My Little Gears of War: The Beginning
by Ranger Roger
First published
The first chapter of the epic "My Little Gears of War" Trilogy.
This is the first part of the "My Little Gears of War" Trilogy. As all of ponykind wages war on underground dwellers known as the locust, a rag tag squad of ponies fighting for the "C.O.G" or "Clydesdales of Ordered Governments", who rule all of Equestria after the fall of the two sisters, find themselves fighting for their lives, families, and the survival of the pony race. They soon discover that their role in the war is much more significant then they could have ever imagined.
Chapter One: "It's About Damn Time"
Prologue:
It has been eight years since the day the Locust emerged from beneath the Earth and began wreaking havoc on not only Equestria, but the entire planet. On that day the two royal sisters disappeared and have not been heard from since. In their absence a new government was formed by the All-fathers, a group of elder Clydesdale's. This group was called the Clydesdales of Ordered Governments, or the C.O.G., whose call sign is a gear with the Fourth Horseman’s, or Death’s, head in the center of it. Their rule was much worse then that of their predecessor’s, but theirs is the only one. The C.O.G. needed soldiers to fight off the Locust. They destroyed almost every major city including Ponyville, reducing them to a carcass of what they once were.
The Pegasi retreated to Cloudsdale, where they now reside out of contact with the rest of Equestria. Some of them joined the C.O.G. military to help the Earth ponies and Unicorns fight back the Locust. The ponies who did not join the military, or fly to Cloudsdale, tried to seek refuge in Canterlot, the only other safe haven left in Equestria. They, unfortunately, were refused by the government, due to lack of room in the city. They are now scattered across Equestria surviving anyway they can, while avoiding detection by the Locust.
The mane six all went their separate ways after the collapse of Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle, and Rarity were both already in Canterlot when the city was closed off. They were drafted into the C.O.G. army as control center operatives, guiding soldiers in combat situations and relaying commands to them from higher up. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy left for Cloudsdale, but not before telling the others that they would find out what was going on there, and bring help as soon as possible. They have not been heard from since. Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie, after being sent away by the C.O.G., joined the other stranded ponies and are now held up somewhere in Equestria trying to survive. Spike is presumed dead, after he was no where to be found during the Locust attack on Ponyville.
The C.O.G. is doing it’s best to defend Canterlot and recruit more soldiers so that it can launch a counter attack on it’s enemy. This is where our story begins, corporal Jackknife is leading his squad on a search and rescue raid on a Locust P.O.W. base in what’s left of the city of Manehattan.
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“Control, come in. Control? Twi.....you there?” Jackknife whispered.
“Yeah I’m here, sorry about that. Rarity and I were switching shifts.” Twilight answered back through his tac-com.
Jackknife sighed with relief. “Alright Twi, give me a sit-rep. We’re outside of the building and I need to know what we’re up against.” Jackknife was just a few yards from the entrance of a large three story prison that had been taken over by the Locust, and were using it to torture and imprison their captives. He was covered in grass and green war paint to blend in with the bushes he was surrounded by. Jackknife had been a commando for about six and a half years, and was familiar with many covert tactics like this one. The rest of his squad was positioned a bit farther back, waiting for his signal to engage.
Twilight was using the satellite surveillance system to monitor Jackknife’s squad. “Um....okay, it....looks like you’ve got two guarding the entrance, four patrolling the perimeter, and two snipers on each corner on the roof. So you have a total of fourteen outside, and thermal imaging is picking up at least twenty hostiles inside.”
Jackknife closed his eyes in disappointment “Damn, this won’t be easy.”
“Has it ever been, lad?” Pot McShot chimed in over the tac-com.
Jackknife grinned a bit. “Good point Mac.”
Pot McShot was about six hundred yards away from Jackknife’s position, posted up in a tree. Pot Shot was the top sharp shooter in his class and could shoot the wings off a parasprite at a hundred meters. He was completely invisible in his Gillie suit, and already had a shot lined up on a locusts head. “Just say the word and it’s good night for baldy, up top.”
Jackknife knew that if Pot fired, it would alert the whole base. “No, Mac. You’ll just give away our position. I’m gonna try to get in there, free the prisoners and get the hell out. I’ll let you know when I need you, don’t worry you’ll get to have a bit of fun once we’re done here.”
“Alright, you’re the boss lad.” Pot was much older then Jackknife but had enlisted only about three years ago, and was stuck as a low rank. He didn’t mind being under the command of Jackknife and respected him as an individual and a soldier. He still had the grub sniper in his cross-hairs. “You lucky bastard. You get to live....for now.”
Jackknife waited for the patrol to pass then quickly rushed forward with his rifle bayonet and stabbed both the guards in their throats before they could alert the others. He then dragged the bodies into the bushes he had been hiding in, and covered them with leaves and branches. Then he dashed through the entrance and into the building.
There was nopony inside and but he could hear the steps of something big coming towards him. He quickly sprang for cover and waited for it to pass. It was a Locust, but he was much taller then the others, and was in strange black armor that Jackknife had never seen before. He was being escorted by two guards who’s armor was also unfamiliar to Jackknife. He didn’t know who they were but he could tell they were important.
He waited for them to pass and once they did, asked Twilight, “Twi you got anything on that guy?”
Twilight’s stati’cy voice filled his right ear. “No Jack, I saw them in your visor feed, but, I’m not seeing anything on him or his friends in the data base.” There was a sense of worry in her voice.
Jackknife decided it would be a good idea to inform the rest of the squad. “Okay ponies, you heard the lady we got us unidentified Locust personnel, so stay frosty.”
The squad all responded one after another, “Roger that.” “Copy.” “Aye lad.”
“Good, I’m gonna make my way to the prison cells. I’ll signal y'all for back-up if I need it.” Jackknife slowly made his way over to the stairs that lead to the prison blocks.
“Good huntin’ lad.” Pot said.
“Thanks Mac.” Jackknife whispered as he opened the door to the stairs. The stair way was dark, and the power was out so all of the lights were dead. The only things keeping Jackknife from falling down, were the little blue lights scattered around his armor. ‘Why can’t they just give us flashlights?’ He thought to himself.
Finally he reached the bottom of the stair way and opened the door. His rifle was right over his shoulder ready to fire at whatever was on the other side, but what he saw was not what he expected.
The bodies of dead Locust were scattered all around the prison block floor. Intestines and dismembered limbs also painted the grey walls of the prison with blood and entrails. In one corner there was almost a pile of bodies. It was a gruesome scene. Locust were tall hulking creatures, that stood on two legs, and had razor sharp nails and teeth. In a hoof to hand fight it would take, at least, three full grown stallions to take down one Locust grub.
“Twilight, are you getting this.” asked jackknife.
“Yes, I’ve never seen so many dead grubs.” Twilight had been a control operative since the war started, and had seen many horrifying and scarring scenes since then, so she was not as weak hearted as she was when she started. Still, it was enough to shake even her mentality. “What, or whoever, did this must have been some kind of a.....”
“Bad ass.” he interrupted her.
Twilight always liked his sense of humor but this was not the time for jokes. “Not exactly what I was going to say.”
Jackknife was on the second cell floor, when he decided to take a closer look. He slid down the ladder and looked around for prisoners. There were none, all the cells were either empty or had the rotting remains of a corpse in them.
Jackknife was confused, his orders were to liberate the prisoners who were held here, but there was nopony to be found. Plenty of Locust, but no ponies.
“Twilight, are you sure this is the right place?” He asked
“Yes Jack, I’m positive. According to the blueprints there should be another cell section for the especially violent criminals down below. Please be careful.” Twilight feared for Jackknife’s safety.
“Thanks Twi, and don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” Jackknife proceeded around the corner and down the next flight of stairs. It was even darker then the previous stair way he had gone through, and yet again the small lights on his armor were the only light source in the room. Jackknife searched the room, but found nothing. As he turned around to leave, a bright light stunned his eyes. He picked up his hoof to shield his face from the light then activated the firing mechanism on his rifle.
The sound of the rifle firing right next to his ear nearly deafened him. The bright flashes of light from his rifle revealed several images hidden by the darkness of the room. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground and his rifle had been knocked off it’s stand on his back. There was a figure standing over him, holding him down on the ground. His eyes were still adjusting to the light being shined in his face, but he could make out that the figure was a pony not a locust.
“What is your name?!” the figured shouted.
Jackknife, still a bit dazed, asked. “What?”
“Your NAME motha’ fucka’, do you know it?!” The figure asked again.
Jackknife, still slightly stunned from the hit and the gunfire, finally said “Corporal Jackknife, 23 infantry, Echo squad.”
The figure lifted it’s hoof from Jackknife, “So your the squad they sent.” he said as he helped him up. “Well it’s about damn time. I was getting lonely.”
Jackknife, finally with his mind in order, said “Wait so your telling me your the only one left? What happened to rest of the prisoners?”
The figure, still a dark silhouette to Jackknife, said, “They’re all dead, the damn grubs either tortured em’ to death or ate em’. When they came to do the same to me, I took one of their guns and went to town. You just missed it, I heard you come in from second block and I waited for you here. Name’s Phoenix by the way.”
The words ‘Bad ass’ from his memory echoed in Jackknife’s head. “Well I’m here to get you out so lets move out. When they found themselves back in the prison blocks, they looked up from where Jackknife had entered and made their way up the ladder. When Jackknifed opened the door, his eyes met the metal chest plate of a locust.
It shouted out in it’s growling voice, “PONIES!!” Jackknife immediately stabbed his combat knife right in it’s throat, then Phoenix Shot it in the chest with his shot gun and they both raced up the stairs to the exit.
Jackknife began relaying commands to the rest of the squad.“Axle, I have the prisoner, call in a Crow, we need an evac. asap.!”
Axle began to radio for the chopper. “Yes sir.”
He gave the next order, “Tank Tread get your mulcher spinning up we need covering fire.”
Tank Tread hooked up his mulcher to his weapon rack, “Oh I’ve been waitin’ for dis shit.”
Jackknife smiled, “And Mac...here’s that fun I promised you.”
“Aye, sir. You hear that baldy, your time’s up.” Pot, began picking off the sniper on the roof one by one. A smile slowly formed on his face little by little with each kill.
Jackknife and Phoenix kicked open the exit and sprinted to the evac. site. Tank Tread laughed hysterically as he mowed down the locust trying to prevent them from escaping. Once the snipers were taken care of Pot McShot jumped out of the tree and hustled for the orange smoke that Axle had placed to mark the spot for the crow to land. It only took minuets for the Crow to arrive and land in the designated area to pick up Echo squad. Axle and Pot were already waiting in the chopper by the time Jackknife and Phoenix made it. The four of them waited in the chopper for Tank Tread.
“Tank, get your ass on the chopper.” yelled Jackknife.
“On my way sir.” Tank Tread galloped to the crow, his Gatling gun mulcher still drilling the enemy with a barrage of bullets. Once he was inside the pilot gained altitude and turned to face the prison building.
“Say good by mother fuckers.” The pilot flipped open a red cap on his joystick and pressed the exposed button, sending two missiles flying at the building, destroying it completely.
All of Echo squad was looking at Phoenix. Jackknife noticed this then said, “Yes he’s the only one that made it. Now lets get him back to Canterlot in one piece.” At that moment Twilight’s voice came on the tac-com.
“Jack, I just got word from Command they want you to bring Phoenix to the All-fathers building for a debriefing. Sorry that’s all the info I can give you right now.”
“That’s okay Twi, thanks. Tell Command that we’ll be there soon.” said Jack.
“Sure thing, and Jack....I’m glad your alright.” She said.
“Thanks Twi, see you soon.” He took off his visor and wiped his face. “Job well done squad. When we get back to Canterlot, drinks are on me.” With that they all cheered and flew off into the setting sun.
Chapter Two: "Welcome to Echo."
Jackknife was giving Echo squad orders as the crow touched down on the landing pad on the side of the C.O.G. building. The wind and rudders from the crow made it hard to hear what he was saying. The C.O.G. Tower was a colossal building that reached higher then any other structure in Canterlot. It was once the castle that housed Celestia and Luna, but that was a long time ago. Now it was the C.O.G. turned it into a Command Center. This is where Chairman Prescolt leads and organizes operations against the Locust hoard.
“Okay everypony, once we get inside we’ll bring Phoenix to the Chairmen for debriefing, then we’ll head down to the barracks for some R & R. The members of Echo squad all hopped out of the chopper and made their way to the building’s entrance. Pot turned around and tipped his cowboy hat to the pilot who saluted him back then flew off. The two armored guards saluted Jackknife then opened the double doors to the building.
Jackknife always hated to report to the Chairman, not because of Prescolt, but because wherever he was, Colonel Hoofman was there too. He had a nasty habit of, in Jackknife’s words, ‘being a real asshole’. The only thing that made the trip bearable, was the fact that he got to see Twilight. Jackknife didn’t have feelings for her, but only cared for her as a family member. Twilight was a very good friend of his wife, Dew Drop, who had gone missing a few years ago. This was about the same time Jackknife joined Echo squad. He hoped that he would find her one day during a mission to find and recruit stranded. Twilight still searches the data base for any signs of her, but most of the leads she gets turn out to be dead ends.
Echo squad had to pass through the Command Center floor to get to the elevators that lead to the Chairman’s office. It was bustling with ponies relaying commands to other squads out in the field. Jackknife found it hard to believe that all of them could concentrate with everypony talking at once, but some how it worked so he just put it out of his mind. He saw Rarity in one corner of the room nodding off in her chair with an off computer screen in front of her. He put his hoof on her shoulder and said, “Hey Rarity, you seen Twilight?”
His voice caused her to jump a bit. With her hoof over her chest to calm her down, she answered. “Oh dear you startled me Jackknife. Um...yes she and I traded off shifts a few moments ago, you must have just missed her. She had told me you were going to report to the Chairman, so I assumed that you did not need me.”
“I see, did she say where she was going?” He asked.
Rarity shifted her gaze to the ceiling and put he hoof under she chin, then said, “I believe she mentioned something about checking a lead on your wife. Poor dear hasn’t slept in two days.”
This made Jackknife feel guilty about keeping Twilight from her much deserved sleep. “Alright thanks Rarity. Tell Twilight I really appreciate her looking into Dew Drop for me, but she needs to rest. Let her know I said it’s okay for her to take a break. Oh and Rarity....” His face straitened out in seriousness. “....Never assume that we don’t need you. You’re one of the most important members of this team, so we need you focused and alert.”
She was not offended by his statement, but she was so tired. It was getting harder and harder for her to stay awake, but the thought of her being one of ‘the most important’ members on the team spurred her on. “Yes sir.” she said with confidence, then turned on the computer and went for a cup of coffee.
Echo squad continued towards the Chairman’s office. Jackknife put his code into the lock on the door and it granted him access to the room. When he opened the door, Prescolt was in the middle of a conversation with a unicorn scientist. The conversation abruptly came to an end when they entered. The scientist looked at the Chairman with expecting eyes. “We will continue this conversation another time doctor.” Prescolt said.
“Yes Chairman. I’ll be in the lab.” With that, the unicorn scuttled out of the room past Echo squad.
Jackknife was relieved that Hoofman was not present. He saluted Prescolt then said. “Sir we’ve brought you the prisoner we rescued.”
The Chairman looked past Jackknife at Phoenix, “Thank you Corporal.” Prescolt put his hoof over his shoulder, “You and your men go get yourselves some rest. You’ve earned it.” He patted him on the back. “As for you Phoenix. You’ve been demoted to private for your actions at the defence of Manehattan.” Phoenix’s face seemed as if he was enraged, but he was quiet and acted quite calm. “You will give me a full debriefing on the information you have gained from the Locust prison. Is that understood?”
“Yes sir.” said Phoenix in a low but agitated and angry voice.
“Good, now have a seat we have much to discuss.” Prescolt sat down in his chair, then noticed that Echo squad was still standing there. “That will be all Corporal.”
Before they left Jackknife asked, “Sir, I was just wondering, where’s the Colonel?”
Prescolt smiled, knowing why he asked the question. “He’s left to rendezvous with Delta squad. He has a mission for them to recover something from Alpha squad who went dark somewhere near the House of Sovereign. I’m afraid that’s all the information that I can release, it’s on a need to know basis.” Jackknife nodded then signaled for his team to to leave.
Echo squad went down the elevator to the barracks. “Hey Jack, What was that ‘need to know basis’ shit Prescolt was givin’ us about Delta and Alpha.” asked Axle.
“I don’t know man, but it’s got to be important for Hoofman to get out from between the Chairman’s legs to go do it.” said Jackknife with a smirk.
Tank Tread ended the chuckles by saying, “I dunno bout you guys but I’mma hit the showers. I got Locust juice all ova’ my ass.” Tank was the teams heavy weapons expert and was an extra large, dark brown stallion who’s appearance gave you the hint not to fuck with him, but had a good sense of humor and loved to lighten up any situation with jokes. He is Pinkie Pie’s cousin and shares her personality and pink Afro mane. He likes to where a helmet to protect his head. Even though the rest of the squad prefers not to.
“Whoa Tank, I didn’t know your barn door swung that way!” They all started chuckling at the comment Axle made.
Tank quickly retaliated with, “Man, shut da fuck up. If I remember right you was the one getting yo mane brushed by that one big Blaster, back in Tyrus. Oh yeah he really liked you, what did he call you again? Oh right his little pony pet. HA HA!” The others started to laugh even harder.
Axles face reddened with anger. “Hey man! You said you wouldn’t tell anypony, what the fuck?!” Axle was the squad’s field engineer, and always picked on Tank, although he seemed to win more often then Axle did. He was the smallest of the bunch though not by much. His orange coat and spiky red mane made him the target of many jokes, such as ‘orange ass’, and ‘ginger’.
“Aw, relax baby, you know I ain’t gon say nuthin’. Just gotta put cha in your place every once in a while.” Tank laughed.
Axle, still upset, said, “Whatever man, let’s just get to the showers so I can wash off all this shit.” Axle and Tank Tread had known each other since before the war. They met one day while Axle was getting beaten up by two bullies in the school restroom. Tank Tread walked in and picked up the two ponies in each hoof and threatened them if they didn’t leave. When Tank asked why they were fighting him. Axle responded with “Well I was skipping class to try and fix my invention when the ugly one came in and said ‘You got a pretty small screwdriver there buddy.’ I told him that’s not what his mother said, and politely asked him to go fuck himself. He did not ablidge.”
Tank could barely breath after hearing the story, he was laughing too hard. Tank immediately took a liking to him and they have been good friends since. They were an unlikely friendship due to the fact that Tank was on the Hoofball team, and Axle was loner who was extremely gifted with machines and mechanics.
Once the team had showered, they had to clean and inspect their equipment. Axle was wiping his goggles as he made sure all of his tools were accounted for. Pot McShot had completely disassembled his Sniper rifle and was cleaning every individual piece to make sure that the rifle would function properly. Tank Tread had his Mulcher on top of the table and was charging the battery while counting the number of rounds he had for the gun. Jackknife had cleaned off all the blood from his rifle and it’s bayonet, and was now using a tooth brush to scrub the nooks and crannies of his armor.
Jackknife, still scrubbing his armor, asked “You’re awfully quiet Mac, something on your mind.”
Pot was checking the sights on his scope when he said, “I’m not sure exactly what it is Jack, but somethin’ doesn’t seem right. With all that’s goin’ on with the Chairman and Hoofman. That doctor that got outta’ there in a hurry seemed aspecious. And what’s the deal with this new bloke Phoenix? The Chairman doesn’t just send a whole squad to get one prisoner from a heavily guarded base like that, just for what little Intel he may or may not have. I’m just sayin’ lad, it all seems a bit dodgy to me.”
Jackknife had known Pot long enough to understand that when he had a feeling, it was best to take it very seriously. “Your right Mac, but for now all we can do is wait and see what happens. In the meantime let’s just enjoy the time we have off before Prescolt decides to cut it short.”
Pot shot had finally reassembled his rifle and aimed down the sights at the opposite wall, “Whatever you say lad, you’re the boss.”
At that exact moment Rarity blindly busted through the door with her front leg over her face, as to avoid seeing them exposed. “Jack I have a message for you and your team. It’s from Prescolt he wants you to finish what it is your doing quickly and report to him asap. He says he has a mission for you.” She was fumbling around still covering her face. Most of them were in the under clothes but Rarity refused to see them naked even though most ponies used to wear nothing at all, but times have changed and it was looked down upon to go nude. She herself had on the standard female uniform, a C.O.G. grey long-sleeve skirt one-piece with black boots.
“Speak of the Devil.” Groaned Axle as he put on his goggles.
Jackknife grabbed her and directed her to the exit, “Thanks Rarity, let him know we’re on our way.”
“Roger, Wilco Jack.” She said as she fumbled her way out the door.
Jackknife turned around and disappointingly said, “Alright you heard her Echo, get geared up and grab a quick bit to eat. We wouldn’t want to keep the Chairman waiting.” He said sarcastically.
Tank packed up his ammunition, “What about those drinks sir?”
Jackknife put on his visor and said, “They’ll have to wait. Don’t worry they’ll be cold when we get back.
Once Echo squad was suited up and had eaten, they went back up the elevator and down the hall to the Chairman’s office. When they entered the room, Phoenix was still there but he was wearing, outdated, C.O.G. armor. Jackknife was going to ask a why, but before he could the Chairman interrupted him. “I hope your three hour vacation was enjoyable, because you’ve got a new assignment. Your mission is to locate and destroy a locust supply base somewhere near these coordinates.”
Jackknife looked at the map, ‘Ponyville, that’s where Twilight and Rarity are from. I hope they don’t have a hard time dealing with this.’
The Chairman continued, “The Locust are using this base to supply weapons and ammunition to their little grub friends that are attacking the city. If we don’t cut them off now, they will eventually weaken our defences enough to climb up here without us sending them back down to the holes they came from. Find and destroy this base, and the Locust will have no choice to retreat all the way back to Tyrus city. One more thing, I’m assigning private Phoenix to Echo squad. He will be joining you on your mission, he had the base’s location memorized. He will lead you to it. Corporal I’m counting on you and your men to get the job done, don’t fail me.”
Jackknife raised his hoof to salute the Chairman. “Sir, yes sir. Don’t worry we’ll take care of it.”
Prescolt sat back down in his chair. “Oh yes, I forgot to mention something. Commander Macintosh has a surprise for you in the armory. Before you leave, go down there and get supplied. I think you’ll like it.”
“Yes sir.” Jackknife and the rest of Echo squad turned around and left for the armory. Once they were down the elevator and in the armory, they searched for Commander Macintosh. They easily spotted him with his bright red coat and orange mane. “Commander, the Chairman said you had a surprise for us.”
Commander Macintosh nodded his head slightly and pointed to the weapon’s rack. “Eeyup.”
As they all walked over to a weapons crate, Pot and Jackknife were in the back of the group. They looked at each other for a moment then at Phoenix who was up in the front. Then finally Jackknife asked, “What do you think Mac?”
Pot tipped up his hat and rubbed his goatee with his hoof. “Dodgy.....real Dodgy.”
Jackknife looked back at Phoenix, “I see.”
Once the group arrived at the crate, Axle pulled out a crowbar from his tool pouch and pried it open. He picked out a shiny new riffle with an under chainsaw attachment.
“Oh dear Celestia, is that the new Lancer X-5 model?” He asked.
The Commander closed his eyes and said, “Eeyup.”
Jackknife was unfamiliar with modern weaponry, “What’s an X-5 model?”
Axle was in shock, “Are you kidding me? This is only the most advanced riffle yet. With it’s gas powered chainsaw, high-tech Laser cross-hairs targeting system, it’s light carbon fiber frame, and longer spiral barrel for greater accuracy.”
“Actually the chainsaw’s ethanol powered, and the frame is made of Stylocite, not carbon fiber, whatever the hay that is. It also takes .308, 5.56 NATO, armor piercing rounds to really give it that kick to get through a grub’s armor.” Commander Macintosh corrected Axle.
Everypony stood silently with their mouths open in amazement, Axle being the most astonished.
The Commander just looked at the ceiling with his usual half awake face, “Eeyup.”
Jackknife didn’t know what else to say but, “Thank you sir,...we’ll on our way now.” and proceeded to leave.
Commander Macintosh waved goodbye and said. “Y’all come back now ya hear!”
Echo made their way back to the elevator, when Phoenix asked Jackknife, “So what now Corporal?”
“Now we head for Ponyville private. Axle, call in a King Crow to drop us off. Oh and by the way private....welcome to Echo.”
Chapter Three: Bringing Down The Hammer
“Come in K.C. 7-1 this is K.C. 2-3, I’ve got Echo squad and we’re en route to Ponyville town square, over.” said the King Crow pilot.
A voice came on over the chopper’s speakers. “Copy that, 2-3. Golf’s on board, and we’re right behind you. See you at the L.Z. over.”
Axle and Tank Tread were seated in the rear end of the chopper facing the nose. “Damn, we are really...fucking...high. Maybe even too high.” Tank Tread had stuck his head out of the side of the chopper, and was enjoying the view. He wasn’t particularly fond of heights, but sucked it up whenever they had to take a Crow. The only thing keeping him from falling was his seat belt.
Axle had a zoned out look on his face, and a smile. “Ha, what?” He asked.
Tank turned back to Axle, “I said, I think we’re too high.”
Jackknife, on the opposite side the chopper trying to ignore their conversation, asked Phoenix, “So what happened at Manehattan that got you demoted?”
Phoenix looked at the ground for a moment, then out the side of the helicopter. “It’s a long story.”
“We got a little bit till we get to Ponyville.” He wanted to know exactly what happened.
Phoenix closed his eyes then let out a breath. “Well alright. About six years ago my squad and I were assigned to defend Manehattan from the Locust. We were in over our heads. The barricades and traps we had set were useless, they came up from under the damn ground and passed all our defences. Those of us that didn’t fall into the holes or get shot to death, managed to fall back to the Trade Centaur building. We made it to the roof and tried to call for an evac. but the L.Z. was too hot. For three days we held out on that Celestia forsaken roof, just barley holding em’ back. Eventually they got through our defences and were about to over run us.” He paused for a moment looking at the bottom of the Crow.
Jackknife noticed the blank look on his face. It was almost as if he was watching what happened that day. “We were almost out of ammo, and had heard about what the locust did to prisoners. None of us wanted to go out as some grub’s lunch, so we considered ending it ourselves. We couldn't jump off because the edges were too high to get over. There were only enough shells for everypony, but one. I decided that it was my duty as squad leader to keep them from being eaten alive by the Locust. One by one I put a bullet in each of their heads, each thanked me and told me I was doing the right thing before I did.”
“Wow that’s rough man, I’m sorry.” Jackknife couldn’t imagine what it would be like to put down one of his squad, let alone all of them.
Phoenix looked at him with his almost angry ice blue eyes. “That’s not even the worst part. Right after, the grubs were just about to get to me when the Crow finally came up from one side of the building. It killed em’ all with it’s guns and landed to pick me up, but that’s sill not the worst of it. Once I told them what happened, Prescolt court-marshaled me for killing my own men and sent me to that prison you guys busted me out of.”
“Das some bullshit man!” Tank had started listening in half way and couldn’t believe that the Chairman would do that. “After all that he sent you slab? Ain’t that a bitch.”
Phoenix looked out the side again. “Your tellin’ me.”
The pilot’s voice cam over the radio. “Alright boys, 7-1 and I are going to drop off you and Golf in the town square. We’ll refuel and come back to pick....wait what the hay. Oh shit, LOOK OUT!” The pilot banked left to avoid an enemy nemacist that flew right by the chopper and hit K.C. 7-1.
“Son of a bitch! 2-3 we are hit, mayday mayday! Everypony hold on, we’re goin’ down!” The Chopper spun out of control and crashed landed right into the library.
“Oh Twi’s gonna be pissed.” Jackknife said while holding on the handle of his chair.
Another two nemacists flew at Echo’s chopper who just barley dodged them. “Damn it, the L.Z.s too hot. I got to put her down, now!” The pilot landed just out side of Ponyville, and Echo squad jumped out and readied their weapons. As the pilot headed back to base he radioed Jackknife, “Hey Echo, there’s green smoke where 7-1 went down. That means there are survivors.”
Phoenix turned to Jackknife. “If they’re alive they’ll need help before the Locust get to em’. We’re not the only one’s who are gonna be following smoke. We need to make that our top priority sir.”
Jackknife nodded then said, “Understood. Copy that 2-3 we’re en route to the library. We’ll contact you as soon as the mission’s complete for evac. over.”
“Roger that Echo, good hunting.” The pilot said over the tac-com.
Jackknife waved and said, “Thanks 2-3, Echo out.” Once the chopper was gone, he gathered his squad in a huddle. “Alright Echo, here’s the plan; Mac, you and Phoenix scout ahead to find out where the grubs got their shit stashed. Tank, Axle you’re with me, we’re gonna go see if anypony survived the crash. We’ll all regroup at Rarity’s old boutique once we’re done, got it.”
“Yes sir!” they all said at once.
He stomped on the ground with his front hoof. “Good, let’s head out.”
The team split up into two groups. Echo-1 made it’s way to the downed Crow, when Pot asked, “Okay Phoenix, which way to the supply base?”
Phoenix motioned his head north west. “It’s this way, close to the Apple’s old farm.” With that, Echo-2 made their way to Sweet Apple Acres.
Echo-1 crept up and down the streets of Ponyville with their weapons ready to fire. “Okay guys we’re enemy territory so stay sharp. Control, this Echo-1. We’ve split up and are en route to our objectives.” Jackknife waited for a response.
Rarity’s voice came on over the tac-com. “Roger that Echo. I’ll be here feeding you info.”
Jackknife was a little disappointed that it wasn’t Twilight’s shift, but he was also glad because she wouldn’t see how bad the town she once lived in had gotten. All of the once proud buildings that stood years ago were now in shambles, and decaying from years of neglect. The only thing that was remotely in good condition was the Town Hall, ironically since Professor Derpy Hooves used to work construction on it before the war. Now she’s the lead weapon’s designer at Derp Inc. located in C.O.G. tower.
Echo-1 rounded the corner of the Library then entered it. The downed Crow was wedged between two large book shelves. “Over here, help!” It was 7-1’s pilot. He was stuck between on of the book shelves and the cockpit.
“Tank give me a hoof with this.” Tank and Jackknife both lifted up the shelf with an ‘Umph’. Once the shelf was off they pulled the pilot out of the cockpit, his hind legs were badly injured. “There you go, can you walk?” they asked.
“I don’t think so, but I’ll try.” The pilot tried to stand but collapsed. “Nope, but thanks boys, you saved my life. Wish I could say the same for Golf.” He pointed to the three mangled figures scattered along the floor. “Well most of Golf. The rook Carbine flew out of the chopper before we crashed.”
Jackknife activated the tac-com, “Rarity can you give me a fix on Carbine’s position.”
It was silent for a moment then her voice came over the radio. “He is about two clicks west of your position, near Sweet Apple Acres. His vital signs appear to be normal, but his tac-com is not responding.
Axle chimed in, “Jack, that’s where Mac and Phoenix are headed.”
He nodded at Axle, “Got it.” He switched his frequency. “Echo-2, this is Echo-1. We’re at the library and have rescued the pilot. Golf squad’s K.I.A. except for private Carbine, who’s position is close to your objective. If you see him, give him a sit rep then find the base. Once you’ve confirmed the coordinates, rendezvous with us at the boutique.”
“Copy that lad, Echo-2 out.” Whispered Pot.
Jackknife put the pilot on his and Tank’s shoulder, and were about to leave when Rarity voice came from the tac-com. “Echo-1, you have multiple hostiles inbound to your location. I suggest you take defensive measures immediately.”
“Shit! Echo, get ready!” Jackknife placed the pilot in the corner of the room behind some turned over books and desks, and gave him a pistol. “Axle, get behind the cover with him. Tank your with me behind the chopper We have to protect the pilot!”
Axle hopped over the cover with the pilot and readied his lancer. Jackknife and Tank Tread took position behind the downed crow and waited for the attack. All was quite for only a few moments that the most terrifying, blood curdling roar rang out from the other side of the library. A grenadier kicked open a door, threw a frag grenade, then ran in firing his shotgun. Drones followed him in firing their rifles in Echo’s direction.
“FRAG!” shouted Axle. The pilot shot the grenade in mid air with his pistol, causing it to explode, killing the grenadier and two other drones. Axle looked down at the crippled pilot, “Nice shot man.”
Both sides exchanged fire with one another until finally Jackknife shouted. “There’s too many of them! We have to fall back!”
Tank Tread, firing bursts of his mulcher at the grubs, said, “Fall back to where Corporal? We pinned down like a bitch bout to get raped! But it’s okay baby, I took self-defense classes to I know to aim....” He popped out from behind the Crow and began to spray bullets at drone, shredding his lower body. Then he went back behind the chopper. and said “....right in the gootch.”
“Seriously, we can’t hold out for much longer. We have to do something!” Shouted Axle from behind the cover.
Tank Tread bobbed his head up and down while saying, “Oh, I’mma do somthin’ alright.” He came out from behind the chopper again only he started slowly walking towards the enemy tearing apart every Locust in his path with his Mulcher. “AAAAWWWW YYEEEAAAHHH, baby! Bring it on bitches. I see you in the back motha’ fucka’, I got somthin’ for ya’. Oh, oh you want some to huh? There you go, there’s plenty for all y’all.”
The pilot was in awe at Tank Tread. “Damn, that’s one crazy son of a bitch.”
Axle laughed and continued to give supporting fire. “Your tellin’ me.”
“Ha ha, that all you got bitch?” The Locust began to retreat back the way they came. “Yeah run home to ya’ mama!” Tank turned back to the downed chopper. “Ha ha, you see that shit? I could do that all ni......” A sniper on the second floor shot Tank right the head and he hit the ground hard.
“TANK!!” Jackknife ran to aid his friend when the sniper shot him in the shoulder, causing him do flip over a desk and land on his back.
While the sniper was reloading, Axle noticed that Tank’s body twitched slightly. Tank jumped back up on his back legs, threw off his damaged helmet and picked up his mulcher with his front hoofs, which was very unconventional. Their armor was designed to hold and fire their weapons on their backs.
“You fucked up my fro you piece a shit!” With his head exposed he fired at the Locust sniper and ground him into pieces.
With the attacking Locust gone Echo-1 went to check on Jackknife. “Yo, you okay Jack?” Tank asked
Jackknife was surprised that Tank Tread was still alive after being shot in the head. “How...the hell.....are you not dead.”
“Damn, and I thought you’d be happy to see me.” Tank pointed at the hole in his Afro. “It just skimmed me boss, but it looks like you weren’t so lucky.” Tank pointed at the bullet wound in Jackknife’s shoulder.
Axle had the pilot on his back. Even though he was the smallest of the group, he was still strong enough carry a fully grown stallion like the pilot on his back. “We should get to the rendezvous point before they come back, sir.”
Tank put a gauze on Jackknife’s wound and helped him up. “Alright Echo, lets get outta here. Jackknife and his squad collected themselves and left for Rarity’s old boutique.
Meanwhile, Echo-2 had just reached the fence outside of Sweet Apple Acres, and were scouting out the perimeter. “So, Phoenix, what were you before you got the shaft?” Pot had a funny way of talking to ponies, that’s probably why he didn’t do it too often.
Phoenix had the binoculars to his face. “I was a Sergent. I fought at the battle of White Tale fields.”
Pot had heard of the battle. “White Tale fields? That was one hell of a fight, too bad we lost. So they just bumped you up for that?”
“Not just for that, I had drove a gas tanker into one of their weapons cashes. We still lost, but we went out with a....bang.” He put the binoculars down.
Pot was surprised. “That was you? Well done lad.”
The conversation was interrupted by movement at the farm house. Two Locust were dragging something into the shed.
Pot looked through his rifle scope to see what it was. “Bollocks, It’s Carbine. It looks like they’re takin’ em’ into that shed.” They both continued to watch as the Locust put him on the table then tie him down. “What are they doing to em’ Phoenix? Phoenix?”
He was gone, Pot looked back down the sights. “What is that crazy bastard doin’?” He spotted Phoenix running towards the shed. Pot looked back at the grubs who came back to Carbine with some knives and a bucket. “They’re gonna eat the poor bastard.” Phoenix made it to the shed and waited on the other side of the wall, then signaled Pot with a hand sign. He knew what it meant and signed back. Phoenix nodded then burst through the wall and chain sawed both of the grubs then untied Carbine.
Rarity came over the tac-com. “Echo-2, Echo-1 is at the rendezvous point and are waiting for your report, over.”
“That’s good to hear lass. Let them know that we’ve got Carbine and have found the supply base. We’re on our way. Echo-2 out.” Pot waved them over and started heading for the boutique.
Once Echo-2 made it to the boutique, they started thinking of a plan to take out the base. “Alright everypony, we need a way to take out the base with one fell swoop.” Jackknife announced.
Carbine, still hurt from the crash, said, “Well, we were supposed to handle that with a new weapon Commander Macintosh gave us, but it’s smashed.”
Axle was intrigued. “What new weapon?”
Rarity came on the radio, “It is a laser designator for a satellite to send down a massive orbital strike of thermal energy. It was just recently approved by the Chairman, and was designed by Dr. Derpy herself.” Rarity saw what had become of her store over the years and was horrified. “Oh heavens, just look at my workshop! Jackknife, you must destroy that base and avenge what is left of my poor boutique!” She said angrily.
Axle was in aw. “Wow, what will those guys at Derp Inc. think of next? Let me take a look at that, and don’t worry Rarity. We’ll take care of em.”
Carbine handed him the Hammer. “It’s not too bad just needs a screw here, some duct tape here, maybe a new mirror.” After a few minuets later Axle had the whole thing fixed. “It should be fine now, but the sound it makes is a little different.”
Jackknife didn’t care about the sound. “As long as it works Ax let’s go.” He tried to stand but fell.
Pot checked out the wound then said, “You’re not going anywhere with that, lad. We don’t need all of us to take out the base, Phoenix and I will go. Tank, you and Axle take the rest of them back to town square and call in a Crow for evac. You’ll know when it’s done.”
Phoenix and Pot were back at the same spot when they rescued Carbine. “Alright, let’s do this.” Phoenix aimed the red laser at the center of the farm house. As he did the Hammer started to sound off faster with each passing second. ‘Derp.........derp.......derp.....derp...’
They both looked at each other with a confused face. “So that’s what he meant when he said ‘the sound it makes is a little different’.”
The pace of the ‘derps’ quickened. ‘Derp, derp, derp, DURRRRRRRRR!’ A bright red and yellow light cam down from the sky and completely destroyed the farm causing all the ammunition to go off at once, which made an even bigger explosion.
After a few seconds the evac. Crow flew touched down and picked the two of them up. As the flew away, the pilot looked down and pointed out, “Hey look, that’s the Seeder that brought down 7-1. Ha ha look at the sucker burn!” The large, insect like creature, was rolling around in pain, screaming. “That’ll teach you to shoot down one of us!”
Jackknife was on a stretcher in the back of the chopper. “Good work Echo, lets go back to base.” They all made their way back to Canterlot for some well deserved rest.
The chopper was almost out of sight when, amongst the rubble, a figure stood watching them as they flew away. It was the large black armored Locust that Jackknife had seen back at the prison, and was still accompanied by the two armored guards. He looked around at the remains of the destroyed base, then glared back a the chopper. He growled quietly to himself then let out a loud roar of frustration.
Immediately after the roar, three Reavers landed in front of them. They all climbed on the ferocious looking creatures and flew off after the chopper that was now very far away. The black armored Locust squinted his small red eyes as he rode the beast and said in an animal like growl, “Slaughter them.”
Chapter Four: Stranded
“Damn, you see the size of that explosion? It blew up the whole damn farm!” Tank asked Axle as he fingered the hole in his Afro.
Axle, who was sitting on the opposite end of the chopper, was having a hard time not laughing his ass off at Tank’s hair. “Leave it alone man, you’re just gonna make it worse.”
Jackknife was still in the back on a stretcher next to the injured pilot. “Phoenix, nice work out there today. If it weren’t for you, some grub would be picking Carbine out of his teeth right now. I’m putting you up for a promotion.”
He didn’t care about the idea of a promotion, but appreciated the fact that Jackknife took notice. “Thank you sir, I’m just glad we got out of there without a hitch.”
“I hear tha....” Carbine’s sentence was cut off by the pilot.
“Echo, we got three Bogeys inbound. Taking evasive action.” The pilot banked left and went off course.
“The hell’s going on up there?!” Jackknife struggled to get up from the stretcher, but was kept down by the restraints.
“Don’t worry sir, you just sit tight. I’ll handle this.” Phoenix, got up from his seat and went up to the pilot.
“Do I have a choice?” asked jack.
Phoenix stuck his head between the two pilot seats. “Give me a sit rep.”
The pilot turned his head to glance at Phoenix then forward again. “We got what looks like... three Reavers gaining on us.”
“Take us to Tyrus, it’s not that far, and has plenty of cover.” Phoenix had a plan, but he was going to need everypony’s help. He pulled his head out from the cockpit and turned to face the team. “Alright listen up, I have an idea, but it’s going to take all of us to pull it off. Now, Tank you get on the guns and piss em’ off.”
Tank nodded his head in excitement. “Aw yeah, my fro’s bout to get some payback.”
Phoenix continued, “Axle, I need you to rig up an explosive. Look around I’m sure there’s something you can use.”
Axle was already searching his bag. “Oh yeah, I can do that. No problem.”
Finally He turned to Pot, “Mac, how good are you with that rifle.”
Pot smiled then stuck his riffle out of the chopper and shot one of the guards right in the head. It fell off and the Reaver, without a rider, flew off in another direction. “That good.”
Phoenix was impressed. “Not bad, but it won’t work again. They know now to keep their heads down. Just see if you can shoot off their rockets before they blow us to hell.”
“Carbine you still got the Hammer?” He asked.
“Sure do, it’s right here.” Carbine pulled it from behind his back and presented it to him.
Phoenix held up his hoof. “No, I need you to hold on to it for now.”
Carbine nodded then replaced it on his back.
The chase led to Tyrus City, the once proud home of the Wonder bolts. The discovered it to now be in shambles. The City was designed for Pegasai that wanted to live on the ground instead of in the clouds. It’s tall, wide buildings and intricate obstacle courses were perfect cover for the Crow. Tyrus was recently cleared of Locust forces, and now some stranded ponies made it their home.
“Alright, we gotta time this just right.” Phoenix put his hoof on the pilot’s shoulder. “You see that building there, the one with statue. He pointed to a lower building with a flat rooftop and a statue of Princess Celestia with her wings unfurled that formed a circle. “When I give the signal, you fly right over her.”
The pilot constantly kept glancing back to check on the position of his pursuers. “Sure, got it.”
“Axle, how’s that I.E.D. coming.” He asked.
He tossed him a basket ball sized metal sphere. “Ready, just push the red button when your ready. Then you’ve got about two minuets to get rid of the damn thing.”
“Good.” Phoenix was having a difficult time trying to hold on with the chopper weaving and dodging around the tall buildings. At that moment the other guard flew his Reaver up next to the chopper.
Tank spun up the Crow’s mini-gun. “Surprise motha’ fucka’!” The rounds forced the Reaver into an oncoming building, squashing it instantly. “Ha Ha, one more baby!”
The lead Locust, now infuriated, flew up behind the chopper and was about to fire his rockets. “Now.” The pilot flew over the statue, and Phoenix pushed the red button on the bomb then jumped out the side of the chopper.
“NO!” Carbine jumped after him.
“Shit!” Pot grabbed a parachute and followed Carbine.
Phoenix stuck the bomb right in between the tips of the almost connecting wings, snatched the Locust right off his Reaver that ran right into statue, but didn’t explode. Phoenix and the Locust were locked together and were each taking turns punching the other. “This is for Romeo squad you son of a bitch.” He turned over the Locust to where he was on the bottom and slammed him through a gargoyle statue sticking out the side of a building. It didn’t seem to faze him much and then he started to laugh. “What’s so funny ugly?”
The locust turned his head to look at the incoming ground then back at Phoenix with a smile and growled, “You die too!”
“Actually no, just you.” Phoenix kicked him down lower, then took off his chest torso armor. Wings opened up and he started to slow down. “Wings Bitch!”
The Locust roared in anger then pulled out a boltock pistol and fired it at Phoenix.
At that exact moment Carbine swooped in and took the shot for Phoenix. “Carbine!” He grabbed him and flew to the nearest roof. The Locust fell through the roof of a two story building and it collapsed on form the impact, a cloud of dust shot up as it did.
Phoenix softly put Carbine down against the wall on the edge of the roof. “What’s the matter with you? You got a death wish?!”
Carbine was bleeding profusely and didn’t have much time. “You saved my life. That’s the second time you kept a Carbine from being eaten by those damn grubs.” He pulled off his C.O.G. tags and put them in Phoenix’s hooves. “Tell my brother and sister....I love em’ and.....and tell em’ I died a hero’s death.....tell em’.....tell em’.....tell them...”
“Tell them what Carbine, what?” He whispered.
“Tell them......I said.....don’t...........get...............eaten. I’m comin’ bro.......ughhh.” He died in Phoenix’s arms.
Pot landed on the roof top and rushed over to them. “Phoenix, what happened? Carbine jumped out so I followed em’ catch em’ and....” He stopped as soon as he saw Carbine. He took off his hat and placed it over his chest, and with his other hoof made the sign of the cross. “Damn shame.”
“Echo-2, this is K.C. 2-3, what is your status, over?
“2-3, this is Pot McShot, Phoenix and I are alright, but...” He paused for a moment. “....but we lost Carbine.”
“Can you repeat that Echo-2? It sounded like you said....” Phoenix cut off the pilot.
“He’s dead 2-3, Carbine is dead.” He sounded infuriated, but his face didn’t show it. “Requesting a pick up, we’re on what looks like the roof of a department store, over.”
The pilot responded to the request with,“That’s a negative Echo-2, we are low on fuel and are returning to base. We will be back to pick you up once we’ve refueled and are given the order. E.T.A. 3200 hours.”
Pot was displeased. “Bollocks! That’s almost two days.”
“Sorry Echo-2 those are our orders, strait from the chairman.” Replied the pilot. He didn’t sound any happier about it then Pot did.
“Prescolt.” Phoenix muttered angrily to himself. “Alright, do what you have to, just hurry.”
“We’ll radio you when we’re on our way. Good luck. 2-3 out.” The tac-com switched off.
Suddenly it came back on, Rarity was on the other end. “Echo-2, this is control. You have moment all around you.”
“Hostile?” Pot asked.
“I’m not --ure, but --- ar-- lot of --em.” Rarity said with a worried tone.
“Rarity say again, your breaking up. Rarity! Aw shit, we lost her.” Phoenix tried adjusting the radio, then gave up to focus on the issue at hand.
“You think it’s grubs?” Pot’s eyes scanned the surrounding windows for any sign of movement.
Phoenix had his gaze fixed on the door to the roof, “We’re about to find out.”
The door was kicked open by an orange pony wearing leather armor and a hood that concealed her face. She then aimed an older version of the Lancer at them. “Drop em’!” She said in a country accent.
“Your out numbered.” Pot said in denial.
“Oh really?” She raised her hoof and rifles poked out from every window and balcony surrounding them.
Pot was still aiming at the unknown pony when Phoenix unattached his Lancer, causing it to drop on the ground. Pot followed his actions and dropped his weapon as well. “Well...shit lassy, looks like you’ve got us. Question is, what are you going to do with us?”
Their captor made her way over to them with a swagger in her step. “Well....” She circled Pot and bushed his chin with her tail. “.....Fer you hansom, hows about I make you take me on a date.” She was behind at this point, then she bucked the back of his knees and he fell to the ground hard. “A date in yer prison cell. Take these two to the holdin’ cells.”
“Oki doki loki!” Shouted a happy pink pony who hopped her way up the stairs and onto the roof with along with a leather armored colt. As the two of them bound Echo-2’s hooves together, the high spirited pink pony was making conversation with them. “Hi there, I’m Pinkie Pie, what’s your name? Oh! wait let me guess! Ummm.....Steve, no wait Carl, no...I know, it’s Marcus right.”
Phoenix, desperately trying to get her to stop talking, finally shouted. “Phoenix, my name is Phoenix. Just....please stop talking.”
“Hi ya Mr. Phoenix, I’m Pinkie Pie!” she exclaimed.
“I know, you already said that.” He groaned.
“Woopsy daisy. I’m sorry, I forget sometimes what I just said. Isn’t that silly?!” She was riding his last nerve, but finally quieted down as she and the colt drug them down the stairs and into a makeshift prison cell.
The orange lead pony came down a few minuets after Pot and Phoenix were locked in. “Now you boys behave in there. We gotta go put out the fires from that little stunt y’all pulled. When I get back, we’ll have a nice long chat.” She slammed the peep hole latch closed and left them.
“I think she’s taken’ a fancy to me.” Pot grinned at his own joke, but then saw the look on Phoenix’s face. He looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds then pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his chest pocket. He lit one then offered one to Phoenix who declined it. Pot took a long drag from then exhaled and said. “Lad, I know you’re still upset about Carbine being dead and all, but he died a hero. He died protecting you. Son, you need to look at the bright side.”
Phoenix looked at him with his usual almost angry face. “What bright side?” He asked sarcastically.
Pot took another long drag of his smoke and said with a serious face. “We’re not him.” He didn’t mean it as a joke, and intended for Phoenix to understand how lucky there were to be alive. Not many other gears survive a Reaver attack, let alone three.
Phoenix understood this and nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s just that I feel like I failed him. His older brother was in my squad the day were got trapped on that roof.”
“Hm, I see. Well lad, I can understand that, but you didn’t fail him and you sure as hell didn’t fail the rest of your team or that pilot. What you did back there, jumping out like that, made bloody sure that they made it out of there safely. That was real ballzy, stupid but ballzy and I respect that. My point is lad, that you have a squad alive that needs you, and I’m sure that the C.O.G. is going to bump you up after they hear about this.”
He put out his cigarette on the wall. “Jack’s gonna be pissed once he figures out that they’re gonna keep him till he recovers, but he’s a fast healer so it ought not to be that long.”
Phoenix knew the regulations about wounded gears well. A soldier with an injury like Jackknife’s was guaranteed at least a week. “Yeah, I hope so.” He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. He was exhausted and needed his rest if he was going to have to deal with a bunch of pissed off stranded ponies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mean while, back at base, K.C. 2-3 had just landed at C.O.G. Tower and was offloading it’s passengers. Four soldiers were waiting on the landing pad to help take the wounded to the Med-bay. Two of them took the pilot and the other two took Jackknife, the rest of Echo-1 went down to the barracks to get cleaned up. Once they had washed up and cleaned their gear, they went back up the Med-bay to check on Jackknife who was resting in a hospital bed.
“How you feelin’, baby?” Tank had gotten a new helmet from the armory and was holding it on his side.
Jackknife sat up in his bed and replied, “Ugh, like shit, but it’s not something I haven’t gotten used to. What’s the word on Mac and the rest of those crazy guys?” Jackknife asked with a joking grin. He still hadn’t heard what happened.
Tank and Axle both looked at the ground then back to Jackknife. Tank Tread finally spoke up. “She lost contact with them about and hour ago, but before they went dark, Rarity reported numerous unknowns surrounding their position....and, Jack. There’s something else. Before they cut out, she heard Phoenix report Carbine as K.I.A.”
Jackknife threw his head back on a pillow and sighed. “Damn it! I knew we should’ve gone back for them, but that fucking pilot wouldn’t listen.”
Tank came up to him to calm him down. “Hey, hey, baby, calm down, it’s not his fault. You know we was low on fuel, and we didn’t even know exactly where they were.”
At that moment, Twilight Sparkle walked in the room. “Jack, are you alright? I came as soon as heard you were back.”
“I’m fine Twi, but I can’t say the same for the guys out there.” He was happy to see her, but was still concerned for Pot and Phoenix.
“I heard about Carbine. I’m sorry.” She knew he was a new recruit, and it was always a shame when a nooby died. The family would have to be informed and that would be a hardship of it’s own.
Jackknife hated to see her sad. “Yeah, were all feelin down about him, but right now I’m more concerned about Mac, and Phoenix.”
“Don’t you worry about that Rarity and I are handling it. You just get some rest.” Twilight turned back towards Tank and Axle, “Oh and the Colonel wanted to see you two. He wanted to talk to Jack too but I insisted he leave you in peace.”
The two of them patted the foot of Jackknife’s bed and left for the Command Center, leaving Jackknife and Twilight to catch up on the day’s events.
Colonel Hoofman was waiting in his office when the two of them entered. “Good, you’re here. I have some Intel on a special operation for you.”
Tank and Axle looked at each other with a confused face. “What mission sir?” Axle asked
“If you would just pipe down and listen, I’ll tell you.” The Colonel was a very straight forward and ‘take charge’ kind of stallion. He was in his fifty's but was in good shape and could still whip the ass of any stallion twice his size and half his age. “Delta squad is on a mission to deploy a sonic mapping device to map the Locust tunnels. We have a plan to end this war once and for all. Hopefully the information that we’ll gain from the resonator will give us the exact location of the Locust strong hold, It’s heart. Once we have this information we can launch a counter measure on the Locust, using a Light-mass bomb. This weapon, given to us be Dr. Derpy, should take out all these bastards with one fell swoop.”
Tank and Axle had never even considered the C.O.G. to already be at the point to launch a counter strike, and to take out all the Locust at once, was even harder to believe. “So why tell us this sir?” Tank asked.
“Good question Private. We need you to assist Delta in their mission. Their current location is in Ephyra city. They are trying to commandeer a ride to an Emuslion mining facility in Lithia.”
A few years before the war against the Locust started, ponies began to invent machines to make their lives easier such as automobiles, planes, helicopters....etc. The main problem with this was they didn’t have a sufficient fuel source to power them. They began to build mining facilities to locate a source of fuel for their new inventions, when they found a shiny blue liquid substance called Emulsion. In it’s natural state it was useless until Dr. Derpy Hooves along with Adam Fenix, the father of delta squad’s leader Marcus Fenix, discovered a way to manipulate it to be used as fuel. Once the Locust started attacking the workers abandoned the mines and fled to safety. The Lithia mining facility was one of those mines.
“As I understand it, your squad leader is, at the moment, indisposed so I am promoting Private Phoenix to Sergeant.” He looked around with an agitated look. “Where is that no good, piece a shit?!”
Tank quickly answered him. “Sir, he and Private McShot are stranded in Tyrus City.”
“What the hell are they doin’ all the way out there.” The Colonel was growing impatient.
“Sir, we were being chased by three Reavers and it was Priv-...I mean Sergeant Phoenix’s idea to lead them there. He came up with a plan, and took them all out, but he and Private McShot were left behind due to the pilot needing fuel, Sir.” Tank caught his breath after his long and fast explanation.
Hoofman was getting angrier. “We’ll don’t just stand there, get on the horn and tell that pilot to prepare for take off in 0900 hours! I need you to regroup with Phoenix ASAP! Delta ain’t gonna wait forever. Move!”
“Yes sir!” They Saluted the Colonel and took off fast.
Hoofman sat at his desk quietly thinking, then said, “Huh, how many ex prisoners with the name Phoenix am I going to have to promote today?”
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Back in Tyrus, Pot and Phoenix were still waiting for their captor to return. “So what happened to that big Locust chap that you took off that Reaver?”
Phoenix grit his teeth at the thought of him. “His name was RAAM, and the son of a bitch fell right through the roof a two story building that caved in on him. He’s done.”
Little did they know that as they spoke, he had crawled out of the destroyed building and his Reaver had landed to retrieve him. He got on and, humiliated by defeat, flew off towards the nearest Locust base. He was a few miles outside of the city when the sound of something beeping came from inside the Reaver. He twisted his face in confusion and listened closer.
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“Shit!” Axle stopped in his tracks as he was running with Tank to give the pilot his orders.
“Come on Ax, what is? We have to go.” Tank said while trotting in place.
Axle put a hoof to his face. “I just realized I set the bomb to two hours, not two minuets.”
“Wow Ax, you suck. Common we gotta go!” Tank laughed as they galloped off to the pilot’s station.
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By the time the RAAM realized what the beeping was the Reaver exploded, causing him to fly forward and land face first on the hard ground. He slowly hobbled up and brushed off Reaver guts from his shoulder with his non broken arm. “Eeerrrugh.....ponies.” He groaned as he began the long limp back to base.