• Published 12th Aug 2012
  • 6,455 Views, 164 Comments

The Conversion Bureau: New Tactics Part II - no sh*t sherlock

  • ...
26
 164
 6,455

Chapter 6: First Meetings

Chapter 5: First Meetings

Rebecca continued to force me outside into the night air. She didn't speak so her commands came in the form of pushes and shoves from her shotgun. Hudd followed behind us, constantly checking our rear and sides. He hadn't spoken yet either.

She repositioned her weapon and I felt the cold, metal barrel now on the back of my neck. She steered me to the back of the building and pushed me towards the wall. I turned around and fell to one knee facing her. She had her gun raised pointed at me. However she focused her attention on Hudd who, after another look around, gave her a nod.

She then put her shotgun on her back and pulled out a pistol. I closed my eyes and prepared myself. I cringed when I heard the shot, but I felt nothing. I checked myself and realizing I wasn't hit, I opened my eyes.

Rebecca had the gun pointed straight up and fired two more shots in quick succession. After that she put the gun back in its holster and walked towards me. When she extended her hand, I simply stared at it.

"What is this?" I asked, skeptically.

"Come on." She rolled her eyes. "We have things to talk about." She held her hand closer and this time I took it. She pulled me to my feet and I brushed myself off.

"You knew about me?" I asked looking confused.

"Honestly Ice, Hudd told me about his little set up with you almost a year ago, way before you even got down here " She said. I looked to Hudd who shrugged casually.

"I felt it was important that she knew in case something like this happened." He said.

"Speaking of." I started, trying switch to a more pressing matter. "What the fuck do we do now?!"

"Shh!" Rebecca quieted me. "Speak low. I've shot you, remember?"

"Whats the plan now?" I asked again, this time in a low whisper.

Hudd shrugged "This attack was swift and bold, but the core of our plan still remains unchanged." He said. "We still need to hit the bureau head on, when we're ready for them. Tonight they went on the offensive and we simply can not take another assault like this. We need to change the tides."

"How do we do that with less than fifty people?" I questioned.

"I told you, its the same plan just...accelerated. If they are get fueled by tonight's success then they may soon try this again." Hudd warned. "I really hate the idea of splitting up, but we don't have much of a choice any more. Celestia has forced me to play my hand. Ice, I need you prep the Chariot.

"Whoa wait a minute, what is that"?" Rebecca asked with a heavy look of confusion on her face. She looked back and forth between us. Hudd was the one who chose to speak.

"Its a military gun truck, meant to be used for an assault after President Colston was converted." He explained.

"What happened to it?" She asked.

"The team assigned to it got ambushed by pegasi before they could reach it. Some got converted, while others used the HLF way and took their own lives. However, one guy did get away. He made it to the truck, but by that time it would be too late. Even with the extra firepower, a one man attack would be madness, so he stored it away. He eventually made his way north and found me " He said.

"What happened to him?" She asked.

"Some unicorns attacked us outside of Baltimore and he got captured and converted. Its unfortunate but, really there's nothing we can do now. But, he told me about the truck and where to find it."

"That's great! Where is it?" She asked, sounding much happier.

Now I choose to speak. "Its a little under two miles from here and just under one to the bureau. I could get to it, arm it, fuel it up and be ready to leave as soon as you give the order."

"Very good. Rebbeca praised before turning to Hudd. "If the ponies know about this place then we can't stay here. I already have a secondary location that I've used before. We can stay there while we ready ourselves to attack. "

"Good." Hudd nodded then turned to me. "Here take this." He said as he took out a simple text transmitter. I took it and put it in my pocket.

Rebbeca shook her head."I really don't like the idea of you going alone, but if theres not much of a choice than you might as well take these too." She handed me her handgun with a flashlight attached and a few mags to my supplies.

"Thank you." I said to both of them.

"Oh what the hell, take this too." She handed me her shotgun as well.

"You remember where it is, right?" Hudd asked. I nodded in response and stared walking away when something occurred to me.

"Wait a minute!" I whisper yelled as I went back to them.

"What is it?" They asked in unison.

"There were two girls, Both around their early twenties. One with had pink hair and the other had a dark red-ish purple. You'll know if you see them. I saw them coming down the stairs while I was going up. They couldn't have been taken in the attack, but I didn't see them when we regrouped downstairs. There was something weird about them, but I couldn't tell what. It might not mean anything, but if you see them, just try and talk to them." I said.

Rebbeca shook her head. "What do you think they're working for the ponies or something?"

I shrugged. "Could be, I've heard somethings." I as said as I stared walking again.

"If they're still around here, I'll make sure to find them. Good luck, Ice. Be safe" Hudd said.

****************

Twilight Sparkle

I found Princess Luna walking about in the field outside. She examined some of the captives from the previous night. Some of them backed away in fear at the sight of the immortal pony. Others angrily grabbed their cage bars and shook them violently, spitting and cursing at her as she passed by. It had to be the heat, I thought. I had wanted to get them out of the midday sun, but we were already overcrowded. If they stayed out here much longer, one of them might do something that they would regret.

However, Princess Luna wasn't provoked and paid them no attention as she continued her walk. It was rare to see her so active during on a day as hot and bright as this one. Some ponies laughed and talked with her. Seeing it made me happy. She seemed to have fully broken out of her shell and put her long history of solitude behind her.

"Princess Luna." I smiled as I came over to her.

"Hello, Twilight." She returned my smile. " A wonderful day, isn't it?" She asked as she continued admiring a bed of flowers

"Yes." I nodded. "But I've come with news." Luna turned to me with interest in her eyes. She motioned with a hoof for me to follow her and quickly went over to her side.

"What is it?" She asked with her voice full of concern.

"Your sister wanted me to tell you about the success of her serum in our first experiment." I said in a low volume.

"Hmm. Very interesting..." She paused thinking. "So does she plan on using it?"

"Yes." I said turning my head away.

Luna frowned. "You don't seem too excited at the idea. Don't you want the human resistance ended?"

"Yes of course." I said, slightly offended. "Its just that with it being new and all, I thought I might have a chance to study it and use it for research... But recently it seems like Celestia sees everything as a new means to stop the humans."

Luna stopped in her tracks and looked right into my eyes. "I know EXACTLY how you feel."

"You do?" I asked feeling relieved.

"Yes. I've noticed the changes in my sisters behavior over the past few years." She said, continuing to walk. "And I guess I can see why."

"Why?" I asked. "What happened?"

"Neither of us have been in Equestria for years. I know she longs to be back in Canterlot--we both do." She said nostalgically. "But beyond that, we differ. Celestia doesn't want to leave until her task here is done, but now it seems that she has turned it into something totally different."

"What exactly is it now?" I asked.

"Now she secretly despises humans and is disgusted by humanity as a whole. She has categorized all humans in the same group: Evil. I wish I knew what sparked these thoughts of them" She said sounding hurt.

"And you don't?"

Luna turned away. "Perhaps it is because I've seen much more to humans than she has. I know of the great accomplishments they have a achieved. I know you must have done research on them and their history. Of course they have had their bad times, but no society has been without those. If Celestia can defeat the resistance here than there will be no more than a few thousand left in the entire world. Its actually quite sad when you think about it"

"What do you think about the humans here." I asked.

"I can definitely understand them. Thats something that Celestia can't."

"You understand them?! How they kill us? How could you say that?" I asked. My temper raised slightly.

"Just think about it, Twilight. Imagine for a moment that humans could pass through the barrier into Equestria."

Humans in Equestria. I thought comically. How ridiculous.

"If humans came into our land, killed my sister and I and started turning us into them, you would want to fight, wouldn't you?" She studied me for a response.

I didn't have to think. "Yes!" I shouted immediately. "I'd feel ashamed if I didn't."

"You see?" Luna asked, feeling as though she had made her point. "That's probably exactly how THEY feel."

I stepped back. She had a point, a good one, but it almost felt as if she were trying to defend the resistance movement.
"So what will you do if they attack here?"

Luna stood tall and proud as if the answer was obvious. "I will defend my race from those who attack us." She said firm. "...But I wont exactly go out of my way to find those humans Celestia wants either." She grinned at me and I couldn't help but to crack a small smile.

"Thank you, Princess Luna." I said.

"No problem at all, Twilight." She nodded back. I turned back to the Bureau and left her to continue her walk. I felt a new admiration for the Princess of the night, one I had only felt when I was Celestia's student.

****************

Jacob

"Did you sweep this floor?!" I shouted around the corner.

"Yeah!"

"It's clear!"

"Clear!" The three guys responded one after the other.

"Alright, Strap the last of your charges on the places I marked." I told them.

Rebecca had asked me to destroy the ninth and tenth floors of the building. I was a bit confused and slightly disappointed that she hadn't wanted me to just bring down the whole thing. But we had very little time. The ponies knew we were and there was no telling when they might come back to finish what they started. Rebecca had a secondary location and had already sent a few people in advance to clear it of any ponies and get the power up and running.

We had already cleared the entire building of food and water, maps, weapons and ammunition.

"Charges set!"

"Set!"

"Set!" They called out.

"Alright, you guys get out of here, I'm arming." I said. I heard their footsteps rush down the stairs. I waited a couple minute before I went over to the closest charge. I flipped open its plastic cover and held down on its activator. A small bulb of constant green light, turned into a rapidly flashing red when the charge became armed. Rebecca's charges could all be linked to one master detonator, so I wouldn't have to keep up with dozens and dozens of them.

It took about fifteen minutes to for me to get all the charges activated. When I was done, I could see sunlight coming over the Atlanta skyline. I ran down the stairs as fast as I could, we had to get going. If the ponies saw us moving to the new spot then we'd be finished.

"Are we good?" She asked me when I made to the street.

"Yeah We're good." I replied. "Explosives are activated, waiting on your go."

She nodded at me before she walked to an open are to address the crowd.

"Okay, Everyone listen up." She didn't quite yell, but her voice carried over all of us. "The second location is about a mile and a half away. We need to get there before broad daylight. Grab everything you can carry, I want NOTHING left behind. Lets move."

With that everyone started moving out. Many people were carrying crates of food or jugs of water. Other people picked up about four or five different weapons which they slung on their backs, and in their hand thy carried mags for about 5 reloads. I had two shotguns on my right shoulder, a book bag full of water bottles on my left and I carried a 2.5 gallon jug in my left hand.

In my right hand I had the master detonator, my finger was constantly on the trigger waiting for the order. When we got about a hundred yards away, Rebecca gave me a nod and I finally got to squeeze the trigger.

I could help but turn around when The charges went off. My time in New York had given me a passion for blowing stuff up Yellow flashes could be seen inside before the explosions busted the windows out. Flaming objects rained down from above. I heard the sound of concrete cracking inside, but the building still stayed up. Unfortunately because of the lack of a liquid fuel, there was no billowing fireball or smoke. Disappointed, I turned away from the building which now had fires burning in its upper floors. I didn't expect to see a lot more people watching the explosions as I had

Rebecca looked slightly annoyed and I knew why. We didn't have time to stop like this. "Come on people lets go!" She said louder. "The ponies had to have heard that."

She was right, there was probably some pegasi scouts on their way right now. With the thought, everyone quickened their pace to the new location.

**************

Jacob

It took us about an hour to get to the new place. The sun was already about halfway to its highest point. It wasn't very good. On my own, carrying what I had, I could have done the distance in maybe 10 or fifteen minutes. However I decided to stay with the group should they happen to need me.

Surprisingly, the trip went fine. If we had been spotted by a pegasus flying by, it wasn't made known to us. We tried to stay in the shadows of buildings as much as we could, but with 40+ people moving around, it was impossible to stay hidden.

To get to the new area we had to cross about fifty feet of concrete courtyard and head down a long stair case of powerless escalators.

When I got to the bottom it was immediately apparent that it had been a train station. Two separate tracks cut through an area with a relatively low ceiling. It wasn't too big, only about two hundred or so feet long and about seventy-five feet wide. There were a couple rooms dug straight out of the side walls. Wires connected to generators snaked across the ceiling and powered lights.

People had already began to set up their stuff like before. Blankets and clothes were strewn out across the ground, some with people on them and some without. Extra weapons were slanted against the wall with extra mags on the floor next to them. In the next half hour power was up and food was being passed out. For the moment it seemed as if we had a moment of leisure time.

Some slept, some ate, but hardly anyone spoke to each other. But when I thought about it, what was there to say? We had just been handed a huge defeat that cost us a home and more than half our numbers. Among them were two of my friends, Ice and Mint. Mint had been taken, but Ice...he was different story.

I jerked my head towards the stairs. Suddenly there was a loud noise coming from the top. Everyone's head was pointed in the same direction. It was a loud, sharp noise. It pierced my ears. I instantly knew what it was, but it had been such a long time since I had heard one that I couldn't believe it.

"Is that a....motorcycle?!" Hudd asked shocked. He looked to Rebecca for an answer, but she simply shook her head.

She pointed to me, Hudd and three others. "That's not one of mine. Suppressed only." Were her commands. We went over to the wall and grabbed some weapons. I didn't waste time finding a specific gun and grabbed just a suppressed pistol.

We all started cautiously up. I was about fifteen steps ahead of everyone else. I wanted to know who was up here. I could hear the bikes engine start to sputter and sound unusual.

"Where the hell'd they even find gas for this thing?" Someone asked behind me.

"I don't know, but Jacob!" Hudd called. "Slow up a minute." But I was already at the top. Before I even crossed the courtyard I could see the person. Their bike was across the street and the engine noises were replaced with a small cloud of grey, blue smoke coming from the mid section. The rider, who was obviously female, had a black and orange suit with dark purple-ish and orange helmet. Even though her visor was closed, I could almost see the frustration on her face, which she demonstrated by giving the bike a light kick to its front wheel.

When she noticed my movement, her head snapped up towards me. Her sudden movement shocked me for a moment, but I kept my gun down, I didn't see her as a threat.

"Jacob, wait a sec." Hudd and the others had just made it to the top. I was just about to the street and the girls was on the other side. She was staring at me when I turned back towards them.

I winked back at them and showed a thumbs up. However, they all looked back with the same expression: terror.

"Jacob, Watch Out!" Hudd shouted at me.

Without thinking, I dropped to my back. I looked up to see a dart, larger than I had ever seen before, fly over my head. It smashed against the entrance to the train station and a bright green liquid exploded away in every direction.

I turned around to see that the girl now held some sort of weapon. At first glance it looked like a regular gun, but after a longer look, I could see more and more resemblance to that of the ponies dart guns.

I dove behind a car on my side of the street, just as she really began to open up on us. Darts of the ponification serum smashed against the car. The force of them cracked mirrors, broke the windows and even put dents in the side. I couldn't get a good enough shot on her without being splashed by the conversion liquid.

Rebecca and Hudd were no help either. The girl's quick firing had pushed them back to the stairs and all they could do was fire from the top. But from there they didn't have a shot on her and they weren't even close.

Her weapon made an airy, CO2 sound when firing, similar to something like a paintball gun. But they force of those darts was tremendous. The opposite side of the red sedan was splattered with the serum and the ground was littered with broken glass and needles. Her gun seemed to have infinite ammo as well. She had been shooting at semi automatic at us for well over thirty seconds. I thought it was impossible how many darts the gun held.

Finally, for a brief moment, she stopped. As soon as I gathered myself, I stood up and started returning fire from over the top of the car. She quickly crouched behind her bike just as I was about to get her. I kept shooting though. My bullets blew piece off the bike, but they weren't penetrating through it.

My clip couldn't hold near as much as hers and I soon found myself empty. As soon as my bullets stopped, she popped out again and pick up where she left off. She opened up at Hudd and the others who were starting to move up. With no cover in the court yard, they were forced to move back to the stairs.

When she had moved them out of the way, she concentrated on me again. I was behind the car again, but her second barrage of darts were coming closer than the first. The warm liquid splashed on my leg from a dart that exploded under the car. I quickly wiped it off with my sleeve. I knew that it had to be injected, but I wasn't taking any chances.

Things were getting too close. Sooner or later she was going to get that lucky shout...and it would be at my expense. We were attracting to much attention. This had to end now or we ran the risk of a pegasi flying over to see what was going on. But I felt helpless. I couldn't back up and I couldn't go forward.

That's about when the idea hit me. I dropped my mag and popped in a new one. Maybe my plan would work and maybe it wouldn't.

I pulled open the door and climbed inside. I was on the floor of the passenger side. I started to make my way to the back seat. Glass and the serum rained down on me as I passed the central console. I was just low enough not to be seen.

I crawled to the back and pushed myself against the opposite side door. This was it. If she didn't go for this then I'd be fucked.

I reached between the drivers side seat and grabbed the door handle. I breathed out as I pushed open the door.

As I hoped, she turned and started shooting at the empty drivers side. When I heard the darts impact in the seat in front of me, I jumped up and fired through the back seat window. Five shots were fired, two of them hit. Both of them in her upper arm and shoulder. She screamed and her weapon flew out her hand.

When she dropped to the ground, I instantly felt tired. The whole ordeal only lasted about two minutes, but it felt like an eternity. I exited the car just as Hudd and the others started to walk up.

"Thanks for the help." I nodded to him sarcastically.

"Sorry, She pushed us back. "He apologized. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said.

"Ohhh ughhhh." The groans came from behind the bike. The girl was lying on the ground, bleeding from her wounds.

"Get that bitch up." Rebbeca sounded angrier than I had ever heard before. The two guys pulled her up and dragged her over. "Take her down stairs. Maybe we can get something out of her." They nodded and proceed to drag her down the stairs.

Hudd picked her weapon off the street. "We should have a look at this too." He said. Rebbeca and I both nodded.

"Lets get out of the open first." I said and we all went down the stairs.

***************

Jacob

"Me? Why me? I'm not going in there. what about you, Lefty? Are YOU going in there?"

"Nah, can't say I am, Kid. How about you, Rain? You wanna go in there?"

"Think i'll pass on that, Lefty. Jacob?

"What are you guys so afraid of? What do you think shes going to do in there?" I asked.

"I don't know." Kid said. "But I'm not going in there to get ponified by some hidden conversion thing shes got."

"Fine it'll just be me, Rebbeca and Hudd." I said.

Hudd pulled out a knife. "I don't know about you, Rebbeca, but I don't really have any experience torturing people for information."

"Me neither." She said. "But maybe we won't have to. Maybe she'll just tell us."

"Yeah, sure." Hudd said as he went over to whisper something to her. I heard "He said there were two of them, if the other one is still out there then we could be in trouble. I think thats were we should start." She nodded in a agreement. Hudd wasn't too good at whispering.

Rebecca then walked over to me. "Here put these in your ears." She handed a small yellow cylinder to Hudd and I.

We tied the girl to a chair in one of the rooms. Our medic had bandaged her up and stopped her bleeding. Rebecca went over to and put her hand at the bottom of her helmet. It had remained on the entire time.

"Ok guys, just stay with me through this, ok?" she said.

"Okay." We both said. Rebecca pulled the helmet up and off her head. It was now that we had our first look at the girl's face.

She was young, probably early 20s with short hair. It was the same purple-ish color that matched her helmet. Her face wasn't as dirty and grimy as the rest of her body.

We all started at each other for a long time. She looked wearily back and forth between the three of us. I glanced at Rebecca, she looked pissed. Like if this girl said the wrong thing, she was ready to her. Hudd looked out of place. His confused face and combat knife in hand made it look worse.

The girl took the the chance to speak first.

"You stopped my bleeding." She stated. Her voice was calm and unwavering despite her current situation.

She was looking towards Rebecca who hesitated a moment before responding.

"We did." She said dryly.

"Why?" The girl asked quickly.

"I wanted you to stay alive."

"But why?" She asked again, seeing past Rebecca's lie. "I know how you operate. You've killed for much less. So what is it that you want?"

Rebecca gave a small smile. "Alright then." She said. "We'll get right to it then."

"Good." The girl smiled back.

"There are some somethings I need to know."

The girl tiled her head back and laughed. She only stopped when it caused pain in her shoulder. "So thats what this is about. Information you want, huh?" She still had a smile on her face. "What makes you think I'll tell you?"

Rebecca stepped forward. Her hand reached for something in her pocket. "Oh you're going to tell me." She said calmly as she something around in her pocket. "The only question is how you want to do this. We can do this the easy way...or we can do it the hard way. The choice is yours."

She waited for a moment before speaking again. "What if I forgot some things."

Rebecca came even closer to the girl. "Well you better start remembering...for your sake." She fiddled again with the thing in her pocket. Whatever was in there, she seemed dying to use it.

All confidence and defiance seemed to drain from the girl's face. "Fine." She said. "What is it?"

"Better." Rebecca commented. "I know that you had someone else with you. I'd like to know who and where she is."

She considered her options, they were little. When it looked like she settled on something she looked back up. But not at Rebecca, this time she looked towards Hudd.

"I'll tell him." She said as she tilted her head towards him. "I feel he'll need a chance to get something right."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rebecca asked.

But the girl ignored her. "Now I was wondering something about you." She said now tilting her head towards me. You could her more confidence coming back into her voice. "Why'd you make him leader, huh? Whats the thinking behind that?"

"He's a good leader." I defended.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding?" She laughed. "He's done nothing but make bad decisions that end up costing his team mates. He would so easily let those close to him get captured. And how could you deny that? He let you get taken easy enough."

"It wasn't his fault I got captured My actions alone caused that." I said. My voice was getting louder.

"Oh sure." She said sarcastically. "But he didn't say too much about you going it alone, did he?"

This girl was starting to piss me off. She was just playing with us and wasting time. But still I responded.

"I was going to stay no matter what anyone said!" I yelled. "And what does this have to do w-" She cut me off and spoke again to Hudd.

"You know, you seem to like when your people go alone." She said as if she'd just noticed. "You did for him and he got captured, then you do the same thing again and expect a different result.

Rebecca stepped closer. Only this time she brought her hand from pocket, curled it into a fist and swung it across the girl's right cheek. She yelled in pain. A red mark was already visible. "We should stay on task." She said. "Now tell me where your friend is!"

Her breathing got heavier, but she still didn't stop. She moved her neck around again so that she was still facing Hudd.

"How do you feeling knowing that YOU caused you friends captu-" Rebecca hit her again, this time hitting the left cheek. She recovered much quicker and once again looked to Hudd. Rebecca's hits only seemed to make her louder.

"How many people did you start with, Hudd?! Huh?! How many?!" She yelled at him. "Now look whats left!"

Rebecca punched her six more times, alternating her left and right fists. The girl was bruised and bleeding from her nose and mouth. Her head stayed down for a long time. When she finally looked up again, it was still up at Hudd.

"What did you say to him, Hudd." She asked. Her voice was low, but steady.

"What?" Hudd, who had been very quiet, finally spoke.

"What did you say to him?" She asked again. "When you sent him away? Did you even tell him goodbye?"

Rebecca was about to hit her again, but then she dropped her fist and she and Hudd looked at each other.

"That's right." The girl said putting on a bloody smile from seeing their reactions. "You wanted to know where MY friend is? Well I think you have your answer. Shes with yours."

"Oh my god."

***************

Ice

I knew I was being watched. I could feel it deep inside. A pair of eyes constantly watching me. But no matter where I looked a could never pinpoint where. I thought perhaps a pegasi, but saw nothing in the skies. Still, I stuck close to the shadows of the buildings. Whoever was watching hadn't made a move on me yet. If I could make it to where the truck was being stored, I would have the drop on them.

After a few wrong turns, some frightening moments and a trip that took nearly an hour, I finally saw the garage at the end of the street. At this point I was really nervous. Not from the hidden eyes that watched me, but from the Atlanta conversion bureau. On my way to the garage I had passed dangerously close to it. I found myself about a hundred feet away from the steep hill that dropped onto the bureau's front lawn.

Their "Front Lawn was really just a low cut stretch of land about half the length of a football field that led to the bureau's front entrance. But what I saw on the field scared me. There were cages. Fucking cages. And inside them were people, dozens of them. Anger swelled inside me. I wanted to help them. After all, they were most likely from the pegasi raid the previous night. But there was nothing I could do for them...at least right now. What made me leave was the too ponies walking across the field. One was just a normal looking unicorn, but the other much taller. She was dark and had both wings and a horn.

"Oh shit." I thought. It was Princess Luna. I quickly backed right right up. If any of the ponies saw me, I would have the Princess of the Night after me.

It was a couple minutes after that and I reached the garage. I should have felt something was...off about it as soon as I went to the door. For one the door was unlocked. Now if the truck really was here, it didn't seem possible that someone would leave that kind of fire power unlocked. I pulled out my pistol and turned on the flashlight. I could see that the room was an office for the garage. In the back corner of the room, I saw another door and coming from it I could see light. I stepped through it and there rested the truck.

The natural light coming from sky lights in the roof was enough for me to turn off the flashlight and get a good look at the beast of a machine before me.

At least nine feet tall and probably more than thirty feet long. I remember the old guy who made it to our group, who told me about it. "Its heavily modified version of the old HEMMTT designs." He had beamed about the truck. "Its been fitted with bullet proof tires AND glass. There's four centimeter steel plating surrounding the cab and rear gunners' seats. The engine's been upgrade. 650 horsepower to keep all eight of them wheels turning. This thing is monster."

He was right too. It was impressive even before I noticed the weapons. An XM307 Grenade launcher sat on top of the cab. I saw no seat for a gunner, so it had to be remotely operated from inside the cab. Very nice. The back was covered, but had spaces for a Browning M2 on either side. Without anyone else they would be useless, but when we hit the bureau, maybe a couple people get jump inside and utilize them.

I thought I should get up into the drivers seat and give the engine a start. I put my gun in my right hand and climbed up the small ladder. However, when I pulled open the cab door open, there was something waiting for me. There was a figure laying across the driver and passenger seats. When my chest was visible, the leg extended and I was kicked hard out off the ladder. I fell hard on my back, Rebecca's shotgun crushed into my back.

I screamed in pain and rolled. I pushed back away from the truck as the person inside started to get up. It was a female and she stood crouching in the drivers seat for a moment watching me.

After a couple seconds, she jumped down and silently landed in a cat like pose a few inches in front of me. She stood slowly and her features came into the light. She was young, around early 20s, with a bow tied in the back of red-ish pink hair.

It was the girl I had seen leaving the building just before the pegasi attacked. She flexed and stretched her right hand fingers in front of her like they were brand new.

"Ya know something?" She said finally as she untied her bow. She then removed it completely and cracked her knuckles in both hands "I think I'm starting ta like this body."

End Chapter 6