//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 - Flash and Frank // Story: Cold War: The Global Threat // by GeneralSniperplayer //------------------------------// August 19th | 8:30 pm | cold and wet Derpy and Snow managed to pass the test, along with 30 more candidates, that was the first time that the Ghosts had so few people who passed the test, our record was 100 out of 200 entries, and the lowest number, was 48, when the Ghosts completed 1 year, 34 people out of 300 enrolled passed the test, but this time, we really had less people, now, the course was based on real situations, any mission that started, we would enter, after the course was complete, with 10 consecutive missions without casualties, that group earned its battalion symbol and its skull balaclava, with Snow and Derpy it would be no different. I was walking around the city while I smoked my cigarette, I was thinking of going to the Ministry of Health, and I did, I went straight to the reception: "Excuse me, is Doctor Fluttershy in?" I told the receptionist. “No, I'm sorry.” he replied. "Right." I said back, leaving the place. I went back to walking around the city, so I decided to go back to the Pentagon, when I got there, I went to my office, and I ended up blacking out, when I woke up, I looked at my watch, it was 6:43 am, I got up and got a cup of coffee, I saw Derpy in the hallway, so I walked up to her: “Good morning, sir General!” Derpy said with a smile on his face. “Good morning… what are you doing here?” I answered her. "I thought I had been... hired..." she replied, a little confused. “Well, that's up to you, whether you want to join us or not is your choice.” I explained to her. “I think I will work with you guys!” Derpy said with a little uncertainty. “Okay, I recommend you check out some missions with Colonel Lock Type or Colonel Velvet Bean while we don't leave for Stalliongrad.” I directed. “Wait, when are we going there?” she asked with a tone of curiosity. “Four days from now.” I said, indicating the time. “Right… what are we going to do there?” Derpy asked, seeming to be interested in the subject. "Espionage!" I replied. “Oh…right.” Derpy said. “Remember, what happens there must not be made public!” I explained the condition of work. "OK!" she replied, showing that she understood. “Now just look for Lock or Velvet.” I repeat the given information. Then Jack appeared: “Sniper, I was looking for you, are you busy now?” Jack said in a worried tone. "In truth no." I replied. “There was an enemy in your house and someone is out to kill you.” Eduard said with a more serious tone. "That's not news." I replied naturally. “He told us the person wears a mask, is 1.78, has a topknot, does it look familiar to you? For me it's not…” Jack said, giving details. “Topknot…the Screen?” I said in a slightly confused tone. “I don't know…That's all I know.” Jack said. “We took care of him.” Eduard said. “Well, do you want some help?” Jack said. “Actually, I don't know, just keep an eye open until we reach Stalliongrad!” I replied, as if it were an order. A guy with a topknot I knew was Screen, but he wasn't 1.78, he was 1.82: “What were you doing at the pharmacy?” Jack asked curiously. “Pharmacy...I was at the Ministry of Health...wait, have you been spying on me?” I asked suspiciously. "I heard you were going there to look for Fluttershy, but I'm not spying on you, it's just rumours." Eduard said, trying to appease. "I know..." I said, still suspicious. I turned around leaving, I was heading towards the airport, the time had come to talk to Flash after 5 years, we hadn't spoken since before the end of the war, I hardly knew how the lives of the others around me were, Velvet, Lock, Flash, I had no idea who they were anymore, I didn't know how they were, so I just waited to get to Ezpassionia. August 19, 50 | 5:45 pm | cold and wet I got off the plane in Ezpassionia, in the south of the country, a simple but beautiful place, houses made of wood, brick and stone, wooden doors, asphalt roads and some dirt streets, it was the countryside of the country, the region that Flash lived, I walked around the place looking for his house, it was a big brick house, it had a chimney and some blackberry bushes on the front of the house, after a few minutes riding in a taxi, I got there, got out of the car and paid the fare . I went straight to the back of the house, there was an orchard and a paddock, along with a swing, picnic table and there was Flash Scout, dark blue skin, dark beige hair, dark yellow eyes, 5'7", he was with his family, which I had only heard of less than a week ago, a wife and 1 son who looked to be 7 years old, they were at the picnic table, it appeared to be afternoon coffee, then, he looked at me, asked for his family to wait and came to me: “Sniper… what do you want?” Flash asked in a serious tone. “Good afternoon to you too…” I replied mockingly. "I haven't seen you in over 5 years." Flash said, coldly. “You never reported it either.” I answered him. “I kept in touch with Lock and Velvet, not you.” Flash said, with a tone of disappointment. “Whatever…” I replied neutrally. “Just say what you want!” he said, with an aggressive tone. “I need your help spying on Stalliongrad!” I said, waiting for an answer. “Wow…even after last time you think I'll come back? And on top of that because of you?” Flash said, feeling angry. The “last time” was somewhat complicated, we were going to sabotage a Germaneighian base that was installed in Gargouile, it was the 2 of us with 3 more Equestrian soldiers and 2 members of the Resistance, we got into a train car and cleaned it up, arriving at the station, we went close to some loads and started to advance, the darkness of the night gave us an advantage to be stealthy, we planted bombs in the target base and when leaving, everything went wrong, we ended up losing 2 members of the Resistance and 1 our soldier in the middle of the process, Flash was flirting with one of the members of the Resistance, and it shook him a lot, I ended up not being able to lead properly that day: “That was just an inconvenience!” I said trying to argue. “You were in charge and you left 3 dead in that shit, you call that an inconvenience?” he said, putting the weight on top of me. “…” I was speechless. “I'm happy like this, I have a beautiful family, I work with what I like, I have a nice house, do you think I'm going to throw all this away because of YOUR problems?” he said, “You don't know the seriousness of this problem, do you think I would call you for nothing?” I argued. “And what are you doing now?” he said, still angry. “The world is at stake, and you are one of the best spies I have ever seen!” I said, trying to convince him. "Your problems are not mine... now get out of my house!" Flash said, pointing to the street. “Know this can get to Ezpassionia, and when it does, there's no going back.” I said, fixing my jacket. I turned around and left going to take the first taxi that appeared, without Flash, we would be at a disadvantage, although we were with great agents, a single person would make all the difference, as soon as the taxi arrived, I got in and went to the airport, arriving in Equestria, I went straight home and fell asleep, I didn't even look at the time, which I definitely should have done. I woke up with noises in the house, so I got up and got ready with the revolver and went to the bathroom in my room to turn off the light board, there were people in my house, and they wouldn't like their fate. I started to walk slowly, avoiding making noise and keeping my focus on listening to the sounds of footsteps, then I heard a sound that sounded like an owl, but it came from inside the house, as there were 2 floors, I went to the ground floor, looking for the source of the sound, possibly a signal, near the kitchen there was someone, I was sure it was not an ally, so I caught him from behind covering his mouth and stabbing his chest, he let out a groan of pain and died. I made some deliberate drumming to get attention, and it worked, as I heard a conversation from upstairs, thanks to my keen hearing that has been developed over the years: “This looks like a haunted house.” said one of the upstairs enemies, speaking in Russian. “He's downstairs!” said another enemy soldier. I focused on listening to the sounds of footsteps to identify the number of operators, but I couldn't, so I went near the stairs, and aimed up, there were 10 soldiers coming down the stairs, from what I could hear, so I started shooting, I killed 2 and wounded 4, the other 4 tried to run away to hide, soon after, I heard the sounds of gunfire with a silencer, 2 shots in all, 2 more soldiers fell, so I disarmed 2 people who were at the bottom of the stairs, then I found out who were the 2 people after shining the flashlight in their faces: “Jack? Eduard?” I found it strange. "It's us." Jack replied. One of the enemy operators tried to draw his weapon, so I killed the 4. “What are you doing…how did you get in here?” I questioned the 2. "I also want to know...because there is a Germaneighia here..." Jack said. “Hallo, guy.” said a stranger, with white skin, brown eyes, brown hair and 1.72 tall. “Frank?” Jack said. “Easy there, I'm unarmed…” said the supposed Frank, who was coming down the stairs. I tripped him and then immobilized him, threatening him with a knife to the throat. "Easy there, Sniperplayer, he's not here for any harm." Jack said. “Relax there man, I didn't come here to do any harm…” Frank said. "I hope it is true." I replied by letting go. “Phew, what cardboard, eh…” Frank said. “We have to clean up this mess, right?” Jack said. "Yes." I replied. “The light board is in the bathroom of my room!” I started looting the bodies, picking up ammo and looking for the identities of the enemy operators, then I took the bodies outside, the power was turned back on and we were cleaning the house, this was not the first time that someone had broken into my house. “Hey, green guy…” Frank said. “They were looking for your head.” “I'm not really surprised by that.” I replied to Frank. I lit my cigarette and went to the toolshed in my backyard and got garbage bags and gasoline, then started putting the bodies in the garbage bags: "And there aren't just a few of them, it's almost an army for your head…that means there are several of them here in Equestria, hiding…" Frank said. “I guess they better get in line.” I replied. I put the bagged bodies in the backseat of my car and the gas in the trunk. “Seriously, man!” Frank said. “But does this have anything to do with the attacks that will happen in the next few days?” Eduard wondered. "Boy...good question..." Jack said. “Passing information from Equestria and then invading…” Eduard theorized. “That's what I mean!” Frank exclaimed. “Put the bodies in the trunk and get in the car!” I ordered. They followed the orders and got into the car shortly after, so I started driving to the abandoned junkyard in the city to burn the bodies, we talked along the way: “Frank, tell me everything you know!” I told Frank. “It's a long story, but I'll try to summarize what's going on…” Frank said. “After you did an operation there in Stalliongrad, they want your head… They knew it was the order of Equestria's attack, so it turned out they made false names to invade and study all of Equestria…” Frank said. “Stalliongrad? I haven't even been there yet.” I found it strange. “He's talking about that operation we did a while ago…” Jack said. “In Ponea?” I asked. “This…” Frank said. “But what does this have to do with the attacks that will happen in the next few days?” Jack asked. “Attacks? What attacks?” Frank questioned. “He's saying that the Stalliongradians are going to attack Equestria in a few days, to assassinate the president…” I replied to Eduard. “Fucking hell…” Frank was stunned. “Okay, go on…” Jack said. “They're trying anyway to get into Equestria, either by boats, planes…all under false names…” I replied to Frank. "You already said..." Jack said. "But they're doing something different...they want to stay in Equestria, study and then pass the information on to Stalliongrad..." answered Frank. “Is this serious? How do you know...?" Jack questioned. "I was watching everything, invisibly... then I went to chase one of the soldiers, then he told me everything they were going to do..." Frank replied. “What ‘he’?” Jack asked. "Some soldiers ran away, one of them went towards me, he already had a trap ready, so that's when I interrogated him... and he told me everything before he died..." answered Frank. “Wait, did you come watching us?” Eduard asked. “More or less…you know, I was also in the Germaneighian special forces, so I know some Espionage techniques…” I replied to Frank. “What about the Stalliongrades? Sniperplayer, wouldn't you tell Rainbow Dash?" Jack said. “Regarding the ships, I had already warned you…” Eduard said. "Serious?" Jack asked. “I will inform her.” Jack answered. “But they are not ordinary ships, they are ghost ships…” Eduard said. Frank snapped his fingers: "What it was?" Jack wondered. “That's where they go…” I replied to Frank. “By the ghost ships?” Jack asked. "That!" Frank exclaimed. “Relax, the navy is already solving this…” I replied to Eduard. “And the aeronautics part?” Jack asked. “That's a bit complicated... since false names are not accepted at airports in Ghale…” Frank informed. “Wait, how does the Navy already know about this?” I asked. "I talked to Rainbow Dash about these ships, so the Navy knows now... got it?" Eduard replied. “Oh yes…” I replied. “Since the soldiers couldn't go to regular airports, they called the 'puppets'…” Frank said. “Puppets?” Jack asked. “They would be civilians who intend to travel outside of Ghale, the Stalliongradians paid some civilians for that.” Frank said. “Civilians?” Jack wondered. “This…” Frank said. "How do you know?" Jack questioned. “I have a childhood friend, Stalliongradian, so he told me everything…he was in the military, so he told me the plan…” Frank informed. “Did he betray their military trust?” Jack asked. “He's always had trust issues, which is why I'm one of the 'trusted' ones to keep that secret. But you know how it is... eventually the secret comes out…” I replied to Frank. “But what do the Stalliongradians call these civilians?” Eduard asked. “Easy, using familiars. Whether father, son, mother, grandmother, uncle…” Frank said. “Neopotism?” Jack asked. "Like this." Frank said. “Sick…” I commented, as he stopped the car at the junkyard. “Next, Frank, you come with us to Stalliongrad!” I told Frank as we piled up the bodies to burn. “And the staff?” Frank asked. “Everything is already scheduled.” I replied. “Okay, but I don't have any weapons…” Frank said. “No one said you would trade directly!” I replied, throwing a lit match onto the pile of bodies. “Wait, are we really going unarmed?” Frank wondered. “You do, the rest are armed.” I replied. “Wait a minute, you don’t even want a switchblade?” Eduard asked. "He won't go to the front until I really trust him!" I replied to him. “Relax guys, I really know how to defend myself…” Frank said. “One false step and I'll hang your head in my living room…” I turned to Frank as I jabbed my finger at his chest aggressively. “Don't you want him to be the scout?” Jack asked. “We already have one.” I replied. “Yes sir…” I replied to Frank. “I didn't need that, but that's okay…” Eduard commented. “Get in the car, let’s clean my house!” I ordered, getting into the car with the rest of the staff. To be continued!!!