The Following of the viper squadron wind their way through Equestria and see the people who will come and go.
This story belongs to the story set Mark Of The Viper in which we follow the Viper Squadron and their parrels and lives as a Special Operations Squadron. The stories are a volume of short stories that follow no order and have no real order (Position in time will be started in authors notes) and the character sheet will be updated to show charters as they come in their story sets. Some stories will be repeated in a different set because it might involve two charters from two different sets. Warnings
In the middle of nowhere in Black Water, Viper squadron Dontavion walks up to his little tent. "Any sign of Rose?" He questions "No sir" Newbie quickly responds "great," Dontavion said a bit underwhelmed "have you asked the girls yet?" Rylie asks "no Cowboy" Dontavion responds. As he turns to go to the other tent he is stopped by Rose "sorry to keep you waiting" she cheerfully said, "Why have you been away for so long?" Dontavion asks "Well I got lost in the snow storm" she responds "well did you see anything?" Dans quickly asks "doses snow count?" She sarcastically responds "WOW really!!" Danz sais excited "shut it both of you" Dontavion demands "yes sir" they both respond.
Rose walks into her tent "hey" Sara says as Jackie still sits at the radio trying to get it to work "damn thing" Jackie complains "what is it, Jack?" Rose asks "this damn radio isn't working" Jackie responds Rose inputs "how long have you been at it?" "4 hours," Jackie says a bit pissed. Rose walks to her cot "I hate it during winter" Sarah complains "I just want to go back to base and just sit by the heater and enjoy a hot.." "SARA!!" Jackie and Rose shout at the mare "sorry" she mutters "we all want to go back to base...even the guys" Rose said sounding a bit upset. Sara puts another log into the fireplace "you really that cold Sara?" Rose asks "I'm freezing Rose by the time I get back to base my main is going to be blue" Sara scolds "didn’t mean to burst your bubble" Rose sounding defensive.
They get moving and everything is fine for 3 hours "movement west" Sara responds "yeah I see them too" Dontavion explains. They draw their weapons "thunder.." Dontavion calls out, no response "we got reds!" Sarah yells and shots start to fire and they take crossfire the N.R take the volley of gunfire an attempt to retaliate against the Militia but fail to do so.
After a few miles of walking with a wounded pilot, they make it back to their tents and the pilot is put into the medical tent where Sarah tends to him Rose and Donavin return to the tents. “So what happened?” Jackie quickly asks “just a downed 7th nothing much” Rose responds “what..did you just say..7th?” Jackie says looking at Rose confused “yeha..what about it?” Rose asks “it's just odd how one would be all the way out here and not in orbit,” Jackie says about starts to think about it “Jackie the radio,” Rose says excited “get Newbie hell contact Steel,” says Jackie jumping to the radio. Rose gets Newbie and after a few hours of him talking what seemed like nonsense to the Jackie and Rose but Newbie turns to them and says “well we will be out of here by tomorrow...don’t tell Sarah” the two mares nod with a smile on their faces they going to keep it from Sarah until they're picked up.
As the night passed and the raging blizzard has calmed to a light snowfall all that stands is the rising sun and snow. The sound of a chopper wakes many of the snowbound Vipers. “Ugh..why so early” Sarah groans not realizing what has woke her yet. “Sarah wake you dumb fuck,” Jackie says shaking her “what..what,” says Shara enthusiastically Jackie manages to drag Sarah outside which lifts Sarah’s spirits high. Rose and Rylie watch as the 7th pilot is lifted onto a chopper and Donavin is talking to Steel. Sarah puts the dumbest smile on her face and thinks “finally going back”.
After a few hours of flight on the choppers, they finally arrive back at base. Sarah splits off quickly back to her room and almost halfway there she is stopped by Aron. “Hey Sarah” he grabs her attention by saying that “oh..Aron” she turns to see him “so where have you been?” he asks “I think you know” she sarcastically responds “ok got me there” he says “Aron” she says “yes?” he responds “look at this wall” she asks him he stares at the wall for about a minute “what am I looking at?” he asks confused then Sarah slams his head into the wall “Dammit Sarah” he says “If you break or damage my beak at all I’m going to hurt you” “ well then you are the toughest gryphon in the 6th I know so why to worry?” she exclaims “well I best get going” she says “and I’m fairly certain Monty is looking for you” “shut up and go already” he says as they both turn away laughing. The rest of the vipers have already settled themselves down in their room. “Knock knock” Dontavion says walking up to Rose’s door “what is D?” she asks “well can’t check on squad?” he asks “Shut up D” she says annoyed “well I should come back later then?” he asks “yeah sure whatever” she says as Dontavion walks out and Rose lets out a loud huff as she grabs her things and does what most of them were probably doing. Rose thinks to herself “after a month of that crap I’m finally glad to have some time to relax and well just sleep in a proper place for once.
The freezing cold on this day didn't make my sickness any better and the fact I was on one of the trucks without the canvas top so I was forced to have the snow fall on me. “You ok?” Dontavon says with a bit of concern “If you call one of the nastiest colds ever...yeah I’m fine” I said sarcastically only to break into a volley of coughs, Dontavon sat next to me and gave me one more blanket, I took it and wrapped them around me and shivered still it was annoying. Dontavon tried to put me to sleep but the cold and the sound of the 6 tanks we had with us, we originally had 7 but one was knocked out none of the crew survived. I looked around I saw Phoenix’s easy eight and the rest of the small platoon we were with.
Dontavon sat next to me with his eyes closed thinking or relaxing...I commonly can't tell, I leaned on him for something in the way of warmth and he didn't stop me from doing so. “What's wrong Rosalie?” he said with concern in his voice and he called me Rosalie when things weren't going wrong or when he wasn't being lazy “Ju..ju...just cold...that's all” I studdered. He pulled me closer and if I didn't know why he did it I would have blushed.
I almost fell asleep before I heard the loud sound of a tank cannon did not only scare the living shit out of me but kept me awake. I glanced to see the smoke coming off of Phoenix’s tank gun I saw the flame of a little cat or a panther Phoenix saw him before the cat did. “All clear” Phoenix shouted “Keep moving” and I sighed. I felt Dontavion’s hoof in my mane and it was strange but to my surprise to find out I fell asleep for about 6 hours and when I woke I was in a tent with Dontavon reading something and saw me “ah..you're awake” He said with enthusiasm “yeah..” I said rubbing my head with the sickness still in my voice “damn” Dontavon muttered “We need to get back to the trucks” he said pointing at the exit of the tent. I walked to a truck that was mostly empty and to my relief I got one with a canvas top so I didn't have to deal with the snow.
Once again I was with Dontavon “Hey Rosalie” he said walking up “hey” I replied in a low voice. I was happy to see Jackie and Sarah join us in the truck. “Hey, kid how you doing?” Jackie asked calmly “I’ve been better” I replied with a failed attempt to laugh only for it to become a variety of coughs “ehh...just try to get some sleep,” Sarah said “I’ll try,” I said falling asleep.
Phoenix and everyone else who could see it say a graveyard of steel N.R, Militia, and the small rebellion that protected Black Water. “Damn,” Jackie said lightly “yeah...it's like the war just froze,” Sarah said with some sorrow in her voice “How many do you think survived?” Jackie said with a bit of fear in her voice “don't know..” Sarah said not helping Jackie’s fear at all and they both sat down. “She still out D?” Sarah asks “yeah..” he said looking down at me “I feel bad that she had to get sick on the road back,” Jackie says with concern in her voice.
Several more hours went past and I woke to see everyone else asleep and I sighed quietly. I looked out the back of the truck and reached for my canteen and once again sighed...it was frozen “bugger that..” I muttered quietly. I waited for the trucks to stop for a solid 2 hours and by then the rest stop came quickly after that. “Finally,” Jackie said in relief and she helped me out and guided me to a tent through the dark snowy night.
I spent the night there and made an attempt to write a letter and in my journal but I was shaking too much to write anything legible so I went to sleep but the thoughts of what I’ve seen just gave me back an old sickness which was homesickness so while trying to sleep I just lie awake and thinking and just preventing me from sleeping and I soon pushed myself to sleep till the next morning. I was coughing a lot and general concern for my health raised I’ve been sick for about 4 days straight “Hey kid” Jackie said in a low comforting voice “Hey Jack..what is it?” I asked “Phoenix said we should be back to base by the end of today if everything goes well,” she said trying to cheer me up “yay..” I lightly let out as I tried to get up but Jackie quickly helped me get back to the trucks and we got moving.
I watched the large KV-1 trudge its way through the snow and this time Jackie was next to me with her big stupid smile on her face. “Were you like this before Alice died?” I asked “Yep,” she said without hesitating. Now she is nice, calm, happy, soft-spoken now I thought to myself I thought it was weird that she went from this cold-blooded killer to a soft and gentle mare it confused the hell out of me. The sound of gunfire put me back to my senses when I looked out Phoenix’s tank has shot several of its 76mm rounds at a few tanks all I saw was the burning chassis of 2 Panthers and 1 tiger.
Jackie’s prediction was right we were back at base all in one day but it was a bit later than I would have expected it to. Dontavon helped me all the way down to my room. I had one of my hind legs almost broken but to my luck, it was only sprained it was hard to walk without help. He got me to my room and helped me onto my bed “Thanks, D.” I said with a lot of sleepiness in my voice “You should get some rest.” He said “Ok..” I responded, “How about I get you something else to eat?” He asked, “It would be nice.” I said lowly. Dontavon got up and walked off and he wouldn't come back for a few minutes. Dontavon came back with a bit of bread and soup I sat up and he handed me the food and I took it. I ate it without even taking a breath “Thank you..” I said lightly “Not a problem. By the next moment, I realized that I was kissing Dontavon I nearly jumped out of my skin, “D..I-I-I’m so..” He interrupted me “What the hell was that Rosalie?” he said walking out of my room. I can't believe I just did that I thought cramming my face between two pillows and at that point, I just wanted to scream.
I didn't hear his footsteps but I heard his voice “Hey there” Rylie says I nearly jumped out of my bed. “Oh..hi Cowboy,” I said slowly trying not to be heard “What you do this time?” He asked “I kissed D,” I said, “so what's with that?” He asked “I said I KISSED D,” I said trying to get him to understand “Oh,” He said, “well don't get yourself in a rut about it...remember he's got Juliet and you have..” “Thomas” I quickly interrupted “yeah..but you don't need to worry ok this will all blow over before you know it..ok,” he said with empathy in his voice. He walked off and turned off the light it was night so I got his memo and went to sleep.
Later that night I was awakened by Monty crashing into my room (he can fly planes but not himself). “Monty..” I said startled “Guess what I saw Aron and Sarah doing,” he said excitedly “No what,” I said drowsily he quickly walked up to me and whispered into my ear. “They really did?” I questioned him “yeah,” He said bolting off back into the night. Five seconds later I hear him crash to the ground.
The next morning I was with Sarah and she was patching me up. “I know it hurts but deals with it,” She said like a mother “It doesn't hurt it just stings like a bitch” I snapped at her. Sarah never showed what she did and all you knew that it hurt or sting. “There,” she said sounding proud of her work as she pinned the last bandages. “I heard about what happened between you and Aron last night,” I said and she stopped and froze “You….know…” she said “yeah...Monty told me” I said plainly “Please don't tell anyone..” she said “why,” I asked knowing the answer already but asked anyway “Because I don't want anyone knowing that I like him...” she said quietly “Is it because he's a griffin?” I asked “Mostly…” she said I got a quick chuckle out of it. She grunted and walked out.
I was forced to be in the confines of my room for two weeks. One day while I was sitting out in our area with all of our rooms surrounded. Everyone was doing their normal things until Dontavon walks in. “Everyone up” he shouted the seven of us quickly listen to the order and stood up. “We are getting ready for a raid at Slain Field and that will be a strategic turn point and we are all going,” He said and walked up to me. “That means you too Rosalie,” he said “Honestly I’ve been itching to get out,” I said “That's what I like to hear,” he said. “Everyone grabs your guns and get ready to run,” he said with enthusiasm.
On a long road trip home from West Alren I gazed into the window of my train car and past the sleeping mare next to me. I was looking at my reflection one of a pale yellow skin toned for his fur and a dirty blond-maned stallion named Riley Davis, or me. The young 21-year-old medic next to me was Rose a short gray furred black and vibrant red mane dead asleep. I went from looking at my reflection then to her lying there in her black hoodie and dark green jeep cap and a vector held up by the shoulder strap as well as her combat vest, I smiled and looked around all I saw was a train car with other militants. I sank into my seat and took off my hat, a brown rancher's hat my father's, I gave myself a quick chuckle and thought to myself “It’s what you fight for, and why they call you cowboy Riley.” I then settled in and fell asleep for the long ride back to base.
What only felt like a few minutes of being on a train then suddenly our train car is sitting in a lake with half of it submerged. I shook Rose awake “What is it Riley?” She says rubbing her eyes
“The Train was attacked,” I said grabbing my M60 and supplies
“Wait what?!?” She shouted “W-What should we do?”
“Grab your things we need to follow the train tracks back,” I said getting up. We both got moving quickly following the train tracks backward hoping to find any form of friendlies down the way. It turned out we were leg deep into N.R territory.
We had walked for about three hours and nothing, it was the dead of night and raining. I was scanning the area as we walked, to our luck, a small town appeared on a crossroad.
We went down the road into the town, trying our best not to be seen if anything was there, but it looked like nothing was. I worked my way to a house trying the backdoor, to our luck it was unlocked. We walked inside, the place was a wreck the tables and chairs look like they had been turned into fortifications. “Someone has been here” I groaned
“Then we will just have to keep watch overnight,” Rose says behind me
“I guess you’re right” I reply “If we even sleep tonight”
“You rest first Riley,” She says putting her stuff down
“Alright,” I reply flipping a couch so it’s sitting upright. I laid down to fall asleep after a few minutes.
When morning came I wasn't surprised to see and know she fell asleep as well. We were quickly completely awoken by an explosion. We quickly grabbed our weapons. Outside our window was a Tiger 1 tank and down the road a Militia field gun and an anti-tank team I watched as N.R infantry seized the gun and watched as the AT team were slaughtered by the stormtroopers and riflemen.
Rose and I quickly devised a plain. We ran out the back door towards the gun. We got there quick. I whispered to her “three stormtroopers auto rifles, four riflemen, two snipers, and two semi-auto rifles. Take the snipers and after I help with the rest.” she nods and finds her way around.
I watched the snipers go down and they grouped up, I jumped out of cover and started unloading my M60’s clip into the backs of the infantry. We quickly regrouped and started for the field gun, when it blew up. “The damn tank how can we forget about the tank?” I thought
“Riley the AT rifles!” Rose says quickly
“Right,” I say running up and grabbing one
“I’ll try and look for ammo,” She says starting to scamper off
“Don’t die Fi..we don’t wanna lose another four?” I said to her
“I won’t,” she says running off. I used a body in front of me as cover. The AT rifle was held up by a bipod and when I took the shot it came off “son of bitch” I grumbled. I loaded the next shot using a body as a new bipod. I took a deep breath aimed down the sight aiming at the tank's turret I saw where it was aiming, and I saw Rose I needed to kill it I heard MG fire then two things rang in my ears the loud crack of the AT gun and the booming thunder of the tanks 88mm gun then a louder explosion shook the ground, the tank was dead.
I ran to a Rose on the ground bleeding a lot. I took off everything she had on and started to treat her wounds the best I could, I finished quickly I gave her my flask and she started drinking. “Can you walk?” I asked
“I’d rather not try” she groaned
“Can you shoot?” I asked again
“Yeah...I think” She says through a drink from the flask. I hand her my 1911 and she grasped it, “here goes nothing..” I say as I lift her onto my back lifting her is the easy part moving with a mare on you back is the hard part, luckily she’s very light.
I had picked up a map from one of our fallen soldiers and started running to the nearest outpost. Running out of the city was no easy task because the little squad we ran into wasn’t the only, it was a whole raiding party, so I was running through plenty of rifles, MG, and sniper fire, special ops training came into good use here. Even as we left the town and into the woods, I didn’t stop.
We saw the outpost, but it was wrong on the map it wasn’t an outpost it was an entire trench line. I ran we started to get shot at I screamed as loud as I could “Friendly I’m friendly, I have wounded I have wounded!” I was heard about nineteen yards from the trench. We made it.
Night fell upon us quick, I had decided to give Rose most of my rations, she ate slow, the infantry boys had many questions about us the mares kept away and many of them tried to flirt with Rose but I stopped them, she was tired, sick, and hurt, but she still would have hurt them.
Three hours past it was four o'clock exactly when we all heard the “howling death” which meant Stuka dive bombers. All bombs hit and I hear the groan of Rose, I run to her and pick her up again and I start running with her on my back. “What about the infantry?” she asks quietly
“They can handle themselves,” I say through breaths ignoring my injuries as much as possible
“I guess you're right,” she mumbles. I ran for what felt like hours, but when I slow down I feel the cold of Rose’s blood on my back “Am I gonna die?” I hear Rose murmur “Not on my watch,” I say starting to run again. I felt the urge to just give in, “so what if she dies? We will just get a new four” is what crossed my brain at first then I realized, “she's just a kid she has so much ready for her”, that thought seemed to have just given me the speed and stamina I needed to find help.
I ran for what felt like an eternity, but we found a convoy they let us on and Rose was taken in a medical jeep back to base. I arrived the following day, I was approached by a nurse at the base “Riley Davis?” she said firmly
“That’s me,” I replied
“I would like to tell you that you have saved her,” She said like I knew who she was talking about which I did
“Really?” I said quietly
“With her wounds, if she was left there she would have bled out,” she says
“You may see her if you would like” I smiled and said,
“of course.” She led me to her room, where I pulled up a chair and sat next to her. “Firay?” I said quietly shaking her shoulder “Riley,” she said getting up and hugging me
“How ya feeling baby girl?” I said messing up her mane
“I could be better,” she says “but thank you..”
“I know you would have done the same for me,” I said. We continued to chat for a long while. Eventually, meet up with the rest of the team, and some other friends for a few drinks, everyone wanted to know how we didn’t die, and no matter how many times Rose said I saved her, I always knew we saved each other. I took Rose back to her room where she had proceeded to hug me for what seemed like the one-hundredth time that night alone. “What a wild past two days huh?” I asked
“Yeah.” she giggled “Hey Riley?”
“Yeah?” I had replied
“Do you see everyone as a team or as a family?” she asked
“The Viper Squadron?” I said, “I see us as a family.”
“Heh...good because I see you as the big brother then...and I say that because you act like one because you are a joking dick sometimes, but most of the time you care and help everyone...mostly us” she exclaimed
“Then I guess that makes you the little sister then.” I said messing up her mane and laughing a bit “now sleep baby girl.” I walked out turning off her light and walking to my room.
later that night I wrote to my family at home
Dear, Vanessa
This war has seen many faces lost. Almost mine, I saved a life today. I know ma didn’t want me doing all this “hero work” but this is something that the princesses nor the elements can’t stop, so sister, when you give this to mom, tell her to stop thinking that the people in the Royal Lands are gonna save us all and that I’ll be home for holiday.