Ingress: Fraternisation

Dave stared at the ceiling hazily, blinking slowly. “You basically raped me.”

“I didn’t hear a whole lot of protesting,” Nightshade said, idly tracing a hoof against his chest.

At some point after the shower, they had managed to make it back to the bed, and Dave was dressed only in a pair of shorts and a bemused expression.

“That’s because you were… like… sucking on my neck,” Dave said, tilting his head slightly to stare down at her.

Nightshade raised an eyebrow slowly, one of her ears tilting forwards. “What does that have to do with anything?” she asked, a little too innocently.

Dave stared at her for several long moments.”You know as well as I do that it… it’s like, you know,” he made a motion with his chin. “Tempting?”

“I think you mean intoxicating,” Nightshade purred, leaning forwards slightly to brush the smooth front of her fangs against his neck.

A shiver passed down Dave’s form, and he lifted a hand to lightly lay over her back, resting a palm on her wings. “It feels like a drug.”

“A drug?” Nightshade queried, ears pricking up at him as her hoof continued to idly trace over his bare chest, exploring the rather alien musculature there.

“A drug,” Dave admitted, frowning slightly. “Reminds me of pot, really.”

“Pot?” Nightshade asked, perplexed. “Like… pans?”

“Marijuana,” Dave said with a soft chuckle. “Mind-altering substance. Makes you sleepy. And a whole lot of hungry.”

“That sounds… boring,” Nightshade said blankly, head canting to the left slightly.

Dave waved a hand dismissively. “It makes you happy, too. That’s why it’s so addictive.”

“And that’s what it feels like when I’m drinking on your neck?” Nightshade queried curiously, ears pricking upwards at him.

Dave nodded once. “Just about. A lot more… I dunno, intense though.”

“I’m glad you enjoy it,” Nigthshade said with a smirk, trailing a hoof innocently along his bare chest. “You… did enjoy it, right?”

“Of course I did,” Dave said, rolling his ears and resting a hand on her velvety wings.

“Then there’s no problem, is there?” Nightshade asked, arching a brow, licking her fangs quite deliberately.

Dave snorted once, squeezing her fuzzy wings. “You could, you know, ask.”

“I don’t need to ask,” Nightshade said simply. “And we both know it’s more fun if I just take what I want.”

“You’re horrible,” Dave said bluntly, trailing a finger along her spine, exploring her body. “So, what are we doing tomorrow?”

“We’re off to stalk the pegasus that was in charge of weather duty out here,” Nightshade explained, yawning and laying her chin on his shoulder, adjusting herself into a more comfortable position. “I suggest you sleep. It’ll be a big day.”

“More laying on the side of hills and watching indistinct shapes in the distance?” Dave asked blankly.

Nightshade nodded. “Basically.”

“How very fascinating,” Dave said with a slight sigh. “Why are we stalking this guy?”

“Because to change the weather, you’d have to be bribed or coerced. And we can follow that chain of coercion back to this mystery entity. I’m guessing that’s who has your NH5,” Nightshade mused.

“Why would anyone want five crates of it, anyway?” Dave asked blankly.

“It’s a needed supply for human operations,” Nightshade said, suddenly wary. “It’s as necessary as food, or water. Without it, you die in Equestria. So any invasion would need NH5 to… you know, stay alive.”

Dave gave a slight nod at that. “I guess, but… I doubt anyone is stupid enough to invade Equestria.”

“Stupid, certainly,” Nightshade said darkly.

“And all of this hinging on someone bribing a weather pegasus?” Dave asked doubtfully.

“Are you the superior here?” Nightshade asked flatly.

“Evidently not, as you keep reminding me,” Dave quipped.

Nightshade’s eyes narrowed slowly, and a low growl rose in her throat.

“Okay, okay, I’ll go along with this. But when it leads absolutely nowhere, I’ll be saying ‘I told you so’ all the way home.”

“So… why are there only two of us?” Dave asked, trying to keep his breathing steady. The sun was high overhead, and the inn they had stayed at was far behind. The morning had been entirely uneventful, with a short visit by a pegasus guard trying very hard to look inconspicuous, wearing a dark cloak that screamed ‘PLEASE DON’T LOOK AT ME’ in neon letters. He and Nightshade had exchanged a few words while her and Dave were eating breakfast, before leaving.

“You’re basically here to make sure I’m not murdered by humans,” Nightshade said smartly. “Traditionally, batponies worked alone.”

“And now you’re stuck lugging around some big dumb human with you,” Dave said with a wry smile.

Nightshade glowered at him.

“Oh come on, it’s just not common for only two soldiers to go wandering around the countryside chasing leads,” Dave explained.

“You were training to be a marksman, correct?” Nightshade asked, looking back over her shoulder with narrowed eyes.

Dave nodded. “Yep.”

“Refresh my memory again… a light reconnaissance and sniper team would consist of… how many members?” Nightshade asked, arching an eyebrow at him smugly.

“A spotter and a marksman, usually,” Dave said casually, shrugging. “But we’re not a sniper team.”

“We are recon, and we’re here to find out information and report it back. Unless we screw up majorly, there’s like, zero chance of us entering into actual combat,” Nightshade said calmly. “You’re only with me in case there’s a human around here with a gun that wants to silence my reports.”

“I feel so important,” Dave said, shaking his head.

“Shush, human. March faster! Mush! The less time we spend traipsing to the next town, the more time we can spend snuggled up in the hotel,” Nightshade said brightly, flapping her wings a little to give him a sense of urgency.

“You’re joking, right?” Dave asked automatically.

Nightshade licked her lips innocently, giving a soft giggle. “Maybe.”

“So why are we here again?” Dave asked, sitting on the rim of a brick well, rifle between his legs, with the barrel resting against his neck.

“Do all humans ask questions so incessantly?” Nightshade asked wearily.

“Only when we’re awake,” Dave replied with a helpless smile.

“We’re here because the weather pegasus lives in that hut across the valley. If anyone comes and goes down there, we’ll see them,” Nightshade explained.

Dave arched an eyebrow. “This is bonkers. Back on earth we’d just tap their phone lines, kidnap them, or watch them with a satellite.”

‘You’re in Equestria now, we do things differently,” Nightshade said sweetly.

Dave rolled his eyes. “Differently and slower.”

“I’m sorry, but if you have a way to speed this up, I’d love to hear it,” Nightshade said, batting her eyelashes at him sweetly.

Dave sighed and shook his head. “No, honestly, I don’t. I’m just having some trouble adjusting to...”

“Adjusting to…?” Nightshade asked.

“Shut up!” Dave hissed, eyes narrowing across the valley, lifting his rifle and laying it against his shoulder, staring down the sights.

“Did you just-”

“Shut up!” Dave reiterated, eyes narrowing down the albeit small magnification of the rifle sight.

Nightshade frowned deeply, her wings flaring angrily.

“There’s a human over there,” Dave murmured.

Nightshade blinked once, following his line of sight, her eyes narrowing. “Who is he?”

“I can’t read his name tag,” Dave said simply.

It took Nightshade several long seconds to realise he was being sarcastic, and she nipped his shoulder in retaliation, growling.

“He’s holding a rifle of some kind… can’t tell what it is. He’s walking beside a pegasus,” Dave said, carefully sliding off the edge of the well, staring into the scope the entire time. “He’s wearing a combat uniform… but it looks old. It’s forest camo.”

“Is it one of the original team?!” Nightshade hissed, pressing close, pushing her fuzzy cheek right up against his own in an attempt to peer down the scope. Dave pursed his lips, but allowed the batpony to stare down the scope, observing the human. “It has to be one of the first through the gate…” she almost growled. “There’s no other humans out here. And especially not armed.”

“Looked like a G3 variant of some kind,” Dave said quietly. “He’s probably Russian. Spetsnaz.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Nightshade asked, pulling back from the scope, an ear raising inquisitively.

Dave shrugged. “Well… It’s not good. Going up against special forces is never a good thing.”

“We’re not going to be going up against him,” Nightshade said, licking her lips in anticipation. “We know he’s here now. We’ll trail him back to his headquarters, and then pass that information along to the Royal Guard.”

“Wouldn’t it be more prudent to report back now before anything goes crazy?” Dave asked warily, sparing a glance for the batpony.

Nightshade shook her head. “No, we are a recon team. We’re not returning to report without at least knowing the location of his HQ. Just because we’ve seen him and can confirm he’s here, doesn’t mean we know where he’s going to go.”

“We could… no, that’s a stupid idea,” Dave said firmly.

“Split up?” Nightshade asked, arching an eyebrow at him and then rolling her eyes.

Dave nodded.

“Not a chance. It is a stupid idea. We’re tailing this guy back to his HQ, and then we’re heading home to tell our superiors where they’re operating from. They can handle bringing him in.”

“He looks unhappy,” Dave said, frowning, cheek pressed to the stock of his rifle.

The soldier was kicking rocks as he walked, rather carelessly waving his arms, gesticulating wildly to the pegasus beside him. “Who’s the pegasus?”

“I think that would be our weather pegasus,” Nightshade said, a smug smile spreading across her features. “I told you it wasn’t normal for it to rain there.”

“What do you think that daggerpony was doing at the cottage where it rained?” Dave asked blankly, keeping a close eye on the two figures in the distance.

“Who knows?” Nightshade said with a slight shrug. “That’s for Royal Intelligence to figure out. Do they tell you everything back in your world?”

Dave frowned deeply, and shook his head. “No. We get told only what we need to know to complete our duties.”

“Good, then your ‘need to know’ for now, is, we need to know where his headquarters are! I trust I don’t need to explain to you how to stalk prey?” Nightshade asked, giving him a serious stare. “Because if you’re going to screw this up, I’ll tail him myself.”

Dave stared at her sideways for a moment. “I know how to stalk and observe. I finished recon training… well, mostly.”

“And if stealth is what you screwed up, then I’d prefer you don’t screw this up,” Nightshade said bluntly.

“Why the sudden interest in my abilities?” Dave asked blankly.

“Because it’s important now,” Nightshade responded, nudging his side with her nose. “If we mess this up, we’ll have to canvass the entire countryside to find him.”

“I can stalk,” Dave said, giving her a long stare. “Honestly. I won’t screw this up.”

Nightshade frowned deeply, before sighing and nodding. “Very well. C’mon then. I suggest you try to keep up,” she said, turning on her hooves, wings giving an irritated flutter. “Because if you lag behind, I’m leaving you behind. I will not lose this quarry.”

“You’re cute when you’re focused,” Dave said with a slight smirk.

Nightshade just growled.

“Stop.”

Nightshade pause, a hoof in the air, ears perking back at him. “What?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

The human and pegasus had split up a few hours previously, and the two had, obviously, opted to continue following the human. His path lead them through a wooded valley, over what looked like a game trail.

Dave held up a hand. “Take a step backwards. Carefully.”

Nightshade frowned, eyes narrowing. “Why?”

“Take a fucking step backwards,” Dave hissed.

Nightshade snorted, but did as asked, backtracking a step.

“Look,” Dave said, pointed with a finger. A single taut line of silver was barely visible strung across the path.

“A tripwire?” Nightshade asked, rolling her eyes slightly. She effected a quiet, maiden-in-despair tone. “Oh, save me from tripping to my death!”

Dave’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he slipped his rifle back, drawing his knife. He looked to the left, and then the right, frowning slightly. “Don’t touch the fucking wire.”

Nightshade arched an eyebrow, but nodded once. “Fine.”

Dave moved to the right, watching each of his steps carefully, lightly crunching through the underbrush, following the taught wire, turning left as the wire wended around an improvised stake. “Look here,” he said, motioning with his knife.

Nightshade carefully followed after him, ears perked, bemused.

A simple wooden stake was pressed into the ground with an old, weathered clothes peg tied to it. A pair of wires snaked away through the underbrush, and the peg itself was clasped around a simple wooden stick, which was connected to the tripwire.

“What… what is that?” Nightshade asked blankly.

“That, is an improvised tripwire arming system,” Dave said calmly. He leaned forwards, picked up the lower wire, and cut it neatly with his knife, before sheathing his knife again. “There, it’s safe now.”

“Arming system?” Nightshade asked, confused.

“It’s an improvised arming system. Like.. for an explosive device,” Dave said, motioning towards the contraption. “Basically, you hit the tripwire, it pulls the stick out of the peg, the peg closes, and the two wires here,” he motioned, “that are tied to each side of the peg, they come together and send a charge down the length of the wire.” He made a motion to the bottom of the peg. “This here, this is a battery. That’s what arms it.”

“Arms what?” Nighshade responded.

Dave gingerly picked up the wire he had cut, so he could see where it led. Once he figured out which way it ran, he laid it back down, and then carefully crawled over to the arch of a tree. “Very carefully hidden,” he said, inserting his knife slowly into a patch of moss and lifting it up and away, to reveal a green, rectangular, curved object nestled in the gap between the branches. “A claymore. How quaint.”

“Claymore? Wasn’t that a sword?” Nightshade asked blankly.

Dave nodded. “It’s also an antipersonnel mine,” he said, clearing away everything from around the mine. Once he was certain there was no secondary arming system, he gingerly unscrewed a small object from the top of the mine, and then laid the object behind it. “There, it’s disarmed now.”

“I don’t see what you were worried about,” Nightshade said with a slight sniff. “None of your devices work here.”

“Explosives do,” Dave said bluntly. “Or my gun wouldn’t work. Bullets wouldn’t fire. And the arming pin on a claymore is only activated by the electric charge. The firing pin is pressure-based. Everything except that wire leading to it will work perfectly here.”

“That’s… bothersome,” Nightshade said, taking a single step backwards. “You are sure it is safe, yes?”

“I removed the firing pin,” Dave said. “You should take note of this position and have someone come by and collect this. It’s not dangerous, but it’s not… well, it’s not right to leave it laying around.”

“I will do so,” Nightshade said simply. “Thank you… I didn’t even know about… those.”

“Humans are ingenious bastards who delight in thinking up new ways to hurt and kill each other,” Dave said simply. “But… keep an eye out for any more wires. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Well you’re going to have to stop staring at my ass long enough to make sure I don’t miss any,” Nightshade said sweetly, carefully stepping around the emplaced claymore and continuing down the path, eyes carefully on the ground ahead.

Dave stared at her ass for only a few more seconds before following after her, making sure to watch for any wires as well.

“Dave!” Nightshade hissed urgently.

Dave arched an eyebrow, easing up behind the batpony.

“There,” Nightshade said, pointing with a hoof towards the path ahead.

Dave squinted down the path, searching for a wire. “I don’t see anything.”

“On the side of the path. It’s like... metal bits,” she said, pointing.

Dave followed the line of her hoof, frowning deeply as he spied a spike of metal protruding from the ground. “Well, fuck,” Dave said, chewing his bottom lip. “That’s a bouncing betty.”

“A… a what?” Nightshade asked blankly.

“It’s another trap. This one jumps in the air before it explodes. It’s not very nice,” Dave said bluntly.

“I don’t see a wire attached to it,” Nightshade said, squinting at it.

Dave nodded, slinging his weapon. “It’s probably just a pressure-release model. Pretty simple to disarm.”

“How many different kinds of explosive devices do you people have?” Nightshade asked, a faint whine audible in her tone.

“Hundreds upon hundreds,” Dave said grimly, dropping onto his hands and knees and gingerly moving towards the mine. He made sure to check each spot before placing his hand upon it, creeping towards the explosive. “I’m actually kinda worried that this asshole has proper landmines…”

“These aren’t ‘proper’ enough for you?” Nightshade asked blankly, shaking her head.

Dave made a motion with a hand. “Sort of. A ‘proper’ landmine is just a sort of thick disc, like a pie. You bury it under the dirt, where it can’t be seen, and they’re sort of impossible to spot with the naked eye.”

“That’s horrifying,” Nightshade said, taking a single step backwards.

“But they’re kind of heavy. Between the bouncing betty and the claymore, I doubt there was much room left over for carrying buriable mines,” Dave explained, drawing his knife and dropping onto his stomach next to the bouncing betty.

Dave squinted at the device, using the tip of his knife to uncover the arming set-up that was protruding slightly above the rest of the device. It was a very simple arming system, at least from the outside. It was extremely similar to the arming system used on bouncing betties in world war two.

Searching around for a moment, Dave picked up a stick and snapped it in half, before inserting the end of the stick into the safety hole beneath the prongs. “Well, it’s moderately safe now,” he said, digging his knife carefully down beside the device and beginning to lever it up out of the dirt. “These ones, just don’t step on them, and you’ll be fine.”

With a huff, he rolled over onto his butt, turning to hold out the device to Nightshade for inspection.

Nightshade was staring at him, eyes wide.

“It’s safe,” Dave said, rolling his eyes slightly. He shook it slightly. “Even if I dropped it, the stick would stop it from arming.”

The sound of a slide behind racked from somewhere behind him made Dave tense up. He closed his eyes in disgust, as a voice behind him said, in a rather smug tone:

“Pozdravleniya, comrade.”