Fallout Equestria: Legacy

"No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy." - Helmuth von Moltke

“An Ursa Minor?” Emerald Sapphire asked in disbelief. Captain Thunder grimly nodded to her. “How the hell did slavers get one of those here?” A few minutes ago Raging had slipped away from the ridge leaving behind Spec. After rejoining Flak and Emerald he thought it best to inform them about his (well, actually Spec’s) discovery.

“I thought they went extinct long ago,” Flak added.

Raging Thunder shrugged. “It doesn’t matter how or where they got it. The point is the slavers have one.”

“What do we do about it, sir?” the green unicorn asked.

Before Raging could respond, Flak spoke up: “What do you think, mate? We blow its bloody arse to kingdom come!” Flak excitedly waved his machine grenade launcher for emphasis. Emerald looked horrified at that idea.

“That’s a negative,” Raging directly stated. Flak grumbled in disappointment. “The Ursa Minor is locked behind a giant electrified fence. It can’t get out, and from the looks of things, the slavers may not have domesticated it. Unless it gets loose, the beast is not our problem.”

Emerald looked relieved. “Then what’s our plan, captain?” she questioned.

Raging looked around for something to draw with. He spotted a stick a few feet away and levitated it to him. He knelt down and began to draw a crude diagram of the factory in the dirt. “We are here,” he said pointing to a small point on his map. “The entrance to the factory is over here, but that’s not the way we’re going in.”

“Of course not. Since when has Shadow Team ever tried the front door?” Flak asked sarcastically.

Raging ignored the barb and continued, “This is the route we’ll use.” He pointed the stick to the side of the map. “The large boulders will provide us with more cover and allow us safer access to the compound.”

Emerald stared down at the drawing. “Where will Spec be, sir?”

Raging drew a small ‘X’ in the dirt. “He’s here. Spec will be providing sniper support on this ridge.” Raging drew a few small squares in the map. “This guard tower contains at least one sniper. There may be two more wearing stealth cloaks.”

Flak cursed, “Bollocks!”

Raging pointed the stick to another square. “The prisoners are here. We’ll work our way to them along this path.” He drew a line between squares. “Once we get to them, we free them. And then we get the hell out of here.” Raging looked up. “Any questions?”

Emerald shook her head. “I have one, sir,” Flak raised his hoof like a foal.

“What is it,” Raging asked.

“What are the rules of engagement?” the aqua pony asked.

Raging smiled. “We take them by surprise. We go quietly.” Flak frowned; it was clearly not his idea of engagement. Raging rolled his eyes and sighed, “If we are compromised, then it’s weapons free.”

Flak wickedly grinned. “Terminate with extreme prejudice?” Raging nodded. Flak chuckled, “In that case, sir. I do have one request if things go south.”

The dark blue unicorn knew he wouldn’t like this. “And that is?”

Flak only smiled. “You’ll see, captain. But trust me, you won’t be disappointed.”

I find that pretty hard to believe, Flak. “Alright, then,” the captain declared, “if everypony is ready, then let’s hit ‘em!”

As the three ponies trotted away from the staging area Emerald asked, “How do we get to our point of entry, sir?”

Oh crap! That’s right! “Trust me; I’ve got this figured out.”

___________

“Well that was a load of horseapples,” Flak complained. For once, Raging Thunder had to agree. His “plan” to get to their entry into the factory didn’t quite go as he expected. He intended to sneak past the train tracks leading to the Everfree Mills, but he didn’t anticipate the amount of slavers stationed there. At one point Emerald Sapphire suggested they turn around and take the long way around the valley. Raging refused because it would’ve taken too long. Perhaps I should’ve listened to her…

After they reached the train tracks, Raging walked around a boxcar and ran right into (literally) a slaver guard. The guard was just as surprised to see Raging as he was of seeing him. The slaver tried to reach for his weapon. The old unicorn was faster, however. Rather than trying to grab his own gun, Raging threw himself at the guard. Before the slaver had time to react, Raging wrapped his forelegs around the guard and tackled him to the ground. The slaver kicked the captain several times trying to free himself.

The captain wrapped his legs around the slaver’s neck just as the buck began to call for help. Without hesitating, Raging applied a guillotine choke and squeezed. The slaver flailed his legs in effort to free himself. Every breath he tried to take only made it easier for Raging to choke the life out of the guard. Eventually, the slaver ceased his struggles. Raging finished him off with a swift snap of the neck.

No sooner did he finish dealing with the first guard, but another slaver came around the boxcar and spotted the captain. This slaver already had her revolver in her mouth and instantly aimed it at Raging. He had no time react. A combat knife flew through the air and impaled the slaver in the neck. The mare’s face became a look of shock and fear. She opened her muzzle and dropped the revolver. In that instant, Emerald Sapphire galloped up to the slaver and gave the knife a hard kick; driving it further into the slaver’s throat. The slaver toppled over spewing blood everywhere.

Emerald levitated her knife out of the slaver. She gave it a flick, throwing the blood off of it, before holstering it. Raging got to his hooves and nodded to her in thanks. She gave him a look that said “Don’t mention it.” Their ordeal was not over yet. The commotion drew the attention of five more slavers.

A large slaver unicorn came around the corner to see Raging and Emerald. He was levitating a combat shotgun in front of him. Another slaver was right behind him. “Well, well, well. What have we here?” the unicorn slaver sneered. “Two more unicorns to add to the stock, looks like.” The slaver grinned but then looked at the two bodies at their hooves. The slaver’s grin turned into despair. Raging noticed he was focusing on the dead mare in front of Emerald. The slaver’s face turned red in pure rage. “You motherfuckers! You’re fucking dead!” He aimed the shotgun at Emerald’s head. “You hear me? You’re fucking DEAD!” he thundered. Three more earth pony slavers circled Raging Thunder and Emerald Sapphire. One stopped behind Raging and knocked him to the ground. They were trapped.

“Look at her,” the slaver closest to Emerald lustfully said. She gave him a disgusted look. He took a step towards her and put his hoof on her ass. She socked him hard across the face. He stumbled back in shock. He shook his head and laughed, “The bitch is a fighter! I like that!”

“What a pretty unicorn, you are,” the pony behind Raging mocked. Emerald seemed to be getting all the attention from the slavers.

“Oh I’m going to have so much fun with you,” the third slaver taunted Emerald. She nervously glanced at all the slavers. Nopony was paying much attention to Raging, nor was the guard directly behind him. He wondered where Flak was.

The slaver Emerald hit stepped towards her again and whispered, “When we’ve all had a turn with you, you’ll be begging to die. But that’s not gonna happen!” Raging Thunder spotted out of the corner of his eye a loose lead pipe sticking off the boxcar. Quietly, he levitated it off the boxcar and brought it up behind the guard flanking him.

“If anypony gets a first go at her,” the unicorn slaver bellowed, “it’s gonna be me! This fucking bitch killed Spook!” He stared directly into Emerald’s scared eyes. “I will fuck you up for this!” He spun the combat shotgun around telekinetically and struck Emerald across the face with the butt. She collapsed to the ground.

All the slavers began to laugh. “I haven’t been able to rape a bitch this fine in my entire life,” the first slaver howled.

Raging had seen enough. He focused on the floating lead pipe and struck the guard behind him over the head. The slaver lurched forward as Raging leapt to his hooves. He quickly spun around and grabbed the slaver. Raging swung the slaver in front of him and held him as a shield; holding the pipe along the slaver’s throat as leverage. The other slavers aimed their weapons at him. One slaver held Emerald Sapphire on the ground.

“Don’t fire,” Raging’s slaver shield begged.

“HOLD!” the unicorn slaver boomed. Raging narrowed his eyes as he scanned the menacing slavers edging towards him. He was looking for his options. But he couldn’t find any. WHERE IS FLAK!?!? The unicorn slaver stepped closer. “Release him! Now, motherfucker!”

Raging stared hard at the unicorn slaver. He shook his head, “No.”

The unicorn slaver stepped closer. The floating combat shotgun was only a few feet from Raging Thunder. Raging held the pipe more tightly to his “shield’s” throat. The slaver began to gag. The unicorn slaver stopped. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” the slaver demanded.

Raging angrily eyed the unicorn. The slaver stared back at him. Finally Raging said, “I’m Captain Raging Thunder.”

One of the slavers laughed, “Ooh! I’m so scared!”

Another slaver turned to his chuckling friend and said alarmed, “I’ve heard of him. He’s the commander of Shadow Team! You know, the ‘Invincible Stallion’!” The other slaver stopped laughing.

Some of the slavers glanced nervously at each other. Raging felt his slaver shield began to shake. The unicorn slaver raised an eyebrow and titled his head slightly. “The infamous Shadow Team? Of the pussy Equestrian fucking Crusaders?” No one slanders the Equestrian Crusaders… least of all Shadow Team. “Well, this is a surprise. I thought you were all dead. How the fuck did you earn the title ‘Invincible Stallion’?”

“I heard he got it because he got shot over a thousand times… In one battle!” one of the slavers exclaimed.

The unicorn slaver looked unimpressed. “You know that ponies like to exaggerate,” he said to his subordinate. He looked back at the captain. “Is that so, Raging Blunder?” he goaded.

The dark blue unicorn just stared at him. ‘Raging Blunder’? Really? What is he, a foal? I’ve been called worse. Far worse. He said nothing.

“No matter,” the unicorn slaver continued. “Just wait until the boss hears we’ve killed the fucking ‘Invincible Stallion’ and his pussy-ass team.” The slaver glanced back at Emerald. “Scratch that. We’ll tell him just the ‘Invincible Stallion’ is dead. I still got plans for this fucking slut.”

“I don’t think so,” Raging growled.

The slaver turned back to face Raging. “And what are you gonna do about it? In case you’ve forgotten, it’s four on one.”

Raging’s hostage squirmed and stuttered, “B-b-but… W-w-w-what about me?”

The unicorn slaver said, “It’s your own fucking fault. You got careless.” He glanced at the other three slavers. “Let’s see just how invincible he is.” The slavers all aimed their weapons at Raging and his hostage.

Raging wasn’t afraid at all. In fact, he wasn’t even looking at the gun-toting ponies. He was looking behind them. None of slavers realized who was standing behind them. Raging’s hostage stammered, “Brick, behind…”

The slaver’s words were drowned out by the sound of Flak’s minigun. Emerald’s captor was turned to red mist. The unicorn slaver, Brick, dove for cover dropping his shotgun. Flak fired on the other slavers who tried to get clear of the hail fire of bullets. Another slaver toppled to the ground bleeding from a hundred bullet holes.

Raging no longer needed his hostage. He quickly snapped the slaver’s neck and rushed over to Emerald while Flak continued to shoot at the slavers. Raging helped Emerald onto her hooves. She was bleeding from where Brick hit her. “Are you all right, Emerald?” he asked.

She angrily nodded, “Yes, sir. I’m fine.” She wiped the blood from her muzzle. She wasn’t pissed with Raging. She wanted to get back at those slavers. She spotted Brick’s dropped combat shotgun. She levitated it to her. Flak continued to fire his minigun; hundreds of bullet casings raining to the ground. He slowly trotted down the slope towards Raging and Emerald.

The last earth pony slaver poked his head around the corner of the boxcar. Emerald shot it right off his shoulders. Raging floated his magnum from his holster and raised his hoof. Flak ceased firing his minigun. The smoking red-hot barrels rotated to a stop. Everything was quiet. Flak aimed his minigun as they scanned their vicinity.

There was a noise behind the boxcar. The three ponies cautiously approached the side of the boxcar. Raging gave a gesture with his hoof and the three Crusaders leapt behind the boxcar aiming their weapons. On the ground was Brick. He slowly crawling away leaving a thick trail of blood. He didn’t quite escape Flak’s minigun.

Emerald Sapphire bolted up to him and kicked him hard. Brick flipped over onto his back and pitifully stared up at the furious green unicorn. There was a gaping hole where his stomach should have been. His insides were beginning to pour out. “Please…” he weakly pleaded. “Have mercy.”

Emerald lowered the combat shotgun towards the slaver’s head. “It’s not so much fun on the other side of the barrel. Is it?” she snarled.

Brick began to cry; a few tears running down his cheeks. “Please,” he cried, “Don’t do this to me. Don’t let me die… like this.”

Emerald lowered the shotgun more. “I never thought I’d hear a slaver beg. And I don’t think you’re deserving of mercy.” Brick began to sob. “No. I think I’m just going to leave you here to die on your own!”

Emerald was merely taunting the slaver while he suffered, not that Captain Thunder could really blame her. The slaver deserved it. But still, Raging could not bear to watch a anypony suffer like that. “Emerald!” he shouted. “This is not what we do! You know that!”

Emerald glanced towards the captain out of the corner of her blue eye. She did not move the shotgun away from Brick. “He deserves to suffer for what he’s done… what he intended to do to me,” she yelled. “Do you think he’d show mercy, were it the other way around?”

Raging stomped a hoof. “You are not Brick. Do not become him,” he said. “We don’t let ponies suffer.” He hesitated before continuing, “Not even ponies like him.”

Emerald snapped her eyes shut and looked away. Brick glanced towards Raging. “Please, just end it,” he sniveled.

“Show him mercy, Emerald,” Raging ordered. “Or I will.”

Emerald Sapphire glowered at Brick for a moment longer before she raised the shotgun and trotted away. She walked past the captain without saying a word. Raging sighed and walked up to the slaver. He noticed for the first time Brick’s cutie mark. It was of two ponies having… He wrinkled his face in disgust. THAT CAN BE A CUTIE MARK? I do not want to know how or when he got that. If that was his special talent, then he clearly chose the wrong line of work. Raging wondered for a second if that was why Spook was special to him.

The captain shrugged and aimed his magnum. “Do you have any last words?”

Brick suddenly had a change of heart. He stopped crying and only evilly smiled. “I knew the fucking cunt couldn’t do it. A sob story was all it took.” He grinned towards Emerald. “Did you hear me? I knew you couldn’t do it!”

Raging fumed. And to think I actually began to pity him. “That was a very poor choice,” he threatened.

Brick looked back up at him still grinning. “She’ll never have the balls to end it,” he sneered. “Oh wait. That’s right! She doesn’t have balls!” He started to laugh. Raging couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Now the slaver definitely deserved to be left to his fate. It had been many long years since he left a pony to die a slow, agonizing death. He always swore never again. Until now…

Brick gazed at Raging. “Just do it asshole! End it!” he whispered.

Raging turned away from Brick and holstered his magnum. “I knew it,” Brick chuckled. “You’re as big a pussy as that bi-” BLAM! Brick’s stomach burst apart. Blood splashed over Brick’s head. Fragments from his rib cage splintered his body like a pincushion.

Raging didn’t bother looking back at the mutilated slaver. He was busy staring at the floating combat shotgun. Emerald looked like she was ready to empty the entire clip into Brick. Raging said softly, “That’ll do, Emerald.” Emerald slowly looked over at him. “That’ll do.”

Flak was stunned. “HO-LEE SHITE!” he exclaimed.

The captain just remembered that Flak was with them. “Where the hell were you, Flak?” he demanded.

“Sorry, captain. When I saw you and Emerald were surrounded I had to swap my grenade launcher for the minigun,” he apologized. “It would’ve been messier if I hadn’t.”

Raging stepped towards Flak frowning. Flak braced himself expecting to be hit. The captain merely smiled and put a hoof on the aqua pony’s shoulder. “You have my thanks, Flak.”

“Mine too,” Emerald spoke up.

“Any time, mate,” Flak said. He looked at Raging. “What do we do now, captain?”

Raging thought about that. With all the gunfire they were sure to have attracted the attention of the rest of the slavers. They may need to change the mission to a frontal assault now. “Captain, do you copy?” he heard a quiet voice come from his PipBuck. It was Spec.

“What is it, Spec?” Raging asked his PipBuck.

“I thought I heard gunfire,” the sniper barely whispered. “Is everything okay over there?”

“Yes, we’re fine.” A thought crossed his mind. “Wait. What do you mean you ‘thought’?”

“I could barely hear it. I wasn’t sure if I did.”

“What of the slavers in the factory? Did they hear anything?” Raging questioned.

“If they did, they sure aren’t doing about it,” Spec whispered.

Raging titled his head and looked at the sky. Thank the Goddess! We still have the element of surprise! He lifted his foreleg and said, “Okay, Spec. Thanks.” The line ended. The captain gave the order to move on. The three ponies quickly galloped away from the train tracks and began to ascend the rise over the north side of the Everfree Mills…

It took a solid fifteen minutes for Raging, Emerald, and Flak to get into their point of entry. They each got behind a large boulder approximately twenty feet from the closest shack in the factory. Raging cautiously peered around the side of the boulder and scanned the environment. Several hundred yards away he could see the area where he’d left Spec. Naturally, he couldn’t see the brown pony because of his zebra cloak. But Spec could probably see him.

Raging looked around some more. Several slavers were patrolling this area of the factory. Spec had been right about them not hearing the noise from earlier. Most of them were earth ponies wearing battle saddles equipped with assault rifles. Occasionally a unicorn slaver would enter his line of sight levitating all types of weapons. His main concern however were the three snipers Spec reported. Gazing up at the tall tower he could barely see one of the snipers at the top. The other two were invisible somewhere on the tower. He had no way to know where they were. They might not even be on the tower. Another scary thought crossed his mind: What if the snipers can see us? What if they know we’re behind these boulders?

ROOOOOAAAAAR!!!! The noise made Raging jump back behind cover. “What the hell?” he gasped.

A nearby slaver groaned, “Somepony shut that damn thing up! I hate when it growls like that.” It was the Ursa Minor. Raging had actually forgotten about it.

Another slaver asked, “Why do we even have that thing here?”

“Hell if I know,” a third slaver answered. The guards moved away. Raging slowly took a second peek around the rocks. He could see one slaver with his back to him. No other guards were in sight. Now is our time to move! Several more slavers trotted out of a nearby shack. Dammit! Raging kicked the boulder. This was not going to be easy for a stealthy approach.

“Captain Thunder,” Flak whispered a few feet away.

“What?” Raging snapped.

“Request permission to get out that little surprise, sir,” the aqua pony asked.

Raging moved back behind the boulder and looked at him. “And what would that be?”

Flak ignored the question. “Do I have your permission, sir?”

The old unicorn sighed. “Fine. Just make it quiet.”

Flak unstrapped his battle saddle. “Don’t worry, sir.” He dropped onto his stomach and crawled around his boulder. Raging poked his head around the boulder again. He watched Flak stomach-crawl up to the closest guard. The aqua pony grabbed the slaver around the mouth and neck and pulled him behind a boulder. The slaver never knew what hit him.

Raging couldn’t see Flak after that. Despite having an aqua-colored coat, he was great at being stealthy. Which is strange considering his weapon specialties are not all subtle. Raging sat down behind the boulder. He looked over at Emerald. She too was sitting behind her cover. She hadn’t said anything since Flak had saved them. Suddenly, he realized why those slavers had taken them by complete surprise. He disgracefully eyed his PipBuck. All this time, he'd been neglecting to check his E.F.S.!

Raging slammed his head against the boulder in anger. How could I have made that mistake? He looked over his E.F.S. now. It displayed multiple hostile marks all over the valley. Flak’s friendly tag was not in the immediate range. I’ve got to always remember to keep one eye on E.F.S. It’s mistakes like this that get you killed. He rubbed the back of his head with his hoof. The pain was hardly worth his time. He’d punish himself later for this slipup.

He noticed Emerald was staring at him out of the corner of his eye. She was giving him a concerned look. “I’m sorry, Emerald,” he whispered.

The green unicorn blinked. “For what?” she asked confused.

“It’s my fault we walked into that trouble back there,” the captain admitted. “It’s my fault those slavers were able to treat you the way they did.”

Emerald just looked at him. “It’s not your fault, sir.” Raging looked away in shame. Yes it was! If I had been checking my E.F.S. we wouldn't have walked right into those ponies! “Those fuckers didn’t have a chance in hell to do what they were hoping for. I knew you wouldn’t let that happen.”

Raging closed his eyes for a moment. He sadly looked back at her. “Emerald,” he started, “there was nothing I could do.” She looked troubled by that. He didn't want to mention not checking E.F.S. “Those slavers had my back against a wall. They were willing to shoot their own pony to get me. There was nothing I could do. If Flak hadn’t shown up I’d be dead.” Emerald opened her mouth, but said nothing. “And you’d be…” Raging couldn’t bring himself to finish that.

Emerald fell silent as well. The rest of the time the two unicorns said nothing else to each other. Raging was telekinetically checking his weapons to ensure they’d be ready for a fight. He had three guns he always carried with him where ever he went: a magnum and two SMGs. He liked the magnum for its stopping power and he used the SMGs for the greater rate-of-fire. He had actually honed his magic to be able to fire both SMGs simultaneously.

“Captain,” Flak’s voice broke the silence. Raging raised his foreleg and responded. “I’ve prepared my little “present” for the slavers.”

“Okay,” the captain replied.

“Could you bring my grenade launcher, sir?” Flak asked. “You’ve got thirty seconds, sir. Flak out.”

The captain quickly radioed Spec. “Spec, we’re about to go weapons hot. Standby to engage.” Raging turned to Emerald. “Are you ready?”

She nodded and pulled out an assault rifle. Thirty seconds later the captain heard Flak whisper: “Fire in the hole!”

KABOOOOOM!!!! The valley shook from an ear shattering explosion. The captain peered around the boulder. The base of the tower was in pieces, a black cloud of smoke rising from it. The tower swayed back and forth. A moment later it loudly groaned as it collapsed to the ground. Slavers screamed and ran for cover. The tower landed on a pair of shacks. Wood and debris were sent into the air. Nicely done, Flak.

“Shadow Team, engage!” Raging and Emerald leapt from behind the boulders weapons drawn. Raging aimed at the closest slaver and put a round into his back. Emerald fired her assault rifle in controlled bursts, dropping three more slavers before they could even fire a single shot.

“We’re under attack!” a slaver shrieked. More slavers charged out of the remaining shacks and train cars. The guards near the front entrance abandoned their posts and joined the fight. Raging switched his magnum for his SMGs. He fired a burst from the two guns at the nearest slaver. The slaver went down. Another slaver emerged from cover and fired an assault rifle at the captain. Raging ducked behind another boulder. A sniper shot rang out in the distance and the slaver dropped. A few of the other slavers looked stunned.

“Headshot,” the captain heard Spec cheer over the PipBuck. Some of the slavers turned to look for the source of the sniper shot. Three more sniper bullets were fired and three more slavers dropped. Emerald fired on the survivors. Raging jumped out from cover again firing his SMGs. More slavers went down from the barrage of bullets. After less than a minute, fifteen of the slavers were already dead. “Captain, more enemies incoming from the main building,” Spec shouted from the PipBuck.

Raging quickly reloaded his SMGs. “Kill them all, Shadow,” he ordered. Flak trotted up to the captain and asked for his grenade launcher. Raging slowly looked back towards the boulders and said nothing. Oops. Flak shot him a look before galloping back to the boulders. Sorry, Flak. Raging pointed a hoof towards Emerald, “Spread out and flank them.”

“Yes, sir,” she said. She trotted towards the east side of the compound. Raging continued along the west. He sidestepped the collapsed tower. A few slavers had been caught under it. Their bodies were flattened like road kill. There was a crushed sniper rifle amongst the bodies. I guess those snipers didn’t have time to get off the tower. The captain stepped around one of the destroyed shacks. A sniper bullet struck the ground less than an inch from him. Shit!

Raging dropped the SMGs and jumped behind the barely standing wall of the shack. One of the damned snipers is still alive! He shouted into his PipBuck: “Spec, I’m pinned down by a sniper. Can you take him down?”

Spec immediately replied, “Negative, captain. I can’t see the bastard.” That wasn’t good. The captain checked E.F.S. but it couldn't detect the sniper. This means he was either out of range, or... He must have a stealth cloak! Raging couldn’t risk poking his head around the corner, lest the sniper shoot it off. He spotted his dropped SMGs. Concentrating, he floated them to him in a field of violet aura. He crouched behind the debris of the shack and moved the opposite direction. No sooner did he come around the corner did the sniper take another potshot at him. This time the bullet grazed right foreleg. Son of a bitch! He briefly winced at the pain but shook it off. A streak of red mixed with his dark blue coat. This fucker is a good shot. If he were any better I’d already be dead.

He looked around for anything he could use for an advantage. Sounds of assault rifle fire emanated from the other small buildings in the compound. Emerald probably had too much of a hoof full to lend him any help. What Raging couldn’t figure out was why no pony attempted to flank him while he was pinned. Surely the invisible sniper could provide them support. Perhaps they were being wary of Spec on the nearby ridge. The captain saw a spark come from the ridge; Spec was taking another shot. He was most likely giving support to Emerald. “That’s another kill for me!” Spec applauded.

Raging knew he had to know if the sniper still had him in his sights. Taking a deep breath he slowly stuck his hoof out from behind cover. BANG! The captain shot his bloody hoof back and screamed. The pain was excruciating. He held it tightly and thanked Celestia that he didn’t lose his hoof. He imagined that the shooter was laughing at his pitiful attempt to escape his sights. That was perhaps one of the stupidest fucking things I’ve ever done! He grimaced as he raised his opposite hoof. “Can somepony please TAKE OUT THIS FUCKING SNIPER?” he yelled.

“Captain, I saw the shot,” Spec responded. “It came from a catwalk near you.”

Raging Thunder groaned, “Then, can you please shoot him?”
BANG! Raging looked around. Did he get him? He dared not risk checking this time. “Captain,” Spec shouted alarmed. “It seems there are two invisible snipers on that catwalk! One of them has me zeroed!” Well fuck! Both of those snipers survived the tower collapse.

He heard a heavy machine activate followed by the sounds of explosives hurling through the air. The catwalk erupted into fiery explosions. The entire catwalk fell apart into a pile of scrap. Raging cautiously edged around the corner of the ruined shack. No one shot at him this time. Approaching the debris he spotted bloody giblets of ponies amid the wreckage. A pair of scorched sniper rifles stood out the most. “No need to thank me, captain.”

Raging spun around to see Flak behind him. He was wearing his battle saddle with the machine grenade launcher. The captain nodded to him, “Once again, Flak… I owe you.”

Flak noticed Raging’s bleeding hoof. “Are you okay, sir?” he asked.

Raging shook his hoof in pain. “Yes,” he lied. “It’ll be fine.” Flak said nothing else and galloped off, firing more grenades at the slavers. Raging stood there a moment longer staring at his wound. He didn’t have anything to treat it. I wish Winter was here, or if I had a healing potion. He shook it off as best he could. Just another scar to add to my collection of many battle wounds. He would find care for his hoof later. He levitated his SMGs and tried to walk away. He took one step on his wounded hoof and immediately felt the pain shoot through him. He simply brushed it off as merely one small sacrifice for the greater good. Limping, he trotted to catch up with Flak and Emerald.

The sounds of an intense gunfight echoed all around the valley. Raging stepped over multiple dead slavers. A few were still alive and were writhing in agony. He put a bullet from his magnum into those ponies ending their pathetic lives. “No pony deserves to suffer like that,” he kept reminding himself. He would show more compassion for them if they weren't slavers. Emerald Sapphire emerged from behind a barrel with her assault rifle hovering in a teal grip. She fired at a slaver unicorn that jumped behind a dumpster. The unicorn slaver floated out a pistol. Before the mare could telekinetically pull the trigger, her head exploded.

“Sorry for taking your kill Emerald,” Spec spoke. “But I had a score to settle with that one.” She didn’t seem to care. She galloped away from the barrel to engage more slavers elsewhere in the valley.

Raging looked around for the slave pen. He spotted it a hundred yards away. “Shadow Team, I’m going for the slave pen. Cover me,” he grunted. He slowly galloped towards the slave pen; it was not easy to gallop fast on only three hooves. He rounded a shack’s corner and encountered more slavers. One slaver wielding a combat shotgun fired at the captain. The shot was a miss. Raging Thunder unloaded his SMGs into the slaver. Another slaver began to fire an assault rifle at him.

BANG! The slaver toppled to the ground from another sniper bullet. Not detecting any more slavers on his E.F.S., Raging trotted to the slave pen. The prisoners were as far back from the gate as they could get. The captain counted fifteen prisoners. Five prisoners were already dead. “Who are you?” one terrified prisoner asked.

The captain looked around making sure no one was sneaking up on him. He said, “I’m Captain Raging Thunder. Crusader Team Shadow.” He knelt down to examine the lock on the gate.

“Captain Thunder?” a familiar sounding mare asked shocked.

The dark blue unicorn nodded. Wait! I recognize that voice! He looked up at the mare who spoke. “Who are you?” he asked.

The orange mare stepped forward. “Knight Glorious Dawn of the Applejack’s Rangers, sir.” Raging couldn’t believe she was still alive. “We spoke briefly on the radio.”

Raging stood up. “Yes we did. I didn’t think you survived. But we’ll talk later. Right now I need to get this gate open.” He knelt back down to the lock. He dropped his SMGs and pulled out a bobby pin and screwdriver. He stopped himself before he inserted the bobby pin. This lock had a different design to it than the ones he's dealt with before. “Aw hell! This lock can’t be picked!” he realized.

“One of the slavers had the key. A unicorn,” Knight Dawn shouted. Oh great! I’ve only killed… what?.... a dozen unicorns today! It could be on any of them! Could it have been on Brick? Captain Thunder looked back towards the factory's entrance and hoped he wouldn't have to trek back to Brick's corpse. The Knight shouted again, “I think it was on that one, over there!”

Raging looked to where she was pointing. She was pointing at the unicorn that Spec killed a few minutes earlier. The captain shot to his hooves. “Okay, I’ll be right back.” He dropped his floating SMGs and galloped (sort of) back to the dead slaver. Other slavers were firing on him as he dashed from cover to cover. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A series of explosions took care of those ponies. Reaching the dead unicorn, Raging rapidly searched her and found the key. Praise the Goddess! He sprinted back to the slave pen.

“I have the key! You’ll be out of here in a second!” Raging levitated the key into the lock. It wouldn’t turn. Becoming annoyed he tried to turn it harder. It still wouldn’t budge. Finally he applied as much magical energy he could into turning the damn key. The key snapped in half. The captain felt his blood run cold. MOTHERFUCKER!

“Any more bright ideas?” a prisoner sarcastically commented. Raging bucked the gate to no avail. “Well this rescue is screwed!”

The captain yelled at the prisoner, “You’re not helping! Zip it!” The prisoner shook his head unconvinced. Bullets reflected off the fence. Raging spun around. Two slavers were galloping his way brandishing the ever popular assault rifle. Seriously. Don’t they have anything other than assault rifles? Well, at least they’re not heavy weapons. He pulled out his magnum and fired back. The prisoners backed away from the fence.

“That asshole is trying to free our prisoners!” one of the slavers shouted.

“Kill the slaves if you have to,” the second slaver screeched. Over my dead body! Raging brought up S.A.T.S. and acquired both slavers’ skulls. He pulled the magnum’s trigger twice and both slavers dropped. Despite his prior remarks about S.A.T.S., he praised the ability of it.

Holstering the magnum he returned to the gate. “Our situation has not improved,” the sarcastic prisoner commented again.

The captain glared at him. “Do you want me to leave you in there?” The buck took the hint and shut up. Raging focused on the broken key jutting from the lock. No amount of telekinesis was going to move it now. KABOOM! Several explosions ruptured the air. That gave Raging an idea. He lifted his PipBuck and looked towards the sounds of the explosions. “Flak!”

“You have reached the voicemail of Flak. I’m currently kicking some serious arse right now, so please leave a message,” Flak shouted back. BOOM! Several slavers screamed.

Raging rolled his eyes and grinned. “Very funny. Get your ass over here. I need your help.”

A moment later Flak trotted up to the slave pen with his machine grenade launcher. “I sure hope this is important, sir. I’m missing out on the action.” Gunfire continued to echo across the valley. It sounded like Emerald had her hooves full. Spec was helping her, though.

The captain pointed a hoof at the battle saddle. “I need you to fire on that gate!”

Flak raised his eyebrows. He looked at the gate and the terrified prisoners, then looked at his captain, and then looked back at the gate. “Are you sure, captain? Can’t you just use the key or something?”

Raging blushed. “It… uh… it broke in the… lock,” he said quietly. He placed his forehoof on the back of his head and stared at the ground in embarrassment. Flak gave him a funny look. Okay, so I’m not the greatest lock pick in Equestria.

Flak leaned to get a good look at the lock. “Well done, sir,” he remarked. “How did you manage to pull that off?” The captain didn’t say anything. “Did you try turning it the other way?” This time Raging gave Flak a funny look. Does he really think I’m that stupid? Who can’t figure out how to turn a key?

“It doesn’t matter.” Raging regained his composure. “The damn lock was broken anyway,” he lied. “I just need you to blow open the gate.”

“Very well, sir.” Flak took several steps away from the fence. “Everypony stand back!” The prisoners scurried to the furthest corner from the gate. Flak fired a small volley of grenades at the gate. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The gate flew off its hinges and crumpled into a smoking heap in the slave pen.

“You’re free! Run! Get as far away as possible!” Raging shouted. The prisoners bolted out the gate. They all thanked him and Flak as they ran past.

Knight Glorious Dawn and two stallions (one red and one blue) stopped. “Captain! There are still more prisoners!” she said urgently.

“Where are they?” Raging demanded.

“They took them into the main building,” the large red stallion answered. “They are the other Applejack’s Rangers in our platoon.” Raging looked at the main building. It was situated next to the cliff face. Several slavers were making a stand there.

The captain turned towards the three Rangers. “Okay we’ll save them, too.”

“I’ll escort these prisoners to safety,” the red stallion declared. He trotted over to a dead slaver and relieved her of her assault rifle battle saddle. He led the prisoners away. Raging prayed they’d make it. Flak galloped back to the fight.

“What of you two?” he asked Glorious and the other stallion.

“We are not leaving our ponies behind,” the Knight affirmed. She stomped a hoof. “We are with you, Captain Thunder.” The blue stallion silently nodded.

Raging agreed. “Get some weapons, then. We’ve still got a hell of a fight to win.” The Rangers dispersed among the dead slavers and seized their weapons and ammo.

Raging heard a series of grenade explosions nearby. “Yeah take that!” Flak yelled. “Burn you bloody bastards!” Raging approached an overturned dumpster drawing on his SMGs. Only a handful of slavers remained in the factory’s clearing. They were desperately firing their weapons as they backed towards the main building. Stuck out in the open, it was like shooting fish in a barrel.

ROOOOOAAAAAR!!!! The Ursa Minor let out another raging growl from its enclosure. All the fighting may be frightening it. Or it just wanted to get out of its pen. Raging shifted his attention to where it mattered: the slavers. As long as the Ursa Minor was locked behind an electrified fence, they needn’t worry about it.

Raging fired his SMGs at the retreating slavers. Emerald Sapphire moved up from the left firing her assault rifle in short bursts. The Applejack’s Rangers advanced unleashing their own fury on their pony captors. A few of the slavers were topped by Spec’s sniper rifle. Eventually only five slavers remained. Then four. Three. Two. One. The last slaver was put down by a sniper bullet.

“CLEAR!” Emerald shouted.

“Shadow Team, stand down!” Raging Thunder, Emerald Sapphire, Flak, and the two Applejack’s Rangers converged in the clearing. The captain glanced over them making sure they were still combat ready. Knight Glorious Dawn was carrying an assault rifle. The blue stallion was hauling a minigun.

Flak blurted, “You blokes ain't so bad in a fight.”

Knight Dawn introduced herself and Knight Silver Fang. Fang said nothing. Captain Thunder took him for the strong silent type. Glorious Dawn explained that their platoon was ambushed by the slavers. After taking heavy losses, the platoon surrendered under direction from Paladin Nightfurry. The slavers seemed pretty eager to take them prisoner. However, they brutally killed Paladin Nightfury before leading Glorious, Fang, and the other Applejack’s Rangers to Everfree Mills. “Those fuckers butchered Paladin Nightfury right in front of us!” she growled in rage. “He was only trying to negotiate that they spare us. He didn’t deserve to die like that!”

Flak mumbled, “Looks like he succeeded.” Only Raging heard that but decided to not say anything.

“They brought us here and put us in with the other prisoners that were already here,” Glorious continued. “After a short while they took a group of the others and brought them inside.”

“How many more of you are there?” Emerald asked.

“There should be five more of us. They were taken into the main building.”

“Alright everypony. Let’s get inside and find…” Raging started to say. He was cut off by machine gun fire. Hundreds of bullets began to pepper the ground where Raging and the others were. They all scattered for cover. Raging got back behind the dumpster. He lifted his head to see what they were dealing with. A pair of slavers had emerged on the roof of the main building. They were each carrying two miniguns. You’ve got to be kidding me! TWO MINIGUNS EACH? Raging couldn’t believe that anything, let alone a pony, was strong enough to lug around two miniguns at once. And they were up against two of them! One of the slavers fired a burst his way. He ducked back down.

“Return fire,” Raging shouted. He started to poke his head back up. Bullets sparked and ricocheted off the dumpster forcing Raging back down. The slavers continued to fire at them. “Flak!” the captain screamed over the sound of the gunfire. “Can you take them out?”

“Negative, sir. I don’t have the angle to,” the aqua pony yelled back.

“Spec, do you have the shot?” the captain asked his PipBuck.

“Not from where I am, captain. I’ll need to shift my position. You’ll be without sniper support for thirty seconds,” Spec answered.

Raging didn’t have thirty seconds. Every attempt by somepony to shoot at the slavers ended up failing; they had the perfect spot picked out. Something was wrong though. Other slavers could easily attack while under cover fire from the minigunners. So why weren't they attacking? Raging peered around the dumpster. He spotted a lone slaver sneaking up to an electric generator. What’s he up to? The pony began to hack at the generator with an axe. Suddenly it hit him. Oh shit! The captain levitated his SMGs and fired at the slaver. One of the minigunners fired at Raging’s position causing him to fire wildly. The attempt was futile; he couldn’t get a good shot while under suppressive fire. Several of the bullets struck the generator causing it to spark and smoke. The slaver with the axe looked at Raging and wickedly smiled before slipping away. The generator exploded.

Immediately, the two slavers on the rooftop stopped firing and retreated. “What the hell?” Raging heard Flak asked. “Why are they retreating? They had us pinned.” Raging knew the answer. And he did not like it.

ROOOOOAAAAAR!!!! The Ursa Minor roared again. Raging fearfully looked at its enclosure. The beast rose up on its hind legs and pushed against the fence. The electricity was out. Realizing nothing was stopping it now, the Ursa Minor began to swing its massive arms at the fence. The chain-link fence started to give way, the wood framing snapped like tooth picks. Pieces of the fence flew in every direction as the Ursa Minor tore its way to freedom. The Ursa Minor ripped a small section of its paddock apart. The Ursa Minor stopped and stared through the gap at the ponies frightfully staring back at it. The beast snarled and roared again. ROOOOOAAAAAR!!!! Perhaps it thinks we’re the ones who trapped it here. The Ursa Minor resumed ripping apart the fence with its giant paws.

Flak, who was the closest to the paddock, galloped away as fast as his machine grenade launcher allowed him. With a final smash from its paws, the Ursa Minor broke free of its enclosure. The towering beast reared up on its hind legs and then slammed its front paws on the ground. The ground shook like an earthquake. The Ursa Minor opened its mouth showing its pony-sized teeth and roared once more. ROOOOOAAAAAR!!!!

“C-c-c-captain,” Emerald stuttered in fear. “W-w-w-wha-wha-wha-what do w-w-w-we do?”

Captain Thunder said only one word: “RUN!”