35 - Games, Part 4 of 11
Scootaloo shouted as loudly as she was able, "Open fire!"
Hundreds of pegasi loosed their crossbows into the enemy. From the safety of their altitude, they dropped death upon a wave of timberwolves that were charging across the plain in the early hours of the morning. They loosed another volley, thinning out the enemy again. Signal flares began going up, which was a sign to fall back.
"Time to go!” Scootaloo called out. "Pick up your passengers and rendezvous at Badlands gap!"
Fluttering filled the air, as did the clicking of harnesses clasping together. Within only a minute, the entire division was airborne. Scootaloo found herself without anypony to carry for the moment, but this was not a common occurrence. The CAP formed up with her, and they began circling the perimeter of their group.
Scootaloo could only see a fraction of their force now, some five to ten thousand. The last three days had been a constant barrage of attacking and retreating. It had left their force far more spread out than seemed wise, a concern which the entire Taskforce held. The timberwolves had not taken the bait, but were themselves moving in multiple directions.
The divisions Scootaloo was with had the commanders, and the bulk of the timberwolves following them. Other divisions had been sent to try and draw the enemy east, but their plan was met with limited success. The hills east of Apple Loosa provided good terrain for the strategy, but moving quickly was imperative.
It was a short flight to the gap in the mountains that formed the entrance to the badlands. It didn't take long at all for a new command post to be set up. Scootaloo landed there to find Masher, Pacer, Charging Lance, and Flittergear already assembled.
"Welcome to our twelfth command post," Charging Lance said.
"Thirteenth," Flittergear whispered.
"The skies are clear for the moment," Scootaloo reported.
Charging Lance looked around and seemed satisfied.
"Reports have been coming in," Pacer said. "Looks like we're really giving it to them. We've killed almost two-thousand timberwolves already."
Charging Lance shot him a look and added, "But it cost us almost one percent of our force."
"Perfectly acceptable losses," Pacer said.
Masher shook his head, "You do realize that at that rate we'd all be dead and they'd still have, what?
“About six hundred thousand,” Flittergear added.
"Oh, that's nothing; we're just getting warmed up," Pacer said defiantly.
Scootaloo shook her head, but didn't get a chance to reply. Sparklefly, Featherplume, Skyflame, General Brax, and Mane Crusher arrived.
"Welcome back," Scootaloo said.
Sparklefly made a forced grin, "Well, we're still alive."
"For now," Brax said measuredly. "The good news is we are able to stay ahead of them as long as we dominate the sky. If they ever catch us unable to retreat, we'll be done."
"They still are wandering and covering Apple Loosa," Sparklefly said. "We're so spread out that we have groups as small as companies engaging and retreating from here to Galloping Gorge."
"Part of their strategy?" Charging Lance asked.
"Perhaps," Mane Crusher said thoughtfully. "The way they have been spreading out, it's been the only way to keep them mostly going in the direction we want."
"Mostly?" Scootaloo asked.
Sparklefly replied, “One of their... tendrils is getting close to Hoofington."
"I've already sent a regiment to see to the evacuation," General Brax added. "They will at least have warning before an attack comes."
"Any sign of changelings?" Masher asked.
Scootaloo shook her head as Sparklefly said, "None yet. If they're out there, they're keeping low."
"That bothers me," Charging Lance said.
"It's a small matter for them to hide behind their numbers for now," Sparklefly said, rubbing her eye patch. "They know that if they come out, we'll throw everything we have at them."
General Brax grimly stated, "In that event, things would get messy rather quickly."
"Agreed," Scootaloo chimed in.
“But whatever they’re doing to control the timberwolves, if we take out the changelings, it should be a rabble instead of an army,” Pacer noted.
Master nodded, “Yes. I just wish we knew more about how they were controlling them. It sure would make it easier to knock out the brain if we knew where it was.”
“You have your answer at to why they keep it a secret,” Mane Crusher added.
The group fell silent for a moment before Sparklefly took a breath and spoke. She still seemed bothered by something. Though, that was hardly out of the ordinary as none of them had slept much and all were painfully aware of the danger that was near at hoof.
"I think we're going to have to try something different to get their attention.”
"Did you have something in mind?" Charging Lance asked.
She shook her head.
"Sitting still makes me uneasy," Brax said. "Is the CAP up?"
"Yes," Scootaloo answered. "I'll take a squad now and check out the skies myself."
"Be careful," Sparklefly said.
Scootaloo snorted haughtily and replied, "The changelings had better be careful. I'm not in a prisoner-taking kind of mood."
With that she turned and trotted away. It only took her a minute to find a squad and get into the air. The skies were certainly clear, but movement on the ground was widespread. Dodge Junction was northwest of their position, and the badlands were directly south. The main body of the timberwolf army was coming through the pass in the mountains to the west. It was deemed a wide-enough pass that it would have been difficult to defend. If they had to pull south, the steep pass at the badlands would be equally as challenging, not to mention sweltering. To this point, the farther south they had gone, the hotter and more humid it seemed to get. Everything Scootaloo had heard of the Badlands indicated that it was also characterized by scorching heat, but nearly no precipitation or moisture at all, thanks to the mountains that shielded the perimeter from moist sea air farther east.
As they turned, Scootaloo scanned in the direction of the sea and found herself facing Hayseed Swamp. They were quite a lot further south than they had been the last time an ambush had come out of there, but Scootaloo hadn't forgotten. A strange feeling came over her while she looked at the swamp and the overgrown trees that obscured whatever might be below. The rear of their force was positioned on the dirt road that ran from the badlands in the south toward Dodge Junction north of them. They had already formed a defensive line against the swamp, which Scootaloo appreciated for their sense of caution.
Another CAP flew up the line, heading north. Scootaloo developed a curiosity as to what they might find if they pressed east a little farther. Her squad behind her, they flew above the border where the Hayseed Swamp gave way to the steep and impassable mountains that the McIntosh Hills became. Everything below them seemed quiet and still, just as one would expect if it were unoccupied. A high mountain peak lay in front of them, capped with snow.
Scootaloo was beginning to feel the strain of their constant movement. Her wings ached from the endless flying for days on end with little rest. Scanning the swamp below, her squad was silent. She glanced back at them for a second and noticed one of them looking intently to the left. Scootaloo turned her focus in that direction but didn't see anything at first. Then there was movement.
"Captain!" one of the others said.
"I see them," Scootaloo called back. "Eyes forward; ignore them and follow me."
Scootaloo continued east and then leisurely banked left and turned back to the west with her squad. She didn't see any changelings around, but that didn't mean that her squad wasn't being watched. Better to let them think they hadn't seen anything for now. The swamp suddenly seemed much more sinister than it had only moments before. There had to be thousands of timberwolves moving through it toward their main force. The movement below suddenly became much more visible.
"They're going faster!" one of the other's said.
"They know we saw them. Let's move it!" Scootaloo shouted.
She pushed ahead, her wings beating the air mercilessly to give her as much speed as she could muster. They easily outpaced the advancing horde in the swamp. In a few short minutes they were back over the few divisions that constituted their main force and Scootaloo landed at the command post. General Brax and Charging Lance greeted her.
"We have to move," Scootaloo panted.
"Incoming?" Brax asked.
Scootaloo nodded, out of breath, "From the swamp. Several thousand."
"We don't have enough pegasi. Sparklefly took half of them to try and get the timberwolves’ attention," Brax said.
Charging Lance shrugged, "Then we move south into the badlands. At least we can slow their approach in the pass."
"Well done, Captain," Brax said with what passed for a smile.
Scootaloo returned to the air with her squad. The swamp still seemed quiet, and there was no way to ascertain when the ambush would spring. Below, the entire force began moving south through the pass into the badlands. The sun was nearing the zenith, and it was beating down mercilessly. In the immediate area, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. To the north, rain clouds were giving relief, but where they sought refuge, the ponies would be left to their own devices to avoiding the blazing sun. It took several hours to get all of their present numbers through the pass, but they had achieved the badlands before the timberwolves came pouring out of the swamp.
"There they are!" one of Scootaloo's patrollers cried out.
"I see them," she calmly replied. "Better go report their position."
Scootaloo turned, her CAP squad following to keep the others informed about the ever-changing situation. If they hadn't spotted the timberwolves when they did, that retreat would have been much more difficult. All they could do was make the best of it until Sparklefly returned with their air support.
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Pacer said something smart, I'm shocked
What if they surrender, you don't want Geneva mad at you Scoots, that would be bad
Well thanks, I was just going to save the day by staying here but now that your telling me to move.
Sorry I meant that quote for my last comment
8748730
1) Haha, even the proverbial broken clock is right twice a day.
2) She's just channeling her inner Rainbow Dash bravado.
3) Sparklefly is a captain? She could be Captain Obvious! Seriously, who wrote that line? Oh... wait...
4)
I'm mildly surprised they've even lost one percent of their ponies. I would have thought they could just have pegasus carrying unicorns from several hundred feet in the air and firing at them, given there don't seem to be any changelings putting themselves out in the open.
Also, given the environment, also surprised nobody has suggested to use fire yet, given it's dry and timberwolves are, well, timberwolves. Unless they're magically protected against fire, I guess?
8783799
They will do more flyovers coming up, and they will use fire. They've just been a bit afraid that it'll turn bad on them like it did the last time. But those are valid points.