Chapter Three - Las Pegasus

Fifteen Years Ago - 986 A.C.S.
Las Pegasus
Las Pegasus Power Plant

"What the fuck is this shit?" Onyx explicitly spoke.

"I know, I know," Grey replied in an annoyed tone, "Don't worry, those deserters will pay for their cowardice and disloyalty."

"Drop off's in two minutes," Giannus Towers, the team's intelligence officer informed them. The Griffin sat up front in the co-pilot's chair beside Broody Cloud, the pegasus pilot.

The helicopter shook from turbulence.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Angel Caller burped, holding tightly to a strap and cradling his stomach with his other hoof.

"And I thought you couldn't get any greener; was I wrong," Darklon remarked, earning a side glance from the earth pony.

"We go in, neutralize all threats, shut down the computers, and keep the missile from launching," Grey explained. "We do this last mission, and we can all pretend Rainbow was a dream when we get back home."

"Just in time to go back home to the cuties," Onyx retorted.

"I've seen many a female dragon, Glaz, can't say I'm impressed," Darklon commented.

"That's because you can't handle a Dragoness, even if she were bound and gag. Hm. . . that reminds me. . ." Onyx trailed off.

"Here we are!" Giannus Towers informed them over their headsets. "So far, the deserters have not primed the missile nor have spotted us. Failure is not an option."

Onyx slid opened the helicopter doors, lowered a rope, and jumped out first and glided silently to the ground.

"If you see my electric bill in their, I won't be sad if it 'disappears,'" Broody joked in their ears.

"I'll see what I can do, Broody," Grey chuckled. A hoof stopped him from roping down after Darklon. He turned and saw Angel looking at him with determined brown eyes. "What?"

"Let me go. I can still fight!" Angel assured him.

Grey frowned at the dehydrated stallion, "We rescued you an hour ago, Angel. Just take it easy. Keep Gia and Broody safe."

"But"

"That's an order," Grey cut him off and rappeled down the rope. He waited for Broody to disengage from the area.

With the other two following him, they quickly sprinted the one mile to the power plant. Dark Eidolon spent the whole ride to the power plant memorizing its layout. They had to enter from the west side of the building and go to the subfloor to disable the primary and emergency generators. Also on the west side, a van was acting as a communications hub for the deserters. They would neutralize the van first, using his patented disruptors to silence the comms without alerting them to their presence.

Since the war started, this mission felt like the most important in his career. In the deserter's hooves, they threatened to launch the missile at Canterlot if the 'perpetrator's of that injustice were not brought to trial.' Darklon smiled on the inside at the irony of the situation. The military personnel stationed here disliked how the government used the "peace treaty" as a ruse to assassinate the Queen. The fuckers fail to realize that the Changelings turned the meeting into an ambush and the assassination was a last ditch decision.

There were three guards around the black van Onyx spotted through his night vision scope mounted on his sniper. A quick scan of the side of the building revealed two sniper sentinels.

"Mute, hack the cameras. You know the drill," Grey ordered in a hushed volume.

"Aye, sir," Darklon holstered his submachine gun and set the black case on his back on the ground with his red magic. He quickly disabled the cameras and alarms for the building and looped the video of the cameras as to not bring up suspicion. "Linking you up, Oracle," Darklon spoke into the comms.

"Live feed established," Gia affirmed, "I'll keep you posted. Out."

"Roger. Red One, out," Grey replied. "Glaz, take your shots."

"Roger, roger," Onyx replied. He silently eliminated the snipers first. Seconds later, the three guards around the van dropped to the ground.

"Move up!" Grey ordered. They closed the three hundred yard gap quickly. Grey held the van's door handle with his golden magic. "Do your thing," he nodded to Mute.

Darklon unsheathed his six-inch dirk and lunged in when the door opened. He tackled the surprised stallion to the ground and ended his thrashing with the dirk to his heart. Darklon twisted the blade out and cleaned it on the soldiers green uniform. He levitated a black box from one of the pockets on his back and attached it to the roof of the van.

"Tango!" Glaz hissed over the radio.

"Drop him!" Grey barked.

"Lights out," Glaz reported.

Mute stepped out of the van and into the crisp night air, "Done."

Thatcher walked around from the opposite side of the van. "Let's stuff the bodies in the van."

The mission continued flawlessly like all the previous missions. Red Squad was the most successful out of the seven Rainbow squads, with an unprecedented one hundred percent success rate. They went it, eliminated all hostiles, and left without a trace, with surgical precision. With the central computers down all that was left was the firing sequence computer on the top floor. When they were done disabling that, they would head to the roof and blow up the missile.

Grey pulled out the snake cam and stuffed it into a chest pocket with a frown.

"What's up, Thatcher?" Glaz questioned, noticing the change in his squad leader.

"I dunno. I just got this sinking feeling in my stomach all of a sudden," Thatcher confided to the two.

"Ditto," Mute confirmed, "Something feels off. This was too easy."

"With as many personnel that defected, not many are here. Somethings not right," Glaz added.

"I marked the two tangos in the room. Stack up." They did as they were ordered and when he gave the signal, Glaz and Mute opened the doors. Mute shot the tango on the left, and Thatcher shot the tango on the right. The room had three empty desks, and another door was on the opposite wall.

"Did you think we would let your crime go unpunished?" a feminine voice spoke over a speaker. Her voice instantly registered as Changeling.

"Pretty much, yeah," Onyx answered mockingly.

"Laugh all you want," her voice grew sharper, "We will have the last laugh!" A section of the opposite wall began to sink and revealed an empty room with Broody and Giannus tied up and gagged. The room was filled with C4.

"No!" Grey stepped towards the window, but Mute and Glaz pulled him back before the explosions claimed him.

The female Changeling cackled in their ears over their comms.

"You fucking bitch!" Grey roared. "Show yourself, so I can fucking gut you!"

"Infiltrating Rainbow was easier than I expected. And after all these years together, you never suspected a thing. You should have left me to die, but I knew you would come back for me. Predictable as always, Thatcher."

"Angel," Grey sneered.

"I couldn't find any info on you three, but the other operators didn't fair as well. I would love to stay and chat, but I have places to be and governments to topple!" A second later she returned on the comms, "Oh, consider the missile a parting gift. I suggest heading outside to see the fireworks for yourself."

"Quick, to the roof!"

Grey Vulcan busted down the steel double doors to the roof and saw the helicopter buzzing away. They went to the missile, and a countdown blinked on its LED screen.

"Stop it, Mute!"

"On it!" Mute dropped the black case on his back beside the missile. Mute feverishly tapped on the keys. "It is no use! It would take hours to crack through the shutdown firewalls."

"Fuck!" Grey kicked the missile in anger.

"I wish I had a big gun to shoot that bitch down," Onyx grimaced.

A light went off in Grey's head. "We do have a giant missile."

Mute caught on to Thatcher's insinuation, "Yes! Laze the helicopter, and I can lock the missile on it!"

Thatcher pulled out a camera-like gadget from his side and aimed it at the escaping helicopter. He peered through the green screen and within moments it flashed red. Grey smiled wickedly down at Mute who nodded.

"Firing!" Mute announced at the press of a key.

The three dashed away and hit the deck as hot smoke and flames shot over them. The rocket shot off and roared away. They sat up and watched as it homed in onto the helicopter. Within seconds they celebrated as a massive explosion echoed throughout the canyon.

"That was for Broody and Gia!" Grey thrust a hoof towards the crashing helicopter.

Darklon pressed his hoof on Thatcher's and Onyx covered their hooves with his claw. "For Broody and Gia," they said in unison.

Grey sat on his haunches with a heavy sigh.

"So. . ." Onyx broke the silence, "is getting to know your two names out of the question now?"

Grey huffed and shook his head.

"I am more concerned with how we are getting home," Darklon voiced.