Nova trotted up to the group who had recently arrived. He had enough to deal with. His mind was preparing for the discussion and his hoofs were working on making sure his uniform was spotless. An easy task since he was wearing one of his old flight suit from his time as a Scout. And a rare khaki one at that.

He was enjoying their nostalgic feel, but he was also working to alleviate the staff’s laundry duty. It was suffocating because of their visitors. He had assigned two units that were squared away to assist them with the laundry, food tasks, and other forgotten duties. And he was probably going to have to add two, but it was crowded.

Nova took a deep breath in for composure and let it out, become as hard and unyielding as rock.

“It is unwise for them to be here. They are not welcome,” Nova said to the two Colonels and the Admiral walking towards him.

Each had brought a protege.

“They are our assistants,” The Admiral replied, obviously thinking she was better than anypegasus else. “And that is no way to greet guests.”

“I know who you all are,” Nova snorted. “Miss Windy Lightning, Admiral, on the Lenticular and First Fleet, Task Force One. The Lenticular is the flagship of the First Fleet, but you are under several Admirals. You are the Admiral in charge of Task Force One. Your go to meal is hay fries with a tomato based vegetable shake. You brought along First Lieutenant Green Shield.”

“Sir Sky Gust, Colonel of the Second Division’s, First Brigade, First Regiment. You are currently dating Flutter Moon and will be proposing to her next time you get the chance, which will be after this. Lieutenant Honey Bee is your protege.”

“Sir Mighty Maille, Colonel. First Division, First Brigade, First Regiment. You like your tea, Earl Grey, with two drops of lemon juice. General Thunder Sky will be retiring soon and you are one of the top three choices for his position. And you brought with you Captain Autumn Leaf.”

“Now, for the safety of everypegasus here, please have your assistants depart. Headquarters should still have space for them to bunk.”

They were shocked and didn’t know what to say.

“You have to know the players if you want to play the game,” Nova declared.

“And you are?” Admiral Windy Lightning asked.

“Figure it out for your fucking self,” Nova spat. “Disrespectful hooligans.”

His flight suit should have told them who he was. The Scout’s flight suits were designed differently that what the ACBs currently fielded. And khaki had stopped being a valid work uniform over five years ago. Only a few still had them after they stopped issuing them. And it took someone with enough power to wear one. Every so often a general would cause a stir with a throwback uniform like the khaki version.

“Well Sir, we will keep our assistants with us,” Colonel Mighty Maille stated firmly.

Nova wasn’t going to take it or lay down. He stood his ground firmly.

“They don’t belong. Only a select few are majors. The rest of the pegasi here are Colonels, Admirals, Generals and others like them. Get them out of here. Nopegasus wants them, we need this place as free as possible and three more is a lot. Plus, I don’t want them.”

“We will deal with them,” Colonel Sky Gust assured Nova.

Nova shook his head in disappointment. “You have been warned. It is dangerous around here.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Admiral Windy Lighting shot back.

Colonel Nova grinned. “Exactly what I said. It is dangerous around here. There are way too many pegasi here while we are training. This is not place for those three to be.”

Colonel Nova did a clean 180 and walked away. He resisted shaking his head. What would happen, would happen. They were warned it was dangerous. At almost twenty years of military service, Nova was confident that he could politically handle both Colonels and the Admiral with ease.

“Come on,” Colonel Sky Gust said trotting away. “Lets see this legendary flight deck and what is really happening.”

They made their way over to the flight deck but found it secured by a boundary with a guard. They walked over to him.

“Name and Unit?” The Guard asked.

“Colonel Sky Gust. We don’t have a Unit here.”

“No Unit, no name on my list, no entry. We have too much happening for me to let you past this barrier. It is an unsafe time.”

Autumn Leaf rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t barred last time when I was here, during an ACS. Do you know who I am?”

“Yes,” The Guard shot back. “I know you. You, sadly, do not know me. And you are right, it wasn’t blocked off. That was a small ACS and there were not so many visitors.”

“For safety, no visitors are allowed past the barriers. It is for safety of all. We have had already had several near collisions on the runway today, and the day isn’t even halfway finished. You will have to get clearance from at least one of the Colonels to enter.”

“For crying out loud,” Admiral Windy Lightning snorted. “Just let us through. I am an Admiral.”

“Orders are order,” The Guard replied firmly. “I can not in change of anything from here. Go get permission from either of the Colonels.”

“We can remove you from your job,” Colonel Mighty Maille threatened.

“Fuck off,” The Guard ordered, flipping his wing at them. “Order are orders and you can’t touch me.”

“Why you!” Admiral Windy Lightning stammered.

“Master Sergeant!” The Wonderbolt’s Major, Windstone Hill, called from out of their sight. “Let them in for the day. For the day only. Unless they get it extended through proper channels. Lieutenant Autumn Leaf was here before and knows the safety rules.”

“And Lieutenant, you and your friends, they can’t touch him. The Master Sergeant has a long, illustrious career here in the ACUs. Respect him and all other traffic controllers, no matter what rank. They out rank you for safety reasons.”

The Master Sergeant cleanly stepped aside to let them in.

“Standard reminder. No flying, period. Wings tucked in at all times. Stay behind the warning cones so you do not get too close to the flight deck and keep an eye out at all times from every direction for any possible threat. Everything outside of that, talk to Traffic Control Coordinator.”

They ignored him as they stepped past the barrier and walked along the flight deck, but keeping their distance from the edge. The Major that let them in was nowhere to be seen, not that thanks were in order. The Major watched them walk by, oblivious. The Wonderbolt flight jackets screwed most outsiders up and the jacket was marked for a First Lieutenant.

“That is a lot of pegasi in the air,” Admiral Windy Lightning stated in awe. “And they are being controlled by one Pegasus?”

“Five actually,” A Lieutenant said as she walked by, her trainees in tow. “Still stay out of the way. We don’t need an accident and we already have some trouble makers. And quit gawking. Its just a standard four zone training system. Each Unit gets a zone to work in. The bigger the maneuvers, the further out their zone is.”

“And the fifth?” Lieutenant Green Shield asked.

“Take off, landing and zone transfers. Now we need to get back up in the air.”

They watched them take off, enthralled by the massive skill it took. Not just to coordinate the zones, but for each Unit to be training, independently from the others, while still not slamming into each other.

“Fuck,” Deke groaned from his usual spot on the side of the steps. “You again?”

They turned their attention to Deke. Little stopped coming down the steps to watch.

“Hello again,” Admiral Windy Lightning smirked. “You pass yet? Or are you here because you failed?”

“Far from it,” Deke laughed. “I’m here for her sister’s wedding. Which was supposed to happened before all this shit, but now its on hold.”

“So they let you navigate after all,” Lieutenant Green Shield smirked.

“He he,” Deke chuckled, trying to compose himself. “I navigate. And pilot. And run weapons. A week after I was on board, I was flying her solo and the week after that, they were dumb enough to train and qualify me on her weapons. I do it all. I learned in two weeks what you still can’t do.”

“I brought her into Fort Wind and made an epic entrance slash landing on the flight deck. I did almost get skinned alive for the stunt, but it was worth it. I would have added a salute with blanks if I had known we had them on board.”

Little giggled at Lieutenant Green Shield’s and Admiral Windy Lightning’s faces. Part horror, part pure hatred.

“What are you laughing at?” Autumn Leaf barked.

“Their stupid faces,” Little grinned. “Yeah, I taught him. I wish I regretted it, but he is a damn fine operator and officer.”

“He is a damn fool,” Autumn Leaf spat.

“He does not always think through things fully,” Little admitted, coyly, before getting serious. “But he knows what he is doing and could do it on their ship as well as he can do it on ours.”

Admiral Windy Lightning was pissed off at that. “The Lenticular is a powerful warship that can not be controlled by a single Pegasus,” She huffed. “It is a Raptor and he has no clue how to deal with one. That is why he failed his practicum under our banner.”

“Nooooo,” Little said, drawing it out. “He failed because you couldn’t handle his greatness. He can fly that ship by himself. Easily. Otherwise he would not be trusted on our bridge, for hours alone, to fly ours.”

“And what is yours?” Lieutenant Green Shield snorted.

“If you know, then you already know,” Deke shrugged. “Otherwise you don’t need to know and can’t know. Unless of course, you need to know. But then, you would already know.”

“Good day!” Ruby Snow said coming out of the Squad Barracks. “I am actually not surprised to see you Admiral. Your protegees shouldn’t be here. Nor should the other officers. I guess the Colonels could stay, but it is dangerous right now. I have no idea why they would care, or most of the pegasi here. But this is where it is all happening, I guess.”

“Still, it is good seeing you Admiral Windy Lightning.”

The Admiral had no idea who Ruby Snow was. A sad fact since his coat was unforgettable.

“We went to Basic Training together,” Ruby Snow stated. “In Blue. The same with Officer School. We served our first year on the Mammatus together.”

“Oh yes,” She said, it finally clicking. “What happened to you? You had promise and then you disappeared.”

“To fulfill that promise in the Third Fleet,” Ruby Snow smiled. “And now that is passing it all on to these two. Don’t the new uniforms look great? Deke here is already a Lieutenant Commander and Little here is a Commander who also serves as my First Mate.”

“In case you missed the memo,” Deke smirked. “Lieutenant Commander is in the Third Fleet’s new ranking system. An O4. Above a First Lieutenant. And Commander, that ranks at an O5. Above a Captain.”

“You might want to pay them the respect due,” Ruby Snow said as he smiled innocently.

“No fucking way,” Lieutenant Green Shield spat. “The Third Fleet is a shit fleet and there is no way that you actually outrank me.”

“And I have more skill,” Deke reminded him.

“He can handle her with great finesse,” Ruby Snow said, fueling things by simply just bragging about his crew between captains. “I am lucky you didn’t see his great potential and was able to snatch him up. In two weeks I could sleep soundly at night with him at the helm. The same as the entire bridge crew.”

“You are taking things too far,” Admiral Windy Lighting warned. “Insulting my officer, my ship and my skills as an officer.”

“Facts are facts,” Deke chucked. “Even when they hurt.”

“You didn’t last for a reason,” Lieutenant Green Shield growled. “You couldn't last on a real ship.”

“Not as anything but a Captain,” Deke said with a single nod. “Above the idiots so I can teach them and lead them correctly.”

“Eh,” Ruby Snow shrugged. “Ain’t worth your time. Put it back into pissing off Olive Pit. That serves a purpose. Arguing with them ain’t worth it.”

“However,” Ruby Snow smiled at the Admiral. “I would love to catch up. If you have the time. I know things are busy being an Admiral and there is a lot you must have to do.”

“I will see,” Admiral Windy Lightning smiled back. “For now, we were just checking out their skills in the sky. Captain Autumn Leaf was here when the last ACS happened.”

“And when my Barracks blasted apart all the others,” Deke added. “He was watching out for us, helping us train. Making us better soldiers. The best Barracks to come out of Fort Wind. Ever!”

“Ugh,” Autumn Leaf groaned. “I thought I recognized your face.”

“Would my flank help you remember more?” Deke ask, showing his off a bit more.

Autumn Leaf was raging, but without words.

“That is going too far!” Honey Bee yelled stepping into Deke’s face. “You show some respect to him!”

“Let me think?” Deke said slowly. “Nah. He didn’t give me an ounce before. He is going to have to earn it. I am not hard to please.”

“He isn’t going to give you any sexual favors!” Honey Bee barked in Deke’s face.

“Hey,” Deke said, wings up to show his innocence. “It was a harmless joke. I didn’t mean to make you jealous.”

Nothing more could be said as a red and black blob slammed into the ground right next to Deke and sent Honey Bee flying backwards. He rolled a few painful times, sliding to a stop a good 50 yards away.

Cardinal Spitfire pulled her head up, flipping her mane in style. Style was over before it settled all over the place.

“You killed him,” Cardinal Spitfire growled as she began to stalk forward.

Marble Falls landed hard, in between. The rest of Unit 0 and Pony Patrol was right behind her, staying off to the side. They all had come in hard and fast, breaking all of the safety rules. Several of Unit 0 began to move towards the injured Lieutenant but wisely stopped.

His breathing is rough and a struggle. The pain of his brokenness was obvious as he just laid there. Aware, but in pain. He heard every word.

Cardinal Spitfire continued to move forward.

“You kept their team below. You usurped the Colonel. You stepped out of line. You should die by my hooves.”

Cardinal Spitfire just growled for a good minute.

Arrow brought 17 in for fast, hard landing and Olive Pit began to move towards the Lieutenant.

“OLIVE PIT!” Deke yelled in warning, “STOP! She will put you in the hospital!”

Olive Pit nodded, frozen in mid step. He hadn’t see Cardinal Spitfire.

“I would finish you myself,” Cardinal Spitfire said as she stopped being aggressive.

She proudly stood there, head high as she asserted her position.

“I would, but Shadow would rather take care of you himself. I want to say my husband would be civil and not let you know when he came for your hide, but I have no guarantee. That will depend on what you put him through. You are at his mercy, now that I had a chance to inform you of the consequences of your choices.”

Cardinal Spitfire kept staring at Honey Bee. Marble Falls relaxed since the situation was defused. Marble Falls nodded to the nurses who had responded, but smartly held back rather than risk their lives.

Cardinal Spitfire turned back to Deke and began to confidently walked over to him.

“You are just going to stand there!” Colonel Sky Gust interjected. “After assaulting my officer! And striking a superior officer!”

“That!” Nova declared, getting everypegasus’ attention from the top of the stairs. “Is why I warned you they shouldn’t be here.”

“Because you can’t control your troops!” Colonel Sky Gust shot back.

“No,” Nova said with confidence. “Because with all these pegasi in the air, bad landings happen. Mistakes happen. Fuck, Arrow has been buzzing other units until, we had a talk.”

“You are going to just say that assault was a bad landing! What about after.”

“What about it?” The Wonderbolt Colonel asked from behind them, making them jump and having to split their attention.

“Things get heated,” The Wonderbolt Colonel shrugged. “And he has assaulted her before and there was evidence of him mishandling Her husband’s team that went missing. The case was closed before we could look at things deeper, but its not inconceivable. We know something happened between him and the recon team, just not what.”

“That is your excuse?” Colonel Mighty Maille demanded. “That is it? A possible mistake about a case which is a closed case that proves his innocence. That will never hold up in a trial.”

“First off!” Deke said taking control of the conversation. “She can’t be charged with assaulting a superior officer. She outranks him. More importantly! From my stance, she was protecting me from him who was about to beat my ass over hurt feeling. She protects her friends.”

Deke’s swagger and arrogance was gone. All that was left was a confident Lieutenant Commander who had the control of an Admiral over a whole fleet. You respected him for who he was as a Pegasus, not what his rank was.

The tension was shattered as a Pegasus careened over the Squad Barracks and ground to a halt mid air.

“MASSIVE COLLISION IN THE RECRUITS!”

“All wings on deck! Olive Pit ordered. “Sparky! Emergency Bag! Then lead half of each squad in getting the combat med bags from the clinic. Double down on them and make sure you get plenty of wing splints!”

Olive Pit caught the med bag as they began to move.

“LET’S GO! LET’S GO!” Olive Pit ordered them.

They perfectly split their teams apart so that one went for the gear, and the others were following Olive Pit over the Squad Barracks as fast as they could go.

“Ground all teams!” Nova ordered before he followed the others.

Pony Patrol rushed after them, The Wonderbolts Colonel followed suit, Arrow was not leaving Unit 17 out of observing. It would help them better train Olive Pit, seeing firsthoof what it meant to be a combat medic.

The injured were at Black’s flight deck. As they were touching down, Willow and Sunset Fury were already giving out orders for the immediate care. A scared Lieutenant dashed over to Olive Pit.

“I don’t kn...”

“Stop!” Olive Pit cut him off, wing raised to halt anything else. “It doesn’t matter why, just that we are here and on duty. We have this.”

“All non essential personnel have been evacuated,” The Lieutenant followed up. “It is just the injured, their rescuers, or assistant if they made it here on their own. Officers are me and Sergeant Dipper”

“Well done,” Olive Pit said as he was surveying how things had played out. Now that the others were back with the bags, things were beginning to move.

“Initial estimates are between 34 and 42. We are sorting the others out at green right now.”

“NUMBERS ARE 34 TO 42!” Olive Pit yelled out. “LETS SHOW THEM WHAT UNIT 0 IS REALLY LIKE!”

There were no cheers. They were all hard at work, focusing back on the important part.

Olive Pit trotted over to a Pegasus who was on her side, wing feathers all over the place at weird angles. He knelt down next to her and began examining her wing. It was fractured in at least two places, badly. Like the Wonderbolt’s wing.

“SUNSET! I NEED YOU TO TAKE THIS ONE. NOW! WING FRACTURE, MULTIPLE PLACES. IT NEEDS YOUR SKILL.”

“Bright Starr!” Sunset Fury called. “Switch out with me.”

Bright Starr had just finished with her first patient and was free to change out.

“I got it,” Sunset Fury said sliding up. “Go!”

Olive Pit scrambled to the next injured Pegasus. His goggles had been forced into his cheek, down to the bone. They were still in place, blood sliding out from below the edge.

“At least the lenses is still in place,” Olive Pit smiled to his rescuer, a very scared mare who was shaking. “It’s not too bad from the looks of it. But hold him down. No matter what happens. No matter how you feel, hold his shoulders down.”

She nodded, Olive Pit prepared the wound with a quick wipe and then cut the straps of the goggles, discarding the rest. The Pegasus was out of it, but not enough.

“Ready?” Olive Pit nodded to her with a reassuring smile.

She pushed down with all she had as Olive Pit wiped away the blood and pulled the goggle out of the gouge it had made. Olive Pit was oblivious as to just how bad the screams were. He just focused on fixing the problem, disconnected. It was the only way to survive.

He made another pass with a wipe and was quickly stitching him up. It was a bad gouge, but repairable. Olive Pit made fast and close stitches, perfectly working his way along the gash, wiping the blood away every so often.

“OLIVE PIT! I CAN’T STABILIZE THE WING!” Sunset Fury yelled. “COME ON BUDDY! I ALL READY HAVE EBONY HELPING BUT WE NEED YOUR SKILLED HOOVES!”

“Coming!” Olive Pit said. He rushed through the rest of the stitches, making wider passes to speed it up.

He pressed gauze over the wound and looked at the Mare. She had thrown up on herself and the patient’s shoulder, but she had held firm.

“Great Job!” Olive Pit praised her. “I need you to press down on this gauze. I will be right back. Oh, and take this red flag so we finish the bandage. Be right back!”

Olive Pit planted the flag in the ground and dashed away. He slid up next to Sunset Fury and Ebony Bolt.

“The splint wont hold the bones,” Sunset Fury panted as he kept the wing pulled out in alignment. “I can, we can, save it! I know we can.”

“We got this,” Olive Pit assured him.

They couldn't afford to waste time on lost causes, but none of them wanted to let the wing go yet. It would mean a crippled, painful life. Not something they were going to let happen unless there was absolutely no avoiding it.

“We tried with the tent poles, but they only helped so much.”

“Alright,” Olive Pit said, glancing around. “Goggles!”

He ripped the pair off the mare’s head and unbuckled them. The frames were curved a bit, but they were able to help adjust two of the bones so that the rest could be aligned along the tent poles on the top and bottom.

Between Ebony Bolt and Olive Pit they were able to cinch it all down into one solid splint. Ebony bolt dashed to get the tent fabric.

“Listen,” Sunset Fury said as he grabbed the rescue Stallion’s face to force eye contact. “As soon as the first medical chariot arrives, get her on it and have it take off. Tell them ‘Sunset Fury said Doc Wingnut needs this patient now.’ Got it?”

“Yes,” The Stallion nodded.

“Here,” Ebony Bolt said sliding up. “You and another can use this as a makeshift stretcher.”

“Just like we were taught!” He said as it all clicked.

Ebony Bolt helped him get the stretcher set up and another set of hooves to help move the patient. Sunset Fury was running down the flight deck in an attempt to reach the ones farthest down.

“I need three to finish up and follow Sunset down the flight deck!” Olive Pit ordered.

He got his answers and returned to the previous patient. The mare was doing a good job, but she had vomited at least once more, probably twice. The gauze was soaked through. Olive Pit held in swearing to keep her calm. He lifted her hoof off the bloody gauze, wiped it off and then tossed aside the soaked gauze. With the goggles gone, the wound was really bleeding.

“He is going to be okay, right?” She asked, voice shaking.

“Its all natural and expected,” Olive Pit smiled.

She threw up as a blood boiling scream cut out across the air from another injured recruit. It was all painful dry heaves.

“You are doing great,” Olive Pit said to her. “Look, I am binding off the would with much better gauze. I barely gave you any bandage to hold against it before. Now, I am also giving you this emergency ice pack. Its just a simple crack to make the chemicals mix and I need to you push it down on the bandage. It will help reduce the bleeding.”

Olive Pit whipped out his medical scissors and cut off the pant leg of the patient. He folded it a few times and placed it over the ice pack.

“There, now your hoof will stay warm until we can get him moved.”

“Thanks,” She smiled at him.

“One last thing,” Olive Pit said as he opened up a telescoping green flag. It had 3 printed on it. “This will let them know in what order they need him to be taken care of. No need for the red flag anymore. Green Three is the middle level and last green flag. Yellow Two and Yellow One are the big, bad boys. This is nothing really. Four and Five are super minor.”

Olive Pit smiled at her and got a smile back. He stood up and searched the sky. No chariots in sight. Not a surprise since it was still early.

“OLIVE!” Willow yelled.

She was further down and right next to Sunset Fury. If they both were together and she needed him, it was bad. Olive Pit lost some gear and he scrambled his kit together and raced off to join them.

“The epicenter,” Willow stated calmly.

The two of them were out cold. Willow had sent there rescuers off to the side to wait.

“They said it was definitely a crash,” Willow said. “Heads hit. They had to move them in the air, but they said their necks were loose.”

Olive Pit took a deep breath in. “How should we proceed?”

“Cut off the armor starting at the shoulders. Peel it off and hopefully we can see some guide as to how to proceed. There is a lot of spine that may have broken.”

“Then lets cut the armor open,” Olive Pit said as he pulled out his tool kit.

He selected the large size 10 scissors. They were made for cutting through everything. They cut out the shoulder area to start.

“I see the injury,” Willow said. “Just above the shoulder here.”

Willow cut some more free and Sunset Fury helped guide Olive Pit as they sliced open the helmet. The armor the recruits were given was tough stuff. The Size 10 was tougher and chomped through better than a bullet would.

“Why are you making him bleed!” One of the recruits on the sidelines screamed.

“HEY!” Olive Pit yelled. “This is our job. You learned your first aid, we teach you your first aid. We have this. She knows exactly what she is doing.”

“Although,” He said quietly to Willow. “I will want and explanation later on your methods.”

“No need for later,” Willow replied softly. “The sight is showing massive internal bleeding. I am draining the blood into bags so that when surgery comes, they have less to clear away with suction. And second, it will help me bind a better splint so it will shift less.”

“That has to be a big bleed,” Olive Pit said as he felt along the spine on his patient.

“Here,” Sunset Fury said. His hoof was only a few vertebrae below the skull.

“I knew one wouldn't be easy,” Olive Pit replied quietly.

“CHARIOTS ARRIVING!” Morning Spark yelled as he began to organize who would be going when. The wing injury was first on that list.

“DIRECT ONE HERE!” Olive Pit yelled. “SPINAL INJURIES!”

“FIFTH IS COMING TO YOU!” Morning Spark yelled back.

They were not ready for a chariot. It was best that they received one further down the list.

“Alright,” Willow sighed as she changed out the bag that the blood was draining into. “That can be put back in during surgery, if it is their last resort. It is a rare blood type.”

“Great call,” Olive Pit praised.

“Alright,” Sunset Fury said. “We are going to go with a head anchored, top latched, full neck reinforcement brace with shoulder anchors and flanking spinal guides.”

“Lets make it happen,” Olive Pit said digging deep into his bag to get the telescoping rods for the braces and anchors.

Olive Pit held the head and neck as steady as possible while Sunset Fury put together the whole system. This was beyond Olive Pit’s skill, but it was also beyond a Combat Medic’s skill. Maybe it would be taught in further medical training. Olive Pit would have to talk further details with Sunset Fury.

Willow had finished setting up an IV for plasma. She had one of the recruits hold it up while she continued to work.

“Damn it,” Willow panted as she changed out the bag again. “I am loosing too much blood. I can’t treat the injury. Permission…”

Olive Pit cut her off. “Do what needs to be done. I trust you.”

Olive Pit smiled at her. The smile he got back wasn’t tired. It wasn’t holding anything back. It was a genuine smile of love, confidence and most importantly, hope. Hope that she really wasn’t useless and was a valued member of Unit 0.

Willow called over another recruit and set up a second IV line. This was connected to a bag of blood to put more in as it was coming out. The patient was now getting a full blood transfusion, using her own blood.

“Good job recruits,” Olive Pit grunted as he was straining to hold things steady.

The fifth chariot arrived and two EMTs got out with stretchers. They waited patiently as Sunset Fury continued to build his brace. Willow was behind them in that regard, but she was dealing with a lot of bleeding. She had reserved herself to preparing the patient for Sunset Fury’s magical braces.

Sunset Fury put the finishing touches on the brace that covered half of the patient’s body. He wrote several markers on the neck to indicate the injuries observed and they moved him onto the stretcher. The neck never moved. Sunset Fury certainly knew what he was doing.

The chariot was immediately sent off and another one was requested.

“Okay,” Sunset panted. “Bleeding one with near shoulder break.”

Sunset Fury began to feel out the neck to ensure there was no other breaks. Things felt good so he began devising a new plan.

“The question is, how do we want the neck positioned,” He said. “Down, in line, mid, or up? Willow, assessment on the bleeding?”

“Its below the actual break site, which makes me concerned about another fracture or strain further down the spine.”

“Then we will go in line and run brace rods all along the spin. The muzzle will be put in line with the spine as much as possible. We will not make a direct latch onto the fracture, but we will anchor it at the head, the mid neck, shoulder, mid back and rear. And we will tie the hooves together and run a center rod for them to be anchored to.”

“Tie her up pretty and it will make for an easy move and allow them to decide how best to proceed with her positioning. If I do it right, they won’t have to remove anything. Except untie the hooves for her dignity.”

Olive Pit surveyed the scene. The last of the patients were being taken care of. Morning Spark had begun moving low level green flags into their clinic. The clinic could hold fifteen normally, seventeen if pushed. And one was already taking up a bed.

Olive Pit watched as Sunset Fury worked his magic as he made the brace. He was skilled at telescoping a rod out to the perfect length and twisting it tight, no double checks needed. By the end, she was trussed up tightly. Sunset Fury finished the job with a quick rod straight up to hold the plasma bag and the blood bag. The patient was still bleeding, but it had slowed.

They got the patient onto the chariot and it was off. Olive Pit looked around. The last of the patients were being loaded onto the final few chariots and they were done. Olive Pit stood up but fell to the ground. He took a moment and then worked his way back up into a sitting position.

“Here,” Sunset Fury said picking up his hoof.

Sunset Fury set IVs to help replenish themselves after the stress and adrenalin lose. The Bag was taped to the side of Olive Pit’s head. Sunset Fury had given Willow one and himself.

“Another trick,” Olive Pit smiled, a bit giddy. “We really need to talk about some of the medical procedures you wanted Unit 0 to be further trained on.”

They quietly walked over to the others who had loosely gathered around Morning Spark. Sunset Fury ran them through his IV method. After that, Olive Pit spoke.

“Nice work,” He smiled. “From what I saw, you handling things perfectly. Every injury was quickly assessed, dealt with appropriately, and a plan was put in place immediately. You worked fast and hard. I do not know what the final count was on injuries.”

“41,” Morning Spark said. “It was 41 sir. 19 were Yellow Two, 8 were Yellow One, 10 were Level three and only 4 were level Four or Five.”

Olive Pit nodded and continued. “We couldn't of asked for a more perfect scenario for combat medicine than today. It is, of course, sad we had to. But since it happened, you did an amazing job. You kept the patients safe and secure and you kept their assistants safe and secure. You used them well. Good job.”

“If there was anything you felt you didn’t know or wanted to learn more about, send me a message. We are going to be doing further medical training since we are Unit 0, the ACU medics. Anything anypony has to say? What to say. Bah, I am tired.”

They laughed.

“I think you covered it Sir,” Morning Spark said.

“Sparky,” Sunset Fury said, still out of breath. “You did a great job organizing the chariots. Stuff of a real First Sergeant. Or Master Sergeant. I caught what I could considering the injuries we were dealing with, but amazing job leading like the senior NCO should do.”

“Guys,” Willow smiled. “We did it. We really did it. Your backs are to them, but our General is there, watching. Our trainers were watching. Both Colonels were watching. A few others made it past the barricades the Wonderbolts put up to leave us to do out work in peace. We just showed them medically why we deserve silver wings. Now lets crush the rest of the ACS!”

Their cheers were tired and strained, but they began to loosely fly back to the Squad Barracks. As they touched down, Olive Pit told them the night was theirs. Which meant most would shower and then crash. Olive Pit would not have that luxury and headed to his office.

He opened the door to his office, and as expected, found the senior brass waiting for him. Willow and Sunset Fury pushed him through his door and joined them. They were his senior NCOs after all. They joined him on his side of the desk.

It was just General Shielded Vengeance, Nova, the Wonderbolt Colonel and Marble Falls.

Olive Pit wordlessly sat down, the IV bag still taped to his head.

“Does that actually help?” Marble Falls asked.

“At least psychosomatically,” Olive Pit smiled. “But you are not here to talk about the IV bags strapped to our heads. There is more to you using the master key to enter my office than asking me about IV fluids.”

“I was impressed,” The Wonderbolt Colonel finally stated. “You guys worked flawlessly to deal with a chaotic situation and calm it down.”

“That is the life of a combat medic,” Sunset Fury shrugged. “Yes, we shoot and run the same, but when full combat happens, most of the time we are not shooting. We are putting stitches in and slapping on band-aids. Once that starts, the only reason we shoot is to protect ourselves or our patients. We can’t help them if we are dead. But we can’t help them if we hold back, either.”

“Very good to know,” Marble Falls said. “We saw Unit 0 like we have never seen it. I loved what I saw. I trusted what I saw. I can better train you because of what I saw.”

Colonel Nova let out a few happy chuckles. “Unit 0 had me worried. We had to get them their wings. But this showed that if they keep things up, they will. They reacted better under pressure than we have ever seen. I am finally proud to have Unit 0 under me. They are blossoming into what they were always supposed to be. I like it!”

“I am not here for Unit 0,” General Shielded Vengeance stated. “But since being here, I heard some things, I watched some training and most importantly, I watched real skill out there, from every single member of Unit 0. I had to plug my ears up a good bit. Their shrieks and cries of pain have never been something I have been able to handle well. Thankfully, combat is generally loud.”

“Master Sergeant,” General Shielded Vengeance said. “What happened those two times you needed Olive Pit? Why did you need him?”

Sunset Fury began to break down the wing and why he needed Olive Pit. Finding out that Unit 0 would be learning those tactics was a big relief. Sunset Fury passed the spinal injuries off to Willow to explain why all three of them were there and what they were doing.

They talked back and fourth, mostly the General asking questions and catching up on things. He knew nothing about combat medics or medical practice of any kind.

“Lieutenant, I know it is early, but where do you see these two after ACS?”

Olive Pit took a second to think. “General, I have put thought into those things. I have thought a lot about the future of each soldier under me. We are getting twelve new members we have never seen before, so things have to be ready to take them in smoothly.”

“I had originally set it up that each wing would have a staff Sergeant over it, to care for it. I will have to make appropriate promotions to fix that. It will also require a big reshuffle in rooms. But that isn’t what you mean.”

“I saw three stand out today. Master Sergeant Sunset Fury does things I have never heard of and is skilled in way I have never know you could be skilled in. My current plan is to promote to Warrant Officer and place him as head over training.”

“I have looked at what the hospitals do, especially the emergency rooms and trauma wards. He will have to stay up on all the new medical procedures and conduct seminars. I would have to require my soldiers to go to a certain number of those seminars. But I will not take him out of the field. If there is a big push, he may very well be put as the head, directly over combat medic squads.”

“Sergeant Major Willow, I have had less time to know in this regard. The Master Sergeant trained me. Sergeant Major Willow shocked me. She was very calm and quiet and made more clinical decisions. It saved that mare with the injured neck’s life. She was bleeding out internally, too fast.”

“I have always seen the Sergeant Major as my number one for the clinic. She was the one who ran most of it the past five years. Warrant Officer over the Clinic would be a really good role for her. Of course, that still would not take her out of being used in combat.”

“The other is First Sergeant Morning Spark. He often just goes by Sparky. I was unprepared to see him take such a strong organizational role. He is an original Unit 0 soldier, before I came in. Their organization was crap. So it was refreshing to see him in such a role.”

“I would love to see the pressure put on him to lead the Unit as it’s senior NCO. With the Sergeant Major and the Master Sergeant as Warrant Officers over their specific fields, I will need a strong senior NCO to keep things organized, in line and trained. He is the next in line in seniority too.”

“I can do that,” Marble Falls smiled. “I can whip him into shape to be a great senior NCO. I am slightly ahead of you, but I will put my hoof down and give it everything we got to put him in that role. He is responding well since the reboot.”

“Wonderful,” General Shielded Vengeance nodded. “It all sounds like a good plan. I hope you released your troops for the evening.”

“I did Sir,” Olive Pit nodded. “As soon as we got back to the Squad Barracks. I think most of them have crashed for the evening. It will be a rough morning and I bet some will be late.”

“I won’t give them grief,” Marble Falls interjected.

“Good. They need that break,” The General continued. “I know you are tired, but your friends are finishing up with acrobatics training and then should be headed here.”

“Yes!” Olive Pit exclaimed. “Its been one hell of a difficult afternoon. But even a bit of time with them is great and worth pushing myself for.”

“You certainly earned it,” The General smiled. “All of you. I checked into yours records. It is well deserved.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 79 - Future Plans Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 38 Minutes