Dramatis Personae.

Upsilon Squadron:

Storm Cloak (Upsilon Leader) - Pegasus Male.
Cloud Ranger (Upsilon Two) - Pegasus Female.
Starlight Gleam (Upsilon Three) - Pegasus Female.
Grey Fox (Upsilon Four) - Pegasus Male.
Rotor Blade (Upsilon Five) - Pegasus Male.
Blue Sky (Upsilon Six) - Pegasus Male.
Pony Dave (Upsilon Seven) - Pegasus Male.
White Blossom (Upsilon Eight) - Pegasus Female.
Fell Spear (Upsilon Nine) - Pegasus Male.
Starbright Gleam (Upsilon Ten) - Pegasus Female.
Gale Force (Upsilon Eleven) - Pegasus Female.
Mercy Errand (Upsilon Twelve) - Pegasus Female.

Dust Cloud (Tech Officer) - Pegasus Male.

Resistance Command.

High Tide (Air-Commodore Marshal) - Pegasus Male.

Grey Squadron (former).

Errant Flight (Grey Four) - Pegasus Male.

***

"Why the change?"

The glare of Air Commodore High Tide shot through Cloud Ranger. Her reasons for her being in that spot that day were her own.

“Where are you going now?” Errant Flight said, not even raising his head to look a her.

The two had been sat in front of the graves for what felt like hours. They were, of course, hollow but that seemed to fit how the team now was. Someday she hoped, after the war, that she would come back and add colour to the barren field the graves were in. Something to keep the spirits up. Ditzy would have wanted that. Cloud Ranger was half tempted to add a grave reading “Grey Squadron” to the mix. Ditzy Doo was the heart of the group and she was gone. Just like that. How are you suppose to live without a heart? Answer; you don’t.

“I don’t know,” Cloud Ranger finally replied.

“Then stay. Perhaps we can...do...something.” Errant seemed distant. A mind lost in memories?

“Like?”

“Anything. Anything that means their lives weren’t spent in vain.” He stood up tall and triumphant. “Anything that means that Solamina will rot.” Errant’s voice was growing. He was coming back to earth, “Anything that means that her armies will no longer feel safe in the skies.” He turned to face Cloud Ranger, eyes almost burning with mournful vengeance. Errant’s voice calmed a bit, the emotions leaked through though. “I think we should start up a new squadron. They may be gone but I’d be damned if I’m ending it there.”

Cloud Ranger gulped. This wasn’t going to be easy. “Who would lead?”

Errant’s face turned static. Silence oozed into existence. Neither were leaders, they couldn’t…

“You have a point.” The tears found their way through Errant Flight’s chuckle. “We could -”

“Stop.” Cloud Ranger had only the seeds of a plan but it didn’t involve Errant, as much as she might have wanted it to.

Errant Flight began walking towards her.

“Stop!” Now it was Cloud Ranger who was looking away from her teammate. A status he wouldn’t have in a few minutes.

The gears seemed to spin in Errant’s mind. He moved in front of Cloud Ranger but she dared not look him in the eye. The truth was hard. In the back of her own mind though, she knew she had to do this. For the good of her sanity.

“You can go if you want,” Errant Flight said, much to Cloud Ranger’s surprise. “You’re right of course. You always are.”

“This isn’t goodbye you know,” Cloud Ranger noted.

“No, it’s just ‘till next time’ I guess.”

“We’ll make her proud Errant.” She met his gaze dead on. “She taught us so much.”

“Yeah.” He was straining not to be lost in thought.

“Maybe it’s time for us to be teachers for another squadron,” she said quietly.

For a moment Errant Flight wasn’t sure of the difference. For a single moment of ignorant bliss, he still had hope that they could work together. War is no time for ignorance though.

“Am I too much?” he asked cautiously.

Cloud Ranger immediately shook her head. In a sense though he was right. “We are the only Grey Squadron members left. Everytime I look at you I’ll remember all those times we shared with everypony else. If you think about it, you’ll feel the same way.”

Errant Flight stepped back. With a quivering smile he saluted Cloud Ranger.

Cloud Ranger mirrored his actions.

“Good luck Cloud Ranger,” Errant said. He held his salute strong

Cloud Ranger’s reply was simple, a nod. With a bust of air she was off again. Looking back towards the ground, she watched at the still saluting Errant Flight got smaller and smaller. She dared not look away until he was out of sight.

Truthfully, she'd would rather have not dwelled on the decision any longer. She had made her choice and that was that. It simplified things.

High Tide was the Pegasus in charge of Squadron reassignment. He was an older, battered pony. Cloud Ranger knew some of the stories that surrounded him. His left wing had been stricken down in combat, ripped to pieces by a barrage spell. It was by the hands of a miracle (as some more optimistic ponies would have said) that his wing was repaired. While he was unable to fly again, his left wing was now a somewhat decent defence in the form of light armour. The armour supported his wings like an artificial exoskeleton. He was ill-equipped to fly anymore. Nevertheless, he was a great Commodore and almost fought a one stallion war to keep his position.

You can understand then why the gaze of this navy coloured pony was slowly drilling its way through her to get an answer. High Tide dropped his gaze and sighed. To his side was a list of new Squadrons forming. He looked them up and down until the efforts of a smile crept onto his face. With a confident gesture he urged Cloud Ranger over to see for herself.

In his time he must have seen many souls come to help in the war against the Tyrant Solamina. Any one of the squadrons could benefit from having Cloud Ranger in their ranks. Zeta, no they were a legion on their own (metaphorically and almost literally given their numbers). Gamma, not right either. They had formed towards the beginning of their efforts. Near the end of the list was the name that he lingered on the longest. The name he kept tapping with that scorched hoof of his. Upsilon. The information on them was little but told much. Few in number and scarce in experience.

"That's where I'm needed?" Cloud Ranger asked.

"That's where you're needed." Confirmed High Tide. He went away for a moment and returned with some papers. He passed Cloud Ranger the top one.

Upsilon Squadron "Upsilon Leader".
Name: Storm Cloak.
Age: 35.
Rank: Squadron Leader.

He seemed normal enough but then again how much can you tell from a piece of paper.

"I'll send word ahead for your arrival." High Tide pulled a radio from the side. The movement made him twitch in pain. Cloud Ranger couldn't help but wonder how long High Tide had left until he ‘retired’.

"Upsilon Squadron will need you. Storm Cloak took the Squadron to 'Wellingborough' to train." Cloud Ranger tilted her head slightly. It was a place she hadn't heard of before.

"I know, I know," said High Tide "It's not very big. However, it makes a decent place for a new squadron to learn. At least that's what I've heard."

He passed her a map. Littered about it were the settlements and camps for training. While they weren't the best of the best, they were the best of what they had. The most extensive equipment was in Leeds where she had trained alongside Grey Squadron. Before her mind drifted off to memories of Ditzy and the gang she was given a puzzle, actually finding Wellingborough. The names of the towns were more visible the bigger they were, so it told Cloud Ranger quite a bit when, to help, High Tide offered her a magnifying glass. Eventually she found it, it might as well have been a random name on a map. Perhaps that was Storm Cloak's thinking. Finding a place so isolated that the troops would be free from distractions.

"How many members?" Cloud Ranger's voice back to its full power of confidence.

"Including you, twelve although they do have a Tech Officer,” the Commodore said. “He’s grounded but very skilled."

Cloud Ranger turned her back on High Tide with a nostalgic grin. "I’ll get to it then."

***

The sight of the meeting place didn't exactly inspire Cloud Ranger like she had hoped. A fresh face, free of scars and full of innocence was what she wanted, that was what she needed. What she was given was something that barely looked real. The buildings appeared to have passed away long before the war even started. Their souls had been sucked dry by time. Cloud Ranger knew though, in the back of her war-torn mind, that any innocent soul in this fight was quickly crumbled.

Wellingborough was small. It was little wonder why it was still there: the enemy probably didn't even know it existed. In the centre of it was an old tank. Long ago, it had been disarmed, meant to show the children of Earth what one looked like. Nowadays it had been crudely re-armed as a sort of surprise weapon, in case any of Solamina’s soldiers came through. None ever did. It would have been a waste of time and resources. The people of Wellingborough left in the early days for safer ground: the small town was left hollow in favour of towns with actual defences. It was a wonder Storm Cloak had found it at all.

Gazing up at the tank, Cloud Ranger looked back on her time with Grey Squadron. How they had been her family. The ones who stood by her with warm hearts. Sadly warm hearts can't do much when they are broken, they just scatter. If Grey Squadron had taught her anything it was that made a great team. It wasn't just skill or power, it was comradeship. She at least could try and show her new squadron what teamwork meant.

The silence of the town felt unnatural (though calling it a ’town’ was being very generous). Cloud Ranger could hear every breath she took while waiting for Storm Cloak. It became something of a rhythm, after a while she became almost lost in it. She found comfort in what was the only sound around for miles. Patience was rewarded however, a series of rusty creaks echoed inside the tank. With an exhausted ‘thud’ the hatch opened and out peered a crimson red Pegasus, sporting a white shirt with some sort of ancient symbol on it. His glance scattered in all directions until his eye fell upon a now slightly confused Cloud Ranger. In two echoing bounds he bounced off the tank and landed in front of her.

"You must be..." Cloud Ranger's was halted by Storm Cloak's hoof on her lips.

He circled her, looking her up and down, observing each scar like a trophy. He himself had a rather fine example of such a trophy running down his side, decorated with smaller trophies along the way. Storm Cloak's mane was scruffy and unkempt. He had circled her a fair dozen times before he stopped in front and gave a confident nod.

"Aye, you'll be a fine addition to our squadron." Storm Cloak's voice couldn't have been more separate from the way he looked. It was young and full of a spark that only those who've had the grandest of parties had. "Yes, I am the one they call Storm Cloak. No need for introductions my lady Cloud Ranger. You have been known amongst us since the sun shone high in the sky and we did feast to your coming."

"Thanks." Cloud Ranger wasn't quite sure what else to say to this pony. Instead, she let her actions do the talking. She straightened herself, cleared her thoughts and listened.

A scratch.

Cloud Ranger grinned and gestured behind her. "Who's your friend?"

"The lady has good ears," decreed Storm Cloak. His gazed moved behind her. "You're losing your touch Dust Cloud," he bellowed.

A smaller Pegasus came into view. Not a shred of his mane remained. His looks did meet his first name quite well, he had the palest brown fur that Cloud Ranger had ever come across (whether this was natural for him or a side-effect of the war she couldn't guess).

Dust Cloud gave an attempt at a smile "As Storm Cloak yelled, my name is Dust Cloud. Call me Dusty. Storm wanted to see if you could spot me. Skill test I guess."

"Follow, my friends!" Storm Cloak dashed off leaving Dust and Cloud Ranger to quickly run after.

When Cloud Ranger walked into the main base alongside Storm Cloak and Dust. The remaining squadron silenced themselves before getting in line (with only a little stumbling). The base, as it turned out, was the shell of what had once been a bank, although you could hardly tell with the added military equipment that was scattered around the building.

"Brothers and sisters," Storm Cloak began proudly, "this is the honourable Cloud Ranger, formerly of Grey Squadron. She shall aid us in our heroic quest to smite Solamina. Now, while you get acquainted with our newest comrade, I shall prepare our equipment for mock battle - we must begin preparations for the test of glory!"

As Storm Cloak left, a glint in his eye and a song in his heart, Dust Cloud took his spot.

"He means training," he said to Cloud Ranger walking with her to the end of the line.

They had been training, that much was obvious. From the marks on the walls to the fresh bruises on their bodies, the signs were there.

Cloud Ranger turned to Dusty. "What is training like for Upsilon Squadron?"

A new voice emerged from the line. "We don't stop until everypony is down. Unorthodox but effective. Though that sums up Storm Cloak himself."

In the centre of the line was a thin grey stallion baring a list as his cutie mark. His mane still retained some of its blonde sheik. As Cloud Ranger approached him, he was still muttering about the different methods of training.

"- and then there's the trips around town. So all in all he's a good..." His face froze on Ranger's glare. It was a mixed first impression to say the least.

"Name and Rank Please," ordered Ranger quickly.

The stallion paused for a moment before realising who he was speaking too. "Flight Lieutenant Grey Fox. Also known as Upsilon Four. How are you?"

"Fine thanks." The beginning of a smile started to worm its way onto Ranger's face. A second later an idea sparked in her mind. "Lieutenant Grey Fox, what time do you make it?"

"About 16:30 hours." Grey said, straightening himself up.

"Good. Just about time for dinner." By this time the smile had become a chuckle in her voice. The members of Upsilon exchanged confused glances. Obviously, they weren't aware of how Grey Squadron had done things. They may have been elite, but they were family as well.

"Pardon?" the gruff voice of a brown stallion focused the glances on to Cloud Ranger. Like Storm Cloak, he seemed as though he had been one of the earliest to fight the war.

Cloud Ranger stepped in front of him. He immediately saluted.

"Rotor Blade ma'am. Flight Lieutenant".

"You have a question?"

"Yes, do you think it is wise to have dinner before training?"

Cloud Ranger sighed. That had been her reaction when Ditzy had tried this so long ago.

"A good squadron is a well oiled machine," she began, now speaking to everypony "but a great squadron is a family. What better way to get acquainted with family you know little about than food? Afterwards, I’ll test your limits before getting you to break them."

Not quite how Ditzy would have worded it but you should never try to be something you're not. Nopony could replace Ditzy.

"You desire to feast?" Storm Cloak's booming voice had returned to the main hall. He seemed confused for a moment but then returned to himself. "At once then." He gestured to two of the ponies in the line. "Starlight you shall fetch the rations and meet Blue Sky in the temple of ‘NatWest’ across thy street after he has scouted its safety." A twitching crystal Pegasus and a confident blue maned stallion rushed off out of the line. "The rest of you, kindly catch Lady Ranger up on our previous encounters. Information of that calibre shall surely help her in her quest for unity."

With a whoosh Storm Cloak was away again.

A maroon stallion bearing an exclamation cutie mark approached her.

"This shouldn't take long," he chuckled. "My name is Pony Dave. I tend to keep records of Solamina's troops' activity around here".

"Excellent," Cloud Ranger said, ignoring the odd name. "How aware of this position are the enemy?"

"Not at all."

Best news Cloud Ranger had heard for a long time.

A new voice emerged. "While each of us has seen some aspect of the war, this squadron has yet to have its baptism of fire." A Thestral stallion stepped forward before Cloud Ranger could meet his gaze.

Before Cloud Ranger moved on a thought occurred to her.

“Pony Dave,” she asked cautiously, hoping she wouldn’t offend “What did you do before the war?”

Dave thought for a moment. “I was in between things.” He said, giving the same grin a lying foal would.

“Which means…?”

“I was in between having a job and not having one. More on the not having one side to be honest.” Dave moved back slightly. Most of the squadron seemed to be fighters. Dave was...different.

“What made you want to fight?”

“Yes, what drives your noble yet smelly spirit, Dave of the Ponies?” Storm Cloak added, deciding to reappear to the group (the silent whoosh was his most interesting move).

***

Two years ago.

Dave opened the door, his eyes wide at the sight which greeted him. Blood splattered the walls, and there were signs that the house had been ransacked. The posters his mother, father and siblings had made together, decrying the Empire and the Conversion of humanity, were torn and trampled.

"Hello?" he called inside, eyes wide with horror. "Alan? Hollie? Bill? Rose? Dad?"

A moment later, his sister, Hollie, walked out of the doorway to the living room. Her eyes were laden with shock and horror, tears forming in her eyes.

"Dave..." she said slowly. "Everypony's dead."

Dave blinked. He didn't quite believe he had heard that.

"Dead?" he repeated.

"Yes, Dave." His sister fought to hold back her tears. "Everypony's dead, Dave."

"Mum? Dad?" Dave asked, eyes wide in shock.

"Everypony, Dave," Hollie said, tears glistening in her eyes.

"What? Alan? Bill?"

"Everypony's dead, Dave," Hollie repeated, frowning slightly.

"So Rose is dead?" Dave said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Everypony is dead, Dave!" Hollie snapped. "Mum, Dad, Alan, Rose, Bill! Everypony! Dead! Everypony is dead!"

"So... what you're saying is, everypony is dead," Dave summed up. "Everypony?"

"Yes,"

"Well,...Buck."

***

“...and then I went to enlist.” As Pony Dave stopped the jaws dropped.

You could have said that the jaws dropped because they couldn’t believe that a Pony with such a demeanor could have had such a tragedy happen to him. Really it was because he had decided to do an impersonation of his sister and his family while telling the story.

The sight of Pony Dave gave Cloud Ranger a sense of joy (though that may have been confusion). His nature reminded him of ponies she had known before this hell of a war began.

“Thank you Dave." Cloud Ranger said, bringing herself back from her memories

Before she addressed the rest of the now clearly curious Upsilon Squadron, Starlight returned. As she entered the room, she took her place by a near identical mare. It gave both hope and sorrow to Cloud Ranger to see siblings together in the war. The surface of it was sweet, going together so that neither one would be alone but then you dug a bit deeper. You dug to where one is gone and the other feels more alone than ever. Pick your poison; let them go in alone or see your family die.

The relatively short journey to the 'temple of NatWest gave Cloud Ranger more of a look at the town. All through the journey, the Thestral that spoke up earlier got closer to Cloud Ranger’s position in the march.

By the time they had reached their destination he had come to Cloud Ranger’s point

“Apologies, but I’d like a word with you,” he said, his head gesturing to a corner of the building.

Cloud Ranger nodded and then walked up to the stallion. He looked like he was holding back a scowl with all his might. She had to admit, she was curious about talking to an ex-member of the Night Guard. He definitely stuck out from the rest of squadron. Like Storm Cloak he seemed to already have a fair bit of experience, judging from the scars on his face. Considering the darkness of both himself and his mane he would be difficult to spot in the night sky. Fell Spear glanced around at the other members. All were preparing to eat, save for Storm Cloak who was seemingly distracted by his own thoughts.

“Is this really wise?” Fell Spear whispered, most likely not trying to draw attention from the other Upsilon members. That didn’t bode well for what he was going to say.

“Go on,” Cloud Ranger encouraged. Everypony felt free to talk to Ditzy so the same should be true for herself.

“I may not have the authority to say otherwise -” Fell Spear’s stern tone was stopped by a simple raised hoof.

“Please, feel free to speak your mind.” Cloud Ranger lowered her hoof again, ready for almost anything that came out of the stallion’s mouth.

“Your method doesn’t seem wise in this time of war.” He gestured to the rest of Upsilon Squadron. “I can see what you are doing and, with all due respect, I don’t think it is the right way. We aren’t here to be buddies, we are here to be soldiers. I expected something different from an old Grey Squadron member.”

Cloud Ranger couldn’t help but chuckle at that last sentence. Fell Spear looked a decent combo of annoyed and confused by the mare’s chuckle.

“Actually,” Cloud Ranger began “That is exactly how we did it.”

Fell Spear’s reaction was understandable but still priceless. For a moment he stood there, his eye somewhat twitching, probably thinking of how an elite squadron got so far by being so buddy buddy with each other.

“Are you okay?” Cloud Ranger asked, trying not to let out more chuckles. Before Fell Spear could answer, an alabaster mare walked up to Cloud Ranger and saluted her (though she needed to brush away some of her aquamarine mane).

“Upsilon Eight. White Blossom.” Her shining eyes still retained their innocence. She reminded Cloud Ranger of Butter Mellow. A question popped into Cloud’s head.

“You wouldn’t happen to be the team’s medic would you?” Cloud asked

Blossom’s eyes flickered. “No miss, that would be Mercy Errand.” She gestured towards a peach mare with an ivory mane. She was chatting to...Starlight? Possibly, though she wasn’t as jittery.

“The one next to her is Starbright Gleam,” noted a restored Fell Spear. “She’s more attuned with the idea of war than her sister.”

“Nopony is ever fully comfortable with the idea of war.” said Cloud Ranger while saluting White Blossom.

While Cloud Ranger and White Blossom sat down with the rest of the squadron, Fell Spear tapped another member, a lime mare, on the shoulder and nodded in Storm Cloak’s direction. Cloud Ranger looked on in slight awe as they had a quiet conversation. For the briefest of moments, Cloud Ranger could have sworn that she saw Storm Cloak with a frown upon his face. A simple frown aged him by at least 10 years. With a smile back on his face he stomped on the ground, getting everypony’s attention.

“Brothers and sisters of this abysmal war!” his voice was just below shout. It was a good thing Wellingborough was isolated. “We gather here to strengthen the bonds of solidarity that we each forged in the mighty Ironworks of the Resistance. Lady Cloud Ranger will help us to do so more efficiently. She will be the keeper of these Ironworks and she will have the tiny keys of friendship that open such a fine establishment. To learn how she does this I shall pass on to her. Listen to her words, for they are aged with experience like a fine wine that knocks some other pony’s hat off of you.”

Dust Cloud would come in handy in the future for translating what Storm Cloak meant. For now, Cloud Ranger stood tall and, with the passion that drove Grey Squadron on for so long, began telling them her plan.

“Here’s what is gonna happen…”