Sins of the Mother

“Great!” Zestari said and turned and started trotting in the direction of the lake that she and Happy had found yesterday, checking that Sky and Kira were closely following. “So we found this lake yesterday and it is amazing to see so much cool refreshing water that is also radiation free.”

Making good time, they could soon see the sparkle of sunlight off the rippling water and Zestari grinned at the site. “There it is,” she said happily pointing a hoof, we’ll be there in only a few minutes.

Suddenly the ground rumbled, and gave an almighty heave, knocking Zestari onto the ground, and leaving her in a confused state.

“Wha… what was that?”

Standing back up, she turned to look at a slowly rising plume of smoke. “What the hay is going on? Are you two okay? She asked of her two friends.” She frowned towards the smoke. Moments later everything began to devolved into the chatter of gunfire and explosions of grenades.

Zestari gave a shout of alarm. “Quick we need to get out of here!”

She was about to run for what looked like a suitable outcrop, when her eyes scanned across a large black feathered figure scooting across the ground not too far away heading towards the Khan camp.

Kestrel, he’d know what was going on. Starting to move to intercept the griffon, she began to yell out to him, her ears folded back in alarm.

“Kestrel what’s going on?”

The NLR were more than happy to focus some of their unused firepower on Trails' location. The stallion did a quick situational assessment in his head, trying to figure out how best to pull a win out of his ass. Hundreds of hostiles, each with quality training, all equally armed. I have a superior defensive position, but no way in hell can I stop a charge of more than say six. Eeyup no ifs ands or buts about it. I'm fucked.

He let out a sigh as he reloaded his repeater. This wasn't the first time he'd faced impossible odds, but experience in telling death to go fuck itself didn't count for shit. He calmly rose, ready to be a thorn in the side of the NLR for a few more minutes, right up until he died. *Crack* One. *CRACK CRACK* Two. *Click*

The stallion swallowed and dropped his jammed repeater to the sand. No use clearing it, that only delayed, and he was never one to beat around the bush. He pulled out his .45 and eased back the hammer. A last stand, he'd always wanted to make one. Why not now?

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Kestrel's flight wasn't unnoticed and the gryphon quickly found himself the target of countless gunshots. Most missed, only half assed by their 'marksmen'. Several did hit the gryphon ,though only a few were able to actually get through his armor. Still if this kept up he'd be forced to ground, surely the NLR snipers would take it upon themselves to pluck a target that large out of the sky.

Kestrel landed quickly and began sprinting along the ground, doing his best to avoid the annoying potshots of the terrible marksmen shooting at him. He was not going to complain however, it was annoying but he was aware of them now...and not dying due to fatal wound tracts.

Hearing the familiar tone of speech as he sprinted along, Kestrel turned and quickly made his way over towards Zestari. Hearing her question Kestrel didn't waste time with a long winded explanation. Just grunting out a single, simple word. "Retribution."

Without skipping a beat Kes turned and motioned towards the horizon. "Follow me and keep up. Got orders to get you out of here and our friends think its fun to shoot moving targets." With that said Kestrel began moving, eyes always scanning for any possible threats. He was leading Zestari to a rather familiar place, one far enough from camp to be safe, yet close enough so that when his job was done Kes could charge on back and get to Trails; no doubt the buck was going to try something stupid.

And just where was this location? Easy. The tiny little building where Kes had seen both her and her Griffon escort for the first time a few days prior. It wouldn't be too hard to get too, Kes just had to avoid going down the main path, which in turn took him and his followers over the rocky and uneven ground surrounding the Great Khan camp.

Hopefully the mare and her group was in good shape, Kes was not one to slow down until he got to his destination.

Kira shook as she followed Kes and Zestari with the best speed she could muster to follow the big gryphon. The shock wave after the explosion had really shaken up the gryphoness it came so sudden and with such great force that she had not been prepared when. Now when the big black gryphon had giving his normal short explanation of what was going on Kira could just look to him as she moved as fast as she could, if the NRL wanted to get rid of the Khan they would and it sounded like they really wanted it this time.

Trails swore loudly as another round buried itself deep into his shoulder. Fucker's gonna die for that. The stallion made good on his promise to himself by promptly splattering the buck's brains across the desert sand. At first they were just toying with him. Probably calling shots and making bets, but things got serious when his shots turned from painful to lethal. A dozen troopers rushed the buck, leaving him with the impossible challenge: 12 shots 12 kills.

*CRACK* A geyser of gore shot from the throat of the nearest trooper. *CRACK* Miss. *CRACK* That was better, another trooper bleeding out in the field. *CRACK CRACK CRACK* Three more shots, to men crying out as their lungs were suddenly perforated, another dazed as his helmet saved his life. *CRACK* He wasn't dazed for the long. *CRACK* Luna dammit, they wouldn't take a hint would they? *CRACK CRACK CRACK*

"FUCK OFF YOU IMPERIALIST PIECES OF SHIT!" Trails roared as his gun clicked dry. The next few seconds weren't going to be fun.

“Orders? From who?” Zestari shouted as she ducked her head and started following Kestrel with Kira. As the sound of gunfire rose and from the corner of her eyes she could spot clouds of dust being kicked up by stray bullets.

Following Kestrel as he sped from cover to cover to… some destination, Zestari began to tire and a foam of sweat began to build up on her flanks and she began to pant. It wasn’t that she was unfit, but she was carrying her saddlebags only just filled with plants found around the mohoofe; was trying her darndest to avoid getting shot, and more simply, the fact that Kes kept up a frightening pace.

“How much further?” She gasped out, having no idea where Kestrel was leading them.

(I have Endurance 4, what do you want from me, Kes? >.<)

Luckily for Zestari Kestrel's run came to a rather swift conclusion; pace slowing before finally evening out again at little more than a brisk trot. Kes led the team over a hill and pointed forward at small concrete structure a few dozen meters away, ducking down behind a rock face.

"There." Kes said making sure everyone had caught up before he began moving again. He could hear Zestari's labored breathing, he knew that she was less enduring than he was.

Getting her to safety however was more important than her personal comfort at the moment. Luckily it only took a couple seconds to jog down the hill and make it to the safety of the building.

Zestari, should she be paying attention, would easily recognize it. It was the very building where she and Safiya had taken cover from a 'sniper' a few days prior.

"Get inside. Stay down and don't let anyone know your here. I'll be back for you. Anyone else try and get inside, kill them." Kes said wasting no time; the griffon now reaching back and pulling out his sniper rifle, checking to make sure it was loaded before holstering it again.

He didn't wait for an argument from Zesty or her team, he just turned and began making his way back to the battlefield. The sounds of battle were echoing even here, the screams and yells of rage and death a strange and unsettling song upon the wind.

Steeling himself the griffon pushed off into a quick sprint. Moving towards an outcropping in the distance slightly away from the Camp. In his morning workout he'd found the place and remember the excellent view of the camp it offered. It would serve as an excellent sniper's nest.

With a fluid grace surprising of something his size Kestrel easily scaled the back of the face and quickly found himself in a lovely nook between two stones; perfect cover for when the time came to get out of the line of fire. A third, larger stone would serve as an excellent rest for his rifle.

Pulling out his weapon and assuming a stable position Kestrel cast his gaze downwards. The Cross-hairs locking on the first available target, and NCR Trooper in the process of attacking one of the lesser Khans.

Kestrel exhaled, the rifle barked and jerked, the bucks head disappeared.

Wasting no time Kestrel began scanning the massing of warring ponies for other targets of opportunity; and more importantly for the closest thing to a friend he had. He'd not waste the opportunity to help thin the ranks however. During his scanning Kestrel put down another three.

"One round left, now where are you..." Kestrel mused to himself, looking still for the buck he knew so well.

Trails growled as blood ran down his muzzle. Pistol whipping two trooper and ripping out the throat of a third tended to take it out of a buck, and he was quickly tiring. He only had ammo or his .357 now, and soon another squad would be attracted to his position. He grabbed the service rifle off of a corpse and started taking pot shots.

*CRACK* Easy pickings, and ooh he was trying to throw a grenade. The thud of the concussive hit Trails in the chest as a squad of troopers fell to friendly fire. Smiling, he started in on the rest of the troopers. *CRACK CRACK CRACK* Here they come.

This group was smarter, and better armed. One of them pulled out an LMG and started opening up on the hill. More than a few rounds slammed into Trails staggering him. The buck pushed on, firing his commandeered rifle at the LMG buck, taking out their right eye after a few shots. He was gonna have to pay for that though, with a grenade landing only feet from him. The stallion didn't have time to react before he was thrown into the lake, his blood turning the water red.

Kestrel's 'last round' found itself violently purging cracked bone and and bloody brain tissue from an unfortunate NCR Trooper who had just about been ready to fire a round from his shotgun into one of the other Khans. Kes didn't really like the Khans that much, but he was still willing to help them out in evening the odds a bit.

The Khan he'd saved quickly rose up and tossed a nod in Kestrels general direction before running off to fight some more. Kestrel didn't bother with responding, to busy pulling a fresh magazine for his rifle free and slamming it home. Normally Kes kept about five fully loaded, since he'd been at Bitter Springs however he'd made a habit of carrying ten or so with him.

Looking at the battle going on below, it would seem Kes would be using every one of them today.

Hopping back on the scope Kes began scanning for Targets. A NCR Marksmare was drawing a bead on a Khan about two hundred yards away. She was cut short as a .308 caliber round repurposed her throat into ground chuck. Blood exploded from her wound, bone and nerve exiting the back of her neck as she spasmed wildly.

Dead without even feeling a thing.

The next few kills were just as bloody, each shot into a lung, heart, or head. Blood and bone coated the ground near the downed troopers as Kes kept racking up the kills. He saw nothing but prey, and felt nothing but recoil for the next two magazines.

Still no sign of his friend. Even Kestrels sharp senses were going to have trouble with finding him. To much movement and action going on, explosions, gunshots, the flash of steel and the splattering of flesh. It was a honest to goodness slaughter down there in that camp.

And Kes just sat there in his perch, calm as death itself as he sent ponies to meet their makers.

Zestari recognised the building, a little surprised that kestrel would have led them here. It was with relief that they approached it. That meant she could catch her breath and rest her burning muscles.

“Go inside and do what? Hide?” She stomped slightly irritated, “But Kestrel, we can help, I’m not going to…” It was too late, Kestrel had already left back to the battle and Zestari was too tired to give pursuit. She was annoyed. What the hay was he playing at? And where was Happy for that matter? Grumbling she turned away from the retreating figure of Kestrel.

Entering the building somewhat grumpily at having been ‘put aside’ She took the opportunity to rest up and recover. Once she had done so, she began to pace. On one hoof she wanted to leave and go out and be helpful. There would be a lot of injured ponies out there. On the other, though, she didn’t like her chances of surviving if she came across even a few well-armed NLR soldiers, should they choose to shoot at her.

Finally she went to Kira. “What are you going to do?”

For a good long while, Kestrel kept up the heat and pounded away at the NCR. Kestrel knew that he was breaking one of the most important laws for Snipers to follow however as he sat there, popping another magazine into his rifle and once again lining up a shot.

Never fire more than two shots from the same position.

This trespass came to bite him back a few seconds after the first shot of his new magazine. From somewhere in the distance a round came whizzing and embedded itself deep into the stone just next to Kestrels head.

Growling Kes dropped into cover, more shots ringing off the stone and sending dust and debris flying.

"Bout time rookies" Kestrel thought to himself, bringing up his Pipbuck and checking its map feature as the gunshots grew louder. Looking over the data displayed Kestrel began to plot out what to do next.

He needed to get off this rockface and down onto solid ground, from there he could pick off whoever was shooting at him; assuming he found them.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily for Kes he wouldn't have to search at all. The angry shouts of a incoming attack force made it clear who had been shooting at him.

"Get your ass out here coward!" one shouted. "Yeah get out here and face whats coming to you, you dirty Khan!" screamed another.

Kestrel for his part, said nothing, instead just focusing on holstering his rifle and starting to crawl forward. It was a difficult task, moving as he did, low and between the stones of the rockface.

His route would take him around the face and down onto the ground, where he would quickly crouch down and draw his revolver. Bracing himself against a large stone kestrel hazarded a glance in the direction of the voices.

He saw there a group of five ponies, mostly earth by the look of it, one unicorn flanked the group though; medic by the looks of things. Each was dressed up in full combat gear, grenades and all. Two shotguns, an LMG, and a two service rifles made up the primary armament of the group.

"Hmm...could get messy." Kestrel thought to himself, ducking back behind the rock again as he began formulating a plan. It was going to take a bit of...finesse to come out of this one unscathed no doubt.

The gryphoness watched as Zestari paced back and forth after she had rested up some, she understood how the zebra felt begin thrown to the side to be safe when she knew both of them could help out there. Kira gave Zestari a long look thinking for a long moment before she answered the zebra. "Well I am going to stay with you and keep you safe Zestari, but I will keep you safe no matter what you do."

Trails gagged and choked as a health potion was poured hurriedly down his throat. Somepony strong kept him from thrashing in the water as he was forcibly pulled back from the brink of death. When he managed to calm down, and open his eyes, he saw the worried face of Kick Start looking down at him. The stallion let out a relieved sigh and righted him in the water.

"Enjoying your first day off?" He asked with a smile.

Trails laugh was cut short by a coughing fit. His lungs slow to realize he wasn't dying yet. After several seconds he managed to regain composure and grabbing the service rifle and heading back to the hill. Kick Start got in the way of that train of thinking, shaking his head.

"This one's lost we need to get out of here while we can, c'mon we'll sneak 'round and go to our fallback camp."

The half dead khan wasn't much up for putting up an argument, nodding tiredly without complaint. He half limped half walked with plenty of help from Kick Start. The pair hobbled down the road out of Bitter Springs. After twenty minutes they were forced to stop as Trails slipped away again, coming back with a shake from his friend.

"Alright, we need to get you up and out of here." Start said, dragging him up a hill to a seemingly abandoned building.

As Trails was slowly taken away Kestrel was just figuring out what to do about the team of ponies behind him. They needed to go, and they needed to go-

BOOM! CR-CRAcK! CRASH!!!

"The hell..." Kestrel thought peaking around the corner. The team of ponies had just tossed a grenade up into the rock crevice where Kes had been located a few moment prior; causing its collapse. Well now, they definitely needed to die if they were going to go tossing grenades about.

Steeling himself Kestrel began his, rather hastily made, plan. Keeping low and ducking into cover or the safety of the shadows every so often Kestrel began to sneak closer to the ponies ahead of him. Every time he moved he watched them closely, planning various methods of attack.

The ponies never heard him coming.

Ducking behind a rock Kestrel pulled out his Revolver and carefully cocked the hammer back, his breathing slowing as he focused his senses.

"Think that got 'im?" One of the ponies asked, voice a bit to chipper for the situation. A deep baritone responded quickly. "I would think so...but where the hells the body. 'nades got a kick, but not that much of one."

Kestrel shifted a bit, body tensing, preparing for what was to happen next.

"Spread out, search this place, guy couldn't have gotten far. You saw his outline, griffon like that is slow but steady not speedy." The baritone announced, the sound of heavy hoof-falls following moments later.

Closing his eyes Kestrel muttered something unintelligible then reached down and picked up a scrap rock on the ground. A simple, yet effective tool. With a flick the griffon sent is soaring to his left, bouncing it off of a rock with a loud clatter.

"There he is! FIRE!" The baritone roared, and the heavy chatter of gunfire and shotgun blasts filled the air decimating a the rock Kestrel had hit. Stopping only when the sound of empty weapons trying to fire filled the air. "Everypony Reload!"

"Gotcha." Kestrel said in his head spinning up and coming to bear, his revolver aimed forward at the first available target; one of the ponies with a service rifle. Kestrel saw the fear on the ponies face clear as day, the ponies eyes shrinking as his weapon started the reloading process.

The young bucks head cracked open like a melon as the .44 slug tore into it. Blood and brain splattering the medic and soilder behind him.

"One."

"What the Bu-" The baritone, revealed to be the leader said as Kestrel pushed off towards them, sending another slug into the leg of the medic pony.

She screamed loudly, then fell, clutching her wound, trying to stop the pain and bleeding.

Two.

Landing down Kestrel dropped his .44 and took off in a dead sprint reaching out and grabbing the next pony, another service rifle weilding stallion, just as the first shotgun ponies weapon finished reloading. It roared to life spitting tiny beads of death right at Kestrel...they missed though. Instead embedding themselves into the back of the unfortunate buck in Kestrels talons; the griffon having grabbed him and used him as a shield.

A horrid yell ripped from the bucks throat as his back was torn open. Mercy was on his side this day however as his scream and pain were soon silenced by Kestrels talons, the natural weapons making short work of the ponies soft throat.

Kestrel didn't even blink as blood sprayed across his face and chest, coating his armor and feathers in a disturbingly vivid crimson. Like a broken toy the buck was tossed aside, body bleeding like a stuck pig as life left the pony's eyes.

"Three."

The other two bucks had by now managed to open up with their weapons, doing their best to hit the griffon that was currently tearing their squad apart.

The Heavy Gunner's weapon jammed at the worst possible moment however, and left a rather obvious opening for Kestrel to exploit. With barely a blink Kestrel pushed off the ground and tackled the buck to the ground, his talons coming up and grabbing the stallions head, thumbs going through his eyes as Kestrel rolled forward; putting his weight on the appendages buried in the bucks face. A hard yank and twist and the bucks neck snapped like a twig, Kestrels talons coming free with a sickeningly wet schlick.

"Four"

Rolling forward Kestrel dodged another shot from the last standing pony, his shotgun eating up the earth where Kes's flank had once been. On his feet again Kestrel turned and glanced at the last of his prey.

His eyes were cold, empty, remorseless. Those of a true predator. The pony froze for a moment before his instincts took over and he bit down on the battle-saddle's bit. A thunderous crash filled the air, and Kestrel charged. Opening his beak Kestrel slammed his head into the bucks throat, biting down and then latching on with his talons digging deep with both.

The fresh taste of blood poured across Kestrels pallet, and a weak gurgle escaped the pony in his grasp and Kestrel held him down, jerking back his head with a wet tearing sound, the blood rich flesh below him painting him again with another fresh coating of crimson vitae.

Spitting the chunk of pony meat out of his mouth Kestrel looked down at his kill then at the surrounding carnage. The team of ponies was down, torn asunder and bloodied. Kestrel could still taste the flesh of the pony on his tongue. Instinct told him it was nutritious. Memory told him it was a familiar flavor. His brain told him to swallow and keep moving.

He listened to his brain.

Walking over towards the still screaming medic, Kestrel prepared to finish this. The pony, upon seeing him, began thrashing about wildly, cursing and damning Kestrel to the deepest pits of Tartarus.

As his talons wrapped around her head she began crying, begging, her body giving up on fighting now.

"P...please don't I dont wanna d-" She never finished the sentence. Kestrel had snapped her neck before she could. With a cold calm he dropped her and sat back, his vision suddenly swimming. Looking down he saw his armor was missing a bit on the side...and thats when the pain hit. Grunting in discomfort Kestrel reached down and touched his wound tract...the shotgun had managed to get a pretty good chunk free from him...but it looked like a grazing shot none the less. It'd be needing stitches however.

Reaching into his bags Kestrel grabbed a health potion and downed it. Feeling it start to work, the wound on his side didn't seal up totally....but it had stopped bleeding for now.

Walking over towards the camp Kestrel pulled out his rifle and once more scoped in on the place. Trying to find his friend again. Kes had had enough of killing for the time being, all he wanted now was to find Trails and then get the hell out of here.

He needed a patch job first though. Hauling himself up onto his feet again Kestrel began walking back towards the concrete building, at a much more sedated pace. He didn't want to tear his only partially sealed wounds open again.

(epic post, Kes! Except the part with the medic. Non combatant, you should be ashamed. :( )

Zestari continued to pace, giving Kira a look with a tilted head. “That’s not very helpful. Do you think we’d be okay? I’m not very good at gauging weapons and strengths of enemies and all that.” She waved with a dismissive hoof before pausing to look out of a crack in a boarded up window.

“I mean if there are ponies out there hurt and injured and bleeding, I feel I have an obligation to help them. But I won’t be helping anypony if I go and get shot. Or worse.” She sighed before realising something.

“Wait, maybe they won’t attack us? We’re not wearing any Khan stuff, and the NLR aren’t like crazy raiders, are they? Think it might be worth a chance?” She asked turning to face Kira.

Kira looked worried at first, she understood what she meant she wanted to help out there as well but it was true that both of them could not do much if it came to a fight against two armies. The gryphoness had also begun to pace along with the zebra, Kira might be a combatant but Zestari was not and that made them a target if things turned to fighting.

She stopped in her tracks and looked to Zestari when she heard her idea, it could work but it was dangerous. If the NLR thought that some of the Khans would dress up as civilians to get away from the camp maybe they would shoot them on sight, but they were not raiders or bandit.

"I think that would work." She said as she sat up looking back at Zestari. "If worse they would try to capture us but they would not kill us if they thought we where Khans, but have you seen any gryphon or zebra among them I have not." She looked out thought the cracks of the window and nodded to her self. "I we are careful and not fight back I think it is worth the chance."

Kick Start pushed the door open and dropped Trails onto the floor. The stallion let out a soft groan before going limp. The elder Khan looked up from Trails' unconscious form and, with a start, realized they weren't alone.

"Who the fuck are you?" He yelled, aiming his assault carbine squarely at Kira.

Kestrel crested a nearby hill to the small building; arriving just in time to notice Trails and his rescuer entering behind. A loud yell a moment later had Kes picking up the pace and moving towards the building quickly. His wounds opened a bit making Kestrel mentally grimace but that could be fixed soon enough.

Right now he needed to get down there before the Khan opened fire because he forgot who Kira was.

"Stand down, they're friendly." Kestrel said as he drew close to the building, voice leaving no room for interpretation. A few seconds later Kestrel arrived in the door frame and looked over the others in the room, side bleeding openly. Crimson tears flowing over his side and dripping to the ground into a small pool.

Zestari nodded at Kira. “Good point, we certainly don’t look like Khan’s do we? Alright, let’s go out there and see what we can do.” She turned away from her peephole through a crack in the window towards the door, when it suddenly opened.

Reflexively Zestari dove to the floor, expecting a cascade of bullets. What she didn’t expect were two unprepared ponies. Through the dust and light of the doorframe, Zestari wasn’t sure exactly who it was, and grabbed for her trusty 10mm pistol before waving at towards the rifle wielding one.

“Civillians!” she yelled out. Figuring it was probably the safest option. “Who are you?” She stepped forwards wearily half into a stance, seeing as the rifle wasn’t pointed at her for the moment. There was a tense moment before a faint gruff voice called out to them from outside, telling them to stand down. Zestari instantly recognised the voice and almost couldn’t spit the gun out fast enough. The large figure appearing in the doorway behind the two new ponies confirmed the voice.

“Kestrel” she called out, before noticing the injuries he was now carrying. “Oh no! What happened?!” She wanted to run over and help him, and the figure that the firearm wielding pony had dumped on the floor, who she hadn’t taken a close look at yet, and looked to be in rather poor shape and needing medical care.

Except there was a carbine pointing towards them, making her somewhat hesitant to move.

"Fuck that," Kick Start roared, turning the carbine on Kes. "there's a fucking slaughter out there and I'm not gonna do shit until...hold the phone. You're that mare Trails is dating right?" He lowered the gun and stepped fully into the room. "Or at the very least you patched him up, twice. Ready to go for round three?"

Kestrel hadn't even blinked as the gun was turned on him. The bucks posistion had left him far to open to defend himself in these close quarters.

Luckily Kes never had to do anything about the threat and the situation resolved itself. Kestrel took this new found free time to review his friends condition.

Fucked up was an understatement. By the looks of things Kes would guess that Trails had fought with a grenade and the grenade had won. Figures he'd go off and do something stupid like nearly getting himself killed.

"Tend to Trails, I'll be fine for now." Kes said nodding to the rather bucked up...buck. Zesty needed to help him first, a bit of blood-loss was nothing major to Kes.

Kira was almost prepared to attack the Khan when he entered the building but managed to calm her self down when she saw he was carrying Trails on his back, the Earth pony looked to be in bad shape. She held a grenade in one of her talons ready to use it if things did go bad when the Khan threaded her with his carbine, this Khan most not have know that she was... well not really on their side as she did not really like the Khans but she was at least not against him.

She looked to Zestari then to Kes then to Trails. "Yeah Civilians." She said slowly while still holding the grenade, it was stupid to use it in door but it was a good threat to keep the Khan at bay. It was only after Zestari called to Kes that she noticed that the big dark gryphon was bleeding and was hurt. It must been really bad out there.

The gryphoness lowered her weapon after the Khan did it as well and looked over the Zestari giving her a nod. "We can not stay here for long." She said looking between each of them. "We have to get out of here before someone ells get here."

It took a moment for Zestari to realise who was talking. She’d only very briefly met Kick Stand and it was why she didn’t realise who the suffering figure on the ground was at first. Then Kick Start made it clear who he was. And with an open mouth gasp she dove towards Happy Trails. Severely injured again. For the third time in as many days. She almost rolled her eyes at the fact, except for the fact that Happy was lying in a slowly growing pool of blood.

Checking over his wounds quickly to get an idea of where to begin, she began to furiously dig into her Saddlebag for medical equipment. “Kira, can you get him out of his armour, please?! If you want us to be out of here as quickly as possible I'm going to need your help.” She said, her muzzle almost buried in the saddlebag.

Placing items besides her, she looked towards Kestrel. “Try not to move too much, place some pressure on that wound and I’ll get to you as soon as I can.”

Refocusing on Happy, the long task of patching him up began…

(Medicine 65)

Kestrel offered a grunt and obeyed the order he was given. He knew the drill, he'd done this before. Reaching up he grabbed his side and gave it a squeeze, putting pressure on it. Leaning against a wall just for safe measure.

"Leavings good. Sure their going to wonder what happened to the team they sent after me after they finish butchering the camp. Question is, where are we going after this?" Kes said calmly. As if the idea of a town being butchered was not at all shocking to him.

Outside of the group's hideout, the Great Khans began fighting their last stand. Papa Khan fired down on a squad of NLR troopers, swearing loudly as another Khan was shot to pieces. Still his mind was working furiously. How to make this work for him?

"Shine." He barked, the scrawny lieutenant still jumping at the noise despite it nearly being drowned out by the gunshots. "It's time for a changing of the guard, find Rake and take care of it."

"W-what?"

Papa growled and grabbed Moonshine by his cut. "We're getting fucking slaughtered, Rake'd be an idiot not to make a power grab when we get to Red Rock. After this shit there's no way anypony's gonna say no to our little Colt Scout." He stopped dragging Shine and shoved a pistol into his chest. "Take care of it."