Chapter 7 forward and secrets
Everyone looked surprised at this sudden news. “Did I hear this right?” James asked.
“Yes, sir.” His confidant replied.
He opened his mouth but before the man could say anything, Fray raised a hoof. “Don’t go, James, it could be a trap.”
His creator had a neutral expression, seeming to consider his options. “I appreciate your concern but whatever she has to say, a cease-fire will help us to prepare our advance and defensive positions. Fletcher, you and your friends can watch my back, better safe than sorry.” They nodded.
“I know my cousin, she may be cunning, but still is professional.” Mira pointed out.
With that, James entered a Kübelwagen, the ponies joined in another, following him in another, towards the outskirts of the region and near a forest. Keeping their distance, the group watched as James and Kyle walked into the woods, stopping as a woman approached, having a neutral expression.
Gabriella saluted, James did the same before she spoke up. “General Günther, I was hoping we would meet.”
“What’s the purpose of this meeting?” James asked in return.
“This isn’t your fight, General.” Her voice was respectful. “Withdraw your troops, neither of us has to lose more soldiers in fighting each other.”
“I am afraid, I can’t I have a contract to do, you surely know that. Plus, I would not be able to leave without proof Project Illapa is not for military purposes” Günther countered calmly, yet his interlocutor was not fazed, giving a slight nod.
“Of course, I can compensate you for that and give you written proof as required. Until then, I simply request you stand down and let us deal with those rebels.”
“If that’s all, I see what I can do.” Both commanders saluted again and walked away.
“Do you think we can trust her?” Fray asked concerned.
“I have no doubt we will get into more battles but I can tell she tries to end this without further bloodshed. But for now, let’s help Rico with that distress signal he discovered.”
Nodding they followed him in the car and towards what seemed to be a crash side, seeing smoke in the distance, despite being cloudy.
It was indeed a crash side, a destroyed helicopter near a cliff in the forest. Rico was already there, holding a man with grey hair and slight beard, his blue eyes unfazed as he carried boxes around, dressed in a Hawaii shirt with a bulletproof vest over it.
“Why are you here, Sheldon?” Rico demanded distrustfully.
“When you went dark after Medici, I figured I’d look through some of your old files…see where you might end up. Turns out, your dad was working with Oscar Espinosa back in the day. Something called Project Illapa.” Sheldon explained calmly, with a Texan accent, but Rico was not impressed, raising an eyebrow.
“What do you know about Illapa?”
“I know there’s lots of buzz about Solis at the Agency these days, talk of weather modification technology, strategic atmospherics” Hearing those words made the ponies unease as the apparent Texan gestured, “Of course, once the higher-ups heard that I was looking at those Illapa files, I ended up on administrative leave.” He grabbed another crate.
“Guess I’m not the only one who doesn’t trust Tom Sheldon.” Rodriguez commented flatly.
“I know you’re looking to take out Illapa, Rico.” Sheldon countered, “I’ve already done some of the leg work.”
Despite this, Rico pointed at him with distrust. “You screwed me over more than once in Medici, I don’t want your help, Sheldon.”
“Well, you gonna need it. I did some snooping around Zona Dos. Turns out the place is constantly surrounded by a nasty lightning storm. Tom put a hand on the chopper with a slightly sad expression. “Fried poor Annabelle here.” Then he looked back at Rico with an odd look. “That seems pretty suspicious to have a standing lighting storm like that, don’t you think?”
A snap tore them out as Mira joined. “This a friend of yours, Rico?” She asked neutrally.
“Not exactly. Mira Morales, this is Tom Sheldon. Known him for twenty years. He cannot be trusted” The former agency member introduced with disdain but the woman smiled.
“Buenas.”
“Don’t listen to this guy, senorita. Pleased to meet ya.” Tom gave a short wave. “Rico and I were just discussing the situation with Zona Dos”
And you know how to access the core?” She asked in return, gaining slightly surprised expression.
“I don’t know anything about a core, but…I got a good idea how to get us past that lighting storm.”
“Good luck with Annabelle, Sheldon. We’ll figure something else out. Rico interrupted and turned to leave but his second-in-command opened her mouth.
“He’s got a plan, Rico. And we don’t!”
This caused him to stop, slowly turning around. “Talk.” His voice was cold.
“Okay. Now there’s a river that runs underneath the facility. I figure we use a boat to get close. You remember the Stingray base back in Medici. Same basic concept.” Tom explained and his fellow concluded.
“You want to make a lighting-proof boat.”
“Bingo. Now, I also hear there’s a nearby research lab that’s testing a way to harness lighting. Figure we find something there to protect the boat. Spare us poor Annabelle’s fate.
“You’re talking about that facility in the Mountains. Meteolab.” Mira added and he chuckled.
“You got it”
“And we could do the custom boat at Prospero Astillero.”
Interesting.” Rico commented and Tom nodded.
“Eh, coming around, aren’t ya?”
“Why are you doing this, Sheldon?” Tom’s former partner wanted to know.
“Well…” The Texan’s eyes darted around, as if unsure what to say. “Because I owe you, Rico. You wanna take down Illapa, I wanna help you do it. Besides, we both know we just can’t have anybody running around with a weather weapon for God’s sake!”
“You got a better idea?” Rico asked into the round, her commander shook his head.
“You know, for a minute there, I thought you were gonna shoot me.” Tom laughed, only to get a glare.
“Not this time, Sheldon.”
James took this moment to step forward. “Well, with your reunion done, I suggest we come up with a plan”
Sheldon looked at him in surprise, yet nodded. “Fancy meeting you here, Kommandant but if this requires you, I don’t complain.” He gave the ponies a quick look, not fazed by them at all.
“How can we help you?” Fletcher asked his creator, only for him to shake his head.
“You have done enough for today, get some rest, I am sure the kids miss you. Leave the planning to me.”
Nodding, knowing he had a point, they got back into their car and to the nearest allied base and prepared to hit the hay in the cots.
“I wish you a good night’s sleep.” Fray said hastily as he lay down in a cot a few meters away from the others. This caused the former mercs to briefly look at each other in confusion before they fell asleep as well.
The next day, Dinky and her friends got provided with some laptops and played BeamNG.drive, a vehicle simulation video game, featuring unique soft-body physics. They were on east coast USA on the highway, she drove an Ibishu Covet, Katja a police grand Marshal, both chasing after the colts who drove both Gavril Roamer SUVs.
While the unicorn was not much of a gamer, she played some games with button Mash from time to time.
“You never catch us alive!” Blau exclaimed, enjoying it to the fullest, Tungsten close behind. However, at the upcoming tunnel, the grey colt was unable to brake in time, crashing against the wall, screaming. “Oh no!”
“Watch out!” His friend warned as he could not stop either, crashing into him, flattening both cars.
“We got you now!” The girls followed, laughing as she crashed into them. Crashing cars in the game was so much fun!
As they reset their cars, Blau Streifen checked the mods and smiled. “Look what I found.” He spawned a blue SUV that looked exactly like that of his father.
But the moment he accelerated, the engine made a high-pitched whine and exploded in white smoke, having over-torqued. “What the?” He tried again, only to get the same result. Again, the engine exploded upon acceleration. A third time, the same result.
“What the hay?!” He exclaimed in disbelief.
“I guess this mod is glitch, sorry brother.” His sister suspected.
“Ah, was fun nonetheless!” He saw it calmly”.
Just then, Fletcher, Blue, Tybalt and Shadow came in. “How are you today, Dinky?” he smiled.
“Much better, I barely feel anything now.”
“That’s good. We got a new ally.” He replied, telling him what had happened.
“Oh my…I hope Cooper is alright.” Worry was in her voice, only to receive a gentle hug from the stallion.
“I am sure they treat him well.”
“And if you barely feel any pain now, you can leave, provided you keep it easy at first.” Anna told as she checked them.
“Of course. Is there any way we can help you?” The filly asked, “I don’t like sitting around, unable to do anything.”
James put a hand to his chin. “Hmm, there might be some…”
“No way.” Blue interrupted with a stern tone.
“But mom-“ Her son looked at his mother with confusion.
“I already lost your father, sweetie, I don’t want to lose you too.” She stated with clear worry in her voice, only for the officer to clear his throat.
“I wanted to say, not on the front, obviously, but behind the front, safe from harm, doing errands, hauling items and such.”
There was a moment of silence as the female unicorn considered it, gazing around. “My son’s safety and of his friends will be guaranteed?”
“Of course, I thought already ahead to have some men assigned, plus some light body armor, better safe than sorry. Besides, I would have to organize things first.” James calmly explained and the mother nodded. “Until then, I already thought of a way you could help, children.”
“And how?” Katja asked curiously.
“Well, there is an Archaeologist that requested Rico’s help, maybe you can help there as well.”
“Sounds like fun,” Dinky smiled.
“But,” Fletcher mumbled, “This Sheldon mentioned a Stingray base, do you know anything about it, James?” The Knight sounded suspicious.
“Yes. It belonged to the eDEN Corporation, a company from the 1980s, doing advanced scientific research. They went bankrupt decades ago. The Stingray was an offshore research station, one of the major facilities in the network of Eden. its purpose was to research the possibility of controlling lightning.” Now, the German started to gesture wildly.
“But in 1993, something went haywire – they ended up creating a massive electrical storm, swallowed them whole. And in 2015, poof! Turns back up after the last big storm. The Black Hand tried to salvage what was still intact, my guess it was to reverse-engineer it for Illapa.”
“That could mean...” Blue started to connect the dots, "This tech is still faulty and it went haywire, somehow creating a storm that reached Equestria and sucked the children in.”
“This is my assumption as well but this is why this project must be stopped. There is no saying what danger it could create.” The commander replied.
Everyone nodded in response, allowing James to continue. “But for now, let me handle the planning, kids. Kyle and Romanov will keep you safe.” Both men gave a smile and nod in response.
“Be careful, son.” Tungsten’s mother hugged him as he got up, returning it, Dinky and the siblings did the same with Fletcher.
They entered two Kübelwagen, respectively, followed by a truck, as they were told about where they were going. “The man we help is called Javi Huerta, he wants to discover facts about the Otorongo-era, the ruler of Soils in the mid-16th century. According to official sources, he was executed for his many crimes, but Javi thinks there is more to the story.”
It was only a short drive, turning into a country road, into the woods, coming to a stop at what looked like a big hole in the ground. Several AOC soldiers were patrolling around, with, a man in a white shirt, brown hair and glasses was looking down the hole.
“Kids, you’re okay!” One rebel exclaimed, with the children recognizing him instantly.
“Miguel!” They ran into him for a hug, with him smiling.
“Glad to see you too.” Then he turned towards Kyle. “So you’re our help?” He asked in English, getting a nod. “Never thought I would see mercs helping us.”
“In any case,” the civilian spoke up as he turned around “I am glad for any help. Javi Huerta.” His expression was neutral, his brown eyes calm as well with a mustache.
“Down here,” He pointed at the hole, “is the tomb of Otorongo's sister, she was a wise, deeply thoughtful person, skilled with the uses of local herbs.”
“Otorongo made her tomb hard enough to find.” Kyle commented.
“In honor of her passion of nature, she was entombed within one of Solís' natural wonders." The Archaeologist replied.
“And how are we supposed to het down there?” Katja asked.
“With this.” A female voice spoke up and they saw a thin-figured woman with light skin, amber eyes and platinum-blonde hair carrying a crate out of the back of the truck.
“A zip line, good thinking, Nyra!” She got praised by Kyle, who blushed slightly.
As she and Romanov build it up, Dinky could not help but wonder something. “Why do you do this, Kyle? Working as a merc?”
In response, he sighed. “Its…complicated. Actually, passion is my art, which I do in my spare time, James even encouraged it, selling a few to make some extra money, being very favored by many. While I just joined to have a living and safety from Ed, James said as a friend of my father, it was the least he could do, ensuring my safety.” He lowered his head, “At the same time though, he feels like a surrogate father to me, trying to keep him safe.”
“Okay, its’s ready, I go first.” Romanov tore them out and hooked in, sliding down.
“Don’t worry, he will catch you.” Kyle assured Dinky s she looked down nervously, the harness strapped on. Then she jumped, not able to help but let out a cry of joy of racing down.
As expected, the Russian caught her, then waved for the next one. The siblings went next, first Katja, then Blau. Due to his fear of heights, Tungsten took a deep breath, trying to calm down as it was his turn. While the speed was somewhat uncomfortable, he also cheered slightly at it before reaching the end.
Kyle and his comrade followed next with the others.
“So, how do we find and open this tomb?” Blau asked Javi as they looked around, several pillars were scattered throughout the grass.
“We need to pull an ancient lever, with the use of a retractor motor. Good you guys thought ahead.” He pointed to a harpoon gun Romanov was carrying on his back.
Looking carefully around, the group entered some ruins, coming to a double stair case. Between them was a large wooden lever. “That’s it.” Huerta announced and the former Russian soldier took aim, firing at it, then the ground.
Eyes becoming wide in surprise, the children watched as the harpoon was reeling in and switched the lever, there was a mechanical cranking sound, a flap opened and a huge ball made out of solid stone with a rough face carved onto the surface fall out of it.
Quickly stepping aside, the group watched as the ball rolled downwards the center of the cave, destroying a few pillars on the way. Eventually, it stopped, on a small rounded platform, pressing it down with a click.
A door opened near above the flap where the ball had fallen out, with the Archaeologist approaching eagerly. “Time to learn what Otorongo's sister has to tell us.” He lit up a candle inside, showing an ancient text in Spanish. “The forest mountains breaking. Hmm. Curious. Very curious.”
“That was simpler than I thought, but still fun!” The little unicorn exclaimed, “I can see why Patch, Dawnwind and Wagensroll enjoy this. Think we could ask them to let us join?”
“Remind me when we get home again,” Tungsten replied, “Speaking of, how are we supposed to get up again?”
“That’s easy, the zip line has a retractor motor too.” Romanov told them and again, was the first to take it.
He helped the kids and others, Miguel smiled at the kids. I hope you found what you were looking for.
“We did,” answered Tungsten with a happy smile, before his ears twitched at an odd sound. “Hmm? Looking around, he could see nothing, at first, but could swear he saw an area of distorted light.
Suddenly, it disappeared and out of the corner of his eyes, saw a figure. They went small.
He screamed and fell on his back, crawling backwards. A Black Hand Ghost was standing in front of him.
“Ambush!” Nyra yelled as they heard his scream but before they could react, a white cylinder was thrown by one enemy.
It exploded in a white flash. “My eyes!” Tungsten held his eyes, his ears ringed, everything was white, he stumbled, the others did too.
In the moment his vision returned and the ringing stopped, Tungsten felt his heart jump. The Black Hand was holding their protectors at gunpoint, thrown to the ground, His friends as well, who started at the soldiers with fear and so did he as he noticed the gun in front of his eyes.
“W-wait…You don’t have to do this…” The colt tried to reason with a stuttering voice, not wanting to die.
“Sorry, kid, I got my orders.” The merc replied with a slight hint of pity and Tungsten closed his eyes, waiting for the end.
His ears twitched at a….growing sound?
Slowly opening his eyes, he saw a black flash and the soldier looking after it in surprise. What the?!” His gun was gone, the other Black Hand members started as well.
Schaeffer used this to draw his sidearm, shooting his captor in the chest, Miguel, Romanov and Nyra did as well.
While still in shock, the kids wasted no time to go behind cover as the firefight broke out, bullets whizzing past them as they pressed themselves against their cover.
Daring to peak over the wall, The Trottingham colt saw around 20 enemies, not thinking he would survive this.
A loud bang made their ears ring, followed by others in quick succession. Before Tungsten could register what was going on, a member of the Harmonious Guard stood protectively before him. The ponyfication device was activated, so it looked like a mare in camouflaged uniform, a cape on the back, wearing a hood and Ski goggles. She had a scoped Gewehr 43 in her hooves, aiming at some troopers that just arrived and aimed at her.
"You can still run!" She yelled as a under barrel-mounted laser/strobe device on her rifle lighted up and blended them before the mare fired at them with quick shoots from her rifle and sidearm. Somehow, her voice was familiar to him, having a Trottingham accent. Quick as lightning, he realized who this human represented.
Some hostiles took cover behind a wall to avoid her fire, only for a voice to yell, “Say hello to my little friend!” It was an Asian accent and the kids turned to the side. A stallion, wearing light body armor, fired a under-barrel grenade launcher, blasting them away.
“Better keep your head down, kids!” Another male voice warned them. As they blinked, another stallion came into their view, carrying an MG42 with a shield he deployed in front of them, the ammo belt connected to a backpack. He threw also what seemed to be a briefcase, transforming into a turret midair before landing on the ground, ready to fire.
Instinctively, they covered their ears from the loud gunfire.
None of them could tell how long it lasted before it stopped, seeing briefly 2 more stallions firing MP40s.
“We…did not expect you to show up, Occulus Accipiter.” Kyle mumbled surprised as the mare gave him a pat on the shoulder.
“That’s the point, Captain. We were on standby if you needed assistance. You did well. Now, squad, form up!” She ordered.
Only now, the kids noticed how the fight had ended, the Black Hand having apparently retreated, with a few bodies littered around.
Among the squad, they only saw one stallion was carrying a radio on his back, the other one had a field cap, instead of a helmet but they had their back to them, making their appearance impossible to tell as they moved out.
Blue’s son still tried to process things before he got poked from behind. Turning around, he saw a black wolf looking at him, carrying a rifle in his mouth before spitting it out.
“Hey, are you not?” Dinky asked as she realized, just before the wolf liked her face, causing her to giggle.
Tungsten and the siblings noticed a scab on the wolf’s leg, making them also realize who this was.
“I guess he likes you very much?” Kyle commented confused and the filly raised a hoof.
“Well, we helped him when he got stuck in a bear trap shortly after we landed here.”
“I see. I am no expert but I heard once wolves can be really loyal. I guess he wanted to pay you back for helping him.”
“In any case,” Javi spoke up, “Thanks for the help. But next time, we got to be careful, with the Black Hand trying us from finding out the truth.”
They just nodded, going back to the cars, yet the kids noticed the wolf following them. “You want to stay with us?” Dinky asked surprised, getting a happy bark in response. “Ah, I used to have a cat, guess adopting a wolf won’t be so much different. Do you mind?” She asked her friends, they shook their heads.
“Ah, it’s your choice, not mine.” Their bodyguard stated and Dinky tried to think of a name.
“How about…Bound? Given how you seemed to have bounded with us?” The wolf gave another happy bark as answer. “I take that for a yes.” A smile formed on her lips.
Once getting into the vehicles, Bound jumped into the back of the truck to join the journey back to the forward base.
Upon arrival, they were happy to see the adults in a break room. “I hope you had fun.” Fletcher smiled, only to get a weak smile from Dinky.
“We had but somehow, the Black Hand managed to surprise us.”
“What?” Blue’s eyes went wide, turning towards James. “But you told us they would be safe!”
He stayed calm, as he raised a hand. “You think I did not think this far ahead? I sent out a specialist squad, Occulus Accipiter to step in if there would be trouble. Trust me, they can adapt to any situation, direct frontline combat, sabotage, recon, just to call a few. Also, preparations are almost complete. If you excuse me.”
With that, he walked out of the room, but the little unicorn noticed a picture falling out of his pocket. “Wait, you dropped something!” She picked it up and ran after him, the others followed.
James turned surprised around in the hallway before smiling weakly. “Ah, thanks.” As he took it, the ponies noticed he put it hastily back, almost protectively.
“Does it mean a lot to you?” Tungsten concluded.
“Kyle, can you leave us alone?” The officer asked, with his soldier nodded, his comrades gave them some privacy as well.
The ponies got led into an office and a heavy sigh escaped James. “You see, my contract here is not only business but…personal too.” His head was lowered as he showed them the pic. It showed him and a woman with brown hair and green eyes smiling, the eyes of the children went wide as they recognized her.
“My wife went missing around a week before I got the contract, having been anonymously informed she might be in Solis. Of course, I investigated but could not find any traces. And yet, it’s the best lead I have. I know her, she would not run, she must have been kidnapped by someone.” Now, worry was in his voice.
“Does Kyle know?” Dinky asked, causing him to sigh again.
“No, neither does his mother know of his employment by me. As silly as it sounds, I just don’t know how to tell them, despite my regular meetings with them respectively.”
They stared at him, unable to say a word, able to understand him and yet….none knew what to say.
“I know this is hard,” Dinky broke the silence, “But I think the best you can do is meet them in a calm moment.” She suggested, getting a weak smile in response.
“I sure hope so…”
Woof!
Starting, everyone turned around to see the black wolf, happily waving his tail as he looked at them “Ah, hello there, who are you?” James asked Intrigued, only for the kids to step forward.
“That’s…Bound. A wolf we helped in distress when we first got to Soils and…he followed us around ever since.” Tungsten explained, slightly blushing.
“I see, quite loyal and grateful, aren’t you?” Bound let out a happy bark in response.
“So…can we keep him, Fletch?” Dinky asked her uncle, who looked at Blue and her fellow comrades.
“I see no problem but would have to see about your parents. Got any objections, Blue?”
“Nah, if he followed them already here, why separate him then?” She asked in return.
“Okay then, preparations are almost complete, if you would come with me.” James gestured to a door leading to an armory.
On a table were some MP40s with blue colored barrels and magazines, along with dark blue body armor. “Its the same armor our Hubris troops use and the SMGs are nonlethal. I thought, as the MP40 has a low rate of fire and thus easy to control. It would most fitting for you.”
“And those?” Tybalt pointed to a small wrist device with a hook on another table.
“Oh, that? Ava took some inspiration from Rico’s grapple hook, thought it could come in handy for you. She even made a version for the kids.” On a third table, there were the same devices but with a suction cup instead.
The kids put them on their wrists, with Dinky mumbling, “Not sure if I need it but could come in handy.”
Tybalt took his and aimed around, causing Shadow to raise a hoof, “Be careful with that thing, that ain’t a toy!”
“Don’t worry, I know how to handle a grabbling hook.” The earth pony assured with a confident grin.
“Now,” James fixed his attention to Fletcher and Blue, pointing at a map on the wall, showing a massive industrial port, the middle of the facility had a large, military-style reinforced concrete building, with 6 guard towers around it. “This is Prospero Astillero, an automated shipyard. In order to take it, we got to destroy the backup system at the command tower.”
Just then, there was a swoosh and clang. It caused him and the ponies to look at it without flinching. A hook had landed on the map.
They just started at Tybalt and Shadowplay, who had both fearful expressions, the former holding the fired hook, with the batpony pointing at him.
Their younger friends started at everything in shock, Bound just rolled his eyes if it disappointed.
“Anyway,” James continued on, “Occulus Accipiter already gathered more Intel and are waiting for you. I must coordinate operations elsewhere.”
Nodding, his allies went back to the vehicles and drove towards their destination, being in the north-easternmost part of Solís, coming across a few civilian vehicles but mostly military vehicles of their allies.
It was near a swamp area where they got out, seeing the base in the middle, with a soldier hidden between the trees. He was wearing a cap with radio headset and backpack, an MP40 in one hand. His hazel eyes fell on them with a slight smile as he reported, “They arrived, sir. Yes, sir.” His voice had British accent, putting his radio aside to greet them. “I am Clive Morrison, follow me.” His build was slim, nothing special, his yellow hair mostly hidden by his cap. They did as told, and yet again…an odd feeling of similarity chilled through the portly mare.
They got led to a squad of soldiers overlooking the facility on a small hill. One of them, a woman with curly, auburn, shoulder-length hair under a hood and dark blue eyes hidden behind ski goggles, waved at them.
“Sargent Moira Morrison, at your service.”
“The pleasure is all ours, how shall we proceed?” Fletcher asked and one of Moira’s men, carrying an MG-42 with an ammo belt connected to a backpack, his build slightly muscular, his pale brown eyes focused on the base as he pointed to some massive concrete guard towers.
“In order to disable the backup system, we have to enter a code into consoles at each guard tower,” He had a new-Zealand accent, “but the system circles quickly, so we have not much time. It allows me to activate the doors at the outlying power stations.”
“Corporal Crispin Vandervelt, our support gunner and engineer. I suggest you split into groups to gather more ground, “The woman suggested, with the MG gunner giving a nod to the kids, them now noticing his untidy black hair under the helmet and a beard. “He, Choi and Zebediah will escort, you, children.”
Zebediah nodded, he was wearing a ballistic vest, hiding his build well, together with a grenade satchel and stored grenades. He seemed to be very young, in his early 20s, dyed straw-brown hair tied into a ponytail and piercing forest-green eyes. Choi, on the other hand, opted for a field cap but his appearance slightly uneased the children.
Similar to Shadowplay, he wore an eyepatch and cloth over his left eye, leaving only his other brown eye open but long, silky, white hair, as if he was very old, despite looking not much older than Zebediah.
“I provide Overwatch from here.” Moira took aim before everyone nodded, making a quick plan.
“The kids should take the 2 closest towers, we take the middle, Tybalt and Shadow the furthest. Blue suggested, getting another nod.
Carefully sliding down, they split up going right and left respectively. Kyle and Romanov, together with Choi and Zebediah covered Dinky and Tungsten, while Crispin covered the siblings with Nyra.
Almost immediately, the base was alerted and its garrison moved to intercept the intruders.
Kyle and his comrades suppressed the Black hand soldiers, consisting mainly of privates, who seemed to hesitate at the sight of the children.
They also fired a few shots to suppress them. While having no experience like Dinky, Tungsten oddly had little trouble firing his weapon. Was it something he had inherited from his mother? And despite being nervous and slightly shaking, the unicorn and their human allies have him a feeling of safety, with the former giving him a pat on the shoulder with a weak smile.
Bound also tried to cover them by jumping at enemies to throw them to the ground or forcing them into cover by grabbing their guns with his mouth as he zipped past them, having little trouble avoiding their fire.
Every now and then, the grenadier fired some smoke grenades for cover, allowing them to close in on the tower quickly. A sniper was on it but before he could get aim at them Choi threw a knife, it landed in his chest. With a scream, the sniper fell down the tower.
To their dismay, the entrances were closed, but the little filly was quick to think. Aiming at the ledge, Dinky fired her grapple hook, pulling herself up and grabbing the ledge, her friend did the same and she punched in the code before ducking behind the pillars for cover.
“Code is in, system has started.” Kyle reported in.
Katja and Blau made quick progress as well, being covered by their helpers, the MG gunner having little trouble keeping up despite his gear, smirking slightly as he looked at them. “Don’t you worry, I won’t run dry so fast.” He grappled a small round object from his back and threw it into the air. Rotors unfolded from it, revealing to be a small drone that also provided suppressing fire.
At the tower, the siblings used their hooks to get up, with Katja using the console before heading to cover.
Fletcher and Blue used their Assault rifle and SMG, scavenging ammo from any enemy they neutralized, with Moir covering them from afar. “Engaging-“
A female voice rang from behind a container before they heard a clang and blood splattering. A female private got thrown against it, before falling over lifeless. Another kill by the British sniper.
Blue reached her tower first and grappled up and hit the console, then proceeded to cover Fletcher from her position, firing on every enemy in her sight with her sniper rifle. Just as Fletcher reached his tower, a gunship was hovering behind him, taking aim. Reacting quickly, she fired at the rotor. Sparking, then exploding, the chopper crashed in a small explosion.
Fletcher briefly turned around and nodded, with her adding,” Don't you worry, Fletcher. I'm always watching your back -- and your front!”
Just then, the stallion used his console before firing an arrow her way. “What the?!” Flinching as the arrow missed her by inches, her ears twitched at a body hitting the ground, turning around to see a Ghost having tried to sneak up on her, an arrow in his head as he hit the ground.
“I suppose you didn't saw that one coming. Good thing I did, eh?” He commented and she gave a short, acknowledging wave in response.
Shadowplay flew towards his target, easily avoiding the ground fire. Just as he had almost reached it, he heard a wiring sound and out of the corner of his eyes, noticed a red laser pointer on his chest.
Quickly barrel-rolling to the left to throw the sniper off, he tracked it and found it. The sniper was on a transport chopper hovering over the tower. Flying past it, taking aim, the batpony fired his MP40 sideways and hitting the sniper, making him fall out and the chopper retreated.
This allowed him to land and put the code in.
Tybalt easily sped past any defenders while firing his revolvers, reaching his objective within seconds, climbing up with his hook and activating the console. “Code is in, what now?” He asked into the radio.
“Doors are activated, you need to disable the power stations but the only way in are the waterways, only a certain type of boat can pass, Black Hand security.” Vandervelt explained.
Checking their HUDs, the 4 adult ponies saw the bunkers at the east and west of the base marked, with a the name and model of the required boat briefly appearing on the display as well.
The east gate needed what was called a Stormwater Patrol Boat, an open rear deck with its cabin towards the front of the boat, a mounted turret on the front and a remote gun in the back.
Just then, Blue spotted one in the water near her and teleported to the deck, opening the door. “Excuse me.” Before the driver could react, she grabbed him and threw him overboard, taking the controls. Fletcher teleported to it as well to take the mounted turret.
He fired on other boats as well as small row of naval mines in front of the bunker the mare was steering to, opening the way. It opened with a accepting beep, revealing a small dock containing some shipping containers and a computer, guarded by 2 privates and a riot shield, an alarm was blaring.
Fletcher used the mounted gun to dispatch the former, then fired a charged shot from his bow to go through the shield before the soldier could react.
“Disable the console and the backup system will kick in.” They got advised by the engineer and Fray jumped out, shutting the computer down. As he turned around, a whirling sound greeted his ears and he looked back.
His eyes went small as a small machine gun turret on the wall above the computer. But before it could fire, Ifrit fired a small blast at it and destroyed, it vanishing with a nod.
Shadowplay saw on his display that a Daggershark Jetboat was needed for the other bunker, a high-speed military patrol boat, armed with heavy machine gun turret on the back end, its design quite aerodynamic.
He spotted one in the water close by and flew towards it, avoiding its fire and dove towards the roof hatch. Its driver had no time to react as the stallion opened it and threw him out.
As he drove past Tybalt , the former bandit used his grappling device to get on board, taking the gunner position to open the way. The west bunker had the same layout and defense, the earth pony neutralized the privates quickly.
Shadowplay quickly used his magic to teleport behind the shield and stabbed the soldier into the back, then shut down the computer. The moment the turret activated, Tybalt destroyed it with the boat’s MG.
“Back up generator online, destroy it and the shipyard is useless for the enemy.” Crispin advised.
Notching they were the closest to the generator, Dinky and Tungsten grappled to a wall that lead to a staircase at the command tower, their guardians close behind. The kids saw how Zebediah briefly dual-wielded a revolver and C96, doing some gunslinger tricks occasionally.
They cleared the area ahead, a small backyard with a turbine built into the wall, the backup generator as their HUD confirmed.
Tungsten fired his hook to pull the ceasing back, exposing its inner parts and his unicorn friend fired a non-lethal spell at it. It started to smoke and whined before shutting down.
“Great work, I’ll inform the general, so we can secure it.” Clive praised them and reported back to HQ but the…. “What? Yes, sir, acknowledged. Sink those boats marked on your HUD!” He yelled, much to their surprise.
Following the marker to a helipad around the corner, the group saw 2 Stormwater Patrol Boats about to depart from a dock into the open water.
Fletcher and Blue joined via teleport as they got told why by the radioman. “The factory’s General and his commandante are fleeing with prototype weapons!”
Understanding the danger, both snipers took aim. Blue exhaled and fired at a depth charge one of the boats had stored on the back. Her bullet hit the screw that protected the fuse, exposing it.
Fletcher fired his rifle at the fuse. The moment his bullet hit, the charge exploded, engulfing the boat in flames as the rest of ammunition got ignited as well. One small explosion. Then another. And another. It also caught the second boat as it was too close, suffering the same fate before both sunk in a giant explosion.
“It is done, we can send in the troops to secure it.” Fray did a casual brohoof with Blue.
“Acknowledged, I let the general know and the Black Hand are retreating. For now, let’s get out of here.” Moira suggested.
Dinky walked ahead and around the corner, only to freeze in shock.
Before her was a group of privates, equally surprised to see her.
“Get down!” She felt how Shadowplay pushed her out of the way as the privates took aim. Yet none was prepared for what came next.
Zebediah drew his C96, holding it sideways before pulling the trigger. One by one, the enemies fell, his sidearm shifted horizontally from the muzzle jump, quickly neutralizing the group.
Dinky breathed heavily as her friends ran up to her. “Are you hurt?” Tungsten sounded concerned as she slowly checked herself.
“I am okay…I am okay…You, Shadowplay?” Worry was in her voice as he grunted slightly in pain.
“Just a scratch.” He said as he held his right wing, a bullet had grazed him. Blue casted a healing spell on him with a slightly worried expression as well.
“Better get that checked.” He nodded in response and gave the filly a wave to show she hasn’t to thank him.
Blowing the smoke of his pistol, Zebediah reloaded, with the group preparing to leave.
Yet the ponies knew, this was just the start. What was yet to come?