'Tis be our way,
our way of livin',

O' Celestia may the Trailblazers blaze!

The Wild was everything I expected, and then some. It's like expecting the cake to taste great, but then someone adds extra sugar and it's just heaven. Not that I am uh, trying to.. make this sound nice or lovely. It would be nice if it wasn't.. so rich in history. Top Gun must've sensed my unease, because his hoof clapped on my shoulder, sending a metallic ring through the small clearing the entire squad was positioned in. "Looks nice, don't it? Learn ta hate it, rook."

"Already do," A voice of rocks growled out. It was Corporal Rook, a cobblestone gray stallion on our left who grumbled. He was dressed differently from us: his cutiemark was exposed, being a cobblestone wall, he had way less armor, being leg-less, flank-less and hoof-less in armor. His shoulders were covered with thick pauldrons that were as thick as his head, and as tall as the top of his skull. A giant war-axe rested on his back in a crude scabbard, with minimal plates and padding on his torso and chest. His helmet was the same as ours, however, parts of the plume were pulled out and the rest was tussled with to give it a firey look, and his faceplate was.. faceless. There was nothing to it, just metal covering his face, whereas the rest of us had some sort of animal resemblance or that of an angry pony.

I shivered the first time I saw him. His black eyes showed nothing but calculated anger. He was born and bred to live and fight here.

Top Gun flicked his faceplate over his face, his resembling a snake with it's jaws unhinged. "Not referrin' to you, Rook. Talkin' about the Rookie, here."

Rook's shoulders, or pauldrons, shook briefly in anger. "It's never me."

"Shut your trap 'n learn the newbie how we do things." Top Gun snarled, planting the butt of his spear onto the ground.

Rook's eyes slid their way to mine, and my body gave itself a reason to sweat. There was a locked animal in there, and it wasn't something happy. His voice pounded and rumbled as he spoke with bitterness. "I just hope you can replace Lance. If not, I guess I can add another pony to my collection." He seemed to growl the last word out, because it surely made me shake in my hoofguards. I'm.. I'm supposed to compete with him?! This is insane! My voice made me seem so much more unimpressed, compared to my slightly quivering hooves. "I don't disappoint, Corporal Rook."

Rook tilted his head, eyes creasing from the slits of his helmet. Smiling, with a predator's gaze. "That's what Lance said."

"Corporal Rook, please shut your piehole and look forward."

Rook's creased eyes disappeared quicker than it came, now rolling as he shifted his gaze forward. "Yes, sir."

Captain Calm Storm, our squad leader, has arrived. He was dressed the same as us, save for that shiny golden plume he had, and the growling lion for a faceplate covering his face. From what I could see, he was a light blue pegasus stallion with majestic wings. Like, if he had a wingboner dude, it would probably smack everyone right now if he spun in a circle. Nonetheless, he trudged forward with a lance on his back, and his wingblades giving a distorted sheen with the jungle fever above us swaying to and fro, creating rampant sunspots any and everywhere. Therapeutic if you think about it, but that's besides the point.

"Cross?" Captain Calm Storm's middleaged voice croaked, his rump hitting the floor as he pulled out a map of the region we were deployed in. My ear flicked as a white pegasus fluttered down nearby, his armor covered by a small cape that stretched from his shoulders to his flanks in a red cross, symbolizing the universal health sign. Slung around each shoulder was two medical emergency first aid kits and additional supplies such as water rations, heat packs and more.

His faceplate was unique, and seemed to stretch more than our owns. It was like a dove's, except with a slightly longer beak that curved downwards slightly, the pointed tip sharp as a razor, clear by the sun's glare it reflected off at us, blinding us briefly before he lowered his head slightly to prevent that. "There are no civilians in the area, however, I spotted a patrol of those ziggers about north-west of us. They have bows and I don't think I saw blades, sir." Specialist Cross Heart trudged over to Captain Calm Storm, his voice smooth and organized, despite his experience and profession.

Calm Storm's head rotated briefly to steal a glance at Cross's arrival before he refocused back onto the map. Cross Heart settled down next to him as he flapped his wings to get rid of any excess sweat and leaves that he may have swiped on his descent. His hoof found itself on the map, tapping a small area between two smaller jungles. "Right there, they don't know a thing about hidden movements, sir."

Calm Storm nodded. "It's right on the route to that zigger village we have to play nice with. Get the squad situated and tell'em to get off their asses. We got a village to get to."

Cross nodded, "Sir," and flapped away.

Calm Storm's eyes stared hard at the map before he rolled it up and stashed it into a chest pocket underneath his armor. He gave a small grunt as he stood himself up and turned around to face us. Serrated Axe, Gun Ho, and Full Metal were just appearing from behind us as they brought up the rear. Full planted his spear down and gave some of his weight on it, his head resting on the base of the spear as he knelt down as the center of the trio. Serrated trotted right by him to stand in the tall, unruly grass so he could actually be seen, compared to Full's obscured body, save for the red cloth wrapped around the dome of his helmet. Gun Ho just simply sat down on his rump, any and all weapons secured tightly on his back as he had the same obscurity as Full.

"It's clear," Full announced. Sweat trickled down his cheek as the humidity and heat beat down on us, my fur feeling matted with sweat already. I didn't like this at all.

Rook positioned himself underneath a fairly large tree, its thick trunk protecting about 50% of his left side as he leaned up against it, crossing his forearms over intimidatingly. Watching us, analyzing us. Calm Storm walked over, the tall grass and hidden twigs underneath him snapping and crunching with each step, the lance on his back jostling with an imbalance. I noted that the Captain had a bit of a hobbled step.

"Welcome to the Wild, Broken Arrow." Captain Calm Storm greeted, nodding his head curtly at me before surveying the rest of the small team. "Hold a few moments here. Cross Heart's gone to go get the other half."

"This damn heat," Serrated Axe grumbled. "It was never this hot before."

"Weather reports indicated a heat wave," I said. "If my senses can tell me right, we're in for a bad day."

My statement deflated Serrated, his body slumping briefly as he looked to the sky in annoyance, no doubt suppressing a groan. Full flipped his faceplate over, being an owl. "I don't like it neither, Serrated, but your bitchin' gets us nowhere," Full said. "I neva bitched 'till just like.. ten seconds ago! And that was it fa th'entire time!" Serrated defended. Gun Ho snorted from behind his eagle faceplate. "Yew think that."

"Tha fuck I do!"

"Come on guys, let's simmer down," I reasoned. Serrated eyed me for a second before grumbling, walking over to more shade while Full sat out in a sunspot, reading something of some sort. Gun Ho remained in his position, eyes set on watching all 360 degree angles around us. No stone was left unchecked in his eye, to me, at least.

Calm Storm pushed some giant leaves down, the crunching and pulling of healthy shrubbery catching my ears. I looked over, spotting him glancing out. His face was covered by his faceplate, his eyes practically unseen from my angle. His ears were rigid, moving about in a robotic pattern. Silence reigned, save for the chirping and rustling of the Wild. I stared over at the Captain, then looking where Rook was. He was staring right at me, using a small crude knife he probably made by himself to sharpen it on a hoofguard that came out of nowhere. I had no idea he had one. That thought alone made me shiver.

"You know, there's a reason by Changelings never attack where the REF are," Full Metal said. I turned my head to his, lifting an eyebrow.

"The Canterlot invasion. Prince Shining Armor's shield didn't hold for that long. It wasn't powered, or oversurged purely by the magic of the Love Princess," Full began, his eyes staring at me to tell me a truth he felt should be told in the middle of this hecking heat. "The REF's 3rd and 5th divisions were being treated after three months of besieging a Hippogriff Kingdom's super-fortress in the Wild, about seventy klicks west of us. They were dispatched to the streets almost immediately. Without their real armor, weapons, using the Royal Guard's supply, they fended off the Changeling's bulk of advance by themselves, with minimal casualties for about six and a half hours.

"The unicorns of the 3rd and 5th were held back to support Prince Shining Armor in the shield's upkeep. A single stallion cannot hold a shield that large and that strong for so long, it's lethal amounts of magic to be used all at once for a single stallion. 5th division came with the idea that oversurging it with magic would explode it outwards, with a 23% chance of inwards being a risk. They took the risk, and the 'lings were completely destroyed, with the 3rd and 5th taking about a 0.6% collective total casualty percentage, while the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 15th Solar Guard took a 60% casualty percentage, and the twenty divisions of Royal Guards at the outer wall taking a casualty rate of 72%."

I blinked, processing that information. Full Metal followed this history lesson up with something fierce. "Twelve years ago, we held the 'lings at Canterlot pretty much single-hoofedly. Twelve years since, they haven't tried anything. The REF is the real reason why Equestria still stands, part with reason of the Elements of Harmony, but that's another circumstance and story to tell."

Serrated Axe chimed in. "Captain Calm Storm was a private in the 3rd durin' alladat. Fought with the Magic Princess' husband, Flash Sentry. I thinks he was part ov the 15th Royal Guards. They took a helluva beatin'."

My ears straightened as my eyes widened. Now that was interesting. I glanced over at Captain Calm Storm, whom was now unsettling himself from his position on the shrubbery. He trotted over to us, adjusting his armor. "Saddle up, mares. The other half's here."

As Calm Storm finished his sentence, Cross Heart came fluttering in with a small breeze, relieving me and Serrated who walked over to me briefly. Flicking sweat off of his white wings, Cross landed gently, now ruffling his feathers to clear the beads of sweat flinging to and fro. He trotted over towards Calm Storm, the two going into a conversation I couldn't hear as the sounds of rustling and jostling of armor filled the clearing. From the bush Calm Storm was surveying through came three stallions.

None of their armor was altered, save for the battered helmets and dents in the shoulders, but nonetheless unaltered. The blood red stallion leading the trio was Private First Class Rapid Fire, with orange eyes, a horn and a cocky grin on his muzzle. Behind him on the left was a yellow unicorn stallion with red eyes named Private Flame Crusher, with an impressive black beard flowing from cheek to cheek and down to his Atom's Apple. On the right was a grass-green stallion earth-pony with black eyes, and a neutral expression on his face named Private Spearhead.

"The party's here, and none of us ain't queer," Rapid Fire announced. As he trudged in like he owned the place, he hoof bumped Serrated Axe who had once again changed positions to be on my right flank. Flame Crusher rolled his eyes as he trotted right behind and Spearhead seemed indifferent to this exchange, strolling right on by as if he hadn't seen us.

Captain Calm Storm's voice caught our attention as he motioned Full Metal over, who stashed away whatever he was reading and trotted on over. Straightening the marked map out in front of Full Metal, his horn shining, he projected a larger scale map for all of us to see clearly. Two smaller jungle patches were encircled with flint residue and written on. Crude routes were drawn in between the jungle patches, and a small crude housing area they drew on the bottom corner being circled twice with three arrows pointing at it.

"Our objective is to control that zigger village on the bottom right corner, as you can see. It is about a solid day's trek from here, and our secondary objective is to eliminate the zigger patrol that is guarding the road to the village. In order to test our rookie Sergeant here, he will be taking a fireteam towards that zigger patrol to eliminate them. The other fireteam will move around this and take route to the zigger village." Calm Storm explained, walking to the front of the projection. He pointed a hoof up at the two jungle patches. "Cross Heart's reconnaissance indicates that there is no zigger presence in these patches, but precautions are needed. Fireteam B being my detachment will filter through and clear out any zigger presence in these patches, while Sergeant Broken Arrow's Fireteam A will deal with the direct zigger contact on the road. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir," we all chorused with inside voices.

"Fantastic, let's begin assembling."

Anxiety filled me as my first task ever as an Expeditionary Force member was given. I was to lead battle-hardened stallions to win against.. ziggers? Whatever those are. My nerves' nerves were shaking and my heart was racing as I surveyed over the stallions that were potentials for my new "fireteam". I steadied my breathing and shook the jitters out of my hooves before clearing my throat to begin procedure.

Here we go.

Author's Note

hopefully i didn't mess something up in my personal checklist of editing and revising this chapter...