Celestia's Finest: Comrades in Arms

[userpay]

"Mmmph... Lovely decor." Brazen drawls after Death has left. He shouldn't complain given this was his choice but the frustration over losing that tugging sensation annoyed him to no end. But then... There is a new tug. His armor. Waiting.

Should he? Brazen considers the empty vessel. Would it... Be him? Something else? A trap? Brazen's distaste for the robotic had eased over his service, it was hard not to between his marefriend having cybernetics, and the CMC, yet this was something else entirely. And what he had said earlier was true, if he didn't finish what he started then Brazen would probably see many more join him in this fold.

"Can't be my time till certain folks are brought to heel... After that. I'll rest." The earth pony reaches out to touch the armor.

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot slumps into one of the 'birds seats. His eyes unfocus for a long moment so he can stare at nothing. The he reaches up to tap his comm.

"EDF to Admiral Stormwind."

[Elbeyon]

Love secures the body where it lays with her supplies.

She pulls her last HoloBot out of her bag and has it project a covering over the corpse.

She talks to Iron Beak. "May you find peace."

[Miltonian]

"See that you do," Death says, "And do not worry. It may take a while, but we will meet again." She pauses. "Or maybe...do worry. I may be the arbiter of Fate, but I try not to infringe on Free Will. Do what you want with the time you've been given." And then, she leaves Rose alone, alone with Brazen.

========

Brazen feels the tug grow stronger, irresistible now. His soul is sucked into the armor and merges with it. When he next comes back to himself, he feels...a bit hollow and cold. However, he can move again. It does not feel entirely dissimilar from having a flesh body, but a little numb.

His weapons are still at the ready. His armor's systems come online. He's ready to rock and roll again.

========

Iron Beak does not respond.

After a moment, Admiral Stormwind's voice answers, "This is Stormwind. We hear you. What is your status?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Comm.: "Jorgemond has been destroyed and Iron Beak is a confirmed kill, sir."

Longshot pauses to allow the news to process. He glances at the group's biometric feeds and frowns

“Lt. Croix is unharmed, I believe. We were separated but her presence is accounted and known. We'll pick her up. Lt. Charge and myself took injuries escaping the magical blast zone. Lt. Hoof didn't make it."

As long as he stayed armored, then he shouldn't have any problems moving about as necessary. Once the armor came off, however...

[Elbeyon]

It wouldn't be the first time a corpse didn't talk back.

Love looks worse than her biometrics would suggest. LoveBots are hardy and can sustain a lot of injuries before dying. The Stop Bleeds seemed to have helped her vitals a lot. She could use a hospital visit or patch-up from Rose though.

Love stands up and walks over to Longshot. She stands in front of him and looks at him. She reaches out and lovingly fixes his scarf. A BugBot grabs two Stop Bleeds out of his saddlebag and she begins going through the motions of reloading his health potions.

[DigoDragon]

Rose tries to reach her helmet to call the EDF, but then realizes her leg is detached. Huh. Wonder how that happened.

Oh well.

[userpay]

Orange light flickers across the eye sockets of the suit. Numb... Brazen taps a leg. Well that was definitely a bit different, something he'd have to get used to. All the systems seemed fine, the suit diagnostics just there in his mind rather than scrolling in front of his eyes, a few errors popping up at the lack of life signs. No signs of anypony in the immediate vicinity...

"Anypony read? Ah think ah've had ah bit of ah mishap... Or at least things ain't where they should be. Requesting status update." Brazen comms while looking around. Even he wasn't quite sure what was going on but his body wasn't here and he was moving the armor just fine despite that.

[Miltonian]

Star pilots the ship towards Rose's position, following the beacon built into her gear. As they fly, Admiral Stormwind continues his conversation with Longshot. "I am...sorry for your loss, soldier. The island is secure as well. We have yet to receive any coherent report from the mainland or the fleet. What..." He pauses, and then continues quietly, "what happened over there?"

Star sits bolt-upright in her seat. Never has she pressed the comms button so quickly. "BRAZEN?!" she shouts, "Brazen! Where are you? Are you with Rose? Your boi-monitors aren't functioning. Where are you?"

[DigoDragon]

Rose stares at her helmet comm like it just grew a head.

[D.KnightSpider]

The Admiral's initial response is dead air. Longshot's helmet snaps up so that he can look at Love. She was hearing this, right? He'd seen Brazen take a hit and go down. The vitals had flatlined.

Either Brazen was somehow alive and Rose had neglected to mention that fact or he was suffering the early, early onset of blood poisoning.

Longshot snaps back to attention and pins the EDF's comm. to a subchannel so that he can listen in on the conversation while continuing his report.

"My apologies for the slow response, Admiral. Things are... still somewhat unsettled at the moment." He begins relaying a condensed account of recent history.

[Elbeyon]

The look on Love's face is confusion. Her eyes are searching the air in front of her and she is no longer looking at the stallion before her face. She saw Rose teleport away with Brazen before all the BugBots in the area were destroyed. That comm is from Brazen's suit, and the suits are magically enchanted to prevent anyone aside from the EDF from using them. There is relief on the edge of her mind, but enough doesn't add up that she won't let herself feel it yet.

Comm (EDF), "Copy, Brazen. We are reading you."

She calls towards the front of the Firebird, "Co-pilot returning to chair!" She looks to Longshot. "Let's get up front and take a look on the sensors." Love rests a foreleg on Longshot. She is offering to help him out of his seat and help walk to the front of the bird. She wouldn't leave him out of this and alone.

Love wants on those sensors.

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot will accept and follow Love to the cockpit.

[userpay]

"Ah'm... Well ah don't know what's goin on but ah'm afraid them bio-sensors are probably correct. All ah know is ah've got another thing to pay Polaris back for." It really did feel weird to not be breathing. It was usually something one didn't notice till it was an issue... "Ah'm still in the middle of the skull. Ain't sure if this area is safe so ah'll head toward town."

[DigoDragon]

Rose sits up. She pulls their helmet over with her ponykinesis and speaks into it (Comm EDF), "Brazen? Your body is lying in front of me, dead as a... really dead thing. How are you speaking to us?"

[userpay]

"Dunno, ah was in ah forest, felt a tuggin, and found my suit waiting fer me." Brazen glances around at the shattered remains of the skull. "If ah had to hazard ah guess maybe my suit got contaminated with somethin from the dynamo?"

[DigoDragon]

"Dunno, ah was in ah forest, felt a tuggin, and found my suit waiting fer me." Brazen glances around at the shattered remains of the skull. "If ah had to hazard ah guess maybe my suit got contaminated with somethin from the dynamo?"

"A forest? Is there a..." Rose's ears swivel to the upright position. "Wait. Did you happen to hear a voice? Mare, somewhere between contralto and snarky?"

[Miltonian]

Star stammers for a few moments, unable to form words. Then, her hooves begin flying over the control panel, inputting commands at record rates. "Rose," she says, "I'm coming to pick you up first. Brazen, get out of that area because we might not be able to get to you safely. We'll swing by and pick you up too."

Admiral Stormwind listens to the report and lets out a low whistle. "That will be one heck of an After Action Report to read," he says grimly.

[Elbeyon]

Love parks herself near the cockpit, dismisses her armor, and touches Star on the shoulder to let her know Love is there. Then, she re-summons her armor after a pause. A few BugBots fly from Love's foreleg and land on the controls. She focuses entirely on piloting through them rather than using her body. She stands there supporting Longshot. A holo appears besides them to magnify the ship's visuals.

Love frowns at Brazen's update and a little at Rose's questions. "Brazen died. If he is lucky he is a ghost like our two musician friends." He should be dead.

[DigoDragon]

Comm (Star)"Yeah, I'll need to hook up a body to the ESU to keep it... erm, fresh."

[D.KnightSpider]

"I'll ensure that you receive it, sir." Longshot says over the comm.

He continues to allow Love to support him and waits to see what happens next.

[Miltonian]

The events that follow are not too noteworthy, or at least they can hardly compare to what just transpired. Brazen's body is collected and stored in the ESU unit while his soul and equipment, now merged, are picked up separately. Staring down at your own dead body is a very 'interesting' experience, not one he would recommend to anyone.

After the pick-up, Star flies them all back to the Vedinian military base this whole mess started in and they get a good night's sleep (and medical care, for some) before setting off in the morning for Equestria.

Brazen's situation draws some consternation from the powers-that-be, however it is Crow Locke, newly released and re-entered into Luna's service, that advocates most strongly for him. The ancient paladin argues that, if he can overcome his bloodthirsty nature, a true Revenant fighting for a good cause should not be barred. Plans are swiftly made to restore Brazen to his body, though the legal ramifications of both dying and being around to manage your estate will haunt law schools for years.

That said, a change comes over the EDF. Harrier Squad, the heroes of Equestria, is put on 'sabbatical', until such a time as they are all needed again. Quietly, Celestia admits that she is concerned for the effect that too many stressful missions are having on them. Wildcat, in a rare moment of introspection, also admits that he threw them together because they were the best available, not because he was confident they would work well together. In the end, 'Harrier Squad' is quietly disbanded and those who wish to continue in service are offered positions in other units or outfits.

Judge Doom continues to spit fire and condemnation upon them all, though political experts begin to ignore him. After all, he is not an elected official, and the novelty of someone criticizing Equestria's newest heroes is swiftly wearing off. He remains moderately influential, though a good deal of it is behind the scenes. With the waning of his power, Wildcat's detractors grow suddenly silent and he is retained as the leader of the EDF.

Red Tape remains with the EDF, managing the accounts, filing the paperwork, and making the engine of bureaucracy move at double-speed for it and only it. Celestia herself declares that she never met a more efficient system of management, and Luna adds that if all bureaucrats acted like him, lines at the DMV would be a lot shorter. He and Rose remain together, for as long as she will have him.

Star continues to fly missions for the EDF for a little while after Harrier Squad is disbanded. Card Ace complains that between her and Corby his cheeks are going to have permanent slap-marks. After a while, though, she switches over to civilian flight and lands a job flying shuttles between the moon and back.

Question Mark approaches Longshot, after he's had a bit of a break, and offers to take him out to lunch. Over some nice sandwiches, he leans forward and says, "So, there is a situation down in Coltcutta that I think you and I would be perfectly suited to tackle, if you're interested. It involves a certain unpleasant fellow by the name of..." And the rest is classified.

Happy Hooves is 'promoted' from EDF chief cook to the head cook of Canterlot Castle. Muffins become a staple of every meal, much to Celestia's amusement. And consternation, as they are slowly edging out her favorite dessert: cake.

And as for the forces of Polaris...well, the threat still hangs over the heads of those in the know. Bellatrix and the Lord of Stars himself remain unaccounted for. Yet for the moment anyway, no new plots emerge. If not totally defeated, the EDF has stalled his plans enough for him to take his own sabbatical, so to speak. Yet who knows what yet may come, for the future is always changing. One thing, though, remains sure.

Friendship truly is magic.

[Fin]