We moved through the stairwell like ghosts, the brass-catchers on our rifles ensured we wouldn’t leave a trace. Dave held up a hand as we reached the first landing, a security camera blocking our path.

“Contact has arrived, looping into the camera feeds in three, two, one, go!”

We pushed past the landing, the security room two floors below us, and they were blind. Dave and the rest of Butcher stacked while Rob, Tucker, and I barreled past them, heading for the lab. I never liked the idea of killing civilians, but we had to wipe them out so their research couldn’t be readily reproduced. The cleanroom door came up quick, I slipped the password cracker into the card reader, the little device running thirteen billion possible combinations a second, two seconds later the night went green, and I pushed the door open. The lab staff, a mix of ponies, griffons, and humans, was gathered around a table laden with glasses of champagne and plates of cake. One of them looked up at us, still laughing at something, his face slowly morphing into a look of pure terror as I flipped the selector to full auto.

Someone screamed. We opened fire. Seconds later, it was done, the floor slick with rivers of blood as we walked through the room, planting thermite charges at key points. None of their research could survive either. We made copies for the DS&T guys to pour over, maybe we could use this shit to our advantage.

“Butcher, Oxide, the lab is secure, charges are set.”

“Copy, coming to you.”

Butcher went flying past us, heading deeper into the complex. Rob and Tucker scanned the hallway as I planted the last charge, setting the timer for ten minutes.

“Butcher is set, three floors below.”

One of the science team, a Unicorn stallion, grabbed for my boot as I walked by, I dropped my muzzle and fired, the heavy three-hundred “Blackout” round splitting his head like a watermelon. “Oxide, move.”

We pushed down the stairs hurdling the bodies of three dead guards, passing Butcher and continuing down, three floors till the elevator to the Portal lab.

A guard popped out of a side door, three rounds from Tucker dropped him to the floor, blood spraying over the walls, I shot him in the head as we ran, Rob clearing the room behind him. The last landing ended in a long hallway, the elevator at the far end. we were so close. “Oxide is set, elevator hallway is clear.”

“Moving.”

Butcher came bounding down the stairs. “How we doing on alarms?

Rob answered, “Nothing on the comms, they just called in their patrol, jamming, now.”

A screech echoed from the stolen Chinese radio before everything went silent.

Dave twisted the knob on his radio, speaking to someone outside the net for a moment before turning it back to our freq. “Contact is starting up the elevator, move.”

We hustled down the hallway, clearing side rooms; the elevator was heading our way and still nothing. Things were going smoothly, and that worried me. We set up around the hallway covering the elevator doors. They slid open, quiet as the grave.

“I fucking hate elevators,” Tuck whispered

“Right?” Connor answered

“Move.”

We slipped inside and hit the button for the lower levels. I tapped my foot, flipping my selector switch from “Safe” to “Fire” and back, hoping we weren’t walking into a fucking ambush. The tension built the lower we got; I could feel the guys winding up. I jumped a little as the elevator dinged, the doors sliding open, revealing two stunned guards. I tucked my rifle under my arm, grabbing one by the throat and pulling him into the elevator. I squeezed the trigger three times, spraying blood on the wall behind him, his eyes were wide, disbelieving. I waited for him to go slack and let him drop, behind me, Dave had driven his knife into the second guard's chest, Connor had one hand over his mouth, the other hand stripping his rifle and dropping it on the floor.

As the guard struggled against them, I leaned out and checked the hall; nothing greeted me. The bells were ringing and loud, we’d met only token resistance on what might have been the most critical project in China’s history. I heard Tucker whistle softly over my shoulder; he was staring past me; when I followed his eyes, I realized what was wrong. Below the catwalk, there was almost a company-sized element standing in formation around the device, a huge ring-like structure in the center of the room, already loaded on a massive flatbed trailer flanked by BRDM’s. A booming voice echoed off the high walls; the chatter was the only reason no one had heard us taking down the two guards. That’s when it hit me; they weren’t mustering troops from Guangzhou, they were moving the device there.

We’d walked right into the middle of a ceremony commemorating a technological leap forward.

Oh Fuck.

“Fuck,” Dave breathed. Our chances of surviving this had just gone from slim to fucking none.

“How many grenades we have?” I whispered.

“Ten all told.”

“Demo?”

“Twenty pounds each.”

“Give me a few bricks, a cap, and one grenade.”

“IED?”

I smiled grimly, “Yeah, we clear the room, set the charges on the ring, and get the fuck out.”

I grabbed the bricks Dave held out to me, pulling a roll of duct tape out of my ruck, quickly taping the bricks and my grenade together, it sounded like the speech was winding down, we had minutes at most. I gently slid the pencil-thin blasting cap into the mass of SEMTEX. I nodded to Tuck; he pressed the button to take us back up, I pulled the pin on the grenade, the spoon flying free as the doors started to close. I stepped up and hurled the hastily built device in a high arc towards the Chinese company. The door slid closed, I covered my ears and opened my mouth to keep my lungs from exploding when the blast wave hit, counting in my head as the elevator began to move.

Three

Two

One

The blast slammed the elevator around in the shaft, the whole thing shuddering to a halt. The lights went out for a few seconds before the backup generators kicked in. If they didn’t know we were here before they sure as fuck did now.

“Out, now!” Dave shouted, Connor popped the hatch while Ray covered, we boosted each other, one by one up and out onto the roof of the car. The shaft below us was in ruins, faint screaming echoing through the destroyed outer doors. Ray pulled some rope from his pack and tied it off on one of the brakes, I was up first, sliding down the line and onto the floor of the shaft, didn’t much like the busted elevator hanging mere feet over my head, but the rest of the team was mercifully quick, fast-roping down next me. Alarms were sounding all over the building, and there was no doubt that whatever Quick-Reaction Force they had was on the way.

Once we were all on the ground, I stepped up to the twisted doors, trying them with my hands, no dice. “No good. Breacher up.”

Tuck stepped up, pulling a halligan from his breaching rig and slamming it into the gap, I reached up and helped him lever the doors open with a screech of metal while the rest covered. The inside of the facility looked like hell on earth, I’d built the charge hot, but damn. Fires burned, body parts littered the concrete floor, and what remained of the escort force was frantically trying to save their comrades and guard the device, in that order. We pushed out onto the catwalk, I took aim and opened fire, dropping some already wounded Chinese soldiers as I ran for the stairs, Rob and Tuck hot on my heels. Now the Reds were starting to get the idea, round whined and pinged off the catwalk floor. I never stopped running, the incoming fire intensified, but Butcher was running parallel, hitting them from behind.

I was amazed that we were still alive as I grabbed the railing at the top of the stairs, using my momentum to slingshot me down the first few steps, I stopped on the landing, letting Rob overtake me, I lined up a shot and dropped a guy dragging a PKM behind cover, the machine gun would’ve chewed us up, Tucker ran by and tapped me on the shoulder.

“Last man!”

Somebody was watching out for us. The last few guards died at Butcher’s hands as our feet connected with the blood-slicked concrete. We met up at the device, now that I got closer, I could see the ring was a mix of metal and magically charged crystals.

“Butcher!” I called out, “We’ve got a problem!”

“What goes on, Oxide?”

“These crystals, if they blow, we’re gonna have some major destruction.”

“How bad?”

“Five or six blocks and then some, there's a lot of civvies here.”

Dave jogged over, “Zack, if we don’t blow it, how many more are going to die?”

“Yeah, you’re not wrong.”

“Hey,” He grabbed my arm, “it’s my call, blow it.”

I nodded, “On it.”

I started pulling out blasting caps and bricks from my bag, sliding them underneath the ring, Rob did the same opposite me, taking bricks from Tuck and Ray. Connor and Dave covered the exits. In a matter of seconds, the job was done, the whole shebang was wired to a cell phone with redundancies, once we activated it the Chinese wouldn’t be able to move it without setting it off.

I flipped the switch, and the timer popped up, ten minutes, and counting.

“Alright, the fuse is lit, let’s boogie.”

We cleared our way out of the hangar and down the side hall headed for the parking garage, our van was sitting there, keys in it. I walked over and raised the gate. A few moments later, we shot out onto the street, taking the corner on two wheels and skidding off into the night. I took off my helmet, not wanting to attract attention from a distance, a white guy in Beijing was a fucking unicorn at the moment, especially one who didn’t speak a lick of Cantonese. If we got stopped, none of us was fooling anyone. I stared into the rearview mirror, watching the building, Dave cut a right over the bridge heading out of the city, blending with what little traffic was out at this hour.

“Five minutes,” I called out.

We doubled-back once we crossed the bridge, keeping the building on our right, still heading for the suburbs. I watched the tower of steel and glass, waiting for the explosion. A mile later, I got my wish; some dipshit must’ve wiggled the fucking thing. The massive thunderclap of fire had a distinctly purple tinge, the secondaries from the magic crystals, the shockwave followed the shore, dropping several of the gigantic industrial skyscrapers into the river.

“Hang on!” I shouted, the blast wave hit us a second later, the van damn near flipped, coming up on its side. We spent what felt like an eternity on two wheels before all four wheels made contact with a massive bang, Dave floored the accelerator, and we shot off down the road. I collapsed back into my seat, relief flooding through me.

“Target destroyed boys.”

We cheered, whooped and all but broke down, Rob tried to hide his tears of joy. We’d done it; we’d fucking done it. We got out of the city ahead of the lockdown, making our way into the countryside. We split up from there, stealing cars and sleeping in the woods. There were close calls, and I damn near got caught outside of Wuhai, but I crossed into Mongolia five days after the blast. Paid a guy for his motorcycle and rode into Ulaanbaatar, feeling like a conquering hero. I finally dropped the kickstand a block away from the Embassy, lit a strong Mongolian cigarette, and walked the last hundred yards. The Marines at the gate gave me a wide-eyed look, I guess they weren’t used to seeing half-dead Americans walking up like they owned the place. I kept my hand out to the side as I approached.

“I don’t have any identification, but I need to speak with someone from State as soon as possible, guys.”

The Corporal looked at me for a long moment, “Stand by sir, Private get on the radio, tell State we’ve got another one.”

I smiled, “Another one, Corporal?”

“Yes sir, you’re the sixth guy to roll up here with that same line in the last few days, you OGA?”

I smiled, “Wouldn’t you like to know Corporal? I need a fucking cheeseburger and an American cigarette; all else is secondary man.”

He grinned at me, “Well shit, sir, here you go.” He dug in his one of his pouches, pulling out a battered pack of menthols.

“Corporal, you ever made love to a man?”

He almost cackled as I took the smoke from him, lighting one up and savoring the taste. The private walking up a second later. “State says let him in Corporal.”

“I figured, hit the gate, Wallace.”

“Aye Corporal.”

I socked the kid in the shoulder before I walked through the gate, giving a wave to the Private. “Take it easy, boys.”

“You too, sir.”

I watched my feet as I kicked up Mongolian dust, blowing clouds of smoke, relief flooding through me, I’d made it, we’d saved Equestria, and no one could take this joy from me. I looked up at a whistle to see Rob and Tucker standing on the steps.

I smiled, “Well, howdy, boys.”

“Goddamn,” Tucker whispered as he bounded down the steps, hugging me, “We all made it brother.”

Rob came down to get in on it, slapping me on the back. “You’re the last one to get here; we were getting worried.”

“Came close in Wuhai, almost got my ass.”

Tuck chuckled, “Speaking of ass, you smell like it bud; let’s get you inside, fresh clothes, and a shower.”

“Music to my ears.”

We walked through the lobby, all the spit-shined office workers looking at me like I was an alien, once we crossed over to the Agency Annex, the looks got less frequent, but the whispering got louder. Once we passed into the personal areas, I asked Tuck the question that’d been burning up my brain for a few days. “What do we know about Equestria?”

“Situation is the same; I wonder if they know how close we were.”

“Celestia sure did, I’d bet money Frank told her whether he was supposed to or not. We have a way outta this joint?”

Rob nodded, “A flight out of the city when we need it. We were just waiting for you, bro.”

“Call it in, I wanna shower, but I can sleep on the flight. You guys game?”

Tuck smiled. “Hell yeah, let’s get back and finish this thing.”

“I been ready, waiting for your slow ass,” Rob added with a grin.

“Fuck you, man.” I laughed, shaking my head as I headed off to wash half of China off me.

The hot water hitting my skin was rejuvenating, I could still scarcely believe we were alive, the enormity of what we pulled off was slowly hitting me, and the tears came, rushing out of me as relief flooded in. We hadn’t ended the war, but we’d held on to Equestria, and that was something. I leaned my head against the wall of the shitty government-issued shower and just let it happen.

A few hours later, Butcher and Oxide climbed into the sky on an Air Branch Antonov, bright-eyed and back to the fight, I called Mom, lying through my teeth, I told her I’d gotten busy and tried to keep the tears out of my voice as she caught me up on the goings-on.

We changed flights at an Agency strip in Turkey before heading on to Germany and finally, Langley. Government issue SUV’s were waiting for us at the airport, and we were hustled to the Campus at speed. A few minutes and some ID checks later, and both teams were standing in the fabled seventh-floor conference room, waiting on the brass to come and put their collective foot squarely up our collective asses.

Rut was the first one in, right behind him came DCIA Mary Carter, She was a legend in the intel community, not a politician, but a Case Officer who’d cut her teeth in some of the roughest places on Earth. She surveyed our sorry asses, then motioned to the chairs.

“Gentlemen, please sit.”

I slid into a plush, high-backed leather chair, waiting for my career to end. We’d gone against a Presidential directive, broken a shitload of laws, and killed quite a few people.

All eyes were on Mary, she sat at the head of the table, her fingers steepled in front of her, “Guys, I’m just gonna lay this out here. Unofficially, what you pulled off was a textbook example of luck meets smarts. You kept an entire allied nation from being taken overnight. And you did it with zero support inside of a denied area; then you managed to secure information that will put us ahead of our enemies by twenty or thirty years. I’ve always said that SAD was a pack of superheroes, and you haven’t done anything to disabuse me of that notion. Solid. Fucking. Work.” She looked around the table, “Officially? We never had this conversation; I never met with you; you were on leave, period. We will assist you in coming up with a cover story, all documents to match, and you will stick with it until the day you die, there will be no After Actions filed. Consider this redacted until the sun explodes. Any questions?”

Nobody spoke, I think we were in shock. I know I was.

“No? Good, I’ll leave you in Mr. Rutledge’s capable hands, Take care gentlemen.”

We stood as she did, smoothing her suit and walking out without another word. The second she crossed the threshold, Tuck sat and let his head thunk down onto the table, “Holy Fuck,” he mumbled into the wood.

Rut laughed, “You’re not kidding. You fucking guys are unbelievable. I mean, I run some of the craziest men and women on the planet, but what you did? Beyond the pale. You’re all getting the Star by the way, unofficially and so completely classified that if you use the word “Star” in polite conversation, you'll be going to jail for the rest of your natural lives, but there it is.”

We were all quiet for a second; then, the sniggering started; before long, we were laughing like fools. We were alive, and we weren’t losing our jobs or going to prison. I finally calmed down enough, “So Rut, now that we’re out of the frying pan, when can we get back into the fire?”

“Immediately if you want. With their lines cut off, the Russians have no way to escape, which we now know they were counting on, The last push to get the Griffons out of Equestria is about to begin, We could use Butcher and Oxide out in the field. I can get you on the next flight to the Portal, but no one could blame you guys if you need a few days to decompress.”

Rob spoke first, “I don’t speak for everyone here, but I’m ready to end this, we’ve lost too much to slow down now.”

The guys nodded almost in unison. “Butcher is ready to head back in,” Dave said.

“Oxide is up and ready, Rut. Put us in, Coach.”

Charlie smiled, “I expected nothing less, get ready, you leave in three hours.”