Liazo lit a cigarette and listened to some music, it was one of the albums he and jazz group recorded so many years ago. He heard himself on the saxophone. It was smooth, yet sharp, with purpose. He often was reminded of his time undercover when he listened to himself play, a darker time in his past. Jazz was a release for him, a way to vent his emotions. It's what made him always so cool and collected. Although, back then, he found it difficult to express himself when he put on so many masks, the life of an undercover agent was not for the faint of heart. At times, he forgot what side he was on. He knew the Catelli's so well, and despite all the suffering they caused, Liazo understood their struggles. To fit in, to pay for your food and your house, they were just ordinary folk who got desperate, turned to crime and violence to survive. Was he so different? Liazo thought about that as he let out a puff of smoke and laid back in his chair, putting his hooves up on the desk in front of him. Regardless of what he felt about his former family, Liazo knew the Catelli's made a bad move allying with the cultists, and he needed to stop them.

He and the rest of his team arrived at Brandon Outpost the day before, at around eight. The outpost was one of the largest in Ausrüstung, and was attached to the metal, one hundred meter, outer wall that secluded the northern district from the rest of the world. It was much colder up north; the gas fireplace was constantly ablaze in his room. Each room was prepared for their team, catered to their likes and dislikes. There was a fresh supply of cigarettes, the lights were turned down low just the way he liked it, and he had plenty of wine and whiskey to taste. Liazo laughed. If he were to tell his younger self about the life he had with Task Force One, he'd probably think he was crazy. Then there was a knock at the door, interrupting his train of thought.

"Come in," Liazo said as he walked over to his bureau and filled two glasses halfway with whiskey.

It was Gin, and Liazo passed her a drink as soon as she entered. "Thanks, love. Gee... this is cozy." She grinned as she took a sip of her whiskey, but her expression contorted as she felt the drink's firm bite. "Damn, how old is this?"

"Fifty years, or... that's what the bottle says anyways." Liazo replied as he grabbed the bottle and examined the label. "For all we know it could be a thousand. I dunno, kinda all tastes the same after it hits the forty year mark, like ginger and hot sauce."

"I wouldn't say that," Gin said as she took another sip. "I think old liquor has a habit of fooling ponies. It starts out spicy, but after a while, the taste begins to refine. Most ponies usually down it quick because of the heat, but they're missing out if you ask me." Gin set her glass down on the bureau and sat on Liazo's sofa, just a few feet away from his fireplace. "But, you already knew that, didn't you? So tell me, what's got you all riled-up?"

"I'm worried, Gin. I'm worried about the team, it's members." Liazo shook his head and set his glass down beside Gin's, rubbing his temple with his middle and index finger as he did so. "I hate to say it, but we're just as cruel as our enemies. Like them, we've all killed, we've all done unforgivable things. The only difference between us and those crazies is that we're working for the team everypony cheers for. We're all just as evil as them."

"Well, it sounds corny, but... sometimes you have to be bad to fight bad." Gin tried to ease his mind. "You're on the right side, that's all that matters."

"Sure, but... don't you ever feel guilt for the things that you've done?" Liazo asked her as he sat down on the couch beside her.

Gin remembered her life of petty theft before she became a privateer. She remembered the time she stole from an orphanage, the time she stole from an old widow. Her fists clenched for a moment, then she took a deep breath. "All the time..." She sighed, then looked at Liazo. "But, here I am, alive and drinking. I suppose I just learned to live my life with tunnel vision. I only focus on the now and tomorrow, and I think that's all that matters. I've accepted my past misdeeds, and I guess I've learned to just... let them go, because I can't go back in time and fix it."

"I guess we all need to let go once in a while, huh?" Liazo smiled as he poured Gin and himself another glass. "So, are we gonna hit the road soon, or what?"

"Yeah, we will." Gin nodded. "We're all briefed and we know the plan, all that's left is to get our shit together and storm those gates."

"Who knows what'll be in there. The wall's been shut for more than a decade."

"Yeah, but we'll be ready. We've got Butch, Edgar, you..." Gin thought back to the warehouse. "Speaking of which... what were those powers? Back at the warehouse, I mean. It looked like you knew those ponies too."

"Yeah, that..." Liazo scratched the back of his neck in an exhausted fashion. "Back in the day, I used to be a private undercover agent. I'd infiltrate the ranks of a crime group, then bust em'. Life was, well... liveable for a while. It put a decent amount of money on the table, but... I was pretty desperate for cash back then. That desperation led me to a high paying job, one thought to be impossible. The Catelli's."

"So, you were working for them, but not really?" Gin inquired.

"Yeah, exactly. I worked with them for a while, but... the deal got dicey. I was taking my time, learning about them. It took me a while to realize that I began to treat them like friends, like family, the line became blurred and... I had to get out of the game." Liazo downed his whole glass of whiskey. "I ratted them out finally, locked up most of the gang, but... it didn't go as smooth as I thought. They busted outta prison the next day, went underground, which was bad news for me. I had to disappear too, get away from them. That's when Charles found me."

"And your powers?" Gin wondered. "Viper didn't have that bloody fast regeneration or those freaky eyes..."

"The inner circle of the Catelli mob possesses the supernatural powers of the gola, zombie-like creatures that feed on flesh. Each gola is unique in its own way, and by that, I mean powers. There are two ways to become one. Number one is through genetics, the second way..." Liazo tugged on the collar of his red dress shirt to reveal the lower portion of his neck, which had a large circular scar, a bite mark. "Is through initiation... infection. They accepted me into the inner circle just before I left. For a time, they were the closest thing I had to a family."

"So, if you're a zombie, are you dead?" Gin asked as she stood up and examined his bite mark.

"No, just half-dead." Liazo chuckled to himself. "It comes with its perks and its downsides. My unique, cloned brain allows me to resist the urge to consume flesh more than most golas, but I still get a little peckish from time to time."

"Sounds like fun." Gin laughed lightly. "Thanks for telling me about... yeah."

"I should be thanking you," Liazo grinned as he poured one last drink for himself and downed the whole thing. "It's good to know I can trust somepony. Now, let's get movin'. I wanna personally shove my hoof way up Fonzi's ass."

****

After the mission briefing, Rainbow Dash went to Masami's room, where she was readying herself for the mission at hand. Although, it wasn't what she expected. When Rainbow Dash entered her room, she saw Masami, standing in front of an old chest that was laying at the foot of her bed.

Masami took a deep breath as she looked down at the chest that sat just in front of her. She thought of Hiro, his teachings, his kind voice. Every fiber of his being was contained in his chest, the chest that she salvaged from his dojo. It was his heart, contained in a two hoof by four hoof chest. Rainbow Dash watched Masami as she knelt before the container and bowed her head with her eyes closed.

"What are you doing?" The curious pegasus asked as she crouched down and investigated the odd, black chest covered in strange symbols.

"Paying my respects to my master, Hiro," She muttered as she opened her eyes and unlocked the chest with a red key. "I asked for his permission to take his sword."

"His sword-?" Rainbow Dash trailed off as Masami reached into the opened container and withdrew a meter and a half long blade, shielded by a sheath. "Whoa..."

The blade was a sight to behold, even with the sheath hiding the blade. Its handle contained smooth, flat pieces of jade, and its hilt was jet black like a piece of obsidian. The sheath was gray and decorated with complex ink drawings of snakes, trees, mountains, waterfalls. The blade certainly had a story to tell. Rainbow Dash gasped as Masami slowly pulled the sword out of its sheath, revealing the elegant blade beneath. The gleaming metal was so polished and clean, it was hard to tell whether the blade was silver or pure white. As Masami waved the katana in front of her, Rainbow Dash heard a faint humming noise, an echo emanating from a realm beyond her perception.

"This is Hiro's blade, Kochi, a blade passed down by his ancestors for generations. And now, the only Wakahisa has fallen to darkness. He has already claimed a blade of his own, filled with violence and hate." Masami explained as she slid the sword back into its sheath. "Now, Hiro has granted me his blessing, and I may use his blade."

"How do you know all this?" Rainbow Dash asked as she knelt down beside her.

"The Pēru are all connected. We breathe, dream, and think as one. We all are in sync with the spirits around us, it's in our blood." Masami said as she set down in front of her. "This probably sounds a lot like fiction, but... Pēru can talk to the departed, our ancestors."

"That's not hard to believe. I've seen a lot of crazy stuff before." Rainbow Dash assured her.

"Yeah, well... my culture is pretty batshit insane." Masami snapped back to her old joking self, then Rainbow Dash chuckled. "What?"

"Everypony's insane, Masami." Rainbow Dash laughed, although, she didn't really know why. Masami joined in too, and after almost laughing themselves to death, they laid on the floor beside each other. "That was... stupid."

"Yeah, I guess. I liked it, though. It felt good to let that out." Masami gave Rainbow Dash a long kiss, then got up, grabbing her sword. "Let's get going, Kitten. We've got work to do."

****

Everypony assembled in the launch bay of the military base, the gates of the northern district. Spike and everypony else would be the first outsiders to ever set foot in the north district in over fifteen years. There were tanks lined up along the walls, each having their own name pasted on the side of their hull like 'Mighty Mary' or 'Big Ben'. Spike chuckled at the odd names. Charles was there to meet with them one last time before they left, and he looked as confident as ever. Although, beneath his confidence, Spike could see a shred of worry, which was understandable. When the fate of your country rests with a band of pirates and soldiers, you'd be a little on edge as well. The group gathered around Charles, who had a handful of soldiers clad in robotic armor beside him.

"I suppose we should go over the plan one last time before you head out, hmm?" Charles suggested as he brought out a hologram-projecting disc from his pocket and clicked a button on the side. A map of the northern district appeared; it was a simulation of their mission.

"Go for it," Masami replied as she popped a piece of gum in her mouth, blowing a few bubbles as Charles began his explanation.

"Now then, here's the basic outline of my previous explanation," Charles went on. "The team will stick together until Radio Station Astral is down. After you accomplish that, you'll all split up to take down the remaining members of this 'Infernalgear' group. You will most likely come across a few ruffians and malfunctioning dampfriesens on the way, so be wary. The ponies on the other side of this wall are not your friend. Prolonged exposure to the residual chemicals of the Guiver Device has driven them mad."

"Don't worry about chemical exposure," Evelyn chimed in. "It takes years for the vapors to affect your central nervous system, and I don't think we'll take that long."

"Yes, but just to be safe, do not breathe in the small clouds of vapor you find. They're a dull green color, and they hang close to the ground like a heavy fog." Masami added.

"We don't know much about their leader, but whoever he or she is, they are extremely powerful. A normal pony would not be able to control such an unstable group without an immense amount of magical and physical power."

"That's why we have Ed!" Rainbow Dash cheered the great giant on and gave him a high five, nearly forgetting that he had metal arms. She almost broke her hand. "Oww..."

"Good enthusiasm, Rainbow Dash. We'll need that. You also have But-..." Charles trailed off as when he realized Butch was absent. "Where's Butch?"

"I'm here," Butch grunted as he stomped over to his team, wearing a heavy mechanized suit of armor that seemed fairly unique compared to the basic armor of the soldiers behind Charles. "Just had to get Ironsides up and running."

The armor was colored auburn, but it had many scratches and scorch marks. Spike could tell it had been through tons of combat. It looked slightly rusted too, a lot older than the shinier suits that the common Ausrüstung infantry units wore. He wore a sleeveless black trench coat overtop of the armor, which must've been tailored to fit the suit perfectly. It was probably way too big for him without the metal shell. Around his waist was a utility belt filled with ammunition, and it also had various grenades and other tools. His helmet covered his whole face, and the only visible flesh on his body was in fact, his tow eyes that were hidden behind thick, circular glass eyeholes that shone a bright green light.

"What is that armor?" Spike whispered to Liazo, who was right next to him.

"Oh, that? That's Ol' Ironsides, Butch's personal mech-suit. That's for when things get serious." Liazo grinned. "It may look like an antique, but trust me, you won't put a dent in him with that shit on. The suit's rubber-insulated, wrapped with kevlar, and covered in graphene-coated cordium plates. Graphene-coated cordium is pretty much indestructible."

"What about all those scratches and burns? It's indestructible, right?" Spike said to Liazo with a skeptical expression on his face.

"That's just the paint job, which I'm surprised has lasted this long. That armor has tanked direct hits from a surface to air missile." Liazo chuckled to himself. "I remember when that happened... he complained about his back for the next week."

"Alright everypony, now that we're prepared mentally, let's get properly armed." Charles looked excited, like a colt about to open his Hearth's Warming Eve presents. "Evelyn, go ahead."

"My pleasure. Follow me, everypony." Evelyn walked towards a nearby wall and they all followed. She pulled a switch, and it revealed a massive hidden compartment filled with special firearms and equipment. "Before I distribute our weapons, I must ask out pirates to reach into their pockets. You'll find a small black sphere. I want you to squeeze them very gently with your hand."

Spike did as instructed and applied pressure to the tiny black ball. As it squished, it spread outwards, expanding into a film that began to coat Spike's skin. It went all the way up to his neck then stopped, hardening into a tough armor, similar to Evelyn's, jet black and shiny. It went over clothing too.

"Whoa... cool!" Spike shouted as he felt the solid black surface of his new suit of armor.

"Interesting," Winslow said to himself as he looked down at his hooves. His long jacket didn't get covered, but his metal armor was overlapped by the strange black substance.

"This armor will cater to your body specifically, becoming immune to your powers and abilities and providing resistance to their weaknesses," Evelyn explained. "They are also immune to most small arms fire and heat resistant, for extra protection."

"Hey, guys! My arse looks amazing in this!" Gin chuckled as she turned around and waved her backside in the air.

"So it does... now onto the weapons." Evelyn rolled her eyes as she began browsing the weapon compartment. "I'm only giving weapons to those I believe need them. Evelyn started with Fluttershy. She handed her a metal sphere and pressed a button on the side, activating it. "Fluttershy, this is a medical drone. It will heal others when they are hurt. It's solar powered, so don't worry about the battery."

"Thank you..." Fluttershy was scared out of her wits by the strange floating sphere that looked at her with one big eye. "W-will it f-follow me?"

"Well, only if you want it to. You can always just shut it off." Evelyn said as she pressed the button on the drone again, deactivating it. She then looked down at Fluttershy's armor and gasped. "My word, your armor is incredibly durable! You're much stronger than I thought!"

"I- um... thank you?" Fluttershy said with wide eyes, afraid that the others were catching on to her little secret.

"Gin, you get this custom-made blunderbuss. Just click the button on the slide, load up the chamber with one of these arcane-enhanced shells and fire. Rinse and repeat." Evelyn instructed Gin as she handed her the gun and a pouch filled with shells.

"Nice. I'll call her Scotch!" Gin giggled as she hugged her new gun.

"Winslow, here's-." Evelyn was about to hand Winslow a sub-machine, and he pushed it away gently with his hand.

"I'm sorry, but I do not use firearms." Winslow refused the weapon politely.

"Don't be ridiculous, you imbecile! You can't use a sword in a modern combat situation!" Evelyn yelled, outraged by the stubbornness of Winslow.

"Lass, he'll be alright," Draven insisted. "He's lived this long only using a sword. I think he knows what he's doin'."

" I suppose that concludes the weapon-segment then..." Evelyn sighed as she walked over to Charles with her head hung in disappointment. "Let's go, I guess. Charles leave this chamber and tell the operator to open the blast doors."

"Very well, Evelyn. I'll see you soon then, yes?" Charles shook her hand and then bid farewell to his team. "I hope to see you all again soon! Kick those cultist's posteriors for me, will you?"

"See ya, Charles!" Rainbow Dash waved as everypony walked towards the giant metal door at the end of the room.

The door was sealed shut, covered up by a massive metal blast door. The doorway had various flashing red lights, and their flashing became brighter as the door began to emit steam. There was a technician on the intercom, announcing every step of the opening procedure. "Opening blast door number one." The first door opened, screeching as it inched its way up and revealing the second door. "Opening second blast door." The second door was rustier, and it had a harder time opening than the last one. "Opening final blast door. Releasing magnetic-locks." The final door was more complex than the others. There were three great gears that turned and clicked together in sync, clicking away until they finally turned three-hundred and sixty degrees. Then, as the final door opened, Spike could smell charcoal and fire. Sunlight escaped the crack in the door, and as the opening grew wider, the whole chamber was filled with warm sunlight. As the doors finally opened all the way, it let out one last gust of steam to welcome the brave explorers.

"Godspeed everypony, Godspeed..." Charles said on the intercom as they all stepped out into The Silence.

Author's Notes:

This is where Arc Two really takes off! As always, I hope you enjoyed! Leave a like and a comment if you did, it helps out a lot! Thanks for reading!