//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Spark Mandrill Stage / Attack On Canterlot Castle // Story: Equestrian Heroes: The Meda Hero, The Crash Knight and The Net Ronin // by SoonToBeWriterBrony //------------------------------// MedaBee looked in his HUD display and said," What the heck is a Maverick?" "Don't know, don't care." said Shadowman as the group came to a stop in front of the throne room," But we'll need to take it out and the 'Bee Bladers' too. Whats the plan?" "Don't know yet," said MedaBee," But we might as well find out whats going on. Check your HUD and see if we have some sort of com-system linking us together, and lets find out the situation on the ground." "...ing, coming Maverick Hunters..." "Got something on the HUD," said Shadowman," Something about Maverick Hunters?" "This is Princes Luna, respond... MedaBee, Shadowman, Crashman... Team Maverick Hunters respond." "This is MedaBee, receiving you aloud and clear." said MedaBee." Whats the situation? " "Strange mechanical monster assaulted the main gate and broke though the stationed guards. Many of the royal guards are working with the Wonderbolts and Regular Equestrian Forces in stalling the monsters from entering the residential and noble district but we have lost the airship yard and the commercial district and it appears the monsters are heading directly towards this castle," explained Princess Luna," The Command Systems I received and rebuild from X and his Maverick Hunters identified the leader of this attack, Spark Mandrill. Taking him out might blunt the edge of this assault. It has been reported that Spark Mandrill has landed at the airship yard." "So we got a Command Center huh and we are technically Maverick Hunters correct?" asked Crashman. "Indeed," answered Princess Luna," MedaBee what is your plan of attack?" MedaBee though fro a moment before answering Princess Luna, "Ok here's the battle plan. Shadow, you take head off and assist the ponies in pushing the enemy back. How you do it is up to you. Crash, those Bee Bladers are bound to be as heading this way, see if you can ground them permanently. I'm going to see if I can keep that overgrown monkey busy. When both of you are done, I want you guys to beeline to me and we can take out Spark Mandrill. Got it guys?" "Roger Bee," said Crash giving him a thumbs up. "Got it," responded Shadowman. "Right, Maverick Hunters! Move out!" The three went towards their objectives. ** Noble District ** Shadowman ran though alleyways, over roofs and bee-lining towards the the Line. The Line is what divides the Noble Sector and the commercial district. There were panicking civilians running all over, mostly away from the Line. As he was free-running over the roofs he noticed a rather well dress pony fighting the flow of the panicking civies. Deciding to intervene, Shadowman jumped down into the path of the pony. This caused more of the fleeing ponies to panic even more but he didn't care. "And where do you think your going," said Shadowman to the startled and well dress unicorn stallion," Safety is the other way." "Whoever you are, out of my way! My wife is still stuck in the commercial district and I need to get to here.," said the well dress unicorn trying to shove his way pass Shadowman but is held at arm's length by Shadowman," OUT OF MY WAY! I NEED TO GET TO FLEUR!" "What does she look like," said Shadowman calmly," I'm on my way to the Line to subdue the enemy robots. I can keep her safe should i come across her." "You... you will do that? For me? For my Fleur?" asked Fancy Pants in shock. "So long as you get your but to the safety zone and you don't get in my way," said Shadowman. "Thank you... thank you" said Fancy Pants," She's a thin white unicorn with light pink mane. Who.. who are you kind sir?" "Shadowman. Maverick Hunter," said Shadowman as he jumped by up on the roof and rushed towards the Line. ** Canterlot Castle High Wall ** Crashman reached the top of the stairs and out the turret door to see a group of Royal guards rushing left right and center. One of them, a private by rank, was busy giving first aid to a Wonderbolt flyer. Many of the unicorn Royal Guards and REF were firing mana bolts at the four Bee Blazers. While not very effective, it did get the attention of whatever that was piloting the flying bee themed battle-choppers. "Oi," said Crashman as he rushed twards the fray," Back off and let me handle them." "And who are you to order us around," said one of the REF officers. "Crashman, Maverick Hunter." said Crashman," Now move and give me some space." "You heard him, let the Hunter handle this!" ordered the same officer," I hope you got this!" Crashman nodded before he dodged some gunfire from the first of the four Bee Battlers. The other three went after the retreating ponies as if to finish them of or keep them occupied. Crashman didn't care which but he needed to take them down and join up with MedaBee ASAP. Throwing a Crash Bomb at the Bee Blader, he was surprised to see the drill end of drill itself into the bottom end of the helicopter. Quickly consulting his HUD, Crashman found out that he can launch his Crash Bombs as well as using the drill end as a melee attack. Crashman dodged another barrage of fire from the Bee Blader and 'shot' a few Crash Bombs into the head of the first Bee Blader. As it detonated and started to spin out of control over the wall and into the garden, Crashman turned his attention to the other three Bee Bladers. The other helicopters were busy laying down suppressive fire at a number of wall turrets. "One down," though Crashman," Three more to crash and burn." ** The Airship Yard ** "Right remember what the cloud said," said Spark Mandrill," Grab what we can and high tail it out of here. Just hope the boss like the stuff we are bring back." "Huh so its a snatch and grab eh?" though MedaBee," Well lets ruin his day." MedaBee jumped out from his hiding place and started firing his laser cannon at the feet of Spark Mandrill, who was surprised and started dancing to avoid getting his feet shot. When MedaBee stopped shooting, the maverick looked at him and said," Whats the big idea? And who are you anyway. I didn't see you with the rest boss and cloud brought." "The rest? Boss? Cloud?" said MedaBee," Whatever. All I know is your going down you big baboon." "WHAT! I AM NOT A BABOON!" screamed Spark Mandrill," I will CRUSH you!" "Now that I got his attention," though MedaBee," Let's survive this." ** Noble District ** Shadowman reached the Line to see mostly what the database called Hoganmer running around and causing havoc. These Hoganmer were human-like reploid had a mace for one hand and a shield on the other. the Royal Guards and the REF were holding them at bay for now but unable to pass them to help out any ponies trapped on the other side. The Wonderbolts themselves were having trouble as these Hoganmers were backed up by Gun Volts, a missile turret on legs. These Gun Volts were scattered in various location, which only allowed the quickest of Wonderbolts to get into and out of the commercial district airspace. Equipping a MiniBomb battlechip, his left hand retracts into his arm and comes out a MiniBomb that he could use. Clutching the bomb he ran forwards and over the line to shove the MiniBomb into one of the Gun Volts's missile rack. Jumping out the way he saw the Gun Volt blew up leaving only the feet. A few Hoganmers removed themselves from the Line and charged at the interloper but to only get taken down by the Vulcan battlechip. The first row of advancing Hoganmers fell to the Vulcan pretty quickly and the second row quickly raised up their shields to only be attacked by the REF and Royal Guards. Shadowman has now broken the Line, giving the ponies the chance to turn the tide or at least push the Line further in. Shadowman could see that a lot more "work" would be needed before heading to MedaBee. However with the REF and the Royal Guards providing a good "distraction" Shadowman could search for the mare called Fleur. Leaving the Line and venturing further into the commercial district, Shadowman drew his signature and deadly MuneMasa blade and prepared a barrier battlechip as a just in case. Once in a while, he would find a lone Gun Volt or a rouge group of Hoganmers but they were easily dispatched with his katana. It was a long while later that he heard a high pitched scream coming from a high class boutique. Shadowman rushed towards the boutique to find two mares, one fitting the "Fleur" description and another unicorn mare with purple mane and tail. Switching out his MuneMasa for a Vulcan battlechip, he peppered the offending Hoganmer. The mace and shield reploid didn't know what hit him before it fell to the ground. Shadowman surveyed the shop to find it a complete mess, the mares must have barricaded themselves in the shop and only recently the Hoganmer broke though their defenses. Shadowman walked over to the two with the many holes in the Hoganmer and the barrel of the Vulcan still smoking. The two mares were still covering in fear but had magicked some of the broken furniture to use as makeshift clubs. Shadowman smirked, and then turns his back on the mares saying," Come on, I'll cut you a path." ** Canterlot Castle High Wall ** Crashman ducked for cover as the two of the BeeBlader crashed into each other letting off a very large explosion. Already he could hear the cheering of some of the royal guard as he rolled out of the way. Now eying the last BeeBlader, He armed and primed several more CrashBombs to be used in succession on the last BeeBlader. Rushing the last BeeBlader, he had to dash and dodge the missiles and gunfire that was aimed at him. The BeeBlader was also flying higher and higher to get out of the reach of Crashman and his arsenal. To bad for him, Crashman knew his way around explosives. Logging the Crashman in the ground, he detonated them to shoot debris into the air and onto the BeeBlader. WHile not doing much damage, it did force the BeeBlader down and within range of Crashman's bombs. Firing two Crashbombs into its cockpit, one into its bee like abdomen and the last into it's gunbarrel he watched the fireworks as the last of the BeeBlader's was no more. "Objective completed, moving to assist MedaBee." ** The Airship Yard ** The fight with Spark Mandrill was tedious to say the least. the Maverick prefers close quarters combat with a ranged lightning attack while MedaBee prefers long ranged combat. Leaving the two to dance with lightning and gunfire. Spark Mandrill knew that if they continue to fight any further, he couldn't get the goods he was ordered to get. MedaBee shot one of his rockets towards the Reploid and actually hit him. Blasting off one of his hands. Before Spark Mandril could retaliate further he felt something piece though his back and another though his shoulder. Turning around he saw another reploid of orange and red. "Bout time you should up Crash," said MedaBee as he reloaded his Revolver Arm. "Hey, you try taking out four attack-copters, its not easy MedaBee." retorted Crashman. Before Spark Mandrill could do anything, the two explosives on his back detonated, leaving him with a exposed back and a useless arm. As his consciousness slowly faded, he activated his self destruct mechanize to deny his enemy the chance to salvage and reprogram him, with a final death yell," LONG LIVE VILE!" Crashman and MedaBee shielded their visors at the self contained explosion, and look at the scarp of what was left of Spark Mandrill. Shaking his head, MedaBee went over to the previously blown off fist. "Well what now MedaBee?" asked Crashman," Who was he talking about?" "Don't know Crash," answered MedaBee," But lets bring at least some of him back to HQ. Who knows what those ponies could do with it." "Right," said Crashman before switching to his squad comlink," Crashman to Shadowman, where are you? You missed the party here." "A bit busy here," said Shadowman," They brought a lot of troopers and anti-air mechs. There are to many trapped civis in the area so I've been going back and forth rescuing them. Don't have much time to just wipe them all out." "Copy that Shadow," said MedaBee who has joined into the conversation," We'll back you up, I've contacted the princesses to come and pick up whats left of the Maverick." ***** The rest of the fight was one sided, with the firepower of both Shadowman and MedaBee, The REF and Royal Guards broke though the Line and easily routed them. Crashman took over Shadowman rescue operation and brought back civis who was caught in the crossfire,safe and mostly unscratched. Of course many of the populace were very weary of the three newcomers. Who were they? Why do they resemble the things that attacked them? Some of this questions went unanswered that day. Princess Luna looked over the remains of Spark Mandrill within the new Tech Lab. Princess Celestia was nearby looking though the report generated by the three Maverick Hunters. "Well, looks like your gamble paid off after all Lulu," said Celestia as she put down the reports," Indeed the Nightmare has brought herself a new ally." "Indeed sister," replied Luna," The technology and data given to us by X and his Maverick Hunters have proven useful. We already know what Vile is capable off. The only question is whether or not, MedaBee and his team can defeat them." "Well that is true but we will be ready Lulu," said Celestia as she got up and walked to her sister," We are already giving MedaBee new Trans-parts, Crashman some new abilities and Shadowman a set of Lighting based battlechips. Now lets give our heroes some rest. I'm sure the nobility and the rest of Equestria would want to know all about them." "Indeed, would we scheduled a ball in their honour?" asked Luna. "Why not," said Celestia," It will be a good way to introduce the Maverk Hunters to the nobility and as well as let the rest of Canterlot to get use to them." ** Elsewhere ** Vile smashed his fist into the wall as he heard the news from Magma Dragoon. One of the Hoganmers had managed to run back to the Volcano HQ without letting anyone know of their location. Spark Mandrill had fallen. While Vile did consider the muscle bound baboon expendable, what really ticked him off was that he was taken down by Maverick Hunters. While it is mostly speculation at this point, but what else could take down a Maverick who is several thousand years more advance than these primitive ponies. "Nightmare," said Vile though gritted teeth," I though I told you to keep a magical ear out for trouble." "I did," said the Nightmare Cloud," Whoever they are, they are either local or was brought in way before I brought you here. Either way, I think it is safe to say that Luna has disturbed our plans." "Right," said Vile," So that mean we have to be more careful. Magma Dragoon, get the Armored Armadillo ready for a stealth run. We still need those materials. Just make sure it's not the capital again." " I already have Armored Armadillo, Storm Eagle and Storm Owl ready to strike at multiple locations on stealth material runs," answered Magma Dragoon. "At least you have more brains for command and structure than the rest of the idiots. Carry on and report me of the situations as it h appends," said Vile with some satisfaction. "Yes Sir!" saluted Magma Dragoon before walking out the situation room. "Keep and eye on that one Vile," said the Nightmare Cloud," He's a little to smart for his own good."