Golden Dawn and Gunmetal touched down at the new landing pad that had been hastily put together at the Squad Barracks. With Recruits at their flight decks, there was nowhere else to land. What was left of the open space for the Squad Barracks had buildings being constructed or materials on it. Most of the senior officers that had come were being housed in opened Units.

“Alright,” Golden Dawn growled. “Lets find this fucking General Shielded Vengeance and find out what this summons is all about. I have a job to do.”

Gunmetal nodded. “I could care less for myself, but you need to be back, training with your unit on this set of exercise.”

As they moved towards the Squad Barracks they passed by officers talking in small groups. All were at least colonel, mostly admirals and generals. There was enough traffic through the walkways between the Units that everything was chaotic. The sky was off limits because of the Aerial Combat School that was in session. Safety first.

Golden Dawn was shocked. “This is one of them most docile places in the Enclave. Yet this is madness!”

As they jumped out of the way of a bolting Pegasus, they bumped into another.

“Sorry Sir!” They said as they did a quick 180 and saluted.

“No worries.”

“Colonel, Sir,” Golden Dawn said to the Colonel who had conducted the Equaggan War Weapons. “It is good to see you.”

“I would say the same, but you are obviously angry.”

Golden Dawn snarled. “I have to talk to some fucking General Shielded Vengeance. I have no fucking idea why I was fucking summoned here. I am supposed to be engaged in exercises so I can learn to be a better fucking NCO soldier before going to Officer School, but this stopped that. My Lieutenant already loathes me. And then I have to deal with this fucking chaos!”

Gunmetal shook her head and smiled at the Colonel. “Ignore her, its not been easy for her at her unit. The Lieutenant gives her shit whenever he can and she got plenty for being called away by a general. Coward was the nicest thing he said.”

“But we really do want to talk to this General Shielded Vengeance to understand why we were summoned. Especially me. I am a gunsmith and this is combat units with no gunsmiths stationed at the Squad Barracks. I checked before we left.”

“Well,” The Colonel said with a laugh. “It was good bumping into you. General Shielded Vengeance’s temporary office is in the big building, two stories, near the back of the Squad Barracks. Unit 0, Office 5. I don’t think he is in there at the moment. I will get a message to him and he will be there soon. Just head in and sit down.”

“That you Sir,” Golden Dawn said, forcing herself to put a smile on.

Since Unit 0 was the only Unit that had multiple floors. It was easy to find.

“Big building,” Gunmetal stated. “I wonder what Unit 0 is.”

The main hall had officers talking in small groups that they had to weave around. Nopony was in Office 5, so they quietly sat down and waited. It wasn’t long.

“Fancy seeing you here,” General Shielded Vengeance smiled as he sat down.

“Fuck,” Golden Dawn said as she began to beat her head on the desk, each time repeating the word.

“I never could have seen that coming,” Gunmetal chuckled. “What are you doing here? Or better yet, what were you doing back there as a Colonel?”

“You can stop now,” He said to Golden Dawn. “Its no problem. I typically wear no rank or Colonel wings. I like to stay on the down low and let my Colonels do their jobs. I am head over the Aerial Combat Battalion, and that includes the Wonderbolts.”

Gunmetal starting to speak, but hesitated. “Are you a Wonderbolt?”

“Yes, I am. You do not have to be for my job, but its basically always been held by Wonderbolts.”

“I am a light trooper,” Golden Dawn declared. “I don’t want anything to do with this. I believe I made that very clear when I joined up and each time I got kicked around specialized trainings. I just want to be a light trooper.”

“And why am I here?” Gunmetal asked. “I am not a combatant. Armorer isn’t a combat roll.”

The General smiled and leaned onto the desk.

“My battalion is small. Its always been like that. But its powerful. We need to expand it quite a bit with new information being learned about below. We need more Aerial Combat Units. It still will be small, even when fully expanded.

“Golden Dawn, they may wear medium armor, but they are still lighter troops than your standard soldiers. Kind of a middle troop. Gunmetal, you may be a mechanic and a gunsmith, but I know how well you can shoot and what you can do in your yearly combat exercises. You are not a simple mechanic. And you purposefully coasted through EWW.

“And now that you mentioned it, there is no immediate gunsmith for the Squad Barracks. The ACUs take good care of their weapons, but anything big has to be serviced at headquarters. I don’t think they have anything big though. Give me one second.”

The General picked up the phone.

“What?” Nova groaned.

“Colonel, with the new numbers, we should think about getting a permanent gunsmith with a full workshop.”

“Workshop is on the list for Building 4, name pending. I have that covered. Is that it?”

“You can go back into hiding now. Thank you.”

The General turned his attention back to them.

“Colonel Nova is exactly what I need right now, but he is quiet. This is way to much activity for him. Or me. Or really any of the officers stationed here. And, come to think of it, most of the soldiers as well. Even more when it comes to an ACS.”

Golden Dawn was adament. “General, I am not going to join the Aerial Combat Units. I don’t want to.”

“I get that. Even with the expansion, our standards are not dropping. Even bringing on so many new soldiers, we still have very limited spots. Will you at least take a few days to run with a group and feel things out?”

Golden Dawn let out a groaning sigh. “Fine. As long as it means I will never hear of this again.”

“Deal. Gunmetal?”

“I’m here,” She shrugged. “I love to play, but I might as well try and learn a new dance. I would say I have nothing better to do, but back there, where I just transferred to, there is a lot backlogged to deal with. What some of those idiots were thinking or doing is beyond me. If this does end up as a transfer, at least I made a marvelous impact in their logs. Just get them a new, trained gunsmith, even a green one. Just a dedicated, trained armorer.”

General Shielded Vengeance smiled warmly at them. “I will. If you move, I will make sure they get one ASAP. Before you officially transfer if I can.”

“You two will be in Unit 234. Tomorrow, 0900, outside of your Unit. Chose beds on the right side of the Unit. Orientation is as you walk in. You will line up on that same side in the morning.”

“Thank you,” They said as they departed.

“I fucking hate this idea,” Golden Dawn spat when they got outside.

“It might be fun,” Gunmetal chirped. “More fun than you think. So put that smile back on and try and enjoy it. At least you wont be belittled and yelled at for no reason.”

“That is the only good thing,” Golden Dawn sighed.

Finding Unit 234 took some work and asking for directions. The new additions couldn’t follow the same pattern as the originals. Unit 235 was almost finished.

“Brand, brand new,” Gunmetal said, looking around. “Everything is shiny. Nothing squeaks. The toilets should work perfectly. Shower heads should spit water out evenly in the right spread. This is nice. We are probably the first occupants!”

“Second positive,” Golden Dawn stated. “Our board isn’t trashy.”

“I wonder what is going on here,” Gunmetal stated. “I forgot to ask. But he belongs here.”

Golden Dawn shrugged. She was still ticked off. “I do not know. An early dinner is probably a good idea. Their mess hall is appropriately sized for the typical numbers.”

“Lead on!”

Few ponies were in the mess hall when they entered. By the time they sat down, the line for food was out the door and growing fast. There was nowhere to hang out and the sheer amount of ponies in such a small area made them want to head into their Unit for some peace and quiet.

Vengeful Blade was inside along with two others. They had eaten at the headquarter mess hall.

“Hey!” They greeted each other.

Blade was the third pony on their side.

“At least you are a soldier with a direct combat role,” Gunmetal stated. “General Shielded Vengeance brought me here because I shoot well and am really good during our yearly combat exercises. I still am in a support field with my crossed wrenches.”

“Are you still using that Snack Gun?” Blade asked Golden Dawn.

“It’s put away in the locker, but ready to rock and roll. I had that combat exercises to do when I got back to my Unit. I showed them how to do it old school. And I whooped half of their butts!”

“Nice,” Blade chuckled.

Nopony knew what was going on at the Squad Barracks. Only that they were summoned there by General Shielded Vengeance. Their sixth roommate arrived late and it wasn’t long until they were in bed, lights out. Some came by Cloudship, like Golden Dawn and Gunmetal, others by wing.

There was no avoiding the breakfast gridlock. The six of them stayed together to navigate the storm. At least nopony was dilly dallying. It was like they all were at Basic, eat and go. Even the stars and wings were not dilly dallying. The seats were rotated out quick enough.

“Look at that,” Gunmetal said referencing Cardinal Spitfire in her new uniform. “I have never seen that uniform before.”

Golden Dawn’s face lit up when Cardinal Spitfire turned and Golden Dawn recognized her.

“CARDINAL SPITFIRE!” Golden Dawn called out over the noise.

“HEY!” Cardinal Spitfire said trotting over to them with her tray full of food.

“It is so good to see you!” Golden Dawn laughed. “It looks like things have been going well for you. Its been trash for me. And now General Shielded Vengeance has me twisted into trying out what it means to be in an ACU. I am a Light Trooper damn it!”

“Well,”

“STRIPE TWINS!” Deke interrupted.

Deke was in the usual black duty uniform for cloud ship officers. His stripes were at the same locations as the flight suits, the duty uniform just didn’t grip the body, but were like normal pants and shirts, just pressed.

“So, its Lieutenant Commander now,” Deke grinned, bobbing his head.

“Ignore the idiot,” Little said joining them. “Cardinal Spitfire has shit to do. Not talk dress up with you.”

Little was in the same uniform style as Deke. She had the commander’s three full stripes and her cover’s brim was gold trimmed, not a plain black one like Deke was wearing.

“Hi Deke!” Golden Dawn said, getting his attention.

“GOLDEN DAWN!” Deke exclaimed. “They really got everypony here for whatever the fuck is going on.”

“Oh!” Deke said getting serious. “She is officially taken. So its a defin- OW!”

“Fucker,” Little said as she prepared to smack him in the back of the head again with her wing.

“Golden Dawn,” Gunmetal chuckled. “If I swung like you, yeah. She is smoking hot.”

Cardinal Spitfire rolled her eyes, choosing not to say anything.

“Okay, uniforms,” Blade said. “What is up with them?”

“New type,” Cardinal Spitfire quickly explained. “For some test runs including a rank change up for the ACB and Third Fleet. Right now, it is just a few of us in them. Their poster foals. I am the only Wonderbolt in one, and none of the ACUs have been given new ones either.”

“Deke can tell you more. I have shit to do. Its 0752 and I am supposed to be training Unit 0 on formations in 8 minutes. Today they apply the formations in the air. I will not make it in time. Fuckers.”

“Let Deke plan a meeting for us later. And your friends as well.”

“Wait!” Gunmetal said as Cardinal Spitfire turned to leave. “What does the Enclave symbol with the wings pointed down mean?”

“Oh,” Cardinal Spitfire stumbled. She steeled her heart, but it was reinforced with anger. “It is an MIA badge. Gold is for direct family members in the military. When Shadow unfucks below and gets back, he will be wearing a silver one. Fucking Lieutenant replaced the Major and fucked them over more than what little we could get before it was all shut down. If I ever see him again…”

Cardinal Spitfire walked away to find a place to sit as far away as possible.

“Yeah, that is why she is off the market,” Deke stated. “I was trying to get there but I got smacked. She married Shadow. He was put into ACS with her, as her teammate. Long story short, they got leave right before the end and went from teammates to dating and married in less than a week. And then they finished ACS and he was immediately pulled away for recon.”

“And then she became a Wonderbolt,” Golden Dawn finished. “And an officer.”

“Those two are separate,” Deke clarified. “A condensed crash course for the ACUs to build more officers. They needed them and they got a lot of good officers out of it.”

“Deke should have gone to their school,” Little chuckled.

“Ignore her,” Deke said shaking his head. “I have to eat so I can harass Olive Pit more. It is my duty!”

“No, you are just bored,” Little said.

“And what better things do you have to do?” Deke asked. “Hide away in your room from all these blasted mother fuckers? Actually, that is appealing.”

“Yeah, Bright Starr has opened up her library for me. I know she would let you borrow a book. Actually learn something.”

“Nah,” Deke waved off. “Just being next to the flight deck to poke at Olive Pit is fun. And good for his mentality. Have you seen him this morning?”

Little chuckled. “The Squad Barracks officers with a personal office have been getting their meals delivered to their office. Even the ones in the Pen. And the staff is picking up the dirty dishes for them when they drop off the next meal.”

“How are they planning a wedding with all this?” Deke asked.

Little sighed. “They had to stop. I know I fucked up by getting it started during an ACS, but this sudden influx of senior officers was not my fault. They can’t plan with them chocking everything out.”

“That is something we know nothing about,” Golden Dawn said getting up. “However, we are done eating, so take out spots. We have to meet up with whoever is going to try and get us hooked into joining the ACUs at 0900, outside Unit 234. So we will be around. If you can find us. I want to meet up with you guys and introduce you properly to Gunmetal and Vengeful Blade.”

Even with the late eating schedule, all of Unit 234 was outside their Unit by 0845 in parade rest. Their was an obvious split between the two sides. Several soldiers from other Units came up and loosely mirror the side they were with.

“Should we have flight suits?” One of the others asked.

“No need. You won’t be pushed to those extremes.”

Their last two ACU guides dropped in from the sky.

“Fuck the rules,” Striker said. “I’m declaring we are now leading an ACS unit.”

Striker took at look at the three he was supposed to be leading.

“Well that explains a lot. Still stupid.”

“I thought you were a tech!” Golden Dawn exclaimed. “You said you have been redoing a whole AC system on a base.”

“Yeah,” Striker said slowly. “Here is the thing. EWW was approved because it wasn’t supposed to be taught to combatants. They fight. It was the mechanic and support groups that would have time to deal with those things. But as ACUs, we need to know. We get to do it all. We will be the first, and sometimes only, pegasi to find those things. We just have to know.”

“So we are snuck in, under different jobs. Sometimes different ranks. New uniforms. And we always have a story for what we do as a job. And its something obscure, like redoing an entire base’s AC units. It makes it so that we don’t get caught in between the storm clouds because we should know somepegasus.”

“But, I have the joy of getting you three to understand what an Aerial Combat Unit is. What we do and why it is important. Oh, and what our standards are. We might be expanding, but those have not dropped. Y’all are here for a reason though, remember that. The General thinks you can make it.”

“Did you know it was the General during EWW?” Blade asked.

“I never met him until two days ago,” Striker replied. “Or well as General Shielded Vengeance.”

“And you are not happy to see us?” Gunmetal asked. “Is it because Golden Dawn turned you down?”

Striker sighed and rolled his head into a shake.

“Look. Everypegasus has been listening to me anyway. Us three, are in Unit 22. We have three of us. They are unit 9. They also have three. We are only half of a Unit, meaning we need three more.”

“We have been watching the school to put bids into the soldiers we want to be put in our Unit. We have the rare opportunity to observe new trainees and we want to try and help make the right fits, on all fronts, for our Unit. So its not you guys, its the fact that we have to spend a few days not observing.”

“Why don’t they just put you six together?”

“Because between the six of us are four officers. You have to have at least two officers in an ACU. We can’t put two brand new officers in charge of an ACU when they have just graduated. The officers are spread thin right now. 22 lost two because they were officers and 9, their missing three were all experienced officers.”

“I lost my Captain and the other First Lieutenant. Safe here is a brand new Second Lieutenant who became an officer after last ACS. He got his wings, then we had a special Officer School here so others could earn their bars. Which are now ribbons or bands or more stripes.”

“He isn’t ready to lead on his own. I am. So we stayed, the other two were moved. Our Captain is taking on five new members to form a new ACU. That means one of the officers testing will go to his Unit. I think its 177.”

“So is it Captain Striker?” Gunmetal asked.

“No, I still am a First Lieutenant. That might change with the new ranks, but that isn’t up to me. You just need to be an officer to lead an ACU. Technically, a Second Lieutenant who has been in the ACU longer can be in charge of the ACU, over a First Lieutenant or even a Captain. Ranks get screwy. The new system helps fix that. As soon as they untangle everything to be able to figure out who deserves what rank.”

“Why are there so many here?” Gunmetal asked. “All these officers?”

“We don’t know,” Safe said. “It probably has to do with the new ranks, and then uniforms. The rumor is that the uniforms were only figured out three days ago. The first to come here was the Third Fleet’s Admiral who introduced their similar uniforms and new ranks to Colonel Nova and the Wonderbolt Colonel.”

“After that, more just started showing up out of nowhere and then we were scrambling to find them rooms as we conduct a training school. At least they are leaving us alone to do our jobs and behaving.”

“Well, that is ACU chain of command 101 right there,” Striker declared. “I have spare training vests and gear for you. Its light. Just a single training rifle on a battle saddle with a magazine. One that you do not have to eject case from to work. No need for armor. We are just going to introduce you to the main battle tactics of aerial combat. And it’s not just to shoot up other flying teams.”

They fell out and followed their test Unit. Each one was paired up with an ACU member. Golden Dawn was matched with Safe, Gunmetal with Striker and Blade was with Tac, a First Sergeant. They made their way to Unit 22 where the vests were. 22 had others bunked in the other three beds, but none of them were around.

As they were putting their vests on, Golden Dawn had a question. “Striker, the first night, after orientation, we were going through my basic book after my pony mistake. You pointed to a picture of Cardinal Spitfire and didn’t know who she was.”

“Still don’t,” Striker replied. “Heard the name, not met the Pegasus or put a face to the name. Even when we were small, there still were a lot of us. I had more important things on my mind like 22’s split and taking lead.”

“Well you can meet her later. We are trying to get our group together and with our new friends.”

“You won’t have time,” Striker stated. “The day is packed.”

“She is training Unit 0 on formations,” Golden Dawn replied. “So it would have to be later.”

“Oh, she is one of them,” Striker said a little down.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Gunmetal asked as she helped untwist one of Golden Dawn’s straps.”

“A Wonderbolt,” Striker replied. “Never got along with any of them. My experience is that they look down on the ACUs. Not so much at the Squad Barracks, but I am never here. Or was.”

“Well, come and meet her at least.”

“Yeah,” Gunmetal interjected. “She may surprise you.”

“She was gorgeous.”

“And off the market,” Golden Dawn replied. “I was shocked things happened so fast for her and Shadow Flare. But lets focus on you teaching me why the fuck I should join an ACU. Fucking General.”

Safe was visibly appalled over Golden Dawn’s language about General Shielded Vengeance. Gunmetal broke down, laughing at his face.

“She. *snif* Said. *snif*” Gunmetal finally got her eyes clear of tears. “She said it to his face when we met him soon after arriving. We called him Colonel because that is who he was when we went to the EWW training. We literally bumped into him and he asked why Golden Dawn was so angry about. EWW was open. We didn’t know anything different until we went to, what turned out to be his, office and then he came in a few minutes later.”

“She is alright,” Striker said to Safe. “If I had known, I would have warned you. But yeah, EWW does change things. General Shielded Vengeance was surprisingly relaxed around me. Just like he was at EWW.”

“But, vests are on and we have so training to do!”

Striker lead them out of the Unit and over to the flight deck. They were cleared by the guard and passed through the barriers where they walked along the flight deck to check in with the Traffic Control Coordinator.

Currently, the flight deck was split down the middle with thin cones. The outside half was for landings, the inside for take offs. There was a cross area for those who landed to safely cross over in between take offs.

“We have a bit of a flight,” Striker told them. “There is a large urban zone that was created nearby. We will talk new philosophy once we arrive. And then we get to have some fun trying it out.”

They were given permission to enter and take off. As they took their positions a thunder cut across the sky, right above their heads. They dove out of the way.

“FUCK YOU ARROW!” The Traffic Control Coordinator swore. “I SAID DON’T BUZZ US! I DON’T CARE WHY YOU NEED TO, DON’T! ITS TOO RISKY!”

“Lets get out of here,” Striker panted.

They formed up quickly and got into the air. It was less than pretty, but they were off and away. Presumably safe.

“Who is this Arrow?” Blade asked as they touched down on top of a building.

“A hotshot from the last ACS,” Striker replied. “She is good. But she is young and inexperienced and so it her team, Unit 17. They are down their sixth and are looking at the officers. She will be getting a officer when they graduate. It just is a matter of who.”

“But in the mean time, Colonel Nova has them training Unit 0’s officer, Second Lieutenant Olive Pit. A combat medic working to get his wings. That is Unit 0, the combat medics. After quite a few got caught with drugs, they number 17. That is a whole fiasco and story I don’t want to explain. I want to teach you real aerial combat.”

“Oh, now you do,” Gunmetal prodded.

“Yeah yeah,” Striker waved it off. “A lot changed this morning, fast. But we are on an urban battlefield put together for a top notch barracks a not too long ago. That is why none of you are familiar with it. It has continued to serve a solid purpose since. Quite well too.”

“Umm,” Golden Dawn hesitated. “Yeah, I know this place inside and out. It was built for our Barracks.”

Striker rolled his eyes. “Of course it was you. And I saw your picture book too.”

“None were taken here,” Golden Dawn chuckled. “But that is besides the point.”

“If this was built for you, then you know what you are getting into. Mostly.”

“And that is why I am really pissed off at General Shielded Vengeance. He knows it too!”

“Well,” Strike grinned. “If you know it, then you can lead us in on our first attack. Although since we got here first, 9 is going to attack us. So I really need to deploy you.”

They followed Striker to his desired location and took defensive positions.

“Well,” Safe said quietly to her. “You are full of surprises.”

“I don’t try to be,” Golden Dawn replied with a sigh. “Its just how things are right now.”

“You never thought about joining the Aerial Combat Units?”

“No,” Golden Dawn shrugged. “I went in to be a soldier. And to be a LT, not a regular soldier. I want to move fast and strike hard, in between our more solid lines. I never was that great in the sky. Not like you guys. Not like our best squad in our Basic Training group. All six were offered spots, but the others had things like mechanics and tech slots they had been working for since they were young.”

“I never got offered a slot. I do not know why I am being offered one now. My skills in the air haven’t improved and all I want to do is be an LT. They sent me to EOD and Heavy Weapons training as well, but I just want to be an LT!”

“Great,” Safe said quietly. “They heard that.”

“LET THEM COME! LET THEM ALL COME AND FACE MY FURY!”

Golden Dawn dashed out, abandoning Safe and slid down and alley way and out of sight. Unit 9 turned their attention to her, diving to intercept. Safe shot one of the sky and the others downed another two.

Golden Dawn let them give chase. She knew these roads and squares and kept ahead of them. She slid around a corner to find what she wanted and vault to the top of a building like Shadow had taught them. Three quick shots and the others were zapped.

Golden Dawn glided back to the others with her head held high and a smile on her lips.

“Damn,” Gunmetal said beating the others to speak first. “I am afraid to find out what you were like in that training with that Snack Gun. I know they feared you, but that…”

“That isn’t a Light Trooper,” Striker grinned. “That is more like a Aerial Combatant than a LT. And you were looking fine doing it too.”

Golden Dawn playfully pushed Striker away for his playful flirtation.

“Damn,” The Captain over Unit 9 said joining them. “That was one hell of a chase. I never saw that coming.”

“You saw what I wanted you to see,” Golden Dawn said winking.

“And she says she doesn’t want to be anything but an LT,” Safe announced.

“LTs would not have been able to out run and maneuver us. Shoot, sure if they had the right position, but not one shot per Pegasus.”

“I was in the Barracks these buildings were built for,” Golden Dawn said with a chuckle. “I know them decently well, and your overall philosophy quite well. It was designed by our instructor, Lieutenant Marble Falls. I am sure of that.”

“Captain Marble Falls?” 9’s Captain asked. “As in you were trained by Captain Marble Falls? Striker may not like the Wonderbolts, but she is a solid legend here for her work. Wonderbolt by day, trains recruits on her off days, and she makes sure the Instructor Squad is properly maintained.”

“She wants to do it all and can. She is generally in a good mood, not haughty, loves to laugh and play, and is kind. If she barks, you deserved it. But she is forgiving and willing to help. On top of it all, I have not touched on her flying ability.”

“Even I like her for that,” Striker admitted. “Not that we know each other, but she is one of those pegasi that make it hard to dislike them.”

“I am pretty sure if she found out I am here, she would track me down immediately.”

“Let’s see,” Striker smiled.

He switched his com to talk to dispatch and set up their coms to listen in. Only listen in.

“This is Lieutenant Striker, where is Captain Marble Falls?”

“Captain Marble Falls is with Unit 0,” Dispatch replied. “The chart says they are in Zone 1, above the Squad Barracks. Do you need her?”

“Oh, I just have a message for her,” Striker replied. “I know she is busy.”

“Busy how?” Marble Falls said, catching the last bit as they connected her up.

“Oh, I just have somepegasus who claims to know you. A Golden Dawn.”

“Golden Dawn! She is here? Why the fuck is she here? Damn it. I would, but I am playing six in Squad C and can’t break this tight formation. Unit 0 needs to know these formations like they know stitches. And they are surprisingly doing well.”

“I will track Golden Dawn down as soon as possible. No need to tell me anything. I will hunt her myself. And enjoy it. Shit, fell out of formation.”

The coms clicked as Marble Falls broke the connection off suddenly.

“Well,” Striker stammered. “She lost her spot in the formation at the idea of hunting you.”

Golden Dawn shook her head. “That doesn’t sound like it will be fun for me at all. She is eccentric and crafty. I will probably end up bruised and or pissing myself. If I remember her training tactics right.”

The others were chuckling.

“Lets wrap this chatter session up!” Golden Dawn declared. “I have to show Unit 22 that I know how to conduct aerial combat, just like an ACU, like Captain Marble Falls apparently taught us.”

They took off, forming up on her command. Golden Dawn put them trough some basic test maneuvers to get them in sync. When they were given the go ahead, she brought them in low, spreading the teams out a bit. They would not get spotted in the sky.

Her search pattern cut across the map and over Unit 9’s position. It was reported, but Golden Dawn moved them forward a bit and then around, like they had been missed.

As they zeroed in on the locations she had Blade and Tac drop and move into a strong defensive position. She put Striker and Gunmetal on a roof a few buildings back and swung around with Safe.

They slid into a road undetected and sprung their trap. Golden Dawn hit one before they were pinned. Their movements were called out. Striker and Gunmetal jumped to the last roof and opened fire, taking out three from behind.

The last two holdouts were in a position they couldn’t get to without being hit. Blade and Tac were in the superior position and blindsided the last two.

Since they were all right there, they gathered together.

“Fuck, you know aerial combat philosophy and can apply it,” 9 Captain said first. “And you don’t want to be in an ACU?”

“I want my hooves on the ground,” Golden Dawn shrugged.

“You didn’t enjoy that, even a little bit?” Tac asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Golden Dawn blushed. “It was a lot of fun. But I put us on the ground, not the sky.”

“That is where we do most of our fighting,” Striker grinned. “And its that idea. Maneuver and strike fast. Don’t let them know where you are. Make sure they can always be surprised. Whoever has the high ground wins.”

“And I can see why Officer School is lined up for you. It just flows for you.”

“Well,” Golden Dawn shrugged. “I just do what I do. What comes naturally and what is best. I didn’t want officer to start either. But by the end, it was fun.”

“Do you want to go back to those lunkheads back in 256?” Gunmetal asked.

“No,” Golden Dawn said without thinking. “But I will get my own platoon and they won’t be lunkheads.”

“You may be an officer, but you can’t change who your troops are,” 9’s Captain warned her. “If they are ignorant lightweights, they are ignorant lightweights. You have to get them to perform as best as possible, but you are not going to change who they are or why they are an LT in the first place.”

Golden Dawn defended her fellow LT soldiers. “They serve important tactical roles like moving in faster to secure the line, reinforcing a front or running flanking maneuvers. They run light and are faster than deploying even regular soldiers.”

9’s Captain was ready for the reply. “But they also are kind of the fodder. The first to be sent in because officially, it takes more time to move the other types of troops. It really doesn’t. But the Brass would rather send in soldiers with light weapons and armor to take the known immediate hits, rather than loose the more costly armor and better trained troops. I know they both go through combat school and pass, but if you look at the spread, the lower ranked soldiers by performance typically end up in an LT Unit.”

“Fuck,” Golden Dawn spat. “That was what I was having to deal with on our last combat exercise. I kept a whole line together after three quarters of us were taken down by a soldier unit, including our idiot Lieutenant.”

“I raised hell. We held that line and they felt the fury of my Applesnack Submachine Gun. My Lieutenant hates me even more for it.”

Gunmetal chuckled. “At this point, hate is putting it lightly. And he can’t move you. You have been one shining star in the Unit, and then in the company, and the battalion. I even think you are supposed to get a citation.”

“A box came in for you right before we left. I was in the cage, but not allowed to open it. To be fair, I was covered in black grease from unfucking a heavy machine gun those lunkheads jammed up. Still have no idea what they did.”

“Yeah, I shouldn’t of transferred myself there,” Gunmetal admitted. “It has been a blast with you, but I am going to have to take this ACS offer. I probably will take that damn machine gun with me since its useless anyway. And its so old, the Enclave doesn’t even know it exists.”

“Do it,” Golden Dawn grinned. “That thing has been such a pain. I wish I could’ve helped you more than I did.”

“Hey, you helped unfuck that bitch to be able to remove the firing pin. That is a big win. Giant. I was on that task for two days before you came in. But its like they welded it together, without welling it.”

Golden Dawn heaved a heavy sigh. “Fuck. I know what I am going to end up doing, but I do not want to. The official summons better come to my Lieutenant and he has to be tasked with giving it to me.”

Striker could only give a single chuckle with his grin. “That is the Golden Dawn I know.”

“Before we head out for round 3,” Golden Dawn said. “Gunmetal, do you think Treasured Rose, Summer and the other rovers I work with would make good ACS candidates?”

Gunmetal shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt to inquire. If not, they really should get trained in Peace Keeping or something to use their skills better.”

“Well, I will give fucking General Shielded Vengeance that information to leverage me joining.”

“Leverage the General?” Safe said appalled.

“Yeah yeah,” Golden Dawn said rolling her eyes. “I know you have a high regard for him and other senior officers. Great. Good! Better than me and I will always admit that and probably still add ‘fucking’ before ‘general’ most of the time for him.”

“But I only meant telling him I will only join if he puts in consideration about extending an ACS offer to the other seven rovers. Its not an actual power move. Its just a request. Obviously he will do it because all he has to do is consider them and he obviously wants me enough to kidnap me and bring me here.”

“Kidnapping is strong,” Gunmetal clarified. “But we didn’t have any notice, it was an immediate summons, or know anything expected of us. It would’ve been nice to have a little more information. We had to run to meet up with our transport.”

“Alright. Enough,” 9’s Captain said. “We can chat after we play a few more rounds and get the others into feeling things better. It’s not their fault she is a natural. They still need to learn and we have to make sure you actually can make it.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 78 - Break One Patch The Other Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 6 Minutes