Jet Stream was pleased to find that as she left the starport, the music in her helmet came to an end. She knew what it could mean if the song continued to play while she was around other people. Jet Stream managed to land Tom on the hospital roof near a medivac. It was quite unusual considering all the armed ponies down below. They had the hospital surrounded, but were making no effort to gain entry.
“Looks like Rain Sight was right about them attacking the hospital after all,” commented Jet Stream. “We just wait for her up here now right?”
“If she’s not up here by now, she might already be in trouble,” responded Scootaloo. “I say we go inside and make sure she’s alright. All those Diamond Dogs suggests she might need our help.”
“Good point,” said Jet Stream. “A word of advice, don’t wear your face cover. They might recognize you as an Iron Feather unit and pay no attention. If we find them first, we might be able to “take them prisoner” and bring them up here.”
“Good point,” said Scootaloo. She took off her mask but left her goggles on, while Jet Stream lifted her visor. The cargo hatch opened and they made their way outside. Scootaloo regretted taking off the mask immediately and felt like her face was about to fall off as the winds blasted against her. Jet Stream immediately closed her visor again, since she saw no point in exposing her face until she was inside where it was warmer. Not wanting to be out here any longer than she had to be, she quickly made her way inside with Jet Stream following after her.
Jet Stream stopped at the door noticing the broken lock. “Hey Scoots check this out,” she said holding it up.
“Ok, it’s a broken lock. So what?” asked Scootaloo.
“So the only other ship up here is the medivac Sweetie Belle was on. I doubt the staff would need to break their own lock to get in. Perhaps Sweetie didn’t get herself killed after all?” suggested Jet Stream.
“Well if we just happen to trip over her, I guess we’ll drag her along,” said Scootaloo.
“Are you still upset over what she did to Apple Bloom? You beat the crap out of her too you know,” said Jet Stream.
“I didn’t put her in the hospital. And I think killing my dad is a bit heavier than sleeping with my boyfriend. Especially after she pretty much told him to sleep with someone else. I’m only concerned about getting Apple Bloom out of there,” said Scootaloo.
“What about the others?” asked Jet Stream.
“We barely know those people. I’m not exactly willing to die helping them right now. If I run into them, I’ll give a helping hoof. If not, oh well. Anyway there are Diamond Dogs all over the place, so I don’t think this is the time to discuss this,” said Scootaloo. “Let’s just find who we came for and get out of here.
Scootaloo immediately entered the hospital before Jet Stream could take the conversation any further. Following her inside, she started to hear the same music that was playing in her suit earlier.
“Not this song again,” Scootaloo complained. She looked over to see Jet Stream happily humming the song. “Seriously Jet?”
“Sorry!” said Jet Stream. She had to be careful not to get caught up in this music. The last thing she wanted was to revert back to her conditioning. She shut her helmet's visor to help block it out.
“Are you alright?” asked Scootaloo.
“Yeah… it’s nothing,” lied Jet Stream. It had been years since she’s had an incident. She just had to keep the visor closed until they could get out of here, and she should be alright. “Let’s find the others.”
“So judging by the sound of all the screaming, and the annoying music playing on the intercom, I’d say they’re inside,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Thanks for pointing out the obvious. Now how about doing something useful like reading their minds and finding out how many of them are inside?” suggested Rain Sight.
Sweetie Belle paused for a moment to attempt to locate the intruders. “Nothing. They’re all very resilient to mental intrusion. The only thing I know is that one of them is flowing with void energy. It’s similar to void energy I sense in Sovereign, but…” Sweetie paused again trying to describe what she was feeling. “The void energy from Sovereign feels dark… violent… evil you could say. This void energy is just chaotic. Like its insanity incarnate. It’s clearly from a different source.”
“Ok, what does that mean?” asked Rain Sight.
“I honestly don’t know. Whoever this person is, we shouldn’t take them lightly,” said Sweetie Belle.
“He’s just a magic user. They’re hardly invincible. I think we can take him. I’m more concerned with all the armored ponies he brought with him, along with the small army outside,” commented Rain Sight. Before she could continue, the rail rifle was pulled out of her hands. “Hey that’s mine!”
“I stand a better chance against them. You should go find Sovereign and Apple Bloom. That was your original intent wasn’t it?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Do you even know how to use that thing?” asked Rain Sight.
“Sure I do. I just… umm…” Sweetie Belle inspected the rifle, not quite sure how to reload or chamber the next round. It wasn’t a powder based weapon, so it did have quite a bit of complex design to it. She fiddled around with the weapon and eventually a bullet fell out of it. Rain Sight sighed at the display.
Before Sweetie Belle could figure out how to use the weapon, Rain Sight grabbed it again. “You haven’t been trained in as a wide variety of weapons as I have. Let me handle the Diamond Dogs. You’re a psychic, you’d have an easier time finding Apple Bloom and Sovereign than I would.”
“Well… alright I guess. Just don’t get yourself killed,” said Sweetie Belle as she took off and started to search for her companions. Sweetie Belle levitated her pistols in front of her. The small caliber weapons weren’t much, but it was better than nothing.
Seeing Sweetie Belle had taken off, Rain Sight made her way towards the front entrance. She had no idea how many there were, but if she could take out their leader, it might throw them off a bit. She knew how to stay out of sight, and so far had been able to avoid any confrontations. It wasn’t hard to tell where the intruders were; just follow the sounds of screaming.
Rain Sight couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Cadians, even after what they had done to her father. More worrisome was the possibility that these nutjobs might find Sovereign and Apple Bloom before her and Sweetie Belle could. She also had no idea if the others had come through on retrieving Tom yet.
Rain Sight could hear screaming coming from around the corner. She took a piece of broken glass and used its reflection to take a peek. An elderly mare was being lit on fire by one of the Diamond Dogs while another cheered his companion on. A nurse that was with the elderly mare started running but was quickly shot down by the other Diamond Dog. The gauss rifle didn’t kill her, and instead blew off both her hind legs. She couldn’t see or hear the attacks from behind their visors, but judging by the knee slapping and pointing, she had to assume they were laughing at the cruel display. They didn’t even bother killing the poor nurse. Seeing her suffer was enough. What the hell is the matter with these stallions?
Rain Sight decided it wouldn’t be wise to take on the both of them, and retreated before they noticed her. She continued stealthily making her way through the hallways towards the front door again. There didn’t seem to be many Diamond Dogs inside the hospital. She had only counted three pairs so far. The majority of them simply waited outside, apparently preventing anyone from escaping.
Finally she was able to see the main entrance from the end of a long hallway. There she found two more armored Diamond Dogs, and a pink mare wearing a black robe and strangely enough, a t-shirt with a picture of a taco on it. She sat on one of the waiting room chairs as if she were just another patient. The other two guards were keeping an eye out for intruders, so Rain Sight had concluded this had to be their leader if she was worth protecting.
Rain Sight got into a prone position and set her sights on the mare. She only had one shot before the others sprang into action. As she was about to fire, the pink mare put a hoof into the air and waved in her direction. Had she spotted her? Quickly Rain Sight pulled the trigger and fired, planting the bullet right into her head. The mare's head shot back as the bullet collided with her face. Rain Sight felt certain it was a kill. Then the pink mare's head slowly leaned forward again. They were too far apart for Rain Sight to see what had happened, but the pink mare grinned at her with the bullet caught between her teeth. Her lips wrapped around the bullet, and she spat it back in Rain Sight's direction, taking off the tip of her left ear.
No way... that is impossible! Rain Sight thought to herself. She was so stuck with disbelief, she didn't even notice the stinging sensation coming from her ear. She had seen numerous magic users in the past, but none that could do that. The mare wasn’t even a unicorn. The mare clapped her hands together and the two bodyguards leveled their rifles in her direction. Rain Sight rolled right out of their line of fire before they could shoot. She was in trouble now.
She got up and started running through the halls. Unfortunately on two legs, there was no way she would be able to out run a pony in power armor. Already she could hear the sound of metal clanking making its way through the halls. Seeing no other choice, she regretfully discarded her rifle, detached her gloves and continued running on all fours. She was an exceptionally fast mare, and one of the few who could out pace power armored ponies.
She quickly outran her pursuers but was shocked to see the pink mare suddenly appear in the hall as she turned the corner. “Now that wasn’t a very nice thing to do back there! I could have been hurt!” she complained.
Rain Sight charged towards her in an attempt to punch the mare. With one hoof, she grabbed Rain Sight's front right hoof and effortlessly slammed her against the wall. One of the Diamond Dogs had arrived and was getting ready to execute Rain Sight. The pink mare put up a hoof signaling the Diamond Dog to hold off. “Wait a minute. There is something different about this one.” The pink mare stood on two hoofs and began to examine Rain Sight closely, even sniffing her. “You’re a Dark Templar aren’t you?”
“No I’m not,” argued Rain Sight.
“Liar!” shouted the pink mare delivering a backhand to her forehead. The force of the blow was incredible. If this mare wanted too, she could clearly have killed her in an instant. “You’re tainted with the void. I can smell it in your blood. I’ll have to kill you slowly. Take her outside. We’ll show her to Mercy.”
“Don’t you mean you’ll show me mercy?” asked Rain Sight.
“Nope!” the pink mare corrected. Before she could say anything else, blood began to pour from the pink mare's mouth, chest, forward right hoof, and lower left hoof. The pony behind her dropped dead while the pink mare froze in pain. Rain Sight saw it as her chance to make an escape and quickly took off down the hall again. The injured pink mare turned around to see a shuttle materialize out of nowhere. It pointed a large rail gun into the hall and fired on the pink mare.
The mare put up her hooves as if she was trying to catch the round. Somehow she did, but the force of the impact still smashed the slug into her, driving it into her chest and launching her through several walls. The shuttle outside then vanished into thin air.
Rain Sight was certain the pink mare had to be dead now. She had no idea who her savior was, but she was grateful. She decided to look for Sweetie Belle to inform her their leader was dead, along with at least one of her body guards.
Twilight was in her ghost armor atop a building rooftop. She had on a full face cover so no one would recognize her, but given the extreme cold she'd probably have worn it anyway. Rifle ready, she carefully watched the situation from a far. She couldn’t believe it, but somehow Rain Sight had survived the attack on the Iron Will. Unfortunately Pinkie Pie and her psychotic Iron Feathers were in hot pursuit.
While Sovereign was of great value to the greater good, Rain Sight was one of Twilight's personal investments, and therefore free game for Pinkie. Twilight had to intervene. While the greater good would be displeased with her attacking Pinkie Pie, and she was certain Pinkie would be upset as well, Rain Sight was far too valuable to let die just so Pinkie could fulfill her sick pleasures. That and Pinkie needed to be shown there would be consequences for disobeying her orders. Twilight was confident the psychotic mare would survive the attack, even if severely hindered for a while. Pinkie had survived worse after all.
Unfortunately due to the angle, firing any large caliber weapon at the moment would kill Right Sight as well. She needed to give her an opening to escape. Fortunately she had been working on a technique for just this kind of situation. Twilight aimed in on the Iron Feather standing next to Pinkie and shot her in the lower back. After firing that single bullet, the guard dropped dead while Pinkie dropped to her knees in pain.
Seeing the opportunity to escape, Rain Sight made a run for it. “You’re clear to engage Spike, let her have it!” ordered Twilight.
“Right away Twilight,” confirmed Spike. The shuttle, which had been engaged in stealth mode, had its weapons locked on Pinkie the entire time. Spike transferred power from his cloaking field into the weapons. With his rail gun armed, Spike fired a round into the mare’s chest, sending her deep into the hospital. The shuttle then engage its stealth systems before the Diamond Dogs outside could respond.
“Target eliminated Twilight,” reported Spike.
Twilight zoomed in with her googles which could still detect a powerful presence of void energy. “I wouldn’t be so certain of that.” Not to her surprise, Pinkie had survived the attack, if only barely. That mare was known for four things. Wealth, power, insanity, and an unrivaled will to live.
After a moment of silence, Spike sent another response. “I don’t believe it! I’m still picking up a life sign. But it’s very faint and most likely won’t survive another attack. Should I load missiles and finish her off?”
Twilight had to admit it the offer had a certain appeal, but Pinkie Pie was far too valuable an asset of the greater good. “I think we got the point across,” said Twilight. “We’ll let her off with a warning for now.”
“Very well,” replied Spike. “By the way. I just finished analyzing that footage of the shot you took. If I’m reading this right, you fired into the guard's lower back, yet the bullet exited from her throat. Then it entered the Prophet from the forward right legpit (armpit), out of her right nipple, into her forward right leg, then out of her right leg into lower left legs thigh. How is that possible?”
Twilight smiled with pride. “Magic bullet technique I’ve been working on. I call it the John F. Kennedy."
"That's in really poor taste," commented Spike.
"That aside, we should probably clear this place out," suggested Twilight. "I don’t want her “trained professionals” to fire another volley into the hospital.”
“But Twilight, didn’t you just order me to fire into the hospital?” asked Spike.
Twilight paused for moment, “Well it’s a very complex situation and... uh... proceed with orders and eliminate all threats outside the hospital!”
“Right away Twilight!” acknowledged Spike excitedly. He happily armed the weapons and prepared to combat.
Scootaloo had split up with Jet Stream in their search for Apple Bloom, but the two were still connected by radio. As Jet Stream was searching a room, something smashed through one of the walls and into another room. Being curious, Jet Stream entered the other room to investigate.
She found a pink mare holding a white hot slug that had been fired into her chest. Smoke was still rising from both the mare and the slug in her hooves. The mare pushed the slug off of her mutilated chest and said, “That… really hurt.” She got back up on all fours, clearly in pain, but somehow still standing. It was a miracle she was still alive, even more so that she could still stand. The mare looked over towards Jet Stream and asked, “Minion, what’s the situation with the hornless unicorn?” She paused to cough out a stream of blood. “Have we found him yet?”
Jet Stream looked down at the still smoking slug on the floor, and all the walls she had been smashed through. The round should have smashed through the entire hospital as well as the next several buildings, yet somehow the mare was able to stop it with her own strength.
“Minion!” shouted the mare who dropped to her knees. The effort to shout was obviously painful. “Did we find him?”
“No. We’re still looking room to room,” replied Jet Stream.
The pink mare got back on fours and was once again walking. The limp she had earlier was gone, and much of her bleeding had stopped as well. She was recovering from injury at a rather miraculous rate. “Well then, I guess you keep looking then shouldn’t you?” asked the mare.
The sound of explosions started filling the outside again. “What are they doing?! I told them not to fire on the hospital! It’s so hard to find good help these days,” said the pink mare. She looked over at Jet Stream and asked, “Well what are you waiting for? Get out there and see what’s going on.’
“Yes ma’am!” said Jet Stream. She didn’t know who this mare was, but something told her she didn’t want to upset her. As Jet Stream approached a window, she saw a shuttle firing on the Diamond Dog forces. Has the Dominion finally arrived? she thought to herself.
She noticed across the hall, some of the other Iron Feathers were preparing missile launchers to shoot down the shuttle when suddenly they all fell to the ground one after another. Realizing someone must have been firing on them, Jet Stream quickly ducked for cover, then poked her head and rifle out.
Jet Stream's visor zoomed in as she noticed a flash going off in the distance. Zooming in further, she noticed a snowy figure firing shot after shot. The figure was invisible, but the snow covering the armor gave the shooter away. Rain Sight put up her rifle and aimed in on the shooter. The shooter had now noticed Jet Stream's presence and attempted to point its rifle at her, but it was too late, Jet Stream had the shooter right where she wanted it.
Just as she was about to pull the trigger, her concentration was interrupted as a voice came over the radio. “Jet, is that you?” asked a voice. She looked right to see Scootaloo staring at her.
Spike decloaked and began his attack. His rail gun fired a slug straight through a raider's shields, while he launched a pair of missiles into another raider clearing the skies of any hostiles. He then fired another salvo of missiles onto the ground, destroying most of the devastator suits, while splitting another one in half with his auto cannon.
The Diamond Dogs returned fire, or simply retreated before Spike's unrelenting attack, but the powerful shuttle gracefully dodged any attacks and replied in kind with lethal accuracy. Twilight was certain Spike would be able to outmaneuver the mercenaries. She had programmed his combat systems herself, so she knew she could rely on Spike to get the job done.
Only a handful of the Diamond Dogs were fast enough to get a lock onto Spike with a missile launcher. It was the Iron Feathers, and they were about to fire from a window. Twilight however was quick to put them down on her own before they could threaten her personal shuttle. After a few well-placed headshots, every Iron Feather from the windows was dead on the ground.
With her shuttle protected, she let out a sigh of relief. Spike was a custom build after all, and losing him would be a great annoyance to say the least.
She then noticed one more Iron Feather who had hidden behind a wall. She had located Twilight and was pointing her barrel directly at her. Twilight’s life flashed before her eyes as she expected the last thing she’d see was the flash of the rifle's barrel. For some reason, the Iron Feather didn’t open fire, and instead turned her head to the right. That was all Twilight needed. She quickly fired before the Iron Feather could respond, and put a round clean through the visor.
“And that is a…” Twilight took a moment to zoom in further to find the Iron Feather lifeless on the floor, “kill!” she said happily. She wasn’t one to get directly involved in matters very often, but she had to admit there was some satisfaction to getting a job done herself.
With the Iron Feathers dealt with, none of the other Diamond Dogs were a match for Spike's ruthless speed and accuracy. Within minutes the only sound that filled the air were the howling winds of Cadia.
Twilight continued to scan just in case there was anyone else still alive. She indeed found another Iron Feather, but this one wasn’t in the Diamond Dog armor. She was dressed like a reaper.
“What the hell?” she said out loud. She knew several reapers had recently gone rogue, but what was an Iron Feather reaper doing here? Twilight was pleased to find that unlike the other Iron Feathers, this reaper hadn’t undergone training to resist mental intrusion. She must have gone rogue before her training had completed. Inside her head, Twilight found something very useful. A means to remove a certain problem without any direct involvement, which is how she preferred to get things done.
Scootaloo was investigating the hospital, still searching for her lost companions. Then out of nowhere, the sound of gunfire and explosions started coming from outside. Scootaloo dove to the ground to avoid any gunfire, then low crawled her way to the hall near the windows. Up above she saw a shuttle raining fury on the Diamond Dogs below.
She didn’t recognize it as a Dominion ship, but any assistance right now was appreciated. In the distance she saw some Iron Feathers getting ready to shoot it down. One of them however wasn’t taking part in the display. Her goggles zoomed in and she noticed the armor didn’t display a cutie mark. That might have been Jet Stream, so she used the radio to confirm.
Jet Stream had stuck her head out from under the cover of the wall exposing herself and pointing a rifle. “Jet, is that you?” asked Scootaloo.
The Iron Feather looked right, then met eyes with Scootaloo. This had to be Jet Stream. Before either mare could say anything else, Jet Stream fell to her side. Even though the tinted visor, she could see the splatter of brains and blood splash against it.
“Jet!” shouted Scootaloo who rushed to her side. She didn’t care at all that someone was shooting into the hall way at the moment. The only thing on her mind was her dead sister. “Jet, no…” said Scootaloo as she started to cry. “I’m so sorry Jet. I’m so sorry I never called you my sister. I’m so sorry for the way I treated you when we met. I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” Once again, Scootaloo was being overtaken with the grief of loss.
Why are you crying? Killing and dying is what you do. It’s what you were created to do, said a voice.
Scootaloo picked up her pistol and scanned the hall. “Where are you!?” she shouted.
Why in your head of course, replied the voice. Relax, I’m here to help you, not hurt you.
Now that Scootaloo was aware, she could actually feel it as if someone was digging into her brain. “Get out!” she screamed.
Not until I’ve helped you, said the voice.
“I don’t need your help!” screamed Scootaloo.
Every resoc needs help, countered the voice.
“I’m not a resoc. I was immune,” argued Scootaloo.
No one is “immune.” You were just resistant to it. But even if you have a resistance to it, you can still be susceptible to it if you choose to be, explained the voice.
“Well I didn’t “choose” to be susceptible to anything!” declared Scootaloo.
They never did find that HFB at the Belle's house did they? asked the voice.
“Of course not, the Dominion covers this stuff up. They just needed someone to blame, so they choose me because it was convenient. It’s how they handle these things,” said Scootaloo.
That’s only for important things dear. Murdering a couple of nobodies in a backwater is hardly worth a cover up. Take this into account. You believe you were shot when you tried to make a getaway, that you were knocked out afterwards right? Yet you have no bullet scar, nor did you suffer any kind of concussion. Kind of a big plot hole in your story isn’t it? asked the voice.
“I healed fast! That’s all…” said Scootaloo as she tried to make sense of it all. “I didn’t kill anyone! I wouldn’t do that to Sweetie Belle. I went to apologize, that’s all!”
You did indeed go to apologize, but they weren’t in the mood for that were they? They just kept screaming at you didn’t they? Screaming that it was your fault, shouting that you killed their little girl, that you killed your best friend, teased the voice.
“They wouldn’t shut up! They wouldn’t stop blaming me! I had to make them stop! I couldn’t take it!” screamed Scootaloo. She dropped on her knees and was now in full tears. “I didn’t want to kill them,” she whimpered.
Yes you did, you were created to. You’re a clone just like them. You’re an Iron Feather. You are 01. Killing people is what you do. Killing people is all you were ever meant to do, explained the voice.
Scootaloo stopped crying as she took in the voices words. “You’re right… it is,” agreed Scootaloo.
One more question then. You choose to let the resoc bury that memory. You buried it because you enjoyed it. That scared you. It scared you because you didn’t know at the time what you really were. But now that you know, do you still enjoy it? asked the voice.
"I did... I still do. I remember now," said Scootaloo as she smiled. "I remember everything," she continued with a small hint of laughter following. “Why stop at two?”
I believe you have a score to settle. Something about a certain mare who killed your father? asked the voice.
Scootaloo's robotic hands started to shake in anger. She picked up her pistols and continued her search for Apple Bloom.
“All targets eliminated Twilight," said Spike.
“Excellent work Spike,” replied Twilight. While she intended to keep her assets on Cadia for safe keeping, Pinkie has shown that was no longer an option. She would have to retrieve them herself and go with plan B. Once she was director of Dominion Intelligence, she’d be able to safely store them on Korhal. Rain Sight didn’t really need to be conscious to be useful anyway. “We’ll have to alter our plans. Deploy the retrieval unit. We’ll load up the assets and move them to a safer place.”
“What about the Diamond Dog fleet overhead?” asked Spike.
“I think they’ve just about overstayed their welcome. As soon as we have confirmation that Cadenza is dead, bring the fleet garrison and space platforms back on line,” ordered Twilight.
“The Prophet could lose some ships if we did that,” warned Spike.
“I don’t care if she loses half her fleet. She needs to learn her place,” said Twilight. “Is the retrieval unit ready?”
Spike had already landed. A bay door opened and a large robot on tracks exited via ramp. “The retrieval unit is deployed. We should have our assets shortly,” announced Spike.
“Good. Have you sent that other letter yet regarding Apple Bloom?” asked Twilight.
“No, it’s still in drafts,” informed Spike.
“Hold off on it for now. We might not need to bring in anymore outside help,” announced Twilight. “I think our Apple Bloom problem is about to take care of itself.”