CHAPTER 13
Welcome back, everypony. I hope all of my readers out there are liking the twelfth installment of The Drake Chronicles. I think I'm finally recovering from my flu or whatever it was, and despite the fact that I'm in the middle of dealing with a bunch of bureaucratic government BS right now, I've been able to get this chapter written in almost record time. I'm looking forward to getting this volume finished...in a way. This will be the last major story in the series, and it has been an awesome ride. This chapter introduces a couple of new OC's, one based on a real person, and they may show up in future works. So enjoy the latest chapter, everypony, and please review.
"Drake?" The voice called. "Lieutenant Drake? Can you wake up?" I grunted and opened my eyes. Sitting up in bed, I wiped my face. "I'm sorry to wake you up..." I looked over to see Twilight standing at the door. I shrugged, and climbed out of bed.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing...I mean...everything's wrong, but nothing else bad has happened yet." The lavender alicorn replied. "It's just...you have company. They're waiting outside."
"Company?" I repeated. I thought for a moment. "Oh...Luna was supposed to send me some backup and some of my equipment. It's probably them." She had a shocked and confused look on her face.
"Are we...going to war?" Twilight asked seriously.
"What? Why?" I returned, still attempting to get my mind working.
"Because...that's what it kind of looks like outside..." She answered matter-of-factly. I narrowed my eyes and walked to the window overlooking the front yard.
"Oh for fuck's sake Luna..." I sighed. My friend had sent reinforcements, but if it were possible, she had sent too much damned reinforcements. Twilight's front yard looked like a military camp. There were a dozen black-clad soldiers standing in a line by the mailbox. There were two crates in the yard, each one being guarded by two bat ponies with spears. There were two military wagons, and even a damned trebuchet.
"Ugh..." I groaned. "I'll take care of it." I said. "Hey...sweetheart!" I called to Dashie, who was still sleeping.
"Huh...whassthegonna...wha..." She mumbled.
"Get up Dashie." I stated. "We have an army."
"What?" She groaned, sitting up.
"I'm going downstairs to review the troops. Come on." As my marefriend groggily climbed out of bed, I shrugged innocently at Twilight and walked out of the room. "Sis!" I called, knocking on the door of the bedroom across the hall. "Budder Sabre...up up up! Let's go, now!"
"Okay! Geez, I'm coming." My sister called back. I walked down the stairs, tossing on my hat, and threw open the door. A bat pony stallion wearing a black tactical jacket and cap stood on the doorstep patiently. When he saw me, he threw me a quick salute.
"Lieutenant Drake?" He asked in the cocky tone of a seasoned operator.
"Yep." I answered, saluting back.
"Captain Steele, lieutenant." He greeted. "SpecOps detachment." I grinned as I looked him over. On his collars were the silver bars of a captain. Other than that, the only insignia he wore was a patch on his right shoulder, a red field with a double-edged silver sword.
"I said it before and I'll say it again...SpecOps my ass. You guys are COLT Commandos." A smile broke across his face. These were the best of the best, the secret shadow warriors of the Equestrian military, ponies who specialized in counter-terrorism and hostage rescue operations.
"We're here by order of Princess Luna." Steele stated. "She said you might need some backup."
"Wasn't expecting a whole CTU..." I commented. "How'd you all get here?"
"Fast roped in from a low-flying airship this morning." He answered. "Probably not necessary, but the princess caught my unit in the middle of training. I figured it would be good for my operators to brush up on their tactical insertions." All I could do was smile and shake my head. Was all of this really necessary? Commandos are like hammers, and everything looks like a nail to a hammer. These guys were precision instruments of destruction. How bad did Luna think the situation really was? There was only one more question.
"So...I'm to assume that I..."
"Am in command of this operation?" Captain Steele finished my question. "Yes sir."
"Drake?" Dash asked, stepping up beside me. She looked around the scene in the small yard. "What the hay's going on?"
"Luna sent backup." I said simply. I walked outside. "You guys get the stuff from my house?"
"Yessir. It's in that crate over there." Steele said, pointing toward one of the boxes.
"What's in the other one?" I queried, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Operational prudence." Was the answer. I walked to the box, and the guards stepped aside as I threw open the lid. Inside were a dozen crossbows and hundreds of bolts. I felt my eyes dampen.
"Sir?"
"It's like...my birthday..." I whispered.
"And you are...Lieutenant Drake?" A female voice said with a thick accent. I turned to see a young mare standing behind me. She was about twenty five or so, and had an olive-tan coat and a black mane, cut shorter and spiked on top, but curly along her neck. Around her neck, she wore a dark green and black shemagh, a type of scarf worn in desert environments. I noticed a commando knife strapped to her left hind leg.
"Yes ma'am...I suppose I am." I answered. She gave me a little smile that soon faded back to a serious expression.
"I have...hear of you in my country." She stated. "It is honor to finally meet you."
"You're...you're from Bitsrael, right?" I asked, guessing at her accent.
"Sergeant Masada." She replied, introducing herself. "Bitsraeli Commando Unit Number 1"
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I cross training your Special Forces. Unarmed combat. I am instructor to unit in my country. I volunteer to come to help you when I hear of this." She smiled again, and I noticed a glint in her pale blue eyes. "I was not to pass up opportunity to meet...the Lieutenant Drake." Oh boy...it took about three seconds...
"Aaaaaannnnnd I'm Drake's fiancee, Rainbow Dash. Good to meet ya." Dashie said loudly, putting a foreleg around me in an attempt to cease the flirting from the Bitsraeli soldier. Masada's smile dropped.
"And good to meet you, Rainbow Dash." She returned. Masada looked back to me. "I did not know you were...betrothed." She said apologetically. My sister had been standing beside me all this time, staring at the young commando mare, and now it was her turn to add to the already uncomfortable situation.
"I'm not..." She muttered, right before I slapped her lightly in the back of the head. Masada gave me a questioning look, and I shrugged and chuckled.
"So what's the plan, L.T.?" Steele asked.
"Well...I think we can leave the trebuchet here." I said cynically. "Other than that, I think we can work something out." I looked toward the group of COLT commandos. "Snipers on the roofs around Sugarcube Corner...a team in reserve in the police station, ready to go at a moment's notice...and if you don't mind, a SpecOps officer and a Bitsraeli Commando joining my team for the duration? Make for easier communication that way, I think."
"Good plan." Steele nodded. "I can deploy four snipers on rooftops overlooking all sides of the building. I take it you're going to want to do your cavalry thing...charge in and kick ass?"
"Anything wrong with that?" I asked with a sly grin. The special forces officer grinned back.
"Nothing at all, L.T." He answered. "Operations in the Zebra Kingdom, we did some charging in and kicking ass of our own." I chuckled. I already felt better about this assignment. And I already liked this Captain Steele.
It looks like Drake got more backup than he was planning for, eh? Will it be too much, or not enough to stop the killings? And as promised, we are introduced to two new OC's. Masada may show up in future stories, and Captain Steele is based on the real-life commander of the 75th Rangers detachment that took part in the famous Black Hawk Down incident. A little shout out to an awesome American hero. I'm sure you can't wait to see where this goes, so I will try to bring you the next chapter soon. Until then, thanks for reading. -Drake