Fort Kifopiga held plenty of other gemstones, but they could only carry so much. Thunder took Zebra weapons, while Slice gathered the pony guns, specifically the submachine guns. Nor gathered sets of Zebra armor and two sets of pony armor. The armor was all lightweight. They could not take back any of the empty suits of Zebra power armor or the heavier pony armor. They tried to get some of the Pegasus power armor back but none of the suits made it even worth the hassle. They were shredded.

Storm kept his bags open for the trip to the crashed Raptors. He was able to remove some promising pieces, but he began to be stoic about the pieces he found. He was not wanting to get the other’s hopes up over a small piece that may or may not work. He was still unsure of what he had exactly.

Shadow was given charge of artifacts they wanted brought back. There certainly were plenty. He didn’t realize how many Storm, Slice and Nor had casually gathered until they unloaded it into his bags.

They cut off time by flying, coming into Rosemary late on day 12 of 14. Going back below th clouds pained them all. Once safe inside, everything they gathered was laid out on the tables in the main area. They would do a full survey in the morning.

“What exactly are we going to report?” Storm asked.

“Will the Enclave honor the dead and leave them to rest?” Shadow asked everypony.

“We were harsher than I wanted to be,” Thunder replied. “To the ponies anyway.”

“Then we lie,” Shadow replied. “Well a half truth.”

“Like what?” Nor asked uneasily.

Storm shook his head. “If Shadow is saying a half truth, his integrity will not be compromised.”

Shadow began to speak. “Since last contact, the Inquisitors headed south. We discovered a previously believed city was not Dodge City, it is called New Appaloosa. It is not controlled by slavers or raiders. It is a city centered around trade with caravans coming and going and much more. We have no word on Dodge City.”

“We confirmed that Appaloosa is a slaver city. Cages filled with poor souls in bad health and forced to live in horrible conditions. We have no idea how they survive transport. They may be selling slaves to the Disciples in Fillydelphia. The railways were patched in areas and it makes for a fast and efficient way to transport slaves to anywhere.”

“The worst atrocity we saw there were the foal cages. Helpless and scared, they have no hope. Some of them looked like they were beaten and mistreated in ways I will not go into detail. Oddly, there was a Zebra foal among them. Zebras or Pony, they all make good slaves.”

“The conditions of these ponies is sickening, but might prove useful. A rescue could place them on our side, ready and willing to put all they have into building a new world for themselves with us. The foals could easily be molded into that belief.”

Shadow stopped at the disapproving glares of the others.

“They need a real report,” He argued. “And this is a much better suggestion than them being bombed or left in their cages to starve to death.”

They wordlessly caved and Shadow continued the oral report.

“We continued in a southerly direction. A Zebra outpost was found which had long ago been flooded with Balefire. Inside were scores of Feral Zebras Ghouls, who were on the precipice of being sent into battle against Equestria. Records indicated a whole fresh battalion. We had to slaughter them all.”

“Out of ammunition, forced to fight with our combat knives, we finally were able to turn their own rifles on them. Command Sergeant Major Shadow Flare led the assault with a Zebra sword and without his power armor. The power armor stopped the use of the sword. He was supplemented with Zebra armor for the task.”

“Ghouls are worse than we were led to believe. Tough and resistant to bullets, they can keep going as they literally throw themselves at you for their attacks. That and biting.”

“We never could have done it if they were not Feral Ghouls. It took us two whole, agonizing, days to kill them all. Containment was broken when we forced our way into the outpost. There was no way to tell it was full of Feral Zebra Ghouls.”

“Some weapons and armor were acquired that have never been seen before. A full report on that may come later.”

“Outside side of that, the only thing that matters was wiping out a battalion of Zebras Ghouls. Impressive, yes. Bold and daring, yes. Horrible, yes. Stupid? We had no choice.”

“Above and beyond the call of duty? Absolutely! We may have accidentally broken containment, but we a reconnaissance team. If they could use weapons, we would have died. Their armor was bad enough to deal with. We stopped a blight. One that the Enclave would have had to deal with eventually.”

“Out team is more than exhausted. Armor and weapons desperately need repair. Broken bones, concussions and other contusions. We need a long respite. Orders?”

Shadow had set a PipBuck to be dictating the oral report. He had to clean up some areas and delete the conversation in the middle, but it was easy to send. And then off to bed.

Shadow didn’t go to breakfast in the morning. He sent straight to the overseer’s office to check for a response.

To Command Sergeant Major of Reconnaissance Shadow Flare,

To start, your trip south was very impressive and well done. Your suggestions will be placed in the proper report to those above. Taking care of those ghouls was certainly necessary and you have the Counsel’s thanks.

I wish I could recall you, but the situation is still developing. The Enclave Counsel is taking a less direct route in dealing with the situation than expected. You may still be needed. You have two more weeks.

Concerning your requests:

First Lieutenant Silent Wind has been posthumously promoted to the rank of Captain. He has been awarded the Silver Star for Service to the Grand Pegasus Enclave. He also has been, sadly, awarded the Purple Heart with a Black Stripe for dying in the line of duty.

Official messages are attached for each of team member. An overview of your requests:

Your requests for First Sergeant Storm Eye have been granted. He is officially promoted to Sergeant Major. He has been awarded the Bronze Star with Valor.

Your request that Sergeant Major Nor’easter be award the Bronze Star with Valor has been approved.

Your requests concerning Sergeant Thunder Clap have been granted. Sergeant Thunder Clap has been promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant. He has also been awarded the Bronze Star with Valor, per your request.

I must say, I am surprised there was no recommendations for Master Sergeant Apple Slice.

Excellent job to you and your team,

First Lieutenant Honey Bee

Shadow saw a message for him by decided to reply first.

Orders received and understood. Within 2 weeks we will check in, perhaps with a report.

As to no requests for Master Sergeant Apple Slice; He made a choice that could have endangered us on a mission. One mistake on the mission I had decided that promotions and awards were in order. I admit my bias at the time.

Outside of that one mistake, his conduct has been exemplary. Rosemary’s success is due to his work, alongside Master Sergeant Storm Eye. His skill in combat has surpassed expectations. Baltimare’s battle was just as much his victory as anypony’s else. He deserves a Bronze Star with Valor for his fearless, unyielding hold against the waves of forces we were forced to face.

On this last mission, he never hesitated when assaulted by the Feral Zebra Ghouls, even when out of ammunition and forced to use his combat knife.

I just realized, that was the entire team. They cut down several units with just their knives since they were out of ammunition. I was at the front with the sword fulfilling my designated role, making it easy to forget their struggle. They were making sure that I was safe as I cut down the Ghouls. We could not remedy the ammunition problem until we had cut down the group that had set itself upon us. At least three full units.

CSM Shadow Flare

Shadow didn’t feel like writing out his full rank and sent the response. He yawned and leaned back in the chair. The bluff had worked. The Lieutenant was going to brush off asking for more information, for the really important pieces of the Kifopiga mission.

Shadow opened the intercom and let Thunder, Nor and Storm know that they each had a private message. They all came. When it was evident that Slice didn’t get any awards or a promotion, Storm was the one defending their decision.

“Don’t forget you have one Shadow,” Nor said as he got up from reading his.

“I did forget,” Shadow chuckled.

Shadow sat down, but before he could open his, two more came in. He opened the one responding to his last response.

Hearing of he actions from your last mission, we have new updates. Master Sergeant Apple Slice has been promoted to Sergeant Major. He also is receiving the Bronze Star with Valor for his work on Outpost Rosemary – Separate Official Message was sent for him with all the detail.

Alongside that, it was decided that all of the Inquisitors shall receiving Silver Stars for their actions against the Zebra Ghouls. Do you have a name for the mission?”

Shadow sighed.

“Slice, you got a message for you,” He said typing the response.

Wonderful news about Apple Slice. The outpost is known as Kifopiga. Ki-foe-pee-gha.

Shadow got up and turned the terminal over to Slice who sat down and read the award.

All Slice could say was ‘damn.’

“Well you all deserve it,” Shadow said sitting back down.

“And you have one,” Nor reminded him.

“Right,” Shadow said turning his full attention to the terminal.

To Command Sergeant Major of Reconnaissance Shadow Flare,

For bravery in the face of death and extracting every piece of information on your second reconnaissance mission into Fillydelphia, The Grand Pegasus Enclave awards you the Silver Star. Your tactful skills led to the mapping of a large part of Fillydelphia. Instead of running when the enemy surrounded you, your choice to meet Nesha face to face was a great risk. You risked your life to get information that has been deemed ‘unable to be retrieved’ by any other method. You bled for the information which has proven invaluable. Your actions have saved many lives.

For your bravery in the face of death and while injured, the Grand Pegasus Enclave award you the Bronze Star with Valor for your actions in Baltimare. Instead of laying down after receiving a lethal gunshot wound to the head, you continued to fight with no protection for your head. Your actions saved the lives of your teammates.

For your multiple injuries received in combat in Fillydelphia, The Grand Pegasus Enclaves awards you the Purple Heart. For your grave injury sustained in combat in Baltimare, The Grand Pegasus Enclave awards you the Purple Heart. May they serve as a reminder to everypegasus that you gave your blood for the Pegasus Race.

Shadow looked up at the others and stared down at them. They were all locked in a staring contest. One of them sent a message about his actions in Fillydelphia and his injury in Baltimare. He gave up and blinked while leaning back.

“Which one of you sent a message suggesting medals for me?” Shadow calmly asked.

“I did,” Thunder nodded. “And the others backed it up. I guess since you put in requests, they decided to notify us of the awards.”

“Well, half of them were not requests,” Shadow shrugged. “Using my rank to promote and give awards as they were deserved. A few of them I asked permission for.”

“And the outcome?” Thunder asked. “I only put in the request to look for awards.”

“Purple Heart for my injuries in Filly and another one for Baltimare,” Shadow sighed. He closed his eyes in shame. “In Filly, they decided everything was worth a Silver Star.”

“And we have Kifopiga to submit still!” Thunder laughed. “But you seriously deserve it. I know we are not here to get them, and it feels like they do not matter. But remember, we wear them to inspire others to do the things they do not think they can. So that when they face something like what we have faced, they will do what needs to be done.”

“We won’t report my injury in Kifopiga,” Shadow said. “The report was made already.”

“I got a Bronze Start with Valor for locking up Star Dust,” Storm said annoyed. “Shadow fancied it up without saying they were megaspells.”

“You are the expert on them,” Shadow argued back. “If we had unlocked them and didn’t have you, they would have been removed because we didn’t know what we were looking at. They are safe because of you.”

“You wouldn't have tried to open the vault if I had not told you there was a secret vault,” Storm shot back.

“And since it was opened,” Slice said taking over. “Then you acted calmly and coolly, disarming any danger they possessed.”

“So, Shadow is the only one with a Silver Star,” Nor stated. “Interesting. I never thought about medals, but I certainly never would have said any of us would have gotten a Silver Star.”

Shadow began to laugh. “It gets better. First off, Captain Silent Wind was posthumously award the Silver Star and the Rank of Captain. Second, Kifopiga and killing a battalion of Zebra Ghouls meant they decided, without a suggestion, to award all of us Silver Stars for hacking them to pieces with our combat knives and other close combat objects. You guys ran out of ammo.”

“It was decided over messages, not something I requested. I never even had an idea that they were thinking about awards. I was just reporting.”

“That award makes sense,” Thunder chuckled. “All I can say is that by the time we realized what we had gotten into, we could not back out. It was above and beyond what a recon team should do. Especially once we knew the numbers. A real recon team would have reported Kifopiga and never gone inside. We go inside.”

“Do we have an option not to?” Nor asked.

“Yes and no,” Shadow smiled. “Because we are sent to find everything we can. It only made sense to us to break down the door to find out more. But while that was beyond what we should have done, Fillydelphia is a perfect example of what we have to do for recon. The depth of the information we are expected to get. Major Winters Breath would have expected us to go into Kifopiga and would have given the same awards for it. We killed a fucking battalion of Feral Zebra Ghouls.”

“And their non-feral leader,” Nor added.

“Yeah,” Shadow sighed contently. “But enough of that. We have two weeks until our next check in.”

“Manehatten,” Storm and Slice said together.

Storm was the one who continued. “We can at least get a scope for the city without going to Tenpony or Friendship City.”

“Alright,” Shadow nodded. “Anypony object?”

Shadow passed off the mission to Storm and Slice. They would be deciding what they would be doing.

For now, Shadow headed out with Thunder to survey everything they took.

“For starters, the Zebra Weapons,” Thunder began. “The Zebra Rifle is also identified as Type 38. We did not find any of their bolt action Type 30, or their semiautomatic Type 35, but by the Battle of Kifopiga, those weapons were mostly phased out. Especially for the new troops we were facing.”

“We did snag this one, a Type 99 light machine gun. She fires 700 rounds per minute through top fed magazines and is centered around the use of the forward bipod, and even has a rear monopod for stabilization. We grabbed plenty of magazines. She fires the same round as the Type 92 machine gun.”

“And this is that Type 92 machine gun.”

“That is a big machine gun,” Shadow stated. “Why did you carry it back?”

“Because it was in mint condition and Slice and I wanted to. And there were really nothing else to bring back. Their stock was not very diverse.”

Shadow shrugged in reply and Thunder continued.

“It requires a crew of at least three, typically four, to move it, but we had our power armor. Direct operation is only two. It has a good rate of fire, air cooled, and a strong punch. This one is enchanted. You can see the gems on either side of the gun, right at the action. One makes it so the feed mechanism always works and the other infuses the round with the burning capability.”

“It is uses these metal strips which you can see, holds each round snapped in place. Insert on the side and it pulls it through as it fires each round. We got plenty of strips and ammo. Without the enchantment, oil would be needed to keep the roller and feeding mechanism running smoothing.”

Thunder moved onto the armor.

“We seem to understand this heavy jacket and its equipment set up as the 95 Uniform. Then you have the Type 2 Combat armor, which is what you were wearing over the 95. That had plates and heavier cloth armor. Flexible and fast. That was their philosophy.”

Shadow picked up a knife.

“The Type 41 combat knife,” Thunder replied. “It can also fit on the end of the Type 38 and Type 99 as a bayonet. It fits on their earlier rifles too.”

“The bayonet does not fit on the Type 100 9mm submachine gun. That is this one. We took in plenty of magazines. We emptied them to make it easy to carry, its the same 9mm ammo. It isn’t as good as the Snack, but it does it’s job well.”

“What is up with all the type names?” Shadow asked.

“Its the best translation we could gather,” Thunder replied. “The number dictates the year on a specific calendar that it was designed. I picked up there were two different calendars, but that was all.”

“Intricate system,” Shadow said as he marveled over their equipment.

“Its not as bad in Zebra,” Thunder stated.

Ignoring ammunition, they could outfit three soldiers with all they brought back. And they still had the 92 which would need a crew.

Thunder continued. “We have ammunition for each of the guns, especially the 92. We could reproduce the ammunition and field these. Or we could just ransack the place. The ammo is in great condition, along with the guns.”

“I will keep that in mind,” Shadow replied. “What other things were there?”

“Well, those mobile artillery were Type 90. They fall into the Infantry Support Artillery class. Light cannons and such. Her caliber is 75mm. Those types of light artillery are also known as Mountain Guns. Easy to get around hills and mountains where larger artillery pieces could not maneuver too.”

“The big ones set further back in there was a 15cm Type 98 cannon. They were strictly for defending fortresses and other larger installations. Like the Naval guns at Fort Strong, but pointed more towards the sky. Since Kifopiga is so low profile, they only installed a few. They really didn’t have anything to shell from such a high and remote location. We were above the fucking cloud layer after all.”

“There was a healthy spattering of the Type 96 Anti Air guns, which were a new design. 25mm caliber, they appeared to be copied from Equestria.”

Shadow stared at the equipment. It was intimidating. “How bad would this Fort have been for Equestria if the spells were not launched?”

“Cloudsdale was hit first,” Thunder reminded Shadow. “The Zebras launched them first. These soldiers would have caused a problem, but they were losing. From what we could tell.”

“Right,” Shadow nodded. “What did you dig up about this?”

“Your revolver is a Type 26,” Thunder replied. “They used the Type 14 semiautomatic pistol for combat. But the Type 26 was around. Rare, but around. The reference we were using indicated that for pistols, revolvers were better for enchanting and capable of handling more powerful enchantments. The gem is locked inside the pistol, not exposed. A very rugged design. Because it uses the band and handle, it might hold more than a one enchantment.”

“He mentioned igniting by fire,” Shadow commented.

“Yes, their gun logs were marked with flames. We didn’t need a translator for that image. I didn’t search for any ammo for the revolver. I figured you would have asked if you needed to find some.”

Shadow opened it up and the 44 Magnum rounds popped out.

“It’s in 44 Zebra, but it can take the 44 Magnum rounds. They are only a little longer.”

Shadow showed Thunder the 44 Zebra.

“I bet this round’s parent case is the 44 Magnum,” Thunder replied. “Special pistol and special sword. Other than flames, what do you know about it?”

“Nothing,” Shadow shrugged. “Mwokozi didn’t speak about either. I was not supposed to be the one walking away with them. They should have been buried with him.”

“Bah,” Thunder scoffed. “I heard about the fight from Nor. And we will watch it soon. I think he would have wanted you to have them.”

“It is not like watching us killing the Super Ponies,” Shadow warned.

“Nor gave that warning too,” Thunder replied before continuing.

“Your Saber is a Xyuzunto. A rare saber type for the Zebras. If they carried one it was a Type 98, with a curve. Yours is straight. It would have been hoof forged and enchanted for him. Probably at the same time as the revolver, gifts for his appointment.”

“The revolver has no name,” Shadow stated looking it over. “None that I found. There was nothing in his room about it either. He didn’t have much.”

“Swords have always carried an affinity to being named, having a soul,” Thunder explained. “Guns were too new back then. It has his name on the side in Zebra. I say go by that if you give it a name. At least until we find out it has one.”

“You know a lot about these weapons,” Shadow stated.

Thunder got quiet. “I got the chance to go to a special training on Zebra weapons. Equaggan War Weapons.”

“Equagaga what?” Shadow stumbled.

“The Enclave’s technical name for it. Equestrian and Quagga combined. Quagga is apparently some technical name for Zebras. We call our collective ponies. Apparently their collective is Zebra and that there are at least two distinct types. Like our Earth Pony, Unicorn and Pegasus Races.”

Shadow just nodded, filing the information away.

“Anyway, I got special training two or so years back about the weapons from the war. So with the help of their giant catalog in the supply depot, I was able to learn a decent amount. We had each of these infantry weapons we took, but we never had a Type 26 or the Xyuzunto. Only a picture of each.”

“How dangerous is this sword to our armor?” Shadow asked.

“Slicing, not much. It may be enchanted, but it is a straight saber. It will most likely slice open the outer shell. But with a stab, she will go straight through without any resistance. Our other combat armors will not be able to stop her enchantments, even with her being a straight blade. She may be a straight blade, but as you already saw in the fort, she can easily slice apart something.”

“One of those stones must give her the strength to do that. The entire thing has them set in it. The hilt, three in the guard, and some small ones in the blade itself. Its probably indestructible at this point.”

“That makes two of the Inquisitors trained on Zebras before the Major set things up,” Shadow said, changing the topic.

“Storm went to TMT?” Thunder said surprised.

“You know of it?” Shadow replied just as surprised.

“Heard of it while at the EWW training,” Thunder replied. “They are the two prewar schools. Magic and Zebras.”

“You are missing one,” Nor said, startling them. “Non Pegasus Biology. Half of it is Zebra Biology. Not official like the others, but still.”

“So that makes all three schools taken by the team,” Shadow smiled.

Nor laughed out loud. “I didn’t say I went. You both met my Uncle with the ice incident. He chooses who gets to go to what specialty school. I got to pick. Props of being in the family. I went weather, just like him. But I could have gone back to any of them. Any. Even knowing I was coming down here, I said no. I got enough biology in primary school.”

“You would have failed,” Thunder laughed.

“I didn’t go for a reason!” Nor said joining him.

“Back to the sword,” Shadow said after they finished laughing. “This band. Can we get it to work through the armor?”

“That is a mystery to me,” Thunder replied. “We never had anything about that. Not even a hint. It might be a special thing, just for him. Or maybe all high generals. I do not know much about their senior officers. That information was lost. But, Storm is the one for the job for the band.”

“Pony weapons,” Shadow asked, moving things along.

“So we have some cool ones we hadn’t even seen pictures of in the class, but I do know about these. This is a submachine gun, called the Applesnack Submachine Gun. Most of the time it was just called the Snack Gun. It fires 9mm rounds. A 100 round drum magazine, 50 round box magazines and even these 20 or 40 round stick magazine were used. It is as fun to shoot as it sounds.”

“She is a bit heavy which helps for recoil, but she is short and maneuverable. The rate of fire is faster than the Enclave’s automatic weapons. It sucks past 100 meters, but it was more than enough for what they needed at close range.”

“This is a unicorn weapon and one we never had in EWW. The Applejack Rifle, or A.J.R. It was a high caliber fully automatic weapon they used for squad support. Its weight is too much for a battle saddle of that time, but its an impressive weapon. Plus it is a bit long for a saddle. 20 round box magazines. It was a thumping thunder. It’s got her Cutie Mark stamped into each butt stock.”

“Why does it have a butt stock if it is a unicorn weapon?” Shadow asked.

“Because the goal was for ponies to be able to field it in the prone position. They could operate it by hoof and bit, while handling the overall weight. It was easiest to deploy it to the Unicorns first. It’s over 15 pounds unloaded, but again, that weight helps recoil.”

“The other gem is one we never realize got put into the field, the RD-44. We only had a description in class, not a picture. Its a smaller rifle cartridge, but it fires a sizable round. It was a fully automatic, lightweight infantry rifle and using a 30 round box magazine. It was good out to 300 yards.”

“You can see that there are two variants. The A1, is the Earth Pony model that worked on with hoof and mouth. The A2 is able to be mounted on a battle saddle or operated with your hooves if you had a sling.”

Shadow shook his head. “A lot has changed.”

“The forced evolution of the battle saddle,” Thunder replied. “The Enclave military lives off the battle saddle.”

“It is surprising how much is lead, rather than magic,” Shadow stated. “Even in the Enclave today.”

“You never went to combat school,” Thunder said. “Most troops switch to lighter Novasurge rifles. Only the light troopers spit led as a whole. The heavy weapons soldiers do field lead spitting miniguns. Otherwise, the bulk of the soldiers use magic. In the war, they were working on that switch, but it take a lot more to make magic weapons than it is to crank out ammo and crank out basic weapons that could be fielded immediately.”

“The ACUs use lead,” Shadow stated.

“I didn’t know that,” Thunder replied. “But they are a really small group. Lead has its value. Particularly armor piercing.”

“Did you get ammo for these pony weapons?” Shadow asked.

“Nothing specific,” Thunder replied. “If it was in the magazine, yes. Otherwise, no. There was no supply cache to get it from. They carried their ammo with them or on a Cloudship. And the Snack is 9mm, which we have plenty of.”

“Good to know,” Shadow nodded. “I am going to go to the hydroponics lab, check on things there. Slice and Storm will have a plan soon enough.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 52 - Posts Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 47 Minutes