Storm Over Vegas

by Alden MacManx

Chapter Five: Opening Moves

By noon, the skies over Vegas had gone from broken clouds to a leaden gray overcast, oppressively muggy and uncomfortably hot. Sweep patrols did report storm formation to the south of the city, and telegrams from Yuma, Havasu and Riviera all reported storms, low intensity at first, but building.

“It’s like waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Hal commented to Parseval.

“Got that right. A lot different from up here than it looks from the squaddie’s point of view, eh?”

“A-men to that. I just hope I don’t botch it when the time comes.”

“You make the calls, we’ll do the job. You have me and Elena to tell you if you are being a horse’s ass, right? Trust me, we’ll do that.” Parseval said in a friendly tone.

“I’m counting on it, Parseval. I don’t intend to fail, but it is always an option. An unwelcome one, true.” Hal said quietly, pacing some, looking at the chart table as Elena came back from the radio room with a fresh set of weather readings.

“Bad news, ponies. Station Romeo is reporting a Force Eight storm bearing down on Riviera. We better get ready for some real rough weather soon.” Elena said as she put the message forms down. “Major Blowing Dust called here himself to report.”

Hal sighed. “Let me guess- heading out of the south, aimed almost directly at the town?”

Elena nodded as she picked up a grease pencil and started marking the new readings. “I better alert Gray Team.” Hal said, selecting the right frequency on his radio.

“I’ll let Gold Team know, too.” Parseval said, adjusting his own radio.

Hal keyed his mic. “Six-Alpha to Six-Charlie.”

“Six-Charlie aye. Go ahead, Six-Alpha.” Screaming Breeze said.

“Six-Charlie, what your twenty?”

“We’re about ten miles west of Nelson, on the old maps. We can see some activity far south, and it feels miserable where we’re at.”

“Be advised, Riviera is reporting Force Eight storms bearing down on them from the south. Leave a detachment down that way to monitor progress, the rest of the team head north to get ready to defend the city.” Hal said, looking at the command map as he spoke.

“Wilco, Six-Alpha. I’ll leave Two-Three Lima in charge of that.”

“I’ll just tell you WHAT I want, Six-Charlie. The HOW is your problem.” Hal said, a trace of a smile on his face and in his voice.

“Copy that, Six-Alpha. Let me get at it. Six-Charlie out.” Screaming Breeze said with a laugh before going off channel.

“Damn, she’s good.” Hal said as he closed his mic. “But, then again, I knew that.”

Four in the afternoon, and matters started to jump. Storm buildup reports started coming in from the southern deployed units, all heading in the direction of Vegas. Looking at the plot, Hal took the next step. He went back to the EA console and triggered the tones for the second level of alert.

“This is a Severe Weather Watch from the Nevada Aeronautical Survey Weather Control team. Severe thunderstorms have been spotted more than fifty miles southeast and southwest of Las Vegas, moving north at about fifteen miles per hour.

“All pegasi are advised to keep an eye on the skies, especially south of town. All citizens are to make ready for heavy rains starting in the late afternoon and lasting well into the evening hours. We will do our best, but Nature seems upset today, so stay ready.

“This is Major Sleet of the NAS reporting. We now return you to your regularly scheduled madness.”

“You know Hard Ass ain’t gonna like that, Hal.” Elena said.

“Too damn bad. I’m in charge, I’ll do things my way. If he doesn’t like it, he can relieve me. Right now, we have a city to defend.” Hal declared as phones started to ring. “Not to mention phones to answer.”

By the time the city officials were reassured, the situation had not improved any. New storm cells had started popping up to the south, all heading to the north-northeast. The cells would build, rage, then collapse, the gust fronts formed starting more storm cells. At five in the afternoon, the lines of storms reached Primm Station. Hal ordered Papa Squadron to fall back towards Vegas, monitoring the storm cells, along with Gray Squadron, who were also monitoring storms, but that storm track was predicted to go more east of the city.

As Hal went to call up all squadrons to plus-five readiness, the phone rang. Elena answered, then called Hal as he was about to open his mic. “It’s for you, Duty Officer. The Colonel.”

Hal immediately went to the phone and took it from Elena. “Yes, sir?”

“Sleet, have you called up the day’s squadrons yet? I don’t like the feel of the weather.”

“I was just about to when you interrupted me, Colonel.”

“Good. I’m calling up Flight One, Team One. Have One-Three Squadron fall back when I arrive. Now is the time to test my plan. Blue Star there?”

“Not now, sir. He is checking on the rescue gear.” Hal reported.

“Go tell him Project Blue Bolt is a go. He’ll know what to do.”

Hal tried not to twitch at the words. He remembered all Wordy had told him concerning Blue Bolt. Forcing himself not to react, he said “Will do, Colonel. Project Blue Bolt is a go, inform Blue Star.”

“Correct. I’m calling up the team as soon as I hang up with you. You got the conn, Sleet. Don’t let me down.”

“I’ll never do that, Colonel. I know what to do, and I’ll do it. Now, I have troops to call up.” Hal said before hanging up.

“Parseval, inform One-Three Squadron that Hard Ass himself is coming down with Team One. When they show up, they are to return to base.” Hal informed Four-Alpha, a question in his voice.

“I wonder why he’s doing that. Flight One had duty yesterday, and is supposed to be off. Everyone had a hard day.” Parseval mused as he changed channels on his radio.

“Don’t I know it. He wants it for him and his cronies, so let him.” Hal said drily, all the officers knowing that Flight One, Team One is full of Stormcloud’s buddies.

“His ass, not mine.” Parseval said before calling One-Three Squadron.

Hal turned to the loudspeaker mic and turned it on. “Attention all hands, this is the Duty Officer. All on-duty squadrons are to be placed in plus-five readiness mode. Heavy weather coming in from the south. I’ll collect my share of the bets later.”

‘I didn’t know you made bets with the troops, Hal.” Elena said once Hal finished.

“Who says I did? It’s just to keep everyone on the edge of their hooves. I have to find Blue Star. Hard Ass wants me to tell him something.”

“Go ahead. I’ll take over until you get back.” Elena said.

Hal made his way to where Blue Star was working, checking out medical kits to be used in case of a weather pony injury. “What you need, Major?” Blue Star asked. Blue Star is the support leader for the NAS, able to teleport to a casualty scene, plant a beacon, then teleport back to pick up the ambulance team. He can lock on his beacons to teleport groups, but to do the initial teleports, he could only bring himself.

“Personal message from the Colonel. He says he’s activating Project Blue Bolt. You know what to do, right?” Hal said casually.

Blue Star’s reaction was anything but casual. His eyes went wide in sudden alarm, and a blue spark flew from his horn. “Y-yeah… I got phone calls to make.” the unicorn managed to say.

Hal thought quickly before saying “Like to the Secretary of Energy?” he asked innocently.

Blue Star looked like he was about to faint. “How did you know?” he squeaked.

“How did I know? The Colonel just told me about it. He called me and filled me in so I would not have the Gold King’s squadron interfere with them. In fact, why don’t you go over the plan with me, to make sure I didn’t miss anything vital, okay?” Hal said, throwing a wing over Blue Star’s back companionably.

Blue Star shivered a bit at the touch, but relaxed into it. “Okay. I’m to call Cornflower when the project is to commence. Stormcloud and Turbulent Air are to rile up a storm to over Force Nine before having lightning hit the Strat Tower. When the radios go off line, Cornflower will have the power to the Tower shut off while she and her associates work hard to make Blue Blizzard look too incompetent to stay in power over the NAS.” he explained.

“What about Precise Measurements and Test Pattern?” Hal asked.

“I don’t know for sure, not being briefed in on that part fully, but I know that Stormcloud is to be moved up to NAS chief.”

“Ambitious. What are you getting out of it?”

“A seat on the Regents of the Brotherhood.” he said, meaning the Brotherhood of Unicorn Mages Academy. “He wants you to take a full-time Flight Command. You’ve impressed him this year. He put you in Six so you would stay out of the way.”

“Is that a fact…” Hal said, moving back a little from Blue Star. He remembered Raven saying that Blue Star has been pining for a job at BUMA (universally pronounced ‘bummer’, where both Returnee and native unicorns go for basic and advanced magical training. Pegasi returnees go to the Pegasus Flight Training Academy (PFTA, said as ‘poofta’) while earth ponies go to the Center for Rehabilitation and Education of Earth Ponies (CREEP)), but as a mage, he was somewhere between barely competent and a hack. His teleport skills landed him the job at Weather Control, but everyone knew the real reason why he was kept on was that he was Stormcloud’s stooge.

“Oh, yes, Hal. He really does think a lot of you. He just does not like your honesty. He regarded you as a prime threat to his plans. Glad to see he was wrong.” Blue Star said eagerly.

Hal turned to face Blue Star, getting nose to nose with the unicorn. In a blur of motion, Hal extended his wings and struck at Blue Star’s horn with his wing roots. The shock of one impact could stun a unicorn, while two will kayo the pony for at least a few minutes. The yellow unicorn dropped to the floor with all the grace of a sack of rice.

“Got news for you, Star. He wasn’t.” Hal said as Blue Star fell.

Just then, Paper Chaser looked in the room. “I heard something fall…” he said as he saw Blue Star out cold.

“Chase, I need to keep him out cold until I can get some shackles on him. He’s part of a coup attempt here, with Stormcloud. If Hard Ass’ plans go forward, the Strat will be down as a transmitter for months, if not permanently. The lightning suppression is only rated for a Force Six storm.” Hal said quickly.

“Dust Devils have some. I’ll keep him out until someone gets here. Go, I don’t want to lose my tunes.” the solid earth pony said in his usual calm tones as he kicked Blue Star gently at the base of the horn. “Always wanted to do that to him.”

“Chase, remind me never to play poker with you.” Hal said as he headed to a phone.

“Never play poker with me.” Chase said.

“I’ll try to remember.” Hal said as he picked up the phone and dialed Dust Devils. “Ace? Hal Sleet at Weather Control. Look, I need a set of unicorn shackles here, storeroom two. Long story, no time. See Chase and bind Blue Star. No, I’m not joking, you long-horned menace to society! No time, Ace. Must go. Prepare for an ST Warning in about half an hour. Shit’s coming down, and from a long way up. Okay, yes, I owe you a few after the season. Out.”

“I heard. Get moving, Major. Coffee Squadron throws in with the Rainbow King.” Chaser said as Hal went to say something.

“Okay, Chase. You know what to do.” Hal said as he dashed out.