Rails of Destruction

Chapters

Ashes of Liberty
Red Tuesday
Black Friday (Rewrite Start)
Light at the end of the tunnel
A billow of smoke in the forest
An engine upon the tracks that lay silent
Humanoids in the Orchards

Ashes of Liberty

"Captain's report, Monday, February fourth, 2298. twelve years... That's how long we've been at war with Tri-Communist's. two hundred years after the 1st Nuclear War of 2098, those who survived lived on to rebuild the Unified States of America, having been broken down into hundreds of rivaling factions fighting over the scraps for the last two centuries. But we were not alone. On the other side of the world is the Tri-Communist alliance or the TCA as we refer it to. The Commies have risen from the ashes of Russia, China and North Korea and began a campaign for global dominance under a new communist banner.

Within three months of the uprising, the TCA launched an all out invasion on our redeveloping nation. The western states have been under hostile occupation for twelve years. But now, we were on the offence, pushing the TCA forces back to the west coast. Under the flag of the Unified States of America the people that call the wasteland their home have come together and established a stronger bond of brotherhood and vigilance against this common threat.

However, our push to rid the TCA from our soil came to a complete standstill. The TCA have reinforced and fortified the occupied city of Las Vegas, bringing the war to a complete stalemate. We are expecting reinforcements from Europe and our Navy along with our Pan-Pacific allies have the TCA Californian blockade suppressed.
We received word from our Commanders that we will be punching through the hostile positions this Friday, my War-train will be leading the charge. Tomorrow the first European assault battalions will arrive and my train will be receiving new tech, weapons and railcar upgrades today."

"And I guess that's all I have to give for this report. Until then, Homer out."

As Ryan logged off his battlelog, he takes a brief moment to take In the surroundings of his private quarters. The former luxury suite takes up two thirds of the observation car which is positioned at the very rear of the train. It had a basic layout, similar to a small apartment with some modifications to suit military demands. Ryan stood up from his chair, slipped on his captain's cap, flak coat, shades and places his .44 magnum revolver into it's holster. He gazes onto a mirror opposite of him and takes a moment to observe himself in the mirror. Fifteen years ago he was six years old when the TCA occupied Honolulu, Hawaii.

His mother gave her life to save Ryan as he along with several survivors fleed the archipelago with what was left of the Pacific fleet. Now, at the age of eighteen, Ryan is now the commanding officer of Americas iconic War-train, the "4-8-8-4" Railway Battleship. "4-8-8-4" is the flagship of the United States Railway Warfare Corps or known by the TCA as E.D (Engine of Destruction).

As he steps out of the observation car, Captain Ryan makes his way to the locomotive. He passes two sleeper cars with a dining car in between for the crew while a Fire Control car divides the rear passenger cars from the war trains weapons platforms. The first two cars after Fire Control are modified box cars that each holds four armoured boxes that each contains six tomahawk cruise missiles, the next car is a flat car outfitted with two sam launchers and two phalanx CWIS anti-aircraft gun emplacements. The next nine cars hold the big guns of the Railway Battleship, nine 300mm Railway Artillery Guns fixed onto modified turrets built into the heavily armoured cars with close range point defense gun platforms attached in between the artillery cars respectively. Upon passing the main batteries, Ryan passes another anti-aircraft and tomahawk platforms positioned in the opposite fashion as to the other platforms mentioned earlier at the rear. Another Fire Control car and a sleeper car is attached in front of the platforms while two baggage cars modified as magazine compartments are attached between the sleeper and the locomotive. After a straight three minute walk from the rear car, Ryan comes face-to-face with the legendary former Union Pacific "4-8-8-4" big boy locomotive 4014.

The locomotive measures an eye popping 85 feet (25m) in length, 11ft (3.4m) wide and measures 16ft (4.94m) tall. The locomotive's class was the only locomotives to have the 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement which the 4014 was named after, with two sets of eight driving wheels, a four-wheel leading truck for stability entering curves and a four-wheel trailing truck to support the large firebox. It's coal tender can hold up to 25 tonnes of coal and 25,000 galons of water.

The locomotive's body and hull plates were replaced with 150mm Depleted Uranium-Titanium armor plating. The plow that sat between the front body and leading truck was replaced with a 200mm composite armoured ram designed to counter the TCA's Mobile Derailers head on. mounted on top of the locomotive are four MK.18 dual purpose railguns placed in two two-gun turrets with a SAM Launcher in between. A 30mm C-RAM anti-aircraft gun placed on the front platform and six horizontal fixed railguns are placed on the sides in two three-gun turrets. The tender is outfitted with the same armor plating as the engine but the 25,000 galon tank was removed to make room for a custom built armoured box vertical missile launcher that will hold four tomahawk launchers while a 250,000 galon tank car will replace the 25,000 galon tank. Prior to coal shortages, military scientists have spent months developing a prototype atomic boiler that'll replace the "4-8-8-4"s aging boiler.

Ryan was always a rail enthusiast, steam locomotives were his favourites, and having the largest steam engine known to man outfitted the latest weapons and armor pull his train made his life complete. satisfied with his morning inspection, he approaches the locomotive and climbs the cab ladder into the cab.

"Mornin, Captain." an elder voice says as he saluted his superior.

"G'day, Cap!" An elder Australian followed suit.

"Gentlemen." Ryan returned a salute to the two engineers.

sitting in their assigned positions with the fire box being used as a temporary fireplace is 1st Engineer, Fred Hollows and 2nd Engineer, Steven Maxwell.

Fred was a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps before being transfered to the Railway Warfare Corps (RWC) prior to once operating historical trains in his past career and was well known for breaking the seige of Chicago.

Steve was a veteran who originated from an ANZAC detachment that was ambushed during the battle of Dallas, Texas. Steve was the only survivor. Two weeks after Chicago he was picked up by the "4-8-8-4" when it was en-route to Oklahoma City, he later requested a transfer to the crew of "4-8-8-4".

"A little cold for it to be in Nevada, lads?" Steve asked.

"yeah, the heat is enough to kill you in hours, but at night... the Nevada desert is the last place you wanna freeze to death in." Fred replied.

"Fair enough..." Steven shuddered at the thought.

Ryan pulled a stool from a storage crate bolted onto the tender and places it in front of the firebox.

"It"s gonna be a long week this one." Ryan says, his accent hinted with his mixed Greek/Ukrainian background. as he sits on the stool. "Our new gear arrives today, the Euros tomorrow, and we take back Vegas this friday."

"Bout' bloody time!" Steve nearly shouted. "Where the hell were they four years ago?"

"keeping the Russians from getting past Berlin." Fred joked.

"They had their own war to deal with. From what I've heard, the E.U had collapsed into civil war ten years prior to the Russians smashed through the Berlin Wall." Ryan added.

Throughout the next hour, Captain Ryan, Fred and Steve discused about the war in Europe and what they heard from the rumors circulating from the arriving European forces. Humanity was only beginning to rebuild the global telecommunications network since most of the old system was lost when the bombs fell in 2098. We then discussed about the upgrades the train will recieve and the odds of pushing the TCA out of Nevada by the end of the month before returning to our daily activities.

However, in a peaceful land called Equestria, Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasai from every corner of the kingdom are preparing to celebrate the first year since the Coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle. In a small quiet town called Ponyville, the streets are filled with banners, balloons, streamers and whole extra variety of decorations. All of which was done by one particular pink pony.

"Mornin, Pinkie." A familiar apple bucking pony greets.

"Hi, Applejack! Like how I decorated the whole town?" Pinkie replied.

"Wha-" was all a now dumbstruck Applejack could say before taking in the suroundings of the now highly decorated Ponyville. "Well shoot Pinks, ah've only just came down from the farm and you had just decorated this here town all by your self!"

"yep." was all that Pinkie said.

Applejack only stood in disbelief briefly before recomposing herself. "I don't recall you being able to decorate this town as quick as you just did."

"I can say the same thing darling!" A stunned seamstress says as she approached the group.

"Hi, Rarity!" Pinkie greets.

"Howdy, Rares." Applejack tipped her hat at the seamstress. "What's gotten you up this early in the morning?"

"Oh, about that. Spike sent me a letter yesterday saying to get everypony together for a town meeting, so i'm just passing through to town hall to pass it on to Mayor Mare." Rarity explained.

"Wait, why would Spike send you a letter if it was for the Mayor?"

"Hmm... You do have a point Applejack, he probably sent it to me by accident. Not that anypony can blame him for having a crush on me." Rarity shifted her mane to hide her slight blush.

"No arguement there, welp, I've gotta run now." Applejack tipped her hat once more before moving on.

"That time of the week again?" Rarity reminded Applejack.

"Eeyup" Applejack replied, almost replicating her brother's voice which caused the girls to burst into a fit of giggles breifly.

As the girls went their seperate ways, Pinkie pulls out her party cannon from nowhere and takes her aim at the Golden Oaks Library, the former home of Twilight Sparke which she saved for last. After taking her aim, she then pulls a cannon sized suppressor from behind her back and pluges it onto the cannon. And with a single tug of the cord, The cannon let off a surppressed *POOF* as the giant treehouse/library was consumed in a fine mist of confetti and streamers, before dying down to reveal a stunningly well decorated treehouse/library with streamers that had every colour of Twilight everywhere, while a few lavender banners that had Twilight's Cutie Mark on it, hang below off some of the tree branches while other banners had the Elements of Harmony on them.

Satisfied with the layout, Pinkie takes her party cannon and trots off back to Sugarcube Corner as everypony had awoken from their sleep, fresh and ready for a new day.

Red Tuesday

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE
RED TUESDAY
FEBRUARY 5TH, 2298

Today marks the twentieth year since the dawn of the Iron wars. Today was the day for the "4-8-8-4" to undergo it's annual modernisation, this year was a special occasion. A U.S.R.W.C transport train had just recently arrived with "4-8-8-4"s upgrades along with new equipment, railcars and weaponry. Captain Homer was impressed with some of the key features of some of the new goodies that will be equipted onto his 'Engine of Destruction'. Provided with a clipboard with a copy of the supply manifest of everything that will be loaded onto the Railway Battleship:

Rail cars:
1.One 250,000 gallon tank car a long with an advanced pumping system to transfer the water to the locomotive's Atomic Boiler.
2.One additional magazine car to hold additional shells and missiles.
3.One restored M65 Atomic gun mounted onto a Platform with 20 280mm 15kt W9 shells.
4.Nine Particle Generator cars to power the 300mm Gauss Rifles.
5.One helipad car.
6.One hospital car.
7.One mess car

Weapons/assets:
1.Nine 300mm Gauss cannons to replace the current 300mm standard guns.
2.one 2X2 Custom built Armored Box launcher for the Tender.
3.One restored MH-60 Blackhawk Gunship.
4.One additional SAM Launcher for the Locomotive.
5.One new Counter-Derailer Ram to replace existing Ram.

Equipment: (!TOP SECRET!)
1.Nano-regenerative system for locomotive.
2.Improved Radar and Tracking Systems for all AA platforms.
3.Improved Guidance System for all Missile platforms.
4.Enhanced gun directors for all Artillery based platforms.
5.Advanced communication devices for all transmitters and Fire Control.
6.Experimental Deflector shielding technology for the locomotive.
7. Maglev-lined wheels for the entire train.

Locomotive:
Atomic Boiler replacement for the locomotive that'll power two steam turbines to drive the piston driving rods.

This list has got goosebumps running all over Ryan's mind, and some very concerning key points have got his attention. The worst case is having nuclear capacity at his fingertips, but with that extra firepower, it could have significant psychological affect on the TCA, if it comes to having to use that particular gun. the thought was pushed to the back of his when the he eyes the lead engineer of the base approached him.

"Captain, Lead Engineer, Corporal Samantha Riley of the Nellis Engineers Division. My team will be handling the application of your train's upgrades and maintenance procedures." The Corporal greeted with a salute.

"At ease Corporal." Ryan returned the gesture.

Samantha like all other military personnel was older than him. Aged in her early twenty's, average build and was surprised to see him.

"You seem surprised to see me for the first time Corporal?" Ryan asked.

"U-Uh, yeah, sorry sir. It's just, that...Words been running around base recently upon your arrival. I thought most of it were made-up bullshit, but i'm just.. Speechless. I'd never thought someone like you would be in command of the flagship, sir." Samantha replied in disbelief.

"I appreciate your honesty, Corporal. But I didn't had much of a choice, I had nowhere else to go and all my family were killed on Honolulu twelve years ago."

"I'm sorry for your losses sir." Samantha gave her condolences.

"Thank you for your kind words, Corporal. Shall we get back to topic?"

"Of course sir." Samantha says, bringing up the schedule for today's operations for her Division. "As soon as we have the upgrades unloaded, your train is to be relocated to the southern rail yards were the upgrades are being unloaded. By 9:30am, your train will be dismantled and divided up into separate slots, as shown here."

Slot 1: Reserved for Utility cars, e.g. Magazine, Fire Control, Sleepers, Infirmary, etc.
Slot 2: Reserved for AA platforms
Slot 3: Reserved for Artillery platforms
Slot 4: Reserved for Missile platforms

Warehouse 1: Reserved for "4-8-8-4" Locomotive, Tender and Water Tank car.

"The "4-8-8-4"s upgrades will be installed within a secured warehouse as seen here-" she points out the bottom point in the list. "-by Pentagon Research and Bio-Mechanics Divisions."

"Understood, I was already informed about the Pentagon Divisions by the Secretary of Defense himself." Ryan confirmed.

"Okay, when your ready, Captain, bring the "4-8-8-4" to the southern rail yards." Samantha bid the young officer a farewell.

"Thank you Corporal, your Dismissed." Ryan saluted the combat engineer.

With the schedule sorted and the upgrades ready, Captain Ryan makes his way back to the "4-8-8-4" to inform the crew of this weeks notices. Upon his arrival, all of "4-8-8-4"s crew was already assembled in front of the Railway Battleship with the Nevada sunrise beaming it's rays around the locomotive in an Aura orange glow. What a sight to remember.

"Captain on deck!" 1st Engineer Hollows barked, bringing complete silence upon the crew and giving their Captain a salute.

"At ease, crew." Ryan addressed. "As you all know, today is the first day of our long awaited shore leave!"

Upon saying this, the crew broke into wild cheers. The last time the crew of the "4-8-8-4" had their last shore leave was last Red Tuesday in the previous year, which meant the crew hasn't had a well earned break in twelve months. Thankfully, the crew will be having a two week leave until Operation: Black Friday. The designated day we take back Vegas three weeks from now.

"I know, I know what you're all thinking." Ryan says as the crew calmed down. "The last time we had been on shore leave was on this day, twelve months ago. Am I right."

The majority of the crew nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well, several hours ago, I've received a call from no other than President Sampson himself. But HEAR ME out first!" Ryan says before the crew could start jeering about him. "President Sampson offered a promise, NOT to me specifically, but to all of us."

The crew remained silent.

"The president told me, 'Captain, if you and your crew are able to force the TCA out of Nevada by Sunday, you and your crew will be dearly rewarded as great heroes and be treated as such.'

Upon hearing this, the crew were embarrassed, outraged, disgusted, insulted.

"What a bloody joke."

"Who the fuck this guy thinks he is."

"What are we, Superstars or something."

"How the hell did this asshole become President."

"It's not like we're the only ones fighting the Commies!"

"Yeah, I know how you all feel, ladies and gentlemen." Ryan says in agreement. "I feel the same way about this as a long tail Tom cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Now you're all wondering how I reacted to this, but as usual he always hangs up on me before I get a chance to say something. So guess what, boys? He can take his offer and shove it for all I care, because right now! The only thing I give a fucking Hell's Janitor about, is pushing those fucking Commie bastards all the way back into the Pacific!"

The broke out into cheers and applause to their Captain, even some of the other crews and personnel nearby gave their support to him.

"Righto boys, the AFB Engineers want this train in the southern yards by 09:30 hours. And when you done with that, secure your stations... and enjoy your shore leave men. Because you sure as hell earned it, DISMISSED."

Without hesitation, the crew dispersed and rushed back aboard their Engine of Destruction, the crew was made up of no more than a hundred and twenty strong, 10 crew for each of the two Fire Control cars, an ANZUS detachment of ninety soldiers, fifteen for the dining car and five Medical Officers will be joining the crew once the new Hospital car is attached to the train.

And thanks to the advance automated systems on the weapons platforms, no additional gunnery crews are needed to operate the weapons. Everything is either Computer Automated or Radio Controlled, but if either were to be compromised, a fail safe protocol kicks in from an A.I program contained within the Pentagon takes immediate control of the guns until the protocol is lifted or the platforms are destroyed in combat.

"Hey, cap! What are you gonna do on your shore leave?" The train's Head Chef calls out to him with a thick Scottish accent.

"First off, have a fucking shave, and then get some much needed surgery on my arm." Ryan Shouted back in the direction of the cook.

"Fair enough, lad. Best of luck with your operation!"

after a good jog back to the observation car, Ryan makes a quick check behind him to make sure that the other crews from the rear cars are aboard before he climbs aboard the last car. Once aboard, he takes a quick glance around the train's War Room. it's a shame that it's hardly ever been used by field commanders ever since the train first entered service five years ago. The only time this room it was used was when General Evelyn Grant was coordinating the assault on the TCA occupied Iowa City, two years ago. Ryan had shake the thought out of his head, before the embarrassing memories took over regarding a near mishap where he was leaving his Quarters and ended up face-first into her chest. And to make things worse, she was the daughter of the Secretary of Defense, which explains why she was at a rather young age to be a three star General.

Ryan's train of thought was derailed when he was suddenly lost his footing and stumbled onto to the holo Sit-rep table as the observation car was yanked from it's stationary position as the "4-8-8-4" began it's voyage for the Southern rail yards. Ryan took a brief moment to recompose himself before steeping through the automated bulkhead door that separates his Quarters and the War Room.

Ryan takes off his flak coat and cap and tosses each onto his bed, Ryan takes another glance into the mirror he previously glanced at earlier, only to see something completely different. Hidden with his flak coat was his left arm which is riddled with cybernetic components. Ryan lost sixty percent of his skin and flesh on his left arm to third degree burns and his left hand blown off following a devastating boiler explosion that nearly tore the "4-8-8-4" apart when a TCA Spy sabotaged the pressure meters to overload the pressure and render the "4-8-8-4" permanently decommissioned. however, the damaged body was easily repairable, thanks to a high number of spare parts that were salvage from the other Big Boy locomotives.

The incident had put Ryan into coma for two months before recovering with mandatory Cybernetics surgery, his hand was replaced with Cybernetic replica with various tubing systems that connected his his blood and nervous systems to his hand in which is required to operate on.

The burnt skin and flesh on his arm was removed to his bone to be fitted with a motion system that would let Ryan to operate his crippled arm in the same way as it was before. Much like the train itself, Ryan is getting a brand new cybernetic arm during his leave as the exposed bones had decayed over the years due to the lack of calcium intake and a way for his body to maintain the bones.

When Ryan was done inspecting his mutilated arm, he makes his way to the bathroom but stopped halfway when a thought crossed his mind.

"Computer, play soundtrack, 'War Train Anthem one'. And have it transmitted over the intercom." Ryan says to the empty room.

"Affirmative." the on board computer system replied.

Ryan waited a moment for the track to start playing.

"It's gonna be long day."

Ten minutes passes after departure, the "4-8-8-4" now thunders down the Nellis Southern Line, traveling at speeds up to 40kph. The train isn't due to arrive at the southern yards for another half an hour, so the crews can do little but run a few system checks and procedures before bludging it for the rest of the trip. In the forward Fire Control car, the crew led by Gunnery Officer John Holland have already completed their checks and are just enjoying the trip.

"-So around the time my mother would put on her face mask, my sister thought she decided to give it a try. But little did she know, after mum had put hers on, me and my brother had switched it with Mayo sauce. So when she walked out of the bathroom, with her face covered in Mayo, mum says to her. 'Honey, why do you have Mayo sauce on your face?'. Her reaction was. 'What! What do you mean this Mayo sauce?'. And this has to be something I never thought mum would say. 'Because it looks like you're boyfreind gave you one hell of a good blow job for it'."

The car was suddenly filled with uncontrolable laughter as most of the crew tried to keep themselves from rolling onto the floor in tears, Holland could only shake his head in amusement.

'Nellis Control to "4-8-8-4", come in "4-8-8-4".'

"Alright boys, settle down! Commands on the line." Holland ordered to the crew, as he secures the line with the Air Force base. "This is Gunnery Officer John Holland of forward Fire Control of the "4-8-8-4". We read you loud and clear, Over!"

"Roger that Gunny. Just a heads up, parimeter radars are picking up multiple Unidentified Rotor Wings in your sector. proceed with caution, over?"

"Thanks for the heads up Control, "4-8-8-4" out."

"This is Nellis Actual, we have birds in the air and are investigating the sector. Be advised, all unknowns are considered hostile until properly identified. Over and out!"

"Sir, Radar's picking up seven TCA helo's heading North-East towards Hoover Dam. Three MI-24 Hind's escorted by four MI-28 Havock's, orders?"

"Sound general quarters, all hands to air defence stations!"

"Aye, sir. At their current speed and course, we should cross paths in thirty seconds"

Within seconds every console on the car was blaring red with alarms going off.

"Enemy helos have locked onto us. Multiple missiles are homing in on us!"

"Deploy countermeasures!"

With the press of a button, Chaff Pods built into the locomotive and the magazine cars began dispersing harmless balls of fire high into the air, luring their heat-seaking preys away from the train.

"All four Havock's are closing in on the Engine!"

"Bring locomotive defences online, drop those birds!" Captain Homer ordered over the intercom.

Without hesitation, the "4-8-8-4" C-RAM's automated system kicked in upon activation. It's built in Proximity Radar locates the closest Havock and the C-RAM tracks it's targets course as it's 30mm barrel spins up and dishes out a hail of bullets at the MI-28's before they could unload their unguided cargo at the engine. The closest one instantly erupts into a ball of fire after taking a few hits to the fuel tanks, the other three dispersed immediatly as the C-RAM unloads it's deadly streaks of projectiles at the opposing gunships. Another unfortunate Havock falls victim to the AA as a hail of 20mm rounds saw off it's tail rotor and spins out uncontrollably towards the ground.

The pilots of the uncontrollable gunship could do nothing but brace themselves for a rough landing as the choper slammed onto the ground hard before comming to a quick stop, the Ruskies could sigh in relief that they had survived. But this was to be short lived when the last thing they would ever see in their lives is the ram of the "4-8-8-4" slamming into their cockpit before everything went black.

The downed Gunship was vaporised instantaniously as the "4-8-8-4" rammed it head on, shattering it into billions of pieces as the unstoppable war train continued it's lone standoff with the remaining gunships. The remaining Havocks mannaged to slip out of the C-RAM's one hundred and eighty degree View of Fire and the Railguns that sit idly on top of the locomotive's cylinder body are still offline.

"They're out of the C-Ram's firing arc, Switch to the railguns!" Holland shouted new orders to his crew.

"Automated systems are still down and charging". The primary Operator replied.

"Then hit em' with the SAM."

"Switching to Manual control."

The SAM Operator was quick to do his magic to bring the SAM online. However, with the Automated Systems due to be updated today the targeting computer was deactivated and SAM will have to be operated manually. All it took was a flick of a switch to engage Manual Control, the Operator trains the Missile Launcher towards the pacing gunships via a joystick. Both Havocks have positioned themselves between the Cab and the Tender with their menacing chin turrets trained on the armoured cab.

'Oh, no you don't!' He mentally cursed as the Launcher locked onto it's target and squeezed the trigger, sending two SAM missiles towards the enemy gunship positioned on the left of "4-8-8-4", both of them impacting the Havock as soon as they left the launcher and sent it crashing down in a blazing inferno. The last remaining Havock pulls away from the 'Engine of Destruction' and High tails it out of range only to be intercepted by patrolling F-35s and shot down with no mercy.

"This is Raptor 1-3 to "4-8-8-4", are you guys ok?"

"A little late to the party, but we sustained no damage or casualties." Captain Homer responded.

"Understood Captain Homer, any idea where did those Transpot choppers headed off to?"

"They're still heading towards the dam."

"Roger that "4-8-8-4", we'll send word to Hoover base about their guests. Raptor 1-3 out!"

"How copy Raptor 1-3, good hunting, "4-8-8-4" out."

With the situation resolved, Ryan can now relax and go back to his daily routines without any more interruptions.

"Another three kills to add to the list". He says as he wipes the left over shaving cream from his lower face and went back to his computer to make an update to today's report.

Black Friday (Rewrite Start)

THREE WEEKS LATER
MOJAVE DESERT
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 29TH, 2298
Operation: 'BLACK FRIDAY'

By dawn the Air Force had conducted heavy air raids on the occupied city of Las Vegas. B-21 Raiders landed the initial strikes on enemy AA fortifications to pave the way for B-52 and B-60 Strategic Bombers to lay waste to the besieged city. Once the dust had settled, allied forces were on the full offense. The first armoured divisions charged the TCA frontline, and thanks to the arrival of European Federation troops the assault was the largest joint operations to take place on US soil. The assaulting forces comprises of one hundred and forty thousand ANZUS and twelve thousand E.F troops, tanks, gunships, the entire U.S Air Force and the Railway Warfare Corps to Top it off.

At the rear of the "4-8-8-4", Captain Homer observes the unfolding battle through the the Holo-Sit-Rep projector via satellite feed since no one was going to use the War Room, he might as well make use of it as his own situation room. So far allied forces have met light resistance around the city limits but were easily overwhelmed as they push for the Vegas Strip. The "4-8-8-4"s objectives was to provide long range artillery support with her new 300mm Gauss rifles and restocked tomahawk cruise missiles and if necessary, the M65 Nuclear Howitzer. Thanks to the upgrades and improvements, the "4-8-8-4" was now an even more menacing weapon.

On the Wednesday and Thursday following the start of the refit period, Ryan underwent his operation that had his left arm which was nothing but bone and machine pieces replaced with a sophisticated cybernetic arm. The upper limb of his new arm was built from titanium steel and had a flexible design with a 20mm cylinder built into his upper limb, while his lower fore-arm was hollowed out to act as a hostler for a built-in M134D Minigun which swings out for within his forearm like a battering ram and can be controlled with his neural implants. His cybernetic hand was still the same one from his old arm but was remodeled with a solar reactor built into the palm of the hand, so Ryan didn't have to worry much about having various tubing systems to supply the blood and nerves to his hand.

Ryan was still yet to get used to his improved hand, he pulls his .500 Magnum from his left hostler to see how comfortable holding a gun will be. The grip, surprisingly, sits perfectly in his palm while it's Satin Nickle skin stood out from his titanium skinned hand with an Aura Aqua glow around the grip emitting from the small turbine like power cell in his palm. Satisfied, Ryan loops his revolver and slips it back into it's hostler and wraps his flak coat around his body covering both of his revolvers.

As Ryan gazes back at the virtual battlefield before him, a call comes in from the advancing front.

"Warhammer Actual to "4-8-8-4", were taking some A.T fire from the... Caesars Palace Casino. Think you can send a few rounds into that place?" Over A voice of an advancing American tank division Commander hails in over the radio.

"Copy that, Warhammer. Co-ordinates received, firing for effect". Ryan replied over the hand held radio.

"Main Batteries, ready!" Both Fire Control Officers announced at once.

"Weapons free, fire when ready." Ryan replied as he disengages the safety locks that prevent the artillery guns from having an accidental misfire.

In an instant, the hum of the nine particle acceleration generators increase rapidly before hearing the magnetic acceleration discharge of all nine Gauss rifles as their lethal projectiles accelerate at three times the speed of light towards their target. Of the next five seconds that felt like thirty seconds, a menacing series of booms thundered across the Mojave as the lower half of Caesars Palace is obliterated by the magnetic projectiles, causing the upper half to give way and collapse in on itself, taking every TCA soldier with it before they even knew what hit them.

"A perfect artillery hit, Warhammer. Keep those co-ordinates comin!" Ryan contacted the battalion commander once more.

"Will do, thanks for the 4th of July display there, Warhammer out!" The tank commander replied with satisfaction of the destruction.

"Captain, General Evelyn here, my boys of the 7th Regulars are getting their asses kicked from some fortified TCA bastards within the Luxor Hotel, think you can send some MAC rounds through there?"

"That's a negative, General. The guns need another minute to cool down before we can safely fire them again. But I can drop a few tomahawks down there if you want?"

"That would have to do. I need three separate strikes at these co-ordinates I'm uploading to your Sit-rep display, that is all Captain. Degrant, out!" The young General sighed as the coordinates came through.

"Okay." Ryan spoke to himself. "coordinates locked, Sending to fire control." With a few swipes and taps on the holo-display, Ryan double checks the targets and finalises it for the VLS Operators to handle. With a sweeping motion of his biotic hand, the virtual battlefield pans along the Vegas Strip. He repeats the motion until the unmistakable pyramid shape of the Luxor hotel came into view. Around the base were three cross hairs, each indicating were to launch the tomahawks at.

"Holland, you there?" Captain Homer says through the intercom.

"Holland here, read you loud and clear, Captain.''

"General Degrant is requesting three tomahawk strikes at the Luxor Hotel, i'm sending you the co-ordinates now."

"Co-ordinates received Cap! Tomahawks are primed and ready to launch on your mark."

"Fire!"

Just before the missiles were launched Captain Ryan was suddenly blinded in a white flash that forced him to drop behind the holo-table as his skin instantly felt like it was being cooked at ten thousand degrees. As soon as the flash appeared, it had disappeared within an instant indicating for Ryan that it was safe to come up. As Ryan stared out of the right side blast proof window of the Observation car his body froze with horror as a towering mushroom cloud towered over what was Las Vegas.

"...Oh shit!" was all that left Ryan's speechless mouth.

"Code red! Code red! The TCA have nuked Vegas! I repeat, Vegas has been nuked!" The voice of General Evelyn announces over the radio, fear creeping into her voice.

"VEGAS WAS A FUCKING TRAP! AAAARRRGGG-"

Another blinding light obscured Ryan's vision as he was forced to take cover again, while at the same time the shockwave from the Vegas nuke reaches the "4-8-8-4" shaking the train violently. When the flash died down, Ryan peeks up again and faces the Holo Sit-Rep table, the screen flashing red as it locates the second nuclear detonation... Above Nellis AFB.

"Nellis AFB just went dark, General..." An unknown voice says over the radio

Before Ryan knew it, the comms channel was flooding with distress calls from all over Nevada.

"Mayday, Mayday, Kilo 267 to all units! We got hit by the shockwave, were going down!"

"TCA forces have launched a counter-attack on the dam, we need backup!"

"The enemy has launched another tactical nuke! All units, take cover!"

"FOB Nixon to any Allied forces, we've been infiltrated! Enemy commandos are trying to breach our command centre."

"Where's second platoon? We lost the left flank!"

'Whisky 343 to "4-8-8-4", are you receiving? Our bird got knocked out of the sky from the Vegas detonation. If you are receiving, we need Medical Assistance! Many casualties over!'

"Rodger Whisky 343, we read you loud and clear! We're about twelve minutes way from your position, we're on our way." Ryan replied, now out of his daze.

"Fire Control, secure all platforms. Medical teams, standby to take on casualties. Locomotive, get those wheels spinning! Shit's officially hit the fan people. As soon as we arrive at 343's crash site, I'm authorising the use of the Atomic Cannon in retaliation to the TCA's nuclear attacks!" Ryan relayed his orders through to the other cars.

"Yes, sir!" Several replies came through the intercom at the same time.

As the observation car was jolted forward, several series of mechanical sounds can be heard indicating the main guns returning to their idle position as the counter weights that stabilize the platforms are released and retracted into the lower portion of the batteries platforms. within seconds of departure, the "4-8-8-4" was now accelerating at 15kph and climbing fast. The engine has a maximum speed of 120kph and numerous improvements have altered the locomotive's acceleration and braking abilities by 5x from what it was before the recent retrofit.

"All stations secured, and we're en-route to Whisky 343's position. ETA; eleven min-*STATIC*

"Hollows? Hollows, come in!"

The room was filled in Erie static before a series of jolts rock the rear train as it is engulfed in an Aura Lavender glow.

"Oh boy, this doesn't look good..." was all that Ryan could say before blocking his eyes with his hands as the room was engulfed in a bright light as a loud humming noise overwhelmed his eardrums. On the outside, the "4-8-8-4" was completely consumed in the Aura Lavender glow before the War train bursted into a supernova light. As the eye piercing glow died down, the "4-8-8-4" Was gone...

'"4-8-8-4", we lost your signal. Were did you go? "4-8-8-4", please respond over!"

Whisky 343 will never hear from the "4-8-8-4" again as the 'Engine of Destruction' is already on it's way to a alternate world. A world where atomic fire hasn't scarred it's lands, but the threat of invasion will soon disturb the millennia of peace that it has enjoyed.

Canterlot Castle Gardens
1:34am.
Date unknown.

Excitement continues to build all over Equestria as the anniversary of Twilight's coronation draws near. Within the Equestrian capital, high in the Everfree mountains preparations are well and truly complete. It is only a matter of waiting and finalising the traditional celebrations and parade rehearsals being perfected. Princess Luna was up in her quarters where she observed the night sky through her telescope, re-familiarising herself with the constellations that had been discovered during her banishment. It has been a good couple of years since Luna's return but the world has gone through so many changes that it will still take the Luna Princess a few more years to fully understand the society she has come back to.

The thought paused her from her studies and left her questioning about her doubts of being included and accepted by equestrians after all that she has done to them. Her trail of thought was then interrupted when something caught her attention. A large being of non-Equestrian origin flew past Luna's balcony as it plummeted uncontrollably into the gardens. From Luna's brief glance of the being it looked like a Gryphon, She didn't have time to compensate what had happened but her instincts told her to tend to the aid as she teleports herself to the vicinity of where the Gryphon had crashed.

As quick as Luna had appeared so did some of her night guards that protect the castle during the after dark hours. One of which was already conducting first aid on the downed Gryphon. At a proper glance, this Gryphon was a female with an athletic build which was a common body type for the majority of the female population. Her attire matches to that of a known Gryphon militia that is loyal to the Gryphon monarchy. Luna doesn't know much about Gryphon history during her exile but she well knows for a fact that the neighbouring kingdom to the North is currently embroiled in a terrible civil war between the monarchy, the Autocratic Sturm-Gryphons and the savage Grand Khans who had gained overwhelming support over the last three years.

Luna's analysis of the gryphon was interrupted when the freedom fighter regained consciousness which prompted the princess of the night to approach the injured Gryphon.

"Hello? Are you okay?" Luna greeted the Gryphon.

The Gryphon only responded with uncontrollable coughing as blood begins to drip from her beak, revealing the grim extent of her injuries.

The night guard turns to Luna with urgency in his voice. "Your highness, this Gryphon has sustained severe internal injuries from her fall, we need to get her to the medical wing or she's going to die."

Luna nods in approval. "Then we have no time to waste, alert the nurses at once! Time is against this young lady, let us move with haste but with care to avoid further harm."

Luna and the guards gather around the injured Gryphon as she summons another teleportation spell to transport the group to the onsite medical wing where the Gryphon would be treated for her wounds but her story would have to wait until she has recovered from her internal injuries.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Everfree Forest, Equestria
10:26am

The Everfree Forest, a forest that holds many lost secrets, mysteries and threats to those outside. The forest itself is inhabitated by fearsome creatures and mysterious plant life that seems almost alien to everyone except for the Princesses. One such forgotten piece of Equestrian history is the Everfree Rail-line, an old project that was meant to connect Ponyville to Trottingham to cut travel time by fifteen hours and to spare everyday commuters from constantly having to switch trains at Canterlot to travel to the major town in the southern half of Equestria. The project would be abandoned many months later due to loss of life from the dangers of the forest. What would've been the greatest technological undertaking in Equestrian history is now forgotten to the world, slowly being reclaimed by the forest.

Not far from where the old tracks lay a pack of Timberwolves who were sheltered in a nearby cave, a female nursing her newly born pups while the Alpha scouted out the now empty line searching for prey. The alpha male finds a lone rabbit a ways down the track as it readies himself to chase down his prey when the surrounding area was engulfed in a blinding flash of light for a few seconds. The Alpha was temporary blinded for a brief moment before his sight was restored as his hearing was suddenly drowned in a thunderous like rumble. Looking behind him the last thing he will ever see as he looks is the plow of the "4-8-8-4" as the war-train slams into him, drowning the Timberwolf into eternal darkness instantaneously.

The "4-8-8-4" accelerates uncontrollably at it's new maximum speed of 120 Mph down the old line, vaporizing any natural debris that have grown over the tracks. The newly fitted Maglev Wheels fitted to the entire train kept the "4-8-8-4" glued to the tracks as the powerful magnets work hard to prevent the train from derailing. In the Observation car at the rear of the train, Captain Ryan Homer was still unconscious from the anomaly.

A new feminine voice with a received pronunciation English accent spoke to her superior from thin air. "Captain? Captain, can you hear me!"

No response came the young officer, much to the disappointment of the female voice.

"Dammit! Okay, Initiating automation protocols and... I have control of the train, all systems still green across the board which is always good."

With the train now under control, the "4-8-8-4"s A.I runs a full diagnostics check on the train, all key equipment and the crew. As expected the entire crew was unconscious based on the return feedback of everyone's neural diagnostic chips implanted on the cerebral cortex that links the brain to the spinal cord. Another full systems check shows the locomotive, the whole consist, all equipment and weapons are still intact and fully functional.

"Right, now to get this train stopped." The A.I thought loudly as she relays automated commands to the locomotive's autopilot computer. "Reducing atomic boiler pressure, idling turbines and applying brake pressure to 30%."

As soon as the commands were sent the train immediately begins to low down as the brakes were applied on the locomotive and several other railcars. The steam pressure built up in the boiler was vented out through the "4-8-8-4"s funnel as the noise of the turbines was reduced from the high pitched whine to a low rumble by the time the train came to a complete stop.

As the train's newest secret weapon the A.I is a highly sophisticated, self aware computer possessing a level of intelligence that supersedes the most powerful combat computers in the U.S Robotics Division. Being the only train outfitted with this artificial intelligence she is the latest hardware edition to the "4-8-8-4", replacing the outdated autopilot control systems and improving the hardware system output by 5x what it was and was given an additional one hundred thousand terabytes of data that makes up A.I's memory core which is fitted out within the war room in the observation car. Since the Dallas incident involving Chinese Hackers attempted to take control of the "4-8-8-4"s weapons platforms, the addition of a renewed firewall software makes it almost impossible to hack into the "4-8-8-4"s mainframe. Luckily, Holland was able to locate the hackers and plant a tomahawk on their heads before they were successful.

"Okay, Motion Trackers active, close range defences coming online." The A.I spoke to herself again as her avatar materializes on one of the many hologram projectors positioned throughout the train.

The small figure stood twelve inches tall and has the appearance of a long tall slender female with long black hair and her attire resembles a lab coat. The crew named her Serina, after the first female crewmember to embark on the war train who died saving her fellow crewmates during the Battle of Baltimore five years ago.

"Now then, time to play the waiting game..." Seina's hologram turns to her unconscious captain who was still unconscious up to this point.

Canterlot Castle Medical Wing
Canterlot, Equestria
1:34pm

in the last couple of hours since the gryphon crash landed in the gardens last night she had undergone an emergency Mage-Operation which is an Equestrian alternative to open cut surgery to stop the internal bleeding inflicted by her internal injuries. The operation was a success thanks to the handling of the procedure by some of Equestria's best Mage-Surgeons the female gryphon is now in a more stable condition but she has a long ways to recover before she's back on paws/claws. Having just transferred to the recovery ward a few hours ago the gryphon begins to regain consciousness where the first thing her flickering eyes would lay upon is an eagerly waiting Princess Luna sitting beside her bed.

"Welcome back to reality." Luna greeted the Gryphon. "I am absolutely astounded you have survived that crash last night, many of us didn't think you were going to live."

The gryphon who was still waking up gave a relieving smile to Luna as seeing the princess of the night was a Faust-send.

"Princess Luna? I'm surprised to see you." The Gryphon's voice crackled for the first time since she last spoke for days since the start of her journey.

"As is the rest of us Miss... What's your name by the way?" " Luna asked.

"Nightingale, Nightingale of the Monarch Duke of North Alophden." The Gryphon named Nightingale replied, her voice revealing the famed north Gryphonian accent.

"A pleasure to meet you, Nightingale." Luna bowed her head in acknowledgment. "Welcome to Canterlot. What brings you here in such a terrible way?"

"Well..." Nightingale began with a depressed sigh. "It's a long story, but I'll spare you the details due to the urgency of the matter. I was sent here by the King himself."

"The king?" Luna repeated with worry. "Does this have something to do with the civil war?"

"Yes." Nightingale confirmed Luna's fears. "The Grand Khans have taken the capital, the Monarchy has collapsed and the Sturm-Gryphons have been wiped out."

Luna's jaw became slack and her eyes expressed sorrow and shock. Now it was Luna's turn to make sure she wasn't experiencing a bad dream. "T-The Khans have won? They now have control of the entire kingdom? What's going to happen next now that they are in absolute power!"

"Yes, the Khans have won..." Nightingale replied with defeat in her voice. "And what they plan to do next is why I'm here, Princess Luna. King Ravenclaw has sent me here to seek an emergency audience with Princess Celestia, to warn her about the Khan's next move."

"An emergency meeting with Tia!" Luna now spoke in a hushed voice as she leaned closer to Nightingale. "What is the Khan's next move? What at they going to do?"

"The Great Khan, the profound leader of the legion has ordered his entire army South to the Equestrian boarder."

Luna gasped, if there was a whole army moving to the boarders it could only mean one thing. "What your saying, Nightingale is that they... They are..."

"The Khan's are going to invade Equestria. Not only that, The Great Khan has also rallied the support of the Tundra and Arctic Draconian Clans to attack the Crystal Empire."

The revelation left Luna slack jawed. "B-But why!? Why does the Grand Khans want to seek war with us? What have we done to them!"

"It's not what you've done, Its what you'll do to stop him from taking over the continent." Nightingale clarified.

"He's planning to conqueror the entire continent?" Luna repeated.

"Yes, with the kingdom under his control he now has control of three large armies. The first is the Khan's loyalist forces, comprised entirely of the gryphonians whom have sworn loyalty to the Khan himself. Their numbers are well into the hundreds of thousands and they are trained to be swift, merciless and those who prove to be the most ruthless to their enemies are rewarded dearly." Nightingale explains.

"So the mighty Gryphon Monarchist Forces have been utterly degraded to become utter savages that want to relive the barbaric days of old? Is this what Gryphon society has become?" Luna shook her head in disbelief.

"I'm afraid so..." Nightingale agreed in shame before continuing. "The second army is comprised mostly of slaves for-"

"Slaves!? They have an army of slaves, that is absolutely unacceptable!" Luna unintentionally interrupted the Gryphon with a stomp of her hoof with such force that she almost broke her horseshoe.

"...As I was saying, all the slaves are entirely made up of non-Gryphons, former migrants that traveled to the kingdom from every corner of the world to seek a better life within the Monarchy. Minotaur's, Zebafrican's, Juvenile Draconians, and Equestrians." Nightingale finishes.

Luna rubs her face in her hooves as the anxiety begins to build. "Do you know how many Equestrians have been enslaved?"

"Several thousand at least, we don't know the exact numbers. But before the kingdom fell we were able to evacuate three times as many by the time I left the capital. Now that I am here with the time it took for me to get here the first refugees should be crossing into Equestria as we speak." Nightingale reassures the younger princess.

"Well, that is great news. Now that we know what we are going up against, I must inform my sister of this grim revelation of what has become of our northern neighbour and begin mobilizing what forces we have available. We must also warn the Crystal Empire of what's coming." Luna stood to leave the bed-stricken Gryphon.

"Of course, Princess. Thank you for your time, but before you go. There's one more thing you must know." Nightingale spoke somberly.

Luna turns to Nightingale to listen to what she has to say as she spoke. "The Khan himself is a being that expresses disgust and moral hatred to those who can use magic in our world. If you were an alchemist, entertainer, or a witch doctor, you were publicly executed for your knowledge and practices. If you were a Unicorn however, you will subjected to the worst treatment under Khan rule."

"What happened to all the Unicorns that were captured, Nightingale?" Luna asked, her voice hinted with growing anger.

"The Unicorns that refused to leave were subjected to genocidal acts, sent to work in death camps, mass killings with their remains harvested as food for the Northern Draconian Clans to ensure their loyalty to the Great Khan." Nightingale replied truthfully.

Luna was horrified, thousands of Equestrians enslaved and forced to work for this 'Great Khan' against their will. Every Unicorn in and out of Equestria were in danger of facing genocide by the Grand Khans, Luna couldn't imagine what would happen to her, Celestia and Cadence should they be captured. What would happen to Twilight and her friends if they were captured. If the Great Khan weaponized the Elements of Harmony, It will mean the end of the free world as she knew it. The Great Khan must be stopped, no matter the cost of war as it is now unavoidable.

"Nightingale, with the Monarchy gone and you and what remaining forces still loyal to the former king in exile. Where will you place your loyalty?"

Nightingale faces Princess Luna, her eyes squarely locked onto the Princess's. "My loyalty is still with the former king, the Monarchy, and to my Equestrian Comrades. Once I'm outta here, I'm taking the war straight the Khan myself."

"Then you can count on Equestria's full support, if it's war the Great Khan seeks with us, then I will be more than happy to meet him at the gates of Tartarus." Luna spoke with full determination as she leaves the hospital wing to find her sister.

Nightingale was by herself once more, she knew Equestria stood little chance against the Grand Khans. It's going to take more than a miracle to save them.

A billow of smoke in the forest

USRWC "4-8-8-4"
Somewhere in the Everfree Forest
Equestria

Celestia's sun has risen well and truly into the sky, signaling the start of another day in the peaceful lands of Equestria. Deep within the Everfree Forest the warm rays struggle to penetrate the thick foliage of the tree top and provide natural lighting to the many critters and predators that thrive here. Serina expresses little concern as the hundreds of external spot lights fitted on the war-train light up the surrounding area. In this particular situation the "4-8-8-4" is in a openly vulnerable position with little room to traverse the close range weapon systems freely which is why Serina had to resort to activating the railway battleship's array of single, twin and quad .50 calibre turrets to put down any hostile wildlife. For extra measures Serina also activated the onboard automation units, Specialised robots that are transported in their own configurated railcar with a robotics repair shop outfitted in a following railcar.

These robots however aren't just your typical piles of scrap thrown together from post-nuclear salvage dumps from coast to coast. The majority of the robots that operate in today's post-nuclear society date back to the pre-nuclear days when every home in North America had a robot that would do all the chores for it's caretakers while they went to work for the day. Long after the bombs had fallen while the remnants of Humanity waited out the nuclear winter in their shelters the robots left on the surface continued their tasks even when their previous owners have long died. Thanks to their nuclear fusion cores and the robotics factories that survived and still operate fully autonomously, the robotics industry played a pivotal role in rebuilding the United States once the first people emerged from the safety of their bunkers.

Much like all new forms of technology they undergo a trial of fire to see if they possess any form of military application before they are passed on for civilian use. The first military robots to enter service in the 21st Century were a game changer in Mechanized Warfare despite the first models being large and cumbersome each new model solved previous problems while revealing new ones. The crew of the "4-8-8-4" were fortunate to acquire some of the most deadliest units in the available arsenal that survived the nuclear exchange over 200 years ago.

The war-train's robotics compliment comprises of; Four Assaultrons that serve as Captain Ryan's bodyguards, eight Eyebots to serve as Surveillance/Reconnaissance units which can be refitted as artillery observers for the train's artillery platforms. Twenty Mister Gutsy's are divided into two squads of ten with various weapon loadouts, formidable as they are the general annoyance of their constant blabbering of pre-recorded anti-communist propaganda tends to get old very quickly much to Serina's amusement when she programs one of the squads to chase some fellow crewmates around the train with patriotic music blasting out of their speakers. Thankfully that particular instance is seen more of a boost of morale compared to psychological warfare when they get the jump on some unfortunate commies. To fulfill the utility and maintenance department the train has enough utility-based Protectrons to keep the train running indefinitely. Lastly in the heavy weapons category are six Sentry bots with enough spare parts to build four more.

With a good balance of armour and heavy armament integrated into it's chassis, the Sentry Bot is a powerhouse in the U.S Robotics division. For a robot like this it has surprisingly good mobility thanks to the mecanum wheels mounted on its three legs. Sentry Bots were designed with the purpose of taking the fight to the enemy when active in the heaviest battles during the war. Should one take critical damage or as the Commies try to do every time is disable one to capture it, the Sentry Bot will initiate its self-destruct sequence and charge at the enemy before their two fusion power cores detonate, enveloping them in a small nuclear explosion with a blast yield equivalent to a Davy Crocket Rocket Propelled Nuke.

And the last of the embarked robots there was Jeep. A civilian variant of the Mister Gutsy's battle robots known in the civilian department as Mister Handy. Having only been activated shortly after Serina stopped the train Jeep had already tended to the unconscious Captain and laid him on his bed until he had awoken which was six hours ago as Serina recalls as she thoroughly examines the reconnaissance data feed from the Eye Bot's scouting the surrounding forest area. The sound of a door opening pulls Serina from her thoughts as she noticed the now awoken Captain Ryan stumbling out of his night cabin. Joining his side was Ryan's fellow companion, Rex.

Rex is a German Shepard dog that went through many owners before Ryan adopted him after he was nearly killed in a Tri-Communist night bombing of Chicago. He's front left leg was lost and is replaced with a Cybernetic one. His body is held together by a flexible Cybernetic torso piece, along with a Weapons System upgrade. Two Rocket Pods, each holding two rockets and a modified 50. Cal Gauss Sniper Rifle. He lost sight in his left eye and had it replaced with a Cybernetic implant with a Laser Designation Mod. It took sometime for Rex to get used to the upgrades, but eventually made his first kill by accidentally capped a TCA Assassin when he was startled by the intruder.

For Ryan's own safety of not getting accidentally killed, he would remove the munitions at night and reload them in the morning as his weapons are permanently fixed to his body.

"Well, look who's finally awake!" Serina spoke with a false sense of joy. "Sleep well?"

"No thanks to your driving but yeah, it's nice to get some shut eye by being rendered unconscious." Ryan retorted back at the smug avatar.

"Ah! Good morning, sir!" Jeep announced as he floated out of the kitchen space of the observation car, his voice programed to resemble that of a cliché English butler. "Good to see you're well rested, I have made your Chai Latte as you always liked it, sir. Brewed to absolute perfection!"

"Thanks, Jeep." Ryan politely took the mug from one of Jeep's three appendages and turns back to Serina. "Situation report please."

"Well..." Serina paused uncertain on how to describe of their current situation. "To start it off, we're no longer in Nevada or even anywhere within the continental U.S territory anymore."

Ryan pauses to take a long sip of his drink as he processes what the hell Serina was going on about 'not being in Nevada anymore'. She didn't give enough information to wrap his mind around as the young Captain boots up the Holo-Sit-Rep projector, only to be met with the "no signal" popup.

"Could you be a little more specific, please?" Ryan replied as he turned to the A.I, arms crossed and his stance showed impatience and uncertainty to Serina as she reads her superior's body language like a literature critic.

"Um, what I'm trying to say Captain, is..." Serina stalled as she tries to explain what had brought them to this strange new world in some way that will appear believable to Ryan. Her avatar paced around the holographic projector, both her hands placed against her mouth as the A.I struggles to comprehend the situation that the "4-8-8-4" and her crew have found themselves in. "After our disastrous operation back in Vegas when we were on route to assist the downed VTOL that crashed nearby, the sudden spike in radioactivity from the nukes triggered an anomaly of sorts. One that draws it's energy from the Space-Time Continuum and if triggered by a nuclear reaction can generate, in rare cases mind you, an artificial wormhole."

"Okay." Ryan interrupted Serina. "First off, our fight for Vegas would not have been a disaster if we had known the Commies had nukes in play but we didn't and we paid the price for not establishing a solid intelligence network with the way that our dodgy bureaucracy has brought up the Unified States Armed Forces. Getting back on topic, I've spent a good portion of my foster life tracking anomalies in Texas. But never have I heard of an anomaly like this before?"

"Well, like all anomalies." Serina continued as she pulled data logs on known anomalies from the train's onboard digital archives and displaying them in holographic data pages as they appeared on the Holo-Sit-Rep Projector. "They come in different forms and rarities. The one that brought us to this alternate world is one of the rarest you can encounter in the American Wastelands."

Serina highlights one of data files and opens it to show the Railway Captain when she is trying to explain to him. "This file contains the first and only ever encounter of such an anomaly and thankfully the person that wrote up this file is also on our crew roster."

Ryan leaned over the large tabletop device to examine the illuminated file closer as he hastily read through the information provided. Using the motion touch function he scrolls down the file till he reached the bottom as he searched for a signature from the author. As clear as daylight, he finds what he seeks as the author's initials were written at the bottom of the report file. alongside is the well familiar insignia of the Brotherhood of Steel stamped next to the signature.

"Well, I'll be damned!" Ryan exclaimed surprisingly. "I didn't know Victoria was part the Brotherhood expedition sent to the Boston Commonwealth to investigate 'this anomaly'?"

"Correct." Serina's avatar nodded in agreement. "Knight Paladin Victoria is the Brotherhood's leading expert when it comes to anomalies. So it was only fitting that she was sent there in regards to one of the theories of the Timekeepers’ use of teleportation technology being tied to the existence of Space-Time anomalies."

"Interesting..." Ryan stroked his chin with interest. "And what did Victoria managed to find while she was in Boston?"

Serina's avatar gently shook her head in disagreement. "Unfortunately, not much in terms of the amount of data that was recovered following the destruction of the Timekeepers headquarters left little in the ways of valuable data and the tech that made teleportation a reality was lost. Until recently when we picked up lost information regarding the Hawking Gates being located somewhere within Occupied California.”

"bummer." Ryan sighed. "Well, we can't worry about anomalies for now, we need to secure a perimeter and wait for the others to wake up. Then we'll see where we will make our next move from here."

"I have the perimeter secured with our robotic assets and our Eyebots are scanning the surrounding area. So far they've found nothing of significant interest apart from the mostly unique wildlife that inhabit this forest." Serina chimed as she switches the projector to Tactical map mode as a 3D view of the train and the surrounding was rendered in by the onboard scanners and external cameras.

"Perfect, keep our assets close to the train. I don't them straying too far away or attracting the wrong attention back here. I'm gonna withdraw back into my quarters, let me know when someone's woken up."

"Aye, sir. I'll keep an eye on things here while you recover from those after effects the anomaly have inflicted on you. Your vitals diagnosis chip is also going crazy, you should get Jeep to look at it." Serina gestures to the cybernetic joint on Ryan's neck.

"Will do, yell if you need anything." Ryan turns to head back into his private quarters as Rex follows behind him.

Serina simply nodded in acknowledgement as she watches her superior and his canine companion disappear behind the cabin door as it slid shut before turning back to the 3D map. With her attention focused back on the train she suddenly takes notice of the locomotive, the Big Boy's atomic boiler had excess steam pressure building up and needed to be vented. With a simple thought process the "4-8-8-4" opens her blowout valves and the excess steam is released into the hundreds of tubes surrounding the reactor and bypasses the two steam turbines that power the locomotive's two sets of eight driving wheels, eventually making an escape up and out of the twin funnels as a large steam cloud rose high above the Everfree Forest.

Somewhere near Fluttershy's Cottage.

As the "4-8-8-4" remained hidden deep within the darkened cover of the forest beyond it's reach it was business as usual for Equestria. Zecora, a Zebafrican Alchemist and Ponyville's resident Witch Doctor was making her way back home when she notices a growing smoke cloud rising from the forest canopy. As the sole resident of the Everfree Forest it wasn't unusual for Zecora to notice odd phenomenon's and encounter fellow travelers taking risky routes through the mysterious forest. At first she dismissed it as a bonfire made by a Diamond Dog camp but the smoke cloud was too pale for it to be made by a fire. She could only ponder about it as she continued on her journey.

Zecora follows her usual scenic route that takes her along the rim of the forest, passing Fluttershy's Cottage and down the road towards Sweet Apple Acres where she makes her final trek to her home within the forest when she noticed a timid Pegasus was out doing some gardening. Zecora decided to quickly stop by and say hello to Fluttershy and ask her if she had noticed the smoke cloud as well.

As the zebra crossed over a little river bridge leading up to Pegasus' property Zecora couldn't help but admire the efforts and commitment that Fluttershy puts into looking after some of the Everfree's local wildlife as she is, from Zecora's point of view, one of the best veterinarians in Equestria and hold a unique trait that allows her to communicate with said wildlife. The front gate leading into Fluttershy's front yard creaked open loudly as Zecora trotted in, the butter yellow Equestrian looked up from her gardening with a surprised expression on her face as she saw the visitor.

"Oh! Good morning, Zecora. I was not expecting you to stop by today?" Fluttershy greeted the Zebafrican with a soft voice.

"A good morning to you too, Miss Fluttershy." Zecora replied with a head bow in greeting. "I was trekking from town seeking ingredients for my latest brew when I spied with my little eye, a billow of smoke blooming from the forest canopy."

Fluttershy's expression immediately changed from humble a near panic state. "Smoke? From the forest, l-like a fire!"

"No, Miss Fluttershy." Zecora calmed the Pegasus. "The smoke I speak of pales in comparison to the more troublesome entity you speak of."

"Oh. Um, do you know what's causing that smoke?" Fluttershy asked with renewed curiosity.

Zecora politely shook her head. "It is definitely not a steam geyser or a hot spring for that matter." Zecora pondered with thought. "My best guess is that the origin of steam is artificial and blooms from an engine of titanic proportions."

Fluttershy awed at the thought of a steam engine big enough to make that much smoke. "Engine? Like a steam train?"

"That is the only logical conclusion I can think of. I don't know what a steam engine is doing in the Everfree, I don't remember hearing any news about railway tracks being laid through the forest?" Zecora pondered again.

"So do I. Maybe when Twilight comes back from Canterlot for her anniversary I'll be sure to ask her or I should go see Spike later today and see if he has any books about railways going through the Everfree." Fluttershy suggested to her zebra friend.

"Good idea, let me know what discoveries you find today on this interesting turn of events, I'll be back in town later today for more ingredients to complete my latest potion so I will be sure to stop by again later this afternoon. If you are not preoccupied with any plans you have put forward today?" Zecora took her cue to leave Fluttershy's property.

"No, of course not! You are always welcome to stop by anytime, Zecora!" Fluttershy insisted.

"Well then, it looks like I'll be taking the scenic route more often. Good day to you, Miss Fluttershy." Zecora says as she trots away.

"Bye, Zecora." Fluttershy farewelled the Zebra as Zecora continued on her way home, leaving the Pegasus to ponder in thought and wonder as she glimpses at the large smoke cloud still blooming above the forest canopy. "Hmm, hidden railway tracks in the forest, big steam trains... This is something Applejack would know more about than me, I should ask if she wants to look into this too."

Fluttershy shifted her focus back on her morning routine as she got stuck back into her gardening but her curiosity about the smoke never left her mind.

An engine upon the tracks that lay silent

USRWC "4-8-8-4" Captain's Car.
Somewhere in the Everfree Forest
Equestria 1150 hours

In the last couple of hours since awakening Captain Ryan has been trying to keep himself occupied until his fellow officers wake up. To help pass the time he has taken the liberty of taking a thorough look around of his new home on rails. During the "4-8-8-4"s refit the sleeper/dinning cars were mostly salvaged and crudely modified heavyweight coaches taken from abandoned museums across the country. Those have since been replaced by the latest streamlined crew accommodation cars available in the USRWC which come with up to date amenities such as proper working showers, air conditioning, anti-radiation shielding and external decontamination sprinklers. The one thing that the crew have enjoyed the most so far is being able to sleep in their own beds whereas the rest of the railway fleet have to make use of cramped conditions and hot-bunking between shared hammocks.

Ryan's old observation car was replaced with what could be described as one of the most luxurious private cars available. The Skytop Lounge car originally built by Pullman-Standard in the late 40's was heavily modified with a lengthened articulated chassis spanning 90 feet in length, the rear of the Skytop Lounge is 90% glass with multiple rows of windows reaching up to form the ceiling. The original four parlor-lounges that made up the "solarium" contained 12 seats, with an additional 24 seats in the interior of the car had been stripped out and rebuilt into the main accommodation space for Ryan which includes a private kitchen, dinning/lounge room, and a fully kitted out bathroom. The front end of the car was separated from to allow a lengthened body section to be installed and was completely rebuilt with the new and improved war room. The interior featured the finest wood paneling, a key characteristic of the former Milwaukee Road designs.

Ryan's bedroom was located at the back of the Skytop lounge, his king sized bed placed underneath the rear shatter-proof windows that give the railcar it's signature shape. His wardrobe placed on the left was big enough to hold his summer, winter, formal and ceremonial uniforms. Ryan normally wears those on certain occasions and sticks to his personal look most of the time. His signature dark brown duster coat with reinforced shoulder plates, a long, thick leather sleeve runs down his right arm while the left sleeve was cut off to allow Ryan to better use his left cybernetic arm and the retractable gatling gun. Custom armored knee guards were added to his skinny light blue jeans and a light ceramic chest plate sat over his tarnished USRWC shirt.

Ryan keeps his medals, rank insignias and battle honours in a safe and proudly wears them when not in combat or on duty in the Ops Room. For now, Ryan could only lay on his bed and wait for Serina to inform him on the others, more importantly his fellow officers and commanders of the embarked strike teams and armoured cavalry. It wasn't even noon and already Ryan felt his eyelids becoming heavier as he slowly succumbed to a partial slumber.

Ryan suffers from stage one Autism, and one major symptom he has is regular autistic burnouts which is when someone like Ryan has a productive lifestyle like being a Railway Warfare Corps officer he burns through his body energy more rapidly compared to everyone else. This combined with having a smaller dietary intake from low dietary metabolism, Ryan sometimes struggled to completely fulfilling his duties unless he can stop briefly to recover some energy. Anxiety and minor depression only creates further stress for the young captain as he struggles but with greater determination to maintain his command and overall authority on his war train and his crew.

Had it not been for his loyal officers and crewmates who continues to support him even in the most stressful and tense times, an honourable medical discharge would be an act of mercy compared to more common scenarios which ended in violent mutinies and the commanding officer executed for failing to maintaining his duties and keeping his/her ship and crew intact.

Ryan forced himself awake again as he massaged his temples to resist the temptation of falling asleep again while he pulled himself up into an upright position to take a few deep breath to restore some composure to himself. He tried to think of something to distract himself as his fellow canine companion looked on from the end of his bed with curiosity.

He decided to have another thorough inspection of his cybernetic limb as he brought his left arm into his view. The tiny fusion reactor built into his metallic hand hummed silently as it supplied power to the artificial limb. Titanium alloy makes up the entirety of the main structure with three gyrostabilisers linking the individual sections from the hand to the forearm and the latter to the upper arm. The bottom forearm is hollowed out from the bottom which serves as the housing for the retractable gatling gun. Originally the rotary based weapon was gonna be belt feed like many common weapons in the post-nuclear world but many issues forced designers for an alternative means which come to modifying the gun to fire ionized plasma projectiles via an Ion accelerator built into the upper arm structure. Another unique feature is the sensitive neural sensors imbedded in the metal fingertips that restored Ryan's ability to feel what he touches with his left hand.

It was the littlest things like this that add a whole silver lining to life in the wasteland. Such talent and ingenuity was very scarce in the days prior to the Reunification of the States. The wasteland's brightest minds used to wonder back and forth from coast to coast doing whatever they could to restore forgotten technologies that was lost to the Atomic War. When the Tri-Communist Alliance made landfall on the west coast and in Alaska every scientist, inventor and specialist was tracked down and brought back to D.C to coordinate in reviving the Unified States Military Science Division and the reclamation of vital technologies that once formed the backbone of the old military. The former robotics industry that used to be the economic powerhouse kept the United States ahead of the competition prior to the Great Resource Depletion in the 2080's which would transpire a series of catastrophic events leading up to the Atomic War. The American robotics industry continues to play a pivotal role in maintaining the military infrastructure.

Ryan could only imagine what life was like back then, before the nukes were set loose. What little information that was preserved described the old world as a near perfect conservative society driven by one constitutional law; "To preserve the rights of all citizens through equal recognition without infringement nor compromise on the rights of the overall majority." Such a law was not implemented without strong opposition from those who wished to see a more socialist society made a reality, such thoughts these days in the wasteland would have you tried and executed for treason or conspiring against the U.S Government in pursuit of Communist influence.

Ryan's train of thought was halted when something triggered the neural sensors on his left hand, looking down he noticed a feminine hand holding a firm grip on his artificial limb. Looking up Ryan's eyes meet the eyes of the woman that has been by his side since their early days as foster siblings. After losing their families in the invasion of Hawaii and the years that follow Ryan and this older girl would develop a close unbreakable bond of friendship that brought them close together and beyond. To the outside world, this woman was known by many on both sides of the war as an Angel of Death, which is exactly what Wing Commander Michelle McKensey is; a genetically enhanced female super-soldier that specialises in aerial mechanized warfare, suicidal covert missions and heavy assaults. Michelle and hundreds of other female soldiers make up one of the Unified States' most powerful airborne special forces branches dubbed the Battle Angels Squadrons. The most iconic of all the known all-female squadrons is the 101st Emerald Angels Squadron who are currently embarked on the "4-8-8-4" led by Wing Commander McKensey.

Michelle is one of the more unique and the most elite of all the Battle Angels as she is the sole survivor of the 2nd Generation Angels program. Many of her fellow super soldiers died in the brutal trainings and the genetic surgeries that followed. Michelle was genetically modified with enhanced strength, lightning fast reaction times and superior situational awareness that allows her to predict what her target's next move will be before they do it. Her enhanced strength comes from her strengthened muscle tissue where most blunt weapons can't puncture her skin. One of the more horrific surgeries she underwent involved having her entire natural skeleton separated from her skin and flesh and completely replaced with a full titanium alloy exoskeleton which accounted to 85% of the fatalities during the inhumane training period. Only her skull was sparred from the gruesome procedure and her spinal cord was heavily reinforced with nano-alloy plating.

Her flight suit is also the newest model too, made specifically for the Gen. 2 Battle Angels but as Michelle was the only one to survive the program only one was made specifically for her. Made entirely of nanomaterials Michelle can control the billions of nanomachines to configure and modify her suit at will as long as she is in her under suit.

Michelle stands at a full 6 feet 2 inches compared to Ryan who stands at 5 feet 8 inches, has a slim but curvaceous build thanks to her genetic modifications and sports a 34DD bust. She is 26 years old and a natural brunette of New Zealand origin with her hair running down her back. Her emerald green eyes are cybernetic and programed with a heads up display and her eye colour would glow in the dark when night vision is active. Normally she wears her latex bodysuit when not in combat as to hide the surgical scars from her surgeries. Not that she minds exposing them but she's very sensitive about the surgical scar she had from her surgery where she had her ovaries taken out following a cancer scare. You only see her out of her bodysuit when alone or with Ryan.

Her Armoured power suit when the nanomaterials are active, is a mixture of multilayered armour pieces, exoskeleton hydraulics, small thrusters and weapon hardpoints. Under the right neural programing and even distribution of the nanomachines the suit could weigh as much as a small car which no normal human being could have the physical strength to wear without being completely crushed. But for Michelle the suit is a part of her enhanced body as she is, in the eyes of the Unified States Armed Forces the ultimate biological weapon. The weapons attached to her can vary from powerful plasma sniper rifles, anti-infantry missile launchers, gauss autocannons and seeker drones.

Even without her nanosuit active, she still has the strength and reflexes to decapitate a fully equipped soldier with a well executed roundhouse kick or deliver a small punch with enough brute force to shatter rib cages. Despite her terrifying form, deep down she has a heart of gold and a beautiful soul inside and out. Michelle is not afraid to show off her semi-tomboy persona around the train. Unlike most of the crew she still expresses true humanity alongside Captain Ryan as she gently pulls her superior into a gentle hug.

In the time that has passed since staying together the relationship between the two has evolved significantly from starting as foster siblings to becoming an unlikely couple engaged in a dangerous game of forbidden love as Michelle leans close and locks Ryan into a deep, passionate kiss that felt like it lasted a whole hour. Their tongues overlap each other in a game of dominance while Ryan raises his left cybernetic hand to massage Michelle's cheek and lightly ran his right hand up and down her back before making a cheeky love tap on her voluptuous ass, giving it a good squeeze.

"OI!?" Michelle squeaked with a defined Kiwi accent as within a heartbeat her lightning reflexes kicked in, grabbing Ryan's wrists and with a powerful thrust of her legs launched herself and her young daring lover back across the bed they happily share with Ryan landing square back to where he was napping before.

"Uh-oh!" Ryan yelped as he could only brace and let his body go limp as he came down, his pillows caught his head and the enhanced strength of Michelle almost knocked the wind out of him as she came down on top of him. There was no point for Ryan to try and playfully resist when going up against the super-strength of his Battle Angel girlfriend as Michelle pinned him down and locked his hands above his head with no difficulty.

Michelle arched down with a seductive smile and her lower torso swaying lustfully above as she got close to where she and Ryan were touching nose to nose. "Uh-oh indeed! If you want to play with my bum, you have to bring both your hands to the table, babe!"

"Sorry, honey, but when my Emerald Angel is moving her booty like that, you're asking for a paddlin'." Ryan teased back rubbing his nose against Michelle's in an Eskimo style kiss.

Michelle could only laugh at her boyfriend's cheeky remark as she released Ryan's hands and slowly brought her latex covered body down carefully as to not accidentally crush her small and frail partner. "You certainly love being a little dangerous with how you handle your angel my love." She dug her arms under Ryan's back to lock him in another gentle, heartwarming hug and Ryan did the same to her before sharing another long French kiss. This time Ryan does gently brings both his hands to Michelle's soft buns and massages them, the Battle Angel lets out a lustful sigh of pleasure as her partner rubs his hands softly around her rump with a gentle squeeze and gives her a few more soft, playful spanks.

"I came here as soon as I could after what had happened to us. Feeling better, babe?" Michelle whispered to her young lover now fully satisfied with her bum massage.

"Much better, honey. Thank you for checking up on me." Ryan replied as he tightened his hug around the Battle Angel in pure affection. "Has Serina brought you up to speed with our current situation?"

"Fully up to speed with new intel, sir." Serina's voice echoed through the cabin as avatar materialised on a pedestal on the left side of Ryan's bed. "All senior personnel have regained consciousness and have assembled in the war room, Captain."

"Thank you, Serina." Ryan groaned at the A.I.

"We'll be out in a minute." Michelle added as she stood up from the bed.

"Take your time, Lovebirds." Serina teased as her avatar fades out of thin air.

Michelle extends a hand to Ryan to help him off their bed and put his on duster coat and with a single thought process the nanomaterials emerged from within her body suit and began the rapid assembly process of her powered flight suit.

Starting from her feet the nanomachines merged to build her shock proof boots that allows her to make hard landings when engaging in close quarters combat and can trigger a shockwave upon landing to knock enemies off their feet. As the nanomaterials slowly crawl it's way up Michelle's legs the smooth streamlining of her suit becomes apparent over the months of continuous alterations and improvements to her suit's aerodynamics. Small maneuvering thrusters begin to take shape from the bottom of her boots up her rear calf and on her outer thigh plates. small gaps break up around the knees and remould the materials for better flexibility on the joints as the thigh plates grow dense giving Michelle a more curvy figure. The crotch plate takes form on her waistline and follows her hips to link with the thigh plates. Once the nanomaterials have completely assembled Michelle's lower torso pieces the micro machines started their way up the spine to begin making her breastplate replicating her upper body posture.

The overall benefits of having a nanosuit like that of Michelle's allows her to be highly mobile while also benefiting from superior maneuverability in all forms of combat. Once the breastplate had formed the remaining materials slithered up to the base of her neck to form an inverted throat plate and down her arms to create the last angular armour pieces. At the same time the machines had created the graviton reactor on her upper breast plate and powers up almost immediately. A large circular hardpoint appears on her back as a pair of angel like wing thrusters grow from Michelle's back which can unfurl into a wingspan of fifteen feet in width and shares similar functions to variable-sweep wing fighters like an F14 Tomcat. The suits shield generator takes shape on her lower back and lastly her particle accelerator charger to power her energy weapons forms above the wing mounting.

The leftover materials that make up her aviator helmet was stored away until Michelle needed it, for now she tied up her long brown hair into a single bun as Captain Ryan was putting on his protective gear. The whole process to assemble the Supersoldier's nanosuit took no more than twenty seconds whereas for her 1st Generation counterparts their conventional suits need to put on in similar fashion to the standard Power Armour suits.

"You know, honey." Ryan spoke to his girlfriend. "For being the senior commander of the Emerald Angels, I really think you are a living goddess with the way you have your suit configured."

"You really think so?" Michelle replied as she gave herself a quick lookover at a nearby mirror. "I don't know, babe, it's just how I like the suit to give me the flexibility I need to quickly adapt to an everchanging hostile environment. But you're so sweet for saying that! Thank you."

Ryan blushed. "Your welcome, honey. You know, for someone I've known almost my entire life, I would have never expected you to become the very person that you are now. We have been through a lot of tough times since we fled our birthright countries. My parents were Australian but I was born on the American Battleship that ferried our families to Hawaii and you were evacuated from New Zealand with your family. Since my mum died in my earliest days it was you that stepped in and helped raised me up. Ever since we've lost everything and all that we loved dearly you refused to abandon me. We've been to hell and back in that cruel world and I couldn't be more thankful to go through it all with you, Michelle. I'm so happy to be with you and I am so glad I got to call you my foster sister, my best friend, and now my soulmate, honey."

"Babe, I made you a promise since you were little that I will never let go of you and that we were going to survive together no matter what! I promised your family that I will take care of you and that we will be strong. We have always solved our problems and worked together to get to where we are now. That's why I wanted to become a Battle Angel so I can protect you and our future together after this war. I am so happy to have the special relationship that we now share, I love you so much my daring and brave cowboy, my Atomic Gunslinger. You will always be safe under my wing, babe. Nothing will ever hurt you or take me away from you, ever!" Michelle cooed as she closed the brief gap to her love as Ryan wrapped his arms around her waist for a final brief hug.

"I love you forever more my Emerald Angel, my beautiful goddess and my queen of the universe. I wouldn't have been here without you, honey." Ryan tightened his hug around the love of his life and gave her a final kiss on her left cheek.

"Ready to get back to work, Captain?" Michelle spoke with renowned formality.

"Just another day in the Railway Warfare Corps, Commander." Ryan sighed peacefully as he broke his hug and took Michelle's hand to lead her to the war room. Rex and Jeep followed them out in short order.

"Alright, is everyone accounted for?" Ryan spoke out across the war-room compartment of his personal railcar.

Having woken up following the recent events that transported the "4-8-8-4" to these unknown lands the senior officers and embarked commanders immediately made their way to the back of their train to check up on their commanding officer upon Serina's request. Upon entering the private railcar the presence of the Emerald Angel brought sudden relief to them knowing that their Captain would always be okay under her care. Everyone soon gathered around the holo-Sit Rep projector in their traditional spots.

From Ryan's left side stood Michelle followed by the Locomotive's Engineer's, Fred and Steve. On the opposite end of the Projector stood Sergeant 1st Class David McKnight; The senior commander of the "4-8-8-4"s Embarked Armoured Calvary. Looping around the right side was Pilot, Co-Pilot and the Weapons Officer of the Blackhawk Gunship. Second to last is the Chief Medical Officer; Oleg Kirov of the War-Train's hospital car. Lastly to my right stood cladded in her power armour suit was Knight Paladin and fellow anomaly hunter, Victoria.

Serina's avatar materialised on the war room pedestal once more. "All relevant personnel accounted for, Captain."

"Thank you, Serina." Ryan nodded as the lights dimmed down and the holo-Sit Rep projector booted up. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, here's the current situation that we're in at this very moment. If you had a good look outside, you would already know that we are no longer in Nevada, or even in the Unified States."

Ryan's fellow officers exchanged various emotions around the room as their minds try to comprehend what their commanding officer had just said.

"I know what I just said is absolutely crazy but I can assure you all that we are no longer on the irradiated hellhole that we call home." Ryan continued his address to everyone. "As we were retreating from the nuclear bombardment on Vegas we were unfortunate to have the experience of encountering one of the rarest and most dangerous anomalies in the American Wasteland, the Space-Time anomaly."

Everyone gasped, Victoria underneath her power armour tensed up as Michelle looked at Ryan in mild shock.

"How can that be, Sir? The gunship pilot, Lieutenant Emily Earhart spoke up. "I thought an anomaly like this was just a myth?"

"We all did at first." Victoria took centre-stage, her mild German accent echoed through her helmet's speaker. "We always thought that Humanity was never prepared to fully comprehend the science behind the Space-Time Continuum. There was one organisation that almost succeeded in unlocking the secrets of time travel, they called themselves the Timekeepers. My legion of the Brotherhood was deployed to stop them from developing a machine that would allow them to do as they pleased with the timeline. We managed to stop them from interfering with the 'Reunification of the States Conference' and starting another civil war. It came at a great cost, I lost a lot of my brothers and sisters in that battle with the destruction of the machine unleashing hundreds of these Space-Time anomalies, and Boston was completely consumed in a blackhole when the Timekeepers self-destructed the facility around the same time it was targeted by a Tri-Communist OKBM (Orbital Kinetic Ballistic Missile) satellite. Marking the beginning of the their invasion of North America."

"Jesus Christ!" McKnight exclaimed with a thick Alabama accent. "I heard about what happened in Boston but I didn't think it was actually that bad. I thought all the Lucifers were destroyed in the Atomic War?"

"Well, now you know and that's all I am saying about it." Victoria stepped aside to let Ryan take the lead of the meeting again.

"Thank you, Victoria. Fred, Steve, how's the old girl up front holding up?" Ryan focused on the train's engineers as Serina brought up a hologram of the nuclear fusion powered Big Boy while simultaneously running a full diagnostic check on the locomotive.

When 4014 was running on the fumes of North America’s depleted fuel reserves that survived the nuclear war a prototype particle fusion reactor was developed and tested on a platform based on the X-12 atomic locomotive. As predicted the first round of testing was a huge success but also yielded a major flaw in the initial coolant system that was being considered for use with this reactor that would be used on 4014, and the 844. Unlike most conventional fission reactors, the Atomic Boiler is a Fusion-based reactor that generates its power by supercharging a special fuel-rod that is made up of helium-3, an isotope so rare on Earth that it has to be mined extra-terrestrially or produced using other nuclear reactions. The reactor generates its own helium-3 via an integrated Hadron-Collider that accelerates the necessary particles to light speed and fires the plasma that is created in the process into the central core chamber. The resulting chain reaction will cause the fuel rod to go supernova and becomes an artificial star no bigger than a baseball but capable of generating temperatures up to 50 million degrees Fahrenheit. That raw energy output is more than enough to sustain the locomotive for 200 years before exhausting its helium-3 supply. Unfortunately, water alone isn’t gonna keep the reactor cool at its optimal temperature so a special super coolant liquid was developed exclusively for the 4014’s Atomic Boiler that was sufficient at keeping it from overheating.

The coolant stored in the tanks are fed through high pressure pipes surrounding the core where it is converted into superheated steam and pushed into the twin contra-rotating steam turbines using a set of powerful forced air induction fans.

The Big Boy's conversion from her conventional oil burning boiler to her nuclear boiler saw the steam engine transformed into the most powerful locomotive in the post nuclear world. Where the old firebox used to be had been swapped out with her fusion reactor encased in an armoured sarcophagus to protect the power source. Capable of producing energy equivalent to that of a small artificial star the locomotive can generate an endless supply of superheated atomic-plasma to keep the boiler hot around the clock. The steam energy created in the boiler is sent straight to the locomotive's two contra-rotating steam turbines that powers the locomotive's driving rods allowing the train to accelerate to speeds faster than what she was originally built from 80 mph (130 km/h) to 120 mph (190 km/h) and maintain it's top speed indefinitely with the assistance of the maglev-wheels. The old backhead controls in the cab were striped out and replaced with state of the art computer based controls with an inbuilt Co-Pilot functionality for Serina to take control of the engine if a combat situation deems it unsafe for crewmembers to remain in the cab.

The implementation of these new technologies and equipment saw further, drastic changes to the locomotive itself being completely rebuilt and upscaled with stronger materials to support the additional weight. 4014's boiler was lengthened from 85ft to 120ft to fit the fusion reactor and turbines, with the tender installed her overall length is 152ft/1" in length. The boiler sits upon a monstrously enlarged articulated chassis that replicates the signature "4-8-8-4" wheel configuration with four 48" leading wheels, sixteen 80" driving wheels and four 54" trailing wheels. The wheel arrangement on the tender have also been enlarged to match the trailing wheels. The weaponry on the locomotive have been completely upgraded with the 30mm C-Ram on the front platform converted to fire Ion energy rounds. The two triple railguns on the sides of the boiler have been replaced with two twin superfiring 8" casemate gauss cannons fitted to the sides of the locomotive forward of the front most steam turbine. The top mounted railguns were converted to fire gauss based slugs and the surface to air missile launchers were updated to use an improved missile design. Overall 4014 dwarfs her sister engines in terms of speed, firepower and durability all while being powered by her fusion reactor that could power the entire Eastern Seaboard for centuries.

"Better than she was before, skipper." Fred spoke happily.

"No signs of damage to the engine or the consist and all critical components are functioning flawlessly." Steve added.

"I have to admit, captain, the refit team have done an amazing job with modernising 4014. I couldn't be anymore prouder to have an engine like that pulling our train." Serina confessed.

"You and me both, Serina.-" Ryan nodded in agreement. "-Any updates on our scouts?"

"Some of our Eyebots have reached the edge of the forest following the tracks from the front of our train. A few others have wondered deeper into the forest and retreated back here after encountering dangerous wildlife." Serina reported as the Sit-Rep projector changed to reveal a 3D map of the forest area that has been scouted before zooming in on the active Eyebots on the rim of the forest.

"Have they found any signs of civilisation or intelligent life?" Michelle Asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. Two of our bots have visually sighted what looks to be an apple farm bordering the forest eight clicks to the north of our current position and three other units are observing a small town twelve clicks to the North-East." Serina replied as she updated the holo-map with the farm and town in question.

"Well, that's certainly good news." McKnight studied the new map. "At least we're not alone in the world, we should contact whoever they are and see if they can help us get home?"

"Jumping the gun a bit, Sergeant?" Paladin Victoria dejected. "What if these inhabitants aren't human? What if we are the only human beings on this goddamn planet? They probably don't even speak English and how do you think their reaction would be when they see our train pull up in front of their town!"

"Easy now, Paladin.-" Ryan intervened. "-We'll cross that bridge when we establish whose backyard we've dropped into, and better understand with who the inhabitants of this land belongs to and what political system they operate under."

Ryan then turns to Serina for additional information. "Anything else you wanna report, Serina?"

"Actually, you might want to see this, Captain." Serina started as a ping highlighting a point of interest appears on the 3D map. "Eyebot unit thirty five eighty seven has detected a rogue anomaly within the apple farm. It's the Space-Time anomaly that brought us here."

The sudden news instantly caught the attention of the Knight Paladin "Captain, that anomaly is our ticket for getting back home! If we don't capture it, we could be at risk of being trapped in this dimension forever."

"Agreed.-" Ryan nodded. "-Knight Paladin, I'm sending you out to safely capture that anomaly and bring it back to the "4-8-8-4" for study. Take a small team with you out there as well, We're only just scratching the surface of what lies outside this forest so it is equally important that you don't get spotted by the natives of this land until we are ready to make first contact with them."

"Understood, Captain." Victoria saluted her superior before starting a brisk pace for the side doors of the Skytop Lounge car.

Ryan turns to David. "McKnight, I need an LAV-50 ready to go. We need to make what time we have count to get that anomaly before it starts to decay."

"You can count on the Armoured Calvary, Captain! I'll have a vehicle ready for the Paladin." The Sergeant nodded as he followed the Paladin out.

"Honey, I need you to be Victoria's guardian angel and our eyes in the sky. Make sure nobody that isn't human sees them and any hostile lifeforms you or the team encounters that try to attack, give them nothing but a swift death, Emerald Angel." Ryan spoke to Michelle.

"Understood, babe. I'll make sure everyone comes home." Michelle smiled and gave Ryan a small kiss before her head became enclosed in her nanomaterial built aviator helmet and left the war room.

"Alright, as for rest of us, we still have our duties to tend to. I want everyone manning their defensive stations, full combat readiness. Dismissed!" Ryan ended the meeting with the remaining officers saluting their Captain and left to their duties.

"So..." Serina's avatar glanced at Ryan. "Do you really think Victoria can get us home with whatever she has planned to do with that anomaly?"

Ryan sighed with uncertainty as he looked out one of the few windows of the war room to admire the vibrant colours of the forest. "It may be our only chance, Serina. It's a risk I'm willing to take."

Author's Note

Hey there fellow sailors!

Sorry this one took a while to get done, I wasn't expecting to write this much but I saw an opportunity to really do some character development and expand the lore a bit. Hopefully I won't takes as long as I did with the next one but I really want to make the time to give you guys some real quality story telling. I have another chapter for Landfall coming soon and Keep an eye on Nearing the Edge by Callsign Eagle as I am doing some collaborating story telling with him and a few other friends on FIMFiction.

I am also working on something new that I'll be releasing soon, until next chapter, sailors.

I'll see you on the naval battlefield!

-Iowa

Humanoids in the Orchards

Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse
Ponyville, Equestria
1905 Hours

Today was like any other routine day for the Apple family on their farm. Applejack and her elder brother, Big McIntosh had returned from the vast fields of apple trees that surrounds their property with the latest haul of freshly grown apples to sell at the Ponyville Markets.

Applejack took off her signature Stetson style cowboy hat to wipe her brow of sweat. "Phew! Another successful haul of the season, this might be our best one yet, Big Mac!"

"Eeyep!" Big Mac simply nodded as he glanced happily over his cart full of freshly collected apples.

Looking back towards the farmhouse where she would normally see Granny Smith napping, Applejack notices three little fillies trotting up the dirt road to the homestead. These three were named Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, the later being the young sibling of Applejack. These three girls are also known by most of the locals as the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' as unlike most of the fillies their age they have yet to find their cutie marks which symbolises the unique talents for every pony in and out of Equestria.

"Howdy little buckaroos!" Applejack greeted the Crusaders.

"Hey, A.J!" The three fillies called out together.

"How was school?" Big Mac asked.

"It was a bit meh, not really the most exciting day of the week." Scootaloo replied.

"We have a mathematics test coming up so we've put our current cutie mark crusades on hold and were now the cutie mark mathematicians!" Sweetie Belle added.

"We'll be heading down to the clubhouse now to get started but we will be back by sundown for supper, A.J." Apple Bloom told her elder sibling before the crusaders started trotting towards the entrance into the vast orchard that surrounds the estate.

"Woah there, partners." Applejack stops the crusaders in their tracks. "The orchard isn't safe at the moment, me and Big Mac spotted a few Timberwolves amongst the apple trees while we were harvesting."

"What!?" The fillies gasped in shock.

"Sorry girls but the clubhouse is off limits for now. Ya'll have to have to do your homework and crusading from Applebloom's bedroom until the Timberwolves are gone." Big Mac apologised.

"Aw man..." Applebloom groaned. "Our year books are at the clubhouse and we can't do our homework without them."

"Me and Big Mac will go fetch em', Granny Smith just baked a fresh apple pie if ya'll feeling hungry?" Applejack offered.

"Thanks big sis, that would be great." Applebloom smiled and gave Applejack a sisterly hug.

"Anything for my little sister." A.J returned the kind gesture before turning to Bic Mac. "Ready for one more run big brother?"

"Eeyup!" Big McIntosh nodded in agreement and the two older apple siblings set off into the orchard where a pack of displaced Timber wolves roam and a hidden threat lies amongst the trees.

Unbeknown to the Apple family and the Crusaders their movements were being observed by the Emerald Angel. Wing Commander Michelle carefully monitors the Equines atop of a tall Everfree tree up to two kilometers away from the orchard whilst Paladin Victoria and her platoon of ten Railway Marines pass under the Battle Angel's position, loaded up in a LAV-50 with McKnight leading the APC in his Humvee.

Hailed as a grand successor to the LAV-25 family of wheeled amphibious armored reconnaissance vehicles, the LAV-50 was a real step up from its predecessors as a robust and heavily reliable troop transport in terms of multi-mission flexibility. Introduced in late 2035 the first batch of the LAV-50s featured a welded steel hull. They were twice the size of the LAV-25 and armed with a twin 40mm MK.8 Bofors turret. A 500hp diesel engine accelerated the LAV to a top speed of 120km per hour driven by ten wheels and crew number varied from 4-6 personnel with a troop carrying capacity of 12 infantrymen.

In the post-atomic era these vehicles were resurrected and heavily modernised with a multilayered armoured hull, improvements to the Bofors turret, a nuclear fusion reactor powering a 750hp turbine engine and were fitted with a state of the art Modular Active Protection System (MAPS) that comes standard issue on all Unified States armoured vehicles. Operating primarily in the Unified States Army, Marines and Railway Warfare Corps, two such vehicles operate as part of the "4-8-8-4"s Embarked Calvary with the second sporting obvious differences. Such as the Bofors turret being swapped out with a anti-tank missile launcher for carrying and firing 16 Javelins and a CROWS automated 50.Cal machinegun fitted off centre to the Commander's hatch. The troop bay was swapped out with a field hospital module for on site treatment of wounded soldiers in an active combat zone. Thanks to the modular redesign of the LAV-50 to allow different modules, weapon systems and external equipment and fittings to be rapidly fitted and removed from the vehicle to keep pace with an ever evolving battlefield.

Where the LAV-50 stands as a highly modern asset to the Unified States Military the Humvee which McKnight drives is seen initially as a few steps back in the evolution of modern FAVs where the current time period was concerned. The Atomic War saw much of the U.S military infrastructure devastated and the knowledge of some of the latest assets would be forever lost to time. The main reason for the reintroduction of the Humvee into Unified States service was the many surviving examples that have weathered the nuclear winter and benefitted greatly for being low maintenance and easily massed produced. The Gen. 2 Humvee's were built from lightweight but highly durable materials, and like the originals can be configured in many ways to fulfill all key roles it once served. Two such examples join the LAV-50s embarked onboard the "4-8-8-4"; The one McKnight is driving is based on the M1165 model with some improvements. Sporting a full ceramic armoured body kit with heavy armoured doors, smoke grenade launchers, quantum communications array and a CROWS automated turret that is fitted with a M134P Ion Gatling Gun. The other is based on the M998 Avenger mobile air defence system but configured on a four door 6x6 Humvee with a quad missile launcher fitted on the back bed of the truck carrying up to 16 surface to air missiles for short range air defense of the ArmCav. Both vehicles along with all Gen. 2 Humvees in service are powered by a hybrid 7.0 litre supercharged V8 Hemi that runs off liquid ethanol.

Lastly, making up the heavy hitter of the Embarked Calvary is the workhorse of the Unified States Armoured Divisions and McKnight's pride and Joy; the M3A5 'Mattis' Main Battle Tank. Named in honour of General James "Mad Dog" Mattis the M3 series succeeded the iconic Abrams family of MBT's and the M2 Prototype in the 2040s which proudly served the former United States military through to its final days before the Atomic War of 2098 with the M3A4 model. Following Unification Day and the establishment of the Unified States Military tens of thousands of M3 Mattis tanks were recovered throughout the American Wastelands and restored as the M3A5 model with massive changes and improvements to the tank.

The armour package that protects the vehicle and it's crew is comprised of a heavily reinforced hull encased in multi-layer plating up to over 900 millimeters thick on the front and sides, the plating protecting the rear engine bay is only 600 millimeters thick. The overall values can be significantly different with some sections being heavily angled to increase the thickness to over 1200 millimeters whilst saving on weight of the 120 ton war machine. The turret of the M3A5 houses a prototype 130mm Gauss Cannon that can accelerate Depleted Uranium Armour Piercing Sabot Slugs up to 1.5 times the speed of light leaving nothing short of total devastation to those unfortunate to be caught within the blast radius. For close range/urban environments the M3A5 packs a coaxial 20mm autocannon along side the main gun and four 50. Caliber M3M (GAU-21) remote heavy machine guns are mounted on the turret roof at the front and back. Additional protection have been added to McKnight's tank over the duration of the vehicle's service, ranging from reactive armour modules to the standard issue MAPS countermeasures and to bug out quickly or cover supporting infantry with smoke grenade launchers. Communications between the tank and "4-8-8-4" is almost never a problem thanks to the quantum relay system fitted onboard.

For a behemoth like the Mattis, it was surprisingly fast for a main battle tank powered by a supercharged twin turbine engine driven by two nuclear fusion reactor cores, allowing the tank to accelerate and maintain a top speed of 80mph/128kmh from 0-15 seconds. However in a very dense area like the Everfree Forest it doesn't serve much purpose for the crew at the moment as Captain Ryan only deploys the 'Beast' when the "4-8-8-4" has to deal with a Tri-Communist Armoured Brigade or as a heavy escort for the locomotive when traversing hostile lands. In all honesty, Captain Ryan would preferably like to have a few more M3A5's attached the war train's motor pool but there's only little of the latest equipment to go around in the Unified States Military with demand an ever constant high to keep the military industry running around the clock.

"Approaching final checkpoint, how's the D.P looking Wing Commander?" Sgt. McKnight announced over coms.

"Clear as Daylight, no sign of life." Michelle replied as she scanned the designated area through the infrared scope of her anti-material rifle as the two vehicles approached from a southernly direction. "Knight Paladin, you're clear to disembark as soon as you arrive."

"Copy that, Emerald Angel." Victoria acknowledged with a very authoritarian tone in her voice. "Marines, Prepare to disembark! Keep your heads on a constant swivel and your weapons on point. We're not in Kansas anymore ladies, we're about to set foot into unknown territory. Stay sharp!"

"Oorah, Knight Paladin!" The Marines replied to their superior in unison.

"Disembarkation Point in sight, hang tight back there!" The LAV-50 driver relayed through the troop bay intercom.

The vehicles still had a short distance to go, only a five metre slope to climb out of a dry riverbed they followed from the train before they reach a small opening close to the edge of the forest. McKnight puts his foot down and the Humvee roared uphill with ease and the LAV had no difficulty keeping pace with 10 wheels providing excellent grip and traction on the loose terrain. Both vehicles overcome the short climb and roll to a full stop in the centre of the opening, their engines idled down to a more quieter noise level and the rear troop bay door opened with a series of hydraulic hisses as it lowered down into a ramp like position.

"Pile out!" Victoria shouted as everyone embarked aboard the APC hopped out in synchronized order, weapons at the ready the second their feet touched the soft ground of the forest floor. McKnight and three Cavalrymen hopped out of the Humvee and joined up with Victoria's Platoon, the automated turret scanning the surrounding area for hostiles.

"Thanks for riding with us in the Railway Embarked Calvary! Hope to see you again soon!" The LAV Driver jokingly called back as Victoria exited the APC and the rear door closed up behind her.

"Keep the engine hot, we'll be back in a few hours." Victoria replied through the wireless as she knocked a fist on the side hull twice in good gesture.

"You know our motto, Ma'am! Where we go, we don't need rails! Stay safe out there, Menace Actual."

What quiet atmosphere the forest harboured was shattered the moment Wing Commander McKensey broke through the forest canopy as she rocketed towards the ground and with a last minute change of position she fired her angel wing like thruster to full afterburn as she touched down with a hard landing. Her shock boots transferred what kinetic energy built up around her down into the ground and outwards with a small shockwave that partially tore up the ground at the impact site, enveloping the Battle Angel in a cloud of dust. What would've been a crippling fall for the average human being, Michelle's enhanced strength allows her to walk away from such hard falls and still be fully combat capable as she slowly stood up from enduring the gravitational forces that pulled down to the ground. As she approached the group Michelle loosens the grip on her rifle but instead of falling out of her hands the gun started to deconstruct itself into a sizable mass of nanomachines before remoulding back into the super-soldier's nanosuit.

"Damn, I'd never thought I'd see nano-based weaponry in the field..." An onlooking Marine muttered.

"Yeah, makes me glad that she's on our side!" Another fellow soldier agreed.

Michelle's helmet deconstructed as she flashed a smile at the soldiers whilst passing through and approached Victoria who already had her anomaly tracker out and pointed in the direction of the apple farm. "How much further do we have to go?"

"A small ways to go." Victoria replied as she played with the touchscreen and various dials of the device to triangulate the position of the anomaly. "We still have another klick and a half till we reach the forest's edge and just a couple of hundred metres into the orchard where unit thirty five eighty seven last saw the anomaly."

"Alrighty then, I'll scout ahead and make sure the way is clear for you lot. By the way, you wouldn't happen to have finished that little module I asked a few weeks back?" Michelle nudged the Paladin.

Victoria looked up from the tracker in sudden remembrance. "As a matter of fact, I did!"

She then reaches for one of her protective cases mounted onto her suit and pulled out an hemisphere shaped device that Victoria made for Michelle. A full scratch built stealth field module to implement on the Battle Angel's nano-suit that will allow the super soldier to turn mostly invisible for a short period of time before needing to recharge. "I just finished it before Vegas and I forgot to give it to you as we left Nellis."

Michelle took the device of Victoria and positioned it between the shield generator and the wing base on her back where the nanomachines created a new hardpoint to mount the prototype module. The super-soldier then reconstructed her helmet and checked her Heads up Display to confirm the 'handshake' and the device is working properly. With a single thought process the stealth field module was activated and with a blink of an eye she was gone, only a distorted outline of her now fully transparent body could be noticed to the naked eye. Michelle then reappeared as quick as she disappeared expressing full joy and satisfaction with the device.

"It's perfect, I honestly didn't think you could pull it off! thank you, Knight Paladin." Michelle thanked Victoria with a handshake.

"I'm a woman of many talents, Wing Commander. It was actually nice to do something I used to enjoy back in my squire days with the Brotherhood. It is only a prototype however so be sure to take it easy on the first few cycles." Victoria returned the handshake.

A two tone beep chirped out from the anomaly tracker, highlighting the direction and distance that Victoria had predicted. There was no turning back for Victoria, securing the Space Time Anomaly brings her and "4-8-8-4" one step closer to getting back to Earth. How she was gonna get everyone back brings an onset of new hurdles to overcome.

"I got a lock on the anomaly, let's go get this damn thing so we can go home, Marines." Victoria informs her platoon.

"Oorah!" Her platoonmates chanted.

"I'm gonna move on ahead and secure the anomaly for containment while I play with my new toy, see you soon." Michelle farewell's the group before taking off high above the forest canopy and makes a beeline for the objective.

"Good hunting, Wing Commander. I'll be in touch ounce we've reached the orchard." Victoria replied over a short range radio frequency. "Ricardo, Dwayne! You have point, let's move out!"

What was supposed to be a twenty minute hike for the marines and the Knight Paladin took close to an hour and a half of traversing the dense terrain. Back on Earth most of the global vegetation have long died out from the nuclear winter that almost rendered our once green planet uninhabitable. Despite the significant loss of vegetation around the world there was still a significant amount of vegetation left to maintain the Earth's atmosphere and more importantly the O-zone layer that protects all life from the harmful UV rays emitted by the sun. By the time they had come close to the edge of the forest the sun was already starting to set and visibility quickly dropped to less favourable conditions. Victoria switches on her night vision while her platoon mates assigned a fellow squad mate to use a red light torch attached to their M19 service rifles.

"Is it just me or has it really gotten dark out here within the last few minutes?" A Marine whispered to Victoria.

"Yeah, the sun doesn't go down as quickly compared to what we're used to back home." Victoria spoke back in a hushed tone.

"Emerald Angel to Fireteam Menace, I have accumulated a full recording of the sunset for you and Serina to analyse. The way the sun was moving was pretty comparable back home, but as soon as the clock hits twenty hundred hours, the sun suddenly accelerated for the horizon. As if some artificial force got hold of it and gave it a push?" Michelle radioed in her observations.

"I have a possible theory that could explain the odd nature of the star's gravitational pull, but I will need to see the footage to prove it otherwise." Serina chimed in.

"Let's focus on capturing the anomaly first before we deviate off course with other projects." Victoria reminded the two. "Michelle, we've reached the edge of the forest. Do you have a visual on the target?"

"I have visual on the target, about two hundred metres past the orchard perimeter fence, next to an apple tree with a treehouse on top. I'm seeing a small group of those planetoid wolves nearby." Michelle observed the site from the infrared scope of her gauss rifle.

"Alright, we'll hold until it gets as dark enough to sneak in. Have you seen any of the locals yet?"

"I saw a group of natives not long ago, can't say one hundred percent if they are but they were a quadruped species that coincidentally resemble horses or ponies."

"Adorable... How do they fare technologically compared to us?"

"From what I can observe, I'd say they sit somewhere between the late industrial age to the early colonial era based on the architecture of the farmhouses."

"Then we have nothing to fear from them should things go south as long as we have the advantage over them."

The group waited out of sight of the dirt road for a while longer until the open world was in total darkness. Swapping out the red lights for night vision goggles, Victoria's Platoon moves from the safety of the woods and into the vast rows of apple trees lining the orchard. The platoon haven't covered much distance from the anomaly when Michelle spotted the two older equines from the farmhouse a few hours ago moving towards the anomaly site in a near galloping pace.

"Angel to Menace, I spotted two native farmers about eighty meters south-east of the site. They seemed to be moving towards ground zero judging from their direction and pace." Michelle informs Victoria as she observes the two ponies.

"You got to be kidding me?! The timing for this to happen could not be anymore perfect than a cliché movie scene..." Victoria deadpanned.

"I don't know if the term 'cliché' best describes this situation as well as, I don't know, coincidental?"

"I bloody think not! We're still over a hundred metres out, those farmers are good as dead if they get too close to the anomaly."

"Roger, I'll see if can distract them with something on my-. Oh no..."

"What is it? Sitrep, Michelle?"

"There's a pack of those planetoid wolves around the anomaly, and those farmers are about to up themselves as happy meals to them."

"Just hold your position, Angel Actual, we're almost in position. Do not intervene, It's too risky to give ourselves away now."

"Vic, there's no time to set up positions and I am not gonna stand by and watch some innocent civilians unintentionally kill themselves! I'm decking the first wolf that tries to take a bite out of them."

"Just don't do anything stupid, Michelle. Take the shot if you have it but stick to the plan. We're not here to play guardians with interdimensional beings."

"Copy that, staying in the shadows until intervention is justified."

"Save some game for the rest of us, we won't be far behind, out." Victoria ceases her communications with the super soldier. "Guns up boys, prepare for first contact!"

"On second thought Big Mac, I don't think this was a good idea to go out into the orchard tonight with all the Timberwolves out and about." Applejack whispered to her brother worryingly.

"Eeyup." Big Mac agreed anxiously.

"But on the bright side the Crusader's clubhouse is just passed those trees..."

The two Apple siblings slowed to a stop the moment Applejack spotted something unusual that could only be described as otherworldly. Sitting next to her little sister's treehouse was a transparent sphere like entity ten metres in diameter with a small black hole in it's centre. The presence of the Timberwolf pack sparked a flight reaction within A.J as she pulled her big brother behind the nearest apple tree before the wolves spotted them.

"What the hay is that thing?" Applejack spoke in a controlled hushed tone.

"I don't know, it wasn't there when we started the harvest this morning." Big Mac replied in a similar manner.

Applejack peaked out from behind the tree to observe the area, she counted six wolves who have taken a cautious stance around the entity. Whenever one tried to get close for a curious sniff the sphere would give the planetoid a painful electric shock, triggering an aggressive reaction from her packmates.

"I don't know what we can do in this situation, maybe we should head back home and tell Twilight about this?" Applejack turned back to her brother.

"Eeyup." Big Mac nodded.

The two siblings turn around to start a silent retreat from the pack only to nearly be knocked off their hooves by a titan of a Timberwolf taking a killing swipe at them, his right paw carves a chunk of wood out of the tree behind A.J and Big Mac. Standing at eight feet in height and nearly twenty feet in length the apex predator that towers over the siblings is one of Equestria's rarest and most dangerous carnivores in recorded history. Known for it's highly durable ironbark wood skin that is difficult for melee weapons to penetrate and mostly dead shrubbery for it's fur, the Ironbark Timberwolf stands as the pinnacle of the species evolution should one with the right genes be allowed to mature to such a stage in its life cycle. Both A.J and Big Mac look up in sheer terror, their skin devoid of colour like their souls abandoned their bodies in haste. The alpha male looks down upon them with liquid tree sap running from it's mouth expressing an animal like desire to feast upon his newfound prey.

Looking back the rest of the pack took notice of their presence and surrounded the siblings. Big Mac began to sweat nervously and Apple Jack's breathing became hollow with anxiety and uncertainty overtook her rational thinking. They tried to look for a way out, to intimidate the wolves in keeping their distance but the Ironbark made this encounter a one sided win for the predators. The two siblings look at each other believing this was the end of the road, that their lives were about to come to a gruesome end. A.J grabbed her Stetson and plopped it on the ground in front of her.

"Sorry Applebloom, your big brother and sister aren't coming home tonight." A.J whispered as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Mother Faust please help us!"

Big Mac pulls his sister into a final embrace as one of the female betas charged and leaped at them, her jaw wide open and ready to sink her teeth into Big Mac's exposed neck. The abrupt death of Big Mac however would never come as the site of the clubhouse and the brief surrounding area turned from night to day in a heartbeat and back to night again by a beam of highly concentrated energy erupting from a nearby tree and vaporised the attacking wolf. The rest of the pack invoke a heightened response of aggression towards the unknown source that killed their packmate. Applejack and Big Mac broke their hug and also stared at the apple tree in mild confusion, wondering who or what is hiding up there.

The tree shifted briefly and several small objects popped out from within and their bottoms ignited, launching them high into the night sky before diving straight down towards their targets. The wolves were spooked and attempted to run away but the small missiles homed in on them and just as it started it was already over with each of the Timberwolves being killed off by the small warheads of the guided weapons. Several small explosions equivalent to an anti-personal mines echoed across the orchard which sent Applejack and Big Mac galloping for their lives fleeing the scene as the now lone Ironbark dodged his tracking missile.

Infuriated by the loss of his pack the apex predator retaliated against the concealed attacker, not through sheer brute force but by utilising his unique abilities to cast offensive magic spells. The alpha telepathically summons a ball of highly unstable dark magic and sends it straight at the occupied apple tree, completely destroying it and reveling his attacker being the now decloaked Battle Angel. Wing Commander Michelle narrowly avoids being toasted by the Wolf's offensive spell with a last minute launch from her hiding spot breaking her concealment upon takeoff, accelerating high above the apple farm before diving back down and tackles the Timberwolf into the dirt at several hundred kilometers per hour. The sheer force of the impact alone should have dealt a crippling blow to the beast but the wolf suffered minor injuries to the left side where the super soldier slammed into him.

The massive creature quickly found his footing and knocked Michelle back a few feet and summons additional dark magic to fire a set of ranged magic attacks. Michelle's enhanced reflexes kicks in as she sidesteps the first blast, pulling her into a areal cartwheel to dodge the second blast and with the aid of her thrusters, performed a Yurchenko vault to avoid the third blast. At the same time the nanomaterials rushed to her hands to reassemble her gauss rifle and with a hastened aim took a blind shot at the wolf only for the accelerated depleted uranium slug to graze his left cheek and turn the trunk of an apple tree behind him into wood splinters. The creature yelped in pain and with renewed animalistic rage charged towards the Battle Angel as she turned and started running towards the tree where the Crusader's clubhouse sits on top. Michelle's wing like thrusters kicked up dirt as she sprinted vertically up the trunk with the large beast hot on her tail. The Timberwolf takes a swipe at the Battle Angel only for his prey to launch herself from the tree performing an areal backflip.

Michelle makes a hard landing back on ground level, the free nanomaterials dancing around her upper torso waiting to assemble the next needed weapon on her command. Michelle makes a quick decision to go close quarters and on que the millions of micro machines rushes to her left hand to assemble her signature elven themed Plasma Sabre. The machines rapidly construct the grip housing a core to project a superheated plasma blade. A blunt fuller extends out from the grip by five feet in length which acts as a projector to channel the plasma energy into its uniquely shaped edges and point. The central ridge completes the tip of the projection shaft and with the push of a button the Sabre erupts to life with a burst of blue plasma energy molding into a controlled inferno of a lethal blade.

The Timberwolf takes a crouching stance against the super soldier ready to pounce his prey as the two stare each other down in a wild western style standoff. Their eyes locked against one another waiting to see who will blink first. Michelle has her blade facing outwards and pointing towards the ground, the energy blade actively discharging excess heat ignites the exposed grass within a meter of the sword. The wolf digs his claws into the ground growling furiously to intimidate his challenger but Michelle stands unfazed, her face concealed behind the visor of her helmet expresses no sign of emotional fear but rather an expression that could be defined as a driven programing of her enhancements to assess, adapt and overcome her opponents. The standoff would continue for what feels like all night until the sound of a discharging Mjolnir anti-tank rocket launcher breaks the silence. The unguided projectile hurls itself towards the alpha predator but the beast jumps clear and the missile impacts the trunk of the tree behind him. A large explosion deafens the quiet equestrian night and the now destroyed tree topples over destroying the Crusader's clubhouse in the process.

With the wolf's stance broken he maintains his momentum and leaps for a killing takedown on the Battle Angel. Michelle breaks into a sprint towards the wolf, her enhanced mobility combined with the power servos and her main thrusters allows her to accelerated to a top speed of 60kph (37.2mhp). Michelle drops low and with the aide of her wings slides under the Timberwolf, taking a swing of her plasma sabre to cut off both hind legs of the wolf. The beast goes down yelping in agony now being effectively crippled. Michelle launches herself high into the sky and with a final battlecry, falls back to the earth, driving her sabre into the neck of the wolf. A final howl cried out into the night as the dying corpse was slowly ignited by the superheated plasma, growing into a fire that consumed the Timberwolf and reduced it to ashes.

Taking a moment to recompose herself, Michelle deactivates the plasma core of her sabre and the nanomaterials deconstructed the sword to be reabsorbed back into her suit. Her helmet also deconstructed as she reached for her pigtail and pulled her hairband off to set her long brunette hair free to flow in the gentle wind before settling down upon her upper back. Michelle takes a controlled deep breath to meditate her mind and put her body at ease of minor physical stress she endured during battle. The emerald iris' of her cybernetic eyes glowed in the dark with her night vision active looking around to see if the two equine farmers were still close by but could not reacquire them.

The closing sounds of heavy hydraulic footsteps drew the Angel's focus towards Victoria's platoon as they emerged from the surrounding orchard, the Railway Marines broke formation and scattered around to secure the area. Victoria approached Michelle holstering her laser pistol and took off her helmet to rest under her right shoulder. Her silver hair sported a youthful pixie haircut and like Michelle, shared similar cybernetic eyes but Vic's iris' are coloured blue. Some of the standardised facial features of a middle aged American Aryan female who grew up within the territories of the Silver Legion States of America prior to Reunification Day.

"What happened to saving some game for the rest of us?" Victoria joked giving the battle angel a playful punch.

"Should've been quicker on your feet, old girl." Michelle chuckled returning the gesture.

"Careful what you wish for, Angel. This Paladin is would be more than happy to oblige. Where did the sabre come from by the way?" Victoria asked.

"Oh, just testing the full limits of the nano-tech within this suit." Michelle replied as a ball of nanomachines took form in her left hand.

"Impressive, the Eggheads back in D.C are in for some gut loaded data once we send off your suit's performance diagnostics to HighCom." Victoria gave a thumbs up.

A fellow Marine approached the two ladies. "Ma'am, area's been secured, no sign of hostile lifeforms or the natives."

"Thank you, Sergeant Major. Bring up the Bug-Catcher, we're securing the anomaly, now!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" The Marine jogged back to his platoon mates to give the word of sending in the drone.

Five minutes roll by and the Unmanned Ground Vehicle called 'Bug-Catcher' arrives at the anomaly site. This specialised drone is one of Victoria's improved designs sporting a 4x4 wheeled chassis and was the size of a standard bomb disposal robot. Mounted on top is a metal containment box containing a hadron compressor that compresses and isolates dangerous anomalies and entities within an artificial sub-verse. On the front end a retractable arm with a Particle Projection Funnel extends to it's full length and the remote operator guides the drone as close to the wormhole as possible. Victoria aids the operator in approaching the anomaly in the safest way until the arm was a meter away from touching it.

"Alright, that's close enough!" Victoria called out to the D.O who stops the drone short and switches off his controller.

"Drone's all yours, Ma'am! Do your magic." The Marine gave the Knight Paladin two thumbs up.

"I have control of the funnel, all units, find some solid cover. Ground zero is about to become a volatile kill zone!" Victoria warned the Marines as they scrambled for the closest tree and Michelle takes position besides Victoria. Her nanomachines assembles a particle energy shield projector on her right wrist and positions it to protect the two exposed soldiers.

Victoria pushes a button on her tracker to start the drone's containment sequence. The PPF opens up and a beam of particle energy shoots out at the wormhole, encasing it within a bubble of hard light energy and begins to compress the anomaly. The reaction from the entity was as Victoria predicted, bolts of highly unstable electricity shot out and struck at the trees some of the Marines were hiding behind with some bolts striking the energy shield Michelle had active. The anomaly began to glow white hot which bathed the area in a blinding light breaking Victoria's focus, increasing power output to maximum to allow the PPF to overpower the wormhole and suck it into the containment chamber of the hadron compressor. With the anomaly now secure within Bug-Catcher Victoria was now one step closer to getting the "4-8-8-4" back home and on track in the war effort.

"Menace Lead to Captain Homer." Victoria Hails the war train.

"Menace Lead, this is the Captain. Send traffic, how's your progress on tracking the anomaly? Over." Ryan responds over the net.

"Anomaly has been secured using Bug-Catcher but we had a bit of a rough first contact scenario with the local wildlife threatening two possible native witnesses on the way in, over?"

"Understood, Paladin. Make sure that anomaly is fully contained for transportation and get the hell out of there. With all the commotion that you guys made, there's no doubt that local authorities and some very unhappy farmers are going to be on top of you very soon!"

"Copy that, anomaly is one hundred percent contained. Fireteam Menace is Oscar Mike back to the transports, we are End-Ops! Repeat, End-Ops!"

"Status confirmed, mission accomplished. Return to base, Menace, "4-8-8-4" out!"

"Marines, assemble for extraction on the double!" Victoria barked, her platoon rallies on their commanding officer and starts into a jogging pace back to McKnight's vehicles with Bug-Catcher in tow. Michelle reassembles her helmet and powers up her thrusters to take off into the Equestrian sky.

Over in Ponyville the thunderous noises of the small skirmish between the Humans and the Timberwolves had awoken the town and upon seeing the small smoke trails raising up from the orchard prompted a panicked reaction from the townsfolks. Emergency services were scrambled and the local garrison of Equestrian Royal Guards deploy a Quick Reaction Force in tow. The other Element Bearers also made their way towards the Apple farm in fear that the Apple family was in danger. What they would find is nothing more than the charred remains of the predators and mild destruction of the scene left by their uninvited visitors.