The Conversion Bureau: The Palladium Wings

The Conversion Bureau: The Palladium Wings

Chapter 21

By the Waters of the Nile

A modified Pegasus-class Drifter entered the airspace of what used to be Egypt.  A flag was hoisted up, revealing to be working for no nation or cause, but one that had a gold bar and a semi-automatic rifle in a white background. This was the universal flag of the Treasure Hunter.

The Treasure Hunter or Hunters were a group of humans or ponies who seeked to make a profit by going into the Colonies and looking for objects of value. What got more money were firearms, due to the halt of industry and more ammunition being made for all sorts of guns, they were in high demand.

The team descended via Hind-D helicopter.

A Circassian, a Abkhazian, and a Terek Cossack exited the helicopter. They all nodded silently, agreeing to wait until nightfall to scour the target. The Circassian pulled out a map of the Cairo district along with a letter from a S. Quill who reported them the base’s location. According to him, there was a whole stockpile of weapons that the Egyptians left, the Equestrians were planning to destroy them, but could never access the armory due to the blast doors.

There’s a base in Cairo that the Egyptian Military locked out before they took over. Sadly, they are using the base as barracks along with a hangar for zeppelins that patrol the skies.  I suggest that you don’t try anything against the Zeppelins if you encounter one; I doubt that you’d bring a rocket launcher to pluck the bird out of the sky.

The doors to the armory are shut. They have tried to get in but have failed to do so. I know you’ll find a way to blast them. An insider has told me that they estimated about 1 ton in firearms and ammunition for them. They are getting desperate in trying to blow the doors, they know the guns are worth money and they don’t want the privateers ending up with more guns or weapons.

One more thing I have to say. Those statues of ponies are not what they seem. They’re golems. Look at the crystals in their eyes. If they change color, they will attack you. They have no sense of self-preservation; they will keep attacking until you die.

I bid you good luck.

Signed,

S. Quill

P.S: Head to the Blue Nile, a group of Defectors will secure your escape.

Crickets began to chirp. The city that used to be Cairo was now asleep, save for the Royal Guard and its Newfoal Battalion that conducted the night patrols. A zeppelin with a search light scanned below for any crime or signs of humans scavenging for objects of value or wildlife that came to look for a feast.

The trio began to move across city. They avoided confrontation, violence was the last resort. They all came with silenced MP-446 “Viking” pistols with overpressure ammunition for a clean shot to the head.  The Cossack went ahead, checked his corners, and signaled the others to come out.  As they moved across the old streets, they heard something. The Circassian turned, he gasped. A patrolling zeppelin was heading their way.  They took shelter in the ruins of what used to be a mosque; they kept a look out for the patrolling zeppelin.

They exited as the zeppelin left the area.

They continued their way across the city.

Reaching the base, the three climbed through the gate. Nodding, each one pulled out their primary weapons. The Circassian favored the punch of the 6.8x43mm round, so he carried a piston operated M4 carbine with a special mechanism to slow the rate of fire, making automatic fire easy to manage.  The Cossack carried an old Colt Monitor, an improved version of the Browning automatic rifle which possessed a pistol grip and a Cutts compensator to cut down most of the recoil produced by the heavy but effective .30-06 round. Despite having 20 rounds, they counted on him to provide the heavy fire against heavily armored enemies.  The Abkhazian being used to the wonders of Russian engineering chose the A-91 assault rifle with a commercial 48 round Kalashnikov magazine, due to the rifle accepting the magazines of the mass-produced and well proven assault rifle.

They entered the base.

They noticed the base was reworked around and given new decorations.  Stained glass windows of Celestia and Luna along with the Elements in various poses, as if they were heroes of Equestria. One window portrayed the two Earths, one facing each other; the middle between the planets was an eight pointed star, surrounded by a field of cosmic magic, forming a hourglass shape. Runes decorated the stained glass windows, each one telling a story.  The Circassian smashed the stained glass window, the others understood how he felt…many friends and relatives were kicked out by the ponies…

There was no need to play it stealthy. It was time to kill them and escape with the treasure. As they moved around the base, they all checked their corners.  A Newfoal pegasus panicked, a long burst of 7.62x39mm fire put him down. Doors opened, revealing Guardsponies. They all gasped at the presence of humans in the base. One Newfoal brought out a vial of the serum. The Cossack responded instantly, firing several shots.

Blood pooled over the body of the Newfoal.

The Earth Pony Guards dashed towards them.

The Abkhazian grinned as his weapon roared for several seconds. Empty casings bouncing on the floor.

One Earth Pony gave a slow moan of pain. The other one gave its last steps. The last three dropped dead.

“Let’s clear the rooms.” The Circassian said. “Spare no one.”

The three split up.

The Abkhazian refused to waste precious rifle ammo. Putting the rifle away, he pulled out his pistol, removed the silencer and entered the room. Holding the pistol with one hand, he walked as if he owned the place. Newfoal Guards yelled as the pistol fired its shots at them.  A few who were Native Equestrians/Colonists were not spared a bullet.  As the bodies dropped, the man laughed sadistically as another spent casing was ejected. “Their screams are so…erotic…”

The Circassian flipped his rifle to semi-automatic. Several mares who were taking their break from guard duty found him, his eye never leaving the sight. They reacted by trying to tackle him. Three shots to the head eliminated them. They gave a strange moan…as if they found some pseudo-pleasure in dying. He examined their mouths. They lacked canine teeth, a sign that told Newfoals and Natives/Colonists apart.

The Cossack gave insane cackles as he fired from the hip, spraying .30 caliber fury into them. “AAHAHAHAHAAHHA CRY SOME MORE! CRY SOME MORE!” The gun clicked empty after 2 seconds. With a groan, his hands removed the spent magazine and inserted a new one. Pulling on the bolt, the automatic rifle roared again. The screams of pain and agony were drowned out by the gun fire.

The next set of doors was kicked open.

The process repeated for several minutes.

Dead bodies littered the floors and walls. Blood formed small pools near the dead bodies. Faces of fear and shock were plastered, frozen to forever relive their last moments. Humans coming in with their guns, putting lead projectiles quickly. To testament this, spent bullet cases of various sizes and calibers decorated the floors.  The smell of death mixed with that of burnt gunpowder created a sick mixture. To a pony, it was the aroma of an unnatural chaos.

A mare guard entered the base, she screamed as she saw the dead bodies. Something began to beep; she wondered where this sound coming from was. The beeps got louder followed by a deep silence. Fire was all she saw, then nothing.

The three stumbled at what seemed a large garden.  It was full of flora that came from Equestria, along with hybrid roses that came in all colors of the rainbow. Artificial waterfalls, aqueducts, and fountains dotted this area. In the center, a large crystal statue of Celestia lay vigilant, as if she was admiring the hard work her little ponies placed for her.

As they passed through it, the eyes began to glow a blood red.

The Circassian stopped. “Get out of here.” He said.

“What?” The Cossack turned around.

“Do it… I’ll handle it from here.”

“Is he crazy? We can’t do this without him.”

The statue came to life, it began to walk towards the trio.

“Just go! I’ll deal with it. Move!”

The two started to sprint.

The Circassian turned. Putting his rifle away, his hand pulled out the shashka. Doing a salute, he twirled the blade with ease.

“You come to my little ponies’ colonies to bring death and terror to them!” The statue said with anger. “My heart is angry, and my patience has run out of options! If you will not accept Ponification, then death shall be your undoing.”

The Circassian taunted.

The statue began to rapidly trot towards the man.

With ease, the man jumped out of the way and delivered several slashes to the crystal statue. Celestia’s voice expressed pain.  With a stomp, several shockwaves were released, sending the man to the floor. Raising its forelegs, she said several insults.  The man reacted by quickly slashing the forelegs. The crystal construct backed away, fearful of the man.  With an angry grin, her wings spread with a yellow load. “How about this!?”  Crystal shards flew out towards him.

The man twirled his sword rapidly, deflecting the crystal projectiles to random directions.

“Not bad for an ape with a sword.” The statue aggressively commented.  With an angry neigh, the construct dashed towards the man.  Her horn began to give off an auburn glow.

The sword and horn clashed, sending sparks flying. Both began to grunt, the Circassian gave a grunt as he let the faux Celestia push him a bit. Taking his time, he started to breathe calmly. Feeling timing was right, he performed a back flip. Twirling the sword, he threw a insult in his native language. The statue began to move towards him.

He also did the same.

The horn’s tip started to move in a circular motion. “HORN DRILL ATTACK!”

The Circassian performed a slide, passing under her. Everything went into slow motion for him. His eyes saw weaknesses in her stomach. Whipping the blade several times, chunks of crystal flew out. The statue screaming in pain.  Getting back up, he got ready for a downwards slice. The statue reacted quickly and gave the man a buck. He crashed against a wall.

The pain was unbearable, his ears buzzed, his heartbeat was getting slower. But it wasn’t over until one of them went down. Grabbing his blade, he performed another twirl. Seeing the sparkles up ahead, he began to run towards them. The crystal statue began to fire several blasts of magic, explosions lifting dust and debris into the air.  Getting close to it, he jumped, remembering all what his family taught him when riding on the backs of horses.  His feet were planted on the statue’s back.

Faux Celestia reacted by trying to throw him off her back.

The Circassian violently slashed the back of her head.  “Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Go back to the Hellhole you came from!” He said in Arabic.

It threw the human off.

He landed on the ground, his sword away from his grasp.

The crystal statue got its forelegs ready for a stomp.

With a smile, the Circassian pulled out a RKG-3 grenade from his belt. Removing the pin, it was inserted into the opening of the statue’s abdomen. Quickly getting back on his feet, he grabbed his sword and run away from the explosion.

The sound of shattering glass was heard.

He sighed in relief. Something was giving off a blue glow.

The man approached the source. It was some sort of crystal heart, it was beating still. The fragments began to float and assembled themselves again into the alicorn. He growled. “Can’t you stay dead for once!?”

The statue went for a tackle.

Moving out of the way, the Circassian sprinted towards the statue. Performing several horizontal slashes, chunks began to fly off. Pulling another grenade, he inserted and ran off to a safe distance.

The explosion destroyed the construct.

Dashing to the crystal heart, the blade was whipped on it several times. The man gave several war screams as his blade hit the heart. Delivering more blows to it, several cracks began to appear on its surface.  Lifting his right leg,  it was brought down with whatever strength he could gather. The satisfying sound of glass shattering filled his ears. A rainbow liquid was all that remained.

Throwing the sword into the air, he pulled out the scabbard. As it was going to land, the scabbard caught it. It slid quietly; the Circassian finished the storing of his blade. He smiled.

Exiting the garden, he dead bodies scattered everywhere. Newfoals and Colonists, they were not spared a bullet.

The armory doors were sealed shut.  Meeting up with his comrades, they briefed him on the situation regarding the armory doors.  They were locked shut, there was no way to make them budge.

With an idea in mind, the Cossack pulled out his charges of C4 along with his grenades. Asking for the rest of the grenades, they looked at him curiously. Ordering for the grenades, the two handed the explosives over.  Preparing the breaching explosive, the Cossack ordered them to move to a safe distance. They did so.

A loud explosion echoed across the hallway.  Checking the door, a opening wide enough for them was made.

Their jaws dropped in awe. Thousands of crates were there, each one containing prizes that would be worth a fortune. With excitement, the men separated. Removing the top portions of the boxes, they found firearms of various makes and eras. The Circassian pulled out a Port Said, a copy of the Swedish K submachine gun. “200 to 300 Escudos for one.”

The Cossack opened a crate. Pulling out a unknown rifle, he whistled for the Circassian to come examine it. He listened to what was being told to him. It was a Hakim Rifle, a copy of a Swedish design. The rifle used 8mm Mauser ammunition rather than the standard 6.5 Swedish ammunition. How frequent was this rifle? Not much as the Circassian continued.  They were valuable. They could sell for 500 Escudos each.

“Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! We hit the Jackpot!” The Abkhazian flailed his arms. “We’re rich!” He pulled out a Remington Rolling Block along with a bullet. “We have Remington Rolling Blocks!  .43 Egyptian! Do you know how much these will sell!? We’ll have enough to upgrade our ship! We can finally buy those 30mm autocannons.”

The Circassian and Cossack couldn’t help but smile. They examined the weapons. All they needed was to clean the Cosmoline and polish the wood parts of the rifle, along with rejuvenating the ammunition, the rifles would be good as new.

They called in for their ship to come and pick up the treasure.

The base was cleared out of any occupying ponies, allowing the transfer of the former Egyptian military equipment go unmolested by the Guards.

The airship took off into the night skies. Little did they know that were being followed by a small flotilla of two cruisers and a group of zeppelins. With the human crewed vessel on their sights, they engaged pursuit of the ship. Despite the crew’s anxiety to attack them, the Commander of the task force mentioned they will attack once they exit the White Nile, the attack will commence.

The morning sun came into view. The Captain of the Ship, an Uzbeki gave a small morning prayer followed with a blessing to his crew for the faithful service they gave since the first maiden voyage.  The crews listened, and took off to do their daily activities. A voice in the PA chimed in, announcing it was breakfast time.

The clock announced it was midday. As expected, the ship took a turn into what used to be Khartoum.

A beam of magic missed the airship by a few inches.

The spotter on the crow’s next began to scan the skies for anything in particular. He gasped as he found a light blinking several times. Zooming into the light, several Equestrian airships were tailing them. Lowering them, he picked up the phone and punched in the bridge’s number. “Captain! We have an enemy task force behind us! Two cruisers and I estimate 5 zeppelins! They are launching pegasi right at us! 100! No! 190 pegasi heading towards us at full speed!”

Alarms wailed all over the ship.

“This is your Captain speaking!” The Uzbeki’s voice chimed on the PA. “We have been tailed by an Equestrian task force. All crews are to now engage in combat protocols! Anti-Air, begin calibration of your machine guns sights to moving targets. This isn’t like a battle we had before.  There is no 20 minute time limit. We must endure it.”

“5 minutes before contact!” The spotter announced. His voice heard all over the ship.

Hatches opened up across the ship, revealing the hodge-podge of weaponry. M2s followed by M1917 machine guns along with DShKs dotted most of the ship. Several ZU-23s protected the bow,  middle, and rear deck of the ship.

The pegasi were getting close.

The machine gunners began to get anxious.

Seconds later, one of them flew in circles.

The machine guns erupted. Bullets of all calibers began to fly around. The pegasi tried to land to attack the crews but found it impossible due the bullets flying everywhere. Several crewmates came out, firing out their submachine guns and assault rifles into the air.  A gunner gave an insane yell of pleasure as the machine gun released lead shot into the air. The others could not hear him, the sounds of guns firing drowned out the orders.

A crewmate holding a SKS with the 75 AK drum magazine began to pull the trigger, any pegasus that flew by was instantly a target.

“WE CAN’T GET CLOSE TO IT! THEY’RE SPREADING MACHINE GUN FIRE LIKE CRAZY!” One pegasus yelled.

“THEY HAVE TO RELOAD! THEIR AMMUNITION IS NOT INFINITE! LOOK! ONE OF THEM IS RELOADING!”  Another one pointed out.

A machine gunner gave a scream of frustration as the weapon jammed.  He looked up to a pair of pegasi. Both landed, the impact pushed him off. A scream of panic was heard, nothing could be done for him.

A Finnish man with a Calico M955A fired at the two.  They dropped dead in seconds.  Looking at the entire flock, if he could put it that way flying around like that. Firing a few bursts in the air more began to move out of the way of his shots. One pegasus came into view, taunting him with a silly face. The Finn noticed the canines. “DAMN NEWFOAL! DIE!” Spent bullet cases littered on the floor. “GO BACK TO THE HELL YOU CAME FROM!”

Blasts of magic began to hit the ship from behind.

The ZU-23 protecting the rear end swiveled to the direction of the attacker. The sights were calibrated towards one of the offending zeppelins and released a storm of lead towards it. The shells exploded, releasing flak in the air.

An AK-74 fired at the sky. A pegasus took a bullet to the wing. It plunged down into the world below. The Ukrainian smiled as he flipped the selector to full automatic, releasing short bursts at the sky. Quickly reloading, he flipped back to semi-automatic, hoping they would hit another one. A pegasus got ready to land, two shots from the rifle brought the flying pony down.

“How much longer till we reach the Blue Nile Falls?” The Uzbeki asked.

“Two more hours!” The Navigator responded.

The ship began to shake.

“We have enemy infiltration on the lower decks!” A voice on the PA yelled. “Shit! They are carrying the potion! Open fire!”

The pursuing ships increased speed.

The machine gunners noticed that their guns were hissing due to overheating.  Pulling out their pistols, they fired at any landing pegasi.  Those who wielded rifles fired bursts at the winged ponies before they could land, as strategy goes that the loss of blood would kill them before the fall does. Another group tried to land, two rifle-toting men sprayed automatic fire.  They retreated to the insides of the ship.

On the lower decks, a single man with a PK machine gun fired at the infiltrators. The bodies started to pile up. His left hand was getting tired of holding the weapon and the other was feeling the weight of the ammo.  Another group of infiltrators entered, the machine gun released another spray of fire, the barrel turning red due to the constant firing.  Dropping the gun, his pistol fired out several times. He smiled at the sight of the dead winged pony.

“ENEMY INFILTRATION IN BARRACKS!”

“WE GOT 7 PEGASI INFILTRATORS IN THE STORAGE!”

Despite the ship being surrounded by pegasi trying to break in, and 5 zeppelins closing in along with two cruisers, the Cossack and the Circassian calmly walked out. Seeing as the situation turning hopeless, the two nodded. Pulling out their twin shashka, they got into a offensive stance.

“They have swords! They can’t do anything!” The lead pegasi grinned. “Everyone! Get those two!”

They landed, surrounding the two.

The men ran towards the pegasi, bringing their swords up and down. Blood flew everywhere. Their jaws dropped wide, one pegasus charged towards.  The Circassian took a deep breath, everything slowed down. Seeing the incoming pony, he prepared his blade. As it got closer, everything was automatic. Up. Down. Left. Right. Down. Left. Right. Whip.

The pegasus split in various pieces.

“DEMONS!” One of the pegasus said. “THESE ARE NOT HUMANS! THEY’RE DEMONS!”

The Circassian twirled his blades. “NOW!”

The two ran towards the next pegasi. Preparing their swords for the strike, they gave a yell as the whipped them with the cold blade. Blood and limbs flew everywhere. The pegasi turned pale, how they moved their swords against them… cutting them like they are nothing.

The zeppelins got closer. Several Earth Pony and Unicorn Guards with naginatas boarded.

“Pole weapons? I thought they didn’t have those.” The Cossack grinned. “I always wanted to fight with one of those.”

“Bring it on ponies! I can do this all day!” The Circassian announced.

The naginata wielders began their attack.

The Caucasian sabers blocked the incoming blades. Sparks flew out the weapons. Breaking the lock, the two men delivered a brutal decapitation attack. Heads began to roll. Several pegasi began to retreat, others just watched.

The Cossack sheathed his blades and picked up the fallen naginata.  Swinging the blade in several directions, screams of pain and agony filled the air. A burly Earth Pony guard tackled the Terek and bucked him in mid-flight. Landing near a machine gun, the man coughed out some blood. His abdomen was on fire... but something told him not to give in. Slowly getting up, he picked up the pole weapon. With a fire burning in his eyes, he ran towards the offending pony. Preparing the blade, he rammed it straight to the enemy’s skull.

The Earth Pony screamed violently. Blood began to river out.  The onlookers gasped, a cold fear began to grasp their spines. The human began to push the blade further, the pony’s yell was calling for mercy. The human then pulled the blade out, revealing the impaled brain. The body dropped, blood forming a pond.

More pegasi began to retreat out of fear.

Others landed to try their luck.

Throwing the Naginata away, the Cossack pulled out his twin blades.

The Circassian split a pegasus in half.

The bridge crew was looking at the conflict through CCTV.

The Uzbeki smiled. “These two maniacs are genius.” He picked up the ship’s phone. “Attention all hands! Viktor and Blaneshu are on top deck fighting off the ponies. I want all available hands to help them out. Grabs your swords and knifes. Those zeppelins present a problem, shoot them down!”

More dead ponies began to litter the deck of the airship.

The two were tired, but the fight went on.

The doors exploded, several crew members arrived with sabers, knives, along with firearms. Several of them brought rocket launchers along with specialized warheads.  Loading the projectiles into the launcher, they took aim. Rockets hissed out. The gondolas of the zeppelins exploded, sending them off course.

A pegasus took a knife stab to the throat.

Another one took a few shots to the head.

It was over in 45 minutes.

The airship reached the Blue Nile Falls. The crews sighed in relief. The spotter reported seeing a zeppelin bearing a friendly flag. The Helmsman adjusted the Drifter’s course and straight into Lake Tana. Surrounding the lake was a town composed of pro-human ponies who have given shelter and food to the many human-crewed ships for years, since they’re much isolated from the rest of the world, the humans are a source of income and news from around the globe.

Shore leave was announced for a week.