Cardinal Spitfire stood in front of Five Units: 17, 63, 92, 112, and 154. They were at parade rest in front of the Squad Barracks, on the flight deck. The Entire area was at Parade rest. Each Unit was in front of their building. The Buttercup was on standby, parked on the other end of the Flight Deck, the open side of the Squad Barracks.

Most of the units were on hold. Only the five chosen and ten others back ups were in combat gear. The rest were not needed for the trials. They were in a variety of uniforms. If they had been through the promotion and structure change, they wore the new flight suit and the blue beret. If not, they were in their flight suit and their cover. Those waiting for ACS were in a variety of uniforms.

For Pony Patrol, the Third Degrees, and Wind’s Thunder, it meant theywere all in their dress uniforms. They all had specific charges over the Squad Barracks as the exercises happened. None of them needed to be in battle gear, so it was full dress uniforms with every medal shined up proper.

They had been quietly waiting to do the first trial runs jumping out of the Buttercup. Before they swung into a full tactical training maneuvers they had to make sure they could exit safely. The five units would be making the exit jumps, each with their own methods.

It had been several hours at parade rest. Marble Falls was missing, so was Colonel Nova. General Shielded Vengeance had apparently been pulled into a meeting with the Council and the Wonderbolt Colonel had disappeared. General Red River had been reported as arriving, but nothing was known after a glimpse of seeing him.

The Door to the Squad Barracks opened and General Shielded Vengeance came out, followed by the Wonderbolt Colonel and Marble Falls. Cardinal Spitfire didn’t call the battalion to attention. She was having a hard enough time staying in parade rest for so long that it wasn’t going to happen. What mattered was that they were on deck and ready. Every single one of them.

General Shielded Vengeance walked straight over to Pony Patrol, who was the lead team for the Wonderbolts. Wonderbolt Squad 19 was in control of the Squad Barracks and Squad 43 was on the Lord Clove where the bulk of the observations would happen.

“Lieutenant Commander Cardinal Spitfire, thank you for keeping them ready. Some developments occurred that were not planned. Stuff I need to be relayed to everypegasus before we begin. Your leadership was invaluable for this. Thank you for your patience.”

Cardinal Spitfire reached into her breast pocket and pulled out two mini com units. “A pleasure Sir. Both are synced up. Once for you and one for the Colonel.”

They put the coms in.

“Listen up,” General Shielded Vengeance said. “New developments have happened this morning. We are going to get underway shortly. We all look forward to this time. It will be fun, but challenging. Don’t underestimate the challenge we have before ourselves.

“If you didn’t know, I wear four stars. A full general, nothing before my name. As I am the General over the entirety of the aerial combat segment of the military. I can no longer avoid wearing them with these new developments. There is a lot of shifting with our ranking system happening. Good changes. I know we are only halfway though with updating the Aerial Combat Battalion ranks and physical uniform changes.

“But today I had to announce several changes in the higher up structure. My second in command with three stars is Lieutenant General Firestorm. She isn’t new. Few remember her name, but she was the Wonderbolt Colonel, and my second in command. Gone is the era of the General and Colonel not having a name to help deter assassinations. Thus it is.

“Still on the Wonderbolts, as they need leaders closer in rank. Colonel over the Wonderbolts is now going to be the former major, Glancing Ice. The direct head of the Wonderbolts is now Brigadier General Windstone Hill, who is a highly experienced officer and was one of our two Majors. He served several years in the same unit with me and with Lieutenant General Firestorm.

“Now, the Wonderbolts are not the only ones getting changes. Most of the soldiers in the Aerial Combat Battalions are not in the Wonderbolts. Colonel Nova is still very sore about it, but for Scout Command, I need a higher officer than Colonel. He has been promoted to Brigadier General, still over Scout Command. Scout Command will receive a colonel or two for his support soon.

“On the regular side, I am very glad to finally be able to promote this Pegasus. She has been instrumental in the command and structure of the Aerial Combat Battalion, but the old system didn’t allow her to move up past Captain. The Brigadier General over the Aerial Combat Battalion is now Starry Champron. Congratulations. I wish we had more time for ceremony.

“As stated, the middle structure will be added shortly. We have to finish the other half of the basic structure and promotions first. I am proud of you all. I don’t care if we passed you up for a promotion, I am very proud of you all. You all have done a wonderful job.

“Because remember, if you are a First Lieutenant, and you didn’t get promoted, you technically did. The old structure had First Lieutenant as an O-2, but now with Ensign as O-1, First Lieutenant is now an O-3. We have not reduced anypegasus in rank because of this change.

“Oh, I forgot. There is one more promotion. Wonderbolt Squad 12, Pony Patrol, Marble Falls is now Colonel Marble Falls. She still is your leader. There are no other changes to your Squad. Colonel Marble Falls is now in charge of the development of all recruits during their aerial training segment at Basic Training.”

“I am proud that she really has become more than a Wonderbolt. Colonel Marble Falls has been a staple here for several years, leading various aspects of training. But now she is being evaluated and prepared for higher positions directly involved in training recruits, in training the future soldiers, and their curriculum. Making stronger soldiers out of it because of her personality, life experiences, and ability to challenge and teach recruits. I am proud to promote her to Colonel to outright assist in the training of recruits and soldiers here at Fort Wind.

“That’s it for now. General Shielded Vengeance signing out. Give them hell. Show the Council why we deserve our silver wings. Show the Council why the Third Fleet deserves more ships. Get this deployment system working!

General Shielded Vengeance removed the com and pocketed it. “I will be observing on the Lord Clove. Most of the Counselors have headed there and its already departed to get in position. Only the Fifth Counselor has gone to the Buttercup. We have the cameras, but make sure they are all running before the jumps. We want to be able to review them from all of the angles.

“Now, where is Unit 0?”

“Yes Sir,” Cardinal Spitfire said. “We will make sure Sir. Unit 0 is deployed in various locations sir. They are staffed at the Clinic as usual, Sir. Warrant Officer Sunset Fury is on board the Buttercup with four others. Three are posted on the Lord Clove and then fifteen are deployed at the recruit flight decks.”

General Shielded Vengeance gave a short nod. “Where is Commander Olive Pit?”

“No idea Sir,” Cardinal Spitfire replied. “My guess is that he has not directly deployed himself, but is in Unit 0 with several others as a reactionary force to any situation across the entire area here. It is a lot to juggle, Sir.”

“I trust his judgment,” General Shielded Vengeance stated. “After all, he did restart Unit 0 and bring it back to its original charge. We are departing to catch up to the Lord Clove, take control of your commands.”

“Yes Sir,” Cardinal Spitfire saluted. “Units on decks, fall out and take your positions on the Buttercup. Units on hold, break formation and assemble in front of the flight deck. You may stand down once there, but be ready for launch orders and to be deployed. All other Units, stay alert. The Council is here after all, but you are dismissed.”

Cardinal Spitfire turned to Captain Tuff and Wonderbolt Squad 19. “Captain, the Squad Barracks are all yours.”

“Thank you Lieutenant Commander,” Tuff replied saluting. “Have fun.”

Cardinal Spitfire grinned and saluted him back.

After the lead in practice and all the combat formation training, the officers naturally put Cardinal Spitfire in lead of the combat tactics. She was not expecting it. Jumping out of the ramp while going faster than a crawl was not something that had been tried by any Enclave troops. The first attempts were held until the Council could observe.

They had held talks about exit strategy and formations, but it was all talk. Cardinal Spitfire had been left to choose what Units were ready and who would be leading them. They were all more than happy to let her be out front in this enterprise. If it failed, it would be on her.

Pony Patrol headed to the to Buttercup. Ensign Lemon Lime, Ensign Fountain, Ensign Cinnamon Swirl, and Second Lieutenant Raspberry Lemonade would be in the bay with the jumpers. Marble Falls and Cardinal Spitfire would be on the bridge.

“Welcome aboard,” Little said before they could ask permission to enter the bridge. She was standing at the front glass but was very astute as to when somepony had approached her bridge. “Come on in.”

“Thank you,” Cardinal Spitfire replied. “Commander Deke, pleasure.”

“Uhuh,” Deke grunted. He was focused intently on something.

“And you must be the Fifth Counselor,” Cardinal Spitfire said with a smile. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“The same to you,” The Fifth Counselor replied. “I have high hopes for you from what I have heard. I trust you won’t disappoint.”

“Helm,” Little ordered. “Take us up and out to the starting position. Don’t worry about the ramp.”

“Uh, yes Captain,” Ensign Lovely Fury said, hesitating.

“What? Is there a problem Ensign?”

“No Ma’am. Well Ma’am, I have never taken off without a clear view out of the glass Ma’am.”

Little took a deep breath in and let it out. “Thank you for your honesty Ensign. There is too much at stake. I will take my seat. But you will learn to fly with me at the front.”

“Of course Ma’am. I look forward to it.”

Cardinal Spitfire was on Little’s right as they took off. The Fifth Counselor was on her left. It was going to be a lot of pressure with the Fifth Counselor directly on board. Deke stood up and stepped in front of the Captain’s chair, facing Little.

“Captain, am I needed on the bridge? I think a better place for me would be in the bay. I know Lieutenant Steel Wire is down there already, but he is not a pilot.”

Little thought for a moment. “Admiral Ruby Snow is observing these exercises on the Lord Clove. We are not supposed to be alone on the bridge yet, since we are both still on light duty. I would prefer if you were observing below, but no. I am aware that it gives us no bridge crew eyes directly in the bay. But we will trust our crew and Pony Patrol. And we will trust the jumper’s skill. They are chosen to perform these first jumps for a reason. The Lieutenant Commander believes in them, so do I.”

“Yes Captain,” Deke replied. “I will be at my terminal.”

Deke stepped back to his terminal. He would be watching everything the ship did closely. It wasn’t like they could see anything from the bridge. Not even at the front.

The Buttercup came into it’s designated pass. They were far out to reduce the risk of a collision.

“Captain,” Winter Wind said. “We have a crosswind moving in from South to North by Northeast. 30 mile per hour winds.”

“Deke?” Little asked.

“Yeah. We do. I don’t recall anything in reports. The only thing I can think of is an effect from the Lord Clove sitting there.”

“Lieutenant Commander, take the helm. We can not afford anything but perfection as this run is performed. Ensign Lovely Fury, you are temporarily relieved. Please stay to observe.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

Deke sat down and quickly flipped the Terminal to the layout he had programmed for himself.

“We are ready Captain. 45 Seconds until we begin our run at 150 miles per hour.”

“Bay, this is Captain Little. Mark 45 and we will begin. Teams have 2 minutes to launch. Teams report back to the flight deck and we will prep for second set.”

“Alright 17!” Arrow said. “We are first. And we will be remembered for it! First jump out of a Cloudship going well above the speed limit! Off the Ramp!”

The bay lights went from red to green and they dashed off in a standard formation. Arrow launched them straight out of the ramp. They hit the air and were slammed back into the ramp. Arrow was kicked back into the ship along with two of them. The other three were slammed into the ramp and then rolled off the side. They were uncontrolled as they where knocked off.

“GO! Flags yelled. “EXIT AND DIVE! GET THEM!”

His team jumped forward. Instead of going straight off the ramp, they slid down halfway and jumped off the side, diving towards the uncontrolled Unit 17 members.

“Bridge! This is the bay. Unit 17 failed and some of them lost controlled. Unit 63 went after them. Clean jump too. Arrow and the others are being treated medically for at least bruises.”

“And sore egos,” Little chuckled. “Thanks for the report. Continue as ordered.”

“Maintaining altitude, heading, and speed,” Deke reported. “No changes.”

“Good. They are highly trained professionals. At the very least, they have skills to handle themselves in the sky. They were picked to do this for a reason.”

Unit 92 did a similar tactic as 63. They just didn’t go down the ramp at all. The grabbed the side of door and jumped around it, using their grip to get out and away from the turrets and the engines.

Their clean jump was reported and the countdown began for Unit 112. Unit 112 skipped the ramp and exited out of the top. The Corvette’s flat tops allowed for a different deployment strategy. They could lay out their formation and then just opened their wings. The wind did the rest. At least they chose the wadcutter formation.

“They did what?” Little asked. “Idiots. They were supposed to use the ramp.”

Unit 154 followed the same idea as the successful jumps. Out the side. Unit 154 split half and hooked together. That way they were able to swing out wider than any other unit and safely clear the side of the ship and any of it’s dangers.

“Buttercup,” Ruby Snow said over the tied in com lines. “We report all five teams away.”

“That is what we have,” Little replied. “It didn’t take as long as we expected.”

“Well wrap it in. I think we need to talk.”

Little looked at the Fifth Counselor. She gave a nod.

“The Buttercup is heading to designated parking location. We will park there.”

“Buttercup. We are calling all Unit leaders to the assemble in Jade Spring Hall to discuss things. We need to go over some things we observed. Make sure the camera footage is brought with you.”

“Understood Admiral. Retrieving footage and we will be back shortly.”

Deke was already back in his seat. He had passed the helm back to Ensign Lovely Fury. He was eerily quiet and clearly distracted.

Little only took Deke off the bridge and Lieutenant Steel Wire from the bay. The hall was going to be crowded to standing room without taking in any unnecessary individuals. They were lucky and got to stand at the front of the room.

Standing room only was putting it lightly. The Council didn’t even get to sit in the regular seats. They were off to the side in chairs along the wall.

“Let’s get the video footage up,” The Fifth Counselor chuckled. “I want to see that first Unit eat it.”

“It’s not funny,” Arrow growled.

“Oh now. I am sure that it is perfectly funny and worth our time.”

“Funny! Apparently I have a concussion. I’m grounded for 48 hours! All of Unit 17 is and the other half recovered on their own. Fine. And Unit 0 isn’t allowing us to be in the sky for 7 days!”

The Fifth Counselor shook her head, trying not to laugh. “Either laugh at yourself for eating it, or resign. But a dishonorable discharge is extremely difficult to recover from and get a new job. But its not worth being down a day or two because of a bumped head.”

“I don’t think you understand!” Arrow protested. “Unit 0 put the halt on all of 17. We can’t do any of these jumps. This whole set of exercises, if it works, we are out of.”

“Commander?” General Shielded Vengeance asked, looking at Olive Pit.

Olive Pit shrugged. He was the only one under the rank of Colonel in the room in a dress uniform. His uniform even had his medal on it. He hadn’t been ready to respond as a Unit 0 member.

“It’s my job to ensure the safety of all of the Aerial Combat Battalion. If these experiments are too dangerous, I have no problem halting the entire set of combat exercises. Your safety is my number one priority.”

“Oh come on!” Flags argued. “It was just Arrow being arrow. You trained with her!”

“What?” Olive Pit asserted. “Cocky? Show off? Hot headed? Rash? Thrill seeking? Because that is what the entire Aerial Combat Battalion is viewed as!” Olive Pit pointed at them and then swept his hoof across the hall. “How many more of you were going to try going straight off the ramp? Thinking you could beat it. Until you figure how to safely jump, I can’t let you risk it.

“There is a reason why these limits were put there for a reason. And I won’t let you do full exercises knowing Unit 0 is going to have to patch up a bunch of horrible injuries. Except unlike the recruits we patched up, they will spread you all over the clouds. We won’t be able to handle it. We won’t let you run that risk and we will shut it down. And you know we can.

“So find a way to safely do it.”

Cardinal Spitfire was trying keep herself calm. “Are you fucking kidding me Olive Pit? After all of our hard work? They are safe enough. The best. Arrow just being herself! And the same for Unit 17.”

“Lets watch the film,” Olive Pit redirected. “Lets see just how bad it was. I am going off what my Unit reported. But prove me wrong.”

“Its not that bad,” Arrow spat.

The video was started up. The first one they were watching was from the nose, ahead of the ramp. It had a full view of the ramp and into the bay.

Unit 17 charged out in great form and then jumped. They were slammed back down onto the ramp and eaten by the Buttercup. The other three bounced and rolled clear of the ship.

The Fifth Counselor wasn’t the only one laughing. But she was the only one not trying to hide it. Even Little was chuckling.

“Own up to the epic fail Lieutenant,” The Fifth Counselor laughed. “Because that is what I was waiting to see. Somepegasus was going to eat it. It just happened to be you showing off for the first run. And trying to outshine your sister who is Captain of the vessel. We will see more teams eat over these exercises. Its expected.”

“We can’t afford for more to do that,” Olive Pit stated. “Yes, it looked hilarious. Yes, I can laugh when someone eats and that was an epic fail. But even if one in five teams fail, that means 40 teams will fail on day one.

“Unit 0 is supposed to be in these jumps. We can’t be patching them up in the ships as we are trying to jump. We want to be doing the jumps. We have to fix this. This needs to work. This is a great philosophy and opportunity and I believe it will work!”

Olive Pit chuckled. “Nopony knows this yet, but I have a particular interest in making sure Unit 17 can cleanly and safely jump. Every one of my Unit has been paired with a Unit for these exercises. I’ve not told anypony the final assignments, but I am supposed to be jumping with Unit 17. I am glad I was taking care of final things today so we could join these exercises. I was a bit behind with some things.”

“That’s why I never saw you today,” General Shielded Vengeance said. “I was wondering why you were not around to see how things went.”

Olive Pit rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I had to catch up on a lot of shit because fucktard number one on my list tried to kill himself. We knew he was an idiot, but not that much of an idiot. And a quick trip to there turned out to be a long assignment to make sure he and the others got back on their hooves and then escort them back to their posts. I haven’t been able to do the shit I needed to because of Deke. As usual.”

There were quite a few chuckles as Olive Pit spoke.

“The only good thing about that trip was I got hoof on learning experience. If I wasn’t asleep or helping you guys, I was in the ER working shifts. Or I was out in the city with EMTs. It wasn’t a vacation for me. I had shit to do. I still have sit to do. I haven’t left my office since I got back. You haven’t seen me because I have been buried in work.”

“Ah,” Cardinal Spitfire said. “That’s why you have those pins on your collar.”

Olive Pit nodded. The EMTs had gifted him their symbol and qualified him as a civilian EMT. Military EMTs were mostly just designated medics for first response on a military base. Civilian EMTs had to go through some more hoops and learn how to handle civilians and work in a city environment. The situations were not battle conditions either. They ranked him as qualified and he was now wearing their symbols on his collar. His flight suits had the symbols being added as well. It was another qualification he could add to his resume and he was not just honored at their approval, but he found it invaluable for Unit 0 and the ACBs’ well being.

Olive Pit let out a huge sigh. “What Deke? That smile means you have something.”

“Eh,” Deke said waving him off with his wing. “The Idiot Commander is cooking something up, but I need to see the rest of these angles and teams deploy. We haven’t even seen Unit 63s reaction. Maybe I’m right, maybe I’m wrong. I don’t have a full answer yet. I’ll let you know when the genius is ready to speak.”

“Move past him,” The Fifth Counselor said, getting the film rolling again.

Unit 63’s response was great. But they cut it real close to colliding with parts of the ship. All of the teams did. Except for Unit 112. They were disqualified from trials for not using the ramp. Nopony was injured enough to justify not attempting it.

“Well?” General Shielded Vengeance asked Deke. “Ideas?”

“Damn?” Deke exclaimed. “Really? Right off the bat expect the genius to solve the problem before you even put in effort to think? I know you were just waiting for it to be over so that I could solve it. But not like that. I won’t give in that easily.”

Olive Pit and Cardinal Spitfire laughed out loud. Golden Dawn had been hiding in the back. But her laughter ended that. She was one of the few who wasn’t supposed to be here. She had snuck in. She was waiting for her ACS to start. The exercises set that back a bit.

“Your not supposed to be here!” General Shielded Vengeance exclaimed.

“What?” Golden Dawn shrugged. “I am. And I am pinned back here, so I am not leaving.”

“And what was so funny?” General Shielded Vengeance asked the three of them.

Cardinal Spitfire chuckled. “We have heard Deke say that a lot over Basic Training. What he said, it was his slide off for when he had no idea and was pissed about it. We will know when he figures it out and then he will probably dance.”

They began to pick apart personal reports of each jumper. Unit 63 was too focused on 17 to be of any use. But they all reported concerns with being too close. They wanted a much larger margin of error to stay clear of the problem zones. If Deke has shifted a tiny bit he would have hit them as they flew by.

Little noticed Deke had stopped paying attention. “Deke?” She prodded. “What are you doing?”

“Math,” Deke said, confused. “Math they don’t teach you in school.”

“Why?”

“Have you ever calculated the Buttercup’s drag?”

“No. Why does this matter?”

“Well, wind resistance always matters. And the drag of each jumper matters for their clearance. Angles, degrees, speed, it all matters. So since you are useless, stop bugging me.”

“You have a good point,” The Fifth Counselor said. “Put it up on the board. The Third Counselor is well skilled at math.”

“This isn’t accounting and economics,” Deke warned as he walked over to the board at the front. “Its more like the glass pile’s tonnage. Except I can’t figure out the basic weight of the glass this time. Its eluding me.”

Deke began to draw the basic shape of the Buttercup. As simple as her design was, he couldn’t even get close to it. He drew it with the ramp down.

“This is where the wind resistance matters,” Deke said, pointing to the opening. “While the drag doesn’t matter for the ship, it matters for the jumpers. Unit 17 was a perfect example of that. We knew if you jump high, you would catch too much and come right back in.

“But she jumped at this height. I had guess this high and the jumpers would get forced back in. Because no matter what, as soon as you step off into free fall, you fall straight down. Not a curve, straight. Basic physics.

“We make that more problematic trying to move out, not drop. If we dropped and then opened the wings, okay. But these forward ramp designs make that very dangerous. The Buttercup and the Red Dawn are the only operational ships that can facilitate straight drops. The Sky-tanks are too wide and the ramps are set inside Raptors. And Thunderheads are so slow they deploy regular troops from those built in decks.”

“Raise the ramp?” Marble Falls asked, finally speaking. “Less of an opening less drag?”

“But more force to try and exit,” Deke said. “I can’t figure out how much more force if we raised the ramp halfway up.”

“8 times at halfway up for those figures!”

“Thank you whoever that was!” Deke said. “Its 8 times. Which is going to mean you will not be able to get to the front of the ramp. Arrow was at the point of 17. She jumped when she couldn’t stand anymore. Here on the ramp. It would be fine, except the ship was coming in behind her faster than she can cut through the heaviest point of drag on the Buttercup.”

“Can you please come here?” General Shielded Vengeance said to the Pegasus who called out the answer to Deke. “Come on.”

“Fine,” Gunmetal said, popping out from behind several others in the corner. She was right behind Golden Dawn.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” General Shielded Vengeance stated, annoyed at the breakdown of structure, especially with the Council present. “You are waiting for your ACS. I know we had to set it back, and I am sorry for that. But I can’t tolerate the hold overs getting involved. This has already proven to be dangerous. You don’t have your wings-”

“Stuff it!” Gunmetal spat. “I fucking know Colonel. I would normally blame Golden Dawn since she already ratted herself out, but I snuck in because you are jumping with equipment and gear.”

“General,” Nova interjected. “The Ensign has been the Pegasus who has gotten the ACU’s quartermaster running. Its all organized because of her. Fuck, she made all of the orders for us. I have power armor on stand by because of her!”

“You don’t use power armor,” General Shielded Vengeance said, confused. “Only the Wonderbolts get qualified on it.”

“And if their set goes down?” Gunmetal poked. “Or if we need to train a Unit or Squadron on it? Well, you have 14 sets to do it in. Six are unfortunately Mark 2, but the other eight are Mark 4. And I am working to get another set of six here. This quartermaster needs to be as ready to respond as the unit at Sunray Swallow Cage.”

“How do you know of them!” General Shielded Vengeance snapped.

“Uh duh, I am the armorer. I never worked there, but I know where every quartermaster cage is because we have to talk to each other about equipment and stocks. And they always have what you need. If you can get it is another question. And if they ever need something, you send it to them post haste.”

“That is the Wonderbolt’s quartermaster! Outside of them, no one knows where they are For-”

“STOP!” Gunmetal yelled over the General. “Thank you. I didn’t say where, only the designation of the cage. So even knowing the cage, it doesn’t give location. You have to have been stationed there to know. And you almost blew that cover, not me.”

Nova was just chuckling in his seat off to the side. General Shielded Vengeance shot him a warning glance, but it didn’t stop Nova.

Gunmetal had already moved on to help Deke. An accurate sketch of the the Buttercup was done and then they began to work with real a real drawing. Gunmetal was rattling off statistics to Little and Deke making sure they were correct as she began doing the math on the board.

“How do you know that stuff?” Ruby Snow asked. “That is top secret information on the Buttercup.”

Gunmetal set the marker down, annoyed at having to stop. But she wasn’t going to address him with it in her mouth. “I got it from the schematics. And before you blow up, I am a class 5 armorer. I can work on the Wonderbolts’ armor. All Marks and models. I know it. And I know their performance levels and settings. I have full clearance for it all. And its not hard to get a set of schematics as a quartermaster either. We just never have time to get in trouble because you guys bury us in basic maintenance work that you should be doing.

“Well, not you since you are in the fleets, but normal soldiers. And yes, I have an idea I would like to see eventually implemented in these jumps.”

“Oh?” the Fourth Counselor asked, clearly intrigued.

“I would love to see, on the big jumps and organized maneuvers, medium equipment be fielded. If you toss a dozen Units at a place, that means you are going to be meeting resistance, or holding against it. Medium machine guns and heavier equipment like basic mortars would be beneficial. But unless we can get the soldiers cleared safely, none of that matters.”

“She has a point,” Fourth Counselor stated. “That’s a good vision. Did they say you were here for ACS? Did I hear that correctly?”

Gunmetal grinned with the marker in her mouth. “I ant just a fuckn amazin armorer. I can fuckn shoot and kell.”

“Seriously,” General Shielded Vengeance said. “I have seen a lot of amazing soldiers, and usually brought them to the ACBs. She is in my top five scariest. She shouldn’t be able to do what she can. She is a mean and dirty fighter. She just crushes you. And she isn’t a combat specialty!

“The other that is still alive is Golden Dawn, who also slipped in here uninvited. Her wielding that Applesnack Sub Machine Gun is crazy. She is a monster with it. And she does it free hoofed. Old school, no battle saddle. Neither of them looks like they can deal any real shit, but both do.”

Gunmetal flipped the marker up like her dowel so she could speak freely. “Deke, where are the thresholds for standing on the ramp at speed increments of 25mph?”

“Uh…” Deke droned, thinking. “I haven’t thought of that. Or tested it. I wouldn’t trust anypony on the bridge but me and Captain Little. And only Wonderbolt Squad 12, in full armor.”

“It’s too late for that,” Gunmetal said. “We can run off of Arrow and Unit 17 and work from there later, gathering information as the exercises continue.”

“It’s just past 1400,” Deke said confused. “How do we not have time?”

Gunmetal sighed and rolled her eyes. “Look at them. Their are understandably bored or lost. Even the Council. So lets get an action plan for tomorrow.”

They continued for another half hour. When they had a solid plan they stepped back from the board and turned to face the Council and the Fleet Admirals. They both saluted with their hooves to show they were done. Gunmetal took charge, which was more than fine for Deke.

“Council, Fleet Admiral Ruby Snow, and Vice Admiral Purple Breeze, we have an answer for tomorrow’s exercises. A safe answer. So long as we start slowly, all units will be able to cleanly and safely step off into a straight drop. Once clear, they can open their wings.

“It is true that it is not a charge out of the ramp as we wanted for deployment, but it should be safe. And all units can perform this with no training. They step onto the ramp for two ponies length, turn and step off. No hopping, diving, or anything fancy. Just drop off. Then the are in free fall. After a count to two seconds, they can safely open their wings and deploy from there.

“We can gather more data tomorrow, so long as I am approved to be onboard the Buttercup for observation. We can at least do this for quick deployments for Aerial Combat Units. And its extremely fast compared to the other tactics.

“All Cloudships need to maintain a speed of 150 Miles Per Hour, with never exceeding 160 Miles Per Hour. That will be safe for both Corvettes and and Sky-tank Classes. It may not be what we wanted it to be, but for initial trials, its safe and quick. There is no way this tactic will work above 175 miles an hour.”

“Olive Pit?” Ruby Snow asked.

Olive Pit gave a slow nod. “I approve. But if a single team gets whacked by these drop tactics or gets close to it, everypony here as the right, the duty, to call ‘cease action.’ Safety must be upheld.

“And Unit 17, you are clear to jump tomorrow. The concussion diagnosis were more of a safety procedure. I won’t put you in danger, but if you experience headaches or any minor things, go to the clinic. They will get me.”

“Senior Officers,” Gunmetal said for all to hear. “I will have the ramps temporarily marked with Xs for where it is safe to drop from. Take the guesswork out of things. And if I could, in the morning, speak with all of the chief bay operators, then we can have the final information relayed to the soldiers to ensure all soldiers exit safely.”

“You shall get them,” Ruby Snow stated. “0800, in this room tomorrow. The rest of you are free to go.”

“Golden Dawn and Vengeful Blade,” Gunmetal called over the commotion. “I need you two down here.”

“You have more ideas,” Little said. “So I am staying. I am a Captain after all. You will need a skilled Captain to tell you if it works with the ships.”

“Thanks,” Gunmetal said, distracted. “We need that. One isn’t enough.”

The room cleared quickly. The doors had been designed to allow for maximum flow for entering and exiting. Vengeful Blade and Golden Dawn waiting for them to clear out before heading down.

The Sixth Counselor quietly approached General Shielded Vengeance. “General, how is it that Golden Dawn and Vengeful Blade know each other?”

General Shielded Vengeance was confused. “Well, they were both in the Equaggan War Weapons Training I conduct. That was before they signed on for Aerial Combat School. I found them through that training, from two different units. They hadn’t met before. During EWW, they were apart of the power team that bonded together and supported each other. They were the best of that class too.”

“Power team?” The Sixth Counselor whispered.

“Well, whenever soldiers band together to be stronger than they could be alone, they are known as power teams. Usually. They have to earn that name. They did. It was Gunmetal, Golden Dawn, Vengeful Blade, and Striker.

“They called themselves the Terrifying Tetrad. They certainly were so. They also had a hoof up on the others because they were the breakfast crew. They did a lot of bonding and work then. Golden Dawn and Vengeful Blade were the top shots with all the weapons. But I know Gunmetal was holding back. Striker was great too.

“If one of their teammates struggled on a weapon, concept, or anything, they supported them and helped them master it. There were two other power teams, but the others were definitely not as good as the Terrifying Tetrad.”

The Sixth Counselor sighed. “And now? What is their future?”

“Well, Striker leads an ACU. We are putting all four back together to crush it. We put them through some trials when I tried to convince them to join. They proved to not only be good candidates for the ACUs, but also for his Unit. So they are staying together.”

“Shit,” The Sixth Counselor swore.

“What’s wrong with that?” General Shielded Vengeance asked warily.

“Ensign Golden Dawn, Ensign Vengeful Blade,” The Sixth Counselor called. “Please come here.”

“Fuck!” Golden Dawn swore. She played it professional to start. “Am I in trouble sir?”

General Shielded Vengeance shrugged his shoulders, looking at the Sixth Counselor.

“Fuck!” Golden Dawn swore. “We snuck in for good reason. I can list them all, but the biggest evidence is Gunmetal. And whatever she needs us for, its test subjects from her demeanor.”

“That’s not why I need to speak with you,” The Sixth Counselor clarified. “That response is up to General Shielded Vengeance.”

The Sixth Counselor sighed, deeply troubled. “What I am about to tell you is for safety and is classified to the highest degree. Public execution classified.”

Vengeful Blade shot a glance at Golden Dawn. He clearly believed she had gotten him dragged into whatever was happening.

“Look, I can’t guarantee that,” Golden Dawn stated. “The rest of the team may need to know. Its unwise to keep secrets from squad mates. Especially as kick ass as we will be. Once ACS happens.”

“Yeah yeah,” General Shielded Vengeance said, waiving it off with his wing. “I am the General over the Aerial Combat Battalion. If the others need to know, I will make that executive decision. For the safety of all. Or take appropriate actions to keep things secure.”

“Can you agree to that?” General Shielded Vengeance asked, mostly to Golden Dawn.

“You’re not that stupid,” Golden Dawn clipped.

The Sixth Counselor waited for General Shielded Vengeance to nod to her to continue.

“This information is important, and for the safety of both of you. We can’t risk you two doing anything in ignorance. Or doltish if you already crossed that line. We keep close track for a reason, but it obviously failed.”

“Spit it out,” Golden Dawn impatiently stated. “We can discuss ramifications after if it even needs to be stated.”

“Fine,” The Sixth Counselor said slowly. “Vengeful Blade, you are two years younger than Golden Dawn. You were in an accelerated school program because of your adept skills with your academic studies. We expected you to go to secondary school, but you went soldier.”

Vengeful Blade was confused. “I’m with Golden Dawn, spit it out.”

“You were given to your parents since they couldn’t have their own biological children. You mother is an Enclave Doctor in the military sector. And your father recently retired from years of service and some bad joints from his time in the military.”

“Nothing new,” Vengeful Blade said, getting annoyed at the slow pace.

“Golden Dawn, your family had a Third and won the rights to not abort. But the foal was taken away immediately.”

“Yeah,” Golden Dawn shrugged. “I was young, but I clearly remember the horror it was for the family and the depression of my mother.”

Golden Dawn’s eye shot open as wide as they could. She stumbled back like a sledgehammer had struck her in the chest and tipped to the ground, sitting down hard on her flank.

“Are you fucking saying that we are related!” Golden Dawn shot at the Sixth Counselor.

The entire room had heard it and froze. Thankfully it was just the Council, Vice Admiral Purple Breeze, Fleet Admiral Ruby Snow, General Nova, General Firestorm, Deke, Little, Lieutenant Steel Wire, Gunmetal, and Pony Patrol.

General Shielded Vengeance groaned. “I should have seen that coming and insisted on a private room.”

“No General, I should have insisted on it,” The Sixth Counselor sighed. “I didn’t realize she was so outspoken. But I should have played it safe.

“But you two, please tell me that friendship never went deeper.”

“Uh…” Vengeful Blade stammered. “She is a filly fooler. She has no interest in anything but friendship. Purely friendship between us.”

“Counselor,” General Shielded Vengeance calmly stated. “I will privately inform the rest of their Unit. For all of their safety. I know these two will need a little time to adjust to the news, but soon, it won’t be anything that will distract them. They are good friends already and that is what matters. But for that little hiccup that will happen, their Unit needs to know.

“Golden Dawn might be a bit outspoken and rebellious, but I know she can keep her mouth shut. And I know this because nopony, nopegasus, knows she is already married. As of two weeks ago. Right after Golden Dawn graduated from our Officer School. And she had a reputation as a looker in Basic Training, keeping her eye out for the pretty ones.

“Shining Ire was one of our first residents in Wind Hamlet and they got to pick their house. They chose a nice one with a prime location. She had been expertly slipping away and sneaking off when she wouldn’t be noticed by her friends. But the brass notices everything.”

“Fuck,” Golden Dawn swore, still mostly out of it.

She had fucked up. She was still trying to process the news. And she had gotten punished for it very skillfully. She didn’t know how to tell the others she was married. And now the prospect of her lost brother being her friend was screwing with absolutely everything Golden Dawn knew. She counted him as dead, never to be seen.

Vengeful Blade finally shook his head, still denying it. “Counselor are you positive?”

“Yes Ensign, I am. I personally placed you all those years ago. Obviously I have gone a long way since that humble start. But a third being born, and then being given to a military family, it was special news in our department. And I know because I was appalled of their name for you.”

Vengeful Blade chuckled. “Yeah. I love my name. I am a third. They named me appropriately.”

“What do you mean?” General Shielded Vengeance asked.

“Oh,” Vengeful Blade said blushing. “I was named that because I am a… Why am I blushing?”

Vengeful Blade stood proudly. “I am named Vengeful Blade because I should not be! On paper, I am the only child of Sterile Needle and Lightning Fortress! But I am and always shall be a Third! My parents love me and I love them, but the reality is that I should not exist. The papers were adjusted so that I survived, but my birth can not be denied. I am a thorn in the Enclave’s side! I was named Vengeful Blade for my life is the same as my name!”

The room was silent for a few moments and then Gunmetal started laughing. “That was the best proclamation I have ever heard. And in front of the Council too! Albeit in a relaxed setting. Your parents have a great sense of humor.”

“Thank you,” Vengeful Blade laughed, bowing for his ‘performance.’ “But its the truth. No matter who my audience is. I love the meaning in my name. And my parents made sure to not let me deny my birth. I claim nothing, but my parents blood is not my own. I just declare their love for me.”

“I almost got tossed into the system,” Deke said. “Which meant I would have been torn away from my little sister. And that would not have ended well. I am Deke because of her. I am powerful because of her.

“Our Aunt and Uncle were able to take us in. I am so thankful they did. But they do not hold the same meaning to me as your parents do to you. You fucking joined the military and still are proud of your roots as a Third, rather than use their blood as your own for personal gain. That’s risky, but bad ass. Not the same as me, but respect dude.”

The Sixth Counselor chuckled. “Vengeful Blade, I am glad of how you developed. I knew they were the right couple for you. And you have proven that they were. And you are still young, with places to go in life.

“But! Everypegasus here, even you Pony Patrol and your pony ways, its a secret. One shared only out of necessity so the two of them didn’t try and hook up. We don’t need an incest incident because we didn’t let them know they are technically brother and sister. We split them to the other side of the Enclave to avoid it. Outside of a technicality, they are not related.”

“Which is why my name is my name,” Vengeful Blade stated confidently.

“Yes Ensign,” The Sixth Counselor stated. “Now I understand it and am not as disturbed by it as I originally was. Your mother is a top notch doctor after all. Major Sterile Needle is a huge asset to us, saving thousands of lives. I was expecting a healing, happy name. Not the bloody war name you got. And she was the one to state the name to us.”

“Take it elsewhere,” Gunmetal said. “We have complex shit to do. So either stop talking, or leave. I don’t give a damn which one you choose. And Golden Dawn, get up off the floor. It holds no value to you to wrap your head around it all. Sit in a damn chair until I need your ass.”

“Take charge,” Deke smiled. “Me like. I always like a mare that can take charge.”

Gunmetal’s eyes narrowed at him. “What about beat your ass?”

“I fly a Cloudship for a fucking reason. Half of the mares in the Enclave’s military can beat my ass. I will conquer the skies, not their flanks. Sadly.”

Gunmetal glanced at Little. She just rolled her eyes at his stupidity and then shrugged. She was lost when it came to her relationship with Deke. Deke was all over the place.

“Alright Captain Heart Breaker, focus on the plan. We need to figure out how to get these troops out and away from the Cloudships in a much more aggressive course of action.”

“I’m thinking,” Deke whined. “And the rest of them sitting on their asses watching are no help.”

“And your master plan?” Gunmetal asked.

“Yours?” Deke shot back.

“I’m clueless. I am just calculating shit that may matter while I think.”

“Well, I don’t have a real plan. So don’t quote me on this, yet. I only have so much genius I can gather. But we got some good stuff from the test jumps. Except for 17 who ate it and 112 who bailed on us, all teams split and exited off the sides of the ramps. We know from the calculations that forward is not an option. But to the side worked. We just need to get them out further than they were and do it on their own.”

“Right,” Gunmetal said. “Well, 63 got a great launch down. They had the best form. They cut it mighty close to the ship, but they were in full control. But distance out was 154. Their swing out was interesting. The farthest out one was the safest, but their form was shit. They had a serious problem trying to keep themselves steady when it was over.”

“We need to find that balance,” Deke stated. “63 plus 154. 217. Minus 17 and 112. That makes 105. Can’t forget the 92. So, 197 is what we come out with.”

Cardinal Spitfire coughed on a laugh. “Deke. Are you just doing math with the Unit numbers?”

“Its real math,” Deke shot back.

“But their numbers are completely random!” Cardinal Spitfire shot back. “I chose them, at random. Sort of. They were the best for the job. And remember, I have a whole set of others who were on deck, just as a ready. You can’t just-”

“Shut up,” Gunmetal ordered. “Its valid. You just don’t get it.”

“Let em run it,” Little said. “You know Deke doesn’t plan dumb.”

“Well he never planned that dumb out loud in Basic Training,” Cardinal Spitfire shot back.

“I wasn’t doing complex calculations then! You are just pissed I can do them and you can’t. You just flit and float around in that uniform and look pretty.”

“I can’t flit around right now!” Cardinal Spitfire shot. “I have medals on!”

“He should too,” Little said. “But he couldn’t be bothered.”

“Shove it!” Deke spat. “I have it! 197! There were five teams that add up to 197! Divide 197 by 5 and we get 39.4 inches! We need a 39.4 inch rod!”

“Hmm,” Gunmetal said stroking her chin. “That’s only 2.8 feet. No. Divide by the successful 3! We already removed the bad two from the equation! That’s 4.56 feet.”

“That’s not long enough either,” Deke stated.

Gunmetal elbowed Deke. “Yeah it is Mr. Sky Master. You are thinking too straight. 4.56 and 4.56 at a 150 degree bend equals a total distance of 8.8! We use two rods to swing soldiers out and then when it hits the point of contact it releases them. 8.8 Feet, minus a bit to allow for the mounting point and the point of contact will still make for around 7 feet-”

“And seven feet out plus the swing is more than enough!” Deke finished. “We just have to figure out how to ensure they launch out, not into the ship.”

“They are expert fliers,” Gunmetal reminded him. “So that will help solve for their part of the control factor. The point of contact for the rods also needs to release them.”

“Harness?” Deke asked.

“That’s what I am thinking,” Gunmetal said. “But the release is going to have to be automatic and it needs a backup so we can release them if they get stuck.”

Deke and Gunmetal chuckled at the idea of pegasi dangling off the side of the ship, suspended on an arm.

“A pull pin is easy to set up,” Gunmetal stated. “Relatively speaking. And then we could easily set up a system at the anchor to release them.”

“Why not just cut the rope?” Deke asked.

“This will take higher strength stuff than plain old rope.”

Gunmetal sketched up a brace. For now, each arm sat on a basic pole they would put on the inside of the door. The launch poles had a 150 degree bend at the center of them. The could be rotated up and locked away for storage. For use, they would rotate down into place and then once the jumper was clipped into place, they would run out and jump, letting it carry them. The pole would swing out and once it made the full swing it could they would get released and be launched out ready to fly.

“I need a release,” Gunmetal said. “Which is why I need Golden Dawn and Vengeful Blade. To test designs on. I’ll rope in the others as well. Literally if I have to.”

“How long until you can have this made up and installed?” Deke asked.

“Uh, the release is the biggest catch,” Gunmetal said and then let out a huge sigh. “No pun intended. But the rest, I could have this done in 36 hours. I just need to have the main HQ help us out. Its pretty simple. We can do this and then run tests before the second day of the exercises.”

Nova had a question. “Uh, senior officers here. What about the armor? How will this, system, work with it?”

Gunmetal shrugged. “I was picturing a system that worked over the armor and connected in between the wings or mid back. It would be slid in between the plates and be like the training zap armor covers. And I am seeing ditching it as soon as possible. Because this delivery system, well its going to suck getting slammed like you have to in order to break off safely. They are not going to like it. But I think its going to work. Its not a forward deployment, but its fast. And all they have to do is bank around to flip around.”

“It’s not just about forward Deployment,” Nova said. “Its about fast deployment. Heading up top is okay, but with the Corvettes, their main guns are top mounted. We can’t deploy from the top during naval combat. The Raptors and Sky-tanks are not able to facilitate that. Its all small access hatches or emergency bail hatches. No real deployment can happen from either ship except for the planned routes and speeds.

“So going backwards a bit while going 400 miles per hour isn’t a problem.”

Gunmetal’s head dropped as she hung it in despair. “Fuck. 150, 200, 250 even. Yes.”

Gunmetal took a deep breath in and looked at the Cloudship officers. “350, or 400? You won’t be able to hit 300 with a ramp down. You won’t be able to get your ramp lower than 40%! And that will be a hard fight! You will be getting errors thrown left and right by your system!

“And with the ramp only going down 40, I can’t use a static system! I need an adjustable height system. That requires a whole knew bracing and storage system. You just caused me another two hours of work to plan this! Total time is now 48 hours.

“Deke, can you help me with this, or are you unable to? Its one thing to do the math, its another to do schematics.”

Deke learned against the wall, thinking. “I have never drawn schematics. But I know them and their design backwards and forwards. I know complex moving parts and machines down to the tiny springs, ball bearings and screws.”

Gunmetal grinned. “Well look at the Cloudy who should be in the armory. You would make a good armorer.”

“Fuck that,” Deke laughed. “I don’t know how to fix them and don’t give a shit about fixing it. I know schematics because before this, Director of Operations meant I had to know how to take down, clean and reassembled all of the parts of the systems. It didn’t mean I could fix it. We just swapped out broken or damaged parts.

“But yeah, I am cool doing schematics. You draw though, we saw how shit my artist skills are.”

Gunmetal chuckled. “You said a whole lot and gave us no information. But whatever you did, Director of Operations, sounds like you have skills.”

“Eh,” Deke shrugged. “Lets prove it by solving this jump system.”

“You are full of it,” Little said. “Just full of it.”

“Get out,” Deke said, waiving her off with his wing. “We don’t need you any more. We need to build!”

“Yes, Lets go,” Ruby Snow said. “We are in their way looking over their shoulders. But we will be reviewing this system before we install it.”

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Gunmetal said distract. “Golden Dawn, Vengeful Blade, run and sleep while I don’t need you.”

“Both already stumbled out of here,” Cardinal Spitfire said from halfway up the stairs. “Golden Dawn isn’t ready to do much right now. I’m going to check in on her. But I never expected her to take that so, hard?”

“Send my regards,” Deke said, distracted. “I hope she feels better. Losing family isn’t easy.”

Cardinal Spitfire almost corrected him but wisely stopped. Not just because the Council was still filing out, but because Deke was too out of it to get through to him. He would realize what happened later.

Next Chapter: Chapter 95 - Round Two Estimated time remaining: 48 Minutes