Chapter 1 - Actionable Intelligence
The mystery of where the young pegasi goes after they failed their flight test in Cloudsdale has been lying around for decades. Some believes it, some doubt it, some refused to believe it. No one, in the course of history however, could prove its existence. The Rainbow Factory, a visceral living hell that hid itself behind one big, beautiful lie while leaving a river of blood along its way.
No one in Equestria have ever figured this mystery out for such a long period of time. Rogue workers that made their way out of the blood stained facility are too traumatized both physically and mentally to even recall those memories. It wasn’t until one day, one brave rogue worker, dodged and dashed through all those electric tasers and sharp knives to his way of freedom. He, with all his courage and spirit, decides to speak for the innocent ones and stop this madness.
He landed somewhere in Ponyville only to be found severely wounded, and was rushed towards to A&E department of Ponyville Hospital. He demanded to meet an air force representative among seeing the doctor. He exclaims that it is an emergency and he needs to see him at once.
The doctor first thought that he was out of his mind, but quickly sensed that it was no joke. And so he contacted Eclipse, the Head-Commander of the Wonderbolts Royal Air Force, at once. Eclipse was dead confused by the situation, but he still headed to the hospital at once. As he arrives, this rogue worker’s situation is shockingly horrible: multiple broken bones, numerous internal organ injuries, countless bruises and cuts all around his body. He doesn’t even seem to be alive at all, he looked like he’s half dead.
“Someone please give me a sitrep, what is going on here?” Eclipse asked. He also sensed the feeling of complete seriousness.
“Sir…You have to listen to me…” The worker weakly spoken. Eclipse immediately leaned his head near this pegasus, eagerly listening to what he had to say. “The colts and fillies… they die. The failure… weather factory. Grinder…middle, guards…weapons…east…” He tried to tell Eclipse as much as he could.
Eclipse was stunned among hearing this. He once thought fighting off Nightmare Creatures is creepy, but this is a whole new level of creepiness. The worker just kept speaking to Eclipse as the doctors tried their best to fix him up. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it through. He died 3 hours after being found due to severe injuries. He was speaking for all these hours, but he forgot to say one thing before he left this cruel world.
Who is the master mind behind all of these visceral madness?
Eclipse doubted about the whole “Grinding fillies and colts into rainbows” thing. However, he did notice that young pegasi randomly vanishes around him. And those that disappeared were never seen again. Everything seemed real now. What should he do? He can’t just lockdown the entire weather factory all at once, as this will draw suspicion in the public. He knew that in the constitution the pegasi did, does and will have the authority and power to produce rainbows by any means to maintain weather and climate balance. Princess Celestia even signed that constitution herself. She wouldn’t believe such a ridiculous thing either, would she?
Eclipse, being the pegasus in Equestria that has the highest power and right in the military, and one of the most prestigious warrior in the entire nation, knew he has to take action. He’d be damned if he just keeps his mouth shut and let it go. He knew how painful it is to lose one wing, or get burnt, or get shot. He sure wouldn’t hope anyone else (Especially the young ones) to experience that.
He heads towards Naval Command Centre in the middle of Luna Sea. It is one big warship and a mobile marine, navy and air force base that Eclipse investigated hundreds of thousands of bits in developing. He has his own office there. It was mostly deployed for big operations, or anything Eclipse was doing that he doesn’t want anyone to know.
He sat down in his office and took a deep breath. He doesn’t need to worry about privacy or keeping it secret purposely, as only a few soldiers are constantly on the ship, and they’re mostly in the opposite side of the ship. However, he still made sure to lock the door, just in case anyone decided to bust in for whatever reason. He took out a few files from the file cabinet and started to search for suitable ponies for this job. The one that are the best of the best, not afraid to sacrifice themselves for the others’ lives. He doesn’t want too much soldiers that are currently serving in the military though, as those required proper reports to the central government. He found quite a few that is capable for this job:
Orion Pink, a bat pony that somehow lost both of his wings. An expert survivalist and participated in a few previous hostage rescue missions as a freelancer.
Blue Amber, a normal pegasus and news reporter. She is one good specialist working in the battlefield to provide news update to the public and knows very well about signal transmission.
AppleAle, a standard earth mare. She was once a medic and served in the military, but was discharged due to injuries. She now works in a local bar as a bar tender.
He contacted them one by one secretly and got his team pick them up in different locations to the mother ship. He also got two snipers as support and a few more ponies as the command team. For the military team members’ report, he simply claims that it is “Investigation”. The Task Force is now formed, callsign “Mercury”. Operation Spectre is now a go.
Mission Objective: Shut down the facility, rescue the young pegasi and capture the master mind of the Rainbow Factory. All without being noticed.
Chapter 2 - The Debriefing
The mission debriefing quickly began as the task force were officially formed. Eclipse, being the commander of the task force, efficiently mapped out the objective building and came up with a plan. He had been burning hours upon hours in his office, trying to figure out the best plan that gets the team to complete the objective, and walks out of there alive.
“Welcome to the task force. Operation Spectre is now officially a go. As every one of you may have known, we have received actionable intelligence about the Rainbow Factory. It is true.”
An unnerving tranquility suddenly
“I think all of you have at least see one or two of those young pegasi disappears around you. And just as you may expect, they are being sent to the Rainbow Factory. Those maniacs recycled the poor bastards into Rainbows. Pretty twisted and dark, eh?”
Everyone in the conference room nodded. They knew what they signed up for.
“Hawkeye, Apex. You two are on the sniper team. Provide overwatch and sniper support for the strike team.”
“Roger Wilco.” The two snipers responded. They’re apparently experienced veterans, as scars all over their faces had spoken for themselves. They didn’t seem to speak or react much to the meeting. Classic silent assassins.
Hawkeye and Apex had been fighting with Eclipse for at least 8 years. They’re genuine soldiers that are currently serving in the United Equestria Marine Corps. The other three he secretly invited are all freelance, but are now mercenaries of the team. He guaranteed a high pay for the mission, but pretty much none of them came for the bits. Orion came for vengeance, Amber for social service, and Ale took this job because she wants to help the young pegasi.
“AppleAle, Orion Pink, Blue Amber. You three will be in the strike team with me. Orion and me will be the main attackers and bash through the front lines. Ale is the medic, cover her for all cost. Amber, you do your work and record everything in that hell hole. Any questions?”
No one responded to this question, which is a good thing. That means everyone knows what they’re doing. Hopefully.
“So, what are we up against? Place ring any bells?” Orion asked. He looks like a bat pony, but somehow there aren’t wings on him. If Eclipse’s losing one wing in a fight is spine-chilling, think about Orion. You couldn’t even imagine what in Equestria had happened to him.
Eclipse swiped a few times on the table and typed something on the keyboard. A holograph simulation appeared in front of everyone’s eyes. Apparently designed with some real life scanning and from the worker’s words.
“This bloody place is a fortress. One main entrance from the Weather Factory lounge, which is heavily guarded. A vent on top of the facility, which will be our best bet. “
“Security office and the staff quarters on the far east. The atomizer, storage silos and incinerator on the west. The grinder is dead centre with the control room south of the location. There may also be cages, armory, conveyor belts and stuff like that all around this bloody place.” Eclipse reported.
“So, what’s our play?” AppleAle asked. Surely that is the important part of the whole mission. She was an expert physician that saved countless soldiers’ and civilians’ lives.
“We’ll sneak in there through the vents. Proceed towards the security office and take the guards down so we can go low profile around without anyone seeing us. Then we shut down the other machines in the control room, secure the fillies and colts and rendezvous with exfil team on the roof.” Eclipse explained the plan to the finest detail, making sure everyone knew what to do inside the objective building.
“We’ll kick this off tonight. According to the intel a new batch of flight test candidate just hit the field. We’ll have to act quick before they turn those pegasi into Rainbows. Any question? If not, rendezvous on top deck at 22:00. Dismissed.”
The meeting was dismissed. Everyone stepped out of the conference room and geared up before dinner. AppleAle, although being an earth pony, is also able to join this operation with the help of technology. She received boots that would give her the ability to walk on clouds. Eclipse sighed as he calibrated his bionic wing. It reminded him how much it hurts when his wing just got torn off. He shook his head to clear his mind and continued on what he was doing.
The team quickly had dinner and midnight arrived right after that. Eclipse ran a final equipment check and sprinted to the top deck. A chopper started its engine, symbolizing the beginning of this dangerous mission. The task force is already there, all armed and ready for command.
“Everyone got your last words and dying wish?” Eclipse asked the team. He knew they might not make it back, so he had to make sure everyone prepared for the worst.
Everyone slowly nodded. They already put their dog tag and their last words in a box in the conference room before they came up to the top deck. Everyone knows the risk of this mission.
“Alright then. Load up.”
The team quickly hopped on the chopper, and Eclipse quickly followed. The choppers swiftly take off and head towards their objective.
“Solar, this is Mercury 0-1. We’re Oscar mike. ETA 30 minutes.”
“Roger that Mercury 0-1. Good Luck. Solar out.”
