• Published 20th Jun 2012
  • 1,944 Views, 44 Comments

The Gathering Storm - WiskeyMikeOne



The story of the formation of the new Luna republic told through the eyes and words of Whirlwind

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Chapter 3: Redemption

Chapter 3
Redemption

I was only a few minutes away from the base when the fuel light came on, there was a crack on the radio, and it wasn't Skyswim.

“Wildcat 3 this is tower, we are asking you to go into a holding pattern above Ponyville. The airspace is crowded with aircraft retuning from combat.”

“Sure, but I should let you know that I’m also low on fuel so if you could hurry things along a bit that would be really helpful over"

“...”

“No response, strange”

I turned the aircraft and headed for Ponyville. I guess some ponies have no sense of humour. When I was above Ponyville air space I assumed that there would be aircraft in a holding pattern waiting to land, but there were none.

“Tower, this is Wildcat 3 what is your status on the ground, over?”

“...”

“Okay, I’m sorry for that joke before. I understand that you’re busy but I’m seriously low on fuel, I need to land now. Over”
“…Wildcat 3 the airfield is clear, you are free to land. Over”

“Thank you. Out”

I swung my aircraft around and headed for the airfield. I was just over the Everfree Forest when my HUD turned from green to red, “What?” I still had fuel, what was going on? The on-board computer spoke.

“Auto self-destruct enabled. 15-14-13-12--”

“Oh Buck!”

I reached down to pull the ejector seat cord, but it just wouldn't work. I tried to wrestle my way out of a harness but it was pulling me back into the chair, it was if it had a mind of its own.

“10-9-8-7--”

I had to act fast, I reached down to my holster to grab my blaster. It buzzed into life, I raised it and fired it at the canopy. The glass shattered into pieces, the wind hit my face. I grabbed a piece of glass and started cutting away at the harness.

“5-4-3--”

I was free, I jumped out. The shock wave of the explosion knocked me off balance, as I turned, thanks to the shock wave, I saw plane fragments go in all directions, getting further and further away from me. I was falling, no time to open my wings I was too low. The trees of the forest slowed my fall, but knocked me out.

When I came to I was in a puddle full of brown smelly water. I got to my feet, shook myself off and stumbled towards the pillar of smoke from the crash site. The trees that were in the way of the falling wreck were no splinters and I made my way over to the cockpit, what was left of it anyway. The control panels were sparking and shorting out, I reached in to grab my blaster.

“Nine shots left, I’ll have to make them count”

Luckily the survival kit was undamaged, that would definitely come in handy. The black box was unscratched; if there was a mistake this would prove my innocence. I could hear helicopters so I took cover in the forest and waited.

Three choppers came into view, two Mi-24 and one Whitehawk shining a spot light onto the crash site. The down draft of the propellers extinguished the small fires around the wreckage. Ropes dropped out of the sides of the Whitehawk and soldiers followed.

“Buck, the Sunset Squad!”

They are the elite of the Royal Guard. They had the best equipment, NVGs, stun grenades, even blaster rifles which made my little blaster look like a cap gun.

“Lieutenant Whirlwind, Come out with your hooves up!”

“Not bloody likely” I mumbled to myself. “Why the hell would they send the S.S.S to pick me up if it was an accident?”

“Fine if that’s the way you want it. Ponies, set your blasters to stun”

“They are.”

“Just go look for him!”

Two masked Pegasi hovered in the air, five set out on foot and three stayed behind to guard the wreck. Not enough shots to take them all out plus they’re better trained than I am, the only option was to run. As I ran as fast as I could trying to dodge fallen tree branches, rocks and Poison Joke. It now dawned on me that my aircraft going into self-destruct mode was no accident. I thought maybe this was Rainbow getting her revenge; or was it Empire policy to silence ponies that used Protocol 6?

I couldn’t outrun them all night, I had to give these guys the slip, I had to hide and having a white and gold flight suit is not the best camouflage in a dark forest. I looked down at my suit, it was brown, maybe falling in that puddle was a good thing. The forest was now getting thick and darker, I had a hard time seeing where I was going but I couldn't stop. Was this going to be my life now, on the run from the Empire?

*

After what seemed like a lifetime of running I found a cave. I had no choice, I was exhausted and I needed to rest. I got the torch out of the survival kit. The cave entrance was small but inside looked huge. I camouflaged the entrance with a fallen tree and went in. All that I could hear as I wondered deeper and deeper in to the cramped cave was the drip of water coming from the ceiling. The sides of the cave were slimy from the water and so was the floor. I came to a large open area and found a dry patch.

“Well, it isn’t Canterlot castle but it will have to do.” I said to myself. I sat down on the floor and opened my survival kit to see what I had to live on for the rest of my life. The usual stuff: map, compass, canteen, torch, a full First aid kit, thermal blanket, whistle, utility knife, Iodine tablets and some food. In addition to the usual equipment I also put a few useful items in: wire wool, glow sticks, money, mirror, extra food, another utility knife, spare thermal blanket, matches, extra batteries, camouflage paint and photos to keep my morale up hidden in a secret compartment.

The first picture was of me as a colt, my sister and my parents during our visit to Appleoosa, we were all wearing cowpony hats but mine was covering my eyes. The second was of my home as a colt, the third one was of me and Dashie posing after getting our degrees at Flight School, with our catchphrase “High speed, low drag” written underneath us on a slant. Not wanting to think about Dashie I rolled up a blanket to use as a pillow and fell asleep.