Another burst from my rifle dropped another one of these mutant bat things. The bolt locked in the open position, signaling an empty magazine, reducing me to four mags. They blended in with the darkness, only being reveled by muzzle flashes or by spotting their beady red eyes that pierced through the darkness. Anomaly was low on ammo, with only a few shots remaining at most. I tossed the empty mag, slapped in a fresh one and chambered the first round. I fired another burst into the swarm before they flew off, probably to find easier prey. My heart was still pounding in my ears, but it was starting to slow.

"Sitrep." I ordered out of instinct.

"Uhh... I've pretty much used all of my bullets, but I'm not hurt." Anomaly responded after a second, but Firefly didn't respond. Tossing a chemlight back, I saw Firefly unconscious on the floor. Well that's just great, why does everyone who says they're fine fall uncon? Kneeling next to her and pressing two fingers into the crook of her neck, I could feel a heart beat. Checking the bandages on her chest, I saw fresh blood soaking through them, which means her wound reopened. There was a bullet wound with no visible exit wound, so the round is probably still lodged in her chest. "Anomaly, I need you to grab a roll of bandages from my bag right now." I ordered as I unlatched my canteen and poured some water on the wound to clean it. She grabbed a roll of bandages from my bag and gave it to me. I quickly began to bandage Firefly's chest enough to sop the bleeding, before picking her up. "We need to hurry and make it to Tenpony and get your mother medical treatment."

And we moved as quickly as possible to the objective, trying not to trip up on rubble. Anomaly kept up quite well for running on three legs, so I didn't have to worry too much about leaving her in the dust. We had eventually made it out of the tunnel, and right there in front of us was the objective. Tenpony. As we approached the gate, I saw two ponies standing guard right in front. One was in a fully enclosed metal suit armed with a duel minigun setup, so it's probably some sort of powered armor. The other was a unicorn, who was just about chest height. Judging by its muzzle, I assumed it to be male.

"Halt, I can't allow you through until you surrender you ammunition and grenades. Upon leaving, all your ammo will be returned to you." The guard stallion said in a monotone voice. I set the mare down and unloaded both guns, then putting the mags into my carrier rig, then took off my rig. I gave it to him along with the LAW, and his horn lit up as he took it into a security station I only just noticed. I quickly asked where a medical facility was, and the guard told me it was on the second level, then opened the gate for us. I quickly picked up the unconscious Firefly and carried her inside.

I sat down on the edge of the bed, having spent most of the caps Anomaly and I had scrounged up on paying for Firefly’s medical treatment and renting a room for the night. I don’t know what to do at this point. It doesn’t feel right to just abandon them, but it’d probably be for the better. If they stay with me I’ll probably end up getting them killed.

I looked over to the other bed, and the two mares were both sleeping. Opening my medical bag, I grabbed one of the bottles of Wild Pegasus and opened it. Why? I don’t know, maybe future me will find out when he’s sober. I took one last look at the amber liquid before taking a drink. It burned going down, but I really didn’t care at the moment. Soon, I started to feel this warm feeling on the inside, and my surroundings started to blur. I focused on that warm feeling, enjoying the bliss that came with it. My hands started to feel fuzzy, and I set the bottle on the nightstand before I got too intoxicated.
You better stop Blackjack, you still need to function. Besides, you’re chaotic enough sober, you don’t need to be drunk.

"You’re probably right voice in my head." I responded out loud.

Well I’m glad you actually listened to yourself for once. Anyway, lets talk. Have you noticed the marks on their flanks?

"Yeah I have. I knew what they were called, I just can’t remember... oh what was it?"

Cutie Marks?

"Yeah, Cutie Marks. That’s it. They’re kinda odd, but I’m in a world with talking ponies straight out of a fucking kids show, so can’t really complain."

Here’s something else to think about. Did you notice how little that gate guard cared about some large creature just carrying a wounded, unconscious mare? Someone could easily get the wrong idea.

"I can see your point on that. Well, I’m just glad he had some chill."

Yeah, that’s good for us. I don’t think you particularly like being unconscious. But, what do I know, I’m just a voice in your head. Now, you should do something productive with yourself, tune your radio, clean your weapon, get to know the locals.

"I’ll do something, I’m just not talking to the locals here. Seemed like a few of them were disgusted with me." I took my rifle and began to disassemble it, cleaning the various parts. Why am I here? What brought me here?

POV Change: Pfc. Hanz

The objective marker showed that I was only two hundred meters away, and I pray that there’s a splint. If there isn’t a splint, well I’m just plain out fucked in 90% if combat scenarios. Upon reaching fifty meters away, the marker vanished. Looks like whomever placed it thought I was close enough to not need the marker.

It appeared to be in a large ditch, and inside it laid a wrecked Chinook. The nose of the craft was buried into the ground, with the front rotor blades having been mostly snapped off. Several patches of the hull appeared to have been boiled off, like what you’d expect a plasma weapon to do to something. I grabbed my sidearm, then slowly approached the craft. The markings on the side indicated that it was a US Army Chinook, so either it was brought over from Arma and got shot at by some locals with energy weapons, or the US built some interplanetary portal in the search for oil. The back ramp was open, so I got closer and peered inside. There weren’t any bodies or blood inside, just a singular wooden crate that somehow survived the crash. Maybe it would have a splint in it. I climbed in and opened the crate, which upon opening I immediately noticed a splint. Yes! My luck isn’t shit for once! Now that finding a splint is scratched off the todo list, next is killing Blackjack for whatever the fuck he did that brought me here.

Hurriedly, I opened the medical menu, selected my left arm, and applied the splint. It was no longer listed as fractured, meaning I could actually use my rifle now. With my arm fixed, I looked back into the box. Inside was two more splints, a few rolls of Quick Clot bandages, and four more clips of .303 ammunition. The distant sound of a helicopter could be heard, which was slowly getting louder. Quickly shoving the items into various pouches, I made my way to the ramp and looked out. Inbound from the East was a helicopter, which somewhat resembled a Vertibird, with the overall shape and rotors on either side. I went prone to avoid detection, but made sure I had a line of sight on the craft as it landed. It made its decent into the field, which upon landing a door on the side opened, and three ponies hopped out and began walking in my direction. All three where wearing a similar grey uniforms, along with a grey helmet. On their sides was a boxy object, which I assumed to be some kind of weapon, probably an energy rifle of some kind given the shape. What was strange, (besides the fact that they’re equines with weapons), was the lack of any body armor. I’m not complaining, it makes my job easier. I grabbed my rangefinders to get a reading on the first target. It was three hundred meters away. Perfect.

Switching back to my rifle, I took aim, then gently squeezed the trigger. The round hit the first target in the chest, causing it to collapse. I cycled the bolt, took aim... second one down. Cycled the bolt again, took aim... last one eliminated. You still got it Hanz, now time to exfil. Climbing out the back, I turned West and moved quickly before their bird came back round. It started to storm as well, which would hopefully help hide me from aerial observation.

Author's Note

Looks like Blackjack finally made it to his objective, and Hanz got lucky with that crashed Chinook. Lets see if Hanz’s luck holds out.