0926 hours
Ten (10) days after first contact
Over the Everfree Forest

The group of eight MH-60 Blackhawk helicopters flew over the forest at nearly two hundred and seventy kilometers per hours, awakening the often-nocturnal denizens of the forest as they flew overhead.

Inside, SPC Olivia Hall was cursing her luck.

It was certainly not enough that they had been in the first wave of both of the recent assaults on various cities in this fucked-up land. Oh no, she fumed internally, It had to be her unit that was picked to go out on an early-morning mission, instead of spending the damned day lounging away in a five-star hotel like the rest of her battalion, sipping wine and eating hot food.

Then again, Olivia reflected as another minor spat of turbulence swatted the helicopter around, at least their trip would be to an area far away from the action.

From the briefing that had been thrown at her mere minutes before heading out, the CO had found out about an abandoned castle twenty kilometers from a small settlement. His response? To immediately launch a force to take the castle, as well as equip it as a Forward Operating Base.

In her opinion, it was a shitty idea. An abandoned castle was likely abandoned for a reason. But, then again, they didn't pay her to listen: They paid her to point her gun at miniature horses. If she was getting paid now, that is.

When Olivia voiced her thoughts to the LT, he simply laughed.

"Ain't no rhyme or reason to this shit, Specialist Hall." He said. "We've just got to take the punches and do our job. Ain't nobody ever said that you had to be reasonable to be a Major."

"Ah, fuck it. Sir." Olivia replied. "I suppose we'll have our work cut out for us, defending an empty castle from a nonexistent enemy. At least the NatGs are staying behind."

The LT's face twisted into a grimace. Opinion of the Washington National Guard soldiers varied. Plenty of the soldiers in her unit thought they were shit. Then again, most of the soldiers in her unit were full of shit.

"I suppose so..." The LT said. "Still, I wouldn't mind having a few extra-"

"Landing in two mikes." The pilot cut in over the local 'Net' radio system. "Weather clear. Thank you for flying Air One-Seven, and I'll be here all day. Remember to tip your doormen, ladies and gentlemen. They're the ones standing next to the guns."

"Thanks!" Someone said over the 'Net' radio. "I'll be sure to give them fifteen percent of my workload."

A few chuckles went through the group as the helicopter gradually slowed down, their pilot scanning for an empty space to land.

"Anyone see an LZ?" The pilot asked over the local radio.

"There's a large area in front of the castle, on both sides of a chasm." The door gunner on another helicopter replied. "Enough room for all of us."

"How the hell are we going to get our shit across a rope bridge?" A engineer on the very same helicopter demanded. "There's a couple Chinooks coming within the half hour with even more equipment, and they're not going to be landing in the castle itself."

"There's a M104 bridger coming with the Army ground units." A man on the radio said. "Somebody on high probably considered this already. They'll arrive in about ten mikes."

"Then let's land."

The single Triton above Canterlot Castle had silently watched the large building for quite some time, and would continue to do so for as long as its' long fuel supply lasted.

Its' camera was pointed directly at one particular side of the castle, near the gardens in the back.

At 9:30 AM, eleven hours and thirty-four seconds after it was first placed down, the 'box' inside of the area currently serving as the throne room activated.

Three seconds later, a large blast blew a thirty-foot gap in the wall, a ball of fire erupting out of the castle.

"Come on, damn it!" Specialist Hall heard the LT yell. "We've been waiting for you fuckers for the past fifteen minutes!"

"I'd like to see you go along a dirt road at forty, you lazy bastard!" One of the crewmen of the M104 shouted back as the large vehicle unfolded the bridge on top of it. The massive steel construct slowly hovered over the ravine between them and the castle, waiting for the specialized tank to fully deploy it.

None of the infantrymen, Specialist Hall included, wanted to try and go across the rope bridge over the ravine. And thus, the soldiers on both sides had been forced to wait for the bridger to arrive.

Several more minutes passed, and the metal bridge finally finished lowering, with about six feet of it on each side of the ravine: The rest was hovering over the gap.

"Alright, let's move on in." The LT yelled. "We've wasted enough time as it is."

Specialist Hall soon found herself exploring the 'throne room' of the large castle. It was worn down by the weather to almost unusable levels, but it could be patched up. Several banners of some horses hung from the ceiling, and the far wall with the window was dominated by a pair of large thrones.

"Hey guys, look at this!" A private about twenty feet away said. When Hall looked over, she noticed he was pointing to some kind of scrap on the ground.

'This looks interesting.' Hall thought, walking over to it and kneeling down next to the shards. It was light blue in color, and looked halfway like some sort of shattered metal object.

"Any idea what it is?" The private asked.

"Not a clue." Hall admitted, reaching out a hand to pick a piece of it up. "Kinda nice-looking, though. Wouldn't mind grabbing it as-"

Her sentence was cut off as the shard held in her hand suddenly felt white-hot, causing her to let out a small yell and drop it, frantically shaking her hand.

"Specialist...?" She heard the private next to her ask.

"Damn thing felt like it was on fire!" Hall said as she looked over her hand. Strangely, it didn't appear burnt, and the pain was rapidly fading away. "I'd recommend sweeping that shit up into a corner. Don't want somebody else to pick the damned stuff up and complain to the LT."

It wouldn't matter in any case.

Hall frowned, troubled by the thought that had popped unbidden into her head.

'Damn, I must need a break. I've been going for too long without much sleep.' She thought. 'Pretty sure the LT wouldn't mind if I plopped down somewhere for a nap. After I tell him, of course.'

For the past twelve hours, the crew of the E-2 Hawkeye south of the city of Manehatten had seen not a single aircraft on their radar screens, save for the two times they had to land to refuel. It had been a boring duty, with the airspace over the city only frequented by small helicopters.

Until a single aircraft appeared on the edge of their radar, two hundred and fifty miles away. The Radar Officer aboard the flight glanced down at the screen, surprised by the sudden radar contact. Reaching for his headset, he quickly put it on and opened up a radio line to the Gerald R. Ford.

"Gerald R. Ford, this is Mike Overwatch. I've got a faint reading on a single... Make that multiple contacts to the west." The two other officers in the back with him shoot up as he said this. "Please advise on how to proceed."

"... Copy that, Mike Overwatch. We'll scramble a flight of fighters, and ask the Russians to do the same. In the meantime, try to initiate radio contact once they come into range."

"Copy that, Gerald R. Ford. Mike Overwatch out."

Author's Note

Yay, I am back into the swing of writing!

Also, please don't kill me for the wait... Please?