Prologue - Wolves Among Us
Canterlot, Realm of Equestria, Around 7 PM
Royal Palace Ballroom.
As fireworks illuminated the after-dusk sky with their color, the ponies of Canterlot dined, danced, and gossiped beneath them. The Grand Galloping Gala, the first since the coronation of now-Princess Twilight Sparkle, was in full swing, and everypony was rejoicing.
Except Twilight herself. She had taken quite a few breaks as of now, mostly to get some air from all the nobles wishing for a dance or to offer congratulations to her. A few of them, particularly Prince Blueblood and his cadre of elitists, had kept their distance from her. Occasionally, they would give her a sideways glance of reference or even distaste. As she sat near the entrance to the gardens, a voice spoke.
"Twilight?"
She turned to see Celestia approach, and draw a hoof over her shoulder in comfort. Twilight gave a breath of relief at feeling the physical presence of her mentor beside her.
"Are you alright?" she asked. "You've been rather...withdrawn. It's your party, after all."
"I know." Twilight replied. "It's just too...overwhelming. Everypony's offering me congratulations, asking for a dance...I just wish Princess Luna, my friends, my brother, and Cadance would get here."
"I am sorry about that." Celestia soothed. "But I am grateful you came here early. I couldn't have set this up on my own."
"I thought that you always did that." Twilight replied, surprised.
"Not entirely." Celestia smirked. "I always had help from my associates when it comes to things like this. And speaking of associates…"
"What is it?"
"I've got a group of special guests coming to Canterlot." Celestia whispered in her ear. "I've been negotiating a meeting with them for about two months now, since you went to Canterlot High."
"What do the humans have to do with this?" Twilight asked.
"Don't tell anypony, but they are coming here for negotiations. Not humans that you would know, however." Celestia said. "They've from an alternate version of Earth where they don't use magic. Think of Canterlot High as the middle ground between our world and theirs."
"Really?" Twilight gasped. "So these other humans are coming? When?"
"In a few hours, I believe. I intend to receive them in secret, though." Celestia nodded. "But...they aren't exactly here for the Gala. They'll consist of a human military leader, a Lt. Colonel, and three teams of his best men. Their nation's leader will arrive later, as they insisted on a military presence before a diplomatic one."
"I see." Twilight whispered. "We should get back to the party."
"Quite so."
As the two Princesses returned to the main ballroom, Celestia watched several noble ponies start to advance, but they stepped back upon meeting Celestia's gaze of warning. As Twilight retrieved some snacks and began to eat, Celestia retrieved a small object from under her wing.
A human cell phone. She opened it covertly and typed a message into the texting function.
"We are all set. Proceed when ready. I will meet you at the gate when you arrive."
It wasn't long before a reply appeared on the phone's screen.
"We are on our way. All three teams have been briefed. We will arrive in approximately 20 minutes. Be ready."
As Celestia put the phone away, her ears twitched. She peered out the window and looked at the gardens outside. She could've sworn that she saw something that wasn't a pony moving amongst the flora.
As she shook her head and turned away, four figures appeared in the foliage, camouflaged in the grass.They primarily wore green and black, with elements of tan. Each wore a customized mask and tactical rig, and all were equipped with suppressed spec-ops weaponry. All of them were hidden by pale green kevlar cloaks.
As they knelt in the grass, perfectly undetectable, two more groups of four similarly-clad soldiers appeared behind the four leaders.
"We set?" asked Silverback.
"All packages are in position." the first squad leader replied. "Waiting to breach on your mark."
"Check." Silverback replied. "Proceed, prepare to breach and secure."
"Copy."
As the soldiers disappeared back into the grass, the four lieutenants motioned to the gate leading to the ballroom. As they stood up and approached, the two Guards stationed there drew their lances and approached carefully.
Yellowleg simply drew a suppressed P320 Pistol and shot both of them in the head in quick succession. Flycatcher and Rosebud disposed of the bodies, and Silverback handed Yellowleg a detonator.
As the remaining soldiers drew close with weapons ready, Yellowleg gave a smile as she clicked the detonator twice.
====
Until that moment in the ballroom, there had been peaceful banter, drinking, and dancing. Then, several powerful explosions shook the ground and sent everypony to the ground. As everypony turned and stared at each other in shock, several flashbang grenades entered the room.
As they detonated, the vision of everypony there went white. As the soldiers activated a smokescreen, they advanced into the room, the four lieutenants at point positions. The guards didn't have time to raise their lances as successive shots to the head killed them, sending their bodies to the ground.
As the guests screamed in fright as they were sectioned off into groups, the leader of the combined soldiers entered the room. A hunting kukri lay sheathed at his chest, and a custom Smith and Wesson combat revolver was held in his hand. As he entered the room, his mask concealed his face as he smirked at a horrified Twilight.
As he came near Celestia, he turned to her and noticed her look of sudden recognition. He turned away and looked over at the combined guests, who were being cordoned off by the soldiers.
"Secure the area!" he said in a commanding voice. "No one leaves. Shoot anyone who tries to resist. First the leg, then the head. Take no chances."
As the leader left, Celestia watched as his soldiers took defensive positions, and the lieutenants began working on some sort of device in the middle of the room, Twilight could only feel fear sink into her stomach.
Which was replaced by curiosity as she noticed Celestia was moving her left wing ever so slightly, as if making a pattern.
Not making a pattern, Twilight soon realized. She was writing something onto another object held beneath her wing. She moved it slightly so Twilight could read what she had written into the cell phone.
"We are under attack. Guardsponies have been killed and I am among the hostages that have been taken. Make haste."
And below that was the reply.
"On our way. Permission to use lethal force?"
Celestia typed a string of words once again.
"Permission granted. Meet with Prince Shining Armor once you arrive. He'll be directing our efforts, as usual."
The reply soon came.
"Understood. We arrive in five minutes."
====
Outside, as the Guardsponies outside the palace rallied to the newly-arrived Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, they were quickly briefed on the situation by the few Guardsponies who had managed to make it out once the explosions occurred and the gunshots sounded.
"How many were there?" Shining asked a Guardspony.
"At least 10." the Guard replied. "They killed all the posted Guards, took the attendees hostage. What are we going to do? Princess Twilight and Princess Celestia are still in there!"
"Calm yourself." Luna replied. "We will handle this."
As the Guardspony was helped away by Royal Guard medics, the Elements and Princess Cadance approached.
"Well, what's the plan?" Rainbow Dash asked. "They're gonna get killed if we don't do something!"
"They'll be killed either way." Shining replied, frantically searching his mind to formulate a plan. "But we have to act fast."
"That's for damn sure."
As the assembled ponies turned around, they saw a bipedal figure wearing an officer's field uniform approach, along with twelve soldiers clad in gray, brown, and white, with different kits and attire. As the leader of each squad approached, one of the soldiers, who wore a blue cap emblazoned with an ancient helmet, tapped the officer on the shoulder and gave a thumbs-up.
"Who are you?" Shining asked. "What are you doing here?"
"My name is Lt. Colonel Scott Mitchell." the officer replied. "We came here for diplomatic negotiations with Princess Celestia, as we arranged. These men are the soldiers of the US Army 5th Special Forces Group, or Ghost Recon. Seems we arrived at just the right time to help."
Shining came forward and raised an eyebrow, followed by the Elements.
"Your sudden arrival seems just too convenient for my tastes." he replied.
"Then we're in agreement on that particular notion." Mitchell replied. "Nomad, Aegis Lead, Hunter Lead. Front and center."
Three of the men out of the twelve came forward and saluted.
"These are my squad leaders." Mitchell said. "Some of the best men I know. They'll get this done if you let us help. Trust me."
Shining reluctantly stepped aside and allowed them into the main staging area. As he pulled out a phone, he typed a message in.
"We made contact with Shining Armor. What's your status?"
Luna, Cadance, Shining, and the Elements watched as the reply came.
"Several soldiers have taken defensive positions at each window. They have rigged a device that nullifies magic in the center of the ballroom. Their leader has departed, and left his lieutenants behind. They said to shoot in the leg first, then the head."
"Understood", Mitchell typed. "My teams will sweep in and clear. I look forward to our personal meeting once this is sorted out."
"As do I. They are circling around. Make haste."
As Mitchell put the phone away, he turned to his men as Shining and the ponies watched.
"Kozak, Rook, Holt, send up drones and recon the area. Mark all hostiles as you go. Everyone else, check weapons and prepare. We're going in hard and fast."
"Yes sir!" Nomad replied, him being the one soldier in the blue cap. "Let's go, Ghosts!"
As the Ghosts set to their preparations, Shining brought Mitchell aside to speak in private.
====
"Why exactly are you here?" Shining demanded once they were out of earshot.
"We came to this world for first contact with our own world." Mitchell replied. "Princess Celestia made contact with Earth a few months ago, and I'm not sure about a lot of the details, but I do know that the President spoke with her, worked out a deal, gave me my orders. Frankly, I was expecting a state dinner, not a hostage situation."
"You sound like you speak from experience." Shining replied.
"Plenty of it." Mitchell sighed. "Shining Armor, we'll get this done. As I said before, trust me."
Shining gave a small nod as they returned to the courtyard to regroup with the others, to prepare for their assault.
Author's Note
This story jumped straight into the action, which is how I planned it. I hope you enjoyed. And next chapter, after the rescue operation, you'll get more exposition and more details. I wanted to establish the action first off.
Next time - The rescue operation, Mitchell and Celestia meet, and the fight begins between the Wolves and the Ghosts...
Chapter 1 - Brutal Insertion
"What can you tell us about the castle's design or layout?" Midas asked Princess Luna as Rook, Kozak, and Holt powered up Reconnaissance Drones and flew them over the Palace, each watching their drones' camera feeds through a wrist-MRT.
"Let me show you." Luna nodded, using her magic to project a hologram of the castle in front of them. "There are several small postern gates built into the walls. Most of them were sealed up over time, but one has been maintained for times of emergency."
As Luna pointed out the small gate on the western wall of the Palace, Mitchell took a knee and looked over the hologram with a furrowed brow.
"Rook? Where are those hostiles positioned at?"
Rook, or Staff Sergeant Drew Callaghan, came over with his MRT, and with some help from Princess Luna, they managed to cross-reference the drone feeds with the hologram. As the Ghosts came and circled around, Mitchell cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Listen up. Here's the plan, Ghosts. We'll insert via the small postern gate here, that leads directly into the gardens near the ballroom. The OpFor has secured the ballroom and the immediate area in a relatively quick amount of time, so we can assume they haven't set up regular patrols in favor of protecting their hostages instead."
"Which gives us the advantage. Nomad, Aegis Lead, Hunter Lead, each of you will take your team along a different route to the ballroom and quietly drop any hostiles in your path. We raise any sort of alert here, they'll most likely start shooting. Work your way to the ballroom and eliminate all hostiles. Any questions?"
"Any intel on the OpFor's weapons?" asked Travis Piers, callsign Sparrow, a member of Aegis Team.
"We can't say for sure, but we'll assume these bastards are on our level and go from there." Mitchell replied. "Expect to see military to spec-ops grade weaponry, and equipment to go with it. Flashbangs, frag grenades, et cetera."
"Any idea of a motive for this?" asked Kozak.
"Not that we would know of." Luna chimed. "I would surmise this attack was planned to send us into a state of fear. However, I do wonder why they would not simply just kill everypony inside. It would be much less work for them."
"They're most likely using them as shields or leverage if needed." Nomad replied. "Don't worry. We'll get them all out alive."
"And with that, Ghosts...it's time to go to work." Mitchell nodded as the Ghosts prepped their weapons, heading off towards the western wall. As the Equestrians and Mitchell watched them leave, Luna turned to the Lt. Colonel with an expression of concern.
"Is something wrong?" Mitchell asked.
"I have more questions for you specifically, Lt. Colonel." she replied. "If you'll allow them."
"If you insist."
As the Princess and Mitchell proceeded to a nearby gazebo to speak in private, Nomad motioned the three teams forward as they locked and loaded their weapons.
====
As Hunter Lead and Aegis Lead broke off, Nomad slapped the bolt home on his ACR Assault Rifle and looked it over briefly. This rifle had seen him through Operation: Kingslayer and the resulting clean-up operations undertaken on the Extranjeros.
Nomad motioned Midas, Holt, and Weaver forward as they approached their assigned entryway. Nomad pulled out a breaching torch, and cut the lock loose. As the door swung open and the light from the torch faded, Nomad moved into cover behind a statue in the gardens.
As he switched on his magnetic vision filter that was built into his Cross-Com eyepiece, he could see four hostile riflemen standing in defensive positions by the main gate. From their posture, Nomad could tell that they were intended to catch anyone foolish stupid enough to launch a frontal strike in a four-gun crossfire.
Good tactics, Nomad thought as he motioned for a Sync Shot maneuver. As the members of Kingslayer Team moved into position, Nomad noticed Aegis Lead send a hand signal for him to halt.
"Nomad, you've got two hostiles in the trees split between your left and right." Aegis Lead replied. "Set up your Sync Shot and we'll follow up on the stragglers."
"Copy." Nomad replied, shifting his aim slightly. "3...2...1...execute."
As the four guards dropped at the same time, the two other Guards rushed over and moved directly into Aegis Lead and Domino's line of fire. Two shots apiece dropped the two responders, and the Ghosts moved to the door.
"Kozak, we need a drone inside now." Hunter Lead ordered. Kozak set up his Recon Drone, and moved it over to a nearby window. As the feed streamed to the Ghosts' Cross-Coms, Nomad thought over a plan in his head.
"Listen up. Aegis Team, move around to the left side near that stained glass window. Hunter Team, move to the right side near that atrium."
"What's the plan?" 30K asked.
"Plan calls for a Triple-Pincer maneuver." Nomad replied. "There's two sets of four Guards on each side. If we Sync Shot them quickly enough, it'll cause enough of a distraction that'll draw them away from the door in front of us. That's when we'll breach in and mop up."
"Check." Aegis Lead gave the "OK" symbol with his hand and motioned for his team to move, positioning each individual member to one of the four windows. Hunter Team did the same as they stacked up behind the atrium statue, two to a side.
"Breach and clear in 5...4...3...2...1…"
"Execute."
====
As the Ghosts opened fire, simultaneously dropping the eight soldiers that stood near their assigned groups of hostages, the remaining soldiers took cover as best they could given their environment and began searching for their attackers.
Then, the ballroom door blasted open in a cloud of dust, courtesy of a breaching charge. Two flashbangs soon followed, and the three unlucky soldiers who strayed from cover to engage were caught in the open and dropped summarily.
The five remaining soldiers opened fire as the Ghosts executed the triple-pincer, with Hunter and Aegis Teams on the left and right, with Kingslayer Team in the middle of the attack. As the hostiles dropped one after the other, the area was soon vacant of all threats.
"Confirm clear?" Aegis Lead called.
"Clear!' Mdas replied as he disabled the unknown device in the middle of the room using a USB Kill Stick. "Griffin, this is Midas. All hostiles neutralized, hostages are secure. Send the cavalry over."
"On its way. Good work, Ghosts." Mitchell replied. As Celestia righted herself and walked over to Nomad, she bowed respectfully.
"I presume you are some of Lt. Colonel Mitchell's men?" she asked.
"Correct. You can call me Nomad, I'm the leader of Kingslayer Team. That's Aegis and Hunter Team." Nomad replied. "How was our timing?"
"Your timing was superb." Celestia replied as Mitchell, the remaining Elements, Shining Armor, Cadance, and the remaining Guards filed in, followed by first responders who began treating and moving the hostages. As Mitchell approached, Celestia cleared her throat.
"Lt. Colonel Scott Mitchell, I presume?"
"You presume correctly." Mitchell replied as he offered a handshake, which Celestia accepted. "I'm glad to finally meet you in person."
"Indeed, though I believe pleasantries and diplomacy should wait until this threat is resolved." Celestia replied as she and Mitchell watched the Elements, Princess Luna Shining Armor, and Cadance enjoy a group hug before Twilight was moved aside by Lunar Guard medics. "Do you have any idea who these soldiers are?"
"Not a clue as of now." Mitchell replied before he called out, "Kozak, Rook, start searching the bodies, look for any intel you can find!"
"Check!"
"Yessir!"
As Mitchell and Celestia turned to the disabled device, which was being catalogued by Pepper and Sparrow, Celestia approached the object with a raised eyebrow.
"What is this?" she asked.
"Not sure." Sparrow replied as he scanned it with his Cross-Com. "It's some kind of radio and signal jammer, remote bomb and...video projector all built into one."
"Remote bomb? Video Projector?" Mitchell asked." Please tell me that…"
"I've already disarmed the detonator and the RDX payload inside, sir." Sparrow replied. "But as for the projector part, the only thing I could pull out of it was this SD card."
Mitchell took the offered human-made storage chip, and noticed the logo on the OpFor's unit patch was present on the chip as well.
"Kozak, it's all yours." Mitchell tossed the card to Kozak, who pocketed it. Mitchell then turned back to Celestia with a sigh "So, where do we go from here, Princess?"
"To my office, as we can discuss a further course of action there in private." Celestia said as a Solar Guard Squad came to her side. "Shall we?"
"Yep. Ghosts, you're tasked with security detail for now." Mitchell called out. "I'll be on comms if you need me."
As Mitchell and Celestia departed, the four lieutenants watched from afar, along with their leader.
"Do we fall back, sir?" Yellowleg asked.
"For now." the commander replied. "The Ghosts took this first round, but we'll get 'em the next time around. Wolves...fall out."
As the five of them rappelled down the castle wall and vanished into the night, the stars in the sky and the full moon were soon covered by clouds, leaving the horizon in darkness once again.
Author's Note
Update!
