Chapters Time: 1:00 am
The mornings over Afghanistan were normal as anywhere else in the world, quiet, cool and serene, the sun painted a beautiful mosaic of red and purple hues as it rose the the sky. Since it was still to early for any sunlight to appear the it was the perfect time to sneak in. "We are approaching the drop zone in ten minutes!" the co-pilot of the black hawk yelled over the sound of the propellers cutting the air. Kaybee looked over at his partner and patted him on the shoulder encouragingly. "We'll be home before you know it Bucky." Kaybee shouted. "Man, what I would do for some Coffee" Rick shouted back. They both smiled and waited for their destination to arrive.
Ten minutes later...
"Alright, Were here!" The Pilot yelled back at them as the Blackhawk hovered to the ground. Kaybee looked over at Bucky as the ground neared.
"Good luck in there", the co-pilot said to them as they got off the chopper.
"Thanks!" Kaybee shouted back
Kaybee and Rick looked back to watch the helicopter slowly rise and fly away into the horizon. Soon the serenity of the landscape took over again.
Kaybee and Bucky made it to their destination, a ridge overlooking a small village where they were supposed to set up and provide cover for a team that was gonna come in later that afternoon. Looking down at the quiet village, Kaybee, wondered how a peaceful looking town like that could ever be anything but peaceful. If past experience had taught him anything is that, the peaceful the place looks the more prepared you have to be.
A couple hours past and it was mid day by now. The sun mercilessly bathed the sniper unit in hot beams of light. It was still quiet, but now it was uncomfortably hot.
"Kaybee, we got some activity going on down there" Bucky said
Quickly Kaybee got down in position and peered through the scope.
"Looks like the they finally decided to show up to the party"
Suddenly the radio crackled to life
"This is FoxTrot to Romeo do you copy"
Bucky answered it "This is Romeo, we are in position"
"Were going to breach, after that things might get hectic, cover us our flanks"
"Alright we copy, Good luck"
Down in the village Kaybee, through his scope, saw a units of marines around the compound that was going to breached. After a small explosion the marines could be seen storming through the door. For only a there hung an eriee scilence.
Suddenly the sound of gunfire filled the air. As if some one had kicked a hornets nest the village came alive with activity all heading to the compound.
"Alright Bucky gimme the numbers", Kaybee said
"700 meters on top of the building to the right of the one that was breeched"
Kaybee adjusted the dials on the M40A5, slowed his breathing. Looking through the scope he found his target, he steadied his aim and fired.
"Target Down" Anounced Bucky.
Kaybee just kept looking down range for more targets of opportunety.
2 hours later and 38 more targets later the firefight finally stopped.
Kaybee kept looking down the scope only stoping for some water. The whole ordeal woulden't be as bad if it wasn't so dam hot. The activity has cesed, snipers always seemed to have that kind of effect. Kaybee rememberd a saying snipers had "Kill one man, terrorize a thousand", it seemed quite fitting.
Suddenly the radio came to life with an urgent voice " Romeo, this is Fox company do you copy"
" Loud and clear" Bucky replied back to the radio
"Ok listen to me carefully and move quickly" The radio continued " Your position has been compromised and you need to book it on ou..."
The sentance was never finished because a round hit the portable radio. Instantly training took over. Bucky rolled over and picked up his M4A1 and started sending rounds right back. "SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" Bucky cursed, as he shot the nine offenders about 100 meters away. They backed away behind some large boulders to avoid Bucky's line of fire.
"Ok we need to get to better cover!" Kabee shouted as he got his backpack on, " I doubt they were only nine, pretty sure there were more were those came from. "Bucky paused shooting shortly to put his back pack on as well. "Alright" Bucky replied "Lets go!" Bucky turned to go while kaybee threw a smoke grenade to cover their trail, then turned to follow Bucky.
They ran for about two minutes untill they saw a small patch of trees.
"In there, Ill call for back up" Kaybee said as he reached for his personal radio.
"NO! Don't" exclaimed bucky "Didnt they say that our position was compromised, how'd they get our position."
Kaybee thought for a moment then spoke "I guess we are on our own..Lets try to lay as low as we can."
Suddenly from behind they heard a rustle, as they turned to inspect for the source of the disturbance their eyes landed on a small spherical object. Bucky and Kaybee quickly recognized the grenade but was too late. Time seemed to slow as they saw the small but powerful explosion between them.
Very breifly they both felt a flash of warmth enveloping their bodies then cold.
oh... so very cold.
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The Arsenal
===========================================================================
(Staff Sgt.) Kaybee Compton Aka The Reaper (Sniper)
Primary: M40A3 ( Dual purpose Scope w/ night vision capabilities)
15( 10 ROUND mags) 1(10 Tracer Rounds) (7.62 NATO)
Secondary: 2x 1911A1
10(7 Round Mags) ( .45ACP )
Ontario OKC3S USMC Marine Bayonet
16in M1 Garand Springfield 1942 Bayonet
3x MRE
SUPPRESORS
WALKIES
===========================================================================
(Corporal)Rick "Bucky" Martinez (Spotter/support)
Primary: Colt M4A1 SOPMOD( Night vision scope, 40mm grenade launcher, flashlight,)
11( 30 Round Mags)/2( 30 TracerRounds) (5.56x45 NATO)
Secondary:2x 1911A1
10(7 Round Mags) ( .45ACP )
M203. 40mm Grande Laucher= Total 8 rounds
3xM67 Frag Granades 2x roadflare 1xFlashBang
Ontario OKC3S USMC Marine Bayonet
===========================================================================
Spotter Scope
GPS
3x MRE
SUPPRESORS
WALKIES
Time: 0800
(P.O.V) LCorp. Rick Martinez
Everything hurt, my legs, arms, chest but above all my head felt like a bad hangover. I opened my eyes and gazed upon the lush green vegetation around me and then the thought hit me. I rolled over and got on my knees to look for my partner and my equipment.
*tssssssssssssssssssssss*
I sighed "Nothing"
'Alright then! Lets see hmmm... Inventory check' I quickly went through my items. Most of my things are still there, minus one magazine. I changed the mag on my M4 while thinking on my next move. First I have to figure out the direction I was going. I pulled out my compass 'North, ok that works for me' I thought. So I headed North.
(P.O.V) LCorp. Rick Martinez
It had been almost been four hours of walking and while usually this could be done easily it gets a little harder when you have a heavy backpack strapped to your back. I suddenly came to what once had been a castle. I quickly crouched behind some of the bushes in front of me. I examined the castle; from what I could tell the castle seemed abandoned and broken down and crumbling away. It looked medival to say the very least. Although I could probably get a good view form one of the highest rooms and some definitive answers as to where I am. I double checked my wepons, once everything was checked I moved forward. I moved to the base of one of the walls of the castle. Moving along side slowly i made my way to the front doors... or at least where they used to be. I peeked in. Nothing. As I walked in I gazed around the main room. Shattered glass littered the floor the tapestried looked worn down, the images of to winged unicorns were faded... WAIT WHAT! Winged unicorns banners?! I've never seen anything like this, or heard about this at all. I stared perplexed at the banner. Perhaps this is some sort of lost city in a forest of Europe, right? What else could this be? Where else could this be? Still wondering what to make of the banner my objective came back to mind. Should probably check out the rest of the castle before I do anything else. Who knows, I might find somthing that makes sense.
Making my way to a nearby hallway I cautiously peeked over the corner then backed into the throne room. Pausing for a moment I attached my bayonet to the end of my M4, you can never be to careful. Room after room I entered, most were bedrooms, and closets but the last room I entered was library. The place looked dusty but not like the rest of the castle, it seemed...cleaner. So there is people here or have been here, just not recently. I walked over to a random bookshelf and selected a book, I figured if i know the language i must be somewhere I know. The books title read Basics of Magic. I put the book back and turned to another book 'Creatures of the Everfree Forest. "Ok, well at least its in English".
Time: 1500
"Cutie mark crusaders animal trainers!!!!" the three little fillies exclaimed.
"But were are we going to find a untrained puppy?" Asked Sweetiebell. The three fillies paused 'where in tha hay are they going to find some untrained pup?' they thought.
"What if we go Fluttershy's?"
"Those animals are already trained by fluttershy scoots" said Applebloom
"ok then... in that case How bout the everfree?" asked scootaloo
"Isn't that place dangerous?"
"Dont worry Sweetiebell" asured Sootaloo " we wont go in too far"
"But still, Ma sister will never let us go"
"Hmmm...what if we don't tell them?" offered Scoots
"but then they wont know where we went, and if we get lost they wont know where to look!" Exclaimed a panicked looking Applebloom.
"calm down AB well be fine" Scoots reassured her "well leave them a note."
"The Cutie Mark Crusaders!!!" Sweetiebell and Applebloom beamed back.
"And what do we want!"
"Our Cutie Marks!!"
"So lets Do this thing!!!!!!!!" Said scootaloo as the three fillies bound out the small treehouse at the edge of the apple orchard.
(P.O.V) LCorp. Rick Martinez
It was already dark; once I had confirmed the complete absence of anybody else in the castle I headed up to one of the tower rooms. The room still had the roof and a window so that was good, protection and elevation. Yup, good position. I set up my things in a corner and pulled out an MRE 'Beefstake'. "Mmmm, Beefstake" I was hungry, no I was starving! A couple hours of walking and poking around in the castle had sure done a good job of building up his appetite As I waited for the MRE to heat up I walked over and gazed out the window. Out in the distance I could see lights, it was a couple of miles away but he could make in a couple hours. I walked over to my equipment and pulled out a pair of binocular. I walked back and peered out the window with my binoculars and almost drop them. Houses, I saw houses! Yes everything going to be alright. I smiled, my food was ready and I had re-found civilization. I still had the book of Creatures of the Everfree Forest 'might as well pass some time' I thought as leaned against a wall and poped open a the book. After some time I fell asleep on the floor learning about silly creatures like manticores and timberwolves is tiring. soon snow started to fall over the cool dark quiet forest known as the everfree.
Time: 1930
"Ok so mabey we are lost" said scootaloo " but its because of all this snow!"
"You're right Scoots, everything looks the same" sweetiebell added.
"Its already late and its going to get dark very soon so first things first, we need to find some shelter or else were going to freeze!" shivered a cold Applebloom
"Well its a good thing I had my sisters make this!" sweetiebell said as she pulled out 3 candyapple red scarves with the the 'CMC' emblem on the edges. Quickly the two other
"Wow, these are very warm" comented a happy scootaloo.
"Ya! these are the best!" said Applebloom.
"well im glad you like them" Sweetiebell added "because you're going to love these!" she said as she pulled out three CMC capes.
"Did you make these?" asked Applebloom
"I wish! No, im not that good yet, my sistester made them."
"Well Rarity is the premier fashionista in ponyville" said Scootaloo.
With their new outfits in the three lost fillies made their way through the Forest. They were walking for some time when they heard a growl coming from behind them that made a chill run down their backs. With a earpiercing scream the manticores attacked.
"RUN GIRLS! RUNN!!!" The three fillies screamed in absolute terror as they ran.
Time: 1950
"whoa!" Rick bolted upright alert and looking around "could have sworn I herd screaming" 'Strange I must me going...'
Ricky picked up his M4 and hurried to the window with it in tow. Now if things weren't crazy enough now he'd definitely lost his marbles. Down in the front of the castle he could see through his the night vision three small horses(?) running for their lives from what appeared to be a manticore form the book he just read. Needless to say those ponies could be his ticket to information, perhaps the owners might even have a phone he could use. Quickly running out the tower and down to the main floor Ricky picked up the pace when he heard a high pitched squeel of pain.
Ricky burst in the thrown room kicking the door down, instead it exploded in front him. 'Must be cuz its old' he thought. Bringing up his weapon he scaned the scene, in front of him were two of the most ugly creatures he'd ever gazed upon. It seemed like a modge podge of creatures jumbled together by a mad scientist. They were standing over their prey who were huddled in a corner, one apeeared to be bleeding.
"Alright you two" ricky said addressing the two beasts who now had his full attention " Lights out." and with that he opened fire. With an explosive sound the bullets tore through the thick skulls of the two animals spraying bits of brain matter, bones and blood in their wake. The two manticores were dead before they hit the ground.
"Please don't hurt us!" the orange one cried one of them "We'll do anything but please dont kill us"
The two ponies looked sighed in relife then their panic returned " Sweetiebell! oh no, Sweetiebell wake up!"
Time: 0900
The strangest part of waking up was the new limbs I had apparently grown overnight or at least over the time I had been unconscious. Could you imagine waking up and the whole landscape had shifted before you, and then, Bam! wings. To say the very least I was still not used to them. I took inventory of my items and found that I still had the most of the things I started off in the mission with. Well everything except my spotter. 'I hope he's doing alright'. I took out the remaining bullet from the magazine and placed it on one of the slots on my shoulder. I then took the empty mag and replaced it with a new one.
I had two new holes on the back of my shirt curtesy of my new appendages. I thought of removing my outer shirt in order to inspect how the wings had come to appear, but I decided not to, who knows how hard it was going to be to get it back on. The next thought that came to mind was if the new wings were any good. The wings themselves were a big feathery and had midnight blue color to them; almost black but not quite there yet. They were also very soft almost to the point I thought I might as well use them as a blanket. I did thought of removing my backpack, but like the shirt problem I thought it was better not to tempt fate or murphy whichever was worse. I willed the appendages to open and they did. 'Ok let's see what you can do'. I flapped, which came almost instinctively.
For a moment I hovered 4 feet above the ground then slowly I pushed higher. As I kept going I was amazed at that It took little effort to go up. Then my thoughts went back to my recent incidents. Where was I exactly? I had wings now so either I was in a secret under the wraps experiment or I was really far away from home.
In the distance I noticed something like a city but it looked medieval, none the less it was big. I raised my rifle to eye level and peered thru, the familiar cross hairs zeroing in on the settlment Thru it I could see smoke coming from the top of many chimneys. Lowering my weapon I decided that I would go there. I hovered slowly to the ground and was very surprised that It took almost no effort. So I can fly now, cool.
All I got from the walkie was static I decided I would not fly into town but rather walk there, there isn't any point in scaring the people you want help from. I figured they probably had a phone I could use to contact HQ and mabe then get some answers. So I set off on my journey.
Location: Talon Strike Barracks, City of Gyphus
"Alright soldiers listen up the kings daughter was supposed to come back from a small trip with the late hours of yesterday but we all know that is not the case." Aquila said "we have been assembled here because of that. You have been chosen to be here because you are the best warriors, your training has taught you well but you also have been chosen because of your keen intelligence. You may be wondering why so manny are here. Well its because the king is taking no chances. Each one of you has been handed a drawing of the subject so that you may know who we are looking for. Let me warn you right now, we will be headed into Bandit territory, so if there is a coward among you leave right now" Aquila paused looking in to the crowd of fighters; Nobody moved.
Aquila smiled "Good, so let's go save the princess and make our king proud! We move out immediately!"
With a War cry the small band of griffons moved out into the forrest.
Location: Bandit Forrest
I was starting to regret walking, my feet hurt my legs were tiered and my shoulders hurt. I sat down on a rock and went to pull out an MRE but couldn't reach it due to my wings ' Stupid wings, not letting me eat'. I was in the process of trying to loosen my backpack when I heard voices. I stoped and listened. The voice was that of a young woman, she sounded angry and frustrated. The best part about it was the language! oh how I longed to hear it, even if it had been just a couple hours; It was english! I Proceeded to sneak closer hopping to get more information. What I got was way more than I bargained for; in the center of what appeared to be a shody camp was a griffon shackled and tied to a post. With the wings on my back I probably should have seen it coming.
"Let me go!" It Cried to one who was walking around it. I presumed the tied up one to be a her due to her voice.
"No, I don't think I want to do that" said a masculine voice coming from the free griffon " you see" It said " Your father would pay nicely to get you back"
So it's a hostage situation Kaybee observed from the bushes.
The free griffon suddenly came very close to the tied up griffon and said who said " You know, I've never done it with a princess before, but theres always a first for everything"
The tied up griffon began to squirm and struggle against the binds that held her only to be held tightly by the free griffon who had moved to her backside. "Now princess I will make you beg" It said.
It was too much. The whole thing was just wrong. With my weapon raised I shouted, "Get on the ground and put your hands up!" as I walked out of hiding.
The offending griffon stopped and looked around. Without warning it pulled out a knife and placed it across the tied up griffins' throat.
As promised the griffon toppled over dead as the tied griffon gave a shrill of fright at the sight she beheld.
"whoa whoa, calm down its all right I wont hurt you" I said to the frightened griffon "easy there". I moved forward and she backed up as much as she could still frightend.
"My name is Kaybee Compton" I said as I bent over to her " Whats your name?"
"My name is Gilda, Gilda Goldwing" she said cautiously. I nodded in recognition.
"Ok Gilda, Im here to help so don't worry ill get you home safe, but first im going to need to cut the ropes that are holding you. Can you do me a favor and close your eyes for a moment please?" She nodded and closed her eyes. I Pull out my knife and preceded to cut the ropes of her.
"Ok you can open them up now" I said
There was a small silence then she spoke up and softly said " thank you"
"Hey, no problem" I said " its what I do".
"Yo boss is everything alright we heard..." the voice faltered as its gaze landed on us and the dead griffon. I quickly turned to Gilda and ordered "GO NOW!!!". She took off running a few steps and then looked back at me conflicted "GO!!" I shouted. Tears had formed in her eyes "Im sorry" she said and ran. I returned my gaze to the incoming griffons; there were at least 10 of them, all of them armed with swords and daggers some of them even had battle axes.
I slung my rifle on my back as best I could and pulled out my two Colt 1911 pistols. With each pistol in hand I preceded to address the griffons who had fanned out in front of me.
The shock of seeing their friends go down bought me enough time to cut their numbers to four before they moved. Darting to the side they closed the distance between us. I crouched putting two bullets in a griffon to my left and then rolled over to avoid being cleaved in half by an axe. I sent a bullet in the skull the wielder as I got to my feet. Great that leaves two. I have 1 bullet in my left pistol and four in my right. Putting away my left sidearm I pulled out my Ontario Marine Bayonet.
"Guys, It dosen't have to end like this" I said "Just surrender now and we can talk it out".
As expected this didn't help instead it seemed to make them angrier. They both moved to my sides. As they both lunged at me I jumped up and my wings propelled me upward temporarily surprising them as well as me. Thru the surprise my training took over as I dispatched another griffon with the rest of the magazine. Repeating the process I put away the spent pistol and pulled out my M1 Garand Springfield Bayonet. The last griffon stood frozen among the bodies shaken but still standing.
With that he charged, it was desperate attempt but an attempt. I dodged his sword as I danced around him. Wildly he swung his sword in a high arc trying to decapitate me, I ducked under it and closed the distance between us. Before he could recover I plunged the Ontario in his throat. The griffin froze and then went limp as his body lost its life. Using the last bullet I put the griffin out of his misery, dying by your own blood was a terrible way to go.
Once I finished retracting my knife from the body I observed my handiwork. In total all ten griffons plus their leader dead. I replaced my empty pistol magazines and went to examine the dead. Seeing how these griffons had attacked me with only swords I figured that their civilization was at least to the point where they could do metalworks, I guess my assumptions were confirmed; I was in the Medieval times. I may not have been the looting type but needless to say I went thru the bodies rummaging for anything useful. Pretty soon I was going to need more bullets so obtaining metal was a priority. Most of the griffins had nothing but their weapons and mabe a small bag of what I assumed were gold coins.
I rounded all the swords I could find and stuck them in the dirt so that they were standing in a neat row along with a two knives ann an axe. As for the currency I counted 443 coins. I took the coins and placed it in one of the pouches I had taken from one of the griffins. As I walked toward their camp I took notice of the strong smell of blood, looking for the source I found that I was indeed the source of the smell. I wasn't necessarily covered as much as I bathed in it. 'I have bathed in the blood of my enemys' I thought, I smiled; funny I never thought I would ever use that one. I continued to walk to the camp and rummaged thru the tents; naturally I walked towards the biggest one first. I was happy to find several maps and a journal,'this is good' I thought 'the more info the better'. Before leaving I took a sword form the tent, the apperance of it was that of a blackened steel katana and the best part was that it came with its very own sheath.
I continued walk to another tent smaller in comparison to the previous one but still large enough for me to walk in without bending over. I presumed it to be the barracks of the newly dead griffons due to the many beds that the tent was lined with. I moved to the last one and saw it lined with what appeared to be beef and fish jerky. I reached forwards and grabbed one of the beef jerky and took a cautious bite out of it. Yup, definitely beef jerky. Suddenly I heard a whimper. Dropping the jerky I pulled out one of my pistols.
There was no response except another wimper. Cautiously I moved outside ,weapon drawn, and to the source of the sound. I came around the corner and was delighted to see what I found.
