Sins of Harmony
Volume 3: Crisis to Ashes
Chapter 38: Wolfyria Run, Reversed Threat.
March 8th, 1008 ANM
Late Evening
Polnyra town, local tavern and inn.
Upstairs
The veiled female dog ventured upstairs, her husband downstairs handling a few more customers. She had come up here, ready to check on her son on the 3rd floor attic room.
Passing by one guest room, she paused as she heard a faint, muffled voice crying out. And a few harsh voices incoherently asking him questions.
A few loud thuds, but then all of a sudden an unearthly sound seemed to chatter from inside the room, and the thuds stopped.
Holding her breath, she heard one voice mumble just barely coherent through the door, a ragged female voice:
"-ain, we've no time. He had a chance to say the truth."
A voice of protest, a girl's, spoke up, but one more, a cold male's, silenced her.
A very brief shriek of pain was silenced as she heard, and nearly stumbled away from the door as she did, the sound of something digging and slicing into flesh and bone.
Backing away, she called down as she took her first sprinting step down the hallway:
"Barsad! There's-!"
Whipping around, she caught a glimpse of the door slamming open, and saw the outline of the dog staying there, Hound, dead on the floor. His head was enveloped in a rocklike, spidery form, glowing as blood seeped from the stab wounds to get into his head.
A rock and metal skinned being stood over him, but behind it, a female Komodo lunged out, a bladed knife in hand arcing in the air as she threw it at great speed and reflex down towards her.
The knife plunged into her lower leg, sending her sprawling to the ground with a cry of agony.
Downstairs, Barsad came tearing up, but stopped as Faral growled to him, gun still pointed at his veiled wife:
"STAY THERE!"
Keeping her gun on the wounded female, and the still male dog, Faral heard the crackling drone's voice reply:
"Complete!"
"We've got Yihadi members in a truck pulling up outside!" Another female voice sounded, as Jorani peered out the window, the large Python seeing the armed militant dogs coming when Hound originally expected.
Wrenching the smaller drone off Hound's now mutilated head, Varkan threw it to the larger drone creature, shouting:
"The truck! Back door!"
Watching, Barsad had slowly approached, Faral holding him at gunpoint, to cradle his wife, her gasps of pain from her knifed leg slowly becoming less severe.
Behind Faral, Jorani slithered out the door fast, while a Purple female Alicorn of all things stumbled out, looking visibly shocked at what happened to Hound.
"GET MOVING NOW!" Varkan bellowed, all but throwing Twilight into Jorani's coils as he ushered them into a different staircase.
Backing up, Faral snarled at them, darting into the staircase last as Barsad pulled his wife against the wall, whispering that he'd get her leg fixed.
Downstairs, he heard calls from a few Yihadi dogs he'd had the misfortune of having to deal with. Breathing slowly, Barsad knew they would want to know what happened to their dealer.
"FIND THEM!" The lead dog bellowed as he and his 3 other fighters tore out of the tavern inn, guns ready.
Running into the street, one of the dogs yelped, and another grunted as something shot out and ran over them from one of the alleys.
In the streetlit sand road, an unlit truck, disguised as a crop hauler, roared away, and a blue light flashed briefly before a pulse fired from the rear.
The truck the fighters came in detonated violently as the pulse from the truck sat drone hit the fuel tank, the explosion causing fire to spread on a few awnings.
The only Yihadi dog not killed or wounded made a call very quickly, but in his panic, forgot to use the lines he was told to use by his superiors.
Both the call, and the heat from the fires caused in the town, were picked up very quickly by the drone thousands of feet overhead.
Late Morning
New Gryphon, International Intelligence Command
Drone department
"Chief Talonace, we've got an urgent report from our Wolfyria unit. Remote drone picked up activity in Polnyra, Wolfyria, Yihadi controlled area. Firefight, and an intercepted call, something going wrong for the group."
"What is it?" Chief of Staff Mach Talonace rapped the desk with his talons impatiently, as the Junior Agent reported what he'd been told to pass directly to him:
"They mentioned a stolen weapons truck, a murdered smuggler, and, well, an Aeternum Drone. Along with a Wyvern, a few others too, a purple Alicorn among them. Only one such Alicorn exists, and she was taken by a Wyvern."
"Yes, I'm aware! Give me the details, I'm getting the nearest group to intercept, track them! Don't lose sight of them! We've got them!"
Talonace was not about to let the targets of a large scale manhunt such as Varkan, and a hostage like Twilight Sparkle, be lost because he didn't issue orders fast.
New Gryphon air force and nearby army air drops would be able to get them, able to get there fastest. But they had to be watched.
But they had to also fend off the Yihadi members who would come after the weapons truck they used to get away in.
They had one drone already there anyway, so that was a start.
20 minutes later
Late Evening
7 miles west of Polnyra town
Looking out the back, Jorani slunk her scaly head back inside, the drone having come back to find out what the little drone had extracted from Hound's mind by force.
"We've got a head start, but they're gaining."
"This truck's a piece of shit, they'll keep gaining at this rate!" Faral yelled from the driver's seat.
Twilight looked at the mildly blood soaked little drone the larger creature was hooked into now, while she looked right at Varkan with an unreadable expression.
BAM!
Before she knew what else happened, she had smashed a front hoof into Varkan's head, the Wyvern caught off guard completely with a grunt of pain. The larger creature grumbled, a tendril shooting out to restrain her hoof.
As Varkan staggered up, and Jorani nervously slithered backwards, Twilight yelled:
"YOU KILLED HIM!"
"He had his chance to say the truth, we made that clear. We had no choice." Varkan grumbled, rubbing his jaw as he glared at the Alicorn.
The truck bounced, while the creature then announced.
"Calamak. Aanu and Hakem Calamak."
Puzzled, Twilight looked at the drone, but Varkan then went deathly quiet, almost calming down now.
From the front, Faral asked:
"Where?"
"Kajrot, Kothi residential community. Number 65, Calamak estate. Home residence."
The truck was quiet, until Twilight finally asked, or more demanded:
"Who are they? Why were they worth killing that guy over?"
"Hound, that dog, was the one who organised the VX raid on my
facility. The Calamaks, were the ones who ordered it. I wanted the ones who ordered it, not the ones that do dirty work for the money." Varkan growled.
Twilight's expression changed, as she looked at Jorani, who also was quiet all of a sudden. The truck's bouncing was all that was heard, as all had ideas of what may happen next.
A distant boom behind them shattered the silence, as Twilight saw a fireball rising from where, just a few moments ago, distant lights of pursuing Yihadi armed vehicles had been steadily gaining.
Rumbling, the drone murmured in its buzzing voice:
"New Gryphon Drone strike. And it is monitoring us too. The tavern owners had to tell the insurgents, and a reckless call for backup has brought them down on our position!"
The drone seemed to become aggravated, as it also flashed a slightly brighter colour, and altered voices slightly at the same time. New information coming all at once.
A loud crash sounded in the front, as Faral loosed a barrage of expletives, her foot hard down on the accelerator. Still, across the desert sands, the truck could do no more than 20 at best.
And the truck's engine was a perfect mark for a drone's heat sensing cameras.
Looking at Varkan, Twilight warned him: "Give up, we've got those Yihadi and now New Gryphon probably sending-"
Without warning, Varkan shot out his hand, grabbing the metal device clasping Twilight's horn. Deaf to her cry of mild pain, Varkan fiddled with the device, the drone flaring in colour and a metallic growl:
"She must not-!"
"We'll need firepower, and one isn't enough. Everything but flight and teleportation, now either I can do it, or you can and get it right!"
Varkan shot back at the drone, who quickly paused, and then slowly reached out a tendril to fiddle with the metal clasp around her horn, restraining Twilight as she felt, to her confusion, the loosening of her restraint.
Shuffling back, the Drone then moved to the back of the truck, its attention drawn to something unseen. Rubbing her horn, Twilight saw Varkan reaching for a small case he had in his equipment rucksack, as she then shot him a wary look, feeling stronger magic than she could prior do surging in her horn after so long.
"Try anything against us, and I'll knock you out. You'll put your great magic to effective use, alongside this."
Pulling out a strange looking set of Aeternum tech parts, and assembling them in what looked like a large rifle shape, Varkan then removed the source of the weapon's power.
A White Alicorn Horn was slotted into the weapon's internal slot, as Twilight realised with horror what this, one of Varkan's smaller projects, had been for on the island.
"You can't be serious... I won't!"
Not blinking, Varkan hit the safety, the large rifle humming briefly, and brought its faintly yellow glowing muzzle to point directly at Twilight's face.
"You will. You want to minimize the number we kill? Use your magic however you see fit to defend us."
"Vengeance isn't going to get you anything in the end, except more trouble." Twilight urged.
Turning away, Varkan growled as he moved to the back, shoving past Jorani as she shuffled in her coils in nervousness. Spitting the insult, he stated:
"Preach to me when you've had good reason to want revenge."
As Varkan shuffled up to the back, with the drone as sentry, Jorani slithered over to Twilight, the large Python sharing an uneasy look with the Alicorn, asking:
"I, I don't know what this is about. I thought we were supposed to be helping the world, what does this have to do with it?"
"He had this deal all along with it, he never really believed in what Aeternum wants. Only what he could help him do."
The Wyvern heard, but ignored the remarks Twilight made. But she saw, disturbingly, that he seemed to stroke the strange rifle fondly, almost like a comfort of some sort.
Stepping up, Varkan raised the rifle, prompting the drone as he ordered:
"Support, not sure how strong it is."
The drone stepped up, its shoulder acting as a makeshift rest for the rifle. In the distance, Twilight saw the lights of a handful of Yihadi vehicles giving pursuit. The New Gryphon drone, unseen overhead, had used all its bombs it seemed.
Taking a tense breath, Twilight settled down for a long drive with little time to relax.
The truck bounced the whole time, as Faral had finally turned on the lights, knowing they were found by the Air Drone anyway. Now at least they could see where they were going.
Mid Afternoon
Equestria
Canterlot, Royal Palace
Celestia's office
"Are you sure!?"
"Yes your majesty. Their drone confirmed its him, and Princess Twilight, from a Yihadi call intercepted. They seemed to cause enough trouble for them to risk open communications able to be hacked."
"How quick can we get help out there?"
"New Gryphon military already has an airdropped attack convoy on the way in the area. They can't do a subtle raid anymore, so they're pursuing. But they can't risk lethal force."
Celestia scowled as she heard the magic fuelled phone, with General Hardhooves on the other end, as she finally decided:
"We can't. The threat was specifically made against us. Tell New Gryphon to do as they already have. I can't see any other means for now."
Ignoring Hardhooves's salute over the link, Celestia put down the phone. Clenching her head with her hooves, she had to reassure herself of her decision. It was all that could be realistically be done.
But Celestia doubted it all, given the situation.
But the bigger question was why Wolfyria of all places. Such a dangerous place, yet just, why there exactly?
All she, and any others concerned could do, was wait for when more information arrived.
March 8th, 1008 ANM
Past midnight
Wolfyria, Wastelands
The convoy drove on, the large cargo aircraft having airdropped the vehicles by parachute sleds to a plain a few miles north of the target. In the distance, the rumble of the 4 engined jet faded, as the armoured trucks and lightweight attack vehicles rumbled through the darkness.
Rounding a last ridge, a small group of lit vehicles gave chase to another a mile ahead. Miles above, the air drone had been following and watching.
Smiling slightly, the Gryphon commander radio'd in:
"We've got them. Focus on the Yihadi tails first, then get-"
A few yells went out from the trucks, as in the distance, amidst the distant gunfire noises, a yellowish light fired in a narrow beam skywards, moving like a searchlight almost. At the same time, a few pinkish pulses of energy fired at the pursuing vehicles, but were too far fired to hit the trucks.
On her truck compartment's screen, she saw the camera feed from the drone pick up the blazing beam, but as it arced around, the screen blazed bright, and the feed was lost.
Overhead, a faint smoke and fire trail appeared as a small explosion far overhead. That beam had destroyed the drone.
Slamming the dashboard, the commander ordered the convoy forwards.
"No drone feed! Take out the trucks! We'll have to follow by eye until we get another set of eyes in the sky!"
The purple-pink blasts from the leading truck hit one of the tailing Yihadi trucks from under a kilometre away, but the pulse didn't detonate the truck, but stopped it fast, lights and engine dead.
Whoever was at the command of the pink firing weapon had less destructive intents it seemed.
Driving into the night, the ranged firefight quietly raged on, as the New Gryphons drew towards the Yihadi trucks first.
They weren't the target, but were a threat.
But that weapon, both of them, indicated that Twilight had been made to help them. Suddenly, the mission was a lot more hard, with two magic wielders with great range among the enemies.
"I thought Unicorns were our allies!"
A private's yell from a gunner turret reached her ears, as the female Gryphon barked back:
"If you say you didn't sign up for this, I'll agree! But we're going after them!"
"Against that!? It took out a drone with one hit instantly!"
Command hadn't told them that Twilight would be aiding them, probably unwillingly somehow.
But that second magic blast was greater than any Unicorn's, but not the usually Aeternum blue or red pulses. Some new machination was revealing itself, and not for the first time.
Every time Aeternum's assets made a move, they always seemed to have a new trick up their sleeve. The worst sort of enemy to have.
The convoy roared on, in spite of the nervousness of some of its soldiers aboard.
The Yihadi trucks seemed to stop advancing, keeping a distance, making them easer to catch. The marauding single truck further ahead, now clear of an air drone's eyes on it, suddenly was not a target, but a threat.
Aeternum isn't the only one with weapon ideas. But for now, they simple get along, while New Gryphon soldiers have to settle for the Yihadi's chasing after their truck of weapons Hound had for them. Before he was killed.
As Varkan gets ready to split off for his personal revenge, others will go elsewheres, part of the greater scheme. Meanwhile though, they have the convoy chasing after them to deal with.
Once this skirmish is over, Applejack contending with the situation of Socium captured will be next.
As usual, please review/critique as one would. Detailed reviews welcomed.