Chicoltgo, 1st day of the siege.

The Heer forces scattered in and around Chicoltgo were a disorganised mess just a day ago. Unexpectedly cut off from any inflow of: reinforcements, supplies, orders and every other essential for fighting a war; the large force inside Chicoltgo seemed like it was doomed. Oberst Radowitz was far out of his depth in the urban battle, he was a tanker, destined for the open fields and rolling hills.

The changeling had been prepared for the unthinkable, the single largest surrender in the history of the hives. Radowitz truly didn’t know how many men were under his command, but there at least 70 000 soldiers crowded in and around the city. The officer believed he could hold for two days, nothing more.

Especially given the Equestrian superiority in siege warfare. Their ability to hold hard positions was far better than the equivalent capabilities in the Heer, better tactics and better understanding of the terrain all but guaranteed it. They’d even borrowed tactics from the Reich, their festung cities and heavy artillery. Radowitz had zero confidence in his ability to hold out. That was until the griffon showed up.

The griffon mercenary getting here at all was an oddity. He and the PanzerGreadiers escorting him must have fought their way through the Equestrian line, dodging artillery and the advancing pony forces squeezing the noose even tighter on both sides. Through some divine miracle, the siege engineer sent by the Queen herself had arrived in the city unharmed.

Within an hour of arrival, Radowitz actually believed they could survive. Now, well into the first day of the siege, they were still alive and holding strong. Ground had been given, and men were lost, but they were still alive. The griffon, who he’d learned was named Gerhardus, had certainly whipped new life into the Heer defence.

Halving rations, limiting ammunition usage, restricting artillery usage were all basic steps. The griffon had also insisted they treat the cities residents well, and banned the soldiers from draining them for love and plundering their houses for food. Radowitz had to agree, they simply didn’t have the ability to fight an insurrection in the city, and the attackers all at once.

Interestingly, Radowitz’s new best friend also seemed intimately educated on the Equestrian tactics. Under his direction, they had managed to effectively counter the Equestrian attacks. It also helped that they were defending a pony city, the Equestrians would never indiscriminately shell their own citizens.

Now as the sun set, on Eqqus, Radowitz and Gerhardus sat atop a large building in Chicoltgo, watching the city bellow them. Their perch was a warehouse close to the perimeter with the Equestrians, a sturdy brick building which had once held mountains of fizzy drinks bound for the entire continent. Now, it held the 5th brigade of the Vraks rifles.

With night soon to come, the ponies would rotate in the Thestral units. The ‘knife eared bastards’ as Gerhardus called them, would continue the attacks during the night. Better hearing, darker colours and night vision made them the best night-fighters in the world. From this warehouse, the 5th rifles could be quickly moved to counter their main thrust.

But for now, everything was quiet. “How long till they begin the attack?” Radowitz asked.

On the roof of the warehouse, the two leaders of the Heer’s defence lay against a hard brick was on the roof. The griffon reached into his coat and pulled out a pocket-watch “Give it an hour.”

It wasn’t just the two on the roof, around them other changelings quietly went about their business, all keeping their heads low to avoid any lurking snipers. Cleaning guns, eating rations, or just quietly talking with friends and comrades, everyling had something to do. The only changelings truly in action were the snipers, watching the concrete forest for any movement.

“You think we’ll win?” the changeling asked.

“You don’t win a siege battle,” Gerhardus chuckled “you survive it. Our victory condition is surviving long enough for the rest of the army to break us out.”

“Alright. What do you think the odds of that are?” Radowitz pressed.

“I can’t answer that. All we can do is fight the good fight here, and hope everygriff else pulls through. But I’d say we’ve got pretty good odds if we can survive for two weeks; after all, its not just our necks on the line here.” The griffon explained.

“What do you mean? Who else is on the chopping block here?” Radowitz questioned. High command wasn’t really his thing, the big picture always eluded him.

“So many changelings. Roland for one, his pride was wounded by the defeat. Pharynx also needs a victory to save him from execution, it was his troops who routed in the face of the Thoraxian free army. Vaspier also desperately needs a win, he failed to get anything on the Crystal Empire, and didn’t see Bluebloods coup coming. Chrysalis also needs this, she needs to show that the ponies would crumble before the rebuilt Heer, or domestic support for her reign will collapse.” Gerhardus listed “I could keep going, but the bottom line is that we’re far to important as a statement not to rescue.”

Radowitz laughed “Thanks for making me feel important.”

The pair continued going about their business in the eerie quiet of the city. Gerhardus unpacking and double checking his equipment, laying out grenades and removing safety pins. He also routinely ate small strips of some dried meat from a small bag on the ground. It did cause some changelings to quietly gag, although they possessed fangs and were technically omnivorous; they only ate meat in survival situations, and the fangs were primarily for hard love extractions.

The changeling tanker tried not to think about it too hard as he pushed his own lukewarm spinach lasagna around in its metal tin. At least it was nourishing and full of enough calories to keep a changeling running for days.

A changeling Sargent suddenly approached the two commanders and held out a rifle. “Sorry to interrupt you sir, but me and the lads think that you’ll be needing this.”

Radowtiz took the rifle in his own magic with some uncertainty. Being trained as a STUG and armoured commander, Radowitz hadn’t actually been in a fight outside an armoured vehicle before. Non-the-less, it would be a necessity in the urban combat. While he possessed over 1000 tanks in the city, they were all in reserve out of artillery range or disguised among the buildings.

“Thanks Sargent.” He politely smiled, as he checked the rifle over.

“You’re from Vraks right?” the Sargent asked as he dropped an ammo bag on the ground. Confused, Radowitz asked “Then you’re promoted to honorary rifleman of the 5th Vraks rifles.” The Sargent smacked the Oberst on the shoulder before trotting away to talk with the rest of his men.

As Radowitz checked the gun over, trying to conjure the memories of his shooting lessons, Gerhardus leaned over to check on him “You know how to shoot one of those?”

“I mean…” the Oberst began “I can shoot one, less confident on reloading it.”

“Pass it ere Rad, I’ll give you a rundown” the griffon said, holding out a paw and making gimmie motions.

Radowitz handed the rifle over and snorted indignantly “Just call me Joseph, you’re not in the Heer, so ignore the whole sir thing.”

“In that case just call me Hardus, its shorthand for my full name.” the Griffon nodded before quickly moving on “So this is a Mauser…”

1 hour later

Getting kicked awake wasn’t something Joseph was used to, and certainly not something he wanted to make a regular occurrence. It was uncomfortable and painful, but annoyingly effective at being woken up quickly.

With the sun having set, and the city in a blackout, the night was almost pitch black. In the dim light of the moon, the Changeling tanker could see Hardus fully awake and alert. FG-42 in paw, the griffon intently watched the open ground beyond the warehouse. Many of the outlying buildings had been torn down to clear a line of fire for the defenders, and the griffon watched the rubble intently.

Joseph Radowitz also got up, and carefully peered over the outer wall on the roof. He scanned the rubble, up and down the ruins, nothing seemed amiss. Shadows were stagnant, no sounds or sights came from the nearly open ground just beyond their perimeter.

“They’re out there.” Hardus muttered “At least a battalion, maybe more.”

Despite the cold temperature, Joseph found himself feeling hot and sweaty. “What do we do?”

The griffon ran a paw across his beak, clearly thinking. Then he made up his mind “This is a much denser attack than I was expecting, and they’re coming here. I need you to go and get your STUG and bring up the reserve VolksGrenadiers, we’ll need light weapons to force them back. Hit them in the sides and send them packing back across the rubble.”

Joseph nodded before slowly getting up and trotting towards the other edge of the building. Whispering for a few snipers to follow him, the changeling leapt over the side of the building, using his wings to drift to the ground.

Atop the massive warehouse, Gerhardus gave one more glance to the rubble before hurriedly waving an officer over. The officer crouched by the griffon and watched the rubble as well, also trying to spot anything “You think they’re out there?”

“They’re out there.” He affirmed “Set the mortars up just over there, remember our elevation when aiming them. Send someone downstairs, get everygriff up, make sure they don’t just start shooting at shadows.”

The officer nodded before moving off, leaving Gerhardus to his own devices. Surveying the roof, Gerhardus was impressed by the Vrakian riflemen. The massive hive city was known for producing some of the best soldiers in the Heer, and it showed. The troops on the roof were already awake and ready.

One unusual trait he had noticed were their melee weapons. Outside of the Griffonian knights, hand to hand weapons usually only consisted of a knife or bayonet. These Vrakians however had a bounty of blades, a surprising number of broadswords were sheathed under great coats; others carried sharpened shovels or hammers. One even carried an icepick with him.

While useless normally, Gerhardus had found out that the 5th brigade rifles were only recently transferred from the 5th army. Apparently they’d gotten bogged down for 8 months in Las Pegasus, and learned the value of close quarters weapons for urban combat.

Gerhardus had imposed strict radio silence on the riflemen and a strict blackout across the whole city. So it was unexpected with the platoon radio crackled to life. “5th brigade, do you read me!” a voice shouted desperately.

Angered by the disobedience and interruption at this crucial moment, the griffon stormed over to the radio and picked up the receiver. “I ordered radio silence.” He seethed to the changeling on the other end “This had better be good.”

“5th brigade they’re scaling your walls! Entering on the 2nd floor and coming out the sewers!” the voice urgently shouted.

“You see them?” the Griffon asked, voice steady.

“Yes sir!” came the reply.

“Light them up!” he shouted back.

The time was weapons free to the opening of gunfire was almost instantaneous. The crack of rifles came from a small factory just on their left, and the bullets thudded against the walls of his own warehouse. A searchlight atop the factory lit up and began to point somewhere over the wall.

Dropping the receiver, Gerhardus expertly swung his FG-42 into his paws and sprinted over to the wall. Riflemen already on the edge of the building opened fire on the enemy five floors beneath them. Arriving at the verge and daring a glance over, the sight was just as bad as expected.

Hundreds of Thestrals were clustered around the base of the warehouse, ladders and ropes leaning against the wall allowed countless breaching parties to enter the warehouse fortress. A barricaded gate at the bottom of the building had been forced open as the ponies poured inside. The searchlight from the other building briefly illuminated individual Thestrals, the light reflecting off their bat like eyes.

“Weapons free, mortars hit 5ft in front of the building, HE shells!” Gerhardus shouted. Abandoning the wall, the griffon galloped on all fours towards the stairs. “Platoon fall in!”

A platoon of the Vrakian riflemen followed the griffon down the stairs while the snipers and mortar teams already engaged unleashed hell from the rooftop. As Gerhardus practically threw himself down the stairs, flairs were shot into the sky, illuminating the battlefield. As he ran, he constantly shouted “To the 2nd level, we’re under attack!”

Various other shouts from NCO’s and officers also filled the air, adding to the chaos.

“Get your guns!”

“Secure doors and windows!”

“Prepare for close quarters battle!”

Withing seconds, the troops were up joining him in charging down to meet the attackers. The 4th and 3rd floors were already battlegrounds, some teams who had scaled higher were engaging the veritable torrent of changelings cascading down the stairs. The crack of rifles filled the air, meanwhile several stealthier attackers engaged the troops in hand-to-hand combat.

Thestral knives and nightguard axes sparked against Vrakian broadswords. The warehouse was nearly pitch black, with the enforced blackout, troops relied only on the light of their torches and light from the flares outside to provide vision for them. The fighting was brutal, and in this close quarters environment, sheer ferocity and momentum counted far more than any advanced tactics.

Spilling onto the 2nd floor, from countless stairwells the crack of rifles was so continuous that some might mistake it for machinegun fire. The entire floor had been cleared out, boxes used as barricades on the lower levels, and ammunition and supplies stored higher up. The entire floor was completely open, save for the thin pillars which regularly broke up the floor.

Changelings spilled onto the floor in an unending torrent, and Thestrals poured in relentlessly through the windows. With no cover beyond the pillars, there was nothing to do but shoot and advance. The two sides inexorably advancing towards each other as dozens fell every second. Chunks of brick dust and shrapnel filled the air like flies on a hot day, spurts of blood falling like rain.

Right in the centre of it all was Gerhardus, standing tall on his hind legs, spraying openly with his automatic rifle. “Advance forward, concentrate your fire, throw these knife eared bastards back out the windows!”

The only light in this room were the flashes of gun barrels and wild spray of torches. In the dark, the changelings couldn’t aim properly, the Thestrals had the advantage. Leaning against a concrete pillar and taking cover as he jammed another magazine into his rifle, he made a call. “Lights on!”

Somewhere at the back of the floor, a changeling heard him and threw the breaker. Electricity fizzled for a moment, before the floodlight illuminated the whole floor in their unnatural white light. Immediately, the Vrakian infantry shot better, and Thestral losses skyrocketed.

Having to climb ladders and ropes up to the 2nd floor, the flood of changelings into the arena was simply more than the ponies could keep up with. A superior rate of fire from the more advanced and semi-automatic changeling guns also decided the battle. Bodies mounted on both sides, advancing changelings and thestrals walking over the dead to get forwards.

Here, the Thestrals and Changelings stood just 5 meters away from each other. The cover having long since disappeared, the two forces fired at each other in lines. It was a battle far more fit for previous century. Here, the Changelings prevailed.

“Secure the windows, unleash Tartarus on those bastards!” Gerhardus shouted as Vrakian riflemen rushed to the windows and began to throw lead onto the Thestrals down below.

“Everygriff else, follow me!” Gerhardus shouted as he continued to charge down to the ground floor.

Arriving on the ground floor, the area was already engaged in a brutal battle. The forces stationed on the ground floor were significant, armed with heavy machineguns and reinforced with barricades. But they were being overwhelmed just like everygriff else. The troops down here had seemingly been caught off guard, and were paying the price.

The flood of changeling reinforcements injected new life into the battle. Here the Thestrals had numbers, but they lacked cover. The Thestrals and brought heavy weapons forwards, anti-tank rifles and PIAT anti-tank weapons were used to create breaches in the barricade and advance forwards.

Gerhardus reached the floor and blindly threw a grenade in the direction of the forced open door. Somehow the Thestrals had opened it and were streaming reinforcements in. Fire from the upper levels, mortar shells exploding a point-blank range and sniper fire from the other building were thinning out the attack however.

Taking cover behind the barricade, Gerhardus landed next to a Heer Lieutenant. “How’d they get in!” he shouted over the battle.

“One of our own let them in!” the officer shouted back.

Lacking the time to fully contemplate the implications of that statement. Gerhardus found an opening in the sandbags and forced the barrel of his FG through, taking a moment to aim, he opened fire and emptied his magazine into four different attackers. Reloading, he took notice of the sound of approaching vehicle engines.

Knowing that it must be Oberst Radowitz returning with reinforcements, the griffon breathed a sigh of relief. He took the opportunity to assess the building and figure out its dimensions. Feeling like he’d just discovered gravity, he realised you could roll and armoured vehicle in here. A pair of large steel doors lay at the back of the building, all they needed to do was open them.

“Put down covering fire!” the griffon shouted “Lieutenant” he grabbed the officer from before “Your men will help me open those doors do you understand?”

“Yes sir!” came the firm reply.

As the riflemen increased their rate of fire and supressed the attackers, Gerhardus made a dash for the large steel doors. Grabbing one, he started to pull it open as the changeling riflemen joined him. Bullets crashed around them as they dragged the heavy steel doors open using pure ponypower.

“Come on, put some back into it!” the changeling lieutenant shouted at his men.

Channelling their magic and pure strength, the team forced the doors open despite the oncoming fire. Wasting no time, the soldiers immediately dispersed back to cover as the Thestrals unleashed a torrent of bullets against their former position. Gerhardus himself dropped back onto all fours and took cover behind the sandbag and metal barricade separating the two warring sides, following the platoon radioling.

Grabbing the receiver off the radiolings back, Gerhardus clicked through the channels until finding the one he wanted. “Joseph do you read me?”

The receiver crackled for a second before the voice of the Changeling Oberst came through “I read you. I’ve got the vehicles and reinforcements, where do you want them?”

“The Thestrals are hitting us here and now. Send your infantry and vehicles around the side to hit the knife eared bastards where it hurts, I’ve got mortars hitting danger close so watch out. That STUG meanwhile, roll it in here and show these bats the canister!” Gerhardus shouted.

“Roger that.” Joseph replied before going silent.

The crack of rifles and the bang of grenades was slowly drowned out by the deafening cry of a heavy engine. Churning the rubble bellow it, the iron elephant lumbered forwards. Barrel first and followed by the rest of the body, the vehicle entered the room and imposed its overwhelming presence on the battlezone.

Canister was a brand-new weapon to the Heer’s arsenal, produced under licence from the Reish and only deployed after the second invasion. Despite being brand new, the tank commanders of the Heer’s panzer arm rarely carried them into battle, preferring to bring HE or HEAT rounds. In this urban battle however, Joseph had ordered all his vehicles to carry them.

Rolling past the battle line, the STUG stopped and took aim. Rotating on the spot, the STUG targeted its static gun down the warehouse, its rifled barrel gleaming in the unnatural light. Then it fired, and the world shook. Tiny metal balls bounced around the building, creating a thousand smaller explosions across the whole floor.

The Thestral return fire dwindled. By the second canister round, it had stopped. It seemed like the Thestrals had just disappeared. In reality, their attack had finally run out of steam, and those inside the building had been riddles with so many holes they may as well have been turned into a red mist.

Quickly getting up, the changeling riflemen crossed the former killing floor and reclaimed the far wall. Some bared the new door shut, while other went over the pony bodies and speared them, making sure they stayed dead. The changeling bodies were also carefully picked up and carried away, they’d be buried properly later.

The Vrakian infantry pushed the door closed and saw about barricading it again. From their reclaimed window positions, the infantry set about punishing the retreating Thestrals. Meanwhile the reinforcing vehicles and Volksgrenadiers closed the noose around their sides.

For Gerhardus, this signalled his end in the engagement. The griffon pulled his pitch-black beret off and ran a claw through his feathers, trying to cool himself down. He clasped his paws together and thanked glorious Boreas for keeping him alive another day. This wouldn’t be the only raid of the night, but it was probably the most concentrated.

Lifting the heavy metal hatch, Oberst Radowitz clambered out of his STUG. The changeling quickly pulled off his headset and dropping it back into the vehicle and jumping off the vehicle. Approaching and sitting down next to the griffon, Joseph Radowitz huffed. “Things seem to be peachy here.”

“Thanks for the help.” Gerhardus blandly stated.

“Anytime Hardus. You did good holding them off.” Radowitz said, patting the griffon on the shoulder.

“Course I did good, I’m always good. Bad news is that we’ve got a massive problem , one I genuinely don’t know how to counter.” Gerhardus growled. It wasn’t often he found an unsolvable problem.

“What is it?” Joseph asked, curious about the danger.

“That Thoraxian Free Army is in the city.” Gerhardus growled as Radowitz’s eyes widened “We took in changeling units without discrimination, no one bothered to check who they were or where they came from.”

“But that means…” Radowitz began counting numbers in his head “Dear Chrysalis there could be thousands of them. We have no way to find out who’s friendly, anyone could be a traitor.”

“No way at all. We’ll just have to take it one step at a time and be very careful with who we trust.” The griffon growled in dismay.

Occupied Acadia Bay

“Chrysalis you wrinkly old hag, fancy seeing you here!” Trimmel shouted across the hotel lobby.

The occupied city was an important logistical node for the Heer and its ever-advancing juggernaut. After its fall during the invasion, the changelings had put down some serious infrastructure and built it up. When the Equestrians retook the city, they’d expanded even more on the renovations.

The city had become a key part of the war effort, and it showed. The Grand Alicorn hotel, its ornate red and panelled wood interior was fortified and filled with changeling officers. Outside, platoons of riflemen walked by, and trains carried entire freights of fresh tanks to the frontline. The roar of jet engines sounded overhead as the Luftwaffe aircraft kept the constant air-war going.

Striding across the hotel-turned-command-centre, Trimmel made his was over to the Queen of all changelings; flanked by several officers and soldiers. Chrysalis for her part was wearing her military uniform, a bright white jacket and hat with a gold trim. Decals of her crown adorned her jackets collar and the lands flag was plastered on her hat.

Many soldiers of the Queens Guard had become accustomed to Trimmels blunt way of speaking to the Queen. A few of the younger ones however bared their teeth and growled at the insult, moving to grab weapons. A wave from Chrysalis stilled them as she shouted back “Trimmel, a pleasure as always.”

The HivesMarshall reached her and held out a hoof which she shook “Great to see you here. Now then, what in the ever-loving fuck are you doing here?”

“To meet you and the brave troops of the Heer of course. What kind of Queen would I be if I did nothing but stare at the backs of my changelings.” Chrysalis gave a smile almost identical to the one Celestia would give her ponies. “And who better to introduce me than their commander.”

Bullshit, Trimmel knew it was more than that. Yes Chrysalis loved the her Changelings, and would do anything for changelingkind to prosper; but she wasn’t a fighter. Chrysalis was a political leader, and she wouldn’t risk dying when it was completely pointless.

“Well of course.” Trimmel played along “Follow me, I’ll give you a tour.”

Smiling, Trimmel led Chrysalis out of the lobby and into the former staff office, now the base commander used it as an office. Chrysalis, far taller than all other Changelings walked with her head held high, smiling and nodding at Heer soldiers. Some bowed while other took of their helmets and hats, nodding with reverence. While the Heer as a whole followed Trimmel and not Chrysalis, none could deny her force of presence.

Trimmel stepped in the office first, the base commander jumping to his hooves and saluting. The Changeling officer smiled “HivesMarshal Trimmel sir, its an honour to have you here.”

“Good to be here commander. We’ve got a special VIP here, could you bring 10 of your best here to greet them here in 30 minutes?” Trimmel explained, usually he played the part of the special VIP during visits like this.

“Of course sir, who’s the special gue…” the commander trailed off as Chrysalis walked into the comfortable office. The officer stumbled over the next few words, managing only a few dumb sounds before recovering “yes sir right away sir!” she near shouted before trotting out of the office briskly.

Shutting the door with his magic, Trimmel dropped his hat down on the table and gave out a tired sigh “I assume you want the big chair?” he asked Chrysalis, gesturing to the commanders winged armchair.

“Obviously” Chrysalis replied as she walked around the desk and collapsed into the winged chair.

The Queen of all changelings lit up her magic and teleported in her cigarette extender and. Trimmel did the same, procuring a box from the pockets of his uniform. Striking a match, the Queen lit the HivesMarshals first before holding the flame to her own. Taking a few drags, the two sat in silence before getting down to business.

“So why are you really here?” Trimmel asked, getting straight to business.

“Because I intend to lead the Queens guard in battle.” Came the simple reply from the queen.

“Right.” Trimmel nodded “So that’s not happening.”

Chrysalis huffed, rolling her eyes “Obviously I don’t intend to do any fighting, sitting in a tank and driving around the backlines suits me better.”

Trimmel could understand the decision on some levels, it would certainly provide the men with sky-high moral, and would boost support for the war back home. But that Didn’t explain why she was doing this now of all times. “Why? Of all the places and times, why now and here?”

The expression Chrysalis switched to was one which the Great Queen barley ever war, she looked awkward. “First, I promised to personally rescue the ‘Heroes in Chicoltgo’; I need to keep that promise. Before you say anything, its not for anyone at home, but the international observers.”

Trimmel nodded in understanding as Chrysalis paused. He knew that the Queen was supposed to be entertaining the Reich Attaché about the time the pony offensive began. Perhaps she’d said something or made some sort of promise to the attaché?

“The second reason in the mercenary, Gerhardus Omsclaw.” Chrysalis nervously stated.

Coughing out smoke, Trimmel managed not to die on unfortunate death before throwing an incredulous look her way. “Hardus? I mean, he’s a good leader, but not enough to warrant you going in.”

Sighing, the Changeling Queen rubbed her forehead with a hoof “I wish it was that simple, unfortunately this comes straight from the Crown Prince of the Reich. The young Kaiser-to-be is apparently very fond of the mercenary and threatened to withdraw Reich support and stop selling us oil. Sure he’d only… 10 right? When did we send him that tank again?” Chrysalis asked.

Momentarily caught off-guard by the questioned, Trimmel stammered for a moment. Running dates and numbers through his head for a moment before nodding in confirmation “He’s 10. Perhaps we should send him another tank for his 11th birthday, maybe one of those King Tigers you’re so fond of?”

“Brilliant idea.” Chrysalis confirmed with a smile “Anyway, despite only being 10, when he makes a direct proclamation and is set on going through with it; the Reich has to follow it. Trust me, I’ve had a lengthy discussion with Regent Eros about it. The long-short of it is that we need to save Gerhardus or the Kaiser is going to pull support.”

Nodding a few times, Trimmel gave no immediate reply. Instead he reached a hoof into his uniform and produced a hip flask. The Changeling took a sip of the liquid before offering the flask to Chrysalis, the Queen eagerly grabbed it in her magic and took a swig. Just as quickly, she reeled back and shuddered.

“What is this?” The Queen asked.

“Polmos Vodka, its 96% alcohol.” The HivesMarshal laughed.

“It’s like I’m drinking petrol.” Chrysalis growled taking another swig “Fucking brilliant, going to have to get myself a few bottles for the tower.” She laughed handing the flask back to Trimmel.

Trimmel screwed the cap back on and shoved the flask back inside his pocket. The Changeling let out a hearty laugh “I swear I’m such a bad influence on you sometimes.”

“Damn right you are. Now then lets go save a bird!” Chrysalis cheered.

Author's Note

So I realised just how fucky my timeline is when I tried to age Grover. Upon checking my original work, 1017???? What was I thinking! So I'm retconning it back to 1014 and pretending that I knew that all along.

Anyways, the battle in the warehouse is based on the night attack in the film 'The Eight Hundred'. I don't know what Fimfics rules about links are; so just google it, or don't, I can't force you to do anything.

Trimmel and Chrysalis also continue to be my favourite characters to write, they're dialogue just seems to write itself. Chrysalis bouncing between several different personalities is also amusing to me, she's a true changeling now. The next few chapters are going to bounce between the Chicoltgo gang and various pov's outside the city, so those two will probably be back soon.

The Thoraxian free army finally showed up, that neat I guess.

Also Grover finally did something. I sort of imagine that his relationship with Gerhardus is the Cool uncle variety.

I don't really know what to say here, just typing out words tbh. If you've got any questions, ask them and I'll be more than happy to answer. If anyone's got suggestions, pop those down as well and I'll give them a read.