Dragon and Menace made their way carefully through the forest, moving from cover to cover and keeping an eye out for escapees and enemies alike. It wasn't until they were in the fields outside the city and they had gathered just outside of sight, that they heard a loud, distant explosion.

"What the hell was that?" Jane asked.

"I have no idea." Ember growled.

"Incomming, seven o'clock," Sunset warned.

The teams aimed their weapons in that direction, lowering them when they noticed it was a pair of Thin Men who was making their way to them.

Thass nodded at the teams, kneeling in the center, while Sashssa did the same on the outside. "We have news."

"You don't seem happy," Sunset said.

"The news are not necessarily good," he replied as they all gathered around. "Our seekers have sent video of the CSB's antenna array being destroyed by the Hunter."

"Shit!" Ember growled. "Shit. Shit. Shit!"

"What?" Sunset asked, unsure of the significance of the move.

"It basically means," Jane said, "that by the time we get there, ADVENT will have taken control of most of their MECs, with the possible exception of the ones inside the factory."

Sunset grimaced. "You saw that building, that place is a Celestia-damned fortress. It'll will last a while but… without most of their defenses, and against ADVENT and MECs?" She shook her head.

"We'll need to plan—" Breaker spoke up.

"No." Ember looked around. "The only difference is that now we know for sure we'll get shot at. Instead of approaching as if they were unknowns, all MECs are enemies until confirmed otherwise."

Sunset nodded. "We remain with the same teams, but now we have to split ADVENT up. I'll take my team around the city… we'll attack their center of operations and force the Hunter to split her forces."

"We can lend you some of our own," Thass said.

"We can't risk it!" Sashssa hissed.

"Hiss." Angel stage-hissed at Jane.

Jane snorted, then studied Sashssa's aggravated face and couldn't hold in a guffaw.

"Language," Annette warned, not holding back her smile.

"We must, Sashssa," Thass said, holding back a smile, although the edges of his mouth twitched before seriousness forced the smile to fade completely. "But not directly. We can use some of our seekers to take out ADVENT troopers."

"Won't that expose you?" Sunset asked. "There's very few places where those MECs would be stored and the Elders do know about this base."

"We will only take care of stragglers," Thass said. "It won't take the brunt off of you, but at least it might help contain some possible surprises." He nodded apologetically at Ember. "We would assist you too, but unfortunately their stealth systems are too antiquated for the newer MECs to not notice them."

Ember smirked. "The offer is appreciated, but we'll be fine."

"In that case, I suggest we get moving," Sunset said, "let's send a quick update to the Commander, and get going."

"Sounds good to me, captain," Ember said with a grin. "I wonder what she'll say when she sees you're taking the easy enemies."

Sunset gave her a look. "Yeah right. We're taking out the thinking enemies, plus the Hunter."

"Bah, MECs are more durable, have AOE attacks and deadlier weapons. They're more difficult enemies."

"No," Sunset insisted. "ADVENT troops are harder to kill."

Ember crossed her arms. "MECs. You know it. I know it. Just admit it."

"Ember, MECs don't change their normal attack routines."

"ADVENT troops are pretty much squishy robots."

"MECs are little more than expendable tin cans."

Behind them, Security glanced at Fridge and put out his hand, palm upwards.

Grumbling, Fridge pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and planted them in his hand.

"Toldja," Security said. "It never fails."

"Bradford," Chrysalis said, looking down at the data sent to them by Sunset and Ember. "Do you remember Julian?"

"Not much," Bradford said, sitting across from her and glancing at the data. "Just what little Shen told me. He was about to implement it at the base to assist us with predicting scenarios… but I don't think he finished programming him."

Chrysalis nodded. "Pretty much what I remember too. Isn't it odd that it remained out of touch until now?"

Bradford crossed his arms and tapped his fingers on his elbow. "Maybe. But Sunset's report said that it was going to attempt to hijack ADVENT's MEC production. Whatever its agenda, Julian held no regard for our enemies, from Sunset's description."

"But that doesn't make him our ally," Chrysalis said. "We can't assume that it'll show any real gratitude towards us if we help it."

"He seemed to be willing to assist Sunset during the last mission there."

Chrysalis leaned back, glaring at the feed. "But did he?" She shifted, looking up at Bradford with pursed lips. "Looking at the data at the time, it doesn't make much sense. Jane's hacking was flawless. Yet, the automatic doors immediately closed on Sunset and her connection was interrupted the exact moment she forced a connection through."

Bradford frowned. "You're saying that… he set them up? But it doesn't make sense. Why would he want them dead?"

Chrysalis shrugged. "Many reasons. Sunset knew he existed. They proved we were formidable enough to pull that mission off. Jane's hacking could be a serious threat… even if she's not our best hacker. Sunset's undisclosed, strange powers. The data they had exposed additional flaws in the models…"

"Alright, I get it," Bradford sighed. "But this time around, what are our options? We're already stretched thin with all the information we're getting. Tygan has been working for days on the Green Vial, and even if he had some free time, we didn't know about this event until it happened."

He motioned at the displayed data with something akin to frustration. "This took us by surprise, and even if we don't like it, it seems Julian is more willing to fight ADVENT than us." He sighed. "And you know who Apple Bloom is right?"

Chrysalis licked her lips and sighed in annoyance. "Yeah. She's family."

"Applejack might have not… lived as long as we would have hoped, but you know she always had a word or two about her little sister and big brother. If Julian is helping her… or if she's hurt…"

"Don't even get me started," Chrysalis groaned, standing up and pacing around the room. "We have these three women… and they're a heap of trouble… but they're our heap of trouble now."

"You believe Sweetie Belle's account on her sister?" Bradford asked.

Chrysalis smirked. "Of course. I've yet to catch her lying on her show."

Bradford gave her a look. "Is this really the time for sarcasm, commander?"

She rolled her eyes. "I mean the other show, not the ADVENT News Network."

Bradford blinked. "I'll take your word for it."

"You do that," Chrysalis said, walking around the sofa to lean forward on it, hands on the headrest. She motioned with one hand and a three-dimensional hologram of the three women appeared. "Scootaloo's an ADVENT spacecraft engineer. If she works with us, can you imagine what improvements we could do on the Avenger? Or even the Skyranger? Those types are really hard to come by and generally very well guarded."

She motioned to the side, moving Scootaloo's hologram out of the way. Apple Bloom's hologram became larger and took center stage. "Disregarding that we take care of our own, Applejack's little sister grew up to become one of the best engineers in ADVENT. In fact, from the reports we hacked a while ago, she was already second in command of the whole facility. If she hadn't been human she'd been in charge already."

"Finally we have Newslady Sweetie Belle, sweetheart of ADVENT TV and younger sister of the Speaker's personal assistant and designer." Chrysalis tapped her fingers on the sofa. "She's already been doing some stuff to work against ADVENT, or as much as she can… but… her contacts…"

Chrysalis hummed. "I think we can do a lot of damage to ADVENT if we play our cards right."

Bradford raised an eyebrow. "I know that tone of voice, what do you have in mind commander?"

"We'll need to iron out the details, but once they're outside of the complex, we'll have to make sure that both Dragon and Menace know that Sweetie Belle cannot make it out of that city alive."