Eye of the storm

by Bronycommander

Chapter 8 Shocking work

Chapter 8: Shocking Work

They made their way out of the base as fast as they could, with allied vehicles arriving quickly to secure the base. The children took notice as Moira and Clive saluted the oncoming friendlies, they saluted with the palms facing outwards, something Dinky and the siblings had also noticed with William and Duffy in Africa and Italy, but never got to ask them.

“Why do you salute like that?” The young filly asked and the female squad leader answered.

“Old habit for me. It’s the style of salute for British forces, which influenced the palm facing down towards the shoulder salute of the Americans.”

“How that?” Blau asked curious.

“Well, it dates back to the days of sailing ships, when tar and pitch were used to seal a ship's timbers from seawater. To protect their hands, officers wore white gloves and it was considered most undignified to present a dirty palm in the salute, so the hand was turned through 90 degrees. A common story is that Queen Victoria, having been saluted by an individual with a dirty palm, decreed that in future, sailors of the fleet would salute palm down, with the palm facing the ground.”

“Interesting.”

After this short and interesting historical fact, they got back into their vehicles to James, who welcomed them with a smile. “Welcome back and great job! Now, Rico has secured the lab, so we can obtain what we need to make some lighting-proof boats. But you should get some rest, you earned it.”

Everyone nodded with the little unicorn having an idea. “Want to join us for a round of Mau-Mau, Tungsten?”

He smiled. “Sure, why not?”

Shadowplay wiped somewhat of his forehead. “Is it just me, or is it kinda humid? I think I’ll take a shower.”

“Suit yourself.” Blue commented before going to the mess hall.

The locker room and shower were empty as the batpony entered, removing his eye patch and cloth, freeing his mane to cover his scars. And yet, upon seeing himself in the mirror, a sigh escaped him. His boss had taught him to see it with pride but the phantom pain still got the better of him at times.

“I can’t imagine what pain you must have gone through.” Tybalt’s voice sounded in his ears, seeing him with a sympathetic smile. “If I may ask, have you ever thought about going for a glass eye or something?” He felt awkward to ask this, yet the scarred pony nodded.

“Actually, yes. Although, with all the years as mercs, I’ve gotten used to it. Maybe one day, who knows…”

The young stallion just gave a nod in reply before both cleaned themselves, enjoying the warm water, letting out a sigh of relief.

Upon finishing, they noticed Kyle in the locker room, mumbling as he had his back to them, “How can I do it…I never had success with girls…”

“Something the matter?” Tybalt asked, startling him slightly as he turned around and chuckled awkwardly.

“Well…I think I got…a crush on Nyla. But all my previous attempts with girls backfired on me, so I am not sure how to do this.” His voice sounded fearful.

Both former mercs looked at each other for a moment before Tybalt took the word. “I may not be the best at this advice, but I would suggest taking it calmly, not rushing it.

“And best not in the middle of combat.” Shadowplay added, getting a weak smile from the human.

“Thanks, I’ll try.”

It reminded the young bandit of something as he and his buddy walked out of the locker room. “You know, it’s funny. I would have never thought to fall for a common mare. I mean, before Candy, I never knew true love.” He said with disbelief.

“You tell me. I would have never thought to become friends with Amber, let alone a father for her daughter. I guess we’ll make something right.” Shadowplay replied in the same tone.

“Hey, after all you went through, I think you deserve a pony as caring as her.” This statement of Tybalt caused the batpony to blush slightly.

“Could this dream mean something?” Fletcher’s voice rang in their ears as they got outside, he sounded conflicted.

Curious and confused, the 2 stallions saw the unicorn walking back and forth in a corner, his expression unsure and…somewhat frightened. “I hope she won’t get the same idea…”

“What’s wrong, Fletch?” Tybalt asked, causing him to turn around, slightly startled as well.

“N-nothing, just a bad dream.” He replied hastily but they were not convinced.

“You’re been acting strange lately, Fletcher.” Shadowplay pointed out. “You can tell us if there is a problem.”

In response, the archer sighed told them what he had dreamed. As he expected, both blushed in awkwardness as they tried to process it before the orange, blue-dappled stallion took the word.

“I’ve known Blue Murder for years, she wouldn’t do that. The loss of her husband took her pretty hard, after this, nopony of us had seen her ever again with a stallion. She states to feel still loyal to Marmalade.” He told in an honest tone.

Fray sighed in relief. “Sorry, its just…that dream I had, actually happened to be not too long ago. You heard about the wedding Blue took part in?”

“Yes, why do you-“ the batpony cut himself off when he realized with his friend, their eyes small, becoming again red like a tomato. “Oh…I see…”

“They….also…gave me something to remember it…” Fletcher added in clear embarrassment, pointing down and his fellow ponies connected the dots. “I still try to get used to it.”

“Ah, better an impressive size than smaller, don’t you think?” Tybalt pointed out with a weak smile, unable to help himself but to check Fletcher out. “Wish I had that…”

“What was that?” Fray and Shadow asked in confusion.

“Nothing,” The bandit hastily replied, “But I think it would be best you talk with her directly.”

“Okay then.”

With that, he checked the mess hall for his fellow unicorn, seeing her drinking some tea on a balcony. “Can I ask tell you something in private?”

“Sure, I just finished my tea anyway.” She followed him to a secluded area of the base. “What it is?”

Fray scratched his back, his eyes darting around as he asked, “You surely noticed my…nervous behavior?”

“Aye, I actually wanted to ask you what’s wrong.” Blue replied in surprise.

“Well…I…” Fletcher stuttered, “Had a dream about you, about something that actually happened to me recently.”

In response, the portly mare raised an eyebrow. “That would be?”

“After Lyra and Abstraction had their wedding and honeymoon, they invited me for dinner one day. But they had something more in mind…” His cheeks started to become red as the memories came back.

---

It was another day when Fletcher’s mind scrambled to figure out what happened that night after dinner, sitting on the bed in his room. “What’s wrong, Fletch, you seem so tensed since your stay at Lyra and Abstraction.” Midnight walked in with Wolf, both concerned for him.

It’s just…I can’t remember what exactly happened and…that my crotch…was so big…”

“Uh, what?” Midnight asked confused before looking down, blushing with the Pegasus. “That…I cannot answer for you.”

“I tried to ask them but they avoid my questions…”

“That is very suspicious.” Wolf commented, her expression a frown. “But it was a dinner, nothing unusual, even with magic.”

“Ma-mag…” Fletcher stuttered as it triggered a memory in him, his eyes becoming small. “T-hey…used magic on me…to have a….” He lowered his head, trying to process everything, his friends understood it instantly.

“They did WHAT?!” Wolf exclaimed angrily.

“Y-yes…Fray blushed…they thought as a way to…thank me for reuniting them…”

“I see…” Midnight’s expression became dark. “I think a visit is due. Take as long as you need though, Fletch.” They left his room, only for Ifrit to appear.

“So you remembered at last.” his voice was neutral.

“Why didn’t you help me?!” The archer exclaimed in slight anger but the spirit was not fazed.

“I was trying, Fray. You didn't seem to hear me over all the caterwauling. Besides, it is not my business to save you from love-hungry young temptresses, Fray. I would consider such a thing degrading. I shan't be at all happy if you allow such a vulgarity to take place again.”

“You won't be happy?! How do you think I'll feel?!?!” Fray exclaimed in disbelief.

“Again you miss the point. My concern is not so much how you'll feel but what. In any case, save your anger for them.” He advised, making the unicorn realize he had a point, taking a deep breath.

Lyra and Abstraction went after their usual day as they heard a knock on the door. Both opened to reveal three not very happy ponies. “Uhh, yes?” Abstraction asked nervously as the batpony took the word.

“What do you have to say in your defense?” His voice was upset.

“Uhh, we just wanted to show Fletcher a good time for helping me.” The stallion replied with a nervous smile. “And we always wanted to try out a threesome…”

“Still…” Fletcher spoke up, “Did you have to do it that way?”

Now, the married mare took the word with the same nervous expression. “We were just eager to try it and your improvement, just thought a handsome and good stallion like you deserves it. Plus as a reminder, which worked as I see.”

“Okay…just don’t do it again….” Fray replied, neutral, much to their surprise as Wolf growled before stopped by Midnight with a hoof.

“Using hypnosis on a senior officer and having intercourse is a serious offense.” He spoke coldly, making both gulp. “But, considering your fresh marriage and why you wanted to do this…I might look the other way. Just this once.”

A sigh of relief escaped the couple as the knights turned to leave.

---

“…After I had this dream, I feared you would get the same idea as them…” Fletcher finished, leaving a bewildered mare with beet-red cheeks staring at him.

“Uhh…I can understand your fear, Fletcher…” Blue stuttered in awkwardness, “But I assure you, I would never do that to you. Besides, I even can’t do hypnosis. Sure, its lonely as single mother but there is always the hoof.”

“Thank you. And sorry for the awkward topic.”

She waved a hoof. “No harm done if it helped to ease your mind.” Then his stomach growled. “How about I get you something to eat after this, eh?”

He nodded and they made their way into the mess hall, followed by Tybalt and Shadowplay, their allies giving friendly waves and nods as they passed by.

“Ah, anything in particular you want?” The cook asked, “How about something Asian for you two?” his eyes fell on the earth and batpony, only for the latter to shake his head.

“No thanks, any common meal will do.”

“Suit yourself.” The cook replied and served them some vegetarian dumplings, a Swabia meal. It gave the 2 former mercs a weird feeling that their origins were considered for their meal, hard to believe how culture and vegetarian backgrounds were considered for soldiers these days. But it also gave them some appreciation their backgrounds were considered.

“Hey, were you not supposed to see the medic?” Fletcher asked the orange, blue-dappled batpony, who’s expression became surprised.

“Oh, right, almost forgot.” He reported to the medical section of the base after finishing his meal, his eye wide to see a young woman waiting for him. Anna.

“There you here, please take a seat.” She pointed to an exam table and the stallion got on it, with her carefully examining his wound. “Don’t worry, gentleness is my specialty.” Ana spoke in a calming tone. The bullet had left a grazing wound across 2 bones but was not deep.

“This might sting a bit.” Shadowplay grunted at the slight burning of the disinfectant, before noticing the medic was bandaging it. “Before you ask, this is necessary, to protect it from dirt and further damage, plus to ensure it heals properly. So, no flying either.”

“Fine.” Her patient said in a defeated voice, yet she was keeping a smile.

“Despite what you went through, I think you are still a handsome specimen.”

“Uhh, thanks?” This compliment was unexpecting for Shadowplay, slightly blushing. Amber had also called him handsome once and so had Tybalt’s love Candy, both catching him off guard.

“May I?” She then asked with hope, making him raise his eyebrow instead.

“May what?”

Before he could react, she gave his head a slight pat. “Good boy.”

His blushing only deepened, unable to process this kind of positive look on him as he left. Outside, the others waited for him, with the kids joining, they smiled.

“Now I see why you like this game so much.” Tungsten sounded delighted.

“Hey, there should be no fence here!” A voice yelled in the distance and they saw a platoon of soldiers in the fields, not far from the base, standing in front of a barbed-wire fence. The commanding officer grabbed a map, looking at it in confusion, too far away for the ponies to see his full appearance

“Get the men...uh…Take cover near the base!” The officer ordered in an unsure tone, still studying the map as all his soldiers, apart from his second in command, did so as told. “Isn’t that the intersection?”

“No, it’s here. Full grid off.” His subordinate told him.

“Who’s that?” Dinky asked curiously as Kyle walked up to them with Romanov.

“That’s General Keller. As far as I know, He came from a family with military tradition, but was rejected by the official military. So, by serving in the Harmonious Guard, he thought he uphold his family’s tradition. Keller is a good leader but at times...incompetent, as you see here, failing to read a map.” Their friend explained with awkwardness.

Just then, the other soldiers reached the base and Romanov got an idea, smiling devilishly. “Hey Kyle, you think you can impersonate Maximillian?”

Slightly smiling, he replied, “I don’t know if I-“ But the others encouraged him to give it a try, so he gave in. “Alright.” and cleared his throat.

The ponies wondered what he and the other humans had in mind. “Is there a problem, General Keller?” He called out in a surprisingly good German voice.

“Who said that?! Who broke silence?!” Keller yelled back in frustration, then looked back at his fellow officer, who hid a slight grin, getting the joke and playing along.

“I think it's General Maximilian, Sir. I guess he’s moving between platoons.”

“What seems to be the goddamn holdup, Mr. Keller?” Kyle asked in a strict voice. His comrades now tried to hold back laughter and chuckles.

It infected their guests, also having to hold back laughter and grinning. The kids even saw Ifrit behind them, covering his mouth with a hoof to suppress chuckling. Bound raised an eyebrow, as if understanding what was going on.

"A fence. A barbed wire fence!” Keller yelled back in shock and nervousness, completely taken by surprise.

“Oh that dog just ain't gonna hunt!” Kyle taunted before shushing his comrades down. “Now you cut that fence and get this goddamn platoon on the move!”

“Yes, sir!” The General did as told, cutting the fence.

Just then, James came back, seeing what Keller did in the distance, briefly looking at Kyle with a slight grin before making his way to Keller and got him to the base. “You cut the fence?” He asked sternly and Keller replied with fear in his eyes.

“I was ordered to, by General Maximillian.”

“Maximillian? He told you to do that?” The fearful officer nodded at his superior’s question. “General Maximillian is coordinating defenses far from here.” James told him, leaving his fellow officer in confusion and embarrassment as Keller left.

“Okay, now that this prank’s out of the order, we are to Rico at the Meteolab to obtain what is needed to make a lightning-proof boat, called Ion Coil. Recon has not found any enemy activity in the area but be on your guard. One of our POW facilities had a blackout, some prisoners escaped, they might be around.” Günther then explained to his helpers.

“Okay, I take we may help with getting that Iron Coil and understanding it?” Fray concluded but his creator shook his head.

“Your commitment is appreciated but you can be at ease, I already got someone on this. As this facility conceived much of the weather technology, studying it may help us to fight it better.” The German smiled while saying this and everyone then went on their way.

The base that was the Meteolab had the standard facilities as any other base, but most noticeable were some industrial exhaust vents at the edge, where inflated balloons came out and rose into the air, along with a few towers that had antennas and a set a of giant doors in the middle of the base.

Rico, Sheldon and Mira stood in front of it at a computer. “Is this it?” Rico asked with a confused expression.

“Mm-mm. According to the data you retrieved, the Ion coil in here creates positive steamers, which stimulate electrical storms.” His second in command explained.

“So it makes lighting” Sheldon asked in a confused tone.

In response, the woman made wind gestures to explain. “Eh…no. It creates a positive charge, which draws negative charges to it. So lighting will strike the Ion Coil, and not anything around it.”

“So it ABSORBS lightning.” The former agency member concluded, only for his friend to point at the doors.

“How do we get it out of there?”

“We need to get around the failsafe system. Lightning rods are protecting this area.” Mira pointed at the towers, “Deploy those rods, and the failsafes release the coil.”

“Lightning rods? I thought you said this thing absorbs lightning…” With a faked look of confusion, Sheldon looked at Miro, only for the rebel leader to counter,

“If Mira says it’ll work, It’ll work.”

“I know, I’m just messing with her.”

The three, together with James walked towards a control room, leaving their pony allies alone. Apart from them, soldiers of both factions patrolled around.

Looking up, the group saw that the sky had become dark, so they quickly got under a roof for shelter as it started to rain. Just then, Blue looked around and her eyes went wide in surprise and disbelief.

No way…

She nudged Fletcher and her comrades, then pointed to what she saw. Their eyes went wide as well.

An officer of James’ forces walked into view, unbothered by the rain, wearing a trench coat.

Most noticeable was that he was wearing a gasmask, a deep breathing sound coming from it. They could swear they had seen it before, but could not remember where. Something told them it was this human who was supposed to study the weather technology.

There was a loud bang, startling everyone but the officer as lightning hit one of the normal towers, destroying it in a big explosion.

“Can’t remember the last time I saw such a destructive thunderstorm,” Fletcher commented in awe and slight fear.

There was a faint metallic sound that made the ears of the middle-aged mare twitch and she looked down to see a small round object near them.

Her eyes went small.

“Grenade!” Blue warned and pushed with Fletcher the kids out of the way, Bound, Tybalt and Shadow dove out of the way.

The explosion was deafening. Their ears ringing and vision blurry, they all saw Black Hand Elite soldiers attacking, the defenders standing their ground.

Struggling to get up, Blue saw an enemy approaching her with a knife and she grabbed his arm, fighting for control. Despite using all her strength, the soldier slowly overpowered her, the knife getting close to her throat.

Suddenly, he got thrown to the ground, followed by a scream and blood splattering.

“I’m sure you had him, Blue, but just thought I’d lend a hoof.” Shadowplay weakly smiled as he helped her up, having stabbed her attacker.

They, with Tybalt and Fletcher then drew their weapons to join the defense. Dinky and her friends, on the other hand, went to cover behind sandbags with Bound, knowing this was too dangerous for them as bullets whizzed past them.

Peeking over their cover, they saw how the officer drew a Luger pistol and fired at a group of enemies approaching him. He fired and with every shot, one hostile fell to the ground, dead.

As he ran dry, the officer holstered his sidearm and raised his arm sideways. 2 blades extended from each side of his sleeves, his lenses glowing briefly red.

One enemy tried to attack him with a knife. The unknown officer simply countered by locking blades with his left, pushing it away and slicing the throat with the other. A second enemy got close with a knife but got sliced by the throat instantly.

2 more tried to attack him but as with the first, he locked blades and pushed it away, then kicked his knee to make the soldier drop. He tried in pain before sliced as well. The other, he grabbed by the neck and threw him over to the ground, the stabbed his downed enemy into the throat.

It was terrifying to see for the children but they realized he was an experienced fighter as well.

They startled at another thunder and a bang right above them. Looking up in fear, they saw how the lighting had hit a tower and they screamed as some debris landed on them before they could react. The friends struggled but it was too heavy, trapped.

Despite panicking, they noticed how the officer turned towards them, retracting his blades, then ran over to them. To their surprise, he lifted the debris up without any trouble, allowing them to get up.

“Behind you!” Tungsten warned as a Black Hand officer took aim with a pistol but their savior was unfazed.

The enemy’s shots hit his mask and shoulders, he flinched but had no visible damage whatsoever, his head lowered, breathing clearly audible, the enemy watching in shock. Before he could react, the children’s savior dashed up and sliced his throat as well.

“I cover you, go!” Choi’s voice sounded as he stopped next to them firing his MP40 and they wasted no time to go to another sandbag position. As they reached it, they saw a Ghost charging towards the Asian soldier.

“Watch out!” Dinky yelled but it was too late. Choi turned around and was stabbed into the chest.

He grunted in pain, then…laughed.

It was evil…taunting, causing his attacker to back off in shock and fear, the children stared as well.

His eye had turned red. They…could see fangs among his teeth.

In an almost unconcerned manner, his hands went towards the knife, slowly pulling it out, blood poured out of the wound but he seemed unaffected by this. In a swift motion, he threw the knife towards his opponent, it landed right between the eyes and the enemy stumbled before falling over.

2 more ghosts attacked him but he swiftly blocked their attacks and sliced their throats. They flinched before falling lifeless to the ground.

“Retreat! Fall back!” A voice yelled and every enemy ceased fighting, running away, the kids still tried to process everything before the adult ponies checked on them.

“Are you hurt?” Fray was concerned, yet they shook their heads. James joined as well before being asked by the stallion, “How did they manage to ambush us?”

“Gabriella is a skilled and cunning leader, I assume she concluded our next step after we took the bases needed for our operation” The veteran replied calmly, “But be assured, the safety of your young friends is one of my top priorities.”

Just then, the kids looked at the Choi, he was treating his wound, but they could still not believe what they had seen. “W-what was that?” Blau stuttered in awe and fear, with the human giving a weak smile.

“My blessing…and curse.”

“What do you mean?” Confusion was in Katja’s voice before he sighed.

“Well, it’s a long story. In fact, it’s similar to you, Shadowplay.”

“It is?” His eye went wide.

“Yes. As you already figured from my accent, I am Asian. To be exact, from Vietnam. It may sound hard to believe, but the village I used to live in, was spared from the war, being in a rather isolated spot.” He gave James a nod, who pulled a small medallion out of his pocket. A veil one Fletcher, Dinky and the siblings noticed before he held it close to his soldier and pressed a button.

In the blink of an eye, the group found themselves in front of a village, surrounded by grass and trees, hearing cheerful laugher of children.

“Choi, can you help your father with the rice?” A female voice asked before a young man with brown hair and eyes walked out of one of the buildings. He seemed to be in his late teens or early 20s at first glance as he walked over to a rice field to help his father.

Suddenly, there was a loud, echoing wail. The sound of a jet fighter the observers recognized. Everyone briefly saw the jet in the sky and then…gasped as the blink of an eye, the entire village got sent ablaze in a fiery explosion.

Choi got knocked over, then screamed and rolled around to put out the flames, He succeeded barely, his breathing ragged, Fletcher and Blue covered the eyes of the children as the man had severe burns everywhere, they all winched.

Then, suddenly, a helicopter landed and a group of soldiers stepped out, along with men in black suits and sunglasses, inspecting the bodies, with one checking Choi. “This one is still alive, barely though.”

“It will suffice.” Another said and they loaded Choi into the chopper.

Blinking, the scene switched to what looked like a lab, the injured man strapped to a table and hooked to a heart monitor, his burns bandaged. A scientist injected him with a syringe of unknown liquid.

Choi’s heart rate began to increase rapidly, his body twitched as one of the suited men asked, “Status?”

With a terrifying roar, Choi’s eye snapped open, glowing red and he broke free of his restrains. Some guards tried to stop him but he savagely beat them and bit their necks, like a vampire would.

In horror, the group watched as the madman ravaged through the base, killing guards and scientists alike, before coming to a stop near a window, spotting his reflection.

His expression was one of horror to see his red eye and brown hair having turned white, touching one of his fangs with his hand. “No…what….what have they done…what happened…to me?”

---

It was there where the group found themselves back in reality, gasping and breathing heavily. “Sorry, I just thought this makes it easier to explain.” James smiled weakly.

“They tried to make some sort of Vampire out of me, but don’t worry, I’m not out for blood, it just gives me higher reflexes and resistance to injuries, as you have seen.” Choi tried to assure the kids he had himself under control. “After I got out of the lab, I lived secluded for years, keeping ‘visitors’ away. Until James was hired by the government to take care of me.”

A sigh escaped him. “I should have died...but I didn't. They revived me with their experiment, working on me like a plaything. Look at what they did to me. I am a freak!” Rage sounded in him for a second, followed by a deep breath, “I can't go back to society and James offered me a place that I can call home. I had nowhere else to go. Vietnam, my old home...the communist regime would just use me as the CIA did. Like him, I seem not to age. And ever since, due to my condition, I am one of his closest men.”

“Yes, I quickly realized he would just suffer under my employers as he did under the CIA. Vietnam, Cuba, Iraq, all embarrassing failures of the USA.” He admitted, briefly looking down. “Anyway, with the Ion Coil obtained, all we need now is to get it to Prospero Astillero. I have ordered to load a truck with spare parts of the Ion Coil to modify more boats. Since we can expect the Black Hand to intercept or ambush us, I want you to escort it. And before I forget, Marchand made a reinforced hat for you, Tybalt.” As he said this, the woman walked up to them, holding a hat identical to his, but the inside was reinforced.

“If you insist.” The stallion said flatly before switching it and got into the back of the truck with the other ponies, Jens and Leo, joined, together with Clive. Kyle followed in an armored Kübelwagen, Crispin was its gunner.

The kids, on the other hand, got into 2 UAZ-469, with the French woman and Miguel taking the wheel respectively. James joined his fellow officer in the passenger seat, with Dinky and Tungsten having the back seats.

It was uneventful as the convoy moved out, no enemy in sight, but the escort stayed vigilant.

Suddenly, a roar sounded for the kids and they looked back. A Black Hand Elite on a bike was driving down a small hill, positioning himself between the truck and escort car.

Crispin quickly aimed and opened fire. “Watch out!” Blue yelled as she and the others covered themselves from the bullets that barely missed them, forcing the gunner to cease fire.

But this allowed their enemy to get close and jumped onto the cover of the truck, opening the passenger door. Fletcher, Blue, Shadow and Fletcher struggled to keep their balance as the driver fought with the intruder, the truck swerving left and right.

They got suddenly thrown over as the truck braked abruptly, causing the armed car to rear-end the truck.

Before they had any chance to recover, their ride accelerated quickly again. Tybalt lost his balance, screaming as he fell out of the truck and headfirst into Kyle’s windshield, smashing it. Watching with worry, Tybalt’s friends saw how Nyra carefully lifted the stallion into the backseat with a thumb up, showing he was okay, just dazed.

Then another scream and they saw the driver of the truck rolling past them, having been thrown out.

“He’s going to ram us!” Katja warned in fear as the transport accelerated again, pushing the rear of their SUV. Miguel slightly lost control but recovered quickly, managing to stay in front.

Kyle then tried to pull along the right side of the truck, so his gunner could open fire but the enemy reacted quickly. He rammed into the troop carrier, knocking it off course into a forest. “Damn it!” The young man cursed as he fought to get back into the road.

“Looks like it’s up to us now!” Blue looked at the others, they nodded. Jens and Leo climbed to the left side, Fletcher and Clive to the right side of the truck.

However, their cargo transport swerved left and right again, they struggled not to fall off. Leo and Jens had the bad luck of hitting a large bush, getting knocked off the roof and rolling off the road.

Clinging tightly so as not to suffer the same fate as their companions, Fletcher and Clive clung tightly to the cover of the truck, with the stallion’s hind hoof slipped but managed to regain his balance. To his bad luck, the truck drove through a tree, his horn getting caught between the branches, throwing him off. Morrison held on but fell as the cape of the awning ripped, unable to resist his weight any longer.

Shadowplay used this to climb through the gap, reaching the cabin with ease, clinging to the outside of the door, he drew his sidearm and shot the hostile in the arm. His enemy cried in pain and kicked the door in response.

Dinky saw fear in Tungsten's eyes as both watched Shadowplay clinging desperately to the door, risking also being pulled under the tires of the vehicle as his hind legs got dragged along the ground. As he suffered beating his hindleg against a small ravine, however, the door gave way and broke off, taking the batpony with it, grunting in pain as he rolled onto the street, the female unicorn glancing after him in shock and dismay.

“Bugger it!” She cursed and climbed over the roof, crawling across the roof to the cabin. Reaching it, the mare swung into the cabin, the Elite drawing a pistol and she grabbed it, fighting for control. “I’ve got a complaint about your driving!” Blue yelled as she managed to turn his pistol against him. Firing one shot through the head, blood splattered from it, killing him instantly.

Blue then unceremoniously kicked him out of the truck, taking the wheel, just in time as her son shouted, “Curve ahead, watch out, mom!”

Her eyes went wide to see the curve was at a cliff. “Oh, curd!” In a fit of slight panic, she slammed down on the brakes, with the vehicle coming to a stop just inches away. Letting out a breath of relief, falling into the seat, the portly mare mumbled. “Too close…”

Then she reversed and got back onto the road, joining up with the others, seeing in the mirror how Kyle was catching up, with another truck behind his car, probably having picked up the others.

It was not too long until the convoy reached the gates of Prospero Astillero, guarded by some soldiers, as well as a Tiger tank and a different model in AOC colors the ponies did not recognize.

2 Black Hand APCs gave chase to another in AOC colors but got destroyed by the two tanks, the wrecks flipping from the explosion, with the infantry who managed to jump out, being swiftly taken out by the defending infantry.

Blue looked with worry as Shadowplay climbed with Fletcher and the others out of the second truck, also checking on Tybalt with the kids. “Are you okay?”

“Uncle, are you alright?” Dinky asked with concern but the green stallion nodded. “Just a few brushes.” His batpony comrade nodded as well.

“Just a minor headache.” Tybalt started to calm his fellows down.

They then watched how Rico and Sheldon climbed out of the APC, with the former’s army and James’ engineers getting to work as they unloaded the coil and spare parts from the APC and truck respectively.

It was quite a surprise to see that the engineers mounted the Ion Coil on the back of an Army of Chaos Stormwater Patrol Boat within 15 minutes, with a few more boats outfitted the same through the spare parts.

“You and Mira got quite and operation going here.” Tom commented impressed as he and Rico watched too, having a drink together.

“They just want things to change here.” His friend replied with a slight smile.

“How’s it feel, having it army?” Rico’s friend was curious, with Rico hesitating for a second.

“It’s growing on me.”

Tom then mentioned, “Seems like it, well…I always thought leadership suited you, kid. Mira and I got it all under control about the weapons. We’ll, uh, have her…SHIP shape for you in no time.” He joked, getting chuckles from everyone before asking how to name the boat.

“Your call, Sheldon.” Rico stated before walking away but his friend had an idea right away.

“How about…Thunderbarge?” The Texan announced dramatically, received a thumb up by Rico.

Author's Note:

got held up with life but there is the next one