Chapter 10: Preparation
Alright everypony. I need you to gather your supplies quickly. We've got a long journey ahead of us

The plan was simple. Fly up to Thunderhead in a stolen vertibuck and pretend to be escorting a prisoner, Specter disguised as a zebra, to Shadowbolt Tower. Once inside I'd get into Rainbow Dash's office, find out what I can, then we'd make our stealthy escape, regroup with the real Azel on the surface, and continue our search for the mysterious Nightfall. All that we needed was a vertibuck, and we were about to get ourselves one.

"I don't see how we're going to steal a vertibuck from this place." We were peeking over the top of a ridge overlooking the former Equestrian aircraft base. It had taken almost a day and a half to get here, but hopefully it would be worth it. "I mean, I'm not seeing a single vertibuck. They might not even have one."

"Yeah Hotshot, Specter is right. Even if there was one, I don't think we could pull it off. There's too many soldiers to sneak past and I'm not comfortable with fighting our way through everyday ponies just doing their job. And there's no way we could fly it away without being noticed."

Hmn, this definently isn't going to be easy. If only we could take one that's already outside the base. Wait a second, that's it! "You're right, new plan. I'll go in and connect to the battle-net while you guys be ready to distract them in case I get caught. Once I find a suitable spot, we go there and get ready to hijack ourselves a vertibuck."

"You're sneaking in alone?"

"Good point. It'll look less suspicious if you change into a pegasus and come with me Specter."

"First off, that isn't what I meant. Second, how are you going to sneak past them without notice? You're practically wearing a shining tin can."

"We're going through the front door, blending in. Besides, who said I'd be going in like this?"

Five minutes later Specter, disguised as the same red pegasus from the raider encounter, and I were casually walking to the base, out in the open. I had removed the Daybreak armor and was dressed simply in the Enclave power armor uniform I had been wearing underneath. Specter had nothing but his saddle bags and holstered pistol.

"I'm really not liking this Hotshot. We're too exposed, there's no way they aren't going to notice us."

"That's the point. Why would anypony care about two soldiers just walking back to headquarters. Nopony is going to pay any mind to us."

"Looks like he is." Specter murmured, pointing to a dark red, almost crimson, pegasus approaching us.

"Follow my lead." I whispered back as he landed in front of us.

"What were you two doing off base?" He was wearing a full suit of power armor, leaving only his wings, mouth, and milky white mane exposed.

Okay, let's see if this works. "Red Rocket lost some of his gear earlier. I went out with him to retrieve it." Specter guestured to the saddlebags on his back as I explained.

"Who authorized it?"

"We didn't get authorization sir. We didn't expect to be gone for more than an hour."

"I don't care how long you were gone. We need to know where all of our-"

A voice from inside the building called out, "Operative Lighthooves, you might want to see this!"

"Ugh, report to me in the supply room in an hour. Understood?"

In near unison, 'Red Rocket' answered "Roger" while I gave the proper "Yes sir." Hearing our confirmation, he made his way inside the building. "Roger? Seriously?"

"Oh don't you start. You're the one who was in their military, remember?"

"Does that mean saying 'Roger' is common practice down here?"

"No, I-...whatever, it worked didn't it? Let's just get what we came for and get out."

"Right, follow me."

"Good, cause I have no idea where to look, or what are we looking for."

"We need to find a terminal that's connected to the Enclave network. I should be able to hack one and find out when the next patrol in this region is."

"Then we ambush the patrol and steal the vertibuck?"

"Not so loud, but yes. You, me, and Lily take the vertibuck to Thunderhead and infiltrate Shadowbolt Tower."

"What about Azel? We're not just leaving him behind, are we?"

"I can't think of any way he can come with us without taking any unnecessary risks. Namely, him falling through the cloud layer."

"I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem facing that danger."

"I know he doesn't, but I don't want to take that chance. We're relying on luck enough as it is."

"I guess so. What's he supposed to do in the mean time?"

"I don't know, I'll talk to him about it later. Just focus on keeping an eye out for a terminal."

"I would think that a terminal wouldn't be outside. Why are we looking out here?"

"Wishful thinking. Not sure we want to go in there with the Operative but I don't see another option. Let's go." We went inside and were uninterrupted as we walked further up the main radio tower.

"Why are we still going up? We've past like three terminals already."

"Those are just connected to this base. What we need is a- oh, there's one!" I trotted inside a room with one wall that had been completely demolished and turned on an inactive terminal.

"You sure that's what we need? Last I checked, terminals aren't made of clouds."

"Maybe down here in the wastes, but back in the Enclave we use these cloud terminals all the time. Lot more clouds than metal up there."

"Yeah, the whole world's noticed that. It still doesn't make sense how a puff of cloud can replace wires and electricity."

"It would take to long to explain, just keep watch in case somepony comes by."

Enclave Personnel Recognized; Corporal Hotshot
Connecting to Military Network
...
Connected

"And if somepony does come by?"

"I don't know, stall them or something. You'll figure it out." With a roll of his eyes Specter went outside the room, giving me the ability to focus on the terminal.

Access Patrol Schedules in the Hoofington Region
...
Access Denied
Clearance Currently Stripped From User

Right, forgot that the council had tried that to change my mind. Lucky for me I have a way around it.

Log Out
...
User Logged Out

If I don't have permission, then I'll just become somepony who does.

Enclave Personnel Recognized; Lieutenant Sentinel
Connecting to Military Network
...
Connected

You're always there to help me out when I need it dad. Hopefully they trace the hack to this location and leave you out of this.

Display Vertibuck Patrol Schedule
Hoofington Area
...
Checking Authorization
...
Accepted
...
Next Patrol in 1600 Hour(s)
City of Origin: Thunderhead
Vertibuck Number: TH-091215

There were more patrols assigned for later, but I figured that sixteen hours would be plenty of time to prepare an ambush point somewhere along the patrol's trip.

"How's it going in there?"

"I found us a ride. Still need to find out where it's going. Just focus on keeping watch."

Display Hoofington Patrol Route
...
Accessing

The text on screen was replaced by a sickly green and black map of the Hoofington area. A path of dotted lines traveled in what was almost a circle around the outskirts of the map, making detours at spots which seemed random to me without knowing what was there. Desperately trying to recognize any landmark on the undecorated map, I lamented on how much simpler this would be if I was wearing Daybreak and just downloaded the route. Eventually I decided to pick a strip of the path when the vertibuck would go beneath the cloud layer and memorize where it started and ended.

"Hotshot! We need to hurry!" Specter exclaimed while somehow keeping his voice low.

"I got it, don't worry. What's wrong?" I asked as I signed my dad out while subconsciously repeating the coordinates.

"That operative is coming down the hall soon! He was about to when somepony got his attention." I took a quick look around the room, checking to see if there was any last minute things I needed, seeing something hung on the wall that my heart skip a beat.

"Quick, this way." I trotted down the hall the opposite way from where we had come in with Specter close behind. At the end of the hall, I looked for the closest open window and sprinted towards it. After taking a quick look outside to make sure we wouldn't be noticed I jumped out and quietly glided down the two-story building. Upon landing I stopped to catch my breath, Specter joining me a second later. "Did he see you when he passed by?"

"No, but what was that about? We could have easily walked out without raising suspicion."

"Not likely, he would have stopped us in our tracks."

"Why's that?"

"Because as soon as you mentioned him, I noticed a uniform hung on the wall with 'Lighthooves' sewn on it."

A little while later, Specter and I were arriving back in the camp. Lily had decided to set it up in case we were going to be at the base for a while. As we approached, Lily had spotted us and came up to me asking, "Sooooo, how did it go?"

"Just as planned. Specter and I snuck in, got the schedule, and got out without getting caught."

"Well, glad you two are still in one piece. What's next?"

"We need to get moving soon. Don't have much time to catch the vertibuck on it's patrol."

"When is it coming?"

"In about 1500 hou-"

"Hotshot, I understand what '1500 hours' means and all, but we aren't in the Enclave. You can say a little after six tomorrow morning or sometime after lunch or some other arbitrary time if you want to."

"Whatever. Point is, we have a quite a ways to travel and not much time to prepare once we get there. Have you seen Azel?"

"He said he was going to try and scavenge for food nearby. I'll start getting everything pac- Specter! What are doing with my bags!?" Lily flew over to confront him about whatever he was doing. Not wanting to get dragged into this day's argument between the two, I took off to find Azel.

My search didn't last long as I spotted Azel at the base of the hill we were camped on. Seeing a good opportunity to talk to him alone, I flew down next to him. "Hey Azel! Everything go well while we were gone?"

"Was pretty quiet actually. Surprised that we weren't found by a patrol or something."

"Yeah, they seemed pretty lazy on security when we snuck in."

"So did you two get whatever we needed?

"Yep. Had a close call, but we know where the next vertibuck is flying over."

"Great, let's get these supplies to Lily and get ready for the sky."

"Actually, that's something I've been wanting to talk to you about. You sure you want to come with us? Not that I'm trying to ditch you or anything, but...I don't think you should come along for this."

"Why not?"

"Well...you don't exactly have an affinity for the clouds like the rest of us, and I don't think you'd be able to stay anywhere up there while we are in Shadowbolt Tower. Sorry but, I just don't see any way to make it work without risking our success."

"Okay. I have something I can do while I wait until you return."

"Really? You aren't going to object or say 'there has to be some other way' or anything?"

"No, what you've said makes sense and I can't think of a way to solve it. What made you think I would?"

"Well, I mean...it's a common thing in stories and uh...never mind. Let's get back to Lily and Specter."

With that we made our way back to the temporary camp. Thankfully, whatever disagreement Lily and Specter had been fighting over had seemed to be resolved for the moment and we were able to pack up and get on our way quickly. Traveling at a somewhat quick pace in order to give us time to prepare and after stopping to rest during the night, we made it to the spot I had chosen about six hours before the estimated time that our ride would arrive. Taking advantage of the spare time, Specter quickly found a comfortable spot and fell asleep before I had the chance to ask anything of him. Lily on the other hoof had decided to go look for any herbs that might be nearby, stubbornly declining Azel and I's offer to go with her. That left the two of us with nothing to do but sit down and wait. Thrilling, I know. Luckily, we found things to talk about in order to pass the time.

"What exactly do you think we're going to find once we get to Nightfall?"

"I don't now. Nightfall has been around for more than two hundred years, anything could have happened during that time. It could have been found long ago and we'll have gone through all of this only to find an empty old bunker. Heh, maybe there's some lunatic just like me calling himself Nightfall and prancing about the wastes. What do you think?"

"I think that it's been untouched this whole time, especially if it was as well hidden as Daybreak was."

"I'm not sure it was really that well hidden if some Enclave lackey was able to just stumble upon it. I'm not sure I even know what all this thing can do!"

"Like the thing that healed you back in the Steel Ranger territory?"

"Yes, exactly! How in Equestria can this suit heal me? I'm not sure if it's an advanced form of magic or some super rare tech or what, all I know is that randomly I glow and then feel better!" sigh "Don't suppose you know what it could be. You know about any kind of dark zebra magic or something like this?"

"I wasn't really a student of 'dark zebra magic'. Most of my time I spent learning the arts of the warrior. Aside from the Proditor curse and zebra alchemy, my sword is the most I've been in contact with magic of any kind."

"Right, you've got the cool-looking fire and lightning sword. How does it do that?"

"I don't really know how to explain it. Like I said before, I'm not very familiar with zebra magic. According to legend, Dragon's Tooth was the weapon of a mighty warrior, one who was around long before the great war. About a thousand years or so before then. The warrior was very powerful and skilled, but he wasn't always that way. It wasn't until he was contacted by Exirune that he became legend."

"Exirune?"

"One of the stars. Specifically, one of the lords of nature's destructive forces. You can probably guess what he has influence over."

"Stars? You mean, like the ones up in space?"

"Yes, what other stars could there be?"

"I don't know, it's just that...you zebras really believe that stars are sentient beings and stuff? I thought it was all just pre-war propaganda that the Ministry of Morale had made up."

"Of course. Stars are tied to everything that happens. It was the fear of their champion's rise to power in Equestria that had forced us to drastic measures."

"By 'drastic measures' do you mean nearly wiping out the entire world in a salvo of balefire? What champion was worth stopping so much that you needed to bring about the end of the world?"

"Nightmare Moon, formerly your Equestria's Princess Luna. Somehow she had tricked all of Equestria into following her. We had to stop her before she could carry out what the stars had had planned for the world."

"Like what?"

"It's destruction. Excluding a very small few, all stars come to bring about chaos and death upon the world. Taking over Equestria was the first step in their final fate for us."

"If stars are so evil, why do zebras worship them?"

"Aside from one tribe, we don't. We fear them. We fear that one of them will eventually succeed in bringing about our destruction. Unfortunately, there are many that unknowingly end up becoming agents of their will, such as Luna and the original owner of Dragon's Tooth."

"What happened to the original owner, did he bring about eternal famine or something? Revive the Wendigoes?"

"When Exirune first approached the warrior, he claimed that he was the first defender of the warrior's nation and had chosen the warrior to teach and equip in order to take his place. The warrior believed him, and was granted this sword and powerful abilities as a gift in return for his servitude. But what he didn't know was that Exirune was using the sword and it's owner to steal energy from across the world, until eventually when it was powerful enough to cause the equivalent of the bombing that happened 200 years ago. The warrior discovered Exirune's treachery and killed himself with the sword, that way Exirune could no longer use him as a conduit. With the circuit broken all the energy Exirune had stored now had nowhere to go and redirected into Exirune, crippling him. But the star was and is still alive, his magic was still active in the sword."

Azel told me this story by writing a portion, waiting until I read the whole thing, then erasing and writing the second part.

"So the sword was just there where the warrior had died for more than a millennium until you found it?"

"Not necessarily. An ancient shaman found it shortly after the event, and hid it away out of fear that Exirune still had domain over it. On an assignment from the Caesar, I was sent on a quest to find it and bring it to him. After almost a year of searching, I finally found the shaman's hiding place. When I reached out to retrieve the sword I was shown a vision by the shaman's magic that he had placed long ago. It told me that it was not safe to return the artifact to the Zebra Empire, but I was a fool and ignored the warning thinking that the vision had been a trick of the stars. When I returned, I learned that the Caesar planned to use the sword to carry out the will of a star. Realizing my mistake, I stole the sword and ran as far from the Empire as possible. Then I met you."

"Wow, quite an adventure. So, does this Exirune still have a connection to Dragon's Tooth?"

"His magic still powers it, but no. He holds no domain over it nor me."

"Well that's a relief. Glad there wasn't some ancient evil connected to Daybreak when I found it." Taking a look at the surrounding area, I noticed Lily flying back. I saw that she was flying faster than her casual pace and had an expression of urgency on her face. I warned Azel, "Go wake Specter. We might have some trouble on the way." and flew to intercept Lily. "You okay? What's wrong?"

"Just saw a Vertibuck coming this way, they'll be here and then past us any second! We need to do something now!"

What!? They shouldn't be due for another 2 hours! Ugh, too late now, focus. "Don't worry, we can make this work. Go tell the others what's going on. Have Specter change into a pegasus and act injured while Azel hides and gets ready to ambush them when they're distracted."

"What about me?"

"You just stay hidden, it needs to look like zebras attacked us for this to work in the long run. You got all that?"

She nodded, her panic somewhat subsided, and flew over to convey the message. Looking in the direction she came from, I spotted the Vertibuck and flew into it's field of vision. Once I was sure I could be seen I let myself fall about a tail length before catching myself and pointing to where we had been waiting, an Enclave signal meaning 'pegasus down, need pick up'. Catching the message, I flew back to Specter with the vertibuck close behind. Arriving back I saw the familiar disguise of Red Rocket lying on the ground and flew over to him.

Knowing that the vertibuck would catch up quickly, I asked, "Lily tell you the plan?"

"Don't worry about me Hotshot, this isn't the first time I've pulled this kind of scam." He gave a small smile and fluffed the wing we wasn't laying on, which before then I hadn't noticed had bullet holes in it. Seeing my recognition on the state of his wing, he asked, "What's the signal to shoot?"

"I'll find a way to work in Thunderhead when talking to them. When I do, change into a zebra and attack. Oh, and please try not to kill them." Hearing the vertibuck land behind me, I whispered to myself, "Showtime."

"Give him space to breathe! What happened?" A pegasus in an Enclave officer's uniform leapt out of the vertibuck, which was still in the process of fully landing, and went to inspect the wounded Red Rocket.

"Zebras. We were flying not to far from here when they seemed to leap out of the rocks and attacked us. We were able to pull back out of their fire but one of them got off a few lucky shots on my friend here."

"Don't worry, we'll help you deal with those stripes. But first let's help him into the vertibuck." The officer and I worked together to move Specter into the vertibuck, him giving off a groan of pain as we did so. Wonder how many times he's done this ruse? "Whirlwind, Cloud Trail, get ready for take-off soon. We're going to give some zebras some payback. And would one of you bring the medkit already?!" As we set Specter down I noticed a fifth green dot right outside the vertibuck, meaning Azel was about to strike. "Is he a soilder? Where's his armor?"

Ugh, hate to do this to these everyday ponies. "The feather-brain didn't think he'd need it and left it back at Thunderhead." Instantly, Specter twisted himself to his hooves, kicking the officer in the side while doing so. A pegasus carrying a box marked by the familiar three butterfly icon, presumably one of the pilots, had happened to walk out of the cockpit just as the attack started. Specter, who by now was completly covered in stripes, drew his pistol and fired a shot into the pilot's foreleg. The officer recovered and tried to lunge for Specter but was countered and thrown against the side of the vehicle. The other pilot called back to us asking what was happening when he was cut off by a portion of the glass shattering from Azel's swing and the attack that followed. In a second Azel was inside the cockpit and had made a nasty cut into the pilot's front leg, who was knocked out hitting his head as he fell. Specter had focused his attention back on the first pilot and fired again at the injured leg and causing him to wince in pain. Azel seized the opportunity and followed up with a jab at the pegasus's backside, which was probably a pressure point considering that he instantly fell over from it. The officer was struggling back up, pistol drawn and pointed at the two that were now grouped together, when I hit him on the back of the head. My blow knocked him to the ground and he fell unconscious upon impact. "Whew, good work. Lily, all clear! Come out and make sure these guys are all right!"

"Got it!"

"Specter, make sure we've got everything we need to go. Azel, find something to tie Specter up in, something strong if you can." At my last comment Specter seemed to start reconsidering the plan as he left to go pack up camp. Lily nearly ran into him as she rushed into the vertibuck, her bag of medical supplies in tow.

"Whose injured?" I pointed to the pilot that Specter had shot.

"He was the only one who got shot. The other pilot got sliced on the leg and I think the officer is just unconscious."

"Oh, I- sure. You know, if you were just going to knock them out I could have helped."

"I'm sure you could, but it was absolutely essential that both of us seemed to take no part in this attack. We need to bring these pegasi with us to Thunderhead alive and trusting the two of us. If some guard doesn't believe our story, their recountings of the attack should do the trick."

"Now, I'm very happy that we're not killing any Enclave troops just to get some info about a long lost project and all, but when were you going to fill the rest of us in on this little double-agent scheme we're apparently pulling."

"This was a general idea of a plan that I had been brainstorming ever since we left the outpost. I was planning on discussing a better one with everypony while we were waiting for our ride to show up. Obviously, things didn't go as expected so I just kinda went for it."

"Well as far as improvised plans go, I'd say this is just about as close to perfection you can get. Just try not to make a habit of it."

Footnote - Level Up!

New Perk! - Enclave Protocol: You've learned what to say and when to say it when dealing with anypony of rank within the Enclave. All speech-craft checks made when interacting with a member of the Enclave gets a permanent +40% for success.

Skill Notes - Sneak Level 30, Unarmed Level 30

Author's Note

Yay, first chapter of the summer! Hopefully with school being out I'll be able to get these chapters out to you guys a bit faster than the pace I've been going before. As usual I'd like to give credit to kkat for the original epic tale and thank you to everybody that's been reading my work. Welcome to summer everyone, and have a great day!