Equestrian Armed Forces

Putting her finger to her ear she nodded to herself and simply replied, "Copy that, we're already on our way.  Keep me posted, over and out".

"How much longer until we get there Sergeant?"

"We should reach our destination in 90 seconds"  the driver said calmly in her natural southern drawl, "just be ready with that grenade launcher o' yours, we're going to need to make an entrance".  The woman in the passenger seat simply nodded and stared out the window of the truck with a silly grin on her face.  Wondering if she was even listening, Applejack decided to explain the plan again.  "When we're in range for your weapon Private, Ah'm gonna stop the truck, that's when the good Corporal here" She pointed to the mountain of a man standing behind the rear mounted turret, "will provide cover fire for you to blow open a hole in the wall large enough that we can drive through".  A deep "Eeeyup" could be heard over the sound of the truck cruising over the hilly dirt road as Alpha company headed quickly towards their destination.  "Are you clear on the plan private?"

"Yes ma'am, crystal clear, only you don't need to stop, I can just shoot while we're moving".  At a loss for words with her engineer, Applejack tried to rationalize how she was going to manage this.  Coming up blank, she turned to face her passenger and simply asked "How d'ya reckon that private Pie?"

"By rolling down the windows silly"

"Ya can't roll down these windows!"

"Ooh yeah, that's right" Private Pinkamena Dianne Pie realized, "silly me, how could I forget that?  I work on these things all the time, really sturdy trucks, but they always get really, really hot in the summer but they're really, really, really, sturdy.  Did I say that already?" A smiled beamed across her face as an idea formed itself in her often times random mind.  "It doesn't matter any who, we still don't need to stop".

"Beg pardon, but what in tar nation are y-"

"Oooo, we're almost in range"  She then grabbed her grenade launcher and checked to make sure everything was in order.  Finally turning to watch the road again, Applejack suddenly realized that they were dangerously close to the enemy outpost.  She swore under her breath for not paying attention to the mission and was about to stop the truck to begin phase one of the plan when Private Pie did something utterly random.  "Just keep her steady now Sergeant ma'am"  That is when she opened the passenger door to the truck and swung out with it.  "Pretty please with a cherry chonga on top!"

Dumbfounded, Applejack continued to drive in a straight line towards the gate, unable to fully comprehend what was happening.  Meanwhile, clutching on to the truck door for dear life with her left hand and both feet, Pinkamena aimed her MGL-140 grenade launcher at the center of the wall.  With her tongue hanging out of the corner of her mouth out of concentration, she quickly fired four grenades at the wall.  Each one of them punching large holes in the solid concrete that was before them.  With a hole now big enough for a tank to drive through, Applejack helped the seemingly insane private back into the truck before giving Big Macintosh the order to open fire with the 50 cal machine gun he was standing behind.  The roar of the mounted gun quickly erased all other noises as it kicked into life, while simultaneously ending others.  Gore and dirt kicked up in clouds as Corporal Macintosh fired on those unlucky enough to be in front of him.  Effectively clearing the space before they drove through the make-do opening in the exterior wall, he then opened fire on the largest building in the center of the complex.

The complex itself was mainly just three buildings surrounded by a solid wall.  The large building in the middle was where most of the soldiers ate, slept, rested, and generally lived.  The command building was off to the left and should already be cleared out, making it a non factor in Applejack's plan.  The building to the right however was used for vehicle storage and maintenance and would have to be taken care of if Alpha company was going to make it out without a chase on their hands.

As Macintosh laid down cover fire, the two women exited the truck and split up.  Pinkamena headed to the garage filled with military vehicles while Applejack ran towards the rear end of the building Mac was firing at.  Firing two grenades at the office area, Pinkamena then began placing C4 explosives under each and every truck.  Only after this was done did she reload her grenade launcher and begin laying down cover fire on another building.  Applejack meanwhile had her trusty Ihaca shotgun in hand and made certain that nobody could flank them.  She sprinted for the door away from Big Mac's fire and managed to take aim just in time as two enemy soldiers came bolting out trying to figure out what was happening.  Applejack opened fire on the unlucky soldiers and they flew back into the building, forcing others inside to pause before stepping over their bodies to find out who was shooting at them.  Applejack used this to her advantage and fell behind some cover.  By the time the enemy could exit the building, they were met again with shotgun fire.  Three more soldiers fell before they decided to hold position and wait for an opening.

Applejack put her hand up to her ear as a message came through from the other attachment of Alpha Company, "AJ come in, do you read me?"

"Ya Braeburn, loud n' clear, what's your status?"

"We grabbed the goods and made it out safely, thanks for the diversion, over"

"No problem cous' we will meet ya'll at the extraction point in five minutes, over and out"  Pausing to grab a couple flash bang grenades, she continued speaking to the rest of Alpha Company "D'ya hear that Pink?  Make your way back to the truck, we're getting the hay out of here"

"Okie dokie lokie"

Throwing the two flash bangs in hand, she then sprinted back to the truck.  One of the soldiers managed to spot her running away from the door, but simply couldn't aim down his sights yet because of the non lethal grenades that were thrown his way.  Instead, he casually aimed in the direction of his surprise combatant and fired, hoping that at least one bullet hit her before she was out of sight.  Without his knowledge, one bullet did manage to connect with its target.  Luckily for Applejack though, it hit her in her torso which was covered in bullet proof armour.  Nearly collapsing out of sheer pain, she could have sworn that she had been stabbed between her ribs.  Not being able to get a full breath in her, she managed to finish her sprint to the truck on little more than pure adrenaline.

With Private Pie already sitting in the passenger seat, Applejack jumped in and pulled a quick 180 to drive out the whole which they originally came in.  "Private"  pausing to catch her breath, Applejack finished the order, "take care of those trucks will ya?"  With the click of a button, a deafening explosion could be heard behind them.  The power of the explosion caused Applejack to turn and look through her mirror to survey the damage.  This motion however caused her bullet wound to cry out in pain and she winced uncontrollably from the intensity of it.  Noticing his sister's injury, Big Macintosh leaned down towards her from his spot behind the turret "Hey Applejack, y'alright?  Saw ya got shot back there"

"I'm fine Mac, bruised rib is all probably"

"Ohmygodareyouokay?areyouhurt?doyouneedanything?" Pie asked in a single breath.  The woman's normally unshakable smile faltered as she quickly quizzed the southern sergeant.

"Ah reckon ah'll be fine, probably end up getting the rest of the week off from it too"  She chuckled to herself until her ribs began to scream in pain, wincing once again.  "Private Pinkamena, any injuries to report?"

"Nopenopenopenope, not a scratch on me"  Pinkamena beamed, "Oh and just call me Pinkie, all my friends do".

"Duly noted Private Pinkie, how 'bout you Big Mac, ya doing alright back there?"

"Eeeyup"  All of a sudden, Applejack heard a loud thud as blood splattered the side of her face as well as the truck's dashboard.  The echo of a gun shot could be heard as she twisted in horror to see what happened to her brother, ignoring the throbbing pain insisting that she sit still.  The first thing she noticed was his hand on his left shoulder to keep the blood from pouring out even more than it already was, red streams flowing out between his fingers and travelling down his chest was enough for her to notice he was in trouble.  It almost threw her into a state of shock when she looked up to see his face.  What was normally almost a sun-burnt red was becoming as pale as a ghost.  His eyes, those mainly of nonchalance and utter confidence, even in the midst of a fire fight were now reminiscent of a scared little boy, pleading for someone to help him.  When he noticed his sister's horrified gaze however, Big Macintosh face changed to one of determination.  He needed to be strong for her now, especially if they had any intentions of getting to the medic alive.  A hysterical sister behind the wheel was likely to get the three of them killed.  Swallowing hard, he truthfully re-answered his sister's question.

"Nnnope".