//------------------------------// // National Insecurity // Story: Earning Freedom // by Daxisle //------------------------------// National Insecurity Malich tapped his foot upon the lush green grass that spanned for miles around. The mid spring day was cool, but not as cold as it was in the rest of the Federation. As loathed as he found the entire situation, at least the magical properties of the Vale still held up against winter. His typical business attire was replaced by a much more utilitarian and fashionable black leather jacket, lined on the inside with dragon scales. Complete with a blackened cross bow attached to one foreleg and a small snatch of bolts who's tips were laced with a powerful paralysis enduing solution. On the outsides of both legs, two blades were held by straps that reached up to his knees. "Pardon me, Malich." Called his ruby red, one eyed dragon mount. The ashen stallion's harsh gaze turned from the village before him to his Equestrion captured companion. "But why have you brought out the entirety of Thanatos? Don't get me wrong, It is nice to be off of the Triple M. Dragon Reservation, but if my understanding of your assignment is correct-" "You seem to not hold as much understanding as you think, Golvec." Malich replied calmly, his eyes flickering with irritation. The VP knew how temperamental dragons could be, but with the Triple M. name on the line with having so many agents commit desertion during a mission? He'd happily go toe to to with the leviathan a hundred times over. "Triple M.'s good name is all we have, it is a name that is associated with power and intimidation. I think you can respect the concept, considering your previous occupation." Golvec, as expected didn't take his patronizing well. "DON'T CONDESCEND TO ME, PONY WELP!" The ruby drake snarled, revealing rows upon rows of sword length, razor sharp teeth as well as the small glow of dragon's fire ready to emit from his throat. "Speak to me in that way again, and I'll gladly be rendered and ravaged by Fleshrenderer and Skulvian, so long as I take you to Tatarus with me!" A large claw slammed down, shaking the earth around to drive the wyvern's point home. The business pony remained calm though, threats of death were nothing new to him, and they'd been made by beast far more intimidating than the drake before him. Still, his mount was a capable dragon, he'd chosen him as his personal mount of course, so perhaps a more respectful approach was in order. "My apologise." He forced through gritted teeth. The half hearted attempt hadn't convinced Golvec by any means, but it was enough to relax him enough not to incinerate the earth pony before him. It wasn't a difficult explanation to give, Malich saw the ponies under his command as assets, individuals whom were almost in-expendable. Training, salary, per diem, transport, housing; the money spent on Triple M. mercenaries was substantial, and the experience they had gained through their field work was equally valuable. This squad in particular, Reco 2, was one of the most investment heavy group of griffons the company had to offer. He'd read many of their case files to deduce possible post desertion relocation and dispatched investigators to the areas. He knew he'd receive word as soon as he returned back to his office in Unitas, but subtly hoped that he'd find the answers here. An asset being captured wasn't difficult to get back, but convincing one to stay whom was leaving of their own will was almost an impossible task. "I see, so it is a matter of pride then." Golvec growled, reaching up to his empty eye socket. Malich pressed his lips, the dragon swore vengeance upon his brother for what he'd taken. He couldn't blame Golvec for his anger, but also couldn't sympathize with him either. Sin was only doing what he needed to to protect his associates and survive. Life made so much more sense when the concepts of "good and evil" were cast out for the foalish attempts at world view that they were. There was no such things, there were only individuals with individual interests. Golvec's interests to maintain his control over the dogs and his brother's interests to free them. He'd never say it out loud, but he sided with Sin in their little scuffle. "Mr. Malich!" The stallion turned his head to see a stoic, black coated griffon staring at him with a note pad on display. "Sir, we've investigated the camp, there are no signs of Reco 2 and no signs of conflict. Sir." Malich sighed, that was not the news he was hoping for. He turned to look at the small conglomerate of wooden huts for a second than to the seven dragons who stood at the ready a good half mile away. Golvece, for all of his build and girth, was by no means a large dragon. He was easily dwarfed by even the smallest of the Thanatos drakes, but he was also far smarter. "Hmmm, Golvec." Malich asked, an idea forming in his head. "Tell me, if you were looking to hide something in this area, where might you keep it?" It was a silly idea, asking a dragon for his opinion on zebra tactics, but some perspective was in order. It wouldn't hurt to ask, right? A small smile pealed the ruby dragon's lips from his teeth, much to Malich's surprise. "I have some ideas." He whispered, his head swiveling around a bit. Curious, Malich mounted the beast and informed his subordinate to keep the zebra confined to their village, pushing all safety protocol until the situation was resolved. A word of promise later, Malich abandon the gryphon as he was taken to the sky and where ever his mount had in mind. As he ascended, the ashen earth pony looked down past the dragon's neck and smiled. He loved the sky, he loved to fly. Air ships were alright, but they didn't put the wind through his mane and get his heart racing. Not the same way he imagined a pegasus or gryphon could, but riding a dragon had to come pretty close right? The experience lasted no where near as long as he would have liked as he found himself taken downwards, down to small gathering of trees that offset the ever expansive green grass typical of the Vale. Once landed, Malich jumped from Golvec and took in his surroundings before looking at his companion expectantly. His only answer was a large red and white claw pointing to the trees and a wry smirk. Deciding to play it safe, the executive pulled back the string on his bow and armed it with a single bolt. With all the caution of a prowling wolf, Malich slowly crept to the tree line. His eyes scanned around for any possible movement, his right hoof holding slack upon the release mechanism of the bow. He'd gone through the training regiment for the merc division when he was younger, but training but the few missions he'd been on had taught him just how ineffective training was in preparation for the unknown. He slunk behind a tree and tipped his head to look beyond. Nothing of not could be seen at first glance, just the shadows of the numerous branches above him. He quickly ran to the next tree, a little deeper in and repeated the process, the trees became thicker, so thick that there were some areas that no sunlight came through at all. His eyes and ears straining to pick up even the slightest movement of brush of grass. Though, as he continued to move in, he still found nothing worthy of note. As he walked, he began to feel uneasy. As if something terrible was within the small wood and watching him, waiting for him to slip up. Malich whipped his head around and drew his bow at the ready. He found nothing, he wasn't even sure why he turned in such a panic, there was no noise from that direction, no reason for his actions at all. Yet he felt compelled to do so. Even if Reco 2 wasn't here, there was something very wrong with this area; despite his curiosity, Malich knew it was a smart move to leave the thicket and acquire assistance. That's when he saw it. A small swing, barely distinguishable from a leaf in the wind, but he saw it. Blue eyes squinting, the earth pony looked in the one spot he failed to stare at the entire time he'd been skulking about. Up. He couldn't believe he didn't think of it before, not only in its common sense application, but in it being a perfect hiding spot for an attacker. The tree branches were unnaturally full, leaves blotted out the sun completely here, where the they'd only provided shade elsewhere. Another chill of panic shot through his spine and Malich turned again with his crossbow at the ready. Again, there was nothing for him to shoot and no reason for the creeping sense of dread. He needed to leave, he needed to get out before this place drove him crazy. He turned and quickly made a be line for the entrance, but his retreat was stopped as an ear piercing shreak spooked him and veered him just enough to send the pony face first into a tree. Recovering quickly, Malich aimed his cross bow forward and prepared himself to shoot. What he saw next he wasn't ready for, his icy blue eyes widened, the retina constricting ever so slightly as he took in the... things before him. There, glaring with bright, glowing red eyes as pure as the fires of Tartarus themselves stood three black coated griffons. Their black, Triple M assigned coats were in prestien condition, but their feathers and coats were marred with missing patches of fur and feathers. Large chunks of flesh were missing from their necks, and one had multiple vertibre exposed from the side. A sudden stench of death and decay wafted through Malich, almost making him gag. He'd seen this kind of thing only once before, Triple M. was called in about mysterious disappearances in a small town on the border of North and South New Equine. He'd lead a team of unicorns and minotaur to investigate and found the missing ponies in a cave north of the city. Thing was, the ponies were all dead, all seventeen of them. Emphasis on the were. He remembered checking a few of them personally. Necromancy was a magic Triple M. didn't dare speak of, even behind closed doors. Yet there he was, in the midst of a horde of risen ponies hell bent on ripping him and his team apart. Though, unlike last time, he knew what they were and how to stop them. Taking aim, Malich cursed whomever had disturbed the dead and released a bolt into the head of one of the approaching griffons. It struck true, embedding itself into the eagle/lion's eye and dropping it like a rock. The others took no notice of it's fallen companion and proceeded forward a little faster. His confidence bolstered by the fallen enemy, Malich charged forth and swung his left foreleg with all his might at the left griffon's neck. He felt the blade connect and slice clean through, severing the fallen's head from it's body and sending the rotting appendage rolling out of sight. The last remaining griffon lunged forth, gripping Malich's shoulder padded jacket in it's hands and squeezed with unnatural strength, forcing its claws into the fabric. Wincing, the earth pony responded by head butting his assailant in an attempt to get free. His efforts were for naught as the undead beast's grip never faltered. Malich twirled his body in an attempt to gain leverage, but undead's talons failed to release him. His sense of confidence quickly wavering, the business pony picked up his leg and lunched the blade down upon the griff's arm. Surprisingly, it let go and jumped away just long enough to dodge the attack and lunged at him again. Free to move more readily, Malich threw swing after swing of his legs, attempting to cut his opponent down. In an unprecidented move, the griffon actually proceeded to dodge each attack as it came. It even parried a few! This isn't right, the undead supposedly had no sense of self preservation at all. Triple M. had preformed multiple experiments on the captured for research and not a single one had shown signs of either combat capability or a sense of self protection. Yet this one was displaying both! It wasn't only combat capable, but with each new slice and slash he through that made contact, the undead would counter it if he tried same move twice. The fucking thing was learning! Knowing he'd tire out if the fight lasted too long, Malich committed a technique he absolutely hated but knew would work. He pushed the griff back a ways, swiveled on his front legs and threw his hind legs out as hard as he could. The shot hit home and sent the assailant flying back into a tree, the shock lasting just long enough for Malich to lunge forward and slam the blade directly into it's skull, slicing the thing's head in half at the eyes. He hated bucking, it turned an individuals back on an enemy and making them quite vulnerable, but it did have it's uses from time to time. Pushing off of the tree, Malich fell onto his back side to catch his breath. He couldn't deny it. Those were Triple M. agents, and as he dared to look upon the sitting corps that lay against the now blood stained tree, he saw clearly the R-2 upon it's chest. They were dead, 3 assets of one of Triple M.'s most efficient reconnaissance team were dead and gone. Not only that, but there was Necromancy being preformed within the Federation, a threat rivaling that of a full blown Changeling infestation, and to make matters worse, the undead were showing signs of intelligence. He forced himself upright on shaky and exhausted legs, making a mental note to get back in shape before entering field missions again. He had to get back to Thanatos and send word about the discovery. That's when third feeling of panic shot through him, followed by a sickening realization. There were six members of Reco 2, he'd killed three of them, which meant... A small squawk from behind made his eyes go wide and he knew exactly what it was. Malich chanced a glance and found three more griffons, each with piercing bright red eyes glaring at him from a few yards away. Slowly, he lifted his foreleg to take a step and felt a new sense of dread as two of the undead griffs proceeded to branch off to his sides, while the middle one held his gaze. They were surrounding him, the fuckers were not only capable of learning, but planning too?! Malich made a mad dash for the exit, he'd gotten lucky in dropping the first two of his risen subordinates and taking on the last in a one on one. Three against one weren't good odds for him, and they were even smarter than the last. The small thicket quickly gave way to lighter and lighter terrain as he approached the exit. He could hear the fallen chasing him and gaining on him. He'd just need to get to Golvec, the dragon could easily incinerate his pursuers with no problem what so ever. He broke the tree line and busted full sprint out into the planes with his pursuers nipping at his heels. There was no sign of the drake. "FUCK!" Malich spat at he ran, taking a look behind him to see the griffs spreading their rotten wings and taking flight. It was at that moment the business pony realized that running out of the tree line that kept them grounded wasn't the best of ideas. "GOLVEC! WHERE ARE YOU!" He cried, the earth pony could hear the woosh of wings behind him and dived left, narrowly escaping the clutching tallons of his enemy. Durring his roll, he grabbed another bolt from it's strap and quickly pulled the draw string. He took aim and loosed a stream of curses as the undead zig zagged through the sky. They knew what he was doing and were preforming maneuvers to throw his perception off. "Son of a bitch." He chose a target and followed it. His bow was pointed his bow and waited for the attack to come, hopefully they'd take turns at him, but if they had any sense at all, a three pronged lighting blitz from all sides was inevitable. As if the Universe was conspiring against him, all three broke from the zig zag manuver and branched out to all sides of him before banking hard and making a nose dive directly for Malich. I- I can't take all of them. It was a sobering realization, but even if he shot one and dodged another, the third would have him for sure. This is it, I'm going to die. All of that planning, all of that work, and I wont be around to see it. The earth pony chuckled, lowered his bow and cast his eyes to the ground with a shake of his head in utter disbelief. In his last moments of life, he thought about all the mistakes he'd made to lead him to his current situation. Going alone, trusting a dragon he'd met only once, leaving the office, getting out of bed. Yea, today was just full of regrets. But he wasn't about to die without a fight. "I came into this world kicking, screaming and covered in someone else's blood." He whispered, lifting his bow to an approaching undead, a new fire burning in his eyes. "And that's how I intend to leave it..."