Resident Pon-Evil - Operation: Equestrian Downfall

by Delta 727

Level 4: Battle Strategy

With Delta Team betrayed by Harrrow's End, the H.S.S. are left on their own. They begin by recovering a weaponized 'pet' for their new friend, Marigold, and plan to avenge the death of all the ponies that their former Command slaughtered and left for bait to cover their own hoofprints in the trail of blood. As they pick up the pieces of their shattered relationship with Harrow's End, they begin their mission to burn the remains in a smoldering flame of revenge.

*Begin Transmission*

*Signal activating... Connecting... Line Failure. Source Undetected... Disconnecting... Activating Emergency Channel...*

"Delta, come in. You communications are disconnected. What are you doing?" Command said over the comms.

"... You... Betrayed us, Command..." X-Ray responded. "You left innocent ponies... For dead to cover your tracks..."

"What!? What in the name of Celestia are you talking about!?"

"You took the lives of countless civillians! You thought they were going to rat you out for the tainted blood on your hooves!" Blade answered. "You sent us in to close the gaps in your plan, kill the survivors, and then you were going to execute us in thought that we would spill the cupcakes on your operation, making us look
like heroes! But now, we're coming for you to clear our names. And you'll be left to die like all those innocent ponies you made us murder!"

"Delta, you are all insane! You'll only get yourselves killed! Finish the mission, or you will all die, and your names will be the only thing tainted in blood!"

"You lied to us!" Acid yelled. "I trusted you with my daughter, and you left her for dead, worried that she would give you away, just like I had to give her away! She was the daughter of a mare you didn't trust, and you fed her to the infected like she was no more than bait! We'll gut you and your whole corporation from the inside out, one bloodsoaked name at a time!"

"You all have no idea what you're doing! You have your orders! Complete them, or we will have no choice but to leave you all to die with the city!"

"We'll take our chances." Chainlink finished. "We're on our own mission now: To make sure that Harrow's End is left in piles of debris with any records linking us to your crimes! Enjoy your lives before we burn them to the ground... Delta out." He turned off the radio.

"Y'all have quite the grudge against Harrow's End. Sounds like they've done more than I expected." Marigold was leaning against the wall, her mane curling around her smiling face.

"I guessed you would know all about it after you hacked our comms." Blade retorted. "How long did you have our signal hacked?

"Ever since you destroyed the records at Town Hall." Marigold's smile had faded. "So, about 3 days."

"Then... You know about how we... Worked for Harrow's End...?" X-Ray asked. "And you still... Trust us...?"

"Of course. It ain't often you see a group like yourselves with a grudge against Harrow's End as deep as yours, except me, of course."

"We never got to ask you," Chainlink said. "What IS your hatred against the ponies in Harrow's End?"

"I thought y'all would never ask!" Her smile returned, and she looked up. "Being a security servicemare myself, our department had a few... 'Ties' with Harrow, if you will. We kept our eyes and hooves patrolling the city for them, they kept us well paid and even more well armed."

"I'll assume that's how you got the Tyrant in your possession?" Blade said. Marigold just nodded.

"It was a little deal of ours. We would use our profit to spread our reach across the city and keep an eye on all those little ponies that Harrow didn't trust. They suggested showering us in bits, but we had another idea. We wanted a fully controllable weapon of theirs. Now, I was expecting some kind of neat contraption that would turn a pony's skull inside out or something like that. Instead, they gave us the Tyrant. It got us some good work, but we found out why they chose what they did." She sighed, sadness forming in her golden eyes. "The Tyrant was controlled from Harrow's headquarters. They thought we were using them to squeeze a little extra pay outta them. The Tyrant went haywire, and killed our entire department... Even Venus..." She looked down, a tear streaming down her cheek.

"Who's-" Blade started.

Marigold cut him off. "Venus?... She was my partner in the business. A real crazy mare, she was. Always ready for a fight. Hooves always itching for a good killing. She always was good at her job... When she found out we were betrayed, she went berserk on the Tyrant, shooting and bucking it until I thought she was gonna rip it circuit by circuit. And the Tyrant... It..." She raised her hooves, and clopped them together. Delta remained silent. "It took me hours to pick up her splattered body and bury it. I respected that mare too much not to lay her to rest... I even left her favorite cowpony hat on the dirtpile. It's saddled off in the wind somewhere far away, now..."

Blade began to speak, but Acid cut him off. "I never got to give Shade a proper burial... I could only curl her up to sleep, kiss her goodnight like I always used to, and leave her to rot beneath her own plea for help written in blood that I never answered..." She sounded like she was ready to burst into tears, but she just looked away. "... Which means we both have equal reason to gut Harrow's End for what they took from us."

"Yes..." X-Ray began. "Now... Shall we begin... Phase One...?" He trotted over to a table with a digital map in the middle of the room. "We have... Much to do, and... Not as much time on our hooves..."

"Right. Y'all must be itchin' for a good slaugher right about now?" Marigold perked up. Her and the rest of the team moved to the table to begin planning their operation.

"So what's the plan?" Chainlink said.

"It's simple." Marigold said. "All we've gotta do is to break into an abandoned storage house located here." She pointed her hoof to a large, square building about 3 blocks to the East of the police station. "Sounds like no problem, right? It shouldn't. The place is crawling with SpecOps, who have turned it into a 'munitions warehouse." A smile creeped across her face. "Who knows, maybe we can sabotage them and leave a nice little dilema for Harrow. Outside their little stockpile, there is a vent shaft we can break into and sneak right above their communications room. Throw in a quick flash grenade, maybe an explosive, everyone in the room dies along with their ability to squeal for help like little fillies." Acid glared at her. "Er... Sorry... Anyways, backup will come, we drop in, buck 'em up a bit, and steal their uniforms. Then," She snickered. "I'm sure you know what happens next. After we all dress in, try to hold your blushes, we can give the all clear and say that a circuit malfunctioned and exploded or something. One of you will not have a uniform, considering there are only four ponies to the control room. Any of you good with a little sneaky-stabby stuff?"

Delta Team all looked at Blade. "I guess that's settled then. You can sneak through the base and keep an eye on us. I'll even let you stab a guard or two. We will also need one of you to stay in the control room and hack the remains of the communications and get into their security systems. A little sneak peek at what's goin' on inside the base. Any takers?"

"That... Would be me..." X-Ray said. "I can get a few... Extra eyes on their workings..."

"Good. That leaves the remaining three of us to advance through the base. Stay incognito, if you know what I mean. We sneak past a few guards, Stealthy over there-"

"Blade."

"Blade over there can kill out a few catwalk prowlers to stop their high-ground advantage. And you..." She motioned at Delta's surveillance spy.

"X-Ray..." He said.

"X-Ray..." She paused. "You can make sure no one catches on. And please, make sure to say something if a guard takes a 'turn in the wrong direction', meaning that they don't go anywhere they aren't wanted and find something like oh, I don't know, any of Blade's bodies."

"I'm not careless. I hide the bodies or make them look... Less suspicious."

"Well if they discover a body, it's on you..." She went on. "Now, after we make our way through the main storage area and their makeshift living quarters, we'll reach the room with a large, buckhead door. Very sturdy, as you know. This is where it gets interesting. We'll have no choice but to be spotted, for we have to get through the door. A little demolition? You know, 'Bang, Squeeeeal... Crash?' I'm sure that with all those explosive things on your chest, you can do that quite well, can't you, Mr. Ta-"

"Call me Chainlink. I'm not your pet." Chainlink interrupted. "And yeah, I can handle one buckhead door."

"Well that's swell and all, but we'll have been spotted. Can you reseal the door from the other side?"

"I can give it a few good bucks."

"Perfect. Don't want the whole base right on our hooves. Err... Blade and uh... X-Ray. You should be able to get to us without raising suspicion?"

"Of course..." X-Ray responded.

"I may have to stab a few more guards, but I can handle it." Blade said.

Marigold went on. "After we successfuly become our little family again, we will be in the containment room holding my Tyrant. It'll be inactive, but can be reprogrammed through a little gene alteration. Biology, anypony?"

"Acid." The three stallions said, then all looked to each other, then to Acid. She simply just stood calmly, her eyes glinted with what seemed to be amusement.

"After... Acid reprograms the Tyrant, we can use it to break a wall out or something and escape."

"That's it...?" X-Ray asked. "Just break out... And walk away...?"

"Well, I'm a mare of many surprises. Did you notice I never said where I would be?" The Team fell silent, listening in interest. "I will have managed to sneak from the control room when we break in to head to their reactor plant they store in the South end of the base. We blow it up, and the warehouse is a pile of burning ash and maybe a few dozen southern-fried ponies, just like Mama used to make... Okay, maybe that's a little derranged."

"So we blow the reactor, burn the warehouse to the ground, and come back here with your pet." Chainlink summarized.

"That's absolutely correct. Someone should throw you a cookie." She smiled. "So, are we all agreed on the plan?" Delta Team all just nodded and said their agreements. "Then it's settled." She held out her hoof above the middle of the digital map. "United Under Celestia." Delta all just stared blankly. "Well?"

"What are you doing?" Blade asked.

Marigold dropped her hoof and sighed. "It was a symbol of alleigance in our department to touch hooves and all say, 'United Under Celestia'. Now are we an alleigance, or not?" The team stood silently, then Acid stood forward and held out her hoof, determination in her green eyes. Determination to avenge her daughter. "United Under Celstia."

They all stood silently again, then Blade stepped forward, and reached out his hoof next to hers. "United Under Celestia."

Chainlink stepped forward next, holding out one armored hoof. "United Under Celestia."

X-Ray stepped forward last. He held out his hoof into the group of others in the middle of the table. "United... Under Celestia..."

Marigold looked around at the group, pride reflecting in her golden gaze. She put her hoof in once more, and the new alleigance all touched hooves. "United Under Celestia. Let's go give Harrow a nice, 'Hello'. "

*Transmission Ended*

Comments

[ArmyOfOne1112]

The anticipation you built up is certainly working. I'm not going to leave a long review, partly because nothing is wrong, but mostly because I want to keep on reading.