“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. In the end, leaders are much like eagles… they don’t flock, you find them one at a time.”

– Unknown

Twilight forced herself to watch the feed, the terror in her bones more wretched than she could have imagined. Her brother was leading the forefront of the strike, his movements keeping him in the very thick of the firefight. It seemed as though he felt the need to clear each room personally before he was satisfied. He was in his element, he was built for this; she hated it. If she had to sit here and watch her older brother be killed…

“Oh my God.” As the sight of Discord came through on the screen before them, the sound seemed to murmur through the entire crowd. The face of their long-hated enemy was finally there for all of them to see.

Twilight felt sweat trickle down her brow and she discreetly wiped it away, hoping no one had noticed. The moment was almost over.

Shining Armor settled himself next to Sergeant Reyes, using the younger man’s shoulder as a means of stabilizing his rifle. When Discord peered out from behind his cover, Shining didn’t hesitate to fire and caught him just above the right eye and they watched as the body of Discord fell to the ground, the round killing him before he had even fallen to the ground.

Cheers erupted across the room as both Shining Armor and Reyes moved forward to check the body, eliminating all remaining resistance as they pressed on. When they had proceeded to confirm the kill, Shining Armor’s words rang as clear as day: “Target is down, I say again, target is down.”

“Oh thank God,” Twilight murmured.

“Is the exfil team moving towards the LZ?” Colonel Roark asked of his team.

“Already at location, sir,” Twilight replied, her relief evident as she responded to her superior. “Should I tell them to begin liftoff procedures?”

“Do so. The faster we get that team out the better,” Col. Roark said.

“Colonel? We’ve just got an update from SATCOM,” a quiet voice said to Twilight’s right, and she turned to see one of her comrades pulling away from his desktop. “Survey of the area shows a large-scale force of hostile movement heading towards the village.”

Silence.

“Say that again, Sergeant?” Col. Roark asked.

“SATCOM just sent an emergency scan of the area. Iron Guard are inbound right now, about five clicks south of Knight Troop’s present location.”

“How old is the data?”

“Five minutes, sir.”

“Then they’re three clicks away. Push back the LZ to further in the forest and inform Cpt. Armor that he needs to pull his team out immediately. Everyone, this mission is not over yet, keep to your stations,” Col. Roark commanded.

Twilight’s heart had fallen somewhere below her stomach as she watched the information be relayed to her brother, Shining Armor taking a moment to confirm the report before turning to his soldiers. Three were injured, the rest could still stand. They would need to move quickly if they wanted to stay out of sight. Where is that LZ? They’re pushing it east back into the mountains.

“Sergeant, get back with SATCOM and get me all possible information on this enemy movement. What are we looking at?” Col. Roark demanded.

“Not much now, sir, only that it is a confirmed Iron Guard unit, what looks to be approximately a battalion’s worth,” Sergeant Green answered. “Survey shows no armor support… they have artillery following behind.”

“They’re gonna try to counter our artillery barrage of the area. Is Knight Troop in range?”

“They will be in five minutes, sir.”

Oh God help us.

Shining Armor led the Troop further into the treeline, his breath coming in hot and ragged as they moved. Big Mac took the center of the group, keeping his head on a swivel as he surveyed both ahead and behind to ensure no man began to fall back. Marc, sticking closely to Lt. Pharaoh and the other wounded, kept himself turned to their rear in case they found themselves being pursued. The journey had been at a brutal pace, Cpt. Armor desperate to keep them out of range of the incoming hostile force. Each man struggled to keep himself moving, their adrenaline all that helped them continue to press on. The movement into the mountains had already been grueling enough to move back to the original LZ. With the extra distance, every man seemed to be all the more weighed down.

“Get me a check with Reyes,” Cpt. Armor said quietly, each man passing it down the line until the message reached. He dared a peek back: the answer was already headed back to him.

“Sergeant Reyes says we’re still clear, sir,” Featherweight replied. “No one’s on our tail yet.”

“Get me an update on the wounded.” The new message went down the line once more, the response slower as each detail was verified. Any poor communication this late in the game could be fatal.

“Lt. Pharaoh is still bleeding pretty badly, sir,” Featherweight answered. “They’re helping him move but he’s starting to get weak.”

We need to get there now. More pressing than the incoming hostiles was the potential loss of one of his own. Cpt. Armor knew the fear of their enemy would keep them moving, but to be weighed down by injury could bring disaster, and let their foe drop right on top of them.

“Sergeant Mac’s asking for an ETA, sir. Wants to spread it down the line,” Featherweight said.

“Click and a half. We’re almost there,” Cpt. Armor answered. He hoped that would spur them on, give his soldiers the push they needed to go the final distance. They would be safe and away from danger, where real beds and a warm meal awaited them- more than they would dare ask for.

Cpt. Armor heard the buzzing in his ear and dismissed it as more radio chatter, distorted and garbled by static. His connection had disappeared almost exactly when he left the village; with the mountains around them growing ever taller, it would not be long before the connection dropped completely. He only hoped that they would be extracted before that moment came-

“That sounds like an engine,” Big Mac muttered, his deep voice echoing through the trees as clearly as though he stood beside each man.

Cpt. Armor raked off his headset, listening for noise above the breeze and the creak of trees- there! The distinct hum of a Blackhawk engine, and getting louder with every step they took. “That’s our ride! Come on, move! Sergeant Reyes, get Lt. Pharaoh over to the chopper and get him uploaded!”

As the clearing came into view, each man leapt into action and began the performance all over again; some stood as sentries, gazing out into the wilderness for signs of activity. Others began to load equipment and men onto the helicopters, while the wounded simply waited to be given aid.

“Sir, we need to get moving! We’ve got a lot of incoming-”

“I’m tracking, Lieutenant!” Cpt. Armor said, cutting through Lt. Sentry’s words. “Where’s the third chopper? You’re short one!”

“Conducting sweeps, clearing is too small for three birds to be on the ground,” Lt. Sentry replied. “They’re on their way back now, should be less than a minute. Second Platoon is all loaded and ready to move.”

“Good. Sergeant Reyes, are the wounded aboard?” Cpt. Armor called.

“Yessir! She can take two more!”

“Sergeant Tran, take Seig with you and get onboard!”

The wearied yet exhilarated Cavalrymen watched as the aircraft swept up into the air and disappeared from sight, a second bird appearing from the darkness as though from nowhere and began to make its approach, maneuvering itself so as to fit into the tightly contained clearing-

“Incoming!” The cry was heard only a moment before the sound of metal screaming through air tore into their ears and the second Blackhawk was struck perfectly, the round boring through the tail and igniting the bird-

“Oh shit-”

“Get clear!”

The chopper exploded in the night sky, sending fire and shards of metal onto the clearing below, the bulk of the machine crashing down in a blazing heap of twisted metal-

The lone aircraft still left on the ground, seeing the cataclysm reigning down from above, pressed off from the earth and tried to swerve out of harm’s way, its rotor slashing through branches before smashing against the thick trunks of the ancient trees-

The clearing emptied as each man ran for cover, desperate to save themselves from the fire and fury that now came from above, a second salvo of enemy fire crashing down onto their position and turning their world into blinding flashes of light and searing heat. The sound of screams, groaning metal, shattering wood, thunderous artillery and burning fire erupted in their ears in a horrible amalgamation of hellish sounds, each new pulse tearing against them until it seemed all the world was agony and horror and unfettered noise-

The salvo ceased its fire and the world became far too quiet, only the sound of burning steel and the groans of metal easily heard. Cpt. Armor, covered in dislodged branches that had fallen from above, dared to lift his head out from cover. He turned to his right and saw Featherweight huddled down beside him, the young man trembling from head to toe and his face still pressed down into the earth.

“You hurt, Featherweight?” he asked.

Featherweight raised his head, displaying a youthful, fearful face now covered in dirt. “I’m alright, sir,” the young man answered. “What just happened..?”

“Someone knew where we’d go…” Cpt. Armor replied, turning back to face the now-burning clearing; one chopper now lay in ruins, its hull barely recognizable from the impact and its descent. The second still lived, though its rotor lay mangled and twisted from its contact with the treeline, and the aircraft’s tail now severely bent from the hard crash into the frozen earth. “Check for wounded!”

Slowly, each man becoming certain that they had even survived the encounter, began to creep out from cover and head back into the clearing, their tremulous footfalls transforming into full-on sprints as they raced towards the downed vehicles, a spare few bravely diving into the burning wreckage of the shot bird in the faint hopes that perhaps at least one of their brothers had survived, no matter how unlikely it would seem. The majority rushed out towards the less-damaged of the two, leaping into the damaged aircraft to look for the survivors-

“Dammit.” Cpt. Armor heard the squelch beneath his boots the moment before he caught sight of it. Thunderlane, the stalwart gunner and crew chief of the aircraft, had been tossed underneath the bird as it had tried to escape its fiery fate. The sharp steel beneath had cut through his body instantly and crushed what remained, leaving a horrific mix of smashed flesh and bone intermixed with the debris-

“Sir, are you hurt-” Featherweight had jumped in beside his Commander and his eyes immediately fell to the awfulness below him. “Oh Jesus-”

“Get to the cockpit,” Cpt. Armor ordered, knowing the further they dwelled upon it the worse it would become. Worse still, they now had no means of escaping the area easily, and their enemy would soon be on top of them-

“Co-pilot’s alive!” Lt. Sentry, who had been the first into the wreckage, was already hammering against the glass of the cockpit, trying to create an opening. “He’s hurt bad but he’s alive! I need help moving him!”

The screams were enough to prove the pilot still lived. Cpt. Armor threw himself into the cockpit and began to help, trying to ignore the slickness on his fingers that was the man’s freely flowing blood-

The sound of shuffling skin against metal and Big Mac appeared at the malformed entrance to the hull, a look of panic upon his freckled face. “They’re coming.”

Cpt. Armor didn’t even bother to ask who ‘they’ were. The pressure in the small cockpit pressed down upon them like an iron fist as the two officers struggled to rescue the downed pilot-

“I need you to stay quiet, please,” Lt. Sentry said as the helicopter pilot gave another shriek of pain, his bloodied waist pressed up against the glass. “I know it hurts but if they hear us we die.”

“I’m trying, I swear,” the pilot replied, his voice slurred from pain and panic. “Give me my sidearm, if they get here and you can’t get away-”

“No one gets left behind,” Cpt. Armor said fiercely-

“Don’t die because of me, I can give them something to shoot at-”

“Sir, we’re running out of time-” Big Mac breathed, still stationed at the entryway.

“I’m aware, Sergeant! Come on, Lieutenant, we may just have to force him through-”

“I don’t want to cause him any more pain-”

“Pilot, bite down on something, this is gonna hurt-”

Cpt. Armor gave a grunt and pushed the already injured body through the glass, the razor-sharp shards of glass tearing through the tattered uniform and slicing against flesh as though it were knives-

The pilot’s face became tinged with blood, the hand that had been in his mouth now dripping from where he had bitten down-

“We’re out! To the treeline!” Cpt. Armor commanded, and the three men raced out from the wreckage with their wounded cargo-

“Reyes is up ahead to your left,” Big Mac said, the younger NCO appearing from the bushes and waving frantically, all the while the sounds of machinery and a massive group of people came ever closer-

Lt. Sentry, holding to the wounded man as tightly as he could manage, suddenly stumbled over a mangled piece of the burning hull, his steps faltering as he crashed towards the ground-

The sudden lurch had been too unexpected. As Lt. Sentry fell to the ground, the bruised and bloodied body of the injured pilot fell with him, slamming into frozen earth and extracting an unwelcome scream that echoed across the clearing and through the trees, easily audible over the background noise of burning metal-

A series of cries in an unfamiliar tongue roared forth from the woods as the Iron Guard advanced forward, now alerted to the possibility that some of their enemy still yet lived-

“Come on, get to cover!” Cpt. Armor hissed-

“Gimme my goddamn sidearm, soldier,” the pilot snarled, a bubble of blood beginning to form at the edge of his mouth. “I can buy you some time, get moving.”

“Jesus, I can’t just leave you-”

“Get your men out of here!” The pilot snarled.

Cpt. Armor hated himself for this moment, one that seemed to last a thousand lifetimes as he did so. As gently as he could, the seasoned commander set the dying pilot down on the ground and placed the M9 in the man’s hand, locking eyes with the warrior as he did so. Though each breath came with a wave of pain, though they had been numbered since the crash, the fire that still burned in the pilot’s eyes was unmistakable, a sight that Cpt. Armor hoped he would remember for the rest of his days. With no words left to say, the three Cavalrymen tasted poison in their mouths and dashed to the treeline where the remainder of the Troop awaited them-

Cpt. Armor threw himself to earth just as the sounds of the Iron Guard came into the clearing. The huddled group of Cavalrymen quaked in their boots at the enormity of the sound; though none dared to look, they knew that they were overwhelmingly outnumbered-

The sound of a scuffle, a mocking tone to a strange tongue as the wounded pilot barked curses at his enemy, a pair of 9 mil. rounds being fired before a vicious volley of rifle fire rose to meet it. None needed to see it to know what had just occurred-

Cpt. Armor looked about at his ragtag group of survivors: Sergeant Mac, who seemed far too large to be easily hidden. Lt. Sentry whose face was clouded by a vicious guilt. Sergeant Reyes, who had rushed to the aid of the burning helicopter and would now have to bear memory to its dead occupants forever. Featherweight, small, inexperienced and terrified. Joel, a lighthearted man who now appeared overwhelmed by the insurmountable odds before them. The remaining lives of his soldiers now rested in his hands, and he needed to find them a way out of here before they were found and killed. Where was he? Think. Remember back to the map, dammit- they had been moving east ever since they had departed the village. His map, tucked securely in his MOLLE pocket, had shown a route through the mountains going northeast. It was not a direct route, but the easiest path back to Sighisoara where Squadon had HQ set. It was their best bet, and he had to try.

As quietly as he could, Cpt. Armor raised a hand and waved, gaining the attention of his soldiers. “Stay on the ground, keep low,” he mouthed. “Follow me.”

The tongue of the Iron Guard met their ears as they began the slow, horrible crawl deeper into the woods, praying that the watchful eyes of the enemy would not find them.

Twilight watched in horror as the feed cut out just as the helicopter had been struck, the communication equipment decimated and eliminating contact. “Oh my God.”

“What just happened? Why did their feed drop?” Col. Roark demanded-

“The equipment must have been in the downed aircraft, sir, the uplink is gone!” Twilight replied.

“Get me a backup!” As Col. Roark’s command roared through the room, every man and woman went into a frenzy as they tried to find a means of reestablishing communication, all the while trying to filter through the exorbitant flow of information that now flashed across their computer screens. Col. Roark turned to the main screen before them speaking to the leadership directly as he tried to explain what had occurred.

Twilight, meanwhile, threw herself beneath her desk in an attempt to hide her panic from the others. Her brother may have just been killed. The Iron Guard would be on the location at any moment, and if he had not found a way to escape, then he would most certainly be killed. Twilight’s chest flashed with pain as her breathing escalated rapidly- no, she could not lose control now. Her brother was in trouble and she needed to find a way to help.

Think, think! She commanded herself. Where would he go if he was trying to lead them away? Oooh… map!

Twilight threw herself back into her chair and quickly brought up the map of the region, her eyes scanning every possible route and location that would come to her brother’s mind, forcing herself to copy his thinking and tactical prowess. He’s here… Sighisoara is further back east, which is the furthest point the Squadron has pushed into Imperial territory. It’s his closest place that he would consider a safe area. So how would he get there..? Here- this pass through the mountains. Rough terrain, he may not know that- but it’s the fastest route there and doesn’t have him climbing mountains. So if he’s survived, how do I reestablish contact- drone!

“Colonel!” Twilight leapt out of her chair and rushed towards her commanding officer. “I may have an idea where they’re headed!”

“What have you got, Lieutenant?” Col. Roark demanded.

“If Cpt. Armor and his Troop survived, they’re going to try to make it back to Sighisoara. That’s here on the map,” Twilight said, gesturing towards the village on the screen. “But right now they’re blocked off by bad terrain. It’s too rough for potentially injured soldiers and going up and down that terrain could slow them down. I think they’re going to take this pass northeast and try to go around it and reestablish contact with the forward line. If we can get a drone out in the air and find them again, we can get some sort of communication pattern established.”

“It’s a plan. Get in contact with the Air Force and see what we can fly. Ask for a Harpy with video feed,” Col. Roark demanded-

There was a sudden crash at the door and the entrance to the facility was forced open as a towering man appeared, his appearance enraged and suggested a wrathful omen of things to come.

“Who has been talking?!” the man demanded, his screams taking the room by surprise and causing a few to jump. “Whoever has been speaking, surrender your phone now!”

“General Whitlock,” Col. Roark said, trying to shoulder the brunt of the officer’s wrath. “Sir, what is the matter?”

“The mainstream news has just announced that Discord has been killed, via an anonymous source,” Gen. Whitlock announced, the fire still evident in his booming voice. “There are only two places in this country that are aware of the event having even occurred- the White House, and here. All personnel are to be searched for any sort of communication device to the outside world until we find the source of that goddamn leak!”

The whole world’s going to know Shining is out there- and he’s still being hunted, Twilight panicked. This is a nightmare.

Col. Roark rose to his feet. “Every person will be searched individually, I will call you forward by name,” he said. “Until you are called forward, continue in your duties. Lieutenant,” he added, turning to Twilight, “the moment you have something, alert me immediately.”

Twilight nodded and turned to her desk, racing to gather her information and find someone close enough who could help. It was only a matter of time now.

Cpt. Armor felt the stitch in his side and ignored it, continuing to plunge further into the forest. Each step forward and uphill was torturous, the weight across his shoulders agonizing. Each breath ripped pain across his body until his whole chest was screaming from the pain. Still he did not stop, forcing himself on ahead, knowing that his soldiers would follow. If he moved forward, so would they. If he stopped, so would they- and then they would die.

It had been almost an hour since they had fled the clearing, miraculously escaping the Iron Guard without detection. As soon as the sight and sound of the area had disappeared, the group of Cavalrymen had risen to their feet and began to run forward into the night, desperate to leave their foe behind. Their speed was slow, worn from battle and given no relief from the poor terrain and incline of the environment- an insidious setback that the Iron Guard would surely use against them. Still they pressed on.

“Reyes, status!” Cpt. Armor gasped, calling to the back of the group where the hardy NCO kept watch.

“Nothing, sir,” Marc answered. “We’re still clear.”

“Keep moving, we’re not out of the woods yet,” Cpt. Armor said. “Come on, the incline should lessen soon. We’re almost at the mouth of the pass.”

“What’s the terrain look like ahead?” Big Mac asked.

“Mountains. Rock,” Cpt. Armor answered.

“That’s not much cover,” Marc responded grimly.

It wasn’t and Cpt. Armor knew it. No matter what path they took, it would be incredibly risky- speed was where he placed his bets now. “Status?” he called again.

“Still nothing, sir-”

“What’s that?” Joel whispered-

“Down!” The soldiers fell to earth as the smallest whine met their ears, the sound faint and weak as though from a distance, although it grew stronger with every passing second.

“We’re under watch,” Marc said. “That’s a drone.”

“Keep your eyes peeled,” Cpt. Armor ordered, bringing his weapon against his cheek as he scanned the black horizon for a sign of the robotic stalker. The whine only grew louder until it seemed on top of them-

“Above us!” Big Mac leapt into the air like a tiger and grabbed hold of the machine with his hands, ignoring the slicing of the rotor blades as they cut through his gloves and dug into his skin-

Cpt. Armor drew a knife from his gear and prepared to bury it deep into the drone’s machine body, suddenly spotting a small flag in the center of the machine-

“Hold it, that’s one of ours!” he said, wrenching it from Big Mac’s grasp and releasing it back into the air-

“Holy fuck-”

“Come on, let me know if you hear me!” Cpt. Armor said, waving his arms frantically before the drone’s camera. “Dammit, it doesn’t have a microphone!”

“So we can’t talk to them,” Big Mac said dejectedly.

Cpt. Armor, however, was not willing to accept defeat just yet. “I’ve got an idea. Hold on.”

Twilight watched the feed as though she could not tear herself away, the environment surrounding the small drone flickering by at breakneck speed. The world was grey and black, cold and lifeless as though the forest had been struck dead by the iron grip of winter.

Her contact with the Air Force had been sudden and immediate. As news of Discord’s death had quickly spread, every able unit in the region was willing to aid with further operations. To her benefit, Twilight had managed to gain contact with a unit performing surveillance flights across the diminishing Imperial territory, one of them carrying a small deployment of drones. With one now on the ground and searching rapidly, all she could do was wait.

Col. Roark sighed impatiently, Gen. Whitlock standing beside him as they communicated with the feed still connected to the White House. “So, an aide accidentally leaked the information,” Col. Roark muttered.

“He texted his wife the news, and his wife let the information spread,” came the reply from the other end of the line. “White House had plans to announce the strike the moment the Troop had been secured, but it’s too late now. The whole world’s gone apeshit over it.”

“Where’s the President now, sir?” Gen. Whitlock asked.

“With the SecDef. Word is going out that the strike team is still engaged, though the press doesn’t know the name of the exact unit. President is going to confirm Discord’s dead, but beyond that we don’t know.”

“Please keep us posted, sir. We’re doing our best to restablish contact with them now,” Col. Roark said-

“I have something!” Twilight called, the entire room suddenly on edge. “Six targets moving northeast towards the pass, fifty meters ahead!”

“Tell the drone operator to get to them and switch from infrared to night vision, get a visual confirmation,” Gen. Whitlock ordered as Twilight hastened to respond-

The drone circled the group of now-stationary soldiers, suddenly coming to a halt directly above them. As the camera switched to night vision, the world suddenly spun and became distorted-

“What the-”

“They just grabbed it out of the sky!” Twilight gasped as a face came into view, blurry and still somewhat distorted-

The camera clouded once more and suddenly the drone was hovering again, pointed directly at the group of soldiers, led by her brother. He’s alive.

Shining Armor mouthed frantically, waving his arms at the camera, apparently frustrated at the lack of response. “He thinks he can hear us,” Twilight whispered.

“Do we have any audio reception on the drone?” Col. Roark asked.

“Negative, equipped with camera only,” Twilight answered. Come on, think! We need a way of talking to each other!

Suddenly Shining Armor halted his erratic movement, his hands diving down into a pocket of his gear where he extracted a battered piece of paper. He turned back to the drone, placing his finger directly before its camera, moving his it slowly up, and then back down. He mouthed a single word.

“What’s he doing?” Gen. Whitlock asked.

“He’s trying to establish a means of communication,” Col. Roark said. “Up and down- he wants the drone to move up and down when we want to say yes- Lieutenant!”

“Alerting the operator now, sir,” Twilight said hastily, her eyes darting back and forth between her own computer screen and the live feed of her brother above. She caught a glance as Shining began a new motion, moving his finger left and right- “No…”

“Is the operator tracking?”

“Yessir-”

“Let’s talk with him.”

Shining Armor unfolded the battered piece of paper, revealing it to be his map of the region. He took his finger and pointed it at a location near the pass, then pointed back at himself, his fingers wrapping together to form a thumbs-up.

“He’s wanting to confirm location,” Twilight said. “Is he where he thinks he is?”

“I’m looking- roger, he’s in the correct grid square,” came the reply.

“Give him yes!”

The drone flittered up and down, and Shining Armor gave a wide smile in return at the news. His finger darted back to his map, tracing a line from their location to the mountain pass, pushing through one way- and then a next, then another, and another. After he completed his motions, he returned to his very first line, giving another thumbs up.

“Direction. Which path should he take?” Col. Roark demanded.

“Estimating now. First path is unfavorable, would go right up a mountainside. Too risky.”

“Tell him no.”

The drone shifted back and forth and Shining Armor gave a grimace. He glanced back to somewhere behind him before turning back to the drone, giving a second line across the map.

“His second path?”

“Too long. The Iron Guard are moving faster than they are.”

“Again.”

The drone shifted and Shining Armor began to look panicked. He took to the map again and traced a third line-

“Third!”

“It’s good! A tight strait between two mountains. Rough terrain but manageable!”

“Respond!”

The drone lifted up and then back down, Shining Armor giving a look of relief. He stuffed his map haphazardly back into his pocket and then began making shooing motions towards the drone.

“Get that drone back up in the air and out of sight,” Gen. Whitlock ordered. “Keep them in sight, but don’t alert the enemy to its presence. Keep that drone operating at all costs!” the officer turned to the room at large, his war-worn features now cold and wrathful. “Ladies and gentlemen, I am giving you full discretion to act in whatever means necessary to bring these soldiers home safely. Air support, overwatch, anything we can muster to hold off the Iron Guard and buy them time to escape. I want a means of extraction, whatever it may be. Get them cover and get me intel on enemy movements- I don’t care whether it’s by air, on the ground or somehow below the ground. Whatever the Empire is doing, I want to know. Now get to work!”

Twilight turned back to her computer, searching across the entire country for any hopes of air support or rescue. Her mind flickered to Cadance, left at home and no idea at all that her husband’s life was now in jeopardy. Twilight swore to herself that she would bring Shining home- for both their sakes.

Author's Notes:

So the last, desperate bid for survival begins. We're in the endgame now.

Comments and corrections below, everyone. Hold tight.