The legend of the infamous earthpony General Vahlen still leaves a mark on young stallions as they see the wounded and dead from his abilities. Will they find out if he is myth or legend?
With the Sniper Iron lung hunting down the infamous General Vahlen to avenge his teammates deaths, Will he be able to track him down and avenge them? Or will his new friend Eagle Eye fall prey to the General's wrath as well and make him bear another burden on his quest to kill him. The odds are against him as he and Eagle are bullied on and forced to resort to violence as they are just wanting to get it over with. Only the strong will survive these lands, but are they strong enough?
Iron lung sat on the back of the cargo truck with his rifle in his lap, enjoying the sun as it warmed his face and arms. He smiled a little as he overheard the new recruits in the truck chatting about the Germanic earth-pony that struck fear into even the toughest stallions in the H.O.O.F with his deadly accuracy and his ability to remain hidden in even the most crowded battlegrounds so far.
"I'm telling you dude, I have seen him drop a squad of black manes like he was swatting flies with a zapper." A fresh recruit said as he adjusted his helmet so that it didn't cover his eyes. I smirked as I heard their foalish tall tales to try and seem like the bigger stallion among their squad mates.
"Yeah, and I met the man." Another one said before the rest started laughing and jeering at the new recruit who now pulled his helmet down to hide the embarrassment that was visible, I sighed as I got up shakily and walked over to the group of stallions and got their attention.
"He's right about that though. I've been in a battle with him before.....he's damn near the best one that has walked the earth." Iron lung said while deciding to help out the new recruit. "I've seen him drop a group of Black Manes in less than five minutes......all of them died except one.....their sniper who was the best at the academy before the war started. He reached a stale-mate with the legend when they both kept taking shots off at each other till nightfall hit. After that........he woke up and found that tags were taken off of his comrades and that the sniper was gone." Iron said while his face turned dark and sullen.
"What happened to those that faced off against him?" One of the stallions said as they eyed Iron closely. "I'm still here aren't I?" Iron said as he pulled on his tags to show the elite black ones next to his standard issued ones, letting them look at it as their jaws dropped open and some of them looked away. "S-so he is real?" The one that was making fun of the recruit said weakly. "I wish he wasn't.......otherwise I wouldn't be out here hunting him down." Iron said as he sat down next to the recruit who finally worked up enough nerve to put his helmet on properly and offer his hand for a handshake.
"I-I'm E-eagle E-eye sir." He said weakly as I took his hand and shook it with a firm grip. "I'm Iron Lung." I replied and let go of his shaking hand as I looked back out to the desert as the setting sun was slowly setting over a sand dune as our truck pulled into a town that half demolished from mortar fire and constant bombing from planes overhead. Tonight......tonight on the other hand was a day to rest and enjoy everyponys company since it was hearth warming eve.
Iron lung sat down on the tailgate of the old truck again as it slowly began to pull into the base that was stationed not that far from a town that we've been trying to capture for months. He looked around and noticed all of the decorations set up and the few lights stationed around a few buildings as everyone was dressing into red and green outfits and some of the older soldiers were dressing into outfits that represented their families banner.
"S-so, you celebrate Hearthswarming?" Eagle eye asked as he sat down next to Iron lung and smiled as he watched the stallions goofing off to boost morale for everyone that was returning from the recent failed attempts at taking the town. "Not normally, but I might as well do it since this is a time to celebrate." He said as he felt the Eagle eye take a seat next to him as the truck slowed down to a halt in front of the barracks.
"Okay then, wanna visit the bar after we get settled into the barracks?" Eagle asked Iron as he slid off the tailgate with his bag on his back. "Maybe." Iron said while walking over to the barracks where the CO was located. He walked in and saw that the commanding officer was busy entertaining the other stallions by dressing up as a nurse and was busy dancing on a makeshift platform.
"Iron lung and Eagle eye reporting in for duty sir. What are our orders?" Iron lung said as he approached the platform warily, noticing that some of the stallions seemed irritated and annoyed that he got in their view and was blocking it as he was awaiting for his instructions. "Well look who it is! Our two new soldier boys here to play hero!" The commanding officer said in a girly voice as he pointed us out for everyone to turn and look at.
"With all do respect sir......I am only here to hunt down the one that everyone calls 'Silent shot'." Iron said while narrowing his eyes and glaring angrily at the commanding officer as he could hear some stallions jaws fall open, and a few get up and walk over to a corner and began to talk.
"Yeah, yeah. Now get outta my way so I can enjoy the show." The one behind me said while tossing a a half drank beer can on me, spilling it all over my fatigues and making me smell like cat piss and sweat. "Y-you don't know what you just did." Eagle eye said while backing up as he saw Iron Lung turn around slowly with a crazed look in his eye as as his shirt began to cling to his body, making his well defined muscles visible to everyone that looked.
"Yeah, I poured this piss for beer on a bitch." The one who tossed the beer said while standing up and kicking his chair back and looked down at Iron, standing a few inches taller than him and easily outweighing him. "H-he's a black m-mane beret for H.O.O.F...." The commanding officer said in a quiet voice while backing up off the stage. "He don't look so tough." The idiot said while reaching out and pushed Iron lung on his shoulder, barely moving him.
Iron lung smirked as everyone saw that the other stallion had pushed him first. He lashed out at the stallion, hitting him dead off in the groin and quickly grabbed the back of the stallions head and slammed it into his knee, breaking his nose. Iron smirked as he had stunned his opponent and then shoved him to the floor and kicked him in the face, seeing the blood splatter across the floor and then he quickly got on the stallions chest and hit him in the face as hard as he could a few times, satisfied as he heard the stallion let out a loud groan of pain and got up.
"Does anyone else, think that I am not that tough?" He yelled at them, sneering as he saw that his knuckles were coated in blood and that his tan boots had a quite a bit on them as well. He smiled as a few dragged the limp and beaten stallion to the infirmary.
"R-report to General Sleepy Shimmer." the commanding officer said as he stood mortified at how quickly Iron had brought down Buff Headslam who was normally the one to bring others down with a single hit. Iron snorted as he walked past Eagle and motioned for him to follow as everyone slowly began to go back to their normal positions and the CO shakily got back to his normal position on the platform and began to return to doing the show as Iron and Eagle left the tent/barracks.