“Anything in life worth doing is worth overdoing. Moderation is for cowards.”

-Shane Patton

The square was alive with an agitated sense of activity. Vehicles that had once been neatly parked and set in corners were moved out of the way as quickly as possible to allow for the incoming aircraft. If any had been sleeping before, none did so now, as the flurry of activity was sure to echo through the forest and over the hills for miles. The darkened streets were lit bright, the town becoming a beacon to the coming arrivals.

Within city hall, the chaos had reached fever pitch. The sleeping quarters were rampant with curses and the shuffling of feet as gear was donned, equipment was carried both in and out, boxes of ammunition and MRE’s were tossed about for every man to claim their share. Loads of any additional equipment was kept to a minimum, most preferring to store extra magazines rather than any unnecessary weight.

“Come on, come on!” Marc yelled, trying to bring the disorganized Troop into some semblance of order. “One at a time. Grab your MRE, grab your ammo, and get out, alright? If you need anything added to your assault packs, do it now before you get in line! Remember, keep it light, we’ll be jumping!”

A knock on the door behind him and he turned to see Big Mac standing behind him, gesturing for them to follow after him. “Do it later. Debrief, let’s go! Move!” The chaos burst out of the sleeping quarters and headed downstairs where HHT had consolidated, the entire room frenzied as mounds of intelligence and communication equipment was readied for the operation.

Cpt. Armor waited outside the debrief room, watching as each of his soldiers entered. “They haven’t drawn ammo yet, have they?” he asked.

“Not yet, sir, were just about to,” Marc replied.

“Good. Hold off until we get whatever radios and other bullshit we’re gonna need. I want some guys to ease off anything extra for now.”

“Hooah.” Marc’s voice rattled, the cold winter air of the Crystal Empire having seeped down into the stone basement, the walls freezing to the touch. It would be good to be packed tightly into a dense group of people, just for the body heat.

“Attention!” The call rang forth as the Squadron Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Noel, entered the room, a grim-faced man that somehow appeared more stern than usual.

“At ease, gentlemen. We’re gonna make this quick as your flight is already inbound,” Lt. Col. Noel said, promptly launching into his debrief. “Approximately one hour ago, we received confidential information that Discord was being transported to the former Russian border, where he would be then allowed to escape into the wildlands of the former country and live in hiding. When we were briefed this info, we were also given a potential exfil location and we had a drone sent in immediately to confirm his location. When we found his location, we also received visual confirmation of various pieces of CBRN equipment, water purification equipment, and other survival materials that are likely meant to help him survive in the wild. As of now, Discord is in the mountain village of Băile Tușnad, and a series of continuous artillery fires are being used to surround the area and allow no access to the village until we say so. Gentlemen, you are going to go in to his safe house and you’re going to kill this rat sonuvabitch and show his corpse to the whole damn world. If we lose him here, then we may never find him again. Get in, get confirmation of the kill, and get out. As soon as you complete the mission, you’ll head back into the nearby mountains for pickup. Any questions?”

“Why us, sir?” Marc asked. “We’re the Cavalry, we’re not heavily trained in clearing buildings. Why not the Infantry?”

“Because you’re the unit closest to his location, and Knight Troop is the Troop with the least amount of casualties,” the SCO replied. “Believe me, gentlemen, a lot of people are going to be fighting hard to make sure you can get in and kill this man.”

“Why not just blow up the house if you’ve got him cornered, sir?” asked Lt. Sentry.

“Presidential order, gentlemen. Discord has escaped tactical strikes three times now, they want to see him dead. Three of you are going to be mounted with cameras to display the feed. One will be your Troop Commander, the other two are up to his discretion.”

“Sergeant Mac, Lt. Pharoah,” Cpt. Armor said loudly, his strong voice echoing across the stone room. “See me right after this and we’ll be fitted.”

“Any further questions? Dismissed, you’ll be leaving in thirty minutes. And God help you,” Lt. Col. Noel said, rising to his feet and exiting the crammed room.

“That’s it, let’s move!” Cpt. Armor ordered. “Get your ammo and all available equipment out to the courtyard and prepped for upload onto the choppers. First Platoon, you’ll be moving into the safehouse while Second provides overwatch- no bitching!” he added as a round of grumbling began to rise from the remnants of Second Platoon. “Each Platoon gets a radio- Featherweight, Joel, come with me. Sergeant Reyes, get the rest of the Troop outside and moving!”

If there had been chaos before, it was nothing compared to the commotion that erupted now. As the thrum of the helicopters came roaring down to the earth, the cold night air became freezing and the soldiers were carpeted in dust from the gusts of the rotors. The moment the wheels touched ground, crews of soldiers rushed to meet them, armed with all available equipment they could possibly need- first aid kits, additional tourniquets, stretchers, IV’s, and – as discreetly as they could manage to hide them- bodybags. Marc stood strong amidst the turmoil, seeing that all the moving parts for the execution of the operation ran smoothly. Ammunition was distributed, each man was provided an MRE, weapons were checked for any flaws or damages. Even a rehearsal, as quick as they could manage, was performed. As he deliberated over any additional tasks to be completed, he saw movement from the nearby doors and both Cpt. Armor and Big Mac were moving to join them.

“Get to your positions, we’re heading out!” Marc roared, trying to make himself heard above the din. “Everybody onboard, let’s go!”

“Everyone ready?” Cpt. Armor asked of him.

“Yessir, all equipment uploaded as well,” Marc said, walking alongside the two men. “Your assault pack and Sergeant Mac’s are also onboard, your ammo and MRE are inside.”

“Good work. Get yourself steady, we’re flying fast and low,” Cpt. Armor replied, leaping onboard and settling his rifle in hand before poking his head into the cabin. “We’re green!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the two aircraft reignited, the engines turning into a strong thrum as the rotors spun ever faster, the two helicopters soaring into the air before taking off at top speed, their wheels barely avoiding the trees below.

Cpt. Armor began to speak on his headset while Big Mac settled himself with checking on the Troop. Marc glanced over at the door where Thunderlane sat, hunched over his M2. His brother was gone, the man that had been Marc’s responsibility to keep alive- yet he had said nothing. Perhaps tonight, on the night of nights, there was no need for rage against one another. Tonight there was to be a reckoning.

“Everyone get to your stations, let’s go! Lieutenant, what’s their status?” Colonel Roark asked.

Twilight stood from her chair and turned to face her superior officer. “They’re inbound now, sir. Both vehicles just took off, ETA 40 minutes. But I still don’t have the necessary information on the friendly unit.”

“It’s being sent to you now. Make sure all your tactical data is uploaded as well.”

Twilight nodded and returned to her computer, beginning to type madly as she fired keystroke after keystroke into the PC. Whatever tiredness she had known only a few hours before was gone completely.

She had been awoken not along ago with an emergency call to head to operations. No explanation given, no further details, only the solitary command. When she arrived thirty minutes later, hair frazzled and still half-asleep, she and the entire team were informed that critical information related to the exact location of Discord had just been delivered, and it was their duty to confirm it for a team to go in and take him out. Immediately she had come to life, working furiously. No coffee could hope to match the exhilaration she felt now. Finally, after all the years of searching, the millions that had died, he was going to be brought to justice.

“Info sent, check your inbox,” came the call from the other side of the room, and Twilight switched from her observations to her email, downloading the files without another thought and letting the myriad voices speak across her as she continued to work.

“Fires is calling in, one weapon has proceeded to malfunction due to overheating. They need to know when the team will be in range so they can cease fire.”

“Respond that team is inbound, ETA thirty minutes. If they need to get a gun replaced, tell them to do so.”

“They won’t like that, sir.”

“I don’t give a shit what they like. Tell them to continue their fire, no one is leaving that village unless we say so.”

The massive display screen centered at the front of the room went live, the sight of over a dozen men and women packed tightly into a control room flaring before them. All present within the room stood at the sight.

“Mr. President, welcome to Operation Fallen Angel,” Col. Roark greeted, the stalwart soldier unfazed by the gravity of the situation. “I’m Colonel Roark, the Intelligence Commander helping to spearhead the operation.”

“Colonel Roark, what is the status of the team right now?”

“Knight Troop is inbound, sir, should arrive in less than half an hour,” Col. Roark replied steadily. “Troop Commander has been briefed and three of his team are displaying live footage. Please be advised that all live footage is three to five seconds delayed due to time.”

Knight Troop? It can’t be. Twilight felt her heart seize and wondered if anyone had noticed.

“Live feed on display. Check your screens.”

Twilight watched as the feed went live before her, her heart sinking with every passing second. “Oh God…”

“Lieutenant?” Col. Roark paused in his dealings to look down upon her, the sound of her distress alerting him immediately.

“Nothing, sir! Just muttering aloud!” she said, hastily trying to cover her tracks. That’s Big Mac- and Reyes! Twilight tore through the file on the friendly unit. 3rd Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade, 6-8 Cavalary Squadron. Knight Troop-

Shining Armor’s Troop. He’s in command, he’s the one going in. Twilight’s heart seized and she wondered if she would even be able to conduct herself with fair judgement during this operation. Should she tell anyone? There was no way she could simply remove herself from the room without causing suspicion. As the turmoil rose, she forced herself steady and decided to press on in silence. No one will know. No one can know. The best, strongest asset he had right now on this side of the world was her. She would do what she could.

God help him.

“Jesus.”

Even from the great distance, the sound and rage of the incoming barrage was evident to both eye and ear. Marc dared to lean out from his seat and saw before him a column of fire and smoke unlike anything before seen on earth, a wrathful, vengeful hellscape that burned the very air he breathed. Though they were still far away, the unrelenting barrage of artillery had cut through the skies and now superheated the area. For ever on, he knew there would be none who witnessed this that would ever forget the might and awe of such a display.

“They’re about to cut the fire so we can move in. Keep eyes on it in case the shelling continues!” Marc felt the words rather than hearing him, Cpt. Armor’s hand gripping his shoulder as he leaned out. Marc turned back to see the man still connected to the headset, already having turned aside and returned to the constant radio chatter.

This is it. We’re gonna end this, Marc thought, the gravity of what they were about to do thrilling him unlike anything could have ever dared to hope. Manhatten, LA, the whole war, all of it is about to be avenged.

Suddenly the furious crescendo of the shelling ceased, the last round falling just outside the lake that dwelled near the village, only the smoke and fires still filling the night sky-

“Shelling’s stopped!” Marc yelled.

“Roger! Take us in!” Cpt. Armor cried to the chopper pilots. Suddenly the pressure shifted as they began to make their descent, careening through the haze of smoke that now surrounded the village, flying low over the nearby buildings-

“Get ready to jump! Reyes, take point!” Cpt. Armor yelled-

Marc shuffled towards the door as the chopper began to slow, he grabbing hold of the nearby rope and preparing to make the leap-

The floor beneath his feet shifted as the aircraft settled on its position-

“Now!” Marc leapt out into the broiling night, sliding down the rope and landing roughly on the ground, preferring speed to elegance. Detaching himself from the cord he rushed out into the dark and keeping eyes on the safehouse as he took position, waiting for the others to accomplish their descent-

The Troop filtered out into the desolate area, the fires burning around them giving the whole town a hellish feel, no sign of life to alert them that their presence had been discovered-

“We’re on the ground, let’s move!” Marc felt the hand of his Commander on his shoulder and he rushed towards the door, crashing into the side of the wall with no care for subtlety as Lt. Pharaoh joined his side, taking the opposing side-

“Clearing the door!” Marc yelled, tracing the entire outline of the door for any sign of wires or explosives attached. Satisfied with nothing, he prepared himself and gave a vicious kick just beside the door handle, crashing it open and rushing in. “Move!”

The Troop filtered in as a single unit, each man set to cover a different position as each room began to be cleared, one by one-

A silhouette rushed out from the nearby kitchen-

Marc fired immediately, the Imperial soldier falling as the bullet struck through his chest and pierced his lungs-

With Lt. Pharaoh by his side, Marc dashed into the kitchen and found two more men awaiting him, the soldiers gunned down with a pair of bullets that struck through armor and flesh, sending them sprawling as the round tore through their insides-

“Room clear!” Lt. Pharaoh roared, the two men turning back and heading down the hallway-

“Jesus! Scared me half to death!” Big Mac yelled as he came down the stairs, Marc and Lt. Pharaoh startled by the man’s sudden appearance-

“Find him?”

“Nothing. He’s not here, unless there’s some sort of goddamn basement in this place-”

“Search everywhere! Some sign of a cellar, basement, anything! Move!” Cpt. Armor commanded-

The Troop filtered back out in the house, tripping over the dead as they kept their heads pointed down to the ground, searching for a hidden door or pathway-

“Reyes! Look at the kitchen floor!” Lt. Pharaoh hissed, and Marc paused to see a small handle, the same color as the stone, carefully hidden just beneath a fallen body-

“We found it! Kitchen floor!” Marc yelled-

Lt. Pharaoh wrenched the handle free of its socket and gave it a twist, unlocking the hidden door and he threw it aside-

A spray of bullet fire erupted from the revealed exit, a stray round cutting through the man’s shoulder and rendering it inert-

“Man down!” Marc dashed towards the hole and fired wildly, hoping to cease the oncoming assault. Featherweight rushed to join him and began dragging the injured Lt. Pharaoh away from the conflict, doing his best to calm the wounded man-

“What happened?” Cpt. Armor roared-

“They were waiting for us!” Marc replied. “Someone was set as a lookout, they’ll know we’re going in!”

“Going in? What in the- holy hell,” Cpt. Armor whispered as he rushed down the cellar stairs.

The cellar, likely used as a vast winery, had been converted into a massive maze of walls and rooms, deliberately reoriented to confuse and disorient the unwary and unfamiliar. The entire place looked more akin to a labyrinth rather than any simple room-

“There’s some sort of pathway leading out, it must go under the lake!”

“They won’t get through, must’ve caved in by now!”

“Then we’ve got him cornered, come on!” Cpt. Armor joined Marc down below, with Big Mac and the others not far behind-

“Joel, Sieg, keep watch at the door, call a 9-line for Pharaoh! Do not let anyone through!” Big Mac yelled behind them-

Marc rushed down a path and stumbled past an empty hallway just in the nick of time as an emplaced machine gun opened fire, tracing the empty hallway with round after round-

“He’s close,” Cpt. Armor breathed-

“I’ve got this one, gimme a sec,” Marc said, reaching into one of his many pouches and extracting a grenade. He pulled the pin, counting down two seconds within his head before peeking out from safety and throwing it down the hallway, a cry of panic meeting their ears-

A small Boom! erupted from down the hall and they paused, waiting for the sound of continued fire but found none. Marc rushed forward first, stepping over the dead that now lined the end of the hallway-

The hall twisted and turned before opening up into a faux living room and Marc felt himself freeze. At the opposing end of the room lay a destroyed pathway, now covered in a mass of rock and earth that blocked his opponents from continuing their escape. Standing in the midst of a group of Imperial soldiers, a fiery expression upon his face that was intermixed with panic, was Discord-

He paused by instinct, the shock more than enough to do so. After all the years of hiding, narrow escapes, the endless searching, there he now stood like a mouse trapped in its cage. Almost too perfect for words-

Marc felt the rounds brush past his skin, he leaping to cover just before they could refocus their aim and bring him down and he slid behind a thick beam-

“Keep him down!” Cpt. Armor yelled, firing wildly into the opposing crowd and finding his mark as one of the Imperial soldiers fell-

Marc leaned out from cover and fired at will, hoping at least one would strike home and take the man down-

Discord retreated behind the wall and took cover, reaching out from the corner and firing a pistol blindly-

“Where is he?” Cpt. Armor asked-

“Just beyond that corner,” Marc answered, giving a quick peek before retreating back to cover. “We need him to just show his face once…”

“Don’t move,” Cpt. Armor ordered, steadying his rifle on Marc’s left shoulder as he let out a breath, trying to relieve his trembling hands-

Discord dared a glance out from his hiding place, perhaps checking to see if any of his stray rounds had found their way towards his enemies-

One squeeze of the trigger and Cpt. Armor fired, a clean-cut shot that burst from the muzzle and rang forth through the air, racing forward until it found flesh and buried itself through bone and further within-

Discord dropped like a broken doll on the ground, the bullet having driven itself deep into his skull-

“Down! Target is down!” Cpt. Armor, aided by Marc and Big Mac, pressed their advantage on the remaining Imperial fighters, taking them down with precision as they advance forward. When they were satisfied that all their targets had been neutralized, the three men rushed ahead and grabbed hold of Discord’s body, checking it for any sign of a pulse, the smallest sign of life that could be found-

“Screw this!” Marc pointed his rifle at the man’s chest and fired two rounds into his heart. “Just in case he thought about getting up-”

“Target is confirmed down, I say again, target is down,” Cpt. Armor said, his voice triumphant at the sight of their long-time enemy finally having been brought to justice. “Damn- I can’t get contact through the stone, we need to get out so we can reestablish contact.”

“What about the body?” Marc asked-

“Bring it upstairs and leave it, the whole building is about to get blown to hell once we leave it!” Cpt. Armor said. “No one’s gonna bury this sonuvabitch- move!”

Lt. Pharaoh, one hand to his still-bleeding shoulder, looked at them with a sort of desperation as the trio of soldiers ascended. “Please tell me-” He went silent as Marc and Big Mac rose from the ground, heaving the lifeless corpse of Discord out into the open for all to see. “Oh my God…”

“Everyone out. Move!” Cpt. Armor yelled, and just as quickly as they had entered, the Troop departed, running out into the fire and night of the silent village-

“Why did they stop firing? Shouldn’t they have continued shelling?” Marc asked, the silence almost deafening after the chaos of the battle within the safehouse-

“Everyone shut up! I can’t hear this message!” Cpt. Armor slapped his headset in and pressed deep, trying to amplify the sound as he listened in to the broken static and chaos of the comms. “Damn it all!”

“What’s wrong-”

“The pickup point has been moved about five clicks east! We need to move, now! Something big is coming this way, Empire knows we’re here!”

The elation at the defeat of Discord did not last, their revelry turning swiftly into dread as the new order came forth. Moving as quickly as they could manage with their many numbers, numerous equipment, and what wounded they had, the Troop moved out into the darkness, heading towards the forest in the hopes of returning to safety.

Author's Notes:

And down he goes. But the night is long, and it is only just beginning.

Comments and corrections below. As always, enjoy.