"Easy... Easy...!" Captain Filta shouted. His usual prim and proper self was sweaty and disheveled from hours upon hours of hooves-on work. He stood within the ruins of Foxtaur, his body shadowed by the behemoth of wood and metal being slowly lifted up above him. "Bring more lift to the port side! She's starting to lean!"
It was a complicated process. Several unicorns on the ground as well as in the air on hovering dirigibles were working together to lift the Steel Wing. Its brown hull was patched together in various places by steel and oak salvaged from the unburnt recesses of Foxtaur. Metal cranes and hovercrystals were positioned in strategic places to make the entire operation possible. As the Steel Wing was lifted back into a steady position, several unicorns on a low-hovering manacraft drew in closer to telekinetically attach the remaining pieces of the airship together.
"That's more like it!" Filta shouted. He straightened his mane and uttered, "Make sure all of the tertiary support beams are in place before attaching the last few lines!"
Shell marched up to his side, his body likewise marred by several hours' worth of sweat and strain. "Magnificent work, Captain."
"I'm only sorry this hasn't transpired more swiftly, sir," Filta murmured, carefully eyeing his stallions at work above them. "I know we still have our target to pursue and—"
"Assuming she even acquired the strength to defeat her captor, it's far too late to expect that we would be able to catch up with the specimen," Shell calmly said. "I must reiterate: our power lies in the possession we have over her dear friend up north. If the target breaks free and attempts to rescue Dr. Bellesmith, we must be in a position to block such a path—which we currently still afford to do." He gestured towards the ship. "Above all else, make sure that no harm comes to your crew, Captain. We need them in one piece as much as we need the Steel Wing."
"Aye, sir. And thank you, sir."
"Don't forget that it's the safety of our entire Confederacy that we are... endeavoring... to..." Shell's speech wore off. His eye narrowed towards the northern horizon.
Filta glanced at him, then pivoted to look north. A trio of managliders were sailing towards the sight. Several nearby enforcers swiveled on mounted turrets to fire upon the intruders—until their colors showed in the morning light. They lowered their cannons and signaled to the other stallions on the ground.
While the Steel Wing was being lifted slowly into the air, the three managliders made a soft landing along a stretch of cleared, smouldering forest. Filta and Shell marched up as the first of many pilots hopped out.
"Sir!" stammered a pale-coated unicorn with a sandy brown mane. He removed his helmet and saluted. "Enforcer Evans of the Central Patrol Squad, reporting!"
"At ease," Shell muttered, hobbling on the weight of his metal cast. He squinted at the gliders, then at the relatively jittery Evans. "Ledomaritan Lightningcraft," he remarked. "Only the Council of Ledo is authorized to grant use of such speedy vehicles."
Filta glanced nervously at Shell, then at the stripped communications core of the Steel Wing that was being used as a mana battery for the operation at hoof. Clearing his throat, the Captain spoke to the young enforcer. "Is there a reason for your... timely visit, enforcer?"
Evans took a deep breath and said, "We came, as ordered, to deliver an update from the Northern Facility, sir. In light of recent events, we felt it was best to take the fastest craft available."
Shell raised an eyebrow. "Yes...?"
Evans bit his lip before uttering, "There is no report, sir."
Shell was silent.
Filta squinted. "How do you mean?"
"Quite simply that the hovercraft carrying Dr. Bellesmith and the Franzington deserter never arrived at the Northern Facility. They are unaccounted for, sir."
Shell took a deep breath. His front hooves started digging slowly, slowly into the burnt soil beneath him.
Evans saw it. He glanced up and added, "We've conducted a thorough search of the forests south of the Facility. One patrol said they thought they saw a column of smoke. They've since gone there to conduct a further investigation, but there's been no updates since."
"Could it be possible..." Filta turned to Shell and breathily remarked, "...that the target has already broken free of her Searonese captor and intercepted the prison craft?"
Evans interjected with, "It's estimated that if the hovercraft indeed went down, it must have transpired sometime in the first twenty-four hours of their departure."
"No..." Shell shook his head, gazing beyond the Steel Wing in thought. "It... it must be something else... something we didn't calculate..."
"But what?" Filta remarked.
"There is more, sir," Evans said.
"More?" Filta asked.
"We would have arrived here sooner with the news, but we had to make one stop along the way. We discovered that an observation tower within the central forests that had been subject to a magical attack."
"Xonans?" Filta remarked.
Evans shook his head. "No member of the attacking party were Xonans, at least according to the testimony of the enforcers we found injured at the scene. Most of the stallions had suffered memory loss, suggesting close contact with an item capable of leyline entanglement."
"Leyline... entanglement?" Shell remarked.
"One of them—the head enforcer of the tower—did remember one key detail. We thought it may be of interest to you." Evans leaned forward and said, "One member of the attacking party was a zebra. A zebra with snow-white eyes."
Filta's jaw hung open. He pivoted towards Shell.
Shell took a deep breath. After a flaring of his nostrils, he eventually said, "Each Ledomaritan observation tower is equipped with a zeppelin. Did the stallions give pursuit?"
"No. As a matter of fact, sir, the zeppelin was hijacked."
"Hijacked...?"
"We conducted a mana-screening of the area. We had arrived too late to detect the core of the dirigible, but we think we did manage to trace the direction in which the magical weapon was taken."
"And where did it lead?"
"North, sir. Towards Blue Nova."
Filta and Shell exchanged glances.
Evans continued, "We sent one glider on a potential intercept course. The rest of us had to come here as swiftly as we could to deliver the news from the Northern Facility... or lack thereof."
"If her spouse somehow managed to survive his untimely demise..." Filta spoke aloud to his superior. "Then could that have a connection to the Doctor's whereabouts?"
"There's no way to tell," Shell said in a firm tone. "All we know is that we're missing far too many pieces of the puzzle, and we can't afford to let this one link dissolve." He marched a few steps towards the gliders. "Enforcer. Tell me. Is there enough energy inside these for a return trip?"
"Absolutely, sir. But we were told that you had business along the border of Searo and—"
"This new development takes precedent," Shell said. He turned towards Filta. "Captain, continue raising the Steel Wing. Once you have succeeded, have our sister ships form a blockade along the edge of Foxtaur and the Sapphire Plains. If there's any sign of the target, pursue it, and send a messenger up north to the central observation posts so that they might communicate the sighting with the Confederate Patrol."
"Sir..." Filta narrowed his gaze. "Are you... going somewhere?"
"I can no longer afford to function from long distance," Shell said, already strolling towards the gliders. "If there's any hope of catching Bellesmith's mate, I must intercept him myself. We can't allow him to reach Blue Nova, or else it will be next to impossible to find him." He glanced over his shoulder. "We can't afford to lose our leverage against the target. You're in command of the Steel Wing until we reunite."
"Aye, sir."
"Enforcer Evans?"
"Y-yes, sir?" Evans remarked, his face awash with nervousness and confusion.
"You ride with me," Shell said, mounting the middlemost glider. "I will depend on your knowledge of the central wilderness."
"Is this a matter of national security?"
"You're about to find out." Shell strapped on a helmet. "Congratulations, Enforcer. You've been drafted into a higher calling."
Level-headed, Shell carries himself as if her were a patriarch. What a curious little bit of psychological trivia in the face of the Queen and her council. Shell, the holy father, or maybe the holy ghost.
Shell returns... Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn...
I was wondering when Shell would have a chapter and here it is!
ThreeFour are now on the same path.Dear God, triple update. Scolon, please have mercy on my poor little brain!
Is he stuttering? Being openly insecure? Is Shell actually losing his, well, shell now, too? It's the only thing left to him, now that would be a real pity.
By the way, this chapter reminds me that we never did find out just how Pilate survived his fall. I guess Floydien called a few reindeer friends and they caught him in Santa's sleigh. Yeah, that sounds about right.
Ceterum censeo Searinem delendam esse.
Well, that's good news for Belle and Phoenix at least. Seeing as they already have reached Blue Nova.
Also, "Enforcer Evans"
Something something dreams.
Was wondering when we'd see Shell again...
why didn't Honeytiger see this update last night?
I like this chapter yet i have no idea why... Hmmmm.
Oof. Looks like we know what good old Shell is doing, now. I doubt he would be able to catch everybody that scattered by himself, but seeing as every single one of them is heading towards Blue Nova...
Y'know, I wonder if there's going to be some sort of explosion there. Kinda like a supernova, but less super. Possible even due a certain pony. A certain blue pony.
blue nova is going to be i some hot shit soon.
Poor Evans. If there ever was a redshirt, it's this guy.
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I think it's clear that he's already hopelessly broken. I won't shed any tears for him if he's got some more breaking to do.
What's this? Ponies matter to Shell now?
Shell is on the move
Evans. Will he die? Maybe... just maybe...
Aw, crap. Well, it was only a matter of time before he found out, I suppose. Still, must be a pretty tough blow, finding out that not only one, but two of the prisoners you thought you had dealt with are alive/free and kicking your ass. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts slipping (an Azula-esque breakdown would be pretty great). Well, more chapters to go - onward!
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
So it seems like the pieces are falling into place. As of late, the separate parties have all been very secluded, with the perspective switching with the chapter. (I'm still not entirely sure that I like that, to be honest.) But now it seems like Shell of all people is going to bring the group back together. We'd better hope that our dear friend Floydien is a good fighter...These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. When they mentioned "The Doctor's" whereabouts, it took me a minute to realize that they were talking about Bellesmith, not The Doctor from Doctor Who.
>A trio of managliders were sailing towards the sight
Do you mean "site", or is this intentional?
OH shell, the pony we love to hate. It's good to see he still cares about his stallions at least.
Hmm, Shell is defying Ledo because he thinks that he can save it. Maybe he'll inadvertently bring everypony together? Belle and Phoenix are going to Blue Nova, Pilate and Floydien are going to Blue Nova, Crimson and Tweak are going to Searo, Roarke and Dash might go to Blue Nova soon, and they'll bring Crimson and Tweak with them.
-Spirit
Man, things are picking up quickly, now.
As more or less expected, Shell is busting Ledo protocal. however, For his own interests or that of Ledo, i cannot say.
Ah, another little bit of Shell. He's regained his composure quite well...
There's probably going to be quite the confrontation in the vicinity of Blue Nova soon.
Whoops, I guess when you take apart the communications array you can no longer receive those important communications. First Belle and Phoenix, then Pilate and Floydien, and now Shell and poor, poor Evans.
Blue Nova is going to shortly be quite exciting.
ugghhhh, these POV shifts make the story 6X more suspensful. I'm half excited to see what's going on with the others and half angry that the current POV was disrupted.
Hope shell fights the Floydian. That'd be interesting. *Grabs Popcorn and Soda.*
I must admit that it's very, very satisfying to see the kind of day Shell is having.
And Shell is starting to realize that his plan is falling apart, after all no plan survives contact with the enemy. Now he has to adapt.
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Wow, his plans really got shot to shit.
Not only did he fail to kill Pilate, but he ALSO lost Belle within the same time frame.
And Dash is on the loose as well.
All things considered, he's failed in all regards to wrestle control of the situation.
Oh yeah. It most definetely is
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Blue Noca is gonna be taking after it's name soon when the heat rises
I'm 99% sure he doesn't actually have a plan right now...
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Bro just found out he's playing 4D chess