The morning of the 27^th of June came in Copenhagen, and along with it a thick cloud cover that brought an end to the sunny weather they had enjoyed until then. It didn't do much to stave off the summer heat and humidity though. Some concerns were shown towards the risk of rain occurring and causing flash rust on areas of the Rhine they were still working on, but thankfully no water fell down on the still exposed and uncoated steel of the barge carrier’s new container bay.

They had yet to find the boats Amadi had proposed adding to the Rhine’s fleet of barges and tugs, but at least the structure of the container bay was nearly finished. The welders were finally free after a considerable amount of time spent building the cell guides for the containers, internal passageways and the separating bulkhead. Now the time had come to coat the freshly built structure in a layer of protective paint, set up the extensive electrical installation, and all manners of work that would make the container bay the modular structure they wanted it to be.

By the estimations of both ships’ Chief Engineers, they’d need about one more week to finish it before they could start loading containers. Already, some had been brought next to the Rhine ahead of time. Those would make up the lower layers inside the bay that they would then connect to the ship’s power grid. With the way they had made sure to install passageways inside the container bay, that should allow them to greatly extend the number of rooms available on the Rhine.

Such rooms would include additional cabins made using the humanitarian containers from the UNICEF depot, others would be the lab Camille had insisted was necessary, one made from field lab units they had found; along with a containerized MRI scanner assembled a few days earlier using equipment found in a nearby hospital.

The lab was one of the biggest reasons they needed the container bay. The HPI’s R&D department had already sent them experiment requests and offered them some very interesting financial incentives for medical scans of post-Event species.

Reverse-engineering medical potions was another incentive they’d need to account for. Discussions between Sidereal and Camille led them to having to design a new botanic/hydroponic lab in preparation for the plants the Doctor ensured were needed to create health potions.

But all these ongoing construction projects were not what drew the most attention that morning.

‘Boom!’

That merit went to the armored vehicles they were trying out. All three of their Piranhas and the CV90 had been lined up facing towards the shooting range they had made to train the Rhine’s crewmembers a while ago.

‘Boom!’ The air shook again just as the CV90 fired a single shot out of its main gun at a target a kilometer away.

They weren’t using high-explosive or fragmentation shells just yet. Instead, an extremely fast armor-piercing fin-stabilized arrow left the cannon, shedding its sabot on the way out to go pierce a hole through the yellow steel plate they were using as a target.

“Hit.” Artyom called through the headset from his position in the IFV’s commander seat, the hatch open and the blue dragon’s head poking out as he looked at the target through a pair of binoculars.

Around the vehicle, a couple sailors that weren’t saddled with duties at the moment filmed them as they tried out all the vehicles’ guns. Pulp and Radiant were even there to witness the training, both ponies wearing thick ear defenders and staring at the tall combat vehicles in awe. Remotely operated weapon systems like the Piranhas’ or even elaborate fire control systems like the one on the CV90 were miles ahead of the type of weapons the Equestrians were already acquainted with.

The sailors needed training to use them properly. A lot of training. Bart was seen trotting up and down the line of Piranhas barking orders at their gunners through the open rear ramps, the unicorn instructing them on how to properly use the guns.

Considering they were using .50 cal machineguns and a 40mm flak gun, extreme caution was necessary. Hell, even the brass the CV90 sent up in the air could be a hazard, let alone its shells. All of the trainees had gone through extensive briefings before any of the Officers would even consider handing them the AFV’s keys.

“Loading new clip, APFSDS.” Sri called from inside the turret as she inserted four new rounds in the feed system.

This would be the biggest disadvantage of the IFV, which was ironically tied to its biggest strength. While its 40mm gun made it far more powerful than any competitors like American Bradleys or British Warriors, the gun wasn’t belt-fed, unlike a Bushmaster autocannon. The gunner had to grab the ammunition by strip clips of four and load it in the feed system manually.

Hence, much slower rate of fire to offset the increased range and stopping power. But the stopping power in question was the exact reason why they felt using the IFV may not be such a bad idea. Gust had showed them some extracts from the Equestrian Bestiary, and many monsters were simply huge.

Granted, their heavy machineguns would certainly be able to cause harm to the vast majority of the monsters in the book, but the 40mm would ensure the same monsters that could tank a dozen .50 cal shots would instead be knocked out instantly with the main gun.

As for the few that wouldn’t be because of their though chitin or scales… well, that’s what the APFSDS ammunition was for. The notes they had brought back from Revingehed reported that the ammunition was powerful enough to penetrate 150mm of steel. Sri very much doubted anything short of a fucking Equestrian Godzilla would be able to shrug off that kind of firepower.

But the system was complicated to use, and even harder to maintain. The fire control system was rife with electronics and sensors Sri had been forced to learn the ins and outs of. Lock-on features, thermal imagery, fire-on-the-move stabilization and even weather sensors. All needed to be taken into account to give the IFV its ability to engage targets beyond 4000 meters.

And she hadn’t delved into the fuse programmer yet. A powerful tool to be sure, but highly technical as well, to the point where the ivory hippogriff wracked her brain for a good few hours trying to figure out how it worked.

The user manual being written in Swedish might be at fault there.

The gist of the concept with the fuse programmer was an enhancement made to the proximity fuse system in the fragmentation shells the 40mm fired. At the push of a button, the targeting computer could modify the time of detonation depending on the target.

A group of hostiles taking shelter inside a bunker or a building? Delayed detonation, so the shrapnel is released inside.

Cluster of monsters behind a ridgeline? Press the button, aim at the ridgeline and the gun corrects the aiming to have the shell explode exactly above them.

In short, the ideal system to turn the anti-air firepower of the 40mm Bofors into a ridiculously effective anti-infantry weapon… or rather anti-monster in their case.

Sri took the gun’s controls in her claws and aimed it at the next target. She felt the turret turn and rotate to the side with a loud buzz as she lined up the sights on her next target. Tag it with the rangefinder; adjust elevation, a press of the button on the fire-control to adjust for weather conditions…

“Ready!” She called to Artyom.

“Fire!” The dragon barked back.

Four booming noises rang out in quick succession the moment the hippogriff in the gunner seat pressed the trigger pedal. The two ponies outside the IFV spotted four blurs leave the barrel and strike their target dead-center. The empty brass casings were ejected high up in the air before falling back down on the concrete quays with a loud ‘clang!’.

One of them rolled to a halt next to Pulp who carefully prodded it with his hoof. He pulled it back with a wince.

“Hot?” Radiant asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Like burning coals.” The Earth Pony bit his lip, turning his gaze towards the Piranhas that were now firing short bursts at the target as well, their brass landing below the gun instead of being sent high up in the air like on the CV90. “Why does it do that?”

“Do what?”

The IFV opened fire anew so Pulp just pointed at the flying shell casings.

“Oh… I think I remember something about Bart saying the gun is technically upside down. That’s why it flies up.” The Pegasus yelled over the constant staccato of the .50 cals. “Apparently it was necessary to fit it inside the turret. I think it’s amazing.”

“And I think it’s horrifying.” Pulp frowned. “That amount of firepower…”

“You do know some countries back home have breech-loaders?” Radiant cut him off.

“Beg your pardon?”

“Airships and regular ships, most countries outfit them with cannons.” Radiant explained. “I know Equestria doesn’t… but it’s perfectly legal to arm civilian vessels –within limits of course- in at least half the countries on Equus. Sure…” He waved his wing towards the CV90. “They don’t have that kind of rate of fire but these guys don’t have magic beam projectors either.”

“What? Who the hay uses that?!” Pulp asked him wide-eyed.

“Seaquestria for sure… and I think they bought the design from another country, can’t remember which. Fact is… only Equestria is that disarmed, and since we’re not that inclined to show off the navy I’m not surprised you wouldn’t know much about weapons. Hay, let’s be happy we’re allies with the Crystal Empire ‘cause their shard cannons sure do a number on monsters.” Radiant turned back towards the IFV to see Sri rotate the turret to test-out the controls. “That being said, these guns are better weapons than ours, I’ll give you that.”

“Wait… so if we have cannons, why does Gust use a crossbow again?”

“Everfree Rangers ain’t military you doofus.” Radiant chuckled. “I think they’re under the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources… don't quote me on that tho’. That, and they need to use their specialized arrowheads. Can’t shoot arrows from a musket now.”

Pulp just decided to drop the subject and focus back on the big guns the sailors were training with. Horrifying or not… they did manage to eliminate a threat anypony would have deemed to be Pillar-level.

Though considering what his pegasus friend had just told him, maybe he’d need to look into what the Equestrian army was doing beside just the Royal Guards and the Wonderbolts.

“Captain, may I have a word with you?”

Dilip set down his binoculars and turned halfway from his position on Amandine’s starboard bridge wing to look at Sidereal. The mare was looking a bit frazzled, with her red mane sticking out at odd angles and bags under her large eyes. He caught a hint of worry in her eyes.

“Of course. What’s the matter? Is it about the training of some crewmembers?”

“Not at all.” She shook her head firmly, which didn't help the state of her mane. “I couldn’t sleep last night so I delved a bit deeper into my research.”

“Which topic then? The ley lines or the monsters?” The pariah dog inquired, one ear twitching slightly.

“Bit of both. I… commandeered some of the crystals they extracted out of Anton first.”

“I take it it’s something your kin faced in the past.” He turned his back to her to stare off in the distance towards where the vehicles were practicing.

“But not with sirens.” Sidereal pointed out. “I took the liberty of teleporting back to the fort to check something.”

“The carcass.” Dilip didn’t turn around but a scowl appeared on his muzzle. “Risky.”

“Captain… the siren bore the same symptoms of crystalline infection as Anton… albeit much more acute. I have no doubt that the siren was controlling Anton herself… but the crystals came from something else. They’ve been used against Equestria in the past by a former unicorn that was corrupted. By what, nopony ever discovered. But it’s back, and it’s powerful enough to take control of creatures like sirens.”

Dilip brushed a paw against the underside of his jaw. Shame they didn’t make it a habit of inspecting monsters they killed.

“The unicorn?”

“Sombra was taken care of years ago. This entire thing worries me, and I won’t have actual answers until we get the data I asked for in my previous report. What I can tell you for now is… mysterious sigils, monsters, crystals and ancient threats, those are things my countryponies faced and defeated in the past. But all at once?”

“Is it the first time they team up like that?”

“No, but not to such an extent.”

Dilip’s fingers drummed against the railing for a couple seconds before he lifted his head slightly.

“Are the crystals infectious?”

“No, they’re a physical manifestation of something else. A form of magical corruption most likely, which I assume is how it got transmitted to Anton.”

“How come?”

“The enthrallment set upon her by the siren is… some form of imprinting in a manner of speaking. If the siren’s magic is infected, then I believe the infection could spread down to enthralled ponies. Not sure though… that’s some extremely dark and illegal magic right there.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised to learn that. As long as it doesn’t spread to my or Raimund’s sailors then it’s fine.” He paused. “Well, it isn’t really. I’d wager that siren is only the beginning of something far worse. Whatever brought her here likely brought the monsters as well.” His paw tightened against the railing. “I wouldn’t be surprised if any… villain for a lack of a better term heard of what was going on here and decided to profit off the power vacuum. Lots of riches around the planet to take for themselves after all.” He concluded with a sniff, tail going still.

“That’s not the only thing.” Sidereal continued, joining Dilip’s side and propping herself up against the railing with her forehooves.

Down on the quays, the vehicles had stopped their gunnery training and were now in the process of figuring out how to properly drive with them. Not an easy thing to do considering the poor visibility AFV’s typically allowed their drivers. Despite Bart’s continuous advice, they could see them bumping into traffic cones (crushing them in the CV90's case) the unicorn had set down for them to maneuver around. The Belgian had his work cut out for him.

Dilip gestured for Sidereal to go on with his paw.

“I also decided to cast mage sight and compare what I saw to the data you have charted.”

“So?”

“Stonehenge was a correct assumption apparently. For France, it’s a bit dubious but that’s mostly owed to the sheer amount of ancient sites present in Brittany. I also looked North, and I think I have a fix on another convergence point in the ley lines, this one a bit closer.”

“Where exactly?”

“A couple miles south of Narvik, in Norway. Just as predicted. ” She told him. “It’s rather powerful too, and ancient.”

“Narvik isn’t exactly what I’d call ‘close’ Doctor, with all due respect.” Dilip clicked his tongue. “But I’ll agree this might yield some information on ancient human… magic.” He said the last word almost in a hiss. “That being said… I’m mostly curious about late effects of the… Disenchantment we spoke of. The Heart of Darkness isn’t that old, and its reaction to the magical field at least proves that magic ‘dried up’ after it was created.”

“If anything Captain, the phenomenon didn’t necessarily occur overnight. I’d say your best chances at finding out what happened would be archeological museums.”

“Not art?”

“Won’t do.” She shook her head. “I’d be surprised to hear of magical paintings and statues. You need practical items, or something really significant. Ancient tools, weapons, religious idols, the works.” She waved a hoof around to highlight what she was saying.

“I may have a hypothesis.” Dilip turned towards her. “The magical field uh…”

“Shoot, no idea is worth rejecting as far as I’m concerned.”

“Yes, well. I had a look at the theory Josselin mentioned and I was wondering… hmm, how do I put it? Ah, would it be possible that the magic dries up first in certain areas of the world before it reached a global point? So that certain countries –in the Heart of Darkness’ case, Congo- would still have a bit of magic left over, a few centuries after the rest of the world basically lost it?”

Sidereal blinked a few times at the Indian before scratching the back of her head with a hoof, raising her eyes towards the sky.

“Technically it would be possible. I mean… it’s already proven that the intensity of the magical field isn’t constant all over Equus. The process would have to be slow considering humans eventually became deathly allergic to magic and you’d have noticed if people started dying for no reason when they went there… but provided it was at a very low level I don’t see any reason to discard the theory. Not that I have anything to prove it either for that matter.”

“How could it be proven then?” The dog inquired.

“Maybe…” Sidereal frowned. “Provided looking through the inventories of archeological museums does yield magical artifacts, then it might be feasible to do a comparative study of their power and plot their origins. That could give you an idea on how strong the field was, at a given time, in certain areas of the world. All that work is no small feat though…”

“Indeed.” The Captain sighed. “Given the amount of work that keeps piling up on my plate and the lengths my crew will have to go through to keep Amandine operational, then there’s no guarantee we will ever be able to do that. I mean, sure it’s interesting and it’s important… but yesterday I had one of my Engineers share some concerns about unattended nuclear weapons. That, unfortunately, is more important than historical research. On a brighter note, how is the magical training going?”

The red unicorn mare smiled and went on to tell him how she and Cheese were training the unicorns from both ships. She had requested for several spell books to be delivered with the answer to her previous report so they would have some way to improve once her group left them. Hence, she was focusing on the general aspects at the moment: the basics of spellcraft, a couple of handy parlor tricks and most of all, a training regimen so the unicorns would be able to improve their magical abilities on their own.

Already some of them were showing signs of mastering new spells. Energy blasts –though still far below even a taser in power-, light orbs, and even one stallion that had figured the basics of an invisibility spell by making his skin semi-transparent (though she assumed his Cutie Mark had something to do with it).

“Fascinating things those Cutie Marks. Doubt we will keep calling them that in the future… but interesting stuff.” Dilip commented idly. “I doubt I’d want one though…”

“Why is that so? They’re really useful to figure out your path in life.” Sidereal said. After all, her own spell lattice of a Mark was what pushed her to become a Doctor in magical theory.

“Humans don’t work that way and I think the tortuous path of not knowing what we’re meant to do is what makes life interesting. Granted, I’m a bad example of that but I couldn’t fathom that a symbol on my skin could force me to forever be a sailor.” The Diamond Dog’s tail twitched. “Take my Chief Officer for instance, Alejandro. He wasn’t a sailor in the beginning you know.”

“So what did he do?”

“Here’s what I got from him: started off as a clerk in his father’s bank in Galicia; then he spared some money to go to Barcelona and study criminology.”

“Criminology? Really?”

“Surprised me too. Didn’t work out, but he used that to get into the Servicio de Vigilancia Aduanera once he was done studying –that’s basically his country’s equivalent of customs and border protection- where he worked a couple years.”

“Wait, if he was working with customs, then how did he wind up here, of all places?” Sidereal quirked her head and blinked at him. “That doesn’t make any sense!”

“We humans like to grab ‘sense’ and throw it out of the proverbial window.” Dilip chuckled lightly before crossing his arms and leaning on the railing some more. “He worked there a couple years as far as I recall. Went all over Spain from Ceuta to Santander during that time. I don’t know why, I don’t know how but at some point his work with customs got him interested in sailing. He took up yachting and some evening courses to study navigation and found himself an entry-level job in Puerto Real as a dry-dock inspector.”

“How do you even get an entry-level job as an inspector?!”

“Bribery I’d assume.” Dilip explained, much to the unicorn’s consternation. “Sorry Doc but baksheeshes are a thing. I may not condone it, but I at least have to acknowledge their existence. He’s competent at what he does anyway, that much I can attest.” The pariah dog told her with a shrug. “Rest of the story then… he works there a couple years and starts looking for something that actually gets him to sea. There comes Cobelfret –that’s the company that owned Amandine before the Event if you were wondering- when they were looking for a dry-dock expert to assist in fleet management. A bit of haggling here and there, and he manages to get a contract as a consultant for dry-docking during certain periods while serving on their ships the rest of the time.”

Dilip stopped and rubbed his chin pensively upon saying that.

“Come to think of it I’m pretty sure he moved to Luxembourg at that point to get closer to the company’s offices. Anyway…” He clicked his tongue. “…After a couple years he transferred to Amandine under my service as Second Officer back when I was working with a Greek nearing retirement as my Chief Officer. He took the position when the guy retired and then… You got the present situation. From banking clerk at a family-run bank to full-blown Chief Officer. Somehow, he also knows martial arts and, I kid you not, leathercraft. Do you see my point?”

“I think I do…” Sidereal muttered.

“If humans had those Cutie Marks of yours, we wouldn’t wind up with stories like that. You’d wind up with a baking-related Mark and spend your whole life in a bakery. Some of the best stories in human culture are about wanderers seeking their path in life you know.”

“We do get that comment a lot from species without Cutie Marks.” She admitted with a wince. “But really, single-career lives are a thing of the past. Equestria has grown… you can’t necessarily have ponies get the job they want, so sometimes you wind up with ponies having to work jobs that don’t fit their Marks. I’m a lucky one, magic-related Marks aren’t that common, and having one gives me an edge in the industry.”

“That potent uh?”

“Absolutely. Cutie Marks related to magic may be limited in scope, but the area they cover is guaranteed to allow its bearer excellent proficiency and skill in that area. In some cases to the point where they can almost rival an alicorn.”

“Ali-what now?”

“A rare species of pony. They get wings, a horn, and the strength of Earth ponies. Their existence is… complicated.” She mumbled. “What matters is that they’re ridiculously powerful, some even immortal. They’re far beyond the limitations of any other pony if their Mark doesn’t specialize in a specific area. Take a unicorn with a teleportation-related Mark… they could easily get you halfway across the planet or even in lower orbit with their spell. A Pegasus with a speed-based mark? Sonic booms galore.” She snorted. “And don’t get me started on weightlifting Earth ponies… at that point it’s like an ant throwing an elephant around regardless of physics.”

“Now that’s something I’d want to see.”

“Believe me Captain, you don’t.” She replied with a scowl.

Particularly when said mare was roid-raging.

Alejandro turned his fall into a roll and ended up dropping on one knee, panting. In front of him he saw Artyom take a few steps back before dropping on one knee as well, the dragon’s maw parting slightly to let out a few tired gasps.

The hyacinth macaw was clad in a blue gi with a brown belt bearing a few notches tying it around his waist. Being a male parrot, the Spaniard was on the shorter, burlier side compared to the tall and statuesque hens like Geert or Danny. His feathery chest heaved from the exertion before he brought it back under control, a small smile parting the mandibles of his beak.

Unlike the Chief Officer, Artyom didn’t have a gi. The Russian veteran wore a white tank top on his shoulders to go with a pair of sport shorts he had quickly modified to allow room for his draconic tail. One of the tank top’s shoulders had been torn at some point, revealing the lighter scales on the dragon’s chest, some hidden underneath bandages, Artyom still recovering from the injury caused by Sonata. If it caused him any pain, he didn’t show it.

The two middle-aged sailors were sparring inside of Amandine’s gym, most of the equipment having been pushed to the sides to make room for the training mats. The ventilation was on full-blast to stave off the summer heat and pungent smell, almost drowning out the rock music coming from a speaker Alejandro had set down on a bench.

“Ready for the next round?” The macaw smirked at the dragon.

“You bet.” Artyom’s red eyes met Alejandro’s amber-colored ones in challenge.

Both of them stood up and fell into their stances in perfect sync. Alejandro’s preferred art was BJJ, a style that focused on grappling, ground techniques and pinning your opponent down, which explained why his stance was held close to the ground with his torso bent forward at an angle, arms braced in front of him and knees bent, ready to receive the Russian’s assault.

Artyom’s style was completely different. Rusty as he was after not practicing for decades, he still remembered what he was taught during his time with the VDV. Systema was the name of the style, unorthodox, rather nebulous when compared to traditional martial arts, but versatile. He took position with his torso sideways on to Alejandro, one defensive claw held forward, the other backward; ready to lash out at the first opening.

The dragon’s stance only served to heighten how much taller he was compared to the Spanish parrot. That would have made him confident, had it not been for two little things:

One: male parrots are particularly burly despite their short size.

Two: while his style may have grappling techniques, Alejandro was at a clear advantage by using BJJ. His only hope of winning against the Chief Officer was to use his longer limbs to prevent him from getting into grappling and ground-fighting territory. That wasn’t going to be easy considering how bloody fast the parrot was.

On the plus side, Systema’s approach to fighting made it natural to adapt the style to include his wings and tail. He had even managed to win one round by surprising Alejandro when he cuffed him with his wing before sweeping his legs using his tail.

That had only worked once however. The next time he tried that Alejandro was ready to show him how he was ready to use the extra limbs against him.

He caught a flicker of movement. Alejandro shifting his weight on one leg. In an instant the parrot was on him, starting the round with a jab to his face. By reflex more than by conscious movement, Artyom deflected the strike only for it to then hit his wing. The dragon winced and shifted his hips to go in for a kick.

Which Alejandro just dodged by leaning backwards; but Artyom kept up his assault. He let his inertia carry him and followed up on his kick with a tail strike his opponent halted with a raised forearm. Before Alejandro could capitalize on the block and grapple his tail, Artyom turned around and attempted a gut punch.

No dice. Alej’ just slid past the punch and delivered him a swift jab to the armpit, quickly followed up by a kick to the knee which sent Artyom down. Had it not been for a swift hit with his wing, the parrot would have taken the win right there.

“The fuck are you doing?” Artyom growled.

“Alternating styles.” Alejandro bounced on his feet. “Been doing grappling for the last few rounds, gotta train something else at some point.” He added, bending his knees backwards in an improvised stance the dragon didn’t recognize.

That the parrot could casually bend his knees that way made him a bit queasy. Sure, it may have been natural for him, and it even made it rather hard to topple him… but it still didn’t sit right in the blue dragon’s mind.

“Now you’re just getting cocky Chief.” Artyom resumed his initial stance, a puff of smoke escaping his nostrils.

“Maybe I am.” Alej’ smirked, one knee bending forward and the other backward. He knew the dragon hating seeing him do that. “Entonces, what are you gonna do about it?” He taunted, the Spaniard making the ‘come here’ motion using the prehensile claws on his feet.

To that, he answered by spreading out his wings and giving a single flap, propelling himself forward. In an instant, he was on the parrot throwing a flurry of punches and putting him on the defensive. Alej’ managed to counter a few punches with jabs of his own, but the dragon’s natural toughness allowed him to casually shrug off the comparatively weaker hits and keep up the offense.

That didn’t mean he actually managed to get any good hit on the parrot either. Alej’s speed allowed him to deflect or block the dragon’s gloved claws with his meaty forearms as their path led them in a circle around the gym’s training mats.

Let it be said that if there was an advantage people tended to forget with Systema, it was the breath work, and it was certainly the one thing Artyom remembered best. It allowed him to keep his cool and his actions focused, mind running and analyzing the opponent in front of him. He could see the parrot was starting to get winded from the constant barrage, how his blocks and deflects were starting to get sluggish.

Compared to the other, shorter rounds, Artyom had finally discovered how to get at Alejandro.

Endurance.

Alej' was way too focused on defending to realize the scheming look the dragon was sporting. Block left, deflect right, and dodge backwards. His breath was coming in ragged, the feather crest on his head starting to stick to his skull from all the sweat that was pouring out of the pores between his feathers.

When Artyom finally deemed his adversary ripe for the finishing move, he went all in. he pushed through a punch Alejandro delivered to his shoulder to administer him a powerful knee to the gut that was quickly followed by a shoulder toss that successfully pinned the parrot on his belly.

He pressed a claw against the pinned parrot’s throat. Alejandro didn’t try to get out of the pin and chose to tap out instead.

“That’s a win for me.” He smirked before helping the Chief Officer up.

“Going for the long run now eh?” Alejandro panted.

“So sue me right? Seems to be the only way I can win with you.”

Alejandro went to grab a bottle of water on the bench next to the speaker, turning around quickly to toss the dragon another.

“The only way you can win until I figure out a way around that strategy that is.” The parrot taunted between two gulps of water.

“Can’t you just let me bask in my victory for a second?” Artyom rolled his eyes before taking a sip of his water.

Disadvantage of being a dragon 101: your body temperature is so high that regardless of how cold your water is, you could brew tea in it by the time it reaches your gut. And he’d readily bet the Captain would have loved being able to pull a trick like that.

“Want to go for another round or two?” The dragon offered.

“Lo siento, but no can do.” The Spaniard told him as he eyed the clock on the wall. “Gotta hit the shower now, plenty of work rethinking harbor security after the siren’s attack.”

“You do your stuff. I’ll be tidying up and pumpin’ iron.”

The highlight of the day occurred in mid-afternoon. The armored vehicles had been put back in storage by then, allowing most sailors to focus back on training with the Equestrians or continue working on the Rhine.

A couple flyers were seen training under Gust’s guidance by the container stacks, some already having managed to maintain their altitude and even climb a few meters. Unsurprisingly, Vadim and Micha were in the lead when it came to flying, both having now moved on to trying to stay aloft as long as they could. There were also a couple of dragons and gargoyles that had joined the group of trainees (including a reluctant Artyom) now that Gust and Radiant deemed the quadrupeds sufficiently trained that they could spare a bit of their attention towards training bipeds. The Everfree Ranger himself had admitted to not being familiar with that style of flying, so the training was bound to be slow-going.

From his position on Amandine’s bridge, a still damp Alejandro could see how Gust had somehow grabbed a piece from a passing cloud and brought it down to ground level so that his ‘pupils’ could get a try at touching it.

Frankly the Spaniard would have never believed it were it not for the fact that he could see Andy happily playing in the wispy piece of cloud as if it were a big ball of cotton.

On the other end of the docks he spotted Sidereal trot up to the spot she had used to send out her message the day before the siren attacked. There still was a circle burned into the ground there, Cheese and Dilip following closely behind. The dog’s paw reached for a walkie-talkie hanging off his neck, the bridge’s radio crackling to life a second later.

“Captain to bridge, be advised: we are about to receive a message using the Equestrian system. Do not raise the alarm for the ensuing flash of light. Over.”

Alejandro replied with a curt ‘roger’ that was quickly echoed by whichever Officer was on watch on the Rhine’s bridge at the time. With the way both ships were moored the bridges were nearly 400 meters apart so he couldn’t really tell at a glance. He moved over to a console close to the windows and gingerly watched the ensuing show.

There was indeed a flash of light, but what appeared in the circle in front of Sidereal was only a single sheet of paper. The unicorn snatched it in her telekinesis and did a double-take. She urgently barked something at Dilip. Going by the Indian’s body language, he was equally as surprised as she was because his ears flattened against his skull, walkie-talkie flying to his muzzle.

“This is Captain Prateek. Emergency procedure: all flyers are to land immediately and remain grounded until further notice. Out.”

What?

A sailor with a radio passed the message to the flyers by the container stacks. They all immediately stopped training and turned in the general direction of Sidereal. Work seemed to cease on board of the Rhine as well, sailors gathering against the railing to observe what was going on.

The magic circle lit up once more. This time, instead of a sheet of paper appearing in a flash of light, a bright orb shot up towards the sky before stopping some 200 meters above the quays. A thin electric arc descended back from the orb to the initial circle with a sharp crackle, the smell of ozone starting to permeate the air.

For a couple seconds, the air stood still before the arc split up in two. Both arcs of lightning moved further apart over the course of a minute to finally form a gigantic triangle with the ground as its base. It was easily two hundred meters wide, taking up a large portion of the docks' width. They were fortunate it didn’t hit anything, Alejandro wasn’t too sure anything could have stood up to the intense arcs of lightning that had just charred a black line in the asphalt and concrete that made up the ground.

And then…

One instant, you could see through the triangle just fine. Next thing they knew, an inky black darkness took up the space inside the triangle. Alej’ was pretty sure the black tone of the portal (because what else could it possibly be?) could have given that Vantablack they advertised before the Event a run for its money.

The ‘blackness’ didn’t last forever. Soon enough, something came out.

An airship, of all things. And it didn’t match anything humans had ever come up with to boot.

Two long white rigid canvas-covered balloons supported a wide structure built between them. An engine nacelle poked out of the back of each balloon with a propeller facing backwards pushing the ship forward through the portal. Neither of the balloons was completely featureless either: they sported the control surfaces, a handful of fins that were most likely used to steer the ship. Two small funnels emerged out of each balloon’s aft section, along with a pair of small portholes that allowed light to stream inside what must have been the airship’s equivalent to an engine room. The front of each balloon was also gracefully decorated with a pattern of multicolored lines that reminded Alejandro of a scarlet macaw’s wing feathers.

The structure in the middle could barely be called a canopy. Its varnished wood and green-painted aluminum girders kept the two balloons together and likely housed the accommodation, with a single mast proudly towering above it. Beneath that central structure hung a box-shaped extension that reached just below either balloon. Most likely the cargo hold. On either side of the aforementioned box, the airship’s name was proudly painted on the green and silver-painted aluminum plates that protected the hold.

SS Sirocco

Finally, a narrow structure extended in front of the ship, rising at a shallow angle above the central structure and peeking far enough up and forward that it could see beyond the balloons on either side and above them. Going by the myriad of glass panels that covered the whole front of that part of the vessel, Alejandro assumed it was where the bridge was located… or cockpit, depending on what her Captain preferred to call it. He managed to spot a bipedal figure strapped down in a chair behind the controls before the airship rotated to show Amandine her stern and started descending. In passing he took note of the two breech-loaded swivel guns installed on top of Sirocco’s monkey bridge.

The airship wasn’t even that big, only reaching a third of the length of Amandine and about as wide as she was. At a glance, she must have been about five stories tall from the bottom of her cargo hold to her monkey bridge if Alejandro guessed correctly. Eight stories tall if he counted the mast.

Not really the biggest of ships. Then again, compared to human airships her balloons were tiny. Whatever trick they used to keep her aloft, it was way better than helium or hydrogen.

The portal closed quickly after the ship went through, leaving only the scorch marks on the ground as a proof that it was ever there. As for the Sirocco, she deployed four landing claws out of each corner of her cargo hold before finally touching down. Her props stopped spinning a minute later.

A sliding door opened out of the back of the vessel’s cargo hold before two bipedal figures Alejandro couldn’t really make out lowered a wide ramp down to the ground.

What he could make out was the figure that emerged out of the airship’s cockpit onto the back of the vessel. A white parrot with a green crest of feathers wearing a duffle coat. She walked all the way to the back of her vessel to peer down at the sailors on the docks, claws on her hips and a proud smile on her beak. Alejandro’s eyes slid over the curves her thick coat utterly failed to hide, admiring in passing the luster of her tail feathers, completely unaware of the chatter that had sprung up on the VHF.

Down on the docks, Dilip stared thoughtfully at the landed airship.

“Did you actually ask for that Doctor?”

“Not at all Captain.” Sidereal shook her head as she too looked at the ship in wonder. “I just sent my report along with a request for documentation I needed and some gear.” She waved a hoof at the ship. “That seems a bit much when compared to what I needed.”

“Any idea where they’re from?”

The mare’s gaze flew towards the mast that towered above the airship’s structure. There flew the colors of…

“Ornithia.” She muttered as she trotted closer to the airship’s rear ramp.

“Allies?” Dilip inquired, one ear flicking as he listened in to what was being said on the VHF. Lots of panicked comments and inquiries, but nothing alarming… yet.

“They’re the homeland of parrots.” She frowned. “A nation of sailors and aviators, but we typically don’t call parrots Ornithians because of their diaspora. This one is definitely a cargo airship, so no worries about them being pirates.”

Dilip’s muzzle turned towards her at the remark.

“You have a piracy problem on Equus?”

“Not really. They’re more like mercenaries nowadays… corsairs I mean.” She stopped a short distance away from the ramp. “Equestria recently signed a free trade agreement with them, mostly for agricultural products, these guys have some really interesting alchemical components in their jungles.”

The airship’s landing claws held it two meters high in the air, way above both of them with its bulk casting a large shadow down on the docks. Its ramp touched down on the ground with a loud ‘clang!’, finally allowing Dilip to get a look at its occupants.

Standing in the rear door of the craft like aliens about to make first contact were two bipeds. One was a cat –or Abyssinian rather- with long orange fur. He was wearing a suit that would not have looked out of place on a Victorian-era adventurer: knee-high leather boots, some loose bottle green suit pants held up by a wide belt to which he had attached a couple finely-crafted leather pouches, a saber, and a flintlock pistol. His attire was then completed by a white shirt with a waistcoat and a tie, as well as a bowler hat and a pair of goggles the middle-aged Abyssinian wore around his neck.

The height difference caused by him standing at the top of the ramp bellied his relatively short stature, an oddity considering Abyssinians tended to be on the taller end of the scale. If his attire wasn’t enough of an indication, the way he carried himself with an air of nobility and calm confidence made it very clear he was more than just your run-of-the-mill blue collar sailor.

Standing a little ways behind him and to his side was a young-looking gargoyle; about as tall as the Abyssinian he accompanied which actually was fairly tall by his species’ standards. He sported a dark green coat of fur to go with his red mane he wore trimmed down to a short cut. His clothing was made out of a simple white woolen tunic that hung all the way down to his knees to go with a brown cloak hiding his wings. Unlike the Abyssinian, he didn’t carry any weapons on his person, instead wearing some sort of leather utility rig above his tunic fitted with several pouches and, most noticeably, a glowing fist-sized gem in the middle of his chest where the straps of the rig crossed.

And for some reason the gargoyle also had a broken antler.

The Abyssinian confidently strode down the ramp and approached Dilip and Sidereal.

“Greetings. My name is Sir Armiger, recently dispatched by the Abyssinian Crown to provide off-world humanitarian relief. To whom do I have the honor to speak with?” He said, offering his paw to Dilip.

The Diamond Dog appraised the Abyssinian with a careful look before firmly grasping the proffered paw.

“Captain Prateek of M/V Amandine.” The Indian presented himself as he jabbed a thumb towards Amandine’s grey and white silhouette. “Is this vessel yours?” He asked, politely motioning towards Sirocco with one cream-furred paw.

“No, Sirocco’s mine.” A raspy feminine voice came from above them.

Dilip raised his head only to see a form jump over the railing on top of Sirocco’s main and drop down the whole five stories to their level in a flash accompanied by the rustling of feathers against air. It casually landed in a crouch in front of them before standing up to its full height proudly.

A height that was not negligible considering it was actually a female parrot, tall as they were compared to their male brethren. Her off-white feathers were hidden beneath a pair of loose work pants that accompanied her sleeveless blue duffle coat. The markings and ranks on it left little doubt as to who she was exactly: Sirocco’s Captain.

Her arms and legs were partly covered by several wooden bracelets which almost hid the orange-ish scaly hide on the parrot’s extremities.

She stood up and shoved her claws down in her pockets in a pose brimming with the sort of casual confidence that came when you considered yourself in perfect control of the situation, a small smirk on her orange beak and a twinkle in her pink eyes. Neither Sidereal nor Dilip missed the large scar that crossed her throat, most likely the reason behind her raspy voice.

That, or the large handlebar of a cigar she had in her beak, either worked.

Much like Sir Armiger, she was armed. A pair of falchions, along with two flintlock pistols were firmly secured to holsters on her belt.

“The name’s Captain Ceylan, of SS Sirocco.” She rasped out in a Portuguese accent, one claw leaving her pocket to brush through her emerald-green crest of feathers. “Sir Armiger here is actually the charterer of this expedition.”

“Well met then.” Dilip nodded. “Who’s the gargoyle?” He said, eyeing the mage standing behind Armiger.

“Derek… Derek Fireburst.” The aforementioned gargoyle stuttered. “I’m Sir Armiger’s bodyguard.” He said, crossing his arms to appear more confident.

Dilip quirked an eyebrow at the display and turned an inquisitive look towards the Abyssinian.

“As he said.” The cat smiled.

“Excuse me!” Sidereal interjected, gaining some looks from the newcomers. “Doctor Sidereal Venture, Equestria’s representative with this group of survivors.” She presented herself. “How come you were sent here in the first place? I remember asking for documentation not…” She waved a hoof towards Sirocco. “… something quite as grand as this.”

“It’s both a little change of plans and an investment on my part.” Armiger said. “Your report has been followed by many similar ones sent by other teams from all nations involved in the humanitarian mission. It’s been deemed too dangerous to send ground teams like yours with the presence of monsters.”

“That and you did ask for a lot of documentation. Panthera’s university wasn’t too enthusiastic at the prospect of parting with that amount of books. The printing costs alone were... considerable to put it mildly.” Derek added.

“Thankfully funding was helped along by yours truly.” Armiger boasted. “All useful data, as much to help the locals…” He turned his eyes towards Sidereal. “… as to assist secluded ponies who are at a loss when faced with foreign species.”

Sidereal’s jaw tightened, the red mare throwing the Abyssinian an outraged look before closing her eyes and releasing a long sigh.

“Fair enough… that’s not totally inaccurate.” She ground out. “About this change of plan?”

“Sirocco isn’t the only airship that’s been dispatched to reinforce relief teams. Naturally, they’re that much harder to send across the inter-world divide, so a couple teams had to be called off and retreat.” Captain Ceylan told the pony. “Yours isn’t. Once you’re done here you’ll accompany us along an updated patrol route. And this ain’t the worst thing yet…” She concluded, giving a side glance towards Derek.

“The situation’s bad.” The gargoyle mage told Sidereal, shoulders slumped. “Your report on runic circles and monsters has done the rounds in academic circles. They found a match… several as a matter of fact. We… we do have an explanation as to where they must be coming from, but I doubt you’d like its implications.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Dilip spied the approaching pink silhouette of Raimund. With a polite cough, he stopped the young gargoyle before he could start his explanation.

“If I may?” He asked. “I believe we’d be more comfortable discussing such a, ahem… sensitive matter in the company of my fellow Captain. Please, meet Captain Gerig, of M/V Rhine Forest.” He said, waving a paw towards Raimund.

The German-turned-unicorn-filly came to a halt next to the Indian, an embarrassingly cute scowl on the Captain’s muzzle.

“What’s going on here?” She barked.

Before the newcomers could raise any questions about the age of the filly and why she even was a Captain, Sidereal discreetly got their attention and mouthed a ‘don’t ask’ at them.

“Sidereal requested documents, they’re here to deliver them, and reinforce her team. Say they got bad news.” Dilip summed up, arms crossed.

The elderly German in a filly’s body eyed all the newcomers for a couple seconds, tail flicking from side to side.

“If it’s that important then let’s have that talk in my office. Do you mind if Officers attend the meeting?”

And on that note, the pink filly beckoned the newcomers towards her vessel.

Author's Notes:

Little pink unicorn turns up, says she's the Captain of that big black ship you see in the background... Yeah, if peeps didn't tell newcomers she's not a lying brat that got lost where she shouldn't, I doubt many would actually believe Raimund is Rhine's Captain.

I also can't help but find the idea of a tiny pink filly barking orders in German at a crew of experienced sailors... kinda humorous to say the least.

'Experienced' being a relative term, 'cause Rhine's crew list (which I'll get around to publishing with the data sheet once I hit a point where it's not spoiler material) features no less than six cadets. A bit much by merchant standards.