64 vs. The Slava’s Part 2
3rd Person POV
64 unlocked and entered Maxis’ cell, making sure to lock the door tightly after entering. Laying the map on the floor, 64 pointed at one of the black X’s over Trottingham.
“This is where I managed to capture Shura and her cronies last time, exactly 3 weeks ago. Their hideout was searched and scanned from top to bottom, but nothing was found. 2 other hideouts have been found in Fillydelphia and Mounty Carlo, but there wasn’t any sign of the Slava’s. Is there anywhere else that they could be staying?” 64 questioned, handing a marker over to Maxis.
“There are others… but they hold no chance of housing my family.” Maxis said carefully, knowing that holding back information wouldn’t help him much.
“Anything at this point would be better than what we have right now. Work with me Maxis.”
“I mean they are literally inaccessible without me. Only I know the keycodes needed to enter, and I feel they aren’t needed for this situation.”
64 nodded at the answer, not really needing to know about those. Without Maxis, they were useless.
“Alright then, is there anywhere that would be accessible to them? Any hideouts which aren’t on the map?” 64 asked. Maxis nodded, pointing to Smokey Mountain. 64 circled the point on the map and thought about it for a few seconds. “Wait… isn’t this where the Dragon was recently evicted from? Because he was spewing too much smoke in his sleep?”
Maxis nodded once again. “My family, we have been in the practice of establishing illegal mines for the sake of converting Enchanted Crystals into Crystal Dust. We can then sell the Crystal Dust for much more than what the actual Gem will go for. We used to use a slow and careful conversion method, which might have been slower, but always produced more potent Dust…” Maxis explained. He paused before continuing.
“My Ex-Wife Shura, was always about doing things quicker…whenever we had a situation to solve, she never thought of what would happen in the long run, she always thought about what results would yield right that moment. She had always this idea of selling Enchanted Crystals to a middle man to produce Crystal Dust quicker, but I always shot down the idea… with my incarceration, I can only guess that she went ahead with the idea and did it.”
“But this doesn’t explain why she would pick a Dragon’s den to mine for the Crystals. The Dragon took his entire hoard with him when he left.” 64 questioned, wondering where Maxis was going with this.
“She did not pick it… I did. When our first mining job was complete, and the resources in our cave were depleted, our workforces decided to go their separate ways, leaving us without a crew.”
“The Diamond Dog crew, the Desert Cave in the Appalosian Desert…”
“Precisely… Now Shura and I were arguing about finding a new workforce, along with the methods for Dust Creation. She wanted a slave force, using cheap labor for maximum efficiency, but I knew the correct way was to hire workers who would be loyal to us. There would be a lesser chance of one of them escaping and ratting us out, plus the work would probably be done with a little more care.”
“Let me guess… this is around the time where you needed the comfort of somepony else besides your wife?”
Maxis growled and shot 64 a dirty look before sighing and nodding. “Yes… a few days later, I found Siren Song… Shura decided to use my affair as a reason to sell me out to the Royal Guard, and a few days later, you were breaking down my door.”
“So Shura decided to use her own methods to sell The Enchanted Crystals to Ethaxial, and use Foal Labor to mine the Crystals out of the Dragon’s Den?”
“It seems so…”
64 looked down at the map and smirked, cracking his neck a few times. “Well it looks like I know where I know where I am headed. Don’t worry Maxis, when I find Shura, I’ll bring her here and shut the blinders. I haven’t forgotten out deal.”
“There is one more thing you must know.” Maxis warned before continuing, “In our renovation of the Dragon’s den, I designed a failsafe… In order to make sure that nopony would try and come snooping around, the Den is rigged to blow if any form of magic is used. This includes Pegasi Flight and Unicorn Manipulation. I know you use Magic somehow… so be wary of this.”
64 paused and turned back to Maxis, pondering what he had just told him. “So you’re saying… no magic then.”
Maxis nodded slowly and stood. “Enter through the base of the mountain… there is a secret path which would be used for an escape route, but I feel you can put it to good use. Make sure to blow the place when you leave… The Slava reign is over…”
Maxis then laid onto his stomach and closed his eyes, slowly breathing in and out, and shutting out the outside world. 64 stared at the prone Kingpin, before sighing and walking out of the door. When your family abandons you, some ponies just can’t take it.
64 left the Underground quickly, heading straight towards the Throne Room. Now with the information he needed, there wasn’t anything that Celestia could do to stop him. Opening the door with a soft kick, he strolled inside towards the wide-eyed Solar Princess and Captain of the Royal Guard, before throwing the map open and tossing it onto the ground.
“Smokey Mountain, that’s where they are.” He said seriously, pointing to the circled area on the map. “Security measures are in place, with explosives that are rigged to blow the place if any sort of magic is used within the mountain. Maxis wants it blown up.”
Celestia walked over to the map flabbergasted at the sudden outburst of the human, before regaining her composure.
“You spoke with Maxis Slava unauthorized?” She said authoritatively, to which 64 scoffed.
“Really? I just discovered the location of the Missing Foals, and all you can complain about it whether or not I had permission!?”
Shining Armor moved forward to intervene, but 64 was already speaking.
“And before you ask, I had a Lie Detection Charm on his Inhibitor Ring. Nothing he said was untrustworthy. Plus, what reason does he have to lie? His Ex-Wife sold him out, is going back on everything he worked for in his empire, and is using incredibly immoral tactics in a once proud family. He wants her dead as much as I do.”
Celestia kept quiet through 64’s statement, but Shining Armor still had a question. “Alright, so let’s say that this is where the foals are being kept, how are we going to pull off an extraction?” Shining questioned.
64 stood up straight and sighed, pointing to the base of the mountain on the map. “Look, apparently there’s an old mine entrance at the base of the mountain, and it head upwards towards the mining operations. It’s an escape tunnel, so we’re going to have to keep it open while I head inside and extract the children quickly and quietly. Shura Slava is most likely going to be there, she’s the Overseer of the entire operation.”
“So we know about the Explosives in place, but what about Enemy Personnel? What kind of opposition are we facing here?”
“As far as I know, Diamond Dogs, and maybe a few grunts in the Slava Gang. Nothing I can’t take care of quickly and quietly.”
Celestia stepped forward and voiced her opinion, “Let us prepare the plan for a Sweep and Clear Shining Armor. Project 64, you gather any materials you deem necessary for the Operation. Pack as lightly as you can...”. She had trouble getting her next sentence out. “Ghost… he was captured wasn’t he?”
64 nodded slowly, not wanting to be reminded. He was with the rest of the foals that were captured, so he was up in Smokey Mountain. The Slava’s had control of the Longshot Teleportation Spell and Alicorn Magic, so it would be a surprise if they were capable of Teleporting Across the entire Eastern Sea.
“He’s with the rest of the foals… we just have to get him out before he needs to feed again. I told him to feed before he went and got himself captured… but he might’ve not had a lot.” 64 said worriedly, cracking his knuckles with his thumbs.
Shining Armor reached and put a hoof onto 64’s shoulder, grinning confidently. “He’s gone through worse than this. You’ll see, he’ll be alright.”
“That’s what I said before I let him go on that job…”
Ghost POV
I felt shackles around my hooves, and my head felt as if I was just put through a blender on the liquefy setting. All I remember was a flash of light and the chains being snapped onto my hooves and horn, but I couldn’t tell where I was at the moment.
“Look at what we got here, looks like some weird bug. Should we just squash it right now?” A gravelly voice said, as a hoof pushed the side of my head roughly to the right.
“Shura says no damaging the good too badly… so make sure he at least arrives at his station…” Another voice said, before a bag was suddenly put over my head. I felt a punch crack the chitin on the side of my head painfully as I was sent to the rocky ground, yelling in pain.
“Shut it bug!”
More and more blows came to my body as I felt my chitin cracking and shattering. Green blood started to ooze out my shell with every blow, before they eventually stopped.
“There, his legs aren’t busted so he can walk. Get up!” A female voice said as the bag was pulled off of my head. I saw a mare standing in front of me, but it was too dark for me to see her just yet. “You are going to be assigned to cavern A1-13, so you better get moving before I have my boys lay into you again.”
She stepped forward as her face finally became visible. Shura Slava was staring at me with a malicious grin, before she put her hoof onto my chin and made me put my head up.
“You came so close to figuring out what happened… too bad I have the entire Police Force of Ethaxial under my hoof… The second you stepped foot onto Gryphon Kingdom I knew you were there. Every step you took, every Bit you spent… all recorded. Better luck next time Bug…”
She slapped me in the cheek before walking away… causing me to spit out a small amount of green blood from my mouth. She was walking away, but I needed to say something.
“He’s coming you know!” I called out defiantly, making her stop in her tracks. The two stallions at my sides grabbed me and were about to drag me away, but Shura put her hoof up to stop them. She turned and started walking back, scowling at me.
“That monster… will come. I know this for a fact… that is why I will be leaving him a little surprise for when he does. I know that pig of and Ex-Husband still in Prison will no doubt disclose our location, but what does it matter? When this mountain is nothing but a pile of rubble, I’ll have enough money to hold the entire Gryphon Kingdom under my hoof! They’ve been itching for a takeover of Equestria for a long time now… why not give it to them?”
I gasped at her explanation, more so about collapsing the mountain. “You can’t destroy the mountain! You’ll be killing everypony in here!” I pleaded, but she just laughed in my face.
“Oh, believe me when I say my team and I will be quite uninjured after the detonation… the lot of children on the other hand…”
She cackled and turned to leave, walking down the large dark tunnel. I yelled out at her, but no response came. “GET BACK HERE! I’M GONNA STOP YOU! YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIS!”
I felt a punch at the back of my head… and the entire world went black once again.
64 POV
I was taking a Chariot to Manehatten, with a Blueprint in my Satchel Pocket. I knew the only pony capable of building my Gauntlet was going to be Grey Streak, so I was going to pay him a visit. The design was complete, outfitted with retractable blades on both the top and bottom of my right fist. I felt bringing a sword would be too cumbersome for a stealth mission like this, and if I brought something small like dagger, then it would still take up my entire right hand.
It was raining pretty badly right now, with large black clouds overhead in the sky. Even if it wasn’t raining buckets, the dark sky would still be black due to the now lack of sun. I looked down at the city below and barely made out the shape of Grey Streak’s Creations, as I gave the down signal to the Lunar Pegasi.
“Hover down! I’ll drop!” I ordered. They did as I told them and drop a bit, allowing me to drop a rope down. I slid down the rope and landed onto the hard concrete below, before giving the Pegasi thumbs up. They flew off into the rainy night sky, as I looked at Grey Streaks shop down the street. “Hope he’s home…”
I walked to the front door and pulled my black hood down, not wanting to come off as even scarier than I already was. I knocked on the door a few times and waited for the answer.
“Jus’ come in! I’m workin’ on somethin’ in here!” A Manehatten accent called from the inside. I allowed myself in and whistled at what was being made in front of me. A large mirror with an intricate metal frame was standing in front of me, with Grey Streak wearing a Welder’s Mask and a blowtorch. “Yea? What do you want? Kinda busy right now!”
“A word!” I called out, causing him to turn to me and lift his mask.
“Oh wow, didn’t think I would see you again so soon. Last I heard you were in the hospital after fightin’ that crazy dragon thing.” He said, putting down the blowtorch and Welder Mask onto the front counter. I nodded at him and sat onto one of the chairs in the waiting area, pulling out the blueprint for the Gauntlet.
“Well I was, now I’m here. It might be short notice, but I need you to build something for me, a blade.” I explained, holding up the rolled up plan in my hand.
He looked at me with his widened a bit, but grabbed the plan in his mouth. He took it over to the counter and unrolled it, before eyeing it carefully.
“It’s a bladed Gauntlet, with a retractable blade. I measured the dimensions of the gauntlet so it would fit over my right arm, and it would be activated by my left hand pressing a button on the lower forearm. Twin Blades for an increased chance of vital injury, and—“
“This is bullshit.” Grey said simply, ripping up the plan with his front hooves. I gaped at his actions, before pushing him away from the counter.
“Dude! What the fuck! You know how long I spent designing that?” I cried out, looking at the ripped pieces of paper on the ground.
“From what I saw, I would say about maybe a few minutes? But seriously, that thing was so poorly made, if I was to make it for you, it would somehow burst into flames. Tell ya what, you just tell me what you want, and I’ll make it for you. Got it?” Grey asked, as I grumbled and nodded. Not my fault I wasn’t very good at designing weapons.
“Fine. It has to be compact, retractable, and able to fit on my wrist. How’s that sound?”
Grey pulled out a clipboard with a piece of paper on it, along with a pencil in his mouth. He wrote down all of the preferences and took my right wrist into his fore hooves, poking at it and tugging it. I didn’t object because I knew he had to make sure it would fit over my wrist.
“Alright, I can do this. In fact, fuck the idea with two blades on one wrist, I’m gonna make you one blade for each wrist.” Grey said simply, walking back to the clipboard on the counter and writing some stuff down.
“Woah, I don’t want both of my hands taken up by these things.” I informed, as Grey waved my objection aside.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. Look, I can literally do this overnight, so go ahead and take the guest room Blusa took last time. I’ll have it ready before the sun comes up tomorrow.”
I nodded and walked down the hall towards the guest room. It was a room with one bed and a small closet, pretty much hall somepony needed to spend the night. I say somepony because the bed was way too small for someone of my size.
I sighed and pulled a sleeping bag out of my Satchel Pocket, laying it onto the floor of the room. As I went to lay down, my mind began to wander back to Ghost and the predicament he was in. He and Applebloom were both captured by the Slava’s, and it was only a matter of time before something bad happened.
“Yo, quick question, how long do you want the blades?” Grey asked, poking his head into the room. I thought about it and answered.
“Make it 8 inches, longer if it doesn’t look long enough.”
Grey nodded and once again closed the door. I sighed at how quiet it suddenly got, hating these moments of nothingness. I just began to silently pray to whatever was out there that Ghost and all of the other foals stuck inside Smokey Mountain were ok, before closing my eyes, and going to sleep.