It’d been just about an hour since we’d left the factory, and I figured we’d probably be arriving over Cordite shortly. But rather than get up and deal with that, for now, I just felt like relaxing with my family. And after everything, we’d definitely earned a bit of leisure time.

Being the ‘Captain’ apparently had one perk on board the Arcturus, and that was that the captain had their own separate quarters. It was still small at about half the size of our container rooms on Bertha, but it was enough. While I still felt bad that I’d taken the title from Frescas, I certainly wasn’t going to feel sorry about stealing this away. Not when for once I could just relax.

Eeyup, just me, Buck, and Hispano packed into a tiny room aboard a two century old pegasus ghostship.

“I don’t know about you two, but this is the sort of thing I’m looking for in our future.” Hispano cooed softly as she reclined on the small one-pony sized bed recessed into the back wall. Me? I’d been much more comfortable laying atop the soft and warm fur of the Snow Dog I loved. “You sure we can’t just head south like this and find a nice corner of the wastes to live in for forever?”

I knew she’d made the comment in jest, but that was all the excuse my mind needed to get going.

“Yes, Night.” Solomon’s voice was nothing more than a whisper emanating from the darkest depths of my mind. “Just let me go. It’s not like you need to come after me. I mean, what’s that mule going to do? KILL you? Hah!”

“As nice as that’d be, we can’t.” I mumbled through a muzzle full of warm fur as I let out a sigh. “Happy had a point earlier, we’ve already taken far too long to get back on the road after Solomon.”

“Ugh.” Hispano grunted and threw her head back against the soft pillow behind her. “Fine. But if that’s the case, then you should probably stop saying yes to every charity case we happen upon. Sooner or later, it’s going to… well, it’s just not going to end well for us.”

“What charity cases?” I scoffed and twisted my head across Buck’s chest just enough to glance over at her. “All this shit we’re doing for the Factory is in return for the help we’re getting.”

“Yeah, I get that, Night.” She rolled her eyes before reaching up to grab around the broken compass that hung around her neck. “But don’t deny that while you’ve been more open to fighting than Buck, you’ve still got a soft spot for anypony who even looks at you needily. Isn’t that right, Buck?” Silence filled the air before she glanced over at him, only to receive a light snore from the end of his metal muzzle. Of course he’d fallen asleep… “Typical.” She sighed before laying back down.

She gave the compass a squeeze, tensing up before looking down to realize what she’d been doing. As if she tried to brush off the fact she’d even had it in her talons, she huffed and rolled herself over. With a pomf, she forced her beak and face straight down into the pillow. While I understood where this all was coming from, I had this itching feeling in the back of my head that there was a reason she’d spoken up about it.

“What’s got you so concerned, Hispano?” I asked as bluntly as ever.

“Nothing.” She muttered with her face still pressed into the pillow.

“Come on, it’s never nothing.” I sighed, carefully repositioning myself on Buck’s chest so that I could speak without getting a muzzle full of fur with every word. “Is it something that happened with your sister?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hispano grunted and pushed herself to roll onto her side. With a huff, she faced the bland metal wall and curled up slightly.

“If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine.” I sighed, hoping that I could try to get her to get whatever this was off her breast. If she didn’t, I knew it was going to bother me the whole time we were at Cordite. “Just know that you can tell me anything, Hispano.”

“I know, Night.” She let out a sniffle as she curled up tighter. “And you’re right, it is about my sister.” Rolling herself over again, she wore a dejected look that drifted across the room to where Suiza was propped up near the door. Pushing herself to sit up, she sat at the edge of the bed. “The job my sister never came back from, that was a charity case.”

“Wait, I thought Talons never worked for free.” I blurt out, drawing her sad glance for a moment before she shrugged at me.

“They don’t. It’s supposed to be ‘bad luck’ to work for free, and of course it’s just a terrible way to make caps.” She forced herself to speak as her tone grew more hollow with each word. Her expression twisted as rage slowly crept and built across her body. “But my sister was the best Talon there ever was, and that fucking cowardly bastard knew it.” She brought her talon up again around the broken compass, pressing it against her plumage as she continued. “Gunther, a transfer-Talon from the east who’d taken only easy jobs had asked Suiza to prove that she was the best. He wanted her to take over the impossible contract he’d picked up. Not only that, but he suggested that if she really was the best, then she didn’t need to worry about the bad luck.”

“And being the badass she was, she took up the job?” Again, the words just sort of slipped from my muzzle. Surprisingly, they brought the hint of a smirk across her beak, if only for just a single moment.

“Mhmm.” She nodded as she brought the compass up to where she could look at it. “That asshole got to nearly drink himself to death that night, while my sister never came home again.”

“Did you kill him?” I asked with what seemed to be the force of a thousand mile an hour winds, because it brought a look of shock across her face. Which was odd to me, because that’s exactly what I wanted to do to the fucking ‘Lightbringer’ for killing my mom.

“What? No!” She gasped. “Fighting another Talon outside of opposing contracts is grounds for summary execution, or worse, expulsion from the Talons forever.” Letting the shock of my question subside a bit, her look slowly drifted back over to her sister. With a short slump, she hung her head and let go of the compass. “I wanted to, I still want to, but... I can’t.”

“Can’t, or won’t.” I offered, pulling a confused look. Something about the way she’d said that only left me more curious about it. “If you could do it where it wouldn’t get you kicked out of the Talons, would you?”

“I…” She paused as she stared at me and let her response die in her throat. Again, her eyes drifted to her sister, and after a moment, she’d collected herself to speak up again. “I just can’t. It goes against what being a Talon means, and that alone meant everything to my family. I couldn’t betray their morals like that, not Dad’s, not my sister’s, and not my mom’s.”

“I think that must’ve been hard to admit, but it’s admirable of you to be able to forgive something like that.” I couldn’t always be a ‘good’ pony, and again I’ll admit that I’d still take a shot at the Lightbringer if given a chance. But I’ll be damned if even Hispano, the excitable Talon in training, couldn’t remind me of how no one is truly too far gone to save in the wastes.

“Oh, I haven’t forgiven him.” She let out a soft laugh as her beak spread into a smile. “And believe me, the moment we get back down to my home in ‘Claw, I’m going to find him. And while I won’t kill him, he’s going to so wish that I would.”

I felt a laugh slip out of my muzzle as I rolled my eyes at her.

“And after what he did, you can bet that I’ll be there to hold him down for you.” While I’d just remarked that anyone could be saved, it didn’t mean that they couldn’t incur a few bumps and bruises as I helped them along the way. But the notion of all this had kicked an odd thought into my head that like always, just happened to work its way out of my muzzle. “But what doesn’t make sense then, is why you’re still working for me when I haven’t paid you anything? Isn’t that supposed to be ‘bad luck’?”

“Oh, while that’s true, and you are definitely a walking pile of bad luck… it doesn’t mean I haven’t already taken something of yours as compensation.” The soft and somewhat loving tone that filled her words was much more comforting than the hollowness that she’d just held. Not only that, but her words meant so much more as she reached over with her talon and grasped my forehoof firmly. “And while I know that for you it’s not the same feelings you share with Buck, they’re still worth more to me than any caps or treasure in the wasteland.”

I met her hope filled smile with one of my own as I used my fetlock to squeeze around her talon.

“Again with the getting sappy.” Buck groaned out as he reached up and wrapped his mechanical paw around Hispano and I’s linked limbs.

In one fluid motion, he sat up and dragged the both of us up against his warm chest. He let out a static filled yawn as Hispano and I tried to process everything with our faces buried in his fur.

“That was a good nap, and I’m glad you two got some time to talk.” Buck leaned forward, lifting us in his paws until he could plant a soft but short kiss on each of our heads. “But unfortunately we’re coming up on Cordite’s headquarters, and Ping wants to talk about what we’ll be offering them.”

“About that…” I mumbled as I pulled my head away from Buck’s chest. Looking up, I stared right into his concerned and slightly confused look. Every part of me wanted to tell him about what Sierra had asked for, but I can’t. And like with how Hispano felt, this really was a ‘can’t’ sort of situation. “When we go in, I kinda… sorta… want to try negotiating alone?”

I didn’t have to even look over to know that the odd sound coming through Buck’s fluff was the noise of Hispano dragging her talon across her face in exasperation.

Yeah, I could already tell this wasn’t going to go over well…

“So, let me get this straight…” Happy scrunched up his muzzle in frustration as he angrily prodded at my side. “You want to negotiate with them, alone.”

“That’s right.” I nodded at him and looked at the others. While I knew Hispano would support me, I wasn’t sure about Buck. By the way he covered his face with his mechanical paws, and how he looked like he was about to die of disappointment, I was fairly certain that’d mean he’s about fifty-fifty or so. “Look, I know you don’t have much of a reason to take me up on this, but I need you to trust me.”

“Much of a reason?” Happy spat out harshly, following it with a forced laugh. “You sat in on all of what, two or three of Ma’s negotiations? I’ve sat in on dozens of those boring meetings, and I couldn’t ever negotiate my way out of a paper bag!”

“He’s right you know.” Hispano chimed in as she propped herself up against the barrel of Suiza. “I think the paper bag would take him for all he’s worth.” She flashed as smirk before glancing over to me. “But he’s got a point, Night. What’s this about?”

And there’s the question. Yeah, I knew this wasn’t going to go smoothly. But hey, that’s just how my life is I suppose...

“I’ve been asked... not to tell you?” I looked around to everyone gathered in the command center of the ship.

I ended my glance on Ping. Even he’d looked confused as to why I’d even entertained the idea, let alone brought it up. But if the Architect hadn’t told him, there had to be a reason. And while I pointed out that he shouldn’t be keeping secrets from the Factory, it’s not my place to go spilling them. At least, not right now it wasn’t.

“I believe that if Night Flight trusts it is in our best interests not to be told,” Ping blinked a few times before looking about to the others. “Then we must do our part to understand that it is probably for the best. He is both the captain and the Factory’s representative after all!” His muzzle split to his beaming smile as he turned and started to push buttons under the board of terminal screens currently displaying the sprawling forest below the Arcturus. “Now, about what we will be offering as compensation for Cordite’s service. I have a list here I can give you of our available assets to trade. However, with the recent problems we’ve been having with the ponies in Tungsten, our options are not numerous.”

With a few more taps on the keys, he refreshed a few of the terminal screens above him. It generated a list of elements, Iron, Nickel, Cobalt, Aluminum, Titanium, along with a few other compounds that I didn’t really understand, let alone even dream of pronouncing names like that. With a final stroke, one of the bridge machines started to make a rhythmic grinding noise, slowly spitting out a short length of printed paper.

“It’s just… raw materials.” Hispano grumbled as she ripped the paper from the printer and brought it up to her beak. Flatly, she looked over the top of it to Ping, shooting his beaming muzzle a deadpan. “They’re not going to want anything like this. They’re going to want guns, ammunition, gear. They run and maintain tanks, not build them.”

“On the contrary, they do build them.” Eliza’s voice came through the command center itself, and her cartoony smiling mare popped onto one of the monitors above Ping. The other terminal screens flashed over to a set of images that showed what almost looked like a full production line of small, armored and tracked vehicles. “Their T-8 tank series is the first newly designed and manufactured military vehicle seen in the north since the war. The newest models seem to be built more for an anti-personnel and light vehicle role, but from what models they have managed to get operational, they have proven to be highly effective in the field.”

“By our estimate,” Ping spoke up again as Eliza returned the screens around him to the various displays they’d originally had. “We have enough materials on offer for them to build two hundred and seventy five new tanks. That is of course by our estimates, which are solely based on observations of the vehicles and the process that they have used to make them. Back at the Factory, we could also prefabricate parts to their specifications if it would convince them to help fight the Kingdom.”

“Fascinating.” Buck surprised me by stepping forward and putting his paw on the end of his muzzle. “On the Inuvik, we had to create our own spare parts or hope that the Empirica could share some. Fabricating new parts had always been a challenge for the ship’s engineers, let alone whole new machines. I am a bit curious as to how they’ve managed to solve their own problems with only the tools they had.” He turned to me with a smirk that told me he was going to ask me something I wouldn’t be able to resist. “Perhaps we could take a look at their fabrication facility while we are down there?”

“Only for you, Buck.” I gave him a soft nod and felt a warmth creep through me as a smile parted his jagged jawline. Turning my attention back to Ping however, I did have one question. “And what if the raw materials aren’t enough? Is there anything else I could offer?”

Ping’s smile immediately sank to a frown.

“We do not have anything else to offer at this time.” He looked around to the others, stopping on Hispano for more than just a moment. “As much as they could indeed utilize it, the Architect has specifically requested that the factory never relinquish anything from inside the armory that is not meant to be used by a member of the Factory themselves. Organics have proven more than enough times that you do not ‘add fuel to a fire’, as it were.” He made hoof quotes around that last part, but at least that helped me to know why I was supposed to offer those shells in secret.

Still, now it was even more imperative that nopony ever find out…

“We aren’t really all that different, now are we?” Frescas called out as she stepped through the doorway into the Command center. And while I couldn’t quite say that I’d seen a snarling look pull across Ping’s face, if it was there, it flashed away quickly as the magical illusion he held flickered back over to the innocent beaming smile he always wore.

“Now now, Frescas. We’re all friends here.” Pastel offered as he stepped through the doorway behind her. Carefully, he wrapped a wing around her, and she at least looked to relax slightly at his touch. Well, at least she seems to have come to accept that we’re not absolute monsters for stealing her ship.

“That does remind me,” Ping cleared his throat as he turned back to me. “Assuming the arrangement does not take too long, there is a slight other problem we may have to deal with.”

“Ugh!” Happy facehoofed hard before he slumped back against one of the control consoles. “Goddesses, why the fuck is there always something else!? We’re never going to catch up with Solomon at this rate!”

“I hate to say it, but he’s right.” I grumbled. While we owed the Factory big time, that didn’t mean we couldn’t start to say no when told about all these little side jobs that keep popping up. “While I’m not against hearing you out, Ping… we’re not going to make any progress south if we’re always stuck doing errands.”

“I know, however this is of pressing concern.” Turning back toward’s Frescas, his glare narrowed and his muzzle sank to a distinctive, angry frown. “The Steel Rangers are close to locating Factory Zero One.”

“They what!?” Both Happy and I spat out in unison with Pastel and Frescas.

Oh… this was definitely not some optional errand then…

“Alright.” Hispano’s calm voice preempted the disturbingly crisp crack of her talons as she stretched them out. “Which one of these steel assholes phoned home?”

“It…” Ping’s muzzle scrunched slightly as his angry look sank away for a moment. “It was not them.”

Turning back toward the terminals, he typed a few commands in. The screens flickered over to the sight of Cantercross on fire yesterday as our fight brought down Mr. Wizard’s operation. The camera panned, looking out toward the ruins on the northeast side of the city. There, several robed ponies used what looked like a telescope to look almost directly at the camera.

“The Arcturus was spotted above Cantercross by a Ranger salvage team that was observing the operation yesterday.” Ping sighed as he turned back around to us. “Not only did they discover us, but they recorded the direction we left in.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t notice them during the operation, Captain.” Eliza’s monotone voice held just the slightest note of regret to it. But really, I couldn’t blame her, not when everything about our own plan had collapsed pretty much from the moment we got there.

“Still, that’s only one vector.” Hispano spat out and crossed her talons. “Sure they can guess where we went, but they’d have to search ten thousand square kilometers if…”

“Two vectors.” Frescas spoke up sharply. “They know what direction the ship left with us on it during your ‘fake’ spark reactor meltdown.”

“Correct.” Ping nodded reluctantly to her. “Knowing that the ship survived, and using both vectors, they have spent the last twelve hours narrowing down the likely locations this ship could be hidden away in. Not only that, but they have already begun using their air assets to begin to sweep through in a grid pattern. The Factory has listened in on these calculations, and we agree that their current guess will bring their gunship close enough to the Factory that they may see it within the week.”

“So what are we supposed to do?” I asked blatantly. I may have a good amount of ideas that may or may not end in terrible failure most of the time, but even I didn’t have anything for this.

“After we complete our task here, we must intercept them.” Ping took a deep breath as he stiffened up and offered only a momentary glance over to Frescas. “We must either convince them to abandon their search, or… or we must shoot them down.”

“You can’t do that.” Frescas hissed.

“I am sorry, but the location of the Factory must be protected.” Ping huffed and actually stuck his muzzle up in the air at her. Seriously? What was his problem with her?

“Then take us back home.” Pastel grunted as he rubbed his wing along Frescas’ back to calm her a bit. “Look, I know you're not a fan, but think about it. We're the only ones who know where the Factory is.” Frescas nearly spun out from under his wing at that, but to his credit, he didn’t let that phase him in the slightest. “We can convince the Elder to leave you alone.”

“No, not after what they did to us!” Frescas huffed. So much for her having accepted us...

“I know it’s going to be hard to trust us, but…” Pastel offered Frescas a commanding glare that was more stern than I’d seen from him yet. “Right now, that’s your best option. And to be blunt, that’s the only offer you’re going to get from us.”

“I believe that it would be wise to take him up on this.” Buck spoke as he stepped up beside me. Carefully, he ran his paw along by back, running his digits through my mane in a way that made me push back against them slightly. “If we return them to Galloway, they may consider hearing out our reasons for taking their ship. Perhaps we could even open trade with them.”

“Or they could bind you and take you prisoner against your will.” Ping grunted and ground his hoof into the floor so hard it made a metallic squeal of protest. “It is too much of a risk. I am sorry, we cannot go.” But in saying that, he tipped his hoof to me in the same way Hispano had earlier.

“Can’t?” I wheeled on Ping and glared at him. “Or won’t?”

“I have stated the risk, Night.” He growled at me and narrowed his eyes again. As his anger grew, the same red glow I’d seen from Buck’s eyes began to emanate through the dark pupils of his own. “I am sorry if you may think otherwise, but…”

“Sorry or not, after we’re done with Cordite, we’re going.” I snorted as I cut him off. Seriously, he may be too afraid to go back, but Pastel was right. They were our best chance to talk the rangers down peacefully. But from how angry Ping looked, I don’t think he really cared. “Let me remind you that you wanted an ambassador for Factory Zero One. And now that we have a chance to do our job, you think it’s too risky? I understand your hesitation, Ping. After the Rangers locked you up for that damned long, I know that you never want to see it happen again. But trust me when I say it won’t.”

“You cannot possibly…” Ping snarled again, raising his voice. But if that’s how he wanted to play this, then I’ll have to pull a Delilah on his ass.

“I wasn't finished.” I snapped at him hard enough that he recoiled and fell silent. I tried my best to channel Delilah, but at the same time, let the words flow from my muzzle like they always tended to. “I know what it feels like to fear the same thing happening again and again. You know that I do. But with everything we have been through, even if they don't see eye to eye with us, even if they never accept our reasons? Well? They'll have to live with them, regardless. I am not going to sit idly by if they want to start a fight, but I will not invite one.”

“Furthermore,” I spun around to face Pastel and Frescas as I continued. “I don't intend to give this ship back. We need it, but even so, that's no reason to avoid ever talking with the Rangers again. It's more of a reason to talk than anything, because the sooner both sides put this in the past, the sooner we can all move on together into the future.”

“Uh…” Eliza popped up on one of the screens next to me with a concerned version of her cartoon self. “There’s a bit of a situation…”

“Well spoken, Night Flight.” The Architect’s voice came through the command center speakers, and even Eliza’s cartoon mare seemed to jump at the random appearance of his voice. “He is right, Ping. You can not let your fear of the past dictate your future. You must face this task and mend our relationship with the Steel Rangers for the benefit of all parties.”

“If I could just point out…” Eliza tried to speak again, this time pulling my attention.

“You have made your point, Architect, and it is sound.” With another long sigh, Ping cut off Eliza and hung his head with a frown. “And I am sorry, Night. Perhaps I was letting my fears get the better of me.”

“I’m glad you finally see it that way...” I nodded to him but spoke in a somewhat hurried tone. I didn’t mean to brush him off, but Eliza obviously wanted to say something important.

“Look, I need you to listen…!” Eliza’s monotone voice strained to put every ounce of urgency out through the speaker system as she increased her volume.

“That was a bit rude.” Buck spoke as he stepped in front of me and all but pulled my attention up as he frowned at both me and the cartoon mare. “Ping is obviously struggling to cope with his traumatic experience, so you should at least…”

The whole room went dark around us as a loud Klaxon ran through the ship. Flashing red emergency lighting came on as every terminal in the command center shifted to displaying ship systems information. While I hadn’t so much jumped at the quick change of things, like most of the others, I was more confused and worried than startled.

“Eliza, situation report.” Frescas spoke up sternly as she approached the main terminal banks next to Ping.

“As I was trying to say,” She sighed as one of the small screens flickered back over to the image of the cartoony mare. “Cordite’s maintenance compound is under attack by Pentex mercenaries. There have already been several casualties on both sides, and should the ship get any closer, the ventral hull risks being exposed by errant shots.”

“Pentex? Are you sure?” Ping wheeled around on his hooves and quickly began to type on the terminals again.

The screens above him flickered over to what must have been a live image of what was going on below us. Several heavily armored vehicles clearcut a path through the thick forests below as they approached a simple set of barbed wire fences. Massive sets of spinning chains on the tracked vehicles easily smashed and tore through trees that surrounded the base, as well as making short work of the simple chain link fence that was Cordite’s only real defensive barrier.

“Who’s ‘Pentex’?” I found myself asking with the same cluelessness as always.

“They’re what you get when you cross the Talons with the Rangers.” Pastel snorted with a heavy amount of disdain to his words. “Well trained and equipped soldiers of fortune who fight for the highest bidder, and like to be paid in tech rather than caps.”

“They are nothing like the Talons.” Hispano snapped. “Unlike my organization, these assholes are exclusive to this region, and they give the word mercenary a bad name.”

“You’ve heard of them before?” I asked Hispano, pulling a roll from her eyes. What? She knows I’m clueless about half the shit she already has a grasp on.

“Let’s just say that unlike the Talons, they don’t follow any rules.” She huffed as she crossed her talons across her breast. “Non-combatants, foals, ponies running away? They’re all targets. Hell, they’ll even murder their own clients if they think it’s in their best interest.”

“The question is then,” Frescas remarked as she leaned closer to some of the screens displaying the fighting below. “What are they doing attacking Cordite? Normally they’re not stupid enough to start a fight with them.”

Turning my attention back to the screens, I watched as two groups of ponies in sleek black military armor slipped through the gaping holes in the fence that the armored vehicles left. They fanned out, trading fire with various Cordite ponies as they worked their way towards the interior of a large warehouse building nearby. They swept across the ground with an efficiency and coordination that I’d never even seen the Enclave use in the Wargames they’d make us watch in school. It was unreal to think such a small group could attack a military base, let alone actually watch it unfold like this.

“We need to help.” Hispano grunted as she pushed herself up and loudly cycled the bolt to chamber a round in Suiza.

“Are you serious?” Frescas scoffed and spun around with an incredulous look. “You looking to get yourself killed?” As much as I agreed with Frescas, a thought popped into my head.

“Hispano’s right.” I blurted out as I stepped around Buck towards her. “Despite the risks, if we can help out Cordite, it might mean a bit of an edge at the bargaining table.”

“Hey, yeah!” Happy laughed and nodded. “Those armored chumps would owe us.” Rubbing his hooves together, he looked over at Ping with a nefarious grin spreading across his muzzle. “And we’ve got the element of surprise, right? Why not just rain some missiles down on them, and boom! We win.”

“That’s a terrible idea.” Frescas groaned and forced Happy’s grin to twist into a grimace. “Neither Cordite or Pentex know we’re up here, which means the second we fire, we’re gambling that Cordite doesn’t think we’re going to open up on them next.” That… was a fairly good point. “And while the Arcturus’ hull can withstand some small arms fire, a few hundred tank rounds is not something the armor’s rated for.”

“Collateral damage would also be a problem.” Ping sighed as he glanced back at the screens. “I have requested that a drone be assigned to follow the Pentex soldiers should they leave, but for now, the only way you would be able to help is from the air.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Hispano chirped with more excitement in her voice than I’d expected. “Let’s go already!”

“I’m going with you.” Pastel stepped up beside me, catching me completely off guard with his statement. He seemed to get that and smiled to me as he unslung his four barreled rocket launcher from his back. “What? You heard her, they’re a mix of the Talons and the Rangers. You think Talons are the only ones who get a bad name from Pentex?”

“Well, whatever you do, you should do it quickly.” Eliza spoke as she shifted one of the terminal screens. We watched as the two armored vehicles that battered their way to the compound were maneuvering around to head back through the path they cut in the forest.

“Alright,” I nodded and pointed towards the hatch that lead up to the conning tower. “Hispano, Pastel and I are going to fly out from above.” Shifting my hoof, I pointed towards the door that headed out towards the weapons bay. “Buck, you, Happy, and Ping head to the Remora. We’ll try to do our best from the skies to convince Cordite that we’re here to help.”

“It could take me a few minutes to get ready.” Buck cringed. “If we are to support them, I’ll need to load the Remora up with a few medical supplies from the ship’s infirmary.”

While it did hurt our timeframe a bit, to be fair, I was more than likely going to be one of the ones benefiting from those supplies anyway...

“A solid plan.” Ping beamed his smile to me before spinning around and trotting off. “Happy and I will assist Doctor Buck in loading up the supplies!”

“Aww, why’d you have to volunteer me for it?” Happy grumbled as he turned and followed our mechanical zebra friend.

“Be careful, Night.” Buck offered with a solemn nod before turning to leave as well.

“I will be.” I nodded to him before turning and heading toward the conning tower ladder.

Hispano fluttered above me and opened the hatch as I wrapped my hooves around the ladder and started to climb. Pastel brought up the rear, and by the time I’d gotten halfway through the conning tower ladder, Hispano had already opened the outer hatch. She zipped up into the bright blue skies above before circling back and hovering above the hole.

“Come on, slowpokes!” She giggled as she brought Suiza firmly up against her shoulder. “The fight’s going to be over before we get down there at this rate!”

Out of everything I loved about Hispano, her enthusiasm for a fight was something I was pretty sure I’d never truly understand. Still, she was right, and if we took too long, we weren’t going to be doing much helping at all. So in the interest of speed, I forced myself to climb faster.

With a bit of effort, I pulled myself up onto the clouded hull of the Arcturus and spread my wings. The sound of furious gunfire below us was interrupted by a few cannon shots from what must have been the first of the Cordite tanks showing up to defend the base. I spun around as Pastel climbed out of the hatch and shut it behind him. With a nod between the three of us, we all flapped hard and took to the air.

We dipped over the edge of the Arcturus’ clouded form, slipping into the open skies. I let my forelegs hang under me as I scanned across the ground. Cordite’s base was a lot bigger than I’d expected, made up of dozens of large buildings. Off toward the south, I could see the muddy open fields that Happy and I had circled when chasing the Ouroboros, which was where there must have been hundreds of tanks still sitting.

Squinting, I found that those lines of tanks were abuzz with ponies. They frantically swarmed the armored vehicles, rushing to get them into the ongoing fight. With that in mind, I swung my gaze to the south eastern side of the compound, easily finding the raging battle.

Smoke poured out of a pair of wrecked armored vehicles sitting between two large warehouse buildings. A speedy, six wheeled armored vehicle drove around from the back of the Cordite side of the base, letting off a few sharp rounds from a turreted autocannon. A fiery streak flashed from inside an open door from the warehouse Pentex had captured, and a rocket slipped through the air.

The six wheeled armored vehicle was tossed onto its side from the explosion of the rocket. The hatches on it immediately opened, and a pair of ghouls scrambled out. A chattering burst of machine gun fire poured out from behind one of the other wrecks, sending the two ghouls panicking as rounds ricocheted off their twisted pile of cover.

I snapped my tail in line and shifted my weight downward. The cool air washed over me as I gained speed. I mouthed around the bit of my saddle, hovering my tongue over both triggers. My eyes searched the wreck the machine gun fire came from, and I managed to pick out a couple of ponies clad in black armor amid the smoke and flames.

Okay, Night, this is just like with those raiders in the old industrial ruins. Just make tiny adjustments, and...

I flicked my tongue and felt the crisp snap of my saddle as the first of my grenades slipped away into the air. Shifting my tongue, I pulled down on my other trigger and sent out a burst of red magical energy across the fiery wreck. It pulled the attention of the soldiers away from the ghouls just in time for my grenade to land right behind the two machine gunners. With a loud krack, the two soldiers disappeared in the blast.

The sharp hiss of one of Pastel’s rockets perked my ears, and a trail of smoke flashed through the air down towards the opening where the Pentex rocket had streaked out from. It exploded with a resounding boom, and tore out the front sheet metal paneling of the warehouse Pentex was in. Black smoke poured from the gaping hole, and as I tweaked my wings to pull for altitude again, I watched as a few ponies stumbled out from the smoke.

They hadn’t made it more than a few steps as they choked on the fumes before the sharp and quick reports of Suiza tore a line across the concrete. The high explosive rounds Hispano used tore the Pentex soldiers apart shortly before her brown and olive form zipped back upwards from her strafing run.

Yeah, these guys aren’t so bad to fight! As I turned around to look for more targets, I watched and smiled as more Cordite ghouls showed up. Another run like the one the three of us just had, and we’ll have these Pentex chumps on the run in no time! If I’d learned anything about what both my mom and the Enclave pushed on me for years, it was that if you insert one wild variable into a conflict, most organized fights turn into chaos.

“Now you’re thinking like a leader.” Solomon’s voice drifted through my mind and immediately stole the smile off of my muzzle.

The sharp sound of rending metal filled the air as part of the warehouse Pentex was in sagged. It shuddered before collapsing forward, revealing a set of vehicles swiftly driving towards the hole they’d cut in the fence. Four boxy vehicles in total maneuvered their way through the busted fence and into the rough terrain that had been smashed by the previous Pentex tanks. The quickly moving stolen Cordite vehicles didn’t seem to be armed, but each one towed a boxy trailer behind it that I could only assume was filled with weapons.

“Oh, you are not getting away so easily!” I muttered to myself around my bit as I flapped my wings hard.

I circled around, climbing up higher as the fourth and last vehicle transitioned to traveling along the bumpy, improvised forest path. With another shift of my forehooves, I slipped myself into a shallow dive and tucked my wings back to try to edge out some extra speed. Another shrieking rocket flew past me, trailing off towards the line of vehicles. It slammed into the dirt, blasting up a rain of rocks and wooden splinters next to the fleeing tanks, but didn’t even slow them.

I lined myself up with the rear tank and readied myself. My eyes were locked on the back of the raised commander’s hatch as it opened up. A pony climbed up halfway out of it, spinning around to see me shooting through the air towards him.

With a flick of my subgun’s trigger, I sent a lancing burst of red at the pony. To his credit, he didn’t even flinch as the horn on his head flared with magic and brought up a bubble that absorbed my shots. The soldier’s magic flashed as he brought up what looked like a submachine gun of his own.

Well, that was new!

Taking my chances, I flicked my tongue at the grenade trigger and let one loose as the pony opened fire. I pulled off as sharply as I could to avoid his scarily accurate shots, barely skimming under his rounds. The world started to loose it’s color as the g’s my wings pulled me through took their toll on me. But as I leveled out and skimmed out over the treetops, I regained my senses.

I heard the resounding blast of the grenade I’d dropped. With a smirk, I torqued my wings and arched myself to turn my speed into altitude again. Pulling higher, I rolled myself to view the results of the risk I’d taken, only to be disappointed.

A small smoking crater sat where I’d hoped the wreck of the last vehicle would be, and I watched instead as it drove off without a scratch on it. The pony in the hatch was still standing there, I’m sure gloating at the fact that I’d missed. Well fuck.

Sporadic gunfire still came from behind me back at the Cordite compound. With my opportunity to give chase after them slipping off into the forest, I had to make a decision on who to go after. If I could just get one more shot at those vehicles…

“Do it.” Solomon’s voice whispered to me. “Show your friends you’re not reliant on them, that they don’t need to save you anymore. Show them that you’re the hero they think you are.”

No. I… I don’t need my friends to save me. But even so, they still need me to help them.

I shook my head and torqued myself into another banking roll. Aiming myself back at the Cordite compound, I knew that if Solomon would’ve wanted me to go, then it was the wrong choice to make. Hispano and Buck were more important to me than that.

Coming around on the backside of the smoking warehouse, I watched as the black armored ponies swiftly regrouped. They traded off firing at the advancing Cordite forces, covering each other as they fell back toward the busted fence.

Lining myself up again, I flicked my tongue across my grenade trigger. I timed it, giving only a fraction of a second between each crisp snap. I hadn’t aimed the drops with as much accuracy as normal, but I didn’t have to do anything more than convince them that falling back was their only option.

Three successive blasts went off, tearing up the concrete the fence was built on. Each sharp blast sent up a cloud of dust, engulfing a pair of the soldiers as they tried to make it through. The squad that was providing covering fire shifted their attention upwards.

“Pentex soldiers, cease fire and drop your weapons!” The gravely and amplified voice of a mare sharply spoke through a set of speakers wired to the turret of a large battle tank that crawled it’s way through the smoking ruins of the warehouse. “Surrender yourselves or we will be forced to open fire!”

Torn between firing at me and the massive tank, the ponies chose to shoot at neither. The whole group of them turned tail and made a break for the forest. While I was perfectly willing to let these cowards run off with their tails tucked between their legs, I was apparently the only one.

“Wrong choice.” The mare shouted as a pair of larger tanks pulled through the ruins behind her. “Let’s show these foals how Cordite deals with scum like Pentex!”

One of the tank’s that pulled up reminded me of the BT-42, if it had been built to be nearly three times the size of it. The other was a bright pink wedge shaped tank destroyer with a gun that had a bore diameter that was nearly the size of a pony. The tank had glowing magical energy cables all over it, leading around and into the outside of the oversized, stubby cannon barrel mounted to it’s front. Both of their massive guns pointed to the forest as I watched the scattered Pentex ponies disappear into the dark underbrush.

“Fire!” The mare screamed out.

The mare’s tank fired, sending a whistling shot into the forest that cut through several trees before exploding upward in a bright lance of fire. The oversized BT-42 looking tank was next, and let out a meaty whump as it’s slow moving shot was all but lobbed into the forest. Like the mare’s shot, it too exploded, but with the force of what felt like a thousand pound bomb.

Krak-hoom!

A whole section of trees were blown flat by the blast, and tortured screams filled the air as a dirt colored mushroom cloud billowed up. The blast wave from it nearly threw me into a spin, but with the help of my forelegs, I managed to stabilize myself.

The pink, wedge shaped tank destroyer let out a high pitch whine that reminded me a bit of Hardcase’s SFG. I managed to glance over at it quickly, only to find that the magical cables on it brightened to glow more intensely than even the sun did. It grew so intense that I had to turn myself away, instead looking off toward the forest.

The sky and world dimmed as static coursed through the air around me. Within the time it took me to blink, the forest itself lit up. It was a flash that left the afterimage of a crimson streak running across my vision. A bassy tone deeper than any anti-dragon cannon the Enclave fielded filled and vibrated the air itself. What the fuck kind of weapon was this thing!?

I watched in awe as a beam of magical energy swept across the entire forest below me in a wide arc. It sizzled and flickered out, leaving everyone in a pregnant silence, and me with my jaw threatening to hit the ground from all the way up here. The cracks of wood filled the air as tree after tree was felled. In the same wide, sweeping arc as the beam, the forest for a few hundred meters around us shifted and twisted. Dust rose as acres worth of falling trees hit the ground. In moments, an entire arc of the forest was just… gone, leaving the severed treetops to crunch into a forest floor that had all but been melted into glass.

What in the name of Celestia was that!?

“Hey, you up there. Yeah, you three in the skies.” The amplified voice of the mare brought my mind back into focus. “Thanks for the close air support. If you’re looking for a reward, you and your wingmates can land back at the visitor’s center and wait until I get there.”

The way she said that sounded to me like it was less an order and more a suggestion. However, with the display I’d just witnessed, I wasn’t about to refuse any suggestion the mare gave. Seriously, from the way they’d been built up over my trip, I’d thought all Cordite had was just antiquated relics from the war to use!

And with weapons like this, it’s no wonder the Architect wanted to use them to defend the north…

The three of us touched down on the expansive and well manicured lawn that ringed a squat rectangular building at the heart of the Cordite compound. The Visitor Center still held Equestria’s off gold and blue colored stripes across its weathered white painted exterior. Even the letters that spelled it out were in better than expected condition given their age. But next to us on the lawn was a large wooden sign that had originally welcomed visitors to the compound, but now had most of its letters repainted to emphasize only a few of them.

“Cantercross ORDInance TEsting facility?” Hispano muttered as she read over the repainted sign. “Yeah, no wonder they shortened it to ‘Cordite’.”

“It’s just easier to get across on a radio.” The sharp voice of a mare called out from behind the three of us. “So, a Merc, a Talon, and a Steel Ranger all land on our lawn. Sounds like the start of a bad joke.”

Turning, I watched as a mare in a sleek olive dress uniform walked towards us. The spotless outfit was adorned with a well kept leather pistol holster, as well as a small radio that hung off of her shoulder boards. Beneath the well kept uniform however, I found myself staring at what could have been confused for an earth pony version of me. Well, if I still had both eyes, all four legs, and didn’t have all the scars I did. That, and for as small as I was, she was slightly taller than me.

“Welcome to Cordite, My name is Casemate, Naval gun expert and assistant director of operations.” The mare held her hoof out to Pastel as she approached, but I stepped forward and took it instead. Surprised, but not undeterred, the mare flashed a smile as she glanced over the three of us. “What brings you all to…”

She paused as there was a quick burst of static from her radio.

“Archie calling Casemate, we’ve got a situation here, Commander.”

“Yes, Archie.” The mare rolled her eyes and grumbled as she hoofed at her radio. “Don’t tell me we have skyraiders coming in too now.”

“One bogie just appeared on the radar from fucking out of nowhere, and it’s tracking right towards the base now. Permission to open fire?”

Oh shit, that was probably the Remora!

“That’s our friends, and they’re here to help. Please don’t shoot them.” Hispano snapped before I could even blurt it out.

Casemate eyed over Hispano carefully, seeming to mull it over for a moment. Those few seconds were all it took to put me more on edge than I’d been so far today, and I really would hate for her hesitation to have shot my friends out of the sky. Slowly, she reached up and hoofed at her radio again.

“Negative, Archie. Stand down.” She replied before turning her eyes up to the sky. I turned as well, finding the silver form of the Remora slowly making its way down towards us. “What kind of design is that? I haven’t seen anything like it before.” Casemate offered as she sat down on the grass next to me.

“Lady,” Pastel grunted as he stowed his rocket launcher, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

With a ginger, and eerily silent touchdown aways down the lawn from us, the Remora came to a stop. It was funny, and completely understandable as I could almost feel the awe exuding off of Casemate. She watched in stunned silence as the armored side doors of the remora opened up. Ping and Happy hopped out before turning around and pulling a few bags of what I assumed were medical supplies off the floor. The looming white robed form of Buck appeared in the doorway, and with a bag gripped in each paw, he too stepped out of the machine.

“So, uh…” Casemate spoke up again as she apparently tried to get her train of thought going again. “I hate to ask, but you all aren’t with that… religion from Mare’s Lake, are you?”

“That cult?” Hispano snorted as she scrunched up her muzzle. “Hah! Fuck no.”

“With the… big one there in the robe, and your branding…” She remarked as I became distinctly aware that I still had that ridiculous marking on the back of my neck... “Well, one can’t be too sure who’s who in the wastes.”

“No affiliation.” I waved my hoof to her with a nervous grin. “I uh… had to get the branding so I could sneak into said cult to save a friend of mine.” As I said that, again, I was reminded that all of that had ended up being for nothing. Hardcase was gone, just like the others.

“Why the robe then?” Casemate’s words helped to suppress the painful memories and drag my own mind back on track. Though, it had cost me a few moments that Hispano instead capitalized on.

“The robe that Buck wears?” She smirked and waved her talon dismissively as the three of them approached us. “It’s so ponies like you don’t freak out when you see him.”

“Why would I…” Casemate began, but cut herself off with a whimper as Buck got close enough that his augmented eye peeked out from under his hoof with it’s soft blue glow. She shrank back slightly as Buck’s towering form loomed over even her. “Oh… hello there…” She managed to squeak out. “Please don’t eat me?”

The sound of clinking tracks filled the air, and all of us turned to great the large tank that rolled up to the visitor’s center. The sloped, squat design was less boxy than most of the old, early war representations of tanks I’d seen, and it was covered with extra bits and bobs all over its body that were either supposed to be spare parts, or extra armor, I couldn’t really tell. It’s main cannon was mated to a turret that was as equally squaty and sloped in the front as the tank’s hull, and was a lot longer than I’d expected for a tank its size. Then again, maybe it was just because I’d expected a gun-to-tank ratio closer to the BT-42 or Guinness and Zibar’s tank…

“Ah, yes, the Chief is here… hehe! Let me just...” Casemate again squeaked out as she slipped past me with a few uneasy steps. It almost looked to me like she almost galloped over to the tank, but to be honest, I didn’t blame her. Hell, I’d felt like running when I’d first met Buck.

We all watched as the commander’s hatch of the tank flipped open, and a tan mare with an oversized tanker’s helmet climbed up and out of it. From the way her wrinkled and flaking skin barely clung to her body, I was pretty sure it was safe to say that the mare was a ghoul. And from the way that Casemate flashed up a quick salute to her, I was fairly certain that it was also the mare who’d been on the loudspeakers before.

“Ah, Casemate, there you are.” The ghoul smiled as she eagerly hopped down from the hull of the tank. “Give me a casualty report.”

“Until we can clear the rubble of the secondary support maintenance garage, I can’t give you a total in lost personnel.” Casemate offered a quick look across the Cordite compound toward the billowing plumes of smoke. “However as for vehicle crews, we lost Miter's crew, Hacksaw's crew, and Daisy. Though in a bit of good news, Jumbo and Tester bailed safely and are at the infirmary getting patched up.”

“Uh, excuse me,” Buck spoke up and set his medical bags down on the grass. “My name is Buck, and I am a physician.” He stepped forward and pulled back his hood, letting the sun glint off of his metal augments. “If you require any medical assistance, consider me at your service.”

“Thanks for the offer, but our combat medics will see to our casualties.” The ‘Chief’ spoke up as she too reached up and pulled off the helmet and tinted goggles she wore. Underneath it, a pair of purple eyes studied Buck and his augments before turning to the rest of us. She reached up and scratched at her triangular shaped, buzz cut mane before pointing towards the visitor center behind us. “But seeing as you all have gone out of your way to help us out, please, let's talk inside and see if I can't arrange for some sort of compensation.”

“That will not be necessary.” Ping offered as he raised his hoof to point to me. “However, the survivor has a proposition to offer to Cordite that you would be wise to entertain.”

“The survivor?” Casemate asked before both she and the ‘Chief’ shared a slow but curious glance. “As in, the mare from all those radio reports?” The two glanced back at Ping as he nodded.

“Alright.” The ‘Chief’ offered as she reached out and hoofed her helmet over to Casemate. “Let’s talk inside, as I’d rather not spend all day waiting for a Pentex scout to take my head off from a kilometer out in the forest. I’ve had just about enough of those mercenary traitors for one day.” Again, she extended her hoof toward the building behind us. “But, given the exploits we’ve heard about you, Miss Survivor, consider Cordite interested.”

Well, if anything, at least my reputation is starting to open doors with ponies rather than convince them to kill me...

Author's Notes:

As always, a huge thanks to TheFurryRailFan for making sure that this chapter was ready to go up today! Seriously, you're a lifesaver!

Of course, a big thanks to Kkat as well, for allowing us all to write stories in this wonderful shared wasteland!