Twelve horrible, painful days flying. Not physical pain since Major Winters Breath was so slow, but mental strain. Shadow was so used to flying fast no matter what distance. If not, the option was always there to pick up their speed. The Major pushed all he could, but their predetermined stops forced them to adhere to the schedule, even on a good day.

Shadow was relieved when they came in sight of Fort Griffin’s Gate. He left the Major behind and buzzed into the flight deck coming to a perfectly timed stop at the entrance gate. He still had to wait, but at least he got a bit of fun flying.

“I get it, I get it,” The Major said cruising in. “I am slow. You do not have to rub it in.”

Shadow just chuckled.

“Okay,” The Major said looking around. “Let’s get you set up before we introduce you to the others. We will gather in the Fizzle Pop Tactical Office, Wing 4, Room 2. And Saber Bolt Barracks, is where you will be staying. Number 31. The mess hall is over there, the Yellow Steele Hall. And the last building you need to know, Sunray Swallow Cage. It is the quartermaster office.”

“That is a big quartermaster office,” Shadow blinked.

“This is a specialized mission zone. They have to have everything and for a lot of pegasi. The other barracks are Berry Twist, Jasmine, Radar, Sun Flags, Watcher, Honor Hoof, Peach Heart, Soaps and River Rain. We may or may not use Lefty Training Academy, and the range is officially known as Peppermint Range.”

“The names are those from the battle?”

“Yes. All died heroically. Some of them are the nicknames they were known by, like Radar, Lefty and Soaps.”

“This is my official station? As in, if I am in between missions, this is where I will stay?”

“Correct. At least for now.”

“And from what I saw, this isn’t on the clouds at all, but the mountains.”

“Correct. One of the few places in the Enclave that actually has solid ground. Oh, I forgot to mention, there, there and there are some of the launch pads. Follow the rules of the flight deck. The only deck is the one we landed on. Checking in and out of the front gate for missions or training is pointless. The recon team will be assigned a specific pad to operate out of. I believe ours is 2, but do not quote me on that.”

Shadow just nodded and headed off to find his place in the barracks. He was shocked at only seeing a long hallway filled with door. He rolled with it and walked down to find 31. There had to be 50 rooms in Saber Bolt, which means the total housing here was about 500.

He opened the door and flipped the light switch on. Inside was his own bed, an actual closet, a small bathroom and shower, power armor stand and desk. It was pretty spacious. Shadow also found a flip out ironing board and iron for his dress uniforms. The bed was actually comfortable and the sheets were soft.

The desk had a cloud terminal and a phone. Above the desk there was a framed schedule.

Breakfast ------------------- 0600-0900 Lunch ------------------------1100-1400 Dinner ----------------------- 1700-1900 First Watch –---------------- 2300-0200 Second Watch –------------- 0300-0500 Laundry Pick Up –------ Monday 0930 Laundry Drop Off –------Tuesday 1900

Shadow was used to doing their own laundry, be it Barracks or Unit. It was scheduled in and rotated who was assigned for that week. Having somepony else do his when he wasn’t involved was odd and instinctively felt wrong. Even at home, the family often helped out Rain Jubilee out with different aspects. That was why the sheets and towels had 31 on them.

The closet had two extra sets of sheets and two extra blankets. The bathroom had plenty of towels and washcloths. Shadow was guessing from the vents on the ceiling that this whole thing was temperature controlled. The closet made his clothes feel inadequate, since they again, took up no space.

If Cardinal Spitfire made it into the Wonderbolts, they would be sharing this. It was big enough for two. Or maybe they would be moved to another, larger room. It also occurred to him that there would be no spot inspections of his room. As long as his uniform was in good shape, that was all that mattered.

Shadow was done putting everything away, so there was no point in looking around more. He had a job to do.

Shadow headed to the Fizzle Pop Tactical Office. There was no receptionist or desk for one. The signs made it easy to find Wing 4. Room 1 was the Major’s office. Room 2 was big and had an assortment of terminals and several TV screens. One wall was a map of the Enclave and there was a large map on a rolling display board.

“Ah, welcome Command Sergeant Major of Reconnaissance Shadow Flare,” The Major greeted him. Shadow took his seat around the table along with the others. It was an all stallion team.

“Lieutenant Silent Wind, the Command Sergeant Major is you second. He is well versed in all weapons except for magic and lasers, which we will be fixing here. He has proven to be delicate and quiet when he needs to be, but can cut the enemy apart if required. Fast and agile, he can out think problems very well and has been know to lead over 50 soldiers in combat training and over 80 in specialized training. His tactical skills are very sharp.”

The Lieutenant silently nodded his head. The cross on his left chest indicated he was a trained medic. An odd background for the lead of a recon team.

The Major continued. “Then First Sergeant Storm Eye is the technical specialist.”

“I can hack into any terminal system and find out how something electronic works. Easily,” He declared. “Just call me Storm.”

“I cover what he can’t figure out. Master Sergeant Apple Slice, just call me Slice. I work out the mechanics of everything. I can pop open any lock and easily keep all weapons and armor functioning perfectly. Storm and I will have to work together on plenty of projects. Easy since we have been tag teaming it on a special assignment involving Cloudship engines for over two years now.”

“Since we are doing personal introductions now, I am Sergeant Major Nor’easter. Nor is all that matters. I am the scientist of the group. Weather, atmosphere, ground, plants, animals, hazards, I am trained as much as possible. I am also trained to look out for potential things that will give the Enclave a boost or be very big dangers. A general scientists.”

“That leaves me, Sergeant Thunder Clap. Just call me Thunder. I am heavy weapons and demolition. I am your tank.”

“I hate tanks,” Shadow stated. “Extreme risk to the individual, even as skilled I am know you have to be. And since this is all of us, we need to avoid, as much as possible, keeping you or any of us, in the direct line of fire. That in no way means you have to let up on your fire. We will need it at times, but six getting locked into direct combat will be disastrous if we get stormed. And we need you alive and uninjured. Patching up takes time.”

“You haven’t seen our toys,” Slice grinned.

“I am sure they are impressive,” Shadow replied quietly. “But we can not put all of our weight into our technology. If it fails while heavily engaged, that is a bigger problem than if we are already employing strong tactics that are not fully reliant on our weapons and armor.”

“But Lieutenant Silent Wind, this is your show, not mine. I am your second.”

“And I am a medic by training. I will need your help on the tactics. That is your specialty I have been told.”

“Well then, we need to start by learning each other,” Shadow ordered.

He got blank stare from around the table including the Major.

“Did you learn anything Major?” Shadow asked. “We know each other’s training backgrounds, but we need to be able to trust each other on personal levels. Strengths and weakness, goals and regrets. As one, we are stronger than individual.”

“You learned this in leadership training, didn’t you?” Nor asked.

“Yes,” Shadow explained. “And each time it meant faster, more successful training missions or better times and scores from training as one. Aerial Combat Units have to know each other and be able to read subtle cues at speeds that would make your head turn. I do not expect that level of congruity, but I expect a strong, open group that can really trust each other and get each other. More than just being comrades in arms who can shoot together.”

“We didn’t do that in medic school,” Lieutenant Silent Wind commented. “And just drop it to Silent. You have a strong point. I worked along side platoons, and got to know them and trust them, but my life, our lives, did not depend on us being so close. That is your lead.”

Shadow smiled and then looked at the Major. “Speaking leading, Major, how much did Colonel Nova have to do with the choices for the team?”

“Not much when it come to direct choices. Specialists in each discipline to make sure we had everything covered, but that was it. Why?”

“How much did you rely on his reports?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is an all stallion team on purpose, or by accident?”

“I evaluated a lot of different individuals for each specialty.”

“But stallions were ranked higher because you fear he is right.”

Major Winters Breath took a deep breath. “They were ranked higher. I found the most conductive team I could across all fronts. Like Sergeant Storm Eye and Sergeant Apple Slice. A dynamic team of great skill. If one of them was a mare, I would have still chosen them.”

“What does this have to do with anything?” Silent asked.

“Superstitions from the first round of missions,” Shadow explained. “That have an annoying amount of evidence to make you fear they are right. All tracked missions, the typical soldiers to die first were mares. Stallions had a drastically higher chance of surviving at the start of each mission.”

“Most likely bad luck, as the Enclave leadership believes,” Shadow continued. “Only Captain Nova and his team were reporting the detailed lists of who went down when and where. They did a lot, but they were not the full picture. The last took out his wingmate first, and I am positive she was way more than just a wingmate.”

“Superstitions are difficult to get away from. I trust that the Major made the best, most qualified choices to work as one team. I would have walked out right now if I did not believe otherwise.”

“How about you lead us to our toys now,” Slice said getting them onto happier topics. “I want to fully load out, not just look at how pretty they are.”

Shadow chuckled. “I need some more barracks wear as well. Only one pair. Getting used to a room by myself with take some getting used to. And laundry is done by others?”

“Yes, it is done by others,” Thunder replied. “But you have never had a room by yourself? You don’t need barracks wear in your room.”

Shadow smiled and shook his head. “Basic, straight into specialized weapons training taught by a Wonderbolt, to Aerial Combat School, which was also taught by the same Wonderbolt captain and included leading whole segments of ACS. They were not joking around.”

“I helped pull Black Barracks into first out of all the barracks in Basic. I was ranked number one in unarmed combat, facing off against my battle buddy in the final. She ranked first out of our class and I took fourth. Our entire barracks fit in the top sixty for individual scoring. They had me leading several days of ACS. Nothing was typical. I have been told there is a good chance I could make it as a Wonderbolt.”

“For starters,” Shadow continued. “I am a rural farming pony from way up north, well, west of us now. Way west. All I know is life on a farm. Up before dawn, work had all day, relax after dinner, bed and repeat.”

“Harvest was especially difficult. Some years we were pulling fifteen big harvests in the span of three weeks. Community and family means a lot to me. My family has done this over two hundred years, since cloud farming was first invented. The fifth of the first 48 Homesteads.”

“I don’t give up, can’t be moved and am loyal to a fault. Honesty is key. What is best for the community as a whole matters more than what is best for the individual. Me being here is what is best for the community. Protecting them so we can do our job feeding the Pegasus Race. We take that duty very seriously.”

“That is insane,” Thunder stammered. “And I thought I was tough, you sound… and you are so small.”

Shadow chuckled. “It is, well was, all I knew. I can not stand cities. Even visiting them with leave and a few… special assignments, they are not something I enjoy. I can handle them to a degree, but I hate them. I like simple and easy, knowing what to expect. Farming is simple and there is only so much that can happen. It’s goals are clear. Nothing is clear in the city. One giant chaotic storm.”

“I am going to have to think about myself,” Storm added.

“I will naturally draw it out,” Shadow smiled warmly.

“Toys!” Slice piped up.

“Perhaps we should look at the mission perimeters first,” Silent suggested.

“That is the most logical,” Shadow said smiling at Silent. “This is your show. Tactics and training might be mine, but it is your team.”

Silent just nodded his head. The Major stood up and walked over to the unrecognizable map

“This is what we have been able to ascertain about below. There is little known obviously. You will be mapping a lot of this. It will take time. These are not going to be quick missions. I am guessing a few months at a time down below, but you are the first recon team tailored for below.”

“The red dots are key locations we need more information about. This area here is the Philadelphia ruins. This is where the last mission was.”

“This is a major objective. We need to know what we are facing in these ruins. It is the most dangerous location we ever encountered on all missions. The biggest problem is that we believe there is a major organization that will attack us as soon as they can.”

“We can not drop right on top of that,” Shadow stigmatized. “We will need a strong camp to move from and retreat to. We need to set up that in the nearby mountains if we can. But Fillydelphia is priority number one. I know from Colonel Nova and Captain Marble Falls that that is a non negotiable. It was their squad ripped apart. We need to know why and fast.”

The major flipped the map around. “Yes, this would be known as Foal Mountain Range pre-war.”

“Flip back,” Shadow asked. “Canterlot could use more study, but it looks like we got that well enough, same with Ponyville. I wonder what happened to Appleloosa. Manehatten’s city is intriguing. I wonder about Baltimare looks like.”

Shadow thought for a second. “Is there anything from the war, advancements and such, we should be watching out for?”

“Not that we have ascertained,” The Major replied.

“Pretty damn blind,” Shadow admitted. “In a week, I think we all should have at least one goal to see and do. Take the time to catch up on everything they gathered and learned. Gather all knowledge about that goal from before we sealed the clouds too. I assume that is all here.”

“Yes,” Major Winters Breath said. “Most of it is in the terminal banks. Very little is found in books.”

“Crap,” Shadow said. “I have to learn to use one. I was hoping to avoid that hassle.”

Storm chuckled. “I will teach you.”

“Good,” Shadow replied. “You may be the expert, but we all need to be as proficient as we can be in all fields. Cross train as much as possible before we leave and while in the field. It will save our lives.”

“We have one book,” Major Winters Breath said putting on the table.

The Wasteland Survival Guide – Ditzy Doo

“Interesting,” Shadow said. He couldn’t take his eyes off it. “It is really beat up, missing half of the pages. But it is something.”

“I figured it would intrigue you,” Major Winters Breath smiled. “Any other questions for now?”

“Oh,” Shadow exclaimed. “Stables?”

“Big shelters from the war. Many of the survivors made it because of them and only because of them. We do not have a reliable list of their locations, and they are well hidden and sealed from everything. You should do the research into them on your own time.”

“And my desk had a terminal and a phone…”

“You can call home but can not share were you are or the phone number. Confidentiality and I trust you won’t sit around calling pegasi.”

“I have a job to do,” Shadow smiled. “Is there a post office?”

“Right,” The Major sighed. “Your community doesn’t have phones or terminals. Regular mail. I am sorry, there is no mail set up for here. It is a small, secret base few know about. If it matters and is important, it will get transferred here. But it has to be high priority.”

“Of course,” Shadow said. “Now toys!”

They walked over to Sunray Swallow Cage and were let into the back and then shown into a vault.

Major Winters Breath walked over to the first of seven suits, out in front of the others. They were all midnight blue with no gloss on them. Their wings had a large gray scope cross sight painted on each. So did their flanks above their cutie marks and their chest had one as well. Otherwise no markings.

“This is the prototype. Each of these are custom made to you. I was the tester for the prototype. Like the earth pony power armor, these are fully encased with a filtering respirator. They include rare enchanted talismans that regenerate the armor via scrap metals. Just plug them into the port and the talisman does the work. Those were… a hassle to retrieve.”

“There is also a medical port for when meds need to be distributed. Thankfully the armor shields against radiation. But you will still need to remove your helmets for further protection and cleansing.”

“Everything physical is enhanced. The power in each movement is impressive. This does require the wings to be increased in size in order to compensate for the weight. It is as light as possible. E.F.S. mod installed for better targeting. It also has geiger counter and other special equipment installed, including hacking assistants. Storm wrote those systems.”

“Despite the physical upgrades all around, we still do not believe it is on par with the Steel Ranger Armor designed for the Earth Ponies in the war. However it is close. Both can regenerate their armor, but it takes time.”

“Most important, is that we have a lot of weapons on this. The right side is fitted with a Novasurge magic battle rifle and then a light laser rifle below. The left has a laser minigun and GPER 76-2 Delta. The right rear has a pop out rocket launcher. The catch is that your wings have to be tucked in and locked down before it will activate for safety. The Left side has a pop up grenade launcher, which will act more like a mortar that a straight launcher.”

“And the ammo goes?” Shadow asked.

“We will show you how to load it out at the range, but the rear armaments run their internal magazines down the leg, the GPER’s ammo is in a well that rolls along the belly. The GPER also has a few chamber mods to convert them to popular war rounds in case you run into shortages. Similarly, the laser power units are stacked. Those have not changed since the war and you will not need to modify them to use the rifle.”

“Last two weapons. The combat shotgun pops out of the right shoulder. It has no real barrel and is designed purely for close range. It is the standard 12 gauge. There should be plenty of 12s down below for dealing with shortages. We will supply you with combat 00 buck shells. The left shoulder also features a purely short range weapon. A laser shotgun that fire 8 lasers in a predetermined split. It is a heavy laser to start, but the fragmentation weakens the power drastically. You have at max range, for both, 15 yards.”

“All of you will be carrying the same loads outs and as you can see with the units behind this one, they are roughly the same size. Shadow Flare is the small one, he gets the advantage being so small. His armor has slightly more ammo storage in the leg well.”

“Anything else for close combat?” Shadow asked. “Knives?”

“Good catch. Yes, there is a combat knife hidden in inside of the left foreleg and the rear left and front right hooves have ones that and pop out below the hoof for stabbing. You Shadow, probably would be able to do slash damage with your agility.”

“Complicated,” Shadow commented. “Risky. But could carry great reward.”

“Risky isn’t what we were working to remove,” Major Winters Breath replied. “We were going for rewarding. This prototype was extensively researched and tested. We worked out the major problems and cleaned up the minor ones. Still, it is not your suits. We will test them rigorously before you are sent out.”

“That Shadow, will also allow for plenty of team building to happen.”

Shadow just silently nodded. He headed over to the armor that was his. The paper on it that had his name was pointless. His was that much smaller. A good half hoof or full hoof shorter. Extra ammo would a small pittance. A rocket or two. It fit on differently than the Mark 4. He basically stepped into it and it enclosed around him. His wings had to be gingerly maneuvered into the slots.

Shadow closed his eyes and focused on breathing. Even when he put on his mask in the Mark 4, it was not this restricting. There was no feeling the air, just the suit’s slight padding to protect him from the hard metal interior. He didn’t realize how much he missed feeling the air.

The HUD gave him more than just time. He had a compass for what direction his head was pointing at, and some stats around his armor and ammo banks, which were all zero. He hadn’t even accessed the E.F.S. yet.

When he was ready, he followed the others out of the building and into the main yard. Shadow looked around at his new body. It didn’t look like him and certainly didn’t feel like it was him. Shadow could only think of one way to really test it and find out if he was still there. He walked a little ways away and launched straight up.

It was the best launch he ever had because of the enhanced armor. He opened his wings to catch himself, but he couldn't get them to grab the air as he plummeted down. The 100 yards moved by fast. Shadow pulled his wings right before impact and closed his eyes from the thought of the pain. There was no way to dissipate the energy.

Shadow opened his eyes to the others standing around him.

“What happened?” The Major asked.

“I couldn't get the wings to grip,” Shadow said standing up. “These things are sharp. I could slice heads off with these.”

Shadow looked himself over again.

“Any damage?” He asked.

“Not that I can see,” Silent stated. “How do you feel?”

“It was a bad fall, a little jolted, but I have had worse. I closed my eyes, but I don’t think I blacked out.”

“If you did, you were back with us fast,” Slice said.

“Alright,” Shadow said looking at the sky. “Try two.”

“Again?” Thunder said shocked. “Lets just take off normal.”

“I need to feel it,” Shadow responded. “I need to get it to catch me and be instinctual. Back up.”

Shadow launched, opened his wings, and turned into a dive to help the mechanical wings catch him. He just fell head first. He landed hard, but into a roll, literally saving his neck.”

“Again?” Slice said as Shadow crouched to launch.

“He has silver wings on his chest for a reason,” Major Winters Breath reminded them. “He beat ice with the Mark 4 and a maxed out vortex.”

Shadow launched again, slicing the air as he opened his wings and promptly slammed back into the ground. They helped Shadow back up.

“Okay, I have to get this like I get my body,” He panted. “I have to. I can. And I will.”

Shadow began to pitch and flutter his wings. He opened them at all different angles and speeds. He soon began to rock them in flying motions without putting power into them to lift off. His wings were not the only thing he needed to learn. He began to work his body through all different movements.

As soon as his mind clicked with the symmetry of the armor, they were linked and he shot off without hesitation. He let himself fall and then opened his wings. Right before the ground he turned and skimmed it before climbing into the sky and letting lose.

He felt the cold wind’s breath against his armor and let it take him for a bit before he began to run through his favorite warm up stunts. Shadow turned and rolled, banked and cut through the sky.

The larger wings required slightly different tactics. He needed them to be able to balance out the armor, that was very evident, but the tips matter a lot more than with regular wings. The tips controlled how he turned more than the inside of his wing. Soon, he was able to cut and slice by a small adjustment. He could turn a 360 without moving the rotating tip.

Shadow picked his spot and did a 200 yard dead drop. He stunned them even though they watched the whole thing.

“Yeah, I think I have this,” Shadow casually said.

“You think?” Thunder said confused. “You just did all… that!”

“Most of that was my warm up routine. What about it?” Shadow shrugged

“That was amazing! That is what!” Nor exclaimed.

Shadow chuckled. “Guys, I have my Aerial Combat Wings. The only thing holding me back from becoming a Wonderbolt is that I want to be in recon. Well, that and I am not sure if I have the raw speed needed. I could put on a show like them, sure, but I can not make it that fast yet. Maybe? I don’t know. We will see where recon takes me.”

Shadow focused on them. “Now, lets get you airborne and then we will work on the straight up launch and dead drop. They are invaluable tactics and taught to me by my trainer who is a Wonderbolt. You need power armor to learn, and now you have it.”

“We will start at the flight deck and take it easy. You saw how much trouble I had. But I also needed to feel it all working in a different way than you probably do. Either way, you will all become great fliers, if you already are not.”

On their first flight attempt as a squad, Shadow and Storm were the only two who got airborne. The others tripped and face planted. Shadow worked with them over the little time that was left before dinner. They would pick up in the morning. They were pegasi, flying is what they did.

Shadow stayed on the flight deck a bit longer running through ground acrobatics. The armor was good, but it held him back. The strength was reducing his power and the armor blocked his form. He was still was satisfied in it’s overall agility.

The others were done eating and gone by the time he was arrived. Shadow enjoyed the quiet of dinner alone. Just him and his thoughts. He had not scheduled them to continue with flight training until 0900, meaning that he would have plenty of time to relax alone after everything.

For now, Shadow was going to spend the evening researching potential locations. It felt odd sitting at a desk, even more odd not wearing anything. The Enclave turned clothes into the norm quickly and with their own standards of appropriate clothing. Shadow had spent most of his life with only wearing a cloak, if he needed to wear something.

Shadow wanted to write a letter to his family, but he would need somepony to dictate it. It didn’t matter until he had something to write.

Family,

I wish there was more I could add, but there isn’t. I hope that the trip finished fine. I am sure it did. I can’t tell you where I am, only that training and missions will keep me from contacting you most of the time. It is already hard enough because there is no postal system at this place. So no mail, no contact. If I could write this myself, I would.

I look forward to hearing from you when I can next. I looked forward to seeing all of you. For now, taking care of my duty to the Pegasus Race takes me away from you all, but it will be well worth it in the end. I love you all.

Shadow

Shadow thought for a while, trying to figure out who he could call to send a letter out. Shadow opened the terminal. It was foreign to him, but after a few clicks, a program called ‘directory’ was easy to find. Opening it up, he could find anypony he needed to in the Enclave and what they were doing. Most likely a perk of being at Fort Griffin's Gate.

Deke was in a technical school about Cloudships, Olive Pit was entering medic training and would be fore a while. Both were officers now. And Golden Dawn was in further combat training for a few more weeks. None of them would have phones, just like Cardinal Spitfire. Captain Marble Falls had her own office.

Shadow dialed the phone number and it rang a few times before the familiar voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Captain Marble Falls, this is...”

“Hey Filly Fooler!” She chirped cutting him off. “What are you calling about?”

“I can’t send a letter to my parents from here. And everypony else is in training and doesn’t have a private enough phone to be able to listen and write. I assume Cardinal Spitfire is still in a unit.”

“Yes, they would all be in training. That also means you have your own place. Very good. And Cardinal Spitfire is in Unit 41, still, but we are conducting our own Officer School with her and a few others to lead ACUs and Scouts. Flags is in it as well, and Arrow. How Arrow has the energy she does at the end of the day I have no idea. Dipper got her to calm down long enough, so they are officially dating. That took some paperwork, but its expected. I see that changing to married within the next two months.”

“That is all wonderful. I am so glad those three are in an officer training program. All three will make amazing officers. And wish Dipper good luck for me. He is going to need it.”

The both laughed.

“The impromptu Officer school is one of the perks of being a Wonderbolt and trainer. Well, I am not training them. Major Windstone is. But still to their advantage being here and us seeing the need for it here, not sending them off to a structured school for weeks. But letter. Let me set the phone down and find some paper and a pen.”

Shadow read her the letter.

“Alright. That is done. I added my name below yours saying I dictated it. I will get this sent off. I assume it all is good.”

“Other than the Major can’t fly, it has been going well. Your training did wonders. I now am training the others to work together like in Basic or ACS. It is foreign to them coming from regular units, and our flight skills as a team need work. But it won’t take long to lazily whip them into shape.”

“That is the Filly Fooler I know. It is getting late. I will get this sent out for you.”

“Thank you Captain. May the wind always be at your back.”

“And may the wind always be at your back.”

Shadow leaned back in the chair and looked at the terminal. He messed around with it for a while, trying to unlock it’s secrets, but gave up and headed to bed early.

Shadow wasn’t sure how much he slept, but the silence was deafening. Nopony else with him was horrible. He never realized how comforting others in the room, or house, was. Or how sweet the sound of quiet breathing could be.

He didn’t expect the bed to be so cold. Cardinal Spitfire had only shared the bed with him two nights and had fun three times, but it was shocking how much he missed her presence. All the other nights spent married, she was one bed away. Logic said he would not miss her in bed. His heart said otherwise.

“You look horrible,” Nor said as Shadow sat down with them at breakfast.

None of them were in their armor, just their flight suits.

“I didn’t sleep well. It was too quiet,” Shadow replied quietly.

“I hope you can fly tired,” Nor stated.

Shadow chuckled. “I can. ACS made sure of that. But I really need help with the terminal. I couldn't do any research last night.”

“I forgot about research,” Thunder admitted.

“We have plenty of time,” Shadow replied.

As they ate, Shadow got to know their families better. They all had siblings and none of them were with anypony.

“What is weighing on your mind?” Silent asked him when they were all done eating.

“Us. Being picked,” Shadow said concerned. “I had the advantage of being fresh into training so they could mold me for this job, but you were not. Your skills were set. Yet to the Enclave, all of us are single stallions.”

“Fuck,” Silent swore, dropping his tray back onto the table.

“What are we missing?” Storm asked.

Silent sighed. “Yes, the superstition about mares dying first directed picks. But it is heavily tied in with us. All of us have a sibling who can pass on the family. Shadow’s family is already passed on. All of us are single. If something happens, we only have our parents. We have no wives or special somepegasi that they have to worry about. We are the easiest type to lose.”

“Population control is in place,” Silent continued. “But that is completely dictated by how many mares there are. If they need more pegasi, they reduce the limits and allow for third foals. Every mare could be kept pregnant for years if they needed them to be. They can not risk losing a reproductive soldier on this mission.”

“Are we just trash?” Nor asked mortified.

“Not trash,” Shadow explained. “If we die or are injured, we impact everything less than any other soldier. There are plenty other soldiers like us. Not as skilled as us, but this is a big advantage when things are as tight as they are. It keeps things quieter.”

“I do not like being the most expendable,” Thunder grumbled. “And my job is heavy weapons and in power armor. I was trained on the shitty Mark 3 armor.”

“That is why we band together, cross train, and become one,” Shadow pointed out. “We can do this. We can make it. We will make our mission be reduced to as little luck as possible. Lets start with flight. And then terminals.”

They laughed and headed out.

“Is it weird we have not seen the Major all morning?” Slice asked as they cruised.

“Nah,” Shadow replied. “I am sure that he is watching more than we know. We don’t need to worry about him. We need to worry about our training.”

Shadow hated their power armor for one, very important reason. It relied 100% on the use of coms. It did not easily allow for verbal commands. You had to force the helmet to project their words. Not easy for fast transitions and it was badly distorted. Their voices all sounded the same.”

They were stuck with nonverbal ones. Shadow was teaching them all he could as they flew. Communication mattered more than being about to make a turn at high speeds or shooting straight. Without it, they were blind. Blind meant dead.

Shadow brought them in right as lunch started. They had been using the longer flight deck as the others had trouble taking off at times and needed longer runs. He pulled his helmet off enjoying the feel of real air.

“Lets grab an early lunch and catch me up on everything that isn’t dirt.”

They all laughed. It was good they were laughing so fast. Unit 41 didn’t laugh and mock each other like the recruits did or like Filly Foolers Squad did. Silent was loosening up as well. It was difficult to be an officer in such a close group as they needed.

“Okay,” Storm said sitting Shadow down at the terminal. “Teaching a Farm Pony technology other than a hoe 101.”

Shadow picked up the use of the terminal quick enough. It wasn’t long before he was able to do the research on his own. They all spent the afternoon doing research. They were in the third room in Wing 4. It was dedicated to terminals and research. The fourth was a large, miscellaneous room.

Shadow put a blue dot other map where he wanted to explore. It had 1 written on it. It was where Nova had found the orb, in Manehatten. Pulling up the mission file highlighted their stops, but not the orb’s since it was not really a stop. That was all that was known. They began to write a topic list with their additional research separate.

The Foal Mountain range came up empty. All information was old before the war started and it hadn’t been topographically mapped. Still, Shadow knew that they needed a base of operations before they could successfully handle anything.

Shadow focused his time on other locations that might serve as a good base. North of the mountains was a place known as Hollow Shades and above that an unnamed mountain. Too much was unnamed across the map. All of them made strong potential locations.

Major Winters Breath informed them that the next day was at the range. Shadow’s sleep was restless again.

“We might need to give you a light dose of meds to help you sleep,” Silent said concerned.

“This is nothing,” Shadow said waiving him off.

“Eventually you will wear down,” Silent warned. “And you have been under a lot since you first joined.”

“I will keep my mind on that,” Shadow replied.

The Major was waiting for them at the range, in his armor.

“Let’s start with loading,” He began.

It was a simple process. It took time, but simple. It was just like loading any other magazine, even for the bands that went under their bellies. They didn’t feel a thing since it was in between the frame and armor plating.

The process became simpler when the Major introduced them to strips. They held the same amount of ammunition as the internal magazine. You inserted it into slot and pushed the rounds down into the internal magazine. Fast and easy. And you could reload the strips.

“None of you have shot magic weapons before,” Major Winters Breath said. “Actually, have any of you used laser weapons? Outside of Basic’s training cases?”

Only Thunder had in Combat School and then again Advanced Weapons School.

“Well, that gets fixed today. You are packing a laser rifle. Powerful on its own, but there are stronger lasers. The idea is an accurate but fast rifle. It makes the target hot, fast, and burns really well. That is why you were given it. It can be held for continuous shooting at a 240 shots per minute, or 4 a second.”

“Above sits your magic rifle. Few weapons below can hold up to it. It can vaporize the target, leaving glowing ash at times. They are the most destructive rifle type weapon. Even the rockets have their weak points compared to getting blasted with powerful unicorn magic.”

“Still, this is a few steps above. It is not only the more powerful magic rifle the Enclave developed, the Novasurge, it is the new, experimental Novasurge Battle Rifle. Like the mechanical battle rifles, this packs an even bigger bang. It does comes with a reduced rate of fire to help cool the gun down from the power.”

Shadow and Thunder were well versed in the laser minigun. It wasn’t much different than the conventional one. The advantage was reduced recoil compared to the conventional version. The disadvantage is that it took a bit longer to spin up and was overkill as machine gun. On or off.

The Novasurge battle rifles gave a strong kick, more than the GPER.

They became very familiar with all weapons, including using the mods to chamber a different caliber in their GPER. The accuracy for rounds smaller than 7.62mm was gone, but it was better than no lead. The rocket launchers were impressive and aimed along their body, yet it was easy to adjust their bodies to be used with their E.F.S. and quickly reign terror onto a single target.

Their E.F.S. mods had been adjusted to add in their grenade launcher. They had a projected path where each round would roughly go. Invaluable and much easier than learning to do it blind.

Shadow turned his E.F.S. off for a while on each weapon. Only Thunder noticed the difference.

“Halfway through your speed and accuracy drop,” Thunder said when it happened again.

“Every advantage is an advantage, but what happens if our E.F.S. goes out?” He asked Thunder. “Or we don’t have our helmets on? What it the helmet gets damaged in the middle of combat and we lose our HUD. We have to be able to adjust. As the fighters, we need to learn that. If the others can, great. But right now, you and I are mostly messing around and perfecting speed reloads.”

“The HUD commands are great,” Thunder stated. “But I looked for a manual override immediately and found none. We can find out more when the Major is done talking with them.”

There was no manual override. Storm and Slice took up the challenge to the dismay of the Major. Their logic was sound, he just didn’t like them messing with brand new and expensive gear he barely understood.

“Shadow needs his less,” Slice concurred. “We will work on his. We still need work on flying in ours, he is doing it in his sleep. It won’t take long. This is all mechanics. I have a few ideas already.”

Shadow spent the evening in Room 3, in his armor, doing his research. He was avoiding his room except for sleep.

Next Chapter: Chapter 30 - Mission Ready Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 32 Minutes