Preparations were well underway for the multipronged operations that were to be conducted from Canterlot. The airships were repaired to the best of the ground crew's abilities, and their weapons rearmed with ammunition fresh from the forges. Jack was to be taking Stalwart Liberty out to the Crystal Empire, with Captain Chord at the helm. It had taken a harsh debate with the Equestrian high command to see him go nearly alone, but finally he had been forced to acquiesce to bringing Maggie Dupont, Hans Drescher, and Malcolm Highwater's platoon. He didn't mind bringing the tank or Hans, but bringing in Major Highwater and his men didn't sit well with him.

It wasn't that he thought less of them, it was that he didn't trust them not to shoot one of his lost boys.

Flitter's situation was much like Jack's, her solo mission weighed down by needless bodies. Thankfully they were her own team, so she knew she could trust them explicitly with carrying out her every order.

The final team was a combined force of Equestrian, Griffon, and Human. They were headed for Chrysalis' old hive to clean it out and relieve Omega Hive. From there, each prong of the force would meet back up and move on the Imperial naval yard. If orbital imagery could be trusted, then he Imperials were busy retrofitting one of their seaborne dreadnaughts for air combat. While it wouldn't be nearly as unassailable as the first had been, it would still bring more firepower to the fight than anybody was comfortable with.

Hugging Flitter close, Jack let out a quiet sigh of a breath. "You be careful out there, Sparky. Come back in one piece."

Flitter rested her cheek against his chest, smiling fondly. "You too, ya big galoot." She patted his back, pulling away. As much as she wanted to spend just one more night together, they both had jobs to do. "You got your spaceman kit?"

He nodded lightly, gesturing to the three containers being loaded onto the Stalwart. The squat flat one was nearly dropped, causing Jack to bark harshly. "DO NOT DROP THAT!" He jabbed a finger at the aeronaut, striking fear into not just the pony responsible, but everyone around him. Jack watched the container be gingerly carried away, his fingers drumming at his armoured thighs.

"What's in that one?" Flitter asked with a raised brow.

"Something very important." He said quietly, before turning back to her. "So I guess this is goodbye for now." He was just as morose as she was. Their scant time together had almost made all the time apart worth it, but it left them both wanting more. "Maybe when this is all said and done, we…"

"Should go somewhere." He filled in, smiling gently. "Somewhere quiet and peaceful."

She returned the smile, chuckling as she set her hands on her hips. "No more caves."

"What's wrong with caves?"

A voice called across the dock, Taven waved to the pair. He was wearing his full armour, his helmet tucked under his right arm. He was still wounded from the fight, but he could hold his own. "Captain, the Righteous is about to shove off!"

The pair both sighed at the same time, hanging their heads in unison. Patting Jack's shoulder, Flitter pulled herself up from his chest armour, and kissed his cheek. "Take care of yourself, Cowboy."

Letting out a laugh, he returned the gesture. "Go on, don't keep Captain Alsan waiting." He released Flitter, and watched as she went. Before the pair left his sight, he called out to them. "You take care of her, Taven!"

The man turned and offered a tooth filled grin. "I think I'm the one who's going to be looked after, but I'll try! Good luck, Jack!"

Jack kept his hand aloft as the last remnants of JSOG boarded. He waved to Baron, Mythic, Minerva and Simoh as they loaded up, before spying the human battle group loading into the Righteous Justice. Maggie Dupont's tank trundled close, stopping just a few feet shy of the big man. The top hatch popped open, and her grease stained head popped out

"Hey! Which way to Berlin? Sprichst du Deutsch?" She grinned at him as the 1st Expeditionary flag fluttered in the wind.

"The Stalwart's thata way, Mags." He gestured down the dock to the loading platform. "You got a fresh load of ammo in that tub?"

The woman nodded, crossing her arms on the cupola ring, where she rested her chest. "Yeah, I got a fresh load of twenties for the big gun and a full battery of twos for the pintle. It just us?"

"Almost." He shot a wave to Walter and the others, earning some back from the faces he recognized. Jessica clambered up on his back to wave exuberantly toward him. "Us, Full Metal Kraut, and some revolutionary turkies."

"Sounds like fun." The woman smirked. "Well, I'll see you on there, Chief." She shot him a two fingered salute, before slipping back inside the control suite of the tank. As she set off once again, he turned, and watched as the line of soldiers carried on all around him. Drawing in a deep breath, Jack closed his eyes and held onto the moment. The city was filled with hope, for the first time in what felt like years.

Don't get your hopes up.

Up on the flight deck of the Stalwart, Jack watched as Canterlot slowly shrank into the distance, it's tall towers covered by the structures of Cloudsdale. He set down the squat, square box, letting out a sigh. He cast a glance over both shoulders to ensure he was alone, and would be for a few minutes. His fingers traced across the locking mechanism, deftly unlocking the box. It's lid separated with a hiss of nitrogen, and the sound of the life support machinery within let itself be known. Lifting the lid, Jack looked down with eyes full of pity and sorrow.

"Hey Minty…" He said gently. "I got you back to Equestria, like I promised I would."

The severed head inside the box blinked slowly, eyes rolling up to meet his. Her horn was no longer in the emitter shackle, and the agony she'd been subjected to by the superweapon was now only a painful memory. He'd dragged her free from the station at the last moment, bringing her with him in lieu of more weapons or ammo. "Can…. I…. See?"

He nodded. "You ready? This'll… probably kill you." Jack kept his voice low and gentle. He still felt that it was partially his fault she was like this, even if he'd killed the man responsible for it.

The mare inside the box closed her eyes for a long moment. "Please…"

He nodded again, and gently pushed his hands through the thick medigel, until he grasped her flesh. Scooping up her severed head as gently as he humanly could, Jack lifted Minty free from her prison. Wiping free the gunk from her eyes, he winced as several leads were unplugged by the motion. With each lead pulled out, she was one step closer to death. By the time she was straight up, and looking out over the sunset that blazed by Canterlot, she had only one lead left, her primary one.

"Beau...tiful… thank-" Her voice went silent as he unplugged the last one, cradling her head gently as her eyes fluttered shut.

"I'm sorry, Minty." He said softly to her as the life support system droned a single note behind him. "I'll make sure you get a good spot. Somewhere with a view." Slowly lowering her back into the box, he shut the lid and sealed it once again. The soft hum of nitrogen flooding it meant he wouldn't need to worry about her head rotting while he fought. To make sure she got what she needed, he had left a letter on Luna's desk, set to open in several days. His eyes drifted back down to the box. She'd begged him not to let the others see her like this, to let her die seeing the sunset one last time.

Before him lay the Crystal Empire, and a reunion years in the making. Picking up the box, Jack set off to his berth. He had work to do, things to prepare for. Forge wouldn't escape him this time.

Flitter rolled her neck nervously as she worried away at her rifle with a bit of microfiber cloth and cleaning oils. She'd replaced the barrel, and was carefully cleaning away the plasma scoring along the length. The barrels were good for several thousand rounds, but she only had three, so they needed to be cared for and maintained slavishly. The rest of the hightech powergun had to be cared for as well, despite it's tough construction. The end of her buttstock was dinged and slightly deformed from where she'd used it as a blunt instrument during the siege.

The sound of rubber boot soles met her ears, though she didn't lift her head to regard whoever it was invading her privacy. A light knock sounded outside her berth.

"Permission to enter?"

It was Taven. Flitter gave him a single stroke nod, eyes still searching the weapon for any remaining traces of filth.

Stepping inside her small room by about a step, Taven leaned on the bulkhead. "Captain Milani says we're about an hour out. You want to let me in on your cunning plan?"

She rolled her jaw as she thought, a habit she'd picked up on earth. "Yeah. I'm gonna take a mask down and try to get close enough to catch the rangers in the blast. If I gaff it, the rest of you come down and the ship unloads with the thirty millimeter CIWS's." She couldn't let the second happen. The Rangers had held the line so they could escape, she wasn't going to slaughter them all now. Not now.

Not ever.

Taven nodded slowly, scratching at his neck. "You open to constructive criticism?"

"No."

He went ahead anyways. "That's a fucking awful plan."

"Taven, that's not constructive criticism." Flitter said with exasperation. "Which I'm still not open to."

"Flitter," Taven started, his own nerves clearly frayed still. "Jumping down there alone is tantamount to suicide. If they see you coming, they'll fill you full of daylight. What if they've got a progeny?" He exhaled hard through his nose. "You're not Jack, Flitter. You can't afford to try to be. Fuck sakes woman, We cannot afford for you to try to be."

She tried not to show it, but his words had rankled her badly. "Taven" She said quietly, setting her rifle down. She fought back a scathing response and gathered herself to respond with tact. "I've gone over the plan with Captain Milani. I'm being dropped from forty thousand feet in the dead of night. The rangers will be expecting a pegasus, not me. If there's Progeny, I'll call down CAS from the ship. If I'm blown, that's where you guys come in." She set her hands together to keep them from fidgeting. "If that's not good enough for you, then I don't know what to say, Taven. We dropped into worse odds mere days ago."

"And we damn near lost everybody to those odds, Captain." Taven said quietly, lifting off the bulkhead. "See you in the launch tubes."

"Taven." She spoke up, looking to him as he started away. He paused, but didn't turn. "I'll be careful. You… just have to trust me." He nodded his head faintly, broad shoulders sinking slightly.

It was going to be a long day.

Forty Thousand feet in the air, the world looked peaceful. Flitter stood on the edge of the precipice, kit strapped tight to her. She'd double checked, triple checked, and then had Taven quadruple check her kit. She was as ready as she could ever be, and yet the prospect of the mission before her gave her pause. The mask of control was secured tightly, and she had the means to break the magical wards placed over it, and destroy it. All she had to do was get close.

The world was wrapped in a blanket of perfect darkness before her, wispy clouds floated here and there. She could see the faint lights of Canterlot in the distance, a beacon against the cloying dark. The light beside her went from red to green, bathing the launch bay in light. The crew chief made a sharp motion downward, but Flitter had already dived over the edge.

The wind whistled passed her sealed helmet as she began her unassisted plunge back to earth. "Mother Goose this is Raptor Actual, I've made a clean separation and am on course. Hold position."

"I copy that, Raptor. Happy hunting." Captain Milani spoke in a cool and crisp professional tone that never seemed to change, even when shit was hitting the fan.

The skies were clear between Flitter and her target, but the turbulence was still there. The winds at thirty five thousand feet were like an unrelenting tide, threatening to blow her off course like a paper boat caught in a monsoon. She couldn't afford to have that happen.

Pinning her boots together as she stuck her arms to her sides, she went from a controlled freefall to a hard nose dive, using her feet as rudders to steer her toward the target zone. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her accelerometer clicking upwards, faster and faster as the howl of wind became a screech passed her helmet.

She hit terminal velocity, 55 meters per second, at thirty three thousand feet and held it. The strain of holding herself on course caused her limbs to start aching and burning as she fought the wind, but she paid it no mind. The target location was marked with a holographic pin on her hud, and she was determined to land dead center.

She hit fifteen thousand feet, and could see camp fires in the dark. Using her innate magics, she sent herself into a fast sidelong roll, returning to the plotted course she'd drifted from at around twenty thousand feet.

Ten thousand feet.

Six.

Five.

She braced, jaw nearly ready to clamp on the parachute release built into her power armour.

Four.

Three thousand feet.

She flared her limbs out, cutting her speed as she deployed her chute. The black carbosilk stealth chute popped open above her with a heavy FWumP, jolting her body hard as her velocity was ripped away. She was deadcenter in the middle of the ranger camp, just as planned. She watched her speed drop, but not quickly enough. She'd either have to hit the ground harder than anticipated, or risk using her repulsors, which would blow her cover all but immediately.

She ran the two options in her head against each other for a fast second, before the decision was made for her at one thousand feet.

The staccato blasts of fifty cal anti air guns filled her visor, barely giving her a split second to flinch in shock as the rounds ripped passed her and bit into her canvas. The chute came apart as she hit the emergency release on reflex, rolling over backwards to avoid the rest of the tracers.

The rounds lashed back and forth through the skies, trying to track her as the ground rushed forward. She was coming in far too hot now, and there was no way her reserve chute would help in the slightest. She had no other option than to throttle her repulsor flight pack. With the air in her lungs forced down into her feet, Flitter arced her body to come in at an angle, instead of straight. A fat, heavy round slapped into her armour, the ball tracer deflecting off shaped plates. The blow still drove what little breath she had from her lungs, and caused her to hit the ground hard.

She tumbled through a tent, bowling over boxes of ammunition and cots. Rolling to a stop, Flitter drew in a gasping breath that tortured her ribs and made her empty lungs burn. Her vision was still spinning, but she forced herself to stand nonetheless. She was at the center of camp, all she had to do was smash the mask. Her hands went to her low profile webbing, reaching for the pouch the mask was stored in.

All she found was shredded fabric and a dinged side plate. A swift, leaden pall of dread fell upon her and clamped down around her heart as she realized the mask was missing, dropped somewhere in the camp.

"Shit." She breathed as the weight of it crashed down upon her. "SHIT."

It was only then that she heard the voices in her ears over the keening whine of her impact still ringing in her ears. "Raptor One, I repeat, what's your situation?" Captain Milani was as calm, cool, and collected as Flitter wanted to be. A niggling lance of jealousy cut through Flitter as she scrambled for cover. The Turned Rangers were scrambling to attack her now, and she had to move.

"I don't know how, but they saw me coming, I took a round and I've lost track of the mask." She cursed as she unslung her rifle. "Start dropping altitude and prepare to give CAS. The other Raptors cannot deploy, I repeat, Cannot deploy! There's an Anti-Air battery that needs to be disabled first." She burst out of the tent, skipping through her vision modes as she frantically began searching for the mask of control.

"I copy that, Raptor One. Hold tight." The line clicked, and Flitter knew the ship was repositioning to give her support. She had to find the mask before then. Rifle rounds skipped off her power armour, causing her to curse and duck into cover. She brought her rifle up and sighted her first target, only to hesitate and duck back down.

She'd recognized the ranger on the other end. She'd trained with them, fought with them. She had to give them all a chance. Slinging her rifle again, Flitter set off at a half hunched run through the alarmed camp. She could see the point where she'd slammed into the ground and began tumbling. The anti air guns were nearby, manned by another ranger. Flitter deployed her shoulder launcher, plugging the base of the mount with an AP micromissile. The whole thing collapsed, knocking the gunner back and onto his ass.

The pony didn't look any different from- Flitter saw the flash of movement and locked onto it long before she registered what exactly it was. The progeny uncoiled from the weapon array, it's head full of bulbous, watering eyes. It arched nearly over backwards, and loosed a warning howl that shook Flitter's visor like a sustained concussive blast. The gunner's ears burst with gouts of blood, but it was evident the cry of the beast wasn't what Flitter had to worry about.

It was the raucous scream that answered it from across the camp. She was running out of time, fast. "Mothergoose, this is Raptor One! I've taken down the AA emplacement, encountered a new form of progeny!" She unslung her rifle in one smooth motion, and put a two centimeter plasma bolt into its head. The bundle of eyeballs and viscous flesh burst like an overripe melon, spraying flaming bone and liquified greymatter across the area. She gave it another two rounds just to be sure. "Progeny eliminated, others present! Deploy Raptors Two through Twelve!"

Searching frantically, Flitter picked up a flash from a nearby tent, and set off at an augmented sprint. The camp was roused and gathering thanks to the proddings of Jalgromak. She had to do this now, or it'd be a slaughter. She owed it to the rangers. She had to give them everything she had.

Plowing through the tent, Flitter nearly crashed across a map table as she reached for the source of the flash. Her hands gripped uniform and fur, and then stone mask wrapped in magic. Her fingers dove through the eyeholes of the mask, prying it from the awaiting face of it's next supposed wearer. Colonel Sunshine Glow growled and fired his sidearm into her faceplate, the rounds bouncing off harmlessly while the kinetic force rattling her. With a wrench of her core, Flitter ripped the mask from the Colonel, throwing him like a child across the tent. She took a knee, placing the mask on the ground as she smashed her titanium rod into it.

The pulse of energy nearly blew her off the ground as it detonated from the mask, washing over the camp. Those under Order's control collapsed, writhing in the dirt. Flitter landed on her ass, eyes rolling as her brain tried to reorientate itself and her body tottered upwards. She let out a laugh, a mad little titter of realization that she'd done it.

Then the progeny struck her midsection and bulldozed her through the camp.

Flitter gasped for air as she was slammed into the dirt, before being grabbed by the legs and used like a hammer against an invisible nail. She could feel her shoulder pop free of its socket as the progeny manhandled her like an angry child would an upsetting toy. She had to do something fast, or she was going to be reduced to paste and feathers.

Her arm mounted pistol flourished out of her armour smoothly, and she risked a double tap of shots at the hand holding her foot. Incredible heat blistered her skin under the armour as her boot fused at the graze area, but despite the injury she was rewarded with it's fingers popping free. Firing off her whole bank of repulsors, Flitter leapt into the air and marked the Progeny. "FIVE SECOND CAS BURST ON MY TARGET NOW! DANGER FUCKING CLOSE!!" She came back to the ground, rolling as one of her repulsors malfunctioned and threw her off balance. Warnings blared across her visor, things she had to dispell fast to keep her focus where it was needed.

The Rangers were rousing from their stupors, and a few had the presence of mind to start shooting at the beast. The progeny looked from Flitter to the Rangers, and began to lope into the camp, giggling like an eager child. The Rangers began to scatter, but the ogre Progeny was just too damn fast.

Driven to desperate measures, Flitter drew the beast's attention. Lifting her pistol she dumps the magazine into its back, blowing off chunks of blazing fat and muscle. The ogre howled in fury, turning on a dime to begin charging her again.

"Fuck me." She breathed out as she began to backpedal. Then the night sky ripped apart like fabric, the brutal snarling report of the ship's CIWS shattering the air. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTT The 30mm rounds slammed into the Progeny's back as it leapt for her, the sheer weight of the onslaught forced it into the ground, squealing like a pig stuck with a flaming poker. Flitter continued to scramble for distance between her and the beast as the close air support pummeled it for exactly five seconds. She had only that time to retrieve her power sword and try to relocate her shoulder. She was unsuccessful with her shoulder, leaving her meat arm hanging limp at her side as the onboard medical system of her armour fed her a chemical cocktail of painkillers.

The moment the CAS abated, Flitter leapt into action. The progeny writhed in pain, it's hide a patchwork of ugly smoking holes of missing meat. It was dying, but not fast enough. Flitter crossed the distance quickly, blade flashing through the midnight air.

The progeny lifted it's heavy arm to block the blow, only to find the powered blade carving through it like a perfectly cooked rump roast. The heavy limb fell to the ground, causing it to topple over onto its wounded side. The beast thrashed and squealed violently as Flitter hacked and slashed at it, taking whatever she could reach off. It felt like the fight for the beast's life took forever, but when she sank the tip of the blade into the center of it's now featureless face she discovered the brawl had taken under a minute from start to finish.

With the progeny slack at her feet, Flitter drew her blade out and switched it off as she fed it back into the low drag scabbard. With the camp suddenly quiet, all she could hear was her heart thumping in her ears like a trip hammer.

"Rangers, secure the area!" A ghostly familiar voice called out as Flitter scanned over her armour's inbuilt medical system. Her ribs were bruised and her shoulder was dislocated for certain. But, save for that, she wasn't bleeding and nothing was broken.

It could have been worse.

"Knight Sergeant Jack Kessle?" Colonel Sunshine Glow asked as he approached, his mane a greasy, scraggly mess. "I don't know what the hell you did… but you have my thanks."

"Close, but not quite sir." Flitter answered with a smile only she could feel. Blips of JSOG jumping down from the ship filled her radar as the Colonel's features lifted in surprise.

"Lieutenant?"

Pulling off her helmet, Flitter smiled at Colonel Glow. "It's Knight Captain now, actually. Glad to have you back, sir."

The shock of hearing her voice come from a human's mouth clearly struck the colonel in place for more than a few moments, giving the rest of Flitter's team time to land. "Hhhooow?" He finally managed, his mind struggling to take stock of what he was looking at.

Waving her mechanical arm to Taven as he landed, Flitter tucked her helmet under her good arm. "Long story. Pack up camp, we're bringing you all back to Canterlot. We're in the middle of an op."

"Shitfire…" Colonel Glow shook his head, eyes bloodshot and exhausted. "How can the Mountain Rangers help?"

Taven's brisk trot across the open ground was what underscored his voice. "You can help by getting your butts back to Canterlot, resting, eating, and rearming. We have a war to win." Taven swiftly turned his attentions to Flitter. "You were supposed to call us down if things went fucking sideways."

She could tell he was fuming behind his helmet, and so she had to cool him down. "I would have, but there was an AA emplacement still active. Likely the only reason I made it down in one piece is because I got the jump on them. The rest of you would have been sitting ducks. As for after, I was a little busy being handled like a hot little whore by the fuckin ogre over there."

Taven breathed out hard through his nose, an action made sharper by his armour mic. "Why do I always end up with the shit hot cowboy operators… Do you think you're invincible or something? Come here, let me try and fix that arm of yours"

Looking to Colonel Glow, Flitter managed a weak smile as the human spacecraft made to set down in the open field nearby. "We'll talk later, sir."

"I expect some answers, Flitter." The Colonel smiled faintly in return, before forcing his body to go rigid as he saluted. "The Mountain Rangers are in your debt."

Patting the stallion's shoulder, Flitter allowed Taven to lead her back to the ship, where she'd be tended to by medics while her team assisted the rangers in breaking camp. With her shoulder relocated sometime later, Flitter pushed into the cockpit to speak with Captain Milani. "Have you reported our success?"

The buxom woman smiled and nodded from her command chair, fixing nonexistent creases from her crisp white uniform. "Of course. Canterlot Command is very impressed, but the report of new progeny has them worried."

Flitter nodded slowly, keeping her eyes on Milani's face. "Then it's a good thing that Jack's taking out their factory for the things. Do we have any news on him?"

For a moment the captain hesitated, causing Flitter's breath to catch. "Yes, there is. They've run into some trouble."

As if on cue, Jack's voice broke over the comms against the background rattle of gunfire, and something roaring. "JUST GET YOUR METAL ASS IN THE AIR, ROXY!"

Author's Notes:

Woo here we go, a double barrel blast of talking and action for you all. 71 had to be rewritten several times to fit the narrative best, and was it ever a pain in my ass.

However, I can now confidently say we have likely 3 chapters left to go for Ballad, of which they are likely to be notably longer than the ones just released.