Behind Enemy Lines 2
Night Patrol 2 Awakening chapter 35
By Foxgear
Topaz Slicer slashed at Ombre, the big black stallion roared with anger swinging his mace wildly at the orange rinin. Moving nimbly Topaz ducked and dodged the spiked ball and chain. Wings ignited with plasma he rushed for one of the dark Prince’s other appendages. Ombre saw him coming and smashed the ground with his mace kicked up more dirt to go with the smoky haze covering the battlefield. Topaz pushed through the smoke, two Equinoxes jumped out in front of him. With his blazing wings, he severed the enemy grunts in two, wasting his attack.
“Got you!” Ombre declared from behind him and stomped with his remaining front leg. Topaz zoomed underneath the big pony and spun clawing at Ombre’s underbelly. The dark Prince’s under armor proved too hard for his claws to pierce as sparks arced of the tempered steel.
Whistling sharply Topaz got the dark Prince’s attention as he swirled around to face him. Only for a large looming shadow to break out of the haze, it was Bulwark with his hammer in his big minotaur hands and lined up for a swing. Ombre went flying when the quarter ton slab of metal on a stick smashed into him.
“Let moi get in on this action!” Platinum boasted appearing on Bulwark’s shoulder with a dozen stick grenades aloft in her magic. The explosives twirled through the air landing with thuds around the fallen prince and exploded!
There was no cry of pain though. The three Night Hunters stayed on their guard waiting.
In a burst of magic Ombre appeared above Bulwark, the big rinin scooped his wife from his shoulder and tossed Platinum out of harm's way, taking the full brunt of Ombre’s flying tackle. The spawn of Sombra let out a hysterical laugh as he punched with his single foreleg.
“Yes! This is it! This is the thrill I’ve been seeking! Battle, blood, and glory!” He raved igniting his horn.
“Beloved!” Platinum cried flaring her own horn and fired a blast of magic to counter the one that would have blown a hole through Bulwark’s neck. “Hang on! I’m coming!”
Topaz caught her and pushed her aside, “Get back in the base! You’re an engineer Platinum!”
“But Bully!” She cried in dismay at the orange rinin. “I cannot leave him!”
“I’ll save him, just go!” He insisted charging at two giants wrestling on the ground. Wings ablaze with blue plasma he leaped to take the dark Prince’s head when something shot out of the black stud’s stub. A mass of black and green magic surrounded Topaz and caught him in its grip. “What is this?” Topaz struggled as Ombre pressed Bulwark’s face into the ground.
The black stallion grinned with glee, “It’s a secret, now.” He said turning his eyes to Platinum. “Come here.”
Platinum felt a tug on her prosthetics and found herself being dragged toward Ombre. She cried and struggled but couldn’t break free and with a sudden and painful pull her metal legs were pulled from her stubs, and she collapsed to the ground. Crawling futilely with her only organic leg.
“First mares, and now crippled mares? Seems any pony can be in the Equestrian Army.” Ombre said dully.
Platinum spat in his face. “Don’t lump me in those louts! I am a Night Patroller!” She declared proudly. Magicking her spiked mace, she tossed it at the Dark Prince, the stick of barb bounced of his helm, Ombre looked amused as he leered down at the crippled unicorn.
“Indeed, you have more fire in you than twenty stallions.” Ombre hoisted Platinum of the ground with his magic bringing her level with his muzzle. “Not a bad looking face either. I might just have to take you too.”
Ombre found his footing compromised as Bulwark pushed him off with a guttural roar. With a bellowing whinny the minotaur rinin stood on his hind legs, his massive claws wrapped tight around Ombre’s neck, the dark Prince’s armor screamed as it cracked and collapsed around his throat. Ombre dropped Platinum who was caught by Topaz as Bulwark glared through the slots in his helm, instilling a real fear into the prince.
“Don’t touch my wife.” Bulwark slammed Ombre’s head into the ground, bellowing like a raging bull he picked up his massive hammer and brought it down on the dark Prince’s head. His cathartic retort was short lived as a barrage of magic bolts peppered him. Several squads of Equinox engaged in a full charge to reach their leader. Bulwark staggered back and used his hammer as a shield to fend off the barrage. His armor was thick, but even it couldn’t withstand this kind of attack.
“TANKS!” Topaz yelled over the gemcom. “Get down here!”
The metal monsters roared to life, three of the massive war machines slid down the earthen wall firing their main cannons and unloading with their rapid-fire gem blasters. The attacking wave was quickly thinned leaving only a few stragglers who were immediately taken out.
“Spitfire aim the cannons closer we have to push the enemy back! Get the more ground forces out here for support and start air raids for Luna’s sake!” Topaz seethed absolutely hating how disorganized everything was. War was chaos he knew that, but there were plans and protocols in place, what did he spend days drilling plans into everyponies skull if they weren’t going follow them! “Bridge, get to the ground and take control of the ground forces.”
“Roger, but what will you be doing?”
Topaz looked to the hole Bulwark had put Ombre in, not surprised to see the black stallion rising up with merely his helm gone and some blood running down his face. (No surprise what’s so ever.)
“I’m going to be busy, push to the city walls. We need to gain some ground.” He ended the transmission and charged for Ombre, who was still disoriented. Another wave of Sombra’s soldiers was keeping Bulwark pinned down, even as the tanks provided support.
“LOOK OUT!”
A massive explosion hit the dirt wall, the explosion rocked the earth and left Topaz staggered with his ears ringing. Teeth clenched he whipped around for the source of the attack spying five large cylinders on the enemy encampment. One of them smoking pink fumes.
“Spitfire get the ships back into the sky!”
His warning came too late. The cannons fired four pink colored blasts of magical energy that arched over the battlefield, one flew behind their base, another went off to the west, the third hit the wall again, and the fourth hit one of the airships. The Comet. The hulking piece of flying timber creaked and moaned as the blast made the bow bend and then collapse upon its self. The engines sputtered and died. The two halves fell to earth in a fireball with its screaming crew. The ship sank just off the corner of the base. The other two airships began moving higher as enemy flyers swarmed them. No doubt to stall so their cannons could recharge.
“Dammit,” Topaz took off into the air but stopped when he heard Ombre roar in rage and blast one of the tanks, cutting the war machine in two with a plasma horn blade. His hackles rose as he watched the dark Prince chase down the crew of the tank and kill them. Bulwark tackled the Prince, but more enemy units swarmed the base. A trumpet sounded, and earth ponies inside the earth fortress came charging down the hill, while others fired from the top off the wall. Friendly flyers intercepted the enemy swarm, the sound of gem bullets whizzing through the air made a sharp and distinctive sound, and bodies began falling all around him.
Chaos unfolded as the two armies clashed. Pegasi fired their gem blasters with reckless abandon, engaging in high thrill dogfights as the Equinox retaliated with blasts from their spear-like horns. Some cut out the middle pony and used their long lance like appendages to run through the Pegasi and let their bodies fall to the earth where they were trampled by the ground forces engaged in an all-out brawl. Hoof to hoof combat was in full effect as the two armies crossed swords. Earth ponies used their immense strength and steel covered feet to stomp and crush any Equinox in their path, while the Equinox stabbed with their horns and other spiked appendages. Staining the ground with both armies blood.
Three Equinox’s tried to get the jump on Topaz by flying up behind him as he observed the chaos. He sensed their intent and swirled around grabbing two by the throat with his claws and killed the third by spewing fire. Dropping the corpses Topaz growled and tried to focus, to make a plan, and to figure out what he should do.
“Spitfire,” He called through the gemcom while soaring through the enemy ranks trying to cut down as many as he could while making his way toward Ombre. Ahead of him the cannons of Spitfire’s ship, the Centurion, roared as the anti-flyer countermeasures lit the ship up brighter than a fireworks show.
“I’m busy right now!” Spitfire spat, her voice almost completely drowned out by the background noise.
“We’re all busy. Call for the third wave, your supreme commander until Sixes or the Princesses arrive. I’m going to be tied up. Forget trying to fly up just keep the ships moving.”
“I’ll get on that. Get off my ship you fuckers!” The line when silent as several explosions came from the deck of the Centurion.
Folding his forelegs against his belly Topaz twisted his body as blue steam rose from under his scales. With a mighty flap of his wings, he rocketed through the sky with a flame burst, appearing as an orange blur to everypony that managed to catch a glimpse. He weaved through the warring armies aiming for Ombre who tanked another hit from Bulwark and managed to pin the big rinin down again. Blue fire erupted from his wings, and Topaz spun turning into a tornado of blue flame.
The dark Prince suddenly whipped around and threw up a dome shield. “Not this time!”
Banking a hard-left Topaz spun away from the shield, scrapping it with his claw as he passed. He let out a cry of pain as he skidded across the ground, two of his talons missing. Reluctantly he morphed his claws into hooves, not wanting to risk his appendages. He couldn’t grow them back like Fury could. Balancing awkwardly on flat feet again for the first time in years he sized up his opponent.
(Right in a middle of tough battle too.) He mused trying to get a feel for hooves again. His opponent Ombre seemed to appreciate the pause awhile. The dark Prince kept behind his magic dome nursing his stub, while the black substance from before stayed the bleeding, but Ombre had still lost a lot of blood. Topaz pondered his odds, calculating they weren’t too good if he couldn’t make the dark Prince retreat at the very least. (Time for the ace, I just hope he didn’t see me use it the first time.)
Topaz sucked in air, ballooning his chest like he was about to breath fire, but held in. Hot blue steam began to rise from the scales on his back, his wings ignited a brilliant blue, the crystals on his body started to shine as blades of blue plasma jutted out into crackling thrusters of pure energy. The final touch was the magic seeping from under his hooves.
Of the three of them, Sixes, Fury, and himself, he had learned very different magic from Sixe’s runes or Fury’s Ignis magick, something very different and simple. One might even call it mundane. Celestia taught him the magic of Haste, in simpler terms, speed. Speed so fast some might call it teleporting. When combined with his plasma it made him the unstoppable spear.
(Full Throttle Blaze!)
Rocketing like a shot out of cannon Topaz barreled toward Ombre, his vision a complete blur, his body barely seen by the naked eye. Anything in his path was cut down, no barrier could stop him, he was a living bullet of pure cutting power. When he hit Ombre’s forcefield, he barely noticed it was there, slicing through the magical barrier with ease. Inside he picked his target and adjusted his trajectory ever so slightly. Ombre perhaps out of pure instinct sensed the coming attack and moved to dodge, but his movements were so slow he might as well be standing still to Topaz as he flew past Ombre and came to a sudden halt.
“RAGH!” Screamed the dark Prince and Topaz turned to look at the damage done. He had intended to cleave Ombre in half, but as he predicted trying to adjust the upward angle of his strike had been too complicated to be effective. Much to his disappointment, he had only managed to gash through Ombre’s intestines. The big stud was laying face first in the dirt using his remaining foreleg to keep his insides inside his body.
Hearing the howls of their lord several enemy officers quickly sprang into action and levitated Ombre off the ground and began galloping with all haste to their base. Topaz fired a barrage of fireballs to try and finish off the injured lord, but his guards proved competent and raised a shield over Ombre. However, despite missing the chance to eliminate one of Sombra’s sons, the sight of their commander being carried away wounded was enough for Sombra’s forces to break and they began retreating.
Now the critical moment. Topaz watched as his own forces gave chase, by all logic they should push and take the enemy stronghold. However, he observed the thinning line of Equestrian troops nearing Sombra’s base, Topaz knew that even with the momentum they would not break through.
“Halt! Everypony halt!” Topaz barked over the gemcoms to the advancing troops. Some stopped midway, looking confused as they panned from their base to the enemy and their friends still charging. The ones too enthralled in attacking got within range of the enemy’s defenses and magic bolts and arrows fell upon them in an instant. Several dozen Equestrians instantly killed in the counter-attack.
The battlefield stilled, and the two armies grew silent, bringing an end to the first bout.
The first thing Topaz did was tap his gemcom to get a report of their losses. At the start of the battle, two battalions of Equestrians had been deployed with eight hundred earth ponies and pegasi. A total of 1600 troops plus the three airship crews. Not counting the airship which was an automatic loss of hundred ponies of various races. They lost two hundred and fifty-seven earth ponies and three hundred and twenty pegasi. As he looked out at the battlefield were the corpses lay, his only hope was they managed to take double that of the enemy. He tried to estimate their kills, but the enemy’s black bodies and armor made them blend together, appearing as one large black stain on the once green fields.
Topaz sighed landing at the top of the north wall of the base as Spitfire flew down from the airship, looking very angry. “Why did we stop! We could have pushed through!”
“Maybe, but we most likely would have been repelled and back to square one. At least this way we cut our losses and I told you to get those Airships out of those cannons range!” Topaz chastised. The yellow pegasus held back a retort before flying back to the ship, leaving him to look at the burning remains of the Comet.
(I should have expected they’d have a counter for airships.) Topaz berated to himself as Pegasus crew gathered clouds to put out the fire. Call him petty, but he laid the lives of the ponies lost at Celestia’s hooves. Maybe unfairly, but it was a partial truth. They tried to modernize, no revolutionize the Equestrian army and Navy well beyond any nation a thousand years ago. Celestia had refused on some moral grounds he couldn’t comprehend and thus instead of being ahead a thousand years later, they were behind. Far behind. With the loss of the Comet, they were weaker than Night Patrol before the Third Griffon War.
Topaz took a moment to pity himself, desperately wishing for the days of Night Patrols peak. The days when losing ten ponies was considered a bad day. All those years of training, building, and fighting for Equestria and how did the nation they sacrificed everything to honor their hard work and dedication? They threw it away in the dust bin a of history. Never advancing, never innovating.
“They even wore the same ridiculous armor.” Topaz laughed humorlessly. “Emerald, you might have been blessed with an early death, so you didn’t have to see this mockery of your efforts and sacrifice.”
His moment of brooding over Topaz began pacing the wall racking his brain a for strategy. Projections and figures ran through his mind, percentages, chances of success and failure and how many ponies he was willing to lose to accomplish said plans. He tried to put himself in the hooves of Sombra, a pony he had never met before. Which only made this battle harder to plan. The Crystal War had taken place before he had joined Night Patrol, everything he was doing was based on historical records and heresy.
(I don’t need to think like Sombra per se, I merely need to think of a pony that needs to counter a new and terrifying weapon and creatures I’ve never encountered before.)
The giant cannons were undoubtedly a good start he reasoned observing the enemy lines. Four massive magically powered guns that felled an Airship in a single hit. Topaz feared they may have enough power to even make the Nightmare take notice. The iron Airship certainly could tank at least one or maybe two of those blasts, but he doubted it could take much more. And if Sombra was a smart pony, and he had every reason to believe he was, there were likely more cannons or weapons similar to them in the city.
That was one countermeasure the Unicorn king designed, and it worked too. If the burning remains of the comet weren’t proof enough of that. The Equinox was harder to pin down. They were obviously a new species. Whether bred through crossbreeding or alchemy Topaz didn’t know. The black ponies were a strange mix of Changelings, pony, and something else. Possibly Shadow ponies, he hadn’t encountered any until the Battle of Maredor, the all black ponies were a menace. They could jump between shadows like spectators, and they were cannibals who eat ponies. They were really monsters that just looked like ponies.
“The characteristic shape of the Equinox is they all have horns, wings, and crystal on their bodies. They can all fly and use basic spells. Their wings seemed to vary significantly from insectoid, pegasi, to thestrial.” Topaz brewed aloud. Equinox were basically mini alicorns, they just seemed to lack the oomph that the Princesses had. He studied his own foreleg staring at the crystal coming out near his knee joint and wondered if somehow Crystal ponies factored into the trait. “Well their about as strong as an average unicorn, weaker than an earth pony, and fly on par with Pegasi, overall they are a threat, but…” Topaz trailed off, picturing Ombre.
(I wonder what Sombra did to create that monster and how many more there are. For sure two given the Third Son of Sombra title.)
Looking inward Topaz watched the medics rush from stretcher to stretcher in a frantic panic. They’d have to get VeeVee here fast. His gaze fell on Gloves who laid on the ground with his mutated arm exposed and his head resting by Fleetfoots legs as she stroked his hair. He was glad his young student had survived. Not far away AppleJazz was being tended too. It was good both youngsters were alive, and perhaps, more importantly, they set the bar.
(The Vice Commanders couldn’t beat Ombre, I could have maybe killed him, but I have the feeling the big guy wasn't serious, he won’t be as reckless if he recovers, and he has older brothers and maybe more. Who knows, but if their all in that general power range or greater we could be in trouble.)
“Spitfire,” Topaz hailed over the gemcom.
“What? I’m moving the ships!”
He looked up, confirming the claim. “I see that, have you managed to contact headquarters?”
“Not yet, we still have some interference, I’m about to talk to the boys outside the dome and see if they're having any better luck. If not I’m planning on sending a small team to deliver the message personally. Why you want to cancel the call of the third wave?”
“No, we’ll need them here for sure. But I want you to send a message to Sixes, tell him to let the kids come out and play.”
There was silence on Spitfire’s end for several long seconds. “Is that code or a joke?”
“Both, he’ll know what I mean.”
“Alright, over and out.”
Topaz turned back to the enemy base. There were a lot of things to deal with, but taking out those cannons would be first on the list. Checking the time it has been fifteen minutes since they fired and the battle came to a halt. Interesting they weren’t bombarding the base. He considered doing so but didn’t want to agitate the enemy just yet. Not until he had a clear plan.
“Platinum,” Topaz hailed over the gemcoms.
“Yes, Topaz?” The light pink unicorn replied.
“Are you well enough to visit me at the top of the northern wall?”
“Yes, I just reattached my legs. Bulwark please, I’m fine.” There was some hushed back and for the between the husband and wife. Most of which Topaz tuned out. “Ok, fine. Is it ok if Bulwark comes with me?”
Topaz bit back a sigh, “That’s fine, just get up here.”
His wait wasn’t long. Platinum arrived with Bulwark holding her in his arms, the giant rinin cradling her lovingly as he stomped around on two legs. A sweet scene if not for the fact he looked like some fairytale monster holding the fair maiden hostage. To this day their marriage was one even he could not have predicted.
“What do you need Commander?”
He pointed to the enemy base, “How long do you think it would take to build one of those cannons?”
Platinum pulled a spyglass from her saddlebag and studied the cannons in question. She mumbled to herself, pulling pen and paper out as well. Soon more pens were dispatched, five of them floated in Platinum’s magic scribbling madly and then all at once they stopped.
“Given their size, it would take about a year to forge one factoring old metalworking methods unless they carved from stone, which would take a long time, but it less than a year depending on how much labor power was dispatched. Mostly likely runes act as the power source, given how exact the runes need to be carved to ensure they stay stable and don’t explode, I would tack on another production year, as these would have to be some sizable runes. High mark two years to make one cannon with a regular work schedule. Not including working on multiple cannons at once, but after the first one they probably streamed lined the process a little bit, so maybe a year and a half after the first cannon. That’s just going off my measurements of course. I’m bound to be off by a fair margin.”
Topaz smiled and patted her head, Platinum blushed at the gesture and Bulwark growled. “You were helpful regardless, I’ll be sure to tell Sixes. How many do you think they could have made in twenty years?”
“Ten or more based on my estimates and time frame. I supposed you're worried about them having more in the city?”
“Correct, they’re probably hidden. Lying in wait for the Airships to fly overhead. Most leaders wouldn’t want to drop an Airship in their own city, but I have a feeling Sombra is a pony that would make that sacrifice for victory.”
Platinum mewed, rubbing where to metal leg and stub connected. “That Ombre was certainly brutish, I can only assume his father will be even more so.”
“Hard to say, but it’s very likely.” Topaz conceded. Now wanting to get into a nature verse nurture debate.
Up above the Airships circled the base slowly flying higher out of the cannon's range. At least Topaz hoped so. The enemy cannons could still shoot at them, but aiming that high up would certainly be more difficult, and so far, the enemy had yet to fire another barrage. That fact the timber ships were flying so slow only agitated him more. Celestia finally builds airships and their out of date frigates. Gadget must be rolling in his grave.
“How long do you think it takes for those things to recharge?” He asked Platinum, hoping her genius would provide another strategic advantage.
The pink unicorn stuck out her tongue doing some equations in her notebook. “I didn’t really get a good look at the blasts. Just going off the size of the barrels won’t be accurate, they look about 1000mm, and magic blasts shrink with distance. The fact they fired four at once may imply extreme shrinkage too or just overcompensation. Assuming they're just not sending unicorns to their death, they’d probably be pulling magic from the earth, so thirty minutes to an hour?”
“Halfway to the thirty-minute mark. They probably tried to shoot down all three of our ships at once,” Topaz stated rubbing his chin. They lucked out, and the enemy’s shots just happen to hit one ship. “No,” He corrected looking down at the crater in the northern wall. He flew up several feet doing a quick three-hundred-and-sixty-degree search around the base for similar craters. There was one way off to the west. “Platinum.”
“Yes?”
“What are the chances they’re still using a line of sight aiming? No sights or anything in the like?”
She shrugged, “Can’t say. I mean they can use spy glasses and judge distance like in the olden days, but we both know how well that worked half the time.”
Topaz touched back down looking very pleased. “Yeah, I remember. Given their slow reload they probably won’t be sighted in probably next time either. I’m sure they're doing their best right now to get us in their sights, but they probably won’t risk firing a full barrage again.”
“So, you have a plan?”
Topaz smirked, “The beginnings of one.”
Suddenly an explosion came from within the city, giant plumes of black smoke rose into the sky. Topaz and Platinum looked at one another before looking back wondering what was going on.
Goodnight drove his boot blade into the neck of another unsuspecting Equinox, the black pony creature thrashed hitting his helmet several times before finally fading to the afterlife. He pulled the knife free whipping the blood on the dead pony’s coat. The once sharp edge was chipped and getting duller with each use. This last pony would mark his twentieth kill. A fact he was both proud and slightly sickened by.
Sheathing his blade, Goodnight dragged the body into the shadows and then disappeared into the darkness himself moving swiftly and precisely from shadow to shadow. Spotting another patrol, two Equinoxes with their backs turned to him, he sprang into action. Leaping like a hungry predator, his glistening as he striked the two ponies necks dropping his entire weight into the attack and flattening both of them to the ground.
Twenty-two kills now.
Dragging the two into the alley and hiding them like many others before them Goodnight slumped against the brick wall. His search for the others had been fruitless so far. None of his kills had spoken a word of the others yet. The buzz among the enemy was the action taking place on the frontlines to the south. It was thanks to that he was able to get the drop on so many of them as they looked south like children searching through a crowd to peek at a parade.
The analogy of children was the wrong choice as Goodnight suddenly felt sick. Because even though they were the enemy, the ponies he killed were surely the children of somepony else. He ground his teeth and knocked his head against the wall and remembered Fury’s words from training.
(Don’t worry about such nonsense.) Was what the Rinin had said, it had been so cold hearted it shocked him and Sweet Dreams. But he understood now. Until the enemy surrendered or was utterly wiped out, he couldn’t think of them as ponies. They were just monsters and monstered need to be killed.
Despite reaching that conclusion, Goodnight felt doubt and wondered what his parents would think of him. Or if he even dared to tell them about the blood on his hooves. He was far gone from the mediocre guard he had been only a few months ago. He was different. He couldn’t explain how, but he knew he had changed. Both he and Sweet Dreams had. (I wonder if she’s noticed.)
Goodnight shook his head. “Don’t worry about nonsense,” he whispered getting back up. He can’t be sitting here when another patrol might come around at any time.
Taking flight, Goodnight latched onto the side of the building and flapped his leathery appendages to stay aloft as he ran along the wall of the building. Another tactic from training. As long as he didn’t do anything foolish, like make a lot of noise or step on a broken brick, he could exploit the fact most ponies don’t look up past a forty-five-degree angle and literally run over their heads.
Spying a group of soldiers Goodnight took cover on a ledge, hiding in the darkness of a statue depicting a rearing unicorn. Back pressed against the cold stone, he closed his eyes and listened. His ears twitched as the voices below were clear to him as if he was standing right next to them.
“Did you here Lord Ombre captured a mare?” One said to the others.
“I saw her, a lavender unicorn, the escorts had her chained up good and tied to a lance. She must be something special.”
(Dammit Twilight,) Now he regretted not escorting Twilight across the field. Maybe she wouldn’t have been captured or… Goodnight clamped down on that train of thought and threw it away. (Can’t do anything about it now, but to save her. Just another thing to add to the list. Besides if any pony else is captured they’d be at the castle to probably.)
Another pony scoffed. “Lord Ombre was never picky about mares. He’d take any young thing that piqued his interest. If the girl is truly extraordinary, you know who will probably get her.”
“The eldest lord, Erebus,” The third member said with pride. “If the mare is worth anything, he will no doubt lay claim to her.”
“Maybe she’ll be the new queen too, Queen of the broodmares,” The group shared a laugh and Goodnight’s stomach clenched easily imagining what fate lay in store for Twilight Sparkle if nothing was done.
Goodnight peeked around the statue to the dark looming fortress. He was probably going to die trying to get there, and if he didn’t, he’d probably die trying to get inside. There was a lot of ground to cover from here to there, and his luck was bound to run out. Maybe it would be better to try and find one of the other squads, perhaps not all of them hadn’t been captured. At least that’s what he’s been telling himself all this time.
“Did you hear the reports about the pink alicorn?” One of the guards below said, instantly catching Goodnight’s attention. These guys were surprisingly informative.
“Indeed, Lord Scath was the one to confront her, she got away, but only because one of those Rinin covered her escape. You can all imagine what lord Scath did with him, right?”
“No question about that.” The other talkative guard chuckled.
(Fury was the one that went with Princess Cadence.) Goodnight thought with dread. (Does that mean… no Commander Fury would never be taken about that easily. Besides they didn’t expressly say this Scath killed him. I hope.)
A loud boom thundered through the city rattling Goodnight down to his bones. The soldiers below became quiet as they moved to the middle of the street. He peered down to watch them, the four of them seemed giddy by whatever just a happened. They shouted profanities against Celestia and Luna with great joy as more soldiers came running down the street waving a banner.
“We sunk one! We sunk one of the airships!” The banner bearer whooped as he passed.
Goodnight pressed his head against the statue panting as the numbers of his brothers in arms counted in his head. He flicked his boot blades out, his legs shaking with the urge to fly down and kill the lot of them right now.
“Don’t do foolish things when on a mission.” Goodnight chanted.
They celebrated the death of his friends.
“Don’t do foolish things.”
They mocked his princesses.
“Don’t do foolish things!” Before Goodnight repeated his chant, he was on the ground, his blades stuck into one of the laughing ponies’ necks. Fangs barred he snapped at another Equinox and ripped off the pony’s ear with his teeth. In a rage, he threw himself at the whimpering enemy striking him several times with his knives before jumping to the next one. One of the boot blades, dull and weakened from use snapped when the Equinox parried with his horn and jabbed at exposed skin. Blood flew from his leg as Goodnight sucked in air, and sonic shrieked point blank into the pony’s face. The hybrid creature swayed and stumbled his ears bleeding profusely running down the side of his head as his eyes rolled back into his head.
Goodnight stood in the middle of the street with the three Equinoxes dead at his feet. He stumbled over the bodies, his mind and body out of sync as he dizzily made his way to the nearby alleyway. He had to get moving again. He couldn’t stay here.
A blaring horn came from the south, and he wondered what happened now. More horns blared this time from within the city and squads of enemy fliers flew overhead, ignoring him completely. A team of twenty ran across the street a block away, they were in such a hurry they didn’t even notice him. He wondered what happened.
“Make way! Make way! Lord Ombre is injured! All troops go reinforce the frontline!” A messenger shouted running frantically through the streets.
A bit a Goodnight’s vigor returned upon hearing the news. Everypony else was still fighting, so he would too. To add to his pleasure, it was the pony who captured Twilight that was injured. As he took the first steps toward his mission, a cry of panic come from over yonder, followed by an explosion.
Panicked screams came from behind, he whipped around and ducked behind a stack of wooden crates to observe the commotion. A squad of Equinox appeared at the end of the alleyway, firing their horns frantically at some approaching force. An ear ringing boom resounded, and the center line of the squad was reduced to platters of meat. The Equinox broke rank and ran, pursued by a squeaking metallic sound. As broken glass rained down from the shockwave of the previous cannon shot, another split the air as the barrel of the weapon firing come into view. Treads appeared around the corner, and the scarred metal plating of an NP-45 tank rolled into view. Bixin riding atop it in the turret hatch breathing fire upon the fleeing foes.
“Given them another taste!” The copper-colored Rinin ordered the rapid-fire gem blasters at the front of the tank lit up, mowing down the fleeing enemy combatants.
Sighing with relief, Goodnight stepped out of his hiding place and tapped his gemcom. Bixin twisted in his direction a wide grin on his face.
“Well, look who we found. Need a ride?” The copper Rinin yelled over the rumble of the tank, waving his forelegs. “Come on! We can’t just sit here, more of them are coming!”
Goodnight grinned as he hopped up on the turret, hoof bumping the brown Rinin. “It’s good to see you, Bixin.”
“Same to you, you doing alright kid?” The Rinin asked patting Goodnight on the back and let him down into the tank where there were two other rinin sitting inside at the controls. “I don’t think you guys were introduced, this is my crew, the crème colored gal is Vani Lu, and the grey fellow is Smokey Haze. Guys this is Goodnight.”
The two Rinin wave without looking back. “Sorry, those two nothing but stiffs when on the clock.”
“That’s fine. I’m fine to answer your question. I got separated from Commander Trifecta and the others, but the hell happened to you guys? Weren’t you attacked?”
Bixin scoffed, “Of course we were, this thing is a rolling target. Not ten minutes went by after the city went all bizarre on us and we had swarms of the enemy on our tail. We took care of them, a good idea to lock the hatch. Anyway shake those fuckers off, and we run into another patrol when we try to go to the library. The closest spot we knew were some friendly might be. Luckily they don’t seem to really care about us for the time being. A good chunk of their units are to the south, so if we stay in the northern part of the city, we meet a lot less resistance. Unfortunately, that also means we can’t stop and rest either. We planned to take out some supply bases or other soft targets, but this place is a damn maze. None of the streets match up to the map.”
“I’ve noticed that too. The city’s completely changed from before. You haven’t seen any of the others have you?”
Bixin shook his head. “Afraid not. Like I said we went to the library and found the place a wreck the whole place was nearly leveled and… well, we found some of the others on spears out front. Trifecta wasn’t among them though.” Bixin hit Smokey Haze on the shoulder, and the tank turned left. “Have you heard anything Goodnight?”
He nodded and told the tank crew of what he overheard.
The Rinin stroked his chin with worry. “I see, well we can either go over the Colosseum or to the castle. I think you technically outrank me, so you decide Goodnight.”
“Take me to the castle, if you guys can make some noise maybe I can sneak in while you draw the guard’s attention.”
“Kind of sucks being bait, but we’ll make it work. You just sit down and relax the best you can. We’ll have you there soon enough.”
As Bixin directed the crew on the plan, while Goodnight leaned against the side of the tank, the vibrations having a lulling effect on him as his eyes fluttered closed. He hadn’t realized how tired he was or how relieved he felt to finally find a friendly pony in this Celestia forsaken city. Despite the rumble of the tank he slept.
Luna waited by the master gemcom tapping her leg feverishly as she waited for Spitfire’s report. The pegasus colonel had brought her ships down to the battlefield entering the magical dome that covered the Crystal Empire. No further transmissions have been sent since then.
Her patience at an end she tapped the speaker, “Cloud base fourteen, come in.”
“Yes, Princess Luna?” The radio pony answered.
“Give me a status report, what is the situation on the ground there? Have you been able to contact Spitfire or the FOB?”
“No, ma’am, we thought the snow storm was the cause of the interference, but we still can’t get through to them. The magic of the dome covering the city may be too strong for our gemcoms to pierce. Do you have any order ma’am?”
“Yes, send a scouting team down and have them make contact with the forces on the ground and report back their findings.”
“At once ma’am, it will be done.”
Luna sighed taking her hoof off the transmitter. Nothing seemed to be going right. She had no idea what was going on, and no reports were making it back to her. Should she send in the third wave? Should she wait? It was hard to say.
“You should rest Luna,” Celestia said appearing behind her. “You need to have faith in them.”
“We already had this talk, I do have faith, faith in strategy and tactics. We rest on a knife’s edge, Celestia. Our first two waves have already gone, and our third way remains the only battle-ready legion ready to go, the rest are in Canterlot. Staging and moving another massive influx of troops will take too much time and resources we need here. If we strike too early, there won’t be any reinforcements for hours to possibly days.”
“I understand our plight, but back when I led Night Patrol, I had faith in the skills you taught your ponies. Even against all impossible odds, they made it out ok.”
“You don’t need to tell me that sister, but Night Patrol isn’t what it once was. Sixes told me what happened to them after my banishment. The quality went up, but their numbers were low, and now those numbers are barely half that now.” Luna bit her lip, pained by the words she was about to speak. “We’re not what we used to be.”
“No, we’re better.” Celestia retorted with a smile. Luna did not reciprocate the gesture.
“Blind faith is not an advantage.”
Celestia’s shoulders slouched, dishearted by her comment. “Sometimes faith is all we have, Luna.”
The two Princesses stood in silence waiting for the other speak again. Five minutes passed, and no words were uttered. Luna having enough of the stale air walked away to the cook tent for a meal. The cook gave her stewed vegetables, and she ate her lunch alone.
When the bowl was empty and the remaining broth soaked into the bread, the cook brought to her a loud shout came from the command center. Quickly discarding the container in the mess tent, Luna ran full gallop to the headquarters where Celestia, Cobalt, and Scarlet stood around the gemcom operator. The lanky young pony nodded feverishly as he wrote down the incoming message.
“What’s going on?” Luna demanded and inserted herself into the group.
“Colonel Spitfire sent a message to the cloud base, she’s requesting that the third wave is sent.” Cobalt reported his brow founded in confusion. “There’s also a message for Commander Sixies, It’s… odd. It’s from Commander Topaz.”
“What’s the message?” Celestia and Luna asked at the same time, their tones mismatched. The former was filled with dread and the later confusion. Luna took a moment to study her sister’s face. Wondering if the Sun Princess already knew what it was.
Cobalt scratched his head. “It says: let the kids out to play.”
Luna blinked, completely baffled, “Kids? What kids? What in Tartarus name are those two on about? Celestia you know…” Luna’s voice trailed off when she got a look at the horror on Celestia’s face. “Celestia, what's wrong?”
“Things are much worsed then I feared,” Celestia whispered, her voice so soft Luna wasn’t sure she had intended to actually speak.
“Celestia,” Luna prodded. “Celestia now is not the time for secrets. What does Topaz’s message mean?”
Celestia raised her head, her expression was deathly grim. “Topaz is asking for the Monster Squad.”
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I was wondering when you would get back to the remaining monster squad
9546772
I don't remember the monster squad very well for some reason
11381070
That's alright, They didn't make too many appearances in NP1. I think 3 or 4 in total? Their mainly the heavy hitters/specials ops of Night Patrol.
The original group was Kira Perfecta, Overheat, and Emerald Cutter. Overheat and Emerald died in NP1. Overheat died fighting Lumi and Emerald died fighting Nightmare Moon.
The new group after the time skip is Ruby Blaze(?), High Octane, and Hazel Thunder. They were unnamed children in NP1. And Trifecta, Smokey Haze, and Gloves make up another Monster Team. I don't think there were any others.
Their most common trait is they have six legs and unique abilities.