In the Name of Kane

The sound of bullets whizzing by was usually a distressing sound for a soldier, but for Colonel Starlight Glimmer, the sound brought nothing but amusement. GDI had already killed her once, they would not do so again, especially not with simple probing fire like this. With a pep in her step that was uncharacteristic for an officer who had spent the last two weeks living in trenches and tents on one side of a two-way artillery duel she continued on her way.

Today was no different from all the other days that she had been here on the line, GDI probing fire ranging from Kodiak shells to machine gun fire impacted the shield and occasionally a stray round would find its way through and hit the barricades that Nod’s engineers had managed to get built, not that it really mattered on the part of the line that Spike had given to the Marked of Kane.

“So boring… but necessary.” she mused silently as a particularly colorful artillery spell impacted the barrier and created a lovely light show, “No sense revealing ourselves to GDI before the time is right.”

As if summoned by her thoughts, her EVA sprang to life, a certain drake was calling another meeting, and if he was pulling in unit commanders, then something had most definitely changed on the line. With a sigh and a shrug she sent an affirmative reply as well as her ETA back to Slavik’s network, followed by bringing up a map of the trenches that scrolled across her integrated visor. Her inspection of her unit’s forward positions would have to wait, not that she expected much to have changed since the day before.

Her trip took her first back through a checkpoint she had just passed through, getting an amused look from one sentry and a confused look from the other. The one without the incredulous look on his face had obviously been here longer than his inquisitive partner, and he waved Colonel Glimmer through once she flashed her ID. Spike wasn’t known for micromanaging, but his timing was infamous among his subordinate officers, with an accidental habit of calling them into meetings or emergency briefings the moment they were about to commit to their own duties.

“Back in 30, ma’am?” the other guard asked, half genuine, half teasing with his tone.

“Honestly I’m just going to pin my ID to my armor if he keeps this up.” she quipped, getting a chuckle out of the two guards before continuing on her way. The fastest route back to Rarity’s field bunker first took her through a medical outpost, little more than a camouflaged tent lined by sandbags inside with a handful of triage stations inside that were thankfully empty today. The line had been static for well over a week at this point, and the field medics currently on duty in the tent were lounging about with a deck of cards before giving a respectful nod. Saluting wasn’t allowed on front-line assignments, but not due to the actions of GDI. Nod snipers had made it a habit of hitting GDI officers whenever they could identify them, and the entire Brotherhood had adopted the protective habit as a precaution just in case the eagle decided to return the favor.

She returned the nod to the two medics before ushering herself out and back into the covered trench system, calmly looking over to her left as what she assumed to be an artillery round managed to pierce the magical shielding and impacted the ground relatively nearby. The detonation threw up dirt and debris, but Starlight’s onboard sensors didn’t pick up any organic matter, at least nothing flesh and blood. A bush however, was completely annihilated and she couldn’t help but laugh lightly at the fact that all of GDI’s might and luck in getting a shell through didn’t even hit one of their trenches, but instead impacted between them.

Before continuing on she felt something brush her hoof and noticed a limb from that particularly resilient bush had landed in the pathway in front of her. With a smile she gingerly moved it out with her magic and feigned a morose tone.

“Truly you were the greatest martyr of the Brotherhood, Sister Shrub.” she lamented before once again continuing on her way through the winding trench system, pausing only when her path took her into one of the forward mess halls. Unlike the triage tent, this structure was more than just fabric and sand, built to be used as a fallback position in case GDI grew a spine and hit their position instead of the other way around. Inside, Starlight saw the dream that she had for pre-war Equestria realized, as soldiers of every conceivable species were milling about, grabbing their meals, taking down time to look over letters, and other such comforts that were available to them.

While not an ideal way to bring all the races of the continent together, it did fill her with hope every time she saw just how united the Brotherhood was against GDI’s injustice. Griffons, ponies, diamond dogs, even a pair of dragons were eating and relaxing, or at least the closest thing to relaxing as one could in a trench, together in harmony that GDI preached but only the Brotherhood truly acted on. Those that noticed her gave friendly nods and smiles that she returned as she combed her way through the busy hub, deftly making her way through the mess until finally she was back out in the open air and only one junction away from her destination.

And then the ground exploded again.

Unlike the previous detonation that had so savagely shredded a shrubbery, the shower of dirt that Starlight Glimmer was treated to was rather tame this time, barely registering as impacting her armor but enough to get a surprised ‘eep’ out of her as dirt hit her flank. Her surprise gave way to curiosity and the smoking hole only a yard away right outside of the trench caught her attention. More specifically, the unexploded shell sitting in the center of this newly created crater.

“EVA, lock the mess behind me and call in EOD with that shell’s location.” she finally said after a few seconds of staring at the defunct ordinance. Once her EVA had confirmed that her orders were received and that a disposal team was on the way, she finally continued on and without further incident, made her way into the bunker that Slavik had summoned her to.

“Colonel Glimmer, nice of you to join us.” Spike said once she entered the room.

“Took the scenic route, General, just uh, be sure not to go out the door behind me until the EOD team gets rid of the unexploded artillery shell that nearly killed me.” Starlight replied, getting a smirk from the drake that she had befriended what felt like so very long ago.

“Duly noted, though I doubt we’ll have to worry too much about that for much longer. Kane’s orders have just come down the chain… it’s time.”

Author's Note

Literally everyone was asking for more Nod and while I just don't have the ability to make a multi-chapter, single narrative story about the Brotherhood, I sure as hell can drabble the hell outta them.