//------------------------------//
// 10. Planning the Raid 
// Story: Project Eclipse 
// by Borsuq 
//------------------------------//

        “How are they, sir?” Mane suddenly asked.
        E and others looked up, and saw that his question was directed to the Counselor, who just entered the dining hall. Ever since they recovered unconscious agents, the battered Hoof and barely-alive Los, from what used to be a Diamond Dog’s temple, they’ve been all here, worrying for their friends and wondering what exactly happened. Los was most adept in fighting from all of them, and Hoof in that term was considered to hold fourth place among agents. To see them beaten like that was shocking, at least. Balti was especially hit hard by that. She just kept staring at her brother limp body during the trek back, and hasn’t spoken word since. Even though, as all agents were trained in first aid, they patched Hoof up and she knew that his life wasn’t in danger.
        “Then again, I would probably not be much better if Filly was in such state.” he mused as he stood in attention.
        “At ease.” the Counselor told them. “I’m happy to announce that agent Hoofington has already regained consciousness, and is currently being debriefed by the Director.” he waited for everypony sigh in relief, although, strangely, Balti expression was still mostly blank. “You may all visit him once they are done. As for agent Los Pegasus, however, I’m afraid that news is much worse. The wounds to his throat were too grievous for medics to heal. He will never speak again.”
        Few of them gasped hearing that, E among them. He couldn’t imagine not being able to speak, even though Los wasn’t the chattiest of agents, this would probably still be a lot for him to deal with.
        “So when are we getting after those sons of bitches that did that?” Balti’s angry snarl pulled everypony back into reality.
        “We will discuss that once agents Crystal and Canterlot return from their mission.”





        “.. And then that Dog said: ‘the Diamond Empire has been reborn, and we will claim that which is rightfully ours: this world’.”
        E exchanged glances with Filly, who sat next to him in the Briefing Room, as Hoof finished recounting what happened to him and Los. It sounded insane, to say at least, the idea of a Diamond Dog that was actually made out diamond, but... they saw what the ruins of the temple under Badlands. They all saw what became of the one near Los Pegasus.
        “So the Diamond Dogs are rebuilding their old empire?” Crys, fresh from her mission with Cant, asked for confirmation.
        “Yes, they also began gathering Harmony Orbs and, if that wasn’t enough, had practically declared war on Equestria.” the Director replied. “Luckily, these new diamond Diamond Dogs, while seemingly smarter than their more common counterparts, have made a fatal mistake: they crossed Project Eclipse first. Agents,” he said loudly, making all of them, including still not fully healed Hoof, to stand straighter, “this is exactly what you’ve been training for. You are going to crush this so-called empire.”
        “Great.” Trot interjected once he was done. “How are we going to do that? I mean, sir, we don’t even know where they are.”
        “Actually, we know.” the Director told him, and turning around, he casted spell, making map of Equestria appear on it again, this time with blue point somewhere under Everfree Forest. “Agent Los Pegasus managed to attach his Beacon to one of the Dogs as they walked past him to retrieve Harmony Orb. Thanks to that, we’ve been able to track them.”
        E spared a moment to be amazed by Los durability. Any other pony would have been dead due to such wounds, and yet he managed to not just survive, but to give them all a chance to fight back.
        “It is safe to assume that this is some fortress of sorts.” the Director continued. “Of course, it’s underground, and judging by our readings of the signal, it’s very deep below the surface. Agents Crystal, Canterlot and Manehatten,” he turned to the mentioned three, “go to the temple under Badlands, since it is the closest one, and make your way underground towards the signal. Find wherever this empire’s main base of operation is, then infiltrate it and gather intelligence. I want a full report once you get back. Take some provisions and equipment, you’ll need it. I expect you to be ready within an hour.” once they nodded, albeit Mane did so hesitatingly due to not being used to be send on such missions, the Director turned to them all. “That is all, you are dismissed.”
        E, like everypony, saluted; wondering what was going to happen next.





        The next few days were peaceful, if such it could be called when the prospect of war with an empire loomed over the horizon.
        “Or under it.” E mused as he dozed off by the lake, with Filly using his chest as a cushion as she took a nap.
        He absentmindedly runs his hoof over her body, enjoying being here with her, not doing anything. They might start doing something once the pegasus woke up, but E was content as he was. Alicorns knew when they could rest like this next time.
        The three ponies sent to Diamond Dogs stronghold hasn’t returned yet, but they reported regularly to the Director, so they knew they were safe. The Director mentioned to agents that they found the location of the enemy base, but would share the details once they got back.
That’s not to say that they weren’t slightly nervous. After all, those Diamond Dogs were dangerous enough that just one of them could beat two agents easily. The one that was worried the most was Cloud, and nopony blamed her. They had to remind her few times how good Mane was, and that he was with Crys and Cant, two most experienced agents, so the risk that something would happen to him was minimal.
Hoof was let out of the infirmary, being completely healed in body, but not in pride. While he was most prideful of his ‘love conquests’, he was quite pleased in his fighting skills too. E also suspected that the unicorn felt guilty for Los injury, and was eager to pay that Diamond Dog back. That is not to say that he didn’t try to flirt with mares, of course. Balti, while for some time acted more... well, like a sister around her twin, quickly returned to her usual attitude after she saw him talking with Cloud.
Los, on the other hoof, was still in infirmary. Everypony visited him few times, and saw that he was much better now. He couldn’t speak, and when he tried, his throat gave out a horrifying sound, but they were still able to communicate through writing. Not surprisingly, he was as shy with written words as earlier with spoken words. Most of which he wrote resolved around dogs and ripping something.
A yawn was registered by his mind, and he glanced down to see Filly wake up.
“Afternoon.” E told her, caressing her belly. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes.” she replied in half-yawn. “But I am still sleepy. Can you help me wake up?”
“Sure. Any preferences?”
Filly shot him a sleepy grin.
“Hmm... let’s see if placing your muzzle between my hind legs can do the trick.”





Two days later, they all stood in the briefing room, with Crys, Cant and Mane back from the mission and Los out of infirmary. Unlike previously, however, they now gathered around a table.
“You may begin.” the Director told Crys, who nodded.
“We found their base of operation.” she began, flashing her horn. The runes imprinted on the table reacted and soon a projection of a city appeared. “It’s called Diamond City, and it used to be the capital of the Diamond Empire.”
E looked at the huge city which, if he got the scale right, was twice to size of Canterlot. Around it was a very, very specious cave, making him wonder how such huge empty space could exist underground. The city was protected by long and big walls, although here and there portions of it crumbled, even if it was still impossible to get to the inside. A huge gate was in front of it, but E doubted they would just let them in. There were many buildings inside, many of which laid in ruin, but the earth pony concentrated on the biggest one, so colossal that it made almost all of northern part of Diamond City.
“That is the Imperial Palace: our main objective.” Crys said, pointing at it. “That’s where Emperor Huang Li resides. He is the one in that mask that fought you.” she added, glancing at Hoof and Los, as the image of him appeared over the city. “From what we were able to gather, he and his pack, Steel Muzzles, named because of the masks their warriors wear, once lived under Badlands, along few other rival packs. Once Huang Li became alpha male, he challenged and defeated alpha males of other packs, making them join his army. After that, he claimed the Harmony Orb from the temple under Badlands, and somehow used it’s magic to turn himself Diamond, as well as those who followed him.”
“So that’s how...” E mused, slightly surprised that they could use magic at all.
“He lead his pack to the Diamond City; proclaimed himself an Emperor. He sent messengers to other packs, telling them that he reclaimed the power that was theirs, and was willing to share it in exchange for obedience. And so his empire grew...”
“Enough with the history lesson, agent Crystal.” the Director interrupted.
“Very well, sir. The frontal assault is out of the question: there are guards stationed over the entire length of wall.” she paused when few agents gasped, E among them. “This has, however, it’s positives. About seventy percent of Empire’s army is on them, meaning that once we sneak in, the resistance will have less numbers. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We will enter through here.” Crys pointed at the east part of the wall. “There is a sewer drain there, leading to animal pens, which are connected to the amphitheatre. There are many animals there, most of them exotic. Apparently, one of the pack that Huang Li contacted, Beastmasters, lived south in the tropics and brought many of their prized pets as offerings for Emperor. These pets are used either for his amusement and fight in the amphitheatre, or to serve in his army. In return, the entire pack was granted the Emperor’s favor and was diamondized. All of the animals are huge and dangerous, which is why we will have to be swift.”
“Balti, you will have to encase the lock to the cages in you hardening spit, so the Beastmasters won’t release them as we fight them off.” she told the other mare, mentioning her ability to change her spit’s properties from melting to trapping and such. “The noised that the animals make will deafen noises of fight, so none of Dogs will be any wiser. In case Balti won’t make it in time, kill the animals. They appear as huge reptiles, with some of them having shield-like head with horns, others look like bats but bigger, and some walk on two legs, and have huge jaws.” the images of said creatures appeared, and if it wasn’t that they all trusted Crys, they would have thought that she was making them up, such bizarrely they looked. 
“We should have no problems, as long as there won’t be more than three or four of them. After the animal pens, we will have to make our way through the amphitheatre, which will have more Beastmasters and their alpha male, Rasta, among them. Once we will be done with them, we will split into two teams: me, Cant and Mane will go plant explosives all over the fortifications, so we will have an escape route if things go south, and because this way we can quickly take out most of their military. The rest of you will advance towards the palace.” 
“In three days from now, there is going to be an important gathering in the courtyard, so their attention will be focused there. The gathering will be of three most important pack from Equestria, who are deadly rivals and refuse to work with the other, and the Emperor will have to chose which one of them deserves his favor, and which not, meaning they will die. As they will be busy, you are to take the two Harmony Orbs, plant the explosives and leave. You might have some problem from Guan Yu, the Captain of Imperial Guard, but nopony should be able to hear you when you’ll fight. Once that’s done, we will retreat to a safe distance and watch the fireworks.”
Everypony chuckled, amused by the thought of this ‘oh so mighty’ empire reduced to nothingness so simply.
“Bear in mind that this won’t be an easy mission.” the Director warned them, cutting off the laughs. “On the battlefield, not always everything goes along the plan. But I trust that you will be able to deal with everything. As our Number One, agent Crystal will be leading from the field.” he nodded to her, before addressing everypony again. “The mission starts tomorrow in o six hundred. I suggest you spend this time resting.” the Director paused to look half-annoyed, half-sternly at the three couples. “That is all. You are dismissed.”
“Yes sir!” the agents answered in chorus.