//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: The Last String // Story: Ace Combat: Gryphon Wings // by Bwaak //------------------------------// Chapter 12: The Last String I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion. ~ Alexander the Great Military Academy, Gryphus, Griffin Kingdom May 18th 2020, 0640 hrs Daily life of the griffon citizens of Gryphus began show as Celestia’s sun continued to rise above. Although it was a bright and sunny morning, most of the citizens were depressed. A day had passed since the liberation of Pisa, but the victory costed a total of 63 casualties from allied forces; most of them were civilians. Yesterday, many griffons mourned for the loss of their comrades and family members who had died in Pisa. A massive viking’s funeral was held in Pisa as a last respect for the deceased. The dead Belkans however, were piled in a single hole before being burned like their allied counterparts, but there was no mourning for them. The only griffon who stayed beside the pit was Riddle, praying that his friend Orel could rest peacefully in the celestial realm. Those thoughts didn’t bother one griffoness as she made her way above the houses of Gryphus and flew towards the military academy. Gilda the griffoness held a single piece of paper tight on her talons as she neared the military academy. She just went back from Valdar’s throne room when the orange griffon called her in from her workplace, the former site of the Fortress Intimidation. The griffon king said that she had done her job well during the last few months, and he gave her status back as an official citizen of Gryphus, but under one condition: She had to participate in the war as a soldier of the Griffin Kingdom. Gilda snorted when she replayed Valdar’s words inside her mind. She really didn’t car much about this war, but due to Valdar’s request, she coudln’t say no. If she said otherwise, then her status as a refugee would be in effect again. After 15 minutes of flying, Gilda finally arrived at the military academy. Already there were multiple young griffons lining up to the front door, obviously excited about joining the army to protect the kingdom.         “Hmph, spoiled patriotic cubs,” Gilda huffed before she landed behind them. “I’m sure they will run back to their mommies after seeing what the real war is about.” Gilda took a deep breath before exhaling it, hoping that this breathing technique will help her cope the boredom of waiting in a line. She waited for an hour before she finally faced a member of the GRG who was in charge of enlisting the new recruits to their designated squadrons.         “Next,” the griffon spoke boredly before he faced Gilda. The griffon paused for a moment when he noticed the brown griffoness. “Oh, it’s you. They told me you were coming.”         “Really? Then you must know why I’m here,” Gilda responded flatly.         “Of course. Let’s see now, you are Gilda Fe—”         “Please, save the last name,” Gilda snapped. The GRG member just raised his eyebrows.         “Alright, let’s see; never enlisted in the army before until the Equestrian War, where you unofficially enlisted as Gryphus 3.” The royal guard glanced at Gilda with her returning with a simple glare, obviously not wanting to remember any of that. “Shot down and saved by Mirage 1 from the EAF forces over the airspace of the Fortress Intimidation. Status revoked as a refugee until the dismantlement of said fortress was completed...”         “Yeah, yeah, thanks for the history lesson, professor,” Gilda squawked impatiently, earning several looks from behind her. “Am I in or what?”         “I wasn’t finished,” the royal guard said bluntly, causing Gilda to groan in annoyance. The royal guard ignored her continued, “As I was saying, status revoked as a refugee, yadda yadda, fortress was completed. Once her duty has been fulfilled, under the orders of King Valdar, Air Griffon First Class Gilda F. will be joining Southwind Squadron as its ninth member to fill the empty slot left by the deceased and to strengthen the kingdom’s army.” Gilda paused for a moment when she heard that she was going to be Southwind 9. It wasn’t entirely a bad position for her, but on the other hand, she would have to listen to Ronin’s talk about honor in the battlefield, which was the one thing she hated about her. Still, it was still better than to join the medical corps, which involved her sitting around and doing nothing except to help wounded soldiers.         “Cool, I’ll take it.” Gilda said with a smirk.         “Very well, here’s your registration ID. Please fill it all in, including your last name,” the royal guard member said boredly as he handed over the papers needed to complete the enlistment. “Once you have done that, please move to the back to pick up your squad’s vest, communicator, and scanner. You’ll be leaving in the next hour under orders from the top.”         “Aye, aye, sir,” Gilda said as she imitated the GRG’s salute, annoying the royal guard. Once she finished filling up the registration form, the royal guard handed over a piece of paper containing a set of numbers: 11-00-19 and told her to give this number to whoever’s in charge of giving the squad’s vests, comm and scanner. She did as she was told to do on the next stand. She received the standard Southwind Squadron vest with number 09 stitched on the right side, along with the comm’s earpiece, speaker and a portable scanner.         “Cih, did they actually measure these vests?” Gilda said in annoyance when she tried the vest on. As she suspected, the vest barely fits her frame. Once that was done, Gilda, along with the other new recruits, were ordered to go to the main training yard to prepare for the long flight to Pisa. Ever since Pisa was liberated from the Belkans, the city was established as a secondary base of operations by the allied forces. From then on, all front line operations would depart from that city. Marcus and a few other radar and radio operators were reassigned there as Altair Beta; their job was to maintain aerial dominance over Pisa. Saetos would continue to monitor Gryphus, Talos, and Asgard’s airspaces as Altair Alpha.         “Move it, rookies!” another royal guard shouted. All the gathered rookies immediately took their positions in the training yard; all of them wore differently colored vests. Gilda took her time to get in position despite a royal guard member was yelling at her. It was Red Tail.         “Come on, move it. We don’t have all day!” Red Tail shouted, causing Gilda to glare at the much smaller griffon. Red Tail hesitated when he saw Gilda’s gold eyes piercing through him. It was like being glared by Black Star and Riddle all over again.         “Damn, why me!” Red Tail thought with a sad frown. Gilda huffed proudly before she continued her way to her spot. When she finally arrived, she scowled upon seeing a familiar crow griffoness standing beside her.         “Oh, it’s you, egghead,” Gilda said boredly to her, Rave also frowned and responded,         “Well, if it isn’t the alpha bitch. What are you doing here?”         “I want to say the same thing to you,” Gilda snorted. “I thought eggheads like you and that pipsqueak Hawksforth aren’t cut out for the army.”         “And here I thought that refugees like you weren’t allowed to be soldiers,” Rave shot back. “FYI, Milvus had already been recruited into a team.” Gilda raised one of her eyebrows in interest.         “Oh? Which squad was it, huh? The Med corps? Search and Rescue squad?”         “Task Force 017, Aquila Squadron,” Rave answered smugly. “He’s the fourth member and is currently in active service.” If Gilda was drinking a glass of tea or coffee right now, she would have done a spit take.         “I’m sorry, what!?” Gilda nearly yelled. Rave maintained her cool and smirked.         “You heard me, the little pipsqueak is all grown up and playing in the big leagues,” Rave stated, “while you, the ace of the Junior Speedsters’ camp, is doing nothing but refugee work because she wants a little attention, am I right?”         “I hate you, Ravencroft.” Gilda hissed. Rave just chuckled and responded,         “I hate you too.”         “Well that’s nice, Rainbow Dash is a squad leader, and now, Hawksforth is in a squad!” Gilda thought. “I wonder what Hawksforth is doing right now… Hmph, probably struggling to keep up with the others.” Secondary Base of Operations, Pisa, Griffin Kingdom 0845 hrs         “Uh, sir. Are you sure this is safe?” Kite asked nervously as he watched the glowing Zaubenschaft gem inside the modified band he wore on his right arm. Kestrel and Black Star also wore the same band and the modified comms while Riddle was busy typing on the computer.         “Valdar and I have tested this on ourselves, and the only risk we encountered was a sudden loss of stamina and energy from our bodies,” Riddle explained. “Other than that, this thing is completely safe for limited use.”         “Limited?” Kestrel said in concern. “Sir, with all due respect, can we wait until we’re in top condition to test this thing out?”         “Nope, war knows no time, captain, and so are we,” Riddle stated as he finished typing on the computer. He then wore the same comm and band before he walked towards Black Star. “You don’t see Blake complaining about this.” Kestrel glanced at Black Star, who remained perfectly calm, despite that he, Riddle, Kestrel, and Kite were about to test a new unspecified tech based on the Zeal of Exile technology. Black Star didn’t show it, but he was actually just as nervous as Kite and Kestrel about this. He was afraid that they were all going to end up like Frostbite.         “Alright, lads and lassie, keep your breathing steady, and don’t mind the small tingle on your tongues.” The trio glanced at each other, definitely unsure about all of this. Before Kestrel could object, Riddle already activated the Z.O.E. Mk. II’s, causing the Zaubenschaft gems on the bands and comms to glow red and blink.         “Uh, is it suppose to glow red and beep?” Kite asked nervously.         “The gems are trying to synchronize with each other, no harm,” Riddle explained. “And it should be done right about… now!“ A loud ping was heard from the comms, and the gems finally turned green, indicating that the four gems were now fully synchronized as a single power unit. The four griffons now felt an enormous surge of power rushing through their bodies. Kestrel gasped when she saw that there was a flash of green in Black Star’s eyes. She also noticed that there were multiple green veins visibly crawling up underneath her scales and feathers from the activated bands.         “Synchronization complete, power up successful. Our strengths are now linked, and we are in tandem with one another,” Riddle stated as he flexed his forelimbs. He turned towards his stunned subordinates and asked,         “How do you feel?”         “Wow, I feel I could do anything right now!” Kite jumped excitedly as if he was in a sugar rush. He spread his wings and flapped hard, causing him to nearly crash into the ceiling. Black Star and Kestrel were amazed at Kite’s display of power.         “Woah, that was close—WOAH, WOAH!!” Kite yelped again when he tried to stabilize his flight, only to find himself being propelled sideways by his newfound strength. The small griffon tried to control his flight, but was unable to do so. Kite soon crashed into the wall with bits and pieces of the wall coming off and hitting the small griffon. Kestrel quickly ran towards him in an amazing burst of speed.         “Woah…” the pastel griffoness thought before she stopped at Kite’s location.         “Milvus, are you alright?” she asked in concern.         “Actually, yes I am, ma’am!” Kite said with a smile. “That didn’t hurt one bit!” Kestrel was amazed beyond words. She picked up a piece of rubble and crushed it with her talons. Like Kite said, it didn’t hurt at all, and the rubble was reduced to dust.         “Extraordinary…” Black Star mouthed in amazement. “So this is the power of the Z.O.E.…”         “Well, a tiny piece of it,” Riddle stated. “Any more, then your body will burst like a balloon, unable to cope with all that raw power.”         “At least this power is enough to make any soldier wearing this thing invincible for a short time,” Black Star responded. “This thing does have a limiter, does it not?”         “I calculated that a 15 minute time limit for this thing,” Riddle said. “Any more will cause severe muscle and tissue damage, not to mention brain damage from overexposure to the gems.”         “I see,” Black Star muttered as he flexed his fingers, trying to feel the power flowing through his veins. “Then we might as well try it right now.” Black Star immediately flew towards the nearby window and opened it. The shining sun didn’t bother him one bit as he took a step outside and took flight. Kestrel felt that Black Star shouldn’t be left alone with all that power and followed suit. They were soon followed by Riddle and Kite from behind. Black Star can’t believe what he was doing right now; with this newfound power he could fly faster than he could before, achieving his top speed in less time than ever. He noticed that his senses were also enhanced, allowing him to see further. His reaction time had also been doubled. For the first time in 20 years, Black Star grinned like a little child and hollered,         “WOOOHOOO!!!” The dark griffon did a quick barrel roll before folding his wings to dive towards the ground. Once he was close enough, he spread them and flapped hard, avoiding collisions and flying back into the air at high speed. Kestrel also couldn’t contain her excitement as she maneouvered around Pisa’s tall towers, and thanks to her enhanced senses, she was able to avoid the hanging cables and wires which connected the buildings. Kite grinned from ear to ear as he challenged himself to break his top speed, not noticing that a trail of small colorful sparks began to form from his tail. Riddle, on the other hand. took his time to adjust his bearings and strength before going all out like the rest of them.         “I missed days like this!” Riddle thought with a smile. “Let’s see if I can catch that lad, Milvus.” With a great burst of speed, Riddle accelerated and followed the small griffon soldier. Kite was enjoying his time so much that he didn’t notice Riddle catching up to him until the last minute.         “Woah, sir! I never knew you were this fast!” Kite exclaimed.         “I’m half peregrine falcon, lad. I could reach your top speed in less time in my younger days,” Riddle stated. “Watch for the time. It’s already passed 5 minutes.” Kite gave Riddle a thumbs up before he separated from him. Riddle then ascended while maintaining his top speed. Kestrel went right past him as she was in a dive. The pastel griffoness slowed down and hovered, taking a small break from all the excitement. She chuckled for a moment before noticing Black Star’s rapid climb before disappearing into a puff of clouds. She smirked and went after him. Black Star came out from the clouds and did a double barrel roll before flying away, prompting Kestrel to chase him as well. The two griffons did some aerial maneuvers together, earning several looks from the griffon citizens in and flying above the city. Southwind Squadron, who was in the middle of their daily training session with Northwind Squadron, saw both Black Star and Kestrel dancing in the skies; they also noticed Kite’s rapid descent before the small griffon went right past their flight.         “Sorry!” Kite yelled before he zipped away.         “That was fast…” Ronin mouthed. Her eyes were glittering with amazement. “Faster than the Neighponese katana slashing technique… Rod, what do you think?”         “Yep, that’s the first time I saw a griffon flying at such speeds,” Rod responded. “If he were to accelerate more with each flap, he would have performed the Sonic Rainboom by now.” The two griffons then resumed their team’s joint exercise while Kite continued on with his test flight. The small bluish white griffon had learned that whenever he was farther away from either Black Star, Kestrel, or Riddle, his enhanced strength also decreased. He concluded that these Zaubenschaft enhanced bands and comms needed to be close together for them to work in full capacity. Kite turned and headed back towards the others’ location. Kestrel soon joined him on his left, then Black Star from above.         “Aquila squadron, we have 5 minutes left. Return to the main building immediately,” Riddle spoke through their comms as the blue feathered griffon entered their view from the front. Once they were together, they banked right to return to the main command building, located just south of the Torre Della Liberta. One by one, the members of Aquila entered through the window. Riddle turned to them and spoke,         “So, how did it go?”         “I’m loss at words…” Kestrel spoke with a light chuckle. Black Star remained silent and gave a thumbs up, although his smile was still present. Kite was too busy preening his feathers while chuckling like a child to respond. Riddle took the reactions as a positive feedback from them and prepared to deactivate the gems. The four griffons immediately felt their stamina and power being drained away as the gems flickered for a bit before sorting out. Kit,e who still had that goofy smile on his beak, slumped on the ground and spoke,         “Besides that, I’m… I mean my head is spinning right now…” he panted. “My body feels like shit… but… it was worth it…”         “Uhh, these side effects could prove dangerous if we’re in the battlefield…” Kestrel spoke tiredly.         “Yeah, I still need to fix this for a bit more…” Riddle responded. He then told them to gather the Z.O.E. Mk. II’s  before he stored the devices for safe keeping. Suddenly, a GRG member opened the door and said,         “Sir Wonderfalke, the king has an emergency sortie for you and your team.” 0910 hrs         “What’s the SITREP, Marcus?” Riddle asked the young griffon after he and the rest of Aquila squadron entered the briefing room. Marcus explained that intel had tracked four transports which had taken off from Hoffnung, Belka’s former industrial city which was destroyed by arson committed by the Belkans.         “For now, the transports have already arrived on the Mount Schrim quarry. We suspect that the mining site stores the weapons they stole from Gryphon Technologies, and they are currently trying to bring them back to Sudentor.”         “In order to feed those four massive railguns,” Kestrel finished.         “Correct, captain.” Marcus nodded. “That’s why we need to intercept these transports before they arrive at Sudentor.” Marcus motioned several griffon officers working on the computers to display the map on the main monitor. The officers did what they were told, and the map was soon displayed. Four red arrows marked as TGTs made their way from the mining site and stopped at the red dot marked as Sudentor.         “We calculated the interception route so your squadron, along with two additional teams, can move in and secure the cargo of these transports,” Marcus explained. “Due to the urgency of this mission, you will be briefed on the way to the rendezvous point. You will meet the two additional squadrons outside. That is all.”         “Thank you, Lieutenant,” Riddle said. Marcus responded with a salute. Not a minute to lose, Aquila squadron exited the room and headed towards the main exit. Once they were outside, they saw both Northwind and Southwind squadrons waiting for them, with each squadron having two new members. One of them who joined Southwind squadron looked familiar to Black Star.         “Sir Wonderfalke!” Ronin said in excitement as she bowed at Riddle. “It’s an honor to fly alongside you on this day.”         “Likewise, Colonel Mizukami.” Riddle nodded as he bowed back, respecting the griffoness. Rod also expressed his delight to fly with Aquila again. Black Star however was more focused on Southwind’s newest member.         “That griffoness, I swear I saw her before…” Black Star thought. When the answer was on the tip of his tongue, Riddle called him to get in formation as they prepared to leave for the rendezvous point. The three squadrons took into the skies and headed south; into Belkan territory. 7 miles north of “Ground Zero,” Waldreich Mountain Range, Neue Gryphus/Belka May 18th, 1056 hrs The three squadrons remained in radio silence as they entered the snowy mountain peaks of the Waldreich Mountain range. Marcus told them that the transports should be entering the airspace from the north. The three griffon squadrons remained in radio silence, reducing their radar signatures on the Belkan radars. Once more, they were currently flying near one of the most infamous sites on the history of Equis. Seven miles on the horizon, lie a large crater which was created when a weapon dubbed V-2 was dropped there under orders of the Belkan military party which ruled the country during the Belkan war. V-2 was developed as a W.M.D. by the Belkans.The weapon itself used many newly discovered elements that were destined to revolutionize the future of warfare on Equis. However, the Belkans ultimately used seven V-2’s to destroy their own cities in order to prevent the allied forces from advancing any further to North Belka: the suppose “holy” fatherland of Belka. The seven bombings were often referred to as The Seven Pillars of Belka by the chroniclers. V-2’s creation lead to many criticism and controversies from the world. Princess Celestia was outraged when she found out what the weapons could do during and after the use. She immediately issued a worldwide ban on V-2 type weaponries to prevent a catastrophe like the Seven Pillars from happening again. The ban attracted many criticism from other griffon nations who were developing their own weapons, but soon, they realized that the ban was the wisest decision the solar princess had ever made. Because of the mysterious effects from the V-2 bombs, this region of the Waldreich Mountains were constantly bombarded with heavy snow storms regardless the seasonal change. The snows were permanent and only affected the area where the V-2’s were dropped. Anyone who tried to get close to the crater would suffer many mysterious symptoms, such as sudden fatigue, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and sometimes loss of hair, fur or feathers for no clear reason. The victims usually lasted for days, suffering from more strange symptoms like swelling on their skins, redness, itching, and mysterious burns before succumbing to the mysterious illness. No known cure or treatment existed. Because of this, the area was closed from the public, and no one was allowed to enter.         “All units, let’s keep a safe distance from that crater,” Riddle began. “I don’t want any of us to get that mysterious sickness.” Though nobody responded, all of them silently complied with that order with. They followed Riddle’s slow turn to the left, taking them further into the mountain peaks. Once they arrived at their designated spot, the entire team waited for the transports to arrive. It was cold due to the perpetual winter, the near freezing temperatures made Riddle, the only griffon who wasn’t quite adapted for cold weather, to shiver. Riddle was a lowland griffon, a griffon species that was much more adapted to warmer climates in countries such as Belka, Nordland, or Estovakia. Their feathers and fur were shorter compared to their much more adapted brothers and sisters hailing from the Griffin Kingdom, which was built to live high in the mountains. Rod noticed this and asked,         “Sir, I think we should descend to a lower altitude. It’ll be much warmer there.”         “No, I’m fine,” Riddle lied. “I’ll hold out for a bit. The mission comes first.” Rod hesitantly nodded and tried to put his concerns away. Ronin was also concerned for Riddle’s well being, and so was Kestrel and the rest of Aquila squadron. One of the Northwind members even offered his vest for Riddle to keep himself warm. Though reluctant, Riddle accepted and wrapped the vest around his forelimbs. The wait was a long one; some of the griffons even snatched a few puffs of clouds and merged them together, creating a small island cloud in the sky for them to rest. During the wait, Black Star returned his attention back at the familiar griffoness within Southwind’s ranks. His mind started working again, trying to find the possible identity of this familiar newcomer. Finally, he figured that it would be easier to ask her name rather than guessing who she really was.         “Hey, you!” Black Star began. A few Southwind squadron members looked at him, excluding the griffoness. “No, not you guys. I meant the brown griffoness in the back.”         “Oi, Gilda. He’s calling you!” a member called the brown griffoness. Black Star’s mind immediately clicked when he heard that name: Gilda. “That’s right, she’s Rad’s friend during the war,” The black griffon thought as Gilda sighed in annoyance before turning her attention to him.         “Yeah, what do you want?” she asked with an arrogant voice.         “Nothing… you’re Gilda right?” Black Star responded. Gilda huffed in response before she spoke,         “Yeah that’s my name, what about it? How do you know my name, have we met before?” Gilda asked again.         “No, we didn’t,” Black Star answered before turning his head away. The dark feathered griffon could hear the word “dweeb” being thrown at him by the brown griffoness. It’s good to know that she didn’t recognize him as Rad’s partner. Kestrel was curious about this and decided to ask Black Star about it.         “What was that all about?”         “You know about that final duel over the Fortress Intimidation?” Black Star asked her.         “Yeah, I know about it. I was there,” Kestrel nodded. “It was between that pegasus with the rainbow mane and that cocky griffoness, right?”         “Yes. It’s just that I was talking to that griffoness barely a minute ago,” Black Star pointed out.         “Her? She’s the one?” Kestrel repeated, a bit shocked.         “Yes, and she’s Rad’s former associate too,” Black Star explained. “I’m surprised that she’s here in the first place.”         “Well, we need more griffons if we want to mount an attack on Sudentor.” Kestrel shrugged. “The king probably gave her the slip, just like you.”         “Don’t compare me with that fool, Marie,” Black Star huffed. “She’s strong, but her mind is clouded by arrogance, and that could kill her someday,”         “Hmph, sure, keep telling yourself that,” Kestrel said before turning her head away. “You might not see it, but you’re still the same fool I grew to hate.” Black Star merely glanced at the pastel griffoness with a frown. The group continued to wait in total silence until Riddle’s comm beeped. It was Marcus who called them.         “Aquila, I just spotted the transports heading their way towards your current location,” Marcus stated. “They should enter the airspace within 6 minutes.”         “R-roger that,” Riddle responded through his shivering. “I see them now in my scanner.”         “Sir Wonderfalke, if we may, my squadron shall take them first,” Ronin said in determination. “Once they’re occupied with us, Northwind and then your squadrons will move in to pick them off one by one.”         “Sounds like plan, go ahead, Southwind 1. Just don’t get killed,” Riddle said in approval. Ronin smiled before she and her team hopped off the floating island, heading towards the transports at high speed. The transports were guarded by multiple griffon escorts with the addition of changeling soldiers thrown in. The lead escort, who was none other than Esser’s number two, Svenson, quickly alerted the whole escort fliers about the impending attack.         “Beast 2 to all units, we’ve got company moving in from twelve o’clock. Engage at will, don’t let them reach the transports!” Multiple “rogers” were heard from the escorts before they accelerated to engage the incoming allied squadron. Ronin smirked, taking this move as a challenge from the Belkans.         “Southwind 1 to all units, engage the escorts at will. Don’t falter your attacks!” she hollered, which her team complied immediately. Gilda’s frown was soon replaced by her arrogant smirk as she pick up some speed until she was flying side by side with Ronin. Svenson also accelerated as he activated the Zaubenschaft gem hidden on his earpiece, the sudden burst of power gave him enough speed to streak across the cold mountain air like a jet. Ronin saw this and brought up her armored talons while decreasing her speed. Svenson let out a primal roar as he inched closer towards the metallic blue griffoness. Ronin merely responded with a stance, fully prepared for whatever Svenson’s attack may be. Svenson’s talons finally reached the griffoness first, but he was unprepared when Ronin suddenly brought her other limb on a wide arc from below. The uppercut hit Svenson’s beak, sending the griffon spinning upwards and into the range of Gilda’s attack. The brown griffoness brought her two talons together and delivered a massive blow towards Svenson’s chest. Svenson gasped as he felt the air from his lungs being forced out by the sudden jab at his ribcage, but thanks to the Zaubenschaft powering him, the pain was dulled into nothing. Gilda roared and flew towards the cyan griffon, intending to attack him again. Svenson blocked Gilda’s attack with ease, but was soon caught off guard by Ronin’s vicious armored claw swipe directed towards his chest. The pain struck him greatly as blood began to pour out from the three freshly made gashes, giving Gilda some time to deliver a double kick towards the wound, maximizing the pain. Svenson flew back for a bit; he needed some time before the gem could repair the wound. Retreating and letting the others fight was the best option for now. Ronin and Gilda were about to pursue Svenson, but a changeling blocked their way. The insectoid equine soon morphed its body and turned into a spitting image of Ronin. The changeling Ronin made a bug-like screech, calling the other changelings to move in and engage Southwind squadron. Ronin’s other wingmates arrived just in time to answer the changeling’s call for battle. Soon, both sides clashed to maintain air supremacy. Ronin still had her eyes fixed at her twin. The changeling Ronin did her battle stance and provoked her to made the first move. Ronin merely let out a chuckle.         “Alright, I accept,” Ronin spoke as she did her stance: right arm parallel with her head and left arm in front of her beak. The changeling Ronin screeched and attacked the original. Soon, both of them were locked in a fierce battle. The transports were quickly alerted by the sudden attack and decided to turn back to the mining site.         “We’ve got another hit on radar!” one Belkan transport crew declared. “Another allied squadron coming from the rear!” True to the Belkan’s words, Northwind Squadron had indeed sneaked up behind the transports while the escorts were busy fending off Southwind Squadron. Some of the changeling escorts screeched when they saw that the transports were in danger and quickly turned their backs at Southwind. Some members of Southwind squadron immediately tackled the changelings, only to find more escorts taking off from the transports. Rod, being in the lead, immediately clashed against one large changeling who morphed its body into a large griffon. Archer quickly dived in to support her leader, but she was caught off guard by another changeling who turned itself into her. “Oh boy,” Archer groaned before the impostor delivered a punch at her face. The griffoness easily evaded the blow and retaliated with her own punch. The blow contacted the impostor’s face, dazing him for a bit. Both combatants clashed, but Archer was clearly having the advantage due to the changeling’s predictable moves to save his energy. The changeling was soon overpowered when Archer slashed his face and delivered a powerful headbutt to his stomach where the armor was thinner than the rest of his body. The changeling turned himself back before fleeing from the battlefield. “Archer, neutralized an escort,” the griffoness announced. Rod also dealt with the large changeling by using his own strength against him; he delivered the final blow by spinning his body before hitting the changeling away with his large wings.         “Escorts are down to 20 percent, just a little more,” Marcus announced. Rod knew that this was the perfect time for Aquila to move in and finish off the rest.         “Aquila, you’re up!” Rod exclaimed to his comm.         “Roger that, moving in,” Riddle complied from his end. The transports who had already turned back towards the direction of Mount Schrim detected yet another rallied squadron closing in from the side, and this time, there was no escorts left to defend them. One crew detected the four signatures closing into them. Suddenly, one of them broke off and headed for the transport flying behind the rest.         “Crap, he’s engaging Wal 4!” the crew cursed. “We’re sitting ducks up here, where’s our bug escorts!?”         “Aquila 4, requesting permission to engage the transport on the rear!” Kite exclaimed. Riddle gave the small griffon the green light while he and Black Star focused their attention to the lead transport. Kestrel was given the task of herding the transports further apart to make them easier to attack.         “Aquila 2, I’ve picked one transport out for you,” Kestrel spoke. “You’re clear to engage.” Black Star didn’t even respond as he closed in on the second transport on the left, the pullers tried to speed up but they were still too slow for the dark-feathered griffon. The griffon pullers yelped when they felt the black griffon land on top of their wagon before making his way towards the front. The pullers were struck by an overwhelming fear when Black Star glared at them from above.         “Please! Have mercy on us!” one of the pullers stammered.         “Then turn towards the north and into Griffin Kingdom territory,” Black Star said flatly. “Keep silent and don’t do anything stupid. If you do, you’re both dead.” The pullers looked at each other before nodding furiously at the black griffon. Soon, transport number three turned towards the north and kept their heading straight at the border. Black Star decided to contact Marcus about the second transport.         “Aquila 2 to Altair Beta, I’ve got one transport willing to co-operate with us,” he began. “I told them to head for the border.”         “That’s good to hear, Aquila 2,” Marcus answered. “I shall inform the GRG to escort the transport until further notice, Altair Beta out.”         “Damn, I repeat, where’s our escorts!?” one transport crew spoke angrily. “This is Svenson, Beast 2. All escorts are currently engaging the allied squadrons,” Svenson stated calmly. He then shifted his attention to something else, “Beast 3, Heimer. Tell those battle whores that they’re up.”         “Huh, alright then. About damn time,” Heimer’s guttural voice responded from an unknown location. Kite continued to close into the last transport, suddenly, his scanner beeped and showed multiple hostile signatures right in front of him: inside the last transport.         “Aquila 4, I’m detecting a large number of hostile units inside the transport,” Kestrel spoke through the comm. “Milvus, fall back! You’re in too close!” The warning came too late as the wagon door of the transport burst open, allowing a familiar yellow-coated pegasus, along with her vicious flock, to come out from the transport. Kite immediately braked hard to his left and used a burst of speed to gain some distance from the enemy squad. Kestrel cursed at her end and decided to move in to help the small griffon. LILA (Lily) Murtair Militia 1st Air Force, 2nd Pegasus Squadron Some of the Lila members were already chasing the small griffon, though they were unable to get close due to Kite’s speed. Violet, however, decided to wait on top of the transport. She licked her lips in anticipation when she finally saw Kestrel moving in to support the smaller griffon. With a loud giggle, Violet jumped off the transport and spread her wings, heading towards the pastel griffoness’s location. Kestrel told Kite to aid Riddle handling the first transport while she fended off the additional enemy units. The task wasn’t too hard for the griffoness, but her eyes soon focused on a familiar yellow mare as the latter came closer to her.         “Come on, birdy, let’s finish off the fight we had on Pisa,” Violet challenged the griffoness with a smirk. Kestrel stayed silent and did her own stance, accepting her challenge. Both combatants yelled as they flew towards each other. Violet began the offensive first, but Kestrel kept her cool and blocked all attacks from the yellow mare. Violet’s vicious smile grew and grew with every punch, kick, and slash she and Kestrel delivered at each other.         “Impressive stuff, birdy! You really have improved from our last battle!” Violet giggled excitedly. Kestrel just snorted in response.         “You’re not so bad yourself,” the pastel griffoness said. Violet grinned and flew upwards before delivering a double buck to Kestrel’s chest. The griffoness managed to block the attack by grabbing both of Violet’s hindlimbs. However Violet spun her body in midair, causing Kestrel to let go of her. The yellow mare panted heavily as her chuckle grew into a maniacal laughter. She dived at Kestrel again, but the griffoness parried her attack by diving down and kicking her in the back when the yellow mare was in position. Although she was hurt, Violet kept laughing like a maniac. She turned around and headed towards the griffoness again: seemingly oblivious to her surroundings.         “I love you, birdy!” Violet screamed in madness, causing Kestrel to flinch in disgust. The yellow mare continued while delivering blow after blow at the pastel griffoness, “Let me kill you, so we can be together forever! Let me take you away from all of this! Just. Let. Me. Kill. You!!”         “Not an option, you sick freak!” Kestrel yelled in response as she blocked every blow from the yellow mare. This pegasus had finally lost it. Not only did Violet have a very obsessive crush with Kestrel, she was clearly a sadomasochist as well: treating pain like a sexual pleasure. Kestrel could deliver a claw swipe, a punch, or a kick, but none of that would work against an opponent like Violet. What’s worse, Violet’s wingmares had reported to their leader that they were currently engaging the rest of Aquila squadron. Black Star was doing fine on his own, but the sheer number of the squad slowly wore him down. Riddle and Kite managed to use their mind and speed respectively to face the Lila members. Ronin saw Aquila’s predicament and decided that it would be best to help them.         “Butterclaw, you’re in charge for now. You and Southwinds 3 to 7, keep those remaining changelings busy,” Ronin began. “Southwinds 8 and 9, you’re both with me. We’re going to help Aquila.”         “Roger that, ma’am!” Southwind 8 responded. Gilda, on the other hand, just shrugged before she spoke,         “Wilco, ma’am.” The three griffons flapped their wings as fast as they could to reach Aquila’s positions. They saw that Black Star had already received some help from Northwind squadron’s members. Ronin sent Southwind 8 to help Black Star while she and Gilda continued their heading to help Riddle and Kite. Black Star was relieved when more reinforcements arrived, allowing him to take a breather from the engagement. Kite was also glad when the reinforcements arrived, but he was shocked to his very bones when he found out that Gilda was the one who assisted him. The brown griffoness finally noticed the bluish white griffon and smirked,         “Yo, Hawksforth. Long time no see.”         “Please tell me that you’re just a figment of my imagination,” Kite groaned. Gilda’s response was a loud chuckle.         “Oh I’m very real, Hawksforth. I’m even more surprised that you’re part of a squadron now,” Gilda sneered. Kite just responded with a nervous shrug, earning another laugh from the brown griffoness. Suddenly, a changeling disguised as a Northwind member tried to tackle Gilda from behind, but Kite was quick to react by diving into the changeling and using the sheer momentum he gathered from the dive to hit the changeling away. Gilda was stunned, whistling in awe at Kite’s speed.         “Huh, not bad…” Gilda squeaked before a Lila member distracted her. Soon, both Kite and Gilda fought the member together. Slowly but surely, the Lila members were being pushed back. Some of the Northwind members used this valuable opening to capture the remaining transports so they would co-operate under a death threat. One by one, the transports turned away from their initial direction and headed towards the border. The changelings also retreated for some unknown reason, giving the rest of the squads more opening to engage the Lilas. It seemed that this mission was going to be a success...         “Our plan is going smoothly,” an unknown voice sounded on all of the transports’ comms. “All transports, commence Phase 2.” The pullers looked at each other when they heard that order, their faces clearly showing fear beyond comprehension. A few of them were scared, but ultimately they complied with that order.         “For Neue Belka…” one griffon puller spoke somberly as he activated a button hidden below his feathers. The other puller did the same, and soon, a loud beeping was heard from the transports. The escorting Northwind and Southwind members heard the beeping and decided to fly closer to investigate. Archer, who was escorting transport number 3, heard the beeping coming from inside the wagon. Growing suspicious, Archer decided to investigate,         “Northwind 4, check inside the wagon,” Archer commanded her wingmate, earning a few nervous glances from the pullers. The wingmate complied and flew towards the back of the wagon before opening the doors. What he saw nearly made his eyeballs jump out from their sockets.         “Bombs… and a timer!” he exclaimed. Archer’s whole body and the world around her seemed to go in slow motion as she ordered all the escorts to break away from the transports. All of them reacted fast, flying away from the ticking time bombs, just in time when one of the transports exploded into a fireball, consuming the pullers. A few seconds later, the second and third transports exploded.         “What the hell!?” Rod cursed when he saw the explosions from the distance. “Archer, what happened?”         “It’s a trap, sir!” Archer exclaimed. “The entire transports were decoys filled with explosives!”         “Altair Beta to all units, what’s going on down there?” Marcus asked in confusion. “The transports are disappearing from rada—Damn! There goes the final one!” Black Star noticed the fourth transport’s explosion from his position. He remembered the pullers’ eyes when he threatened them to turn back. Those images were going to haunt him days to come. Kestrel also stopped her engagement with Violet when the explosions occurred. Kestrel was rendered speechless by the sight while Violet only laughed like maniac.         “Oooh, it’s so beautiful! Like a fireworks show just for us!” she giggled madly. Kestrel gritted her beak in anger as she was about the engage the mad pegasus again, but something diverted her attention. Soon, Marcus’s voice was heard from everyone’s comms.         “Altair Beta to all units, we’ve detected something moving at high speed towards your location. Heading, vector 175. High magical readings confirmed!” Riddle’s mindset immediately concluded the worst case scenario. Marcus kept posting every update on the target’s location. Whatever it was, its speed was beyond any griffon or pegasus could ever hope to reach. The Aquila and Northwind squadron members immediately sensed a major déjà vu from their last sortie in area T10 where they faced that Juggernaut.         “All units, gain some distance and regroup in groups of three or more!” Rod ordered his squadmates. “Stay calm and don’t let your teammates stray too far!” Aquila squadron was ordered to regroup as well. Kestrel had to drag herself out from Violet’s grip to comply. Ronin, who didn’t have any idea about what was about to happen, repeated Rod’s orders to her own squad. Her instinct told her that thing was about to go very south for today.         “Bogey’s speed is decreasing,” Marcus stated through everyone’s comms. “Confirmed another bogey approaching from vector 095. No magical readings confirmed.”         “Another one!?” Riddle thought. “Impossible, there were only two active Z.O.E. armors ever built! They couldn’t possibly make more of them without my data!”         “We’re surrounded!” Ronin exclaimed in worry. “Aquila 1, Sir Wonderfalke. Do you have any information regarding the enemy?”         “Zeal of Exile users, more Juggernauts,” Riddle said bluntly, striking fear into every single griffon unit present in the airspace. “Maintain your ground and stick close together, I don’t know what this one can do.”         “Z.O.E.s already? Sheesh, Esser’s such a party pooper!” Violet whined. “Lila squadron, continue with the engagement. Move in for the kill!” Violet’s bloodthirsty squadmates didn’t wait for any second orders to engage the terrified griffon units. Some of them already tangled themselves with some of the Southwind squadron members, including Gilda. Ronin, however, didn’t see anything funny with this situation. She was disgusted of Violet’s nature of not heeding warnings and continued to fight despite that it would endanger her squadmates. With a loud yell, Ronin let go the very last piece of her soft spot for the ponies and engaged the Lila members. Violet didn’t pay any attention towards the rest of the Southwind members; her mind was solely focused on meeting with Kestrel again. She eventually found her, glaring at her from above. Violet chuckled hungrily as she licked her lips in anticipation.         “Ready to finish this, birdy?” she asked.         “I was about to say the same thing,” Kestrel said bluntly. Violet grinned at her bravery and laughed loudly before she lunged directly at the griffoness. Kestrel brought up her talons just in time to block Violet’s attack, sending both combatants spinning towards the cold mountain peaks.         “Captain Turmfalken!” Kite said in worry as he was about to help his superior, but Black Star blocked him with his wing and said,         “Don’t intervene, it’s her fight now.” Kite was a little unsure about this, but ultimately decided to let Kestrel fight by herself. Both Violet and Kestrel recovered from their dive and ascended to their former altitudes. Both hovered for a moment before Kestrel made the first blow by slashing Violet’s right cheek. The yellow pegasus tasted the blood flowing from her cheek and smiled, clearly getting more excited. Kestrel maintained her stance as Violet retaliated with another a blow directed at Kestrel’s back. The griffoness ascended and clenched both of her fists together. Violet saw this through and responded by grabbing both of Kestrel’s legs and pulled her down to her level.         “Not so fast, birdy!” Violet laughed as she spun her body, using the momentum to swing her left hoof directly at Kestrel’s head. The griffoness brought up her left talon and blocked the blow, but the force was enough to throw her off balance. Violet kept on laughing as she spun her body again, intending to use her right leg to attack the griffoness. Kestrel managed to recover quickly enough to block the attack again by grabbing Violet’s leg. The yellow mare soon found herself being spun by the griffoness before the latter threw her away. Violet managed to stabilize her flight and made a quick pass to taunt Kestrel. The pastel griffoness remained undeterred as she saw Violet changing her tactics from close combat to a high speed attack. Violet made several passes to test the angle of attack. Kestrel remained in her position, playing along with the yellow pegasus’ game. Violet’s tactics eventually spelt doom for her on that day. Violet finally had enough of the high speed pass and gained as much distance from the pastel griffoness, who had her back turned from the yellow pegasus. Thinking that Kestrel gave up on the fight, Violet laughed harder as she bolted straight at the griffoness, intending to crush her skull in midair. Kestrel made a quick glance and saw Violet’s reckless attack on her.         “I win,” Kestrel silently muttered to herself before she spun her body around and brought her right leg up directly to Violet’s path of attack. The yellow mare’s expression changed drastically as she watched Kestrel’s paw nearing her face. There was no point in evading it now. She was too close and too fast to stop. The blow, combined with Violet’s own momentum, cracked her skull and snapped her neck with sheer brute force. Violet made one last audible “Oh… ” before she fell down to the mountains below. After witnessing their leader’s brutal defeat, the Lila members panicked and retreated, but some of them swore vengeance on the allied forces for killing their leader. Kestrel didn’t heed those words and went back to Aquila’s formation, exhausted, but satisfied with her victory. Kite gave Kestrel an assuring smile while Black Star muttered “good job” at her for defeating Violet. Kestrel was flattered of course, but the old issue of the two Z.O.E. units approaching the area was still a major concern for the allied forces. As the first Z.O.E. unit got closer to the area, an ominous buzzing sound was heard from everybody's comms. Some of the members thought that their comms were malfunctioning, but the others concluded that this must be some kind of a jamming signal. The three griffon leaders checked their scanners and confirmed that it was indeed a jamming signal. All of their scanners were glitching wildly and showing multiple “ghost” signatures on radar. Marcus’ voice was soon drowned out by the radio noise, prompting several griffons to turn off their comms.         “Jamming?” Black Star muttered grimly as he turned to Riddle. The blue griffon looked just as worried as the rest of them, clearly not anticipating for a jammer equipped Z.O.E. unit. They soon had their answers when Kestrel got a visual on a single bandit approaching from the south. Once it got closer, the griffons finally got the first hand look on the second Z.O.E. unit. It was a changeling, colored blood red from head to tail. It was hard to determine the gender of this drone, but some of the griffons presumed that this changeling was a female, or at least it was. She wore the distinct red Z.O.E. armor with the single large Zaubenschaft gem powering the whole armor and her body. The changeling’s mouth was carved into a sinister slasher smile with the same blue liquid flowing from between the gums and exposed muscle. This changeling Z.O.E. kept hovering in place, seemingly not acknowledging the allies’ presence around her. Some of the griffons tried to attack her, but their respective leaders told them to fall back, since nobody knew what she was capable of, other than emitting strong jamming signals. The changeling Z.O.E. let out a sinister bug-like growl that resembled a giggle when the second unknown Z.O.E. unit approached the area without gaining any attention from the griffons.         “Ehem, hello? Anyone there?” a familiar guttural voice sounded from above, gaining everyone’s attention. Some of the griffons were partially relieved to find out that it wasn’t another Z.O.E. unit, but Esser’s presence was enough to put Riddle on edge. “Hello my brothers and sisters! Welcome to the show titled, ‘The Fall of the Griffin Kingdom!’.” The reactions from the allied griffons were predictable. Some of them were confused by his statement, but others were outraged by Esser’s bold statement. The brown griffon soon let out a high pitch screech to silence the griffons around him. This was doubled by the changeling’s sudden growl to put everyone on edge.         “Woah, easy there folks. The fun’s not starting yet,” Esser said in false assurance. “You see, I put together this little plan to bring all of you together, leaving Gryphus partially defenseless for short amount of time.”         “Defenseless? Y-You don’t mean!?” Ronin stammered. Esser nodded in confirmation.         “Bingo, onna. My forces is already en-route to Gryphus now, and there’s nothing you folks can do about it,” Esser explained with a smirk. One young recruit from Northwind was outraged by his statement and flew in to attack Esser, despite Rod’s warnings. Esser merely sighed and caught the griffon’s claws with his one hand. Esser growled sinisterly as he crushed the griffon’s arm before punching the recruit hard in his face, breaking his skull and sending him down into his early grave. Many of them were startled by the amazing display of power, but Kestrel had other things in mind.         “Your forces? I thought Kriegstreiber was the leader of Neue Belka!”         “Not anymore, sweetie,” Esser spoke sinisterly as he brought out Kriegstreiber’s broken glasses out from his saddlebag. “Ol’ Ghunter won’t be a problem anymore for you and for me. Let’s just say that he was invited to a one hell of a barbeque party.” Many griffons immediately knew what Esser was talking about. Some of them who never had equine meat nearly threw up when the thoughts came in mind. True that the griffons did consume equines in the past, but since the princesses came into power, the practice was considered taboo for griffons. Esser kept his cool and surveyed the griffons around him. After seconds of searching, he finally found the griffon he was looking for.         “Blake, old chum! Good to see you again!” he spoke as he approached the dark feathered griffon. Kestrel glanced at Black Star, who kept his expression flat and unreadable as Esser continued, “I’m also here to say thank you to my chum, Blake!”         “You’re no chum of mine,” Black Star responded coldly, causing Esser to laugh in response. “I don’t even know you.”         “Oh but you did, Blake. I’m Rad’s friend from the war!” Esser said casually. “Y’know, the mysterious client that had been supplying Rad’s projects?” Black Star’s mind ticked when he heard that. Indeed, he remembered that Rad used to call a mysterious client and asked him about the supplies he needed to finish The Burning Talon and the Fortress Intimidation. Everything fell into the right places, it all made sense to him.         “But why say your thanks to me? Rad’s the one who started the war!” Black Star suddenly blurted out. Esser just laughed in response.         “Silly Blake, my thanks to you wasn’t for starting the war. I’m thanking you for not killing that filly all those years ago. If you did, she wouldn’t be alive to return to Equestria and form that team, squadron or whatever,” Esser explained. Black Star’s eyes widened in shock as the brown griffon continued. “I actually had to thank those so-called Angels of Equestria for this. If it wasn’t for them eliminating most of your aces in the war, my plan would have been too difficult to achieve.”         “Your plan?” Black Star squeaked. His mind couldn’t even register the conclusion he just came up when he heard Esser’s last statement. “Impossible… You don’t mean… !”         “Oh, but it is!” Esser said simply. “All those words Rad told you about reuniting the kingdom to form the Griffin Empire again, it was all bullshit! garbage! a bunch of baloney! The reality was that he’s just another pawn like Kriegstreiber for me to execute my plans, and I should’ve known that red-feathered oaf wasn’t up for the job I’d given him!!” Black Star, Kestrel, and everyone else couldn’t believe what Esser just told them. The entire Equestrian War was not orchestrated by Red Cyclone, but by the maniac hovering before them now. Rad’s death was meaningless, he was just another pawn, a puppet controlled by Esser. Black Star felt an overwhelming sense of dread and guilt, was he truly responsible for helping Esser’s plans into motion? Did he made the mistake of letting Firefly live? Everything he believed in right now, everything he did, was all for nothing.         “I… I… I don’t know anymore…”