytail.

They and Rico turned towards the kids, the former were surprised but the latter, was surprisingly unfazed.

“You’re their caretaker?” Rico asked Miguel, who was now wearing knee and arm pads with a construction helmet, armed with an assault rifle.

“Si, senior!”

“Keep them safe.”

Again, the little filly could swear she saw a glint in the distance but shrugged it off as her imagination.

“So…anything else we might help you with?” Dinky asked in slight awkwardness, with Luis nodding.

“I had planned an ambush just down the road as we arrived, you could help with the supplies. Just keep your heads down, okay?”

They all nodded, getting back into the truck and drove towards a small village, staying in it as Miguel got out with some other fellow rebels, taking positions. They tensed themselves to see a small convoy, a truck, led by an APC and a Warrior in the back.

An AoC soldier fired an RPG at the transport, destroying it in a bock explosion. In response, the guards, all privates, jumped out of the other vehicles.

Miguel took aim, taking a deep breath as he pulled the trigger, hitting a private right in the chest as he barely got out of the truck’s driver seat. Blood splattered as he got thrown against it, no longer moving, all other guards suffered the same. It made the kids hope that Bruno was not among them.

They also took notice of how their host was slightly shaking as he made an all-clear gesture to them. “I…never fired a weapon before," He admitted, breathing heavily, “But I got nothing to lose.”

With a hint of pity, the kids nodded before pulling two creates from the truck, with Tungsten making an odd found. “What’s this?” He held up a small cylinder like object.

“Don’t touch it!" Sargento warned him, “But load it into our truck, we’re leaving in 60 seconds!” They did as told as Rico arrived, looking around in slight surprise.

“Did you organize this ambush?”

“Si. Most of the stuff we recovered is standard Black Hand munitions. But we also found some of these.” He showed Rico the cylinders Tungsten had discovered. Rico gave it an unsure but kinda intrigued look. “We’re not sure what they do. We didn’t want to mess with them.”

Curious, Rico pressed a button on it and to everyone’s surprise, a balloon unfolded from the top, lifting it into the air, rising rapidly into the sky. “Um, there’s a bunch more left in the truck.” Sargento remarked and his commander smiled.

“Good find, Sargento. These could be useful. Anyone have a screwdriver?” He asked his soldiers and one threw towards him and he caught it, fiddling with the cylinder and his grappling hook.

Are you adding that to your grappler? No Jodas!” Luis exclaimed in excitement, smiling and Rico simple stated,

“You have to make with whatever you find.”

“What are you going to do with that?” Sargento was clues and his ally fired it at a motorcycle that was left next to the truck, lifting it into the air and into the sky, causing Luis to look at it in awe. “Qué chimba!”

“Black Hand are coming, Sargento! A female army of chaos member warned.

“Mierda. Listo, I’ll drive the truck. I got a chopper nearby waiting to extract this.” Luis told Rico, who nodded and climbed onto the back of the truck.

“I’ll make sure you get there in one piece.”

The kids got back into their armored transport, with Miguel taking the gunner seat as they followed suit.

Not far from the start, they came across a bridge, a car wreck blocking the road and some dead privates were scattered around, hinting a firefight had happened there. Rico quickly uses his newly acquired balloons to lift it out of the way.

Shortly afterwards, they came across another bridge with a wreckage blocking it. With eyes widening, the kids took notice of a Black Hand soldier wearing a vest, underneath a red T-shirt, a combat helmet with an attached gas mask, and a large backpack. In his hands was a LMG, and oddly, what seemed to be a shield fixed to the front end of the gun.

He kneeled, the shield lowered a small pole that acted as a tripod, turning it into a makeshift cover, opening fire, making the truck’s passengers hope the armor would hold, holding each other for comfort and slightly trembling as Miguel was forced to keep his head low.

Despite the bullets flying around him, he took notice however, that the MG gunner’s head was exposed, carefully taking aim and fired. Blood splatted as the soldier fell on him back and Rico lifted this blockade with a balloon too.

As they drove through drove, 2 Warriors gave chase, but Miguel fired at their tires, making them crash into a tree.

At yet another bridge was a burning wreck of an APC but no soldiers, with Rico lifting it out of the way but the mercs had stepped up their game.

Apart from Warriors, Off-road buggies and bikes joined the chase, with Rico and Miguel firing at the tires or drivers to make them crash.

They eventually drove up a dirt road towards a hill and into another village, where AOC soldiers had fortified positions with sandbags.

Getting pointed towards some sandbags, the kids made their way over and stayed down as more privates arrived, battling with the rebels.

Their ears heard a chopper approaching, the same model Gabriela had used and privates prepared to rappel down. Rico fired his grappler at it, dragging it down and making it crash into a giant fireball.

With awe, Dinky and her friends saw how he fired his grappling hooks to reel soldiers into each there and knocked them, or to reel towards them for a powerful kick, knocking them down.

Eventually, the enemy retreated, making the children sigh in relief. Tungsten, however, trembled and breathed heavily. “I-I don’t think I felt so much adrenaline before…”

His friends hugged him, “It’s okay, you did great, we know how you feel.” Katja smiled weakly.

Doing a short walk to calm their nerves, their caretaker close behind them, they could overlook the river and front. The sky was filled with AA fire, ground blacked from all the explosive projectiles, and tank obstacles in position,

Both sides fired at each other from the river, none seemed to gain the upper hand. The Black Hand had tanks and attack choppers, with infantry hiding behind fortifications and cover like sandbags. Rico’s army only used the cavalry truck, and blind firing rebels, some hiding behind improvised cover, which consisted of traffic signs, wooden boxes and even washing machines.

It made the kids wonder how the rebels managed to hold their ground at all.

But for how long could they manage to do this?

It was a heavy burden, so the little unicorn decided to change the subject. “Miguel, can you tell us about Luis or Mira?”

His answer was a shrug. “There is not much to tell about Luis. He grew up in the slums, his mother dead, father long gone, but this taught him to improve in his life. Mira, though…” their friend thought for a moment, “I only know she used to be a pilot in the Black Hand before being dishonorably discharged for something.”

“Sounds like both had it rough, like you.” Blau replied with sympathy.

“I know, but I don’t look back anymore.”

“So, what now?” Dinky asked.

“That is up to Rico,” Sargento joined them. At the moment, he’s taking care of a Black Hand base in the region but I may got something you can help with.

“And that is?”

“We intercepted some strange transmissions from the Black Hand. They sent units to Puerto Tullu, a refinery and a port on the east coast. Apparently, a fleet of unmarked container ships is approaching and it worries them. We could need some intel on what is going on.”

They thought about it for a moment, then nodded and entered 2 civil SUVs to avoid attention.

Despite the distance, the road connections made it easy to get to their destination within a few minutes, parking a few meters from the entrance and getting close through the woods on foot.

It was nothing special the usual buildings for a harbor, like warehouses, plus silos for the refinery.

Some Elites and Privates were stationed in the harbor to investigate the ships, they seemed nervous about it, pacing around.

One Elite reached for his radio, as one of the ships had docked. “They are refusing to identify themselves, over.” He had an Australian accent, it was Cooper the kids realized.

Suddenly, their ears heard a rotator sound and their eyes went small to see a Hind emerging from the cargo shop, opening fire.

Cooper and the other soldiers made dash for their vehicles, bullets missing them by inches and retreated as he yelled into his radio. “Emergency! They have gunships, I repeat, gunships! We need help immediately, Solis is under attack!”

Dinky looked up and noticed the emblem on the chopper, not able to believe it. A silver and gold badge with a purple star in the center.

The Harmonious Guard? What are they doing here?

They could only watch in awe and somewhat fear as the Hind landed and soldiers jumped out. At the same time, a BTR climbed over the port’s railling, crushing a parked car, with more soldiers and other military vehicles leaving the ship.

Their brains told them to move but they were frozen by the amazing and frightening amount and display of troops, an officer stepped out, surrounded by his bodyguards, seeming to smile with what seemed pride at this success.

“The vultures have been fed and the world has seen our might. Now…” He pointed towards some Black Hand choppers in the sky, “clear the skies.”

In response, an AA tank with autocannons got into positions, raising its weapon towards the sky.

With shattering noise, it opened fire, causing the kids to cover their ears before seeing a chopper going up in smoke and flames.

“Let’s get out of here!” Miguel yelled but Tungsten’s ears twitched at a whistle.

“Watch out, artillery!” He yelled, it was in vain.

Screaming, a shell hit the ground next to him, getting thrown around and landing hard on his back, his vison blurry, ears ringing. His body was aching as he tried to roll over and get up, but he did not have the strength, falling down again.

His glasses were broken, yet he could faintly see how his friends were injured badly, wriggling on the ground in a pool of their own blood. It was only now he noticed he was bleeding badly too, pressing his hooves onto his bleeding chest to stop it.

The young colt fought with all his strength yet his vision slowly blacked out.

“M-mom…please…help me…”