//------------------------------// // The Chapter in Which the Action Begins // Story: The Winds of Change: Fog of War // by AgentSnail //------------------------------// The Chapter in Which the Action Begins BANG!! (I told you) "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH" Jason shot up from the pile of mattresses, turning to look at what was left of his alarm clock. "What kind of sick mother fucker makes an exploding alarm clock?!?!?! They don't even have explosives around here!!!" He quieted down for a moment, hearing Dash's snickering to his side. "You..." He prodded her back with a hoof. "Hahahaha, that was hilarious!" Jason deadpanned. Of course. "You weren't even all that freaked out, but you looked so angry!" He shoved her off the pile of mattresses, still annoyed. Dash wiped her eyes. "Okay, I'm sorry. You have to admit, it was a pretty good prank. Jason's face lightened. "I suppose I can give you that much. Just put the thing a little further from me next time." Dash got up and laid back down next to him, throwing a wing over his form. "I set the alarm a few minutes early, so we don't have to actually get up, we can just cuddle." She smiled, no hint of lust radiating from her form, just a light contentedness. "Good to know." He leaned over and kissed her, caressing her cheek with a hoof. "I'm glad I found you... I'd probably be dead if you didn't take me in." "Oh yeah, that night back in the alley. I still feel bad for beating you up like that." "Don't, it was way worth it." He leaned over and nipped at an ear, causing her to giggle. "At some times more than others." "I don't know what I'd have done without you..." She said a few moments later. "What do you mean? Pretty little thing like you, I'm surprised you weren't already taken." She blushed, shifting her gaze. "Do you really think I'm all that pretty?" "Where does this come from? Why did you choose to ask this now?" "Because you got stuck with me, I was the only one that trusted you." "So I got lucky then. Seriously, Dash. Assuming for a moment that other mares were more beautiful, I wouldn't have gotten along with them, and there's a good chance they wouldn't be anywhere near as smart as you. Is there another reason you're asking this?" "I wanted to hear it from you, it makes me feel good to know I'm yours." "Awww...." He nuzzled at her cheek. "You're so out of character." She giggled, poking him with a hoof. "I thought we agreed I was deep." "Well, we agreed you weren't shallow..." He chuckled as he received her punch to the shoulder. The sounds of activity made their way past the tent as a small group went by. "That's probably some of the team, Jason." Dash said, tossing the blanket off herself. "We better get ready." "Meh, it can wait." "Aren't you usually the high strung one?" "Yeah, but this blanket's so warm, and now I have all this space..." Dash jerked the blankets off him, and he frowned. "You just couldn't resist, could you?" "No." "And usually I admire honesty..." He sighed and got up, stretching out as best he could; he didn't think he'd ever fully get used to this body, frankly. Dash pushed over the pile of her armor and looked at him expectantly, and with a slight grimace of concentration he picked up all the pieces and slid them into place, quickly tying them off. She looked herself over, smirking slightly, before grabbing her saddlebag in the corner and checking that the ghillie suit, extra blanket, food and knife box were inside before slinging it onto her back. Jason did the same, minus the ghillie suit of course, and levitated the bag onto his back. Jason walked over to the AUG, leaning against the wall, and quickly put on the sling, stepping overtop the sling with a forehoof so that it was over one shoulder. He grabbed the explosives belt, checking that the magazines occupying some of the loops were still full, or at least as full as they could be. "Hey Dash," he asked, "You brought some of the extra explosives, right?" "Yeah, of course, I stuck them in the bottom of the saddlebag. Some flash-bangs and smoke, I think." She grabbed Rarity's helmet and tossed it onto her head, pulling a 'leather' strap taught under her chin. "Okay, good. We look like a couple of badasses by the way." She giggled. "I wish I brought the camera." Jason turned and pulled the picture of Scoots and Dash out of his saddlebag, smiling to himself. Dash looked over his shoulder and smiled alongside him. "So that's the one you brought." He glanced over at her before returning his gaze to the picture. "Yeah, there was just something so characteristic about the whole thing. I just can't put my hoof on it. Maybe it's your smile, or Scoot's face, I dunno. It's still my favorite picture." "Is that because you took it?" She smirked. "No, Dash. I took more than one picture anyway." "Yeah, but that other one was upside down." "The cameras are different here!" He complained, giving her a light shove. He turned to put the picture back inside, pulling out the pad instead. He wrote, 'We're on the hostage mission, wish us luck! We made another Team Green Bean by the way. Miss you Scoots." He stuck the pad back inside his saddlebag, not exactly expecting a response this late at night. It was only seven forty five, actually, but that was apparently late here, especially in a society that was mostly driven by the movement of the sun. His reverie was broken by the sound of Dash pushing open the flap to the tent and exiting, looking back to see if he was following. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts before following after her, finding her waiting just outside the tent. They walked for a moment in silence, taking the ten or so strides to get to Shining's tent. A few members were already inside, most of them from the team of recruits. Shining immediately took notice and walked over. "I got some stuff for you guys, take a look." He trotted over to the other end of the tent, opening a couple of boxes and pulling out some loops of fabric. "We didn't really have a good way of marking rank or team until a whole bunch of these came about an hour ago. Let me just find the right... Ah! Here." He handed them a couple of fabric loops each, both with a couple of stars on one side, a dull white to the contrasting black. He dug around in another box, coming up with a loop for both of them, the same black, sporting a green bean pea pod instead. "Rarity designed these?" Jason said with a smirk. "Key word designed, we had these mass produced in Canterlot since a few days ago. These green bean ones were the last type to be made." Jason finished sliding the loops up to his shoulders. "A little weird, but I guess it works. Especially seeing as we don't exactly have any cloths to put these on as patches." "Yeah... Anyway, you're ready to leave?" "Yup, wait, can I leave some stuff here, just in case?" "Sure, go ahead." Jason pulled out the computer and pad of paper, carefully handing them over to Shining. "Protect those with your life. I'm a little serious, those are irreplaceable." Shining sighed and gently set them in an empty drawer. "So we're waiting for the rest of the team?" "Yeah, they should be here-- there they are." Jason turned in time to see the rest of the original Team Green Bean walk in, along with the last couple of recruits. The existing members already had their dark grey armor on, shifting uneasily in the usual pre-battle manner. Some clanking of metal was heard as the recruits started to clumsily got on sets of armor, laid out by Shining a couple hours prior. The preparations went slowly, unsurprisingly. Jason couldn't complain, just because he'd called the operation didn't mean he wanted to actually start fighting. He gazed over at Dash, who was shifting her hooves nervously as Shining scribbled on a pad of paper beside her. Jason walked over to one of the bunks and sat down, trying to calm his nerves. He took a few deep breaths, which succeeded in only slightly bringing down his nervousness. After a couple minutes he felt the mattress depress next to him, feeling a wing wrap over his back before he could look over. Dash put a reassuring hoof on his shoulder, and he smiled lightly, leaning into her touch. Several minutes later, as the slight clanging of armor being put on died down, Shining got up from the table. He tapped his hoof on the surface in thought for a few seconds before getting up and quickly making his way over to Jason. "You ready to go? It's a little early, but I kinda want to give you as much time as possible, considering they're going to start killing those hostages in the morning." "Yeah, I guess so. The sooner we get in the sooner we get out, right?" "I hope so. I'll get the recruits together and we can move out." Shining walked over to the mostly dressed recruits, ordering them into a line. He fixed the helmet on one of them before gesturing to Jason. Jason got up and walked over, clearing his throat. The tent became silent, save for the quiet clanking of armor, and he opened his mouth to speak. "I'm sure you know the plan by now, and considering how many times we've gone over positioning, I'm sure you know that too. But remember that it's not just your lives on the line, but the ponies we're trying to save. Be patient, and don't enter a fight if it has the potential to draw attention. You saw how it was in the forest today, act the same as a predator, weed out the sick and the weak, in this case the stupid and the isolated. Whittle down the forces until there's nothing left." He sighed. "This is your first mission, so don't underestimate the griffins, and definitely don't overestimate your skills." He tossed one of the officers a pad of paper and a pencil. "Watch for the signal, and then go loud, take out as many griffins as you want. And remember to act as a team, it's your strongest asset." "SIR YES SIR!!" He heard a couple groans from a nearby tent. "Try not to wake up all of the ponies in this camp." He sighed again. He hated having part of his plan resting on forces he couldn't control. "Now move out, get into position. I'll see about getting you code names if this works." They saluted a final time before trotting outside, grabbing their weapons and small ration bags of food as they went. Jason turned to the bunks. "Team Green Bean, you ready?" A quiet set of nods responded. He quite liked the solemnity. "Then let's go kick some ass!" Dash yelled with a corresponding hoof pump, drawing a few laughs. Eravel was the first to move, jumping off the top bunk and buffeting the air with his wings to cushion his landing. He made sure his leather armor was still secure before he grabbed the bow from it's place against the wall, throwing it and the quiver over his back. There was the sound of bending metal before Tank tossed over the new, three holed brass knuckles to Eravel. God damn Tank was strong. The rest of the team was pretty much ready, and each pony grabbed a couple of spears before trotting outside. Tank pulled a machete from under one of the bunks, tossing it onto his back. "Where'd you get the machete, Tank?" Jason asked. "Is that what this is? I just found it, and figured it was pretty cool, so I kept it around. I cut myself pretty bad trying to figure out how sharp the blade was." He blushed a little. "Can I see it a sec?" Tank shrugged and pulled it off, sheathing it before tossing it over. Jason pulled the blade partially out before sliding it back inside. The USMC written on the hilt was information enough. He tossed it back over. "That's military, by the way." "Cool." He admired the blade for another moment before replacing it on his back and walking outside to join the others. Jason slid off his saddlebag, grabbing the knife box and carefully opening it. He slid the knives into the holes in his legs, admiring the fit. Dash had already tied hers on, apparently. Jason tossed her one of the packs of rations, putting on one himself. Dash nodded to him, and they left the tent. The rest of the team turned to the pair as they exited, waiting for orders, it seemed. Jason looked up at the night sky, gazing at the star filled night. He sighed and looked back towards the ground, taking in the still present nervousness. "Well, let's get going. We have some hostages to rescue." With that he set off down the path, the same one he had taken from the chariot when he first got here. Instead of following the path into the forest, however, he made his way across the slope, hoping to find a less steep area to traverse. After a couple more minutes, the sides of the valley became much less steep, allowing the flightless members of the group to start down. Moving along the side of the valley had shifted them a ways south of the village, which wasn't a total loss of time, the docks were to the south as well. The descent wasn't particularly horrendous, there were few holes hidden under the low grass. It would've been pretty annoying for one of them to sprain a hoof before they even got into the fight. The light of the gibbous moon shown over the field, casting an eerie sheen over the otherwise serene environment. Trees started to become common once again as the ground started to flatten out. They were close now; the woods weren't particularly thick around the village. Sure enough, after a couple minutes along the floor of the forest, the town lights began to flicker through the foliage. They crossed a small creek, ending up on the crest of a hill overlooking the small village. Dash brushed up against Jason's side, taking a moment to make sure that her knives were properly secured. "It's pretty, isn't it?" Dash asked. "Yeah, I'm kinda starting to like it around here. It's more like where I lived." "This is what it's like? From the way you described it, I imagined more of a jungle." "Nah, jungles suck. I would honestly hate to live in one." "Why?" "I'll tell you later, come on." He started down the hill, keeping low, trying to stay behind the now taller grass. He could hear a slight rustling behind him as the rest of the team followed, pursuing him as he cut across the field. He pushed aside a tuft of grass, stopping as the river came into view. It wasn't wide, maybe fifty to sixty feet across. He turned upstream, staying a ways away from the river to keep out of sight. It wasn't too much longer before they got to the 'docks,' which were a serious stretch on the word. When Eravel had said that they were in disrepair, he'd really meant it. One of them was a series of posts stretching ten to twenty feet out, while another was missing most of the posts. A griffin was walking alongside the river, on a flimsy looking wooden sidewalk. Jason held up a hoof, and the team stopped. "Eravel, let's see how good you are with that bow." Eravel walked up beside Jason. "Think you can make that shot?" He pointed to the griffin. Eravel nodded. "Should be able to." He pulled the bow off his back, grabbing an arrow from his quiver. He carefully fit the arrow onto the string before rearing up out of the grass and drawing back the string, letting the arrow fly. The team watched in awe as the arrow struck the griffin in the eye, immediately felling him. "How the fuck did you do that?" Jason whispered. "I'm not totally sure, luck? I didn't really think I was that good." Eravel responded. "Then let's just hope that luck doesn't run out." Dash said, moving forward towards the town. She got to the side of one of the platforms, presumably suspended in case of flooding in the spring. With a flap of her wings she got onto the side, landing with a surprisingly soft 'clop' of her hooves. It wasn't much higher, maybe about her normal shoulder height. Jason had long since stopped using feet and inches to describe things after he realized that he no longer had any actual frame of reference. He helped Archer onto the platform before flying up himself, flinching at the slight buzzing emanating from his back. They re-grouped a few seconds later, making sure that they hadn't lost anyone before continuing their way down the sidewalk. It quickly turned into a dirt road as the banks of the river became higher, much to Jason's liking. Dirt was much quieter than wood. He looked around for any more griffins, staying behind a barrel, before moving further down the road. A pair of griffins came around the corner of what he assumed to be a warehouse, making him jump back in shock at their sudden appearance. Tank charged at one of them with his spear, stabbing it into the griffin's chest as he pulled the machete from it's sheath on his back and ran it across the griffin's throat. Dash shouldered the other one before he could untangle his spear from its holster, giving Jason the perfect opportunity to stab his knife into the griffin's neck. A yelp was heard a little ways off; another griffin had seen the whole thing. He turned to run, before an arrow hit him in the back of the head. "Wow..." Jason breathed. Judging by the others' expressions, he figured they were feeling the same way. "I'm really glad we didn't have to fight you, Eravel. At least not while you had a bow." "When you're done, Jason, we still have a bunch of hostages to save." Dash reminded him. "Yeah, fine. Someone throw that body into the river." Tank trotted over to the griffin that Eravel had shot, throwing his limp body over one shoulder with ease. He moved it towards the river before tossing the body away, hearing it land with a soft splash moments later, breaking the surface of the lazy river as it floated after the other two bodies. They took a moment to watch the bodies move downstream before starting their advance again. The dirt road quickly came to an end as cobblestone streets started to take over. This was the part that had needed all the extra planning. They turned onto a small street, quickly taking out a couple of griffins that were walking in the opposite direction. Another turn and they found themselves on a hugely wide, rather annoyingly well-lit street. The one he had needed a distraction for. A couple of griffins walked out of an alley, crossing the street slowly. Jason looked up to find that a few others were on the rooftops, looking around rather intently. He pulled out the map, checking that this was, indeed, the street they needed to make their way down. There were no bridges to cross the village to the southern side, and even less cover if they were to enter on the western side of the village, thus why this was the only plausible route. Dash tapped him on the shoulder, pointing out another griffin on a roof that he hadn't noticed. "You think something went wrong?" She asked, noticing that few griffins seemed interested in the nearby tree line. "Let's give them a while, I'd rather have them take their time than take risks." He peered over the top of the tipped over barrel he was behind again, noticing that there was relatively little change. He sighed and sat down against the barrel, leaning up against Dash. The rest of the team seemed to get the message, and within a few moments were already sitting against walls and up against some of the cover. Jason hated waiting. Actually, he only hated waiting in some scenarios, like the one he was in now. He was nervous, and the near silence, minus the noise from the river, was giving him too much time to think. He didn't want to lose any of the team members, and hopefully something hadn't gone wrong with the other squad. The longer he waited though, the more scenarios of their deaths went through his head. His thoughts suddenly shifted to the hostages. Assuming that this wasn't a wasted mission and there were living hostages inside town hall, what condition would they be in? The griffins didn't seem to torture ponies, but then again, he hadn't seen any of their prisoners as of yet. A loud crack cut through his thoughts, and he quickly turned to look over the barrel. A tree was in the process of falling over, and with a few more cracks, finally let go and hit the ground with a heavy thump. Now that was a distraction. "Get close to me, quick!" he whispered as the team members jumped back up. He threw up the soundproofing spell, making it much larger to accommodate the entire group. He watched a few griffins trot across the street to find out what had caused the noise before making a break for the alley. He expanded the soundproof bubble slightly in case the rest of the ponies started to lag behind. Dash galloped next to him, repeatedly checking the rooftops to make sure the griffins hadn't yet turned around. Jason watched as they came up on the alley, not all that far from their previous position in actuality, and dove around the corner. A griffin ran over and stabbed at Jason as he rolled out of the way. He got up and dodged around another spear thrust before knocking the spear out of the griffin's talon and stabbing his knife into the griffin's chest. He shoved a hoof into the griffin's beak as the griffin screamed in pain, before Tank kicked him in the head and either knocked the griffin out or killed him. Jason quickly reminded himself to never piss Tank off. He checked for the rest of the team members, finding that they had all made it this far. "Jason. I think one of them saw us." Dash said, looking around nervously. "Are you sure?" "Yeah, he got a good look." "Fuck. We gotta get going then. As long as he doesn't get there before us we're fine." Jason turned and galloped down the alleyway, jumping over a tipped trash can. He turned a corner, flapping his left wing a few times to decrease his turning radius and keep him from slipping. The map had said that this alley led out into a small square on the side of city hall, so they had a fair advantage over the griffins in commute time. The small group slowed down to check for passing Griffins as they exited the alley, and upon finding none they started to creep around to the front of the building. Two guards on the steps were taken out in short order by an arrow and a combination of Morning Rain and Archer. "Listen, guys," Jason said quickly, "we're going to run in there and take out the griffins as fast as we can. That could mean the deaths of a hostage or two. More griffins are going to end up here soon, we need to take the chance that a few might not make it, or we could all die." The rest of them nodded solemnly before getting into better positions around the door. Jason shoved the doors open with his magic, Eravel and his bow at the ready. They stormed in, taking out the griffins as fast as they could. Jason watched as one of the hostages was pulled up by one of the griffins and dragged backwards with his talons while holding a knife to her throat. Jason turned away to duck under a spear and deliver a blow of his own, and turned back to see both the mare and the griffin on the ground in a pile of blood, although he wasn't sure if the mare's blood was involved. He shook off a feeling of dread and broke into a gallop, diving over a pew and into a griffin that had situated himself dangerously close to the hostages. They rolled for a couple seconds before the griffin tossed Jason off. He flew through the air for a moment before hitting the top of a pew, painfully cracking the chitin on his back. He looked up to see that the griffin had already gotten to his feet and was making his way over. Jason got up, sliding the pew towards the griffin with his magic. The griffin tried to jump over the bench, but clipped one of its talons on the back, toppling him over. Jason galloped up and finished the job, stabbing the knife into the griffin's eye. He turned back around to see Hunter finish off one of the last griffins, and there was a moment of complete silence following the short battle. "Alright, we gotta get this door shut!" Jason said rather loudly. "They're going to get here soon, and we can't possibly get this many ponies out of here that quickly, especially when they're all bound like this." Hunter and Archer came over to help him shut the heavy wooden doors, bringing down the hinged brace to keep them shut. It was then that Jason finally turned to see the full amount of gore they had left in their wake. The hostages didn't look particularly worse for wear, a few of them were splattered with gore, and a few had fallen onto the ground off the pews, squirming against their bonds. Dash and Eravel were dragging a griffin body into a corner, while Tank was taking the pulse of one of the fallen ponies. "Where's Morning Rain?" Jason asked, receiving a slight groan in response. He realized that the pony that Tank had with him was Morning Rain, albeit covered in blood. "Get those ropes and gags off the rest of these ponies." He yelled back to Hunter and Archer as he ran towards Tank. "Where was she hit?" He asked Tank quickly, sitting down next to Morning Rain. "The chest, I think, I can't really tell with all this blood." Jason could see a few tears in Tank's eyes. So he was right that they had seemed attached to one another. "Get out of the way. Just lay her there." Tank obliged, carefully setting her head back on the ground. Jason flared up his horn, the familiar magic coursing through his system. He felt his way through her as he did with the rest of the ponies, getting to parts and repairing them as he went. He'd gone a long way since his initial attempts on Dash, and figured out what exactly he was doing. He got to the stab wound and started to heal it. He could see the grimace of pain disappear from the mare's face as he meshed together the last of the deep cut. She looked up at him and smiled before her head went limp to the side. "What just happened!?!?" Tank yelled, picking Morining Rain's head back up with a hoof and cradling it. "She's asleep. She lost a lot of blood." He laid a hoof on Tank's shoulder. "She should be fine. Now come on, we gotta prepare for the worst here." Tank didn't respond for a few seconds, before he slid his ration pack under her head and got up. "So what are we going to--" He was interrupted by banging on the door. "Open up!" A griffin yelled from outside. Another several pounds were heard. "Shit..."