Resistance [Joseph]

“You ready, Joseph?”

“I’m not sure about this plan, Tess…”

“Great, let’s GO!”

My sister vaulted over the concrete barrier we were hiding behind, drawing her two submachine guns and firing them wildly at the enemies standing in front of her. I rolled my eyes as I placed my sniper rifle on top of my cover and fired several shots at the enemies standing on the sidelines that she hadn’t noticed.

Yep, leave it to Tess to run straight into danger like that, I thought in annoyance, moments before a blade pressed against my throat.

“Now you’re dead, and without your covering fire backing her up, so is your sister,” a condescending voice said simply. I sighed heavily as an air horn rang through the replica city street, and Tess held her guns at her side and groaned.

“What did we do wrong this time, Drayke?” she asked sadly.

The man standing over me sheathed his sword and smiled slightly, pushing a strand of his blonde hair to the side. He wore a red-trimmed, black longcoat with a black sheath slung over his shoulder, and his eyes were a bright green with a leader-like fire within them; especially his left eye, which was crossed by a scar that stretched down his face. “Your brother was so focused on protecting you that he forgot there were people trying to kill him as well,” he explained.

Tess pointed a thumb at one of the sandbag dummies that surrounded the training room. “I don’t think these guys would be able to sneak up on him like that,” she said with a slight giggle.

Drayke’s humorous look faltered, being replaced by a much more serious one. “Yes,” he said slowly, “but BlackTech’s soldiers might. You two may be a team, but you must also remember that you are in the fight, too; not just watching from the sidelines.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “But, I’ve got to admit, your accuracy has improved dramatically, Joseph,” he added, sounding impressed.

I smiled as I stood up, holding my rifle at my side. “Practice makes perfect,” I replied humbly.

Drayke smiled. “Indeed,” he said quietly. “Hey, there’s a meeting after lunch; why don’t you two go get some food, and I’ll see you in the conference room after?” he said with a friendly smirk.

I widened my eyes. If Drayke Blackwood personally invited you to join in a planning meeting, that meant you were guaranteed to be on the roster for the resulting mission. “Yeah, sure!” I said eagerly, and turned to see my sister vaulting over the concrete barrier to join us.

“We’re going on a mission?” she said excitedly, “YES!”

Drayke held up his hands calmingly. “I never said that,” he replied slowly, “but yes, you are. Just be careful, and pay attention during the meeting, okay?”

I nodded quickly. “Yes, sir!” I said dutifully, and led my sister to the mess hall.

~-~-~-~-~

Before the war began, the base we currently occupied was nothing more than a run-down stronghold from a war thousands of years ago. Now, however, thanks to Drayke’s leadership, and a little help from some Equestrian magic, it was a fully-stocked headquarters for the Resistance. See, in the pony-human war, there were two major sides: the BlackTech Initiative, who wanted to take over Equestria so humans could have a place to live and so they could harvest Equestrian magic, and the Equestrian Alliance, who wanted to drive humans back to Earth and have things go back to the way they were before.

And then, there was the Resistance. Led by Drayke Blackwood, we were in support of a new world, one where humans and ponies could live together in harmony. Unfortunately, that couldn’t happen as long as BlackTech was in the picture, so my sister and I have been training day and night to fight them.

Of course, we have made some pretty good friends along the way, including…

“Look out below!” A voice cried as I entered the mess hall, and a cyan blur from the corner of my eye warned me of the coming attacker. I quickly ducked and rolled as Rainbow Dash flew past, skidding to a halt across the marble floor. The pegasus smirked at me. “You’re getting better, Moore,” she said, sounding slightly impressed.

I bowed dramatically. “Well, it isn’t hard when you use the same tactic every day,” I said teasingly as the blue pony galloped over, and I hugged her warmly. Before coming to Equestria, I wasn’t one who liked hugs, but my time with the Resistance had warmed my heart and made me a much happier person. “So, what’s on the menu today?” I asked suddenly, standing up straight as Dash led me to the service area. Thanks to Equestrian magic, we were able to generate food that both humans and ponies could eat, without killing any animals or compromising nutrition.

“Same thing as always,” Dash replied matter-of-factly, “whatever you want!”

I smiled contently. “Hmm, I think I’ll have some pizza today,” I said with a polite nod to the pink unicorn standing behind the counter. She nodded happily as her horn glowed brightly, and a slice of pepperoni pizza materialized onto the plate in front of her. “Thanks!” I said as I shuffled out a few bits from my pocket and placed the on the counter, and followed Rainbow Dash and my sister to one of the several tables that dotted the room.

“So, did you hear?” Tess asked Dash excitedly, “Joseph and I are going to be chosen for a mission today!”

The cyan pegasus looked up, surprised. “Really?” she asked disbelievingly, “That’s great! Now we can charge into battle together!”

I held up an interrupting finger. “Uh, I won’t be doing any ‘charging’; I’m a sniper, remember?” I pointed out.

Dash rolled her eyes. “Come on, Moore; one of these days, you’ll be joining me in the primary assault instead of hanging back and staring through a viewfinder,” she said, giving my shoulder a friendly nudge.

I shrugged. “Maybe,” I agreed, “but until then, I’ll keep my distance.”

I heard the sound of someone politely clearing their throat, and turned to see Cadence, the second-in-command, staring at us expectantly in her black bodysuit. “The meeting starts in ten minutes,” she said gently. “You should finish up if you want to make it in time!”

Dash nodded appreciatively. “Thanks, Princess,” she replied.

Cadence smiled and rolled her eyes. “Rainbow Dash, you don’t have to call me ‘princess’. Even if I hadn’t stepped down from the throne when this war began, we still know each other well enough to refer to each other by our actual names!”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Sorry; thanks, Cadence,” she corrected as the pink alicorn walked away and turned back to us. “Man, Drayke is one lucky guy; he was able to score himself a princess!” she said, surprised. “There’s only one other human that was able to do that,” she added reminiscently.

I was about to ask about this ‘other human’, when Tess suddenly spoke up. “Hey, we should probably get going,” she pointed out, “we don’t want to be late for our first mission briefing!”

I nodded in agreement as I stood up. “Yeah, let’s go!” I said quickly, and led my friend and sister out of the mess hall and to the briefing room.

~-~-~-~-~

“So, as you can see,” Drayke said, pointing to the map being projected on the wall behind him, “this building gets scheduled deliveries every Wednesday at three P.M. If we can hijack one of their delivery shuttles a good distance before it arrives and hide in some of the crates, then they’ll literally be bringing us right into their base, and we can hack in and steal all of their plans!”

Rainbow Dash stood up. “Why don’t we just attack?” she said, annoyed. “If we hide in the crates, they’ll search them before they bring us even close to the main terminal! And on top of that, what if someone in the truck contacts the base before we can knock them all out? There’s too many risks in this plan, to be honest,” she explained.

Drayke glared at her. “Rainbow Dash, I know we’ve been friends for a while, but even I have to say that that is a stupid plan,” he said in a low voice. “Have you already forgotten what happened the last time we tried to rush into a BlackTech building?” he snapped, his temper suddenly flaring as everyone in the room flinched.

The cyan pegasus shrunk back sadly, her ears folding back as she lowered her now-tearful eyes. Drayke quickly walked over and wrapped his arms around her gently. “Hey, hey, I miss her, too,” he said quietly. “It’s my fault Pinkie is gone, but there’s nothing we can do to change that. All we can do is keep fighting BlackTech, for her and all the ponies lost in this stupid war.”

Dash nodded, wiping a few tears from her eyes. “So, we hijack a transport shuttle and hide in the crates?” she asked quietly.

Drayke nodded, and looked around at the several people and ponies in the room. “But, Rainbow Dash brought up some good points. What if they search the crates? What if they alert the base before we can successfully take out the drivers?” he asked aloud as he rose to his feet. “That is where you come in, Joseph,” he said, turning to me and smiling proudly as the slide changed to a map of a road. “You are going to sit on this ridge here,” he said, pointing to a small hill several yards away from the road, “and take out the driver. If there’s a passenger, you’ll have to line your shot up just right to take them both out at once.”

I stared for a moment, panicking that almost the entire plan sat on my success as a sniper. “Yeah,” I said confidently, “no problem. I’ve made harder shots in training.”

That wasn’t entirely false, either; have you ever shot a round and hit a target standing directly behind you? I didn’t think so.

Okay, it was a complete accident, and occurred under completely unrealistic circumstances, but it happened nonetheless!

“And you, Tess,” he said, turning to my sister, “will be dealing with the guards checking the boxes. In training, how many people have you been able to hit in a five-second span?” he inquired.

Tess shrugged. “Anywhere between twenty-five and fifty,” she replied proudly.

Drayke nodded happily. “Then taking out the guards investigating the crates should be child’s play,” he said simply. “So, we have a plan: we hijack a truck, ride it to the base, and sneak in to steal all of their data. Then, we might finally have the upper hand against BlackTech!” he cried, and everyone in the room let out a happy whoop as Drayke dismissed us.

I stood up and walked over to Drayke. “Hey, Drayke,” I said slowly, “who’s ‘Pinkie’?”

Drayke stared ahead sadly. “Pinkie…” he said sadly, pausing as if he was remembering his entire life in that brief moment, “Pinkie was one of my oldest friends; hell, one of my only friends when I first came to Equestria,” he sighed. “On one of our earliest raids on a BlackTech security office, she was killed by an assassin who caught us off guard. We escaped without any other casualties, but it was one of the gravest defeats I have ever suffered.”

I nodded understandingly. “I’m sorry,” I said sadly, “I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose someone so close to you.”

Drayke sighed heavily. “Not as sorry as I am,” he replied. “It’s my fault she died; it was my plan, and I should have been more careful.”

We sat there in silence for a few moments. “Well,” Drayke said suddenly, “I had better get back to work. We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow!”

I grinned. “You’ve got it,” I said quickly, and walked out into the hallway where Dash and Tess were waiting for me.

“Good old Drayke,” Dash said with a slight laugh, “he tries to be all tough and leader-like, but deep down inside he’s really just as soft as a cloud.”

I nodded. “I didn’t know he had been through so much,” I said sadly, “it’s surprising he can lead such a tight-knit organization like this.”

Rainbow Dash stared ahead sadly. “You don’t know the half of it, Moore,” she said quietly.

“What do you mean?” I inquired, giving the rainbow-maned pegasus a questioning look.

She glanced up at me, and there was a strange sadness in her eyes; it was a look that just didn’t seem natural on her usually headstrong, determined face. “Drayke Blackwood wasn’t always a hero, you know,” she said simply. “In fact, when he first appeared in Equestria, he wanted to destroy or enslave us all. But, his time here let him open up and be more cheerful, and now… well, look around!” she said, gesturing to the fortified compound we were strolling through.

I nodded in agreement. “Well, if someone with an origin as dark as that can become a legendary war hero… well, I guess the chances of us winning this aren’t all that small, are they?” I asked aloud.

Tess laughed. “As if we needed odds on our side; we’re the good guys!” she said cheerfully, “the good guys always win!”