Orders:

Situation Enemy: Zebra forward reconnaissance elements have entered Falcon flight’s AO from the north, area grid 25 80 through 55 80, intent unknown. Suspected company strength.

Situation Friendly: Skyhawk flight will be operating parallel of our operation to the east, with Nocturne flight to our west. Radio silence is to be maintained between our respective flights for the duration of this operation.

Mission: Falcon flight will conduct a zone recce of grid 40 65 through 40 80 in order to determine the scale and intent of the incursion no later than 0600 hours today...

—Snap Roll’s Journal

Luna’s faint light was all that illuminated my team as we quietly flew just above the forest canopy, a trio of winged black shapes against the night sky. The area was tropical with a thick canopy, and it was unlikely we would be spotted by anyone directly below us. Our proximity to the trees meant that any aerial observation or active sensors would have a difficult time picking us out of the backdrop of vegetation. The choice was deliberate – a textbook strategy to use against a ground-based enemy.

It was too dark to make out my team’s faces, though I didn’t need to see them to recognize the familiar silhouettes of my team flying in formation behind me. Nosedive was large for a pegasus, and he was my team’s heavy weapons specialist. The distinctive bulk of the plasma cannon resting on his battlesaddle helped pick him out of the starry sky. My other companion’s lithe form kept pace opposite him, and would have been difficult to spot had I not known she was there. Her name was Tailwind, and she was the technical specialist of my team.

The familiar weight of a night vision monocular covered my left eye, bathing the world in a soft green light. Over my right eye rested a sleek piece of pegasi engineering known as a tactical field display, or TFD for short. It served as a small screen that clipped back behind my right ear, with the computing capacity to provide a myriad of tactical uses; from navigation to communication and targeting, kind of like a pared down eyes-forward-sparkle, but without the added bonus of having automatic enemy identification. The thick foliage of the canopy obscured my view of the ground below, but I couldn’t help but find the scene eerily picturesque as the treetops flashed past us.

Consulting the map on my TFD, I saw that we were approaching the rendezvous point. Motioning to the two pegasi behind me, I gestured for them to hold up. They obeyed quietly and efficiently. With a quick set of hoof signals, I sent Nosedive to scout out the ground below us. He dove beneath the layer of leaves and branches with a dexterity one wouldn’t normally expect from a pony his size.

Moments later, we heard a pair of clicks over the radio, our squad’s nonverbal signal for “clear” or “acknowledged”. With another set of hoof signals, I told Tailwind to breach the canopy. She nodded, and we simultaneously dove for the ground. Landing in a low crouch on the forest floor, I was quiet enough to only be heard by my companions. Sparing a glance back, I found myself envious of Tailwind’s particular gift for stealth. Even I hadn’t heard her land, but there she was.

I could make out Nosedive braced against a nearby tree watching towards where we anticipated the zebra main force to be located. I made my way to his side, whispering almost in his ear “Status?” As I motioned Tailwind forward.

“No stripes in sight commander,” he whispered back, adding “Three clicks from the objective.”

Tailwind arrived silently by my side. My only hint of her presence was when her wingtip brushed against my flank. Turning to address her, I whispered “Tailwind, you take the rear while Nosedive takes point.”

I felt more than heard her nicker in my ear, “Rather forward today, aren’t we Chief? Most mares get me to at least buy them dinner first.”

I smiled, long used to her whimsical attitude. “Well, I’m not exactly ‘most mares’, am I?” I countered, knowing full well she understood me despite the banter. Turning back to the buck beside me, professionalism reasserted itself in my whispered voice. “Nosedive, lead us off.”

With a grunt of acknowledgement, the large buck started off in the direction of our objective. Tailwind and I fell in behind, establishing a spacing of about five paces between us as we moved through the thick foliage of the forest floor.

By the clock of my TFD, ten minutes had ticked by as we grew ever closer to the objective before Nosedive raised a foreleg. I copied the motion, looking back to make sure Tailwind had seen it as well. She raised her own foreleg in acknowledgement as she came to a halt and started scanning the surrounding area. Cantering up to Nosedive, I didn’t have to ask before he indicated the reason for our halt. A tripwire – hardly visible, even with the benefit of night vision – ran from a dead tree to a cluster of bushes at knee height.

“Work your magic, Nosedive.” I whispered, scanning the surrounding area as he nodded and began getting to work. I saw him peel back the bushes around where the wire originated.

Nosedive stiffened, whispering back “Cluster of grenades tied to the tripwire, set to blow.” Without waiting for a response, he got to work carefully disarming the deadly bouquet.

As Nosedive worked on disarming the grenades, my eyes continued scanning our surroundings. I was once again struck by the strange, alien beauty of this area. Trees thicker than the length of a pony grew out of the ground at irregular intervals. The ground was hard and felt strange against my hooves; accustomed as they were to the texture of the clouds I’d always called my home. The green tint of night vision made the already alien environment feel even stranger. The vines dangling from low-hanging tree limbs obscured my vision to a few dozen meters. The smell of the forest floor assailed my nostrils; rot, decay, moss, trees, grass and foliage… it was all so different from what I was used to. However, the aspect of the woods that made me feel the most alienated was the complete absence of sound; which struck me as odd, as the whole forest had been humming with the drone of insects and wildlife only moments before. Belatedly, I realized the implications as thoughts of remedial lectures on surface operations came to mind.

I clicked the radio once. Danger.

Nosedive and I slowly lowered ourselves to the ground, careful to avoid sudden movements in the low light. No sooner had we sank beneath the low foliage when we heard the distinctive sound of large gauge wheels crunching through underbrush. There was no sound of an engine, but I imagined it could very well be muffled by some form of arcane zebra talisman. I could make out more detail on the six-wheeled infantry fighting vehicle as it crunched its way within fifty meters of where we crouched. The wheels were evenly spaced along the boat-shaped hull, which angled sharply back towards a short turret positioned towards the rear of the vehicle. I could make out machine gun mounted on either side of the forward glacis plate, with a third mounted co-axially beside a long barreled autocannon fitted to the turret. Rounding out the nasty little IFV’s armament were a pack of two guided missile tubes affixed just behind the crew commander’s cupola.

The eerily quiet vehicle continued its slow route past. The only sounds I could make out were the crunch of underbrush and the slight whir as the turret traversed side to side, constantly searching for targets. When the vehicle at last disappeared from sight, I waited a minute... two minutes... three minutes, before I slowly rose from the foliage to check up on my team.

Nosedive was exactly where I’d left him. I’d known that he had been in the process of disarming the set of grenades when the IFV appeared. What I hadn’t known was that he had just disconnected the tripwire from the armed grenade pack when he halted where he was. For that entire encounter, Nosedive had held the arming spoon to the live grenade pack with his bare hooves. Looking behind me for Tailwind, I saw nothing – even with the night vision – until a wing appeared from a low-hanging tree limb, waving slowly but deliberately enough to get my attention.

Double click. All clear.

Tailwind materialized from the tree, hovering for a moment before touching down in front of me with a grin on her face. I turned back to Nosedive, who had already wrapped the grenade bouquet with a strip of duct tape to hold the trigger spoon in place. His only comment was a low grunt of satisfaction, though I could see a slight tremor in his hooves as he placed the grenades in his saddlebags. Noting the tremor, I whispered, “Nosedive, I’ll take point the rest of the way. Fall in.”

“Roger that, Snap.” He grumbled.

Taking point, I led us off in the direction of the objective. I watched for anything – moonlight reflected off metal, unusual movement in the quiet jungle, or any indication of traps like we'd just encountered – that might belie the presence of a sentry or patrol. The enemy was out there, and we had to find them before they found us. Unfortunately, that led to me neglecting to watch the ground immediately in front of me.

Unused to having to watch my hoofwork, I lost my balance as I hit a dirt slope hidden by the underbrush. I started sliding down the short slope, my hooves unable to find purchase. Glancing at where I was headed, I saw an equine shaped form wearing combat barding, but I could distinctly make out the white and black stripes of the enemy on his coat. Zebra. An assault rifle’s firing bit was clenched in his mouth, his eyes wide in surprise at a pegasus’ appearance out of what he no doubt considered a secure area. Unable to halt my descent, I flapped my wings to accelerate it, rocketing into the zebra’s side. The impact knocked us both to the dirt and underbrush.

A moment passed, no more than a pregnant instant, in which we realized that one of us wasn’t leaving this situation alive.

Unlucky for him, I reacted first. I used my mouth to draw my laser pistol from its holster on my foreleg, simultaneously pinning the zebra's rifle. I don’t know if it was out of instinct, training, or panic but the buck bit down hard on his weapon’s trigger, sending a burst of rounds hammering past me as I jammed my own weapon into his neck and tongued the firing bit. The bolt of magical energy caused a chain reaction, lethal energies burning through his body and rapidly reducing the zebra to a small pile of glowing pink dust.

I blinked away the sunspots on my vision caused by the muzzle flashes of the zebra’s rifle and the brilliance of his incineration. I heard shouting from further ahead in a language I didn’t understand, replying with a sustained burst of red beams towards the source. I then leapt into the air and flew straight back the way I’d come.

Nosedive saw me coming and I heard the heavy booming of his plasma cannon firing into the night, before he took to the skies and followed me. Finally, I heard Tailwind’s laser rifle pulse out a series of rapid shots before she took the rear of our group. On all our parts, instincts drilled into us through years of training kicked in.

Contact, unknown enemy strength. Disengage, then re-initiate contact.

Assembling briefly, I rapidly conferred orders to my team. “Tailwind, flank wide right. Encircle them, double-click when you’re set to re-engage. I’ll do the same on the left flank.” She nodded, cheerful banter from earlier nonexistent as she slipped into a combat mindset. “Nosedive, wait for us to engage from the flanks, before re-engaging from the front. I want them to start to shift focus on to us before you hit them again.”

“Roger that.” Through the green tint of night vision, I saw a slight shifting of shadows across his face. I knew he was smiling, no doubt looking forward to applying his plasma cannon to the problem. It’s how he was, always eager to fight.

I know I must have worn a wicked grin, myself. Nothing feels the same as combat. It makes the blood sing in my veins, it feels like flying at high speed through clear skies. I’m sure some ponies would be happy to live their lives in peace, the blissful existence of a sheltered life. I’d never really understood the appeal of that kind of life… Well, before everything, that is. At any rate, I was as glad as ever to have a team like them backing me up. “Through the storm…” I began, something of a minor ritual for us.

In unison, my comrades replied with eagerness, completing the ritual. “...and the smoke, to the clear skies beyond!”

We separated, Tailwind flying east as I flew west, keeping behind foliage to maintain the element of surprise. As the trees flashed by, I caught the occasional glimpse of muzzle flash in the darkness, all the more brilliant through the grainy green of the night vision sight. Their fire was in Nosedive’s general direction, but they seemed to think we were hunkered down near where they’d originally seen our energy fire.

Perfect.

I dropped a waypoint where I guessed the center of their line was, transmitting the data to Tailwind and Nosedive through our TFD’s.

The flaps of my wings were indiscernible over the gunfire, and I easily snuck past the edge of their line of fire. Peeking around a particularly large tree, I could make out a section of Zebras, spread out in a rough line and sticking to fireteams of two. They had taken up positions of cover, and were pouring what I could only describe as an enthusiastic amount of firepower downrange. They had a medium machinegun near the center of the line, hammering staccato bursts of fire in support of the rifle teams.

I settled in, training my reticle on one of the peripheral zebs, waiting for Tailwind to be ready on her end. I almost needn’t have waited.

Double-click.

I exploded into action, tonguing the firing bit of my pistol as fast as I could – double, triple, quad-tapping the unlucky bastard in my sights. He didn’t “flash,” the term we use for what happened to the first buck I’d encountered, but he dropped like a sack of cloud-apples. The brilliant red lasers must have done horrendous damage to his insides, but I wasn’t sticking around to find out. I was already in motion by the time his partner responded. Solid rounds tore into the tree I’d taken shelter in not a second before, sending splinters flying. I flew in a wide arc around the rear of their formation, taking positions almost at random to send bursts of laser beams into their increasingly disoriented group.

I could hear the sound of beam rifle fire coming from the opposite end of the line, the harsh cracks barely audible over the more substantial bang of the zebra’s bullets. Sparing a glance towards where Tailwind had to be, I saw that she was making quite the light show on her end. Brilliant orange beams lanced into the vulnerable rear of their formation, doing damage but more importantly causing confusion amongst what had until seconds before been a disciplined firing line. The bursts of tracer fire that responded to her attack were sporadic and uncoordinated, often firing at the dancing shadows of their own muzzle flash in the treetops.

Their response was confused, to say the least. While most of the zebs had continued to shoot towards Nosedive, some had turned to deal with us. With commendable speed, one of the groups to turn on Tailwind and I was the machinegun crew. They managed to reset their position, even getting the gun propped up to fire at our aerial forms. I saw the gunner lying on his back, steadying the weapon’s bipod with his hind legs in preparation to shoot for Tailwind or myself the next time either of us fired. They were good.

But we had a plasma cannon.

Nosedive had obviously laid the MG position in his sights well in advance, simply waiting for them to stop firing. He struck true with his first plasma blast, vaporizing the unfortunate pair (and their gun) in an explosion of savage magical energy.

The blast broke their formation. I couldn’t understand their foreign, zebra tongue; but panicked shouts for orders are practically a universal language. We’d taken down less than a quarter of their troops, and they were in complete chaos. We didn’t let up. At some point in the fight, Tailwind and I met up, picking targets and watching each other's backs. Short minutes later, it was over. Silence reigned… or, it nearly did.

My ears twitched. Somepony– no, some Zebra was speaking. I flew to where the sound was coming from, finding a last survivor huddled a couple dozen paces behind where their line had been set up. He was frantically muttering into a radio.

Skies damn it all.

I snap fired, my shot burning through the guts of the radio. He dropped it, scurrying back against a tree root in fear. He’d lost – or dropped – his rifle at some point. I was pissed, and not about to leave him to report more than what he already had. One final beam pulsed out in the night, just as the sounds of the forest had begun to return.

I spoke quietly into my TFD’s mic, and it automatically converted my voice to text, sending the message to my team’s TFD’s. It was a handy function to be able to still communicate under what was still technically radio silence. “Pull back to Nosedive’s position, treetop height. Orders to follow.”

A pair of double-clicks over the radio were the response.

I breached the canopy and quickly checked for any contacts above the treetops. Mercifully, there was nothing. I spat my laser pistol back into its holster on my right foreleg, turning to see Nosedive and Tailwind already waiting. I didn’t preamble. “Our cover’s blown; we need to get back to friendly lines with what info we have.”

Nosedive was the first to respond, “Snap, what about the mission? You’re not just going to–“

“I am!” I snapped, “The safety of this team is my primary concern. They know we’re here, and we’re pulling out, now!”

Through the green tint of night vision, I saw Tailwind open her mouth to respond when there was a muted crack from the direction we’d come from. Wetness splashed my face as her mane parted around the hole that had just appeared between her eyes. She wore a confused expression for a moment before her wings simply stopped flapping and she fell towards the ground.

Tailwind!

I dove as her body fell through the canopy. Dimly, I heard Nosedive’s shout of “Sniper,” though my concentration was entirely on the mare in front of me as I sped towards her falling body.

No, no no no no NO!

I almost caught her. I also never saw the missile as it slammed into the tree beside us. Blinding light and a wall of pain hit me, throwing me through the air. The night vision monocular was ripped from my head and my TFD’s screen was shattered. Foliage burned freely, green wood producing steadily growing pillars of smoke into the night. My body refused to obey my attempts to stand.

Possible spinal injury, probable broken bones and internal bleeding… And that’s just from what I can still feel. Shit.

Tailwind’s body had fallen a few meters from me in front of the burning tree. I desperately wanted her to respond or to give any sign of life. Her dead eyes stared back, unblinking. Lit by firelight, her ruined features accused me.

Is this what you wanted? Is this why you enlisted? Failure!

I heard the sound of underbrush crushed beneath large gauge tires, and knew what had hit me. The zebra IFV rolled into my field of view. One guided missile tube was smoking and empty. The turret rotated as the guns aimed high as the chassis would allow. Firing repeatedly, the autocannon tore holes in the canopy as the co-ax came to life beside it. Muzzle flash lit the forest with stuttering strobes of light, making shadows dance among the trees.

The armoured vehicle’s fire was returned in kind. Nosedive’s first plasma projectile found its mark in the frontal armour of the turret, slagging the cannon in a devastating green explosion. The vehicle reversed hard, wheels digging deep into the soft jungle earth.

Not fast enough.

The second plasma blast found the thin seal between the turret and hull. There was a muted flash as the projectile burned through the seal. Deadly energies cascaded through the interior of the vehicle. Green flames burst from every vent, viewport and crew hatch as the IFV ground to a halt and began to burn from the inside.

A terrible way to die, for anypony… Yeah, even a zebra.

The driver’s hatch was kicked open and the zebra inside screamed as he fled the vehicle. He fell to the ground and he rolled as he tried to extinguish his burning coat. A black blur tore through the canopy, landing on the zebra’s prone form, hooves first. There was a sickening crunch, and the screaming stopped.

Nosedive steadied himself against the burning IFV, the firelight catching the yellow highlights in his otherwise dark olive mane as he looked around. He frantically shouted, “Commander! Snap, where are you?!”

I tried to respond, but the only noise my throat was willing to produce was an inarticulate gurgle. He didn’t hear me.

Nosedive turned, firing another tightly contained ball of magical energy towards something out of my field of view. Return fire forced him to duck back behind the IFV’s hull, bullets spanging off of the armour plating. Reaching into his saddlebags, he pulled out the grenade bouquet from earlier. He hastily unwrapped the duct tape as return fire increased in intensity. I heard a small ping, and he hoofed the bundle with all his might into the distance.

The explosion was enough to noticeably rock the IFV on its suspension. Though I couldn’t see what he threw the grenades at, I wouldn’t have wanted to be on the receiving end of that much explosive. When he didn’t draw fire by exposing himself beside the IFV, Nosedive turned back to searching for me. “Snap Roll! Answer me!”

Again I tried to respond, only managing to send myself into a coughing fit. My mouth tasted of copper and saw glistening wet on the leaves in front of my face.

Definitely internal bleeding.

Nosedive heard the coughing fit, and I saw relief show itself on his face as he quickly cantered over to me. I saw that relief die in his eyes as he saw the state I was in, as well as Tailwind’s corpse. “It’ll be ok, Snap. Just stay awake, you hear me? Don’t fall asleep!”

I was supposed to be the medical pony of this team…

As he checked me over, I started finding it hard to concentrate on the moment. I knew I was rapidly going into shock. As he ran firm but gentle hooves over my coat in search of injuries, I found my gaze wandering to the trees above, more specifically the canopy separating me from the night sky. The leaves continued swaying gently with what little breeze managed to pierce this low, and were lit from below by the ongoing fires. One section seemed to sway separate from the rest, as though–

Oh no.

I tried to warn Nosedive, only managing to wrack my heavily injured body with another coughing fit. He leaned in, and said “Snap, what’s wrong?” as a thin wire, barely even catching the light of the fires, slipped around his neck and pulled taught. Nosedive’s eyes bulged behind his visor, and he kicked back while flapping his wings, driving both him and his assailant back towards the burning IFV.

I realized then why the zebra had managed to approach so stealthily. He wore shifting, seemingly colourless cloak that, instead of catching light, seemed to blur and shift it around his body. Had he not been moving, he would be near invisible. He also had a long, scoped rifle slung across his back. I can’t imagine it provided much cushion as the large pegasus slammed him into the IFV’s hull.

They continued to tussle, the zebra apparently unfazed by the impact as he clung to the garrote around Nosedive’s neck. Nosedive struggled, bucked, and continued to slam the zebra into the hull, but I could tell he was tiring. Gradually, the struggles slowed and became clumsy. With one final slam backwards, Nosedive collapsed to the ground and the zebra rode him down. He dropped the garotte, wrapping his forehooves around Nosedive’s neck. I heard a sharp snapping sound, and my friend went limp.

Getting up, the zebra walked slowly towards me. I simply glared at him. When he was a couple paces from me, he unlimbered the long rifle from his back. He stood up on his hind legs and held the rifle in his forelegs – a classic zebra shooting stance – as he aimed the rifle at my face. In the dancing light of the fire, I thought I could discern the barest hint of a smile on his foreign features.

No words were exchanged. None needed to be. As I stared down the bore of the sniper rifle, I spat blood at his hooves. as much of a show of defiance as I could muster. He pulled the trigger. There was a muted flash and a ‘phut’ noise. An indescribable pain engulfed my forehead an instant before the world disintegrated before my eyes.

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Author's Notes:

Hello! I'm Relentless, and this is the start of Fallout: Equestria - Frozen Skies.

This chapter may seem a little jarring, I promise it'll make sense. It is, incidentally, a bit of an homage to Operation Anchorage. I consider the first three chapters to be something of an "intro sequence," to use a not entirely fitting phrase, which is why I uploaded them simultaneously. Future chapters will be individual, and as they are completed. At one point, these were formatted into one massive chapter... which proved to be unwieldly, and stepped on my own toes as much as it simplified things.

Thanks to Kkat for laying the wonderful, wasteland foundations upon which we can play, the world of Fallout: Equestria.

Please, enjoy the ride (and don't be afraid to critique my work, heaven knows I need it. I haven't written anything like this in hella fortnight [read: ever]).