Millennia: Eye of the Storm

by Thunderblast

38. Peaceful Measures - Part III

My stomach curdled, gut twisting into dozens of endless knots. Anxiety was building in my chest beneath a crushing weight that refused to suppress. I knew at some point today my mind would try to get the best of me, in a room of hundreds, being broadcasted live to millions around the world who had cable or basic antenna access. With steady, quiet breaths, I managed to quell the unease enough to retain a formal appearance. The last thing I wanted was to fall victim to a panic attack under pressing matters, so my temporary solution would have to suffice.

Within ten minutes of the start of the conference, Admiral Gantry, as well as Ambassador Suldur and Consul Buchard arrived simultaneously and right on queue. Accompanied by one Ajeri soldier each, the three were escorted into the building, as were other ponies to have arrived on the same plane that were due to sit among the immediate audience.

By now, much of the enormous room had filled with representatives, diplomats, luminaries, exemplars, all of which watched over by a mass presence of Marines, soldiers, Royal guards, and Manehattan Police. Members of all—including myself—stood sentinel, each separated three yards apart per.

A couple of the gold-clad stallions proved to be familiar from the train some days prior, much to my surprise. I would have expected there to be so many present that I'd not see the same ponies twice. Guess I was wrong.

Salutes were thrown up the second every main door reopened, and in strode the Commandant of the Marines, the Admiral of the Navy, as well as the top-ranking general of the Army and Air Force, respectively, dressed proudly in their individual branch's uniform. All sat down in the front row of the seating section with their backs to the window.

After them entered other high-ranking officials—particularly members of the Navy—including, but not limited to, Captain Shadow, and the Lunar Fleet admiral. From the corner of my eye, I watched him make his way to the front, engaging in a brief conversation with his fellow sailors of similar or higher rank than him.

At first, it seemed as though the captain hadn't taken immediate notice of my presence upon entry; not that I would consider that a bad thing. Even though we were still technically acquaintances outside of the military, and for how much I enjoyed his company now and again, this instance I almost preferred to be left alone to my duties in fear of losing myself during conversation—especially with so many superiors present. I couldn't afford to let my guard down, not even for a brief moment.

But when I blinked, he had moved. Once lingering near fellow captains and the fleet admiral, he now stood right in front of me. "Good morning, Corporal."

Shit. "Good afternoon, sir." Damn it. If my anxiety wasn't apparent before, it surely was now.

The greenish-grey stallion seemed to disregard; that, or he simply pretended not to notice as he respectfully uncovered. "How's the day treating you?" he queried.

So it was small talk he was shooting for, with accordance to his peers some twenty feet behind him. With that, I determined to keep my responses short and simple. Maybe he was looking for a crack in my foundation. "As good as I could hope for, sir."

Shadow replied with a single nod of his head. "Likewise," he rejoined, lifting his hoof and leaning more on his other three. "It's a new day for us all. Here I can hope their admiral will be reasonable in his justifications, though I don't know what it is I should expect from him."

Without breaking posture entirely, I shifted my gaze a hair to meet his mocha-brown irides. "What is your gut telling you?"

He scanned left to right briefly, lowering his volume to a whisper between us. "He can't be trusted. That he will find a way to convince his side that we were in the wrong here. But I won't let him lie to the princesses like that."

"Then don't. Tell the truth, tell your side of the story. Remember, you have witnesses that you refer to and tell their word." It felt awkwardly strange being the one giving advice here. "Just do so orderly and civilized. If he gets pissed off at all, the deal's off with it more than likely. Your word counts in this debate. Keep it up and they'll have you at rear admiral in no time."

"Perhaps. I've been a captain for four years with nothing in that time to advance me. I won't let it go to my head, but if I'm still here this time next year, I'll be gone," he said, finishing with a thin edge to his tone. "Whether or not that comes to pass, I shall not live to see the day some overly-territorial and dictator-like fleet commander tread on me however he pleases."

Just then, the tone of an electronic bell rang throughout the court, signalling the start of the meeting in just a couple of minutes. Shadow glanced down at me neutrally, saying, "That is the future calling. As you were, Marine."

I gave a small nod of acknowledgement. "Do our country proud, Captain."

He blinked a couple of times, setting his hoof down. One corner of his mouth took a very faint curve upwards, and he carefully placed his cap back on his crown. "Thank you, Corporal, I will do just that."

***

A beige-coated unicorn sailor, dressed neatly beneath the black protective vest, stood his ground at the corner of the northeastern intersection as more ponies flooded steadily into the already-overflowing crowds outside the UWC Building. His hoof rested gently along the side of his rifle that hung over his chest, knob flicked to safety as instructed around tens of hundreds of civilians.

Dark magenta irides scanned over his surroundings, studying each pony to pass him with care, on the lookout for suspicious activity, as were dozens of his fellow sailors, as well as Marines, soldiers, and Royal guards. It was his first major assignment in the Navy, and also the first of its kind since initially mistaking for the Marines thirteen months prior.

With everything running as smoothly as all seemed to be, the notion of wrong occurring pushed far from his steadfast reverie. Alas, should the opposite take place, he memorized the procedures seared into his brain through a three-hour briefing lecture the day prior. Once or twice, he would eyeball a random stallion or mare dressed in any sort of heavy clothing—the ideal place to secrete harmful devices should the wearer possess such horrendous intents. Under the present circumstances, with all four princesses and a prince in town, countless high-ranking military officials, as well as abysmally-received dignitaries from overseas, threat levels were through the roof.

Risk in mind, along with the countless possibilities that accompanied it, the unicorn managed well when it came to concealing his own angst. While his efforts were less effective against his comrades, the face he put on created a sense of security for anypony equally nervous who merely caught a glimpse of his countenance. He hoped to keep it that way, as the incorrect facial expression or body posture could spark worry—not that he expected himself to be capable of exhibiting as such in front of thousands. To him, that just seemed silly, especially if there was nothing to worry about.

The sailor took a moment to yawn. It had been a long day already, having awoken at just 0530 that morning and clocked himself in for his duties at 0600. The time was closing rapidly on noon, the set time for the start of the discussions within the giant complex his rear faced. A pair of large digital screens were set up on steel supports on the far sides of either crowd, linked to one of the cameras inside and wired to powerful speakers for all outside to hear as if they were in the same room.

As he stood sentinel, his observant sights scrutinizing his environment, he suddenly stopped, honing in on a trio of stallions, all of which appearing to be earth ponies from his standpoint, and each wearing a type of thick hooded jacket, but did not have the hoods covering their head. Two of which carefully hauled a long, black briefcase by either end while the third observed, then climbed up into the open rear of a fully-enclosed, unlabeled grey carriage, sitting neatly parked with maybe two inches of clearance in a narrow alleyway between a Japonese takeout restaurant and a thirty-story office tower.

The third pony carried out a smaller briefcase, not unlike the first, then lifted the ramp hatch to close it up and followed the two around the corner and into the doors of the high-rise. Blinking to make sure he wasn't seeing things, the horn of the beige pony lit up in dark crimson, activating the earpiece he wore. Softly spoken to avoid attracting unwanted attention, he uttered. "Anchor, did you see that?"

Some fifteen feet away, a greyish-white pegasus glanced over his shoulder at the unicorn, narrowing his eyes on him. "I'm right here, Silver, you can just walk up to me," he retorted.

"Did you see those ponies go in that building? Or at least that carriage in the alleyway?"

The pegasus sailor blinked twice, shifting his attention forward and to the narrow space, immediately spotting the unfamiliar carriage. "Huh. When did that get here?"

"I'm not sure, but that is not one of ours. Three earth ponies, all wearing dark grey hooded jackets. Two were carrying a long sort of briefcase, like the one you put an instrument in. Third was holding a smaller briefcase, both black, and they went into that office," stated Silver, continuing to carefully watch the building's entrance for more activity.

There was a brief silence in the communications channel as both sailors had their undivided attention directed at either the carriage or the tower the ponies had entered. After only a minute, two of the three emerged and returned to the wagon, unloading what seemed to be regular cardboard boxes now.

After watching them, then briefly turning to the building in question, Anchorage turned to his companion some fifteen feet to his left and went, "They're movers. Building's got a big for sale sign in the lobby window."

Grunting, the unicorn returned, "Anchorage, we've got sniper watch in that tower. It's not open to civilians whatsoever."

"I think you're being a bit paranoid, Silver. A lack of sleep will do that to ya. Go get a coffee from the market, aye mate?"

Silver clenched his teeth, his soul burning with fury at his comrade's neglect. He glanced up the massive building to one of the windows removed near the top, spotting the tip of a sniper rifle barrel sticking out, where one of the protective detail marksponies had been sitting for hours, looking over the area.

When his thoughts completed, the dormant Marine lingering in his soul became prevalent when he announced firmly to Anchorage, "I'm going in. Movers or not, they shouldn't be here."

"Silver, do—"

The pegasus' attempt at a stern warning was abruptly silenced by the disconnection of Silver's earpiece from the communications channel. Not taking a moment to further contemplate his actions, and with a heavy determination in his step, he advanced across the street to do, as he admitted to himself along the way, the stupidest thing he has done thus far, and that is to investigate. Alone.

***

Always the introductions first and foremost. As part of procedure, each and every pony took a few minutes to grow acclimated with one another. Admiral Gantry introduced himself to the four commanding officers, while Shadow maintained distance. He really was adamant about not wanting to be any part of him, and instead stood with Princess Luna as Ambassador Suldur shook hooves with her and Twilight. When all was said and done, everypony then went to sit down.

The four ruling princesses sat side by side at their respective seats; Celestia in center, sided on her left by Princess Cadence, and on her right by Princess Luna, with Princess Twilight Sparkle on Luna's right. To the left of Cadence sat Prince Shining Armor, dressed finely in the very red and white dress uniform worn to his wedding three years ago. Three of the alicorns donned their normal attire, with only Twilight having the exception of displaying her crown and neck brace like her peers, but with the six-pointed purple star in dead center, representing her cutie mark.

To Shining Armor's immediate left were the four sitting commanders of Equestria's branches, as well as Captain Shadow seated next to the Lunar Fleet Admiral. Directly across from the princesses were the Ajeri diplomats. Admiral Gantry sat closest to Shadow, only separated by two chairs, Ambassador Suldur in center of the three, with Consul Buchard on his left. Every pony present was supplied with topped-off glasses of water; a bare necessity for the amount of speaking ahead of them all.

After a quick check of every microphone, every speaker in the Citadel, and every camera pointed at the central table, it was time to begin at long last. Little red lights flashed consistently on the cameras above the lenses, signifying them to be on air.

Gently tapping her hoof on the speaker for a self-check, the alabaster alicorn in center leaned forward, crossing her hooves on the wooden surface. "Let us get straight to the point, shall we?" she addressed, answered by a multitude of concurring nods around her.

"We have gathered here this fine Wednesday afternoon for a list of reasons, with all of whom present, I pray, bearing one common goal in mind for this session, and that is the unification of Equestria with the State of Ajerstan and, hopefully, the signage of an unbreakable treaty of harmony between our fine nations."

One particular pair of eyes rolled at that statement, and they were those of Consul Buchard. The action went unnoticed by all apart from the purple alicorn of friendship, who narrowed her sights on the brass unicorn, but went no further to mention. First him declining her offer to talk over dinner, and now, a much more discernible attitude that he was utterly uninterested about what Celestia or Luna might have to say. It seemed as though, to her, that peace was the furthest thing from his judgement.

"Admiral Gantry," began Princess Luna, fixing her rather stunning water-blue gaze on the pear-green naval officer, and also grabbing his undivided attention. "The reason I call upon thee first is for one crucial question that we collectively ask of thou."

The admiral nodded firmly in acknowledgement. "Proceed, Your Highness."

"Do thee recall precisely the at-sea incidents of June 15th, and June 29th of this year?" queried the princess of the night.

A silence, brief at that, resounded in the room, followed by the faint shuffling of the unicorn's clothing as he shifted into a comfortable upright sitting position. "Da, Princessa," he responded in a show of his native language. "I very clearly remember my navy's first encounter with your country's. I do specifically recall being told off by a distinct Lunar Navy captain, whom is among us today," he commented, flashing a thin scowl in Shadow's direction, garnering the greenish-grey stallion glances from a few others.

"What was your communication exchange, Admiral, if I may ask out of pure curiosity?" questioned Princess Celestia, blinking slowly mid-sentence with neutrality expressed in her tone and on her mien.

The commanding officer in question honed in on the foreign unicorn, eager to hear what he had to say, expecting a blatant lie more than anything.

"He threatened engagement after mishap aboard my submarine, which caused it to surface beneath his Eclipse. I tried to reason with him, after asking what he and the ships under his command were doing operating within our vicinity. He came back with further threats, and for the sake of my crew, we pulled back from area."

Eyebrows raised on Luna and Celestia, their steady gazes sliding gently onto the Lunar Navy captain who retained a stoic posture against the tables temporarily turning against him. But he had tricks up his sleeve, and I knew that. The look on his face, the fury in his eyes from a distance showed it and the burning hate for his present opponent, withheld solely by the strengthened composure of a sailor.

***

Upon entry of the high-rise office, and the frustrating discovery that none of the elevators were operational, Silver worked his way up to the twentieth floor of the tower through the forever-winding staircase that continued up approximately twelve more stories beyond that.

He quietly sneaked through the door leading into one of the main halls of the empty office, stopping to study the area. On his left were rows of small privacy rooms with frosted glass surrounding the doors, likely for corporate executive ranks to have rooms to themselves. A large open floor of thin navy carpet was the most prominent detail, stretching back to many rows of floor-to-ceiling windows two inches apart each on the building's reverse face, with recently-installed shudder blinds rolled up all of the way, hanging from the upper frame, and the place scented of a fresh coating of paint that grew stronger the closer he walked to a wall.

This, he best recalled, was the level where one or two of the troops from the Sniper Corps—the designated and fairly new markspony division of the Royal Guard—took up position. Silver began his search by scouring every room on his left, doing so by opening each door briefly and closing to avoid arousing suspicion. He came across the fourth suite, where one of the two windows had been carefully removed and placed off to the side, and caught his cover with a hoof as a gust of wind sent it flying from his crown.

The room itself overlooked the United World of Countries complex with an impeccable view of the thousands mustered below, and a rather frightening view of the Citadel's glass wall that, had this tower not been assumed temporary control over, would be the perfect shot for an assassination attempt, he pondered.

However, it was not until Silver entered when he realized something was off. He walked in slowly, kicking the rubber leg to prevent the door from slamming shut by the force of the wind. The long-barreled rifle belonging to the overwatch unit sat there, propped up on a tripod mount; its operator, on the other hand, was missing, as was their support assuming one accompanied them.

He halted after a few more steps, coming up short of the rifle stock. Bewilderment permeated his acuity as new thoughts processed. His eyes moved around the room, searching for any sort of clue to answer the persisting debate boggling his mind.

Silver lit up his horn that powered the small device sitting comfortably in his ear, parting his maw to speak, but ultimately stopped before the words could escape his mouth when came a roughened voice from behind. "Who are you, and what the hell are you doing in here?"

***

"It was at approximately 1425 on June the 29th when the engagement order was sent out by Central Command via morse code. We were instructed to immediately strike upon mainland Ajerstan and its capitol. I heard the message with my own two ears, as did my communications officer who translated it himself. The rest of the fleet picked up on it as well and informed me before COMMO had the chance to decipher. I questioned the validity of the order and, I can assure you, it was not my judgement to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles at Volgrad," calmly explained Shadow, all eyes turned toward him. Many in the audience, specifically the press, jotted down notes as fast as they could.

He then paused, turning his head to peer at the green uniformed stallion. There was a nod given, but not returned. Shadow continued, "I believe I speak on behalf of the both of us when I say, I believe our VHF was hacked; manipulated to start a war between our countries.

"Captain, our ships are the most advanced naval vessels in the world. The New Lunar Republic leads in military technology as compared to any other nation on the planet," Luna commented, straightening her spine, her statement receiving an agreeing nod from her elder sister. "It is next to impossible to hack into our navy's radio systems. Special enchantments infused with the tech during construction of the ships prevent it."

Shadow took a small sip of water to ease an indistinct burn in his throat from speaking for a lengthy period of time. "All respect due, Your Highness, the computer systems and machinery aboard my Eclipse, as well as the Lacus and Gibbous are severely outdated to today's standards. I can confirm this after the catastrophic failure of the ship's reactor and the coolant leak it suffered from.

"My radarpony on duty at the time also reported glitches with his radar and sonar monitors, which returned unreliable data regarding the tracking of nearby vessels. Frankly, we could have sailed right through an old minefield dating back to the Synno Wars and not have any clue until we go up in a ball of flames."

Right after he finished, Gantry cut in. "Captain, are you blaming Ajerstan for the assault on your ship's hardware? And questioning the integrity of our great fleet?"

Shadow flashed a look of daggers at the Ajeri admiral, mentally noting once more the absurd amount of pride Gantry held close to his heart, then shook his head. "Not at all, Admiral. If you claim to have heard a similar message, my assumption is it was somepony else, someone on board either of our ships at the time or someone on them that is working for an anonymous figure."

"Admiral Gantry," started Twilight. "If I might ask out of pure curiosity, were you accompanied by... anypony unusual? Perhaps somepony not a member of your military whom you were aware of their presence on board one of your vessels?"

That raised an eyebrow from the pear-green unicorn, and garnered the purple alicorn a shake of his head. "Nay, Princessa. We do not allow civilians on our ships. We perform bi-daily searches for stowaways. There are not many places for one to hide... for long."

"Have you ever had such incidents in the past with unauthorized ponies on board?"

"Twice, yes, and both stowaways were dealt with accordingly," Gantry responded, finishing with a grim edge to his tone that grazed the surface of Twilight's essence. A sneering glower tossed at Shadow further built upon Gantry's conceited manner to blow off his earlier statement. "Rest assured, if any soul accompanies my navy who strictly does not belong, namely one who is bent on creating unnecessary conflict, I would be the first to know."

After a moment's pause, he sat closer to the microphone. "We as a country may have unfinished business with Equestria, but what occurred last month was not under our own accord. I can see many thousands of hooves pointing at us three because of our shadowed past."

"Admiral, I must stand beside Captain Shadow here," interrupted Suldur, catching the assembly off-guard, especially Shadow. "He has openly stated that no one in particular is to blame and is simply prodding the notion that either Equestria or Ajerstan have spies among us.

"If history has taught us anything valuable in remark, it is that Equestria would never pick a fight, no matter how big or small the other player may be. Equestria has fought in its own wars, both domestic and international, yes, however... I find the possibility of a deliberate action on their behalf highly improbable."

The ambassador's defense brought smiles to the faces of the four princesses simultaneously. At one glance, Celestia gave a gentle nod of approval to the greyscale stallion.

"Ambassador, whose side are you on here?" Gantry commented, looking over.

Suldur turned to look right back. "The right side," he affirmed.

***

"Oh, shit," went Silver's conscience. He utterly froze in place, eyes widening in surprise, not daring to even glance over the back of his shoulder. Tingling suspicion of his perception suggested there was a gun pointed at him.

Steadily shifting his gaze down to the glass slab propped up against the wall, he noted the faint reflections of two earth ponies all too similar to the ones he had spotted earlier at the entrance; one armed with an unmodified M16, his partner equipping an M1911, both primed and ready to fire if he made any sort of move.

"Your gun. Drop it," commanded the larger earth stallion of the duo. Subconsciously, the beige unicorn enveloped the rifle hanging around his neck and carefully lifted it.

"With your hooves, asshole!" shouted the rifle pony, startling Silver out of concentration, taking an intimidating step closer.

As ordered, Silver restarted, this time with one hoof to steadily raise the weapon and its strap up over his head, holding it high for the two to see.

"Drop it!" barked the larger stallion. The gun immediately dropped from his clutch, clattering against the thinly-carpeted floor.

In that instance, Silver began carefully contemplating an escape. With the gun at his hooves, he could simply whip around and use his magic to fire upon the perpetrators, but doing so would not be quick enough before he himself would be shot if their reflexes were as quick as he anticipated them to be. The slightest of activity with his horn would be noticed one way or another. There was no way for him to mask the glow easily. Gauging by the ponies' demeanor, neither would be apprehensive in putting him down right there. The rifle wielded was no joke, and he recognized even the most untrained of ponies could still hit their mark at this proximity.

Radioing for help would do him no justice either. One word out of his mouth and he would go down with a bullet—or many—in the back of his head. Besides, if they were coordinated enough to smuggle weapons this closely to the most important ponies in Equestria, they could have just as easily tapped into the universal comm frequency that everypony was using. For all he knew, they probably heard him coming from across the street, and his conversation with Anchorage.

There were two shots, either less than a second apart. Reflexes compelled Silver to jump and silently gasp. He expected pain, but none was felt. Behind him emanated two groans, and a simultaneous pair of weighted thuds that prompted him to turn around. Both ponies once holding him at gunpoint now lay on the floor in adjoining puddles of blood, pooling also around the M16 that was aimed at him moments ago. Immediately, Silver dashed his gaze up to the door and snatched up his gun instinctively, but failing to switch it off of safety as a white figure emerged from around the corner.

Rounding the corner, his savior lurched when he saw the barrel aimed at him "Yo, hey! Put that gun down, sailor!" ordered the greyish-white pegasus, standing over the bodies with a lowered rifle in one hoof and the other held up in a halt gesture, his ice-blue cores coldly glaring toward the magenta of the unicorn's.

Silver Edge immediately lowered his gun, huffing out deeply. He drew in heavy breaths and placed a hoof over the body armor on his chest. "Thank fuck," he muttered through a breath. "How the hell did you find me?"

"I followed you in, ya dolt. Heard the bastards talking in the background when ya reopened your mic," answered Anchorage, hovering over the motionless bodies and landing before his friend. "You good? Did they hurt you anywhere?"

Still shaking all over from the ordeal, Silver nodded in response. "N-no. No, I'm fine. I wouldn't have been had you not showed up. Thank you."

Anchorage acknowledged with a single nod back. "I was wrong to doubt you like that, but at least they're taken care of." Then, he roughly delivered a smack on Silver's cheek, hard enough to shove his head sideways. "That's for the stupid fuckin' move of not only abandoning your post, but going without somepony to back you up, shipwreck!"

Embarrassed and rubbing his cheek momentarily as it burned with pain, Silver drooped his head and ears. He replied, straightforwardly, "I'm sorry."

Sighing in mild frustration, the pegasus turned sideways, raising his hoof off the floor while still eyeballing the younger, lower-ranking stallion. "Well, now ain't the right time to sulk. We'll talk about it later, aye?"

Before either of them could do anything else, a pair of white-coated pegasus royal guards rushed down the corridor and came to a stop at the door where the two corpses sat. They wore stoically furious looks on their faces and drew their own sidearms, aiming at both of the sailors.

"Drop your weapons, now!" one sentry snarled authoritatively, taking momentary note of the bodies on the floor.

"Hey, dumbasses, same side!" Anchorage retorted, turning to face both directly. Despite this, neither of which retracted their guns, much to his surprise and dismay. "Are you two brain dead? We're Lunar Navy, these ponies tried to kill my shipmate!"

Split-secondly, Silver Edge glanced down at the armor pieces worn by either stallion. No part of them possessed the usual glimmer of gold-painted steel, not even a mere reflection of the sunlight shining against them. The armor was fake. He leaped in front of Anchorage, lighting up his horn in a dark crimson hue and suddenly taking either pegasus by the head and forcefully smashing them together, in turn knocking both out cold.

Blinking with widened eyes, bubbling with a sudden anger toward his comrade and his uncalled-for actions, Anchorage snapped at Silver. "What the fuck are you doing?!—"

The beige unicorn sailor swiftly turned to the petty officer, ripping up the chest plate from one of the subdued sentries. "They're fakes, look at their armor!"

Anchorage glanced down at both, met with immediate sense of shock as he realized a grey bulletproof vest underneath revealed itself from a sort of invisibility cloak, and what was disguised to look like the armor of Celestia's Royal Guard, was instead a soft plastic, similar to that of a foal's costume available at a Nightmare Night store.

Dumbfounded, he spoke his exact thoughts lowly. "What the hell is this—"

A storm of bullets tore through the walls, one catching the glass and shattering it in an explosion of shards that rained upon both stallions. That very second, Silver and Anchorage dropped flat to the carpet as shots whisked over their heads. The shots paused briefly, replaced by shouting from the far right side of the corridor, coming from the fire escape stairwell.

With the adrenaline now pumping in his veins, Silver jumped to all fours and snatched Anchorage up, dashing for the door and into the hall with the pegasus tailing close behind.

In the quickness of the moment as they ran, Anchorage took the opportunity as soon as he dove around a corner and re-cocked his gun, then addressed onto the open waves. "We've got armed hostiles on the twentieth floor, requesting backup immediately! We're about to be pinned up here!"

***

A soft pair of magenta cores shifted toward the brass-coated diplomat on the far opposite side of the table, nonchalantly blinking twice as they set upon him. "Consul, bar my intrusion, but you are most noticeably quiet in regards to these affairs. Do know that every pony's word is considered at this table. Is there something you wish to say before the royal assembly?"

Lapis irides of the hushed unicorn flicked upward, pointed indirectly at the alabaster alicorn facing him back. His attention had most certainly been grabbed by her mention, though his ruminations were not distant from the subject. "Princess, there is much I seek to reflect. Much best not declared before such a wide audience—or is it?"

There was a pause as some eyes widened, and virtually every pony in the room leaned in to hear what would come next. Of those at the table, Twilight was most enthralled ahead of Luna. Princess Cadence sat expressing neutrally for the most part, with Celestia, out of the four, staring scornfully at Buchard in silence. Evident signs of regret showed on her mien in advance of what she knew he was about to say.

"For what acts Equestria has carried out in the recent past, disregarding the little... scuffle... at sea," began the consul with a pronounced acidity to his tone. He placed his hooves together, elbows propping them up. "It merely serves as a strong reminder of how powerful we still are, sanctions more or less.

"It is in the nation I represents' best interest that I mention simply how long Equestria has decreed Ajerstan a nation 'unworthy of development', and an overall 'risk to the betterment of world peace' for simply expanding our interest in defending ourselves against outside attacks. If you ask me, what we did in an act of defense against your trigger-happy navy was completely and utterly justified in the name of Ajerstan."

Now he was throwing the admiral in the stampede and completely disputing all he had previously said, and this had the unicorn naval officer glaring his way, as well.

"Consul, I am not sure what your sources are, but I believe it is safe to say, on behalf of all present, that you are, in fact, misinformed," chimed Suldur, motioning his hooves gently.

"Oh, please, Ambassador!" the brass unicorn raised his voice above Suldur's, rolling his eyes toward him. "You saw the press release, the one they put out specifically for us to read before they cut off all trade!"

Twilight blinked a couple of times, puzzled. "What press release was this?"

The consul's gaze snapped toward the young princess, a shadow faintly casting over his eyes. "The one you—"

At that moment, everypony in the room jumped with surprise. The attention of hundreds of ponies turned to the window as two loud, yet slightly muffled pops of what sounded to be gunshots in frighteningly close proximity to the UWC erupted outside. The room went quiet, and those in the audience turned to each other, wondering what was going on.

Not thirty seconds later, one of Celestia's guards trotted up to her side. She leaned down, and he muttered into her ear to inform of something. She returned a nod of acknowledgement and sat upright, looking over everypony present. "There has been a report of gunfire nearby, and we will be posting the meeting on hold indefinitely, until security sweeps can confirm the area to be safe—"

Before she could finish, more shots erupted outside, startling everypony once more. This time, it was of an automatic weapon as it was continuous for roughly three seconds. Inaudible chatter started as a sense of fear gripped those in the audience.

In the midst of the newfound discord, over comms called what sounded to be Anchorage's voice addressing into my ear. "We've got armed hostiles on the twentieth floor, need backup immediately! We're about to be pinned up here!"

Only a moment after him, a second, breathless voice. Silver's. "Be advised, hostiles are disguised as guards in the crowd! Fake armor concealing bulletproof vests! They're here to kill everypony!"

In that very instance, my gaze darted around, mentally noting every gold-armored stallion present. The crystal guards weren't a threat in my mind, unless they were in on it, too. A couple other Marines in the same room immediately looked at me, as well as some soldiers on the far side. Evidently the message went out to everypony; and that was a bad thing.

But before I had a chance to make any sort of move, I glanced to the left, toward a particular officer on the far end of the room. He held a hoof to his earpiece, picking up on a message on a completely separate channel to mine, then his eyes shot wide open, darting to the roof of a nearby building, where a bright, unusual glare emanated. Shouting in vain, he cried, "Sniper on the rooftop! Get down!"

Instantaneously, ponies all across the room dropped to the floor. Shining Armor tackled his spouse to the floor and swiftly conjured a shield of bright pink that enveloped him and Princess Celestia. Twilight did just about the same, wrapping herself and Luna with her own protective bubble. The four commanding officers, including Shadow, dove to the floor, hidden in the window's line of sight by the desk, and Admiral Gantry lunged left, tackling Suldur off of his chair.

A single, eardrum-bursting shot rang out across the city block. The soundproofing of the building did nothing against the noise, as if the gun had been shot right beside everypony's ear at once, and like glass as it breaks, the invisible rune guarding the Citadel fell apart and dispersed into thin air, shattered by the bullet as it pierced effortlessly through and into one of the many large windows in the room. Screams erupted everywhere, and right before my eyes, a shower of blood exploded around the three Ajeri ponies. An agonizing, pained cry bellowed from the brass unicorn, and with a heavy thump of flesh striking a solid surface, the consul's form slumped over and landed flat.

Sharp glass projectiles launched inward, forced by the bullet that sliced through the pane like butter. Like dominoes, cracked pieces rained down upon the floor below, fully exposing the room to the outside. A symphony of screaming and crying outside filled the air as hundreds scattered every which way, rapidly inundating the tens of guards, soldiers, and Marines attempting to evacuate the area in an orderly fashion.

In a mere ten seconds, we sprang into action to protect those in harm's way. I took my gun off of safety and, after running up to and leaning against a bench, positioned myself at an angle to return fire. Soon, multiple rapid bursts of fire—distant and close by—permeated the atmosphere. The sun glare of what I now realized to be a sniper rifle scope flickered gently, but didn't vanish into cover. Evidently this pony was more confident that neither of us would be capable of hitting the nail on the head, which soon caused me to retract.

I shoved my anxiety far off to the side. It was the real deal; now came the time to sharpen my focus on the predetermined plan, and that was solely to protect every endangered innocent in that room. Dropping behind cover as another massive pop rang out, I snapped my gaze over to one of the guards, catching him just in time as he drew a pistol and blasted an army corporal in the back of the head. Another whipped out a rifle not too dissimilar from an M4 from seemingly thin air and began unloading on those focusing on the sniper. Three ponies went down instantly. Four. Six.

Before my comrades could even acknowledge the hidden enemy, I jumped up from hiding, weapon drawn, failing to hesitate pulling the trigger and watching the pistol-wielding fake drop after a burst of three. Muffled by the gunshots, a new wave of screaming exploded when the first went down, and I ducked when the perpetrator with the M4-like rifle turned his attention my way.

Bullet holes riddled the white marble walls, chinking off thin layers of the expensive decorative stone that crumbled as they landed on the floor. In the few seconds between the first assailant going down and me hiding, more "guards" piled into the room in tens. There were far too many, and they were determined to take scores.

By now, every uninjured soldier, Marine, and actual Royal guard once shooting at the sniper vanished from sight, individually coordinating a defense. Even Shadow had whipped out his own concealed sidearm and was putting in the work to hold off the terrorists in a highly respectable manner.

Static burst in my ear from all of the ponies trying to use the comms channel at once, between the gunfight occurring in the nearby office where Anchorage and Silver Edge were, and the battle going down in the Citadel. It ruined my concentration to the point where I ripped the piece from my ear and tossed it away. This created enough of a distraction where a few of the attackers, thinking it was a grenade, dove out of the way, albeit into my line of sight.

With more short bursts, I managed to eliminate just a few more before my magazine ran empty. "Fuck!" I mumbled, digging into my vest pocket and producing a second clip and quickly inserting it. There was only so much ammo able to be carried without backpacks, and our body armor equipped limited pockets large enough to stuff spare magazines in; not that anypony expected to truly need all of them. I certainly didn't.

A few yards to my left, behind the vacant side of the meeting table and most certainly in the sniper's field of view, Hardstaff shouted at the top of his lungs to the masses of terrified civilians and important figures. "Keep your heads down, and don't move!" ordering to the frightened mass in the room. He propped himself up with enough cover to rest his hooves on the table, shooting in single bursts at the hiding spots of the attackers and managing to catch one in their side, where he then finished them off with another shot to the neck when they fell into the open.

After a brief glance up to scan the surroundings, noting of at least one insurgent's position on the far side of the room, I turned quickly as a draft earth pony Marine slid up in the row behind mine for cover. To see another friendly face came off as a heavy relief since we needed all the help we could get down here, but now was no time to take a breath.

"Hallway clear!" went Nightpath, coherent just barely above all of the fire occurring and bullets whisking over our heads.

I nodded in acknowledgement, shifting my attention then to the Ajerstanian ponies below the table. It sent a chill running up my spine the moment my sights set upon a brass unicorn covered gut wrenchingly covered in his own sanguine ichor, tended to by a greyscale earth stallion trying to curb the amount of lifeblood spilling from his festering wound.

"Consul is down!" yelled an Ajeri soldier, hurrying to the consul's side, positioning himself properly to take another shot if he had to.

A quaking Suldur loomed over a bleeding Buchard, gasping and choking on oxygen in a state of total shock. The pain in his side was so intense that he went fully numb to it and everything else. He was quickly dying, and if nothing could be done to suppress the bleeding, these next few minutes would most certainly be his last.

It was then that my mindset swiftly changed. We needed to devise a plan to get the princesses, our guests, the wounded, and everypony else out of here, or we would be dealing with hundreds of fatalities at once. It wasn't just up to me, although, in that instance, I felt the exact opposite.

***

Multiple thumps of hooves muffled by the carpet below them carried through the vacant twentieth story, as did commanding barks. "Keep searching, god damn it! They're around here somewhere!"

Silver Edge and Anchorage huddled up to a half-wall between a walkway and an empty cubicle space, each with one hoof steady near the trigger and the other maintaining a firm hold on their rifles' grips. They sat motionless and silent as mice, waiting for the prime moment to ambush the squadron searching for them.

The greyish-white pegasus of the duo turned to his unicorn companion and motioned his hooves in multiple rapid gestures as one sentry slowly approached. Stumped, the beige stallion shook his head as his mind dotted with question marks. Anchorage rolled his eyes and returned to position, ears stood attentively and honing in on the set of hooves stepping in their direction.

The forehoof of the guard planted itself down in front of both sailors while he scanned off to the left. "Sector is clear, sir," he spoke into his headset, monotone.

When the static feedback of his transmission ending came, Anchorage leaped up from their hiding spot and swiftly smashed the butt of his gun into the pony's temple, stunning and knocking him to the floor. He was caught by surprise upon realizing there to be another sentry directly in tail and shot once before he could make a move, then delivered a second, finishing blow to the first's cheek. While successful in his plan, this compromised their location.

"Silver, watch my six!" ordered Anchorage, galloping up beside a wall corner as more armed insurgents hustled their way, diving into their own cover as he blindly shot down the corridor.

Doing as told, the beige unicorn took up a position along the opposite corner of the same wall. He peeked around and opened fire on a trio of falsely-armored troops. One collapsed upon taking two of Silver's shots to the chest and shoulder. The others lunged to the shelter of a plastic-wrapped desk.

An gargantuan blast of unknown origin shook the entire building, causing Silver to stagger into the open for a split second before regaining his ground. The noise itself was so immensely loud that it disoriented him like a stun grenade, inducingly numbing his senses long enough to be in harm's way as one of the two sentries reared up and shot the very instance Silver's awareness returned, and he swiftly returned to the safety of the corner.

One bullet, however, did hit its mark, striking Silver on his lower shoulder. Another grazed his right arm, singeing a streak through the sleeve of his uniform and leaving a burn mark on the skin below from the searing bullet. He collapsed with a heavy thump, groaning and coughing.

Anchorage hurried from a few feet over, dragging him inward, turning the unicorn over onto his back. To his relief, he was still very much alive and able to move. "You alright, mate?!"

"Y-yes," huffed Silver, propping himself up slowly and shakily. "Got me in the plates. Hurt like a motherfucker and knocked the wind out of me, but I'm okay."

A quick smack delivered to Silver's left hoof, prompting him to get back in the fight as Anchorage switched sides and went to take on the two in the open room. Silver, in turn, positioned himself above the two his comrade subdued in the corridor. He peeked around briefly, scanning for other enemies. For the time being, he saw none, though at any moment he anticipated more to flood in and overwhelm them.

Having a smoke grenade on deck would come in handy were there more coming, and knowing one was not readily available brought a frustrated grunt out of the young sailor. He lit up his horn to activate his earpiece, calling out while he had time. "Backup needed, twentieth floor! Where are you guys?!"

"Copy. We're pinned down out here. Taking heavy casualties from sniper on nearby low-rise rooftop. Over."

Part of the message came hard to receive over the fire exchange occurring behind his back, prompting Silver to hold a hoof over his other ear. "What about the princesses?!"

"Trapped within the Citadel, ongoing gunfight inside. Sniper's preventing any movement on our end. Wounded reported inside the UWC. Over."

At last, the final sentry went down with two rounds remaining. Anchorage snapped to Silver, shouting to him. "We're all clear up here!"

Silver turned to the pegasus, the light on his horn subsiding. "You can fly, can't you?" He was returned with a raised eyebrow expression that stupidly answered his query. "We need to find that sniper and take them down, our boys can't do shit down there. We have the high ground advantage," he said, starting to walk to a window.

The sudden leadership displayed by the unicorn as he walked past caught Anchorage moderately off-guard, but created a sense of dignity for him to see he now had his mind valiantly set under the circumstances. He responded with a simple nod of acknowledgement and tailed him.

***

The forceful blast of a formidable shot rang out across the city and startlingly through the ears of each pony trapped or fighting in the UWC's Citadel. Another soldier fell to the sniper's petrifying power in a crimson mist, dead in the blink of an eye. He had managed to strike just the perfect spot other than the head to kill on impact, and marked the first straightforwardly-confirmed fatal casualty of possibly hundreds.

Reciting advice from Lieutenant Snow Storm mentally, my breath slowed under self influence, in turn steadying my aim. In another brief burst at the pull of the trigger, three bullets in a row surged out the barrel, one making contact with a sentry far across the room in the midst of returning fire at Hardstaff. He went down, but soon got back up. The remarkably lightweight plating these enemies wore took the immense brunt of the shots we got on them and only added to our frustration.

We had the attackers dwindling in the single digits now and they became less of an issue for us to handle, but we still could not move the princesses or the Ajeris out. Another sniper bullet struck a floor tile, disintegrating it into dust and debris. Propped up along the section of wall below the broken window, one of our squad mates tending to another wounded soldier called out. "Sergeant! Where the fuck's our sniper cover?!"

Putting a hoof over his ear to block out the heavy gunfire, the pegasus sergeant called through the communications channel. "Overwatch Bravo, Bulldog 1-7, what's your status, over?" There was no response. "Overwatch Bravo, Bulldog 1-7, what is your status? Repeat! What is your status?!" Again, nothing. "Shit!" he muttered, slamming his hoof down on the floor furiously. "No good, comms are down! We're on our own in here!"

As soon as my second magazine ran empty, I slipped behind a bench and looked at Nightpath as I subconsciously loaded my third and final clip. "Think you can cover me?"

He looked right at me, stammering to comprehend my request in the quickness of the moment before nodding. "What are you going to do?"

"Don't worry about it," I replied, re-cocking and facing forward. My breath shortened to sharp exhales, then I lurched up and yelled as I made a beeline for the door. "Cover me!"

At my word, Night jumped straight up and did as ordered. His move forced the six remaining insurgents into hiding at once, long enough for me to make the outside corridor and loop around to another entrance to catch them from behind.

Rounding the corner, I encountered a pair of soldiers preparing to breach the locked door. Joining up on them, they gave single nods, before the leading draft stallion focused his weight onto his forehooves and drove his hinds straight into the wood. The door exploded inward in a shower of splinters that caught some of the assailants by surprise. With this, we rushed inside, and two more went down simultaneously.

"This is it, kill those motherfuckers!" shouted Hardstaff from across the Citadel, standing up from hiding with another Marine and absolutely unloading on the last four, unable to stand their ground any longer.

At once, every soldier and Marine able to began the final push. Bullets flew every which way and despite the chaos, friendly fire was the farthest issue from anypony's mind, and after five straight minutes of an onslaught of fire, the last enemy went down in a pool of blood.

But none of us could celebrate just yet. Just when we thought we could, another sniper shot rang out, completely exploding a bench over a huddled group of reporters and showering them with wooden planks snapped like twigs.

"Twilight, use your shield to cover us all to the door!" grunted Shining Armor split-secondly, raising his head just slightly over his Cadence.

"Gotcha!" squeaked the young princess, able to fully rise from her cover to perform the spell. It resulted in temporarily dispersing the bubble, only momentarily leaving her in the open. Her new forcefield build up like a brick wall before the window, filling the Citadel with a protective, purple-magenta hue.

Now was our chance. Holding my gun up, I raised my hoof and yelled. "Everypony make your way to the exits, follow the signs to the designated shelters!"

Some hesitated, namely those in the stands. Soldiers and guards carried their own out hastily. Admiral Gantry aided in hauling Consul Buchard with Ambassador Suldur plugging the gaping bullet wound with a piece of cloth torn purposely from his sleeve, muttering repeatedly, "You're going to be all right! You are not going to die!"

The princesses were ushered out the furthest exit, just narrowly out of the sniper's line of sight, but that didn't stop him. Twilight remained to keep her shield up long enough for everypony to make their way out safely, when yet another shot flew into the room. It struck her barrier and, when it should have vaporized from the intense magical energy, instead pierced a hole through the wall and buried itself in another tile. She let off a scream and lurched up into the air, only to be snatched down by her older brother.

I stood by the exit, among many hurrying innocents out into the halls and to a wide doorway that led into a staircase to a heavily armored basement situated below the UWC, designed specifically to withstand a direct nuclear strike on the complex. Behind the last civilians, Twilight's shield shattered and turned to mere disintegrating sparkles in similar manner as the window when a final shot hit.

Some ten yards from the Citadel, the stainless steel elevator-like doors sat invitingly open. Alarm lights swirled and flashed red in every hall and corridor, signalling the emergency. Shadow watched over the evacuating crowds with his pistol drawn, covering by facing two directions someone looking to cause harm may emerge from.

When it was ensured that every last civilian and all of the wounded safely made it into the bunker, Sergeant Hardstaff took the moment to announce over the universal channel. "This is Bulldog 1-7, we're all clear, over."

"This is Guardian, all clear on our end, over."

"This is Anchorage, I have lost sight of the hostile sniper. Returning to emergency rendezvous point. Over."

Author's Note:

Whew! This was one hell of a chapter to write, and one I am extremely proud of. It has become the second longest chapter I have ever written, and the longest thus far in the Millennia Saga as a whole!