Sins of Harmony
Volume 3: Crisis to Ashes
Chapter 21: Savage Struggle, Warstorm
Late Afternoon
January 9th, 1008 ANM
Singapaw, South West, Yang Za Highway,
Singapaw border channel bridge
Beneath the bridge, one of the trio of large bridges connecting Singapaw to the Muttlaysian mainland, the large shape waited.
It knew what was coming, and had moved accordingly.
The key assets Varkan had shipped out were already headed to the Maldives, Twilight's unconscious form and the 4 Wyvern eggs. 2 had unfortunately been lost.
And he was acting out as expected, due to his sensitivity about his race's situation.
But to the west, a thunderstorm moved in as predicted from the Hundian Ocean. That would pay off in the long run of today.
But still, it waited.
Singapaw western area,
Yew Tee Expressway
The tank roared on, as Varkan had ducked inside with Faral against the onslaught. Alongside, Princess Luna and Starswirl rode in the Equestrian skiff, firing spell after spell, gradually tearing away at the tank's shields and armour.
Behind them, the armada of Reborn cult cars and vehicles had regrouped, their numbers halved, but still strong. Leading the charge was Garnet, his blackened, burnt red fur healing already as he drove the stolen police car to catch up with the tank.
Howling over the wind, Garnet/Aeternum spied the army trucks and police cars charging them:
"We make the turn onto Yang Za, those who follow the cause will be taken to Aeternum from the bridge!"
As his magnified voice sounded mentally into those Aeternum had remotely recognised as a Reborn member, Garnet spared a glance back at the small army of beat up cars behind him, police cars still pursing them relentlessly.
Ahead, the tank and construction crane truck, the second down 2 of 4 crew, warred with the Equestrian skiff.
The army trucks steered around them as they travelled in the opposite direction down the same road, as did the police cars. No way they would stand a chance head on against a tank or a crane.
Against the cars, they closed in head on at full speed, some police cars swerving to a stop to form a multi layered blockade in the highway.
Gunfire rippled across some of the road surface as the Reborn members closed in too.
Swerving around an army truck that began to slide sideways in a roadblock, Garnet came screaming alongside a few police cars parked in the blockade obstacle course.
Snarling, the tyres screaming beneath the car, Garnet heard the engine of the car bang loudly, as gunshots knocked out two of the 6 cylinders. Smoke smells began to fly in the wind, but he only needed the car working until the bridge, or until he could leap onto another vehicle.
Behind, the police blockade and stopped army trucks met with the other reborn cars. Metal flew as a few cars clipped some police cars or an army truck, and a few unfortunate officers and gang members flew over, or under, vehicles amidst the few collisions.
One reborn car, a scrapped together pickup truck type vehicle, had already been leaking fuel from a few bullet hits, and smashed too hard against the side of one of the army trucks.
A fireball erupted in a massive blast as the car's gas tank blew in the collision, the army truck hit badly. The wreck of the car careened away in the blast, smashing into another parked police car.
The Expressway was a wreck, as the rest of the still moving, or not dead, Reborn members drove on. A few shots rang from the army truck soldier dogs, but to little avail.
It would be a few minutes before the wrecks were cleared, but the police behind that had been pursing the Reborn cars before were stuck.
There was one last place to intercept the gang horde, and the more grounded ally members, the Yew Tee intersection with the Yang Za highway.
One last place, as their ride out of Singapaw awaited along that route.
Overhead, a blue dragon tore through the skies, livid in his pursuit.
Further behind however, a Red Fire Drake had stopped along the road, spotting one of her surrogate sons with his friends.
4 of them unfortunately.
Yew Tee Expressway edge
"What happened to him!?"
"He fell off while going fast. Apparently Razak moved him off the road then went on after them." Fluttershy said.
Around Spike's head, Rarity's magic formed a makeshift healing layer, but he was clearly dazed, his head swaying slightly. And there was considerable scrape marks all over his body, his enhanced healing having a lot of work to do.
In the distance, a few booms sounded from the police blockade explosions, drawing all their eyes to the smoke column in the distance.
"Stay with him!"
Smoulder's hurricane wingbeats took off her massive form, and the red drake was in pursuit now too.
On the embankment, Spike mumbled incoherently:
"Uhh, my hands hurt."
Looking down, Fluttershy mumbled apologetically as she replied: "We're waiting for medical help. Just, don't move them."
Spike's fingers were clearly battered, with Pinkie telling them it had been Varkan smashing them with his rifle to knock Spike off. That had been Twilight's mistake, in going in to knock him off Spike, which got her too close.
But clearly Twilight was long gone now, which only made them worry more.
Spike mumbled again: "Where's, Rainbow..?"
"She got hit, but medical people picked her up already. We came up looking for Pinkie, and found you too." Applejack added, rubbing Spike's shoulder comfortingly.
Pinkie meanwhile, could only ask the obvious: "I wonder if Celestia or anyone in Equestria has heard about this yet?"
"They will soon, this is, I can't believe it." Rarity still wasn't able to comprehend the extent to which Varkan had gone off the edge.
Singapaw western area,
Yew Tee expressway
Up ahead, the police and army had to regroup after the pileup near the back, which allowed the Reborn to regroup around Garnet's police car.
Up ahead, it seemed that the Equestrian skiff had almost overwhelmed the tank's defences, the Entity grade magical shielding and physical armour only so strong.
Up alongside Garnet's stolen police car, a Reborn Komodo male screeched over the 60 mph driving winds:
"We got them! Shall we shoot!?"
"NO! Leave them alive! But get those attackers away!"
Engines roared as a few Reborn cars drove ahead, some gunfire flying in the general direction of the Equestrian skiff.
Overhead, Garnet/Aeternum saw a blue dragon flying ahead, beginning to slow as he came high above a certain intersection.
"Smart move dragon, smart move."
Suddenly, Garnet's car rocked, and a flurry of purple scales came into his view, and a set of angry blue eyes.
"GOTCHA!"
Razak scrambled inside, punching Garnet repeatedly as he grabbed the steering wheel. Tyres screaming in protest, the police car swerved wildly as it continued down the road, the dragon and dog/Aeternum hybrid wrestling control and each other.
Alongside, a Reborn dog member saw the attacker's tail and rear body sticking out of the side of the car, and swerved his car to slam into Razak's form to sandwich his body.
Instincts in overdrive, Razak wrenched in Garnet's grip as he let go of the wheel briefly, scrambling to clench the top of the car, his arm and head still inside the car's cabin.
Gaining control briefly, Garnet smashed the brakes, sending Razak over to cling onto the front of the car in desperation.
Seeing the 24 year old dragon clenching onto the front of the bonnet, Garnet's roared a war cry as he slammed the accelerator.
Knowing what he was trying to do, Razak let loose a torrent of flame right into Garnet's face. At the last moment, Garnet leapt forwards in his seat, uppercutting Razak to send his flames upwards. Some licks of flame hit his already blackened fur, but Garnet kept Razak in the stranglehold as he accelerated the car.
The crane, just behind the tank, came up fast. He meant to ram Razak and crush him between the car and crane.
Up above, a shadow engulfed the car, and at the last moment, Garnet slammed the brakes again, the red fire drake's claws ripping up the tarmac before the car.
Struggling on the front of the car, Razak clawed his way up the bonnet, but Garnet's manic expression made his heart stop briefly.
Gazing to the right quickly, seeing a Reborn car coming up fast, he made his move.
"Too slow boy! RAAA!"
Punching the right door open, Garnet wrenched the steering wheel hard left, as he leapt out of the car door.
As the car swung left, herself flying just in front, Smoulder glanced backwards as she'd turned to catch Garnet and Razak. The red dog leapt out, his outstretched claws clenching the door frame of a passing Reborn car, shattering the side window as he grappled to get in. His legs scraped briefly against the road, the blackened fur and red raw skin drawing grunts from the enhanced dog. But soon, Garnet was atop the car, climbing into the back.
The car veered violently to the left, as Razak clenched hard to stay aboard it. Trying to scramble up, the car slammed into the hard shoulder, concrete flying as Razak went over the edge. His tail had been caught between the car and wall mid launch, and he felt it break with a audible snap.
The ground came up fast, dirt flying as he slammed into the hill, rolling to a stop with his tail bent halfway out of place, a crooked wing and gasping in agony.
"RAZAK!"
On the Expressway, Smoulder flew around off the freeway, sparing a look from the Red Diamond dog flipping her off as he finished climbing into the Reborn gang car.
Thumping to the ground, Smoulder saw the clearly broken tail and wing. Himself much smaller than her, even as his size grew outside of his restrained growth, Smoulder stayed her normal size, knowing Razak needed someone here now.
"Hold still! Help will come!"
"ARGH!" Her son, the second that day, was out of this fight. And so was she, for his sake.
Looking ahead, she knew the intersection was coming up.
Singapaw, South-Western area
Yew Tee expressway, Yang Za highway intersection
"Get back!"
Starswirl commanded, as Luna's 2 night guards pulled the skiff clear of the tank.
Behind them, Reborn cars gained, and the crane had begun to accelerate past the tank.
Overhead, an Entity drone aircraft had blasted overhead, screaming down the Expressway for some reason.
Ahead, Luna saw the intersection bridge and sliproads, which the tank and every Reborn vehicle clearly was moving over to drive onto.
Between them and the joining ramp, was a wall of army trucks, armed with machine guns, but they weren't firing for some reason.
The Entity drone fired its thrusters, and a chain of red shots tore up the ground, detonating one of the trucks as its fuel tank blew. Then, the machine guns opened up on the drone.
Riddled with bullets, the drone wasn't built to last long. But as it speared towards the barricade, it showed it was designed with more in mind. Taking the advanced drone failsafe, as seen on the Wyvernshape drones in Manehatten, it could become a Kamikaze at will.
Helpless, Luna looked away as the drone smashed into the barricade, the explosion driving the trucks back and away from each other in fiery or ruined heaps. Dog soldiers limped out of wrecks that got lucky, but the kamikaze drone hadn't detoanted any more fuel tanks at least. But it had cleared the road enough.
The tank accelerated too, but Starswirl made his shot then.
Sensing the barrier was weak, Starswirl charged a blue bolt, and fired.
The shields shattered like glass, and the blue shot tore apart the tank treads on the left side. Sparks flew as the wheels lost their tread, and the tank began to slant to the left.
The construction crane truck, having pulled ahead, suddenly braked, pulling left also. Coming up alongside, putting itself between the tank and the airborne skiff, the truck's 2 surviving Reborn gangmembers steered the truck into the tank, helping it make the turn onto the ramp.
"They're not gonna fit!" One of Luna's night guards called out. The ramp came up fast, as the crane steered harder into the tank.
On both sides, dust and rubble flew slightly as the truck and tank combo just barely squeezed through, travelling up the ramp.
Behind the crane and tank, 8 Reborn gang cars, less than half their original numbers, drove quickly behind.
"Bring us around!" Luna yelled, but she stopped herself as she and Starswirl saw what was waiting for them on the Yang Za highway.
Yang Za Highway
Inside the crane, shoving the tank to keep it straight, they saw the bridge 2 miles down the road.
"We made it! YEAHAHA!" The driver dog yelled ecstatically as he honked the crane's horn.
In the crane cabin, the cattle female cheered too, but heard something slam viciously into the crane from behind before she lost consciousness.
Inside, Faral heard a tremendous series of crashes outside, but Varkan saw the carnage.
Outside, a blue titan of a dragon had swooped down, grabbing the crane in one foot and dragging it down the road, flipping it so the crane hooked itself in the road.
Flipping end over end, the crane smashed into the road, almost entirely blocking the road.
"Drive into its end! Keep the road clear!" Varkan ordered.
Barely keeping the tank straight, Faral let it drift to the left slightly, as both tensed for the impact,
As they flew in the skiff, the overturning crane was smashed in the rear by the tank, metal flying as the turret gun was ruined in the impact.
Grinding against the mid road barrier, the tank's crash and driving on cleared the overturned crane truck to the middle of the road, but the tank swerved violently as it lost all steering power and traction.
Coming to a halt, as the 8 Reborn clan cars screamed past, the tank smoked as Cal'vel slammed to his feet on the tarmac nearby, his audible growl mixing with the roars of the car engines.
A hatch opened, and a female Komodo pulled a Male Wyvern out of the tank, both of them staring hard at the approaching, 200+ foot blue dragon.
"Nothing justifies the actions you've taken part in today." Cal'vel growled loudly, as he stomped a foot just a few metres from Varkan and Faral.
As the Equestrian skiff closed in, he heard Faral yell back curtly:
"Nothing yet big boy. Nothing yet!"
An ear piercing horn sounded behind Cal'vel, as he turned around to see something surging out of the water in the distance, along with a half dozen more smaller Entity aircraft.
Another large aircraft, similar to one used in Manehatten, except like the harder drones today, sporting more metallic than rocky armour.
Water spilling from its form, an unseen beam focused on Cal'vel from the aircraft's front, and suddenly, he felt a burning on his wing, sending him staggering back.
An improved ultraviolet laser weapon, descended from the 'Star' vehicle the Entity used in Manehatten.
In the distance, Dogs, Komodos and a few Cattle hollered as 4 of the 6 Entity drones descended upon them. Coming to a quick hover, the drones picked up in their bays all of the 8 car's surviving 15 occupants.
The other 2 flew quickly towards the Equestrian skiff and Blue dragon, letting loose a hail of red blasts towards both.
Cal'vel reeled back, growling as a Drone extended a set of mandibles and attached to his neck, thrusters at maximum and firing a few direct blasts to send him down the highway away from the tank. Struggling, he reached up and crushed the drone with a hand before he staggered to a halt, massaging his neck as he coughed roughly, a little blood mixing with his saliva as he caught his breath.
The other drone charged the Equestrian skiff, ramming the skiff's shield enough to send it spinning out of control, crashing to the highway ground in a spin. None of the 4 occupants were hurt, but the Entity drone then seemed to stagger over to the tank occupants, opening its compartment for the two of them.
Clambering out, dizzy from the spin, Starswirl called out to Varkan as the drone approached:
"FOOL! That isn't your friend! He is long gone!"
By the waiting drone, Varkan yelled back: "Even if he wasn't, I have no choice!"
"YOU ALWAYS HAD A CHOICE! JUST LIKE I CHOSE TO TRY AND HELP YOU HOWEVER I COULD!"
Luna's shriek showcased her utter betrayal, and outrage at his actions. She walked out ahead of Starswirl, the elder pony's leg having given out now.
Overhead, the Entity 'mothership' aircraft loaded up the 4 Reborn carrying drones, and bellowed a loud horn across the skies as a few antiaircraft shots from the naval base came its way.
"Time to leave."
A bassline voice echoed from the drone, as Faral looked out to see the retaliation to the aircraft as well.
She pulled Varkan's arm, but he shrugged her off:
"30 seconds."
"You don't need to justify yourself!" She replied, but he retorted to her:
"Its not for me!"
Queit now, she pulled inside the drone compartment, looking at the advancing blue dragon a fair way's down the highway.
Varkan looked at Luna, yelling back over the waiting roar of the Entity's drone's engines:
"I told you once that I'd do anything necessary to help bring them back. I thought you understood that."
Luna coldly said to him with finality: "I can't believe I trusted you. You helping that, MONSTER! It killed thousands of ponies, thousands of people in the Oceanic area with the tsunami!"
"We were naive. Garnet took advantage of us, and he paid the price. He made it difficult to locate him!"
A surprisingly aggressive voice sounded from the drone, again in the bassline voice.
Starswirl then demanded: "Return Princess Twilight!"
Varkan raised a gun at Starswirl, shouting: "I should shoot you for destroying 2 of the eggs!"
Quietly, Starswirl backed off, not wanting things to get worse. Varkan's eyes were watery with rage and hurt, as he lowered his gun as he backed towards the waiting Entity drone.
"Don't hate me for doing this. I have to."
Varkan tucked into the drone, gasping as the adreanaline wore off. Beside him Faral moved slightly to check on his chest. He seemed to have some fractured ribs, and she some bruising, but nothing more.
Wind rushed as the drone took off, but it said aloud to the Night Princess, Wizard Unicorn and 2 night guards below:
"I serve the role of Rebirthing the World to true harmony. One not tempered and manipulated to a specific species' advantage."
"Traitor! I didn't create the Elements and fuse to finish them, for this madness!" Starswirl bellowed, but the drone replied simply as it flew off.
"You failed to comprehend the extensiveness of the solution to disharmony required. But devoid of you, we evolved to know what was needed."
"Princess Twilight will be unharmed, but you will await our conditions for her safe return, unless she is to be our prisoner as long as disharmony exists."
The drone sealed, it flew off at speed to dock with the mothership aircraft above, which had turned west to begin accelerating away from Singapaw.
The antiaircraft fire from the naval yard began to cease, as the few aircraft from the local airbase began to chase down the Entity squadron.
Staggering up behind the crashed skiff, Cal'vel shrunk down to his smaller form, as Luna noticed him coming up.
"He's, gone."
Staring out, Luna saw the thunderstorm out at sea that the Entity aircraft were clearly flying towards. They'd later disappear into that storm, using it to throw off the pursing aircraft.
Beside her, Starswirl angrily kicked a piece of debris with his foreleg, as the two night guards came up behind Luna:
"What now your highness?"
She said nothing, staring out at the storm, and then looking around at the signs of carnage visible and heard with alarms across the city.
Quietly, she replied to her guards: "Send a message to Canterlot. My sister must know this, even if she isn't up yet."
Turning away to look back at the storm, Luna barely heeded Starswirl go limping off to sit on the crashed skiff, as the two guards readied a message. Cal'vel said something about checking on Smoulder and his sons, but that got Luna to ask him:
"Check on Spike's friends too."
Nodding slowly, Cal'vel took off, his strong form having served him well, despite some laser burns on one wing, and hits to his neck.
At the edge of the highway, beside the crashed skiff and tank, Luna simply wiped a few tears away as she looked at the Entity aircraft speck vanish into the thunderstorm clouds in the distance.
9 hours later
January 9th, 1008 ANM
Sunset, local time [Ash cloud dims light at any time of day]
Maldives, Aeternum's volcanic island
Having met up mid flight, the 2 mini drones carrying the 4 Wyvern eggs taken, and Twilight's unconscious form, had flown down to the rough seas within the storm, as the main Entity aircraft flew down with them too.
Submerging, the 2 drones had docked underwater with the main aircraft, and the rest of the journey took place underwater, away from prying sensors.
Only at the perimeter of the ash cloud fog of the island did they get trouble, but the depth charges the perimeter NEMA ships dropped were easily countered.
Underwater, the Aeternum main aircraft and connected drones slipped by, their air engines not working in heavy ashfall, like any jets wouldn't.
The NEMA forces had this idea too, but when the subs they sent were too heavily attacked, they backed off quickly.
Ash covered beaches
Now beached and unloading, the Aeternum main aircraft sat on the beach.
Entering the aircraft, an Entity drone, an urchin shape, had dispersed filter masks for the 15 Reborn clan members, Faral and Varkan to wear. Garnet was technically alive in brain only halfway, but he didn't need a mask, as his implants continually cleaning his remaining lung tissue.
Masked up, the tunnels into the volcanic mountain beckoned. A section quartered off for those that Aeternum had invited to the island.
The drones with Twilight and the 4 eggs were shuttled down the tunnel, as the 15 reborn gang members looked around the ash covered island, more a fortress, with awe. By their cult, it was like being on holy ground.
The gentle grey ashfall, a far cry form the thicker veil further out, showcased the foreboding mountain slopes, and the rumbling volcanic vents which spewed out that same volcanic veil around and above the island. A permanent semi darkness, light enough to see, but not very bright at all.
As he wandered out across the ash covered beach, Faral nudged him, gesturing to the beach nearby.
A Wyvern stood, metallic and stony skin forming a more organic shape. Tul'rok materialised, his old friend, now 'host' for the greater Aeternum.
Looking at Varkan's masked face, Tul'rok replied with some sympathy:
"This was the right choice."
Ignoring Tul'rok, Varkan walked off towards the beckoning mountain tunnels, silent as he needed time to himself.
Waiting behind, Faral asked Tul'rok straight up:
"Is it really you? Or is it this, Aeternum, as I've heard its called now?"
Pausing, Tul'rok replied as best he could.
"So long I was in silence, and I know it will always be more powerful than I am. But it needs me, a baseline intelligence to build off. But,...I hear her, from where the plane of the dead is. And I can never join her like this. Sa'ral. She can be revived, a 'copy', but its not the same."
Fa'ral stared at Tul'rok, as he looked away towards the ash covered ocean in sadness. She knew for certain that this was Tul'rok, as he'd been just as despondent with Sa'ral's death before he joined with the Entity and Harmony energy accidentally.
But even so, she felt uncomfortable being here. It was alien, and if what she heard vaguely as the plans by what Varkan knew were, then she had reason to be wary of its power.
She had come too far to give up now, and she'd known Tul'rok and Sa'ral fondly decades ago. Amidst all this change, it felt like they were back where they were in 976, about to use a great power for greater benefit.
This time however, IT knew what it was doing.
The turnabout plot segment is done, and the wait is on.
Amidst all the big plans, and inevitable countering of it, there will be personal stories that come up.
As usual, please review/critique as one would.