//------------------------------// // White Infiltration // Story: Twilight Plays EquestriaSide 2 // by SteelyThePally //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash's squad left their Galaxy at the safe grounds of the gigantic Warpgate. Twilight couldn't help but to stare curiously at the large, light green bubble-shaped shield protecting them from the battles raging outside. However, just because the Warpgate was a relatively safe area for the New Conglomerate's troops to rest and take a breather didn't mean that other military activity couldn't take place. Full wings of Reavers ascended and assumed intimidating formations, leaving in a hurry and painting the late night sky with their trails of bright blue energy. Platoons of both Lightning and Vanguard tanks (The Lightning being the lighter version of the Vanguard) lined up and sped up towards various points, breaking their massive line in smaller groups. Even entire squads of soldiers were seen boarding Sunderers, surrounded by five support Harassers, buggies sporting machine guns sitting on the roof. "C'mon, men. I know that we are all tired, but you can rest at Esamir. The travel won't take long, and we will probably have to wait for General Spitfire's orders." Rainbow Dash stated, not breaking her sprint towards the main building standing proudly in the middle of the NC's base of operations in Amerish. The group gave sighs and breaths of defeat. They knew how cold Esamir was, and how hard it was to fall asleep in such a harsh weathered continent. Twilight herself was drowning on her thoughts, ranging from what this frozen place everyone whispered about looked like to memories of her last battle. Inside the Galaxy, she was praised by many of the squad's members. Unwanted attention was her opinion on the appraisal. Reaching for the base, Rainbow climbed up the stairs in a seemingly tireless pace, rivaling with her troopers’ slow and exhausted steps. Most of them even had difficulties going up the large staircase leading somewhere else in the building. A few seconds of cruel climbing, and they were greeted by a half-open hallway full of consoles being used by assigned tank, fighter and transport craft drivers. At the very end of the hall was a small doorway, giving entrance to the facility's innards. Entering the base was a common sight for most troopers, but was new for those rookies and Twilight Sparkle. Terminals similar to the ones seen outside allowed soldiers to access it and incredibly replenish their equipment. What really intrigued them was the glowing white pods sitting against the back walls, which literally made soldiers disappear and appear in thin air. "Here. Just go through it, and you're Esamir bound," Dash announced calmly as she positioned herself next to a pod where a lesser flow of soldiers were passing through. To reinforce her order, she stretched her arm towards it. Her voice snapped most of the bewildered rookies out of their amused trance and made them march into the teleporter, leaving the hilly and forested continent of Amerish in the blink of an eye. Twilight waited for all of them to cross it and sheepishly walked into it, her body dissipating in a flash of white. Rainbow Dash chuckled to herself before following her friend right on her tracks. Esamir, Western Warpgate, 8:23 AM Cold. That was the first thing that Twilight Sparkle felt as she walked out of the pod. She unconsciously shivered from the freezing wind blowing hard on her face, momentarily making her bring her hands up to her mouth. Before her eyes was a large room similar to the one she saw in Amerish's NC Warpgate, but it had a striking difference: it was completely enveloped by a snowy aura. Using the rifle's holster to swing it on her back, Twilight used her free arms to rub themselves and preserve temperature. Even her metallic plates and the leather covering her whole body weren't able to hold back Esamir's weather. "Hehe, kinda cold around here, huh?" Rainbow jogged to her side and set a hand to Twilight's shoulder, signs of her breath escaping from her mouth with every word. "Y-yeah, t-that's pretty obvious..." Twilight replied matter-of-factly. "Whatever. I'll ask General Spitfire for further orders," Rainbow said as she brought up a small blue and gold-patterned bandana to the uncovered part of her head, precisely hiding any remaining facial features. Dash walked slowly away from Twilight, but turned on her heels. "Oh, you also got these neat bandanas. For some reason, the Warpgate prepares you for whatever environment you go." Following her friend's advice, Twilight searched around her neck for said piece of cloth. Her eyes went wide with surprise as she found hers, way bulkier than Dash's, trimmed with yellow-dyed wool. Pulling it up her mouth, she felt way more comfortable and looked around in the room. Soldiers seemed to have more clothing instead of armor here, and even their weapons were colored differently from the usual grey rifles and pistols. Twilight then gazed back at Rainbow, who walked from side-to-side as she appeared to be having a tactical discussion on a small communications device strapped to her neck. Out of curiosity, the librarian walked out of the room and to the carbon copy of the semi-open hallway containing the vehicular control panels. The flux of NC warriors here was slightly lower than Amerish's, which was explained to Twilight as she overheard chatter between two soldiers about an ongoing three-way battle to the west. The outside wasn't grassy as Amerish's, but instead it was filled with multiple layers of snow, flakes of it soaring from the skies. For some reason, she could see that the sun still shone up there. She was snapped out of her gazing when sounds of heavy footsteps came within earshot. "Just talked to Spitfire. The rest of the squadron will rest for a bit. For you, though..." Rainbow's gaze went distant for a second as she rubbed her clothed chin in thought. Even though she had that thick, pitch-black visor covering her eyes, Twilight could see a confused expression on her features. "Did she assign me to a different... task this time?" She tried to guess. "Yes! That's the word I was looking for," the sergeant exclaimed, but went back to line. "Well, Spitfire has ordered us to attack a pretty well defended AMP station... called ‘Nott,’ but she wants a new attack pattern there. We're sending three infiltrator units to disable the shields and take down the guards inside, and one of the three selected was you," explained Rainbow, using her light machine gun's holster to wrap it around her back and let her arms free. "Well... General's orders. Where do we begin?" Twilight asked quickly with eagerness. "Just follow me." Rainbow gave her a pat on the back and pointed towards the room where they first arrived. The duo solely walked to the main room and stopped right in front of a terminal emitting a blue hologram of what seemed to be a weapon outlined in gold. Much to Twilight's curiosity, there was a plate beneath her feet that conflicted with the dull grey pattern spread around the room. She then looked right up to face the blue terminal screen. "C'mon. Touch it." Dash reinforced what she wanted to do. Twilight did as requested and used her right hand to give the hologram screen a light touch. It flashed in white and then displayed a small text: "Welcome, Private Twilight Sparkle 45. Resupply, or change combat gear?" "It knows my name?!" Exclaimed the librarian, arm still held high to access the console. "Not only your name, but a thousand other stuff about your combat record. But that's not the reason why we're here. Spitfire asked you to change into Infiltrator gear. Just select ‘change combat gear,’ Twi," Replied the rainbow-haired heavy infantrymare by her side. She kept doing what Rainbow told her to and clicked on the option. It then displayed a large menu, showing off her own figure standing up in the center, rifle in hands and the list of equipment on the right side. On the left side was a small list of six options, all of them sporting names. Twilight concentrated on the Infiltrator 'class.' With one press of her fingertip, she was directed to the Infiltrator unit menu, her own figure now covered in a mixture of blue, white and grey spandex clothing. In her figure's hands was a large scoped rifle, larger than her Mercenary carbine. As she read on the right side of the display, it was named the 'NC-14 Bolt Driver.' "Don't be shy. See that green ‘Resupply’ button? It'll allow you to change from your Light Assault gear to sniper gear. It won't kill, come on." With a sheepish touch, Twilight pressed the aforementioned button and gasped as two metal objects emerged from the platform where she stood up. Her feet were now immobile, nearly knocking Twilight off the machinery as she swayed from side to side. The rest of the platform then opened and released an entire capsule, surrounding the panicking soldier completely and closing mercilessly around her. Rainbow's chuckles were the last thing Twilight heard before she was confined on the pod. Twilight was literally thrown out of the pod as it retracted itself inside the floor with metallic sounds echoing around. Her eyes were wide as plates as she noticed the new weight on her arms. Said 'Bolt Driver' was now in her possession, shining like water in the room. Her body was also different the moment she looked down: Gold trims passed through her slender legs. Instead of the baggy and sandy colored clothing made for the rest of the infantry types, she was now dressed up in a skin-tight fabric that felt incredibly comfortable and warm. Armor plates weren't present anymore, save for her wrists. Her face was gripped against a full mask, covering her face entirely. By passing a hand on her face, she felt goggles on her eyes. "Dash? How do I look?" She asked, getting a better grip around her sniper rifle and assuming a straight stance. "You... look awesome!" Dash replied, raising her arms briefly. "Now, General told me that you're invading the base with two other troopers. Don't worry: They are marksman as well." "Does being an Infiltrator change anything aside from the sniper rifle?" she asked, curious. "Yeah. You can turn invisible. Just look for the button on your wrist," instructed Rainbow, pointing to the mentioned part. Doing as she was instructed, Twilight pressed the small button located at her left wrist. Her heart skipped a beat as she could see her own arms and legs visually disappearing. She could see her outlines, but most of her body and weapon were difficult to notice. "Pretty cool, huh? Now just remember that it doesn't allow you to shoot, and that it overheats with time. Now let's get going!" Twilight nodded to her friend, turned off the invisibility cloak and followed her to the exit with new-found vigor in each step. For some unexplained reason, she felt different and more powerful. She was surely up for another adventure. Leaving the room wasn't much of a shock as it was in the first time. It seemed that her gear somehow kept her warm in Esamir's cruel weather. Rainbow herself already accumulated snow on her shoulders and face-gear with every step she took. Descending the same stairway she climbed earlier in Amerish, Twilight could barely see two figures standing in the middle of the snowy fog that was the Warpgate. So much snow fell from the skies that the constant green light emitted by the Warpgate's shields was simply a barely visible barrier. From the glow coming from their lower bodies, Twilight could tell that they were Infiltrators as well. Rainbow Dash rushed downstairs. "Privates Nightshade, Music, report to duty." She announced in an authoritarian voice, jogging around to face them. "S-sir, yes sir!" Both men replied shakily, taken off-guard by her voice and saluting to her figure. "You know very well what Spitfire requested! Here's the new member on your team! Now, c'mon, Nightshade! Grab a Harasser and move your asses to the Octagon!" She then moved Twilight to their sides. "When you clear the base from enemies, place those beacons, and we'll move in together with the soldiers deployed from the Capital Ship up above!" Dash then finally threw them three cylindrical objects, one for each soldier. Light beacons. "Sir, yes sir!" They all replied in unison. By that moment, Dash had mysteriously disappeared in the facility. The one soldier who possibly was Nightshade trailed off to the hallway containing the vehicle consoles without a word. That left Twilight alone with this 'Music' person, who appeared to be a rock from his unbreakable stance and air of seriousness surrounding him. He moved a few steps away from his original position and looked around for a second. Twilight sheepishly dropped herself on the soft snow with a hop and got by his side. All of sudden, a loud horn accompanied by two white lights flaring in the fog. Twilight jumped instinctively back and gasped, only to be met by Music's eyeless stare. "Here, Twilight. Our ride," he muttered, voice muffled by the mask. She simply nodded and ran by his side towards the lights, taking long steps on the thick layers of snow under her. By the time she arrived next to the vehicle, she was instructed to hop on the back spot. Music opened the door and stood up to operate the roof-turret, and Twilight was left with the passenger spot, exposed to the outside. It wasn't difficult to climb on the small piece of metal. Now on the Harasser, Twilight took a seat on the cold platform and waited for the buggy to trail off. As she had been waiting for, the car roared its engine and put itself into movement, snow flying off from the wheels as it scoured through the Warpgate's road. Twilight rested her back on the cold steel behind her and breathed behind her mask. She then took a longer look around as she seemed to have left the Warpgate, and the snowy aura gave space to a clearer sky and surroundings. Esamir itself wasn't very interesting: hills covered in snow, only broken by the strange purple crystal formations protruding from the surface like towers. The sky was painted in a light and relaxing blue, and the sun stood on the top as a jewel. The buggy continued to race through the road, leading somewhere Twilight didn't know. Music, the turret operator, kept quiet and only moved the anti-infantry weapon when he noticed something strange moving in the frozen plains. Nightshade, the driver, only hummed a quiet tune, which was awkward for Twilight herself, who started to hear a calm and relaxing guitar riff directly coming from her helmet. Silence reigned most of the time around the three snipers, save for the engine and Twilight's rifle constantly banging against the surface of the Harasser. The soldier on the back was now in deep trance with the song playing inside her helmet, staring blankly at the horizon. She barely saw that they were nearing their objective. Few minutes passed and Nightshade pulled the brake hard and the buggy went into a shy yet effective drift, throwing snow on a nearby rock formation. Twilight had to grip herself around the bars surrounding her to not fall off the vehicle. She followed both men as they disembarked from their transport and looked directly at the gigantic station standing proudly at the middle of the tundra. It was tall enough to look like the large outpost Twilight had helped capturing back at Amerish, but it looked different, since roughly 20 feet tall walls protected it from land troops. On the edges, large and circular towers housed anti-aircraft turrets on the top, and appeared to the defend a aqua-green glowing shield gate. "Okay, Twilight, Music. You two know very well who we're fighting here. The Vanu Sovereignty got those pesky snipers all planted around the facility, not to mention that there are some very good Infiltrators spread through the buildings to stab whoever tries to sneak into it. I'll be taking out the snipers while you two keep an eye out for hidden assassins and disable the shields. Then, just place the beacons and hold off any reinforcements," Nightshade ordered, already walking and climbing rocks to get a better view over the battlefield. "C'mon, Sparkle. We got an objective to complete!" exclaimed Music as he patted Twilight on the shoulder and started jogging through the snow. The fellow New Conglomerate sniper had no option but to follow her comrade towards the titanic facility. Temperature was threatening to freeze her hands and feet if she didn't keep moving. Even with the overwhelming cold wind and multiple layers of snow, Twilight and Music finally arrived at the shielded gates. For their surprise, no enemies could be seen at the top of the defense towers. They made well by invading the less patrolled gate. "Don't worry, these shields only stop vehicles from getting in... for some reason..." Music explained as he crouched low and passed unscathed through the glowing barrier. Twilight followed him quietly and examined her surroundings: It looked very similar to the large outpost on Amerish, except for the bigger size and larger number of crates and buildings. A road circled it completely, rays of the sunlight creeping behind the tall structure of the main building. Looking high above, she could see at least four landing pads, and most of them had small grey figures standing and aiming through strangely shaped weapons at the horizon. Her eyes went wide as dinner plates as a blue trail hit one of those soldiers and made his/her corpse fall from a deadly height. "We can't lose time. Pick the generator on the west. I'll take care of the northern and the eastern ones." Music then pointed at where Twilight should go with a hand. Both soldiers parted ways with knowing nods. Twilight still examined the base while sneaking on its farthest reaches, ears sharp for every little noise. At the moment, all that she could hear was the rather terrifying whisper of the wind and her slow, careful footsteps. Hurrying quickly and throwing glances everywhere, the rebel took cover by leaning her back on a crate and tucking her head to the outside. She nearly gasped as she saw an entire patrol of Vanu soldiers jogging in a squad formation, coming right at where she was hiding. Keeping her mouth shut and mentally shouting to not panic, the librarian froze up back in cover and mashed her invisibility cloak device activator. "I'm telling you, Fluttershy. Those filthy New Conglomerate ruffians stationed at the Octagon are undoubtedly planning an attack here. We should contact General Luna and ask for reinforcements." A familiar voice came into the rebel's earshot, getting nearer and nearer. "I-I know, Rarity. I'll totally contact her and ask for reinforcements right away!" Another voice, as familiar as the other one, yet shyer, rang in. Suddenly, the squad took a sharp turn right where Twilight was hiding. The soldiers were using skin-tight gear, which looked strangely ill-fitted for Esamir. In their hands laid true pieces of high-tech weaponry, most of them even containing neon-trimmed magazines and green-lighted cores. Their armor also had multiple aqua-green details, three of the members even having their whole faces covered by helmets with glowing visors. Twilight desperately held her breath as they slowed down and reduced their jog to a walk. "Wait... I feel an intruder here..." Rarity, geared up as an Infiltrator, stated to her comrades, eyes focusing on Twilight's spot. Cold sweat came down her masked face as she struggled to hold her breath. She was clearly exerting her lungs to their limits, so much that the pair of organs felt like they would implode at any moment. Twilight saw the world around her slowly turn black and her body go limp by the moment. That is, until one of the suspicious Vanu heavy troopers behind Rarity fell down lifelessly, a white trail disappearing in seconds. They all perked their heads as the sound of a sniper shot echoed in the air. "NC Infiltrator! On top of that building!" Rarity exclaimed and ordered, trotting away with her men and women towards the source of the shot. As their footsteps went away from her hiding spot, Twilight finally deactivated her cloaking device and sat down on the snow. Her lungs were quickly refilled with fresh oxygen as she rested and tried to calm down her racing heart. Rarity nearly detected her there, but thankfully someone saved her. "Just saved you there, Twilight. Now hurry up! We need to get those generators on overload ASAP!" Music's voice came into her inbuilt comms microphone. "Thanks... I'll get to the generators now," replied Twilight, standing up, taking one last breath and rearranging the sniper rifle in her hands and taking one last look to check if her way to the quite-near generator room was clear. She left cover in a hurry, running at a mild speed and throwing scoped glances from side to side. Twilight was passing right through a maze of cover walls and crates, all spread around a small open area surrounded by metallic buildings. Before her eyes, stood the room containing the anti-vehicle shield generator. It was like a cylinder with multiple glass windows showing the glowing cyan light that gave power to the shields. Thick wires left the structure and stretched their way to the gate. What she didn't expect was the sudden enemy soldier literally jumping out of the doorway leading to the generator. He gave a large jump and landed very ungracefully on the surface. Twilight froze up in place and instinctively crouched, setting one eye on her magnified scope and squeezed the other one for better aiming. She never used a sniper before, and considering the loud noises still playing up above in the skies, it seemed to be very powerful. The rebel tightened the grip around the weapon, tracked her target, who for some reason halted his sprint. Twilight exhaled all of her remaining oxygen and pulled the trigger. Blood cascaded like water from the Vanu soldier's head. He fell limply on the terrain, painting the white with crimson red in mere seconds. Twilight nearly fell flat on her rump with the Bolt Driver's recoil, yet she had a dumb grin on her face. Her mind snapped her out of the clean headshot she had done and back to the objective at hand. The shot probably gave away her position to any Sovereignty trooper nearby. Twilight sprinted like never to the generator. The room where it was situated was rather tight and claustrophobic, but such atmosphere was washed away by the large doorways leading to both the gate and face-first with the AMP station. The NC Infiltrator then lowered herself next to the control panel and started pressing multiple buttons, heightening the power distribution and speeding up the electricity to set the generator on meltdown. When she was done with her sabotage, the cylinder started to flash with both orange and cyan lights, flaring like a siren and ringing an alarm siren. Leaving her objective, Twilight scanned her bearings and kept high alert to notice any incoming hostiles to halt the imminent meltdown. Noticing that she was in a quite exposed area, she ran towards the same maze of crates she was sneaking past before and took cover behind a cover wall, sniper barrel on top of it and scope scouring the entrance to the overloaded generator. No one seemed to be around, hopefully. Twilight breathed in relief, waiting for the object to explode. "Two generators down. I broke the pursuit with the spandex-asses from before. How's the situation going on your side, guys?" asked Music on the radio, sounding a bit fatigued. "My objective is down, and no one appears to be around in this part of the station, Music. I'm just waiting for the meltdown," Twilight reported in, still staring at the distance through her scope. "Multiple targets down up on the landing pads. They never saw that one coming, guys. Strangely, I don't see any movement outside the walls. I thought that the Vanu high command would at least send some reinforcements." Nightshade completed the report, the wind blowing through his transmission. *Pew* Twilight immediately brought a hand to her shoulder after a hyper-sonic bullet whizzed right above her shoulder. The shot left a short graze on her skin, but enough to make the New Conglomerate sniper wince in pain. Turning on her heels, she desperately moved her head in every direction in a vain attempt to find the source of whatever tried to hit her. Her breathing grew quicker with every second, eyes wide and watering slightly with the pain. She used the scope to try and detect whomever tried to kill her. The rebel's heart beat faster and faster as she couldn't find anyone around in the area, but she did notice that the laser trail left by her opponent's shot was still dissipating in the air... This 'clue' led her scoped aim towards a standing VS sniper, rifle in hands and scope gleaming in the morning sun. The reflection little gave Twilight any advantage as she saw the barrel of the Vanu soldier's gun charge up with green energy. A loud *Pew* just like the one she heard before echoed through the facility. Diving for the nearest crate, Twilight successfully dodged the enemy bullet. However, her enemy wouldn't sell themselves short. Twilight quickly got up to a crouching position and slowly raised her head up her cover to take a look at where the sniper was. Her ascent was abruptly stopped as she felt the right side of her helmet and mask being thrown away by the laser. Hopefully, no physical damage was made, even though now part of her face was exposed to the cold. Twilight retreated back and sat her rump on the snow: Maybe, if she moved to the right end of the crate... Doing as her mind suggested, Twilight crawled up to the edge of her protection and sheepishly moved her barrel out to try and take out the Vanu marksman. A smile crept up in her face as she could finally see the Vanu Infiltrator standing up there, still aiming at where Twilight had lastly showed up. She had a clear shot. Holding her breath to steady her swaying long-range rifle, Twilight squeezed an eye closed, set the other on her scope, waited for the right moment and pressed the trigger. A flash came out of the muzzle and the bullet was unleashed towards its target. What Twilight didn't expect was seeing the Vanu trooper simply sidestepping the projectile with a single movement. They promptly turned their attention to Twilight's new hiding spot and shot her again. The laser landed dangerously near Twilight Sparkle, enough for her to feel the heat from the weapon's energy melting off her gloves. The NC sniper pushed the bolt and readied herself for another shot. "Celestia damn those snipers!" she stated to herself and winced afterwards, noticing that the wound on her shoulder was still fresh. Twilight quickly realized that she was confronting someone of a higher level there. Someone who was way more trained in the arts of sniping and marksmanship. If she wanted to get the upper hand in this duel, she had to play dirty with her enemy. Her cloaking device would surely help her in her task. In order to put her plan to work, Twilight stood up one last time and shot off the remaining bullets in a way that even she couldn't believe she did, performing the bolt action seconds after a projectile was sent. One of the bullets fired from Twilight's Bolt Driver fortunately hit the Vanu sniper. Blood was seen showering the clean snow as the hit target brought their hands to their right leg, apparently shouting in pain. Twilight smiled dumbly at her opportunity and activated her Hunter invisibility gadget, sprinting through the maze of crates and buildings like mad. Her destination? The nearby gate-tower. She could possibly get an advantage point over her enemy and shoot them out from the top of the large round structure placed right next to the gate. Running on the thick layers of snow was an fatiguing activity for Twilight. If not by her determination to complete the mission, and the quite tensing fact that she was behind enemy lines, the librarian would have dropped to her knees right there. Her lungs were absolutely freezing with each inhalation she gave, her legs sore and arms tensed up. Would she give up? No. She had an objective to complete, and a target to put down. Finally crossing the harsh path of accumulated snow, Twilight set foot on the metallic stairwell leading to the tower's innards. Sucking in more oxygen, she turned off her invisibility since the device was already overheating. As she went upstairs, Twilight felt a strange air of eeriness surrounding her. The tower split up its stairs to both sides and lead up to open windows overlooking the frozen plains of Esamir. In the middle of that, stood two gravity launchers, one going up and the other down. The NC Infiltrator breathed with confidence now, slowly walking to the gravity propellers. "Not so fast, rebel scum!" A feminine voice rung out all of sudden, and made Twilight Sparkle jump in place. Rarity. Her Bolt Driver fell off from her hands as a familiar greenish blast hit its surface. Now weaponless, Twilight turned on her heels to face whoever taunted her: The same Vanu sniper from before. Her face was covered up in a silver helmet, only broken by the VS logo stamped in a curious kind of glowing visor. Her body was distractingly outlined in a tight spandex suit, seeming even suffocating. Her arms held a large and apparently bulky sniper rifle, built in a curved and nearly alien design. Rarity holstered her rifle in the blink of an eye and jumped towards Twilight to strike her, a knife shining in her hands. The rebel tried to wield her pistol and shoot the incoming woman, but her attempt failed. The pistol bounced on the steel floor as Rarity finally landed on Twilight, knife passing right next to her ear. Blood dropped on the rebel's shoulder as a cut was made on her left ear. She kicked the Vanu loyalist back and staggered back in retreat, unsheathing her Force Blade. "Good, good. You're not like those awful rookies who don't even know how to pull the trigger!" mocked Rarity, swinging her serrated weapon in the air. Twilight was not affected by her taunt and rushed forward, raising her arm to stab Rarity in the head. The moment she could actually put an end to the Vanu, her arm was blocked by Rarity's forearm. Hopefully, the arm which she used to block her blow was her knife arm, but it didn't mean that she would get out of it, unscathed. The lady gave her opponent a punch in the stomach and an upwards blow to the chin, sending the rebel walking back with both hands on her face. Advantage was on Rarity's side now. She ran to her stunned opponent, grabbed the back side of her neck, brought it down and gave her a knee to the face. A crimson liquid stained Twilight's mask right where her mouth was, showing clear signs of broken teeth. How could such strength come from the most fragile unit of all armies? The world around her blurred for a second. Twilight shook her head and wiped the blood out of her mask, just in time to catch Rarity preparing herself to land a horizontal stab. Raising an arm, Twilight groaned to keep Rarity's blow in place. Her armplate managed to block the stab, and her opponent apparently loosened the grip around her handle. The librarian had no mercy: She kicked the Vanu scientist on the stomach, spun on her heels and came clashing against Rarity's face like a bomb. She brought both hands to her face, feigning pain, and backed away from the freedom fighter. Her trap could actually work. When Twilight advanced with total strength on her right shoulder for a bash, Rarity dodged the attack and quickly positioned herself on her enemy's side. She clenched her hand into a fist and delivered a crushing strike on Twilight's head, already readying herself for the ultimate stab. Well, what she hadn't planned was Twilight staggering long enough to reach for the gravity launchers. A loud shriek of panic was heard across the station as Twilight was propelled up by the advanced elevator and brought to the tower's ceiling. She stopped screaming the moment she landed on the hard steel surface with a tremendous noise. Air escaped her lips, and she fought to recover it. Grabbing her knife that was only a few meters from her hands, Twilight winced in pain but brought her hands up her face, the knife's edge pointed to the blue skies. Rarity's figure emerged from the same hole in the ceiling, blade held high to end her fellow rebel. Twilight's eyes went wide and she rolled to the left, avoiding the strike with precision. "Damned terrorist! Stay in place!" she yelled furiously, removing the plunged knife in rage. Twilight's lungs were almost emptied as Rarity gave her chest a heavy punch. She crawled on top of the partially-stunned NC sniper, tightened the grip around the handle, raised her arms and came down with the fury of a storm. Twilight was quick enough, and grabbed her wrists before the edge could rip through her skin. Her goggles cracked from the sudden pressure, showering her eyes in a rain of small, pitch black glass drops. Ignoring this fact and concentrating her strength on her enemy's wrists, the librarian's mind rushed madly to find a way out... Then an idea came. Using all of her muscles to keep the hostile blade with a single arm, Twilight grunted loudly and reached for her dropped Mag-Cutter. It was time to break free: The edge came falling on Rarity's stretched limbs and dug deep into her flesh, reaching for the bone. The Vanu marksman yelled and screamed in pure pain, allowing her own knife to fall into Twilight's hand. Left hurt and exposed to an attack, the VS sniper continued to hold her wounds in desperation, leaving an opening to Twilight. Everything around Twilight Sparkle went slow as she grabbed the Force-Blade in midair and swung its tip towards Rarity. The movement opened a large cut on her forehead, but now wasn't the time to count gashes. With one, forceful yet tired push, Rarity's own blade stabbed herself on the chest. Her screams came to an end as her body went limp and was submitted to Twilight's still tense arms, who seemed to be nearly crushing the wrists. Realizing that her enemy was now dead, Twilight pushed the corpse aside and winced multiple times at her bruises and cuts. Wiping out the blood on her forehead, she sucked in lots of cold oxygen to her nearly empty lungs, holding a hand. She still had one goal to complete: Setup the beacon. The device was clanking together with her belt equipment and thankfully wasn't damaged. Twilight removed it from her waist and opened the small legs to place it on the floor. It fixated itself to the new surface, ready to be deployed. The NC sniper then quickly pressed a series of buttons on the sides. A blinding beam of light emerged from the top and stretched its way to the clouds. "This is Gleaming Shield's commander... thanks for the signal, guys. We're dropping reinforcements now." A voice came in the radio transmission, sounding way too relaxed considering the actual situation. "Make sure to let the boys capture the rest of the base, and to give 'em some covering fire." Twilight gave a loud shout of victory and threw her arms up. She still needed to recover both her pistol and rifle from downstairs to continue fighting. Her eyes shone with victory as another beam of light ascended to the skies. That was probably Music's beacon. "Guys... we haven't won yet..." Music stated seriously on the comms line, sounding both worried and serious. Loud, hissing engines roared in the cold atmosphere. The march of a thousand feet stomped the ground in nearly flawless synchrony. Twilight froze in place, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, staring at the horizon. She ran up to the edge of the guard tower: A whole platoon of soldiers and tanks guarded Sunderers, probably loaded up with entire squadrons of troopers. Up above, a wing of the Vanu's terrifying Scythes soared through the blue sky, defending two Galaxies drop ships. She looked up, and saw that the NC's drop pods were already falling down into battle. "Fuck..." And there came the Vanu Sovereignty's counter-attack to the poorly captured facility, travelling through the harsh environment to get back what was once theirs. Will the New Conglomerate reinforcements pose a major threat to the Vanu, or will they be mercilessly slaughtered?