Paper Cut had never been to Manehattan and was very quickly beginning to realize why this place had been designated as a "dead sector." Nothing lived here. Any and all signs of life had been long covered by the snow that buried entire buildings up to their fourth or fifth story. The buildings themselves were so weathered at this point that they seemed more like natural formations rather than things that were built by the hooves of ponies. The glass that once occupied their windows was gone leaving behind only the dark unseeing sockets of their skeletal remains, towering over the ponies ominously and proving to them just how small they were in comparison.

Dead. That's exactly what this place was. The buildings were dead. The ponies that lived here long ago were dead. The society that had once existed was dead. And yet Paper could not shake that cold feeling that they were being watched, followed, and stalked. It didn't help that Manehattan had been the setting for many horror novels that he had regretted reading late at night.

"You okay?" Bastion asked, noticing his friends shaky breathing.

"What? Yeah! Totally. Just.... nervous is all."

"First time in Manehattan?" Foxtrot asked.

"No! Of course not," Paper answered a bit too quickly. Nightfall and Bastion both knew otherwise. Paper had been a member of their team ever since he joined up a year and a half ago, and they had never come here with him before, but they knew that he'd never admit that this was in fact his first time, especially not to Foxtrot.

Nevertheless, Paper couldn't deny the fact that he was uneasy. Something about this place was wrong. He could feel it in his bones.

"If it's any comfort," Star spoke up, "this is my first time in Manehattan as well." It really wasn't any comfort at all. If anything, it only annoyed Foxtrot, who now felt like he was baby sitting.

"Just make sure to keep an eye on the rear from time to time," Nightfall instructed. "There are plenty of places for something to sneak up on us from."

Yeah, no shit. Thanks for the reassurance. Despite his doubts, Paper kept on trudging through the snow, shaking the excess build up of ice free from his snowshoes whenever they cut through a building. Upon doing so, he couldn't help but stare down into the darkened corners and what was left of stairwells that lead down under the snow. What secrets lied below their hooves, he wondered.

In the time of their construction, the interior walls of these buildings would have been made of wood and drywall, but the elements had seen to it that all of that was swept away long ago. Now all that remained were empty concrete husks, gutted and abandoned.

"I wonder what this place used to be," Paper thought out loud as they made their way through the remains of the fourth floor of a skyscraper.

"There's no treasure hidden in the basement," Foxtrot said coldly. "Let it go."

"That's not what I was getting at," Paper defended. "I'm just curious."

"What is down there?" Star asked.

"Don't know. Don't want to know," Nightfall answered. "Probably nothing good though."

"Official doctrine forbids anyone from going down there," Bastion said before listing off several possibilities. "Windigo nests, feral ice creatures, maybe even wraiths."

The group suddenly fell silent, more silent than anyone would have liked it to be. None of them knew what dwelled beneath the snow. Very few had ever been brave enough to venture down that way and even fewer had made it out alive. The most common stories were those of getting lost, only to either find a way out by some miracle or die alone, cold, and in the dark. What would bring about that death was anyone's guess, but they knew that Bastion probably wasnt far off. What they didnt know though, was what scared them most of all.

"Are we even supposed to be going through here?" Star asked in a concerned tone.

"Probably not," Nightfall answered, "but it's faster than trying to trudge through the snow all the way. Just keep an eye out and we'll be fine."

As much as they hated to admit it, Paper and Star both knew that Nightfall was right. After making it to the far side of the room, the group stopped. Nightfall stuck his head through the window and checked to make sure the coast was clear. It was, but it was a bit of a ways down from their current position, the snow being a floor lower on this side of the building than on the side where they had entered. For this reason, the scanner was given to Foxtrot who glided down right after Nightfall had landed.

One by one, the others jumped down from the window, landing and sinking into the snow a meter. Buried but unharmed, they were helped out before moving on. This process was repeated several times as they moved from building to building. When unable to get inside, they moved low and quickly along the walls, trying their best to minimize their exposure to the outside and anything that may have been watching them.

The sectors that they had been assigned to sweep were on the east side of the city, opposite from where the base had been set up in the west. It had been agreed upon that it would be best to search the sectors farthest out and then work their way back, decreasing the distance they would have to travel each day. They would start at the southern most part of the coast and then head north to the top of their assigned sectors. From there, they would cut inland before heading south.

Nightfall and Paper had been the ones to formulate the overall plan for their search pattern the night before, just after briefing. Paper had been certain that as long as they went down every street, that it would be sufficient enough to get good readings. After going through each sector, they could go back through, heading east to west rather than north to south, if need be.

Bastion had been the one to suggest bringing along extra food, as they would most likely be out all day and didnt want to have walk back every night just to resupply. He promptly went out to raid the MSAD's stock, something that ended up drawing a few mages to their cabin later in the evening complaining about stolen booze. Star had barely been able to contain her laughter when Nightfall told them to go away and slammed the door in their faces.

If there was one thing that the Project knew how to do right, it was how to treat guests. The high standards of the MSAD had only made things better. Breakfast had consisted of eggs, wheat cakes, hash-browns, fueling up the rangers for their long expedition. They had been advised to eat lightly, but temptation had ultimately been the victor of the day. Consequently, the group didn't need to stop when they reached the coast at noon.

From the last line of buildings, the land extended out a good hundred or so meters, before the snow began to decline in depth, ending at the frozen plains of ice that covered the ocean as far as the eye could see and passed the horizon. Bastion had wasted little time racing out of the snow and onto the ice, it apparently reminding him of home. "I wonder what kind fish are down there," he thought out loud.

Nightfall pulled out a small map from his pack and unfolded it, looking it over and figuring out exactly where they were before planting a small orange flag in the ground to mark the southern border of their sector. From there, the group headed north, slowly making their way across the open ground.

Up and down. Up and down. The process was agonizingly monotonous. Conversation had been relatively light, each member of the group focusing as best they could on the hundreds of possible places where danger could be lurking, watching, and waiting to strike. For as long as they were exposed out in the open, an attack never came. Instead, they were simply left with the ghostly silence of the dead city.

A cloud of snow shot forward into the intersection, the wind whipping the white flurries around in a spiral as the spectral forms of the windigos glided wild, yet gracefully along the ground and through the air. Their movements brought the snow, which had remained undisturbed, up into the air where it was surrendered to their whims. Every surface was iced over in frozen crystals as the creatures passed, as they worked to channel their miniature storm through the streets and into a small open plaza. All at once they flew into the swirling torrent and in circular patterns formed it into a small white tornado that suddenly dissipated as it hit the side of a building, much to what seemed to be the creatures' annoyance. And so they tried again and again, each time their little storm growing more and more perfect until it inevitably fell apart.

From a street corner at the edge of the plaza, Nightfall watched through his binoculars as he laid prone on the third floor. Next to him, Bastion had shouldered his rifle, the end of the barrel only a few inches from sticking out a twenty meter wide hole in the wall that completely exposed the room to the elements. On his other side, Foxtrot laid with his own binoculars, watching everything unfold.

"What are they doing?" Paper asked from his own concealed position.

"I have no idea," Nightfall answered, motioning the unicorn over.

Paper dropped to the floor, leaving a majority of his gear behind as he crawled along to join Nightfall. Taking the binoculars from Nightfall, he held them up to his eyes and began to observe the creatures as they continued on with their display.

"I count twenty-three," Foxtrot indicated.

"Make that twenty-five," Paper corrected as two more windigos appeared, another cloud of snow in tow. The two added theirs to the storm, before diving in to form the small cyclone yet again. "Looks to me like they found something?"

"You think it's the crystal?" Star asked, as she too crawled along to join her teammates on the floor.

"Maybe," Paper answered. "When we found Celestia, a small group of them were waiting for us. They had passed over an entire town and raced straight down a mine shaft where she had been buried. I'm guessing with the signal fire out they were attracted to the magical signature from her spell. This might be the later stages of whatever we stopped them from doing in the mine."

"Now if only we knew what it was they were doing."

"All that matters is that we get rid of them," Foxtrot said. "I just don't think it would be wise to anger these things when their in such a large pack."

"Agreed," Nightfall replied. "We should split them up before we start picking them off."

"I don't know, Nightfall," Bastion began with no small amount of concern in his tone. "That's a lot of windigos and there is a lot of room for them to maneuver. If they trace a shot back to us, they'll be on us before we can relocate."

Bastion was right and he knew it. With all that open ground, it would be hard to take down any of them without the others taking notice. Trying to take them all out at once would be near impossible and dangerous, not to mention going loud may attract more. They're only option it seemed was to wait them out, which meant staying hidden until there was an opening and moving fast enough to get in and get out without being seen. Easier said than done, but Nightfall was confident that he could do just that.

"Paper," Nightfall called over his shoulder. "What kind of readings are you getting on the scanner?"

Paper looked down at the small screen, wiping the frost that had accumulated from its surface. "It's not much, but there's something there. I don't know if it's from the windigos or-"

KRAKOOM!!!

The entire city block was suddenly shaken by a massive explosion of orange and red fire, the windigo created cyclone seemingly having detonated out of nowhere when no one was looking. The windigos at the center perished immediately as their spectral forms were incinerated by the intense heat. Those that survived were dispersed in every direction many of them falling to the ground as the sound of automatic weapons fire opened up around them.

The shockwave visibly rushed across the ground, shooting up snow and dust, a light gray cloud forming. The shockwave hit the group head on, their current position doing little to shield them.

Nightfall stumbled to his hooves as the dust cloud washed over the group. Despite his near total loss of hearing, he managed to latch onto the nearest body and pull them up. "Everyone up," he groaned, knowing that every windigo within a mile radius would soon be converging on them. "We have to go."

In his own attempt to gain some sense of direction in the fog, Paper smacked clean into the wall behind him, causing him to stumble back, lose his footing, and drop off into the snow outside.

The group was only barely able to file out the door into another room, racing to the other side where the dust had not yet reached.

Bastion and Foxtrot both collapsed on the ground and leaned against the far wall where they removed their helmets, shaking the dust and snow from their collars. Nightfall looked around urgently after doing an incomplete headcount. His nerves were calmed somewhat when Paper made it in only a few seconds late.

One by one, the others all removed their helmets, rubbing their ears and taking a second before they were forced to move on. Star kept her helmet on, instead simply trying to steady herself and not puke from rapid swaying of her vision. She was unsuccessful, having to unlatch the lower plate of her helmet and throw up over in the corner away from the others.

"What the hell was that?" Foxtrot asked, but too loud, his ears still ringing and in pain.

Bastion took several deep breaths as he tried to calm himself, but the hoof that he held to the right side of his forehead told the others that he was not okay. His helmet had been struck in the corresponding spot and though small the dent may have been, a large area of the helmet's surface had been relieved of the winter camo pattern that was painted on.

"I'll live," Bastion said confidently as the others began to give him alarmed attention. "Scared the shit out of me though." On that, they could all agree.

"That's the reason you wear a helmet," Paper pointed out.

"One of them anyway," Foxtrot retorted. "Now will somebody please answer me?"

"There's no way that was caused by the windigos," Paper began, rubbing out the last of the pain. "An icy explosion, maybe. But that had heavy ordinance written all over it."

"Agreed," Foxtrot replied. "Too big to be any kind of hoof thrown ordinance and an IED wouldn't have exploded that high up off the ground, which means we're looking at an airburst weapon."

"Something with a heavier payload too. Shoulder mounted rocket, maybe?" Bastion speculated.

"More like a god damned missile launcher," Foxtrot said. "I didn't hear much of anything after the initial blast, but I swear there were some secondary detonations in there."

"If that's the case, we need to get back to base," Nightfall began. "If somebody's out here with that kind of ordinance taking pot shots at windigos, there's a large chance that someone is going to get killed." There was no disagreement in the group, but they needed to get moving now. The area would no doubt be saturated with windigos soon and that meant that setting up camp for the night would be impossible. There was still plenty of time left in the day though. If they left now, they would be able to come within radio range of teams in other sectors and pass the message along.

Recomposing themselves, the group dawned their helmets again and quickly found their way outside. In the distance, the shrill cry of windigos could be heard, never failing to send chills down all their spines. The creatures were not upon them yet, but they were somewhere, licking their wounds and regrouping. They may have been feral beasts, worthy of neither pity nor mercy, but saying that they were not clever beings would prove to be a fatal mistake. Unlike many of the creatures that lurked in the tundra, windigos showed some semblance of intelligence. Ice wolves were deadliest when hunting in packs, but windigos were equally as dangerous in small groups due to their crafty and almost organized nature. This behavior had already been on display once today.

Progress was slow and each step came with the knowledge that it could be the last. Crossing the street. Ducking into buildings. Hiding under the snow. Every move was a risk.

They now found themselves in hiding as yet another pack passed by on the streets. It should have been like any other. Stay still. Stay quiet. Stay hidden. The pack would move on and the ponies would be once again to be able to move. How wrong they were though. This pack stopped.

Nightfall internally cursed at their situation. They were stuck, the only way out being through the windigos. They were still deep in over run territory and a fight would no doubt only bring more of the creatures upon them. And so they hid, but not quite well enough.

From under her helmet, beads of sweat poured down Star's face as one of the windigos began to wander too close to where she laid on the floor under the window sill. Icy crystals began to cover her body, the cold threatening to seep into her suit and overpower the insulation that kept her warm. "Please go away. Please go away. Please go away," Star repeated to herself over and over in her head as she slowly unsheathed a curved blade, a fresh fire enchantment ready to go.

The windigo did not leave though, instead drifting closer and closer as it stared into the window with great curiosity, completely unaware that its prey was right below its nose. The windigo finally stuck its head through the window, a film of ice forming on ever surface inside the room.

Star shot up suddenly, her blade hooking the windigo under the chin and piercing up into its head. She yanked back, causing the blade to glide through the windigo's flesh toward its chin where the sharp metal caught, pulling the creature's entire body through the window as Star let herself fall onto her back, bringing the windigo down with her.

Nightfall dashed forward, grabbing the windigo by its tail and pinning it to the ground. Star wasted absolutely no time rolling on top of it and ripping her blade out sideways, before slashing it back across the windigo's neck in two swift and clean swipes that left its head snapped back farther than it should have naturally been able to.

Nightfall let go as he felt the body below him go limp, but quickly grabbed a hold of Star's hoof and yanked her back down under the window sill to hide in the shadows yet again. The kill had been quick, clean, and mostly silent. The windigos outside made no indication that they were even aware of what had just unfolded. Had it not been for a series of firecracker like pops in the distance drawing them away, they surely would have noticed that one among them was missing, given enough time.

On the floor, Nightfall stuck his head up slowly to see that the windigos had moved on. "They're gone," he said quietly, prompting everyone to emerge from their own hiding spots. Underneath him, Star still had her hooves firmly wrapped around his waste and her head resting on his chest. "You can let go now," he said, planting a hoof on her chest and pushing her away.

"What? Oh, sorry," Star apologized sheepishly, a nervous chuckle leaving her mouth.

"Sure," Nightfall replied nonchalantly as he got up off the floor. "Good play."

"By that, he means nice work," Foxtrot said, placing a hoof on Star's shoulder as he passed. "And it was a good kill. Do that more often."

Star looked over her shoulder at what remained of the windigo corpse. The fire enchantment on her knife had gone to work burning away at the ghostly flesh, white smoke rising from the wound that she had left behind. "Thanks."

It had taken the group a considerable amount of time to get out of their sector and into an area that wasn't crawling with windigos. The exact amount of time it had taken, no one really knew, but several hours had been spent hiding or searching for routes to evade detection. There were a few more close calls, but none nearly as close as the first, in which Star had had to get her hooves dirty. By now, the sun was beginning to set, casting the city in an eerie light and lengthening the shadow of every building, somehow making them even more ominous than they had already been.

"Team 2, this is Team 1," Nightfall began over the radio, now that they should have been in range. "Team 2, you there?" There was no answer and he repeated himself.

"Maybe they dropped back into another sector?" Paper guessed.

"Or something happened to them," Foxtrot said.

"I'm sure they're fine," Bastion assured. "You got to have a little faith in the ponies you're working with from time to time."

Star remained silent on the matter, seeming somewhat perplexed by something.

Nightfall looked down the street at the setting sun, before looking back to his teammates and then back to the sun. It was getting late and they would need to find a place to set up for the night. He could see it on each of their faces as well and in their eyes. They were all tired, including himself. And despite his own desire to complete the mission as soon as possible, he was more than ready to call it a day.

The place they found was not the most ideal, as most places in Manehattan weren't, but it had four wall a roof and would be sufficient to shield them from the wind. It was the sixth floor of what was probably an office building, being three floors up from the snow. The inner room they had decided on would conceal them from anyone or anything outside, but as a precaution both Foxtrot and Nightfall had taken a few incendiary grenades and some string to booby trap "ground level" entrances and halls.

"That should be good enough," Nightfall said, dropping the leftover bundle of string onto a blanket where the rest of his equipment laid. Finding his helmet, he picked it up and placed it back onto his head, neglecting to clamp up the lower jaw plate. "Team 2, this is Team 1. Where are you guys?" he tried again. Still no response.

"Give it a rest already," Foxtrot complained as he made himself as comfortable as possible, leaning against his supply pack. "It's already dark and they probably headed back to base to sleep in a cabin."

Nightfall just sighed, removing the helmet and replacing it with a beanie that covered his ears, before finding himself a cup of strawberry yogurt and plastic spoon.

The group was quiet for a while as they each found themselves something to eat, before Bastion finally spoke. "So, any theories?" he asked, referring to the question that currently weighed on all of their minds.

"Raiders?"

"If raiders have access to that kind of ordinance, we're all screwed," Foxtrot told Paper. "My money is on a mercenary group. Probably came out here to test some new toys or got a contract that involved killing windigos in mass. Sure, it might be forbidden to come to this city without official business, but I've never known a merc who didn't have some level of disregard for the rules."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but weren't you a mercenary at some point?" Bastion asked.

"Sure was," Foxtrot answered, seeing no sense in trying to hide it. He was proud of his work and was fond of many memories from that time.

"Why leave to join the TRST?" Paper asked.

"Easy. It's a more stable line of work. As a merc you could go a full week without getting a contract and at times there were jobs that we just couldn't ethically take. Sure, mercenary work may have paid better, but at least with the Initiative you know for certain that you're going to have work and some money on the way. Not to mention the benefits are way better."

"Do you ever miss it?"

Foxtrot just shrugged.

As the group talked quietly amongst themselves, Nightfall stood and took Bastion's flare rifle. "I'll take first watch," he said, not waiting for a response before heading out the door and into the outer hall where the moonlight shined through the windows. He deposited the rifle against one of the inner walls, sitting down and simply staring out the window.

It was a quiet night for the most part. The wind was calm and the snow remained undisturbed on the ground. The far off howling of ice wolves could be heard off in the distance, a sound that was somewhat comforting because it meant that the windigos were not around. Being competitors for food, the two creatures didn't get along very well.

Not even an hour passed, before Nightfall was visited by the one mare of the group. Star Mist took a seat next to him. "You doing okay?" she asked kindly.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Nightfall answered. "Just tired is all." It was the honest truth, even if it was only partial. At this point in his life, the thestral was more than used to living like this. He had done it nearly everyday for the last five years. One more mission wasn't going to kill him... he hoped. More than anything, he just wanted to go home.

"Good... good," Star replied trailing off before figuring out exactly what she wanted to say. "Listen, I just wanted to say sorry about earlier, y'know with the whole latching onto you thing. That was kind of..."

Nightfall let out a slight chuckle. "Dont worry about it. Though I will warn you," he continued jokingly, "I am a married stallion. So don't be getting any ideas."

Star's attention was suddenly caught by his attempt to ease some of the tension. "Really now?"

"Well, sorta. It's not exactly a done deal."

"So you havent asked her yet?"

"No, but I plan to. First thing when I get back." He paused for a moment, pulling his eyes away from the outside for the first time and looking over to Star, before looking away again. He suddenly had a great desire to change the subject. "You want second shift?" he asked, his tone turning from casual to serious.

"Um, sure," Star answered.

"Go get some rest then. I'll come and get you in a few hours."

It was now 1am and Star Mist found herself in the hall, staring out the window just as Nightfall had done before her. The night had been totally uneventful, which was a welcome change of pace after the hectic and tiresome day they had all had. For her, it was nice to just be able sit back and think for a while. And she had been given plenty to think about.

Bastion was nice enough to her, treating her as an equal despite the fact that he clearly had more experience in the city. It was little comfort, but it also being Paper's first time here helped her to feel a bit more secure in her role, especially when Foxtrot would cast sideways glares at her whenever he apparently felt that she was slowing them down. She wasnt quite yet sure how to feel about him, though she hoped that she could eventually earn his respect, even if that meant that he only tolerated her.

Then there was Nightfall. Oh, dearest Nightfall, how she wished he could have just stayed at home. Every part of her heart broke when she saw him taking the daily abuse that their mission entailed. The running. The jumping. The sound he had made when he was hit by that shockwave. All of it took a toll on each of them, but she felt worst for him. Then there were those words he had spoken and the things he had shared with her.

For the first time since arriving, Star removed her helmet fully, running a hoof through her long mane. Though matted and disheveled it may have been, she was perfectly content for the moment. She probably didnt smell that great either, but she figured that a shower was a luxury she would be able to afford once they decided to head back to base, whenever that may be.

She sighed, leaning her head back against the wall, a stupid love stuck smile still plastered across her muzzle. She couldn't wait for this mission to end. She couldn't wait to get home. For now though, she was stuck here.

Meadow Spring placed the helmet back on her head and became Star Mist once again.

Paper stared at the blank screen as he held the scanner down low to the ground, before raising it up higher above his head. He got the same result. All the lines simply stayed where they were. He rubbed his chin before pressing a few buttons, hoping that he had merely forgotten to adjust it or... something.

"Anything?" Bastion asked, his rifle still shouldered as he continued to scan the outer edges of the plaza.

"Nope," Paper answered disappointedly. "Whatever was here, it's gone now."

"Maybe it was just the windigos screwing with the system?" Star suggested, her own weapon shouldered as she kept an eye on the opposite side of the plaza.

This was the first time since arriving in the city that the group had actually been on ground level, the blast having cleared the plaza almost entirely of snow and pushing what remained out to form a large crater. Around them, the snow had been pushed up to the sixth, possibly seventh, story of some buildings. In the center, where they now stood, the ancient concrete that had not seen daylight for centuries was now exposed, a thin layer of ice having glazed over it last night.

"No, windigos shouldn't have had that much of an effect on the scanner," Paper replied, as he tried his best to figure out why the piece of technology wasnt working. "Whatever this was, it was much more in line with what MSAD described."

"But they were still affecting it," Star inquired further, "right?"

"Sure," Paper answered, his eyes still glued to the screen. "It still picks up active magic, but..." he used his magic to pick up some snow, causing a few of the lines on screen to jump up just slightly. "It did the same thing whenever windigos passed too close on the streets yesterday. Something was here, but it's gone now."

"So what does this mean?" Bastion asked.

"It means that someone else is after the crystals," Nightfall said, his tone dripping with annoyance. Of all the things to happen. Of all the things that could go wrong. Of course someone else had to show up and steal the prize right out from under them.

"Why would someone else be after the crystals?" Star asked.

"They're probably pretty valuable," Paper speculated. "I mean, I dont know how valuable, but given what they are, I'm sure someone somewhere is probably willing to pay for them. God knows what they'd use them for though."

"Everything has a market if you look hard enough," Nightfall confirmed.

"I really dont like the sound of that," Bastion said, his leftover instincts from his days in the guard kicking in.

"Me neither," Nightfall mumbled under his breath, before turning to his radio. "Foxtrot, you there?" he asked waving a hoof up towards the fifth floor of a building on the opposite end of the plaza.

"Yeah, I'm here," the pegasus replied, still scanning the outer edges of the plaza through his rifle scope. "You guys got anything?"

"No," Nightfall answered disappointedly. "Whatever was here is gone now. We're thinking whoever caused the explosion yesterday must have taken it." Foxtrot cursed under his breath. "You got anything for us on your end?"

Foxtrot looked down to his team through his binoculars and then up to something he had taken note of a few minutes ago. "Look to your current seven o'clock," he instructed. "In the street at the north end of the plaza, I got eyes on a lot of upturned snow. Looks like someone was moving through there recently, a lot actually."

"Thanks, Foxtrot. We'll check it out."

"You want me to stay on overwatch?"

"If you got an angle, go ahead. If not, come join us. Shouldn't take too long."

"Copy that."

Nightfall watched as Foxtrot began to hop down from his perch, undoing the zippers in his suit and allowing himself to glide down to the others. At the edge of the crater, where the snow had been piled up from the shockwave, the group found that Foxtrot had been correct in his observation. While the snow at the other edges of the crater had been undisturbed since the explosion, here there was clear indication of heavy hoof traffic, the snow being trampled across all throughout the street. There were far too many hoof-prints for a single pony to have been present. Bastion had already begun counting and figured there had to at least be fifteen sets, maybe even more. It was hard to tell.

"Now, what do we have here," mumbled to himself as everyone began to examine the scene before them.

"Damn," Paper muttered. "There are a lot of spent casings here." He enveloped a few of the small brass casings and held them up to show the others. He dropped all but one and began studying it curiously. "Hmm. Standard universal caliber."

"I take it that they were automatic weapons," Bastion commented, taking note of the literal thousands of rounds that littered the ground.

"I dont get it," Star began, picking up a discarded magazine. "Why use conventional firearms? Wouldn't flare based weaponry be far more effective against windigos?"

"Yeah, normal rounds are just about useless. Incendiary works better but they're terribly inefficient. Whoever this was though, had enough firepower that that should have been negligible."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, windigos are spectral beings, right?" Bastion stated. "So killing them is all about exposure rather than physical damage. An incendiary round would move through a windigo's body far too fast for the enchantment to actually work. That's why we use specialized weapons." He pointed to the flare rifle on his back and then to Star's own smaller version.

"I guess that makes sense," Star said.

"Shouldn't you know this stuff already?" Foxtrot asked harshly, shooting the mare an unamused glare from behind his visor.

Star just shrugged. "I dont pay much attention to the science. I know that fire kills them and that's enough for me."

Foxtrot just huffed loudly, not at all happy with Star's apparent lack of knowledge. He went back to inspecting the casing on the ground, finding that they were all exactly the same.

Nightfall looked to his wrist display, finding that it was only a few minutes until 9am. He looked around some more, finding nothing else of significance. Someone was here. The sheer amount of casings and hoof prints made that clear. Not to mention the huge snow crater behind them. Who was here, was far less clear. When the top of the hour came, he made the call. "Well, if there isn't anything else, we should head back. Command still needs to know that someone else is out here and that they might not be friendly."

Everyone in the group agreed and without anymore investigation, they headed out of the street, across the plaza, and back into the western sectors, completely unaware of the eyes on the back of their heads.

From their place in their improvised trench, the group watched as a pack of ice wolves wandered only a few intersections down. It had been several hours since they left the plaza and they had seen very little activity from just about anything since. No windigos, no ponies. The ice wolves ahead were the first things they had come into contact with that day.

"They still there?" Nightfall asked as he readjusted some of the straps on his gear.

"Yeah, they're still there," Foxtrot answered as he watched the pack through his binoculars.

"What are they doing?"

"Nothing."

This came as no surprise to anyone. Ice wolves were known for making their dens in the city from which they would travel to the country side to hunt. It wasnt uncommon to see a pack or two stalking the streets from time to time. This particular pack seemed to be doing just that. The group would only need to wait a few minutes for them to move on. Until then though, they sat quietly in their trench just waiting and watching.

The way they walked. The way the sun reflected light across their bodies. They're was something undeniably beautiful about their icy and predatory forms that no painting could ever truly capture.

Nightfall's ears suddenly shot up and he turned his head to check over his shoulder, having sworn he had heard something moving in the snow behind them. "Paper, check our rear," he said, shouldering his own weapon and watching carefully.

Paper followed Nightfall's lead, unsheathing his sword and preparing a spell. "What do you got?" he whispered, scanning the open street.

"I'm not sure," Nightfall replied. He tapped Bastion on the shoulder, motioning for him to take cover in the building to their right, which he did quickly and without hesitation. Star Mist did the same on the left. Nightfall then continued forward, slowly and silently climbing forward out of the trench and taking a few paces before stopping, his weapon readied. He let out a few nervous breaths, a gut feeling telling him that this was no mere animal. "Who goes there?" he called out.

There was no reply at first, but then slowly yet surely a pair of empty hooves began to raise out of the snow some thirty meters out. "Friendly!" a pony called back as he clambered out of his own trench. He must of felt that there were currently three rifle barrels on him, because he remained still and kept his hooves up high. "Dont shoot."

"Identify yourself," Nightfall demanded.

"Agent Striker, Equestrian IGS," he replied, turning so that the rangers could all see the patch on his shoulder. "I'm with the project, reporting on conditions inside the city. You're one of the ranger teams tasked with securing the crystals, right? I've got intel for you."

Nightfall relaxed lowering his weapon and motioning for the others to come out. He looked back to see that the ice wolf pack was still there and that Paper and Foxtrot were both still sitting in their trench. "Not here," he said, turning back to Striker. He motioned for everyone to follow and they hurried into the nearest building.

Striker took a seat against the far wall, unloading some of his gear and placing his own weapon against the wall. He waved the others over so that he could show them what he had.

"Alright, what's this intel you got for us, Agent?" Nightfall asked after everyone had gathered around.

"So you guys probably already know this," Striker began, "but you're not the only ones in this city."

Everyone just exchanged glances, each of them recalling the events of the previous day. "I think we figured that out," Nightfall said.

"Well, what you probably dont know is that all communications across the eastern side of the city are being jammed. The west side is still okay, but no signals are passing in or out of the city. Someone doesn't want us communicating with the outside world. I've also got some... grave news." He hesitated for a moment, before pulling an envelope out of his bag. "The team tasked with searching this sector is KIA." He noticed the shocked expression spreading across everyone's faces, though the thestral and pegasus both seemed a bit skeptical.

Striker opened his envelope and gave the contents to Nightfall. They were pictures. Pictures of bodies laying in pools of their own frozen blood that leaked out from gunshot wounds. They were passed around.

"Oh my god," Star breathed as she looked over the gruesome images.

Nightfall sighed as he passed the last picture over to Paper who in turn passed it on. "God dammit," he cursed under his breath.

"Now, whoever this is, it seems that they're after the crystals we're currently tracking," Striker continued. "And they're clearly not above using lethal force to prevent us from getting them first."

"Any clue who might have done this?" Nightfall asked.

Striker shook his head. "I've seen them, but havent been able to identify them yet. Whoever they are though, they're heavily armed and well equipped. The gear their toting is high grade."

"Any uniforms or distinguishing marks? Patches, maybe?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Striker answered, sounding sad. After being handed the photos back, he divided them in half and gave one set back to Nightfall. "I need you guys to deliver these photos back to command and warn them about what's going on here. Right now, everyone is at risk."

"We'll get it done," Nightfall assured.

"You're not coming with us?" Bastion asked, his voice taking on a concerned tone.

"No," Striker answered, placing his photos back in their envelope and then stuffing that back into a bag. "I've got to go track down the other teams and warn them before it's too late. With any luck, I'll be able to send them back to base before anyone else is killed." He collected his rifle from where it had been leaning against the wall and proceeded to head to the window.

"You're going alone?"

"I've got a team out there, tracking down leads," Striker assured. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Just get those photos delivered and I'll see you again soon."

Nightfall nodded and bid Striker farewell, also wishing him good luck. With that, the unicorn hopped through the window and back into the snow, making his way up into the northern sectors. Nightfall looked back down at the photos in his hooves, before sighing and placing them securely in a pouch.

"I don't like this," Foxtrot voiced his thoughts suddenly. "How do we know we can trust this guy?"

"I guess we dont," Nightfall said, stepping out of the building and dropping down into the snow.

Foxtrot simply stood there in disbelief as one by one his teammates walked passed him, simply shrugging. Star kept her head low as she passed, more than eager to rejoin Nightfall and get back to base. Everything about this just seemed fishy to him. How were they supposed to know that he wasnt the one who killed Team 2? What if this was a trap?

"He gave us the pictures, didnt he?" Bastion said, as if having read Foxtrot's mind by analyzing his facial expression.

"Blind trust is going to get us killed," Foxtrot scolded.

"So is staying here any longer. We need to go now." Nightfall put his binoculars away, having observed that the pack of ice wolves was now gone. Without so much as another word, he began march to forward through the snow, followed closely behind by Paper, Star, and Bastion.

Foxtrot opened his mouth to say something else, but suddenly thought better of it, instead deciding to catch up with his team.

Together, the group carried on towards base, the city now seeming more dangerous than it ever had. Each window was an eye watching them. Each rooftop was a position from which they could be attacked. A somber mood came over them as they walked on in total silence, each knowing that they were now being hunted and that any mistake could possibly be their last. Manehattan had always been dangerous, but now it was a hunting ground and they were the prey.

Author's Note

I honestly didnt think I'd get done with this chapter as quickly as I did. I thought for sure it would be another week, but I've really been in the mood for writing lately. I hope you enjoyed reading it, because I really enjoyed writing it.