A Danger in the Stars

Chapter 8

The plan was supposed to be initiated in one well-coordinated and swift move. We were told that all of the units would be dropped simultaneously; creating one giant formation that would cover the skies. Well, I am happy to say that that part of the plan went well. All of the drop pods went down at the same time and I am proud that I didn’t end up screaming the entire way down. Because by now, I knew what was going to happen and it wasn’t as scary as the first time. Sure I still felt scared, shaking a bit inside my suit, but I kept it to myself. I learned from Ruby Cloud that a way to avoid getting picked on, during the wait before the pod detaches, was to hide your fears. So I decided to follow her advice and I was happy to learn that it worked.

But returning back to the topic, the initial face of the drop went perfectly, with all the pods entering the atmosphere while the Troopers inside waited for the parachutes to activate.

But that’s the only good news you would here for a while, since everything went wrong after that initial drop.

As the drop pods skimmed through the atmosphere, about to eject its first drag chute, missiles came careening towards our formation. Defense systems on the ground started firing, locking on the pods and destroying them. I wasn’t able to see the missiles fire and fly through the air, being trapped inside a metal pod at the time, but I guessed it looked very scary. From the files I saw, after the battle, the radar manage to pick up the large number of pods and missiles, as they went head on to each other.

Now, resistance during the drop was expected, since this was a major research facility for the enemy. But we were informed that counter measures will be deployed to avoid mass casualties. Tiny bits of metal would be dropped, as to confuse the enemy radar that would track the pods as they descended.

But from all the explosions I was hearing, it sounded that they weren’t working and mass casualties were being taken. I would never learn why our counter-measures never worked during that day. Whether the enemy missiles had bypassed them or they just weren’t effective, I would never now. All I knew at the time was the plan wasn’t going according to our superiors expectations.

The explosions were continuous, as if the enemy was celebrating with fireworks. Except the fireworks were deadly pieces of machinery out to kill us.

The sound of banging echoes in the pod, as fragments from the exploding missiles hit the pod, sending the distinct sound of metal banging against metal.

From inside the dark pod, I could hear explosion surround our pod, as the missiles flew everywhere. The sound of missiles streaking in the air could also be heard and it reminded me of the skirmish we had, days before. But unlike the skirmish, I was left completely blind, unaware to my surrounding. Only the noise around me reminded the scared soul in me that I was still alive.

The explosion varied from loud to soft. Loud explosion being close, or near misses, while the soft ones were distant. When I hear an explosion that is followed by the sound of metal bending, my heart sunk down, knowing it was the sound of a missile impacting a pod.

It must be a scary feeling to be in a pod that was suddenly hit, as the missiles tear metal and instruments that would penetrate your armor and tear you apart. If you’re lucky, you would die instantly. If not, then you would have a piece of metal in you before you die.

The thought of death revolved in my head and I wondered when it would be our turn.

But luckily, or unluckily, for us, no missiles hit our pod. We were part of the 85%, who had their pod safely enter and deploy, so that we would land on the nightmare of a battlefield below. Although we had 15% casualties, in E.S.F. terms, that meant we were still a highly effective fighting force.

The battlefield we landed on was a disorganized killing field, as ponies landed on the wrong landing zone, while the others got shot or blown to pieces on the way down.

The reason for ponies landing on the wrong drop zone was because of their desperation to seek cover. When a Trooper descends towards a drop zone, they become a vulnerable target. Easy prey for any weapon that was aimed at them. So some ponies were so desperate to get down and hunker for cover, that they ignored their markers and landed on any place they could. This meant that each group was spread out, unable to coordinate with one another.

As I descended to the ground, using my jets to slow my speed down, I could see the battle unfold. The Troopers who landed before me have already started the fight, trying their best to create a beach head, by forming small groups and holding the line.

The ground below me was vast and dry. Dirt could be seen everywhere, with small dots of green that dotted the field. The flat field gave a clear view of the ground, while the large and tall mountain facility gave an overview of the field. It towered above the field, giving a dominating look upon all.

In the distance, hills surrounded the field, encircling it like walls. Our drop zones were located in the middle of the filed, in an attempt to surround the gigantic mountain in the middle. But to me, it looked like we were the ones about to be surrounded, by the hills that encircled us.

Streaks a of laser fire sprung up everywhere as balls of plasma flew in the sky. Ponies fought everywhere, trying to locate the enemy, who was hidden in their fortification that surrounds the mountain facility. Unit cohesion was almost nonexistent and I was luck to still be able to have contact with Ruby, who was descending only a few feet near me. There was enough chaos below to make Discord proud.

Some stray shots went by me, making me feel nervous again. So I decided to get my hooves on the ground as soon as possible.

Bits of burning metal fell from the sky, as the remains of blown up drop pods came hurtling down. They fell like comets and landed on the poor ponies below.

As I got closer to the ground, I started to see the gruesome sight of ponies dying. Littering the ground were injured ponies, with legs cut off as blood poured out and pooled around them. Although the suit’s had healing systems, injuries as severe as that could not be treated by the system. So that left the badly ponies helpless, bleeding on the ground, with no hope of survival, unless a medical team arrived. Which was almost impossible, since I doubted they escaped the missile attack.

I even saw a body, torn into half as missile ripped through the armor and annihilated half of the body. It was a terrible sight, as I could see the organs spill out, as well as the intestines that were tangled together and rolling on the dry ground, which was now soaked in blood.

The battle was getting more intense with each passing second, as more and more ponies started to fall on the ground.

I also noticed that some ponies were just left still, unmoving and stuck in one post. I wondered why they weren’t moving, or being shot at, till I learned that they were already dead. A large hole was usually found on the side of the unmoving pony’s armor, thick red blood oozing out, as their forms stood as still like statues.

There were many of these figures on the ground, standing still like sentinels. As I observed the battle, seeing armored ponies get hit by shots before going stiff, I learned the cause.

This was the cause of the enemy’s new weapon, which came in the form of armor piercing bullets. Their armor piercing bullets travelled at high velocities so that it could easily penetrate our suit’s armor and lodge itself in the pony user. Hitting the pony inside wasn’t enough to disable him, since he or she would only be injured, so once the bullet penetrated the armor, a sensor on the bullet would make it explode, as it lodged itself in the pony. This would blow up the pony inside, while the suit goes stiff, since the suit’s system locked it in that position. (The suits were made to lock in position, called ‘inactive mode’, when not being used. Since the pony inside exploded and was no more, the suit thinks that it has been switched to the inactive mode.)

The explosion was big enough to tear the pony inside to pieces, but not large enough to blow the suit apart, leaving the battlefield with this eerie looking statues.

I could only imagine what the inside of a suit looks like, after having hit by an armor piercing round. The inside would most likely be covered by the user’s blood and guts, as they stuck on the suit’s interior like bubble gum. Meaty, blood red bubble gum.

Some of the shots, from the enemy, were directed to me, as laser streaks went by a few inches from me. I didn’t know whether they’re locking systems were terrible shots or if I was just lucky, but I wasn’t going to risk myself any further.

Hoping to make myself a harder target, I curled up into a ball, bringing my hooves closer to me. This would reduce my silhouette and make me a less vulnerable target.
An explosion erupted below me, from a stray missile, as more laser fire got close to me. Seeing that I was about to hit the ground, I brought my hooves down and activated my jets. I couldn’t see the ground below; since the smoke from the recent explosion obstructed my view, but I knew that I was only a couple feet from the ground. Or at least I thought I was.

For I felt something hit me on the muzzle of my helmet. I then felt something hit me on my flank, and felt that I was surrounded on all sides. A low humming sound came below me, as I noticed that things were getting dark.

My hooves couldn’t feel the ground, so I left my jets on and continued to descend. But I started to wonder why? Last time I checked, I was only ten feet from the ground, so I should have landed by now.

The sound of metal slamming and the feeling of something hitting my hooves startled me, as I was flung around for a while, going in circles. I felt dizzy as I spun, with my jets not helping the situation, as they added more momentum to the spinning movement.

But the movement soon stopped, as an ear piercing screeching sound filled my ears. The spinning slowed down and I looked around dazzled, trying to figure out what was happening. I was confused as to where I ended up and where this place was.

Looking towards my hooves, I saw that I was currently stuck in a large metal fan, the same one seen in ventilation systems. I looked up to see light coming in, from an end of a tunnel. That’s when I learned that I somehow ended up in one of the many ventilation shafts that littered near the facility.

You see, although the enemy facility was situated in the mountain, our Intelligence has told as that it actually extends to a large tunnel system that roots out to the field around
it. These systems burrowed through the ground underneath the field and were probably used as auxiliary bases, providing storage space and room for the garrison of the facility.

To provide air to this tunnel system, ventilation shafts were made everywhere. They were usually camouflaged, probably by the dots of grass on the field above, and were vital to providing fresh air to the tunnels below.

The explosion that happened below me, before I landed, must have blown away the protective covering of the ventilation shaft, allowing me to fall it and get stuck in the fan.

“Hey, rookie, it looks like you found us a way out of this mess.” I heard Ruby say in the intercom as I see her head pop in the top of the tunnel.

“Yeah, yeah…” I groaned. “…just help me out here, I got myself stuck on this fan.”

“Rookies…” She remarked, as I rolled my eyes. I heard her giggle as she agreed to help me out, after informing the location of the vent to the Sergeant and to whatever was left of the chain of command.

Although the vents were big enough for ponies to wiggle through, they were still a tight place to be in. It was quite hard to go through it and it gave a claustrophobic feeling to me, as I tried to move around with all the effort I could give. It gave a suffocating feeling, despite the large amounts of oxygen that my suit supplied, and I was grateful to see light at the end of the vent, as we jumped down into a large hall deep within the underground section of the facility.

The hall was wide enough for six ponies to walk side by side and was illuminated by the large lights on the ceiling. Its metal walls were white and made out of some kind of metal, the name of which has slipped my mind. Hey, don’t blame me, I’m not metal and alloy expert!

As the platoon, and the rest of the task force chosen to infiltrate the vent, filled the hall and secured the area, I finally got full grasp of the situation we were in and it was not pretty.

The battle above was getting more and more intense, as casualties started to pour in. Through the radio, I could hear the cries of injured ponies, who have been cut off from their units. They asked for helped and wept from pain before their radios cut to static, as they are finally killed by either an ordinary blast of fire or the gruesome armor piercing rounds.

I could only imagine the battlefield above turn red in blood.

Battalion commanders can be heard on the radios, desperately trying to reform their units. But from the transmissions I was hearing, they weren’t having any success. In an attempt to rescue a trapped group of troopers and form a beachhead, Colonel Blue Blood led two battalions in a charge, with enemy fire coming from both sides. This just goes to show you how our commanders lead. They lead from the front, along with the rest of his or her Troopers.

He managed to succeed in his objective, but at a high cost. Colonel Blueblood was heavily wounded and said to be unconscious, as well as forty-five dead ponies who took part in the charge. But he managed to form the beachhead and secure the area, for the time being. I would later be thankful for this action, as this beachhead would later be used to hold the line, as the drop shuttles came to pick us up.

My company, along with many others in our battalion, took heavy casualties. I learned that the Lieutenant, along with the rest of the company command staff, was killed when a missile hit their drop pod, killing them instantaneously.

The rest of the Troopers in the company were either killed or were cut off from us. So this left only six members from my platoon, plus five other from the other three platoons who managed to group with us, with the Sergeant to command us. That meant we were only twelve ponies strong! The Sergeant must be having a really bad day if he was confronting a situation like that.

Alpha 1 and my battalion have failed to enter the facility through the perceived entry point and were no using a different tactic. Since my discovery of the vent, other units, including Alpha 1, have decided to find vents, which were most likely littering the field, and use them as the new entry point. So now, my battalion and Alpha 1 were entering through different vents and would soon make our way up towards the location of the Elements of Harmony.

Although the plan has been delayed and the means changed, the objective was still the same. Rescue the Elements of Harmony at all cost.

“Alright everypony!” The Sergeant said, bellowing in the intercom as he assumed command of what was left of the company. “We’re moving out. I want you all to move quickly and annihilate anything that goes in your way. Remembering, don’t slack around, I don’t want anypony getting lost in this vast complex.”

“We’ve been tasked to destroy the security network, which has a monitoring room deep within the facility.” He explained as he continued. “Our job is to find that place and blow it to bits. None of us here are computer experts, so I doubt we could hack it for our favor. So blowing it up seems to be the quickest plan. If we succeed, then we would be able to render the security drones and turrets, which lurk around here, useless. So let’s move! Platoon, gallop!”

So we dashed through the halls, each unit splitting up. Alpha 1 went out to take a different path, trying to look for the Elements of Harmony, while we took another path towards the monitoring room.

Before they left, I managed to see a platoon of Troopers from Alpha 1, sitting around and planning. Hey wore suits that looked similar to ours, with the same size and shape, but looks were the only similarities the two suits have.

Unlike ours, the suits they were currently wearing were white, unlike the camouflage green that we were using. This is because of the sensor in their suit that scanned the surrounding and determined the appropriate camouflage. It then changes the suits camouflage to the appropriate color, for example white, to fit the white halls in the tunnels.

This is a useful feature, ensuring a camouflage that can adapt to one’s surroundings. Too bad it’s too expensive to be put on every suit.
Another feature of their suit is the fact that is has stronger legs, making the user jump higher and run faster. As shown later, as they broke of in quick speed, over taking anypony in front of them.

The alarms of the facility broke out, as the security systems alerted the defenders of our presence. Once in a while, as we moved through the halls, a flashing red light would be sighted, accompanied by a loud shrieking siren.

But those things were quickly destroyed by Ruby Cloud, as she fired a streak of laser fire at every one she saw.

“Those things are annoying!” She told me, as she once more made a private radio link between us. “They were getting on my nerves, so it was either I blow my head off or I blow them apart.”

“Well yeah, they are annoying…” I said agreeing, as I followed the platoon through the halls. “…but shouldn’t you save your shots for the security drones and turrets?”

Just as I said that the platoon ran into a turret that was mounted on the ceiling. It was a large caliber weapon that fired the deadly armor piercing rounds and it did so to grave effect. Its auto-locking system pin pointed the best possible target and fired, sending deadly rounds through the hall and creating a loud banging noise that made me jump in fright.

It was actually surprising, when it burst at us. It was like a surprise party, saying ‘Happy Birthday’, except for the fact that the confetti was a deadly metal bullet that would pierce through your armor and blow the pony inside. Yeah, not something I would ever want to experience. Too bad the pony in the front, galloping next to the Sergeant, got a chest full of it.

There was a loud thud as the bullet pierced the armor and I then heard a short popping sound, as the bullet exploded inside. The suit then stood still, in a gallop position, as the user was turned into a mash of blood and skin.

The turret was about to lock on it next target, but the Sergeant wasn’t going to give it another chance. He fired a shot from his plasma gun, sending a ball of fire towards the turret. It soon exploded in one hit, sending bits of debris everywhere while letting the wiring hand, sending sparky of electricity.

Throughout thus entire event, we kept on moving, not stopping for a second. We knew that we had better chances of not getting hit if we remained mobile. A moving target is harder to shoot at, they say.

Besides, our mission was to destroy the monitoring room, which is also the command center of these defenses. So if we finish our objective, then we won’t have to deal with the pesky turrets and annoying sirens.

“Come on, keep a move on!” The Sergeant grumbled, as if nothing had happened.

So like ordered, we kept on moving, firing as we shot at anything that got in our way. Well, the other ponies in my platoon did most of the shooting, while I did a lot more galloping as I tried to contain my screams. Sure, I’ve experienced all of this before, but getting shot at is not fun.

Laser streaks flew in front of me as plasma balls landed near us, leaving burnt marks on the halls. From every intersection in the hall way, we ran to the threat of cross-fire from the enemy, as turrets, security drones, and armored humans fired shots at us. Now I am sad to say that we lost three mosre ponies as we did this, but we did manage to inflict damage on them also. How many, I don’t know?

But I at least know that I manage to get one of them, if you consider ramming one in the rules. What can I say, the human was in the way.

It was just after the third pony got shot, bringing me near the front og the platoon, with nopony else in front of me. There were two enemy soldiers in our way, the first one being shot by the Sergeant. I manage to score a hit on the second one, with my laser gun that was hanging on thr side of my armor, but it didn’t seem enough to bring him down.

Now I didn’t have enough time to let the locking system aim again and fire and the platoon was still moving fast and closing the distance between us. So as the enemy recovered from the shock of my laser fire and as we galloped towards him, I rammed him head first. Just in time too, because he was aiming his weapon and was about to fire. I managed to knock him down, thanks to my speed and momentum, sending him over me where the pony behind me would have to worry about him.

The initial impact dazzled me at first, as the force was great and heavy. But thanks to the armor of my suit, the force was absorbed and its load spread out. That prevented any major damage to my head or at least I think it did. Last time I checked, my brain was working at one hundred percent.

So we continued on, with the enemy shooting us and us shooting back at them. I didn’t know how long it took as to get to our objective as one loses the sense of time when filled with fear in a dangerous and deadly situation.

But we soon got there and we went inside, covering each other and neutralizing the room to make sure it is clear.

The monitoring room was a large oval room, filled with the latest sensor processing computers. The ceiling was high and the material used on the walls was off different material that I do not recognize. Dimly lit, the room was only filled with the red alarm light as the sirens rung inside. Looks like Ruby’s got a lot of shooting to do. There were two entrances in the room, each one on the opposite ends of the oval, one on the left and one of the right. We entered from the right.

Doing a quick count, I saw ten rows of long tables, with twenty computers placed on top, all facing a large monitor that covered an entire wall. The large screen provided a map of different sectors of the facility, while the computers were showing the different feed from sensors, turrets, and security drones.

In the center was a circular stage where a comfortable looking seat was located. Surrounding the seat were holograms, which supplies the one who was seated with feed from the various sensors in the facility.

This looked like the classic command center and with all the computers and surveillance machines; it looked like the perfect place to monitor the entire area. Now the only question was, where were the ones assigned to control this place?

With night vision on, to see the area clearly, I scanned the room to try and find them. As I looked towards the opposite side, towards the other entrance, I caught a glimpse of movement. If I looked at it correctly, what I saw was a foot of a human, as it left the room. That was when I realized that they evacuated the monitoring room.

Seeing that we were heading straight for them, their commander must have ordered them to abandon the area. This was a good thing, since it meant we didn’t have to fight them for it and add to the casualty list. But we now have to fight them off, till we get the explosives deployed. With only eight of us left and hundreds of them, this might be a task that would be the end of us. Well it’s the effort that counts, right?

“Alright, don’t just stand around like a bunch of confused fillies and colts, get to work!” The Sergeant shouted, as he moved forward and deployed everypony, assigning them to different jobs, from guarding to placing the explosives. I was assigned to guard the left entrance and to make sure that nothing enters the room from there.

“Keep an eye open, Silver.” The Sergeant said. “No matter what happens, you will hold that spot and hold, unless I tell you so.”

So with laser and plasma weapons deployed and ready, I waited as a Trooper deployed some explosives next to me. Another Trooper guarded the other entrance, while the other six, including the Sergeant and Rose, attached explosives to the computers and various other parts of the room, to ensure that the enemy won’t use it again. It was necessary to have this place blown to pieces, so that the wiring, computers, and other systems would be torn to bits.

Looking through the open entrance, I saw that it lead to a long hallway that took a sharp left turn on the end. This meant that I wouldn’t be able to see how many are going to attack till they pop their head up. Well, good luck to me.

“Here they come!” I said, as an enemy armored soldier popped out, followed by two more. This was obviously a small attack, in attempt to prod our strength, but it was big enough to panic me.

I waited for my locking systems to take aim before firing, sending a streak of laser fire to one of them, injuring him in the leg, while knocking the other with two shots of plasma fire. The plasma burned through his armor’s chest plate, hitting the user within and killing him.

But the third one manages to slip through, as he aimed his weapon and fired. His shot of plasma flew to the hall heading towards my direction. Luckily for me, it missed, but unluckily for the pony beside me, it hit him. The force of the hit knocked him off of his hooves as a large open mark was left as evidence of the shot.

I fired another shot towards the third enemy, trying to avenge my fallen comrade. My locking system set its sights on the target as I gave the command to fire, letting the plasma weapon release its ammo. True to its mark, the plasma shot his, killing the enemy and leaving three dead bodies on the hall.

Taking a glance at the downed pony, I noticed that the shot penetrated his armor and incinerated his insides, rendering him dead. I also noticed that the explosive charges he was working on weren’t done yet.

Having slight knowledge on explosives, as I was given a crash course on them before being transferred to the front, I knew some of the basics. So I quickly moved to the side, retrieving the explosives on floor, where it was left, and began fumbling with it. This was when I learned that the slight knowledge I had wasn’t enough to fulfill the task, as I was left baffled at the wires and chunk of plastic explosives in front of me.

“Silver!” I heard the Sergeant yell, as he moved towards my position. “Didn’t I tell you to cover the-“

He wasn’t able to finish his sentence as an armor piercing round hit him in the head and blew it up into large chunks. Since the helmet had thinner armor, the explosive force of the bullet was enough to blow it apart and send bits of metal and flesh all over the place.

I soon got a fresh coat of blood and brains on my suit, as the flash dribbled down as it slid through my armor. I looked at the headless body with horror as blood spurted out of it, spilling on the floor. The brain particles and blood, which used to be the Sergeant’s heard, was now all over the place.

I stared at it, stuck in one position and unable to move, as horror filled me. I screamed mentally as I found myself unable to move or do anything.

I was frozen in shock from what I had just seen. One second the Sergeant was there, the next, he was gone and had his head turned into tiny bits and pieces.

To make thing worst, I felt that I was to blame. Since I was the one in charge of guarding the entrance and making sure the no enemy gets true. If I did my job, then the Sergeant could still be alive. Angry at me, as usual, but alive. I felt the guilt build up me, knowing the blame was now stuck to my soul.

“…I said snap out of it!” Somepony shouted, as an armored hoof slapped my helmet, shocking me at the sudden force, as my head snapped to the side. Shaking my head and returning to reality, I gave a quick analysis of the situation in front of me.

“Ruby?” I said, looking at the armored pony in front of me, who was firing shots at the hallway connected to the entrance. Other ponies stood by her, as they tried to fight off a wave of enemy soldiers, who were trying to rush through the halls and get to us.

“Come on, Rookie, stop fooling around.” Ruby ordered me. I assumed that she had taken command, seeing that she was motioning other to move to certain position and keep up their fire. Well, Ruby was a born leader, from what I have seen, and would handle well in fast paced situations. “Take up a position and fire back!” She said, before moving
around the remains of the platoon.

Looking at the floor, I saw the bodies of two more ponies, armor torn open and guts spilled out. Blood spilled as if the battle was thirsty for it and wanted more. A gruesome sight provided by war, without charge.

There were only four of us left inside the room, while an unknown, yet presumably large, quantity of enemy soldiers charged towards us, only to pile up on the hallways as they were gunned down. But I knew that we would soon be overrun, unless we got out of the place.

Looking around the room, it seemed like that all the explosives had been place, as their triggers flashed red, waiting for the order to detonate. It was only a matter of leaving the room and blowing the place up.

“Alright, let’s move back and take up a better position away from this place.” Ruby said. “Those explosives can blow up a large chunk of this area, so I suggest we move far before blowing it up.”

“But what if the enemy tries removing them?” I asked. The plastic explosives attached were very powerful and the amount put was enough to blow up a five story building. So a large distance was needed before detonating them. But the time it would take to move to a safe distance was also equivalent to the time it would take for the enemy to remove and disarm the explosives.

Ruby turned her head towards me, trying to think of a solution, but as she did a large explosion erupted inside the room, sending me flying off and slamming towards the wall.

Good thing my armor was there to absorb most of the impact, as well as the shrapnel that came with the explosion. But that didn’t mean there was no pain, as I was slammed against the wall.

I groaned in pain, as the force of the impact still hurt, despite the fact that I was alright. Trying to get back on my hooves, I surveyed the damage it created.

The explosion was most likely caused by a missile that was shot at us, creating mass casualties to what was left of our small group. The other two ponies with us were now dead, lying on the floor with large pieces of shrapnel in them. I was lucky to not be hit by the large pieces of shrapnel, as something blocked me from them.

The sounds of laser and plasma fire still echoes in the room, as I grew curious to who was firing. Has the enemy gotten in already? Was I about to meet my doom?

Then I noticed a figure lying on the ground, flashes of red and blue light coming from it.

“Ruby!” I called out in shock, as I raced towards my wounded friend. As I approached her, I noticed all of the shrapnel imbedded in her armor, most likely penetrating through it and stabbing her. Her chest was littered with them, as they were jabbed deep into her. She must have taken the full force of the explosion.

That when I realized that she was the one that blocked me from most of the explosion. Although the force kicked me aside, all of the shrapnel went to her and the two other ponies. It must have landed closer to them, sending deadly debris everywhere. She was lucky enough to still be alive and breathing.

If I was a Sergeant or an officer, I would have a complete view of her health status. But I wasn’t, so I couldn’t scan her condition. But from what I can see, it looked like she had a large amount of shrapnel in her, some in her chest while some of it impaled her right and left fore hooves, preventing her from standing.

It also looked like her healing systems were damaged, as the distinct sound of it working could not be heard.

“Oh…Ruby…” I whimpered, feeling tears in my eyes. She had already done enough to ensure I was alive and at home, now she was lying there in pain. Throughout my short time in the front, she has been the only that I’ve been close to and I have become attached to her. She was my friend and I was hers. So it broke my heart to see her this way.

“Rookie…” She said in a haggard voice as she coughed. The shrapnel must have hit her lungs, making it difficult to speak. Each word seemed to be a challenge for her. “…you…need to get…out.”

As she spoke, she continued the stream of fire against the enemy, trying to hold them off.

“I know, Ruby. But how would I carry you out?” I asked. The task to evacuate both of us was quite difficult.

“No, l…leave….me; I’ll just drag…you down.” She said, as a bubble popped up on my helmet’s screen. as information was transferred. “I’m t..t…transferring the detonation….codes to you, so you c…can denote the explosives once….you’re in a safe position. N…Now go!”

“Ruby…” I said, shaking my head, helmet filling with tears as my heart started to beat fast, yet in a sad tone. “I..cant… I won’t leave you like this; I’m taking you with me!”

She didn’t turn her head towards me as she continued to pin the enemy down. The enemy’s fire flew near us, but I ignored them. My friend was where all my focus was right now.

“L…Listen, ro…rookie. I….It would…..be i…impossible for you…t…to…carry me. B…Besides, you said….that the enemy w….would just p…pull the….explosives out of the wa…walls, right?”

I nodded my head, lips quivering and tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Well I…I’m going to….hold the…them off, t…till you detonate the g…goods.” She said. Despite her pain, I could just imagine a small grin in her face. Something like this demanded great bravery in heroic proportions.

“But…Ruby…” I whined, looking down.

“You better do what I say or I would point this plasma gun and shoot you myself!” She manages to yell, but it resulted to great pain, as she let out a loud grunt after. “J…

just….please…r…rookie…do w….what I te….tell you… This is…not worth wasting a….another life. B…Besides, some….somepony has to tell…this tale and t…that pony is you.”
I just stared at her for another few seconds, unsure if I should leave or not. It will be selfish of me if I did, but it would bring anger to Ruby if I didn’t. Having as both die, with her
angry with me, was not something I would like. So I ultimately decided to leave.

Standing up, I wished her luck and turned around. Most of the enemy was attacking on the left entrance, so I would have little opposition from the other side. I tried to hold back my tears, knowing that it would only be a distraction. I’ll save them for later.

“H…hey…” Ruby said, as I started walking towards the other entrance. Her rate of fire didn’t change, as I could hear her weapons firing in the room. “Good luck, Silver.”

I was shocked at that remark, as it was the first time she called me by my name. All this time, she called me rookie, but now, for the first and last time, she called me by my true name. I felt a tear roll down my cheek again, but I didn’t stop to reply. I just went on before galloping away, moving as fast as possible; retracing the path we used to get there.

I galloped away, firing at anything that got in my way and avoiding long fire fights. I needed to get as far away as possible, to be able to detonate the explosives, so I didn’t stop and pushed onwards.

As I found an area far away from the monitoring room and safe from the enemy, I stopped and went through the detonation code. Doing it in a swift and quick order, to make the pain less, I activated the explosives. It sent a message to the dozens of detonators, ordering the plastic explosives to blow up and do their job.

A slight tremor on my surrounding, as if there was a mini-earthquake, was felt, as the explosives blew up and annihilated the monitoring room. It was clear the Ruby did their job and held off the enemy, as the explosives remained attached.

The thought of Ruby brought the sad feeling back into me as my heart sunk. I collapsed on the ground and cried for my friend. I screamed I slammed my hooves on the floor; I did everything to show my grief. But, deep down, I knew that it wasn’t enough.

She was gone and I knew that there was nothing I can do to bring her back. Only thing I can do was honor her memory.