Long stretches of boredom interrupted by short bursts of terror. Jet Deck couldn’t honestly remember where he’d read or heard that, but that sentence was proving itself ever more true as the weeks dragged on and on. Three major engagements in two months, and while there were no real casualties from them, the GDI personnel aboard the Everfree were still getting a little stir-crazy from the lack of active combat. The Scrin weren’t the only ones who didn’t know how to react to GDI sneaking around behind enemy lines with their heavy troops instead of bulldozing over them from the front either. The tank crews themselves had to continuously refrain from carrying out standard offensive actions, instead needing to follow the lead of Brotherhood tankers given their vast experience with hit-and-run tactics.

To say this didn’t go over well with them would be a bit of an understatement.

One fight had broken out between a gryphon and a pony, with the only thing keeping the incident from escalating into a political clusterfuck being the timely intervention of two ponies, one GDI and one Nod, who outranked both offending soldiers and moved them to the Everfree’s gymnasium so they could spar. Hyperion and Blizzard both praised the NCOs and, with grudge matches officiated by both sides, tensions due to the two factions working together soon became a thing of the past. Sort of. Uneasiness still plagued GDI personnel, but now it was because of being stuck in the air and unable to fight instead of fearing punishment for putting a smug changeling in their place.

Despite all this, what managed to get Jet Deck’s gut in a twist more than anything wasn’t anything that Hyperion or his garrison had done, but who he had come face to face with on the bridge merely three days into the mission. The encounter still nagged at him over a month later, and yet he couldn’t get that pony’s words out of his head.
_______________

He had been taking a message from Major Blizzard to Hyperion. The EVAs hadn’t synced up properly yet and he needed the message taken by somepony who not only had access to the bridge, but could answer the former GDI Marine’s questions if necessary. It should have been a simple delivery to the brigadier general, or at least his changeling executive officer.

No one told the GDI complement that the Everfree had a passenger that was being ferried back into Nod territory.

No one told Jet Deck that Kane was on board.

“General, Major Blizzard said you wanted this but the EVAs hadn’t…. Hadn’t been able to coordinate with each other yet.” Jet Deck announced as he had entered the low-lit room, his speech only faltering when he noticed who was chatting idly with the stallion he had been sent to find. The Zone Trooper had been present as a guard during the peace talks, he had seen him and heard him speak, but his words were directed at other ponies supremely more important than Jet Deck would ever be. This was… different. Like the first time seeing a school teacher at the grocery store, or running into them while walking home on a weekend. But instead of just glossing over the trooper, Kane took immediate notice and stared at him with that wicked smile he always wore during speeches.

“And you must be the hero of Baltimare! Jet Deck if my memory is as good as I hope it is.” Kane said, his tone calm, yet it filled the Zone Trooper with energy.

“I.. uh… yes, sir, that is my name, but I’m hardly a hero… I was just doing my duty.”

“Indeed you were, and have done since. I must say, it’s so nice to see Earth Ponies as heroes of GDI instead of just the cannon fodder for unicorns like they were at the start of this horrid conflict.”

“... sir…?” Jet Deck asked, doing his best to keep his composure.

“Surely you noticed how unicorn generals threw earth ponies at the Nod front lines to no avail? After all, you’re a survivor of the Macintosh Hills… you saw first-hoof what happens when unicorns run a war instead of earth ponies, or the Apples.”

“I… never put much thought into it, sir. I’ve just been trying to keep my troopers alive until the war is over.”

“As you should.” the Messiah of Nod replied with a smile, as if he had personal stock in the well-being of Jet Deck’s Zone Troopers. As if Kane truly cared about every pony in the way that Celestia and Luna told the public they did.

And Jet Deck believed him.

“But I believe you have a message for our dear brother here, I won’t keep you any longer… keep up the good work on the field, First Sergeant, and keep your Gunnery Sergeant close. Apples seem to be made of good luck on the field, and I’d hate to see the most iconic duo in GDI meet disaster.”
__________________

He had to shake his head as the meeting came to the forefront of his thoughts again. Weeks later and Jet Deck still couldn’t get that damnable bald stallion’s words out of his head. His presence was different than the peace talks, like actually looking Kane in the eyes seemed to mess with his head, his very thoughts.

“Action Stations! Action Stations! All GDI and Nod senior staff to the briefing room!” the ship’s EVA announced, derailing Jet’s train of thought and none too soon. The only time both sets of staff were called in was to get ready for a strike, and if it was the target he was thinking of, they’d need everyone on the ship to get this done. Without ceremony he bolted towards the nearest lift while ignoring the warning klaxons that had started to blare. Announcement after announcement rang through the ships as he found his way to the large briefing room. Apple Bloom and Major Blizzard were already there, keeping his seat ready, and the majority of the GDI officers and staff NCOs had arrived too. Nod personnel trickled in with the same intensity, most running to their seats when they managed to get into the room. Despite the seemingly slow response from the Brotherhood, the entire ready room was filled up within 10 minutes of the call to action stations, and everyone was more than ready when Hyperion and Mantis walked up to the podium.

“Good evening everyone, I know you're all wondering why we’ve called you all up here, but I assure you, questions will be answered all in due time.” Hyperion said, “To start things off, I’ll be blunt; we’ve hit a roadblock that will set us back, and it’s a big one. EVA, screen one.”

The collective gasp from the audience in that chamber was almost loud enough to hear on the flight deck as an image of a warped version of Cloudsdale filled the screen at the front of the room. The Kodiak Shipyards were slagged, many with hulls still trapped in their berths, and the once proud towers that made up the rainbow factories were warped as their production had been shifted to making ionized clouds. The pride of GDI Aerospace Engineering Facilities had been turned into a factory for ion storms, and there were plenty now in the way of the Everfree.

“Delay is at least 8 days while we work our way around the storms. Usually I’d be one for flying over them but ionizations spikes tends to travel vertically out of the storms instead of horizontally. The only safe course is a detour… until then, hopefully everyone stays on high alert. We don’t know what the buggers have waiting for us on the approach to what used to be Cloudsdale.”

“Any updates on what’s waiting for us in San Palomino?” a Nod officer asked from the back.

“Not as of yet. Our prestigious GDI allies have yet to get reliable information from their satellites, once again, courtesy of the aliens being clever bastards that they are. We’re still flying into this mess blind.” Mantis answered, getting a groan from everyone in the room and more than one murmured “useless” comment from the GDI staff. If there was one consistent thing that GDI and Nod could agree on, it was that intelligence provided by GDI’s non-special forces was garbage.

“What about targets of opportunity?” came another interjection, this time from Apple Bloom. Hyperion raised an eyebrow at her comment, stifling a chuckle as he looked over the devastated Cloudesdale again.

“There is one target in range, but I would not advise hitting it… Scrin presence in the area is heavy, and we don’t want to lose anypony before we hit the Rift Generator, now do we?” another mare added.

“Agent Gray… nice of you to join us.” Hyperion replied, “Though if you would be so kind as to fill us all in, I believe your GDI compatriots would be appreciative.”

“Of course.” the mare said, trotting almost leisurely up to the podium. Agent Gray, or as the GDI and Nod troops called her, the Resident Spook was part of the GDI Special Intelligence Division. The kind that up until the aliens hit, no one knew even existed. Her uniform was black, decorated only by the ECU patch on her left shoulder and the bars of an army captain on her collar. Her fur and mane matched her name, with her mane being only a few shades darker than her coat. Despite her odd coloration, it was her eyes that everyone found the most unsettling, as they were the same color as her fur, and no one knew if that was due to surgical changes or if it was natural.

“At the moment, there is a large Scrin base that is acting as an impromptu anchor for Cloudesdale.” Agent Gray stated, “Multiple structures, most of them housing localized singularities, are clustered together within a defensive perimeter extending out 0.25 kilometers from the epicenter of the base. The point of this base is to protect Cloudesdale from attack, not the other way around; any response would be limited to what the base can produce or call in via the singularities.”

“Any way we can call in an ion strike? Maybe a nuke?” Jet Deck asked.

“Storms keep coherent ion strikes from hitting their target, and unless the Everfree has a ballistic missile aboard, the Brotherhood doesn’t have any silos close enough to get a strike in past their point defense.”

“How do yo-... nevermind.” Mantis started, shaking her head as she quieted herself as Gray continued.

“That being said, a small force could drop in, leave det charges, and cripple the facilities. Scrin get put on high alert and looking in the immediate area while we slip away to the primary target. The team would be separated until we came to pick them up again, but it would draw attention away from our primary target.”

“Are you suggesting a primarily Nod force, ma’am? Y’all ain’t the best at stealth.” an earth pony in a Shadow uniform spoke up, getting barely-stifled chuckles from the other Shadow officers in the room.

“No, GDI would provide overwatch.” Gray responded, gesturing to a unicorn in standard infantry fatigues, “I believe our snipers were more than capable of making you keep your heads down before the Scrin arrived, correct?”

“Y… yes ma’am.”

“Good.” Hyperion interjected, regaining control of the room, “If there aren’t any objections, I believe the senior staff need to consult on this hypothetical course of action. Dismissed.”
______________________

The officers and staff NCOs dispersed quickly, new and desperately needed direction spurring them into action, though Agent Gray was almost lethargic as she found her way back to her quarters. Hyperion and Blizzard had given her and Mantis an hour to gather what they could before reporting to the bridge to plan this operation and she had work to do.

Once in her quarters she tapped her desk twice, releasing a pulse of light as her desktop EVA unit scanned the room. Once happy with the results of the scan, she brought up the screen and waited as the connection searched, stabilized, and eventually put up an image of a stallion with his face darkened completely by shadow.

“Agent Gray calling Handler Ten… code phrase: justification.”

“Authenticated. Good to hear from you agent, I take it you have not been compromised?” he said, his voice garbled by the masking software.

“Plans are proceeding properly, I should have Nod committing some Shadows to this operation and the first detachment of GDI troops will be off the ship within a day. I’ll try and get more off before the beacon is put to use.” Gray replied.

“Don’t hesitate if there are still friendlies aboard, Alpha Target is worth whoever may still be aboard.” the shadow stallion ordered.

“What about our resident war heroes? As much as I hate to say it, having the surviving Wolverines live through this would be more useful than them being martyred.”

“Save them if you can, but your orders remain… get it done, agent.”

“Acknowledged and understood, signing off.”
______________________

“If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times, Hyperion, I don’t know how InOps got a damn operative onto the rosters.” Major Blizzard growled, “I don’t know how Nod does intelligence but for some reason our spooks never ask permission or forgiveness.”

“I’d say that sounds dangerous but that seems to be the standard of the intelligence community on both sides.” Hyperion replied, “Regardless, it’d be best if we all kept closer tabs on her.”

“Agreed.” Jet Deck chimed in, “I don’t know about all of you but I prefer InOps when it’s behind a desk or a readout on my HUD.”

“While I appreciate the sentiment, we have more important things to worry about at the moment.” Blizzard interjected, “InOps has pointed out a dozen separate targets for this little scheme to draw troops away from the main alien base. We may not like dealing with them in person but when they get an assignment, they put in good work.”

“I’ll have the Archivists confirm the data on the other sites.” Mantis added, “Trust is a two-way street, after all, and we aren’t going to plan an entirely new offensive without data from both parties.”

“Have you already managed to get confirmation on the Cloudsdale base?” Hyperion asked.

“On the way here, their information was good and with Nod topographical data attached we’ll have as close to a perfect planning map available for us as possible.”

“Then it sounds like we’ll all be busy for the next couple of hours. I suggest everyone get to their work.” added Hyperion, getting brief salutes from the “Council” as the crew had begun to call it. As both Blizzard and Jet Deck left, he turned to Mantis once more. “Any news on your little side-project?”

“Intercepted, but barely. GDI InOps uses insanely sophisticated magic to hide the fact that communications are even being transmitted. We have something, but their encryption is mostly magic-based as well and I’ve received word from the Archivists that some of the hexes GDI tends to use can act as silent alarms to let the parties involved know their calls were snooped on, or even fry the machine trying to decrypt it. I’m still waiting for a response on how to proceed, but for the time being I’ve quarantined what we have into an isolated computer.” replied Mantis, giving Hyperion a glance before staring back at her console.

“Not much to work with then, but it’s something. Let me know what you’re able to find out with the Archivists’ help. We can trust Major Blizzard to a degree; professional soldier, only wants to get the job done and finish this war. A spook though? I can’t really say I trust our own.”

“You’re not just trusting Blizzard because he worked with your father, are you?”

“Part of it, I’ll admit, but not all of it. At the end of the day, he and all those aboard who are loyal to Ironsides are still heretics.”

“Heretics… it’s been a while since I’ve heard you use that term… suddenly feeling the faith again?”

“I use the terminology that doctrine demands, whether I spend every morning praying to Kane is another question entirely… one you know the answer to.”

“Never hurts to ask, especially with someone as devout as Sister-Battle Commander Maud at the helm of this floating beast.” Mantis replied quietly, “She’s been… surprisingly peppy lately.”

“She still spouting out about her divine visions?” Hyperion asked just as quietly.

“Yes, they seem to be ‘coming to her’ with more frequency. A bunch of nonsense if you ask me but we’re still keeping her under a discreet watch.. Any more visions of the ‘horned god’ walking with Kane will be kept under wraps for as long as we can keep them.”

“At least it’s not affecting her ability to command just yet. Small miracles and all that.”

“For now. Let’s hope it stays that way...” Hyperion’s XO said, “I should get to work, I’ll report in when the Archivists get back to me.”
______________________

Despite the tedious nature of planning an operation, actually getting down to brass tacks and selecting a roster for the mission was just the shot in the arm that the ground troops aboard the Everfree needed to break the cabin fever. Practically everyone who fit the mission team requirements was volunteering and everypony was getting their gear ready just in case they were lucky enough to get the call.

Among those preparing were a pair of unicorns; one was slightly diminutive and sported a light blue coat with a hazel mane. He normally looked small compared to most ponies but his partner made him look absolutely tiny and meek by comparison even if the latter couldn't be further from the truth.

“Mags all prepped, Magnum?” his partner asked, getting a nod in reply as he used his magic to bring over their rucksacks for her to inspect. The magenta unicorn smiled as she looked through, moving things around carefully with her hoof before she gave a satisfied nod. Usually unicorns were overly dependant on their magic to do even a mundane task such as this, but for Fizzlepop Berrytwist, magic was still nearly impossible to properly use with her broken horn.

Tiberium had brought Fizzlepop back to Equestria, cutting her post-Storm King world tour and Grubber’s life short. Once back in ‘safe’ lands, she signed on with GDI and was one of the few ponies to go into the war with pre-existing scars. Magnum was a much different story, he had avoided enlistment when the war started and even after his hometown was hit by Nod, tried his best to avoid the fighting. It wasn’t until he was nearly killed at Baltimare that he had finally had enough and joined up. Turns out Tempest and Magnum had more in common than just sticking to false names, and their abilities to work a sniper rifle were almost unparalleled.

“R&D said this new model is pretty nasty back when they issued them to us… been wanting to try it out on some Celestia-damned aliens already.” Magnum murmured as he continued to look over their weapons. Crazy missions called for crazy weapons, and an experimental leap in sniper rifle technology was definitely the right sort of crazy for these two.

“I’unno, Mags…” Tempest teased as she started checking the fitting of her armor again, “I always enjoyed the intimacy of a .50 round. Felt like sending a little letter to the poor bastard in our sights.”

“I hear that.” her teammate replied, cracking a rare smile as he looked over the coils and wiring to look for any signs of damage, “But it should be fun to feel like a Zone Trooper for a few rounds.”

“From ‘Dear John’ to ‘To Whom It May Concern.” the scarred unicorn said, a grin forming on her muzzle as she retorted. That grin soon spread to a full-fledged smile as her earpiece buzzed. Magnum knew exactly why it had, but he felt like asking anyway. If there was anything Tempest enjoyed, it was being humored when her hunches were right.

“So… we just get the call?”

“Lock’n load, Magnum.” Tempest said with a wink, “The Old Man wants the best snipers on the ship and he just tapped ’em.”
__________________

Across the ship in the Brotherhood armory, similar situations were playing out as a more significant Nod force was preparing for this mission. Two fulls teams of Shadows were inspecting equipment, preparing weapons and ammo, and going through the proper religious rites. Even with GDI aboard, proper rituals were observed by most of the Nod crew, devout or not.

One of those who refrained from the usual pre-mission sermons was Sweetie Belle. While not completely opposed to the whole religious aspect of the Brotherhood, Sweetie had seen Nod’s inner circle early on and being in regular contact with Rarity kept her from donning the rose-tinted glasses that many of the disenfranchised had already put on.

“Not participatin’?” a female voice chimed in, making Sweetie jolt slightly. When she saw who it was, she relaxed considerably.

“I’m not really one for the sermons Bloom… not every member of Nod is a zealot after all.” she replied, nudging her friend gently in the side, “What about you? How’d you even get down here?”

“Ship’s not that hard to navigate after you spend a few months on it… that and I didn’t want that briefing to be the last time we saw each other before you head out.” Apple Bloom told her.

“Think I’m not going to make it?”

“Anything could happen. For all we know, after the attack on the main target, your little team could be the sole survivors just because you weren’t there for it.”

“Pretty grim way to look at it, AB…” Sweetie Belle whispered, looking over to her friend only to see that she was staring through the congregation instead of at them. “Apple Bloom?”

“Hmm-yeah? Yeah, what’s up?”

“Blanked on me there.” the white unicorn told her, placing a hoof on her shoulder, “Are you ok?”

“I’m… yeah, I’m solid, just…. Thinking.” the earth pony replied, shaking her head clear, “Buried a lot of friends after Canterlot… almost buried Big Mac… most of’em, last thing they heard from me was orders or swearin’... guess I just don’t want my closest friends to only remember a stuffy briefing room if I bite it too.”

“Could always just remember you covered in tree sap after a cutie mark attempt.” Sweetie teased, getting a rare smile out of her fellow Crusader. For a few minutes they simply stood there in relative silence, both of them thinking back to happier days before the Everfree’s EVA interrupted.

“All personnel attached to Operation: First Strike report to Launch Bay 02 for final briefing.” the automated voice announced, getting a sigh from both mares.

“Duty calls…” Sweetie Belle muttered, “Make sure you’re waiting for me when they pick us up, ok?”

“You got it.” Apple Bloom told her, hugging her friend close, “And if I’m not… well, take care’a Jet Deck for me.”

The statement made the Commando pause, her eyes going wide for a moment. Sweetie Belle hugged Apple Bloom tighter after that, only pulling away to look one of her oldest friends in the eye. While her features were the same farm pony she befriended what seemed like a lifetime ago, her eyes were different, like they belonged to someone else. The shine that Sweetie remembered for all this time was gone.

“We’re both making it back in one piece.” Sweetie Belle finally said with a surprising amount of conviction in her voice, “I promise.”
_______________

“InOps Connection…. Confirmed.” Gray stated.

“Archivist Connection confirmed as well.” Mantis added.

“Then it’s about time we started.” Hyperion said, “Ladies, gentlemen, your target is a Scrin base 3 clicks from Cloudsdale, working as a ground-side anchor for Chrysalis’ Taint.”

Like clockwork, every member of the strike team that had been herded into the hangar bay began stifling laughter. The nickname for what Cloudsdale had become spread quickly, so quickly in fact that it was rumored that Hyperion and Mantis started spreading it themselves. Those in Nod didn’t refute the rumor when questioned by their GDI counterparts, given the hostility that still remained between Chrysalis and any changeling that had even a slim possibility of replacing her.

“Targets are simple, but destruction is not your only objective. Reconnaissance and intel gathering on these aliens structures is just as important as destroying them.” the general continued, “The more we know the better, so our Shadows will have recording gear that will send everything and anything they find out in that base to the GDI teams providing overwatch. Lieutenant, have you picked your teams?”

“Sir.” Sweetie Belle answered, “I will be working with Shadow Team Qatar, but all four teams will be under my command.”

“Good, how about you, Agent Gray?”

“Sniper teams Bravo, Epsilon, and Zeta will provide overwatch, operational command of all three teams falls to Staff Sergeant Tempest Shadow.” the agent replied, nodding to the unicorn standing slightly forward of the rest of the snipers, “Code name, as per usual, will be ‘Guardian Angel’.”

“Fitting… Shadows, you’ll be Dagger but when it comes to every other name, you’ll be deciding that after being dropped off.” Hyperion told the collection of ponies and gryphons, “Now then, onto specifics. Given the sensitive nature of this mission, you will all have a fair amount of operational freedom, this is me telling you to get the job done by any means necessary. You disembark the Everfree in 30 minutes, travel time is 45, and after that you will create your own rendezvous after the mission is complete.”

“You will be staying in the field until the attack on the alien superweapon is complete, so to mitigate the amount of gear you will be taking into the field, GDI personnel will be setting up shop 5 kilometers from your drop point underneath a disruptor array. By the time you finish your mission, they should have the base set up.”

With that comment made, the third ‘leader’ among those sitting in the hangar bay finally spoke up. He was an earth pony, similar in size and build to Big Mac but despite being built like a shock trooper, his uniform had the distinctive patch of ZOCOM on the shoulder.

“For now we’re merely calling it alpha base, but we’ll come up with something better once we make landfall. My teams should have an area cleared and cleaned within the first few hours, and by the time the Shadows and snipers get done having fun with the bugs, we’ll have a field mess and rudimentary barracks set up for use.” he said, giving a polite nod to the combat troops next to his team, “We may prefer blowing things up, but we combat engineers build as well as we destroy.”

“Duly noted.” Hyperion replied, “If there aren’t any other questions or announcements, then consider this my official statement of ‘don’t die’ and ‘good luck’. I won’t offer any slogans this time around; this is a dangerous assignment but it could be enough to make our primary target less difficult. In the end, your primary goal is to draw alien attention away from the Rift Generator, and I can’t think of anyone better to do it than a few Shadows and a Commando with explosives. Go ahead and get the carryall loaded with equipment, and be ready to dust off in half an hour… good luck everyone, dismissed.”
_______________

“Staff Sergeant? A word with you please.” Agent Gray said, pulling Tempest’s attention away from the team loading up on the carryall.

“Sure, ma’am, what can I do for you?”

“You’re aware of your orders as overwatch, but I have a… secondary set of orders for you.” Gray said, her voice lowering in volume as she continued, “Onomatopoeia, legate, maelstrom.”

“... authenticated.” Tempest whispered back, her eyes narrowing, “What does Enigma have for me?”

“Zeta contingency is going into effect…” Gray ordered, “If it isn’t wearing an eagle, it doesn’t come back from this mission.”

“Yes ma’am.” Tempest replied.

“And be sure to be… discreet. Put the Scrin to good use. But if the aliens aren’t a viable option, all means are authorized. Are we clear?”

“Crystal.”

Author's Notes:

It's good to be back. Long story short, issues on my end kept the story from getting written, those issues have been resolved. Also, since it seems that this needs to be said again despite it being on the front page of the story:

If you find a typo or have a suggestion, send me a private message and I will get to it. We here on the Green Sun team appreciate help in catching minor errors, but do not waste comment section space with them.