Hegira: Option Gamma

by Guardian_Gryphon

Chapter 44

The Humvee finally, mercifully, and ungracefully, skidded to a stop on the sidewalk.

Carradan had to breathe deeply for several seconds before he gained the modicum of control needed to reach out and flick the engine kill switch with one hoof.

He let out a deep sigh of relief and relaxed, finally letting his hoof off the brake.

Only one other PER vehicle had tried to impede their progress along the way. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Carradan had frozen with his hoof all the way down on the accelerator, causing the JRSF vehicle to ram the PER SUV, smooshing the lighter vehicle like a tin can on the maglev tracks.

The Pegasus leaned his head out the window, and looked up the side of the building whose curb they had so unceremoniously assaulted with their arrival.

Sure enough, there was a telltale purple plume wending its way skyward, slowly but surely.

"This is definitely the place boss..." Carradan shakily exited the vehicle, collapsing back onto four hooves, "How do you wanna play it?"

Hutch was already busy extracting full hazmat gear for himself from the Humvee's well apportioned stores, "They will have likely knocked out the elevator by now. How do you feel about stairs?"

Carradan snapped open his wings, "Stairs? Stairs are for old men like you."

Hutch chuckled darkly, "You gonna be ok taking point?"

Carradan nodded, "Ah sure. I bet I'll have the whole dang PER hog tied and strung out to dry by the time *you* finish getting up there."

Hutch grinned ever so slightly, "Just watch yourself. I won't be long."
As the Brigadier General continued to attach the sealed components of his armor as quickly as his hands would allow, Stanley Carradan flapped his wings, and shot up the side of the building.

After all, he reasoned, how could guys in white plastic alloy possibly be any worse than demon possessed scorpion-pony skeletons?

"Knock knock." The instant Varan forced the doors open, he swung his grenade launcher into place with one claw, and let fly. The first two shots went completely wild, but the third impacted, and subsequently eviscerated, two Diamond Dog guards, who had most definitely not been expecting latecomers to the occasion.

Fyrenn began laying down cover fire with his RAC, and to his surprise, Skye did the same with the laser pistol he had lent her, a stunningly manic look of anger plastered to her muzzle.

Fyrenn smiled inwardly; Whatever anyone said about Ponies and passivity, if sufficiently provoked they could do serious damage.

Fyrenn was last into the room, and he found himself once again concentrating, accelerating his perceptions, taking an internal moment to get a feel for the room.

The chamber they had entered was enormous, spanning the entire interior of twenty five floors of the tower, with no other obstruction beside support girders, catwalks, electrical trunk lines, the elevator shaft, and the massive gunmetal-gray, armor plated cylinder suspended in the center of the tangle.

The space was, much to the red Gryphon's consternation, absolutely crawling with Diamond Dogs. There were easily two packs' worth of Trolls, decked out in a stripped down version of the PER's basic armor, and carrying regular, deadly, anti-personnel particle rifles.

Several levels below, on a catwalk encircling the middle of the warhead, Fyrenn spotted Gilchrist and Veritas working in tandem at a large control panel attached to the device with a snaking trail of fiber optic cabling.

As the Trolls milled about, trying to form up after the chaos created by Varan's grenades, Fyrenn shoved Skye back into the elevator shaft, her footing maintained on the small door ledge, "Stay put, stay in cover. Don't get shot."

She grinned mischievously, "Sure thing chief big-head."

Fyrenn raised his RAC, using both claws, and began laying down sporadic, precise shots.
Neyla was busy with her arbalest, and Varan had switched to wielding a pistol in one claw, and a sword in the other, for fear of putting a grenade through the warhead itself, and setting off, by accident.

Gilchrist whirled at the sound of weapons fire, "Get them! They must not be allowed to tamper with the warhead!" Fyrenn noticed that Robert had his own small chemical-round-propulsion pistol, which he drew and cocked.

Veritas disappeared out of sight to the other side of the warhead, presumably to continue the arming sequence in a more protected spot.

Kephic, Varan, and Neyla seemed to be holding their own versus the Trolls, dodging between support struts and making good use of their wings in the more open space. Fyrenn decided to cut to the chase.

With a blood curdling war screech, he did a swan dive off the upper catwalk that would have received a 9.0 with any Olympic committee. He tucked in his wings, and stooped towards Gilchrist, flaring at the last second for control, and holding his rifle out, stock first.

The impact sent vibrations up Fyrenn spine, and sparks flew from Gilchrist's chest as he was thrown back several yards. It took Fyrenn nearly two seconds to understand. He finally managed comprehension at the same moment that Gilchrist rose, and spoke, "How do you like the personal version of my shield technology? I'm sure that blow would have killed me otherwise... But now we're on an equal footing my fine, feathered, *friend.*"

Gilchrist spat the last word as an epithet, and raised his pistol.
Fyrenn ducked, and the fight began in earnest.

True to his word, Sildinar had hunted down and destroyed several more PER assault teams.
By the time his small attack group had reached the last distressed JRSF squad, local Military Police were finally responding in force to the explosions and gunfire around the city.

Manhattan was in utter chaos.

Firefights had broken out in several locations, the twelve fake Atomizer detonations had created a frantic terror scare, rumors were already circulating of a wide-scale Potion attack, and consequently the civilian populace was in a total state of panic.

Sildinar had switched to providing aerial support and leadership to an APC full of troops, assembled from disparate teams he had encountered in the previous hour. He was now guiding them to the location of an Atomizer; a piece of information that Carradan had provided over wideband radio transmission, much to his grateful surprise.

Once they were in close proximity to the target, and intervening buildings were no longer a visual obstacle, the subtle plume of purple gas became easy to spot. Sildinar realized, staring at the device, that if the atomizers weren't shut off soon the attack would do a great deal of damage, whether or not the central warhead detonated.

He tapped his microphone, and contacted the APC below, "I need you to wire up all of your C4 to a single detonator, and have it ready in a satchel for me. And radio for Crystallization teams."

"We can't see the extent of the problem from down here, How many should we send for sir?"

"All of them."

Gilchrist's shield did a good job of protecting him. Fyrenn could see that the effect emanated from a small DaTab size object attached to his belt, which also doubtless housed the control AI. The field never seemed to be present, right up until the moment a sufficiently sharp, or fast moving object was about to enter its area of protection.

On the other claw, the field did not extend to held items, and it was weak at the join between an in-hand item, and the hand itself. Fyrenn was easily able to dodge Gilchrist's first volley of shots, flipping under the catwalk, spinning midair with his slightly extended wings, and coming up behind him before the man even realized what had happened.

He put all his strength into one fisted claw, and knocked the gun out of Gilchrist's hand, taking some of the skin of the palm with it, so violent was the assault.

Gilchrist clutched his bleeding hand, "You are a fast devil, I'll give you that. But you're a devil all the same."

Fyrenn drew his sword, "I'm not the Devil. But I expect you'll be personally giving him my disregards very soon."

Gilchrist smirked, and Fyrenn felt the catwalk vibrate, from an impact, "He may not be the Devil either, but he's about as close as it gets."

Fyrenn turned to find himself beak-to-muzzle with a large, menacing, growling black Lupine Diamond Dog. He was standing face to face with Kryn.

"I suppose it was too much, to hope you'd starved and died on the tundra."

Kryn growled.

Fyrenn readied his sword, "You don't talk much, do you?"

The hulking wolf-creature shook his head, "Actions, are preferable to words."

Fyrenn nodded, "Well then, by all means, If you insist."

He launched himself forward, in a move designed to look like a foolish charge, but intended to cover for a hidden back-paw attack.

The red Gryphon may not have liked Shroud very much, but that didn't mean he'd pass up the chance to avenge his death.
With extreme prejudice, and more than a little enjoyment.

For all the high octane, high adrenaline fear of driving a Humvee with hooves in evening traffic, Carradan found the dark shadowy spaces of a skyscraper roof to be infinitely more terrifying.

The environment itself was tense, but the real issue was the fact that, for once, he was headed into a potentially deadly situation completely alone and unprepared.

He mumbled aloud to himself, as he touched down, "Sheesh... I'd rather have IJ with me than walk into that death trap...
Aaah what the hay. Why not. G'bye cruel world."

Tentatively, the Salmon colored Pegasus approached the swirling purple miasma that had descended over the Atomizer, a result of the backwash from the slowly ascending plume, now stretching at least two hundred feet into the night sky.

The first assault came so quickly, Carradan didn't even realize he had reacted, until he felt a sharp pain in his wing, and saw the rifle skittering across the rooftop. He turned to see a stunned, and disarmed, PER trooper. Emboldened by the man's newfound lack of weaponry, and the fact that it was a result of his own Pegasus reflexes, Carradan grinned sheepishly,

"This really isn't your day pal, is it? Trust me, I feel ya."

With that, he spun and delivered what Ponies seemed to like to call 'One hay of a Buck.'

The soldier flew backwards, a crackling sound emanating from his chestplate; a testament to cracked ribs, a punctured lung, and likely some serious bruising. The soldier came to rest, abruptly, against an upright steel antenna pole, shattering the back of his helmet and knocking him clean out.

Carradan gave a satisfied 'hmph' and continued talking to himself as he resumed his slow, somewhat more cautious trek to the Atomizer.

"The reporter shoots, and he SCORES! Right over the back wall ladies and germs, it's a hooooome ruuuuuuun!"

Carradan reached the Atomizer, at last, coughing as he inhaled a small cloud of Potion, "Yecch! Grape is DisGUSTING when its artificial."

He was so busy examining the control panel for the device, that he failed to notice the shadow falling over him, nor the caster of said shadow, nor the weapon in said caster's paws, and the murderous intent in his eyes.

Neyla found herself back to back with Varan. The two Gryphons had adopted a particularly thick stanchion for cover, and were periodically taking turns covering each others' sniping runs.

The Gryphons, and Skye, were badly outnumbered. For each of them there were three Diamond Dogs, not even counting Kryn, who seemed quite preoccupied with Fyrenn.

Gilchrist, mercifully, seemed content to watch from a safe and somewhat cowardly distance.
Veritas was nowhere to be seen.

Neyla rolled from her position behind the stanchion to the edge of the catwalk, and fired a bolt that pierced an incautious Diamond Dog directly through the skull, between the eyes.

Their compatriot's death put the true fear of the Gryphons into the rest of the large pack, causing them to adopt much more sheltered and advantageous cover fire positions.

A Hail of bright blue, deadly particle blasts forced Neyla to beat a hasty retreat.

Varan raised an eyebrow, "They have the upper claw. Would that I could risk using my grenade launcher again."

From her post in the doorway, Skye hissed quietly, "Hey! Hey! Guys they haven't seen me yet... If you bait them I can take at least three out."

Neyla looked taken aback, "You're comfortable with---"

Skye rolled her eyes dismissively, "Hey! Prettyfeathers! like I told Wrenn, I am *way* beyond mercy here. These guys stink, they're rude, and they constantly taunted and harassed me. Now get your tailfeathers out there and put these twerps in front of my gun before I do it *myself.*"

Neyla shrugged, to which Varan replied with a nod.

By unspoken agreement, and a silent countdown, the two Gryphons rolled from cover and began a series of diving, twisting flighted loops that were so dizzyingly quick, and tight, that they would have qualified for any Pegasus acrobatics competition.

Sure enough, once the Diamond Dog Trolls realized the Gryphons were too busy evading to squeeze off many shots, they began to get cocky. Several of the ugly gray canines emerged from their hiding spots, and propped their weapons up on girders to gain more stability and field of fire. That proved to be imminently fatal.

Seemingly as if from nowhere, a hail of automatic high-frequency laser fire silently sprayed down on the three Diamond Dogs, the only soft sizzling sounds being generated coming from the passage of the high energy streams through armor, flesh, and bone. The assault was so violent, and so wide-effect, that it peppered their unarmored weak points with a barrage of searing red energy bolts.

It was all over inside of five seconds. Skye looked down on the carnage she had created, accompanied by appreciative, and amazed looks from Varan and Neyla, and even a glance from Kephic, who was busy with two assailants of his own.
The Unicorn smirked.

Upon reflecting on the Trolls' behavior she decided that, no, she was not going to have *any* trouble sleeping at night.
None whatsoever.

Sildinar checked the cinch on his satchel one last time. The small remote detonator was clipped to the strap, and the bag itself was packed to bursting with blocks of gray clay-like substance, wrapped in unassuming brown paper labeled 'C4.'

The driver of the APC raised an eyebrow, "Remind me sir, why this is a good idea?"

Sildinar grunted, and cycled his RAC, "Better that the Potion be spilled all over an empty rooftop as a liquid, than dispersed in the air as a fog, don't you think?"

The man nodded sheepishly, "Point taken sir. We'll let you know when the Crystallization teams arrive. Wave bye bye to the bad guys for me."

Sildinar smirked, "I'll do that."

The roan Gryphon took to the air, using updrafts created leftover heat emanating from the roadways to speed his ascent.

He swooped down into the purple column of miasma and smoke. The Potion wasn't really going to affect him at that concentration, short of rarefying the oxygen in the air, and Gryphons, like Pegasi, were built for breathing far more rarified, freezing, high altitude air.

The more pressing problem was the sight impairment factor. If he missed the atomizer altogether, then he would have wasted all the C4 that was close to claw, with very little chance of acquiring more within an acceptable period of time.

Sildinar circled a few more times, trying to guesstimate exactly where the column of purple had its origin. When he was as sure as he could reasonably be, he slowed to a hover, and carefully removed the satchel from around his neck.

He unclipped the detonator, and clenched it firmly in one claw, extending the other out to his right with the satchel. He made one final position check, then allowed the ordinance to drop, praying that the detonation assembly wouldn't be jarred loose by the impact.

A loud metallic 'thunk' offered the reassuring promise that the package had, in fact, struck the Atomizer.

Sildinar allowed himself a small smile, and tossed off a wave, before clicking his thumb talon down on the detonation button.

The results were spectacular.

Fyrenn was losing. Badly.

For a Lupine, Kryn had very little sense of honor; A fact that had evidenced in what he had done to Shroud, and was now being reinforced by his tactics.

The jet black monstrosity kept maneuvering Fyrenn into vulnerable positions, and calling on his pack to provide covering fire.

The 'duel' had become monstrously unfair, and it was all Fyrenn could do to stay alive, on the run, and in a single piece. The other Gryphons were too busy with their own fights to even conceive of coming to his aid, and Skye didn't have a vantage point that afforded her a line of fire to Kryn.

Fyrenn had already sustained several impacts from particle rifles. The hail of fire in such a comparatively small space, combined with a Lupine trying to drive his claws into him, had opened him up several times. He had been able to deflect most of the damage with his armor, but direct blasts had sizzled through partially in several places, leaving him with mild, but highly unpleasant energy burns.

All at once, the situation changed. A loud alarm began to sound, and there was a whirr and clank of machinery. As Fyrenn watched out of the corner of his eyes, still doing his best to dodge particle rifle fire, the sides of the chamber began to move, panel by panel.

With a roar of servos, the entire assembly opened, into a fan-like structure, displaying open vertical slits at intervals, which would provide initial channeling to the warhead's blast.

At the same time, Fyrenn's preternatural vision also spied a countdown timer blinking into being on the main control panel.

The Bomb was armed, and set to go off in ten minutes.

It was only a mere act of providence that the device needed time to properly intermix its volatile chemicals for optimum shockwave propagation.

Fyrenn knew he had the means to do away with Kryn, given that the size of the open panels afforded him a way to take to the air, but the problem of the Lupine's new pack still remained.

They would fill him full of particle beam shaped holes if he so much as presented a single feather out in the open for a moment.

Had his assailants been Humans, he wouldn't have worried.
But despite their slower nature as compared to a Gryphon, Diamond Dogs were still appreciably faster than Homo Sapiens, and with that many of them arrayed against him, his chances were looking increasingly slim.

The fact was underscored by a renewed hail of fire. The barrage chewed away at the support Fyrenn was using for cover, and a bolt nicked the plate on the joint of his right wing, leaving it numb and tingling, as he dove and rolled for better cover.

The red Gryphon was swiftly running out of workable hiding spots, and Kryn was far too perceptive to fall into an ambush. He, in fact, seemed more than happy to leave the killing of Fyrenn entirely to his pack, if they could accomplish the task.

He had no reason to doubt they could. Fyrenn was on the ropes, and losing ground at a rate of spades.

But, as though a Guardian Angel were watching, the situation suddenly changed again.

With an audible series of clicks and clunks, the sun day lights of Manhattan began to shine forth.
Billions and billions of lumens speared skyward, turning the night into a strange, foggy blue parody of day.

The Diamond Dogs instinctively stopped everything they were doing, and covered their eyes. They were creatures of darkness, and their ocular structure was ill suited to quickly adjusting to a different luminosity.

Next, came the noise.

Kryn seemed to recognize it instantly, and dove for cover.
The other Diamond Dogs were far less lucky.

As if Fyrenn's Guardian Angel had suddenly been given physical form, a gunship VTOL dropped from the sky above the tower, weapons already spun up. The sleek gray craft hovered for a moment, and Fyrenn spied none other than Commander Aston in the gunner's seat.

She smiled, and tapped her earpiece, "Hi! I thought you might need a hand, and this here pilot was kind enough to give me a ride. Clear the deck."

Fyrenn saw what she intended to do, and dove from the catwalk, stooping towards the bottom of the chamber as fast as he could. He was quickly followed by Kephic, Varan, Neyla, and even Skye, who Neyla quickly caught, and set safely on the metal floor

The second the Gryphons, and Unicorn, were out of the line of fire, Aston squeezed the trigger.

The Pilot strafed the gunship in circles, allowing the twin rail-cannons the VTOL sported to pepper the inside of the chamber with a hail of copper and steel death.

It was only by sheer dumb luck that Gilchrist himself didn't get hit. He had the sense to move closer to the warhead, rightly assuming that Aston would try to shy away from the device with her fire. Nonetheless, a fair few ricochets nearly took his head off.

Only his shield saved him.

The Diamond Dog Trolls, however, had no such next-generation protection.

The VTOL's cannon rounds were designed to destroy heavily armored tanks, bunkers, and aircraft. Personal armor melted like tissue paper under the withering stream of hypersonic glowing death spikes, as did the ugly canines encased inside the woefully inadequate white plating.

Shredded body parts fell from above, littering the floor of the chamber in a gruesome, but entirely welcome testament to the efficiency of airborne close fire support.

Aston's voice crackled over the comm lines, "Sorry ya'll, that's all she wrote. I have an appointment with some missing Atomizers. Recently found, thanks I hear to the valiant little Unicorn. Drinks are on me sister."

Skye smiled, and waved a hoof, not having a radio of her own.

Kephic tapped his mic, "Acknowledged. Give them more of the same, see you back at the Fort."

Fyrenn glanced up at the maze of catwalks, to see that Kryn, and two other Diamond Dogs had unfortunately survived the barrage the same way Gilchrist had. By sticking close to the warhead.

"Excuse me a sec. I think I forgot to take out the trash."

Kephic grinned manically, "Break his shoulder for me before you kill him. I'm gonna go see about that warhead."

Fyrenn turned to Skye, as he readied his wings, "It's practically over up here. You don't have wings, so you need to get a head start. Get out. I mean it this time."

The white lie was an unusual move for a Gryphon, but Fyrenn's desire to see Skye out of harm's way trumped his desire for candor.

Skye sighed, "Oh well. The fray was fun while it lasted. Cheers."

As she hoofed it to the elevator, Varan and Neyla turned their attention to the remaining Diamond Dog trolls.

Fyrenn turned his attention to the remaining Lupine.
Soon to be a bright red sidewalk decoration, if he had his way.

Stanley Carradan was absolutely sure he was about to die.

The PER Diamond Dog had gotten in the first blow, putting a lump the size of a brickbat in the back of the Pegasus's head that was still throbbing so badly he could barely see straight.

The sun day lights had helped cut through the purple fog, but nonetheless the Diamond Dog seemed intent on breaking Carradan into tiny little pieces. Slowly. And painfully.

The creature laughed, a grim parody of humor, gravelly and disgusting, "I'm gonna use you for a shovel; Find out if Earth roof rock have gems for me."

Carradan, trembling, spat in the canine's face, "Oh yeah?! Well... Your MOM is a shovel. Freakin' ugly creep."

The Diamond Dog growled menacingly, "You no say bad things about my mummy! Stupid ugly little..." The Troll was no inches from ripping Carradan apart with his massive claws.

Mentally, Carradan decided that should he die there, in that moment, that he would haunt Hutch for the rest of his living days.

As if thinking of the man were some sort of summoning spell, Carradan heard his voice echo out across the rooftop, "Hey! YOU! Big gray and UGLY! With the ugly shovel of a mother!"

Foolishly, the Diamond Dog turned to seek out the source of the voice.

A RAC round came whizzing out of the shadows, pulping the creature's head with a perfect eyeshot.

Hutch stepped into the light, potion gas swirling around his sealed armor, like a stage effect for a major performer.

Carradan threw the Troll corpse off, and staggered to his hooves, "About *bloody* time you showed up. Old man."

Hutch cycled his weapon, and grinned inside his mask, "That was a hell of an ass-saving shot for an 'old man.' "

Carradan chuckled, "Yeah yeah yeah... I softened him up for you."

The two compatriots turned to survey the Atomizer.
Hutch sighed, "Any ideas? I'm not much for electronics."

Carradan cocked his head, mimicking one of the Gryphons' signature moves.

"I have a thought."

Without any further ado, Carradan turned, and began lashing out at the Atomizer's control panel with his back hooves. Sparks flew from the device as the plastic casing withered and crumpled under the furious Equine assault.

When Carradan began to tire, he stepped back, and it was the Brigadier General's turn.

Hutch raised his RAC, and emptied the clip.

Under the advisement of several thousand rounds, and after enduring the massage treatment of Carradan's hooves, the machine finally gave up the ghost, grinding to a halt.

Carradan stuck out a hoof, which Hutch slammed his fist into with gusto, "Scratch one."

A loud explosion in the distance drew the comrades' attention, and they turned in time to see a massive explosion illumen a winged shape against the backdrop of a potion plume.

Carradan grinned, "Ahhh... Scratch *two.*"

While Kryn was a formidable opponent, Fyrenn was quickly learning that he was also a coward, despite his considerable strength, and years of experience.

Without the guaranteed support of his pack, the jet black Lupine had lapsed into a much more defensive and tricky fighting style. But Fyrenn didn't need to penetrate his defenses.

He had one major advantage that Kryn could never match. He had wings.

If being rid of the traitorous monster meant taking a few deep cuts, then Fyrenn was willing and ready.

The Gryphon dodged and weaved, making good use of his wings. Kryn was a surprisingly agile foe, however, and made great use of the girders that made up their surroundings, leaping and pivoting, and gyrating with moves that would have impressed even Kephic, had he been able to spare a moment to look.

All Fyrenn needed was to draw Kryn's focus away from his surroundings, utterly and completely. From past experience, the Gryphon knew the best way to do that was to open himself to attack.

It was risky, painful, and potentially lethally stupid... But it had worked before in his favor.
And time was running out. Last he had seen, the countdown timer said seven minutes.

Rather than bait the Lupine by falling back, Fyrenn realized he needed to force the Diamond Dog to go backwards himself. He had to make the maneuver appear tactically advantageous.

With a cry of anger, Fyrenn let loose with a seemingly emotional, unpracticed, and ill advised flurry of blows.

Kryn stumbled at first, surprised by the sheer ferocity of the attack. For a split second Fyrenn wondered if he could change tack, and make an end of the fight then and there.

But the Lupine's cunning quickly shone through again, as he began to fight defensively, slowly backing up and parrying Fyrenn's blows.

All the while Kryn worked in short, sharp, painful attacks, leaving several of Fyrenn's gauntlet and shoulder plates jammed firmly into his skin like blades.

The pain, however, proved to be worth it.

Kryn was so busy plotting a killing blow that would exploit Fyrenn's seemingly emotional attack, and allow him to parry without putting himself at risk, that he failed to notice how far he had backed up.

Fyrenn abandoned his deceptive assault, and grinned. Kryn had only a moment to comprehend his position, before Fyrenn lunged again, claws extended.

The Gryphon snagged the Diamond Dog in the morbid, macabre equivalent of a bear hug, digging his talons deep into Kryn's flesh to keep him off balance.

Together, the pair sailed out one of the open slits in the cylinder.

The wind whipped at them as their combined weight caused them to accelerate swiftly to terminal velocity. Fyrenn leaned down, and whispered in Kryn's ear, "Funny thing about gravity..."

The Gryphon flared his wings, simultaneously raking Kryn's chest with his back paws, and dropping the 'bear hug.'

As the Lupine fell, screaming, Fyrenn flared his wings, and shouted after him, "...it doesn't really apply to me!"

Fyrenn flapped his wings, and returned to the altitude of the cylindrical chamber.

He swept the city with his gaze, and noted that he could just barely make out a few rising plumes of Potion gas. That settled it. The warhead had to go, or a large fraction of Manhattan, if not the entire populace, was going Pony. Whether they wanted to or not.

Fyrenn next cast a glance inward, catching Gilchrist's eye.

He formed a two pronged spear shape with his talons, pointing at his eyes, then at Robert.
The message was abundantly clear.

And for the first time, Gilchrist looked truly scared.

A little known fact about Manhattan; The city possessed a veritable air force of attack-drones.
The system had its roots in post 9/11 defensive schemes, and over time it had grown into a massive AI controlled automated air support and defense system.

Hundreds of large missile and cannon equipped helicopter style drones waited dormant, twenty-four-seven, in hidden compartments strewn across Manhattan's rooftops.

Most civilians went about their day-to-day business totally unaware of the powerful defensive tools' existence right above their heads.

The system had never once seen use.

A record that was suddenly, spectacularly, broken.

Skye's information, combined with Military Police reports, had finally shocked Military Command into action. The Brave, spunky Unicorn's intelligence had worked its way up the chain of command from an assault team, to a Fort Hamilton substation, to the Earthgov Military central command itself.

It didn't take long for the decision to be made; Use the drone system, or allow New York to be covered with ever expanding purple clouds of Potion.

The little red button had *finally* been pushed.

From a desolate rooftop, Hutch and Carradan watched as three of the buzzing silver devices flew in low over an Atomizer site, and let loose with dozens of tactical missiles, reducing the top of the building to ash, without so much as scratching even the uppermost floor.

Across the city, Commander Aston was destroying an Atomizer of her own, when her pilot pointed out the canopy glass. She watched, in glee, as three Drones carpet bombed another nearby target, sending white armored bodies flying in pieces.

Each and every atomizer went offline within mere moments of the next, as the efficient, AI controlled, over-armed silver shapes went about their task with seeming gusto.

While the drone strike ensured that at least part of the city would be saved, the fact remained that the delays had resulted in the formation of twelve massive plumes of potion gas that would be extraordinarily difficult to crystallize, filter, and otherwise render inert.

If the Thermobaric device at the center of the system were to go off, the top brass knew over two thirds of the city would likely be affected on some level.

The fight, was far from over.

Gilchrist saw Fyrenn coming, and that fact did him absolutely no good.

Fyrenn slammed into his one time friend with such force that if he hadn't been wearing his shield, he would have died from massive internal trauma on the spot.

Gilchrist had been clambering his way towards the elevator access at the top of the chamber, and was consequently also treated to a ten story fall as well, ending on the catwalk before the main warhead controls.

The impact actually caused his shield to fritz several times intermittently, a sign that Fyrenn's brutal assault was wearing it thin.

Gilchrist snarled, and tried to draw a knife from a compartment in his boot.

Fyrenn actually had time to consider how he wanted the arrogant man to suffer for his audacity.

Human reflexes unaugmented were simply no match for a Gryphon. One on one, Homo Sapiens was vastly outclassed at best.

Fyrenn snagged Robert's right wrist in a death hold, dragged him to the catwalk's railing, and slung his arm across the steel surface. Fyrenn then applied slow, steady, inexorable pressure.

Gilchrist screamed, as his arm bent ninety degrees backwards, shattering every single bone between his shoulder and fingertips on his right side.

Fyrenn held the crying, whimpering man against the railing, and shouted with deafening volume.

"WHY!?! Why did you DO IT?! We had TRUST, we had FRIENDSHIP... We were even like *family.* We could have worked it OUT! But you tried to KILL me, you broke every law I *know* of, and you ignored the best sources of advice you HAD. You've committed crimes I can NEVER get you amnesty for, even if you begged, and kissed my back paws. WHY?!"

The only response was a whimper. Fyrenn slammed Gilchrist's head into the railing, resisting the strong impulse to make it a killing blow, "I said WHY?! Answer me... And make it good... Or I will split your skull."

Sildinar had rejoined his exhausted, belabored squad. There were still a few PER in the streets, and they needed to be rounded up, or dealt with on site.

The Gryphon was busy sweeping an alley near Wall Street, when one of the Pegasi beside him began to cough.

Sildinar raised an eyebrow, "Problem?"

The Equine tried to shake his head, but all he managed to do was spray blood from his nose.
Sildinar rushed to help the Pony, as he fell to the pavement, but it was already too late.
The Gryphon could only watch in silence as the creature screamed, melting into a familiar silver puddle, with a disgusting red tinge.

Sildinar stood, ignoring the shocked and horrified reactions of his other team members, both Pony and Human.

The event might not have made any sense to his companions yet, but it made perfect sense to Sildinar. He murmured to himself, aloud, "Of course. They'd never trust us to finish the job properly..." He tapped his radio, "All units be advised. We have a major HLF infiltration problem."

Fyrenn heard the words went their way into his ear through his radio... But they only told him what he already knew.

Familiar menacing beige-armored figures were dropping from the ceiling in pairs.
There were six Augments in total, and that meant a serious fight.

The first pair took aim, and opened fire.

Fyrenn realized, too late, that he had no cover within range.

In and of himself, he had no way to stop the bullets that he could actually see whizzing towards his skull and chest. Even though he could perceive them, he no longer had enough time to physically move himself out of the way.

So... He reflected... Such would be the end.

Such *would* have been the end. Were it not for Robert Gilchrist's Thaumatic shield.
Despite the incredible pain he was in, the man had pivoted around, placing himself between Fyrenn and the bullets. The rounds pinged harmlessly off the electrified surface of the miraculous device's field, falling to the floor as crumpled discs.

That gave Fyrenn more than enough time to raise his RAC, and unleash hell.

A flurry of fire from Neyla, who had just finished dispatching the last Diamond Dog, joined Fyrenn's stream of bullets. It took several seconds of fire, but they managed to kill the first pair of troopers. The HLF soldiers were well armored, but their suspended position made them like ducks in a shooting gallery. Easy fodder for a Gryphon who could dodge incoming fire, and return the favor accurately.

Kephic and Varan managed to kill the second pair between them, which left only the final pair.
Fyrenn re-drew his sword, and charged.

The HLF Augments had an equal footing to a Gryphon in a tight space. The warhead chamber was not tight enough. And the odds were stacked.

As Fyrenn battered at the pair with his sword, using his wings to stay behind them, where their cumbersome bulk made turning difficult, the other three Gryphons simply dodged stray shots, pouring RAC and Arbalest rounds into the offending enemies.

It was over before it began. A product of the HLF's cliched and foolish insertion technique.

Fyrenn reflected, momentarily, that it was likely they hadn't expected the Gryphons to be present, only PER Diamond Dogs, who were long since dead.

Fyrenn shot a glance at Kephic, "The Warhead?"

The black and white Gryphon bounded back over to the panel, "Working on it. We still have four minutes."

Fyrenn returned his attention to Gilchrist, who had managed to stagger to his feet, and was clutching his broken arm in the crook of his other limb.

The red Gryphon stood tall over the broken and dazed man, glaring into his eyes with soul piercing force. This time, Fyrenn whispered the word.

"Why?"

Gilchrist winced, "Why save you, you mean? Because I'm not sure you're beyond convincing."

Fyrenn spat to the side, "Convincing? Convincing is what you do to persuade someone to a viewpoint. You? You have been brainwashed, and you're repeating the same abuse on other people. Anyone who gets in your way? You just take their free will."

Robert stared out of the channeling slits at the sun day lit city. He waited several seconds before replying, his voice cracking from the pain of his arm, "What meaning does free will have anymore, Isaac? We're living in a crumbling world. This planet's days are *numbered,* and what do they do? Out there? They run around carrying on with their pathetic mewling lives, instead of thinking about their future salvation."

Fyrenn shook his head, "Salvation is not something that can be forced, or taken, it must be freely given, from one to another. Do you know who said that?"

Gilchrist continued to stare grimly at the cityscape.

Fyrenn stepped up behind him, slowly, "You said it Robert. Second semester theology class. The saying has merit. You can't just force your viewpoint on someone... Even if you're *positive* it's right."

Fyrenn shot a glance at Kephic, who seemed buried deep in the Warhead control panel.
Gilchrist mumbled, "How is what I do any worse that what you and Korvan did to me? You forced your views on me... Tried to make me choose between my love, and my work."

Fyrenn shook his head, "When one man throws a belief in another man's face, that's extremism. When a legally voted into office *government* makes a majority decision, that's civilization. You had other means to pursue your beliefs. I still don't entirely agree with Korvan but do you know something? Were it not for the unhealthy way that Unicorn affects you, I would have sided with you outright. Merely because you were family to me."

Gilchrist snorted, "A fine sentiment. There you go again. Forcing me to make a choice between two things I want."

Fyrenn glared, "That's life. She's a *menace* Rob. From the *day* you met her, she put you in a deep, dark, scary place. I could see it, your foster parents could see it, hell your other *classmates* could see it. You can't just *ignore* those kinds of warning signs."

Gilchrist shook his head, and stepped away, "You don't UNDERSTAND! I LOVE her. I always have, and I don't really care if you do KILL me, that will NEVER change. So get it over with, or go do the world a favor, and plunge your sword into your own black heart."

A tear trickled down Fyrenn's cheek. He whispered, "Well. I guess I was right. The Robert Gilchrist I knew is dead. Good riddance to *you.*"

The red Gryphon was about to query Kephic, when he spotted a Purple shape rounding the Warhead on the catwalk. Fyrenn hissed, "You! I am going to *skewer* you in front of him, as soon as we disarm this device."

Kephic looked up sharply, and his claw flew to his RAC.

Veritas snickered, "That's the beauty of it, you *foals...* The device *can't* be disarmed. My love designed it... " She stood beside Gilchrist and nuzzled his arm, "Perfectly."

Gilchrist smiled, "She's right."

Veritas giggled, like a schoolgirl. The sound was disconcerting, eliciting looks of disgust from Neyla and Varan, "Now Robbie... Be a dear..." her voice took on a steely edge, "...And *shoot* this mongrel bird."

Gilchrist's hand went, as if by reflex, to his pocket, but he paused, "I..."

Veritas hissed, her voice dropping by several octaves, "Do it! Now! Do to him *exactly* what he did to you."

Fyrenn raised his sword, then let it fall from his claw, "Do as she says. Prove me wrong. Prove yourself right. Come on."

He growled, "Do you have the darkness in you? Or is there hope for you yet?"

Robert hesitated. And Veritas ran out of patience.

What happened next stunned everyone, to the point that Neyla and Varan didn't even move to raise their weapons, they were taken so off guard.

A black and violet ribbon of energy poured from Veritas's horn, the crackling magic punctuated by white pinpricks, as if stars had been born in her sparkling mane, and wended their way to her horn.

The black, snake-like threads hovered for a moment, probing out, and disabling Robert's Thaumatic shield as if it were a simple task. Then the tendrils thrust themselves forcefully into Gilchrist's head. He screamed, and his eyes began to glow. Instantly, his hand came away from his pocket, bearing a small but powerful assassin's laser pistol.

Fyrenn was without a sword, missing several plates of his armor, and far too close to dodge the forthcoming blast. Neyla and Varan were still in the initial stages of processing what was transpiring, and Skye was long gone to safer environs.

Fyrenn sighed, inwardly. He was, for the most part, at peace.
His one, single regret, was that he wouldn't get a chance to bid his family farewell properly.

A loud 'CRACK' rang out, and the red Gryphon winced.

But the end didn't come.

Instead, a red flower sprouted from Robert Gilchrist's head.

It took Fyrenn two hundred and eleven nanoseconds to realize what the flower was, and where it had come from. For a Gryphon in bullet time, it was an agonizing eternity.

Time snapped back to its average pace at the shock of realization, and Robert Gilchrist fell to the floor. Dead before he hit the pool of his own blood swiftly forming on the catwalk.

Fyrenn turned, as if in a dream, to see Kephic standing firm, sighting down the barrel of his rifle; A look of grim fury fixed on his face, mixed with the beginnings of satisfaction. Tendrils of exhaust smoke curled from the barrel of his RAC.

For a split second, no one moved or spoke, not even Veritas.

No one with the exception of Fyrenn.

He cross-drew his second laser pistol in a haze of rage, and took aim at the violet Unicorn responsible for so many wrongs.

Fyrenn squeezed the trigger, unleashing a stream of silent red that impacted thin air.

Where Veritas had once stood, now resided what looked like a small tear in the universe.
Closer inspection revealed that, while it looked deceptively like a chunk of the night sky had simply popped into existence as a spatial tear, that the object had a faint hazy border, and a volumetric quality.

Fyrenn tried to readjust his aim, but the moment he had the entity in his sight picture, it was already speeding away, silently, at what must have been several dozen times the speed of sound.

The red Gryphon continued to fire blindly out the channeling slits, swiftly exhausting the capacity of the weapon with his careless rage, before finally throwing the brunt out pistol with all his might, and screaming in impotent rage.

For a moment Fyrenn just glared at the horizon, willing the being, 'Veritas,' to hear his mental diatribe.

'I am coming for you. One day. And I will do to *you* what you did to *him*.'

Fyrenn turned, slowly, to look on the body of his one time friend.
Gilchrist's face was frozen in a mask of horror and pain; A darkly poetic reflection of the emotions he had so often brought to others.

The Gryphon bent low over the body, and gently closed the man's eyes.
Then he looked to Kephic.

The speckled Gryphon shook his head, "I had no choice."

Fyrenn raised a claw for silence, then grabbed his brother in a tight embrace, "I know. I know. Thank you."
He had to resist the impulse to weep. There was much work still to be done, and very little time in which to do it.

He released Kephic abruptly, and gestured to the Warhead, "I've seen the plumes outside, if this thing goes off it will be the worst disaster in modern memory. Was she lying?"

Kephic shook his head, "Not as far as I can tell. I can't find anything even resembling a disarmament control, not even in password protected functions."

Fyrenn shook his head, "Any bomb can be defused. Help me."

He rushed over to the nearest panel in the device's skin, and began to work his talons into the seam. Varan, Kephic, and Neyla quickly fell to and followed suit.

In a matter of seconds, the group had managed to rip off the panel.

Behind the skin of the cylinder lay several smaller cylindrical objects, inserted into the side of the device in rows. They were slowly twisting on servo motors, carefully dispensing the right chemicals into the detonation chamber at the right times and in the right proportions.

There were, however, no wires, no circuits, and no further seams.

Varan grimace, "A disturbing development."

Neyla snorted, "Oh? Do you THINK!?"

Fyrenn once more held up a claw for silence, and continued to stare down the slowly rotating cylinders. The countdown timer beeped its minute warning.

Fyrenn stiffened, and turned to the group, "We can't disarm it. If we detonate it now, it will likely produce a shockwave, and if we leave it... The damage will be irrevocable. We have to sabotage it."

Each of the three other Gryphons stared at him in abject horror.

Fyrenn plowed ahead, "The Thermobaric reaction depends on very precise chemical balances. If one of us holds half of these Cylinders in place, then it will go off like a normal bomb---"

Neyla practically shrieked, "Yes! And Kill whoever stays behind along with it! That's a *terrible* plan!"

Varan raised an eyebrow, "And you have a viable alternate solution?"

Neyla made several frustrated choking noises before finally regaining her composure, "Fine. I'll do it."

Fyrenn stiffened, "The *hell* you will. I'm staying. That's *final.*"

Kephic glared, "As will I. We haven't exhausted every opportunity yet. We may find a way to disable the warhead first."

Neyla looked shocked, hurt, and outraged all at once. She stared at Varan, pleading with her eyes for him to side with her. The golden Gryphon turned to Kephic and Fyrenn instead, embracing them both, "It has been the highlight of my life to call you two my family. Come home safe. Please."

Fyrenn returned the embrace briefly, then nodded, doing his best to keep the tears in his eyes from showing too obviously. Neyla had already broken down and begun to weep softly.

He crossed to her, and repeated the embrace, "Do me a favor."

She stared up at him, her eyes glistening.
Fyrenn smiled slightly, "Find yourself a family. Whatever shape that takes for you. It's the life you *deserve.*"

He stood aside, and allowed Varan to shepherd his weeping friend to the edge of the platform.
The golden Gryphon, his brother, cast one last farewell look over his shoulder, before pushing himself and Neyla out into empty space, and winging away as fast as his wings could carry him, followed by the only female of his species Fyrenn had ever gotten the chance to know well.

For a few seconds, Kephic and Fyrenn merely stood, their claws outstretched, forcing half of the chemical dispensation cylinders to remain still, much to the protest of their wailing servos.
They both knew that their sacrifice was the only viable option.
There simply wasn't enough time left.

Finally, when the thirty second alarm sounded, Fyrenn spoke, "I have two things, Brother, that I want to say to you."

Kephic turned, and gave Fyrenn his full attention.

"First; Thank you. Not just for being family to me... But for what you did. I don't think I could have killed him a second time... But I don't think I could have stood to let him live either."
He reached out, momentarily allowing his cylinders to resume spinning, and embraced Kephic again.

His brother replied, voice cracking from emotion, "And the second thing?"

Fyrenn stiffened, "Second? I'm sorry."

Before Kephic could even form a query, Fyrenn slammed his fisted talons against the back of his brother's head with all the force he could muster.

For a moment, Kephic pierced him with a furious expression, then he collapsed into unconsciousness.

Fyrenn knew he only had a few more seconds to act.

He swiftly carried his brother's unconscious body to the elevator. Mercifully, it had returned to the chamber, likely when Gilchrist had called it, trying to make his escape.

Fyrenn chucked Kephic inside, yanked open the control panel, and mashed the 'EMRGNCY DSCNT' button, yanking his foreleg back out of the way as the doors snapped shut, and the steel car descended to safety at full speed.

He smiled, "Goodbye brother. Live well. May you ever have fair winds."

Fyrenn returned then to the cylinders. The infernal slowly rotating circles.

He quickly resumed his vigil, holding back the vital chemicals needed for Robert Gilchrist and Vertias' plan to execute itself despite their absence.

Out beyond the ruined atmosphere of his old world, the sun was just beginning to rise.

For a few moments, the color diffraction through the atmosphere mixed perfectly with the humidity, temperature, clouds, and direction of the sun lights, to create a perfectly naturally blue sky.

Fyrenn inhaled a breath of air; That high up it was more or less fresh. Lacking in many of the sweet, tangy, or otherwise wonderfully alive qualities of Equestrian air, but clean and unpolluted all the same.

He stared out at the city, and smiled.

"Not a bad way to end."

And then, all was heat, and light, and sound, and for a split second, pain.
Then darkness.

Neyla spun as the sound of the explosion shattered the temporary morning calm, she watched in horror as the entire top of the PER tower blew apart spectacularly, lit from within for a moment by the light of a thousand suns. The explosion was so awesome in power that the debris coming off the top third of the structure was reduced to objects no larger than a fisted claw.

She staggered, and fell to the nearest rooftop, collapsing in a heap of tears and sobs.
Varan, and his soothing brotherly wing her only comfort.

Hutch and Carradan jumped, in tandem, as the explosion rattled the window panes around them, and set off a bevy of car alarms.

Hutch dropped his canteen and gawked, "My... GOD..."

Carradan winced, "I hope they weren't in there...."

Hutch shook his head emphatically, "They couldn't have been. No way. They couldn't..."
He fervently hoped his assertion was true, but deep in his gut, he felt the boiling nagging pain of doubt.

From his position atop the New York Hilton, Mr. Utah could see the blast as if it were on a theater widescreen. He dropped his cigarette, his cold cynicism giving way for a small moment to a gut wrenching sense of worry.

When the explosion was not followed by a shockwave, he relaxed, and withdrew another cigarette. As he lit it, he threw off a casual salute to the men he had sacrificed to save the world.

"Mission accomplished."

Aston viewed the detonation from the air.

"DAMMIT! It blew!" She slammed her fist into the control panel in frustration.

The pilot whistled.

"Holy shit."

All over Manhattan, those few who had slept through the events of the night were rudely awakened by the ear splitting explosion.

Some window panes shattered, automatic rail control AI shut down the trains and applied emergency brakes, fearing an earthquake.

Nuclear attack sirens as old as the Cold War of centuries previous went off.
Their mournful tones acted as a makeshift funeral dirge.

Heads turned, parents clutched their children close, not realizing that the traumatic event was an indication that their lives would go on uninterrupted and unmolested for another day.

JRSF Soldiers removed their helmets all over the city.

Most knew what the explosion meant.

Someone had made the ultimate play.
The sacrifice maneuver.

As General Lantry watched, on the Fort Hamilton situation screen, he cast a glance at Sorven, who was staring out the window, in glass eyed shock.

They were both privy to the details. They knew the cost.

Lantry shook his head, and sighed, "Whoever it was... God go with 'em. God go with 'em."

Comments

[Guardian_Gryphon]

Chk
Chk
KABOOM

Let the reactions commence.

One more chapter, and an Epilogue, forthcoming.....
....

...Tomorrow

Here, I'll make you Mass Effect fans feel better;
There will be no star-child, no blue/green/red choices, and no crappeh-ass acid trip.
I can't promise anything else however....

[Shamus_Aran]

I am struck by a sudden an inexplicable depression.

As if a great voice cried out in pain and was suddenly silenced.

[MatsuriDream]

Yoooooooooooooooooooou.......how daaaaaaaare you.

*coughs*

Okay, rage of being made to wait aside. Well played good sir. Well played. A wise man once said, "Always leave them wanting more." Mission bucking accomplished.

[Hunter X]

Well played sir, well played.

I have warning bells going off in my head with regards to Skye though - killed by the HLF and then brought back to life in a plan that absolutely nobody (aside from one person) knew about? Just seems a little too convenient. Guess we'll see how that plays out soon enough.

Also, Gilchrist's shield reminds me a lot of the Mass Effect kinetic barriers. Though, if the shields are magic and Gryphons are immune to the stuff, why can't they just pass through the shield (albeit without their weapons and armour)?

[shadowless_night]

well.... as sad as i am all good things must come to an end and atleast u diddnt pull a mass effect on us. seriously all i wanted to do was shoot the godchild and tell him fk you i ll rip apart the reapers with mah bare hands before i give in to that shit.
good job anyway.
i award you the mustaches of awesomeness

[Error_404_Not_Found]

Well, I kind of figured that was going to happen at some point. To be quite honest, all I could think of was the final scene in "Armageddon", when Harry rips AJ's suit so he has to stay in the ship, and then fires the nuke himself. This deserves to be listed in the "Heroic Sacrifice" trope page. Very well written. You, sir, have made me feel.
It's a good day to die, when you know the reasons why,
Citizens, we fight for what is right,
A noble sacrifice, when duty calls, we'll pay the price,
For the Federation I will give my life!

[Guardian_Gryphon]

1120698
You get a cookie! You spotted it!

1121710
1121216
1121191
1120386
1120270
Excellent! I have provoked Emotion!
And, icing on the cake, theorizing.

[Kitsuneisuki]

1122051

Welcome Home Marine, Job Well Done
Stand your post at Heaven's Gates with pride brother...
Semper Fi

[Guardian_Gryphon]

Next chapter and Epilogue *are* coming soon, but may be delayed slightly by my evening plans.
I suppose I should be grateful for the reprieve; I expect to take a bit of flak for the stunt I'm about to pull, and the circumstances surrounding it.

[MatsuriDream]

....I just had a thought. What if this entire thing was some kind of VR simulation or 'test' prior to the application of the potion...or maybe it's the Griffon 'god/goddess' dream.

So many things are nagging at me having re-read through the chapters, something....just, feels off for some reason.

[Westphalian_Musketeer]

Let's see, there is a quote that seems perfect for this moment.... ah yes, forgive the paraphrase but....
"And the man walked to Saint Peter and saluted 'One more soldier reporting for duty, I've served my time in hell.'"

On the plus side, we did get Skye back, tis good.