We all stood in relative silence, myself closing my mouth to glance about awkwardly between the others. “Okay… okay, well, before everyone starts freaking out, we need to remember we do have at least some advantages here. They don’t have plans on our towns, or other places that we might come at them from… assuming they really need them… uh… well, the Valkyrie can probably take down any of their Harriers no problem, right? And all we really need to do is try to make another fly over and some Hail-Luna drop and we’ll be fine. The base looked pretty well-fortified, but it can’t be -that- megaspell proof, right?” I said, trying to inject some positivity into the others. It didn’t really have the intended effect, all of us just grimacing more as we tried to think up some plan of attack.

Crash Dive shook her head, the first to truly regain her composure. Standing tall, she marched to the center of the room, her power armor stomping loudly as she did. “Alright, we have even less time now than we’d like, if we don’t formulate a plan now to take down whatever Project Cerberus actually is, this whole country’s likely to go right back down the shitter,” she barked, putting on her best drill sergeant voice. “We have the plans, we have the resources, we can get the backup, it’s now or never. Scouring, bring up the schematics of the base, give us all the details you can.” Scouring nodded, following Crash Dive’s orders and bringing up a map from the holotape.

“We’ve got most of the floors, maps o' the lowest two're too corrupted to use, but everythin' else seems good. Five levels deep, top level’s security is mostly those anti-aircraft guns and any of their robots still on duty. Let’s see…” He punched a few buttons on the terminal, bringing up a map of the next floor down. “Looks like the deeper you get the more they rely on mounted turrets… there’s a security hub on the third floor for most of those, but that’d require getting somepony in to hack their computers, and I doubt they’re going to be running something like Edge’s baby’s daddy’s firewall. A manufacturin' room… elevators to the lower floors… I’m willing to bet that any sort of main control hub or launch station is going to be in the lowest floors. Not sure how to get there though, all the elevators only seem to go to floor 4, nothing below that.”

“So we take the stairs, they’ll have something. Any useful data outside the maps? Repair reports, extensions to the fortifications, low ammunition counts? What about the railway cannons?” Scouring began to search through some of the data in the holotape, his eyes sweeping across the screen. Backing out of the map, he switched through a few more lists, scrolling down each one.

"Hm... Looks like they have made a few extensions into the mountains, basic trenches, some pillboxes and stuff like that. Nothin' we can't fly over, but would give a frontal assault, even with a load o' steel rangers, one hell of a headache. Far as the guns..." More scrolling through menus, along with a bit of keyboard-tapping as he searched through things directly. Scouring blunk a few times, letting off a small grunt. "Dunno what they've done exactly with 'em, but there is some talk about mountain turrets along the northern passage. Could be pre-war fortifications, could be new. Bad news is they definitely do have 'em, Clopp K5 28-centimeter railway guns. Nasty pieces to get hit with."

I caught a grimace from Night Strike as Scouring looked back to us, myself joining her. What was it she said that those guns were also used as? Megaspell artillery cannons? Oh, Celestia... Aerith waved a hoof to catch my attention, pointing at both myself and her, before back to Scouring. It took me a moment to catch on... oh, I hope she heals up soon, I'm not great at charades. "Uh, are you sure all we got about the base itself was their maps? Nothing like headcounts, or, uh, damage reports?" Scanning roughly over a few more menus and walls of text, he frowned, shaking his head before looking back over his shoulder at us.

“Nothin' that I think will help us. They’ve got patrol routes, but every square inch of the interior seems t' be monitored by cameras or robots, that’s not going to help much. Says there’s a vault somewhere too, no info on what’s in it. Could be money, could be tech, could just be some storage bay now.” Crash Dive nodded, pacing back and forth for a moment.

“Okay, still is a good start, so long as we aren’t going in completely blind. The next step is going to be materials. We’re going to need weapons, ammunition, explosives; there’s no way we’re going to be able to bring more to the fight than these guys already have, so we need our first strike to be a big one. And we’re going to need ponies to operate those things, too. Our next move should be to head to each town, get as many ponies together as we can, we’re going to need to build ourselves an army... The trouble is going to be doing that without drawing attention. If they get wind of what we’re up to, they’re going to start bombing the hell out of every place that they can to cripple any morale the towns will have.”

“Well, there’s the HMS Cadence to start with, maybe.” I suggested. “We can send out a distress signal, some kind of call to arms. Aerith killed off the robo-dragons running the comms station, they might not be able to listen into the radio signals for a bit.” Crash Dive thought for a moment, pausing in her pacing.

“I wouldn’t count on it, they’ll get something in there as soon as possible, intel is one of the most important aspects in war. Besides, heading to the towns will let us get more specific information on what services they can provide and let us stock back up on ammo. Still, the Cadence and her radio station would be useful for timing our attack and relaying information in the middle of the battle, if nothing else.” Crash Dive looked back over Scouring’s shoulder at the files on the terminal. The stallion merely shook his head, motioning for Night Strike to hand over her Pip-Buck.

She unclipped it and tossed it over to her, Scouring connecting it with a few wires. “I think I’ve got all the info recovered that will be most useful t' us right now. Will get a better chance to look over all the data when we aren't on a hospital terminal... Any more plans we want to make should probably wait until we’ve got confirmation from the other towns with how they can help. Then we’ll have a better idea of what sort of troops we’ll have on our side.” He leaned back in the chair as Night Strike’s Pip-Buck downloaded some of the info off the storage drive.

“Hey, would the Steel Rangers be able to help out? If we tell them about all the tech in that place, they’ve gotta want in!” Night Strike said as she leaned back against her hospital pillow. Scouring frowned, scratching at his unshaven scruff as he pondered the idea.

“Well… you’re no' wrong that they’ll want in. The problem would be stopping the Elder ordering the Knights to turn right around and start opening fire on everypony else if they even look at the stuff there wrong. And if he does agree, any talk of bombing that place with a megaspell goes out the window, unless you want a whole chapter o' the Rangers out for your blood, lass.” Scouring said. Night Strike grimaced, clearly not happy about the prospect of an explosives-free attack. Scouring unplugged Night Strike’s Pip-Buck, and I placed mine on the table to download the stolen schematics next.

“Their tech and support will be invaluable, though. I think you should radio to your Company when you can. That tank of theirs would be useful too, you were providing fire support well away from the Battered-Sea monster with it, think it might actually be artillery. All else fails, could work as a battering ram.” Crash Dive responded. Scouring tried to look amused at Crash Dive’s comment, though I wasn’t entirely sure she was joking. Scouring looked back down, giving a small awkward cough before unplugging my Pip-Buck. “Well, if you think what you've got off the drive for now will help, we should head out now. The sooner we can get an attack together, the less we’ll need to worry about them regaining their forces and trying to bomb out another one of the cities.” Crash Dive turned to head out of the hospital room as Night Strike refitted her Pip-Buck.

I watched as she trotted out into the hallway before turning back to Night Strike and Aerith. “Uh, are you sure you guys are going to be alright getting up? I really doubt I can fly the Valkyrie on my own, but at the same time I don’t want to drag you out of recovery, either.” Night waved a hoof, pushing back the covers to climb out of bed, grimacing a little as she felt the weight of her wing brace.

“Naaah, I’m fine to fly. Just a bit roughed up from the dragons, nothing a few more bottles of RAD won’t fix. Aerith... ahm, she's gonna stay here, with Hispano. It's for the better, really.” The alicorn grimaced, nodding her head solemnly. Watching her for a moment, and letting off a sigh of her own, Night Strike tried to cheer her up. “Ah, don’t worry about it too much. You went through a lot, I’d say it’s a pretty good sign you’re awake at all after yesterday. You get some rest, I’m sure you’ll be fine before we get back. You make sure she doesn’t fry her horn again, alright Hispano?” Night Strike smirked at the Griffon, giving her wings an awkward flap. Hispano just rolled her eyes in response as she looked back to the alicorn, Aerith grinning in return. Scouring unplugged the drive and passed me back my pip-buck, standing up from the terminal and heading back out of the hospital room with the rest of us.

The hospital was just as busy as it always was since the first attack, with nurses and doctors rushing back and forth between the rooms, tending to the patients. As we were trotting to the exit, Pearl floated out one of the rooms, turning her screens in our direction. “Hey guys! Heading out already? I was hoping to get some research done on that mutation of yours, Night Strike! Who knows what kind of healing we could do if we could replicate it!” Night Strike looked at the array of sharp tools dangling from Pearl’s chassis, her face going a little white.

“Ah, haha, no, no, I’m good, we’re just heading out for a bit. Though…” She thought for a moment, before letting off a small sigh. “Look, Pearl, there’s going to be a battle soon. A big one. We’re going to need a lot of medics, anything the Triage could offer would be a huge amount of help.” Pearl’s screen swapped to the thinking animation as she hovered up and down slowly in the air.

“Well, depending on when this little tussle is going to be, and the probability of Hopeville being under another attack, and the fact that a lot of ponies have evacuated already… I think we can offer a few of our doctors, and some medical supplies. If you can find more supplies from somewhere, though, we’ll be in better shape. I bet you couldn’t find a better doctor in the wasteland than those here, and that’s not just my loyalty program talking there! The trouble is going to be having enough healing potions, blood packs, med-x, all that stuff for our doctors to work with.”

I thought for a moment, scratching my head. “The Vanhoover Air Force Base probably has a lot of meds. You can’t live in an old military outpost and have their reckless kind of attitude without at least something to patch yourself back together. Ooh, not to mention if Serene and Sharpwing got that walker back up and running, that thing’s going to be an absolute beast on the battleground...” My own grin was widening. Night Strike grinned a little too as we started to head back to the lobby, Pearl getting on with her work.

“Hah, since when have you been a fan of the explosive entry, Sparky? I doubt that walker is going to be able to turn invisible and not sound like an earthquake when it walks everywhere.” I only rolled my eyes, jumping a little as I heard a scream of pain from one of the patient rooms. Pearl leaned out of the door, waving her bonesaw around nonchalantly.

“Hehe, don’t worry, he’s fine! Just a bit of a jumper!” She floated back into the room, only for a few more whimpers of pain to echo down the hall. Cringing, I slowly started back after the others. How in Equestria did I ever manage to trust her enough to install that implant? We headed out of the Triage, the Clydesdale sitting up on the curb outside the door. I spotted a large dent in the fender that most certainly had not been there the last time I’d driven it.

Climbing onto the driver's bench, I started up the engine of the massive half-track as Night Strike slid in beside me and the others climbed onto the back. “The Valkyrie’s just outside the town. You guys can drive this back to the Lighthouse while Static and I fly to the Cadence to get their help, right?” Night Strike looked over her shoulder to Scouring and Crash Dive. The power armored pegasus nodded in response, and I did my best to stifle a snort of disbelief. From that dent, it sure seems like I’m the only one who knows how to drive this thing... The Clydesdale trundled through the streets, quickly making its way to the edge of town. I pulled up beside the Valkyrie, hopping back out along with Night Strike to head into the plane.

“Alright, we’ll see you back at the Lighthouse once Aerith’s feeling better. We’ll see about talking to the gunsmith here about munitions too, if we can find him. There might be a few ponies still around here who’re willing to help out.” Scouring responded. Night Strike gave a wave as Crash Dive shifted it back into gear and turn away, heading back into town. She narrowly missed a streetlamp as she turned the corner towards the gunsmith’s building, seeming a little uncomfortable at the wheel. Shaking my head, I followed Night Strike up into the cockpit, sliding into the seat behind hers as usual. Night Strike began to fire up the engines as I looked down at my Pip-Buck, flipping over to the radio station. The music was just audible over the roar of the motors as Night Strike began to roll forward, preparing for take-off.

"I am in a conventional dither
With a conventional star in my eye
And you will know there’s a lump in my throat
When I speak of that wonderful guy!"

---

“Alright, Valkyrie, you are clear for landing. Fowler says to try not to scare away the doves this time.” White Noise's voice came over the headset as we approached the island, the large warship with her four twin-gun turrets clear in my camera as Night Strike throttled back.
“Uuuhh, not sure if that’s entirely possible, but we’ll try our best.” Night Strike began to push down on the controls, slowing the Valkyrie down considerably as we passed over the busy deck of the Cadence and firing up the vertical engine. The engines' humming quieted a little as we lowered down onto the concrete parking lot below, Night Strike easing about with the controls. The wheels of the Valkyrie touched down comfortably with the cracked asphalt, and I let loose a long breath. Okay, yeah, if I was meant to fly, I would've been born a pegasus, dangit... never gonna get used to it.

The whine from the turbines died down as Night Strike shut them all off, myself undoing my buckles and stepping up from the seat to undo the access door. Night Strike followed close behind as we both headed over for the warship, trotting up the long gangway and onto the maze of corridors that was the ship. Sense of direction, don't fail us now... "Hm... you think that this thing could actually fight still? I mean, it was turned into a museum ship, yeah, but it's still got loads of ammo aboard, and I'm willing to bet that includes a few of the shells for the eight-inch guns." Night Strike piped up ahead of me, looking around, as we pressed on through the interior to find the broadcast center for Radio KAOS.

I let off a small sigh in response, looking at the walkways and whatever signs I could find. At least this place was better labeled than Cerberus' base, even if it felt more maze-like. "Well... maybe. With how Fowler reacted to us taking the guns off of it, though, I say we better ask him first. Might want to see how well you handle doing an imitation of an eight-inch shell just for suggesting it." The pegasus ahead of me shot me a glare as I let off a small chuckle, following her as she headed up a flight of steep stairs. I suppose, if these guns did have the range to reach over to that base, the extra firepower wouldn't hurt at all...

Eventually we managed to find our way to a familiar portion of the ship, heading up the stairs that pointed the way to Radio KAOS' broadcast center. As we approached the comms room of the warship, we were met by the flashing red light of the ‘on air’ sign above, and Jim chuckling into the microphone. Night Strike tapped lightly on the door, the DJ looking up from the desk for a moment before nodding and raising a hoof. He gave a small send-off to wrap up the bulletin, before sliding a holotape into the player and switching off the sign, beckoning us in. Night Strike opened up the door and lead us in, as the DJ rested back in his seat. “Hey, long time no see, guys. Wasn’t expecting you to show up here, what's up?”

Night Strike and I sat down across from him, a smooth jazz song playing softly. The pegasus beside me rubbed at the back of her head, thinking for a moment. “Okay, um… so, this is probably going to sound... well more than a bit crazy, but we’re going to need the Cadence up in full working condition. We’ve discovered the source of the robo-dragons, it’s a pretty heavily fortified military base with only Celestia knows how many tactical megaspells at their disposal. We need you for firepower and information coordination, the radio station is the best means we have of that.” The DJ’s jaw dropped as he looked back and forth between us.

“You… uh… goddesses, you’re serious about this? Jeez that’s… uh… well, a tall order, to put it lightly.” He leaned back in his chair, rubbing the back of his head and chewing at his lip. Okay... thinking about it, the fact that we passed a mess hall and sleeping quarters to get here probably should've been an indication that three ponies can’t run a whole warship. “You sure you don’t just need the radio, because that’s definitely going strong! I mean, as far as Vanhoover and Maple Station, anyways... ahem.” He gave a weak chuckle, but it quickly died down as he thought. We sat in silence for a moment, the DJ stallion looking around the room at the electronics, his mouth moving a little as he spoke silently to himself during his thought. “…okay, well, uh… I suppose we can help out, as far as the radio and coordination goes, but you’re going to need to talk with Fowler about getting the whole ship going. I really don't know about the practicality of that request, I was just signed on here after the last DJ kicked the bucket. All I can guarantee is you’ll have the station at your disposal.”

“Okay, we’ll make sure to send some kind of signal for when the attack should begin, the Valkyrie can access a fair few channels that should be secure. We also have a few maps and stuff that should help out, if you need to help with coordinating any attacks directly.” I lifted up my Pip-Buck, the DJ pulling over a blank holotape to burn the information onto as he looked back to the broadcast equipment, checking the runtime of the tape he'd put in. Grabbing a third tape off of a rack, he slipped it into a second slot, ejecting the first as it came to a stop and starting the second. My pip-buck dinged as the file transfer finished, and I ejected the tape to pass it back over to Jim, the stallion grabbing another bottle of wild pegasus from the fridge nearby. As the DJ watered himself, I looked over to Night Strike, passing on a shrug. “I think that’s all he'll be able to help with for now. We better find and ask Fowler about the ship.” She nodded in agreement, and after a short goodbye we headed back out of the recording room.

Making our way back through the body of the ship, we somehow managed to find ourselves out onto the seaward side of the upper deck, trotting along it's length. After a while, we eventually spotted Fowler sitting on the edge of one of the launch rails that extended over the side of the deck, a small collection of birds gathered around him. His head turned to see us coming closer, putting a hoof up before we could get too close. “Aye, slow down! You already scared ‘em off once with that fly-over, do it again and they’ll never come back. Nasty buggers, but, yanno, makes the days go by a little easier...” I resisted rolling my eyes as we stepped slowly up to him, watching as he spread a few more seeds on the deck for the collection of small birds.

“Right... so, uh, Petty Officer Fowler? We've got a... severe situation on the horizon, and we wanted to ask you about getting the Cadence back up and running, if that's possible at all.” Night Strike said. Fowler paused, his hoof halfway into the seed bag. He turned in place on the rail, a few of the birds jumping back from his hooves swinging around. “We need the Cadence to sail again, and beyond that be able to use all of her guns to full effect. You think she can do that?” He just stared at us, frozen in place with jaw slack, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted... Right off the end of the launch rail and over the edge of the ship. Rushing to the railing, we watched as he fell into the water, only for his head to break moments later, a crazed laugh reaching our ears. I let out a sigh of relief, dropping my head down as Fowler floated in the waves, starting to swim around the outside of the warship.

Well, at least he’s excited.

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