CHPT. 2 Ghost Squad 6
About 2 hours after the meeting.
“Mother I’m worried!” Moonlight announced. The younger alicorn, stared at her mother who was slowly pacing in their personal chambers within the grand castle of Canterlot.
Luna sighed and shook her head “I know Moonlight, so am I. But you need not worry so much about Aeon he can take care of himself, also he is not assigned to this op!”
Moonlight sighed “I know he is capable of handling himself, but I still can’t help but feel concern” the young moon princess replied, Luna gave a small nod.
“I just don’t want to lose a potential friend, especially one who is not open to friendship” Moonlight continued. “I’ve got so many things planned and I don’t want to lose something I’ve been working so hard for!” The light blue alicorn lowered her gaze to the floor, whilst her mother looked at her with concern and sympathy.
The older alicorn walked forward to her daughter, and lifted her chin up.
“Don’t worry, my dear. I’m sure you will succeed in your mission” Luna assured her, whilst placing a hoof on her shoulder.
Moonlight nodded slowly. Ever since she had met Aeon for the first time 2 years ago, she had made it her personal mission to try and open him up to friendship and kindness. However, she had had no success in trying to break him, he still didn’t accept friendship into his life.
Luna gave a small smile “It’s alright my dear, don’t worry about him. Now come on. We are awaited at the High Command” Luna announced and stood up and turned towards the door.
Moonlight gave a sigh in defeat, and looked up. She began walking towards her mother, who was standing near the door.
The older alicorn opened it and the two quietly left their personal chamber and headed out of the castle.
Same time at the High Command:
A light grey Pegasus stallion, with a black and blue mane, a bullet cutiemark and steel tipped wings, walked through the halls of the Equestrian Military High Command.
Accompanying him was a shorter Indigo coloured Pegasus stallion, with a light blue and black mane and with no cutie mark, behind him were five other ponies; one light brown Pegasus stallion, with a small goatee, and a red and white mane, a dark blue Pegasus stallion with even darker hair, walking next to him, was a grey female bat pony, with a dark blue mane tied up in a ponytail, then lastly; a grey unicorn mare, with a dark brown mane, walking close beside a dark blue Pegasus stallion with a short, dark brown mane, followed close behind them.
The 7 ponies walked on through the hallway, passing other ponies heading in different directions, some were in small groups like themselves others were rushing past on their own. The group of 7 were mostly quiet, aside from small chatter between the occasional members.
The Indigo coloured stallion looked at the grey stallion leading them down the corridor with an inquiring expression.
“Do you know why we’ve been called to the High Command, Hollow?” asked the cutiemark-less pony, to the leading stallion.
The taller Pegasus gave a small shrug and turned to his colleague “I don’t know Stealth. All I know is that General Night Shadow and the High Command want to see us” He replied with a sigh.
The dark blue pony only nodded his head before briefly turning his attention to the light brown stallion, who only gave him small shrug, being equally as unsure as the other two, then turned his attention back to the hallway in front of him.
Meanwhile behind them the blue Pegasus stallion with the black mane was softly talking with the young female bat pony. “Got any ideas as to why the High Command has summoned us?” he asked. The grey bat mare only shrugged. “Don’t know Shadowmoon, but I guess it perhaps has something to do with the Gryphons. After what’s happened lately” She replied, with a hint of concern in her voice.
The dark royal blue stallion only nodded in agreement at his adopted sister’s reply. He let out a small sigh and turned back in front of him, his gaze wondering to the floor.
The group continued to trot in silence, not another word was said, all of them had the same uneasy feeling in the pits of their stomach, but none of them decided to speak of it.
Whatever it was they had been summoned for, they knew there would be hell to pay in one way or another.
The grey Pegasus continued to lead his squad down the halls until they reached the doors to one of the grand meeting rooms of the Equestrian Military High Command.
The 7 ponies stopped outside the doors leading into the chamber. They briefly examined the door and their immediate surrounding; the meeting room they’re were summoned to wasn’t the grandest, but it was still very prominent. To the right hand side of the door, the windows were letting in the last glimpse of sunlight, whilst to the left were more doors leading to other rooms or halls.
The leader of the group took a deep breath, then opened the door.
He stepped inside, followed by the dark indigo pony and then closely by the others.
In the room, either sitting around the long table or standing up, were several ponies from the meeting that took place at Canterlot castle only a few hours prior.
Amongst them were Generals Night Shadow, Miche, Iron Flare and Supreme Sky Marshal SilverMane
Aside from the Generals, Princess Luna and Princess Moonlight were there as well, having just arrived a few minutes before Hollow and his companions.
All of the ponies in the room looked up from whatever it was they were doing, to examine the new comers.
Most of the ponies in the room, all had various looks of stress, uncertainty, deep thought or concern, but they all softened once they saw who it was that had just entered.
“Ah, Captain Hollow Point!” Announced General Night Shadow “Please come in”
Hollow and his team gave a salute, then walk into the room and stood by the table.
“Thank you for convening at such short notice, Ghost Squad 6. Please be seated” Said Princess Luna, and gave a quick gesture to the Squad to take a seat, and the 7 ponies obliged.
“I’m sure you are wondering why we summoned you all here so briefly?” asked the Princess Luna
“Yes, your majesty” Replied the grey Pegasus
“Well, you all most likely know of Dark Storm’s most recent attack on Manehatten, the High Command have decided to send you to take down Dark Storm”
Ghost Squad 6 sat still in their seats, yet inside they all had full storms of thoughts and emotions going on.
Captain Hollow Point; the commander of Ghost Squad 6, sat up straight, in a tall posture with a hard, blank expression, his gaze unwavering.
The rest of his squad all had similar appearances: 1st Lieutenant Stealth-Shadow; the second commander of GS6 and stealth specialist and technical expert, sat with a similar look and posture as his captain.
Lieutenant Hexagon Pie; GS6 sniper, and surveillance officer, looked a little less composed, but still kept himself from doing anything.
2nd Lieutenant Shadowmoon; the squad’s assault specialist, lowered his gaze, not daring to look anypony in the eye, fearing he might give something away.
Sergeant Lieutenant Steel blade; their melee weapons specialist, kept her face hardened and blank of any emotions.
Sergeant Major Frostbite; Ghost Squad 6 Heavy weapons expert and ordinance officer, tried to restrain herself from sudden action, it was hard, but she succeeded in preventing herself from doing anything rash.
And Master Sergeant Night Hawk; their intelligence operative, just kept a calm and collected expression.
“Do you accept?” Lunas asked, snapping the Lunar Shadow Task Force operatives out of their trains of thought.
Silence once again filled the room, Ghost Squad 6 looked at each other, then turned to their captain, indicating that it was ultimately his decision.
Hollow Point finally broke the silence, nodding in confirmation.
“We’ll do it, your majesty!” replied Hollow, with determination and an unwavering gaze.
“Excellent” said the Princess of the Night.
Ghost Squad 6, all shifted in their seats, straightening themselves, all keeping passive, cold expressions.
“We have also decided to put Commander Aeon-Reaper on stand-by, in-case of any escalations” Luna added
Moonlight and Ghost Squad 6 all tensed upon hearing the Commander’s name being mentioned.
All members of Ghost Squad 6 knew of Commander Aeon-Reaper, yet none of them had ever worked with him directly. They all knew of his reputation, for being Luna’s most efficient operative, he had solidly earned that reputation and he was defiantly one of the most respected, but also one of the most feared ponies within the Equestrian Armed Forces.
Stealth-Shadow was one of the few to have ever earned the Commander’s respect, and also having earned his as well.
Snapping back to reality, Captain Hollow Point, straightened himself.
“Do we have any leads as to where Dark Storm is?” he asked
“Yes, there is an abandoned training facility in the Bronco mountains, the SSIIU believe that Dark Storm is using it as a hideout” General Iron Flare said.
“How accurate is this intel?” asked Night Hawk.
“Unclear. But so far, all evidence points to that it is used by his inner circle” Iron Flare replied.
“Understood” Night Hawk, sat back, yet still uncertain and unsatisfied with this answer.
Night Shadow pressed a hoof against the table and a holographic screen appeared in the middle of the table.
“Your insertion point will be 10 klicks outside the perimeter, to the north, once on the ground break your squad up into two fire teams and move to stand-by positions, A & B, 2 klicks outside the perimeter”
Whilst he was talking, the holo screen showed what he was instructing. It showed an overview of the complex, as well as GS6 themselves and their insertion point and stand-by positions, along with estimated hostile patrols.
“The target is the command building at the north-west side of the complex, the mission is kill or capture, kill or capture”
“Copy that, sir” replied Hollow
“What opposition are we up against?” Frostbite interjected
“Several heavily armed mercenaries: Gryphon, Pony and diamond dog. Their weaponry varies from everything from assault rifles, to SMG’s, heavy and light MG’s, as well as explosives, so expect heavy resistance. The total number of mercs is unclear but we believe at least 40-50.” Answered Iron Flare
“Understood” Frostbite nodded, and sat back.
Iron Flare gives a small nod to Night Shadow, and he presses more controls on the table, and the holo map redistributes the hostiles across the area.
“We counted at least 6 4-troop patrols guarding the perimeter, 6 guarding the outer perimeter and several across the entire facility” the head of the SSIIU continued.
Ghost squad 6 nodded and watched the screen with extreme interest and focus. Night Hawk was busy taking notes, as was Shadowmoon, the others were just listening, and would memorize their orders automatically.
Iron Flare continued “A small convoy will arrive at 09:00 hours, there is a possibility that it might be Dark Storm himself, so do not engage until you have eyes on the convoy”
“Understood” replied the Captain.
Night Shadow nodded “You will have exfil waiting and the Shadowbolts will be on stand-by for air support, as will Commander Aeon” he proceeded to inform them.
“Very well” they replied.
“Good” answered the dark Pegasus, and sat back in his chair.
Silence once again filled the room, as all the information that had just been given was processed by the elite covert squad.
All the members sat still in their seats completely unmoving, all of them had an uneasy feeling in the pits of their stomachs, for the mission ahead, yet deep down they all knew that they would have been called upon sooner or later to take down Dark Storm.
At the same time Princess Moonlight was having similar feelings, her stomach did a loop at the thought of sending such brave and loyal ponies to find a psychopath, who had killed more beings than anypony would want to count.
And she still worried over Aeon himself, despite this not being his mission.
The silence was broken again, this time by Lieutenant Steel blade.
“When are we to be deployed?” she inquired.
Night Shadow looked up, after having been in deep thought when the silence fell.
“Tomorrow at 08:00 hours, you will be dropped off at the insertion point and moved to stand-by positions and await the convoy, once the convoy arrives you have authorization to proceed” replied the Head of the Lunar Shadow Task Force.
Ghost Squad 6 straightened themselves, and all gave a nod to their commander.
“Copy that, sir” they all replied.
The meeting room became quiet again for a few moments, but it felt like an eternity for the occupants.
“You best all get ready” Night Shadow said to the 7 ponies “Dismissed”
Ghost Squad 6 all stood up simultaneously, and gave a salute to Night Shadow and the others, then proceeded to leave the chamber.
As the covert, Spec Ops squad left, all of the ponies in the room, watched with worry and concern in their hearts.
Moonlight was clutching to her mother’s hoof beneath the table, Iron Flare took in a breath after having stopped breathing for a moment, Miche swallowed hard, and SilverMane, clenched his jaw tightly trying to easy his worry.
Night Shadow kept a steely gaze, yet even he was feeling uneasy. Ghost Squad 6 were his best operatives, next to Commander Aeon. He had hoof picked them for the LSTF himself, he knew they were some of the best, yet he couldn’t shake the queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
As for the princess of the Night herself, she kept quiet and held her daughter’s hoof.
But even she had the same feeling as all the others; they were all worried.
Dark Storm had made it clear that he would bring Equestria to its knees, no matter what it took, even if he had to reduce it to ash first. And now they had decided to send somepony into his path, not knowing what would happen.
Only time would tell, but one thing they all knew; something massive was about to happen… very soon.
The question was: What?
End of Chapter 2.