|
Post by Red Charge on Jan 1, 2017 2:26:29 GMT -5
It was the crack of dawn, only a small sliver of light illuminated the rather large flat perch on the mountainside. The stern Avitus was standing on the edge of the perch, looking eastwards, towards the rising sun. The dawn's light illuminated his front, gave him a coating of pale gold as he looked over the horizon.
Admiral Tesla has sent the Myrmidons on a very special mission, a secret one. So much so that was acting under the beak of another admiral. One of the ships belonging to the 6th fleet was completely destroyed in this area. Admiral Ignatius has been trying to locate them on their route, but has had no success yet. Tesla suspected this was the handiwork of the Tempest Triad and that it's possible they were active in this area and downed the ship. The Myrmidons were sent in to find them before Ignatius did.
During the time since her family died, Glide Heart's new family, the griffon Myrmidons of the 5th Fleet took their place, not only whole heartedly, but with a sense of duty. They all understood the concept of losing one's family. After all, they did all lose theirs. There were no visitations in the Myrmidons, no vacations... they only had each other. Some had lost their families even before that, some have learned their families have been lost during the recent civil war. It mattered not because all shared the pain.
And out of all of them, Glide Heart found in Avitus everything she needed. The understanding, the compassion, the incredible ability to listen and contain when she needed to talk and the ability to give her drive when she needed to listen. He did and said all of the right things. Before, Glide could not fathom why the Myrmidons looked at him the way they do. Now she understood, oh so well.
Just seeing him, standing rigidly at the edge of the perch, scouting the skies with his keen eyes and painted gold by the colors of the sun's first light was enough to give her chills.
"Join me, Glide Heart." He said, not loudly, as if he knew she was right behind him.
|
|
|
Post by Glide Heart on Jan 1, 2017 2:59:54 GMT -5
Glide had never once been to the Rocy Mountains, when her and her fellow Myrmidons heard the news that they would be traveling there she took a secret glee from it. She knew the seriousness of their business there. Especially with the fact they were working behind the backs of another fleet, but she couldn't help but find a little glee in the idea of a new adventure to new places. This was exactly what she needed right now to try and lift her spirits. Avitus had been kind enough to afford her the chance to at least bury her late Husband and foal and this would be just the thing to push her forward with her life. The feeling of comradery she felt with the Myrmidons and under the careful guidance of Avitus was something she knew she wouldn't find anywhere else in this world.
The beautiful scenery was almost enough to bring a tear to the eye, shining bright colors of the sunrise filled the skies with the colors of the rainbow, staining the clouds hues of pink and purple. Looking out to the perch Avitus had himself place upon Glide could see that the suns rays did in fact make him glow with an almost heroic like golden sheen. His voice barely broke the zen like mountain stillness when he asked her to join him on the perch.
She made her way beside him, flying over with the silence of a hunting owl and landing beside him with an equal amount of silence. One of several skills she had acquired during her time training with the Myrmidons. She spoke softly in reply to him once she landed "What is it?" she asked scanning the large landscape before them.
|
|
|
Post by Red Charge on Jan 1, 2017 3:12:27 GMT -5
"Magic." Came Avitus' short reply. It was not clear at first whether he was talking about the beautiful vista in the light of the sunrise, or wheather he was referencing real sorcery. He let the word hang for a little while, before looking down at her. "Griffons can feel it, like an itch on our skin, a ruffle in our feathers usually. Magic is our greatest weakness and more often than not Griffons found themselves dead not by an offensive spell thrown at them, but by the etheric poisoning that comes with being hit by magic."
The perch they were standing on was overlooking a very thick forest coated with a very thick layer of snow already. Needless to say, it was cold, very cold. But Avitus had made sure that Glide had uniform made for her. As far as he was concerned she was just as part of the 5th Fleet as any other griffon under his command.
"See those trees over there? Something strike you as odd about them?" The stern griffon asked, gesturing with a single talon at a cluster of trees, which seemed much... greener than the others.
"Exactly. Something shook the snowfall off of them and they've only just started re accumulating it. You and I are going down there, the others will proceed in the search."
There were few things that Glide's new griffon valued envied more than going solo with Avitus during an exercise or assignment. Griffons have argued and fought over alone time with the commander. It was a rare treat and Glide knew from the others, that Avitus was much more open alone than he was in the group. Only during these opportunities was it ever possible to discern a new nugget of information about who Avitus was, other than being their fearless worshiped leader.
And now, Avitus wanted to share this special time with her, most likely because she was a pony and as such, is likely to be unaffected by the magic he was feeling, a big advantage for her. But still, this was a coveted thing and she got to have it. She could feel the jealous eyes of her comrades, but unlike when she was an outsider, there was no spite or malice in them this time. More of 'I wish it was me' than 'Why is it her?'.
|
|
|
Post by Glide Heart on Jan 1, 2017 3:32:35 GMT -5
Glide blinked and turned with a questioning look at Avitus at his initial reply to her question. Yes it was very beautiful but it didn't seem like the type of thing he would call out to someone about. When he began to explain magics effects on her comrades bodies it made much more sense to her what it was he was talking about. She really needed to stay on the tip of her hooves with him, and really she should be all the time while they were out on a mission. She listened attentively while he spoke continuing to slowly scan the forest below them as he did. It certainly was an eyeful but rather than admire the beauty she needed to be aware of any signs of anything out of the ordinary.
When Avitus pointed out the greener shade of the few trees in a certain area she nodded having just seen it herself half a moment before he pointed it out. Curious that snow would've been disturbed in such a way. The combination of that and the magical "itch" Avitus had felt told Glide that something was defiantly worth a closer look over there.
When Avitus said it would be just the two of them investigating the area a lump formed in Glides throat from excitement, an opportunity for one-on-one time with her commander was a rare and special occurrence that not a single one of the Myrmidons took lightly. She felt the eyes of her comrades piercing the back of her head, envious of the chance she had just been given. Though it was for very good reason. She knew that he was taking her along for the fact that she was a Pony and would be unaffected by this "itch" he described earlier, but she couldn't help but feel special for being picked for this special task.
She knew her comrades were more than capable with handling the search without either of them while they were away investigating the strange area in the forest near them. A smile grew on Glides face which she hardly tried to hide from Avitus, she knew that he knew how each of the members of his fleet felt about alone time with him, so attempting to hide it was pointless. "Good idea Sir" she declared in reply, "Ready when you are." She stated as she unfurled her wings from her body. The cold air brushed against her wings where they had been tucked in but she was hardly phased by it. Her training had done wonders for her and she could now tolerate things she wouldn't have been able to before, and the uniform did its share of help keeping her warmer up here.
|
|
|
Post by Red Charge on Jan 1, 2017 3:42:55 GMT -5
Without a word the two of them dove in perfect silence, for any onlooker it might have seem that two rocks had rolled off the perch at the same time. The two of them, true to their training, pulled up only exactly before touching the ground. Glide Heart had never seen Avitus dive before, but his form was perfect, no whistle, no resistance, pure drop and when he pulled up, it was only the most subtle shifting of weight in his body, his wings spreading out like a gliding eagle to generate lift at the last second. So precise it was that he landed exactly where he intended and not a talon's berth away.
Only the most senior griffons in her unit were able to perform such a perfect dive, but none of them did it quite like he did. Once they were both on the ground they began to walk, side by side and within view of each other.
"It's been a while since I've seen you smile so widely." Avitus said, "It made me happy to see it again." The griffon said, looking at her as they walked.
"I may be stern and uncompromising, but I care about all of my Myrmidons and I feel we've grown much closer since you came back from Manehattan."
|
|
|
Post by Glide Heart on Jan 1, 2017 4:46:31 GMT -5
It's often said that when you get a chance to watch a master at his craft, jump on the opportunity and boy did she have the chance of a lifetime now. Watching Avitus' dive was enough to inspire awe in any onlooker and she had a private show of sorts this time around since it was just the two of them out on this task. Watching his dive only made her want to train harder and get to his level of execution, there he went again inspiring her in ways that it seems only he had ever been able to. Even her own initial drive to join the war effort in the first place paled in comparison to the motivation he instilled in her.
When they touched down and began to walk she had in fact still be wearing the same smile that stretched across her face when he first told her they were going to check out the trees. The effect still hadn't worn off, she was alone with Avitus! "It's nice to be smiling again Sir, I know I missed it..." She let her last words hang in the air for a moment. It had been some time since the passing of her family but since then she had found her new family and knew in her heart that she needed to move on. This was her life now and damned if she wasn't going to give every ounce of herself to her comrades and her commander!
She looked over at him as they walked, and smiled just as bright "I feel so much closer to all of you and I couldn't ask to be with a better group of people. I know that this is where I belong now." She was never much good at speaking her heart, mostly because her thoughts never made it past her tongue to form logical sentences. So, she hoped that her smile and the look on her face would convey more of her thoughts than her words really ever could. She looked up to her commander with a fondness she would probably never be able to fully express. He had given her a chance back when Canterlot lay in ruin and she was going to do everything she could to prove to him that she would live up and hopefully even exceed his expectations.
|
|
|
Post by Red Charge on Jan 1, 2017 4:57:22 GMT -5
Avitus continued walking, looking forwards now, but for the first time since she first met him when he was with Admiral Tesla, Glide Heart could see him smile. "Yes, this is where you belong." The griffon said in an absolute way, as if he was stating an irrefutable fact, such as that the time was sunrise. "Sometimes I wonder if that bastard can see the future." He said simply.
|
|
|
Post by Glide Heart on Jan 1, 2017 5:06:04 GMT -5
That certainly threw her for a loop, she even did a double take making sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. Was he really smiling? Over her? She didn't know what to do, it was a good thing her legs were on auto pilot and kept her moving forward or she would've stopped in her tracks. If her comrades weren't jealous before they certainly would be now, that is if they even believed her. She was so baffled by his genuine smile that she almost missed what he had said next.
Feeling that she had found where she belonged was heart warming enough let alone being told by the one she and all of her comrades idolized the same thing was enough to make ones heart explode with joy. Then when he continued on to mention someone else she became confused. "That who can see the future Sir? What do you mean by that?" she asked. Who was it he was talking about, and more importantly someone had set all this up in a way?
|
|
|
Post by Red Charge on Jan 1, 2017 5:19:29 GMT -5
"Starling that son of a gun. He knew Tesla well enough to know he'd turn you down no matter what. But he also knew I was with him at the time. That guy was always the schemer, I tell you." Avitus said, then he let out a breath.
"Don't know if you ponies can feel it like we do. Must have been powerful magic, feels like someone sprayed toxic gas here, burning throat, queasy stomach. Took me years to be able to withstand this much."
Before Glide could offer any medical assistance, Avitus waved her off with a Talon, "Nothing you can do, it's the natural reaction our body has to 'applied ether'."
Only a few steps after that phrase did they finally see what they were looking for. Hanging up in the trees was the broken bow of an airship, dangling from the many cables used formerly to hold its envelope. "Rigid, this was an medium range vessel. Should have had Firebats aboard." Avitus said, "With me."
He lifted up into the air, flying into the bow hanging precariously in the air, it was a long enough drop to be concerning. Once aboard the deck, Avitus looked around, "Strange."
|
|
|
Post by Glide Heart on Jan 1, 2017 5:37:02 GMT -5
The Field Marshal? He was behind all of what had recently happened to her? It made her wonder if he really could tell the future with just how much good had come out of this experience for her. She could take it a step further and wonder if he knew about the tragedy that would befall her and why on earth he would want to help some random Pegasus he encountered in a medical pavilion. She would have to reflect more on that later.
There were more pressing matters to attend to, she could tell something was off about Avitus "I know that many unicorns can feel it, but I myself cant feel anything. Not something I took the time to learn." She replied, it was true she knew it was a skill that unicorns could hone and train themselves to sense magic and she had heard rumors of pegasai and earth pony's being able to with certain devices.
Glide huffed slightly at his waving her off, but she knew full well there wasn't much she could do, especially out here without any medications. She would just be treating the symptoms anyway and he wasn't the type to accept help like that. Before she could get to huffy about being shrugged off her attention was directed to where his was as well, the ship dangling precariously in the trees was certainly hard to miss. Something big like this was defiantly enough to disturb all the snow that has once been on those trees, the piles of it on the ground was evidence enough for that. With Avitus' signal she was in the air right on his flank, she however was a bit more worried about landing on the teetering ship. It certainly was strange, and not just for the fact there was a crashed vessel in the middle of the forest. Why on Earth would it have an applied ether about it?
"It certainly is Sir, what do you think brought her down?" She asked while very carefully putting her weight onto the ship, hoping not to disturb its obviously delicate balance. "And why would it be giving off a magical aura?"
|
|
|
Post by Red Charge on Jan 1, 2017 5:43:14 GMT -5
"Because it was magic." Avitus said, standing at the broken edge of the bow, where it should have connected to the center of the deck but instead, there was now a scorched blast zone. As she approached it, Glide could see the effects on Avitus, his feathers and fur were all on end and his eyes were bloodshot, his breathing controlled, but raspy. Yet he stood there, right at the epicenter, stoic as ever.
In fact he seemed eager, he was welcoming the effects. This must be like absorption training for him, perhaps he thinks the more he is exposed to magic, the less it would affect him? Either way, it was clear what brought down the ship, it was magic. If only Glide was a unicorn she might have been better suited to tell what kind. Definitely did not look like any natural magic, like the kind Pegasi did.
"This bow drifted quite a bit before it crashed here, the envelope must have kept it at the very least gliding. Judging from the heading we'll find the rest of it in that direction. But we'll need to walk. Anything smaller than this would have fallen to the forest floor." Avitus instructed.
"I'm glad I have you to keep me company." He then added as a side note. "It's going to be a long walk." He took in a deep breath, soaking in as much magic as he could, apparently, before hopping down back to the ground.
"This magic isn't fresh. Days old at least, yet it's still this powerful. I suspect it might have been a group of unicorns who did this, few unicorns could summon such power by themselves."
|
|
|
Post by Glide Heart on Jan 1, 2017 23:55:16 GMT -5
Glide rolled her eyes and smirked gently at the obviousness of Avitus' response. "Of course it was magic, but I meant what kind and what happened. It was something strong if it's still putting off an aura." The creaking of the vessels boards made her anxious, watching where she put each hoof before taking a step. The damaged remains of the ship was not exactly the safest place in the world to be standing, but from no where else would she have gotten a better view of Avitus where she could witness first hand the phenomena she had never seen before. The effects of powerful magic on griffons. It was rather intriguing from a medical standing point as well, it made her wonder what exactly it was that allowed them to be sensitive to magic. That would have to be visited later on, if he allowed.
His conclusions were right, the rest of the ship certainly wasn't there and it was safe to assume the rest of it and any possible survivors, or corpses, would be behind them. "Good idea, perhaps we'll find someone." She paused for a moment thinking about what she had just said. Finding someone could be a very good or very bad thing, either way she was still very glad to be beside her commander.
Just as she was thinking that he mentioned being glad she was by his side. That made her feel even more confident in their ability to continue on without any backup. They could handle anything together. She followed suit right behind him, jumping from the bow of the ship and landing gracefully on the ground below. She trotted over to catch up with him and walked side by side, scanning the area in front of them for any signs of larger chunks of ship or bodies, living or dead. She paused for a moment and thought "What if perhaps the magic wasn't conjured by unicorns, but... something else? Unicorns aren't the only creatures that can use magic right?"
|
|
|
Post by Red Charge on Jan 2, 2017 0:14:35 GMT -5
Avitus pondered Glide's theory silent for a moment, "There were no signs of singing or burns consistent with dragon's breath, that's why I'm not thinking it was a dragon or anything similar. Starling said Adversary can't ever harm any Pony, Griffon, or Diamond Dog again, so it can't have been him. I think that covers all of the options for this kind of offensive magic. Unless we're talking about some magical bomb, but then, it wouldn't have left a trail of magic from the mountainside."
"Whatever it was, it was fired from somewhere near that perch we were on at that ship from a distance. But speculating doesn't win wars, we'll just need to see for ourselves, be it dragon, pony, or Severius Whitefeather himself."
As they continued to walk down the forest path, occasionally there would be bits s and pieces from the crashed bow scattered on the forest floor, leaving a trail in the direction it glided before it crashed into the treetops. Every now and again Avitus would pick something up and look at it, before continuing on.
"When I was a child my Godfather would take me to the mountains to hunt. I know you ponies don't eat meat and detest the activity, but hunting is one of the most important practices a young griffon can participate in. It hones your senses, requires discipline, technique, guile. Back in the old days, some Griffon clans believed in the three headed God of the hunt." The griffon commander told slowly, remembering, "He had three heads, a lion, a fox and an eagle. Representing strength, guile and speed. Hmm... can't remember the name."
"When we have the time, if you'd like, we can go hunting together. Show you what it's all about."
|
|
|
Post by Glide Heart on Jan 2, 2017 0:32:33 GMT -5
Avitus' knowledge of magic and the application of said magic for offensive purposes was astounding. Being able to discern from the remains of a fallen vessel what type of offensive magic had been used upon it was something that Glide had never imagined being able to do. Her expertise was in the anatomy and physiology of her fellow species. While she had been training she had a few chances every now and again to use her comrades as test subjects of sorts and learn more about the griffon body than she had ever been taught in medical school. Though even with that knowledge she was still impressed by her commanders application of his knowledge.
Glide stopped when he did, looking over his shoulder at whatever thing he had picked up and inspected. When he began to tell his story about she became excited. This is exactly what she had been waiting for. Her attention diverted from the rubble on the ground in front of them leading them on a trail toward where hopefully, the remains of the rest of the vessel lied, toward the story Avitus began to tell. She smiled listening carefully to him tilting her head slightly. The thought of a young Avitus still learning the ropes much like she was seemed nearly impossible. "No we don't eat meat, but I know that a griffons body, since both of their halves are carnivores, requires animals proteins that ponies do not need in their diets. Some ponies just don't understand that simple fact I suppose" She shrugged as she finished her thought. Living with the griffons and watching them eat regularly had desensitized her to the fact they ate meat. It was a simple fact of life. Upon his offer to hunt Glide found herself thinking about the morality of it. It made perfect sense for her to hunt for food for her griffon comrades, they needed to eat just like she did. She had seen plenty of death and even the thought of having to kill prey didn't bother her much. She hadn't thought about that for awhile. The fact that she would have to kill something didn't put her on edge anymore like it used to. She was quiet for a moment after he made the offer then smiled, looking back at him and nodded. "I would really enjoy that." she replied.
|
|
|
Post by Red Charge on Jan 2, 2017 0:54:13 GMT -5
"It's settled then." Avitus said, "After we're done here, should there be no further outstanding orders you and I shall go hunting together." Avitus stated with a nod, then he looked forwards, intently. He could obviously see something she couldn't, with his griffon eyes. "Big chunk of the vessel up ahead, not the deck, but looks like it might have been the cargo hold, broken off from the bow during the glide down."
As they continued their approach Glide Heart could see the crashed cargo hold. She knew from Avitus' instructions (he had to bring her up to speed in all manners of griffon warfare, of course, since she had not gone to Griffon Military Academy), that the 6th Fleet was heavily concentrated on fire weaponry, flamethrowers, explosives... Their zeppelins used a lot of modular parts, especially the cargo hold. That way, depending on the tactics they wanted to implement, they could switch it out with additional fuel, or flammable gas for their flamethrowers and so on.
Unfortunately there were also more than a few deceased griffons among the wreckage, seems like no one was able to get off deck before whatever hit them, hit them. She could see Avitus reacting to the magic again, but he nevertheless went to check the griffons one by one. "Look at this one, a Firebat." He said.
Firebats were the 6th Fleet's stormtroopers, heavily armored and armed with flame-casters capable of reaching up to medium ranges, along with a specialized crossbow that super-heated the bolt before firing. These were extremely useful against other air ships, as a single one of these could end up igniting the entire vessel.
The Firebat was obviously dead. Avitus peeled off her helmet and it was obvious that it wasn't blunt trauma that killed her. All of the trauma was done post mortem. This Griffon died long before it hit the ground. She could see the allergic reaction, the swelling, the sickly shade of the skin. Etheric poisoning. "It's safe to say that the entire crew was killed." Avitus said.
"Not because of the fall or the explosion, but the magic killed them almost instantly, certainly if anyone survived the initial explosion, they would not have been able to keep themselves from falling down, and then the fall would have ended them."
Avitus crouched down near the griffoness and closed her gaping, bloodshot eyes, "That eye-shadow, Pewter-Crest clan. What a shame." The griffon commander put deceased Firebat's helmet back on and stared at the dead firebat for a while. "Didn't even had a chance to fight. Nothing they could have done." He said after a few very long moments of silence.
"I hate to leave them lying here so. But we're not supposed to be here, we'll need to leave them. If you've got any medical curiosity, you can inspect the bodies, just make sure to dress them back afterwards and clean up your tracks. If there's anything you can learn here, it could end up saving our lives." Avitus instructed, then proceeding to go to soak up more magic, sitting on the blast marks in the cargo hold and waiting for Glide to do as she pleased.
|
|