Two Graves

The crisp chill in the air felt good on his face as he looked over the nightscape of Canterlot during its small hours. Standing at the edge of a cliff that overlooked most of the city was slightly risky. An aerial patrol of Thestrals could potentially see him as he took this little moment for himself, before it all began. A lot of work from a lot of people had gone into what would transpire tonight. The last three to four weeks alone had almost cost them everything on one or two occasions. Yes, a random patrol outside of the Guard's long established norm could spot him and the professional in him was urging he step back. He didn't listen though, not this time. This moment was his, and not a damn soul in this world would take it from him.

The human mentally pulled an augmented reality clock into his vision, placing it to the side as he looked up at the new moon sky as the seconds ticked their way to midnight. The night sky was as beautiful as ever and the grip on his rifle tightened unconsciously in anticipation as the clock briefly showed all zeros. When it did, he took a deep breath, relaxing his muscles and getting rid of his unwanted tension. "It's been two years now... since I made this promise," the human said in a voice so quiet only he could hear. "Two years." He had a brief moment where his emotions were a chaotic storm of a sadness, pain, fury, and, oddly, a bit of contentment. But he quickly regained control of himself. He began the process of focusing his mind to the single purpose of the completion of his mission.

There was a fairly high pitched, but clean and clear, beep that only he and the other team leaders could hear, followed by a gravelly baritone voice. "Viper 6 this is Rock 6. We've got everything ready. Over."

"Rock 6, Viper 6. Stand ready for final check-in. Operation will be a Go shortly after. How copy? Over." His response was perceptible to almost exclusively those within a meter or so of him. Sub-vocal mics were great for that.

The voice replied. “Viper 6, good Copy. Out.”

As he stood there a moment more, a ping occurred in his AR, signalling that a member of his team was approaching from behind him. Even though the RFID tag showed who it was, he didn't need it. The faint sound of talons and clawed paws on dirt and rock was the only indication that he needed to know who was present. "Sir," a feminine voice said in a nearly flat tone. However, for those that knew the speaker well enough, there was a thread of nervousness present. "The team has finished their final checks," she continued, "and are ready at your word," the griffon lioness finished.

"Don't be nervous Claudia," the human stated calmly.

A soft rustling of the lioness's feathers could be heard as a reaction to her name being spoken. "Sir, we're on mission. You trained us to use only our callsigns," she whispered to him.

"It's understandable. And I'd be lying if I said you had no reason to be nervous," the man continued, as though nothing was said. "We are about to do something that hasn’t been successfully done, or even attempted, at any point in the recorded history of this world. But whatever happens tonight, we'll all play our parts and what we’ve been working towards for will be achieved. One way or another, tonight this ends with us the victors," the human finished with clear confidence in his voice.

He looked over his shoulder as the cave entrance that she came from a few meters back was then filled with several others as they stepped out into the night air. "And yes, I used your real name. Because this is it… this is the end. After tonight, this is all over and we get to move on with our lives." There was a somewhat sad tone to what he said, as his mind drifted for a moment. This disappeared as he added with a small smirk, “also the Op hasn’t technically started yet and them hearing you name now wouldn't change anything.

Claudia raised a feathered eyebrow at the man’s technicality of an excuse.

"Boss, we're going to make things better tonight," the minotaur bull behind the pair said in his deep voice. He took his large right hand off of his machine gun and placed a fist over his heart, raising his head as he did so. He was therefore exposing the soft vulnerable tissue of his throat in a show of respect and trust. "Thank you for giving us this opportunity." The man took a step back and away from the cliff’s edge as he turned around to face his team, raising his head slightly in response to the minotaur's gesture.

Claudia was a meter away from him and just to his right. Behind her in a rough line was the rest of his team in full battle rattle, waiting for him. The man smirked. "You assholes ready?" He asked to relieve some of the tension in them, getting a couple smirks and quiet chuckles out of the motley crew that had become his team. Several simultaneous responses followed.

"You're such a pup sometimes," the older diamond dog, and team's resident mother hen, sighed while shaking her head in mock disappointment.

"I'll never really understand why you insist on asking that every time," Claudia said as she rubbed her temple, trying and failing to hide her amusement.

"Go buck yourself," the tall unicorn stallion present stated.

The man softly chuckled at his team's almost reflexive response. Once they'd all recovered and just had soft, content smiles that contrasted the gravity of what they were about to do, it was as though an invisible wave hit them and their smiles dropped.

Looking his team over from where he stood in a final check of their equipment, he keyed the team leader channel. "Attention on the Net. This is Viper 6. Status report in sequence and prepare to receive sync. Over."

"Viper 6 this is Rock 6. We are green. Over."

A deep voice followed. "Viper 6 this is Anvil 6. We're green. Over." A hint of excitement could be heard.

"Viper 6 this is Icarus 6. We are green. The skies won't be a problem. Over." Came a smooth confident voice.

"Viper 6 this is Shade 6. We are green and in position. Over." A slightly hissing voice said.

"This is Viper 6. Sending sync mark. Standby." The man waited a few seconds until he received the automated reply pings verifying reception of the mark, "Solar Deicide is a Go. I say again. Solar Deicide is a Go... Happy Hunting. Out." The man nodded to his team who promptly turned and started jogging and trotting into the cave, taking a side tunnel that would take them to their first objective of the night.

The man took a moment and turned around to briefly see the peaceful view one more time. One more time before it was ruined. The considerate part of him felt for the residents of the capital and the chaos they would have to deal with. The service member he was at his core held a level of empathy for those of the Guard that would oppose them. But like every soldier in humanity’s long history of conflict and warfare, he saw that it was him or them... and there was, absolutely and utterly, a zero fucking chance that he was going to let it be him. A long time ago he'd resolved to killing members of the Guard of Equestria if they got in the way of his goal. He'd avoid it when he could, as he always had; there was less mess and blowback with a low body count. However, this time it would be practically impossible.

Noting the time he mentally willed his clock out of view, spun around on the ball of his foot, and took off at a brisk pace to catch up with his team. He did so fairly quickly as they'd only had a dozen or so seconds head start. When the human caught up, he fell in next to Claudia at the head of the pack. He then spoke to himself under his breath. Not as a promise, as he did two years ago; but as a statement of fact.

"The Sun Bitch dies tonight."