Shell's eye flew open as he woke with a start. He sat in the darkness of a lopsided cabin, a dying candle as his only means of seeing his own pale sweat. With a shudder, he ran his hoof down his scarred face.
Several breaths later, he stood up, hobbling on the metal prosthetic. From extensive wear and tear, the brace was starting to lose its crystaline charge. It chaffed and bent at his still unmended forelimb, sending waves of pain through his body.
Nevertheless, he shuffled his way towards a bright slit, then pushed the doorframe open. His eye squinted into burning daylight as his ears were assaulted by the noise of hammers, power tools, and shouting ponies. Outside, the body of the Steel Wing rested—or at least most of it.
The battle with Rainbow Dash and the subsequent collapse had smashed several chunks in the hull, warping the port side beyond recognition. Currently, the enforcers and remaining crew were working around the clock to salvage the vessel, patch it up, and make it air-worthy once more. Thankfully, the ponies of the Steel Wing were not alone. Several airships hovered low to the burnt, charred-black remains of Foxtaur. Smoke continuously billowed over the south horizon from the smoldering forest as Shell's hooves took him from the shattered deck of his ship to the brown, ashen earth. He walked around crates of supplies that had been dropped off by escort vessels, and he navigated his way through thick groups of ponies sawing at what good trees remained of Foxtaur, converting them into raw planks of wood that could be use to patch the Steel Wing.
From a distance, Shell heard loud whistles and the shouts of stallions as search teams continued combing the burnt woods in search of the enforcers who were lost in the most recent air battle. Already, a pile had been formed of the cracked and shattered remains of managliders excavated from the fire-swept region.
Shell was silent during the entire walk. Through the edge of his vision, he became aware of enforcers glancing at him and immediately looking away as soon as he came within proximity. Despite the heroic efforts of everypony to salvage the ship, their morale was anything but chipper. Jittery anxiety ran through the group, so that their breaths alone kicked the dust and ash of the burnt fire constantly up into the air.
At last, the Prime Enforcer made his way to a row of supply crates that had been erected to form a crude table. Captain Filta had a map stretched out, and he was busy speaking to one group after another as ponies lined up to give reports and receive orders.
"Send two supplies of mana crystals to group ceti," Filta said, telekinetically scribbling onto a scorched piece of parchment. "Hopefully it will let them extinguish the flames so that they can salvage what's left of the fallen Stone Star."
"Aye, sir."
"And tell the east team to finish salvaging the cores out of those gliders!" Filta called out to another pony as he galloped away. "We need those if we're gonna get the Steel Wing back up into the air!"
Shell shuffled up, and Filta's gaze met him.
"Got some rest, I hope, sir..."
"I'll rest when I'm dead," Shell muttered. "What's the progress?"
"You want what I'd tell the Queen or the Honest to Spark truth?"
"You're the last pony on earth I'd expose to any amount of anger, Captain." Shell gestured towards the sheets. "How does it look?"
Filta sighed. "It could have worse. The Steel Wing is missing its central mast for the ballast support, and the hull along the port side is completely smashed. We were lucky to have survived with so many of our crew intact, but it doesn't change the fact that we need to patch up the hull and re-structure the mast or else we are not getting anywhere."
"How long, then?"
Filta took a deep breath, adjusted what was less of his tattered uniform, then said, "Four days. And even that is pushing it, sir. We won't know how well she will fly until we have her up in the air." Filta gestured towards the huge, fallen vessel in between charred lengths of trees. "If we really wanted the vessel to survive another ten years, it needs to be taken into port." He turned and gazed at Shell once again. "Blue Nova is the closest."
"Mmmm... The city is far from the eastern front. They're only equipped for supplying merchant vessels, not battleships."
"The Northern Facility is at least a week's flight from here at the Steel Wing's speed."
"It matters little," Shell said. "That Searonese metal mare could only have taken the target south." Shell's eye pierced the horizon in question. "We're all that lies between the bounty hunter's home and a return trip."
"A return trip?" Filta asked.
"It goes without saying just how tenacious the pegasus is," Shell droned. "She will break loose from her bonds—and when she does, she will head north." He turned and gazed coldly at the Captain. "That's where the only thing precious to her remains, though she'll likely be expecting two precious things."
Filta swallowed and said, "Four days is the best I can promise, sir. Three and a half, but that's assuming we can get the crane lifts up and running."
Shell gazed at the distant pile of managliders being collected. "You're salvaging them for their energy cores, correct?"
"Yes..."
"Would a triple-layered mana conductor assist in getting the cranes operational more swiftly?"
Filta did a double-take. "Well, of course! But the only such battery is being used to operate the communication array with the Council!"
Shell rubbed the fresh, gray stubble forming on his chin. He took a deep breath, gazing lethargically at the shattered husk of the Steel Wing. "Rip it out."
"Sir...?"
"The array is in disrepair. It was damaged too badly in the fall to be fixed."
"Sir, if that was the case, my deckhooves would have reported such to me..."
"I'm giving you my word as a Prime Enforcer..." Shell turned around, his cold eye glinting in the daylight. "It no longer serves us a purpose. Do you understand?"
Filta squinted at him for a few seconds, then gave a knowing breath. "Aye, sir. I understand."
"Good. The sooner we get off the ground, the better," Shell said. His metal prosthetic thumped with renewed vigor as he trotted off to survey the repair teams. "Do not count this day as a loss, Captain. So long as we have half the prize, victory awaits. Our fate now lies in the 'package' being delivered up north..."
Shell is giving you his word as prime enforcer. You have never been in more trouble.
You gotta sympathise for Shell somehow. He's given away everything close to him for his nation, and it has not repaid him in the slightest bit.
He's got nothing to lose, but nothing to gain. He's not going anywhere. The name is fitting, much more so than a random one stolen from the comments section would have been. Not that that isn't a pretty cool quirk of yours...
Speaking of things which are cool. Double chapter posts. Those are freakin' cool. Sure, the previous one was only 200 words, but most of these double (triple on occasion) chapter posts have been pretty substantial. Good job, amigo. You know how to keep us random internet wankers content.
should be
or
This has been Daily Grammar Nazism with cannonSpectacle. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.
Shell really has no quit in him. On this double-or-nothing gamble of committing so much of the Ledomaritan military to the chase of Rainbow Dash, he is absolutely unwilling to concede, even after she downs a frickin' battleship. Call me a coward, but if a singular enemy starts sinking half the Navy, I'd be ready to order a retreat.
2256642 you know a character's gone off the deep end when he cuts off communication with command for the pursuit of the target/objective...now why am I having flashes of Spec Ops: The Line going through my head with Captain Walker replaced with Shell?
Shell is crazy, not that previous chapters haven't established that fact. There's no way he's going to stop chasing Rainbow Dash unless he's dead.
The ship is not the only thing they're attempting to salvage.
If it wasn't obvious that Shell's taking Rainbow's escape personal before, now it sure as hell is.
Well, at least Shell is crippled for the moment.
Which gives Dashie a head start, if she can get away from Roarke.
This is Australia...
2256642 On the other hand, if a pokemon trashed my entire team that would only make me *more* eager to catch it.
2256708
The very last part of this is quite good--could we do that? Could we make him be this 'dead' thing I keep hearing about? Sounds like a wonderful idea, IC.
We have the badassery. We can destroy him.
Ah, Shell. In the previous chapter, we see you finish the interrogation of your wife, her last words begging mercy for your... daughter, perhaps. You have given so much, and received nothing but pain. Much like the Mercs, you suffered the full brunt of the cold, calculating military machine, but where they were squeezed out from underneath... you were crushed. Where they found strength, you were weak. And now, look at you: a husk, a corpse that doesn't know it yet. Then comes along Rainbow Dash: a chance to make it all worthwhile. All the lies, betrayal, and blood, all the horrible things you have witnessed/done, ALL of it will be worth it if you can catch this one white whale.
Had circumstances been different, you would be my hero.
Twenty pushups, 15 wide-arm pushups, and 10 close-arm pushups. Knock 'em out!
2256621
...Nope, sorry. I still refuse to have sympathy for Shell. His decisions have made him nothing short of a monster.
Justice will be brought at some point, and he will atone for his actions.
Hopefully the council has no way of contacting them up north either.
Shell might not survive a meeting with them after his catastrophic and spectacular failure.
2256621
Loyalty, abused.
2256910
If I ever actually did the pushups you tell us to do, I'd get ripped.
Too bad I'm to lazy to do anything.
Shell keeps forging ahead when it's clear he needs to stop. One of these days, he's going to run out of bridges to burn. I just hope that comes before he does anything too terrible to Rainbow.
2256783 Does she really want to get away from Roarke? I think there is a friendship opportunity here.
2256910 25 Hindu Squats, 10 Hindu Pushups, Back Bridge for 1 minute. Because alternative.
Oh Shell... when will you learn?
Shell, I commend you for trying this hard, but you need to know when the only options left are quitting and ordering a tactical nuke to kill you along with the target. Maybe you can call that other massive battleship to take out Dash, oh wait... that wreck was your biggest battleship. I think the best course of action for you Shell would be to go overthrow your queen and take all the military out to bomb all neighboring regions until you find Dash. Now go do it.
2256621 There is a method to the naming madness, especially for this story.
2257246
1.bp.blogspot.com/-xGGYuOt71_Q/TsCfmhrZP7I/AAAAAAAAAVo/Av4uqnLaDJs/s1600/cornholio1.jpg
2257501 I am cornholely-oo, you shall name your baby bon-hooly-oo.
Shell is so fucking crazy, I love his character! Anyone want to write a Shell romance story? No, no takers? Well then....
Their should be sitcom with Shell as the main character.
What the heck are you waiting for, man.
No one's stopping you.
...
I got it! I kept reading Shell's dialogue in a specific voice but I couldn't, for the life of me, remember who it belonged to.
But now I do: Albert Wesker.
Shell, you are going AWOL. I wouldn't do that if i were you.
You know, despite all the shit that he has done, all the madness and pain that Shell has caused, I can't really hate him.
He is a total asshole, but some small part of me can't help but hope that the "spark that finally died in his eyes" might be reignited, much like how Dash is bringing the Spark back to the dead machine-world beneath.
I don't think it's likely - far more likely that he has a pivotal moment in which redemption is possible (to some extent) and fails to take it - but I can't help but hope for some vestige of the Spark to return to him.
images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/11000000/Yes-Man-yes-man-11097494-1280-1024.jpg
I've finally caught up!
So, hostage situation?
Prediction: Phoenix will die.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
I'm pretty surprised that they were able to salvage anything from the Steel Wing wreckage. Dash thrashed it up pretty badly. Anyways, I think that Shell going behind the Council's back is...interesting. Is he losing faith in them, perhaps? Also, he was smart to go back up north. Dash will get there as soon as she can. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
aaaaaaw snap. Honeytiger still hasn't been referenced. Not that there's a very high chance of it...
Damn, this guy just isn't giving up. Not that I ever expected him to, but you know, he gets points for effort. Evil points, but points nonetheless.
2289359 Not if you're asking for it. Our great and illustrious overlord of the notoriously deflating entrails shall decide upon which mortal his almighty gaze would fall.
And Shell is breaking up with the Council. Haha! I called it! That's not redemption he's looking for - I say that hunt to him is an end in itself. It's funny how I would love to see Roarke & Co. die some horrible death, but not Shell... I just want him to see. See what he really is.
2256613
it really isn't worth much at this point, is it?
Why can't Shell just go and
DIE?!
I guess I was too optimistic to hope that we would somehow be rid of Shell..
though I must say, I like the sort of "off the books" approach he's taking, what with offlining the comms with the Council. He either doesn't want them breathing down his neck anymore, or will be partaking in some activities that he believes would be better off undocumented.
>It could have worse.
Miss a word?
Shell is so fucking metal. Like literally, his prosthetic limb.
Shell just.
Won't.
Quit.
This is very bad.
-Spirit
Who the hay is thankful for that? Granted, this is from Shell's perspective, but it still struck me as weird.
Well, things are oddly . . . calm. I guess everything is in the wake of the storm.
Well now we have an idea of what's going on with everyone since we last left off. Shells probably feeling a little rustled right now. I know I would.
Oh shit, now it's become personal. Shell's going against EVERYTHING to bring down Rainbow. Screw his country, screw his men—Shell only has eyes for revenge.
One can only hope that the Council starts hunting him now.
Yeah, because we all know how much that is worth less than the air required to give it out his rear.
Shell is probably hoping the council will forgive his insubordination when he brings them the prize. That, or he'll use it against them.
Oh no, Vader has returned.
So, surely at some point he'll keep his word, right?
6421371
Well if a broken clock is right twice ... then an evil bastards word is good at least once. As long as it serves his purpose. And nothing gets in his way. And if he doesn't get a whim to break his word for the lulz ... so yes. I expect that this once he'll keep his word.