"Ghosts, listen up." Talbot stood, fully armed and armored, in front of several chalkboards, detailing griffon territory and their order of travel and targets. "First things first: equipment. We all have our rifles, Fuse has his rockets and explosives, and Raymond has his sniper rifle. Bullet casings are not required to be reclaimed, but we are on discreet rules of engagement. Do not fire unless fired upon. Exceptions to the order will be given by me if needed."
"Don't think we'd want to shoot anyway," Raymond said. "We don't even have suppressors for the MR8s."
"Actually..." Pastor said, pulling out a small rectangular black box. He opened it, revealing four suppressors, models made specifically for the MR8s. "We have these." The clank of armor could be heard throughout their quarters as Harvey, Snowfeather, and the Ghosts leaned in to look at the box.
"Where the hell did you get those?" Mendoza asked.
Pastor shrugged. "I asked around a bit, talked with the General, and he pulled a few favors with some folks in the DoD on a moment's notice. I just thought it was really weird that they never made suppressors for these guns, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. These are specially-made suppressors, courtesy of the Advanced Armament Corporation. You know, the same guys who build the Titan suppressors for sniper rifles?"
"Very nice," Mendoza said, grabbing one and twirling it around his fingers. He locked it on to the MR8 with ease. "Fits like a glove."
"Have these things been tested?" Raymond asked, examining the matte black object.
"Only basic testing, nothing intensive since they were short on time when Noriega requested it. They did lift some designs off of previous suppressors before, so it's not like these things are going to crap out on us in the field." Raymond nodded before locking the suppressor on his MR8.
"Now we can maintain stealth even at long distance. I know these MR8s aren't exactly designed for extreme distance combat, but at least now we can afford to engage in one if the need arises," Talbot said. "Fuse, what about your explosives?"
"Just three blocks of C4. I figured we'd need it to blast open some crazy gigantic vault door that Maynard would have in his villa, but I guess he sort of opened it for us."
"Good. Keep them on hand, we might need to use them eventually... specifically, Quickwing and his naval ships. One good block of C4 on each of their engine blocks should to send them crashing to the ground."
"Roger that, boss, saving the good stuff for the big things that fall the hardest."
"So, order of targets?" Raymond asked.
Talbot nodded, before pointing at the board. "In order, the generals will be: Gale Whisper, Highcloud, Castshot, Red Talon, Gravelclaw, Quickwing, and then Strongbeak himself."
"Any intelligence on the cities?"
Talbot shook his head. "Nothing aside from names. The ambassador unfortunately didn't give us any further information for the cities, nor the locations of the generals. The loyalists will have to fill us in on that."
Snowfeather, who sat beside the Ghosts, spoke up. "My uncle will be able to provide you all with any information that you need, as well as help you gain entry into most of the cities. The only problem, I believe, will be with Red Talon. He doesn't live in a city, but his own garrisoned fortress: Fortress Helmguard. It sits straight in the center of the Empire."
"For immediate deployment to any of their borders if they get attacked. Good foresight on their part," Talbot agreed. "But it makes it harder for us to get in. If it's a fortress, then we can't just expect to hitch a ride on a trade caravan and be able to get through their gates. We'll have to sneak in the hard way."
"Man, it's a good thing we still have those grappling hooks from Fortaleza, right?" Mendoza laughed.
"I don't think we're supposed to use those things to scale fortress walls..." Pastor said.
"There might be other ways," Talbot interrupted. "For now, we'll just deal with the generals as they come."
"What about resupply, sir? Our bullets won't stick around forever if we get into a firefight," Raymond said.
"Glad you pointed that out, Scope. All equipment is to be reclaimed if possible. We can't pick up every brass casing every time we fire, so bullets can be ignored. In the case where we run out, we switch to our sidearms or the bow weapons. Sensor grenades and the recon drone have the highest priority for reclamation. They can be reused and will prove extremely useful in the field."
Harvey raised his hand. "Ah, may I examine one of those sensor grenades? I know they were designed for a single one-time activation when thrown, but with some tinkering around, I could rework the battery to jump-start itself and recharge for multiple uses."
"That may be useful." Talbot pulled one off of his armor tossed it to Harvey. "Each one of the Ghosts has five of those grenades, which means twenty combined. It'll last us for a while, but I'd rather be able to reuse the grenades than not."
"Er, these... grenades..." Snowfeather said. "What do they do?"
"Sensor grenades." Talbot tapped the side of his visor, where the blue light from the crosscom was barely visible. "It can detect everything within a certain range when it lands, and what it detects shows up for us. It also keeps track of whatever it marks even if it walks out of our sight."
"Sounds like something extremely handy to have," Snowfeather agreed. "All this military talk may go over my head, but the idea of knowing where your enemies are at all times isn't lost on me. You humans have some very interesting technologies."
"That we do. We can be quite ingenious in developing ways to kill people. Take that statement as you will."
"Yes..." Harvey said, adjusting his glasses and rotating the grenade, examining the casing. "...I think I might be able to do something with this. But I'm going to need something to pry this open... I'll be sure to ask one of the guards later. I'll need to collect all of your grenades. You Ghosts won't be leaving any time soon, right?"
"Not until we have everything down. Don't want to walk in missing something important." Talbot pulled off his remaining sensor grenades and left them on the table for Harvey. The rest of the Ghosts did the same, as the table began to get crowded with the number of grenades that sat on it. "Just make sure you don't accidentally hit the button on top. That's how the grenade arms itself."
"Will do, Captain," Harvey laughed. "I think I'll be fine since these grenades don't explode."
"Yeah, sure, now... uh, boss, we're taking down Whisper first?" Mendoza asked. "I know you mentioned that he's the eyes and ears of the generals, so..."
"I'll expand on that," Talbot said. "Whisper is in charge of letting all the generals know what the hell's going on in the homefront and on the battlefield. But for the most part, he gathers intelligence and keeps the cities in check. If we enter and we don't take him down first, there's a good chance he'll be sending agents after us, and he'll most likely have suggestions to send the rest of the generals into hiding."
"So we take him down, then they won't be able to prepare for us," Mendoza said, tinkering with his helmet.
"Exactly. We kill him first, and they'll be running in the dark. They won't even have the vaguest idea who we are, nor will they know how to prepare for us. The files say that he absolutely hates his subordinates, and only uses them because he can't get things done himself. His intelligence network will most likely fall apart after his death."
"Any possibilities that we might have some loyalists working under him?" Raymond asked.
"If we're lucky, then yes. Having at least one person on the inside would go a long way to leveraging things in our favor. We can keep tabs on what's going on that way without having to expose ourselves by gathering intelligence. Practically every loyalist who stayed in the military will be identical to any other, background wise, so I don't think it'll be easy for him to try to keep tabs on every soldier he has."
"Right... and the rest?" Raymond hefted the M107 in his lap, the gun's firing mode set on safety. "I know we're not planning too far ahead just yet since we're kind of grasping at straws here, but general ideas for the others?"
"We go in, find them, take them down, then extract with the help of the loyalists, or by ourselves, if need be. Recommended method is that we use you, Scope, with your rifle, to tag them at extreme distance and then bug out before they find us."
Raymond smiled and nodded. "I like that. I guess the old M107's going to get some use, after all."
"It's our go-to route for this mission. I expect for you to have expended all your ammunition before we're done with this." Talbot turned around, looking at the cities on the chalkboard. They were only marked with dots, from the basic map that Quillfeather had provided them, but it appeared that there weren't that many large griffon settlements, and many of the towns were agrarian, dotting the spaces between the cities instead. "Snowfeather... care to fill us in on the cities? I know the one in the center, near the top, is Tesseraka, the griffon capital city. What are the other ones?"
Snowfeather hopped off his seat and walked up to the board. "Hmm... this one..." he said, pointing at a city across the southern range of mountains, a bit away from the Equestrian border. "...is Carseract. It's a rather unsightly slum city, built into a large crater that was once a quarry. They expended the mines there a few years back, and it's become just another city, albeit a large one."
Talbot became curious. Usually any location used for gaining resources was an immediate red flag in the manual. "Mining? What were they mining there?"
"I don't know. My father said it had something to do with those strange new weapons General Castshot was using."
"They were mining the components for gunpowder..." Mendoza said. "It wouldn't surprise me if they could harvest sulfur and saltpeter, and I'm already pretty sure you guys know how to make charcoal judging from what I saw in the kitchens."
"Possibly," Snowfeather said. "Carseract is actually just north of Ardmis. That's probably where the first of the generals will have a garrison waiting. The location is just too prime for invasion, and could make a good home base for... all of the generals, actually. It can hold the legions that Red Talon has, or the ships that Quickwing has, or even Castshot's artillery regiments. We'll find out once we get to Ardmis, I suppose."
"First haunting grounds," Raymond laughed. "A quarry turned slum city? We should be right at home."
"What about the, uh... the Elements of Harmony I recall the Princesses speaking about?" Harvey asked.
"Please, doc," Mendoza said, folding his arms. "I don't think the elements of harmony and friendship are going work on this one. Maybe against an ancient evil that's forever plagued the land or some evil magical demigod from the moon, but I don't think these elements were made to shoot down lines of infantry by the hundreds."
"The only element that'll work in this war is the element of surprise," Raymond laughed, exchanging a high-five with Mendoza.
"Damn straight," Mendoza chuckled. "We are the goddamn Ghosts! Those bastards won't even see what hit 'em. Swift, silent, invisible."
"Save the party for after the mission, Fuse," Talbot shot at him, earning a shrug from Mendoza as the loud explosives expert quieted down. "Right, then, Snowfeather, what about the other cities?"
Snowfeather pointed at a city north of Carseract, immediately straight ahead from the center pass between the mountain ranges. "That's Aerocem. I'm pretty sure Highcloud will be stationed there. Stratus Highbase, the homebase for the griffon air cavalry, resides on top of the mountain there. There's going to be a problem getting up there, though..."
"Is it guarded?"
"No... but there are no roads leading up to it. Most of the food and supplies for the Highbase are brought up using flight, or grown within the base itself. You're going to need the help of the loyalists to get up there."
"Fantastic..." Talbot said. And if they happened to fall, they won't have any parachutes, either. "Let's just hope the griffons can fly well. What else?"
"There's Kruvem, just west of Aerocem. It's a city that's surrounded by the plains that make up most of the Griffon Empire's territory, sitting on flat ground, with most of the other cities visible in all directions. Most of the area around it is cultivated as farmland. Fortress Helmguard is immediately north from there."
"Any idea on the density of griffon troops between settlements?"
"There shouldn't be many. The army doesn't normally do patrols because the griffon people are more than capable of defending themselves from anything. Unless the dragons invade, most towns police themselves and the army just does their own thing."
"Interesting. So what other cities are there? I notice a few in the northwest."
"Ah, yes, that one..." Snowfeather said, pointing to one of the cities far northwest, sitting at the base of the mountain ranges that curved around the Griffon Empire's northwest borders. "...is Brightshard, a mountain city. The fortress for that city is partially built into the mountainside, like many griffon cities of old. The mines still run, even today, producing the metal that the military uses."
"There's another one here..." Talbot said, pointing to another city southeast of Brightshard. "I assume the iconography around it represents a forest?"
"Ah, yes, that is Leafhaven, and where most of the wood for the Griffon Empire comes from. The forest makes up the area between Brightshard and Tesseraka, and can actually get pretty snowy in the northern reaches around this time of year. I expect Tesseraka to be intact, as well as Iron Mountain, which sits directly behind it to the north, but beyond that, I expect there to be some heavy snowstorms. Travel in the north is severely impeded during those times, so I wouldn't recommend it."
"For you, perhaps. The Ghosts have ample training in moving through hostile environments. Perhaps we can use that to our advantage and sneak close to Tesseraka without being detected." Talbot noticed that a huge stretch of the north beyond the line of Iron Mountain was uninhabited, no doubt due to the snowstorms.
There was the sound of a whir and then a beep as the sound of a sensor grenade activating pulsed across Talbot's crosscom. He looked to see the doctor locking in the side hatch for the grenade, a combat knife and several metal tools on the table before him. He looked to the Ghosts with glee across his face. "Look, look, I've done it!" he shouted.
"Seriously, doc?" Mendoza asked. "Well, that's what you get from a guy who worked at DARPA..."
"No, really, see, just... watch!" He powered off the grenade and then reactivated it, causing the red diamonds on the crosscom to disappear and then reappear. "Haha, it works!"
"Yeah, that's just... would you mind, doctor? I can't really... see at the moment," Talbot said, the giant red blip that was Snowfeather in front of his vision.
"Oh, yes, sorry about that." The grenade shut off with a low whir before the diamonds faded again. "I'll just..." He cleared his throat. "...get working on the rest of the grenades now." He wheeled around on his chair as he picked up another grenade, dropping the modified on other empty side of the table.
"Right, then..." Talbot said, looking at Tesseraka on the map. "So that's all the major settlements?"
Snowfeather looked over the map, his gaze eventually falling upon the southern territory of the Empire. "Mostly, yes. I only recall Ardmis fondly because my family passed through it many times during our visits to Equestria. The town was actually small, with a population less than a hundred, but the residents were a mix of both ponies and griffons, all farmers."
"That's rather surprising." Hearing that a group of beings that they were going to war with had actually once resided peacefully with the ponies was certainly news to Talbot.
"Indeed. Most griffonfolk are actually very down-to-earth, and very accepting, much like the ponies are. There are some drastic differences, of course, like griffons eating meat and our standing military compared to the Equestrians, but for the most part, we try to accommodate each other's differences. Many pony-griffon towns have created some rather interesting vegetarian cuisine that can cater to both species."
"So I assume griffons like Strongbeak are the exception?"
"Absolutely," Snowfeather said, looking down at his claws. "Most griffons see us as having a good relationship with the ponies. Most actually don't want to go to war, but with Strongbeak and his generals holding control over most of the Empire, we're helpless to do anything." He sighed. "To think that I would end up meeting the most esteemed Princesses of Equestria like this..."
"It could have been much worse..." Talbot commented, but changed the topic. "What about the griffons that are going to be sent to war? Do they hold the same opinions as the people do?"
"I'm not sure. Most of the generals have troops extremely loyal to them. It was always a joke that I heard many of the Emperor's Imperial Guard say: that every griffon in a legion is the spitting image of their general because the camaraderie in each legion is actually very strong. It wouldn't surprise me if the men under the generals' command willingly went to war with them, especially with Strongbeak's promises of glory and power."
Talbot held up a hand. "Wait a moment. Imperial Guard? The Emperor has his own guard?"
"Yes, though I assume they were overpowered by Strongbeak's legion within Tesseraka Palace. The Imperial Guard are well-trained and well-armed, but they don't hold the advantage in numbers."
"Any news about them?"
"Last I heard, most of the loyalists fleeing from Tesseraka were under the command of the remnants of the Imperial Guard... at least, those that weren't killed by Strongbeak. My uncle was their captain, so it was unsurprising that he would end up as leader of the loyalist movement."
Talbot grabbed his chair and sat down, now looking at Snowfeather face-to-face. "You weren't lying when you said your family had strong ties to the crown."
"Indeed." Snowfeather paused for a moment, realigning his glasses. "I was actually training to take over for my father, actually... being a scribe and all that, and eventually an advisor to the crown."
"Yo, boss, are we good to go, or what?" Mendoza asked, juggling his MR8 magazines in the air. He caught them all with his right hand and then stuffed them into his ammo pouches. "Those griffons aren't going to wait all year, you know."
"In due time," Talbot said. "I only needed you all in your equipment for basic gear check. We will launch the operation in a short span of time, sooner if we make good progress. For now, double check your camouflage and pull diagnostics on your magnetic goggles."
"Ten-four, sir," Mendoza saluted. There was the sound of a click as Mendoza activated his magnetic goggles, his head looking up and down, and then left and right around the room. "Well, these babies still work fine..." he laughed. His form disappeared as Raymond, who was checking over his MR8 and M107, shook his head as Mendoza started grabbed several unmodified sensor grenades and began juggling. The contact with a new object, however, broke his camouflage, but he continued anyway.
"Corporal, do you mind?" Harvey said. "Please, put those down and stop fooling around!"
"Right... sorry, doc," Mendoza said, rolling the three grenades on the table. His shoulder-mounted rocket pods raised above his shoulders as he turned his head in various directions, checking to see if his target acquisition software was up to par.
Pastor had activated the recon drone, flying the little rotor-operated device around the room, earning a confounded glance from Harvey and one of astonishment from Snowfeather.
"Aside from that..." Talbot muttered. Snowfeather looked back to him. "...is there anything else we should know about the Empire? Weather? Terrain between cities, all that?"
"Well, yes, I can sketch out a basic terrain map for the Empire. I took some classes on cartography as a scribe, but I'm afraid I'm a bit rusty. I'll do my best... is there a scroll and a quill around here?"
"I'll ask the guards for one." Talbot opened the door and whispered his request to the guard, who merely nodded and then trotted off for the supplies. He had only turned away from a moment after closing the door before hearing a knock. They were certainly quick on their feet... or rather, hooves. He thanked the guard as he took the materials, putting them on another office table for Snowfeather to use.
"Let's see now..." He scrawled out the uneven circular boundaries of the Griffon Empire, marking down blots for the cities and tinier ones for towns and settlements. It only took a matter of moments before the map had been completed, including the two mountain ranges that separated the Empire from Equestria. "Do you need extra copies?"
"Won't be needing them," Talbot said, activating his crosscom's visual scanner. A thin blue light ran up and down the span of the scroll, as Snowfeather confusedly looked between Talbot's head and the table. "There. Thank you for that, Snowfeather," he said, bringing up a digital representation of the map on his crosscom. "This will really come in handy."
"That's... quite impressive. You can keep the map in that little... device of yours, on your head?"
"Yep." Talbot turned around to see Pastor double-checking the safety locks on Mendoza's rocket launchers. "That'll be it for today, feel free to drop your gear whenever, but be prepared to leave on a moment's notice. The countdown to war is ticking down." The Ghosts saluted him before dispersing to their corners and began disassembling their gear.
"Any further orders, boss?" Pastor asked.
"None for the rest of today. Do whatever you want, within reason. MR8s are not to fire under any circumstances, but Scope may want to test fire a round or two on his M107 to calibrate his optics. Fuse, usual orders: don't blow something up. We don't need a repeat of what happened at Bragg six months back."
Raymond started laughing and Pastor rolled his eyes, leaving the unaware Mendoza to sputter as he looked at Talbot, thinking of a response.
"It was an accident! Sheesh, it was just firecrackers on an RC car!" he remarked. "How the hell was I supposed to know they had exposed combustibles laying around?"
"You needed me for wartime projections?" Talbot asked. He sat at a large circular table, with a huge war map in the center, with small cutouts of red and blue blocks denoting griffon and pony detachments. Several of the blue ones sat on top of Canterlot.
He looked around the table, eyeing the faces of many weathered royal guard veterans, most likely commanders and captains from veteran guard units. He also noted the presence of several non-royal guard ponies, most likely leaders of the militias. Celestia and Luna sat to his right, while Shining Armor sat to his left. He folded his arms across the table, observing the placement of the pieces.
"Indeed, Captain Talbot," Celestia responded. "If Doctor Harvey's vouching is anything to go by, you and your Ghosts hold, by far, the greatest amount of combat experience here, especially having been involved in a war much more recently than we have. We feel that our plans are mostly complete, but would like to have you here just in case."
"I can understand that, but you have to realize, Princess... I'm not exactly the best strategist when it comes to these things. The most I can provide is my own soldier's intuition, though seeing as we're the ones at a disadvantage here, my advice might come in use, though, for your own sake, I will only recommend general advice, not ones that adhere more closely to my... unit's doctrine. But from what we've spoken about before, I doubt there's much I can offer. You know your soldiers better than I do."
"In any case, we're glad to have you here, Captain," Shining said. He motioned for an assistant to begin moving the blocks around. "We're bringing in several dozen detachments straight down from Stalliongrad, namely most of the royal guard contingent minus one company, and most of the Stalliongrad militia. We intend to set them up in the center pass for the Empire's advance. They'll most likely try to advance straight through the center since it has the most direct route to Canterlot."
"Are the Stalliongrad forces the most experienced?" Talbot said. Around three dozen blue blocks had been moved from the far northeast of the world map from Stalliongrad to the center mountain pass.
Shining nodded. "They are. They're up there in terms of training with most of Canterlot's royal guard forces. You won't find them lacking."
"Then it's wise to keep them to hold the pass. What measures will you take to hold it?"
"We'll simply hold them off using armored earth ponies, using pegasi to scatter their infantry and prevent them from passing. Our unicorn companies are currently undergoing training as per the Princesses' suggestion to counter the griffon cannons. They're making good progress: they can hit a target from a half valley's distance. We already have the heavy ballistae moving in convoys the hills above to set up for their battle wagons."
"Are the ballistae protected?"
"Yes. We've deployed guards along with them, but they're out in the open. I hoped that we could set them up within the forest line at the ridges of the pass, but they're just simply too large. We have to deploy them in the clearings."
"Have you considered knitting a forest camouflage netting?"
"Uh... I'm not sure I know what that is."
Talbot sat back in his chair, motioning in the air with his hand. "It's essentially a net woven in a loosely-made pattern to allow air to blow through, but it has the green and brown colors of the forest. From an aerial view, it'll go a long way in preventing them from being spotted while setting up. You essentially set up a large tent and cover the top using this netting, shielding it from direct sight in the air. With any due luck, the griffon air scouts won't be able to see it."
"That sounds rather useful, actually. I'll get the requisitions ponies right on it."
"Don't expect that thing to do much in the terms of actual defense, though," Talbot added. "It's just there to hide them, not protect them."
"Duly noted." Shining wrote down Talbot's suggestion on a piece of parchment that lay in front of him. "We also have the Manehattan, Trottingham, and Fillydelphia units moving to cover the northern pass."
"I saw the map. Will the Empire's snowstorms impede their progress in the north?" Talbot looked at the map: the pass was below the line established by Iron Mountain, but still north enough to suffer from some degree of frost.
"Not for our soldiers. Most of the northern ponies are well-accustomed to the cold weather, so we won't have much problems unless they get snowed in. Manehattan's guard armory is also bringing out their heavy ballistae to watch the northern passes for the aforementioned battle wagons, and the pegasi and earth ponies are among the hardiest in Equestria."
"That's good to hear. How many total so far?"
"So far, we have around two thousand to hold the dense center pass, with around three thousand holding the northern pass. The remaining units from Maremi and Appleloosa will be coming up from the south and protecting the southern pass. Most of them are farmers, though, so they hold the advantage in earth pony numbers. We're dispatching some of the Canterlot royal guards to help bolster their numbers as well as support them with pegasi and unicorn reinforcements, as well as diverting some heavy ballistae to the south."
"And the rest will be diverted as needed?"
"Yes. The remaining militia from Las Pegasus and Cloudsdale will be divided up as needed and sent to where their numbers are needed most. I expect it'll be a 40-20-40 split between the three passes, though. Aside from the pegasi and unicorn units we'll be deploying to the southern pass, most of the Canterlot guard here will be working as protection for the Princesses and the officers, and extending patrols to Ponyville."
"What are you doing about the civilians?"
"They'll be moved further inland away from the front. We have camps set up along most of the eastern stretch, and some settlements willing to take and in care for the relocated."
"Will the other towns and cities be defended?"
Shining nodded. "They all have their own defense forces, and the majority of the militia can return to the cities quickly for defense if need be. We have the home territory advantage, and I'm confident we can hold out until the problem of the generals have been dealt with. I assume you and your squad are ready to go?"
"We're more than ready. I plan to deploy within the week, though I'd rather wait until the royal family has reached safety."
Celestia spoke up. "There is no need to worry about that, Captain. Luna's Night Guard received word of their carriage entering Equestrian borders just a while ago, and they will be escorting them here to Canterlot."
"Good. Then the Ghosts will prepare for immediate departure. The longer we wait, the more time they have to plan."
"Where will you enter?" Shining looked to the war map.
"We'll be entering here..." Talbot pointed at the southern pass. "...at Ardmis, like originally planned. We'll do so with caution, and we'll be bringing Snowfeather with us. No carriages, however, and we'll be staying away from the main roads. We don't know if this might be a trap, so we'll be transported to the forests due south and then walk directly to town."
"The forest ends around Equestrian borders, Captain," Luna said. "There will be nothing but grasslands for miles until Ardmis."
"Well, if it's just Snowfeather walking across the grass, it'll surely raise less attention than four humans. Again, I'll reiterate: we don't know if this is a trap. Better to be safe than sorry, even with the information given to us."
"Very well. We shall hold with the plans. If Quillfeather says the generals hold as much clout as he says they do, then after your Ghosts accomplish your objective, we shall proceed immediately to counterattack while their forces are in chaos." Luna nodded knowingly. She'd obviously been planning this for a while.
"I'd also like for you to do one more thing, Captain..." Celestia said.
"And what would that be, Your Majesty?" He raised an eyebrow towards the addition to their plans.
"If possible, I would like you to infiltrate the Bastion of the Ancestors at Iron Mountain, and help free the Emperor."
A jailbreak. Mendoza would have a few choice words to say about that, if he were here. "I can't guarantee anything, Princess, but I'll see what we can do."
"Thank you. We appreciate what you and your squad are willingly choosing to do."
"Don't mention it, Your Majesty... we're just repaying the kindness you've shown to us so far... and besides... I believe some of my men are getting..." He gave a nervous chuckle. "...antsy, to say the least. Getting them out there will do them some good to clear their heads. They aren't, uh, exactly the type to get cooped in a room all day."
"Here we go. One glass bottle, ready for Scope to rip a new one." Raymond could see Mendoza at extreme distance, setting a small glass bottle on top of a stone bench, before quickly sprinting away. "Fire away, chief!"
"M107 test firing, take one," Raymond said over the crosscom. He'd done basic calibrations on the sights, but the only real way to know if he'd done so correctly was to actually fire the gun, if only once. He'd cleaned the gun out, and while none of the parts were damaged, he didn't know how much of the sights had been thrown off by their little entry into this new world.
He sat on top of one of the towers, Pastor standing behind him with his visor in binocular mode, looking down upon the other end of the royal castle gardens. There were a number of royal guards, both off and on-duty ones, in a circle behind them, waiting to see what Raymond would do with this strange new weapon of his.
"And... Fuse is out of range." Pastor had looked downrange as he saw Mendoza trying to shoo away anypony who got too close, warning them of the impeding test firing. "Cleared to fire, Scope."
Raymond's crosscom locked onto the small bottle, again putting up details on wind speed and distance to target. He made sure he calibrated his scope as much as possible, before firing, so now was the final test. He steadied his breath, zooming in ever more with his scope, until the crosshairs lined up just right where he wanted them to, and slowly pulled the trigger...
The resulting shot cracked the skies louder than thunder, as the guards jumped back as the .50 BMG round exited the barrel of the M107. Raymond could see the bottle crack open and he felt himself smile. As befitting a crack shot like himself, he would be surprised if he couldn't hit the target on his first shot.
"Whoo-ee! Nice one, Scope. You hit that thing straight on the mark!" Mendoza had walked over to the bench, examining the broken glass shards of the bottle that now sat on top and around the bench.
"Good shot, Scope," Pastor confirmed.
"Uh-huh," Raymond grunted in response. "Looks like this thing's one hundred percent calibrated." He pulled the M107 off of its bipod stand, setting it on safety and pulling it by its carrying strap, holstering it across his shoulder. "Glad we didn't have to waste more than just that one round."
"That was pretty impressive!" said one guard. Pastor turned to see that it was Sky Watch, standing near the back of the group of curious guards. "How far did you guys shoot? Is Scope that good of a shot like you say he is?"
"Took a shot across the entire span of the gardens," Raymond said, nonchalantly shrugging. "Nothing too big."
"Wow, not even our better crossbow shots can fire that far."
Pastor had a dry grin. "Yeah, well, your weapons are still a long way off. Maybe someday when--"
"This is Talon to Anvil Squad: prepare to deploy. Grab Snowfeather and meet at the west tower balcony," Talbot's voice rang in. "We are entering operational mission doctrine. All references will be by tagnames only, no rank or actual names. Check your rounds and equipment. Doctor Harvey should be finished calibrating the grenades by now. Prepare to ship out."
The guards gave looks of confusion when the Ghosts had broken off of the conversation. Pastor smiled at them. "Looks we're shipping out sooner than expected."
"Already deploying so soon?" Harvey asked, walking alongside the Ghosts and Snowfeather on the way to the west tower balcony. He carried the remaining five sensor grenades unclaimed by Talbot, and had intended to deliver them to him by walking with the Ghosts.
"An op's an op, doc," Mendoza said. "Better to strike now than later, and I'd rather try to sneak in before the armies of griffons start walking across the border, thank you very much."
"Like what Fuse said, doctor," Pastor said. "The most we could have done at this point is just plan on sketchy intelligence. By going directly to the loyalists, we'll have the final pieces of the puzzle, and from there, we can begin our operations."
Pastor and Mendoza both had their own compact crossbows, as well as carrying a single quiver of bolts. Raymond had his M107 as well as two quivers of arrows and his recurve bow. Talbot, who wasn't with them, would most likely have the same basic bow armaments as Pastor and Mendoza, but the agreed-upon method was the usage of their firearms until they ran out of ammunition before switching to the bows.
They quickly broke across the last of the steps, seeing the sun begin to drop behind the horizon as Talbot stood waiting with a large carriage drawn by four Night Guards.
"About time," Talbot said. "Load up and get on board." The Ghosts and Snowfeather quickly hopped on board the carriage, leaving Talbot to speak with Harvey. "Doctor."
"Captain," Harvey said, handing back the sensor grenades to Talbot. "You stay safe out there, okay?"
"You, too, doctor." Talbot then unexpectedly pulled out his sidearm, a suppressed FNP-45 Tactical, handing it to Harvey as he pulled out two magazines to go along with it. "Take these."
"What? Captain... I'm no soldier."
"The Ghosts aren't going to be around here to protect you, Doctor. I need you to have some assurance that you'll be safe, even when we're gone."
Harvey sighed, then reluctantly took the weapons. "Very well... but what will you have then?"
Talbot shook his head humorously, before pulling out a jet-black revolver from his pack, waving it in the air before sliding it into the holster where his pistol once sat. "A Chiappa Rhino 60DS." Harvey was about to say something, then closed his mouth. Talbot opted to respond for him. "Being captain gives you a little leeway with what you can bring. Now, stay safe, doctor."
The two exchanged a salute, before the final Ghost boarded the carriage, and the four humans cloaked as the carriage began to ride into the sky. Harvey stared at them for the longest time, waiting until the small shape disappeared into the horizon. He looked down, hefting the gun in his hand... and hoping that he would never have to use it.