Mission 01: The Harder they Fall
Mission 01 Begin
Flash Sentry stood nervously near the carriage. He fiddled with his tie as he waited for the client to exit the summit building. He felt the suit stick to his coat as sweat built up.
“Why the fuck do I need to wear this damned monkey suit.” He screamed in his mind. His superiors had sent o the hottest Tartarus pit in the bad lands dressed in a black suit and dress pants. It didn’t help that it felt like his tie was trying to strangle him. At least he had his shades to keep the sun from blinding his good eye.
He looked at the local guards that he and Hammer Strike, the private military company he was hired to work for, were asked to support. They were tall and strong earth ponies, probably upgraded with only minor cybernetic enhancements.
No wonder they needed us. These slugs wouldn’t stand a chance if a real threat reared its ugly head.
The sound of fanfare signaled the approach of his charge. Flash and the other guards stood rigid in formation around the gold and lilac colored armored chariot that belonged to his charge, the one pony he’d rather not be stuck with, Princess Twilight Sparkle.
She flowed down the steps in her regal purple gown, her hair held in a bun by a crystal barrette. Her large purple eyes grew as she caught sight of him. She hurried her steps leaving her guest the Zebra prime minister with whom she had finally made progress in establishing a peaceful Zebrica and possible welcoming into the Equestrian Union. The alicorn princess stopped before the suited pegasus stailon, a long metallic briefcase at his forehooves. He gave a short bow, but refused to meet her gaze.
“We’ve got to stop bumping into each other like this.” She said with a short giggle. Flash opened the door into the carriage and ushered the Princess and the Prime Minister. He followed them inside along with the earth ponies as the convoy they were part of began its departure.
The four ponies and prominent zebra sat in silence as the carriage rolled forward. Flash felt thankful to be out of the harsh sunlight but hated to be stuck in the same space with Twilight.
“I assume you are from a PMC?” The Zebra said breaking the icy silence. Flash nodded. “How do you feel about your work son? As a soldier of fortune.”
“You make it sound so bad. Hammer Stike works with the people most others wouldn’t, the little guys who get run over by the bigger fish with better guns and deeper pockets. We don’t fight for the profits, we fight for the people.” Flash said, his tone even and tempered. He knew better than to speak out of line with clients. Twilight smiled at his answer.
“A good slogan, Mr. Lightning Colt.”
“Call me Flash.”
“Very well then..Mr Lightning Colt. I’m certain that answer has earned you many customers for your PMC, but my dream is to end the reliance my country has required for ponies like you these last few years. Your presence here is merely a precaution and I feel it a necessary evil.”
“And evil needs to be stopped.” Flash runs his hoof over the metallic briefcase. “You seem unhappy with my answer?”
“You didn’t answer my question. If I wanted a trite saying, I’d ask my nanny.”
“How do I feel about my work?” The orange pegasus leaned forward, his sunglasses tipped forward on his muzzle revealing his piercing blue eyes. “I fight for the weak and helpless. Bringing justice to the wicked and keeping the little guy from getting squashed. That slogan wasn’t meant to sell you, it sold me. My quest for justice and their business plan happen to coincide. So I feel good about my job Mr. Prime Minister.”
“Then you must think my dreams of a peaceful means for justice are a just a fanciful pipe dream. A foalish pony tale that I tell my voters to keep them happy.”
“On the contrary. I requested protecting you Prime Minister. You’ve managed to unite the scattered tribes of your people into a young nation without a single gunshot or shedding any unnecessary blood. Accomplishing more than any ruler or warlord prior to you, had ever done before. Once complete, you will end the need for PMC’s in this region.”
“Our goals are aligned.”
“As you said, Hammer Strike is a necessary evil.”
“A mercenary and a philosopher, you certainly full of surprise Mr. Lightning Colt.” The Zebra prime minster laughed. Flash Sentry remained stoic as a statue. Twilight continued to study to her protector’s demeanor.
Suddenly the carriage shook as it came to a sudden halt.
“What was that?” The princess said. Flash rolled down the window and popped his head out.
Three wagons ahead of him the head of the convoy had stopped due to an unseen obstruction. At the top of the wagon, an earth pony guard manning a machine gun turret was shouting at what had to a be the delay.
“Please identify yourself and move out of the way or we will fire.” He heard the guard shout. He could hear the sound a soft chuckle before the guard continued. “I’m giving you til the count of three before I blow you away asshole.” Flash could feel the tension in the air build. “One!” Years of training kicked in fast as instinct “Two!” His clients were impatiently chattering about what was going on but Flash’s focus was singular, survival. “Three!” He heard the sound a blade being unsheathed, the faint hum of its high frequency vibrations ringing in his ear. He shouted to the carriage driver.
“Pull out now!” The sound a storm of bullets cracked the sky and clashed with the sound of those shots being deflected by the unseen assailant’s blade, The driver exited his shocked state and pulled back on the reigns of the stallion that pulled the carriage. The passengers watched as the first wagon was sliced into ribbons by a shimmering crimson blade as the other two emptied their compliment of guards to confront the assailant.
They pulled out of the convoy and with the other two wagons behind them turned right down the street. As they passed an alley way a group of masked cyborg stallions pulled a large metal barricade behind them, causing the other two wagons to be separated from the Flash and the Prime Minister and the Princess. The carriage swerved to avoid crashing in the harbor and continued down the street back towards the summit building only to find that the road had already been blocked by the same type of barricade that cut them off from reinforcements. Another group of masked stallion clad in black cybernetic armor with red highlights along the limbs and joints approached slowly, their heavy blades gripped tightly in their teeth.
“What are we gonna do?” The Prime Minister shouted. Twilight was busy doing some breathing exercises to keep her from calm and collected in the stressful situation.” Flash stood up.
“Take it down the alley ways. They appear to be betting you stay on the main roads. Get to the alternate rendezvous point I just sent to your nav. They will probably already have the summit building locked down and expect us to go back there.” He said as he opened the door. Twilight exhaled deeply and asked.
“But what about you Flash?” The stallion hopped out with his briefcase. He didn’t look back as he said.
“My job.”
“Be careful, Flash.” She said as Flash kicked the door shut with his back hoof.
The carriage sped off down the nearby alleyway and kicked off a large cloud of dust. The five cybernetic stallions halted as the dust dissipated and revealed Flash Senty. He would have seen that they were grinning maliciously, even with the blades in their mouths, had they not had the thin metal face mask covering most of their muzzle. They encircled the finely dressed pegasus .
Flash smiled as he ripped his tie off with his teeth. He then pushed a button on his briefcase with is his hoof. The briefcase floated and crackled with electricity that radiated into Flash’s body and ripped the suit from his body revealing his cybernetic components. From the neck down he was covered in metallic body parts, his only natural parts that remained being his head, parts of his wings and tail. The briefcase opened to reveal of a pair of high frequency wing-blade that followed the electrical arcs to attach to his wing tips. A telescopic attachment extended from Flash’s and placed a cybernetic eye patch, which fed him real time data via an enhanced augmented reality, access to his soliton radar and codec communications with his superiors, upon his left eye.
One of the large stallion rushed forwards and swung the blade his mouth at the cyborg pegasus. With his enhanced speed and skills, Flash dodged the blade with a defense offensive and then followed with a flurry of heavy strikes with his blade which knocked the blade the from the stallions grip and pushed the attacker on his hind legs. Flash called upon his Zandatsu training and extended boost to his reflexes from his fuel cells, which momentarily froze time in place as he delivered several precise vertical and horizontal slices, cutting into the cyborg’s limbs and torso. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the blue spinal cord that held the turquoise colored fuel cells of the stallion’s body. With lighting reflexes Flash grabbed the spinal cord and ribbed it from the stallion’s body.
“Bull’s-eye!” Flash said as he crushed the pack of fuel cells in his hoof as he landed. He felt the electrolytes recharge his own fuel cells thanks to the new systems Rare-IT had added in his last upgrade.
A second stallion rushed Flash but he easily blocked the blade and with a clean slice he cut the stallion down. Two more stallions rushed from behind, but Flash knew they were coming and jumped into the air, spun around like a helicopter and loped both the stallions’ heads off, their headless bodies continued forward until they tripped on their own severed heads. He landed and then slid underneath his final assailant, which launched him into the air and using his wingblade and special bladed attachment in his tail, slice the enemy into ribbons, his crimson nanopaste stained the ground and allowed Flash to slide all the to the other side of the street. As he stood up he wiped his wingblade clean of the nanopaste, by wiping them across a special niche on his chest plate, while the four enemy corpses exploded behind him, as was common for military cyborg bodies.
Flash then heard the familiar ring of his Codec, a secure radio/video transmission system that functioned by the direct manipulation of the small bones in the ears.
“Flash. Are you okay?” Boaris, a former Stalliongrad commandant who acts as president of Hammer Strike Military Consulting, said.
“Yes. I’m fine. Did you get a look at those cyborgs?”
“Yes I did. Those marking belong to Bandito arms and services. A PMC based out of Packmulestan that specialize in working with third world radical groups.”
“So terrorists and warlords.”
“If you’re so inclined to call them that.”
“Cut the political correct bullshit, Boaris. I can guess that one of these radical groups have worked with Bandito in the past.”
“The list is far too long. They have contracts throughout the region and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.”
“Do you think they are acting alone?”
“Flash. The PMC doctrine treaty signed in Canterlot six years ago forbade Private Military Contractors from acting on their own agendas. We have other things to worry about? Where are the clients?”
“I sent to your rendezvous point. They should have gotten there by now.”
“I don’t see them on my screen, their beacon is off line.”
“Shit.”
“I can send you the last known location.”
“On my way.” Flash saw the ping of the carriage’s last known location. Getting on all four legs he galloped at a speed impossible to one not enhanced by cybernetics, an ability he called his Ninja run. He leapt over abandoned vehicle, slid under obstacle and sliced his way through the barricades placed in his path.
As he arrived at the coordinates, located near the city docks, he found the carriage over turned, both of the his cyborg allies dead, Twilight Sparkle splayed out on the overturned vehicle, blood seeped from a wound under her wing. The zebra Prime minister was scurrying on his back away from a tall and imposing figure. He was a white pegasus stallion, with bulging red eyes and a yellow buzz cut mane, he was equipped with black colored cybernetic components with red highlights, similar to the other Bandito stallions, in his hoof he held a strange heavy pincer like blade. He clapped the blades’ ‘jaws’ shut in a menacing manner as he approached the prime minister.
“What do you want?” The Zebra Prime Minister said as he coughed up chunks of his esophagus.
“War and plenty of it. Yeah!” The stallion shouted waving his Pincer like blades above his head and placed sunglasses upon his face only to then whip them off at insane speed towards the Prime Minister’s face knocking him unconscious. The stallion approached the unconscious Zebra and hefted him over his shoulder.
Flash arrived on the scene.
“Halt.” Flash shouted. The tall cyborg turned. He traced his eyes up and down the pegasus cyborg ninja. He chuckled.
“So you must be Flash. Yeah.”
“What do you want with the Prime Minister?” Flash said. The enemy cyborg looked at the unconscious zebra on his shoulder and shugged his immense shoulders before he grabbed the prime minister’s hind legs in one hoof and threw him twenty yards to his right, a just a few inches for the falling in the harbor.
“He ain’t the one I’m after.” The cyborg the grabbed the wounded twilight princess, her eyes were wide with fright. Flash readied himself to strike but before he could even move, the cyborg brought pincer blade up and placed Twilight’s head in between the scissor-like serrated cutting edges. “Don’t even think about it.”
“What do you want with her?”
“I want her…dead. Yeah!” He screamed the last word for no real reason. He then got close to Twilight ear and whispered. “Nothing Personal.” He then increased his volume to regular and continued. “The Zebra lands are just getting way too friendly these day for my taste.”
“What The Fuck!”
“Yeah! Business hasn’t been the same since they shut down SOP.” He replied as he began to pace around the destroyed carriage, his blades still inches from decapitating Twilight. The cyborg continued. “A clean break from the war economy. That’s what the big wigs in Canterlot said. Well some of us liked that economy. How’s an honest warmonger supposed to make a living? Yeah!”
“Meaningless slaughter. And destruction. This is your answer?” Flash replied. The dark cyborg just laughed as he tightened his grip on the trigger that held the blades from snapping shut. “Don’t you dare hurt her.” Flash growled, his wing blades drawn.
“Don’t worry boy. I’m not gonna do it now. Not while she’s…still useful.” He turned his gaze out over the harbor.
About fifty yards from shore a wave crest rose out of the calm harbor towards the two cyborgs and hostage at a speed that was unnatural. Flash could see red lights shining beneath the steadily. At this moment the zebra Prime Minster began to stir and stand shakily on his hooves. When suddenly an enormous mechanical creature leapt from the water and landed on the shore, one of its two humongous legs crushed the Prime Minster, his body exploding in a crimson mist. Flash recognized the mechanical monstrosity as a Metal Gear Brae, a vaguely manta ray or penguin looking war machine meant to do battle with opposing metal gears. This one was different though. It seemed leaner and it was make of the same black metal and had red highlights similar to the cyborg enemies he had fought today. It also had the Bandito logo emblazed upon it two wing like appendages. The Metal Gear Brae roared a challenge at Flash Sentry. Flash turned to heavy cyborg, who said.
“So long…” And he leapt high into the air to the roof tops while he screamed. “YEAAAAAHH!”
Flash rushed to follow only to be cut off by long jet of plasma energy, which incinerated the carriage, emitted from the mouth of the Metal Gear Brae. Flash readied his blade and stared down the four story tall Metal Gear.
The Metal Gear squatted opened fire with its four quad machine guns, one upon the wing attachments and one each hip joined. Flash rushed the creature, his cyborg body increasing his movements allowing him to deflect the barrage of bullets with his blade as he made his way towards the behemoth.
“A Metal Gear? Here? Darling use you ninja run to deflect those shots.” Rare-IT said over the codec.
Flash followed the mare’s advice as he dodged a volley of missiles fired from the Brae’s back and impacted the street around him. He finally reached the lumbering Metal Gear and began to unleash a flurry of quick slashes at its left foot. In response the Brae lifted it left foot and attempted to stomp upon Flash who used an offensive defensive slide to avoid and then quickly regain combat advantage by delivering a heavy strike to the same foot. Flash then used the power of his cybernetic legs to leap high into the air to the hip of the Metal Gear. He focused his energy into the servos controlling his wing blades allowing them to move at a speed faster than the eye and proceeded to slice through the Metal Gear’s armored hide and destroyed one of its four gun emplacements. He landed on the ground and spun his blade like a cool dude.
“Excellent Flash. Using Blade Mode you cut through the UG’s (unmanned gear) armor.” Said Boaris. Upon hearing that nopony was actually piloting the gear, Flash smiled a satisfied smile.
The Metal Gear Brae then leapt forty yards down the street and roared angrily at the stallion that had attacked it. The weapon of mass destruction then once again opened fire upon the quick stallion, which once again deflected the bullets but also had to dodge the long jets of super hot plasma fired from the machine’s mouth.
“Interesting. Bandito must have removed the mouth in emplaced plasma cutter and replaced it with a plasma cannon. Do your best to avoid those beams Flash. They’ll singe your glossy finish. And Faust only knows how it would affect your hair.” Interjected Rare-IT as Flash dodged the deadly orange beams and slid on his back, deflecting bullets all the way, until he was at the Metal Gear’s right foot at which point he flexed his back muscles so he could launch into the air and, in blade mode once more, sliced through the armored plate and the second gun emplacement.
The Metal Gear Brae retaliated by pivoting it hip joint in order to hit Flash and send him flying fifthteen yards. Using his computer aided articulation and ninja training, Flash landed back on his hooves like blind cat being launched out of a catapult at brick wall with spikes painted on it. The Metal Gear Brae ushered forth another terrifying roar as its left wing appendage shifted into the shape of a blade that glowed with heated plasma energy. It swung back and then brought the monumental blade down upon the cyborg pony ninja. Flash aligned his wing blades into a defensive stance as the blade fell.
The harsh sound of metal crashing upon metal could be heard throughout the spookily vacant city block. Flash struggled against titanic blade. His feet had made indentations in the street from the force of the attack. The Metal Gear Brae, realizing it had not killed the cyborg, pressed forward on the blade, causing Flash to be pushed back, which created deep trails as his feet grinded on the pavement. Flash felt sweat drip from his brow on to his face, the heat of the plasma blade beating down just as hard as the cutting edge. He drew upon his inner strength and that of the full cells in his cyborg body and pushed against the Metal Gear’s blade which allowed him to stand full erect on all four legs. He then knocked the Metal’s blade off of his and to the left, which prompted the metal beast to swing it right in an attempt to swat Flash, who sheathed his sword, stood on his hind legs and grappled the super heated blade with his forelegs and, in defiance of the laws of physics, he pulls and lifts the multi ton Metal Gear Brae by the blade attachment, spun it around and launched fifty stories into the air. He then, using the burst of adrenaline, a boost to his energy output and a song playing in his soul, leapt into the air, landed on the wing blade and ninja ran up along the blades edge delivering quick and devastating slashes along the way. Upon reaching the creature shoulder, Flash jumped quickly deflected the bullets from shoulder mounted gun emplacement before launching a downward slice that destroyed the third gun emplacement and severed the wing blade appendage from the body of the Metal Gear Brae.
“Yes! Yes! Split that thing wide open!” Boaris said over the codec.
Flash landed back on the street with the grace of cat at a five star hotel and bar while the Metal Gear Brae crashed down behind him in two halves of a burning hulk. Flash stood slashed his wing blade in a flashy manner, ran them through a special cleaning and honing block built into his foreleg elbows and sheathed them as the Metal Gear Brae’s left wing appendage exploded. He didn’t look back…because he was a cool colt.
“YATTA! Very good! But do not rest easy just yet!” Boaris said. “I’ve got that bomb-bastard on your Soliton radar. He is on the other side of that collapsed building! Go!”
Flash followed the CEO’s orders and, using his superior speed and agility, scaled the debris and destruction left by the battle to the other side of the devastated structure. There from his elevated vantage point he could see the malevolent cyborg and his lilac colored hostage leaping off in the distance at the end of the empty canal route.
Wasting no time, Flash leapt from the building and landed in the empty canal route. He activated his ninja run, and made his way over obstacles. He jumped over trash cans, skipped atop abandoned carriages, slid under old iron gates and sliced through wired fences.
At the end of the canal he saw his quarry atop a nearby building as he and his hostage leapt from the structure to the streets below. Perturbed by his inability to faster, Flash leapt up the fire escape to the top of the building. Once there he heard a tremendous and familiar roar as the Metal Gear Brae leapt onto the scene and bellowed a challenge at the ninja pegasus.
“That damn UG! It still works?!” Boaris said. Flash drew his blade and snorted in disrespect to the overgrown distraction that stood before him.
The Metal Gear Brae fired a burning orange beam of plasma from its cannon and ran it in a sweeping motion over the rooftop. Flash, using the reflexes of his ninja training, stretched out his four limbs so that beam passed harmlessly over him, his body doing the splits so hard that a normal stallion would have cried in agony. He then immediately rolled out of the way as the right wing appendage, now in the shape of super heated blade, came crashing down upon his location.
Flash got to his hooves and readied his wing blades as the right wing appendage opened up revealing row upon row of rocket missiles. The missiles erupted towards in a wave of highly explosive warheads. Flash concentrated his focus and increased his agility to allow him move his blade faster than the eye could see. To him time seemed to slow to a crawl, no time spell required, as slashed his blade in a precise and calculated manner, striking the projectiles in a way that caused them to fall to the ground harmlessly.
The Metal Gear roared in anger as it leapt back fifty yards and readied itself to fire its full complement of rocket missiles in a hail-Mary-fire attempt to destroy its skilled opponent. The rocket missiles erupted fourth from the many hidden compartments along the Metal Gear’s body and made a bee line directly towards the stallion that stood on the rooftop.
Flash grinned as he leapt into the air and used his ninja run to leap with inhuman grace and agility from one rocket missile to the next, using them as his personal highway to the danger zone, before launching himself at the Metal Gear’s right shoulder, used a flurry of horizontal and vertical slices to rend the armor attaching the right wing appendage and then delivered a powerful buck from his back legs to fully separate the right wing appendage. The Metal Gear roared in pain as it once more fell to the ground being Flash, who landed catlike once more and stylishly flourished blade in victory.
When suddenly the Metal Gear Brae lunged forward and captured Flash Sentry in its metal maw, and attempted to crush the cyborg ninja into electrolyte rich nanopaste. Flash retaliated to the sudden change in events by stabbing his wingblade into the mechanical monster’s jaw, repeatedly. The Metal Gear screamed and threw its head back, launching the pegasus stallion sixty stories up the tall clock tower behind him where he smacked into the old brick work leaving an imprint.
Flash quickly recovered his bearings as he immediately began to gallop down the face of the of the clock dower, narrowly dodging falling debris dislodged by his impact, the array incoming rocket missiles and the deadly beam of plasma energy being fired from the Metal Gear’s steal jaw. Flash felt himself going faster than ever before, his cybernetic legs functioning at full power and the force of gravity propelled him towards the Metal Gear Brae, which waited like a hungry predator at the base of the tower. From a distance it would not be a stretch to believe an observer would mistake the orange colored ninja for a bolt from the heavens tearing asunder the clock tower. Flash leapt off from the tower and landed atop the Metal Gear’s head with the force of a lightning strike and with equivalent speed dug his wing blades into its steel rode down the Metal Gear’s back cutting it cleanly in half. He leapt off the Metal Gear’s tail, stylishly flourished his blade in victory and ran it across the special honing block in his elbows as the Metal Gear Brae split in half and exploded thunderously behind him. Again he didn’t look back.
From where he stood he watched as the mysterious cyborg leapt with Twilight on to a passing train. Flash propelled himself forward and landed on the last car just before it could escape his reach. He steadied himself as he stood on the fast moving train.
“Flash,” Boaris said over the Codec. “an unidentified tiltrotor is headed your way. Keep an eye out for it. The cavalry is on its way.” As if it had been summoned by the talking pig’s words, a red and black tilt rotor helicopter flew above Flash towards the front of the train. Flash pursued on foot, jumping over cargo containers until reached an empty car.
On the empty car Flash saw Twilight, her forelegs chained to the next cargo container car where the unidentified tiltrotor hover menacingly. The tall cyborg pegasus stallion stood next to her, his forearms crossed and piece of shit grin on his muzzle as he waited for Flash to arrive. Sitting on a box, looking quite bored, there was another pony, a pegasus mare. She had a bright yellow mane and tail and looked like a cyborg. She had a teal green coat from the neck up, a grey colored body with a red right foreleg. She also had a scabbard for her sword which looked like a gunmetal gray colored crossbow.
“Twilight.” Flash yelled jumping from the cargo container car onto the empty one.
“Too little, too late, hero. Guess you a’int as lightning fast as you thought. Yeah.” Said as he stared down the cyborg ninja. The mysterious mare remained indifferent to the situation. “Looks like I won’t be needing this little shield any long, yeah.” The imposing stallion brought one half of his deadly pincer blade up to Twilight’s throat, she whimpered as she felts its cold edge press on her skin.
“Stop!” Flash exclaimed. He threw his foreleg forward and lowered his blade in a gesture of peace. The cyborg stallion didn’t listen and ran the blade across the lilac mare’s neck not deep enough to kill but enough to scrape, scarlet blood clung to the heavy blade. He then turned away from Flash, grabbed the chained alicorn by the throat, her blood running over his cybernetic hoof, and looked her dead in the eye as he said.
“What about all the good things war has done for us. Why don’t we get letters about that, Princess? That’s a pretty good lesson if I’ve ever heard one. Jobs, technology, a common purpose…” The cyborg mare yawned as the white stallion cyborg continued.
“Flash…Forget about me. Stop him.” Twilight choked. The cyborg stallion released his grasp, allowing the princess to gasp for breath. Flash held his blade at the ready but was conflicted on how to act.
“Neigh-ther of you two are listenin’ to me, yeah!” The stallion said. He then cut Twilight’s restraints causing her to drop onto the same train car as everypony else. Flash felt momentary relief but then melted away as he watched Twilight’s captor circle around her, his teeth in a shark-like smile. Twilight crawled forward on her knees, her body weak and desperate for air. She was unaware of the stallion standing behind her. Flash could sense the imminent danger and rushed forward only for the mare to leap up from her seat, her blood red high frequency wingsword drawn, and lunged at the approaching stallion. Flash had only seconds to block the mare’s attack and parried away the sinister crimson blade. He did a back flip to avoid retaliatory blow and gain a more advantageous position to his new adversary. The mare looked dismissively at Flash.
“Mind if I cut?” she said. Flash glared at the mare then looked behind her as the cyborg stallion grabbed Twilight with his right hoof by the horn and lifted her up off the floor. The stallion then raised his blade in his left hoof and shouted.
“All we’re saying is…give war a chance!” The cyborg then plunged his blade through Twilight’s back, a fountain of blood erupting from her chest as the blade ripped out her front. Some of the blood spray landed on Flash’s face as he heard Twilight let out a pained squeal. Her head fell forward and eyes shut as the last of her breath left her punctured corpse.
“No.” Flash said. The cyborg stallion laughed and using the blade moved the impaled alicorn princess over the side of the moving rail car, shrugged the blade and allowed her to slip off the blade and land on the fast moving terrain like a discarded rag doll.
“RULES OF NATURE!!!” The cyborg stallion shouted and held his bloody sword over his head as a trophy. He then jumped atop the next Cargo car where the tiltrotor hovered and grabbed onto a rope lowered from the aircraft. “You have some fun Lightning Dust, come on up when you’re done. He’s all yours…YEEAAAHHH!!!” He said as the tiltrotor lifted him up into its protective hold.
“OUT OF MY WAY!” Flash roared as he charged the cyborg mare. His blade was drawn as he struck at full gallop. The mare parried his strike without a sweat and then struck Flash’s sword causing him to slide back, the sound of screeching metal was heard as metal hooves scrapped on the metal train car. The mare readied her wingblade for another attack. Flash growled and held his own high frequency wingblade at the ready.
“Let’s go pretty boy.” Lightning Dust said as they entered a tunnel. Flash activated his eye patch attachment. “Now, now. Don’t be Shy.” She stood in place inviting Flash to attack. He accepted the invitation.
He gallops forwards and swings his blade only to miss as the mare dodges out of the way and launches her own attack. He barely has enough time to parry her heavy and powerful blows. Her speed astounds him. He’d never seen a cyborg move with such fluidity and speed. The air crackled with static electricity generated by her insane movements. He saw a crimson arc form behind her blades heavy strike that breaks his guard and sends him flying backwards. He quickly got to his hooves only to find her bearing down upon him like a missile. He raises his blade and the two warriors’ blades crash, sparks flying as the high frequency blades vibrate against each other.
“Self-taught…” Lightning Dust said. She disengaged and swung at him again. Again the two blade meet with the clang of steel on steel. “And not half-bad. Still…” Flash take a moment to leap in the air and attempt to strike Lighting Dust from behind only for her to quickly kick the stallion upwards to the ceiling of the tunnel, his back scrapped against the stone. He planted his back hooves on the wall and launched himself back onto the train atop another cargo car. “Your technique lacks something…” Flash heard her say as she jump kicked him, knocking back off the cargo car and onto an oil tank car. Flash attempted to slash at her only for his blade to miss and for him receive a grievous strike to his side and was punched back. He raised his blade to parry only for her to once again break his guard and sent him hurdling back. “Pathetic” Flash rushed her again and again she dodged and broke his parries. “Still not good enough.” He growled and rushed again. Lather rinse and repeat as the two cyborgs’ blades met. They looked eachother in the eye as the sparks flew from their conflicting blades. Grunts and growls were emitted by the two fighters as they struggled to gain advantage on the other, Lightning Dust clearly having the edge on the cyborg ninja. She studied Flash’s face for a moment, then his blade and said.
“Ah! Now I see. You deny your weapon its purpose.” Flash’s eye widens as Lightning Dust breaks their blade lock and strikes his muzzle with her blades’ hilt as she pulls it up. She then twirls slashes at hooves and then turns the blade upwards. Flash turns his face to the right to avoid decapitation but her speedy strike runs up his left cheek and cuts through his eye patch attachment and slices out his eye. The force of the blow causes Flash to do a back flip. He landed on his hooves but in a prone position. He can feel the warm mix of blood and nanopaste flow down his face and onto the train car below. Lightning Dust twirled her blade around before her kneeling foe as she continued. “It yearns to bathe in the blood of your enemies…but you hold it back.” She rests the blade against her shoulder. Flash raised his left hoof to cover his bleeding wound in vain, the sticky mix of fluids seeping out and down. He answered.
“No...” He rose to stand on three hooves. Lightning Dust looked surprised that the stallion had any ounce of fight left within his cyborg body. Flash looked at her with fiery determination, electricity dancing in his cobalt blue eye, as he said. “My sword is a tool of justice.” Lightning Dust groaned at the stallions answer as she stabbed her sword into the fuel take, ran along with it sparking the fluid and drew it out in front of flash, her blade now bathed in flame and proceeded to strike at him. He did his best to parry her attacks but her strength, speed and power were far too great for even him to handle. She knocked him back off the fuel car and onto yet another cargo car. The fuel car exploded which served to propel Lightning Dust towards Flash, her blade raised high to deliver a powerful blow. Flash parried and pushed her back. She sheathed her blade within its crossbow shaped sheath. Flash saw this as an opportunity to attack and lunged forward. His blade was mere inches from the mare’s throat when suddenly he heard a click and her crimson blade launched from its sheath onto her wing and she swung upwards slicing off Flash’s right foreleg and wing, a burst of red nanopaste leaked from his stub and limb as it flew away in the dark tunnel. Flash recoiled back and saw his vision blur. He body was losing vital amounts of nanopaste and functionality was severely decreased. He stumbled back on his hind legs. In his mind he lamented that once again he’d lost that leg, and dreaded that he might lose his life this day. Lightning Dust planted her blade into cargo car and used it to swing her back legs forward to kick the unsteady Flash Sentry off the train. Flash only barely had enough time and strength to grip onto the edge of the top of the cargo train car, his back hooves dangled mere feet from the train tracks. “And that class is what happens when you bring a tool to a sword fight.” Lightning Dust said as she stood triumphantly over the cyborg ninja. “It’s over.” She lifted her blade high to finish the stallion off as the white light of the end of the tunnel blinded Flash.
Flash felt the fresh outside air and heard the bullets fire from the .50 caliber machine gun fly through the air. He looked to his left and found a convoy of four armed and armored personnel carriage following alongside the train on a road opposite the tracks, a deep ravine separating the two trains. In the lead carriage, manning the machine gun was none other than Boaris. The squat and rotund wild boar of Stalliongrad, he had his heavy brown fur trimmed short and in between his sharp tusks was a dense dark brown mustache.
“Kept you waiting, ah?” He said as he continued to pepper the cyborg pegasus with machine gun fire.
“Lucky devil.” Lightning Dust said as she deflected the bullets with her blade. Lightning looked up and watched as the tiltrotor drop a rope down for her. She looked at Flash as he dragged himself on top of the train car and shot him a look that said ‘we’ll finish this later.”, as she leapt up to the rope and was dragged into the tiltrotor via a winch.
Boaris had a guided rocket propelled missile launcher handed to him by someone within the carriage and fired at the escaping enemy aircraft. The missile locked on to the target and made a direct bee line for it, when suddenly the tiltrotor released several white glowing spheres.
“Flares. The clever bastards.” Boaris cried as the flares confused the missile causing it to crash into a mountainside as the tiltrotor escaped into the sunset.
Flash watched as his enemies flew away before collapsing face first on the train car. His vision grew dark. Before he blacked out he could here Boaris over his codec.
“Flash! No, this is impossible! Flash! Flash! FLAAAAASSSSSSHHH!!!”
End of Mission 01
Rank D