Chapter 8
Prisoner 24601
The following morning I was woken up by my cell phone. Half asleep I reach for it on my bedside desk but I t wasn’t there, neither was the desk. I thought I was home in Night Castle but instead I was in my room on the NLRAF air field in Le Mare. I finally found my phone witch was under my bed.
“…hello?”
“Boy Whirl you sure sound ruff. Had fun last night?”
“If I could remember it I would tell you. What’s up Dashie?” I looked at my desk; there were two empty wine bottles on it.
“There’s somepony here in the detention center that you need to see.”
“Is it Shark Mouth?” I said as I sat up.
“No. He’s an intelligence officer; he was captured trying to escape during the assault on the fort. I think you might have a few questions you wish to ask him.”
“I certainly do. I’ll be here ASAP. Is he talking?” I put the phone down on the desk and put it on speaker mode so I could get changed and talk at the same time.
“No. Just his rank and number.”
“Then why do you need me there?”
“Your unique way of interrogation works. Cell 113, see you here.”
The base was calm that morning, properly most of the men were in the same state I was or worst after last night. I cursed the Le Mareian pilots for bringing in the ten crates of wine to the celebration. The NLR army took this base from the Imperials a few days after the invasion and it showed, buildings were destroyed but rubble was cleared from the pathways. The accommodation block was the gloomiest building I’ve ever seen but it remained intact. Unlike the HQ which had walls missing and hardly any windows. I made my way to the detention center which was in the basement, Dashie was already there.
“Any progress?” I asked her.
“None.”
I looked into the cell thought the one way mirror. Our Intel officer was interrogating the imperial. He didn't answer any questions he just sat still and stared at the door.
“Well this is going nowhere fast. Call him in.” I ordered.
The guard to the cell open the door and nodded at our officer. Outside the cell I finally had a chance to talk with the interrogator.
“What have you got for me Hot Plate?”
“Nothing sir, he won’t even answer the simplest question.”
“Okay. I’ll give it a shot.” I entered the cell, closed the door behind me and stood there for a while so I could size him up. It was no surprise to me that he was a Son of Celestia, they all were.
“Pétain fortress: The most secure and fortified position on this planet and yet you tried to flee.” I sat down in the chair opposite him and looked him in the eye.
“Now why was that I wonder? Are you a coward? Of course not, you’re a Son of Celestia you have no concept of fear. Neither do you have a concept of love, compassion, anger or pain…the only concept you have is too follow orders. So that tells me that you were ordered to flee. Why? Are you Solar Flares favorite little intel officer or do you have some information tuck away in your head that we could make use of?”
A blank look is all that I got from of him. No hint if I touched a nerve or found the truth, I had to step it up. I stood up from my chair and started to walk around the room.
“Following orders, heh. You know I use to be just like you, I followed orders to the letter and that’s what led to my downfall. The first order or the first commandment as it’s known in civiy Street was at risk of being broken so I did what I was ordered to do. I shot down my best friend and what did the empire do! They cast me out, I was on the run for nine months and in that time the world fell apart. All because I followed orders. But I survived and here I’am now using the same skills that that the Empire taught me against itself.”
I sat back down in the chair.
“You know what the empire taught me? To be the best and that’s all I wanted to be…the best. So I applied to many courses to better myself. Map reading, language, sniper school, marine assault, parachute and swordsmanship. I even did interrogation training. But not the kind you went through after all you were created to be the best. I was put through hell, I was beaten, humiliated and tortured. They tied me down the metal chair, very similar to the one I’m sat on now. They hooked it up to a battery, even you can guess what part of me got shocked first. I was beaten with sticks and poles even whipped with barbed wire. Ever heard of waterboarding? I went thought that as well.
Ponies ask each other why do I always where cloths? It’s to hind the scars of my past. I wasn't just taught to resist interrogation and torture I was taught to administer it. So if you want to go through what I went through then continue looking at the wall behind me, if not then answer my question. Do you have any information that could aid the New Luna Republic armed forces and her allies?”
He continued staring at the wall unfazed by my words. I got up and left. Outside the cell Dashie was silent and so was Hot Plate.
“Right, now it’s time for the big guns. Corporal.”
“Yes sir.” Answered the guard.
“Contact baseplate and ask them to send agent Sweet here as soon as possible.”
“Yes sir.” The guard was blocked by Hot Plate.
“Whirlwind please, not again.”
“Stand aside Hot Plate.”
“No I won’t! The last enemy soldier you had tortured by agent Sweet tried to kill herself with a polystyrene cup later on in her cell!”
“It’s the only way Hot plate, I won’t ask you again, MOVE!”
“No!”
“Corporal escort Hot Plate to an empty cell please and then contact baseplate.”
“Yes sir.” The guard grabbed Hot Plate by his tail and dragged him out. Hot Plate was still protesting as he was being dragged down the corridor. I went for a glass of water that was on a desk next to me.
“Does he have information?” Dashie asked me.
“I’m certain of it.”
“Well it has to be done then.”
“Unfortenaly yes.”
There was a long pause from Dashie. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her fidgeting. She lent forward to ask me a question a few times but at the last moment she turned away.
“What is it?” I asked her as I poured myself another drink.
“What you said in there, was it all true?”
Of course it was true but instead of telling her I just didn't answer, just like an interrogation. I think she got the message.
*
An hour later Dashie and myself were waiting for the arrival of Agent Sweet just outside the HQ. It was too hot to be in the HQ.
“How long is this goanna take!”
“Remember what happened to Twilight’s horn? She’s properly having trouble with the teleportation spell.” Said Dashie as she was catching some rays on a sun lounger. I remained in the shadow of the HQ.
“Why can’t Luna or Trixie do it?”
“Twilight needs to overcome this, and practice is the only way.”
“Fine.”
A few moments later and there was a pop, then bang just in front of us. It happened another four times then a pony appeared with their face in the dirt.
“Woo hoo! Do it again, do it again!”
“Sorry Pinks, one way trip.” Said Dashie.
“Aww well it was fun when it lasted. What do you need me for?”
I opened my mouth to speak but Dashie interrupted me.
“There a pony in this building that you need to talk too.”
“Ooooo just like last time?”
“Yeah but he’s so sad he can’t talk.”
“Oh no that’s terrible!”
“I know…can you get him to talk Pinks?”
“Sure I’ll turn his frown upside down.” She sang a little song and hopped her way into the HQ.
“She always blows me away. How can a pony be that excited all the time?” I said to Dashie as we made our way into the building.
“It’s Pinkie Pie, there not much else to it.”
“Okay fair enough. But I still can’t believe that she got into the Ministry of Intelligence in the first place.”
“What’s that supposes to mean?” She sounded a little pissed, Dashie stopped. I also stopped to talk with her.
“I mean, she’s a bit eccentric and nothing alike the other agents. I thought the MI would have laughed in her face, but they accepted her. I didn't see that one coming.”
“Sometimes it’s what inside that counts and not what’s on the outside.” Dashie trotted passed and down the stairs into the prison cell.
Pinkie Pie was hopping up and down just outside the cell door as Dashie was giving her a briefing.
“Remember Pinks no matter what he does no matter what he says, keep talking.”
“Gotcha.”
Dashie opened the cell door; Pinkie Pie was a blur as she shot into the cell slamming the door behind her. I was looking through the one way mirror and saw Pinkie Pie hopping around the room and even on the ceiling, I rolled my eyes.
“So how long do you think he’ll last?” Dashie asked me.
“He’s a highly trained soldier, it could take hours, days, even weeks.”
Suddenly there was a bang on the glass, it was the Imperial, I jumped backwards out of shock.
“Please make her stop! I’ll tell you anything just please make her stop talking!”
I looked at Dashie, she smirked.
“Now I wished I made a bet with you Whirlwind.”
We didn't get much information on Imperial positions, strength or numbers but we did one thing. The Imperial mentioned a VIP held by the empire here in Le Mare. He didn’t know there name, he only knew them by their prisoner number. 24601.
I knew who it was the moment he said that number, it had to be the defector, we hadn't heard from him since before the invasion and presumed he was captured. It had to be him. So naturally I started to hatch a rescue op along with Eclipse Squadron. The defector was being held in the dungeon of the palace of Liege Lord Prince Blueblood. When Le Mare fell to the empire Prince Blueblood was appointed head of state by Celestia herself and he’s been ruling over Le Mare ever since. I thought it was hide time for a change.
*
I had several meetings in the bomb out HQ discussing the assault on Blueblood’s palace with Night Light who I worked with on the Derpy rescue and Twilight capture opps. It was going to be simple, we get dropped behind enemy line via chopper, tab (walk) the 30 miles to the target and only at night, Earth and Unicorns scale the cliff face with ropes and then infiltrate the palace. Locate and secure 24601. Take out Blue Blood if he’s close by then wait for extraction via helicopter in the court yard.
“Any idea how may guards?” Night Light asked me as he was looking at lay out of the palace on my desk.
“Sadly no, but keep in mind, it’s Blue Blood. He’ll properly have any army guarding him.”
“So we are going after Blue Blood to?”
“If the opportunity presents itself. He’s just a side objective, 24601 is the prize.”
“Understood sir. What about the choppers, are they being modified?”
“They are indeed. I have somepony working on them now.”
“Will they get the job done and on time.”
I had Tune Up and some help from Hammer tech modify three black hawk helicopters for stealth insertion. Reduced IR signature, noise and increased performance by taking off a lot of armor.
“Trust me, she will. Are we done for today?”
“Yes sir. Are you in a rush to be somewhere?”
“I’m organizing the final element the ground assault on Parains with the army commanders in 10 minutes.”
Night Light looked up from the map, he was confused.
“It’s a perfect opportunity. The ground forces attack long the front thus drawing attention.”
“Do you think that is wise sir? What if the ground assault convinces Blue Blood to evacuate the palace and head to Equestria with 24601?”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take. Besides… I think the men along with myself can’t stand the heat in this desert anymore.”
“I agree with you on that one sir. I've only been here for a day and I want out.”
“Heh. So is it set then?”
“Yes sir. Only three more days to wait.”
“Good. The choppers will be here tomorrow morning, along with Eclipse Squadron. We can run a few practice flights in the desert tomorrow morning.”
“Understood sir.”
*
Night Light along with Eclipse Squadron and myself were waiting in the main hangar for the arrival of the choppers the following morning. When they finally turned up the helicopters landed just outside the hangar, dust was kicked up by the wash from the rotors so we had to cover our mouths. The dust tasted of sand and cement. When the dust cleared three futuristic black hawks blocked the light from the sun rise. It’s was a beautiful sight. I looked at my men, they were in awe. I spat out what dust made into my mouth.
“What’s the matter, never seen a done up black hawk before? Get your flanks on the choppers!”
The men grabbed their equipment and followed me the choppers. We were about half way to the choppers when the side door on one of them opened and Tune Up jumped out and ran towards me.
“Whirlwind, Whirlwind!”
The men marched passed her and on onto the choppers. She flew her hooves around me, I was trying to stop her from crushing my ribs.
“Well this is…unexpected.”
“I wanted to make sure your delivery made it here in one piece. Also I’m a little concerned.”
“About what, the choppers?”
“No. You.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Your flying into enemy territory on a vehicle I designed and created I would hate for something to happen to you, I would feel so guilty.”
“Hay don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine. I have confidence in you and your skills. Now I need you to have confidence in me a my skills. Can you do that?”
“I can.”
I gave her a kiss on the forehead then trotted to the choppers.
“I’ll be here waiting for you!” she called out.
“I’ll be back before you even know it!” I climbed into the chopper and closed the door behind myself. I kept my gaze fixed onto Tune Up as the chopper lifted off of the tar mark. When she was out of site I sat back in my chair. All of the men were looking at me, there smirks filled there faces.
“Shut up.” I said with a laugh before any of them could speak.
*
There was no moon in the sky that night, prefect conditions. The hum of the rotors was minimal; we didn't even have too raise our voices to speak. The black hawk rocked gently as we flew above Imperial controlled Le Mare. We were now 175 miles in enemy airspace and we had attracted no attention what so ever. But we still had another 200 to cover so we weren't out of harm’s way yet. I settled down for a nap but it was cut short.
Opposite me was Night Light and above him was a flashing red light. I could partly hear a voice coming from the cockpits computer. “Thistle Mock, thistle mock.”
“What the bloody hell is that?” asked Lead Stomach who was half asleep.
I saw a light in the night sky in the pilots side rear view mirror. I thought it was a comet at first but then it got closer and I realized it wasn't a comet.
“Incoming missile!” I banged my hoof on the floor, waking up the rest of the men. Some of them were lying on the floor catching some z’s. They got up just as the plot started to indicate evasive manoeuvres, the ones who weren't sat down and strapped in were tossed around like ragdolls. This continued for a few minutes.
“Number 3 is down!” said the pilot.
I looked out the window and saw the black hawk’s tail rotor on fire, it started to spin out of control and crashed into the forest below churning up the trees with it's rotor blades.
“Keep going!” I ordered. But it was hopeless, moments later we were hit. The chopper span out of control, the altitude gauge alarm was buzzing. Over the noise I could hear the pilot contacting baseplate.
“Mayday mayday this is hammer 1 we are going down, I repeat we are going down 4 miles east of waypoint 4-5.”
After that I don’t remember anything, I didn't remember the chopper hitting the ground or climbing out of the wreckage. I came to on the ground a few feet for the wreck, I couldn't hear anything, my hearing was bucked. I got up onto my hooves and saw the wrecked chopper. It was on fire and in three bits, the cockpit, the hull and the tail. I was in a daze, I felt like I was in a dream I felt like none of this was real but I could feel the heat from the fire and could smell fuel burning.
I was suddenly shoved to the ground; somepony hurled themselves onto of me. It was Night Light, he saved my life. I saw a whole tree that was partly on fire fall right where I was standing and onto the wrecked chopper. I looked at Night Light who was mouthing some words. I think he said “Are you okay?” I nodded. He helped me up, he started to lead me into the woods but I couldn't help but look at the chopper one more time.
About a half a mile into the woods we found the rest of the men, some of them were in bad shape but a vast majority of them were still fighting fit. My hearing came back.
“Ah thank Faust, you've found him.” Said Crimson to Night Light.
“What happed?” I asked them both.
“Two more missiles were fired, one hit hammer 2 and the other hit us.” Said Night Light.
“You were thrown from the chopper when the missile hit us sir. The wreck you saw was hammer 2.” Said Crimson.
“And hammer 1?” I asked.
“She broke apart a few feet off of the ground so we had a somewhat soft landing. I wish I could say the same thing about you sir.”
During the conversation Crimson who was one of our medics was wrapping a bandage around my head, I must have hit my head which explained the dizziness I felt or one of my scars opened up.
“Causality report?”
“7 wounded and 9 minor injuries, the rest are okay but a little shaken.” Said Crimson.
“Where are we sir?” asked Night Light.
“I caught the pilot saying we were 4 miles east of way point 4-5. So we need to head west. Remnants from the other choppers will meet us at waypoint 4-5. We will link up…then starts the long walk to the target building.”
“That’s 200 miles sir.”
“250.” I added. Night Light looked confused. I picked up a stick my mouth and drew a diagram I the dirt.
“We are here. Crash site is here. The waypoint is to our west. The missiles were fired from the north east so that’s could mean a SAM site or a hidden base. If we tab 50 miles south west we will put some distance between them and us instead of going west.”
“What about the wounded who can’t walk?”
“The pilot sent out a mayday, an evac team will come for us. We are close to 4-5, we’ll carry the wounded then leave them.”
“Sir!?”
“I don’t like it either Night Light but it’s our only option.”
“Why can’t we just go home?”
“Look, we are almost half way. Waypoint 5-5 is the halfway mark. If we were still in the choppers we would still have to walk 30 miles to the target when we reach the DZ at 7-0. It just a bit more, that’s all. Plus don’t you think the empire will be looking for us east of the crash site instead of west.”
Night Light looked doubtful, he was still looking at the diagram in the dirt.
“We’ll stick by you sir, whatever you decided.” It was Lilly Leaf and the rest of the men; they were standing just behind us. They had there kit on and were ready to go.
“So Night Light what do you say?” I asked him.
Night Light ran his hoof through his mane and sighed. “I don’t like it, but you make a good point. Okay let’s go.”
I patted him on the back.
“That’s the spirit. Alright everypony move out!”
We started to head south west then I realized something. The wrecks of the choppers, we needed to make sure they could fall into the enemies hooves so I order Rain Cloud and Easy Pesy to destroy the wrecks with explosives.
A few hours later and we made it to waypoint 4-5. We left the wounded in a good defensive position onto of a small hill. Staff Sargent Time Keeper who was not injured volunteered to stay behind with the wounded to organise the defense. I would not see any of them again. Night Light took the rest of the men out of the woods. I stayed behind for a few minutes and gave Time Keeper and the wounded my blessings.
I caught up with the rest of the men on the forest's edge.
"What was that all about?" Night Light asked me.
"Just some words of encouragement, and-"
My sentience was interrupted by the distant sound of explosions. I looked into the sky and saw three towers of smoke rising into the night sky, blocking the moon light. It was the wrecked choppers, Rain Cloud had rigged booby traps around the wreaks to stun the enemy patrols, they then would set off the high explosives to destroy the wrecks. It would'nt matter if anypony was caught in the explosion, the first order never existed. I knew then and then that dark times were ahead...and how right I was.
END
Part V coming this winter