Darkness Rises when Silence Dies

Scorch shoots the last Hammer as he flees from the onslaught

"Faustdamned Hammerfurs!" Scorch mutters

"Alright into the sanctuary" Thunder orders the Frumentarii as they enter the room

"Deeper into the sanctuary was littered with typical Fazi occultist propaganda about how herb furs were the master race and that Avians and preds were the worst thing ever"

"Thank Faust we're reptiles and omns " Blizzard jokes

Khazir elbows him

"Ow, dick," Bliz responds

"Look for a lever or a chain, Strauss always was a fan of secret passageways" Scorch

"It's know use soldier, Strauss is likely long gone by now" the captured hammer says

Scorch's hair flares up slightly and he turns to the black robed hammer

"Then for your sake, I hope you plan on cooperating" Scorch says

"While I'm certainly not unafraid of your wrath I fear the wrath a Sithis far more" the Hammer replied

"Of course you do, Exy! You still need donors for your robo brain project?" Scorch asks

"Neuro robotics, and as it happens one of our donors wound having a brain tumor so yes, there's exactly one position open" Ex explained

" and how exactly do you use said donors?" Asked

"I am so glad you asked, well you see Darkie after the subject expires their body is exhumed and their brain is extracted via machine" Ex explained

The Hammer now looks visibly uncomfortable

"How interesting, now tell what would happen if a living pony were to be put throw the extraction process"

"Oh I'd imagine it would be extremely painful downright…"Ex replied

"By Sithis! I'll di… ah" he was cut off when Xera plunged a syringe into his neck

"Damn, I really thought we had him" Scorch replies

"You can still scan his memories after extraction, correct?" Scorch asked

"Of course" Ex answered

"Misty park the Castle in the nearby lake, we drawn to much attention as it is"

Mist made a thumbs up and left
"Thunder, Wild, keep searching the sanctuary, Bliz you call Hyperion and tell him we've discovered a Brotherhood sanctuary…" Scorch ordered

"What 'bout you" Bliz asked

"I'm gonna go brief the princesses"

Scorch explains the situation to Twilight and her friends

"... and so we've taken the last hammer into our custody" Scorch finished

"Do you have any idea were Strauss went?" Twilight asked

"To be honest, not a bucking clue" Scorch replied

"Well there aren't many Neo Fazis here in Equestria So I guess that narrows it down" Twilight explained

"Don't count yer sheep before their sheared" Scorch replied

"What?" Twilight asked confused

"Y'know like the chicken thing" Scorch explains

"Y'all horses sure do talk funny" Applejack interjected

Scorch rolls his eyes

"Longma, but my Pyrish accent aside, what I mean is neo Fazis and void cultists have learned to blend in, Coldhaurbor you got one for a vice president course yer head of state ain't that competent either"

"Tell me about it" Twilight says rolling her eyes

"Eh we all go through that, thankfully their ain't many Homo Capras 'round here, so a big white goat like him aught to stick out"

"Wait! Strauss is a goat but all the hammers are earth ponies" Twilight said

"Histler was a goat, the Fazis thought the Germanes and Capraustrians were the same" Scorch explained

"Oh right, right, sorry I haven't done much reading on World War II in a while" Twilight explained

"Faustdamn millennials" Scorch mutters

"Ok Boomer" Twilight retorts

"It amazes me that Equestrians through the term Fazi around so casually despite knowing almost nothing about D6-39" Scorch complained

"D6 what!?" Twilight asked

Meanwhile in Brinstone Castle

"The Dark Brotherhood in Equestria?" Hyperion asked

"Crazy I know, but it was them black door an everything" Blizzard explained

"...This is not good if they truly have returned Sithis or not, they pose a significant threat to both our Empires" Hyperion explained

"Well the good news is we shot most of them" Blizzard replied

"I suppose that is good, but Strauss still has the cube, has Scorch tried with the Note yet?" Hyperion asked

"Yeah, he tried to make Strauss yeet himself off a building on the flight, didn't work" Bliz explained

"Damn, I guess Sithis didn't want his best weapon turned on his followers" Hyperion explained

"No shit, Sherlock" Blizzard retorts

"I know It seems obvious, but we killed 3 high level Fazis with with that Note" Hyperion explained

"Or hear me out they actually got and the Killer book had nothing to do with it" Blizzard corrected

"Very seldom are such coincidences the case in terms of magic" Hyperion explained

"Very seldom do people talk like that in real life" Blizzard mocked

"And you wonder why the mortals left you out of the pantheon" Hyperion retorted

"Hey! I gave just as much of power as the rest of you" Blizzard retaliated

"Yes, that's why you left with the Magne Ge for a third of the creation process" Hyperion corrected

"Fuck off!" Blizzard replies

In the sanctuary

"Damn, I can't that believe that MaFloca slipped through our fingers again" Wild complained

"Me too I'm gettin' tired of huntin' down the same targets over and over again"

*dripping

"You hear that?" Thunder said

"Sounds like it's on the other side of this wall, Xera! breaching charge" Wild yelled

"Right here" Xera says as she tosses the charge to Wild

"Rig it up!" Wild says

Thunder sets the bomb

"20 seconds!" Thunder says quickly stepping back

"3, 2, 1" the 3 say in unison

Nothing happens the three look at each other confused then Thunder turns to Xera

"got any grenades?" Thunder asked

"Found a whole box of them just sitting there" Xera explained

Thunder places a the box in front of the wall

"Alright as soon as Xera pulls the pin on one of these suckers it'll explode starting a chain reaction that should bring the wall down"

"Wait why am I the one that has to pull the pin you're the explosives expert!'' Xera objected

"Because you're the soldier and we're the royals"

Xera looked frustrated then quickly pulled one of the grenades pins and ran

"And that princess is why the Germanes elected Histler" Scorch explained

There a loud series of explosions in the distances

"What in Tarnation!" Applejack exclaimed

"Sounds like Thunder found a secret passage again" Scorch replied

"*Coughs* I forgot how much of an idiot you can be" Wild said

"Really now, cause I haven't" Xera said trying to stand

Wild helps her to her feet, Thunder looks at the damage

"Well at least we put an opening in the wall" Thunder says pointing to a small hole on the passage wall"

"Well guess we know how he got out" Xera said