Sentinels of Equestria

by Lightning Spear


Operation White Rose

Somewhere over Europe
1700 hours
Operation White Rose

Marcus and his squad were flying in a Razorback VTOL to a designated location not too far from Switzerland, where they were instructed to recon and retrieve the remains of the fallen Sentinel platoon in Operation Subtle Dagger. With them, was another Razorback VTOL; carrying four operatives from the famed 22 SAS Regiment, Call-sign: Hellhounds, who agreed to assist them in their mission. They planned to rendezvous on site.

Marcus and his squad was one of Sentinel Task Force's top tier assets. Call-sign: Hammer, his squad underwent tougher training regime, and possessed an array of high-tech weapons and gears the planet can offer. They went into numerous high-risk clandestine missions and completed them with brutal efficiency, whereas most soldiers have failed.

So a clandestine search and rescue mission will be a walk in the park for them.

Marcus couldn't help but to feel bad about the whole thing; not saying he was feeling guilty, but it was quite strange for SAS operatives to volunteer themselves in these days, especially when their own country needed them the most and the whole operation was only a recovery op. But the Sentinels needed all the help they can get.

"So, Marcus." Lieutenant Thomas Stenz, one of his squad-mates and second in command asked; snapping him from his trance "What are you gonna do when the war is over? I mean, ATLAS forces are collapsing around the world; MANTICORE's down, and well...you might be planning for your life ahead."

"I don't know...maybe retire from all this...start a family." Marcus replied "What about you?"

"Same thing...have a girl waiting for me back home." Stenz replied. "What about you Natasha?"

"Well, marriage isn't something I am gonna do soon..." Sergeant Natasha Keller replied "But maybe...I'll come back to my parents at Los Angeles. From there, I am gonna plan things out." she replied with a smile "What about you Cassie?"

"I don't know Nat...still thinking as we speak." Corporal Cassie Nightingale replied while adjusting her combat knife.

"Or, you can be my girlfriend instead." Sergeant Charlie Wallcroft's voice echoed in their comms. The SAS squad's second in command.

"Knock it off Wallcroft." Cassie replied "We've just met."

"Do you believe in love at first sight, my dear?" Wallcroft asked flirtatiously.

"Jesus Christ, Wallcroft. Knock it off!" Captain David Cook, the SAS squad leader intervened "Focus on the mission damn it."

"Oh right, the mission." Wallcroft said with an ominous chuckle.

"Sorry Corporal, the influence of his cock gets to his head when he lay his eyes on pretty ladies like you." Cook said in an apologetic tone "No offense."

"None taken, lieutenant." Cassie replied.

"Guys, we are gonna have to go into a pretty bad storm ahead of us." Corporal Martin Burns, Marcus' squad pilot said.

"How bad is it?" Marcus asked.

"Nothing bad, probably just some comms interference." Martin replied.

"Any other alternatives?" Natasha asked "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"We can't stray from our route, remember? ATLAS' air defense system is gonna tear us apart. Since that crazy ass Excalibur cannon is back online, our forces must be having a very lovely field trip." Cassie explained loud and clear.

"Copy that." Natasha replied simply.

"Four minutes from target."

"Alright people, lock and load." Marcus ordered.

With that, his squad checked and readied their weapons and gears. Marcus himself checked his Werewolf, switching it to LMG and Shotgun mode and inserted the ammo belt.

Suddenly, Lieutenant Cook's Razorback signal signature disappeared from the radar.

"Lieutenant do you copy?" Burns asked.

*Static*

"Lieutenant do you copy?" Burns asked once again.

*static*

Suddenly, the Razorback's missile defense warning system activated; telling them that they were being locked. They've got an integrated trophy system on board so the chances of survival were higher.

"Sir, we are locked!" Martin yelled.

"Shit! who is targeting us?" Marcus asked.

"I don't know, scanners can't see a thing!" Martin replied, suddenly eight heat-seeking missiles were fired towards them.

"That heat seeker? SHIT spark the flares spark the flares!" Marcus commanded.

Martin immediately deployed the VTOL's flare reserves while performing a 360 degree turn to avoid the missiles. The missiles exploded when they came into contact with the flares, and the VTOL's armor and trophy system added an extra layer of protection as one missile exploded near the engines. But nevertheless, the trophy system didn't stop the immense force of the blast; rupturing the engines internally.

"Everybody okay?" Marcus asked as he wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead.

"Please tell me if we are going to do that again."Thomas said "I am feeling sick."

"But other than that, we are fine." Natasha replied.

"But hold it guys, we are not out of the woods yet." Martin said "Our engines are heavily damaged, I need to take this bird down."

"Copy that." Marcus said. With that, Martin began to descend towards an open field in the woods.

"Hammer do you copy? over!" Cook's voice echoed in the radio.

"Holly fuck! Where have you been?!" Marcus asked with an agitated tone "We lost you and we nearly got our asses fragged out here!"

"I will tell you later when I get to you." Cook replied.

"Just get your ass over here." Marcus said.

"Cook, out."

As they went out to check the damage on their VTOL, another Razorback approached them from the distance.

"Well, that's fast." Natasha said while glancing up to the approaching VTOL, standing near the door.

When suddenly, Cook's VTOL fired two anti armor missiles towards their VTOL. Seeing the incoming projectiles, Marcus and his squad immediately scattered and dove to the ground; saving them from instant doom.

The missiles impacted the VTOL and blowing it to pieces. Killing Martin who was still inside.

Marcus and his squad immediately got up and dashed to the forest as Cook's men and VTOL were shooting at them.

"Wait!" Cook halted his squad before jumping off the VTOL. "Pilot, land here and wait for our return." he said.

"As for you boys, enjoy the hunt. But Apex...is mine."


"Blast this damn forest! I can't see a bloody thing." Wallcroft cursed as the fading sun and the thick forest began to obscure his view as the rogue SAS troops pushed through the forest in efforts to pursue their preys and pay checks. "Why are we doing this again?"

"Because ATLAS will have billions of dollars transferred to us when we bag these guys up." Cook said "And use your night vision you bloody fool!"

As soon as Cook said that, a flashbang grenade landed in front of him. But before he could react, the grenade exploded in front of the whole team and frying their night visions.

The tide had turned for the seemingly superior SAS troopers.

Heavily disoriented, the SAS troopers blind fired all over the area while making a hasty retreat to a fallen tree for cover; making it very easy for Marcus and his squad to shoot them one by one. Shortly, Cook was the last man standing with a gunshot wound to his leg.

"Hold your fire squad." Marcus said as he and his squad approached an incapacitated Cook with their guns pointed at him.

"Okay, no more games Lieutenant Commander." Cook said while dropping his Bal-27 to the ground with a metallic clank.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Stenz exclaimed while delivering a powerful upercut to Cook's chin, causing him to spit out a few pieces of broken teeth along with blood to the ground.

"Control yourself Lieutenant!" Marcus said sternly "You are coming with us. Sergeant, FlexiCuffs."

As Natasha took out a pair of FlexiCuffs from her vest and handed it to Marcus, Cook let out an ominous chuckle.

"I am afraid, that..." He said while subtly reaching for behind his back "is impossible."

As fast as lightning, he threw a smart grenade towards Natasha. Seeing the grenade flying towards his squad mate, Marcus pushed Natasha out of the way and then Marcus could felt his body getting absorbed by the massive energy from the blast, and then...

All was black.