Shadow set the last of the crates down. Lieutenant Honey Bee was not messing around. Then again, neither were they. He had the impatient guts to drop the supplies right on top of the town below the plateau.

They had set everything up in it’s group, organized for easy access. It wasn’t like the main area was being used. They left plenty of room to walk and get to their equipment.

“Three days rest,” Shadow decreed. “Then we head back out. Second morning we go over the plan. Third we leave.”

They all groaned various acknowledgments.

“I will be sending out my special reports in a day or so,” Nor told Shadow. “Over the Quarray Geckos, Toxic Trench and the Hell Hounds. And I am working on electronically mapping Fillydelphia. The PipBuck things have good maps. They are a wealth of information and help.”

“Send those reports whenever,” Shadow replied. “I do not need the terminal after I let them know everything was received. It is good to know those things have a use. That map should be our key out of here. ”

Shadow cooked a meal for them all before they crashed hard. When he awoke he went right back at it with the meals. It was a quiet day which he spent in the hydroponics lab keeping everything in top shape. They were planning to be gone a while again.

Fillydelphia was a short trip, cut off well before planned. The plants grew fast and needed constant care. Being away for two weeks was pushing it and they had to be prepared properly. He harvested more rosemary and worked on drying it.

Nor startled Shadow by speaking.

“Shadow, a message came in along with acknowledging our full pickup of the supplies. Sorry, I read it without thinking.”

“It will happen,” Shadow smiled. “So don’t feel bad. These are not scheduled or expected messages. Si… he would of read them first.”

Shadow followed Nor upstairs to the office.

CS > FF

Sorry for the loss. Doing what we can. Informed you denied returning. I have your other half. You owe me a fourth and I will wait.

DNR

“I don’t get why reading this would have made you uncomfortable,” Shadow shrugged.

“Other half? Fourth?” Nor asked.

“Oooh,” Shadow replied connecting the dots. “Oh.”

Shadow sat there trying to figure what to say, with Nor staring at him as he waited for the explanation. Shadow hit the intercom and called the others to join them.

“So,” He hesitated. “I might be married?”

Storm’s hoof slammed into his forehead.

“And the Enclave doesn’t know,” Shadow continued sheepishly. “Because they would have pulled me from the mission, which is why I joined and found as my duty.”

Shadow took a deep breath. “It happened in ACS, with my battle buddy in Basic and then my teammate in ACS. We kept a lid on our feelings to make sure the team and squad held together, and well, make sure we dominated. Which we did. We were not going to risk it. Duty first. But in the span of six days on leave, we went from opening up, to dating and then married. No regrets. We have barely done anything.”

“All the more important that we get you back safely,” Nor stated. “Very important. Your guys need a fourth night together.”

“Actually,” Shadow hesitated before admitting it. “That would be fourth time, together. With only two nights spent in the same bed.”

“As insane as that is, it is you,” Slice chuckled.

“She just passed Wonderbolt testing and is in their ranks,” Shadow smiled proudly. “We never wanted our military dreams to get torn away because we were married. Duty first.”

“Yeah, but that can be our ticket out of here if they knew you were married,” Nor pointed out.

“First off, that Lieutenant Honey Bee, do you think he gives a shit?” Shadow asked. “Second, Cardinal or Falls would come forward and played that card if it would have worked. The Enclave could very well know, but we are on assignment.”

“Neither of us want preferential treatment as we get set up,” Shadow continued. “Once it is time, living together at the same station, but that isn’t preferential or special. She has a job to do, which right now, is training. I have a job to do down here and my responsibilities will not change because I am suddenly married.”

“So…” Storm waited. “Tell us about her!”

“I am not talking about our intimate life,” Shadow said slamming his hoof on the desk.

“Not that!” Thunder said laughing. “About her. What she is like. Do you have pictures?”

Shadow laughed with them for his stupidity.

“Sorry,” He said wiping tears from his cheeks as he chuckled. “I feel stupid for that. The whole marriage is foreign and fast. Of course I have them. I carry them everywhere. I’ll get them, but lets go to the lounge.”

“Damn,” Slice said looking at the Basic’s picture book. “You guys were a stellar team. And she is a hot firecracker. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Too bad we can’t get her Wonderbolt squad to join us here,” Storm added. “We would be unstoppable.”

“Captain Marble Falls will not head below the clouds,” Shadow sighed. “She barely survived the last scout mission over Fillydelphia. Now we know why.”

“I bet she would jump at the chance to come help you,” Thunder replied. “A good friend and mentor, she would.”

“Maybe,” Shadow shrugged. “It was really bad for her. But lets make sure they do not need to save our asses.”

“Damn it!” Nor sword as he broke the pool balls for the game he had started with Slice. “I do not want to head back to Filly. We got a shit ton of information. I do not know what else we can safely find.”

“Yes, we need to stay safe and survive,” Shadow said getting serious. “But we have an unsafe job. Silent sadly showed just how unsafe it is. He gave peace just as good as a run as I could have. I know you were all thinking I should be speaking. He certainly was. But he gave it a fucking amazing run.”

“Lieutenant Honey Bee is a grade A ass,” Shadow continued. “But we did only have one short mission of consequence for our main goal. Nor still has special reports to file, but our main goal has always been a focus on Fillydelphia. We give it another go. If that doesn’t get us recalled, we will head out to survey elsewhere. We will have to because we need Fillydelphia to calm down from our disruption.”

“Baltimare?” Storm asked.

“That was my thought,” Shadow replied. “We need to figure out how to get ourselves into a more approachable state. We can’t stroll into a city like we are.”

“Cloaks and no helmets?” Slice pitched as he sunk another ball. “Cover our guns and wings. Well, as much as we can. Make the power armor look like plate and combat armor as much as possible. I will work on some design cover ups. I know, they shut down out gear request.”

“I can sew,” Shadow offered. He chuckled as they looked at him stunned. “Had to learn where I lived.”

“Cool,” Slice shrugged sinking another ball. “Useful. Very useful.”

“Shadow, what can you whip up for snacks and a mobile meal?” Thunder asked. “They have a whole list of movies and we could use some healing distraction. We never have actually taken the time to use some of these places like the recreational areas.”

Shadow thought for a bit.

“I can slice potatoes paper thin and bake them to make them crunchy. Dry heat will pop corn. Add a little bit of salt and you have a good snack. That is what we did back home for the winters, all bundled up around a small fire for warmth as we told stories.”

“Sounds great,” Storm replied, joining Thunder in rifling through the movies. “I have never heard of any of these movies. Not even as classics!”

“The youngest are almost two hundred years old,” Thunder chuckled. “And the Enclave didn’t make any of them.”

“You guys play and I’ll go work,” Shadow sarcastically said leaving.

“I get the hint,” Slice replied. “Let me finish this game. Two balls left.”

CLAP! “Now one.”

“DAMN IT!” Nor swore annoyed. “I got one turn! All I did was break!”

Slice laughed as he went to catch up with Shadow. It was fun working together to make stuff for the evening. The movies were old, but good. It was much healthier than poking around at armor, mindlessly resorting sorted supplies, and whatever boring things to make the clock move.

“Alright Command Sergeant Major of Reconnaissance,” Thunder said opening the meeting. “What is your plan for mission three?”

“Really? You called me Command Sergeant Major of Reconnaissance?” Shadow said annoyed.

“Eh,” Storm shrugged. “You are behind the desk. And you now are our lead and this is an official meeting.”

Shadow rolled his eyes and just went with it.

“Okay, map,” He started by pointing at it. “Nor has a good chunk plotted. Including territory lines. We need to know more about Nesha and the Disciples. I think the Steel Rangers have a bit of an ego.”

“Think?” Slice interrupted. “They killed Lieutenant Silent Wind, but they only got a few rounds through the full armor. I only got a brief look, but they didn’t seem to be using armor piercing rounds. I doubt they actually need them and would gander to say that they have little to no stock.”

“Unless they purposefully were hunting us out, they will not waste those precious rounds. Thunder’s backside took hits that we found three days ago because they did virtually no damage. We broke what would have been a stalemate.”

“They would have held the line and killed more,” Thunder argued. “Maybe one or two dead.”

“We do not know how many were killed before we arrived,” Shadow added. “But even if they held the line with nopony dead, they still were not advancing. Nesha appears to be able to keep her numbers high enough to counter losses.”

“That patrol didn’t seem ready for battle, which means we didn’t see them at their prime to kill Steel Rangers or advance their line. It seems more likely they got caught in a bad pinch and were not being thrown away.”

“A dangerous enemy,” Nor stated.

“Or strong ally,” Shadow smiled. “But to start, I want to get a better look at their territory. I want to slip over their wall and onto one of their tall buildings to scope things out briefly. Before we try any talks, we need to do that. Storm, can you rig a communicator that could be used to talk to Nesha, rather than a dangerous face to face meeting?”

“We will need to rummage through the ruins for special parts,” Storm replied. “Might take weeks, some are that specialized and things have been picked through. A settlement where we could purchase recovered materials would help.”

“Then I will scout and you guys rummage,” Shadow stated. “Thunder will be your sentinel. We will swing around to the south. We will find a point to regroup at when we get close.”

The plan was agreeable and they began to arm up and do final prep for their next day. Nor needed to send his reports.

Special Science Report to the Grand Pegasus Enclave

Subject: Diamond Dogs, also known as Hell Hounds

The Diamond Dogs have returned to Splendid Valley and the mid northern reaches. It is unknown how far east they tend to go, or how far west and south. That area is still unmapped by this team or any other. However, the ponies have aptly named them Hell Hounds.

Special care must be taken around them. They are intelligent, at least to the level of pre-war, if not more. They have mutated greatly while retaining their general look. Their size, speed and power have increased exponentially.

Tactics include brute force, speed, incredibly sharp claws (that will rip through your coat easily). Their jaws are powerful and house an array of canine teeth with a closing power that will shatter our strongest bones with ease. Still yet, they burrow quickly and act fast, coming up behind and underneath prey. It is unknown if they have weapons, but they are intelligent enough to be capable of using or modifying them to be used.

Keeping track of their numbers can be difficult as they burrow. Combat tactics against them should include flying above eight feet. Taking care of their tunnels will be a strong move and it is suggested to utilize sonic resonation or impact devices to break down their stable tunnels from the surface. Explosives will not direct enough force down.

Things that might be advantageous to combat them: Pre-war they were know to be susceptible to high pitch noises and sharper sounds. Arming soldiers with whistles may keep them at bay or stop them long enough to shoot them. It will take a lot to kill each one.

They are still sore about being enslaved during the war leading to aggression against all pony races or similar looking races. I am unaware of how specifically they were controlled, but it might include similar noises as stated above or other emissions of targeted noises, electricity or other similar things.

Controlling them will be key when taking the wasteland as a single one could, judging by what I have encountered, slaughter a whole unit. Perhaps since we are Pegasi, we could leverage them to hate only unicorns and earth ponies and create a powerful ally that we could use in tangent with our troops.

Sergeant Major Nor’easter, science specialist of Reconnaissance Team Inquisitors for Operation Vindication.

Before leaving, Shadow made sure they leaned their spare ammunition towards GPER rounds. They were all armor piercing and would give the Steel Rangers more than something to think about. Rosemary stocks were were replenished and canteens filled with their caps secured. Last time, two had opened while they were in combat.

Shadow spent the time after dinner looking through his pictures and Homestead book. He was Command Sergeant Major of Reconnaissance and now fully in charge of the ground side team of Operation Vindication and the leader of the Inquisitors.

Silent had been killed following after Shadow's ideals of peace, gunned down after they had greatly assisted a team. No remorse. No care. No consideration of peace. Revenge masking how much they coveted their weapons and armor.

Shadow felt his foundation cracking. He felt his armbands and weighed the seeds, but they didn’t give him much support. Neither did the pictures. They all felt light. They felt powerless and useless. Better off tossing them away than carting around meaningless gestures.

Tears flowed as he feared the morning, feared meeting a city that had consumed pegasi the last two missions and was waging a terrible war inside it’s walls.

The odds were stacking against him. Could his luck hold out? Was it worth holding on to the almost meaningless trinkets?

As he prepared for bed and tossed his flight suit aside, the soft comb of his necklace graced his coat. He had forgotten about it and looked at it. He studied every detail through watery eyes. This was why he would make it back alive. He was only half of one pony. This would keep him safe like Card was above the clouds. It was worth everything to make it back to her.

The fear would stay as he drifted in and out of sleep. So would the wet pillow.

Next Chapter: Chapter 39 - Nesh Disciples Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 4 Minutes