The engine roared loudly as I drove across the tarmac, Serene bouncing a bit behind me as I drove over a hole in the runway. The back of my mind wondered how these ponies expected to take off and land on such a poor strip of road as Serene guided me through the airbase. I began to focus more on the issue at hand as we followed a dirt road away from the upper runway and hangers towards a small group of hangers stationed at the edge of the mountains that rose up around one side of the base. Some of the hangers appeared to have been built into the stone, and across from them, set at the brink of the drop off into the forest below. “Alright, pull over here, zhere’s a crack in zhe canyon. And svitch off zhat headlight.” Serene pointed towards a large split in the rock, partially concealed by dead shrubbery.

I complied, pulling my hoof away from the side of the tank to avoid being scratched by the brambles. The mini-tank was just able to squeeze into the crack before I switched the engine off and turned around to face Serene. “So, what exactly is the plan? And do you know anything specific about these hangers? I mean, I can go in kind of blind if we need to, but it’d be nice if I actually knew what the whole security detail is, where we’re supposed to actually find the parts, y’know?” Serene grimaced, leaning over some of the brush to look down at the hangers.

“Nein, I really don’t know vhy Sharpving didn’t volunteer to help out, she’s usually gung-ho about zhings like zhis.” Well, that’s just great. I watched as Serene thought, scratching his head a bit as he repeatedly glanced back between the hangers and me. Eesh, this would be a lot easier if we could've had that stealth armor fixed long ago... “Alright, I zhink I have a bit of an idea. It won’t distract zhe guards for long, but it might be enough for you to get zhe stuff out. Get in zhere and see if you can get zhe parts over to zhe door, I’ll give you… tventy minutes, zhat’s enough, Jah?” I nodded, hoping that the parts weren’t too hidden. Serene nodded in return, climbing into the driver’s seat beside me as I hopped out over the side. “Alright, tventy minutes, maybe zhirty, and you’ll know it when it happens. Zhen I’ll come in and get zhe parts out wizh you after it goes off.”

I nodded again, trying to hide my confusion to his plan as I grabbed my umbrella from the mini-tank. Serene started the engine and pulled back out of the cliffs to head back towards the larger runway. I waited a few moments to make sure nopony was still watching the area, before I began to creep down towards the hangers. I spotted a few ponies standing guard on either side of the hanger doors, each with a rifle slung over their shoulders. Working my way slowly along the side of the cliffs, I tried to spot some way of sneaking my way past, but both were standing stock still, simply staring off in the distance. “How old did you say your sister was?” One of the guards asked the other.

“Ugh, piss off.” Mm, elite minds I’m dealing with here. I bent down and picked up a rock, tossing it a couple times to get a feel for its weight. Taking careful aim, I chucked the rock into the distance, hearing it bounce and clack across the runway. One of the guards looked over to try and find the source of the sound, swinging his rifle over his head to hold it at the ready as he wandered away from his post. “The hell’re you doing?” The other guard wandered after the other as he trotted away from the door. As they walked off, I quickly dashed forward, slipping in through the small door beside the large hanger one before they returned. That was almost criminally simple.

The hanger was filled with shelves of mechanics, various parts and pieces that I could only vaguely recognize. I reached down into my jacket, trying to fish out the list of parts that Sharpwing had written up. Alright, let’s see, shock absorbers, wire cable, tubing, turbocharger, portable generator… I grimaced, finally coming to realize just how much stuff they’d sent me out to get. Oh, this isn’t going to be fun to try and get before Serene returns. Not to mention our absolutely horrid luck when it came to finding any sort of generator that we could pick up and move around. I snapped back to reality as I heard the sound of hoofsteps approaching. Ducking down behind a few boxes, I peered around the corner to see a pony meandering through the hanger, levitating a clipboard in the air as she ran inventory on the items.

I glanced down the hallway, trying to spot if any other ponies were around. Spotting no one, I pulled out my umbrella and began to sneak up behind the unicorn. With a jab and the crackle of electricity, the prongs connected with her spine, just below the base of her skull. The pony collapsed, and I was just able to grab her under her legs and have the clipboard bounce off of my leg to try and prevent it from clattering to the floor. Quickly dragging her back around the corner, I went to pick up the clipboard to look it over, occasionally glancing around to make sure nopony else was coming to investigate. Alright, now we’re talking. Scanning the page, I began to trot down the aisles of the shelves, following the guide of the inventory checklist.

Okay, shock absorbers, those shouldn’t be missed, I doubt they’d notice any extra pipes disappearing either. I swiped some of the parts, trotting back towards the large doors of the hanger and stashing them beside the exit. The pony stirred a little on the ground, but remained unconscious as I headed back towards the rear of the hanger. I checked the clock on my Pip-Buck, trotting past a collection of large turbine blades. Ten minutes, and I’ve still got turbocharger parts to snatch. Crap. I picked up my pace, rushing between shelves as I tried to find the parts needed. Come on, come on, fuel converter, spark plugs…

Rushing back and forth through the storage area, I gathered up more parts, stashing them in the slowly growing pile near the door. As I hurried, looking for a modified power generator, I suddenly stopped in place, my ear flicking as I thought I heard something outside of the hanger. I stood motionless, my heart pounding in my chest as I listened to voices on the other side of the door. Moving over to the boxes, I ducked behind them, hoping the guards weren’t planning on coming in, my mind racing with what they could have heard that’d have raised suspicion. Then there was the sound of something burning loudly from off the in distance, steadily growing louder and louder over time. I tensed up as an explosion rang out overhead. It was quiet for a moment, but soon I could hear a faint rumbling that steadily grew louder. The ground began to shake as the sound of groaning metal met my ears and I dove underneath a table, looking up at the ceiling of the hanger nervously.
The rumble eventually died down and I was stuck laying in silence for a long while before there was a knock at the door. The guards wouldn’t knock, would they? Creeping up to the keyhole, I peered through to see the sapphire and gold jacket of Serene, who was glancing about with worry. I opened the door and he slipped inside. “Ve have eight minutes maximum before zhe guards return. I vas able to start an avalanche on zhe other side of zhis runvay, zhey’re going to check it out now. Come on!” He hurried over to the parts I’d collected, quickly gathering a few in his hooves. I followed suit, heading out of the hanger behind him. He’d parked the mini-tank just around the corner of the hanger, but it was out of sight of the ponies rushing in the opposite direction towards an enormous pile of snow where other ponies were frantically working with shovels. Holy Celestia, he wasn’t joking. We rushed back and forth, moving the smaller parts over to the mini-tank before Serene stopped, looking down at the pieces of machinery we’d gathered. “Vhere’s zhe generator? I'm sure Sharpving wouldn't have put it on zhe list if ve didn't need it!”

“There’s nothing in there! And there’s no way they’d not notice something as big as a generator missing, what am I supposed to do? I don’t even think we’d be able to get one out of there with the Mini-tank without the trailer.” I retaliated, trying to keep my voice low. Serene grumbled, pacing back and forth quickly as he looked around the corner to watch the guards. He jumped back inside the hanger and I followed, resisting the urge to yank him back and speed out of here before the guards noticed what was going on.

“Zhere has to be somezhing in here, you just weren’t looking hard enough!” Yanno, I’d like to think I did pretty well, given the time limit I had to find all that stuff, ya stuck-up unicorn. This stuff's stressful! I managed to keep down the retort as followed him, watching him push aside some parts as he frantically searched the room. As he turned around a large stack of crates, he suddenly stopped in place, coming up to a curtain I hadn’t noticed. He pushed it aside, climbing up onto the back of something. I raised an eyebrow, momentarily forgetting the danger as I climbed up behind Serene.

I quickly realized we were standing on the back of some sort of vehicle, a small window revealing a driver’s seat not unlike that of the mini-tank, while on the flatbed behind the seats sat an intricate machine, covered in dials, knobs and switches. Wires dangled from the sides of the strange box, but as I went to inspect it, I was snapped back to attention as I suddenly heard the large engine at the front rumble to life. Looking over to the driver’s seat, I caught Serene sitting, looking over his shoulder as the vehicle shuddered and roared. I rushed up to him, hissing through my teeth, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?! They’ll see you driving out of here a mile away!” Serene ignored me, waving a hoof as he pulled out into the main path of the hanger.

Flipping a switch, he began to roll forwards, heading towards the door. I stood, frozen, for a moment, before jumping out of the back of the truck, running to the lever next to the hanger doors. It creaked loudly as I pulled it down, my mind shouting that this was an absolutely terrible idea. Gears spun as the doors began to slide open, Serene plowing forward as the crack became wide enough for the much more massive half-track to head through, myself rushing back around the corner. Leaping into the mini-tank, I flipped the ignition, the headlight flickering to life before I spun around, the parts bouncing against me as I watched Serene turn out of the hanger, heading back up the road to the larger runway. Oh, Celestia, oh Celesita, why, who thought this was a good idea?

I shook my head and sped off, racing up the road away, praying the guards weren’t watching as Serene and I disappeared around the corner.

---

“Why in Tartarus would you ever think that was a good idea?!” I shouted, all of us gathered back in the workshop the next morning. Sharpwing dropped down the parts she had been carrying from the half-track and the larger truck that were now hidden away in a crevice of the canyon. “Holy shit, I’m just surprised they haven’t come to skin us alive already! There’s no way they didn’t see us leaving!” I flopped down onto the seat of the Stork, dropping my face into my hooves.

“Jeez, and you said -I- was melodramatic. Calm down, Sparky, you’re fine. I don’t think they were too bothered with a few stolen parts when they were digging one of those huge guns out of the snow.” Night Strike was busy sifting through the new parts, picking up a wrench with her wing and beginning to crank a few screws into the framework. “Besides, what’re they going to do? Worst case scenario they put one of us in jail and we just stage another big break out. You did it before, you can do it again.” She stuck her tongue out playfully and I shook my head, sighing.

Crash Dive shut the door behind her as she trotted in after the rest of us. “As much as I’d like to tell him to shut up, Static’s not being completely paranoid, Night Strike. If any of the judges at the races were to see the stolen equipment during an inspection we’d be kicked out immediately, if they do anything like that.” Night Strike finished tightening the bolts on the frame of the plane, Crash Dive going to pick up some of the shock absorbers to begin attaching them to the skis of the Stork. “Regardless, we need to get this plane built before tomorrow or it won’t matter whether or not they find out we stole these parts. Go help Serene get the rest of the stuff out of that truck so we can get this daft thing functional.”

I reluctantly got out of the seat, heading back outside and beginning to make my way towards the edge of the canyon. I glanced over my shoulder to check to see if anypony was following me before I turned and trotted along the cliff side. Soon coming to a wide crack in the mountain, I turned into it, just able to see Serene digging around under the hood of the vehicle. I stepped up behind him, Serene suddenly standing up straight as he heard the sound of my hoofsteps. His head collided with the hood, causing Serene to spout several foreign expletives as he rubbed his skull. “Schiesse, you couldn’t have given me more of a varning?” He went back to the guts of the machine, reaching in and digging around. “Vell, for vhatever Sharpwing wanted it for, ve’re in a bit of luck. Ve won’t need to pull zhat huge generator off of zhe back for zhe Storch, zhe spark battery in zhis should be powerful enough. Not to mention it doesn’t veigh an extra four, five hundred kilograms...”

I raised an eyebrow, looking back up at the vehicle. It was actually much more impressive than I’d noticed the night before, rather than being more akin to the motorized wagons I occasionally saw at the sides of roads back up home, the rear wheels were replaced with twin long tracks that ran the length of the bed, not unlike the mini-tank. Resting on the back stood what I now realized to be an auxiliary arcane reactor, spools of cables resting beside it. My eyes suddenly went wide as I stared at the large, portable reactor. “Serene, you wouldn’t mind if we took this thing back when we leave, would you?”

Serene grunted, tugging out the large battery after a few moments. He let out a sigh of relief before levitating it up into the air and beginning to trot back towards the workshop. “Nein, I don’t zhink ve’d need it for anyzhing. If ve’re able to get you zhree out of zhis place, it’s yours. Vhy do you need it?” We were soon back at the workshop, both of us stepping inside to see Crash Dive covering the wings of the flying machine in tarp as Night Strike jiggled the newly added control shaft. She got up from the seat, and Sharpwing leaned to look around from the back of the engine to see us enter.

“We’ve kind of been looking for a generator for a long time now, and that we might be able to rewire that thing on the back of the truck to power the repair talismans on our crashed Valkyrie. And at this point I’m willing to try driving that thing out of here under fire from those guns just to have an actual generator we can use.” Serene shrugged, walking up to the bare half-track engine Crash Dive was working on and dropping the battery onto the workbench beside it. I wandered over to the Stork, looking it over - Certainly looked like it was getting close to being completed, I suppose.

Night Strike stood from securing the shock absorbers into place, stepping back to admire the work done so far on the machine. “Well, I’d say that’s about the most flight-worthy thing we’ve ever built. Barring the time you accidentally sent that propane tank into space,” She said, looking over and grinning at me. I rolled my eyes, Night Strike looking back down at the Stork in contemplation. “Hm... yanno, probably wouldn't hurt if whoever wound up flying this thing had some weapons they could use. Which probably means it's not gonna end up being you, Sparky, unless you want to try flying close enough to hit them with your umbrella.”

Shooting her a small glare, I thought for a moment, wondering if there was a way to nicely mount something onto the front of the machine. My ears perked up a bit as I got an idea. “Hold on,” I said, as I made my way towards the door. I stepped outside and hopped up onto the wagon parked just outside of the workshop. Digging through the crates of ammo, I quickly found the gauss gun we’d retrieved from the mercenaries. Jumping down and heading back into the workshop, I presented the rifle to the others. “Could just hook up this thing up to the Stork's circuits. Assuming you don’t run out of ammo somehow, you should have more than enough power for it.” I suggested. Serene looked up from his work on the turbocharger system, his eyes going wide as he saw the gun. Sharpwing shook her head, looking back down at the bolts she was tightening.

“Well, now you’ve done it. Serene’s not gonna get any more work done on this thing until you satisfy his curiosity.” She said, with a mix of humor and annoyance. Serene glared at her, sniffing indignantly. “Besides, if we can avoid adding on extra weight and screwing up the balance of this thing, I’d rather do that. This thing'll have enough issues with drag on account of the fuselage shape, and no reason to give us more yawing issues to worry about than we have to. I hate aerodynamics sometimes.” My ears flopped back down again, my muzzle scrunching a bit. Oh, fine, ruin the fun. Night Strike looked mildly disappointed as well, but conceded and went back to inspecting the machine.

Serene still trotted over to get a closer look at the rifle, levitating it out of my hooves. “Vhere did you find one of zhese? I don’t zhink I’ve ever seen an energy weapon like zhis before!” He turned the rifle over in his hooves, a few of the loose wires jiggling a bit as he lifted it up to peer through the scope. I shrugged as Serene turned the crank on the side of the gun, the arm clicking with each setting.

“No clue. I mean, we got it from some mercenaries that were after us, but I don’t know where the heck they got it. I remember my dad has something similar back up north, but this model of Gauss Rifle looks to be pretty heavily modified. Maybe whoever the mercs were working for got a hold of plans from old military tech, or something?” The unicorn wore a smile as he peered through the scope, fiddling with some of the bits and switches. Huh, wonder if unicorns just have a predesposition to energy weapons, or something...

"A Gauss Rifle modified for burst-fire abilities, certainly is quite zhe impressive zing. Doesn't seem to veigh zat much, either... Sharpving, are you sure?..." The pegasus poked her head out from behind the body of the aircraft, passing on a firm glare in response. The unicorn's shoulders sank as he released a sigh, looking back to the rifle. "Ach, fine. No biodiesel for ze Sturmvalker, no Gauss rifle on ze Storch, take all ze fun away, vhy don't you?" Laying the modified gauss rifle on a workbench, Serene turned back to the Stork, his magic levitating over the turbocharger system and fitting it in place inside the boxy fuselage, connecting it up.

The rest of the aircraft came together quickly, the large tank wrapped in the same red fireproof fabric fitting in place above the engine and the wings coming in on top of it, sheet metal being placed on to cover most of the innards. Glancing between everyone as they stepped back, I dug into my saddlebags, pulling out the few bottles of moonshine we’d taken from the shack so long ago. Popping open the cork, I reeled back, coughing at the strong scent of alcohol. Well, let’s hope this stuff isn't so strong it manages to blow up the engine... beginning to pour the alcohol into the fuel tank, everyone watched in anticipation, myself wearing a grimace as I thought.

Climbing onto an alcohol powered home-built box bird plane put together in only a few days... What could possibly go wrong?

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Apologies for the delays on this page, due to FA being down after finals I wasn't able to get into my account and post until today.