Hoofterlands Ch.6

[captain_borgue]

"It wouldn't surprise me if they could hack our teletypes, but we just haven't had the resources to devote to coding- until recently, we've barely had the resources for research and development. But with the Alliance's logistics brood leaderless and the griffons' cavalry raids on the lines they do have, they are going to have a hard time keeping ahold of territory. Our teletypes may be compromised, but they are in no position to take advantage of that intel. Won't be long now after we can go on the offensive for a change," Iron said, as they chugged along back towards Canterlot.

"We can wait until we get back to the palace for debriefing- but I for one would be very interested to know what the dragons have in their labs... or more precisely, where those labs are. A floor plan of even a portion of the Keep would give us enough to plan an incursion," Iron said, in a low voice. "I'm bucking sick of this war, gentlecolts. Anything that can bring it to a more expedient end is something I will gladly devote myself to."

"I know you're wondering how I found you, so I'll cut to the chase. I'm Captain Iron Sides- if the name is unfamiliar, it was my team that killed Ofinicus- and extracted Torlem. Of course, it was Lieutenant Commander then. Anyways, SEAPony Team Alpha- whom you've met- has access to a great deal of intel. I saw an opportunity to fire up the Xuan Zang here, and as a bonus, maybe provide some valuable intel back to the Admiral," Iron said, grinning.

[Korkoa]

Flame Mane
Hoofterlands-Appleoosa Outskirts

Flame raised his eyebrows at the proclamation, stepping a bit closer to his uncle. "Um, Breaker you know I'm happy for you and for Melody, but uh... Are you going to wait until after the war for that? I know it sounds stupid coming from me, but Meadow was... Kind of not planned."

[Knight Tyrfang]

Khaem
Hoofterlands - Appleoosa Outskirts

It wasn't hard to find the captain, seeing as he stuck out like a sore thumb, along with the pony she had briefly thought was ablaze. As she glided to a short stop, claws gently stepping back onto the ground, she caught the word adoption.

"I do hope that you will not order me to take care of whatever child you plan on rearing." She said, claws in her pocket. The young dragon snorted with notably nothing coming out, a look of displeasure in her eyes. "Even for the sake of science, children are a menace and too much trouble to handle."

[MagusZeal]

Balthier Breaker
Hoofterlands – Appleoosa outskirts

Grinning the stallion wraps a hoof around the lab coat wearing teen dragon, “Khaem met your cousin Flame, Flame meet your cousin Khaem.” Loosening his hold on the teen he turns back to the map ignoring the looks from evey pony else around him. “So Flame, how many ponies do you think you can silently air drop into the Alliance's compound after dark?”

[Korkoa]

Flame Mane
Hoofterlands-Appleoosa Outskirts

Flame paused, blinking at the revelation from his uncle. "... Right then. I should have known, I am talking to my uncle after all. Nice to meet you, Miss Dragon." He said before turning his attention back to Breaker. "All of us can likely get behind the lines, I can get in touch with the Flank Breaker if we need more support. Archer will have to be carried and I'll need to get higher up before I can get airborne, but at least my five should be able to get in. Any of yours coming with us?"

[MagusZeal]

Balthier Breaker
Hoofterlands – Appleoosa outskirts

Eying Flame the golden stallion seems like he wants to say something, but doesn't. “Nightingale and if possible Elegant. The plan would be to pull a pre-dawn raid, primary objective would be the Alliance's heavy weapons. Taking those out will allow myself and Renew to lead the troops in a frontal assault. Nightingale won't require any help with her entrance, but Elegant will. Think you can do that?”

[Knight Tyrfang]

Khaem
Hoofterlands - Appleoosa

Khaem's reaction seemed to mirror the unicorn's, before a look of disappointment settled in. "...Oh. It was a joke. I had expected more from you, but I suppose not then."

With a polite bow in acknowledgement to Flame, as if she was silently saying 'likewise', she then went to find something to sit on, since there wasn't much she could add to an apparent strategy meeting, and was jut going to listen.

[Korkoa]

Flame nodded, turning to his team to make a mental assessment. "If one of mine can carry Archer then the other should be able to take Elegant. Do we have a layout of the camp? Where our targets are? Is there going to be a team on the ground or are we it?"

[MagusZeal]

Balthier Breaker
Hoofterlands – Appleoosa outskirts

“You are the team on the ground Flame. As for recon talk to Nightingale, she's the recon specialist here.” The way the stallion said it made it sound like he expected far more then what normal recon would bring from the mare. ”Beyond that the only other ground team will be the wall of ponies charging at first light.”

[Knight Tyrfang]

Khaem
Hoofterlands - Appleoosa Outskirts

"If I may interrupt," Khaem spoke up while listening to the whole strategy talk. She had expected something more complicated in all honesty, and it was terribly boring. "You ponies have such weird naming conventions. I mean, your name is literally just a word for fire-"

She pointed at Flame, almost wanting to ask if it had anything to do with his firey locks. The teen researcher had a bit of an urge to just rub it to see if it was actually warm. She then turned onto the Captain's "And... Well, I've already forgotten your name truthfully, but I believe the Commander was called Wither and the permanently menstruating one was... well I forgot hers too. Hm."

"My assistant was named after the comatose state as well. And your polite comrade was named Elegant, correct?" Khaem continued. "I never really asked, because there are certainly oddballs out there that give strange names to their kids, I mean, who names a perfectly good dragon infant 'Spike'? But seeing as how this is a common occurrence, I'd certainly like to know."

Khaem then rifled through her bag, and brought out a notebook and a pencil to take notes. However upon opening her notebook, she found that she had already filled that one, and frowned. The dragon grumbled, as she began to rummage again, slightly annoyed that she had grabbed the wrong one. It was due to the journals she had left with Wither not being in her bag, so her organized notes were slightly off, making instinct fail her.

[MagusZeal]

Balthier Breaker
Hoofterlands – Appleoosa outskirts

It was hard to fight down the laughter Breaker felt at the dragon's comment about names. “Don't know what to say to you Khaem, most ponies I've spoken too find naming their kids fairly easy. Often to the point where it fits in some way to what their talent is. I've heard some refer to it as a form of predestination, and others mentioning that it's a game of dice one how a ponies name matches their talent.” Turning toward Renew he shrugs. “Any thoughts on this topic Renew?”

[Lucy Took]

"I know a little about naming conventions, I do admit" Renew said, thinking back to her years of exploring non-biology subjects. "A theory that I find most interesting is that the mother of a foal is subconsciously influenced by the talent of the foal, something about a strong nerve connection while the baby is inside it's mother. I'm not really a psychologist though, the connection between a pony and his or her cutie mark and name is a topic that philosophers and scientists have been looking into for ages. Also of note it's not common, but it has been known to happen, when a pony does not feel that their name matches their talent they will change it as an adult" she said, sadly remembering when her own sister had gone through a name change.

"Of course that's a topic best discussed when everypony is safely back from the battlefield. I'll be following the attack on ground and have an aid station set up as soon as I find a safe place to do so."

[Knight Tyrfang]

Khaem
Hoofterlands - Appleoosa Outskirts

Khaem listened intently, fascinated. 'Subconscious influence allowing one to be able to know their child's latent potential? If that was determined, imagine the possibilities if that could be accurately controlled...' She thought. 'You could alter children to however you'd like. They'd be much more bearable then.'

The researcher quickly wrote down the theory, and the possible applications if explored. She replaced it back in her bag, before deciding to pitch an idea to the meeting. After all, they scratched her back, seemed fair.

"Well, why not try and find a way that prevents any death from your side? You could burn them all to ash, and there you have it, we could be back to this discussion real quick." Khaem said matter of factly. "After all, how long has this city been in ou- *ahem*, Alliance control? I'm sure anything of value at this point has been expended or consumed, and you can always rebuild buildings."

"And it'd do you a favor for certain. I heard the buildings were so old, they'd do better as firewood than anything to live in." The dragon said rather cheerily for what she was proposing. "The shadowy slouch would sure appreciate the irony as well."

[ExTecha]

Nightingale

Hoofterlands - Appleoosa Outskirts

Nightingales gaze lowered from the sky as one of the shadowy ravens plummeted down from the sky, shadow drifting from it's feathers. The bird gently perched itself on the mare shoulder's and let out a caw in her ear. "Oh, show me." Nightingale stammered back slightly as the bird's form drifted into shadow. The shadow slithered through the air before pouring into her eyes. Soon the black lines of shadow drifted for all to see under her skin, finally traveling to her flank to join the black pattern covering her cutie mark. Recovering her posture, the metal plates on her hooves clacking on the ground. "I feel that covert is the way to go. Cut off the head of the beast and let the body crumble."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Elegant Shard

Hoofterlands - Outside Appleoosa

Elegant looked around at his peers in disbelief. "We're not seriously considering this. I won't be part of a butchering. No matter the cause."

[MagusZeal]

Balthier Breaker
Hoofterlands – Appleoosa outskirts

“No we're not, while it would be quick,” there was disgust in the stallion's voice, “it wouldn't effect the dragons themselves less there's something Khaem wishes to tell us. Besides this fits fairly nicely into the category of things commanders would consider to expedite the fight that the E.M.P.'s are supposed to stop. Nevermind I'm sure Flame can atest to how bad a fiery death would be given his experience in the Manehattan fire brigades.”

Turning towards Nightingale the golden coated stallion tilts his head waiting, “What did you find?”

[Knight Tyrfang]

Khaem
Hoofterlands - Appleoosa Outskirts

Khaem frowned, disappointed but not entirely surprised. Kindly ponies were, but far too softhearted. Maybe she could give them reason not to? "My dear Buster, surely you out of everyone here would know how to employ that tactic properly. After all, it was you that employed the magic possible to do so earlier. Take away a dragon's ability to breath fire does more than you'd believe. After all, don't you think it a bit strange that we can breathe fire, yet the inside of our throats don't get burned, or we suffer from any form of smoke inhalation, suffocation, or damage? It certainly isn't mucus, I can assure you that."

She continued. "A really cruel and painful death it certainly would be, but think about this. For most creatures that aren't immune to fire, it is an instinct to run and not have anything to do with it. If I were to set a forest on fire, all the animals would be scattering from it with bursts of adrenaline pumping through their little veins. Your kind, zebras, and buffalo are no exception, so more likely than not, they'd either try to put it out, or run if it was hot enough. But dragons, we have no inherent fear of it. Most are born with an affinity for it, so that instinct is slowly phased out as we grow older."

"So, more likely than not, the dragons won't resist. It'll be too late for recovery by the time they realize something is wrong, and all that's left is charred ash. All the dragons are guaranteed dead, the other species would get away and be able to recount what happened, and it'd not only be an effective method of erasing your little problem, but cause psychological damage to many other dragons as well." The researcher explained very nonchalantly. "As I've said before, cruel, but I'm sure none of you have ever heard how much some enjoy the screams, and the sound of burning pony flesh."

Khaem sighed, then shook her head. "But of course, I'm sure covert would work. It's not as if there are animals who can grow more heads after you cut their head off, or malicious tumors that can grow right back if all of it isn't removed completely. I'm sure a new leader won't replace the old one really quick."

[ExTecha]

Nightingale

Hoofterlands - Outside Appleoosa

After recovering her posture Nightingale stepped gently over to the teen dragon. "If you continue to try and goad my colleagues into this brutal course of action, I'll split you down the middle and use you as a cautionary tale. Most ponies aren't the monsters your kind has become and I won't see them fall to our level. Furthermore, my brother said he wasn't comfortable discussing that route. Now I would think that due to the kindness and his voiced faith in your defection, that you would take the high road and let it go. I'd hate to have to send him away and show you just what happens when your kind belittle my people and are forced to reap what they sow..."

Staring deep into the teens eyes, wisps of shadow traveling across hers. Without changing her gaze from the teen, she addressed the Captain. "The camp is in a huff. Seems something happened recently to some of the soldiers, we couldn't get a full view but one soldier seemed to come stumbling from a storage building with body parts missing. Eyes, claws, tongue, etc. The camp seems stirred."

[Knight Tyrfang]

Khaem
Hoofterlands - Outside Appleoosa

Blinking, the teen stared at the shadowy unicorn somewhat dumbfounded, before her mouth cracked into a smile. First a small smirk, that turned into a chuckle, until Khaem had fallen flat on her tail, and was laughing quite boisterously. She had to catch her breath, before she could speak again, tears in her eyes.

"Hehe, belittle? My dear, you are far from the mark, it is with the highest regards that I am proposing this plan." Khaem said, trying to stifle a giggle. "Not only could this plan only be executed by those with magical abilities such as you and your colleagues, the idea minimizes the amount of damage to all non-dragon life, especially for those affiliated with your kind, and maximizes destruction of dragons. Surely that shows a sign of respect, trying to save as many of your kind as possible from suffering. It would be a laudable course of action."

Her tone turned snide, closing one eye, sticking her tongue out and pointing at the pony right in front of her, pretending to be menacing in the most ridiculous manner. Her smile had turned from her cheery demeanor, to a more familiar, arrogant one. "After all, we're just monsters."

[Lucy Took]

Renew took in the information and processed it slowly and analytically, waiting to see if there was going to be more information on the feasibility of the plan before making judgements, but all that there seemed to be was jerk reactions against the bombing of the town, and admittedly, they were understandable reactions, the destruction would be horrific and chaotic, but it would be swift and effective if it worked. She took a breath and weighed in.

"Look, I hate to be the one to side with the treacherous dragon, but she has a point. Elegant, I know your views on this war, and I respect them, even if I don't totally agree in terms of their practicality and I totally understand if you want to step outside for the nitty gritty. But back to the plan. Think about it, if it was possible to disarm the dragons from their fire breathing long enough for us to take them out, the amount of equestrian lives that could be saved would be astronomical. For too long we've been barely holding onto our lines, it's about time that we send the message that we can and will defend ourselves with deadly force. I've worked burn ward, so I can't say I'm comfortable with the idea of burning them to death, it would be a cruel way to go, but we have Flame with is, I'm sure that the temperature could be made hot enough that they would loose senses before the shock wore off and they even felt the pain. And if everyone is totally against the burning plan, being able to block dragon fire for long enough to sedate them or something would be invaluable. Though if we were able to capture the dragons, where would we put them? Do we have holding cells big enough to hold them? The only creature that I can think of that could make such a holding possible would be Discord, and he isn't exactly on our side, or any side for that matter. Unless someone can turn these dragons to stone like Discord himself."

Renew stopped for a moment and gave that last comment she had thrown off hand a bit of thought. "Actually...that would be a perfect move. But does anyone have that kind of power without the elements?"

[MagusZeal]

Balthier Breaker
Hoofterlands – Appleoosa outskirts

“I doubt anypony would have that kind of strength, Renew.” Shaking his head Breaker looks form the stars to Khaem, “Here's the problem with this idea we have no way to know for sure it'll work. I've never previously managed to suppress a dragon let alone an entire battlefield. In truth, a walking wall of fire would cause most of the sane Alliance members to retreat, or pour everything they have into the fire's source. But the issue is the dragons, and as everypony seems to forget my magic when used suppresses everything, mine, yours, assuming it even works a dragons. Now yes it's true I tried it on Khaem earlier when she first arrived as a precaution, but I've no idea how effect it even is. Nevermind what happens when you try it on an adult.”

Turning towards Nightingale the stallion says nothing for a moment, “That's a rather specific issue their camp seems to be having. Also I'd ask you keep things civil right now as well.”