1610 replies and 7 files omitted.
>>139684Silver turns around to face whatever this threat is.
>>139685Behind Silver, rising up from the second desk is another pony; a pegasus mare with a bright dandelion coat and a brown mane tied in a pony tail. She, too, wears an Equestrian Army uniform and no hat.
>>139686"Stay right there!"
Silver trains his gun on her.
>>139687Silver may want to be careful as to where he stands, as the desks are perpendicular to each other and it's easy for Silver to be blind to one while facing the other.
>>139688I assume there is a spot Silver can back up to where he has some measure of view of them both?
>>139689Without them moving? Silver can move to the entry door, or maybe even to either of the windows, but it will place him at a distance from at least one of the two ponies, wherever he moves
>>139690Silver backs up to the entry door, turning to aim first at earth pony, then the pegasus, and back again.
>>139691The earth pony is very frightened, with the dandelion pegasus having a more blank expression
>>139692Once he's back to the entryway, he keeps the two in his sights.
"Okay, slight change of plans. I am going to call for assistance, then I will test you two..."
He calls out into the hallway while maintaining line of sight.
"I got two non-combatants here. Second floor, last room. If anypony can hear me, I need assistance."
>>139693Enthusiastically, a pair of ponies come over from the office on the far side. It looks like several members of the squad, including the two grenadiers Silver came with, have gone to the office taken up by the machine gunner's nest. Now, two rifle ponies come into the room, with fixed bayonets.
>>139694"Alright, same deal as before. Pony or not, you do
not try anything funny. Understand?"
>>139695"Uh huh"
"Yes sir"
They respond, nodding, and clearly unsettled by the situation, as two rife stallions come forward, and point their bayonets towards the mares.
>>139696Silver nods, and first checks the pegasus with his flashlight.
>>139697He eyes are magenta. She narrows her eyes, but does not close them. There is no visible abnormality.
>>139698"Clear."
He motions for the riflestallion to let her go before he goes to check the earth pony.
>>139699He drops his rifle down, and the dandelion Pegasus stands up.
Looking into the earth pony's deep blue eyes, there is no unusual coloration, though the bright light turns her whites yellow. She does not flinch
>>139700"Clear."
He motions for this riflestallion to let her go as well.
"I am deeply sorry for such rude welcome, but we are currently still in middle of combat zone. Platoon Sargent Silver Sword."
>>139701"Uh, Private Primrose"
She tries to stand up on her feet, and smiles awkwardly back at Silver
>>139702Silver smiles, and looks back at the pegasus.
"And you?"
>>139703Her expression is still a little blank. She blinks, and answers
"Private Thistle Brush, Sir."
>>139704He speaks briefly to the two riflestallions.
"Our missing Technical Private is in storage closet, couple of rooms over. Tell either Amber Grain or Brisbuck so we can retrieve him once town is secured."
He turns back to the two mares.
"You two aware of what is going on?"
>>139705"Damn... Sir, Yes Sir." One of the two rifle stallions answers. They leave the room.
Thistle Bush starts to answer
"Well... the phone lines went out. We only had some paperwork that could be done, but we came up here anyways to get away from the stallions. A combat platoon showed up... Then bullets started to fly and we hid under our desks."
>>139706"Sounds right. That combat platoon is us, we just came up from Wald today. Changelings infiltrated significant part of 332nd, including replacing Captain Forrester and his guards. Seems your desire to keep away from platoon's stallions kept you both from being replaced."
He looks at the telephone switchboard.
"I assume it was this morning when you last checked telephone lines. I sent A Squad to repair sabotaged lines just before shooting started. Can you check them now? We need to get message to Command immediately about our current situation."
>>139707“Well, they stopped working sometime last night. I’m not sure if they work to The Front. Maybe they work now, I don’t know.”
Thistle Bruah puts on a head set, and goes to the board, placing the wire in one slot.
“Busy”
Then another
“This one, I think leads back to the Quartermaster in Wald...”
She tries another one
“Something seems off. Not like the line is down, but there is more traffic than the lines can handle...”
>>139708Silver trots up to Thistle Brush, and points to the last one she tried.
"Where does that go?"
>>139709“That line was supposed to go to the state capitol in Chemeketa, but it’s rewired to the Front.”
>>139710It takes a second for that to sink in, and when it does it sinks like a rock dropped into a lake. Silver feels like his heart has stopped for a few moments before he comes back and looks at Private Thistle Brush. He looks like he's seen a ghost.
"Private...that line leads from Front to here, and this is primary point of communication between Front and Command. There is only one reason I can think of why that line is overwhelmed with traffic..."
>>139711Thistle Brush hasn’t smiled the whole time Silver has been there, and she doesn’t start now.
“I’m guessing it’s not because they are wondering when the next shipment of carrots will arrive.”
In the silence that follows, the distant thud and thunder creeps into the room.
>>139712He looks up at the sound, knocked out of his semi-trance and into action. He knows what that thunder means, now.
"Changelings are making their assault on our lines
now. They sent Infiltrators ahead to sabotage telegraph and telephone lines so Command would be deaf. Private, patch us in with Wald, immediately. Tell them to either get in touch with Command or find somepony who can, Changelings are attacking
now."
>>139713Her eyes widen, and she is silenced for a moment, before answering Silver.
“Uh, you can only do so much here. The lines rewired here are for speaking to the supply chain on the Front and the quartermaster in Wald. If you want to try more general lines, I think you may have more luck at the Lunar Telephone and Telegraph Office here in town. The lines that run along Old Mecca’s Trail, and along the railroad line from Benson - I think that town is even closer to the front - are all routes through there before going east to Virtue and the Wald. Unless you want to speak with the Quartermaster.”
>>139714"Can Quartermaster get in touch with Command?"
>>139715She shrugs
“Probably? He’s a commissioned officer.”
>>139716"Then get in touch with him. Every pony we can contact about this is one more chance we can stop this assault before Changelings destroy us all."
>>139717“Uh, okay. I can try. They may not like to hear it. They are already afraid to send trains through. Now they will be even more afraid, but they will have no choice.”
>>139718"Please, do so Thistle."
He looks to Private Primrose.
"Primrose, is there anything you can do about line from Front, any way to sort out traffic so we can get some idea of what is going on?"
>>139719“I think the telephone office has the main line, so it’s possible to tap into people’s conversations there. I don’t think we can do it here. Maybe if we call somepony will have the time to tell us?”
She gives a toothy smile that’s a bit nervous.
>>139721She places the line in the appropriate slot in the board, puts on the headset, and moves the rotary several times, before waiting ona response.
“Hello? Hello? Yes, we know about the water shortage. Oh. Well, sorry to hear about that, but can we get a situation report? Oh. Well I know you’re busy. Yes. I understand. Thank you.”
They are not on the line a full minute.
She turns to Silver
“The Changelings have begun a mass scale bombardment across the entire line. There is no assault yet, but they are expecting a night attack, or an attack at the break of dawn. That is all they could tell me.”
>>139724"Relay that information to Quartermaster so he may send it to Command. They have been in dark for far too long."
Silver lets out a sigh of relief.
"So, our death is not imminent. Given circumstances, I will take it."
>>139725“Oh, okay.... Are the Changelings gone here?”
>>139726"No, A Squad is still in combat with them. I am waiting for B Squad to finish sweep of building before joining them...or at least finding out which group is actualy A Squad and which are changelings."
>>139727This unsettles her
“Oh... alright then. I’ll sit back here, if you don’t mind.”
>>139728"Good idea. I am going to go check on troops. Lock this door after I leave. So you know we are ponies when we return, we will say 'klutzy' through door, to which you will reply 'draconequus' to let us know you are ponies. Understood?"
>>139729“Fluxy what now? Uh, yes. I will do so.”
>>139730"Klutzy, draconequus. It is sign and countersign we are using to distinguish ourselves as being ponies, not changelings. Memorize it, please."
hopes to continue tomorrow
>>139731>>139735She gives a small smile. "Okay, sir."
The gunfire has since stopped.
Within ten seconds, the following two things happen. The distant thunder stops, and the small lights on the switch board go out.
>>139737"That is not good sign."
Silver goes to where the former mayor's office, to see how much of B Squad is there.