"So let me get this straight, were going to the blistering heat of the desert, where there will be a napalm strike on standby, we will be under heavy fire and probably get fucked up going in and getting out?" Starlight asked, pointing out the obvious. Morbis face palmed and groaned.

"Yes Starlight, we just went over this not five minutes ago. I swear if I have to stay on this balloon with you for another minute, I'll shoot you myself."

"Ah relax captain, were here already." Blitz said as she pointed at the large military base in front of them. The building was five hundred yards wide and one hundred yards high. Standing out front was a griffon with a gold body and silver head and had one claw made of a crystal on his right hand.

"Alright, just let me use the cloud walking spell and lets get going." Shade said before any non-pegasus ponies fell to their death.

As they approached the griffon they took notice of his left eye being pure white with a scar leading from his forehead, over his eye, and almost reaching his chin.

"State your business." The griffon said. His voice was deep and slightly raspy.

"Were the soldiers Luna sent, She said someone here would be expecting us." He looked up for a moment before grunting and looking at his clipboard.

"Full names?"

"Morbis Soul."

"Night Shade."

"Blitzkrieg."

"Scorch Plain."

"Blood Haze."

"Starlight." The griffon checked everyone off one by one before nodding and leading them inside.

"By the way, I'm Diamond Claw." The griffon introduced himself "Shouldn't be hard to forget." He added, twirling his claw around. "Also, Luna wanted you guys to have a little present, you'll find 'em on the seats.

The team boarded the plane and instantly took notice of the items on their seats "So who wants to go first?"

In moments they were all outfitted in their brand new uniforms. The uniforms were black with dark blue trimming along the seams and had thin metal plating on the front and back of the torso, back of the gloves, and around the neck. The back of the gloves had light blue crescent moons.
While everyone was talking about the uniforms, Morbis walked up to them reading a note. "Hey Diamond Claw, how long till we can take off?"

"As soon as your all ready."

"Alright, can I see your shotgun for a moment?" Diamond handed over the shotgun and Morbis began inspecting it. "Hey Starlight." Starlight turned to face him and was instantly met with slugs impacting his chest. All the military personal aimed their guns at Morbis who only stared at Starlight on the ground. "Get up Starlight, I know your not dead." He said while giving him a kick.

"It's moments like these that make people think your an asshole, you know that right?" Starlight finally replied while laying on the ground with the wind knocked out of him.

"Nah, the people love me." Morbis offered Starlight a hand, which he gladly accepted.

"Next time, I get to shoot you in the dick."

"Alright you two, knock it off before the soldiers here find you as a threat and detain you all." Diamond Claw spoke up "Now all of you get on the damn plane."

They rode on the plane for roughly four hours before Diamond Claw walked into the cargo area where the team was placed. "We're nearing the drop zone so get ready, make sure your guns are loaded, armor on right, and parachutes strapped on." He said as he tossed parachutes to any non-pegasus. The team checked themselves and each other to make sure there weren't any flaws with their suits aside from the holes and dents in Starlights.
When they were prepared, they waited next to the door and awaited the green light to signify the moment to jump. The team watched the light without breaking eye contact.
As soon as the light turned green, everyone spilled out of the plane and plummeted towards the ground. The air whipped passed them, making and audible "whooshing" sound.
Once they reached twenty-five hundred feet, they opened the parachutes, making them slow down their descent.

The ponies parachuting soon arrived on the ground, meeting up with Morbis and Blitz who were waiting for them. As soon as Scorch hit the ground, he began kissing the ground despite the sand. "I hate flying so fucking much." He said as he continued kissing the ground.

"Alright team, the city is about five miles north of our location, and judging by the terrain it will take an hour or two to arrive. Lets move out." In single file, they began walking north, crossing hills and gorges.

"Well, since were gonna be walking for a while, who wants to play a game?" Starlight asked, offering his idea to help pass time. Everyone except Scorch and Shade agreed. "Alright, I spy with my little eye...something big."

"The desert." Everyone said in unison almost instantly including Scorch and Shade.

"Damn you guys are good."

Morbis was right, it did only take an hour and a half to make it to their destination. The city was surrounded with a wooden barricade, sharpened at the top to prevent unwanted visitors getting in. "The rear gate is least defended because of the mountains making it extremely difficult to get in. Come on, lets make our way around back, night will be here soon."

Just as they were arriving in back, night took over, leaving everything shrouded in darkness. The only light source was coming from the city within the walls. "Shade, count the amount of guards." She counted off five guards outside the gate and pointed out that they were wearing thick armor, but couldn't count how many inside. "Starlight, take 'em down quietly with a silencer and 50. caliber rounds." He gave a two finger salute and picked out his targets. From right to left, he took each one of them down with head shots. He gave an all clear, getting the team to drag the bodied out of view. Scorch and Haze banged on the gate, getting another two guards to inspect what was happening. Once Scorch and Haze had the chance, that grabbed their own soldier, stabbing them in the soft part of their skull right above the spine and pulled them out of view.

Starlight dropped down from his post and met up with the rest of the team who waited at the gate. "Shit, convoy, get down." He lead everyone behind a rundown jeep and waited for the convoy to pass. When the coast was cleat, Morbis pointed out a bell tower to Starlight. The tower was pitch black, providing the perfect amount of cover.

"The statue will most likely be inside a storage area or in the church. Starlight, you get up in the bell tower and provide us cover while we make our way to the storage building, if it's not there, the church isn't to far from it so we shouldn't face too much opposition."

"Yes sir." Starlight made his way to the tower as quiet as he could while the rest ran to the storage area and began their search.

"Starlight, do you see anyone outside?" Shade asked, using her comm. unit.

"Strangely no, I haven't seen anyone yet. I'll keep my eye out though."

"The statue isn't here, we need to move our search to the church. It's just down the road from here." The team climbed through the windows, using houses as cover to keep them out of sight.

The church appeared to have been white at some point, but was now weathered away revealing the dark brown and frayed wood underneath. Some windows were broken, giving sight inside. Inside were several crates and statues, none of them matching the description. Haze kicked the door in, allowing access inside.

"Blitz, get those crates open." Morbis said, tossing his knife to her. She dug the knife in the cracks down to the hilt and pulled, repeating the process at all corners. The crates contained nothing but miscellaneous object such as tools, and building resources. Morbis pulled out his communicator angrily and contacted Luna.

"It's not here, I repeat, It's not here."

"Guys we got a problem. Soldiers on the move towards the church. They're taking cover behind the buildings. The fuck? One of them just pulled out a device, it looks like a... Shit, GET OUT NOW!" As if on cue, multiple lights came on it all corners of the room, illuminating it in a dim red glow. The team dived out of the windows and got just enough distance before the church self destructed, sending debris flying in all directions. Bright lights turned on all over the city, making it seem like day time arrived. Morbis rolled over on his stomach and groaned from the pain in his body. His ears rang from the shock wave, and his head pounded. He slowly raised his head, looked around and noted extremely faint screams from people trying to get to safety, not just people, but civilians. Ponies holding their children tight and running for cover. Morbis looked to his right and saw Shade using her comm. He couldn't make out what she was saying due to being so fazed, but he had a feeling that was not good. His hearing soon came back and he could hear what she was saying. His feeling was right and it frightened him.

"I repeat, proceed with the plan. Send in the napalm now, the L.Z. is too hot for extraction. Thank you Luna, we'll find our own way out." Morbis crawled over to her and tried to snatch the comm. from her.

"What the fuck are you doing!? Do you not realize who's out there?" She cautiously looked around the corner of the building and noticed what he saw.

"I-I had no idea. I thought there weren't any civilians."

"Well we thought wrong!" Morbis put his revolver away and pulled out his rifle and began firing at the enemies, doing all he could to avoid non-hostiles, but it was in vain. A bullet went passed the changeling, embedding inside the throat of a civilian. The body dropped like a rock. He hoped it was a changeling in disguise, but after a few moments, nothing happened. It was still a pony. He stayed fixated on the corpse that laid sprawled out on the ground and watched the blood drain from the throat. He was cut off from his trance when the sound of jet engines roared overhead.

"Get down!" Shade yelled as she pulled Morbis back, got on top of him and brought up her force field. Haze, Scorch and Blitz took cover in the cellar of the church while Starlight went deeper inside the bell tower due to the fact it was made of stone and provided ample cover.

Once the napalm strike passed, the team abandoned their cover and ran for the front gate, avoiding the fire that engulfed the entire city, and opening fire on only soldiers in their way. As they neared the gate, a few soldiers began closing it, attempting to seal them in.

"Shade, stop them!"

"On it!" She let out a yell as she fired a spell at the door, causing it to explode and send splinters everywhere, stabbing multiple soldiers.

When they made it outside, a helicopter was waiting for them a few yards away. The chopper was piloted by none other than Diamond Claw.

"Did you guys have fun in there?" He asked sarcastically, finishing with a laugh.

The entire helicopter ride was spent with high fives, praises, and gloating about how many enemies they killed. All Morbis could was think about how many innocent lives were lost in their foolish attack. He felt nothing but remorse for the actions that took place in the battle field.

As soon as the helicopter touched down in Canterlot, Morbis jumped out and began fast walking towards the castle. The rest picked up the pace to keep up with him, curious on what he was going to do.

"Welcome back, I trust you are all alright?" Luna greeted them, only to be met with punch in her face. She collapsed to the ground rubbing her cheek, she looked up at Morbis who was now standing above her. He reached down and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and shook her.

"No civilians, NO CIVILIANS!? You fucking liar, there were several civilians there and I have no fucking clue how many died!" Luna looked at him with a frightened expression. This was the first time he ever lashed out at her. The anger in his eyes burned bright and true sending chills up her spine. She thought that he was going to strike again until Blitz struck the back of his head with the butt of her gun, knocking him unconscious. He collapsed on top of her, breathing lightly. She could feel his heart racing, and felt it gradually slow down to a steady beat. She gently pushed him off and looked down at him and then to the group.

"What the hell happened out there?"

Morbis awoke feeling groggy. He rubbed the sore part of his head and checked his hand for any traces of blood. He took in his surroundings and noticed that he was in the dungeon. After a few moments, the sound of heels echoed through the air. Luna appeared holding the cell keys.

"Come on, i'm letting you out."

"Why, aren't you afraid I might attack you again?" She looked at the keys, deep in thought.

"No, no i'm not. Shade explained to me what happened and I fully understand why you did what you did, and I'm sorry that it happened. Are intel was off, and I apologize for that." She opened the gate and lead him out of the castle. "Just go home and try to relax."

"Has anything new come up?"

"It turns out that Chrysalis never made it to the prison, we'll contact you if anything else comes up." Morbis nodded and flew off to Rainbow Dash's house.

Rainbow Dash greeted him out front and opened the door for him. "Are you okay, what happened?" She questioned, noticing that he wasn't himself.

"I fucked up that's what happened. I've never fucked up a mission." She lead him to her bed and laid him down. She covered him up with her blanket which he pulled close to him, and sat next to him.

"Everything will be okay, just sleep it off tough guy." She said as she placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.
He glanced at her hand before clasping her hand with his own as a sign of thanks. He closed his eyes and began drifting off to sleep. That night, he dreamed of the people who perished in the battle.

Author's Note

Shorter chapter but oh well. Thank you everyone who is still reading this story, it makes me so happy knowing that people are still reading this story :)

Until next time everyone.

P.S. If you could leave a comment telling me what you like or don't like about how the story, It would help out a lot, thank you.