I’ll say this, I didn’t much like this office.

It was smaller than the offices of most of the other settlement leader’s I’d met so far. Filing cabinets and three oversize desks took up most of the floor space, and the extra-low hanging light fixtures made it feel like the ceiling was pressing down on me. The choking and almost overwhelming smell of smoke clung to and literally stained the old wood panels that lined the walls. The room made me feel like I was trapped in here, and I don’t know who the hell could ever be comfortable in a place like this.

“So.” The ‘Chief’ cleared her gravelly throat as she tented her hooves on her large desk. “Will your friends not be joining us?”

“No.” I replied as I shifted my eyes over to Casemate, who’d taken an uneasy stance behind the ‘Chief’. She seemed as out of place in this meeting as the fact that I was here alone. But then again, I guess that just makes it easier for both parties if we’re all uncomfortable. “What I am about to propose is going to sound like a big job, and that’s because it is.” The two mares shared quick glances again at that, and it let me take a deep breath before continuing. “The Kingdom is currently waging an all out war of extermination against the Skyraiders. Now, before you celebrate that, what I need is for Cordite to attack the Kingdom before they overrun the Skyraiders.”

“You’re wrong, it doesn’t sound like that big of a job to me. In fact, what it does sound like, is a joke.” The Chief narrowed her eyes to me before placing her hooves on her desk. Honestly, I saw that coming. ”And while my soldiers are grateful for your assistance in defending our headquarters, I do not care to have my time wasted with jokes. You want to waste somepony’s time? Find somewhere else to do it at.” She spat at me with more disdain than I really think was warranted.

“This is no joke.” I spat back. “In return for the job, we can offer you enough raw materials to build over two hundred of your home built tanks.”

“Sorry, not interested, even if you are being serious.” She grunted as she sat back in her chair and fumed to herself. “Cordite doesn’t exist to be your or anyone else’s private army. We help defend caravans and civilians. That’s it.”

“Really, it’s less about what you can pay us, and more about what you’re asking.” Casemate stepped around the Chief’s desk, squeezing herself past a few of the filing cabinets to come stand next to me. “I’m sorry, but Cordite can’t offer you any help. Let alone against those deplorable flying rejects.” Raising her hoof, she offered to guide me back out through the door.

“This is a kind of situation where ‘no’ doesn’t work.” I deadpanned at Casemate, firmly planting myself in the seat on this side of the Chief’s desk. “The Kingdom is going to come down hard on the Skyraiders in the next few days. And when that happens? They’re going to use every asset they have left. Whatever buzzbombers or toys they have, including their limited stock of megaspells, are going to be used to ruin as many days as possible here in the north. And you’re telling me you’re willing to just sit here and let it happen?”

While the Chief didn’t even flinch at that, Casemate wasn’t as reserved. She spun around, looking to the Chief for guidance on that. Come on, work with me here. But as the silence persisted, I wasn’t sure anything at all would convince them if the threat of megaspell destruction didn’t. But hey, at least that got one of their attentions at all, right?

“Still, I’m not sure what we would even be able to do for you.” The Chief said as she leaned forward in her chair again. “Our assets are so spread out that by the time we could even get word to them, it would already be too late.”

That… was an unfortunately fair point. I hadn’t even thought about how they would coordinate something like this. I mean, the Factory can technically broadcast as far as we’d need to, but… maybe they could use the silverfish to pass the message along? I really doubt that the Architect would be up for giving them access to the drones at all, but if it meant saving the north…

“I... have an answer for that problem, but I need your word that you will fight the Kingdom. We’re not asking you to conquer them, we just need you to give the Skyraiders a bit more time to use up some of their assets before they fall.” I offered, getting the Chief to cock a rotten eyebrow up. Yeah, the Architect wasn’t going to be happy, but again, I didn’t see any other way. “I understand the sort of task we’re asking of you, but if the Skyraiders fall too fast, then the consequences for everypony in the north will be catastrophic.”

“So let’s say you get this all figured out, communication and everything.” The Chief looked up to Casemate and offered her a short nod. With that, Casemate turned and left the room without another word. The Chief waited until the door was shut to speak again, clearing out her gravelly throat before continuing. “What guarantee do I have that you’ll hold up your end of the bargain?” With a squeak from her old chair, she pushed herself back from the desk and pulled open one of it’s drawers. “Your reputation carried enough goodwill to get you this far, but I’m not about to risk the lives of dozens of tank crews on the word of the Survivor.”

“If you want assurances, then I can arrange for your payment to be delivered by the days end.” I sat back and smirked before a little pony in my head kicked forward the fact that I had no idea if that was even possible. I mean, I’m sure that the Architect could manage it, and Scar had a good amount of room in him…

“By day’s end? Now I know you’re bullshiting me.” She snorted as she pulled a shallow glass bowl up and placed it on her desk. Again she reached into the open drawer to pull up a single cigar and a rusty old lighter. “Nopony can move that amount of materials that fast. Not even back during the war could they do something like that without months of planning.” Lifting the old world carcinogen to her cracked and dry lips, she flicked at the lighter until a small flame sprout from it.

“Nopony could get aboard the Ouroboros either, but I did.” I offered, making her pause just short of lighting her cigar. “Nopony in the wastes could take down Mr. Wizard and his operation, but I did.” That was a hell of an overstatement on my part, but again, if my reputation could carry me this far, then I’m sure it could make it a few extra steps for me. “You’ve heard what I’ve done on the radio, so you tell me if you think I can come through with this.”

“Heh, you sound like a trainee.” She snorted before lifting the lighter to the end of the cigar and lighting it up. “I like ambition, it usually gets results. But blind ambition can be a dangerous thing, and even the Survivor can run out of luck at some point.”

“I’m not here to discuss my luck. Do we have a deal or not?” I rolled my eye at her, bringing it down as she took a deep draw off of her smoke. She held it in for a moment, studying me before letting it out in a long cloud that at this moment, reminded me a little too much of the Mystic on Pink Mountain.

“No. No deal just yet.” She shook her head. Taking her cigar in her fetlock, she tapped it against the edge of the shallow bowl to knock the ash from the end of it. “The raw materials itself is a great offer, and your reputation is solid enough for me. But, it’s not me who’s going to be risking their life on this job, so I’m not who you have to convince. If you’re going to ask my crews to put themselves in the line of fire for you, then you prove your worth to them.”

“Then what do you want me to do?” I grumbled. Seriously, I know I wasn’t as good at this as Delilah, but come on!

“I want Pentex dealt with.” She took another stiff drag from her cigar. “Today’s incident was the latest in a half century long string of ever increasing hostilities. But today was different. They actually got away with our hardware, and I won’t fucking stand for that. Those trailers they stole are dangerous in the wrong hooves, and we need them either brought back or destroyed.” I cocked an eyebrow at that, catching her eye. She paused for a moment, letting the smoke she’d held in drain out through her nose. “You ever hear of a ‘Mick-Lick’ before?”

“Can’t say I have.” I shrugged.

“Mine Clearing Line Charges.” She snorted. “Think of it as a hundred meter long rope of high explosives that Pentex could use to hold any number of settlements hostage, or worse.”

Yeah, I get the picture as to why they need them accounted for one way or the other.

“So the deal is, you and your friends are going to join my crews and ride along as they go after them.” The Chief adjusted herself in her chair. “Earn the respect of my crews by helping to deal with the Mick-Licks, deliver the materials by the end of the day, and get me a way to coordinate with the crews for your job? Then and only then do you, the ‘survivor’, have yourself a deal.”

The door behind me opened up again, and Casemate returned with a clipboard stacked with blue forms. She held onto her same uneasy smile as she walked over and placed it down on the Chief’s desk. Without breaking eye contact with me, the Chief reached over and grabbed it, pulling it closer before sitting back down in her chair.

“I can do that.” I nodded to her. I had absolutely no idea if any of us could do that, but we needed to at least try. It was either that, or sit back at the Factory and watch as the north went to Tartarus in a hoofbasket. Which, speaking of the Factory… “There is one other proposition I had for you actually. This is a… sensitive request, so I can’t have it leaving this room. Understand?”

“Another set of job forms then, Chief?” Casemate offered a sigh as the Chief gave another nod to her. “Alright, I’ll return in a moment.”

This time, I waited until Casemate had shut the door again before continuing.

“I know I’m asking for a lot here,” I watched as she took a larger than normal draw off her cigar while I spoke. “but I need five hundred of your tungsten penetrator rounds.”

She nearly choked on the smoke when she heard that, coughing and sputtering. As she tried to recover, she started to laugh. Well, at least it’s nice to know that like Delilah, she’s got more than just a stern straight face all the time…

“I’m sorry, but that’s not going to happen.” She shook her head as she reached over and propped her cigar inside of the small bowl and left it there.

“I can offer a few thousand rounds of whatever sized ammunition you need in return.” I know that this request was pushing our luck. If Sierra hadn’t said we were on some sort of time limit, and that the Architect needed them, then I’d be willing to drop the attempt right here and now.

But unfortunately for all parties, I needed to try.

“Again, that’s not the problem.” She sighed, pushing back the smirk on her muzzle as she wiped at her eyes. “After two centuries, we only have a little over that many left in stock. Without them, we might as well invite every raider with a half decent piece of armor to come and raid the convoys we’re contracted to defend. That’s not even mentioning that those Steel Ranger jokers and their power armor are getting bolder every month with their scavenging.” Slowly, she tented her forehooves up on her desk again and shook her head at me. “Unless you can sell us a guarantee that we’ll never need any sort of anti-armor weapon again, there’s absolutely no deal to be made here.”

Ugh, there had to be something to offer them in exchange. If I’d learned anything so far, it was that given the right reward, ponies would be willing to do anything here in the wastes. Now if only I hadn’t been the best example of that, then I’d feel better knowing all about it.

“What else is there that you need?” I offered, just trying to buy myself some time to have my mind work something out at all.

“You’re terrible at this, you know that, right?” Solomon’s voice filled my mind, and the moment I blinked, he was standing right behind the Chief. He looked over her with disgust across his face before glancing over to me. “I’ll never know why you ponies ever converse with something so… revolting.”

Now was not the time, Solomon…

“Like I said, anti-armor rounds are the only thing we’re short on.” The Chief sighed, reaching out for her cigar again. “And if you deliver those materials to us, as promised, then we’re definitely not going to have enough to go around. So unless you have some multi-purpose anti-everything miracle round to sell me, we can’t make a deal.”

“Hmmm…” Solomon looked lost in thought, reaching up and rubbing at the stupid black crescent mark that sat on his forehead. “I seem to recall that you can indeed sell her something akin to that.”

“Wait, what did you say?” The words forced themselves out of my muzzle before I even realized it. Going wide eyed, I held up my hoof to the Chief before she spoke again. “Hold up, I need a moment.” Turning my gaze over to Solomon, I can’t believe I was about to ask him for help.

“That’s the beauty of this arrangement!” The haughty bastard gave a light giggle before pointing at his own head. “I’m not real, remember? Everything I know, you know.” He cocked his eyebrow smartly before turning his muzzle up to me. “But then again, that’s why you’ve always been inferior to the real Solomon. Always one step behind…” He paused and smirked at me. “At least, until the one time you were actually in the lead.”

With that, the illusion he was popped away, and the thought I was looking for came forward. As the memories of that place were shoved into my mind, my hoof instinctively rose to the half eaten ear on my head. This wasn’t exactly the option I would have ever wanted to take, but desperate times and all…

“I can get you your multi-purpose anti-everything rounds, as many as you want.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Ugh, Buck and Hispano were going to kill me for this. And then once I was dead, Hardcase would kill me again in the afterlife. “I’m one of the few ponies in the north who know the contents of the naval armaments bunker up in Destruction bay. Still locked inside are thousands of megaspells of all sizes, including ones for tanks and artillery.”

“Now that is something interesting.” The Chief smirked and leaned forward. “But I can’t assume getting them would be easy, or else we’d already be seeing them used all around the north.”

“My friends and I set off demolition charges inside the bunker and collapsed the entrance.” I sighed and did my best to push the memories of that day back. Now wasn’t the time to sink back into feeling bad about any of this. Even if I felt like I was betraying the good will and memory of Hardcase. “It’s going to take a lot of work to get into that bunker, but I’m sure you can manage to clear and secure it.”

“Not possible. Sure, the recovery tanks we’ve got could do a bit, but they aren’t the kind of serious excavation equipment we’d need.” The Chief took a long, final drag off of her cigar before lowering it down and snuffing it out in the small ash filled bowl. “Only the Road Crew has access to gear like that, and seeing as they just took over half of Cantercross, I’m fairly certain they’re going to be too busy charging me to use their roads to entertain an offer to help us out.”

Ugh, again, I can’t believe I was about to say this.

“I’m in the unique position to be able to do something about that.” With an exasperated sigh, I pinched my temple in my fetlock. “The Road Crew owes me a big favor for what happened in Cantercross, so I can call that in to convince the Queen to excavate the bunker for you.” Why, Night? Why do you keep opening your muzzle and promising things you have no idea you can even get?

“Then it sounds like again, against all my expectations, you have yourself a deal. A thousand various HE shells and the rights to that bunker, and our stock of AP rounds are yours.” The Chief flashed a smile as she leaned over her Desk and held her hoof out to me. “You really are something, Miss Survivor. Every bit the force of nature you come across as on the radio.”

“Great to know.” I grunted, reaching out but stopping just short. Going all the way to Cantercross was going to be hard when I’m also supposed to be going on that run against Pentex. Not to mention, Sierra needed that tungsten as soon as possible. Looking across the desk at the Chief, I cocked my own eyebrow. “One small thing though. If I can deliver your material by the end of today, then you need to have those shells ready to be shipped by then as well.”

The Chief’s smile dropped as my words hit her. I could see the gears in her head ticking and spinning and a silence filled the room. The quiet pause was broken as the door behind us opened, and Casemate trotted in and paused at the odd frozen scene before her.

“You know what?” The Chief let out a light laugh as she lurched forward and wrapped her rotten hoof around my fetlock. “If you deliver those materials by days end, then sure, you’ve got a deal.” With a firm shake, I couldn’t help but return her smirk with one of my own. “Casemate? Escort our new allies to the barracks and make sure they’re assigned to the crews going after Pentex. You’re in command of the Chieftain for this mission, as I’ve got a lot of arrangements to make here at headquarters.”

“Yes, Ma’am!” Casemate gave her a stiff salute before turning to me with a smile and waving for me to follow her.

See, Delilah? Sometimes I manage to not screw up and get something done! Now then, I’d just need to make sure everything I’d just arranged actually got done…

Stepping back outside through the visitor center doors felt amazing. Not only because I’d sealed both deals, but to be honest, I was just glad to be out of that cramped and claustrophobia inducing room. Raising my head, I let the mid-day sunlight beam down through the somewhat thickening clouds above to warm my skin.

“Oh, Night’s back.” Happy called out as I followed Casemate across the lawn.

“Did you manage to secure the help we need?” Ping pulled himself to his hooves as he flashed up his trademark beaming smile.

“Yes.” Casemate met Ping’s smile with one of her own as we trotted to a stop next to all the others. “The Survivor has arranged for Cordite to provide the assistance you requested against the Kingdom. However, the terms of our agreement are... extensive.”

“R-really?” Ping offered a hesitance to his smile that was an all too candid and convincing display of nervousness.

“The materials we offered to them needs to all be delivered, today.” I spoke up, sending Ping’s muzzle into the stiffest looking scrunch I’d seen from anypony. Geeze, he had the whole nervous part down right, but really needed to practice some of the expressions that go with them. “And that’s not all. We’re going to have to let them use the Silverfish to coordinate with all of their crews. On top of all of that, after this, we’re going to have to head out to Cantercross to have a chat with the Road Crew.” Happy stepped forward with an outraged look, and while I could sympathise with him protesting taking more time, we didn’t have the time to argue. “I know, Happy, but we don’t have a choice if we want their help.” He was at least partially satisfied with that, as he grumbled to himself and shifted his deadpan to Casemate.

You know, maybe Hispano was right. Maybe I do make too many exceptions for helping ponies. Even so, we’re already committed, for better or worse.

“U-uh…” Ping stammered an took a single unsteady step backwards. “That is… a lot more given than expected. And using the Silverfish is quite the request I hope you understand.”

“But if we need it…” Buck stepped in and shot a sideways glance to Ping from under the hood he’d pulled back up over his head. And while I could sympathize with Ping’s nervousness, Buck’s stern gaze at least helped the poor machine pull himself together enough to stand straight and put on his smile again.

“That’s not all,” Casemate blinked a few times as she tried her hardest to avoid looking up at Buck again. “You all are to join the raid that will be heading out to Pentex shortly to eradicate those traitors once and for all. If the raid is a success, and the other terms are met, then you will have Cordite’s full cooperation and support.”

“Excuse me, Miss?” Buck asked and took a step forward towards Casemate. She let out a whimper and stepped right back in to me. Seriously, why was she so afraid of him? “Why do you keep calling them traitors? Did they used to be with Cordite at some point?”

“That is not why she is referring to them as ‘Traitors’.” Ping surprisingly chimed in, completely losing his previous nervousness. He stepped between Buck and her before looking right into her eyes. “It is because those at Cordite suspected that during the war, the Pentex corporation was performing surveillance for the Zebra Empire. An accusation that was well documented by the Ministry of Awesome to in fact, be true.”

“H-how…?” Casemate pulled herself up off of me. She cocked an eyebrow and shifted her gaze at Ping as if he himself was a Zebra spy.

“Because I have had access to many wartime records,” His bright smile made his words sound all the more eerie to me, and I’m sure they sounded that much more cryptic to Casemate. “and I can agree that based on its history, Pentex is not a faction that will in any way contribute to the future well being of the northern wastelands. While I normally do not involve myself in the affairs of others, I will happily help if it means the removal of ponies like them from the north.”

Wow, these guys must be assholes if they’ve pissed off the Factory. Then again, if so, why is this the first I’m hearing of it? They were hesitant to the idea of taking out Mr. Wizard, and he was pretty much the biggest douchebag in the wastes!

“I don’t know,” Happy muttered as he chuffed his forehoof a few times against the green lawn. “you all up there have seemed pretty involved if you ask me...” And like always, while sometimes he was simply the most punchable mule in the room, he did have good points now and again. Happy froze up where he was when he realized he’d gotten everyone’s attention, simply chuckling nervously. “What? I’m not sayin’ I don’t want to go fight these douchebags or nothin’...”

A moment of awkward silence fell between all of us before we were saved by the thrumming of numerous arcane engines approaching. Four small vehicles rolled up from across the compound, pulling up to the edge of the lawn to the visitor center. They were unlike any motorwagon I’d seen so far, and to me, looked like something akin to a cross between those arcanocycles the Yak raiders in the north used, and an incredibly small halftrack.

“Ah, about time.” Casemate said as she all but flew past us all to meet the approaching vehicles. As they pulled up, she practically dove into the cramped looking cargo bed on the closest of them, appearing from behind the driver with a olive colored steel helmet draped over her head. “If you would all climb onto one of these Kettenkrad, we’ll take you to where you’ll be assigned to one of our crews as they prep for the upcoming assault...” She paused as she looked back to Buck, then back to the driver of the ‘Kettenkrad’ she was in. “Uh… maybe on second thought, we should call for a bigger transport…”

“Oi! You’ve got to be joking, Case!”

The voice that greeted us as we followed Casemate toward a large maintenance garage was one I hadn’t heard in awhile. Trotting towards us through the large garage doors with a wide smile across his gruff face, was Guinness. Hispano, Happy, and I all deadpanned at him as he brought himself to a stop just in front of me with a huff.

“Aye, do you have any clue as to how much trouble this lass is?” He gave a gruff snort, throwing up a quick salute to Casemate before roughly jabbing his hoof into my chest. “Ye ought ta take notes, Mrs. Casemate. The fucking balls on this gal and her friends. They’re crazy, the whole lot of ‘em!”

With a flick of her talon, Hispano shoved Guinness’s hoof off of me before stepping between the gruff earth pony and I.

“The last time we saw you, you’d just threatened to feed us through the running gear of your tank.” Hispano spoke with a guttural tone to her words. With a slow swing of her talon, she brought it back down to rest on Suiza’s barrel.

“Aye, but that was just business. Zibar and I, we follow Cordite orders now.” Guinness’s words sent a ripple of echoes through my mind.

“It’s just business…” Solomon’s voice repeated endlessly as it trailed off into the dark recesses of my mind again.

No, focus, Night. Don’t start losing it now.

“And they’ve made a right good show of it so far as well!” Poppy peeked his head out from through the garage. The red beret the old ghoul had worn before was still perched up over the remains of his rotting mane, and that damn mustache of his still looked too good to be real. Walking out towards us, he chewed on the end of a lightly smoking tobacco pipe that sent little puffs into the cool midday air. “Poppy Gardener, Captain for Her late Majesty's fourth Royal Armored Regiment, and attache to the second Scandineighvian division.” He held his hoof out and flashed a smile at me.

“Yes, we’ve met before…” I paused as I looked up at him with a cocked eyebrow.

“Oh, have we?” He slightly pulled his hoof back at that before sinking onto his haunches and dropping into a deep thinking posture. “No, I do believe I would have remembered…”

“I was the one who dropped a spaceship on your tank?” Hispano grumbled with a roll of her eyes that sent a spark of realization through the old ghoul’s expression.

“Oh, of course!” With a firm nod and a stiff laugh, he nodded to me. “Miss. Bombay and company, was it? How could I have forgotten? I do apologize, as the old ticker up here isn’t as sharp as it used to be you know!”

“Ta be fair, the lot of ya look like ya went ta tartarus fer a fight and came out tha loser.” Guinness grunted and eyed over me. “We heard it was rough on the radio, but…” He paused, going wide eyed with a gasp. “Wait, it was ye who was chasin’ the bloody Ouroborus! Seems I’ve got a share of winnin’s ta collect later then!” Oh goddesses, out of everything, that’s what he had to blurt out?

“Ah-hem.” Casemate cleared her throat and pointed toward the garage. “If you would all follow me, I’d like to get you assigned to your vehicles before we head out for the mission.”

The whole group of us followed her as she pushed through the open garage doors, giving one of the two a swift kick as she passed. It rolled open smoothly, without the slightest hint of a squeal or squeak. Though, it was hard to really tell, as when it opened, the loud noises of maintenance and machinery bled out to greet us.

Inside the expansive building was a row of about thirty tanks, each one with personnel of all species crawling all over them. Directly ahead was the Chief’s tank, looking just as it had when it drove up, except that what looked like a deer was carefully pulling crates of supplies down into the turret. A pink colored earth pony stallion had his head poked out of what I assumed was the driver’s hatch, intensely using a toweled hoof to wipe at the various bits of glass optics just in front of where he sat.

To the right, was Guinness and Zibar’s Tank. Unsurprisingly, Zibar was propped halfway out of the turret, fast asleep by the looks of it. Though, like when I’d seen him sleep like that in the Cordite garage up in Destruction Bay, I had no idea how he could sleep with all the hustle, bustle, and noise around here. Hell, I wish I could sleep that deeply without having to be gravely injured...

To the left of the Chief’s tank, was the BT-42, though, I didn’t see either of the other two ghouls that made up Poppy’s crew. Either they were already inside, or were more than likely off gathering supplies like half the ponies scurrying around here. Honestly, while Poppy had seemed alright with how the last fight turned out, I hoped that there wasn’t any bad blood left from the other two.

Beside the BT-42 however, were six of those ‘scratchbuilt’ tanks. They were quite small compared to ninety percent of the other armored vehicles in here, and each of them had the Cordite logo proudly displayed along the sides of their relatively small turrets. Their stubby guns looked to be quite a bit bigger than Suiza, but nowhere near the monstrous cannons on most of the other tanks. T-8 sat boldly emblazoned along the side hulls of each tank, followed by an N and a unique number. Honestly, with them being so small, I was wondering how effective they could even be compared to even the older, smaller tanks used in the war.

“Alright,” Casemate cleared her voice. “Due to the… size considerations of some of you, I have some ideas for where would be a good fit. Mainly, I need the big guy down in Boom Bear. She’s the near-identical tank destroyer to Floyd over there. Their assigned loader’s a Yak, but she and one of our new recruit’s are out on account of their poor choice of not ‘armoring up’ in the bunkroom. Overall, while you’re a bit bigger than she is, I’m sure you’ll still be able to fit inside well enough.”

Shifting her hoof far down the line of tanks, she waved at the big pink wedge that I’d witnessed cutting down half the forest out there. Next to it, was an identically designed tank. This one however was painted mud brown with tan spots, and had a more realistically sized stubby cannon sticking out its front slope that lacked all the magical cables of Floyd’s gun. Though, when I say it’s realistically sized, even from here I’d say it’s bore looked to be about a half a pony tall...

“Okay, I’ll head over in a moment.” Buck nodded to her before turning to me. Carefully, he lifted and uncurled his mechanical paw, holding it out to me. In it, was the cloth radio-cap I’d become used to wearing during my flights. “Remember, Night. I’ll be with you the whole time.” His soft voice and warm smile helped to calm the anxiety that had only started to crop up in my mind.

Reaching out, I grabbed the cap from him and easily slipped it over my head. By the time I’d secured it, I looked up to find that he’d already walked off towards the tank. With a sigh, I reached up and flicked the controls, filling my ears with a loud burst of static for a moment.

“Be careful, Buck.” I offered to him, making him pause halfway down the garage. He turned back and smiled at me.

“You too, Night.” His mouth didn’t move as I watched, but his voice came through as crisp as always. “By the way, Sierra keeps asking me if it looks like thunder out. Do you know what that’s all about?”

“I can’t say I do.” I shrugged to him. “I didn’t see a flash.” Buck gave a shrug of his own before turning and continuing off towards the far end of the garage. Alright Sierra, that’s my end of it done.

“Alright, with whatever gibberish you’re talking about over with, now, let’s deal with the rest of you.” Casemate waved her hoof at Hispano before pointing over to Guinness and Zibar’s tank. “You’re with El Alimane for the ride.”

“Yeah fucking right!” Hispano squawked and shot a sideways glare to a completely off guard Guinness. “Let me remind you. Again. The last time Night and I were on that tank, they threatened to run us over.” Oh for the love of…

“Hispano...” I facehoofed and groaned.

“Hey, if she gets to pass, then don’t fucking look at me either!” Happy chimed in, “Those fucking squares were trouble enough for months coming up to the north. There’s no way I’m getting in that deathtrap with them.”

“Oi, piss off, the both of ya! That was just business!” Guinness snapped at her. Again, that phrase.

“Is it really that surprising to you, Night?” Solomon appeared next to Casemate with a blink of my eye. The smug bastard was in the fancy dress uniform I’d seen him in before as he towered over her. The devilish grin plastered on his muzzle faltered as he was repulsed by the state of Casemate’s uniform. “Such unpleasant company you keep. Perhaps it’s why you always have such rotten luck. Life is trying to teach you a lesson that you simply refuse to accept.”

“No, he’s not real…” I tried to keep my voice down, really, I did. The nervous glance I pulled from Hispano and Happy however, told me I’d need to do a better job than that. Worst of all, was the frown that Casemate gave me.

“Are you…” She started, and I simply lifted my hoof up to cut her off.

I’m fine.” I growled before shifting my look from Casemate and Solomon over to Hispano. “Why don’t you go with Poppy then, Hispano? I’m sure they’ll accept you after you wrecked their tank last time.” Shooting my glare over to Happy, I almost felt satisfied when he took a step backwards from my look alone. “Just find someone to go with, Happy. I don’t care who, just make sure it’s something well protected. I don’t want to lose anypony on this job.”

“Good idea, Dum Dum.” She offered with a nervous smile before flaring out her wings. “In fact, I’m going to go over there and make sure they’re cool with me before we go. Cool? Cool.” With a kick into the air, and a heavy few beats of her wings, she zipped right across the hanger to the BT-42.

“Well uh… if that’s the case.” Happy waggled his eyebrows as he stepped up to Casemate. “How about we lock ourselves away in your ride. I’m sure I can keep you safe through the fight.”

Casemate closed her eyes and pinched her fetlock across her muzzle.

“Happy?” I snorted, forcing him to blink and look back at me like he was somehow surprised I still existed. “Find another tank.”

“Fine.” He groaned before turning and trotting off the same way Buck walked off.

“Can just one thing go right today?” She said with a sigh before opening one eye toward Ping. “I guess then you get to ride along in the El Alimane. Unless you have some sort of objection, I think all we’ve got left are our home built eight tonners.” Huh, maybe that’s what the T-8 on them stood for... “And from their size, you can probably guess there ain’t any room in those for another crew member.”

“No, I have no quarrel with the crew of the El Alimane.” Ping flashed up his beaming smile at her. “I would be happy to assist them.”

“Thank you.” Casemate again sighed, but relaxed a bit as she brought her eyes over to me. “You, I need riding with me in the Chieftain. While the Chief normally doesn’t want others commanding from her tank, and because of that, she’s given me the choice for who I want to take her place in the commander’s seat.”

Great, another command position that I didn’t ask for.

“Look, I’m not sure I’m qualified for leading this...” I grumbled and hung my head, only to be greeted by a laugh from Casemate.

“Oh no, you misunderstand. I’ll still be in charge of this operation from the gunner’s seat.” She stated very matter-o-factly at me. She… could she even do that? Before I could object, I bit my tongue. See, I figured that at the very least, this meant that things wouldn’t be my fault when they fell apart like they always did. “I just need you to spot and call out targets for me, think you can manage that? As a pegasus, I assume your eyesight is better than mine anyway.” She paused as she looked at the eyepatch that sat securely over my empty socket. “Well, injuries withstanding, the optics are meant to be used with only one eye anyway…”

“Great, well, no objections from me.” I shrugged to her, which managed to put a slightly relieved look across her face. “But you may need to help me once we’re in there. This’ll be my first time being a spotter, and well, my first time inside of a tank...” I paused for a moment, remembering back to the incident I’d caused back in Fort Mac. “Well, in a combat situation at least.” Seriously, I had no idea what I was going to be doing…

“Ah, that’s fine.” She gave a dismissive wave of her hoof as she turned around and faced the Chief’s tank. “I’ll show you the ropes, but trust me when I say it’s easy enough. You’ll get the hang of it in no time at all!”

Why was it that while I’d been completely naive before with new things in the north, I didn’t believe a single word of that?

Now I understood why the Chief’s office was as cramped as it could be.

Only somepony who loved to be inside a tank could ever get used to such a cramped environment. I’d been given the Commander’s seat, which was apparently ‘spacious’ compared to the gunner or loader’s position. You’d never think that though from the fact that if I were to open my wing even halfway, I’d be throwing it right into Casemate’s face. Honestly, it might’ve been a tiny bit more comfortable if I didn’t have my wingsuit and fully loaded battle saddle on...

Yeah, this wasn’t exactly where I’d wanted to spend my afternoon, but I had to remember that at least I wasn’t the only one suffering these cramped conditions.

It’d been a good three hours that fourteen Cordite tanks had been convoying southward down the highway before we hit any major turn offs. About ten minutes ago, we’d taken an off ramp that put us on a road that wound off into the mountainous forest of the southern edge of the misery range. The lush forest and thick underbrush was made all the harder to see through by the heavy rain clouds that covered the sky up here.

Every odd jostle, each mechanical knock from the tank’s old arcane power plant put me on edge. I kept my eye glued to the commander’s rotating spotting scope. Something inside me, a sinking feeling burrowing into my gut, told me that while I’d been lucky in my fights recently, this one would be different. And seeing as how my curse has been pretty much all but missing since the convoy went up, I was inclined to believe we were in for one hell of a…

“Ah!” I exclaimed and recoiled as something sharp jabbed at my hind leg.

“Huck,” Casemate spoke up through the coms in her heavy tankers helmet. “What have I told you about watching where your rack is?”

“Sorry ‘bout that, partner.” The deer who was squished low and between Casemate and I offered a sincere look over to me. Each of the separately tied tea bags that adorned the twelve or so pointed horns, bobbed and jumped with each knock and dip as we trundled over the old gravel road. “While Ah’ve got yer attention though, tea?” He lifted up a rusted metal box with a wire connected to it and a small spigot in the front.

“You always ask, and yet...” Casemate sighed and rolled her eyes at him, not that he was even looking over at her.

“Ain’t no pony askin’ yew, Case.” He grumbled and shot her a sideways glare. “Ah’m tryin’ ta show our guest some hospitality, ya know, on account we’re drivin’ inta’ one hell of a fight.”

“I’m just saying!” Casemate snorted and crossed her hooves across her barrel, “Every time we go out, you’re always messing with that damn boiling vessel. It’s like you don’t take your job seriously.”

“Well in the Chieftain’s design manual, it is the loader’s job to run the boiling vessel…” A third voice cropped up over my headset. It was that of a middle aged stallion, who from my best guess right now, was our driver.

The radio in my ear let out a sharp burst of static that made me wince. Must have been on pretty much every channel too, since both Casemate and Huck did the same thing. She and I traded glances before we both went back to staring through the sighting systems at our stations.

“Cordite tankers, this is the Chief of security for the Pentex Corporation.” The annoyed but stiff voice that came through the radio was crisp and sharp. “You are entering a restricted area on private property. Turn back now or we will be forced to open fire.” The stallion sounded seasoned with the unflinching way he recited that. But still, the way he said it did kick the thought into my head that maybe there was a chance we could just talk this out.

“This is the Commander of the Cordite armored formation.” Casemate spoke out sharply into her radio as she reached up and pressed a button on the side of her helmet, “Unless you fucking traitors give back what you stole from us, that’d be a big negative on us turning around.”

“Seriously, if you Cordite fucks aren’t going to use what you have, it might as well belong to us anyway.” The stallion replied sternly, but paused long enough between his words that I could hear a lot of commotion come over the background with his voice. “Last chance. Turn back or we’ll scrap your dinky assault force and then head to Cordite headquarters to do what we should have done decades ago.”

I could have sworn that Casemate had steam coming out from under her helmet as she glared bullets at her gunnery controls.

“Well Cordite, I’m waiting…” The stallion simply grunted.

Casemate again reached up and pressed the button on her helmet.

“Nuts.” She snorted before letting the button go in favor of hoofing a switch on the bottom of her helmet. “Alright tankers, listen up. They know we’re coming, so I want to see those guns light up the moment we’re in range. All tanks are weapons free, and all round types are authorized for this battle.”

A resounding cheer came through the Chieftain’s hull, or at least, through speakers in the hull. It was hard when you had the crews of fourteen tanks all shouting all at once. But from the smile and nod Casemate gave, I had to assume that this was it, and we were about to get fetlock deep into one hell of a fight.

“If that’s true, then why aren’t you afraid?” Solomon’s voice came bubbling up in my mind. I scrunched my muzzle in annoyance and closed my eye. No, not now… “Again, you think you can choose when I depart and arrive?” He’s not real. “Open up your eye, Night.”

I did as he asked, and stared right into the commander’s spotting scope. A small walled settlement lay right ahead of us. A steel wall stretched across the road itself, and towers with gun emplacements stuck up from various parts of it. Two of the boxy tracked vehicles that had escaped earlier today sat parked in front of the armored gates. Neither of them still had the stolen trailers attached, but they now had a few ponies with what looked like heavy guns lying prone on their roofs.

“Uh, Casemate?” I found myself muttering as I wasn’t sure what exactly I was supposed to say.

“I see them.” She growled as she gave Huck’s rack a light kick with her leg. “Huckleberry, load me some H.E.”

“On it!” Huck replied, swiftly reaching forward into a small box he had next to his seat.

In his cloven hoof, he brought up the warhead of a large high explosive round and shoved it into the barrel. Before I could even remark how he was kinda missing half the round there, he used his other hoof to reach under Casemate’s seat to a box that almost looked like it had a liner of water around it. Without even looking, he brought out a red cloth bag that smelled heavily of cordite. Swiftly, he shoved the bag down the barrel as well, then slammed down a lever that shut the breach with a firm clack.

“Gun ready!” He called out loud enough that I could have been able to hear him among the noise of the tank even if I wasn’t wearing my coms helmet.

“Watch closely, Night.” Solomon’s voice wasn’t more than a whisper in my ear, but I could feel the anticipation in his words. “This is how you start a war…”

“Go to hell, fucking Pentex traitors.” Casemate muttered under her breath as her hooves wrapped around the gunnery controls.

She gave a light flick of the joystick, making the turret and gun shift ever so slightly in her hold. There was a moment where I wasn’t sure she was going to fire, in which I looked back through the spotting scope again. The Pentex ponies hadn’t moved, and more of them had appeared along the armored walls of the settlement. They were all armed with basic weapons, and I was beginning to think that maybe they were just fucking crazy for standing up against tanks.

“On the way!” Casemate shouted, making me cringe and pull back.

CHOOM!

The whole Chieftain rattled and rocked on it’s suspension as the gun recoiled. Even with the suppression element of my coms helmet, the ringing from the cannon crept into my ears, deafening the world momentarily. I scrambled to line my eye up with the scope again, pressing myself close against the optic.

A great fireball rose into the sky as part of the armored wall collapsed. The Pentex ponies opened up with their small arms, sending light raps and taps across the tank’s metal hull. I shuddered as the other tanks in the formation opened up as well, and watched as nearly the whole wall disappeared before me.

I was pulled against the side of the turret as the Chieftain tore to the right. Without any warning whatsoever, we dipped off of the road and plunged into the dense underbrush of the forest that surrounded the Pentex settlement. I firmly gripped around whatever controls I could hold as I was all but tossed around the interior of the turret by the uneven terrain. But while I was fighting to simply stay in my seat, the rest of the crew were getting along just fine without me.

“Gunner, load H.E.!” Casemate shouted again. I struggled to keep my head stable enough to watch as Huck almost effortlessly loaded up the cannon with the same two part load he had before. It amazed me because for him, it was almost like we hadn’t even left the nice smooth road!

“Gun ready!” He shouted back out before immediately laying back and glancing up at me. He flashed up an excited smile and laughed as I tried not to completely collapse down onto him.

The turret spun again, their hydraulics whining as they smoothly adjusted the gun with each rough tipping bounce. The gun must have been gyroscopically stabilized to an amazing degree, because I was almost hypnotized by the way it seemed to rise and fall perfectly in time with the tank’s hull. Even more impressive, was the way that Casemate could pretty much keep herself stabilized as well as she poured all her focus into aiming the cannon.

“On the way!” She called out before pressing down on the trigger in her hoof’s grasp. The gun recoiled, and the interior of the hull rang with the sound of the shot blasting down yet another part of the settlement. “Dash, slow down a bit now that we’re on their flank. Commander, I need eyes out there! Give me a target!”

As the suspension got our rocking and rolling under control, I pushed myself back up to look through the spotting scope. Using the controls on it, I spun it around on it’s mount. The first thing to come into view was the smoking and burning remains of part of the settlement. The charred and blasted bodies of ponies lay strewn about between the rubble of several small scrap built buildings.

An eerie silence picked up as I looked at it. None of the other tanks had continued firing. Continuing to turn the scope, I peered through even more haze and smoke, only finding more buildings and bodies. Eventually, the blasted bits of the armored wall met my eyes before the scope turned enough that I could see the six Cordite tanks on this side lined up and offset behind us.

“Nothing’s moving,” I muttered as I slumped back in my seat. “No targets.”

Casemate scrunched her muzzle at that before wrapping her forehoof under her chin.

“Are you sure?” She asked, pointing back at the scope. “Why don’t you double check for me?”

Pausing as I went for the scope, she lowered her voice as she sank back into thought. Another sweep over the wreckage only left me with more of a lonely feeling with the silence that had crept over the place. Looking over at her, I simply shrugged.

“No, something’s not right.” She grumbled and scratched under her helmet a bit.

Again, static picked up over our headsets.

“I feel like we’re missing something here, Case.” The gravelly voice of a stallion came over the radio.

“Yeah, Boiling Vessel is right, this can’t be all there was to them.” Another ghoulish voice came over the radio. “Years of rivalry based at what amounts to an outpost? This smells worse than I do.”

“That is correct.” Ping’s voice came through with a slight crackle to it. “This was the Pentex forward guard post. You will find their main base of operations two point three kilometers up the road.”

“Who in tartarus is that?” A young and startled sounding filly almost squeaked my ears off with her shrill foal-like voice. “Who are you? You aren’t one of those traitors, are you!?”

“Calm yourself, Squeezebore. He’s one of the guests helping us out today.” Dash called up over the radio. “I know you’re excited for your first fight as a commander in training, but daddy needs his little filly not to freak out, okay?”

“Sorry, Papa.” The young filly let out a sigh that clung to the white noise in the radio’s air. “And sorry, Commander Casemate. Legion and her crew are ready for your orders, Ma’am.”

She’s just a foal for Celestia’s sake, and she’s one of their commanders!? I mean, granted they made me a commander when I hardly knew what I was doing. And again, I would kind of have to look past the fact that Cora brought Hispano along on his job with Solomon. But seriously, farbeit for me to make a judgement call here, but who the hell brings their daughter on a tank raid!?

“Those who understand the costs of winning a war.” Speak of the devil, Solomon was still annoying me. “Complain all you want, it won’t change the fact that more than likely, that little filly will die fighting.” Oh come on, even I knew that wasn’t something anypony could predict. “True, if not today, then why not tomorrow? You know better than most how easily tomorrows can turn into the last todays of someone’s life…”

Ugh! Get out of my fucking head!

“Alright, if that wasn’t their main base, then we need to move on.” Casemate called out. “All tanks, get back into formation and move up. Keep your eyes open for mines and traps.” Reaching up, she flicked the switch on her helmet again and glanced over to me. “Say, how does your friend know that Pentex has a base up ahead?” She narrowed her eyes at me sharply. “Seriously, he seems to know a lot about Pentex. More than even Cordite does, which to be honest, doesn’t make me feel all that good. Do you trust him? He is a stripe after all...”

“Hehe!” Ping’s laughter filled my ears for a moment, making me roll my eyes at Casemate. “You may tell her that I am simply well informed on many aspects of the northern wastes.” I opened my muzzle to answer, but paused as Ping spoke up again. “And it should not need to be said again, but I do not think she needs to be privy to my true form, nor the existence and contents of Factory Zero One.”

“Wait, didn’t you just say that out loud to your crew though?” I asked before realizing that Case was still waiting for an answer. I held up my hoof to her and she deadpanned at me.

“Incorrect.” Ping gave a light chuckle into my ear. “Remember that as a machine, I have the benefit of being able to say what I like directly through the radio without having to audibly speak it.”

“Ah, got it.” I nodded to him. Well, of all the was being a machine was confusing, that was at least some little part of him that made some sort of sense to me. Looking back at Case, I did my best of offer her a comforting smile. “The ponies we work for are very well informed on things in the North that others may or may not know about. But to answer you directly, yes, I do trust him. And as the ‘survivor’, you can trust me on that.”

“Alright.” Casemate shrugged and laid back in her seat slightly. “As long as we don’t end up looking like last week’s tin can rations at the end of the day, I don’t really care how he knows.” With a sigh, she reached up and flicked at her helmet’s controls once more. “Okay, enough sittin’ around. Dash, get us on the move again.”

“You’ve got it, Boss!” He called up as we started to get moving again.

“Gun’s safe, Commander. Ah have ta say, that was almost too easy.” Huck chuckled as he dripped the last of what was in the boiling vessel into his old thermos. “Might as well brew up some more tea.”

“Yeah, it felt too easy to me as well.” Casemate nodded as she pressed herself back in her seat and crossed her hooves over her barrel. “If only it were ever that easy…”

I braced myself against the hull as we began to push through the thick underbrush. With a cringe as we pushed down a pair of thin pine trees, I wrapped my hooves around the mount for the spotting scope. Putting my eye back up to it, I worked the controls until I’d spun the image back around to the small settlement we’d destroyed.

Bodies lay strewn about, buildings completely flattened and on fire. And all I could think of, was why? Why didn’t they run? Who see’s a column of tanks coming at them and thinks, yeah, my rifle will be good enough for the job. Either they were really stupid, or Pentex just sacrificed dozens of good ponies for a reason I can’t even think of.

What the fuck were they doing back there?

“Such is the nature of war.” Solomon had a warmth to his voice that was utterly vile. “We fight and die because it is the right thing to do, not because we are simply asked to. A pegasus general said that back in the war if I am to recall it correctly.” Now he’s using shit I learned in school against me? I can’t even begin to describe how dirty I felt just having his voice in my mind, let alone having him say something like that.

A flash filled the air as a bolt of lightning raced through the sky. Instantly, Solomon was standing on the back of the Chieftain’s turret. He stood there, hovering his muzzle over the optics themselves with his snake-like smile, and his nearly glowing spotless white coat shimmering as the first raindrops of the day started to fall.

“Regardless of how you feel, the sentiment remains correct.” He spoke up as he stood tall in the face of the wind and rain. “It’s something you with your... limited intellect have struggled to firmly grasp. You know the necessity of fighting, but not yet the necessity of dying.”

“I know enough.” I grumbled, trying to keep my voice down.

“And yet, you’re still afraid of losing.” Solomon closed his eyes and pointed his muzzle to the sky. “A real leader understands that he’s already killed those he asks to join him. You have to accept that you are responsible, Night.” Another bolt of lightning raced across the sky above us. And in that flash, Solomon was gone again. “You’ve already killed your family, Night, and you have to take responsibility.”

“Remember that.”