Chapters Pinpoint stepped out onto the cliff side and propped his rifle against his side as he glanced out at the area underneath him. Everything looked as the Princess and general had debriefed them, aside from some minor landscape alterations. He simply dismissed them and common activity for the enemy to somewhat conceal themselves from any of the Princess's scouting parties. There was very little movement beside that of what appeared to be a few roaming guards set up in four parties so as to maintain a full perimeter at all times.
He glanced back to his commanding officer, Striker and nodded. "Everything seems to be in order sir. I should be able to cover all movements from here, assuming you make the western push as planned."
Striker simply let out a sigh and looked up skyward. The old stallion and Pinpoint had been part of Celestia's Secret Strike Force together for quite some time, however he looked much older despite a mere ten year age difference. He had been serving in the force for only five more years than Pinpoint, making for a grand total of ten years, but the times had worn on him quite a bit. Making his way to Pinpoint's side and taking his turn to survey the area ahead, he nodded to Pinpoint before walking back to the other group of stallions behind them.
"Very well then, Pinpoint, you may set up your station here and I will prep the team to push in. And remember by no means are you to harm the bastard in charge of these rebels." Striker said firmly.
Pinpoint couldn’t help but to let out a small chuckle as he smiled at the old stallion. "Why do I feel like I'm the one who should be saying that exact same thing to you sir?"
Striker simply waved off his comment with a single hoof before leading the other stallions down the cliff side. With that Pinpoint rolled his eyes and found himself a good spot to set up. He flattened himself out onto a grassy patch about a foot away from the cliff edge and carefully set his rifle sideways on his leg. The bi-pod was pushed out before the rifle was set in place.
The hefty .50 caliber rifle was done in a black coat which had clearly been redone over the years to keep it looking fresh. The only marking on the rifle were silver engravings on each side, which read, The Reaper .50. The scope began to glow red from his magic while he made his final adjustments while peering down it.
The firearms that CSSF carried were rare across Equestria, and rightfully so as they were something that Princess Celestia liked to keep from public light as much as possible. That also meant out of common civilian possession by any means possible. It made sense to Pinpoint. Against any unarmed ponies, they were far too dangerous. He didn't want to think about the potential catastrophe; however, that made working with CSSF so stressful on some. They were not sent into war by any meaning of the word; with these things, if they were sent in to fix an issue, it was more appropriate to call the act slaughter. That alone made most of them uneasy. It was said that if a pony had the CSSF on their tail, they had made some bad choices somewhere in life.
Pinpoint watched as Striker moved his team into position for the raid and nested down to wait for night fall. The mission was simple as per Celestia's orders. She wanted the rebel commander brought back to her for her own reasons. Interrogation was more than likely, but anything beyond that was none of their concern. It struck interest in Pinpoint's mind on why exactly this team of rebels had even staged their rebellion in the first place. The rumor that had spread as of this point was that these rebels had felt that Equestria's security has been on a steady decline. That things were permitted to carry on for too long before any correction was in place and by that time, there was too much damage for these ponies' comfort. The very idea made Pinpoint smile. If their concern was really security of the nation then they were soon in for a big surprise. After looking up towards the sun, he turned his gaze back to the roaming guards. He figured he had about two hours until they had the proper night cover to make their move. He quickly started working out the guards' patterns and timing so that he could figure out which ones would be cresting the western border as the time fell. He found that breaking down the exact target gave him more time to analyze their exact movements and habits allowing him to better take them out when the moment came.
The sun had finally sunk down below the horizon, giving way for a dark enough night for the task at hand but with just enough light for him to operate against the enemy silhouettes he thought. A small glint of yellow light flashed in the far western border. That was the signal. A smile flashed across Pinpoint's lips. He had figured the pattern out quite well, as the exact two he had expected were just crossing the mid point of the western border. It was not an abnormality for him though, he took pride in his work which was why he remained the absolute best. It was habit that drove him to complete these meticulous task but it was no bother to him all the same.
He wrapped his hoof into the trigger well and braced the rifle into his shoulder as his eye lined up with the scope. Just seconds later the first guard lined up with his cross hairs and the first shot rang out across the area. The guard was thrown back several feet as his chest caved in from the shot. Pinpoint didn't give his partner time to realize what had happened before he followed suit.
Striker's team were already pushing in at this point as they had begun their movement as soon the first shot left the rifle. The operation was to be quick, move in and capture the target then pull out, take out only those that get in the way. As they pushed in, Pinpoint took out the northern and southern guard force. He figured it best not to waste the time and ammunition with the guards now rushing from the eastern borders; however by the time they reached the center of the camp, Striker should have been out. He moved his scope back towards the team, keeping his sight a steady five seconds ahead of them to clean up any mess that may be pushing to close. The camp had sprung to life at this point, with not one of the ponies stumbling about looking aware of what was going on. They all looked hectic, and Pinpoint was well aware as of why. The sounds of the rifle going off was new to them. Even if they had heard stories of the weapons, he doubted it was enough to prepare them for the explosive force behind the situation. He kept a close watch as a few of the rebels slowly got a grasp on themselves and started to react, their attention quickly snapping towards the center. It didn’t take them long from that moment to to get hold of their weapons and move inward so that they could dig into a defensive position. Pinpoint grinned again at the sight of them; they were arming themselves with spears and swords. It seemed so ridiculous in his head, but only him and the rest of CSSF knew what was in store for the fools.
Pinpoint went ahead and slid in a new magazine as the rest of the team approached the target's location. They had still gone unseen by everyone but him. The very idea was almost strange to him. But through his constant practice in the field paired with an already unnatural eye sight it was normal for him to be able to track things that would, by any other standard, be almost invisible. The rebels had formed a standard staggered wall formation around the key points of the camp, something that against a regularly armed force would be rather effective in their numbers. The commander's tent was easy to identify due to its larger guard enforcement as compared to the rest of camp, allowing Pinpoint to line up without a doubt in his mind. He waited till the team was roughly ten feet from the tent before he let his round fly into the target. The bullet devastated the skulls of the first two lined up in the formation and had no issue driving through three more of them, snapping their necks to the side. He was almost certain he could hear the sound of their neck bones cracking from the force. However such ideas were short lived as the muzzle flash and ring of the team's side arms came to life.
By this time the structured formations that once stood in defense were rushing about in a panic. Fear had clutched the rebels it seemed, and they had no idea on how to react. Pinpoint didn’t think twice in what he had to do as he cleared a path to the doorway. He had learned early on that even if they were in a frenzy now, nothing was to stop them from regaining and going after the team. It was the very reason his ear was scarred, after testing his luck in a cocky move of hand to hand combat with an armed enemy he had soon found the feel of cold steel, and it was not something he would do again for sure. After four more shots and what seemed like two magazines from each team member's side arms, the tent was cleared and Striker moved in with two other members.
Pinpoint cleared his now spent magazine and pulled another from his bag, loading it in before cleaning up a couple of stragglers that were making their way to the tent in attempt to save the day. The rest of the camp seemed to have left the effort or stood frozen in fear. It was a moment before Striker and the others pulled out what appeared to be the rebel commander by a couple of ropes. It seemed he was refusing to work with them because Striker quickly pulled on the rope, pulling the commander down onto his face. The very act brought a devious grin to Pinpoint's face. Striker had never been one to play games or take any sort of shit during these missions. After he was dragged a few feet across the ground, they stopped. Once it was apparent to the commander that he didn’t have any choice, he agreed to walking with them.
Pinpoint was waiting for them with his rifle strapped to his back as they made it to the top of the cliff side. Striker's gaze met his as he passed, a look that let him know that things would be okay after they had some time to sit down. Pinpoint could see the pain in his officer's eyes. It was nothing new and as with most things he had already drawn up why. That uneasiness was something that they all felt, to rip through an enemy so helpless, it left a bad taste in their mouths. The stallion in front of him was speckled with blood, as Pinpoint's rifle was known for making a mess, and they were typically the ones to pick up on the bloody showers that were left in its wake. Chances were that this walk back would be much like the rest, silent with Pinpoint at Striker's side the whole time. Despite their reserves about missions like these, there was one thing that was always for sure and that they were a team until the end of things, on and off the field. They quickly made their way to the front of the team with the rebel commander and started the long walk back to the castle.
Several sighs of relief could be heard throughout the ranks of the team as they set hoof on the paved walkways of the train yard where the train waited for them. Striker and Pinpoint walked onto the bus to check it out before dragging the now rather exhausted rebel commander onto the train with them. It was empty, as was every transport that the Princess had prepared for them, which made things rather easy despite it being a strange feeling. Pinpoint took the prisoner from Striker and moved him towards the center off the bus so that on the off chance he would be dumb enough to try and get out, he would either have to go through Striker and him or the other way would have the rest of the team. Striker had already made his way into a seat at this point and rested his head against the window, so Pinpoint slid into the seat in front of him.
"You going to be alright sir? You don’t look to great." Pinpoint asked as he looked over the stallion. He looked like this one was weighing especially heavy on him.
Striker turned his head slightly to meet his team members eyes, "Same thing as any other time Pinpoint, we went out and did what we had to." He let out a sigh before he continued," That being said, off of the books, I’m going to need a drink when this is over with." He let out a slight hint of a smile which put Pinpoint at ease, an act that despite everything was more then a relief. Pinpoints horn lit up as he pulled something from his rifle bag, it was a small black flash filled with his favorite wheat liquor. Striker couldn’t help but to laugh at the motion, "Are you kidding me Pinpoint? You know we are about to meet up with Princess Celestia right?" Pinpoint let out a nod in response as he raised the flask to his lips. "Your fucking insane, you know that right?" Striker said as he leaned forward to rest his weight on his hooves.
Pinpoint set the container on the table in front of his officer, "Oh come on old timer, how about you live it up a bit?" he said with a lighter tone, "Besides, it will more then take the edge off before we have to go in there and talk to that crazy bitch." Striker couldn’t help but laugh at Pinpoints antics as he picked up the flask and took a drink for himself. His face twisted as the harsh liquid touched his tongue, not anything from the normal when it came to sharing a drink with this stallion. Pinpoint had definitely acquired a taste for the stronger things once he had joined CSSF, however Striker just couldn’t get used to it himself but never once argued that it served its purpose. He took in another hard mouthful of the drink and set it back on the table. Pinpoint picked the drink back up and took a swallow before continuing. " Good to see you doing something fun for once, I really worry about you sometimes. "
Striker looked down to the table for a minute before he let a few words slide from his mouth. " I honestly don’t see why you do worry about me Pin, I have been doing this long enough..."
"Exactly the reason I worry Striker, You have been in this force longer then anyone. Celestia only knows the amount of bloodshed and other twisted shit you have seen in your time." Pinpoint interrupted him.
Striker let out a sigh, "Look Pin, again I will say this , I am fine. Killing your own is by no means an easy task but if it were something that I could not handle I would not have been here this long right?"
Pinpoint nodded and took another drink, he was right, if anyone was prepared mentally for anything like this, it was Striker. There was a certain amount of power behind the stallions words that Pinpoint couldn’t help but to pick up on. The pure brutality of the fact that that those words seemed to roll right off his tongue, to kill ones own? Weird to think about it that way really, Pinpoint had always put his mind at ease by reducing the enemy down to their flaws. However the stallion in front of him claimed to be perfectly fine with what they did. Pinpoint shrugged and let his eyes shut for a while, he knew better, from the look in his officers eyes after each mission he knew that it hurt him. "Well then sir, I think I will take a nap before we get there, assuming you don’t need anything else."
Striker shook his head, "No your quite fine, I need to think of what I’m going to brief the Princess about tonight." With that Pinpoint leaned his head back and let himself rest for a while.
The train pulled into the station just as the sun was making its rise into the sky, the brakes of the transport causing everyone to gather their things and begin the process of moving the prisoner. Two of the largest team members grabbed hold of the ropes that held the rebel and pulled him up and over towards the doors of the train.
Pinpoint made his way to the doorway and stood by Strikers side before looking back at the rest of the team. “ Alright you guys know the drill, escort the prisoner with the guards while the commander and I go speak with the Princess.”
A simultaneous “Yes sir” was let out by the stallions behind them as Striker pushed the door open. Striker and Pinpoint were greeted with salutes from the guard force in front of them, in which they promptly returned to put the guards at ease. Their numbers were greater then was typical for when CSSF arrived in Canterlot, but Pinpoint rounded the fact to the package in which they were to hand off.
One guard approached them and asked them with a very official tone, “Will you gentlecolts be requiring any escort to the Princess today?”
Striker quickly shook his head, “Not at all, where would I be able to find her?”
The guard remained still as he spoke, “The Princess is currently waiting for you in the dining hall sir.”
Striker nodded and started walking towards the castle as he called back to the rest of the team. “ Alright, you do what you need to then we will meet up with you before the night is over.” The two stallions began walking towards the castle, it seemed that the area had been blocked off to allow the team to come in without turning any heads. It was nothing abnormal, all part of Celestia's grand plan for secrecy about the force. It was common that the reason for the entire castle to be blocked off was some sort of “royal meeting” that required extra security, and this seemed to keep anyone from asking questions any further about anything regarding it. Of course the press would have their way and question the Princess afterward to find out the meaning of the meeting but Celestia was quite good at coming up with some political bullshit that managed to appease the ever hungry masses.
Pinpoint glanced over to Striker as they walked up the castle steps, “ You don’t think this guy is gonna talk do you?”
A faint smile crossed Strikers lips, “Whatever would make you say something of the sort?”,
“I can see it in your expression sir, almost like you think this whole thing was pointless. We have been together to long for shit like this to slip past me, I can read whats going on and you know it.”
Striker stopped at the entrance to the castle and looked at Pinpoint, “The guy was willing to not walk with us while we had him at gunpoint, so that being said I don't honestly foresee him saying anything even if things get rough during the interrogation.”. With that being said Striker pushed the door open and they made their way into the dining hall. Princess Celestia was there waiting just as the guard had told them, a victorious smile spread across her face. They both knew that she was happy about the capture of the rebel commander but they also knew that she was much to willing to claim this as a victory in the current state of things.
Walking in they both bowed down to her as they approached, “Thank you both for coming, and thank you for such a wonderful job at the tasking that you were given.” She spoke with a comforting tone that had a respectful feel to it.. It was something they had both grown used to, it helped put their minds at ease.
Striker spoke first as they rose, “It was our honor your Highness, besides nothing would have gone as well as this without your intel.” Pinpoint couldn't help but to roll his eyes a bit, flattery was something that Striker was common for using with the Princess' but what always blew Pinpoints mind was why. There was never anything to gain from it but for whatever reason it seemed like some sort of common courtesy for his commanding officer.
Celestia nodded and stepped toward them a bit, “So please do tell me, did everything go well out there?”
“As well as could have gone your Highness,” Striker spoke, “Nothing we couldn't handle all the same.” He took a deep breath and shut his eyes for a moment to try and gather his thoughts. Nothing about these visits were simple for him, as he wished he could just speak what he wanted but was left stumbling every time without properly rehearsing everything before hand. “Well then we are ready to begin with the report if you are ready Princess?”
“Please do commander,” She smiled as she spoke to them, her eyes however conveyed a different picture as she looked Striker over. His blood stained coat seemed to seemed to almost make her uneasy, it always did whenever they walked in with obvious signs of violence painted across them.
Striker cleared his throat and started things from the beginning of the mission. “ Well Princess to start things off everything seemed to be fairly close to how you had briefed, aside from small attempts at concealment. And with the time that we arrived at the location it gave us plenty of opportunity to plot out any plans that needed be for the extraction of the target. Upon nightfall we were able to push in upon elimination of a small guard patrol covering the west border. From that point we didnt have any issue from that point thanks to Pinpoint covering us via the over watch position. We reached our first and only point of enemy contact when we approached the targets tent, which proved to be barely any issue as they seemed to be in a state of confusion for most of the strike. Taking the target from that time was simple, just the matter of persuading him to cooperate was a slight snag but once we were able to get him moving he caused no further problems through transport.”
Princess Celestia looked up thoughtfully for a few moments before snapping her attention back to them. “Well then sounds like everything went far better then expected.” She paused for a moment, that uneasy look returning to her eyes, “ That will be all I need as far as what happened gentlemen, your quarters are set up already as usual.”
“Thank you Princess,” Pinpoint said, his tone now much more tired then before they entered the hall. “When can we be expecting word on what we have found out from the rebel?”
“I will be with you come morning, however for now I must go attend to the interrogation to make sure I catch everything.” She replied, her more soothing tone setting back in, almost as if she had already pushed whatever uncomfortable thoughts she had before to the back of her mind. It was that very move that drove Pinpoint insane with thought, her mind worked in a way that he could not grasp. She knew what was going on each time they were sent out, and looked disgusted every time they came back looking like they had fallen into a pool of blood. However without fail each time was exactly the same, it just made Pinpoint wonder if she forced herself to forget it all happened.
“Thank you, your Highness” they both said at once as they bowed before leaving the hall. They stepped outside to see the team already there waiting for them. “Go on ahead, we will find out everything when we wake up.” With that the team went their own ways as the two officers made their way to their quarters.
Pinpoint had already settled down in his room and gotten cleaned up. He never knew what to do from this point, as he was mostly work driven. He found it funny, it had not been thirty minutes that he had been settled down and he was more then ready jump out of the window out of boredom. Shaking his head he let out a slight chuckle at the idea, before pulling his rifle out and setting it up on the bed so that he could clean it up. Just as he had everything set up there was a knock on the door. He walked over slowly to it and let it swing open to see Striker standing there with a grin on his face. “Whats going on sir?” he asked, almost confused not only by the stallions presence but also by the look on his face that was typically saved for when a mission was completely over with.
Striker muscled his way past Pinpoint to get into the room before answering. “Oh drop the formalities Pin, I already told you I needed a drink after all of this.”
Pinpoint couldn't help but laugh, “ Well then it seems early but I'm not really one to argue with a good drink.” He said as he kicked the door closed and fished his flask out of the bag and handing it to Striker. His guest took some time to drink a few gulps before walking over to the rifle laid out on the bed.
“She really is lovely,” Striker said as he ran a hoof over the barrel of the rifle, “It simply looks powerful, quite fitting of you.”
Pinpoint was taken back by what he thought was a compliment, “Well thank you sir, but whats going on? Are you alright?” He knew something was up, Striker was not the type to make small talk such as this, if there was anything he knew how to do it was get to the point.
“I'm fine Pin, just stressed at the moment. Needed some sort of release for it all, so I came to talk to you.”
A smile spread across Pinpoint's face, it was far more simple for the both of them once the action and politics of things were on the back burner. “To be honest I don't see how you could be stressed. Hell, you almost swept the Princess of her hooves with that 'amazing' speech of yours.” Striker shot him a dirty look as he teased his guest. “Whoa there, calm down old timer its not my fault your so damn shaky with your vocal skills. Besides, the fact that you are all about that crazy bitch probably does not help with your nerves.” His horn lit up as he took the flask and took a drink. “And I dont know if your aware of this, but that mare is a bit, well lets say, out of your league.”
Striker couldn't help but let out a sigh as he plopped down onto the ground, “Believe me, I'm well aware that I don't stand a chance with her, but at least let me have my fantasies will you?” His smile got wider as Pinpoint took a nice sitting place in front of him. “Besides if I remember correctly you have a few fantasies of your own little fantasies concerning the newest one. Princess Twilight if I am correct?” He gave a nudge on Pinpoint's shoulder. They went back and forth for some time and before they knew what had happened the early morning had become sundown. Neither complained about the day slipping by them cause neither felt it to be wasted. This is when they were comfortable and at piece with their mind. Everything made sense with a good companion to spend that time with, and it was that very mentality that had kept them going for the last five years. However a few hours later they split ways and Striker made his way back to his room so that they could both get some sleep.
Pinpoint was woken up by a rough knock on the door,which only took him a moment to fling the door open. There was Striker at the door yet again, “Whats going on?” he asked while yawning.
“The Princess has requested us in the planning room.” He said. Pinpoint could tell by his voice that something had gone exactly as they knew it would. They quickly made their way down to the planning room, both much to tired and crummy feeling from the after math of the long day of drinking to say much before they got there.
The Princess was once again waiting for them as they entered, however her expression was not so welcoming this time around. “Well then it would appear that we have a problem with our interrogation gentlemen.” she said with a growl to her voice.
“Let me guess your Highness, he wont talk?” Pinpoint let the words slide from his mouth before he even realized what had happened. And he knew it was a mistake from the look on both the Princess' and his commanding officers face.
“Well you would be right lieutenant, but from the sounds of it you doubted he would in the first place.” She snapped back at him, her voice loud enough to echo off the walls. Pinpoints's eyes widened as the aftermath of his mistake unfolded in front of him. “So unless you have any more smart ass remarks to add in I will continue.” She growled down at him. All he could do at this point was shake his head and stand there. He was caught off guard by not only a sense of fear but his whole body was thrown off by the intense feeling of embarrassment. He never did anything like that, but clearly he needed to give the liquor more time to clear before he let loose another shit storm. “Very well then,” she continued “It would seem that since our dear rebel in there refuses to comply with our offers and any form of harm to him does not generate the response we need, we have decided a much more drastic measure.”
Striker's eyebrows raised in confusion, “What do you mean Princess?” Everything about her tone was strange. They had seen her lost in the passion of war planning, and that fury did not compare to what he was hearing now. There was something twisted about it all.
She glared at him, “ I mean we will be capturing the rebels brother and using him as persuasion.”
The very response caused the two officers to look at each other with shocked expressions. The idea was enough to cause doubt in their minds, Pinpoint could only imagine what she had in mind for persuading the rebel as far as his family was concerned. “Your Highness, what exactly are you planning?” he asked, his voice sounding much more solid at this point. The situation had found a way to sober him up fairly quickly.
Her voice reverted back to its previous commanding growl as she answered, “I am willing to do just about anything at this point lieutenant. My kingdom is at risk, if darker moves need be made then so be it.”
“Princess, if word of this gets out the public view of you will be thrown out the window. A move like this will only give this rebellion further grounds to stand on and a lot more support.” Striker cut in. Pinpoint noted that he had also somehow kicked the previous stumble in his voice under the current pressure. He was right, something like this was political suicide and if even the slightest word got out the press would swarm anything relentlessly.
The Princess let out a heavy sigh, more and more distress crawling into her voice as they went on. “ I'm well aware of the potential consequences captain,” Her head sank to the floor as she sat down “Look just let me handle the politics in this. You and your team do whatever it is that you must.”
Pinpoint was amazed and what was unfolding in this room tonight. On top of the Princess actually letting her emotions and stresses get to her, it seemed to be bringing her down far enough for her to completely drop her regal bearings. She had never sat down during something like this, after all this was Princess Celestia, the very mare that would never even be caught fidgeting while talking to her officers. The next two hours were spent with them discussing a attack plan in which to pull the target out. After everything was said and done the two officers respectfully bowed and made their way's back to their rooms. Pinpoint found himself relieved to find out that the rebels brother was not a common civilian as was his original understanding of things. Maybe the Princess hadn’t completely lost it after all he thought, even though the consequences of threatening ones family leverage still sat on a very shaky fence. He pushed the thoughts to the side, after all the Princess was more then capable of handling something like this, he needed to focus on what he had in front of him in the coming day.
The sun had just begun to rise as Pinpoint and Striker made their way to the outer road way leading to the castles train station. The rest of the team had already made their way out and were awaiting the arrival of their superiors. Each member was more then prepared for the battle that they were headed into, all being strapped up with close quarters weaponry. Pinpoint had already taken note of the ever growing crowd around them, his only thought was that in the hectic mess of the night before, neither of the Princess's had ordered any sort of quarantine on the castle. It was something that they had dealt with very few times before but the procedure was simple enough, speak to no one and move along with what you were doing. It was easier to just let the general public speculate on what exactly they were doing or even who they were. The train itself was already prepped for their departure, so Striker wasted no time in moving the team onto it in order to clear them away from the civilian populous. Before loading on himself, Pinpoint glanced up towards the balcony of the castle. Celestia and Luna both watched as they made their ways onto the train, but the part that bothered him about it all was their expressions. They looked concerned, sure it might have been just the stress of everything but it definitely seemed like something more. Luna began saying something to her sister just as Striker poked his head back out of the train.
“Pinpoint, are you going to stare at the Princess's all day or are we going to get going?” he shouted.
Pinpoint shook his head then turned to his commanding officer, “Yes sir, my apologies.”. After making his way onto the train he took his place next to Striker and began to brief their team. “Alright team, we have yet another extraction mission ahead of us. Our target is the brother of the rebel commander that we caught the other day.” His horn lit up and he removed a photograph of the stallion from his rifle bag and passed it to them. “The directive is the same as before, you are to pull out the target without harming him. The information he has could possibly shift the tides of this rebellion.” Pinpoint didn't like that he couldn't tell his men the real reason for pulling him, however if him and Striker were hesitant about what it was for and to cause any doubt in the team could cost them everything.
One of the stallions spoke up suddenly after looking over the picture. “Sir, what is our rules of engagement for this mission?”
Pinpoints face twisted, he was not used to missing any information, and he was certainly not fond on being called out on it. “Thank you for asking, all personal on the target location are considered hostile however same as last time avoid any unnecessary engagement.” The picture had made itself around by this time so he retrieved it and returned it to his bag. “Very well then team, that will be all, 4 hours until we arrive at final drop off then we hoof it from there.” He watched as the rest of them settled into seats and sat down before turned and nodded to Striker before sitting down himself. Pinpoint glanced up to see that Striker was still standing there looking at the team. His face looked more bothered then was usual before they went out, the worry in the old stallions eyes made his stomach turn over. “Sir please sit down, your starting to creep me the fuck out.”
Strikers eyes quickly whipped over towards Pinpoint, “Right... my bad,” he sighed as he walked over and sat down in front of Pinpoint. “I guess I just have a bad feeling about this Pin, almost as if we should have told the Princess to shove this this one up her ass.”
Pinpoint smiled at the thought, he couldn't see Striker being insubordinate for even a fraction of a second. The stallion always had his bearings about him, but the image of his officer giving the Princess a piece of his mind brought about a certain flavor of humor. “ I feel like that wouldn't go well for you sir, I mean hell that crazy bitch almost bit my head off for one drunken smart ass comment.”
Striker grinned as he turned his gaze to the passing landscape outside the window. “Tell me about it, I thought I was about to loose a lieutenant to thousand year banishment to the moon.” Apparently the rest of the team heard that bit and busted out laughing. Something about the tone of their officers must have set them off. Well at least the motivation was up, Striker thought.
The journey after the train ride took a couple of hours, but spirits remain moderately high despite the exhausting walk. Their first stopping point came up as most did, a cliff side location, so that Pinpoint could get his post set up. His bag and rifle glowing as he carefully pulled out the weapon and walked both over to cliffside. Looking down he noticed the first problem, the whole cliff side was completely covered in sharp loose rocks, which was going to make it a treacherous climb down for the team. He motioned for Striker to join him, “You sure this is where you want to set up sir? Might prove to be difficult for you guys.”
Striker approached and looked down at the cliff side then glanced around him. “Well yea this is going to be a pain in the ass, but from the looks of things this will be the best over watch point with the best position for our push in.”
Pinpoint nodded and laid himself out onto the ground, “Well then lets get this show on the road, we have less then an hour till mission start is expected.”
His commander nodded and set hoof onto the cliff side, “Alright lets get going team, strike time in thirty minutes.” He called back, and started down.
Pinpoint began he normal set up procedures, laying down the bi pod and making sure the scope was set. Looking over the encampment he started planning, everything seemed so similar to the last one. He could only imagine that the rebel forces as followed one major procedure plan as far as security was concerned. Four sets of roaming guards were all in place, however the most noticeable variant was that the landscape alterations seemed much more elaborate. It cut him off from a lot of the major firing points such as the main tent, which is where they were told the brother was set up. No problem, he could see enough of the roof of the tent to punch through the camouflage they had set up, this was a part of the reason he carried such a monstrous rifle. Pinpoint suddenly froze up as his eyes got wide, a worrisome thought pushing itself into his mind. The rebel commanders brother was no one special, a mere ground troop at most, why the hell was he in the main command then. Something was not right, and he couldn't figure it out. It was something he had to just think about and try and prep for anything, it was to late to pull out of this one, not that they had that option in the first place.
As soon as the signal glint was sent up from the southern border of the camp Pinpoint pushed his eye to the scope of the rifle and left a round fly into the left guard, sending the guard into a rearward flip. His partner could only stare in absolute amazement as the body was separated from what remained of the skull, a sight that Pinpoint left very little time to continue as a second round shredded through the other guards throat. Striker and the team took off in a dead sprint into the camp, their weapons glowing and raised to destroy any incoming enemy.
Pinpoint watched as the rebels made their push inward, the time line that they were given caused for a daylight strike. Stealth was out of the options now, so he was more then sure this would get hectic. Ge used his free eye to get a good grasp of everything going on around him, the larger size of the camp made for the outer guards to be much less of an issue so he kept his focus on the closer hit points. A small enemy team emerged from one of the camouflaged points, in which he was able to take out 2 of them before the teams automatic fire shredded through the remaining 3. The whole time the rebels kept rushing in small teams, they did not seem even the slightest bit thrown off by the power of the weapons turning their fellow stallions into mere clouds of red mist. That's when it happened, a huge group of them pushed out from every side of the team. Pinpoints eyes widened as he came to the sudden realization that they had prepared for this very moment. He was able to count out at least 70 of them completely surrounding the team, he stood up and screamed as loud as he could “GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE, YOU HAVE TO PULL OUT.”. Striker turned around to see their rear blocked off just as a spear flew through the air and hit the rear team member in the throat. Their weapons opened up as the rebel formation pushed its way ever closer, Pinpoint couldn't make out what Striker was screaming through the blast of the firing weapons.
Pinpoint dropped down and started firing off his rounds into the crowd of incoming troops but after 3 shots he had dried out his magazine. Terror was all he could feel as his team was pushed in on, his mind was unable to even begin to process what to do. Reloading the rifle each time would take far to long, he needed something faster then that, so without thinking he ran down the steep cliff side. A decision that he soon regretted as he lost his footing and was sent sliding down the cliff on his left side. Small bits of fur and flesh were torn from his side, sending him into a flurry of pain but he refused to let it be the reason that everything went wrong today. He recomposed himself upon reaching the bottom of the cliff, running as fast as he could toward the group of enemies while he unfastened his pistol. He couldn't seem to run fast enough for his own comfort as he heard less and less gunfire coming from in front of him. His pistol raised up and let loose, the first bullet smashing the back of a rebels skull. He immediately noticed that their number were thinned down to a mere twelve or fourteen stallions left standing, however the thing that haunted him the most was that they all turned their attention to him.
“No” was all he could mutter as they started rushing towards him, he already knew what had happened but he just couldn't bring himself to accept such a thought. He let the pistol fire away in a fury, the only sound in his head being that of the 9 millimeter rounds tearing through the flesh of the first ten. A couple of them had not been lucky enough to be hit in a immediately vital region as they dropped to the ground and screamed out in pain. Pinpoint immediately dropped his pistol and unsheathed his knife, there was no time to reload yet again as he barely had time to pull out the knife and drive it through the underside of the first attackers jaw. His bones audibly cracking and splintering as the knife drove into the underside of his skull. Pinpoint dropped his head just in time as the last enemy swung its sword. He managed to step forward and plant a kick with this hind legs directly into the attackers rib cage before he could turn around and come in for a second swing. That's when he saw his team, slashes covering their body along with a few completely decapitated. It was just enough to send Pinpoint over the edge, something in his head snapped as he walked over to the last two enemies and pulled the knife from the first's jaw and jammed it into the final ones neck. He then walked over to his fallen team, his hooves sinking into the shredded remains of the bodies that had made the push first. Tears ran down his face as he walked up to the fallen body of Striker and dropped to his knees. His gut twisting as he looked down, the body of the stallion that had been there through it all with him was sliced to the bone leaving little for Pinpoint to wrap his legs around and embrace. He couldn't bring himself to move for quite some time as it seemed that every memory of Striker rushed at him at once. “I'm so sorry sir, but thank you for everything.” he sobbed as he let the body come to a rest again on the dirt. He glanced down and undid the holster of Striker's .45 pistol pulling it up and and wrapping it around his own flank, then gave the body a salute before making his way to the tent. He drew the pistol before pushing his way through, his eyes now bloodshot with rage he let three rounds fly into the sites commander leaving him choking on his own blood as he pushed pistol to the targets head. “You are going to come with me, you sorry sack of shit and if you give me one fucking problem I will bring your brother your head.” The very words seemed to strike enough fear in the targets heart to drive him to tears. They made their way to the cliff side through the pile of gore and death resulting from the battle. The sight was enough to push Pinpoint even deeper into his own madness, he stopped the target by slamming the pistol across the side of his head. “Do you see this? Do you see what happened because of you? You will pay for their deaths, I promise you that.” he growled. “Now start fucking walking.”. They made their way up the cliff side and to the train which was waiting for them, the pistol never once untrained from his target. Oh he was going to pay for sure, Pinpoint thought, and his own brother would be there to watch.
As soon as the train door slid open the guards had already rendered their salutes for the two officers that they were accustomed to greeting at this point, however what they were greeted by instead was a stallion falling from the transport after an audible kick. It was to clear that the stallion had been roughed up during the ride there, and the fear in his eyes as he looked back at the door sealed that idea in everyone’s mind. Pinpoint stood in the doorway his gun still trained onto his target on the ground, a look of madness about him as his whole body shook and his every facial feature twitched from time to time. The guards had dropped their salutes long ago as several of them looked over the blood soaked stallion now stepping out of the train, his expression was enough to have most of the lower ranked guards looking towards the ground.
The captain of the guard slowly approached Pinpoint as he was standing the prisoner back onto his hooves and once again gave him a salute. “Sir, would you like for me to have my men escort him to the interrogation room?”
“No I can handle that Captain, however send one of your men to the Princess and have her meet me there.” He said as he returned the salute, allowing the captain to drop his.
The captain nodded and turned to one of the other guards and issued the order, to which the guard was quick to take off running to handle it. He then turned to Pinpoint once again “ Well then sir, shall we head towards the chamber?” A question the Pinpoint gave a solid answer to by nodding and pressing the pistol into the back of the prisoners skull. They walked for a while before the captains mind had let slip the question that he knew far better then to ask. “So sir, what happened to the rest of your team?” He immediately regretted asking as his eyes met with Pinpoints, a look of hatred meeting his gaze.
Pinpoint lost his cool all over again at the very mention of the question, “Captain, if you say another fucking word before we reach this location I will make sure that you sit along side the civilians again. Do we have an understanding here?” The words came out in a deep growl from him as his face moved mere inches from the guard. It caused the guard to swallow hard and let out a timid nod, he had no intention to test this stallion, especially not in the position he had just been put in.
Before long they had reached the interrogation room where Princess Celestia was already waiting with her sister. Both looked toward the blood covered stallion with wide eyes that were filled with a certain amount of despair. If there was anything that Celestia had learned about CSSF, it was that the two officers that ran the unit were completely inseparable. So seeing Pinpoint alone let her know right away what exactly had happened out there. She quickly pointed a hoof towards the new prisoner and barked her orders to the guards. “I want him gagged and tied to the chair across from the other, and make it quick. I don't want this going on any longer then need be.” With that she stepped over to Pinpoint and wrapped a wing around him gently, “If you would like lieutenant, you are more then welcome to wait outside. Luna and myself doubt you need anymore stress such as what goes on in here.”
The comforting feeling of the Princess's gentle embrace was nowhere near enough to calm his racing mind, he simply shook his head and replied through gritting teeth. “Your Highness, no disrespect intended but I will be staying right here and having a part in this.”
She closed her eyes and let out a sigh as she folded her wing back into place and turned to meet him eye to eye. “Let me rephrase that lieutenant, You need to leave here. I don't think someone in your state of mind should be here during this as it runs a potential risk on everything going wrong.”
Pinpoint's eyes filled with rage once again as she spoke to him. “ Well then maybe I didn't make myself clear Princess. I don't fucking care what you think or what you want during this. I will be right in here during all of this regardless of what you have to say about it.” His shouts echoed through the room causing everyone to look over towards them, no one sure how to react to hearing the Princess getting yelled at.
She simply nodded at the stallion and turned towards the chairs that contained the prisoners and the curtain that separated them from each others view. “Very well then Pinpoint, it would appear that in your state of mind no amount of argument will change your mind in this matter.” She stepped over toward her interrogation commander and asked him a few questions about the coming events, all of which were met with a “Yes your Highness”. She quickly turned to the prisoners yet again and let out in a commanding voice, “Open the curtains then ungag them. We shall get started at once.” The guards did as they were told and quickly took three steps back.
That's when the rebel commander's eyes met up with his brother's and right in that moment is when his panic set in. He began to thrash and pull at the ropes that tied him to the chair, “You bastards can't do this, when I get out of here...” His shouting was interrupted by a loud metallic crack. Everyone glanced over to see Pinpoint standing behind him with his pistol floating nearby, obviously freshly used as a weapon to silence him judging from the split in the side of the rebel commanders head. A stunned silence flushed through the room as everything happened, leaving only only the sound of Pinpoints heavy breathing and the tired sobs of the rebels brother. “I have already told you, I am not going to tell you shit. The rebellion will rise above and there is nothing you can do about it.”
Pinpoint's face suddenly changed into a twisted smile as he walked to the rebel commanders side. “Well then, that is such a shame,” as he spoke he lined up the pistol and fired a round into his brothers rear left leg. The sound of the pistol firing off was deafening to everyone in the room that was unprepared, many of them dropping to their knees as the pain rang through their heads. The sound of his screams of pain were soon heard in replacement, those very screams sending looks of horror into some of the guards. “Now then, I do hope you find it in yourself to start talking. I can promise you that he wont last through much more of that”
As each second of silence passed between them, Pinpoint found his patience wearing thinner and thinner. This was the coward he and his team had sacrificed everything for. This coward and his piece of shit brother were worth the lives of his team? His brothers? His teammates be damned if he let their lives be for nothing and he let this scummy colt in front of him waffle any further. "That warrants an answer," he snapped. "Your brother is bleeding out in front of you. Your own flesh and blood. Are you going to let him DIE in front of you?" He wasn't aware that he was shouting at the commander until the last few words. The volume of his voice made an impact on the commander, who flinched visibly, caught in his indecision.
He felt his blood start to boil as the commander continued to sit silently, debating on what he should do. He could feel hatred clawing its way out of his throat, rage ultimately consuming him. “Fucking answer me, or do you think this is as far as I will go?” He screamed, losing control of his every emotion as he let another round fly out into the brothers kneecap. The sound of shattering bone followed by guttural cries of pain caused the commander to choke a bit.
He watched as the commander pushed back what almost seemed like the beginning of tears for his bothers pain. The stallions actions not only now confusing him but dragging him deeper into his own madness. “How could you do this to your own?” Pinpoint growled into the commanders ear.
The commander stayed silent, his eyes telling every emotion that he had dedicated himself to holding back. Pinpoint could not contain himself anymore, something else took over him all together as he screamed at the commander. “Fine, then let your brother pay the price for your failure. Just know that his suffering is on your hooves.” Another shot rang through the room, this one leaving a hole in the brothers stomach. His cries of pain were now stifled as he started to choke on his own blood. The warm metal quickly spun around to the side of the commanders head as he started to turn away in disgust. “No, you will watch as your brother dies right in front of you. Watch him suffer and remember those last breaths will be drawn on your behalf.”
Tears began to stream down the commanders cheek as he watched. There was no sound at that point but the moist choking of the dieing stallion. “Fine you fucking monster, you win. Just get him help and I will give you everything.”
A grin spread across Pinpoints lips as he glanced over towards the Princess, her eyes were wide and he knew right then that this was not what she had in mind. It didn't matter at this point, he had won and he was far from done. “ Very well then, I suggest you talk fast he does not have all day.”
The commander wasted no time in spitting what he had out. “ Our plans were to weaken the kingdom, taking out the royalty on a low to high priority basis. We were going to take the new Princess and use her to keep the heat on all of you. To throw you off. And with her out of the way we have our men at the Crystal Kingdom strike Cadence while your focus was pulled towards Twilight. From that point it would be constant strikes upon Canterlot until you finally broke. Now thats all I know so let us go.”
Pinpoints eyes turned to Celestia. “Do you have what you need from them Princess?” Even through the distaste in her eyes, Pinpoint could see a victorious glimmer as she nodded her head. The nod was returned as he stepped behind the brother and took a deep breath before firing a round through his skull.
The commander once again struggled against the ropes that bound him against the chair. “What the hell? You agreed to help him you fucking coward.” he screamed with his eyes locked onto Pinpoint as he slowly walked up to him with an expression devoid of any emotion.
“And I did exactly as I promised.” he said as pressed the warm barrel against the commanders neck. “I gave him an out, he is no longer in pain. You however, will have his blood on your hooves as you suffer your last few moment.” Pinpoint was far to gone into his own hysteric mind to hear the Princess's screams for him to stop as he fired the pistol through the commanders throat. No one knew what to do as the enemy sat there gasping for air as Pinpoint just stared at him, his eyes cold until the stallion died.
