After attempting to hunt out and kill Dmitri Zernovski, Harmony's Elements had found that they had walked into a trap. Upon fighting their way out of a horde of infected kept contained and released by Dmitri in the cemetery, Acid had gone missing, possibly killed among the horde. Refusing to believe so, the team ventures out to find her, or retrieve her remains to be buried.
*Begin Transmission*
"How didn't I see she was gone!?" Chainlink yelled, slamming a large crack in the wall with his hoof. "I heard her scream, but didn't even bother to look back for her?"
"There is... Nothing we can do about it now..." X-Ray said. "We can only... Go back and search for her..."
"X-Ray's right." Blade spoke. "We can't just leave her out there. She's a tough mare, and may still be alive." There were groans coming from outside, as the infected ponies were still roaming around. "Even if we have to kill every last one of those creatures. Acid wouldn't like it, but we have no choice..."
"Well, I'm real sorry for y'all, but we don't have time to go looking for lost mares." Marigold said. "She may be already dead."
"And what about what you said about burying Venus?" Chainlink said, a little calmer. "I'm not going to leave her out there after losing her so easily... We're going after her. With you or without you. Are you helping us, or are you gonna make us go out there and keep your own hooves alive?"
Marigold looked shocked, then calmy responded, "I'll help y'all look for her, I just want you to know that we have other problems, and that she may already be dead."
"We... Don't care if she is... In pieces." X-Ray responded. "We're going to find her..." Marigold shook her head.
"I understand that, but I just don't want y'all getting killed over a lost cause. We'll find her, but I have a deal so everyone's happy." The team all stared at her, then Chainlink nodded. "We'll be working on our missions to track down Dmitri, but we'll all look for your friend on the way. Compromise a little?" The team continued to stare on silently, then Blade answered.
"Fine. We'll hunt down Dmitri and kill him. Slowly. For Acid. But we will still find her if we have to scale this whole Celestia forsaken city."
"Deal." Marigold said. "Now to get back to the real problem. I managed to intercept the transmission from Dmitri, and found that he had been spying on us from an old H.S.S. outpost inside the abandoned oil factory. Celestia only knows why ponies ever needed oil, but it's there. We'll search out the compound, kill any SpecOps we find, and destroy any resources on site, like maybe a few oil systems that have survived."
"And a nice wave of burning oil flooding the compound wouldn't hurt either..." Chainlink suggested. "Well, it wouldn't hurt us, at least.*
"I like the way you think Mr. Ta-... Er, Chainlink." Marigold smiled. "Consider it an option."
"So we enter the compound and... Clear it of anything and anypony that Harrow's End might need...?" X-Ray asked.
"Eeexactly!" Marigold smiled a little more, then it faded. "But I can't guarentee that Dmitri is there. He may pull another trap."
"Then we'll just have to take our chances." Blade said. "If Dmitri or Harrow can use it, we'll just have to get rid of it. The sooner, the less they can get out of it."
"Perfect!" Marigold smiled again. "So, are y'all in agreement?" The three stallions nodded. "Superb!" She stuck out her hoof, and the rest of the team held out theirs.
"United Under Celestia." They all said.
"And to search for Acid until we are muzzle to muzzle with the goddess herself..." Chainlink added.
---
The team were outside the compound at nightfall, and even Daisy came along. The entrance to the compound was covered from the front by a main gate topped with barbed wire. That wouldn't matter, considering they weren't going through the gate. On the edge of the compound's left fence, there was an old guard station with a wooden dropbar in front of it. As silent as he could, Chainlink brought one armored hoof down on it, breaking it in half.
"Shh!" Marigold whispered. "Do you want the entire compound to know we're here...?"
"I just want to get in there so we can get the job done and search for Acid..." Chainlink retorted. "Now let's go. I don't like the looks of this place already..." And with that, the team entered the compound. It was mostly a few office buildings with lines of two or three large, cylinder-like tanks. "I'm guessing those are the oil tanks..."
"You'd be guessing absolutely correct. That's our target." Marigold said. They began to walk into the center of the compound.
"It is strange, though... Where are the... SpecO-" Before X-Ray had a chance to finish, a large spotlight shined on them from above, and a very infuriated stallion yelled down.
"Delta Team? What the buck are you doing here!? And why is she here!?" The stallion said about the golden mare in the police uniform. "I wasn't expecing we'd be able to kill you for some time!" The Elements aimed around their weapons. "I guess this is our chance! Open fi-!" He was stopped midsentence by a loud scream. One of the catwalks around the compound was collapsing. The SpecOps on it were knocked straight to the ground, killed on impact. "What in the name of Celestia is that!?"
The Creature that exceeded to pull down the platform had charged across the compound, and slammed into the watchtower. The stallion fell, collapsing to the ground. All remaining soldiers in the compound had opened fire, and panicked. When the tower had hit the ground, it managed to fall into the next catwalk, ripping it, and the gate, to the ground. Most were killed in the fallen debris, wile others were killed by the oil spill...
"The oil!" Blade yelled. "It's collapsed! Everypony out! Now!" They had all made a complete panic-stricken dash for the exit, but oil was flooding around their hooves, and debris had blocked the exit. "Left!" He yelled, diving over a small oil barrel that nearly knocked him off his hooves.
Avoiding debris and the thick slick of oil, they were able to dodge out of the gate, and into the city once more. Chainlink, for good measure, bucked a downed SpecOps, crushing its muzzle into its skull. With that, the team slipped out into the night.
---
"That was... All part of the plan, right?" X-Ray asked when they returned to the police station. "We... Killed them and took out the supplies?"
"I suppose so. Y'all alright?" Marigold asked. The team nodded. "Good. And I suppose you're wondering what that creature out there was...?" She smiled.
"Yeah. What was that thing? It looked not only big, but it looked like somepony made it bucking angry." Chainlink said.
Marigold snickered, looked to her right at the corner of the room and said, "Great job, Daisy. I'm proud of you." The Tyrant just looked at her.
"That thing was Daisy?" Blade said. "Tyrants usually stay on the ground and attack at a slow pace. I've never seen one like that before, or one so angry."
"To be honest," Marigold's smile faded. "Neither have I. What do you think caused it?" The room went silent, and the Element stallions all looked at each other.
"Acid." They all said at the same time.
"Do y'all always think the same thing at the same time?" Marigold asked. "If I had to guess, I'd think y'all have the hearts for her."
All three Elements began to act as if they were extremely offended. "Are you crazy?" Chainlink said. "Members of a squad never fall in love, and lovers are never in the same squad. Command... Harrow always said that it would not work well for combat."
"I thought y'all left that all behind."
"Just because we are no longer... Part of their corporation... Does not make it any more likely we will change what we are adapted to..." X-Ray clarified, his voice nearly blank.
"Whatever y'all say. What is it, then?"
"We all just have her figured out." Blade said. "It would be very much like her to do something nice, like upgrade your Tyrant, and not even mention it."
"Well, it was quite kind o' her, but Daisy doesn't need upgrades." Marigold said flatly.
"Well she saved our flanks back there. That's good enough for me." Chainlink said.
"Now... What are going to do about... Finding her...?" X-Ray said.
"Relax. We'll find her. It'll just take us some time..." Marigold said. At that moment, a hoof knocked on the front door. The team armed their weapons and pointed them at the door within a hoofbeat. "... Somepony going to answer the door?"
Very slowly, Chainlink approached the door. When he reached it, he bucked it out and aimed his gun. Pointing it to his left, then to his right, and reentered the door. "There's nothing out he-" Just then, something struck him from behind, and Chainlink fell to the ground, his gun dropping down by his flank. Hoofsteps came from the doorway. A figure entered, took Chainlink by the neck in one foreleg, and pointed out his gun at the team.
"Greetings, H.S.S." The stallion said. "Or should I say... Harmony's Elements? Were you looking for me?"
It was Dmitri Zernovski.
*Transmission Ended*