//------------------------------// // Chapter 30: Behind Enemy Lines // Story: Into the Black: A Mare's Tale // by shirotora //------------------------------// The Black Beast sat in high orbit observing the Dratali facility on the surface. It wasn't heavily guarded... at least not on the surface. The planetary defenses, though, were insanely tight. If not for their advanced stealth systems they would have already been spotted. Aden, using what he named his tech-merge skill, was guiding the ship through the plethora of obstacles. They found that the amount of control he had when he merged with the ship was incredible. The only part that Twilight hated was Aden's seemingly lifeless body. He looked like a soldier she saw that was killed by a poisonous insect on Klendathu. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- “Wait, what?” Rainbow interrupted, “When the hay were you on this Climb-a-foo or whatever?” “Klendathu,” Twilight corrected, “It was a rescue op just after Christmas. There were a couple missions I skipped. Nothing of importance happened, and I'd rather just get on with the more important stuff. I'll tell you about them later.” “You gonna tell them about that guy on Lib'tor?” Curt snickered. A brief pressure wave preceded a sharp pain on the back of his head as Twilight blinked next to him and smacked him with her steel appendage. “I told you never speak of that again!” Twilight yelled. “Alright, alright, damn,” he cried. “You're so violent.” She recomposed herself, “Only with you. Now, where was I?” --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- “They're watching the place like a hawk,” Curt pointed out several sensor emplacements on the screen. “Motion, infrared, electromagnetic, photon, antimatter, subspace distortion... they’re watching for everything. I guess we’re going to find out if this baby's stealth systems are really as good as they say.” “Take it slow and don't hit anything,” Seth ordered. “Set her down in that clearing to the south of the facility.” “Aye.” Aden started slowly toward the surface of the hostile world. They were all nervous. The six of them, alone and cut off from support. Even if support could get to the planet, they wouldn't make it to the surface. Luckily for them, though, the stealth systems proved to be as effective as they were meant to be. They very slowly entered the atmosphere, as to not form a visible fireball. Soon they were flying soundlessly over the base for one more, closer look. They were going to need to sneak in, find the weapon, destroy it, and get out. A plan formed in Curt's head. “We should bring Aden this time.” When everyone gave him a curious glance he explained. “His ability to interface with electronics will let us find the weapon faster and then we can use one of their ships to get back to our own.” “Sounds good,” Seth agreed. “We don't have a Puma this time, so we're on foot from here. Twilight, have your fighter on standby. If things get hairy, call it, teleport inside and provide air cover.” “Sir.” Twilight brought a hoof up in a salute. “Aden, you're vital to the mission. Keep your head down, and don’t do anything risky.” “Yes sir.” He reciprocated Twilight's gesture. “Raak, Debby, you're taking point with me. Curt watch our backs. Let's gear up and head out.” --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Twilight looked behind her as the hole in the air vanished once again. It still amazed her what the Alliance can do without magic. With their ship hidden, they made their way toward the facility. If they hurried, they would be in range just before nightfall. The way was mostly uneventful, with the exception of an incredibly fascinating carnivorous flower that seemed to dance in a manner that lured a bird to its untimely end. Unfortunately for Twilight, her squad mates pulled her from the amazing plant before she could finish her thirteenth page of notes. One minute, seventeen seconds was not enough time to make a proper observation. “I'll get you something on that flower when we get back,” Seth promised, “I need you to focus, Twilight.” “I was focusing,” Twilight countered, “and reading someone else's notes isn't the same as taking your own.” “Hush,” he said sharply, “You're a soldier right now. Learning comes after we get back alive. Now lock it up, we're close.” He nodded toward where a structure could barely be made out through the trees. “We rest here. Nightfall is in forty seven minutes.” Twilight knew she deserved that, but she still hated it. She had barely had time for studying recently and she hated not studying. It was like telling Rarity that she can't make dresses, or Pinkie that she can't throw parties, or Applejack that she has to let somepony else do all her chores when she's perfectly healthy. It was like a piece of her was missing. After about forty minutes Seth whispered, “Ready up,” and everyone readied their primary weapon. Seth had his LMG, Curt with his sniper rifle, Debby and Aden with their standard assault rifle, and Raak with his pulse rifle. Twilight's setup was a bit different. Usually, she would just hold a rifle in her magic, but for an infiltration mission the glow was too risky. To solve this, Aden set up a rig that mounted it to her back and connected to her visor. It aimed where she looked and fired with a quick application of magic to the trigger. Twilight had her two birthday presents strapped to her forelegs, pistol on her right and knife on her left. I can't wait to test them in combat. The thought startled her. Was she really looking forward to fighting? She was going to have to bring that up to Seth after they were finished. She hoped she wasn't starting to enjoy killing. She read about soldiers that fought so much they started to love the killing. Twilight was brought out of her dark musing by a hand on her shoulder. “You alright, Pony Girl?” Debby whispered. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a disturbing thought,” she answered, “It's nothing.” They waited in silence until it was sufficiently dark to make a move on the facility. The sun was gone and the world was awash with shadow. Finally, six dark figures emerged from the trees and made their way toward the Dratali structure, moving from cover to cover. The high wall towered over them with enemy guards patrolling along its top. Raak closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them, they shimmered slightly with a green hue. He scanned the top of the wall, seeing the life-force of the soldiers. Raak crouched low, pumping magic energy into his legs, and sprang the forty feet to the top of the barricade. Twilight and the others watched silently, waiting. Soon, a pair of bodies was tossed over the edge, caught in Twilight and Curt's magic, they were lowered softly to the ground where they were hastily hidden in a deep shadow. The guards would be missed soon, so they had to hurry. One by one, Twilight levitated the others up the wall, before being levitated herself by Curt. From their vantage point, they could see the entire courtyard and each building. There was the main building, with a garage and barracks attached, a guardhouse near the gate, and a separate building that looked like a warehouse. The courtyard was occupied by a couple armored vehicles, Viper tanks if Twilight recalled, and over a dozen soldiers. They made their way along the wall, taking out a couple more guards, until they came to the section behind the garage. Seth dropped a canister to the ground below, just before he jumped off the wall. After everyone else was off the wall, Twilight jumped, landing in the thick gel cushion. After sticking a small two inch long rod into the blob, it dissolved and evaporated. Raak, with his life-sight still active, scanned the interior of garage. He held up two fingers and pointed in the directions of the enemies. Curt nodded and pulled his weapon to his shoulder to peered into the sight. The optic system gazed through the wall and showed the sniper exactly where the two contacts were. Curt watched one, waiting for the signal from Raak the the other was not looking. A tap on the shoulder told Curt to take the shot. His sights were on the second before the first even hit the ground, the wall doing little to deter the projectile. The second fell just as easily. Twilight's horn glowed as she wrapped a section of wall in her magic and separated it from the rest. They moved in, weapons at the ready. Twilight replaced the wall and scanned the area for any magic. Relieved that they were the only adepts in the area, she gave a nod to the others. “Okay, let's get some explosives on these vehicles,” Seth ordered as he pulled out a couple explosive devises. “They're going to know we're here before we're safe, and taking these out now will do us some good.” As they were working, the door opened and a human engineer walked in. His eyes widened at the sight of the intruders. As he took a breath to yell, Twilight blinked in front on him. She drove her hidden knife into his chest while she, with her left hoof, pressed his face into her shoulder, muffling his cries. She eased him down as his struggling ceased. She looked down at the body. He was the first human she ever killed. It felt like that first Dratali she killed in a panic so long ago. He might as well have been a pony, knowing her people's origins. “Good job, Twi,” Seth said as he went back to work. “Stand guard in case more show up.” Twilight nodded and pulled her knife out of the now dead body. The rifle wasn't very loud, but it made enough noise that anyone outside the door would hear it and sound the alarm. They finished without further interruption. The bombs were set to a trigger that each of them had so no matter what, one of them would be able to detonate them. “Let's find a terminal, so Aden can hack it and find this weapon.” Seth headed out the door, leading the others through the corridor. Twilight with her blink, and Raak with his speed boost spell took out what few enemies they encountered. There were a few Dratali Converts, mostly human and aviva, one was korg, but mostly they encountered actual Dratali. Twilight killed one other human. It made her just as sick as the first. Thankfully, they soon found a utility closet and with it, a terminal. “Alright, Aden, you're up,” Seth motioned the tech expert toward the terminal. “Look for a map and anything that indicated the weapon's location. Twilight, you think you can learn that spell like you did those others and help him?” “Sorry, Seth,” Twilight shook her head, “It's an X-class spell; a spell that relies on a specific magic signature... it has to be specific. It's like Rarity’s gem finding spell. It functions by sending out a pulse that reacts with the crystalline atomic structure of gems creating a pulse of light that penetrates the ground. Her magic then resonates with this light and draws her to them, sometimes over great distances. I can duplicate the pulse and make the gems visible through the dirt, but that's all.” “That's alright, Twilight,” Aden said as he released the console, “I found what we need. There is a section of the facility's research area that's cut off from everywhere else.” “Alright, let's move. Time's running out,” Seth ordered. “Why are there no sensors in here?” asked Twilight. “Military instillations never waste money on those, only civilians. They're too easy to bypass and disable to rely on,” Seth explained. “It means there are more soldiers patrolling, save any further questions for our victory party. Where to, Aden?” “Follow me.” --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- “Just over a dozen,” Raak observed, eyes glazed green with his life detection spell. “Only four aren't moving around, probably soldiers,” Twilight added, her eyes matching. I wonder if Raak would appreciate the fact that he's using a Dratali spell, she mused for a moment. “The others are most likely researchers, what do we do?” “We kill them,” Curt stated, “Before you say anything, they would be executed in horribly painful ways if they survive this, so we're doing them a favor.” Twilight wanted to protest the killing of noncombatants, but Has-Ka had told her about the Dratali methods of execution once. As much as she hated it, killing them was a mercy, and it made her feel dirty. “Twilight, Curt, you take out the soldiers, we'll handle the others,” Seth told her. “On three… One... two... three!” The six of them stormed in, two shots from Twilight's rifle ended the two soldiers on the left, while Curt's ended the ones on the right. In seconds the Griffins were the only living things in the area. “Aden, get the door,” Seth pointed to a vault-like barricade. “I don't like this,” Curt said nervously. “It was way too easy to get in here.” “No shit,” Debby agreed, “I’m thinking it’s a trap.” “There’s nothing we can do about it for now,” Seth stated. “Let’s just hope they don’t know of our new assets.” “Got it!” Aden called over his shoulder. The others made their way inside the room. They each looked with bewildered expressions except Twilight. Hers was horrified. He fear apparently was well founded. The “weapon” was a large book, bound in leather as black as the void. “Is this the weapon? It’s just a goddamn book!” Debby said harshly. “No it’s not,” Twilight said in barely more than a whisper, “That’s the book that got me into this mess… That’s the Black Book.” “I’m not surprised that you remember it, Miss Sparkle,” said the familiar voice of an undead unicorn.