Harmony's Defeat: Restorationby Corba ForceChaptersChapter Two - Blue and Purple with SparklesChapter Three - Alpha to OmegaChapter Four - There's a Bravo too?Chapter Five - AuthorityChapter Six - SniperQuit StalinChapter One - Still AliveChapter Two - Blue and Purple with SparklesInitializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: N/A Location: ESS Dark Moon Mission Time: N/A Transmission Begin... Rarity was the first to run and hug me when I walked into the briefing room with Luna. “Courage! I’m so glad you’re okay. We missed you so much!” she cried as she hugged me. “And you two as well” she said as she smiled at Liam and Russell. Rainbow then flew over and hugged me also, “It’s good to see you again” she said. “...I still haven't forgotten how you helped me before” “This is quite the welcome...” I said with surprise. “What did ya’ll expect? You did help save the whole of equestria” stated Applejack with a smile. “I’m sure you girls would have found a way to save it without our help” I replied modestly. “It was kinda the humans fault to begin with anyway” “Regardless of what your species did, you and your friends still helped us in our time of need. I’m sure that, without your help, things would have been a lot worse” said Luna with gratitude. “And now we are here to help you in your time of need” “Well you’ve already done enough for me Luna” I replied with a smile. “Shall we start this briefing then?” asked Luna. “Of course... erm... where is Pinkie and Blades?” Everyone shrugged at me. “Bow chikka wow wow!” chuckled Liam. “Liam, that’s hardly appropriate...” I said with a frown. “We’ll just have to start without them...” implied Luna. “Yes princess. I have prepared a presentation to bring you all up to speed” “Okay! We all know that Discord is defeated. However a few of his ships still remain on Earth and are trying to continue their god’s work...” I clicked a button on my remote to bring up the first power point slide on the big screen. It was a map of the Earth with a few red dots marked on it. “There are a few ships located around the globe, taking defensive positions to hold back the remains of human forces. These Discord forces consist of T-L Chaos laser tanks...” I switch to a slide with a diagram of Discord’s high-tech, wedge shaped laser tanks. “MLR Interceptor fighters...” I switched to a slide with a diagram of Discord’s boomerang shaped fighters. “277Y heavy laser rifles...” I switched to a diagram of the laser rifles that every Dragon warrior carried. “And many of Discord’s highly trained elite guards” I switched to a slide of two elite guards. “The human forces consist of many civilian militia using anything they can find from AK’s to Sherman tanks to home made pipe bombs...” I switched to a slide of a few lightly armoured humans holding AK’s and sat on a world war two Sherman tank. “You’ve probably guessed that the humans don’t stand a chance. The war left Earth with very little to fight with. We’ve worked out that less than 1% of humanity survived Discord’s attack all those months ago so you can imagine that clean up hasn’t been easy for us...” “What about those American fighters that were after you?” interrupted Twilight. “They seemed pretty high-tech and could handle themselves perfectly” “That was ‘Project Restoration’. It’s a secret military operation that was started up by the new American president...” I switched the slide to a picture of a tall white guy in a suit. He is in his mid 40’s, white hair and had quite a large nose. “This is President Jettison. All American forces answer to him and him alone. He decided that HE was the man to revive Earth. But he is no saint. The man is an ass and wants nothing but power...” “Now hold on a second. Ah don’t understand, who is on who’s side?!” asked Applejack in confusion. I switch the power point over to a slide. The slide split into four sections: One was the American flag, one was the Russian flag, one was the picture of the Militia and Sherman tank I used before and one was a picture of a few Dragon warriors in a war zone. “There are four separate factions. The Americans are against everyone. Discord’s forces are against everyone. Russia fights the same cause as the civilian militia but take their orders from a leadership in Moscow. Russia also wants to revive itself as one great nation once again while the civilian militia just want Discord’s forces gone” “Oh okay. Ah just wanted ta know the score before we got into this...” replied Applejack. I then switched the power point to a slide that showed a picture of a massive shielded blue dome with a perfectly unscratched white city inside. Tall buildings, lush green plant life, flying cars and many bright lights. “What is that?!” asked Twilight and Applejack in awe. “It’s the city of ‘New Hope’. It was started up by President Jettison to keep the rich and important safe from the harsh wastelands of the outside world. This is also the hub of all American military operations. This is the only safe place for the Americans and the only place they have any real authority” “How did they manage that in a few months?” asked Twilight in shock. “Yeah. They’ve come along way...” I replied. I wanted to continued but Luna interrupted me. “Seems like they’ve been hording a lot of the supplies and materials...” I just looked at her silently for a few seconds. She then sat back and bit into an apple. “For the past few months, me and my team have been working with the civilian militia to defeat Discord’s forces and also rebel against the American oppression. Recently we discovered that the Americans really are evil and are not just doing the same old government bullshit they used to do before the war...” I switched the slide to a picture of the metal Cylinder that we stole from the Americans. Twilight instantly became interested. “This is Dy-oxi-mu-cy-to-gene... The Americans just call it ‘Chemical Blue’. Its a chemical weapon the American scientists came up with about two weeks ago. It works by reacting with the Ribosugars in DNA, causing a nasty reaction inside the cell and slowly killing the victim from the inside. In the past, many humans have survived large scale chemical attacks. The idea behind this weapon was to make sure that NO ONE survived the attack. Because it reacts with cells, it can enter the body from anywhere and slowly spreads around the body until the whole body is destroyed. A simple gas mask can’t save you from this. Because this weapon reacts with cells, it also means that humans can’t survive by pot-luck that their bodies defenses save them, because the bodies defenses are cell based. It’s effective, easy to deploy and very very painful. We believe that the Americans plan to us this chemical soon and we need to know, where, when and how...” That was the end of my review presentation and I waited silently for some one to say something. “Well it is clear that we need to do something about this ‘Chemical Blue’. It’s a danger to your people. My ship and it’s ponies are standing by to help you...” stated Luna as she got up and walked towards me. “Thank you Luna but you don’t have to put any of your ponies on the line if you don’t want-” “Enough Courage...” she interrupted. “I want to help you” she said with a smile. “You’re our allies and we will do what we can to help. You did a great thing for us and I want to return the favour. Now... What will you have me do?” she said with another smile. “Okay!” I said loudly as I changed the slide to a picture of some kind of futuristic base. “This is Omega site. It’s a science base located in west Australia. It survived the war without taking any damage and is now being used as a communications hub to the American forces in Australia. That is where we will find my ‘Where, when and how’. We need to take three teams in to access three different terminals. I would normally have us all go in as one team and do each terminal separately but once we start hacking one terminal, we will only have 5 minutes before the whole system shuts down. It’s vital that we all hack them at the same time and crack the mainframe wide open for a data transfer. I was going to use a USB to download the information but that would be too slow for a 5 minute timer. With your permission Luna, I would like to modify your ships communications so I could transfer the data directly to your ship. It’s faster that way...” “Of course Commander... My ship is at your disposal” she replied with other smile. “Okay. We will split into three teams. Me, Liam, Russell, Rainbow and Applejack will be team one. We will drop from the sky and move in for the main terminal in the control centre. Our terminal is at the base of the tower...” I then turned to Twilight, “You up for hacking a human terminal?” “I think I can manage...” she replied with a confident smile. “Good. You’ll lead team two. Rarity, Pinkie and Blades will accompany you. You will sneak in through the south fence. Your terminal is in the building with the back up power generator. It’s quite close to the edge of the base so it shouldn’t be hard to sneak the whole way there...” “Right got it...” she said nodding her head. “I’ll take the third team...” suggested Luna. “Princess?!” we all said with shock. “I’ll take a team of ponies and move for the third terminal. It’s clear that you don’t have any idea who to put in the third team. I can take a team of Pony marines and make for the third terminal” “This could be risky Princess” I warned her. “It’s okay Courage. Since the war, I have been training myself and my soldiers. We can handle ourselves” she reassured me. “Okay. Princess will take a team of marines into the lower levels of the base. The main power generator under the base is where you’ll find the third terminal. You can access the lower levels through this building. There should be a maintenance access point in there” “Alright. I’m ready when you are. My ship will take us over Australia while we prepare and make the necessary changes to the ships systems” “Thank you Luna. You’re all dismissed” “Hang on just a darn minute! You said something about us dropping from the sky! Isn’t that a little risky?” “Well I can fly so I’ll be fine” gloated Rainbow Dash. “Yeah... We’ll the rest of us don’t...” complained Applejack. “We’ll I was hoping Luna had something for that...” looked at Luna with a cheeky smile. “Indeed I do Commander” replied Luna with a wink... “M2 Tactical Drop Pod: Capable of dropping a small team directly into a hot zone with minimal effort or risk...” said Luna proudly as we all looked at the large pod in awe. It could fit six soldiers and their equipment with no problem. Each passenger would stand, harnessed against the centre and would face their own exit. The pod was re-enforced with a thick titanium hull, counter-measure system for Anti-air defences and navigation computer by each seat so we could manipulate the pod as it fell. “Very nice Luna... Very nice...” I said, very impressed with the pod. “This is amazing princess...” said Twilight in awe. “Such technology. Such engineering. Such... Beauty...” said Rarity, also in awe. "It's a fucking metal pod" spurted out Liam. “Thank you. It is a prototype but the simulations do show that it is most definitely safe for field use” She then pointed a hoof along the whole bay, pointing at the many pods that lined up side by side, ready to drop. “As you can see, I’ve invested a lot into them. Hopefully this mission will confirm their usefulness to me” “Im impressed Luna. You’ve made a fair few upgrades to your ship. I can’t wait to see what else you’ve done to it” “Well there are many more surprises waiting for you Commander... In time...” she said suggestively. “So... How about them communication systems... I should probably mod those now” “Follow me Commander... The rest of you. Gear up for the mission. Me and the Commander will meet you in the hanger in 30 minutes. Me and Luna were now on the bridge. I was using her Captain’s computer to mod the ships communications. All the holo-screens and pads were now dark blue and purple with sparkles. In fact everything was blue and purple with white sparkles: The pods, the troops’ armour, the ship equipment; everything was themed to Luna. It was actually kind of pretty. Not exactly good camo in a fight though. “That should do it...” I informed Luna as I finalised the changes to the communication system. “That’s good. Shall we make our way for the hanger then?” “Of course Princess. No sense in waiting around” “I’ll meet you down there. I need to run off to the armoury and gear up. I also need to run a few things past my chain of command” she said as she began to walk out the room. “Okay then” I said nodding my head in agreement. I made it down to the hanger. The six ponies, Liam and Russell all loading their weapons and equipment. All their Kevlar armour and uniform was purple and blue with white sparkles. Even their weapons had the same colour scheme. Liam then waved at me and threw me a rifle. It was an M416 with the Luna camo. I walked up to them all, shaking my head and smirking. “Luna has taken this camo thing a little too far” I said with cheerful disappointment. I then looked up to see Liam clipping a small fire extinguisher to his vest. “Really Liam?” I said lifting my eye brow. “Hay! It saved us before... Twice!” he argued. “Well I can’t argue there...” I said with agreement. Fluttershy then walked up to us, medical saddle bags on her back. “R- Remember to be careful okay? My team of medics will be standing by on a transport if you need us” “Thank you Fluttershy” I thanked her gratefully. “I think we’ll be fine Fluttershy...” assured Rarity. “I have a feeling this mission will go swimmingly” “With me there kicking butt, nothing could go wrong!” boasted Rainbow as she flew around in circles, pretending to kick and punch people. “Remember not to get careless Rainbow. This is dangerous” said Applejack with concern. “Danger is my middle name! Rainbow Danger Dash!” “No its not silly. Everyone knows that your middle name is-” Rainbow then covered Pinkie’s mouth with her hoof, “Shh Pinkie” “Alright. Lets focus now girls. We’ve got a mission to complete” said Blades, loading his weapon. “Look alive girls” ordered Luna as she walked into the hanger. All the ponies instantly got serious and lined up in a row, standing on two hooves and saluting. Liam and Russell remained sitting on the boxes by the transport as I walked up to the princess to talk to her. “I hope your weapon is to your liking Commander” “It’s fine. I’m just surprised you have human weaponry on board. I would have thought you would only have the specially designed pony weapons” I stated with confusion. The pony weaponry was similar to human weaponry but had a few features that made it easier for ponies to carry. They had a metal strap attached to, what would be a hand guard for a human, the end of the gun which they would slide their hoof into, making the gun more secure in their hooves. The ponies would put their firing hoof into a hole near the bottom of the gun where the human trigger would normally be. To fire they would simply pull their hoof back against the flap. Not exactly the best design for a gun but... these are fucking ponies... It’s not easy to design a gun for such an awkward species. “Commander, you’re not in uniform. The mission starts in five. I suggest you get ready now. Head down to the armoury, one of my crew has prepared some human gear for you” “Let me guess... It’s all purple and sparkly...” Luna giggled, “Yes. It’s my army’s colour scheme...” she explained. I sighed and smiled. “Okay, I’ll go get ready. Applejack, gather my team and meet me at the pod bay” “Ah hear ya” she said with a salute. “I’ll finalise the plans while you get ready” informed Luna. “Alright! Lets move it ponies!” I entered the dark armoury. It was dark. I couldn’t see into this dark room of darkness. It was too dark. “Erm... Hello?!” I called out. “Luna sent me to get my armour” I waited for a response. Nothing. “Sure is dark in here...” I mumbled to myself. Suddenly the lights shot on and the room became dimly lit. I looked to the side to find Spike standing on a stool and his claw on the door panel. It was him that turn on the lights. He had an hateful frown on his face. “Hay Spike. Isn’t the lights supposed to be automatic?” “I turned them off. I was trying to sleep...” “Sleep? It’s like the middle of the day...” “I’m sorry but Twilight had me up all night to help her organise her quarters. I hid down here to get some sleep while you were all away on a mission. Why are you not gone yet?!” “I was just grabbing my gear from the armoury, sheesh” “Well hurry up! I’m very grumpy when I’m tried...” “Alright. I’ll be quick...” Spike returned to sleep on a bench, wrapping himself with his blanket. Down the middle of the room were rows of lockers; all with name tags on them and all with personalised computers on the doors that had Cutie Marks on the back ground. I guessed the Cutie Mark matched the user of the locker. Benches ran down between the lockers and the walls. Against the walls were high-tech weapons cabinets. All of them were locked at the moment except for one about halfway down the right side of the room. I approached the open cabinet dispenser thing, I lack the right word for it, and looked at the well set out armour, uniform and equipment; All of it in purple and blue with white sparkles. Claymores, grenades and Plastic explosives along with the Army Uniform and Kevlar armour. I put it all on and looked at myself in the mirror. “You know... This actually looks pretty cool” I grabbed some extra ammo and loaded up. I attached my pistol holster to my leg, clipped up my combat boots, activated my wrist computer and loaded my rifle. I was ready to go. I moved to walk out of the armoury. “Turn the lights off!” groaned Spike. I chuckled and turned off the automatic lighting. Spike looked so cute all huddled up in his blanket. “Alright, I’m on my way up to the pod” I said quietly into my ear piece. I made it to the pod. Liam and Russell had already harnessed themselves into it. Rainbow was just loading her rifle into the holster and Applejack was standing and waiting for me. “Sorry I’m late girls. I was just arming up” “No worries. Ah only just finished loading my gear too. Lets get going shall we?” “Of course Applejack. Lets load up people!” The two ponies got into place and locked themselves into the pod. I moved round and locked my rifle next to my seat and buckled up. “Everyone ready?!” I asked. “Yes” “Yes” “Ready” “All set” “Where’s my in-flight movie” asked Liam. I sighed and then turned to the pods computer. Luna appeared on screen. “Are you ready Commander?” she asked calmly. “Yep. Waiting on your orders” “Team Two and Three are already on the ground. They’re waiting for your pod to drop in and distract the guards. I’ve also got Spitfire and Soarin to cover your pods approach. They’ll use their rockets to clear the landing zone just before you touch down” “I thought you were with one of the teams?” I asked with confusion. Luna the lifted her rifle and loaded, “I am” she said with a wink. “Roger that” I replied with a smile. I then severed my communications with Luna and prepared the pod for launch. An A.I voice then began to speak through the pods speakers. “Preparing to launch...” “Alright everyone! Here we go!” cheered Liam. The A.I voice continued, “Dropping pod in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...” Chapter Three - Alpha to OmegaInitializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: Surprise Drop-in Location: ESS Dark Moon Mission Time: 00:01:12 Transmission Begin... “5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Pod launch...” Suddenly, I felt all my weight disappear as the pod dropped from the ship and launched us towards the planet. It was like that feeling you get when you go down in an elevator, the weird feeling in your body as your weight seems to get lighter. It was like that but much more intense. The pod began to enter the atmosphere and we started to get some turbulence. I was worried that the pod wouldn’t make it through the atmosphere seeing as it had never been field tested before. Out of my little window ahead of me, I saw a Wonder-bolt ship take position by the side of the pod as it went down with us. I looked at the pod computer and on it’s sensors I could see that two ships had formed up either side of us. The turbulence began to build up and a massive cone of fire formed around the pod as we entered the atmosphere. “Everyone Okay?!” I asked loudly into my earpiece. “I’m good” Replied Rainbow. “Me too” said Applejack. “Woooohoooo!” cheered Liam. “Now this is more like it!! I feel like an ODST from halo! Fuck yeah!” “Liam’s right! It’s just like halo!” agreed Russell joyfully. “You and your games” I laughed. “Shut up! You were a bigger halo fan than us!” “Fuck it! You’re right! It IS just like halo! Woohoo!” I cheered in return. We had passed the atmosphere and we were now falling towards the base. I was watching the screen as it showed us our decent. In the camera I could see us passing the cloud layer. Spitfire and Soarin flew under us and took position below our pod. “Missiles away” said Spitfire, her voice coming through our earpiece. Both the ships fired two missiles and pulled away. Our pod dropped close behind the rockets, getting close to the ground now. The missiles hit the ground and we followed only seconds behind. We hit the ground, the explosions from the missiles still unfinished. I grabbed my rifle and the doors blew open. I jumped out of the pod and crouched down in front of it. The smoke dissipated and I could now see the area around me. It was clear. The missiles had left a crater where we landed, many American soldiers dead or wounded around us. My team formed up round me, American soldiers moving up the road towards us with a Bradley APC. “Everyone move!” I ordered as I waved my arm to the door to my right. “Other teams! The enemy is distracted! Make your move!” I yelled into my earpiece as the Bradley opened fire on us. “Already on it” replied Luna. “Same here” informed Twilight with a hushed tone. We all moved quickly into the control centre, dodging Bradley fire as we did. We made it inside. I smashed the door’s control panel to seal it. “What’s with you and smashing things?” asked Russell. “Yeah. Have you considered anger management Courage?” said Liam with agreement. We found ourselves in a smallish hall that seemed to be the junction for three corridors. In the far right corner was an receptionist's desk. A hot blond girl sat in the seat behind it, looking at us in shock. My team spread out and covered the entrances while I approached the receptionist to talk. She was still looking at me in total shock, remaining complete silent and still. “Umm... Hi there... Can you tell me how to get to Terminal Junction 4-C?” She was still in shock, her mouth gaping. She just pointed down the near-by corridor timidly. “Thank you very much” I smiled enthusiastically. I then turned to the others. “Alright! Lets move!” We moved down the corridor and came out into a massive open room. It was just empty except for some massive generator type thing at the other end of it. It was huge and has a glass tube coming out of it as it ran up the wall and through the roof. The terminal I needed to access was just at the base of the machine and two American guards were by it, quickly trying to pull up their weapons. Liam and Rainbow swiftly aimed to take them down. I looked to the side to see more soldiers coming from down another corridor to the right. I fired a shot at the control panel of the door to the corridor and it sealed itself, leaving the guards stuck behind it. I then turned around and did the same thing to the corridor to the left of us, blocking more soldiers trying to get into the room. Russell sealed the door behind us and we all walked up to the massive machine. “That thing must go up the whole bloody tower” I speculated. I then shook my head and power walked up to the terminal. “Right. Lets get this done and get out of here...” I mumbled to myself. I then turned to my earpiece, “Twilight, Luna, you two in position?” “Hang on... Ah, I see the objective. Moving in to access now...” Twilight responded, still hushed. “My team has secured the objective. Waiting on your go Courage” informed Luna. “Alright good. Begin hacking now...” I began hacking into the terminal. Hopefully Me, Luna and Twilight would have the skills to break through the security. The 5 minute lock down had not yet initiated which was good, the security system wasn’t aware of us yet. “How we doing girls?” I asked into my earpiece, focusing hard on my rapid typing. “All good here. These holo-screens work well with my hooves.” replied Luna. “Urgh! I got stuck with a human keyboard” complained Twilight. “I have to use my magic to type...” “The lock down hasn’t started yet so we still have penti-” “System Lock Down initiated... Full system shut down in five minutes” echoed a female computer voice through the base. “Shit...never mind...” “Er, Courage. Ah hate to bother you but we’ve got company...” said Applejack as she pointed towards the left and right doors, sparks coming through the gaps. “They’re cutting through the doors, get ready team...” I ordered quietly as I re-focused on my keyboard. After a few second I heard the doors blow open and sudden bursts of gunfire. I remained focused as my team fought with the enemy. All I could hear was the sounds of gun fire but it only lasted 20 seconds. “Mr President... We have problem at Omega base” “What is it?!” “It’s Courage sir, and he’s brought a few friends with him. They are trying to access the mainframe...” “Hmm... This is very serious... Let me put on my war face... Hmm...” “Sir... I must tell you that the information he is trying to steal is very sensi-” “I know general!... Send in Alpha...” “Alpha sir?” “Yes...” “Clear!” “All clear!” “It’s foggy over here!!” shouted Liam. “Looks like we got them all Courage” Applejack informed me. “Okay, let me focus on my work...” “Four minutes till system shut down!” warned the computer voice. “Alright... I’ll let you fin-” Suddenly we heard heavy banging from the corridor behind us. We both turned to see massive dents coming through the door. Liam and Russell moved close and got ready to fire. “What the fuck is that...” I said to myself in fear. A few seconds past and more massive dents came through the door. Something was definitely trying to smash it’s way through. Russell and Liam were shuffling, gripping their guns hard, preparing to fire. Rainbow and Applejack stood up and aimed for the door also. Smash! The doors came crushing into the room, each door hitting Russell and Liam off their feet. Applejack an Rainbow lifted their weapons to fire but two laser shots came from the smoke and hit the ends of their weapons, damaging them to beyond use. After a few seconds an heavily armoured suit emerged from the smoke and approached Liam and Russell. It was humanoid, dark gray and had a green visor. It was pretty buff too, that is the best way to describe it, and it had such a rehearsed walk. Every step it took matched the last. It was holding two of Discord’s 277Y laser rifles in each hand. It was marked ‘Alpha’ on it’s chest in small white text. Liam and Russell grabbed their weapons and tried to get up. The hostile tossed it’s weapons to the side and approached Liam. Liam aimed at it but it grabbed his rifle, launched it into his face, pulled it from his hands and snapped the rifle on his knees. Russell aimed his weapon at the hostile but it threw one of the halves of the rifle at him with such force that it knocked Russell back down. It didn’t even look where it was throwing, it just knew where Russell was. Liam got up and swung at the hostile but it lent back to dodge his fist, grabbed his arm and launched it’s palm into Liam’s side. Liam’s eyes tightened as we heard his ribs crack from the force of the hit. Russell then jumped from behind to hit the hostile in the back of the head but it swung itself round, step to the side and, as Russell flew past, it smashed it’s elbow into his back. We heard more cracking of bones as Russell took the hit and thumped to the ground. “Three minutes till system shut down” warned the A.I. “Courage, this is Twilight, I finished the hack” Twilight’s voice coming through my earpiece. “Me too...” followed Luna’s voice. “We are going to make our way to the extraction point now” “Roger that Luna. My team will be there shortly. Good luck” “You two Commander” I turned to the two ponies, “Alright, I gotta start the data transfer. You two have to keep that thing busy while I work...” The suit turned to us sharply as it dropped Liam to the floor and slowly began to walk towards us. I then turned back to the terminal and continued to type away... Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 00:12:18 Diagnosis: Host Occupied Searching for New Host... Searching... Host Found... Connecting to New Host... Initializing... Target Host: Rainbow Dash Identification: Spectrum Delta Three Six Operation: Surprise Drop-in Location: Muranu, Australia Mission Time: 00:12:46 Transmission Begin... I raised my hooves, readying myself to fight this tough guy. Applejack looked worried but I was feeling confident. There was no way this little pip-squeak was going to beat me. I’m rainbow dash: The toughest, fastest pony there is! I never lose! “Ah have a bad feeling about this...” Applejack said raising her hooves slowly. “We can take him!” I grinned. Applejack was afraid of this thing. I was afraid she would wuss out. But I know Applejack... She never backs down from a challenge. I can use that to get her motivated... “Hay Applejack, a hundred bits say that I take this thing down first...” Yeah... That would be enough to get her going. Not that she’ll win or anything... you know... me being the best pony ever and all... “Is that a challenge?” she asked with a sly grin. “Yeah!” I replied. The creepy looking robot approached us and lifted its fists in front of itself. Me and Applejack nodded at each other and moved in for the robot. Applejack took the left while I took the right. We both swung at it with our hooves. The robot dodged my attack while using it’s right arm to block Applejacks attack. I missed so I was now behind the robot. It punched Applejack away and turned to punch me. I dodged my head and countered with a swing of my hoof. The robot lifted it’s knee to block my hoof and then punched me in the chin before I could react. I stumbled back but returned with a punch of my own. Applejack came at it from behind. The robot swiped it’s leg through my legs and then turned to punch Applejack in the stomach while she jumped at it. I got back up and tried to punch it in the back but it just spun round with its leg out and kicked me in the head. It then kicked me across the room. “One minute until system shut down...” I shook my head and looked back at the robot. Applejack threw a punch but it grabbed her hoof to stop her. It then used it’s other arm to throw a punch at Applejack, she pushed it aside before it hit her and she swung at the robots stomach. It raised its knee to block it, just like it did with me, and retaliated by jumping up and kicking her hard in the face. It then picked her up by the throat and drew a knife. I wasn’t about to let some metal head waste my friend! I jumped up and took flight. It swung to stab Applejack in the throat. Luckily I swooped in to saved the day! I flew down, kicked the knife from its hand and bucked it in the face. It dropped Applejack and stumbled back. I flew at it to attack. It swung at me but I dropped under its fist. I then punched it in the stomach with my hoof. It swung at me but I flew out the way and came behind it. I kicked it in the head, causing it to stumble forward a little. It swung its arm round to hit me but I ducked under it and punched it in the face. It turned around and tried to punch me but I flew out of its way. It tried to punch me again so I flew up high. I then grinned at it and then swooped down. It swung at me as I swooped past, missing by a long shot. I flew past again and it tried to punch me again, missing again. It looked around for me and that’s when I took it by surprise. I flew down and flew right through it’s legs, tripping it up. I tried to fly away but as I passed it, it grabbed my wing and pulled me down. It then rolled onto it’s stomach and got up, still crushing my wing with its hand. “Get off me!” I demanded. It then pulled me towards it and grabbed me by the throat. It punched me once and threw me to the ground. I couldn’t fly away because it had crushed my wing. I rolled over onto my back and watched it approach me with its knife. It raised its knife to stab me but then Courage came from the side and tackled the thing to the ground. I got up and moved to help up Applejack. Re-establishing Connection to Host... Connecting to Host... Initializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: Surprise Drop-in Location: Muranu, Australia Mission Time: 00:16:12 Transmission Begin... I was now face to face with this thing. The others were in no condition to fight. From what I had seen and heard, this wasn’t going to be an easy fight. I threw the first punch, it just swiped my arm to the side and punch me in the side. I retreated and tried again, it dodged again but this time it grabbed, punched me in the chest, pulled me close to elbow me in the head and finished my by kicking me in the... “OOWWW! FUCK! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!?” I yelled out loud, holding onto my crouch. I was now on my knees in horrible pain. The thing walked up to me holding it’s knife. It swung to stab but I grabbed its arm and tried to take the knife. It just kicked me in the head, knocking me onto my back. “Three!” yelled a crazed voice. The robot then came under attack by a spray of foam. Liam had his fire extinguisher out and he was not afraid to use it. The suits visor became covered in foam and it was trying to rub it off while at the same time trying to block the stream of foam attacking it. I got up and tripped it up. It rolled back as I tried to hit it with my knife. It ran at me and tried to punch, I blocked it with my lower arm and countered with a roundhouse kick. It stumbled back as I hit it and I moved to punch it again. It swiped my arm to the side and tried to punch back. I blocked the attack with my arm so it tried to kick me. I block the kick with my knee and then pushed it back with my foot. It moved to attack again but then Liam hit it in the back of the head with his fire extinguisher. Its head flinch and then turned sharply towards Liam. “Oh... It worked better in the movies...” said Liam with a really bad smile. It started to walk up to Liam, Liam trying to back away at the same time. “Hay... Hay... C’mon... In all fairness you did break my ribs... It’s only fair that I get to hit you back... Oh... Alright! You wanna fight?! I’ll fight!” Liam put his fists up and started to wave them around like a boxer. “C’mon! I’ll bop ya one! Yeah!” Liam threw a punch at it but it grabbed his arm and twisted it. Liam tried to punch with his other arm but it just swiped it to the side, strafed behind him and kicked him in the back of the knee. It the kicked him towards me. I jump rolled over Liam’s flying person and tried to attack the suit. The suit dodged to the side and punched me in the side again. I swung again at it but it ducked, grabbed my head and kneed me in the face. It then 360 kicked me away. I looked up and Russell stepped over me holding the two laser rifles the suit had. He fired both of them at the suit and the suit ran across the room to dodge them. The suit ran up to Russell as it drew a laser pistol. They both started to fire at each other, one of Russell’s rifles getting hit as they got close to each other. Russell jumped up and kicked it back and fired a few shots. It managed to dodge the shots and run round him. “Lets go! We need to all hit this thing at once!” Me Liam and the ponies moved up to aid Russell. Russell fired a few shots as the suit jumped at him. He missed and the suit moved to kick him. Russell blocked the kick with the rifle and fired another shot. It dodged the shot and kicked the rifle from Russell’s hand. I drew my pistol and started to fire at it. It looked round at us and ran at us. I continued to fire but I missed all six shots. It then jumped an kicked me back. Liam moved to punch it but it grabbed his arm and elbowed the inside of it. It the kicked him away as Applejack jumped to punch it in the head and Rainbow came from the side to punch it in the chest. It swiped its leg up to kick Applejack and then turned to block and counter Rainbows attack. Rainbow was punched away and I moved to attack again. I threw a punch but it ducked, slid through my legs, kicked Liam who was behind me and then spun to kick me in the back. Russell fired his pistol but it jumped to the side and charged at him. It tackled him to the ground, picked him up, threw him in the air and kicked him across the room. Me and Liam got up and aimed our pistols. We had it now... “Freeze!!” shouted voices behind us. We all froze as we heard the loading and toting of guns behind us. “Ah fuck...” “You’re all under arrest!!” shouted one of the soldiers behind us. “Yes! We are under a vest!” replied Liam. “We’re army men! It’s what army men wear! God!” “Liam... that was a terrible joke...” I sighed. “Shut up...” he replied. I then looked up at the large machine. “Nothing ventured... Nothing gained...” I said to myself. I pointed my pistol at the large machine and fired a few shots at the control panels. It all began to spark up. “What the fuck! Shoot them men! Shoot them all!” shouted the soldier. “Applejack!” I yelled as I threw a live flash bang at her. Liam turned and opened fire with his side arm. Applejack bucked the flash bang as it flew behind her and launched it at the enemy soldiers. We all hit the deck to dodge their fire and cover our eyes. The flash bang went off and the fire stopped. We all got up and looked towards the machine as it started to explode. The Alpha was knocked over by an explosion. “We gotta go now!” I shouted. “Courage! You’re hit..” Applejack pointed to a gun shot wound in my arm. “Eh, it’s just a flesh wound. Now we’ve gotta go!!” We all ran back down the corridor, explosions all around us as the machine over loaded. We ran as fast as we could to make it back to the main entrance. “Why is this corridor so fucking long!!” complained Russell. “Just keep running!” We came close to the exit now. The receptionist was trying to get through the locked door which we sealed on our way in. “Get away from the door!” I yelled. Russell drew his rocket launcher and aimed for the door. The receptionist got well away from the door. I looked back to see a massive flame rushing down the corridor. “Russell Now!!” I shouted in panic. He fired the rocket just as we got close, I grabbed the receptionist on our way past, and we blasted through the door. We all immediately hit the deck as the flame came bursting through the door frame behind us. After a few seconds we all rolled onto our backs to look back at the tower. It was going to collapse. The Bradley was still up the road too and had begun to fire at us again. “Fuck it! Run for the extraction point!” We all turned away from the enemy tank and ran. Massive explosive rounds began to hit the ground around us, tearing up the road violently as the tank tried to hit us. We ran round the corner and headed away from the collapsing tower. There were buildings either side of the road: Bunkers, barracks and fueling stations. American troops soon noticed us and fired on us. We got down behind some crates on the side of the road. Man I love crates. Always around when we needed them. We returned fire for a minute, taking down as many enemy troops as possible, Rainbow and Applejack just keeping their heads down since their guns were destroyed. With only our side arms and my one assault rifle, we didn’t get very many kills. After a while, the Bradley turned the corner behind us. Another Bradley was coming from up the road and an Abrams tank was exiting the fueling station to the right. “Shit!” I yelled. “What do we do now?!” asked Applejack in panic. The Abrams fired at the crates we were hiding behind and blew them all over the place. We were knocked back by the blast. The Bradleys also started to fire on us. The ponies and Liam ran into the barracks that was next to us. Russell fired a rocket at the Bradley behind us and destroyed it. The Abrams fired again and hit the ground near Russell’s feet. Russell fell, giving an out cry of pain. Under heavy fire, I got up and grabbed his vest and started to pull him into the barracks. Liam tried to cover me as best as possible. Russell was really heavy with all his equipment so it took a lot of effort to pull him. I could feel my stitches on my chest starting to give out from the strain. It had only been a few days since I got hit by that sniper and Fluttershy warned me not to put myself under too much pressure. I finally managed to pull him inside and we were safe from the enemy fire. The Abrams began to fire on the building, taking a huge chunk out of the wall. “Quick! Out the back!” Applejack ordered as she picked up Russell with her back. “I’m fine! I can still walk” insisted Russell as he rolled off her back again, falling onto his knees. The Abrams fired again and took out another piece of wall, leaving us exposed to the enemy soldiers again. “Go! I’ll cover you!” I shouted as I took aim and fired at the enemy with my weapon. They all ran out the back as I covered them. After a few seconds I got up and followed, walking backwards and still returning fire. We were now out back and found ourselves in the gap between two rows of buildings. “Just keep heading in that direction! The extraction point is at the west fence by Building DF-2!” “What about you?!” asked Applejack in concern. “You’re in no condition to fight! I’ll cover your escape!” “I’m staying with you bitch!” insisted Liam with a chuckle. “Fuck am I letting you get all the kills” The ponies and Russell made their escape. American soldiers started coming out of the buildings, firing at us as they took cover behind boxes and against the wall corners. Me and Liam started walking back slowly, returning fire as we covered the others escape. “This was the worst plan ever!” complained Liam. “I have to agree... It was pretty stupid!” “Watch out! Behind us!” “Oh shit!” “Sir... They are escaping the base...” “Is the Aircraft Carrier Aurora in place?” “Yes sir, it’s standing by” “Destroy the base...” “But sir, Omega site is a vital as-” “Just do it...” “Er yes sir... Aircraft carrier Aurora, you are free to release birds. Target the Omega site, full arsenal authorisation Delta, Two, Six, Four, Four, Eight, Red Ranger. How copy?...” “C’mon! Lets go!” shouted a pony soldier as he covered our approach to the transport. Twilight and Luna’s team opened fire on the Americans. Luna was not with them. “Where’s Luna?!” I asked with worry. “She stayed behind to cover our escape! She said she would be right behind us!” “Fuck! Take the rest of my team and go!” “But...” “I said Go!! I’m going back for Luna!” Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 00:26:28 Diagnosis: Host Migration in Progress... Migrating... Host Found... Connecting to New Host... Loading Playback... Initializing... Target Host: Luna *//#Data Missing#//* Identification: Lundi Shadow Two Two Operation: Surprise Drop-in Location: Muranu, Australia Mission Time: 00:11:50 Transmission Begin... “Three minutes till system shut down” warned the A.I. “Courage, this is Twilight, I finished the hack” Twilight’s voice coming through my earpiece. “Me two...” I informed straight after her. “We are going to make our way to the extraction point now” “Roger that Luna. My team will be there shortly. Good luck” “You two Commander” I turned to look at my royal marines. They were securing the room while I hacked the terminal. “Soldiers report!” I demanded Gracefully. One of the marines got up and approached me. “Its all clear Ma’am” he said, saluting me with his forehoof. “Ready your colts! We’re moving out” I then turned to my earpiece and began to speak to the extraction pilot, “Fleetfoot! We are ready for extraction!” “Roger that Ma’am. I’m leaving the hanger now” I let go of my earpiece and dropped my hoof back to the floor. “We’ve got company!” warned one of my royal marines. My royal marine then started to fire down the corridor he was responsible for. “And we are leaving...” I responded. I then turned to my Captain, “Captain, have your colts pull back slowly. We still have a few minutes to exhaust while we wait for Courage to finish the upload” “Roger that Ma’am. Alright! You heard the mare! Protocol Alpha Buck Two! Pull back slowly and cover each other!” We wasted a few minutes pulling back through the maintenance levels of the base. The human soldiers were trying to close in on us but my royal marines had much more advanced training. My team of six had taken down almost twelve of the human soldiers without any casualties. I had killed six more human soldiers with my double assault rifles and my levitation powers. “Ma’am! They’re pulling back!” “Good work! Lets pull back quickly before they return” I ordered again. We were almost out of the sub-levels now. We had been clear of humans for two minutes. We were now at the final double door that stood between us and the maintenance access stairwell. “Get that door open!” I ordered. “Ma’am! They locked it down! I’m going to have to run a bypass...” “Do it!” The rest of my royal marine took cover to cover the soldier as he hacked the door. “Incoming!” shouted one of my marines. We started to take fire from across the room as human marines took cover and fired on us. I crouched down for cover and used my levitation to fire my assault rifles. My soldiers returned fire, trying to cover the vanurable soldier that was hacking the door. Some of the humans soldiers went down, more still coming through the doors. “Hurry up with that door!” I shouted. “Almost there!” replied the soldier who was tapping rapidly at his tablet. I focused on my fire again. One of my marines beside me then took a hit and fell back, bleeding heavily. I dropped my rifles and moved to help him. I pressed my royal hooves against his wound, trying to stop the bleeding. “Come on soldier! Your service days are not over yet!” I said with a bossy tone, but still sounding slightly comforting. He didn’t respond but instead just looked at me in pain. “I said your not dieing! That’s an order!” I commanded. I then turned to one of my other soldiers and pointed to the wounded colt, signalling him to help him up. “I got the door!” The doors opened quickly and we were instantly bombed with more bullet fire from behind the door. The soldier that hacked the door and one of the other soldiers were instantly hit. I raised a shield immediately to cover us from the fire that was coming from the other room. “Princess! One of our troops are down and two are bleeding out! Only three of us are left standing! We need to get out of here!” warned one of my troops. I stomped my two fore-hooves forward and my shield turned into a shock wave, the wave blasting into the next room and knocking back all the human soldiers. “Go! Get the wounded out of here! I’ll cover you!” I shouted as I re-levitated my rifles and loaded them. “What about you Princess?!” “I’ll be right behind you!” My soldiers picked themselves up and moved for the exit of the base’s sub-levels. I turned to the human soldiers and began to fire back, walking back slowly as I covered the troops. The human soldiers advanced on my position, moving from cover to cover as they got close. I managed to take down many of them but they kept coming. My troops were now clear and I was slowly backing towards the access point, continuing to gun down the human soldiers. More humans came from the rooms to the side and opened fire on me. I formed a shield on each side of me to protect myself, still firing in front of me to keep the other humans back. My shields took heavy fire and I was finding it hard to sustain them. I was slowly getting weaker, walking slower as I focused so hard to sustain my shielding. That was when it was all over. I took a shoot to my front leg and I collapsed to my knees, my shield collapsing with me. I then took two shots to the side and I fell to my side. “She’s down! Move in!” I heard one of the human marines say as I hit the floor and began to pass out. My vision became darkened as two humans looked down at me. One of them looked at me and grinned evilly. “Not so mighty and powerful now are you” he grinned. He then raised his rifle and aimed for my eye. I was now staring down the barrel of his weapon. “Good night princess” he grinned. I jumped in fright as I heard a gun shot go off. I then heard another, and then another. The human soldier that had me at gun point fell to the floor, multiple bullet wounds to the chest. All the human soldiers lifted their weapons up but most of them began to take shots too. The few that didn’t get shot ducked for cover. Suddenly I felt someone begin to lift me off my side. I turned to see Courage helping me up with one hand while aiming his rifle with the other. “C’mon Luna! On ya feet!” He said, struggling to help me up. “You came back for me?!” I asked in surprise. We began to take fire and Courage started to shoot back. “Of course I did! You’re a friend, and friends don’t leave each other behind!” He helped me onto my feet and wrapped one of my fore-legs around his neck. “Friend?” I said in confusion. “Yeah! You’ve done enough to earn that title.. Now come on! Up to go!” I stood up as straight as I could, still bleeding heavily and he began to walks us backwards, still taking fire from the other human soldiers. He fired a few shots more before we started to hear the clicking noise of the firing pin. “I’m out!” he yelled. I then used what little strength I had left to use my levitation powers to reload his weapon while he carried me. He continued to fire again, backing us towards the stairs, getting very close to them now. The enemy soldiers moved in from all directions, taking cover behind pipes and pumping machinery. Courage then dropped me for a second and took out a grenade, pulling the pin and throwing it towards the enemy. He clipped his gun to his chest and grabbed me with both hands, standing me up on my hind legs, and began to walk me up the stairs quickly as the grenade blew up behind us. He kicked open the maintenance door and walked us to the exit of the building. We staggered out of the building and into the road. Troops and tanks coming either side and firing at us. I looked up to find artillery shells coming in from above and many planes in the distance, coming in fast towards us. Courage just drew his pistol and fired to the right as he ran us across the road and in between some buildings. The artillery shells began to shower the base, explosions all around us destroying the buildings, bullet fire coming from behind us and tanks driving up the side of the buildings, trying to shoot us between the gaps. A helicopter hovered over head and fired at us with its machine gun. The buildings provided us with good cover but the buildings were being torn apart quickly. We ran out into another road and stopped for a second. One of my transports flew over our heads and began to hover above a building not far ahead of us. “This is Fluttershy! Get your flanks aboard now!” she yelled down our earpieces. Her voice then became soft, “Um... that is... if you don’t mind...” Courage then started to run us towards the building, the artillery fire still bombing the base and the enemy soldiers still firing at us from behind. He ran us down between another few buildings and then we approached the building which Fluttershy was hovering above. Courage walked me inside and started to walk me up the stairs. On the third set of stairs now, we were slowly climbing. Then a massive explosion came blasting through the wall, causing the stairs below us to instantly collapse and making the ones ahead of us very unstable. Courage rushed us up as the rest of the stair well began to fall apart. “Hurry! We can’t take much more fire!” warned Fluttershy loudly. Courage then stumbled as a stair below his foot gave in. We nearly fell but luckily he grabbed the railing before we did and managed to save us. He walked us round the hole and continued to walk us up the stairs. We burst through the roof access door and limped for the transport. The back of the transport opened up and two of my soldiers stood either side, waving their hoof to hurry us up. The transport was slowly hovering away, slowly floating over the edge of the building. The building then started to collapse as it took more artillery fire, the roof caving in behind us. We got close to the transport, the ground below us cracking at our feet. “Come on! We have to go!” shouted one of the soldiers. The transport was now hovering over the edge of the building now. Courage then gripped me and threw me across the gap between the building and the transport. I crashed down inside the transport and quickly looked to the side to see if Courage made it. I panicked for a second when I didn’t see him, gasping loudly, but soon let go of my breath when I saw one of my soldiers lift him into the transport. “We’re in! Go!” Courage shouted as he pulled himself in. “We have hostile planes inbound!” shouted a voice from the cockpit. I began to pass out from my wounds that still oozed blood from my sides. “Princess!” panicked Courage. He then looked to the two soldiers and pointed at me, “Help her now!!” He then quickly moved to the cockpit as I slowly slipped out of consciousness. Chapter Four - There's a Bravo too?Initializing... Target Host: Fluttershy Identification: Tender Angel Three One Operation: Surprise Drop-in Location: Muranu, Australia Mission Time: 00:37:21 Transmission Begin... “Okay Fluttershy! Go!” shouted Courage unnecessarily loudly. “I’m going” I replied quietly. I took hold of the flight stick in my hooves and began to start up my ship's thrusters. I carefully pushed forward and started to fly away as the human planes approached. “Ma’am! Hostiles in bound!” shouted the Co-pilot. “I know. Please, be quiet while I fly” I asked quietly and politely. I flew us away from the base as it was destroyed by those mean planes. The planes began to chase after us which I thought wasn’t very nice. Luckily Rainbow Dash taught me how to fly these ships so I should hopefully be okay. The planes continued to get closer. I began to worry when my ship began to take fire from their nasty machine guns. “Fluttershy!” yelled Courage who stood in the cockpit doorway. “I’m doing my best Courage” I replied softly. “We cannot head back to the ship without taking care of those planes! We’ll have no cover in the sky! We need to shake them off...” Courage then went silent for a moment as he tapped away at his wrist computer. “Head for the city of Rockhampton! We can use the buildings for cover, just as exodia did back in Russia. It should only be a few clicks north east from here!” “Um... Clicks?” I asked quietly in confusion. “Sorry, human talk, it’s not far from here... Now go! Before the planes catch up!” “I- Um... Okay...” I did as he said and started to fly north east, the planes still chasing us. I flew low to the ground for cover, at least I think it was for cover. Rainbow taught me to fly low in any pursuit so I did. We began to take more machine gun fire. “Ma’am! The ship's hull is damaged and we are leaking coolant from the engine pods” warned the co-pilot. A red light started to flash angrily at me. “I-Um... Think that means missile lock... What should I do?!” I looked at my screen in panic as the human planes fired missiles. I didn’t know what to do. This was too much pressure for me. I then heard Rainbow’s voice echo in my head... “Use the flares Fluttershy...” “Flares! Got it!” I said aloud and confidently. I deployed my flares and the missiles went off course. The human planes continued pursuit. I closed my eyes and I started to think about Rainbow and her training course. It was now time to use those skills, for my friends. “Fluttershy!” yelled Courage again. The light began to flash again but I was not intimidated by it this time. I grinned confidently as the missiles approached. I pulled back on the flight stick harshly and flipped the ship upside down, flying over the missiles as they passed. I then used my air-brakes to slow us right down to let the human planes pass. Another missile came from behind but I rolled us over to the side to dodge and then turned on my boosters to get away fast. “Phwoar!! Nice moves Fluttershy!” Incited Courage. “Um... Thanks” I said with joy. I then locked onto the two planes ahead of us. I didn’t want to hurt them so I used the smallest missiles possible and aimed for the left wings. I started to take more machine gun fire from behind so I flew side to side to avoid as much of it as I could. Rainbow always told me to keep swerving side to side when under fire. I finished my lock on and fired two missiles at the planes ahead. They both deployed their flares and slowed down to let me pass. “Ma’am! We have five planes on our six and we only have two more sets of flares!” The human planes fired more missiles and I responded by deploying flares. Most of them went for the flares and I rolled to dodge the last few. “Ooo... Why do they have to be so mean!” I complained quietly. Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 00:41:15 Diagnosis: Host Migration in Progress... Migrating... Host Found... Connecting to New Host... Initializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: Surprise Drop-in Location: Rockhampton, Australia Mission Time: 00:41:28 Transmission Begin... “Ma’am! We are still two minutes out from the city and they are locking on again!” “Oh no... What do I do?!” panicked Fluttershy quietly. “Fuck it! Slow us down and open the hatch!” I ordered as I walked to the back of the ship. I walked into the back, loading my assault rifle. I then looked to Luna who was barely holding onto life. She had been revived by the pony soldiers and all three were now strapped in their seats. I smiled at Luna softly. She struggled a smile for a few seconds before dropping her head to the side and closing her eyes. The hatch opened and I walked to the edge. “What are you doing?!?” shouted one of the pony soldiers. “I’m saving our arses!” I replied. “But you’ll die!” “I’ve done this before so calm yo tits!” “I’m coming with you then!” He insisted aggressively. “It’s not safe!” He then fluttered his wings, grinning, “I can fly...” I smiled and nodded at him. I then looked out the back and prepared to jump with the Pegasus soldier. “Fluttershy! Get above one of them!” I shouted. A missile then flew past as the ship lurched to the side. “I’m trying my best!” The ship then slowed down considerably and I looked out as a plane flew low, coming towards us. “Ready... JUMP!” I jumped down as the plane came flying past. I landed down on the plane, landing hard, stumbling straight away and nearly falling off the back. The speed this thing was going made it impossible to stand on. Luckily I had grabbed onto the planes vertical stabiliser before I flew off behind it. Ahead I could see Fluttershy’s transport. The plane was lining up for attack run and Fluttershy had no more flares left. “Fuck it!” I yelled as I pulled off a block of C4 from my chest and planted it on the planes hull. I let go of the plane and set off the C4, blowing up its engines and causing it to lose control. I looked back as I flew backwards towards another plane. I hit his canopy and bounced off it and behind him. I grabbed his right wing quickly. My hand stopped me but I must have seriously damaged my wrist when I grabbed on. I felt a massive pain surged through my arm as the massive amount of momentum in me came to a sudden stop. “Ah! Fuck!!” I screamed as I felt my arm nearly pull from its socket. “Ah fuck my arm!! Jesus fucking Christ!!” I grabbed hold on the wing with my right arm and attempted to pull myself off the edge. I grabbed hold a ladder bar and pulled myself up. It was sort of a ladder, more like bars that were set out for the engineers to hold onto when they repaired the plane. I pulled myself up and wrapped my right arm around the bar. I then began to climb the bars towards the cockpit. I looked forward when I got close to the cockpit and found that we were now entering the city. Fluttershy’s transport was heavily damaged: The thrusters were fading on and off as if they were about to fail, many of the systems below the hull had blown open and burst into flames and its left wing was in flames and barely hanging onto the rest of the ship. She flew between some buildings, swerving side to side as the plane I was on began to fire its machine guns. I lifted my rifle and fired at the glass canopy that covered the cockpit. The plane quickly jolted to the side towards a building as the pilot flinched at the gun fire. The right wing began to scrape against some buildings but the pilot soon regained control and pulled away. He then looked at me with a frown. He broke his pursuit of Fluttershy and flew high. He then began to barrel roll around in an attempt to shake me off his plane. The sudden jolt caused my arm to bounce up and lose grip of the bar. As I fell, I managed to wrap my left arm around another bar, the force causing me even more pain. “Ah!! My fucking arm!!” The pilot tried again and started to do all kinds of crazy stunts to shake me off. All the movement was causing me intense pain in my arm. I could feel that my arm was about to give out on me. I quickly gripped my rifle with my right arm and aimed for the pilot. My arm finally gave out and I slipped off the plane and began to fall. Just as I did, I raised my rifle and fired at the pilot, killing him. I watched for a few seconds as the plane fell from the sky. I then rolled myself round to watch my decent. “Fuck fuck fuck!” I mumbled to myself loudly in concern. I came close to the ground but I was surprised when my speed began to drop. Something was pulling on my vest. I looked above me and the Pegasus soldier had grabbed hold of me with all four of his hooves. “Fuck am I glad to see you!!” I sighed with overwhelming relief. “I told you you would die...” he chuckled. “Where’s Fluttershy?!” “She’s fine! I took care of the other planes and she will meet us on top of that tall building ahead” I looked ahead to see Fluttershy landing on top of the building ahead. “Okay good! Good work” The Pony soldier flew us back to the transport that was parked on top of the skyscraper. Fluttershy instantly came out to see us. We approached her and the transport but we all froze when we heard screeching and clanking from the building we stood on. We all looked at each other, completely silent and in shock. “Maybe we should get off this building before it collapses...” I suggested eventually. “Agreed...” said the pony soldier. We climbed on board the transport quickly and carefully, Fluttershy returning to the pilot seat and timidly starting the engines. We lifted off from the building and took flight into the air, the transport lurching heavily from the punishment it took. “Take us home Fluttershy...” I said with relief, feeling safe now. I looked at Luna and sat down in the seat next to her. She didn’t look like she was breathing so, out of concern, I checked if she was still alive. I pressed one hand against her forehead and another in front of her mouth. Her head was still warm and I could slightly feel her breath, which was good because it meant she was still alive. She lifted her head gingerly and her eyes fluttered open slowly. She struggled a smile and I smiled back. “You okay Luna?” I asked slowly with a loving smile. “Thanks to you, I’m fine” she smiled back. “We’ll have you back soon and Fluttershy will patch you up” I assured her. “Thank you...” she said, closing her eyes again as she dozed off to sleep again. I brushed my hand across her forehead to brush away her mane from her face, “Sleep well Princess” I got up from my seat and moved to the cockpit. “So Fluttershy? What happened to that medical team you said you would have on this transport” I asked. “Well... I um... left them on the ship to patch up the others when they landed” I sighed, “Well I guess that makes sense. Luna could have really used them earlier though” “I’m Sorry” apologised Fluttershy. “It’s okay. You had to make a decision and you made it. Luna’s fine so it doesn’t matter now. Just get her back soon” “I’m on it Courage” Transmission End... Mission Time: 00:47:04 Mission Success... Mission Debrief: All three teams accomplished their goals and data retrieval was achieved. Luna’s team had one casualty; Pvt. Bino Circuit was killed instantly by American fire after hacking open a door. His actions saved Luna and her team. Pvt. Quiltin Ink and Sgt. Moody Ranger of Luna’s team were also hit and were wounded in battle. They were rushed to the infirmary and treated as soon as they returned to the ship with the other teams. Luna and Courage arrived later on Fluttershy’s transport as Courage returned to Luna’s mission zone to rescue her from the enemy. Both were heavily wounded in the fight and were also brought to the infirmary for treatment. Un-Authorised Transmission Incoming... Connecting... Initializing... Target Host: Gavriil Gularin Identification: Huskey Bravo One Four Operation: Bunker Down Location: Volokolamsk, Russia Mission Time: 00:28:33 Transmission Begin... “Okay Comrades... Hold here...” I ordered quietly as I raised my fist by my head. We waited in the tall grass as two Abrams and a few American soldiers walked past us. We hid patiently in the tall grass just beside the road, the patrolling Americans completely oblivious to our existence. After a while, the patrol passed. “Okay... Lets move Spetsnaz” I ordered with a hushed tone as I waved my hand forward. We moved across the road slowly, looking both ways to check we were clear, and took cover in the tall grass on the other side. My team made it across. “Okay... Lets keep moving” I whispered into my earpiece. “So where’s your British friend Gavriil?” asked a voice in my earpiece. “He is running an op in Australia” I replied “Why didn’t you go with him?” “I only operate in Russia. I only worked with him on the last mission because it was on our soil. I will not leave Russia until I know that she and her people are safe” “There is one thing I must know... How did you and him escape those American fighters in your last mission?” “Stay focused on the mission Demetri...” I ordered, trying not to get irritated. We continued to move through the vegetation towards the objective. The moonlight shined brightly, illuminating the darkness that filled the night. No animals could be seen or heard except for the crickets that chirped in the night. Much of this forest was spared by the destructive war that once held the planet with a firm grip. Much of it was still lush and alive. “What are we doing again?” Demetri asked. “We are investigating this American outpost. An outpost this close to Moscow is a threat and also very suspicious” I explained. “What are the Americans doing here? Aren't we technically at peace with the Americans?” asked a different voice. “Yes but clearly they don’t see it like that...” I implied. “They are definitely up to something here and we need to stop them before they bring harm to the last of our people” “Of course Gavriil” agreed the soldier. We exited the treeline and approached the fence of the American outpost. The Americans were using an old warehouse as the outpost, many trucks and tents were set up around it. There were not many soldiers moving around inside the perimeter and the choppers were landed at the fueling station. They were not expecting company. “Moskvin, the spray...” I ordered. One of my team members moved in front of me and approached the fence. He took out a spray can and sprayed the fence, spraying a shape of a circular door frame into it. He put the spray can away and began to pull on the fence. The fence broke where it was sprayed and the soldier pulled down on it to make an easy entrance through the fence. “Good job... Lets move...” I said, looking back at my team and tilting my head towards the warehouse. We all moved through the fence and into the enemy perimeter. We remained unseen as we moved through the base and towards the warehouse. Most of the guards were either asleep, talking, playing games or messing with equipment. It made sneaking past them all very easy. Trust the Americans not to pay attention. We did eventually make it past the tents and trucks and we moved into the warehouse. There were a few crates and trucks in here along with the pre-war manufacturing machinery. It was lightly guarded in here. Actually, it wasn’t guarded at all. “What are we looking for?” asked Demetri. “We are looking for an entrance to a nuclear storage bunker” I replied. “You mean like a bunker for storing nuclear waste?” gasped Moskvin in shock. “No! It was a bunker used for storing multiple tanks and rocket launchers, you know, for use after a nuclear war” I explained. “Oh I see. So the Americans are here to steal that stuff for use against Moscow?” speculated Demetri. “Most likely... Now spread out and look for some kind of hatch or concealed door” I ordered. My team spread out and looked around for the entrance to the bunker. I walked around on the main floor for a bit, taking a scan of the warehouse with my eyes, trying to look for clues. “Sir! I found something!” yelled one of my team members. We all rushed to the sound of the voice and we all walked into a shipping office. The soldier that yelled was standing by a desk and looking under it. “What is it Crokov?” I asked. “Look at this...” Crokov replied, pointing to a hatch under the desk. “Looks like you found it...” I said with a smile, patting him on the shoulder. “C’mon. Lets get down there” We climbed into the hatch and down the ladder deep under the warehouse. At the bottom, I found myself standing in a small narrow corridor. The corridor ended right where the ladder was and not far down the other end was a large sealed door. Everything was white and shiny down here. By the sealed door was a small numbered keypad. That keypad was obviously the way to unlock the door. I slowly approached the door as the rest of my team made it down the ladder. “Quite impressive...” said Moskvin as he walked beside me. “Yes. Quite...” I approached the keypad and started to press buttons. “3, 7, 2, 4” I said aloud as I pressed at the keypad. The massive vault door reversed from the frame and rolled to the side, revealing a massive open vault room. Automatic lights began to flick on and the darkness was soon cast away... and what we saw in the light, stunned us. Weapon crates were spread out across the room, columns of tanks lined up side by side in the hundreds, cruise missiles hung from the roof ready for loading, MRLS vehicles loaded to the brim with rockets and more bombs than a terrorist would know what to do with. “Woah!” we all said in awe as we walked into the enormous metal room. “Look at all this equipment!” gasped Moskvin. “This is amazing! The people of Moscow could really use this stuff!” incited Demetri. “This...” I was lost for words. This stuff could go a long way to defeating Discord’s forces and fighting back the Americans. “Sir? Are you okay?” asked Crokov. “This... This is...” I was smiling so much. My smile then suddenly disappeared, “This is bad... We can’t let the Americans get a hold of all this. We need to get a transmission back to command and have them secure this site” “I’m on it sir...” replied Crokov as he pulled out his tablet computer. “I don’t think so...” said a smug voice behind us. The voice sounded old but very charismatic... and familiar. “Jettison...” I said with a frown as I turned around. Stood there was the smug rat that called himself the American President. He was in his blue suit, red tie, and holding his briefcase. Next to him stood some kind of armoured suit. It was humanoid, dark gray and had a green visor. It was butch and was marked ‘Bravo’ on it’s chest in small white text. “I want to thank you for helping me get in here. My men couldn’t get passed the lock...” he said smugly. “We didn’t help you, you took advantage of us!” “I don’t care what you call it. I now possess all the equipment I need to build an invasion force” he taunted, grinning slightly. “We’ll never let you take Moscow! We will stop you!” threatened Crokov, failing to sound intimidating. “You think these are for Moscow? Oh no my Russian friend... I have bigger plans for these tanks...” he grinned with an evil chuckle. “Too bad your plans will never come into action” I said, priming my AK. “You think you can stop me?!” he laughed. “We are Spetsnaz! The most elite soldiers on the planet!” I called out. “...Until now... Show them Bravo...” The armoured suit approached us slowly. He didn’t draw any of his weapons. Me and my team prepared to shoot. “This must be a joke! One soldier against us?” questioned Moskvin. “Never underestimate your enemy Moskvin. They just might surprise you” I replied. The soldier got close and Crokov pointed his Spas-12 at him. This is when the soldier sprung into action. The soldier jumped up and kicked away the shotgun as Crokov fired, causing him to shoot the ground beside him. The soldier then kicked Moskvin before he could aim his AK, causing him to stumble back. Crokov tried to aim again but the soldier grabbed his shotgun and pelted it into Crokov’s throat. Crokov fell onto his back, holding his throat. Demetri moved in to fire at the soldier with his UMP 45 but the soldier swung the shotgun round and knocked him away. I pulled up my AK to shoot but the soldier strafed over to me and threw a punch at me. I ducked under it and kicked him back. I pulled up my AK again but he swung round and back handed it to the side. I managed to keep hold of my AK and spun round to hit him with it. I swung it at his head, he ducked and tried to punch low, I raised my knee to block, lifted my weapon to shoot, he grabbed it and pointed it up, I tried to kick him, he blocked with his knee and then punched me in the side, pulling my weapon from my hands as I withdrew, and finished me by jumping up to kick me in the head and then smacking me down with my own weapon. Demetri and Moskvin came up behind the soldier with their weapons. The soldier quickly turned to face them. He kicked back Demetri, ran up, kneed him in the head and smacked him in the back with his elbow. Moskvin started to fire his AK as the soldier ran at him. The soldier moved quickly and got too close before Moskvin could get out a few shots. Moskvin lifted his weapon above his head and continued to fire downwards at the soldier but the soldier was too quick and predicted his line of fire, allowing him to dodge the bullets and attack. The soldier kneed Moskvin in the stomach and then tried to punch him in the head. Moskvin lowered his weapon to block the punch and tried to kick the soldier back. The soldier elbowed his leg before it could kick him, smacked Moskvin’s weapon aside, backhanded him in the head and elbowed him in the side. Moskvin tried to throw a low punch but the soldier grabbed his arm, twisted it round, elbowed it and then kneed him in the face, knocking him away. Me and Crokov approached the super soldier. The soldier turned back to us and walked to us slowly. Jettison was still standing by the door, watching us get humiliated by this monstrosity. The soldier started to run at us and threw a punch at me. I blocked his fist with both my hands and kicked him back. Crokov moved from the side to punch but the soldier grabbed his fist and punched him in the side. I moved in to save him and tried to punch the soldier again. He threw away Crokov’s arm and lent back to dodge me, countering me straight away by kicking the side of my leg and causing me to stumble onto one knee. Crokov moved in to attack again but the soldier reacted and punched him back. The soldier looked at me and approached me quickly. He started to throw many fast punches at me. I managed to block the first with my arm, swipe away the second, duck under the third, block the fourth, elbow the fifth away; all this happening as I slowly backed away. Eventually the soldier got passed me and punched me in the side of the head and kneed me in the stomach. He tried to finish me with another punch to the side of the head but I ducked under it, grabbed his arm, spun myself around and kicked him in the side. I threw his arm down and tried to punch him before he could recover. He predicted this and spun his body around to kick me away. His kick launched me far. He had kicked me towards the army of unmanned tanks. He drew two SMGs from his legs and started to fire at me. I dived behind the closest tank for cover and drew my Pistol, readying to fire back. I lifted my weapon and stood slightly out of cover to return fire. The enemy soldier quickly ran to the side and took cover behind an MRLS vehicle. I moved out from the row of tanks for a better shot. I saw Moskvin getting up again, drawing his knife as he did. The soldier had not seen him yet. The soldier then spun out of cover and fired at me with both SMGs. I dived for the floor and returned fire. The soldier continued to fire, jumping around and dodging my fire in the open. Moskvin came up behind him and swung at the soldier with his knife. The soldier was somehow aware of this and turned around to block. Moskvin hit one of the SMGs with his blade. He then knifed it out of the soldiers hands and continued to attack. I got up and moved to help him. Moskvin slashed at the soldier but the soldier lent back and then countered by knocking the knife out of Moskvin’s hand. The soldier then swung at him and Moskvin stepped to the side to dodge. The soldier wanted to move in to attack him again but I kicked him in the back. The soldier stumbled towards Moskvin in which Moskvin responded by punching the soldier in the head. The soldier tried to fight back but I punched him in the back and then elbowed his back. He swung the back of his fist around but I jumped back to dodge. Moskvin tried to crush the soldiers head with both his fists but the soldier spun around and tripped him up. I moved to punch the soldier in the back but he back rolled between my legs and then kicked me in the ass, forcing me to stumble forward and fall on Moskvin who was trying to get up. The soldier stood up straight and looked at us, holding his hand out at us which had a detonator in it. The rest of the team formed up beside me and looked at the soldier in confusion. “Is that a-” Boom! An explosion went off behind us and we all turned to look sharply. An explosion had occurred at the back of the MRLS and many rockets began to prematurely launch at the roof. “What the?!” I yelled. “Spetsnaz! Take him down!” We all started to run at the soldier, Demetri firing a few shots at him with his UMP. The rockets hit the roof and it started to collapse: All the tank parts and cruise missiles began to break from the ropes and cranes, on the verge of falling on us as we attacked the soldier. I ran and threw a punch at the soldier but he blocked me, kicked me back and backflipped as Crokov threw a punch. The soldier continued to run backwards through the isles of tanks. Me and Crokov continued to ran at him to fight him. Demetri ran up onto a tank and fired down on the soldier, jumping from tank to tank as he followed up the side. I threw another punch. The soldier ducked and punched me in stomach. I swung forward to hit him again but he dodged, elbowed me in the side and kicked me behind him. Crokov tried to kick him but the soldier pushed him back. A cruise missile came crashing down and the soldier jumped back to avoid getting crushed. He turned, jumped up and pushed himself off my shoulder as I swung to punch him. The force of his foot caused me to lose balance and fall forward. I looked up as a loose tank turret began to fall from above me. I jumped forward just as the turret hit the ground, barely missing me, and I rebounded my jump to launch myself back over it, spinning round and drawing my pistol as I flew towards the soldier. I took a few shots at him as I returned to the ground, landing into a roll. I swung my arm to punch him as I exited the roll, he pulled his stomach in to avoid my attack, I swung my arm back again as I stood up but he ducked his head and then countered me with a kick. I jumped over his kick and tried to kick him myself with my own foot but he grabbed my foot, pulled me over his head and dropped me behind him. The roof began to cave in and metal panels began to rain down on us; the panels being very big. He jumped back to dodge a metal panel as I tried to get up and turned to kick me across the floor. Another metal panel came falling on him so he jumped to the side onto the isle of tanks next to the isle Demetri was running across. The soldier drew his assault rifle and started to run along the tanks like Demetri was doing and they both fired at each other, jumping and spinning to dodge each others fire. A metal panel fell onto the tank Demetri was passing and caused the turret to flip up and catapulte Demetri into the air. Demetri side flipped as he continued to fire. The soldier jumped across the gap between two tanks as a metal panel fell between them. Demetri stopped to reload but looked up to find a cruise missile falling towards him. He jumped off the tank as quickly as he could to avoid getting crushed. The soldier aimed to shoot Demetri but then Moskvin jumped up onto the tank behind him and started to fire his pistol. The soldier turned and jumped off backwards to avoid his pistol fire. The soldier fired a few shots at Moskvin but he quickly got down to avoid the fire. Demetri got up behind the soldier, the soldier quickly turned to fire his weapon but Demetri knocked it to the side, launching it towards me. I quickly moved to pick it up and looked to fire at the soldier. I looked up to see Demetri flying towards me. I jump rolled to the side as Demetri flew past and I started to fire on the soldier. The soldier dived to the side for cover behind the tank. Crokov came up beside him and tried to punch him while Moskvin jumped from the tank to attack from above. The soldier kicked Crokov away and grabbed Moskvin’s vest before he landed and threw him to the side violently. The soldier was now out of cover slightly and I had a perfect shot. I pulled the trigger but a metal panel fell right in front of me, blocking my bullets. After a few seconds, the panel fell forward and cleared from my line of sight. The soldier was no longer where he was standing. I looked to the side towards the tank next to me and I got punched in the face. I was knocked back into the tank behind me, bashing my head against the solid armour painfully. The soldier stood over me and threw another punch. I moved my head to the side to dodge and the soldiers fist went straight into the tanks armour. I turned my eyes to the side for a second as the soldier took back his fist. He had made a large dent in the armour. I kicked him away and rolled to the side. He tried to attack again but I picked up Demetri’s UMP that he dropped during his flight. I tried to open fire but the soldier knocked my weapon to the side. I kept hold of the weapon and tried to shoot again but the soldier grabbed the barrel and lifted it up and away from us. I tried to force the weapon from his grip but he just crushed the barrel with his hand and kicked me away. I stumbled back as Demetri came at the soldier from behind. The soldier turned and grabbed Demetri by the vest. He threw Demetri up and over towards me. As Demetri came close to the ground the soldier spun and kicked him really hard in the stomach. Demetri was launched into me and we were both launched into the other two who were trying to get back into the fight. Eventually we all stopped flying and sliding across the room. We were all flat on our stomachs now. Demetri and Moskvin were groaning in pain. I tried to push myself up. “That is actually quite a tough soldier...” groaned Demetri. I looked back at the tank army and I saw the soldier walking slowly towards me. A lot of the tanks in the middle of the army were now damaged and crushed. I looked to the side, my AK was just out of reach. I quickly pushed myself towards it and grabbed the handle. My wrist was then crushed by the soldier’s foot. “Ah! Get off me brute!” I demanded. I then heard clapping coming from the vault door. I turned and the American President walked towards me smugly while slowly clapping his hands. “Well done... I have to say... I’m impressed... You certainly put up a better fight than the ponies did...” he laughed. “You won’t get away with this!” “I already have... In less than eight hours, Moscow will be purged... And then so shall the rest of the world... Eventually the whole world will be pure blooded Americans... And then... I shall use this equipment...” He then shot a frowning look at the soldier. “At least what's left of it...” He then looked back to me smugly. “...To take over Equestria...” I then heard a pistol click by my head. I looked up at the super soldier who had a pistol to my head. “Good bye Gavriil...” Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 01:13:33 Diagnosis: Host No Longer Transmitting... Error... Unable To Connect to New Host... Ending Process... Chapter Five - AuthorityInitializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: N/A Location: ESS Dark Moon Mission Time: N/A Transmission Begin... “Courage! I think she’s coming through...” Luna’s eyes opened timidly. I quickly got up out of bed and approached Luna’s bedside. “Luna? Are you okay?” “C- Courage? F- Fluttershy? Where am I?” Luna asked, her voice sounding weak and confused. “You’re in the infirmary. You’re safe now” I assured her with a smile. She nodded back slowly but with relief. She then looked at my busted arm with concern. My arm was in a cast and a wrap ran round my neck to hold my arm straight against my chest. “Is your arm okay?” she asked. “He is fine. Everyone is fine. I managed to patch them all up but they need a few days off to recover” stated Fluttershy, her voice sounding confident but at the same time caring. “Okay, thank you Fluttershy” smiled Luna. “Courage, I dare say that I will be in bed for a while. I want you to take charge of my ship for now” “Me Luna? I’m not even a pony and you trust me with your ship?” I said with confusion. “Of course I trust you. You saved my life. And I can’t think of a more qualified replacement for me...” We both smiled at each other before she continued. “Speak to Twilight and analyse the data you sent; plan our next course of action and make the necessary preparations” I stood up straight and saluted with my good arm, “Of course Princess! I’ll get right on it” Luna grinned joyfully and then turned to Fluttershy, “Is Courage fit for duty?” “Yes. Just as long as he is careful with his arm...” “Don’t worry Fluttershy. I promise not to jump off speeding planes this time” I said with a chuckle. “Okay good because you seem to do that a lot” smiled Fluttershy. “I’ll get back to work then. Look after her Fluttershy” I said as I started to walk out the infirmary. They both smiled at me as I left. Things were a bit hectic right now. Nearly everyone was hurt from the last mission. Only Twilight’s team was unharmed. Russell and Liam had it worse with that Alpha thing kicking their asses. What was that thing? A robot or a guy in a suit. And it was so skilled with fighting. I was guessing it was a guy in a suit. A robot would have chosen the most efficient way to kill us but it chucked its laser rifles aside to fight hand to hand instead of just gunning us down. But it’s moves and walk were so rehearsed, so perfect; no man could have such perfect movement. It’s hard to say for sure. I just hoped that we would never see it again. I also haven’t heard anything from Gavriil since he left for his mission. I hoped he was okay. Gavril had a thing for not dying. I just hoped he wasn’t in any trouble. Previous Transmission Recovered... Connecting... Initializing... Target Host: Gavriil Gularin Identification: Huskey Bravo One Four Operation: Bunker Down Location: Volokolamsk, Russia Mission Time: 01:13:24 Transmission Begin... “Good Bye Gavriil...” This was it. I was finally going to die. I served mother Russia proud and I know that my actions have helped her get this far. I had a feeling that Russia would continue to live on. Her people are strong and proud, the americans will never truly understand honour and glory, and that is why they will never beat us. Never will they truly become people... but forever they remain savage monsters bent on domination. The pistol clicked again as the Bravo prepared to fire. I was just waiting for the loud bang to follow. “Stop!!” I jumped as a loud deep dark voice echoed from behind us. Everyone turned sharply to the door, even the Bravo, and out from the dark corridor walked two dark figures. They were not human... From the darkness emerged two heavily armed dragon warriors: Fully sealed metal armour, laser rifles on their backs and both wielding a blood red energy sword. “The humans are to be left alone... Leave now and you will be spared...” ordered one of them. “Who do you think you are?!” demanded Jettison. “That is not your concern...” replied the dragon warrior. His voice sounded very experienced. “...You will submit to my commands orders or you will die. “Who exactly is your command? Discord is gone. Remember?” taunted Jettison. “Who I take orders from is not your concern... Leave here or die...” “I’m afraid I can’t do that... This equipment is mine and I’m not leaving without it...” frowned the President. “This stuff is of property to the Russian leadership and it’s military. It does not belong to you” stated the dragon warrior with a tone of authority. “You see this hand? It is mine... You see these tanks? They are mine!” implied Jettison insistingly and aggressively. “That isn’t even a valid argument...” said the dragon warrior in bold confusion. “Bravo! I’ve had enough... Take them down...” “Yes sir” replied to super soldier with a completely human tone. It was a voice of experience and strength. A true soldiers voice. The soldier lifted his foot off my wrist and walked towards the dragon soldiers. My team just stared at him as he walked away from us. “Hay, doesn’t blood red mean ‘Elite’?” asked Crokov. “This should be interesting...” expected Demetri, trying to get up off his sore back. The dragon warriors threw back their arms as they activated their energy swords. Blood red energy blades shot out of the handles and the dragon warriors walked towards the super soldier. “Surrender now or you will be taken by force” commanded the dragon warrior. “I like force...” replied the super soldier. The dragon warriors stopped and took an attack stance, “Then you shall have it” The other dragon warrior charged in and slashed with his sword. The super soldier lent to the side to dodge, punched down the dragon warrior’s arm and then punched him in the back to knock him away. The dragon warriors were now either side of him. They both moved to slash at once. The super soldier ducked under them and the swords crossed each other with force. Before the dragon warriors could react, the soldier kicked away the first and then stood up to punch the second twice in the stomach. The dragon warrior he punched attacked back with a slash but the soldier spun round and knocked him forward into the other dragon warrior. Both the dragon warriors stumbled for a few moments but soon turned back to the soldier and charged. I turned my attention away from the fight and stood up, holding my AK, and I turned to the president. The president was focused on watching the fight but soon he shook his head towards me after noticing my AK being pointed at him. “W- What are you doing?!” he asked. “What’s wrong Jettison? Things not going as planned?” I chuckled, giving an evil grin. “Well I wouldn’t say not as planned...More of... not running on time...” “Not running on time?” I lowered my weapon in thought as I tried to figure out what he meant. I then caught something in the corner of my eye heading towards me. I turned my head for a look but I was punched in the face as I did. I stumbled and spun around, holding my face. When I looked up I saw a super soldier, this one being marked Echo. “Another one?” I complained. Jettison backed away to give his soldier room. The soldier threw a punch at me and I tried to dodge and counter with a punch of my own. He grabbed and twisted my arm, kneeing me in the stomach afterwards. I tried to punch again but he ducked under it, elbowed me in the armpit and then moved further behind me to elbow me in the back. I fell to my hands and knees in pain. Those guys could really hit hard if they wanted too. I quickly turned onto my back, the soldier drawing his knife and approaching me. I got up and drew my own knife, readying to fight. “Okay you big galoot, come get it!” He swung at me with his knife, I kicked his arm to the side and jumped forward to attack. He lent to the side to dodge and punched me in the side of the head. I swung round to slash his stomach but he beat down my arm and kicked me back. I tried to stab again but he knocked my knife from my hands and smacked me again. I looked up and he was swinging at me with his knife, right for my shoulder. I raised my arms to defend myself. Suddenly I was side shoved by one of the dragon warriors and he blocked the knife with his sword. He then tilted his head slightly as if to talk to the other elite. “Protect the humans!!” he ordered. He then kicked back the Echo and engaged him in combat. I turned to look at the Bravo. The other elite was still trying to fight him. The Bravo soon noticed Crokov getting up on his feet. He kicked the dragon warrior away and moved to attack Crokov. “Crokov watch out!” I called out. Crokov was unaware and didn’t hear me. I quickly picked up my knife and threw it at the Bravo in an attempt to save Crokov. The Bravo turned to me as my knife flew towards him. He lent his head back and caught the knife just before it hit him. He then took hold of the blade and swung his arm back to throw it back at me. Before he could finish he got tackled by the dragon warrior again. The Bravo kicked him off and got up. I then ducked as the first dragon warrior flew over my head from behind. The echo moved to attack me again. He swung at me and I jumped back. I had no weapon to fight him with. He swung at me, all I could do was dodge and defend myself. I grabbed his arm a he swung and then tried to kick him in the knee. He just used his other arm to knock me away. He moved to attack again but Demetri came to the side and kicked him. Echo tried to swing at Demetri with his knife but Crokov came to help also, sliding in and tripping him up. Echo jumped up again, swinging his legs into Demetri who tried to attack from above his head, landed on his feet, punching away Crokov as he did, and then moved to attack me. He tried to punch me and stab me straight afterwards but I dodged his punch and grabbed his knife hand to block. Demetri then kicked him in the side and Crokov punched him in the back. He swung a punch at me but I just let go of his hand and dodged his punch. Demetri and Crokov both then kicked him away, causing him to stumble forward. We all ran up close to the Echo and the Bravo, the dragon warriors taking position beside my team. Moskvin was now back up on his feet and by our side. “It’s six against two! We can do this Comrades!” I encouraged. “Agreed. Move together and coordinate our attacks!” agreed a dragon warrior in his deep dark voice. We started to move in on the soldiers, Moskvin hesitating a little as he questioned one big factor. “Is it not weird that we are fighting with the dragon warriors and not against them?” he asked. The dragon warriors attacked first, swinging their swords at the soldiers aggressively. We moved in as back up. The soldiers dodged the dragon warrior attacks and began to fight back. I focused on fighting Echo. The dragon warrior tried to slash Echo’s stomach but he jumped back and pulled out his pistol. I quickly jumped forward and kicked the Echo before he could shoot the dragon warrior. The Echo missed his shot and the dragon warrior swung at him again. He jumped, ducked and then elbowed the sword handle from the dragon warrior. The dragon warrior’s sword flew to the side but we both continued our attack. The dragon warrior them a punch, the Echo aiming and shooting his claw as it swung up. His claw was forced back by the bullet and so the dragon warrior tried again with his other claw. His punch came from the side but Echo jammed his pistol into the warriors fist and fired, forcing his claw away. The Echo then swung his leg round to kick the dragon warrior away. The dragon warrior came back with another punch but the Echo just jammed his pistol into his throat and fired. The Echo then grabbed the dragon warrior and threw him to the floor. He stood on his chest and aimed to shoot him again but I quickly tackled him, forcing him to the floor and causing him to drop the pistol. He grabbed a knife that laid nearby and tried to stab me. I quickly jumped to grab and trap his wrist, stopping him from swinging at me. I grabbed his pistol and aimed at him but he pulled his legs up and pushed me away with a kick to the stomach. I quickly stood up and aimed the pistol at him. Before I could shoot, he launched the knife at me and it flew straight into my hand. I immediately dropped the pistol and held my hand in pain, the knife sticking through my palm, the wound gushing blood everywhere. “Ahh!” I blurted out in pain. I looked up from my hand as the Echo approached me, He grabbed the knife at the grip and ripped the blade from my hand before punching me down and kicking me away with a hard kick the the stomach. I looked over my shoulder, the Bravo was just beating the others up with little effort. I look back to the Echo as he approached me, holding his knife high to stab me. Bang! A massive yellow light flew into the Echo and launched him into the wall by the vault door, which was almost 50 feet away from me, and exploded violently. I looked in the direction of where the light came from. A tank was driving out from the army of tanks and it was now aiming for the other soldier. It started to fire its machine gun at Bravo, not using the main gun as to not hit the others who were close to the Bravo. The Bravo looked up in shock and started to run to the side to get away. The Bravo tried to run for cover in the isles of tanks but the friendly tank fired the main gun at him before he could, causing a huge explosion at his feet and blowing him forcefully into the front end of a parked tank. The Echo got back up, his armour badly damaged from the explosion, and started to run at the tank. The tank tried to turn back but Echo threw a few pieces of semtex. The semtex became stuck to the tank's main gun, the hatch swinging open as Moskvin tried to get out before the tank exploded. The tank Exploded and Moskvin was blown away, crashing to the ground far to the side and passing out. The Echo was then tackled by a dragon warrior. Something caught my eye and I looked to the vault door. A squad of American marines were evacuating the president. “Oh no you don’t!” I called out as I jumped for the pistol. I grabbed the pistol and started to open fire on the president. The president flinched at the gun fire and ran out the vault, the American marines started to return fire to cover his escape. Demetri walked up beside me, firing an AK back at the Americans. “We can’t let him get away!” I yelled in anger. Demetri held one hand down to offer a helping hand, still holding his AK handguard with the other. I grabbed his hand and pulled myself up. “I agree...” he said, handing me his SR-2M machine pistol sidearm. I took the weapon and we both moved for the vault door. The American squad had retreated but we did take down two of them. I looked back into the vault as I walked out, the dragon warriors and Crokov were fighting the soldiers. “Don’t worry about them Gavriil. They can handle themselves. Now C’mon!” I turned back to Demetri and we approached the ladder. “We have to get him Gavriil. This could be our only chance...” I climbed out of the hatch cautiously, holding up my weapon and scanning the room to make sure no one shot my head off. It seemed clear so I climbed up from the hatch and stood up. Demetri climbed out after me. “Alright! Lets get moving!” We both moved up to the door, put our backs to the wall and peered round the corner. At the warehouse’s main door, we saw the president and the last of the American squad exiting the building. “There he is comrade!” I shouted. We both pulled out of cover and walked into the warehouse, firing away at the president. The American soldiers returned fire but our surprise attack made them ineffective. The president managed to avoid our fire and escaped the building. “Come on!” I ordered as I began to pick up the pace. Me and Demetri quickly moved for the door and took cover by some crates. Taking fire from some random directions outside, we could see the president making his way for an osprey gunship. “We can’t let him get away!” “Move it!” I ordered as I stood up from cover and returned fire on the enemy. We began to move out of cover and made our way across the grounds to intercept the president. Moving between the tents and trucks for cover. We ran out from between the last of the tents and walked onto the landing zone of the osprey. I looked over to the gunship as it began to lift off. The president hung out of the doorway. “Better luck next time... ‘Comrade’...” he gloated, followed by an outburst of laughter. I raised my weapon and took a few shots at him in anger but it was completely ineffective against the closing door. The osprey took off and left us behind, leaving us with a base full of American troopers. “Damn it!!” I raged, thumping the air. “Forget it comrade! We have to go!” insisted Demetri. We turned around and watched as American soldiers advanced on our position, firing at us. I got down behind a crate with Demetri. Demetri used the crate as cover as he returned fire on the enemy while I sat down and lent against it, reaching for my radio. “Command, this is Fury One, One. The Relief site has been compromised. Repeat. The site is compromised. The American’s have control of the bunker. Do you copy?!” “This is command, reinforcements are still 12 minutes ou-” “Negative! Negative! We don’t have that much time! The American’s will send back up before then! Our forces cannot compete with theirs! Requesting an artillery strike on the site, Full Spread!” Command remained silent for a few moments. Demetri was still trying to hold back the enemy advance. “Alright, we are authorising an artillery strike. Five minutes” “Roger that command! Fury out!” Demetri ducked down and began to reload again. “What’s the news Gavriil?” He asked. “Five minutes until artillery strike! We have to get out of here!” Demetri got up and looked over the crates for a moment. “How?! There are too many of them! We’ll never escape the blast zone in time!” The rest of the team, including the dragon warriors, came up behind us, taking cover behind many crates as they returned fire. One of the dragon warriors approached me and took cover. I watched as he crouched behind our crate and fired on the enemy. He didn’t take any notice of me. “I don’t know why you’re here or why you’re helping us but in less than five minutes my artillery will destroy this place. We do not want to be here when they do” He ceased fire and turned his head to me. “Then we must leave this place. How do we get out of here?” “We’ll have to get out through the main gate. I dare say the Americans will have back up so our chances of escape are looking unlikely” He looked at me for a few seconds, unable to see his face through the metal armour. It completely covered his head except for two small black areas where his eyes should be. After a few seconds he nodded, “Lead the way” I nodded in return and stood up, beginning to fire at the enemy with my machine pistol. We all began to advance against the enemy, making our way for the main gate. The American soldiers were well trained which made it hard to advance through their lines. We got close to the main gate, taking cover behind trucks and crates as we moved in for it. I took cover behind some sandbags and reloaded. “We have two minutes!” I called out as I slipped in a new clip. I stood up again to fire, readying to make our final advance. But as I looked up multiple Abrams tanks came crashing through the fence gate at high speed and stopped immediately to fire at us. “That’ll be the enemy reinforcements!” pointed out Demetri. “What do we do now?!” panicked Crokov. An Abrams took a shot at the guard tower nearby and collapsed it. We all got down to take cover from the shrapnel caused by the explosion. “Is this the end?!” asked Crokov in Despair. I peered over my cover to look at the Abrams. They were all slowly turning for us, readying to blow us away in one barrage. Suddenly they all started to take heavy machine gun fire and one exploded, blowing the turret off the husk. A chopper flew over our heads and came back around as it continued to fire at the tanks. The tanks tried to take it down with their main guns but they missed continuously. “Not yet Crokov” I replied finally, smiling as I stood up from my cover. Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 01:26:37 Diagnosis: Host Migration in Progress... Migrating... Host Found... Connecting to New Host... Initializing... Target Host: Pinkie Pie Identification: Parti Twitch Four Two Operation: Russian Rescue Location: Volokolamsk, Russia Mission Time: 00:42:30 Transmission Begin... “We’re inbound to the target zone! Get on the guns! The LZ looks a little hot!” warned Exodia. Exodia... What a weird name. I spent the whole trip thinking “Who would call a pony Exodia?” but then I thought “Well, she isn’t a pony. Maybe it’s normal for humans to have weird names”. Then I started to think, “Maybe it is ponies that have weird names and that humans are the ones with normal names”. Maybe we’re all weird and there is no such thing as normal! What if there is no such thing as normal?! Well that wouldn’t be so bad because being weird is what makes everypony special in their own w- “Pinkie?! Pinkie?! What are you doing?! We need to man the guns!” “Oh hai Rarity! I was just thinking about names and what makes a name normal!” I replied cheerfully because you know that you being cheery is always the best thing. “Well can you focus please? I don’t want to get shot down again...” she complained as she mounted the door gun. “Ooo! I crashed once! It was fun! Scary but fun at the same time! Scary fun! Like a rollercoaster!” “I know Pinkie... We were all in the same crash. And I got really dirty from it” she complained again. “Okay Rarity! I’ll get on the gun!” I grinned before bouncing towards the gun. Rarity sighed. “Alright Exodia! Take us in” Rarity told Exodia. We began to fly over the place where we were going to save some people. People... Another weird word I can not get used to... Anyway! I grabbed the gun and aimed towards a small group of big thingy what-do-you-call-‘ems. “Enemy tanks! Light ‘em up!” Oh yeah! Tanks! I aimed towards them and fired the minigun! Weird because it’s called ‘Mini’ gun but it’s actually really big! I am starting to believe that humans ARE weird with naming things... So I fired at the tanks as we flew over them, destroying one as we passed. The rest started to fire back at us. “Yay! I got one!” I cheered. We came back around and I continued to fire at the tanks with the not-so-minigun. Rarity stopped firing (I didn’t realise she started in the first place. Are you actually proof reading this Mr?) and she started talking. “Gavriil? This is Rarity. Courage thought you could use some help” I started to hear Gavriil respond through our earpieces. “Great timing Rarity! We only have 40 seconds, however, before an artillery strike takes out this place!” “Alright, Exodia! Take us down in the cleary in front of the tanks” “In front of the tanks?!” replied Exodia with lots of worry. “Yes! We don’t have time to land anywhere else! Blades! Get the rocket launcher ready”, Rarity was bossing everypony around again. Blades crouched next to me and opened the main door. (Again, I didn’t realise Blades was even here. Seriously Mr Writer? Are you paying attention?). Rarity opened the door beside her as we landed quickly on the ground. I fired on the tanks and Blades fired a rocket into the closest one. I managed to destroy a third tank but a few still remained. We were also taking fire from some humans that were by the tanks. A tank fired and it hit the ground in front of me, causing the helicopter to bounce back a little. “Hay! That wasn’t very nice!” I pouted. “Hurry Rarity!” I looked back to see some humans and dragon things climbing into the chopper. “Alright! They’re in! Go!” yelled Rarity. “On it!” replied Exodia. Switching Host... Target Host: Gavriil Gularin Identification: Huskey Bravo One Four Transmission Begin... “Alright! They’re in! Go!” yelled Rarity. “On it!” replied Exodia. We began to take off quickly, the helicopter taking heavy fire from all directions. My team returned fire as we took off, Pinkie Pie still firing the minigun at the tanks. “Sir! The artillery fire is incoming!” warned Crokov. “What do we do?! We’re still way within the area of effect!” “You better hold on back there!” suggested Exodia. Rarity quickly shut the doors with her magical powers and wrapped a hoof around the handles of the minigun. Pinkie Pie did the same but with both forehooves. I quickly moved to the cockpit. “What do you plan to do?!” I asked. “I’m gonna dodge the shells!” she replied, not sounding very confident. I quickly grabbed the door frame either side of me as the helicopter violently lurched to the side. The helicopter then threw itself forward, the motion throwing me into the cockpit. I stumbled forward and grabbed the dashboard to secure myself again. I looked up through the glass to see a whole barrage of artillery shells raining down from the sky above us. “Oh sweet mother Russia...” I said in despair, my mouth gaping in awe. Switching Host... Target Host: Rose Trisha Identification: White Exodia Four Eighteen Transmission Begin... “Alright! Hold on tight!” I yelled. I observed my dashboard closely, analysing the approach vectors of every shell and planning my every move carefully. Each shell was travelling at different speeds and I didn’t have time to work out all the equations. Everything after this was going to be based on random guesses and reaction time. “Fuck!” I outburst in anger as I pulled on the flight stick, shells raining down from the sky all around us. My chopper pulled sideways dodging a shell. I quickly pulled it back in the opposite direction to dodge the next shell. I looked back at the dashboard for a split second and then started to move the flight stick again. I pushed my tail out to the left to dodge another shell and quickly pulled it back in to dodge the next. A quick snap back to the dashboard later and I was pulling back on the flight stick to slow the chopper down for a second, a shell passing straight past the front of my chopper, scraping and sparking against the nose as it passed. I pushed forward again for a second before pulling back to the side to dodge more shells. I leveled us again and looked back to the dashboard for another moment. More shells were coming from above the tail so I tilted the tail to dodge another and then swung my chopper to the side to dodge another few shells. Another shell come from above the tail but I could not react in time to dodge. My chopper took a hit to the tail and the back end dunked down from the force. That hit threw off my game and we were hit by another shell straight afterwards, the main hull being the target this time. We started to spin out of control, a large chunk of hull had been ripped from the tail and from the main structure on the left side. The power circuits to the tail rotor had been taken out and the rotor had stopped spinning. “What is happening?!” screamed Rarity. I tried to re-route power to the tail rotor by flipping the switches to the backup power routes but they were unresponsive. “Damn it! Fucking thing! C’mon!” I tried to flip the switches again and I even tried to re-route power from the other systems but nothing was working. “Do something!” shouted Gavriil. “Urgh! I’m trying!” I bashed the dashboard hard out of frustration and suddenly a green light came on to tell me that the tail rotor was working again. “Wow...” I said quietly with cheerful surprise. I took hold of the flight stick again and tried to pull up as we spun towards the ground. I fought against the spin and slowly took control, still crashing for the ground. After a few more seconds I took control and pulled up, the chopper scraping against many tree tops as I returned us to the sky. Once we were airborne again, I sat back and relaxed for a moment. “Phew, that was close!” Rarity soon trotted into the cockpit and started to speak. “Contact Courage. Let him know we are okay” she asked. I pushed a few buttons and opened up a channel with Luna’s ship.We waited for a few seconds for a response. A holo screen popped up from the dashboard as he answered our call. “Ah! Gavriil. You’re alive. That is good” said Courage with please. Liam was dancing in the background with a pickle on his nose, “You’re shit Exodia! I’m squidward! I’m squidward! I’m squidward squidward squidward!” Gavriil approached the screen with a frown. “I’m alive but we have a problem. The Americans are planning an attack on Moscow...” “I’m squidward! I’m squidwa-” shouted Liam before being interrupted by Spike. “No! You’re actually supposed to sound like him...” stated Spike. “Oh yeah....” replied Liam... “I’m squidward! I’m squidward! I’m squidward squidward squidward!” “Moscow eh? This can’t be good. Not only is that the only civilisation that hasn’t gone crazy but it also makes up 25% of the human population. We can’t let them take it...” said Courage with concern. “Of course not... Can you help us?” asked Gavriil. Courage nodded slowly but surely, “Of course but I’ll need some time. Me and my team need a few days to recover...” he said before slowly turning back to Liam who was dancing like a fucking retard, frowning. “Don’t worry comrade, I have put off the American’s plans so hopefully you should have enough time to prepare” “Alright that’s good. I’ll prepare Luna’s ship. A spaceship will surely give us an overwhelming advantage...” “Alright comrade...” “Rarity! I want you to go back to Moscow with Gavriil and help in anyway you can... Two unicorns will be a great help with the preparation of the defences and a pilot as skilled as Exodia could help you hold back the American forces with tactical air strikes...” Rarity saluted Courage, “Yes Sir” “Courage, I need your help over here. I’m having trouble with one of the ports...” said a voice in the background of Courage’s transmission. Courage looked off screen for a moment and nodded to someone before continuing. “Anyway, I must go. Good luck in Moscow... Courage out” “You’re fucking shit Exodia!! Fuck you hoe!! I fu-” The transmission cut halfway through Liam’s sentence. I hate that guy. Transmission End... Mission Time: 00:50:07 Mission Success... Mission Debrief: Gavriil’s team was successfully recovered and returned to Moscow. Even though the Russians failed to reclaim their military hardware, the Russian Artillery strike was able to prevent the hardware’s capture by the Americans. Rarity, Pinkie, Blades and Exodia will now make their way back to Moscow with the Spetsnaz and aid with the defence efforts in preparation of a possible American attack. Chapter Six - SniperInitializing... Error: Lapse in Memory Unit... Data Corrupt... Attempting to repair... Loading... Insufficient Data to Repair... Jump to Next Playable Log? (Y/N) Y_ Skipping... Initializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: Breakthrough Location: Moscow Outskirts Mission Time: 00:08:44 Transmission Begin... “Why are we landing here again instead of landing with the Russian forces?!” asked Twilight, her voice trying to overcome the powerful noises of the mighty helicopter blades. “It’s an offensive strategy! We flank the enemy forces from a different direction, forcing the enemy to focus on more than one front, spreading their forces thin! It also means we can cut off the enemy from behind and slowly fight our way towards the Russians, preventing enemy reinforcement while at the same time taking out the attack forces! It creates a little more work for us but it'll give the Russians some breathing space!” The chopper soon hit the ground. “Touch down! Hit it marines!” yelled the pilot as the chopper bobbed very faintly on the ground for a moment. I jumped out the side of the Luna camo chopper and onto the road. Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow soon jumped out with me. A second infantry transport had landed right behind ours and Fluttershy and Russell were already dismounting it to join us. The choppers took off and two much larger chopper transports flew above the ground with huge tanks magnetically hooked to the bottom. These tanks were huge, a lot like those huge Russian tanks we attacked the Russian reactor with during the Human-Discord war. They were quad tread-ed like Halo scorpion tanks with a dual barreled slim turret and large caliber coaxial machine gun beside the right barrel. It had a pointed front on the main hull which was exactly level with similarly pointed fronts on the front two sets of treads. This was designed for plowing through all kinds of vegetation, barriers, weather and was also good for deflecting bullets and with a special shock absorbing structure for ramming into buildings or resisting RPG’s and other explosions. These were more powerful and better designed compared to ANY human tank. The tanks were dropped four feet from the ground and they landed on the road with force. Ponies soon dropped ropes out the side doors of the large choppers and soon the pony marines slid down them to join our strike force. It had been a few days since Exodia contacted us. Luna was still injured in bed but I and the rest were in, acceptable condition to fight. Liam was off site with a team of old UN soldiers that we found in a small militia settlement, preparing to fly in with them to back us up if we needed it. It turns out, most of the non-American UN forces were not part of Jettison’s little plan for world domination, however so few remained and were so disbanded without the UN leadership, that they never managed to rally together in time to overrule Jettison’s actions. We were now all walking down the streets, walking on the sides as the tanks slowly rolled down the middle as we made our way through the deserted streets. The main warzone was in the centre while the civilians were evacuated to the subway tunnels of the east side of Moscow. The Americans controlled most of the west which is why we landed in the south west area of the city. We were on our way to cut the west off from the warzone. Once we secured a closer landing zone, Luna would have more ships and choppers fly in reinforcements. After a while of moving through the ruins of Moscow, we moved out onto a large opening by a bridge that crossed over a river. We didn’t see anything hostile in the area so we started to move our little task force towards the bridge. We got close to crossing but soon from many of the streets on the opposite side came Abrams tanks. We all took cover behind cars and rubble as out tanks took position at the river left of the bridge, returning fire straight away as the Abrams tanks started to fire on our position. Twilight dived for cover next to me and held her head, looking to me after. “I think they know we are here” she pointed out obviously. “Noooo!! You don’t say!!” I replied sarcastically. Our tanks came under heavy fire but soon the shells started to ease off as our tanks annihilated the enemy tanks one by one, taking minimal damage. The tanks were now taken out but we could only assume they had snipers or garrisoned troops ready to take out our infantry. I looked to Russell and waved my hand forward. Me and him stood up and started to walk towards the bridge. Some pony marines got up and aimed across the river to cover us if needed. We reached the bridge but to cross it would mean we would be crossing without any cover. “We should send the tanks up” suggested Russell. I shook my head then looked over the car we were now using for cover. “We can’t. We need to draw the enemy out of hiding. No doubt, they will have more defenses waiting for us. We need to make sure it is safe” “This is going to go horribly wrong” he sighed. “Why should today be any different?” I responded casually. I looked around in thought, trying to come up with a cunning plan. I then smiled at the burnt out car door. I got up and grabbed the inside of the broken window from, before pressing a foot against the husk as I pulled on it. Eventually I pulled it off, falling onto my back with it. I then took my knife and stabbed a hole through the cup holder in the car and forced my arm through it. The broken plastic scratched my arm up a bit but the pointy bits held my arm in place tight. I now had a car door shield. “Bullet shield!” I cheered happily. Everyone looked over to me curiously, Russell looking a bit skeptical of my plan. “What?... At least it’s some form of cover, right?” I said defensively. I turned back to look over the car again, still seeing it was clear across the bridge. “Alright Russell, lets move” I ordered quietly. We moved around the car and towards the bridge. I crouched down and started to advance like a swat officer would with a riot shield, Russell staying right behind me to use me and the shield for cover, scanning the area across the bridge. The bridge wasn’t very long so we got across in about forty seconds at our slow speed. However just as we were about to set foot on the other side, I heard a loud rifle shot, followed by a nasty tear of flesh and a thud behind me. I looked back in shock as Russell laid on the ground behind me, gasping for air as half his neck was blown off. He was bleeding out fast and I couldn’t help him. I looked back forward to try and see the sniper. I already saw that the pony marines were doing the same. Suddenly we heard another rifle sound off and a bullet blasted through the door and barely missed my hip, taking a chunk out the bridge behind me. My eyes widened as I realized now that the door was nothing to the weapon firing at me. I dropped it and ran for the nearest dumpster. The sniper fired again as I slide across the ground and behind the green waste bin, the shot barely missing me. I looked back over to Russell who was no longer moving. I wanted to help him but the sniper was watching over him. “Shit!! Where is he?!” I yelled. I soon heard Twilight’s voice down the earpiece. “Courage, we need to locate the sniper so the tanks can take him out” “Great... So we need to draw him out by getting him to fire?” I sighed in despair. “If you would, please” asked Twilight. “You are crazy Twilight! I’m going to get killed!” I complained in return. “Just do it. All the marines are watching separate sectors. We just need him to shoot another couple of rounds” “What about Russell? He is bleeding out?!” I pointed out with concern. “We will recover him as soon as we can but that sniper will shoot anyone who goes near him! So stop wasting time and jump around for the sniper!” Ordered Twilight in frustration. She was not quite the same mare anymore. It was stupid to get the ponies involved in this war. Now she prioritizes some lives over others instead of trying to save them all. I think the old Twilight would have done everything to get to that downed soldier or to find a safer way to get the sniper. “Luna damn it!” I cursed as I moved out of cover and ran towards the next piece of cover. The sniper fired as I dived for the Abrams husk, the bullet bouncing off the tank armour only inches from hitting me. I quickly got up and slammed my back against the husk, panting softly, more with fear than exhaustion. “Did ya see him?!” I asked quickly, feeling heavy suspense almost literally weighing on my shoulders.. “No! Try again!” she replied. “I'm lucky he missed the first two times! What makes you think he will miss the third!” “Just do it Courage! I promise to get you out of this alive!” “Fuck!” I curse in pissed tone as I jumped out of cover again. I run across the open road another shot going off and hitting my shoulder. I yell out in pain as I spin from the force and fall down behind a taxi. Twilight then yells her commands and both the tanks fire at a large apartment building down the road. The shells rip two whole floors apart but it was impossible to confirm the kill. I crawled and lent against the car for cover and held my shoulder. “Did ya get him?!” I yelled, wincing and grunting from the pain. “We can’t tell” Twilight replied. “Get to Russell now! Get marines over here now! Ah fuck!” I put my free hand on the ground beside me and slowly go down, holding my shoulder tight as it bleeds out slowly. I lay on my side, still wincing hard from the stiffness and pain in my joint. I saw some marines quickly moving across the bridge, holding their weapons in their hooves. A couple approached Russell and started to pull his body behind the nearest car for cover. The few others keep moving towards me, aiming towards the building where the sniper was. “Is he okay?!” was the first question to blurt out of my mouth. I waited for a little while as the two marines worked on Russell, but soon one of them stood up and shook his head sadly. Wow. He was just dead. In one clean shot. It was only me and Liam left of the original team. Everyone else we had were militia or ponies. The other three pony marines approached me to patch me up. As soon as one lent down to patch me up, the one furthest from was hit in the chest by a sniper shot. The son of a bitch was still alive. The angle of the blood splatter came from a different angle which meant he had moved. The ponies jumped down next to me, the wounded one getting dragged in too. Everypony else got down also and covered their heads. “Tanks, move up!” ordered Twilight angrily. She was definitely not the same. The tanks soon started to roll across the bridge and started to scan the area with their main guns, searching for the sniper. “He’s trying to take us all out one by one! Tanks, start wiping out all the buildings at medium range!” I ordered quickly. The tanks do so and start to turn their guns around, firing at all the apartments and shops around us. The idea was to play extreme minesweeper with the sniper: Keep hitting random spots until we got him. We could have tried drawing him out again but I didn’t want him taking anyone else down. After a little while the tanks stopped and started to look around at the wreckage they had caused. We all got up and started to look around as well, hoping to see a dead sniper somewhere. After a few seconds, we all started to move out to conduct a proper search of the area. I got up and walked towards the first tank. I sat down on one of the tread housings, holding my shoulder as Fluttershy ran over to tend to my wound. “Oh dear! Are you okay?” she asked with caring concern, taking out a small shot of fluid. “I’ll be fine...” I responded. Before she could start tending my wound, I froze and looked to a laser which was aiming beside the tank at Fluttershy’s hooves. I looked to the source and it was being aimed from a pile of rubble. I saw an all so distinctive, unforgettable green visor behind a sniper scope, but why was he aiming for the ground I thought. It became clear when we all heard the whistling and whooshing of incoming artillery fire.. “Laser designator!!” I yelled before tackling Fluttershy away from the tank and staying on top of her as shells started to rain down around us, exploding all around us. I picked us up and started to run towards a half intact shop, trying to avoid getting blown up. Everyone else did the same, running for cover quickly. We were getting so close to the shop now but the artillery was not letting up. I kept running with Fluttershy for our lives an- Boom! Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 00:32:19 Diagnosis: Host Stopped Transmitting Reconnecting... Attempt One... Failed... Attempt Two... Failed... Attempt Three... Failed... Three attempts Failed... Would you like to try again (Y/N) Quit StalinY_ Attempt four… Success… Connection Restored... Initializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: Breakthrough Location: Moscow Outskirts Mission Time: 00:33:54 Transmission Begin… I slowly began to open my eyes. My body was hurting a little bit all over. All I could see was dust and smoke all around me. My body was wrapped around Fluttershy as I must have dived to cover her. Fortunately I had no serious injuries from the bombing, but my shoulder was still seeping out blood from the sniper shot. I could hear Fluttershy whimpering as she shook in fear, but she seemed to be unharmed. I slowly started to push myself up as the smoke started to clear, the soldiers around us doing the same. I looked to the tanks and they were covered in scratches, burns and dents, but the were actually in perfect fighting condition. “Wow, those tanks are fucking invincible” I stated in a bit of shock. I looked back down to Fluttershy and helped her up. I brushed her off then looked around at everyone. “Everyone sound off!” shouted a pony marine. Twilight then trotted beside me and patted me on the back. “Everyone seems to be okay. The wounded are getting treated and the tanks are still in working order” I sighed softly and looked to Russell as soldiers picked up his body. “Not everyone…” I said in despair. “I'm sorry about your friend Courage, but the Russians still need us” she said sadly, trying to get me to keep going. Yeah, you’re right” I replied, pulling myself together. “I still have you ponies, and Liam” “Its about time I got some fucking appreciation faggot!” yelled Liam down my ear piece. Me and Twilight just stared at each other blankly. After a short while, we were moving again. I was sitting on the tread of the tank while Fluttershy sat with me, stitching up my shoulder. Liam was in the area now and standing by at a safe distance with the UN survivors to provide air support and back up if they are ever needed. We only had a few more miles to go and we met no more resistance. Obviously these new tanks have given the Americans something to think about. To be honest with you, these tanks even scared me. “I am getting really tired of having to patch you up Courage. You need to be more careful in the field” she said with concern, focusing on my wound. “It wasn’t my fault this time! Twilight was the one who told me to run around for the sniper!” I replied defensively. “Oooo one of these days you are going to get yourself killed!” pouted Fluttershy. “I’ll be fine Fluttershy. The war is almost over now. Once Russia is safe we ca-” I was suddenly interrupted by a loud thud on the tank’s turret. Me and the others turned our heads to see another one of those bloody super soldiers standing on our tank. He had a large Barret sniper on his back which would suggest he was the soldier I saw with the sniper earlier. I stood up on the tank’s treads and aimed at the soldier. The tanks started to slow down and all the soldiers aimed at him as well but ahead a few Abrams tanks and a bunch of soldiers were setting up to fight us. Choppers started to close in on us and a few jets flew overhead. The Americans were focusing all their forces on our convoy. “Well shit, what do we do now?” I asked helplessly. Twilight stood beside me on the road, facing the hostile tanks with a frown. “Surrender Ponies” said the Super soldier who was marked ‘Echo’, speaking in his deep dark tone. “Twilight, get the infantry out of here!” I ordered as I climbed up onto the main hull of the tank, getting close to the super soldier. “Tankers! Move it and take the enemy head on!!” “Quick ponies! This way!” Twilight yelled as she ran towards the nearby apartment building. Everyone else quickly followed, firing at the hostiles as they quickly followed Twilight to cover and away from the battle. Fluttershy grabbed my shoulders and hid behind me as the super soldier drew his sniper and looked at me. The tanks began to fire their machine guns at the enemy as they drove down another road to get away from the hostile tanks and use the tall buildings for cover from the aircraft. The tanks were now rolling down this tight street, firing at both sides of the street with their machine guns to keep the enemy soldiers suppressed. Me and the super soldier side stepped around in a circle on the tank turret as we prepared to face each other. He had his sniper and I had my assault rifle. Fluttershy stayed cowering behind me for cover as she didn’t want to get hurt again. “Fluttershy, why didn’t you go with the others?” I said with a frown. “I-I dunno… Please don’t let him hurt me!” she whimpered. “Get inside the tank now!” I yelled as I jumped at the soldier. He jumped back to dodge but it got him away from the hatch. Fluttershy jumped in and I fired on the soldier. The bullets bounced off his armour but to prevent me getting a good shot, he raised his sniper and blasted my gun in two. I threw the pieces at him quickly before he could blow my head off. He raised his arm to block the pieces and I moved in quickly, grabbing the weapon and aiming it down at the tank. The soldier fired and the bullet bounced off the armour of the tank. I try to pull it away from him but he had a strong grip. He then kicked me back and lifted his weapon up at me. Before he could fire, the hatch flung opened under him, causing him to fall back. A pony soldier popped out and aimed a pistol at the soldier but the soldier kicked the hatch closed again, the door slamming the pony back inside. The soldier started to get up but the hatch flew open again. The pony popped out once more and glared at the soldier. “Hay, that wasn’t very nice” he said. … I pulled out my grenade while they stared each other down and armed it. I threw it at the Echo but he just calmly smacked it aside. “Ah, well…” The soldier pulled out two small SMGs and aimed at me and the pony. “Die…” he said. Suddenly, just as the soldier squeezed the triggers, the nose of a chopper smacked him off the tank and into the building beside us. The chopper blades started ripping the building apart as it tried to pull back. “Oops! Sorry mate!” called out Liam as the chopper started to make the lorry reverse beeping. “Um… Nice save Liam” Suddenly the side cabin opened and a large net of bottles opened, raining down all over the street and smashing all over the road. I was confused on what he was trying to achieve at this point. “Liam, what are you doing?” “RECYCLING!!” A few Abrams tanks ahead blocked the road and aimed towards our tanks and Liam's chopper. I turned to look at them and then back up to Liam's chopper. Liam straightened up and aimed at the tanks. Our tanks got side by side and stopped under him, taking aim as well. The Abrams started to fire, but their first shots missed. Liam returned fire and took the first two out with a small missile barrage. The Echo then slammed back down on my tank and started to walk towards me. The pony gasped and hid back inside. I didn’t quite know what to do now since Liam was distracted by the hostile tanks. I took a few steps back as the soldier got closer. The tank beside us fired, which gave me an idea. I jumped forward and rolled between his legs, getting right in front of the tank’s gun. The soldier turned quickly and pulled out his knife. He obviously lost his SMGs when Liam crashed into him. He jumped down in front of me and tried to slash at me. I just stepped back before pushing him with both hands. He stumbled back very slightly and grunted softly. Before he could react, I jumped off the tank and the gunner yelled into our earpieces. “Firing!!” Suddenly the main gun fired, the Echo being right in front of it. The poor soul was blasted in half and his top half was hurled across the road and slammed into an hostile tank, along with the high explosive shell. “Shieeeeeeeeett!!” said Liam through the choppers megaphone. The last hostile tank started to reverse. After having their most powerful soldier’s torso being blowing against their armour had the scared. Our tanks rolled out of the street but enemy choppers were still in the air. “Liam!! Take out the choppers!” I requested as I watched three Comanches approach from across the nearby river. “Actually Courage, I was just gonna let them fire. I thought that might be a fun thing to do… Your move Courage” “....” The Comanches started to slow down and began to lock onto Liam, not focusing on us at all. “Aw hell naw” cursed Liam. “Is this a bad time to ask for a raise?” “Liam, you don’t get paid anymore” I replied blankly as I watched the choppers prepare to blow him out the sky. “What do you mean I don’t get paid?!” shouted Liam in shock. A few jeeps started to drive down the road behind us, but the shattered glass bottles Liam dropped all over the road began to burst their tires. The first spun out and flipped over, rolling down the road, the two behind crashing into the back and causing the front one to explode. The two remaining jeeps skidded off and crashed into the rubble at the end, but the soldiers inside survived. Despite Liam’s success against the jeeps, the choppers were about to fire. “So much for military strength tire” I said as I stared at the crashed Jeeps. I returned my attention to Liam and the hostile choppers. “Liam, you might wanna fight back! Like now!” Our tanks took aim into the air and prepared to fire. The Comanches then all fired two rockets each at Liam. The choppers were close and the rockets closed in fast but Liam acted fast and fired his own rockets, taking out the enemy rockets just as they got close. The Comanches didn’t wait to admire his skill and began to fire their chain gun nose cannons at him, the explosive rounds quickly damaging Liam’s rotor and nose hull. Liam locked on to them with the last of his rockets as my tanks fired, two of the Comanches being taken out by the shells. Liam finished his lock on the final chopper. “You’re fired…” Liam then fired some rockets on the last and blasted it’s front end into pieces. Echo was slowly using his arms to crawl his severed body away from the fight. However, unfortunately for him, the tail rotor of the chopper Liam blew up impaled him through the back, finishing him off. “Hay Echo! Do you get pa- oh he’s dead now…” “Liam…” I said with disappointment. “Why are you such a bean?” “Excuse me?! Im the one not getting paid! This is slavery! That’s illegal! I want my lawyer!” demanded Liam. “Your Lawyer is dead…” I replied. “Echo wasn’t my Lawyer!” “No, I didn’t mean…” “No! No no no! I think I deserve to get paid! I have to put up with Exodia! I mean she is just so shit!” “She doesn’t get paid either” “Yeah, but she’s shit! She doesn’t deserve it. I fly around saving your life and she… She just, flies around not saving your life! I’m not kidding you Courage, I’VE SEEN WOODEN SPOONS WITH MORE TALENT THAN HER! At the start, she was late! Everyone got injured because of her! I mean, look at what I did! I hit Echo and disarmed him! I-I-I set up my little roadblock with my bottles and I even impaled Echo after! I think- I think I did a way better job than her, she just, she is shit” “You know what, fine, I’ll pay you, can we just go?!” “Lets not forget! She needs a head start of the enemy! I just sat there and waited! I waited for them to fire, and I still won. I’m just way better” I just glared at his chopper as the tanks started to roll out. Liam was being a real pain in the ass but I didn’t let it get to me. I had bigger things to worry about anyway. I jumped onto a tank as it drove past and we started to cross another bridge, almost to the Russian front line now. Our tanks were lightly damaged but still functional. Liam flew above us, spinning his chopper in circles round and round as he went, blurting out load music into the megaphone. “You spin me right round baby right round, like a record baby...” I just face-palmed as I listened, just thinking of what the enemies in the next city block other were thinking. “Oh my god Liam, why?” After another couple of minutes, we were approaching the Kremlin from the south. Since we were forced to detour the tanks, we were going to hit from the south across the Moskva river, instead of the west. Liam was at a higher altitude now and giving me a report of the battle ahead. The Americans had gone with our plan and cut off the Russian forces, just like we are doing to them now. This meant the Americans had the south, west and north sides covered. We were still a few blocks away and it seemed the Americans were unaware of our approach. “Okay, deadly srs mode, You go ahead with the tanks to distract them, then I fly in from the east like pew pew pew and do a strafing run on them, then they be like oh man we totes didn’t see dat coming, and then you roll across the bridge when they die and kill the west peeps. Then bobs your uncle, sounds fun” “Liam, despite the horrible terminology, that is actually a good plan” I replied with slight concern. “Cheeky git, I used to do this for a living!” he replied smugly. “Alright alright, we’ll do it your way” Liam flew away from us to get in position and we continued rolling towards the American front-lines. The Kremlin was surrounded on three sides and the Russians were doing their best to hold their position. The Kremlin had large brick walls all around so the Russians had a good defendable position. In front of the walls were the Large ZC62 Russian super tanks, keeping the enemy armour and air units at bay with their turret rocket launchers, dual cannons and many machine guns. A few of these tanks were just burning husks by now, but the rest were still functional and bombing the enemy positions. My two tanks drove out from the street. from the south, approaching the bridge. The Americans didn’t notice us coming behind them so we lined up on the side of the road and took aim at the closest Abrams tanks. The Americans and Russians were firing over the river at each other, completely focus on each other. My tanks double checked their aim before firing away and destroying the first two enemy tanks. At that moment, multiple American soldiers turned their heads to look what happened. All their rocket troopers panicked and aimed at us, no longer watching the skies. Liam then flew overhead from the opposite direction and began bombard the entire riverside with rockets, machinegun fire and glass bottles. The rocket troopers tried to turn back to him but as each one turned, they would get shot down by Liam’s dual barreled nose cannon. Liam finished off the south river side quickly but we were not out of the woods yet. A few jets flew in low and began to lock onto Liam and our tanks. My tanks were already starting to fire across the river on the west side enemies. I saw the jets coming and quickly jumped on top of the tank. “Enemy airstrike inbound!” I yelled after opening the hatch. “Bail now!!” The tank crews quickly climbed out and got away from the tanks. The jets fired most of their rockets on both the tanks and Liam. Liam acted fast and fired some rockets back, taking out the rockets that were coming for him. I don’t know how someone can be so good as to shot rockets down like that. The tanks however just got blown to pieces by the special anti-armour missiles. Me and the pony soldiers moved towards the bridge checkpoint and took cover, holding position and firing across the river at the enemy soldiers who tried to advance on the Kremlin entrance. Liam decided to take out the jets so they couldn't take out any more tanks. The jets flew past him and started to circle around to try taking him out again. Liam didn’t hesitate to lock on and release the last of his missiles on them, saving one. They popped their flares as they started to curve around, the missiles missing them completely. Liam then started to bomb the first with his nose cannon. Instantly taking out the pilot. The second jet lined up on him and started to fire it’s machine guns. Liam fired another rocket as he pulled away to dodge the fire, the jet quickly pulling to the side to dodge it. The jet passed over Liam and passed over the Kremlin, trying to circle around again for a third pass. Liam quickly spun his chopper around and started to spray the nose cannon, getting some good hits inside the jets thruster, causing its engine to explode. The jet jolted back and fell with its nose pointed up, smashing into an enemy garrisoned building and collapsing it from the base, destroying the position entirely. We were behind the sandbags that protected the bridge checkpoint, firing at the enemy across the river, taking little fire as they were focused on taking the Kremlin. I didn’t know why both sides were so focused on an obsolete government building. I suppose it would be good for one side’s morale if they took such an iconic building but to me, it seemed like a real waste of valuable resources. Both sides of this war had very little to fight with. The Russians didn’t even have any aircraft in the air. “Alright, we need to get across that bridge and get a situation report!” I commanded. I took point and started to cross the bridge, using the railing and supports as cover. My small group of pony soldiers followed behind, moving from cover to cover as we made our way across. The Americans still didn’t turn much focus on us and were getting close to the Kremlin gate. “Quickly!” I shouted as we stepped onto the other side of the bridge, moving towards a few tank husks by the wall. We took cover behind the husks and started to suppress the enemy by the gate who were behind a few jeep and tank husks for cover. The Russians on the wall above us kept firing down on the enemy, taking most of the focus away from us so I figured we should move for the gate and get inside quickly. “We need to get to the gate everypony!” “There isn’t much cover to work with sir!” called back one of the pony soldiers. I nodded in agreement and held fire, getting down behind the husk as I held my ear. “Liam, we need a good distraction. We need to get inside the walls so we can regroup with the others” “Why don’t I just pick you up and land you inside hurr durr!” questioned Liam. “Just do as I say!” I snapped back harshly. “Okay Okay! Moody! What do you want me to do with Kellion and his team?” asked Liam. “Drop them inside once you distract the enemy” Liam’s chopper flew over our heads and began to spray the enemy positions with his heavy nose cannon. He started to take some small arms fire but it was nothing to worry about. We quickly moved for the main gate while the enemy were distracted, some Russian soldiers rushing out to cover us as well as we got inside the safety of the Kremlin walls. The American assault was calming down since Liam and the pony tanks took out most of the enemy tanks and heavy weapons. I wanted to take this short amount of time we had to find Gavriil and the ponies we sent with him. A Russian soldier was kind enough to take me straight up to the main HQ on the other side of the fort. I slammed the doors open and walked into the makeshift HQ the Russians had set up, computers and laptops everywhere on stacks of boxes and ammo crates, a large view screen and lots of communication equipment. They had set up a few servers as well for their battle net. A few soldiers were working and doing their thing, I didn’t pay attention, I was drawn to Rarity and Pinkie who were standing by the main table set up, having a drink and talking calmly. Gavriil, Exodia and Blades were not in the room so I figured they were off doing something important. I approached the two ponies to talk to them and see if they were okay. “Pinkie! Rarity!” I called out to them in joy. “Courage! Hay!” Replied Rarity as she approached me and hugged me softly. “Hay Courage! That was such a fun adventure!” cheered Pinkie as she bounced around. “Fun Fun Fun!” Me and Rarity looked at her for a few seconds before turning back to each other. “So how is everypony? Are they okay?” she asked. “They are okay. Luna is getting better and Fluttershy is downstairs. Twilight and the rest are in the city somewhere but I am sure they are fine” I assured her. “I am glad to hear that” she sighed with relief. “What about Gavriil and that lot?” I asked. “They are out gathering equipment for their next mission. I think they want you to come along” she explained. “I’m up for that. When will they return?” “Comrade!!” yelled a friendly Russian bloke from behind me. I turned to see Gavriil’s smiling friendly face as he approached me. “Gavriil! It’s good to see you again in person!” I greeted with a smile. “I heard you were going on a new mission?” “The American’s are bringing in a new toy. Apparently it’s a weapon that is going to clear the whole city without damaging our equipment” “Chemical Blue!” I thought out loud. “They must have weaponized it already!” “You mean that chemical you told us about, Courage?” Rarity asked as she stepped beside us. “We need to stop that bomb!” I implied stressfully. “Whatever it is, They are dropping it off at the Swissotel south of here” I looked to the ponies and then to Gavriil, looking very on edge. “You have HAZMAT suits, right?” I asked desperately. Gavriil nodded at me and waved for us to follow. “This way Comrades, we must not waste time” The Kremlin had it’s own research lab built under it’s foundations, built during world war three to help with testing chemical weapons and advanced firearms. This meant it had a lot of protective gear and most importantly, HAZMAT suits. It had been an hour since I met up with Gavriil and we were all armed up in HAZMAT suits, all covered with protective Kevlar over the top. We put on some modernized metal chest plates and shoulder pads as well as an extra precaution. We didn’t want to chance any bullets piecing the suit. The plates were heavier, didn’t cover much and were not completely bullet proof, but at least it was something. The ponies however were all suited up in their super suits which were based on my own designs back in the old Human-Discord war. They were the same, but with Luna’s colour scheme and a few extra upgrades. At least they were safe. Gavriil gave a few other Russian soldiers and the UN soldiers HAZMAT suits so they could join us on the mission. If the weapon leaked, or worse, exploded, we would all be protected. Twilight and her team still hadn’t reported in, not even Luna could contact them. I hoped they were okay, but if this weapon went off, they would not have the suits needed to protect them. It was the same with everyone in the city: The Civilians, the Russian troops, all of them would die if the weapon went off. I had to prioritize and focus on the weapon. We were getting loaded up onto the Kamaz Dozor trucks, all loaded with 50.Cal machine gun turrets on the top. Blades, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy loaded up into the back of mine while I manned the gun, Gavriil being the driver and Kellion in the passenger seat. Kellion’s team was in the truck behind while a Russian team lead in the front one. Why was everyone important in one truck you ask? I like to keep my friends close. That’s all. “Alright marines! Hustle up and get ready to move!” ordered Kellion as he chewed on his Cigar, getting into the truck. The UN soldiers all boarded their truck and loaded the gun “Ooh-rah! Lets do this thing!” shouted one of the marines. One of them quickly used some blue paint to write the letters ‘UN’ down both sides before jumping in the back. The Russians in front loaded up in their truck in a more disciplined manner. Kellion chuckled and grinned as he watched his men in the side view mirror. Gavriil frowned at him before facing forward and starting the engine. I then jumped onto the front of the truck and climbed up to the top. I turned around and dropped into the gunner position. It was easier than having to push past the ponies in bulky armour sitting in the back. We were all armed and in our HAZMAT suits, ready to go now. A soldier quickly ran past the jeeps and approached the garage door before opening it up for us. “The Americans are securing the area around the bomb site! We’ll be driving through heavy enemy resistance so be ready for anything!” informed Gavriil. “Liam! You ready to provide air support? We’ll be moving fast” I said as I held my earpiece. “Bitch please, you know I’m ready!” he replied confidently. “Exodia! You ready?!” The jeeps started to pull away and began to drive through the inside of the fort, making way for the west gate we entered from. “Im ready Courage!” Exodia responded. “Aw no! Not her again!!” complained Liam. “Shut the fuck up Liam. I am going to prove I am better than you” Liam was silent for a moment. We all waited suspensefully for his witty and cunning comeback that he would no doubt say. Liam then started to laugh loudly, after a short while, he took a deep breath and laughed a bit harder. We all remained silent and he soon prematurely stopped and went quiet again. “You’re Serious?” he asked like as if he thought it was a joke. We were now driving through the fort. Artillery shells exploded beside the road and many soldiers ran around looking for cover or trying to sort themselves out. We started to gain speed quickly as the Americans went all out on the fort. The gates opened up for us but we were met with a large force of hostiles that were attacking the west wall. A few tanks turned our way as we pulled out of the fort and fired. They missed us, barely, and we turned left to head south, back across the bridge I came from earlier with the ponies. The tanks tried to hit us again but missed once more. We quickly sped away, moving across the bridge quickly to get away. The other side was clear but in the distance were many hostile choppers. Two hinds flew in behind us and followed us across. The Russians gave Exodia and Liam their own choppers for them to use for this mission. “Liam, I want you to remember, these are regular hinds. Just normal, Russian hinds. I don't want you trying to ram it into anything” “I know what I am flying Courage!” he replied forcefully. “...and I will ram whatever the fuck I like with it!” I growled but I remained focused on the mission. I grabbed hold of the 50. Cal as we got to the other side of the bridge. A few choppers were moving in on our position. Liam and Exodia went ahead to take them out. We drove straight ahead into the streets of Moscow, hoping to get close to the objective before anyone noticed what we were up to. I could hear the choppers above attacking each other but I focused on the road ahead. The streets were tight and we had to make a turn every few seconds, so if we were attacked, we would get no warning. Me and the other gunners searched around, keeping our guard up high. “It’s quiet…” “Exactly, Too quiet…” replied one of the gunners. “My radar is acting up” stated one of the passengers in concern. “It’s this terrain!” His voice seemed to echo. “rain rain rain rain!” We turned the next corner and a rocket flew from the roof of a building ahead, hitting in front of our patrol and causing the truck ahead to skid and crash into a burnt out car. We sped past, as did the truck behind us. started to fire on the roof but the soldier already got down. I snapped my head back to check on the Russian truck. They had reversed and followed behind the UN boys. I looked back forward as we turned the corner, soldiers taking cover ahead and firing on us. “Open fire!!” I commanded as I started to fire my weapon at the enemy. The other gunners joined me, suppressing the enemy soldiers. They were no small threat to us but I knew they had more cunning threats ahead of us. “Tank!!!!” I lifted my head up to see what they were yelling about. A tank took position ahead of us, blocking our path and aiming down the road with its main gun. “I think it is safe to say they are on to us!” I pointed out. The tank fired and Gavriil swerved out the way. The others did the same and the shell flew past us and blasted the road far behind us. We made a quick turn by the tank, moving down another road. The tank tried to fire at the last passing truck and only just missed, the shell hitting the building beside it instead. We were speeding down the new street now, the tank pulling forward to get another shot at us. It fired a shot and hit the ground right beside the truck behind. It swerved a little but it was not heavily damaged by the blast. “We need to get off this street!” I shouted. We slowed down and turned another sharp corner. The tank fired again and missed once again, but only just, hitting the ground by the turning. We were not clear yet. A few humvees were up ahead waiting for us. They started to fire on us with their own 50. Cal turrets. We all got down as we passed, since we didn’t have huge cover plates on our guns like the Humvees did. We bolted past them and they started to accelerate, making chase to stop us from getting to our target. We were set of course and we were now going to make a huge detour. We got up and turned our turrets behind us. We couldn’t all shoot if we were in a straight line so the Russian truck over took us so the UN one could get beside us. We started to fire back on the humvees, their gunners firing back. I started to aim for the drivers, since the gunners were well protected. The UN gunner tried his best to keep the gunners distracted. After a few seconds of firing, I managed to take out the driver of the first Humvee, causing it to swerve out and drive over a pile of rubble. It took into the air as the next Humvee passed, flipping over and crashing into the next one. Both the Humvees crashed into the other side of the road and exploded, the last Humvee driving straight past them and keeping pursuit of us, it’s gunner firing back and forth between me and the UN gunner. We took cover for a little bit so we didn’t get our heads blown off. We started to turned the corner so I took this chance to pop my head back up and take aim once more. I grabbed the gun as we turned and stood up again, moving my aim for the driver while the gunner lost his aim from the turn. As I was about to fire, another one of those damn super soldiers landed right front of me and kicked the gun. I let go just in time so he didn’t break my hands. The gun started to spin around and around from the forceful kick. I quickly reached down for my pistol but it was too late for that. The soldier already had his gun aimed down at me. Pew Pew Pew! The soldier started to take fire from the truck in front, lifting his arms to cover his visor. The UN gunner started to fire on the enemy Humvee, keeping him distracted. The super soldier took a few steps back as he got sprayed, his armour taking some damage from the constant heavy fire. I looked back at the Russian truck, only to notice that another tank had blocked the road ahead. “Watch out!!” I yelled as the tank fired. The truck tried to swerve out the way, but the shell was way too fast and the street too narrow. The truck exploded violently and smashed into a near by flower shop, crashing through the glass and exploding inside the shop. We drove past and quickly turned to head down an alley to get away. Without air support, this was hopeless. “We need to get onto a main road!!” I looked back to the super soldier who started to walk towards me again. I got down inside so he couldn’t shoot me. I waited for him to get closer before popping back up and grabbing the gun. He aimed down and I flung the gun round to trip him up. I then quickly pulled myself out and took out my pistol, firing at him as he started to get up. The small rounds were useless against his armour and I failed to hit his visor, since the vehicle was moving and made it difficult to aim. He stood and smack the pistol from me. I noticed this soldier was marked ‘Bravo’. “How many of you are there?!” I complained. “Twenty Six” he replied as he lifted his weapon. “Too bad you won't be around to meet them all” “Son of a bit-” I was then interrupted by a sharp turn, the sudden change in direction causing us to fall from our feet. I quickly grabbed the gun and slammed down on my stomach. The soldier grabbed onto the edge of the truck, losing his assault rifle to the road behind us. More Humvees were getting closer, firing and forcing the other gunner down inside the truck. They didn’t dare shoot at my truck though, obviously so they didn’t hit their super soldier. Gavriil continued to swerve side to side to shake him off but it wasn’t working, the soldier had a tight grip. We were driving beside a highway now and approaching a junction we could use to get on it. The soldier slowly started to climb back up. He pulled out his knife and stabbed into the hull. He then took out his next knife and did the same. He was going to use his knives to climb towards me. He pulled out his first knife and pulled himself closer, planting it into the hull again. The UN truck then swooped in and rammed us in the side just as the soldier pulled out his second knife, causing him to lose his grip and drop it. I swear I heard him growl as he looked back at the other truck. He grabbed the pistol from his leg and started to aim for the other truck, firing a bullet every few seconds to try and hit the driver, but Gavriil was still swerving a little to put him off. I pulled myself closer and climb up the gun. Fluttershy, held up a shotgun for me and I grabbed it with one hand. I pulled myself as close as I could with one hand and lifted the shotgun closer to the soldier. As he fired his last bullet, he looked back to me and suddenly froze as he saw my shotgun barrel in his face. “This is your stop, asshole” I then pulled the trigger and the pellets blasted out my gun, smashing into his visor and tearing his head and helmet to pieces, his brain matter blasting out the back. He then fell off the side of the truck and onto the road. Two down, twenty four to go. The Humvees started to fire on my truck again, bullets bouncing off the hull. I was still on top and completely exposed. The UN gunner tried to suppress them but it wasn’t enough. A Humvee got closer and rammed the back of our truck, the gunner lifting his weapon and getting a good aim on me. One bullet was all it would take to piece my suit. He pushed the button and it started to fire away, but just as he did, a garage door exploded open and hit the Humvee, causing it to be knocked out of the way and the gunner missed me completely. It was a pony jeep. It came out from the garage and followed in behind the Humvees. It was modified to have a huge chaingun on the passenger seat to fire forward and a large rotatable railgun on the back. Two large suited ponies manned the guns while Luna, in her own modified suit, was driving. The rail gun charged for a few seconds and fired, ripping through two Humvees in one shot. The Last Humvee pulled out of the way and went down the side of the UN truck, but the pony chaingunner took out the gunner so it could no longer fight. “Courage, I see you need some help” “Great timing! The enemy don’t want us reaching that bomb site!” We started to head up the ramp to the highway so we could get air support and a straight path to the objective. We saw Humvees moving up the other ramp to try and cut us off. We flew up onto the highway and began to speed down it, the Humvees coming in from behind. “I’ve seen this before, have we done this before?” I asked myself. “Liam! Exodia! We are moving along the highway to the objective and need cover fire!” I requested. “Aw naw! You don’t want Exodia! She is doing a terrible job!” “Shut the fuck up!” “Would you two shut up and get here! We have hostiles on our six and many more on the way!” I turned around and aimed my gun back at the enemy who were getting closer and closer. A few large black hawks flew in from the side. I looked up as the side door flew open, revealing another two of those super soldiers, Charlie and Delta. Charlie had a sniper and was aiming directly at me. Charlie stood behind him with his shotgun and watched. I gasped and quickly got down as Delta fired, the shot bouncing off my gun. I stayed down and held my ear again. “Where are you Liam?!” “Hue Hue Hue! Bye bye birdy!” I started to hear rocket fire and a few explosions, followed by a lot of machine gun fire. I stood back up in the gunner seat and saw the black hawk lurching around and barely keeping flight. The two soldiers were fallen over in the back and trying to get up. Liam flew over them and started to spin back around. More rockets started to hit the Humvees and blew them all to pieces. Another hind flew from above and joined us as well. Liam fired another rocket into the cockpit of the black hawk and blew its entire front end up. The two super soldiers leaped from the back cabin as the entire thing exploded and crashed down on our trucks. I was faced with Charlie and his shotgun. I had to get the one with the shotgun didn’t I. He stood up and aimed it at me. I just ducked as he blasted a shell into my gun, ripping apart the main casing causing some of the ammo to explode, making the turret useless. I popped my head back up and lifted my own shotgun. I fired a shot but the pellets bounced off his armour, causing little damage. I just sighed and dropped my shotgun. “You guys are the worst” I saw more Humvees and attack trucks coming in from behind. The trucks were fast, heavily armoured with two mounted turrets on the front and a large anti-air cannon on the back. Charlie pumped his shotgun and aimed again with an evil chuckle. I thought this was it, until I saw a pony soldier climb up from the back door and grab Charlie’s leg. Charlie looked back and the pony pulled him down onto his stomach. The Charlie acted fast and stabbed his knife into the roof to secure himself, but like Bravo, his weapon went flying back onto the road. Charlie pulled his leg free and kicked the pony in the head. The pony’s helmet protected him so he wasn’t hurt. I quickly got up and jumped forward to grab the handle of the knife, thumping the wrist if Charlie to try and get him to let go. It was futile though as his armour protected him. We all struggled and we got no where. All we had to do was buy us some time. After a short struggle, the enemy vehicles caught up and engaged Luna’s jeep, Liam and Exodia engaging them back aswell. I looked back to see tanks setting up further ahead along with some more choppers moving in. I didn’t know how close we were to the objective but I just hoped it wasn’t far. Suddenly a sniper shot ricochet right beside me on the trucks hull, barely missing my head. I looked to the side to see Delta standing on the UN truck with his sniper, the UN gunner laying on the gun, dead. Kellion quickly climbed out of the passenger seat as we got closer to the UN truck, jumping off and grabbing onto the side of it. The Delta got distracted by him, two UN soldiers climbing out the back as well. The three quickly moved to attack the Delta, Kellion grabbed the weapon while another soldier jumped on his back. The last soldier moved around to start hitting but my attention was drawn back to Charlie who reached for his pistol and tried to aim it at me. I grabbed it and held it away from me. He continued to kick back into the pony’s helmet, slowly starting to crack it. I needed to end this so I let go of the knife and grabbed the pistol with both hands, trying to pull it away. He let go of his knife as well and slowly started to stand, pulling the pistol from me. I stood up with him, fighting for the pistol. He overpowered me and ripped the pistol from my grasp. He then kicked me back and aimed forward. I acted fast as he aimed and pulled out my knife, throwing it at him. As he pulled the trigger, my knife deflected the bullet and bounced off his shoulder. I took this moment to run in at him and kick him in the chest. He was forced to step back as a result but took aim again. I punched the pistol up as he shot and kicked his side. He was barely affected and tried to shoot me again. I managed to knock the pistol to the side as he fired again, but he punched me down with his other hand. He then kicked me back as I tried to get back up, slamming me down on my back by the turret. “Hay!” Pinkie called out as she stood behind the soldier. The soldier turned and fired his pistol at her. He then felt a tap on his shoulder and turned back to see pinkie standing behind him, smiling through her visor. He try to elbow back into her but she appeared in front of him and giggled. “Missed me!” He swung back forward, only to find her gone again. She stood beside him and booped the side of his head. “Oops! Missed me again!” “Stand still!!” yelled the soldier as he turned and fired a few shots at her. She then tapped his shoulder and frowned. “You are not very good at this are you?” “How are you doing that?!” he complained loudly as he turned around and pointed his weapon in her face. “Oh silly you! I am the master of tag!” she said cheerfully. He then turned his head and I smacked him with the butt of my weapon. He stumbled back and raised his weapon but Rarity ripped it from his grip with her magic and then threw an ammo box at him, causing him to fall off and land on an Enemy Humvee. “Courage! We have taken a lot of damage and my main gunner is hurt, I have to pull out” informed Luna through my earpiece. I looked up to see Exodia and Liam firing rockets ahead at the hostile choppers, popping flares as rockets flew towards them. The rockets missed and rushed past, the enemy choppers exploding. “Roger that Luna, you saved us back there” I responded calmly. She pulled away but a truck and two Humvees were still on us. I then looked to the UN truck, three soldiers laid dead on top while the Delta held Kellion by the neck. “I have him right where I want him!” cheered Kellion. Me, Pinkie and Rarity raised our weapons and aimed for the Delta. He noticed us and dropped Kellion, jumping off the truck and onto the other Humvee as we fired on him. We then all fell down onto our sides as a Humvee rammed us from behind. We were about to pass the tanks and they fired on us. Gavriil swerved the truck to the side, the tank shell blasting past us and hitting the Humvee, blowing it up. Charlie was blown off the front and he crashed into the road. He was now out the fight so it was just a Humvee and truck, along with Delta. We sped past the tanks and they started to rotate their guns to shoot us as we drove away. Liam and Exodia turned to lock onto the tanks but a few jets flew in and fired rockets at their choppers. Liam reacted in time and pulled back, firing at the rockets to defend himself. Exodia tried the same but her tail was hit and she pulled back away from the fight as the jets passed. “I'm hit! I'm hit!” “Lawl! I told you she was shit!!” laughed Liam. The jets circled around and came to target us. The tanks fired, drawing my attention. They missed us but Humvees flew past them at high speed. Three more came up on our right with two choppers following. Exodia was forced to pull away and Liam flew above us as we sped up more, firing at the two choppers and popping flares as they unloaded with their rockets. Liam did the same but they popped their flares too. The jets flew above the road bombing it with heavy machine gun fire. Me and the ponies got back inside as the Humvees joined in on the fire. I stayed in the gunner seat, firing my assault rifle back at the gunners. I got my head down as the jets flew over me, bombing both trucks with bullets. I got up as they passed and Two Humvees came either side. ramming us over and over. The UN truck having the same trouble. Liam flew in front of us and started to fire into the drivers seat, killing the driver and causing it to swerve out of control. He the refocused on the attacking choppers as they sprayed the road with chainguns. The Delta and two soldiers jumped onto the back of the truck from the Humvee. The enemy attack truck was coming in beside us as well, firing it’s anti-air cannon at Liam, slowly ripping his hull to pieces. He flew up and went above the hostile chopper, the auto aiming cannon taking it out in an attempt to take out Liam. Liam then spun around as the enemy chopper fell onto an enemy Humvee and crushed it. His tail then smacked into the enemy chopper, causing it to lose control and fall onto the back of the truck, smashing the AA gun and slowing the truck down greatly. The jets came back around so Liam pulled up and turned to face them, firing the last of his rockets and his chain guns at them, his chopper barely holding together. The Delta and the marines approached me and raised their weapons. Soon a large dragon drop ship flew up from behind the highway and flew over to me, dropping the two blood red elite warriors onto the front of my trucks hull. “Get the Delta!” ordered one of them. This was getting really intense now. I fired on one of the soldiers and killed him as the dragon warriors charged at the Delta and the other. The Delta ducked under the first swish of the blood red blade and kicked the dragon back, strafing to the side to kick and punch the other one to the side and moving to punch the first again. The first caught his fist and punched him back, swishing around with his sword to cut him. The Delta acted fast and jumped back quickly. The soldier tackled the second warrior and started to spray his SMG into his armour. The small bullets bounced off the elites armour and I blasted the soldier off with my shotgun. I was then distracted as two Humvees from the side started to spray at me. I got down and reloaded my weapon, slipping in new shells as Gavriil tried to pull away. The truck was coming at us from behind so I moved forward and kicked the back door open. Me and the ponies all aimed out and sprayed the shit out of the truck, causing it to burst into flames in seconds and fly off the road. A Humvee drove up behind us and started to spray, a few bullets bounced off the truck and pony armour but I had to act fast. I jumped out the back and grabbed onto the grill of the Humvee. The driver looked at me in surprise and sped up to try and crush me against the truck. I quickly pulled myself up and lifted my shotgun. The gunner quickly jumped down and kicked the gun from me. I then grabbed his other leg and pulled him down, taking out my knife and smashing it into the center cavity of his chest, killing him. He fell off and I looked back at the truck. I saw nothing that was going to help me so I looked back forward and climbed for the driver seat. The driver opened his door to try and throw me off but I held onto the roof tightly with my foot on the handle. A soldier tried to lean out the window with his assault rifle but the back was then sprayed by Liam’s nose cannon, killing everyone except the driver and front passenger. I pulled myself up and ripped a grenade off its belt, arming it and throwing it into the gunner seat. I quickly stood up and jumped for the truck again, a dragon warrior catching my hand as I slammed against the back door. He pulled me up and then moved in behind the Delta to take him down. The first dragon and the Delta were fighting hand to claw, punching and blocking over and over. The second came up behind Delta with his sword and tried to stab. The Delta jumped to the side and turned, grabbing the dragon’s wrist. The first dragon warrior then punched for the Delta’s back, a sudden energy claw, appeared on his wrist, stabbing right into the Delta’s back. The Delta elbowed back and then punched them both back. I then came in while he was weak, jumped up, planting both my feet onto his chest as I blasted a shell into his visor. He started to go down with my body weight and I blasted him again with a second shell. He was dead now. I jumped off him and the first dragon warrior kicked him off. The Humvees were still on us and began firing again. The UN truck had no gunner and we had no gun. The dragon warriors crouched down and activated their energy shields. They were like riot shields so I got down behind them for cover, the bullets bouncing off the shields. “Gavriil!!!” I yelled as loudly as I could. “Less than a mile to go!!” he yelled back to me. The Humvees started to ram us from behind and both sides, out truck starting to give out. I then looked back as I saw the huge hotel towering above a lot of the smaller buildings and highway. Liam flew in behind us and started to spray his chaingun at the enemy Humvees, forcing them to pull away from us. The dragon warriors quickly switched to their laser rifles and fired on the gunners while they turned back to focus on Liam, hitting them in the back. “Punch it Gavriil!! No time to waste!!” We all started to hear Jettisons voice in our earpieces. “You are too late ponies. I can not be stopped” I looked back at the warriors then forward again to the hotel. We then saw something explode near the top floor. “You are so stupid! I count some humans, some dragons, a shit pilot called Exodia, ooooohhhh!! Ooooooohhh!!” yelled Liam. “This isn’t like one of those movies where you stop it a second before detonation. Oh no, this is reality, this is the real world” Suddenly a huge blue cloud came rushing towards us with force. My eyes widened and I held my breath as it came closer incredibly fast. We were too late. The cloud then flew at us like a powerful Blizzard, making it impossible to see with enough force to cause our vehicles to lose control. The truck started to swerve around and then hit an old burnt out car husk, causing us to be thrown ahead and the truck to tumble around and roll over. I was thrown towards another burnt out husk. I was going in head first and couldn’t stop myself. This was going to hurt. Splat! Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 02:26:33 Diagnosis: Host No Longer Transmitting... Attempting To Reconnect… Attempt One… Failed… Attempt Two… ... Chapter One - Still Alive*You may want to read the first story first before reading this Sequel* Initializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: Unknown Location: Unknown Mission Time: Unknown Transmission Begin... “Move Move Move! Surround the vault! Don’t let them escape!” Lots of soldiers surrounded the vault door, taking cover behind all the crates and vehicles in the warehouse. The commander stood in the open with a squad around him ready to fire. The commander had a cracked open head and it was bleeding pretty bad. “Attention intruders! I’m giving you one minute for you fuck-tards to put down your weapons and exit the vault with your hands up!! You’re completely surrounded!!” “Hay guys!” I shouted to the others as I peered round the side of the vault door. “The commander is back and he’s brought some friends” “He’s probably still mad about you kicking his head in...” stated Liam. “Hurry up and grab the objective!” I ordered, before looking back around the vault door to the enemies. My back to the wall, wielding my assault rifle, heart racing. “Thirty seconds assholes!” yelled the commander. “Can we have some more time?” I asked hopefully. “What?! I’m not fooling around jack ass!” “Calm down Betty! Don’t get you knickers in a twist!” I replied recessively. “You have fifteen seconds to get out here so I can kick your ass!!” Liam and Russell then approached me. “We have it” informed Liam. “Alright... Now we just need to get through all them” I said tilting my head back to show I was talking about the enemy soldiers. “How do we do that then?” asked Russell. “Without our suits, we are helpless against that kind of force” “Well we would still have our suits if SOMEONE...” I looked at Liam with an evil glare. “...had been more careful back in Italy” “What?! I thought that canister of highly concentrated hydrochloric acid was lemonade?!?” argued Liam. “It said ‘Warning!! Highly Dangerous!! Corrosive Acid!! Do Not Touch!!’! I mean come on!!” I shouted. “Time’s up ass holes!” shouted the commander. “Can we not do this now!” complained Russell. Me and Liam continued anyway. “What?!? I thought the signs were talking about the lemonade! Have you ever drunk a whole bottle of lemonade at once?!? It feels corrosive! I just thought the Americans were being smart for once!” “Why would the Americans keep a large tank of lemonade in a science lab?!?” I argued with reason. “For when they get thirsty! Duh!” replied Liam. I just face-palmed and shook my head. “You’re an idiot Liam” I said with disappointment. “Guys! They’re coming in!” warned Russell. I peered round the door to see a team of marines slowly moving in on the vault. I lifted my rifle and prepared to open fire. Liam and Russell got ready also. “Alright, we have the cover of the vault so we should be fine. We soften them up then while they recover, we charge through their lines and make for the pad” The enemy marines started to advance up the ramp toward the vault door, the other marines covering them from behind the crates and humvees. Some of the soldiers mounted the turrets on the top of the humvees and a few marines took positions on the cat walks above. “Fuck it... Now!” I ordered as I pulled my weapon around the corner and aimed for the marines. The marines reacted quickly and dived for the side for cover as we opened fire from the vault door. The enemies returned fire and I returned to cover. Liam had jumped across to the other side of the vault door to gain extra cover. Russell was still with me, arming his rocket launcher. “Cover me! I’m going to take care of those humvees!” informed Russell. “Alright! Liam!” Liam nodded at me and reloaded his rifle. We reloaded and we all looked at each other. I nodded for us to go. Liam and I pulled around the corners and sprayed the enemy with bullets, Russell moving out of cover to fire a rocket at the closest humvee. The humvee exploded and the blast knocked down some of the marines. Me and Liam reloaded and returned fire again. Russell reloaded and fired another rocket at the next humvee. Russell began to take fire and jumped to the side for cover. “Shit!” he yelled! “I’m hit!” I looked back at him. He was holding his leg with both hands as he sat on the floor. I tuned back to the enemy and aimed down my sights. Left, Bang! Right, bang! Up, Bang! Three perfect head-shots, but they were followed by me being bombed with weapon fire. I took cover again. “Hostiles on the cat walk!” I shouted. “Here!” said Russell, tossing me his rocket launcher. I caught the rocket launcher and turned the corner to fire. I aimed up for the cat walk and fired. The explosion caused it to collapse and fall. The soldiers and explosive barrels that were on it came tumbling down. Liam then took a shot at one of the barrels and set the whole warehouse a-light. We ducked our heads inside the vault to take cover from the explosion.We looked round the corner to find the whole warehouse floor covered with debris, wreckage and flames. The marines were either dead, wounded or just too stunned to get up. “Lets go!!” I shouted as I moved to pick up Russell. We walked out of the warehouse and immediately took cover behind some cover as we got sprayed with more bullets. “Fuck! They’re everywhere!” I complained. Enemy marines covered the roof tops and door ways as they fired on us. A few humvees had set up a blockade around the warehouse entrance. “What now?!” asked Liam. “Take Russell!” I ordered as I let go of Russell and drew a rocket from his rocket pack. I loaded the rocket, Liam supported Russell back onto his feet. “Follow me!” I then jumped out of cover and fired a rocket at the humvees and blew them up. We then began to run down the base for the helipad, taking cover behind all the crates as we did. Bullets came from everywhere and I hopelessly tried to return fire. “Exodia One! We need extraction! Now!” I yelled into my earpiece desperately. I didn’t get a response but I continued for the pad anyway. We made it to the base’s runway, the helipad was at the bottom end. “There’s no cover!” Russell pointed out with concern. “Fuck it! Make a run for it!” We began to run down the runway. Liam helped Russell limp as fast as he could but it still wasn’t very quick. I looked back to find a whole firing squad of marines taking position at the end of the runway, opening fire at us. We continued to run hopelessly towards the pad as bullets came at us like a blizzard. We made it half way down without getting hit, which must have been a miracle, but then some humvees began to drive down the side of the runway firing bullets at us, Cobras and Comanches coming in from above and firing even more bullets at us. We were getting close to the pad but all the extra fire from the humvees and choppers caught up with us. Russell took another hit to the back followed by Liam getting hit in the hip and arm. I stopped and turned to fire at a chopper with my assault rifle, Liam and Russell continuing to struggle to the pad. My adrenaline kicked in and everything slowed down. I focused my aim down the sight as the chopper approached me. I moved my aim for the pilot, aiming for his left shoulder, the adrenaline helping me focus my aim. I then pulled the trigger and I watched as my bullet seemed to slowly hurl for the pilot. His shoulder was hit and his arm twitched to hit the flight stick. Everything seemed to speed up again as the chopper spun out, taking out another chopper with it’s tail. I smiled with glee as they came crashing towards me. I then returned to continue my run for the pad. Liam and Russell had made it and were taking cover behind some crates. I ran towards them to join them in the wait for extraction. I got pretty close to them but I was confused to see them panicking and pointing behind me. In confusion, I looked behind me. At that moment I saw a flash come from the control tower. Everything once again slowed down as I became overwhelmed by the horror of my imminent fate. Bam! I was hit by a sniper bullet in the chest. My only thought was “Not again!” I hit the floor like a brick and everything became darkened. I could barely see but the adrenaline kept me conscious. I bit down hard on my bottom lip as I tried to fight the pain. I opened my eyes again and looked up to Liam and Russell fighting for their lives behind the crates. They needed me. I wasn’t about to give up now. This was too important. I rolled over onto my stomach and looked to my assault rifle that laid on the floor in front of me. I crawled to it and gripped the handle. Suddenly a massive chunk of concrete was ripped from the runway beside my weapon as a sniper bullet ricochet of the surface. My eyes widened with horror. I fought to get up quickly and made my way for cover. The humvees came round for another run and sprayed bullets at me. I just jumped for the boxes and landed behind them. “Courage! You’re hit!” shouted Liam. “No shit!” I said, wincing at the pain. I pulled off my body armour and began to wrap my wounds with my field kit. Liam returned to firing at the enemy. “Fuck! Where’s our ride?!” I finished wrapping myself and grabbed my weapon to return fire. “Exodia One! We have wounded! Where the fuck are you?!” I asked demandingly into the earpiece. “Look up!” Replied a young female voice. I looked up to find an advanced transport approaching the base. “Fucking hurry up!!” “I’m on it” she replied. We waited for the transport to land on the pad. We were still under heavy fire: Enemy soldiers advancing towards us, humvees driving around us and a chopper spraying the area with it’s nose cannon. We only had a few crates for cover. We tried to return fire with the best of our ability but it wasn’t very effective. We were taking too much fire and we had taken too many hits. Russell was trying to patch himself up and Liam was ducked down behind a crate, taking heavy fire from the humvees. The humvees stopped just a few metres from us and acted as cover for the marines who had made it close to us. We were now completely suppressed by bullet fire. The chopper then passed over head and started to aim it’s nose cannon at us. “Rocket now!” I yelled as I picked up the rocket launcher. “We’re out!!” shouted Russell in despair. The chopper had finished aiming at us and started to fire. Suddenly the transport flew over us and blocked it’s shots. The transport lowered itself to hover close to the ground. The back door opened and Gavriil began to open fire on the humvees with the heavy turret. “Lets move it!” I commanded. We all got up and limped for the transport. Under heavy fire, we climbed in and we began to take off. Gavriil took a shot to the leg and fell to the floor. I slammed on the door control panel and the door began to close. We began to take off quickly, the heavy bullet fire bouncing off our hull. I quickly moved to the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilot seat. “About time Exodia!” I groaned angrily. “Ah well, better late than never...” she said calmly. We were now flying quite high, towards the ruins of a city that was destroyed by Discord’s forces. The base we had left behind was located on the mountains that overlooked the city. “Did you get the package?” asked the young pilot. “Yeah. Liam has it... Now get us back quickly. Most of us need medical attention ASAP” “Already on it” she replied. Suddenly a rocket flew right past the cockpit from behind us. “What the fuck was that?!?!” I panicked. “Erm... I don’t know... My radar is clean” replied the pilot in confusion. “Liam! Check our six!” I ordered. We waited a few seconds for Liam to reply. “American Stealth fighters! And lots of ‘em!” “Shit! really?!?” “Hang on!” warned the pilot. “I’m taking us down!” she informed. Our transport then began to change course towards the city, the stealth fighters following behind. The city buildings would provide great cover from the rockets and machine gun fire. Despite what Discord did, many of the city’s skyscrapers still stood tall, though they were heavily damaged and very unstable. Regardless of their condition, they could still stop a rocket. The stealth fighters began to fire machines guns at us, our transport swerving side to side to dodge as much of it as possible. We approached the city fast and low but no matter how fast we went, the American fighters would go faster. It didn’t help that we couldn’t see them on our radar because of their stealth systems. The dashboard began to flash red rapidly. “They have missile lock!” I warned the pilot. “I know...” she replied. “Do something!” “I’m trying...” she said with an agitated tone. The stealth fighters released their missiles that were locked onto us. Exodia pulled violently on the stick and launched the ship towards the city and down a narrow street between many tall buildings. All the rockets followed suit, closing in fast. The first two hit the first building entering the street, the other three remaining airborne. The three rockets got close but Exodia began to take evasive maneuvers. She flipped the ship sideways as the first rocket flew past and missed. She then flipped us in the opposite direction to bring us upside-down to fly under a foot bridge, barely missing the burnt out vehicles that filled the road, the second rocket hitting the foot bridge. She then immediately flipped us back up and flew over another foot bridge, barely missing it, the third rocket hitting the foot bridge as it tried to hit us. We left the street and we began flying over a large park in the middle of the city. Stealth fighters came down from the sky and pursued us. They fired their machine guns and locked on with their missiles. “Another missile lock! Launching counter-measures!” I deployed flares as the stealth fighters fired their missiles. The missiles missed us but the stealth fighters were locking on again. “Hold on!” shouted Exodia. She then flew the ship down another tight street as missiles and stealth fighters came soaring in behind us. The first few missiles hit the buildings to the side, the rest closing in fast and the stealth fighters firing their machine guns. Exodia flew side to side to dodge the first two incoming missiles, barrel rolled to dodge the next and then boosted forward to try and get away. “Building ahead!” I shouted, pointing to the large shopping centre at the end of the street. Exodia continued to fly forward. I thought she was crazy! There was barely enough room to fit a car, let alone a fucking transport ship. Even the stealth fighters agreed with me as they pulled up to fly over it. We crashed through the glass entrance and began to fly through the large halls of the shopping centre! The missiles were still hot on our tail. Exodia flipped sideways and flew between two large pillars, a missile hitting one of them as it tried to hit us. She then dropped us down, nearly hitting the ground, and flew under a walk way. One missile hit the walk way but another flew right under it in pursuit. Exodia flew up and over another walk way, two missiles hitting it but the last one still on us. Exodia then pulled up and barrel rolled as we crashed through the glass roof. We crashed through the roof and came out right between two stealth fighters, we flew between them and the missile hit one that was in it’s path. “Sweet piloting Exodia!” I said with surprise. “Ready to admit I’m better yet Liam?” asked the pilot smugly. “Fuck you I’m better!” retorted Liam aggressively. We took more machine gun fire as the fighters continued to pursue us. Exodia barrel rolled again then did a back flip so we could get behind the enemy. Exodia then tried to lock on to the enemy fighters with her own missiles. “I can’t lock on!!” “It’s because they have stealth systems! The missiles can’t pick them up!” I explained. “Shit!” she cursed. We took more machine gun fire from behind as more fighters joined the pursuit. Exodia then brought us back down into the city to use more buildings for cover. Two stealth fighters followed us in, spraying bullets everywhere in our direction. “What are you doing Exodia?” I asked sceptically. “These missiles are not completely useless...” The enemy fired more missiles at us. Exodia dodged the first two then barrel rolled to dodge the third. She then locked onto something and fired four missiles. The missiles flew ahead and hit the base of a large skyscraper. The missiles caused the unstable tower to begin collapsing. The angle Exodia hit it from caused it to fall side ways onto the road. It was falling fast like a freshly cut tree and we were still far from passing it. “Exodia!” I panicked. She continued to flew down the street really low, the stealth fighters closing in and firing their machine guns. We were getting close to the falling tower now but it was going to be close. The gap between the tower and the road was slowly closing, becoming tighter and tighter. “Exodia!!” I shouted again. We were approaching the gap now, the space was very small now, I thought it was already too late. “We’re not gonna make it!!” I yelled with overwhelming panic. “We’ll make it...” she said calmly. I winced as we approached the gap, preparing myself of the impact. We then flew through the gap, our ship scraping and sparking against the building and the road below as we passed through the tight gap. It only took a second to get through the gap. The stealth fighters tried to follow. The first made it through but lost his top half and couldn’t take flight again and the second almost made it through but the building collapsed on his back end and flipped him out, causing him to crash with the first. “I told you we’d make it...” “You’re fucking nuts!” I said, almost having a heart attack. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Ready to admit I’m better yet Liam?” “Pfft! I could do that easy!” he replied. We were now flying away from the city, stealth fighters still hot on our tail. We were now flying through a mountainous region, covered in an half burnt out forest. We got another missile lock warning from the flashing red lights. “Deploying counter-measures!” I informed. The enemy fired their missiles and I deployed flares. Exodia then pulled sideways and flew between two mountains. Most of the missiles went for the flares and crashed into the mounting. The last of them that didn’t flew round for us but Exodia just flew to the side to let them past. The stealth fighters followed us and locked on again. “Counter-measures depleted!” We took more machine gun fire, damage warning lights began to flash as our hull slowly began to give in. “You’ve got to lose them Exodia!” “I’m trying!” The enemy fighters released a large number of rockets at us. There were way to many to dodge at once. Exodia began to take evasive maneuvers. She tried to barrel roll and flip, the first few rockets did miss but we were hit by the rest. Our transport jolted violently and began to lurch side to side as we began to crash towards the ground. I looked at my screen our thrusters had been hit and we had lost our stabilisers. Exodia was fighting with the flight stick, trying to get us to stop. I pushed a few buttons on my screen then looked back up. “Pull up! Pull up!” I shouted. Exodia pulled up and we were flying again. The stealth fighters were coming in from behind, getting one last missile lock on us. We were over a flat forest land now, with no cover to protect us. “Hull is damaged. We’ve lost stabilisers! Exodia! If you have a plan I suggest you do it now!” “I’m doing my best!” she replied, pushing many buttons on the dashboard. The stealth fighters were getting close now, their missiles were fully locked on. Suddenly a massive blue laser came from above and obliterated two of the fighters! “Woah!” jumped me and Exodia. More smaller lasers came raining down from the sky into the last of the American fighters as they tried to retreat. A massive spaceship appeared from the cloud layer in the sky, firing it’s lasers at the enemy. A holo screen then appeared on my dashboard. It was Luna! “Good day commander” she greeted with a smile. “Damn Luna, aren't you a beautiful sight for sore eyes...” I replied gratefully with a sigh of relief. “Why thank you Courage” she said with a giggle. “Our hangers are open to you. I have some ponies that want to see you” “Have a medical team ready. We have heavy wounded on board...” I looked to my chest slowly then looked back at the screen. “...Including me” “I’ll notify Fluttershy’s team” she said with another smile. “Roger that Luna. Courage out” Liam then limped into the cockpit silently. Me and Exodia also remained Silent as we prepared to board Luna’s ship. Liam then looked at us and tried to stand up straight. “We wouldn’t need Luna if I had flown instead...” Exodia just shook her head and made her approach to Luna’s ship. We flew into the hanger and landed down on the floor. Twilight and Luna stood in front of the ship waiting for us. “Well this thing wont be flying for a while...” stated the young Pilot as she switched off the dashboard. “I’m sure Luna wont mind fixing her up for us” “Well she better because this thing can’t leave until it has some work done” “C’mon, lets go see Luna” I said as I got up from my seat. “Alright, I’m coming” sighed the pilot. “Welcome aboard Courage” greeted Luna. A medical team of Ponies, Fluttershy included, rushed past us and tended to the other three. “It’s good to see you again Luna. And you Twilight. That was great timing by the way” “Glad to be of help to you but I must ask... What was all that about then? Human fighters trying to destroy a Human transport...” asked Luna with confusion and concern. “This...” said Liam as he limped beside me, holding a round metal cylinder. “What exactly is that?” asked Twilight. I took hold of the object and lifted it over my shoulder with one hand... “It’s the Americans new toy...”
Chapter Two - Blue and Purple with SparklesInitializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: N/A Location: ESS Dark Moon Mission Time: N/A Transmission Begin... Rarity was the first to run and hug me when I walked into the briefing room with Luna. “Courage! I’m so glad you’re okay. We missed you so much!” she cried as she hugged me. “And you two as well” she said as she smiled at Liam and Russell. Rainbow then flew over and hugged me also, “It’s good to see you again” she said. “...I still haven't forgotten how you helped me before” “This is quite the welcome...” I said with surprise. “What did ya’ll expect? You did help save the whole of equestria” stated Applejack with a smile. “I’m sure you girls would have found a way to save it without our help” I replied modestly. “It was kinda the humans fault to begin with anyway” “Regardless of what your species did, you and your friends still helped us in our time of need. I’m sure that, without your help, things would have been a lot worse” said Luna with gratitude. “And now we are here to help you in your time of need” “Well you’ve already done enough for me Luna” I replied with a smile. “Shall we start this briefing then?” asked Luna. “Of course... erm... where is Pinkie and Blades?” Everyone shrugged at me. “Bow chikka wow wow!” chuckled Liam. “Liam, that’s hardly appropriate...” I said with a frown. “We’ll just have to start without them...” implied Luna. “Yes princess. I have prepared a presentation to bring you all up to speed” “Okay! We all know that Discord is defeated. However a few of his ships still remain on Earth and are trying to continue their god’s work...” I clicked a button on my remote to bring up the first power point slide on the big screen. It was a map of the Earth with a few red dots marked on it. “There are a few ships located around the globe, taking defensive positions to hold back the remains of human forces. These Discord forces consist of T-L Chaos laser tanks...” I switch to a slide with a diagram of Discord’s high-tech, wedge shaped laser tanks. “MLR Interceptor fighters...” I switched to a slide with a diagram of Discord’s boomerang shaped fighters. “277Y heavy laser rifles...” I switched to a diagram of the laser rifles that every Dragon warrior carried. “And many of Discord’s highly trained elite guards” I switched to a slide of two elite guards. “The human forces consist of many civilian militia using anything they can find from AK’s to Sherman tanks to home made pipe bombs...” I switched to a slide of a few lightly armoured humans holding AK’s and sat on a world war two Sherman tank. “You’ve probably guessed that the humans don’t stand a chance. The war left Earth with very little to fight with. We’ve worked out that less than 1% of humanity survived Discord’s attack all those months ago so you can imagine that clean up hasn’t been easy for us...” “What about those American fighters that were after you?” interrupted Twilight. “They seemed pretty high-tech and could handle themselves perfectly” “That was ‘Project Restoration’. It’s a secret military operation that was started up by the new American president...” I switched the slide to a picture of a tall white guy in a suit. He is in his mid 40’s, white hair and had quite a large nose. “This is President Jettison. All American forces answer to him and him alone. He decided that HE was the man to revive Earth. But he is no saint. The man is an ass and wants nothing but power...” “Now hold on a second. Ah don’t understand, who is on who’s side?!” asked Applejack in confusion. I switch the power point over to a slide. The slide split into four sections: One was the American flag, one was the Russian flag, one was the picture of the Militia and Sherman tank I used before and one was a picture of a few Dragon warriors in a war zone. “There are four separate factions. The Americans are against everyone. Discord’s forces are against everyone. Russia fights the same cause as the civilian militia but take their orders from a leadership in Moscow. Russia also wants to revive itself as one great nation once again while the civilian militia just want Discord’s forces gone” “Oh okay. Ah just wanted ta know the score before we got into this...” replied Applejack. I then switched the power point to a slide that showed a picture of a massive shielded blue dome with a perfectly unscratched white city inside. Tall buildings, lush green plant life, flying cars and many bright lights. “What is that?!” asked Twilight and Applejack in awe. “It’s the city of ‘New Hope’. It was started up by President Jettison to keep the rich and important safe from the harsh wastelands of the outside world. This is also the hub of all American military operations. This is the only safe place for the Americans and the only place they have any real authority” “How did they manage that in a few months?” asked Twilight in shock. “Yeah. They’ve come along way...” I replied. I wanted to continued but Luna interrupted me. “Seems like they’ve been hording a lot of the supplies and materials...” I just looked at her silently for a few seconds. She then sat back and bit into an apple. “For the past few months, me and my team have been working with the civilian militia to defeat Discord’s forces and also rebel against the American oppression. Recently we discovered that the Americans really are evil and are not just doing the same old government bullshit they used to do before the war...” I switched the slide to a picture of the metal Cylinder that we stole from the Americans. Twilight instantly became interested. “This is Dy-oxi-mu-cy-to-gene... The Americans just call it ‘Chemical Blue’. Its a chemical weapon the American scientists came up with about two weeks ago. It works by reacting with the Ribosugars in DNA, causing a nasty reaction inside the cell and slowly killing the victim from the inside. In the past, many humans have survived large scale chemical attacks. The idea behind this weapon was to make sure that NO ONE survived the attack. Because it reacts with cells, it can enter the body from anywhere and slowly spreads around the body until the whole body is destroyed. A simple gas mask can’t save you from this. Because this weapon reacts with cells, it also means that humans can’t survive by pot-luck that their bodies defenses save them, because the bodies defenses are cell based. It’s effective, easy to deploy and very very painful. We believe that the Americans plan to us this chemical soon and we need to know, where, when and how...” That was the end of my review presentation and I waited silently for some one to say something. “Well it is clear that we need to do something about this ‘Chemical Blue’. It’s a danger to your people. My ship and it’s ponies are standing by to help you...” stated Luna as she got up and walked towards me. “Thank you Luna but you don’t have to put any of your ponies on the line if you don’t want-” “Enough Courage...” she interrupted. “I want to help you” she said with a smile. “You’re our allies and we will do what we can to help. You did a great thing for us and I want to return the favour. Now... What will you have me do?” she said with another smile. “Okay!” I said loudly as I changed the slide to a picture of some kind of futuristic base. “This is Omega site. It’s a science base located in west Australia. It survived the war without taking any damage and is now being used as a communications hub to the American forces in Australia. That is where we will find my ‘Where, when and how’. We need to take three teams in to access three different terminals. I would normally have us all go in as one team and do each terminal separately but once we start hacking one terminal, we will only have 5 minutes before the whole system shuts down. It’s vital that we all hack them at the same time and crack the mainframe wide open for a data transfer. I was going to use a USB to download the information but that would be too slow for a 5 minute timer. With your permission Luna, I would like to modify your ships communications so I could transfer the data directly to your ship. It’s faster that way...” “Of course Commander... My ship is at your disposal” she replied with other smile. “Okay. We will split into three teams. Me, Liam, Russell, Rainbow and Applejack will be team one. We will drop from the sky and move in for the main terminal in the control centre. Our terminal is at the base of the tower...” I then turned to Twilight, “You up for hacking a human terminal?” “I think I can manage...” she replied with a confident smile. “Good. You’ll lead team two. Rarity, Pinkie and Blades will accompany you. You will sneak in through the south fence. Your terminal is in the building with the back up power generator. It’s quite close to the edge of the base so it shouldn’t be hard to sneak the whole way there...” “Right got it...” she said nodding her head. “I’ll take the third team...” suggested Luna. “Princess?!” we all said with shock. “I’ll take a team of ponies and move for the third terminal. It’s clear that you don’t have any idea who to put in the third team. I can take a team of Pony marines and make for the third terminal” “This could be risky Princess” I warned her. “It’s okay Courage. Since the war, I have been training myself and my soldiers. We can handle ourselves” she reassured me. “Okay. Princess will take a team of marines into the lower levels of the base. The main power generator under the base is where you’ll find the third terminal. You can access the lower levels through this building. There should be a maintenance access point in there” “Alright. I’m ready when you are. My ship will take us over Australia while we prepare and make the necessary changes to the ships systems” “Thank you Luna. You’re all dismissed” “Hang on just a darn minute! You said something about us dropping from the sky! Isn’t that a little risky?” “Well I can fly so I’ll be fine” gloated Rainbow Dash. “Yeah... We’ll the rest of us don’t...” complained Applejack. “We’ll I was hoping Luna had something for that...” looked at Luna with a cheeky smile. “Indeed I do Commander” replied Luna with a wink... “M2 Tactical Drop Pod: Capable of dropping a small team directly into a hot zone with minimal effort or risk...” said Luna proudly as we all looked at the large pod in awe. It could fit six soldiers and their equipment with no problem. Each passenger would stand, harnessed against the centre and would face their own exit. The pod was re-enforced with a thick titanium hull, counter-measure system for Anti-air defences and navigation computer by each seat so we could manipulate the pod as it fell. “Very nice Luna... Very nice...” I said, very impressed with the pod. “This is amazing princess...” said Twilight in awe. “Such technology. Such engineering. Such... Beauty...” said Rarity, also in awe. "It's a fucking metal pod" spurted out Liam. “Thank you. It is a prototype but the simulations do show that it is most definitely safe for field use” She then pointed a hoof along the whole bay, pointing at the many pods that lined up side by side, ready to drop. “As you can see, I’ve invested a lot into them. Hopefully this mission will confirm their usefulness to me” “Im impressed Luna. You’ve made a fair few upgrades to your ship. I can’t wait to see what else you’ve done to it” “Well there are many more surprises waiting for you Commander... In time...” she said suggestively. “So... How about them communication systems... I should probably mod those now” “Follow me Commander... The rest of you. Gear up for the mission. Me and the Commander will meet you in the hanger in 30 minutes. Me and Luna were now on the bridge. I was using her Captain’s computer to mod the ships communications. All the holo-screens and pads were now dark blue and purple with sparkles. In fact everything was blue and purple with white sparkles: The pods, the troops’ armour, the ship equipment; everything was themed to Luna. It was actually kind of pretty. Not exactly good camo in a fight though. “That should do it...” I informed Luna as I finalised the changes to the communication system. “That’s good. Shall we make our way for the hanger then?” “Of course Princess. No sense in waiting around” “I’ll meet you down there. I need to run off to the armoury and gear up. I also need to run a few things past my chain of command” she said as she began to walk out the room. “Okay then” I said nodding my head in agreement. I made it down to the hanger. The six ponies, Liam and Russell all loading their weapons and equipment. All their Kevlar armour and uniform was purple and blue with white sparkles. Even their weapons had the same colour scheme. Liam then waved at me and threw me a rifle. It was an M416 with the Luna camo. I walked up to them all, shaking my head and smirking. “Luna has taken this camo thing a little too far” I said with cheerful disappointment. I then looked up to see Liam clipping a small fire extinguisher to his vest. “Really Liam?” I said lifting my eye brow. “Hay! It saved us before... Twice!” he argued. “Well I can’t argue there...” I said with agreement. Fluttershy then walked up to us, medical saddle bags on her back. “R- Remember to be careful okay? My team of medics will be standing by on a transport if you need us” “Thank you Fluttershy” I thanked her gratefully. “I think we’ll be fine Fluttershy...” assured Rarity. “I have a feeling this mission will go swimmingly” “With me there kicking butt, nothing could go wrong!” boasted Rainbow as she flew around in circles, pretending to kick and punch people. “Remember not to get careless Rainbow. This is dangerous” said Applejack with concern. “Danger is my middle name! Rainbow Danger Dash!” “No its not silly. Everyone knows that your middle name is-” Rainbow then covered Pinkie’s mouth with her hoof, “Shh Pinkie” “Alright. Lets focus now girls. We’ve got a mission to complete” said Blades, loading his weapon. “Look alive girls” ordered Luna as she walked into the hanger. All the ponies instantly got serious and lined up in a row, standing on two hooves and saluting. Liam and Russell remained sitting on the boxes by the transport as I walked up to the princess to talk to her. “I hope your weapon is to your liking Commander” “It’s fine. I’m just surprised you have human weaponry on board. I would have thought you would only have the specially designed pony weapons” I stated with confusion. The pony weaponry was similar to human weaponry but had a few features that made it easier for ponies to carry. They had a metal strap attached to, what would be a hand guard for a human, the end of the gun which they would slide their hoof into, making the gun more secure in their hooves. The ponies would put their firing hoof into a hole near the bottom of the gun where the human trigger would normally be. To fire they would simply pull their hoof back against the flap. Not exactly the best design for a gun but... these are fucking ponies... It’s not easy to design a gun for such an awkward species. “Commander, you’re not in uniform. The mission starts in five. I suggest you get ready now. Head down to the armoury, one of my crew has prepared some human gear for you” “Let me guess... It’s all purple and sparkly...” Luna giggled, “Yes. It’s my army’s colour scheme...” she explained. I sighed and smiled. “Okay, I’ll go get ready. Applejack, gather my team and meet me at the pod bay” “Ah hear ya” she said with a salute. “I’ll finalise the plans while you get ready” informed Luna. “Alright! Lets move it ponies!” I entered the dark armoury. It was dark. I couldn’t see into this dark room of darkness. It was too dark. “Erm... Hello?!” I called out. “Luna sent me to get my armour” I waited for a response. Nothing. “Sure is dark in here...” I mumbled to myself. Suddenly the lights shot on and the room became dimly lit. I looked to the side to find Spike standing on a stool and his claw on the door panel. It was him that turn on the lights. He had an hateful frown on his face. “Hay Spike. Isn’t the lights supposed to be automatic?” “I turned them off. I was trying to sleep...” “Sleep? It’s like the middle of the day...” “I’m sorry but Twilight had me up all night to help her organise her quarters. I hid down here to get some sleep while you were all away on a mission. Why are you not gone yet?!” “I was just grabbing my gear from the armoury, sheesh” “Well hurry up! I’m very grumpy when I’m tried...” “Alright. I’ll be quick...” Spike returned to sleep on a bench, wrapping himself with his blanket. Down the middle of the room were rows of lockers; all with name tags on them and all with personalised computers on the doors that had Cutie Marks on the back ground. I guessed the Cutie Mark matched the user of the locker. Benches ran down between the lockers and the walls. Against the walls were high-tech weapons cabinets. All of them were locked at the moment except for one about halfway down the right side of the room. I approached the open cabinet dispenser thing, I lack the right word for it, and looked at the well set out armour, uniform and equipment; All of it in purple and blue with white sparkles. Claymores, grenades and Plastic explosives along with the Army Uniform and Kevlar armour. I put it all on and looked at myself in the mirror. “You know... This actually looks pretty cool” I grabbed some extra ammo and loaded up. I attached my pistol holster to my leg, clipped up my combat boots, activated my wrist computer and loaded my rifle. I was ready to go. I moved to walk out of the armoury. “Turn the lights off!” groaned Spike. I chuckled and turned off the automatic lighting. Spike looked so cute all huddled up in his blanket. “Alright, I’m on my way up to the pod” I said quietly into my ear piece. I made it to the pod. Liam and Russell had already harnessed themselves into it. Rainbow was just loading her rifle into the holster and Applejack was standing and waiting for me. “Sorry I’m late girls. I was just arming up” “No worries. Ah only just finished loading my gear too. Lets get going shall we?” “Of course Applejack. Lets load up people!” The two ponies got into place and locked themselves into the pod. I moved round and locked my rifle next to my seat and buckled up. “Everyone ready?!” I asked. “Yes” “Yes” “Ready” “All set” “Where’s my in-flight movie” asked Liam. I sighed and then turned to the pods computer. Luna appeared on screen. “Are you ready Commander?” she asked calmly. “Yep. Waiting on your orders” “Team Two and Three are already on the ground. They’re waiting for your pod to drop in and distract the guards. I’ve also got Spitfire and Soarin to cover your pods approach. They’ll use their rockets to clear the landing zone just before you touch down” “I thought you were with one of the teams?” I asked with confusion. Luna the lifted her rifle and loaded, “I am” she said with a wink. “Roger that” I replied with a smile. I then severed my communications with Luna and prepared the pod for launch. An A.I voice then began to speak through the pods speakers. “Preparing to launch...” “Alright everyone! Here we go!” cheered Liam. The A.I voice continued, “Dropping pod in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...”
Chapter Three - Alpha to OmegaInitializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: Surprise Drop-in Location: ESS Dark Moon Mission Time: 00:01:12 Transmission Begin... “5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Pod launch...” Suddenly, I felt all my weight disappear as the pod dropped from the ship and launched us towards the planet. It was like that feeling you get when you go down in an elevator, the weird feeling in your body as your weight seems to get lighter. It was like that but much more intense. The pod began to enter the atmosphere and we started to get some turbulence. I was worried that the pod wouldn’t make it through the atmosphere seeing as it had never been field tested before. Out of my little window ahead of me, I saw a Wonder-bolt ship take position by the side of the pod as it went down with us. I looked at the pod computer and on it’s sensors I could see that two ships had formed up either side of us. The turbulence began to build up and a massive cone of fire formed around the pod as we entered the atmosphere. “Everyone Okay?!” I asked loudly into my earpiece. “I’m good” Replied Rainbow. “Me too” said Applejack. “Woooohoooo!” cheered Liam. “Now this is more like it!! I feel like an ODST from halo! Fuck yeah!” “Liam’s right! It’s just like halo!” agreed Russell joyfully. “You and your games” I laughed. “Shut up! You were a bigger halo fan than us!” “Fuck it! You’re right! It IS just like halo! Woohoo!” I cheered in return. We had passed the atmosphere and we were now falling towards the base. I was watching the screen as it showed us our decent. In the camera I could see us passing the cloud layer. Spitfire and Soarin flew under us and took position below our pod. “Missiles away” said Spitfire, her voice coming through our earpiece. Both the ships fired two missiles and pulled away. Our pod dropped close behind the rockets, getting close to the ground now. The missiles hit the ground and we followed only seconds behind. We hit the ground, the explosions from the missiles still unfinished. I grabbed my rifle and the doors blew open. I jumped out of the pod and crouched down in front of it. The smoke dissipated and I could now see the area around me. It was clear. The missiles had left a crater where we landed, many American soldiers dead or wounded around us. My team formed up round me, American soldiers moving up the road towards us with a Bradley APC. “Everyone move!” I ordered as I waved my arm to the door to my right. “Other teams! The enemy is distracted! Make your move!” I yelled into my earpiece as the Bradley opened fire on us. “Already on it” replied Luna. “Same here” informed Twilight with a hushed tone. We all moved quickly into the control centre, dodging Bradley fire as we did. We made it inside. I smashed the door’s control panel to seal it. “What’s with you and smashing things?” asked Russell. “Yeah. Have you considered anger management Courage?” said Liam with agreement. We found ourselves in a smallish hall that seemed to be the junction for three corridors. In the far right corner was an receptionist's desk. A hot blond girl sat in the seat behind it, looking at us in shock. My team spread out and covered the entrances while I approached the receptionist to talk. She was still looking at me in total shock, remaining complete silent and still. “Umm... Hi there... Can you tell me how to get to Terminal Junction 4-C?” She was still in shock, her mouth gaping. She just pointed down the near-by corridor timidly. “Thank you very much” I smiled enthusiastically. I then turned to the others. “Alright! Lets move!” We moved down the corridor and came out into a massive open room. It was just empty except for some massive generator type thing at the other end of it. It was huge and has a glass tube coming out of it as it ran up the wall and through the roof. The terminal I needed to access was just at the base of the machine and two American guards were by it, quickly trying to pull up their weapons. Liam and Rainbow swiftly aimed to take them down. I looked to the side to see more soldiers coming from down another corridor to the right. I fired a shot at the control panel of the door to the corridor and it sealed itself, leaving the guards stuck behind it. I then turned around and did the same thing to the corridor to the left of us, blocking more soldiers trying to get into the room. Russell sealed the door behind us and we all walked up to the massive machine. “That thing must go up the whole bloody tower” I speculated. I then shook my head and power walked up to the terminal. “Right. Lets get this done and get out of here...” I mumbled to myself. I then turned to my earpiece, “Twilight, Luna, you two in position?” “Hang on... Ah, I see the objective. Moving in to access now...” Twilight responded, still hushed. “My team has secured the objective. Waiting on your go Courage” informed Luna. “Alright good. Begin hacking now...” I began hacking into the terminal. Hopefully Me, Luna and Twilight would have the skills to break through the security. The 5 minute lock down had not yet initiated which was good, the security system wasn’t aware of us yet. “How we doing girls?” I asked into my earpiece, focusing hard on my rapid typing. “All good here. These holo-screens work well with my hooves.” replied Luna. “Urgh! I got stuck with a human keyboard” complained Twilight. “I have to use my magic to type...” “The lock down hasn’t started yet so we still have penti-” “System Lock Down initiated... Full system shut down in five minutes” echoed a female computer voice through the base. “Shit...never mind...” “Er, Courage. Ah hate to bother you but we’ve got company...” said Applejack as she pointed towards the left and right doors, sparks coming through the gaps. “They’re cutting through the doors, get ready team...” I ordered quietly as I re-focused on my keyboard. After a few second I heard the doors blow open and sudden bursts of gunfire. I remained focused as my team fought with the enemy. All I could hear was the sounds of gun fire but it only lasted 20 seconds. “Mr President... We have problem at Omega base” “What is it?!” “It’s Courage sir, and he’s brought a few friends with him. They are trying to access the mainframe...” “Hmm... This is very serious... Let me put on my war face... Hmm...” “Sir... I must tell you that the information he is trying to steal is very sensi-” “I know general!... Send in Alpha...” “Alpha sir?” “Yes...” “Clear!” “All clear!” “It’s foggy over here!!” shouted Liam. “Looks like we got them all Courage” Applejack informed me. “Okay, let me focus on my work...” “Four minutes till system shut down!” warned the computer voice. “Alright... I’ll let you fin-” Suddenly we heard heavy banging from the corridor behind us. We both turned to see massive dents coming through the door. Liam and Russell moved close and got ready to fire. “What the fuck is that...” I said to myself in fear. A few seconds past and more massive dents came through the door. Something was definitely trying to smash it’s way through. Russell and Liam were shuffling, gripping their guns hard, preparing to fire. Rainbow and Applejack stood up and aimed for the door also. Smash! The doors came crushing into the room, each door hitting Russell and Liam off their feet. Applejack an Rainbow lifted their weapons to fire but two laser shots came from the smoke and hit the ends of their weapons, damaging them to beyond use. After a few seconds an heavily armoured suit emerged from the smoke and approached Liam and Russell. It was humanoid, dark gray and had a green visor. It was pretty buff too, that is the best way to describe it, and it had such a rehearsed walk. Every step it took matched the last. It was holding two of Discord’s 277Y laser rifles in each hand. It was marked ‘Alpha’ on it’s chest in small white text. Liam and Russell grabbed their weapons and tried to get up. The hostile tossed it’s weapons to the side and approached Liam. Liam aimed at it but it grabbed his rifle, launched it into his face, pulled it from his hands and snapped the rifle on his knees. Russell aimed his weapon at the hostile but it threw one of the halves of the rifle at him with such force that it knocked Russell back down. It didn’t even look where it was throwing, it just knew where Russell was. Liam got up and swung at the hostile but it lent back to dodge his fist, grabbed his arm and launched it’s palm into Liam’s side. Liam’s eyes tightened as we heard his ribs crack from the force of the hit. Russell then jumped from behind to hit the hostile in the back of the head but it swung itself round, step to the side and, as Russell flew past, it smashed it’s elbow into his back. We heard more cracking of bones as Russell took the hit and thumped to the ground. “Three minutes till system shut down” warned the A.I. “Courage, this is Twilight, I finished the hack” Twilight’s voice coming through my earpiece. “Me too...” followed Luna’s voice. “We are going to make our way to the extraction point now” “Roger that Luna. My team will be there shortly. Good luck” “You two Commander” I turned to the two ponies, “Alright, I gotta start the data transfer. You two have to keep that thing busy while I work...” The suit turned to us sharply as it dropped Liam to the floor and slowly began to walk towards us. I then turned back to the terminal and continued to type away... Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 00:12:18 Diagnosis: Host Occupied Searching for New Host... Searching... Host Found... Connecting to New Host... Initializing... Target Host: Rainbow Dash Identification: Spectrum Delta Three Six Operation: Surprise Drop-in Location: Muranu, Australia Mission Time: 00:12:46 Transmission Begin... I raised my hooves, readying myself to fight this tough guy. Applejack looked worried but I was feeling confident. There was no way this little pip-squeak was going to beat me. I’m rainbow dash: The toughest, fastest pony there is! I never lose! “Ah have a bad feeling about this...” Applejack said raising her hooves slowly. “We can take him!” I grinned. Applejack was afraid of this thing. I was afraid she would wuss out. But I know Applejack... She never backs down from a challenge. I can use that to get her motivated... “Hay Applejack, a hundred bits say that I take this thing down first...” Yeah... That would be enough to get her going. Not that she’ll win or anything... you know... me being the best pony ever and all... “Is that a challenge?” she asked with a sly grin. “Yeah!” I replied. The creepy looking robot approached us and lifted its fists in front of itself. Me and Applejack nodded at each other and moved in for the robot. Applejack took the left while I took the right. We both swung at it with our hooves. The robot dodged my attack while using it’s right arm to block Applejacks attack. I missed so I was now behind the robot. It punched Applejack away and turned to punch me. I dodged my head and countered with a swing of my hoof. The robot lifted it’s knee to block my hoof and then punched me in the chin before I could react. I stumbled back but returned with a punch of my own. Applejack came at it from behind. The robot swiped it’s leg through my legs and then turned to punch Applejack in the stomach while she jumped at it. I got back up and tried to punch it in the back but it just spun round with its leg out and kicked me in the head. It then kicked me across the room. “One minute until system shut down...” I shook my head and looked back at the robot. Applejack threw a punch but it grabbed her hoof to stop her. It then used it’s other arm to throw a punch at Applejack, she pushed it aside before it hit her and she swung at the robots stomach. It raised its knee to block it, just like it did with me, and retaliated by jumping up and kicking her hard in the face. It then picked her up by the throat and drew a knife. I wasn’t about to let some metal head waste my friend! I jumped up and took flight. It swung to stab Applejack in the throat. Luckily I swooped in to saved the day! I flew down, kicked the knife from its hand and bucked it in the face. It dropped Applejack and stumbled back. I flew at it to attack. It swung at me but I dropped under its fist. I then punched it in the stomach with my hoof. It swung at me but I flew out the way and came behind it. I kicked it in the head, causing it to stumble forward a little. It swung its arm round to hit me but I ducked under it and punched it in the face. It turned around and tried to punch me but I flew out of its way. It tried to punch me again so I flew up high. I then grinned at it and then swooped down. It swung at me as I swooped past, missing by a long shot. I flew past again and it tried to punch me again, missing again. It looked around for me and that’s when I took it by surprise. I flew down and flew right through it’s legs, tripping it up. I tried to fly away but as I passed it, it grabbed my wing and pulled me down. It then rolled onto it’s stomach and got up, still crushing my wing with its hand. “Get off me!” I demanded. It then pulled me towards it and grabbed me by the throat. It punched me once and threw me to the ground. I couldn’t fly away because it had crushed my wing. I rolled over onto my back and watched it approach me with its knife. It raised its knife to stab me but then Courage came from the side and tackled the thing to the ground. I got up and moved to help up Applejack. Re-establishing Connection to Host... Connecting to Host... Initializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: Surprise Drop-in Location: Muranu, Australia Mission Time: 00:16:12 Transmission Begin... I was now face to face with this thing. The others were in no condition to fight. From what I had seen and heard, this wasn’t going to be an easy fight. I threw the first punch, it just swiped my arm to the side and punch me in the side. I retreated and tried again, it dodged again but this time it grabbed, punched me in the chest, pulled me close to elbow me in the head and finished my by kicking me in the... “OOWWW! FUCK! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!?” I yelled out loud, holding onto my crouch. I was now on my knees in horrible pain. The thing walked up to me holding it’s knife. It swung to stab but I grabbed its arm and tried to take the knife. It just kicked me in the head, knocking me onto my back. “Three!” yelled a crazed voice. The robot then came under attack by a spray of foam. Liam had his fire extinguisher out and he was not afraid to use it. The suits visor became covered in foam and it was trying to rub it off while at the same time trying to block the stream of foam attacking it. I got up and tripped it up. It rolled back as I tried to hit it with my knife. It ran at me and tried to punch, I blocked it with my lower arm and countered with a roundhouse kick. It stumbled back as I hit it and I moved to punch it again. It swiped my arm to the side and tried to punch back. I blocked the attack with my arm so it tried to kick me. I block the kick with my knee and then pushed it back with my foot. It moved to attack again but then Liam hit it in the back of the head with his fire extinguisher. Its head flinch and then turned sharply towards Liam. “Oh... It worked better in the movies...” said Liam with a really bad smile. It started to walk up to Liam, Liam trying to back away at the same time. “Hay... Hay... C’mon... In all fairness you did break my ribs... It’s only fair that I get to hit you back... Oh... Alright! You wanna fight?! I’ll fight!” Liam put his fists up and started to wave them around like a boxer. “C’mon! I’ll bop ya one! Yeah!” Liam threw a punch at it but it grabbed his arm and twisted it. Liam tried to punch with his other arm but it just swiped it to the side, strafed behind him and kicked him in the back of the knee. It the kicked him towards me. I jump rolled over Liam’s flying person and tried to attack the suit. The suit dodged to the side and punched me in the side again. I swung again at it but it ducked, grabbed my head and kneed me in the face. It then 360 kicked me away. I looked up and Russell stepped over me holding the two laser rifles the suit had. He fired both of them at the suit and the suit ran across the room to dodge them. The suit ran up to Russell as it drew a laser pistol. They both started to fire at each other, one of Russell’s rifles getting hit as they got close to each other. Russell jumped up and kicked it back and fired a few shots. It managed to dodge the shots and run round him. “Lets go! We need to all hit this thing at once!” Me Liam and the ponies moved up to aid Russell. Russell fired a few shots as the suit jumped at him. He missed and the suit moved to kick him. Russell blocked the kick with the rifle and fired another shot. It dodged the shot and kicked the rifle from Russell’s hand. I drew my pistol and started to fire at it. It looked round at us and ran at us. I continued to fire but I missed all six shots. It then jumped an kicked me back. Liam moved to punch it but it grabbed his arm and elbowed the inside of it. It the kicked him away as Applejack jumped to punch it in the head and Rainbow came from the side to punch it in the chest. It swiped its leg up to kick Applejack and then turned to block and counter Rainbows attack. Rainbow was punched away and I moved to attack again. I threw a punch but it ducked, slid through my legs, kicked Liam who was behind me and then spun to kick me in the back. Russell fired his pistol but it jumped to the side and charged at him. It tackled him to the ground, picked him up, threw him in the air and kicked him across the room. Me and Liam got up and aimed our pistols. We had it now... “Freeze!!” shouted voices behind us. We all froze as we heard the loading and toting of guns behind us. “Ah fuck...” “You’re all under arrest!!” shouted one of the soldiers behind us. “Yes! We are under a vest!” replied Liam. “We’re army men! It’s what army men wear! God!” “Liam... that was a terrible joke...” I sighed. “Shut up...” he replied. I then looked up at the large machine. “Nothing ventured... Nothing gained...” I said to myself. I pointed my pistol at the large machine and fired a few shots at the control panels. It all began to spark up. “What the fuck! Shoot them men! Shoot them all!” shouted the soldier. “Applejack!” I yelled as I threw a live flash bang at her. Liam turned and opened fire with his side arm. Applejack bucked the flash bang as it flew behind her and launched it at the enemy soldiers. We all hit the deck to dodge their fire and cover our eyes. The flash bang went off and the fire stopped. We all got up and looked towards the machine as it started to explode. The Alpha was knocked over by an explosion. “We gotta go now!” I shouted. “Courage! You’re hit..” Applejack pointed to a gun shot wound in my arm. “Eh, it’s just a flesh wound. Now we’ve gotta go!!” We all ran back down the corridor, explosions all around us as the machine over loaded. We ran as fast as we could to make it back to the main entrance. “Why is this corridor so fucking long!!” complained Russell. “Just keep running!” We came close to the exit now. The receptionist was trying to get through the locked door which we sealed on our way in. “Get away from the door!” I yelled. Russell drew his rocket launcher and aimed for the door. The receptionist got well away from the door. I looked back to see a massive flame rushing down the corridor. “Russell Now!!” I shouted in panic. He fired the rocket just as we got close, I grabbed the receptionist on our way past, and we blasted through the door. We all immediately hit the deck as the flame came bursting through the door frame behind us. After a few seconds we all rolled onto our backs to look back at the tower. It was going to collapse. The Bradley was still up the road too and had begun to fire at us again. “Fuck it! Run for the extraction point!” We all turned away from the enemy tank and ran. Massive explosive rounds began to hit the ground around us, tearing up the road violently as the tank tried to hit us. We ran round the corner and headed away from the collapsing tower. There were buildings either side of the road: Bunkers, barracks and fueling stations. American troops soon noticed us and fired on us. We got down behind some crates on the side of the road. Man I love crates. Always around when we needed them. We returned fire for a minute, taking down as many enemy troops as possible, Rainbow and Applejack just keeping their heads down since their guns were destroyed. With only our side arms and my one assault rifle, we didn’t get very many kills. After a while, the Bradley turned the corner behind us. Another Bradley was coming from up the road and an Abrams tank was exiting the fueling station to the right. “Shit!” I yelled. “What do we do now?!” asked Applejack in panic. The Abrams fired at the crates we were hiding behind and blew them all over the place. We were knocked back by the blast. The Bradleys also started to fire on us. The ponies and Liam ran into the barracks that was next to us. Russell fired a rocket at the Bradley behind us and destroyed it. The Abrams fired again and hit the ground near Russell’s feet. Russell fell, giving an out cry of pain. Under heavy fire, I got up and grabbed his vest and started to pull him into the barracks. Liam tried to cover me as best as possible. Russell was really heavy with all his equipment so it took a lot of effort to pull him. I could feel my stitches on my chest starting to give out from the strain. It had only been a few days since I got hit by that sniper and Fluttershy warned me not to put myself under too much pressure. I finally managed to pull him inside and we were safe from the enemy fire. The Abrams began to fire on the building, taking a huge chunk out of the wall. “Quick! Out the back!” Applejack ordered as she picked up Russell with her back. “I’m fine! I can still walk” insisted Russell as he rolled off her back again, falling onto his knees. The Abrams fired again and took out another piece of wall, leaving us exposed to the enemy soldiers again. “Go! I’ll cover you!” I shouted as I took aim and fired at the enemy with my weapon. They all ran out the back as I covered them. After a few seconds I got up and followed, walking backwards and still returning fire. We were now out back and found ourselves in the gap between two rows of buildings. “Just keep heading in that direction! The extraction point is at the west fence by Building DF-2!” “What about you?!” asked Applejack in concern. “You’re in no condition to fight! I’ll cover your escape!” “I’m staying with you bitch!” insisted Liam with a chuckle. “Fuck am I letting you get all the kills” The ponies and Russell made their escape. American soldiers started coming out of the buildings, firing at us as they took cover behind boxes and against the wall corners. Me and Liam started walking back slowly, returning fire as we covered the others escape. “This was the worst plan ever!” complained Liam. “I have to agree... It was pretty stupid!” “Watch out! Behind us!” “Oh shit!” “Sir... They are escaping the base...” “Is the Aircraft Carrier Aurora in place?” “Yes sir, it’s standing by” “Destroy the base...” “But sir, Omega site is a vital as-” “Just do it...” “Er yes sir... Aircraft carrier Aurora, you are free to release birds. Target the Omega site, full arsenal authorisation Delta, Two, Six, Four, Four, Eight, Red Ranger. How copy?...” “C’mon! Lets go!” shouted a pony soldier as he covered our approach to the transport. Twilight and Luna’s team opened fire on the Americans. Luna was not with them. “Where’s Luna?!” I asked with worry. “She stayed behind to cover our escape! She said she would be right behind us!” “Fuck! Take the rest of my team and go!” “But...” “I said Go!! I’m going back for Luna!” Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 00:26:28 Diagnosis: Host Migration in Progress... Migrating... Host Found... Connecting to New Host... Loading Playback... Initializing... Target Host: Luna *//#Data Missing#//* Identification: Lundi Shadow Two Two Operation: Surprise Drop-in Location: Muranu, Australia Mission Time: 00:11:50 Transmission Begin... “Three minutes till system shut down” warned the A.I. “Courage, this is Twilight, I finished the hack” Twilight’s voice coming through my earpiece. “Me two...” I informed straight after her. “We are going to make our way to the extraction point now” “Roger that Luna. My team will be there shortly. Good luck” “You two Commander” I turned to look at my royal marines. They were securing the room while I hacked the terminal. “Soldiers report!” I demanded Gracefully. One of the marines got up and approached me. “Its all clear Ma’am” he said, saluting me with his forehoof. “Ready your colts! We’re moving out” I then turned to my earpiece and began to speak to the extraction pilot, “Fleetfoot! We are ready for extraction!” “Roger that Ma’am. I’m leaving the hanger now” I let go of my earpiece and dropped my hoof back to the floor. “We’ve got company!” warned one of my royal marines. My royal marine then started to fire down the corridor he was responsible for. “And we are leaving...” I responded. I then turned to my Captain, “Captain, have your colts pull back slowly. We still have a few minutes to exhaust while we wait for Courage to finish the upload” “Roger that Ma’am. Alright! You heard the mare! Protocol Alpha Buck Two! Pull back slowly and cover each other!” We wasted a few minutes pulling back through the maintenance levels of the base. The human soldiers were trying to close in on us but my royal marines had much more advanced training. My team of six had taken down almost twelve of the human soldiers without any casualties. I had killed six more human soldiers with my double assault rifles and my levitation powers. “Ma’am! They’re pulling back!” “Good work! Lets pull back quickly before they return” I ordered again. We were almost out of the sub-levels now. We had been clear of humans for two minutes. We were now at the final double door that stood between us and the maintenance access stairwell. “Get that door open!” I ordered. “Ma’am! They locked it down! I’m going to have to run a bypass...” “Do it!” The rest of my royal marine took cover to cover the soldier as he hacked the door. “Incoming!” shouted one of my marines. We started to take fire from across the room as human marines took cover and fired on us. I crouched down for cover and used my levitation to fire my assault rifles. My soldiers returned fire, trying to cover the vanurable soldier that was hacking the door. Some of the humans soldiers went down, more still coming through the doors. “Hurry up with that door!” I shouted. “Almost there!” replied the soldier who was tapping rapidly at his tablet. I focused on my fire again. One of my marines beside me then took a hit and fell back, bleeding heavily. I dropped my rifles and moved to help him. I pressed my royal hooves against his wound, trying to stop the bleeding. “Come on soldier! Your service days are not over yet!” I said with a bossy tone, but still sounding slightly comforting. He didn’t respond but instead just looked at me in pain. “I said your not dieing! That’s an order!” I commanded. I then turned to one of my other soldiers and pointed to the wounded colt, signalling him to help him up. “I got the door!” The doors opened quickly and we were instantly bombed with more bullet fire from behind the door. The soldier that hacked the door and one of the other soldiers were instantly hit. I raised a shield immediately to cover us from the fire that was coming from the other room. “Princess! One of our troops are down and two are bleeding out! Only three of us are left standing! We need to get out of here!” warned one of my troops. I stomped my two fore-hooves forward and my shield turned into a shock wave, the wave blasting into the next room and knocking back all the human soldiers. “Go! Get the wounded out of here! I’ll cover you!” I shouted as I re-levitated my rifles and loaded them. “What about you Princess?!” “I’ll be right behind you!” My soldiers picked themselves up and moved for the exit of the base’s sub-levels. I turned to the human soldiers and began to fire back, walking back slowly as I covered the troops. The human soldiers advanced on my position, moving from cover to cover as they got close. I managed to take down many of them but they kept coming. My troops were now clear and I was slowly backing towards the access point, continuing to gun down the human soldiers. More humans came from the rooms to the side and opened fire on me. I formed a shield on each side of me to protect myself, still firing in front of me to keep the other humans back. My shields took heavy fire and I was finding it hard to sustain them. I was slowly getting weaker, walking slower as I focused so hard to sustain my shielding. That was when it was all over. I took a shoot to my front leg and I collapsed to my knees, my shield collapsing with me. I then took two shots to the side and I fell to my side. “She’s down! Move in!” I heard one of the human marines say as I hit the floor and began to pass out. My vision became darkened as two humans looked down at me. One of them looked at me and grinned evilly. “Not so mighty and powerful now are you” he grinned. He then raised his rifle and aimed for my eye. I was now staring down the barrel of his weapon. “Good night princess” he grinned. I jumped in fright as I heard a gun shot go off. I then heard another, and then another. The human soldier that had me at gun point fell to the floor, multiple bullet wounds to the chest. All the human soldiers lifted their weapons up but most of them began to take shots too. The few that didn’t get shot ducked for cover. Suddenly I felt someone begin to lift me off my side. I turned to see Courage helping me up with one hand while aiming his rifle with the other. “C’mon Luna! On ya feet!” He said, struggling to help me up. “You came back for me?!” I asked in surprise. We began to take fire and Courage started to shoot back. “Of course I did! You’re a friend, and friends don’t leave each other behind!” He helped me onto my feet and wrapped one of my fore-legs around his neck. “Friend?” I said in confusion. “Yeah! You’ve done enough to earn that title.. Now come on! Up to go!” I stood up as straight as I could, still bleeding heavily and he began to walks us backwards, still taking fire from the other human soldiers. He fired a few shots more before we started to hear the clicking noise of the firing pin. “I’m out!” he yelled. I then used what little strength I had left to use my levitation powers to reload his weapon while he carried me. He continued to fire again, backing us towards the stairs, getting very close to them now. The enemy soldiers moved in from all directions, taking cover behind pipes and pumping machinery. Courage then dropped me for a second and took out a grenade, pulling the pin and throwing it towards the enemy. He clipped his gun to his chest and grabbed me with both hands, standing me up on my hind legs, and began to walk me up the stairs quickly as the grenade blew up behind us. He kicked open the maintenance door and walked us to the exit of the building. We staggered out of the building and into the road. Troops and tanks coming either side and firing at us. I looked up to find artillery shells coming in from above and many planes in the distance, coming in fast towards us. Courage just drew his pistol and fired to the right as he ran us across the road and in between some buildings. The artillery shells began to shower the base, explosions all around us destroying the buildings, bullet fire coming from behind us and tanks driving up the side of the buildings, trying to shoot us between the gaps. A helicopter hovered over head and fired at us with its machine gun. The buildings provided us with good cover but the buildings were being torn apart quickly. We ran out into another road and stopped for a second. One of my transports flew over our heads and began to hover above a building not far ahead of us. “This is Fluttershy! Get your flanks aboard now!” she yelled down our earpieces. Her voice then became soft, “Um... that is... if you don’t mind...” Courage then started to run us towards the building, the artillery fire still bombing the base and the enemy soldiers still firing at us from behind. He ran us down between another few buildings and then we approached the building which Fluttershy was hovering above. Courage walked me inside and started to walk me up the stairs. On the third set of stairs now, we were slowly climbing. Then a massive explosion came blasting through the wall, causing the stairs below us to instantly collapse and making the ones ahead of us very unstable. Courage rushed us up as the rest of the stair well began to fall apart. “Hurry! We can’t take much more fire!” warned Fluttershy loudly. Courage then stumbled as a stair below his foot gave in. We nearly fell but luckily he grabbed the railing before we did and managed to save us. He walked us round the hole and continued to walk us up the stairs. We burst through the roof access door and limped for the transport. The back of the transport opened up and two of my soldiers stood either side, waving their hoof to hurry us up. The transport was slowly hovering away, slowly floating over the edge of the building. The building then started to collapse as it took more artillery fire, the roof caving in behind us. We got close to the transport, the ground below us cracking at our feet. “Come on! We have to go!” shouted one of the soldiers. The transport was now hovering over the edge of the building now. Courage then gripped me and threw me across the gap between the building and the transport. I crashed down inside the transport and quickly looked to the side to see if Courage made it. I panicked for a second when I didn’t see him, gasping loudly, but soon let go of my breath when I saw one of my soldiers lift him into the transport. “We’re in! Go!” Courage shouted as he pulled himself in. “We have hostile planes inbound!” shouted a voice from the cockpit. I began to pass out from my wounds that still oozed blood from my sides. “Princess!” panicked Courage. He then looked to the two soldiers and pointed at me, “Help her now!!” He then quickly moved to the cockpit as I slowly slipped out of consciousness.
Chapter Four - There's a Bravo too?Initializing... Target Host: Fluttershy Identification: Tender Angel Three One Operation: Surprise Drop-in Location: Muranu, Australia Mission Time: 00:37:21 Transmission Begin... “Okay Fluttershy! Go!” shouted Courage unnecessarily loudly. “I’m going” I replied quietly. I took hold of the flight stick in my hooves and began to start up my ship's thrusters. I carefully pushed forward and started to fly away as the human planes approached. “Ma’am! Hostiles in bound!” shouted the Co-pilot. “I know. Please, be quiet while I fly” I asked quietly and politely. I flew us away from the base as it was destroyed by those mean planes. The planes began to chase after us which I thought wasn’t very nice. Luckily Rainbow Dash taught me how to fly these ships so I should hopefully be okay. The planes continued to get closer. I began to worry when my ship began to take fire from their nasty machine guns. “Fluttershy!” yelled Courage who stood in the cockpit doorway. “I’m doing my best Courage” I replied softly. “We cannot head back to the ship without taking care of those planes! We’ll have no cover in the sky! We need to shake them off...” Courage then went silent for a moment as he tapped away at his wrist computer. “Head for the city of Rockhampton! We can use the buildings for cover, just as exodia did back in Russia. It should only be a few clicks north east from here!” “Um... Clicks?” I asked quietly in confusion. “Sorry, human talk, it’s not far from here... Now go! Before the planes catch up!” “I- Um... Okay...” I did as he said and started to fly north east, the planes still chasing us. I flew low to the ground for cover, at least I think it was for cover. Rainbow taught me to fly low in any pursuit so I did. We began to take more machine gun fire. “Ma’am! The ship's hull is damaged and we are leaking coolant from the engine pods” warned the co-pilot. A red light started to flash angrily at me. “I-Um... Think that means missile lock... What should I do?!” I looked at my screen in panic as the human planes fired missiles. I didn’t know what to do. This was too much pressure for me. I then heard Rainbow’s voice echo in my head... “Use the flares Fluttershy...” “Flares! Got it!” I said aloud and confidently. I deployed my flares and the missiles went off course. The human planes continued pursuit. I closed my eyes and I started to think about Rainbow and her training course. It was now time to use those skills, for my friends. “Fluttershy!” yelled Courage again. The light began to flash again but I was not intimidated by it this time. I grinned confidently as the missiles approached. I pulled back on the flight stick harshly and flipped the ship upside down, flying over the missiles as they passed. I then used my air-brakes to slow us right down to let the human planes pass. Another missile came from behind but I rolled us over to the side to dodge and then turned on my boosters to get away fast. “Phwoar!! Nice moves Fluttershy!” Incited Courage. “Um... Thanks” I said with joy. I then locked onto the two planes ahead of us. I didn’t want to hurt them so I used the smallest missiles possible and aimed for the left wings. I started to take more machine gun fire from behind so I flew side to side to avoid as much of it as I could. Rainbow always told me to keep swerving side to side when under fire. I finished my lock on and fired two missiles at the planes ahead. They both deployed their flares and slowed down to let me pass. “Ma’am! We have five planes on our six and we only have two more sets of flares!” The human planes fired more missiles and I responded by deploying flares. Most of them went for the flares and I rolled to dodge the last few. “Ooo... Why do they have to be so mean!” I complained quietly. Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 00:41:15 Diagnosis: Host Migration in Progress... Migrating... Host Found... Connecting to New Host... Initializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: Surprise Drop-in Location: Rockhampton, Australia Mission Time: 00:41:28 Transmission Begin... “Ma’am! We are still two minutes out from the city and they are locking on again!” “Oh no... What do I do?!” panicked Fluttershy quietly. “Fuck it! Slow us down and open the hatch!” I ordered as I walked to the back of the ship. I walked into the back, loading my assault rifle. I then looked to Luna who was barely holding onto life. She had been revived by the pony soldiers and all three were now strapped in their seats. I smiled at Luna softly. She struggled a smile for a few seconds before dropping her head to the side and closing her eyes. The hatch opened and I walked to the edge. “What are you doing?!?” shouted one of the pony soldiers. “I’m saving our arses!” I replied. “But you’ll die!” “I’ve done this before so calm yo tits!” “I’m coming with you then!” He insisted aggressively. “It’s not safe!” He then fluttered his wings, grinning, “I can fly...” I smiled and nodded at him. I then looked out the back and prepared to jump with the Pegasus soldier. “Fluttershy! Get above one of them!” I shouted. A missile then flew past as the ship lurched to the side. “I’m trying my best!” The ship then slowed down considerably and I looked out as a plane flew low, coming towards us. “Ready... JUMP!” I jumped down as the plane came flying past. I landed down on the plane, landing hard, stumbling straight away and nearly falling off the back. The speed this thing was going made it impossible to stand on. Luckily I had grabbed onto the planes vertical stabiliser before I flew off behind it. Ahead I could see Fluttershy’s transport. The plane was lining up for attack run and Fluttershy had no more flares left. “Fuck it!” I yelled as I pulled off a block of C4 from my chest and planted it on the planes hull. I let go of the plane and set off the C4, blowing up its engines and causing it to lose control. I looked back as I flew backwards towards another plane. I hit his canopy and bounced off it and behind him. I grabbed his right wing quickly. My hand stopped me but I must have seriously damaged my wrist when I grabbed on. I felt a massive pain surged through my arm as the massive amount of momentum in me came to a sudden stop. “Ah! Fuck!!” I screamed as I felt my arm nearly pull from its socket. “Ah fuck my arm!! Jesus fucking Christ!!” I grabbed hold on the wing with my right arm and attempted to pull myself off the edge. I grabbed hold a ladder bar and pulled myself up. It was sort of a ladder, more like bars that were set out for the engineers to hold onto when they repaired the plane. I pulled myself up and wrapped my right arm around the bar. I then began to climb the bars towards the cockpit. I looked forward when I got close to the cockpit and found that we were now entering the city. Fluttershy’s transport was heavily damaged: The thrusters were fading on and off as if they were about to fail, many of the systems below the hull had blown open and burst into flames and its left wing was in flames and barely hanging onto the rest of the ship. She flew between some buildings, swerving side to side as the plane I was on began to fire its machine guns. I lifted my rifle and fired at the glass canopy that covered the cockpit. The plane quickly jolted to the side towards a building as the pilot flinched at the gun fire. The right wing began to scrape against some buildings but the pilot soon regained control and pulled away. He then looked at me with a frown. He broke his pursuit of Fluttershy and flew high. He then began to barrel roll around in an attempt to shake me off his plane. The sudden jolt caused my arm to bounce up and lose grip of the bar. As I fell, I managed to wrap my left arm around another bar, the force causing me even more pain. “Ah!! My fucking arm!!” The pilot tried again and started to do all kinds of crazy stunts to shake me off. All the movement was causing me intense pain in my arm. I could feel that my arm was about to give out on me. I quickly gripped my rifle with my right arm and aimed for the pilot. My arm finally gave out and I slipped off the plane and began to fall. Just as I did, I raised my rifle and fired at the pilot, killing him. I watched for a few seconds as the plane fell from the sky. I then rolled myself round to watch my decent. “Fuck fuck fuck!” I mumbled to myself loudly in concern. I came close to the ground but I was surprised when my speed began to drop. Something was pulling on my vest. I looked above me and the Pegasus soldier had grabbed hold of me with all four of his hooves. “Fuck am I glad to see you!!” I sighed with overwhelming relief. “I told you you would die...” he chuckled. “Where’s Fluttershy?!” “She’s fine! I took care of the other planes and she will meet us on top of that tall building ahead” I looked ahead to see Fluttershy landing on top of the building ahead. “Okay good! Good work” The Pony soldier flew us back to the transport that was parked on top of the skyscraper. Fluttershy instantly came out to see us. We approached her and the transport but we all froze when we heard screeching and clanking from the building we stood on. We all looked at each other, completely silent and in shock. “Maybe we should get off this building before it collapses...” I suggested eventually. “Agreed...” said the pony soldier. We climbed on board the transport quickly and carefully, Fluttershy returning to the pilot seat and timidly starting the engines. We lifted off from the building and took flight into the air, the transport lurching heavily from the punishment it took. “Take us home Fluttershy...” I said with relief, feeling safe now. I looked at Luna and sat down in the seat next to her. She didn’t look like she was breathing so, out of concern, I checked if she was still alive. I pressed one hand against her forehead and another in front of her mouth. Her head was still warm and I could slightly feel her breath, which was good because it meant she was still alive. She lifted her head gingerly and her eyes fluttered open slowly. She struggled a smile and I smiled back. “You okay Luna?” I asked slowly with a loving smile. “Thanks to you, I’m fine” she smiled back. “We’ll have you back soon and Fluttershy will patch you up” I assured her. “Thank you...” she said, closing her eyes again as she dozed off to sleep again. I brushed my hand across her forehead to brush away her mane from her face, “Sleep well Princess” I got up from my seat and moved to the cockpit. “So Fluttershy? What happened to that medical team you said you would have on this transport” I asked. “Well... I um... left them on the ship to patch up the others when they landed” I sighed, “Well I guess that makes sense. Luna could have really used them earlier though” “I’m Sorry” apologised Fluttershy. “It’s okay. You had to make a decision and you made it. Luna’s fine so it doesn’t matter now. Just get her back soon” “I’m on it Courage” Transmission End... Mission Time: 00:47:04 Mission Success... Mission Debrief: All three teams accomplished their goals and data retrieval was achieved. Luna’s team had one casualty; Pvt. Bino Circuit was killed instantly by American fire after hacking open a door. His actions saved Luna and her team. Pvt. Quiltin Ink and Sgt. Moody Ranger of Luna’s team were also hit and were wounded in battle. They were rushed to the infirmary and treated as soon as they returned to the ship with the other teams. Luna and Courage arrived later on Fluttershy’s transport as Courage returned to Luna’s mission zone to rescue her from the enemy. Both were heavily wounded in the fight and were also brought to the infirmary for treatment. Un-Authorised Transmission Incoming... Connecting... Initializing... Target Host: Gavriil Gularin Identification: Huskey Bravo One Four Operation: Bunker Down Location: Volokolamsk, Russia Mission Time: 00:28:33 Transmission Begin... “Okay Comrades... Hold here...” I ordered quietly as I raised my fist by my head. We waited in the tall grass as two Abrams and a few American soldiers walked past us. We hid patiently in the tall grass just beside the road, the patrolling Americans completely oblivious to our existence. After a while, the patrol passed. “Okay... Lets move Spetsnaz” I ordered with a hushed tone as I waved my hand forward. We moved across the road slowly, looking both ways to check we were clear, and took cover in the tall grass on the other side. My team made it across. “Okay... Lets keep moving” I whispered into my earpiece. “So where’s your British friend Gavriil?” asked a voice in my earpiece. “He is running an op in Australia” I replied “Why didn’t you go with him?” “I only operate in Russia. I only worked with him on the last mission because it was on our soil. I will not leave Russia until I know that she and her people are safe” “There is one thing I must know... How did you and him escape those American fighters in your last mission?” “Stay focused on the mission Demetri...” I ordered, trying not to get irritated. We continued to move through the vegetation towards the objective. The moonlight shined brightly, illuminating the darkness that filled the night. No animals could be seen or heard except for the crickets that chirped in the night. Much of this forest was spared by the destructive war that once held the planet with a firm grip. Much of it was still lush and alive. “What are we doing again?” Demetri asked. “We are investigating this American outpost. An outpost this close to Moscow is a threat and also very suspicious” I explained. “What are the Americans doing here? Aren't we technically at peace with the Americans?” asked a different voice. “Yes but clearly they don’t see it like that...” I implied. “They are definitely up to something here and we need to stop them before they bring harm to the last of our people” “Of course Gavriil” agreed the soldier. We exited the treeline and approached the fence of the American outpost. The Americans were using an old warehouse as the outpost, many trucks and tents were set up around it. There were not many soldiers moving around inside the perimeter and the choppers were landed at the fueling station. They were not expecting company. “Moskvin, the spray...” I ordered. One of my team members moved in front of me and approached the fence. He took out a spray can and sprayed the fence, spraying a shape of a circular door frame into it. He put the spray can away and began to pull on the fence. The fence broke where it was sprayed and the soldier pulled down on it to make an easy entrance through the fence. “Good job... Lets move...” I said, looking back at my team and tilting my head towards the warehouse. We all moved through the fence and into the enemy perimeter. We remained unseen as we moved through the base and towards the warehouse. Most of the guards were either asleep, talking, playing games or messing with equipment. It made sneaking past them all very easy. Trust the Americans not to pay attention. We did eventually make it past the tents and trucks and we moved into the warehouse. There were a few crates and trucks in here along with the pre-war manufacturing machinery. It was lightly guarded in here. Actually, it wasn’t guarded at all. “What are we looking for?” asked Demetri. “We are looking for an entrance to a nuclear storage bunker” I replied. “You mean like a bunker for storing nuclear waste?” gasped Moskvin in shock. “No! It was a bunker used for storing multiple tanks and rocket launchers, you know, for use after a nuclear war” I explained. “Oh I see. So the Americans are here to steal that stuff for use against Moscow?” speculated Demetri. “Most likely... Now spread out and look for some kind of hatch or concealed door” I ordered. My team spread out and looked around for the entrance to the bunker. I walked around on the main floor for a bit, taking a scan of the warehouse with my eyes, trying to look for clues. “Sir! I found something!” yelled one of my team members. We all rushed to the sound of the voice and we all walked into a shipping office. The soldier that yelled was standing by a desk and looking under it. “What is it Crokov?” I asked. “Look at this...” Crokov replied, pointing to a hatch under the desk. “Looks like you found it...” I said with a smile, patting him on the shoulder. “C’mon. Lets get down there” We climbed into the hatch and down the ladder deep under the warehouse. At the bottom, I found myself standing in a small narrow corridor. The corridor ended right where the ladder was and not far down the other end was a large sealed door. Everything was white and shiny down here. By the sealed door was a small numbered keypad. That keypad was obviously the way to unlock the door. I slowly approached the door as the rest of my team made it down the ladder. “Quite impressive...” said Moskvin as he walked beside me. “Yes. Quite...” I approached the keypad and started to press buttons. “3, 7, 2, 4” I said aloud as I pressed at the keypad. The massive vault door reversed from the frame and rolled to the side, revealing a massive open vault room. Automatic lights began to flick on and the darkness was soon cast away... and what we saw in the light, stunned us. Weapon crates were spread out across the room, columns of tanks lined up side by side in the hundreds, cruise missiles hung from the roof ready for loading, MRLS vehicles loaded to the brim with rockets and more bombs than a terrorist would know what to do with. “Woah!” we all said in awe as we walked into the enormous metal room. “Look at all this equipment!” gasped Moskvin. “This is amazing! The people of Moscow could really use this stuff!” incited Demetri. “This...” I was lost for words. This stuff could go a long way to defeating Discord’s forces and fighting back the Americans. “Sir? Are you okay?” asked Crokov. “This... This is...” I was smiling so much. My smile then suddenly disappeared, “This is bad... We can’t let the Americans get a hold of all this. We need to get a transmission back to command and have them secure this site” “I’m on it sir...” replied Crokov as he pulled out his tablet computer. “I don’t think so...” said a smug voice behind us. The voice sounded old but very charismatic... and familiar. “Jettison...” I said with a frown as I turned around. Stood there was the smug rat that called himself the American President. He was in his blue suit, red tie, and holding his briefcase. Next to him stood some kind of armoured suit. It was humanoid, dark gray and had a green visor. It was butch and was marked ‘Bravo’ on it’s chest in small white text. “I want to thank you for helping me get in here. My men couldn’t get passed the lock...” he said smugly. “We didn’t help you, you took advantage of us!” “I don’t care what you call it. I now possess all the equipment I need to build an invasion force” he taunted, grinning slightly. “We’ll never let you take Moscow! We will stop you!” threatened Crokov, failing to sound intimidating. “You think these are for Moscow? Oh no my Russian friend... I have bigger plans for these tanks...” he grinned with an evil chuckle. “Too bad your plans will never come into action” I said, priming my AK. “You think you can stop me?!” he laughed. “We are Spetsnaz! The most elite soldiers on the planet!” I called out. “...Until now... Show them Bravo...” The armoured suit approached us slowly. He didn’t draw any of his weapons. Me and my team prepared to shoot. “This must be a joke! One soldier against us?” questioned Moskvin. “Never underestimate your enemy Moskvin. They just might surprise you” I replied. The soldier got close and Crokov pointed his Spas-12 at him. This is when the soldier sprung into action. The soldier jumped up and kicked away the shotgun as Crokov fired, causing him to shoot the ground beside him. The soldier then kicked Moskvin before he could aim his AK, causing him to stumble back. Crokov tried to aim again but the soldier grabbed his shotgun and pelted it into Crokov’s throat. Crokov fell onto his back, holding his throat. Demetri moved in to fire at the soldier with his UMP 45 but the soldier swung the shotgun round and knocked him away. I pulled up my AK to shoot but the soldier strafed over to me and threw a punch at me. I ducked under it and kicked him back. I pulled up my AK again but he swung round and back handed it to the side. I managed to keep hold of my AK and spun round to hit him with it. I swung it at his head, he ducked and tried to punch low, I raised my knee to block, lifted my weapon to shoot, he grabbed it and pointed it up, I tried to kick him, he blocked with his knee and then punched me in the side, pulling my weapon from my hands as I withdrew, and finished me by jumping up to kick me in the head and then smacking me down with my own weapon. Demetri and Moskvin came up behind the soldier with their weapons. The soldier quickly turned to face them. He kicked back Demetri, ran up, kneed him in the head and smacked him in the back with his elbow. Moskvin started to fire his AK as the soldier ran at him. The soldier moved quickly and got too close before Moskvin could get out a few shots. Moskvin lifted his weapon above his head and continued to fire downwards at the soldier but the soldier was too quick and predicted his line of fire, allowing him to dodge the bullets and attack. The soldier kneed Moskvin in the stomach and then tried to punch him in the head. Moskvin lowered his weapon to block the punch and tried to kick the soldier back. The soldier elbowed his leg before it could kick him, smacked Moskvin’s weapon aside, backhanded him in the head and elbowed him in the side. Moskvin tried to throw a low punch but the soldier grabbed his arm, twisted it round, elbowed it and then kneed him in the face, knocking him away. Me and Crokov approached the super soldier. The soldier turned back to us and walked to us slowly. Jettison was still standing by the door, watching us get humiliated by this monstrosity. The soldier started to run at us and threw a punch at me. I blocked his fist with both my hands and kicked him back. Crokov moved from the side to punch but the soldier grabbed his fist and punched him in the side. I moved in to save him and tried to punch the soldier again. He threw away Crokov’s arm and lent back to dodge me, countering me straight away by kicking the side of my leg and causing me to stumble onto one knee. Crokov moved in to attack again but the soldier reacted and punched him back. The soldier looked at me and approached me quickly. He started to throw many fast punches at me. I managed to block the first with my arm, swipe away the second, duck under the third, block the fourth, elbow the fifth away; all this happening as I slowly backed away. Eventually the soldier got passed me and punched me in the side of the head and kneed me in the stomach. He tried to finish me with another punch to the side of the head but I ducked under it, grabbed his arm, spun myself around and kicked him in the side. I threw his arm down and tried to punch him before he could recover. He predicted this and spun his body around to kick me away. His kick launched me far. He had kicked me towards the army of unmanned tanks. He drew two SMGs from his legs and started to fire at me. I dived behind the closest tank for cover and drew my Pistol, readying to fire back. I lifted my weapon and stood slightly out of cover to return fire. The enemy soldier quickly ran to the side and took cover behind an MRLS vehicle. I moved out from the row of tanks for a better shot. I saw Moskvin getting up again, drawing his knife as he did. The soldier had not seen him yet. The soldier then spun out of cover and fired at me with both SMGs. I dived for the floor and returned fire. The soldier continued to fire, jumping around and dodging my fire in the open. Moskvin came up behind him and swung at the soldier with his knife. The soldier was somehow aware of this and turned around to block. Moskvin hit one of the SMGs with his blade. He then knifed it out of the soldiers hands and continued to attack. I got up and moved to help him. Moskvin slashed at the soldier but the soldier lent back and then countered by knocking the knife out of Moskvin’s hand. The soldier then swung at him and Moskvin stepped to the side to dodge. The soldier wanted to move in to attack him again but I kicked him in the back. The soldier stumbled towards Moskvin in which Moskvin responded by punching the soldier in the head. The soldier tried to fight back but I punched him in the back and then elbowed his back. He swung the back of his fist around but I jumped back to dodge. Moskvin tried to crush the soldiers head with both his fists but the soldier spun around and tripped him up. I moved to punch the soldier in the back but he back rolled between my legs and then kicked me in the ass, forcing me to stumble forward and fall on Moskvin who was trying to get up. The soldier stood up straight and looked at us, holding his hand out at us which had a detonator in it. The rest of the team formed up beside me and looked at the soldier in confusion. “Is that a-” Boom! An explosion went off behind us and we all turned to look sharply. An explosion had occurred at the back of the MRLS and many rockets began to prematurely launch at the roof. “What the?!” I yelled. “Spetsnaz! Take him down!” We all started to run at the soldier, Demetri firing a few shots at him with his UMP. The rockets hit the roof and it started to collapse: All the tank parts and cruise missiles began to break from the ropes and cranes, on the verge of falling on us as we attacked the soldier. I ran and threw a punch at the soldier but he blocked me, kicked me back and backflipped as Crokov threw a punch. The soldier continued to run backwards through the isles of tanks. Me and Crokov continued to ran at him to fight him. Demetri ran up onto a tank and fired down on the soldier, jumping from tank to tank as he followed up the side. I threw another punch. The soldier ducked and punched me in stomach. I swung forward to hit him again but he dodged, elbowed me in the side and kicked me behind him. Crokov tried to kick him but the soldier pushed him back. A cruise missile came crashing down and the soldier jumped back to avoid getting crushed. He turned, jumped up and pushed himself off my shoulder as I swung to punch him. The force of his foot caused me to lose balance and fall forward. I looked up as a loose tank turret began to fall from above me. I jumped forward just as the turret hit the ground, barely missing me, and I rebounded my jump to launch myself back over it, spinning round and drawing my pistol as I flew towards the soldier. I took a few shots at him as I returned to the ground, landing into a roll. I swung my arm to punch him as I exited the roll, he pulled his stomach in to avoid my attack, I swung my arm back again as I stood up but he ducked his head and then countered me with a kick. I jumped over his kick and tried to kick him myself with my own foot but he grabbed my foot, pulled me over his head and dropped me behind him. The roof began to cave in and metal panels began to rain down on us; the panels being very big. He jumped back to dodge a metal panel as I tried to get up and turned to kick me across the floor. Another metal panel came falling on him so he jumped to the side onto the isle of tanks next to the isle Demetri was running across. The soldier drew his assault rifle and started to run along the tanks like Demetri was doing and they both fired at each other, jumping and spinning to dodge each others fire. A metal panel fell onto the tank Demetri was passing and caused the turret to flip up and catapulte Demetri into the air. Demetri side flipped as he continued to fire. The soldier jumped across the gap between two tanks as a metal panel fell between them. Demetri stopped to reload but looked up to find a cruise missile falling towards him. He jumped off the tank as quickly as he could to avoid getting crushed. The soldier aimed to shoot Demetri but then Moskvin jumped up onto the tank behind him and started to fire his pistol. The soldier turned and jumped off backwards to avoid his pistol fire. The soldier fired a few shots at Moskvin but he quickly got down to avoid the fire. Demetri got up behind the soldier, the soldier quickly turned to fire his weapon but Demetri knocked it to the side, launching it towards me. I quickly moved to pick it up and looked to fire at the soldier. I looked up to see Demetri flying towards me. I jump rolled to the side as Demetri flew past and I started to fire on the soldier. The soldier dived to the side for cover behind the tank. Crokov came up beside him and tried to punch him while Moskvin jumped from the tank to attack from above. The soldier kicked Crokov away and grabbed Moskvin’s vest before he landed and threw him to the side violently. The soldier was now out of cover slightly and I had a perfect shot. I pulled the trigger but a metal panel fell right in front of me, blocking my bullets. After a few seconds, the panel fell forward and cleared from my line of sight. The soldier was no longer where he was standing. I looked to the side towards the tank next to me and I got punched in the face. I was knocked back into the tank behind me, bashing my head against the solid armour painfully. The soldier stood over me and threw another punch. I moved my head to the side to dodge and the soldiers fist went straight into the tanks armour. I turned my eyes to the side for a second as the soldier took back his fist. He had made a large dent in the armour. I kicked him away and rolled to the side. He tried to attack again but I picked up Demetri’s UMP that he dropped during his flight. I tried to open fire but the soldier knocked my weapon to the side. I kept hold of the weapon and tried to shoot again but the soldier grabbed the barrel and lifted it up and away from us. I tried to force the weapon from his grip but he just crushed the barrel with his hand and kicked me away. I stumbled back as Demetri came at the soldier from behind. The soldier turned and grabbed Demetri by the vest. He threw Demetri up and over towards me. As Demetri came close to the ground the soldier spun and kicked him really hard in the stomach. Demetri was launched into me and we were both launched into the other two who were trying to get back into the fight. Eventually we all stopped flying and sliding across the room. We were all flat on our stomachs now. Demetri and Moskvin were groaning in pain. I tried to push myself up. “That is actually quite a tough soldier...” groaned Demetri. I looked back at the tank army and I saw the soldier walking slowly towards me. A lot of the tanks in the middle of the army were now damaged and crushed. I looked to the side, my AK was just out of reach. I quickly pushed myself towards it and grabbed the handle. My wrist was then crushed by the soldier’s foot. “Ah! Get off me brute!” I demanded. I then heard clapping coming from the vault door. I turned and the American President walked towards me smugly while slowly clapping his hands. “Well done... I have to say... I’m impressed... You certainly put up a better fight than the ponies did...” he laughed. “You won’t get away with this!” “I already have... In less than eight hours, Moscow will be purged... And then so shall the rest of the world... Eventually the whole world will be pure blooded Americans... And then... I shall use this equipment...” He then shot a frowning look at the soldier. “At least what's left of it...” He then looked back to me smugly. “...To take over Equestria...” I then heard a pistol click by my head. I looked up at the super soldier who had a pistol to my head. “Good bye Gavriil...” Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 01:13:33 Diagnosis: Host No Longer Transmitting... Error... Unable To Connect to New Host... Ending Process...
Chapter Five - AuthorityInitializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: N/A Location: ESS Dark Moon Mission Time: N/A Transmission Begin... “Courage! I think she’s coming through...” Luna’s eyes opened timidly. I quickly got up out of bed and approached Luna’s bedside. “Luna? Are you okay?” “C- Courage? F- Fluttershy? Where am I?” Luna asked, her voice sounding weak and confused. “You’re in the infirmary. You’re safe now” I assured her with a smile. She nodded back slowly but with relief. She then looked at my busted arm with concern. My arm was in a cast and a wrap ran round my neck to hold my arm straight against my chest. “Is your arm okay?” she asked. “He is fine. Everyone is fine. I managed to patch them all up but they need a few days off to recover” stated Fluttershy, her voice sounding confident but at the same time caring. “Okay, thank you Fluttershy” smiled Luna. “Courage, I dare say that I will be in bed for a while. I want you to take charge of my ship for now” “Me Luna? I’m not even a pony and you trust me with your ship?” I said with confusion. “Of course I trust you. You saved my life. And I can’t think of a more qualified replacement for me...” We both smiled at each other before she continued. “Speak to Twilight and analyse the data you sent; plan our next course of action and make the necessary preparations” I stood up straight and saluted with my good arm, “Of course Princess! I’ll get right on it” Luna grinned joyfully and then turned to Fluttershy, “Is Courage fit for duty?” “Yes. Just as long as he is careful with his arm...” “Don’t worry Fluttershy. I promise not to jump off speeding planes this time” I said with a chuckle. “Okay good because you seem to do that a lot” smiled Fluttershy. “I’ll get back to work then. Look after her Fluttershy” I said as I started to walk out the infirmary. They both smiled at me as I left. Things were a bit hectic right now. Nearly everyone was hurt from the last mission. Only Twilight’s team was unharmed. Russell and Liam had it worse with that Alpha thing kicking their asses. What was that thing? A robot or a guy in a suit. And it was so skilled with fighting. I was guessing it was a guy in a suit. A robot would have chosen the most efficient way to kill us but it chucked its laser rifles aside to fight hand to hand instead of just gunning us down. But it’s moves and walk were so rehearsed, so perfect; no man could have such perfect movement. It’s hard to say for sure. I just hoped that we would never see it again. I also haven’t heard anything from Gavriil since he left for his mission. I hoped he was okay. Gavril had a thing for not dying. I just hoped he wasn’t in any trouble. Previous Transmission Recovered... Connecting... Initializing... Target Host: Gavriil Gularin Identification: Huskey Bravo One Four Operation: Bunker Down Location: Volokolamsk, Russia Mission Time: 01:13:24 Transmission Begin... “Good Bye Gavriil...” This was it. I was finally going to die. I served mother Russia proud and I know that my actions have helped her get this far. I had a feeling that Russia would continue to live on. Her people are strong and proud, the americans will never truly understand honour and glory, and that is why they will never beat us. Never will they truly become people... but forever they remain savage monsters bent on domination. The pistol clicked again as the Bravo prepared to fire. I was just waiting for the loud bang to follow. “Stop!!” I jumped as a loud deep dark voice echoed from behind us. Everyone turned sharply to the door, even the Bravo, and out from the dark corridor walked two dark figures. They were not human... From the darkness emerged two heavily armed dragon warriors: Fully sealed metal armour, laser rifles on their backs and both wielding a blood red energy sword. “The humans are to be left alone... Leave now and you will be spared...” ordered one of them. “Who do you think you are?!” demanded Jettison. “That is not your concern...” replied the dragon warrior. His voice sounded very experienced. “...You will submit to my commands orders or you will die. “Who exactly is your command? Discord is gone. Remember?” taunted Jettison. “Who I take orders from is not your concern... Leave here or die...” “I’m afraid I can’t do that... This equipment is mine and I’m not leaving without it...” frowned the President. “This stuff is of property to the Russian leadership and it’s military. It does not belong to you” stated the dragon warrior with a tone of authority. “You see this hand? It is mine... You see these tanks? They are mine!” implied Jettison insistingly and aggressively. “That isn’t even a valid argument...” said the dragon warrior in bold confusion. “Bravo! I’ve had enough... Take them down...” “Yes sir” replied to super soldier with a completely human tone. It was a voice of experience and strength. A true soldiers voice. The soldier lifted his foot off my wrist and walked towards the dragon soldiers. My team just stared at him as he walked away from us. “Hay, doesn’t blood red mean ‘Elite’?” asked Crokov. “This should be interesting...” expected Demetri, trying to get up off his sore back. The dragon warriors threw back their arms as they activated their energy swords. Blood red energy blades shot out of the handles and the dragon warriors walked towards the super soldier. “Surrender now or you will be taken by force” commanded the dragon warrior. “I like force...” replied the super soldier. The dragon warriors stopped and took an attack stance, “Then you shall have it” The other dragon warrior charged in and slashed with his sword. The super soldier lent to the side to dodge, punched down the dragon warrior’s arm and then punched him in the back to knock him away. The dragon warriors were now either side of him. They both moved to slash at once. The super soldier ducked under them and the swords crossed each other with force. Before the dragon warriors could react, the soldier kicked away the first and then stood up to punch the second twice in the stomach. The dragon warrior he punched attacked back with a slash but the soldier spun round and knocked him forward into the other dragon warrior. Both the dragon warriors stumbled for a few moments but soon turned back to the soldier and charged. I turned my attention away from the fight and stood up, holding my AK, and I turned to the president. The president was focused on watching the fight but soon he shook his head towards me after noticing my AK being pointed at him. “W- What are you doing?!” he asked. “What’s wrong Jettison? Things not going as planned?” I chuckled, giving an evil grin. “Well I wouldn’t say not as planned...More of... not running on time...” “Not running on time?” I lowered my weapon in thought as I tried to figure out what he meant. I then caught something in the corner of my eye heading towards me. I turned my head for a look but I was punched in the face as I did. I stumbled and spun around, holding my face. When I looked up I saw a super soldier, this one being marked Echo. “Another one?” I complained. Jettison backed away to give his soldier room. The soldier threw a punch at me and I tried to dodge and counter with a punch of my own. He grabbed and twisted my arm, kneeing me in the stomach afterwards. I tried to punch again but he ducked under it, elbowed me in the armpit and then moved further behind me to elbow me in the back. I fell to my hands and knees in pain. Those guys could really hit hard if they wanted too. I quickly turned onto my back, the soldier drawing his knife and approaching me. I got up and drew my own knife, readying to fight. “Okay you big galoot, come get it!” He swung at me with his knife, I kicked his arm to the side and jumped forward to attack. He lent to the side to dodge and punched me in the side of the head. I swung round to slash his stomach but he beat down my arm and kicked me back. I tried to stab again but he knocked my knife from my hands and smacked me again. I looked up and he was swinging at me with his knife, right for my shoulder. I raised my arms to defend myself. Suddenly I was side shoved by one of the dragon warriors and he blocked the knife with his sword. He then tilted his head slightly as if to talk to the other elite. “Protect the humans!!” he ordered. He then kicked back the Echo and engaged him in combat. I turned to look at the Bravo. The other elite was still trying to fight him. The Bravo soon noticed Crokov getting up on his feet. He kicked the dragon warrior away and moved to attack Crokov. “Crokov watch out!” I called out. Crokov was unaware and didn’t hear me. I quickly picked up my knife and threw it at the Bravo in an attempt to save Crokov. The Bravo turned to me as my knife flew towards him. He lent his head back and caught the knife just before it hit him. He then took hold of the blade and swung his arm back to throw it back at me. Before he could finish he got tackled by the dragon warrior again. The Bravo kicked him off and got up. I then ducked as the first dragon warrior flew over my head from behind. The echo moved to attack me again. He swung at me and I jumped back. I had no weapon to fight him with. He swung at me, all I could do was dodge and defend myself. I grabbed his arm a he swung and then tried to kick him in the knee. He just used his other arm to knock me away. He moved to attack again but Demetri came to the side and kicked him. Echo tried to swing at Demetri with his knife but Crokov came to help also, sliding in and tripping him up. Echo jumped up again, swinging his legs into Demetri who tried to attack from above his head, landed on his feet, punching away Crokov as he did, and then moved to attack me. He tried to punch me and stab me straight afterwards but I dodged his punch and grabbed his knife hand to block. Demetri then kicked him in the side and Crokov punched him in the back. He swung a punch at me but I just let go of his hand and dodged his punch. Demetri and Crokov both then kicked him away, causing him to stumble forward. We all ran up close to the Echo and the Bravo, the dragon warriors taking position beside my team. Moskvin was now back up on his feet and by our side. “It’s six against two! We can do this Comrades!” I encouraged. “Agreed. Move together and coordinate our attacks!” agreed a dragon warrior in his deep dark voice. We started to move in on the soldiers, Moskvin hesitating a little as he questioned one big factor. “Is it not weird that we are fighting with the dragon warriors and not against them?” he asked. The dragon warriors attacked first, swinging their swords at the soldiers aggressively. We moved in as back up. The soldiers dodged the dragon warrior attacks and began to fight back. I focused on fighting Echo. The dragon warrior tried to slash Echo’s stomach but he jumped back and pulled out his pistol. I quickly jumped forward and kicked the Echo before he could shoot the dragon warrior. The Echo missed his shot and the dragon warrior swung at him again. He jumped, ducked and then elbowed the sword handle from the dragon warrior. The dragon warrior’s sword flew to the side but we both continued our attack. The dragon warrior them a punch, the Echo aiming and shooting his claw as it swung up. His claw was forced back by the bullet and so the dragon warrior tried again with his other claw. His punch came from the side but Echo jammed his pistol into the warriors fist and fired, forcing his claw away. The Echo then swung his leg round to kick the dragon warrior away. The dragon warrior came back with another punch but the Echo just jammed his pistol into his throat and fired. The Echo then grabbed the dragon warrior and threw him to the floor. He stood on his chest and aimed to shoot him again but I quickly tackled him, forcing him to the floor and causing him to drop the pistol. He grabbed a knife that laid nearby and tried to stab me. I quickly jumped to grab and trap his wrist, stopping him from swinging at me. I grabbed his pistol and aimed at him but he pulled his legs up and pushed me away with a kick to the stomach. I quickly stood up and aimed the pistol at him. Before I could shoot, he launched the knife at me and it flew straight into my hand. I immediately dropped the pistol and held my hand in pain, the knife sticking through my palm, the wound gushing blood everywhere. “Ahh!” I blurted out in pain. I looked up from my hand as the Echo approached me, He grabbed the knife at the grip and ripped the blade from my hand before punching me down and kicking me away with a hard kick the the stomach. I looked over my shoulder, the Bravo was just beating the others up with little effort. I look back to the Echo as he approached me, holding his knife high to stab me. Bang! A massive yellow light flew into the Echo and launched him into the wall by the vault door, which was almost 50 feet away from me, and exploded violently. I looked in the direction of where the light came from. A tank was driving out from the army of tanks and it was now aiming for the other soldier. It started to fire its machine gun at Bravo, not using the main gun as to not hit the others who were close to the Bravo. The Bravo looked up in shock and started to run to the side to get away. The Bravo tried to run for cover in the isles of tanks but the friendly tank fired the main gun at him before he could, causing a huge explosion at his feet and blowing him forcefully into the front end of a parked tank. The Echo got back up, his armour badly damaged from the explosion, and started to run at the tank. The tank tried to turn back but Echo threw a few pieces of semtex. The semtex became stuck to the tank's main gun, the hatch swinging open as Moskvin tried to get out before the tank exploded. The tank Exploded and Moskvin was blown away, crashing to the ground far to the side and passing out. The Echo was then tackled by a dragon warrior. Something caught my eye and I looked to the vault door. A squad of American marines were evacuating the president. “Oh no you don’t!” I called out as I jumped for the pistol. I grabbed the pistol and started to open fire on the president. The president flinched at the gun fire and ran out the vault, the American marines started to return fire to cover his escape. Demetri walked up beside me, firing an AK back at the Americans. “We can’t let him get away!” I yelled in anger. Demetri held one hand down to offer a helping hand, still holding his AK handguard with the other. I grabbed his hand and pulled myself up. “I agree...” he said, handing me his SR-2M machine pistol sidearm. I took the weapon and we both moved for the vault door. The American squad had retreated but we did take down two of them. I looked back into the vault as I walked out, the dragon warriors and Crokov were fighting the soldiers. “Don’t worry about them Gavriil. They can handle themselves. Now C’mon!” I turned back to Demetri and we approached the ladder. “We have to get him Gavriil. This could be our only chance...” I climbed out of the hatch cautiously, holding up my weapon and scanning the room to make sure no one shot my head off. It seemed clear so I climbed up from the hatch and stood up. Demetri climbed out after me. “Alright! Lets get moving!” We both moved up to the door, put our backs to the wall and peered round the corner. At the warehouse’s main door, we saw the president and the last of the American squad exiting the building. “There he is comrade!” I shouted. We both pulled out of cover and walked into the warehouse, firing away at the president. The American soldiers returned fire but our surprise attack made them ineffective. The president managed to avoid our fire and escaped the building. “Come on!” I ordered as I began to pick up the pace. Me and Demetri quickly moved for the door and took cover by some crates. Taking fire from some random directions outside, we could see the president making his way for an osprey gunship. “We can’t let him get away!” “Move it!” I ordered as I stood up from cover and returned fire on the enemy. We began to move out of cover and made our way across the grounds to intercept the president. Moving between the tents and trucks for cover. We ran out from between the last of the tents and walked onto the landing zone of the osprey. I looked over to the gunship as it began to lift off. The president hung out of the doorway. “Better luck next time... ‘Comrade’...” he gloated, followed by an outburst of laughter. I raised my weapon and took a few shots at him in anger but it was completely ineffective against the closing door. The osprey took off and left us behind, leaving us with a base full of American troopers. “Damn it!!” I raged, thumping the air. “Forget it comrade! We have to go!” insisted Demetri. We turned around and watched as American soldiers advanced on our position, firing at us. I got down behind a crate with Demetri. Demetri used the crate as cover as he returned fire on the enemy while I sat down and lent against it, reaching for my radio. “Command, this is Fury One, One. The Relief site has been compromised. Repeat. The site is compromised. The American’s have control of the bunker. Do you copy?!” “This is command, reinforcements are still 12 minutes ou-” “Negative! Negative! We don’t have that much time! The American’s will send back up before then! Our forces cannot compete with theirs! Requesting an artillery strike on the site, Full Spread!” Command remained silent for a few moments. Demetri was still trying to hold back the enemy advance. “Alright, we are authorising an artillery strike. Five minutes” “Roger that command! Fury out!” Demetri ducked down and began to reload again. “What’s the news Gavriil?” He asked. “Five minutes until artillery strike! We have to get out of here!” Demetri got up and looked over the crates for a moment. “How?! There are too many of them! We’ll never escape the blast zone in time!” The rest of the team, including the dragon warriors, came up behind us, taking cover behind many crates as they returned fire. One of the dragon warriors approached me and took cover. I watched as he crouched behind our crate and fired on the enemy. He didn’t take any notice of me. “I don’t know why you’re here or why you’re helping us but in less than five minutes my artillery will destroy this place. We do not want to be here when they do” He ceased fire and turned his head to me. “Then we must leave this place. How do we get out of here?” “We’ll have to get out through the main gate. I dare say the Americans will have back up so our chances of escape are looking unlikely” He looked at me for a few seconds, unable to see his face through the metal armour. It completely covered his head except for two small black areas where his eyes should be. After a few seconds he nodded, “Lead the way” I nodded in return and stood up, beginning to fire at the enemy with my machine pistol. We all began to advance against the enemy, making our way for the main gate. The American soldiers were well trained which made it hard to advance through their lines. We got close to the main gate, taking cover behind trucks and crates as we moved in for it. I took cover behind some sandbags and reloaded. “We have two minutes!” I called out as I slipped in a new clip. I stood up again to fire, readying to make our final advance. But as I looked up multiple Abrams tanks came crashing through the fence gate at high speed and stopped immediately to fire at us. “That’ll be the enemy reinforcements!” pointed out Demetri. “What do we do now?!” panicked Crokov. An Abrams took a shot at the guard tower nearby and collapsed it. We all got down to take cover from the shrapnel caused by the explosion. “Is this the end?!” asked Crokov in Despair. I peered over my cover to look at the Abrams. They were all slowly turning for us, readying to blow us away in one barrage. Suddenly they all started to take heavy machine gun fire and one exploded, blowing the turret off the husk. A chopper flew over our heads and came back around as it continued to fire at the tanks. The tanks tried to take it down with their main guns but they missed continuously. “Not yet Crokov” I replied finally, smiling as I stood up from my cover. Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 01:26:37 Diagnosis: Host Migration in Progress... Migrating... Host Found... Connecting to New Host... Initializing... Target Host: Pinkie Pie Identification: Parti Twitch Four Two Operation: Russian Rescue Location: Volokolamsk, Russia Mission Time: 00:42:30 Transmission Begin... “We’re inbound to the target zone! Get on the guns! The LZ looks a little hot!” warned Exodia. Exodia... What a weird name. I spent the whole trip thinking “Who would call a pony Exodia?” but then I thought “Well, she isn’t a pony. Maybe it’s normal for humans to have weird names”. Then I started to think, “Maybe it is ponies that have weird names and that humans are the ones with normal names”. Maybe we’re all weird and there is no such thing as normal! What if there is no such thing as normal?! Well that wouldn’t be so bad because being weird is what makes everypony special in their own w- “Pinkie?! Pinkie?! What are you doing?! We need to man the guns!” “Oh hai Rarity! I was just thinking about names and what makes a name normal!” I replied cheerfully because you know that you being cheery is always the best thing. “Well can you focus please? I don’t want to get shot down again...” she complained as she mounted the door gun. “Ooo! I crashed once! It was fun! Scary but fun at the same time! Scary fun! Like a rollercoaster!” “I know Pinkie... We were all in the same crash. And I got really dirty from it” she complained again. “Okay Rarity! I’ll get on the gun!” I grinned before bouncing towards the gun. Rarity sighed. “Alright Exodia! Take us in” Rarity told Exodia. We began to fly over the place where we were going to save some people. People... Another weird word I can not get used to... Anyway! I grabbed the gun and aimed towards a small group of big thingy what-do-you-call-‘ems. “Enemy tanks! Light ‘em up!” Oh yeah! Tanks! I aimed towards them and fired the minigun! Weird because it’s called ‘Mini’ gun but it’s actually really big! I am starting to believe that humans ARE weird with naming things... So I fired at the tanks as we flew over them, destroying one as we passed. The rest started to fire back at us. “Yay! I got one!” I cheered. We came back around and I continued to fire at the tanks with the not-so-minigun. Rarity stopped firing (I didn’t realise she started in the first place. Are you actually proof reading this Mr?) and she started talking. “Gavriil? This is Rarity. Courage thought you could use some help” I started to hear Gavriil respond through our earpieces. “Great timing Rarity! We only have 40 seconds, however, before an artillery strike takes out this place!” “Alright, Exodia! Take us down in the cleary in front of the tanks” “In front of the tanks?!” replied Exodia with lots of worry. “Yes! We don’t have time to land anywhere else! Blades! Get the rocket launcher ready”, Rarity was bossing everypony around again. Blades crouched next to me and opened the main door. (Again, I didn’t realise Blades was even here. Seriously Mr Writer? Are you paying attention?). Rarity opened the door beside her as we landed quickly on the ground. I fired on the tanks and Blades fired a rocket into the closest one. I managed to destroy a third tank but a few still remained. We were also taking fire from some humans that were by the tanks. A tank fired and it hit the ground in front of me, causing the helicopter to bounce back a little. “Hay! That wasn’t very nice!” I pouted. “Hurry Rarity!” I looked back to see some humans and dragon things climbing into the chopper. “Alright! They’re in! Go!” yelled Rarity. “On it!” replied Exodia. Switching Host... Target Host: Gavriil Gularin Identification: Huskey Bravo One Four Transmission Begin... “Alright! They’re in! Go!” yelled Rarity. “On it!” replied Exodia. We began to take off quickly, the helicopter taking heavy fire from all directions. My team returned fire as we took off, Pinkie Pie still firing the minigun at the tanks. “Sir! The artillery fire is incoming!” warned Crokov. “What do we do?! We’re still way within the area of effect!” “You better hold on back there!” suggested Exodia. Rarity quickly shut the doors with her magical powers and wrapped a hoof around the handles of the minigun. Pinkie Pie did the same but with both forehooves. I quickly moved to the cockpit. “What do you plan to do?!” I asked. “I’m gonna dodge the shells!” she replied, not sounding very confident. I quickly grabbed the door frame either side of me as the helicopter violently lurched to the side. The helicopter then threw itself forward, the motion throwing me into the cockpit. I stumbled forward and grabbed the dashboard to secure myself again. I looked up through the glass to see a whole barrage of artillery shells raining down from the sky above us. “Oh sweet mother Russia...” I said in despair, my mouth gaping in awe. Switching Host... Target Host: Rose Trisha Identification: White Exodia Four Eighteen Transmission Begin... “Alright! Hold on tight!” I yelled. I observed my dashboard closely, analysing the approach vectors of every shell and planning my every move carefully. Each shell was travelling at different speeds and I didn’t have time to work out all the equations. Everything after this was going to be based on random guesses and reaction time. “Fuck!” I outburst in anger as I pulled on the flight stick, shells raining down from the sky all around us. My chopper pulled sideways dodging a shell. I quickly pulled it back in the opposite direction to dodge the next shell. I looked back at the dashboard for a split second and then started to move the flight stick again. I pushed my tail out to the left to dodge another shell and quickly pulled it back in to dodge the next. A quick snap back to the dashboard later and I was pulling back on the flight stick to slow the chopper down for a second, a shell passing straight past the front of my chopper, scraping and sparking against the nose as it passed. I pushed forward again for a second before pulling back to the side to dodge more shells. I leveled us again and looked back to the dashboard for another moment. More shells were coming from above the tail so I tilted the tail to dodge another and then swung my chopper to the side to dodge another few shells. Another shell come from above the tail but I could not react in time to dodge. My chopper took a hit to the tail and the back end dunked down from the force. That hit threw off my game and we were hit by another shell straight afterwards, the main hull being the target this time. We started to spin out of control, a large chunk of hull had been ripped from the tail and from the main structure on the left side. The power circuits to the tail rotor had been taken out and the rotor had stopped spinning. “What is happening?!” screamed Rarity. I tried to re-route power to the tail rotor by flipping the switches to the backup power routes but they were unresponsive. “Damn it! Fucking thing! C’mon!” I tried to flip the switches again and I even tried to re-route power from the other systems but nothing was working. “Do something!” shouted Gavriil. “Urgh! I’m trying!” I bashed the dashboard hard out of frustration and suddenly a green light came on to tell me that the tail rotor was working again. “Wow...” I said quietly with cheerful surprise. I took hold of the flight stick again and tried to pull up as we spun towards the ground. I fought against the spin and slowly took control, still crashing for the ground. After a few more seconds I took control and pulled up, the chopper scraping against many tree tops as I returned us to the sky. Once we were airborne again, I sat back and relaxed for a moment. “Phew, that was close!” Rarity soon trotted into the cockpit and started to speak. “Contact Courage. Let him know we are okay” she asked. I pushed a few buttons and opened up a channel with Luna’s ship.We waited for a few seconds for a response. A holo screen popped up from the dashboard as he answered our call. “Ah! Gavriil. You’re alive. That is good” said Courage with please. Liam was dancing in the background with a pickle on his nose, “You’re shit Exodia! I’m squidward! I’m squidward! I’m squidward squidward squidward!” Gavriil approached the screen with a frown. “I’m alive but we have a problem. The Americans are planning an attack on Moscow...” “I’m squidward! I’m squidwa-” shouted Liam before being interrupted by Spike. “No! You’re actually supposed to sound like him...” stated Spike. “Oh yeah....” replied Liam... “I’m squidward! I’m squidward! I’m squidward squidward squidward!” “Moscow eh? This can’t be good. Not only is that the only civilisation that hasn’t gone crazy but it also makes up 25% of the human population. We can’t let them take it...” said Courage with concern. “Of course not... Can you help us?” asked Gavriil. Courage nodded slowly but surely, “Of course but I’ll need some time. Me and my team need a few days to recover...” he said before slowly turning back to Liam who was dancing like a fucking retard, frowning. “Don’t worry comrade, I have put off the American’s plans so hopefully you should have enough time to prepare” “Alright that’s good. I’ll prepare Luna’s ship. A spaceship will surely give us an overwhelming advantage...” “Alright comrade...” “Rarity! I want you to go back to Moscow with Gavriil and help in anyway you can... Two unicorns will be a great help with the preparation of the defences and a pilot as skilled as Exodia could help you hold back the American forces with tactical air strikes...” Rarity saluted Courage, “Yes Sir” “Courage, I need your help over here. I’m having trouble with one of the ports...” said a voice in the background of Courage’s transmission. Courage looked off screen for a moment and nodded to someone before continuing. “Anyway, I must go. Good luck in Moscow... Courage out” “You’re fucking shit Exodia!! Fuck you hoe!! I fu-” The transmission cut halfway through Liam’s sentence. I hate that guy. Transmission End... Mission Time: 00:50:07 Mission Success... Mission Debrief: Gavriil’s team was successfully recovered and returned to Moscow. Even though the Russians failed to reclaim their military hardware, the Russian Artillery strike was able to prevent the hardware’s capture by the Americans. Rarity, Pinkie, Blades and Exodia will now make their way back to Moscow with the Spetsnaz and aid with the defence efforts in preparation of a possible American attack.
Chapter Six - SniperInitializing... Error: Lapse in Memory Unit... Data Corrupt... Attempting to repair... Loading... Insufficient Data to Repair... Jump to Next Playable Log? (Y/N) Y_ Skipping... Initializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: Breakthrough Location: Moscow Outskirts Mission Time: 00:08:44 Transmission Begin... “Why are we landing here again instead of landing with the Russian forces?!” asked Twilight, her voice trying to overcome the powerful noises of the mighty helicopter blades. “It’s an offensive strategy! We flank the enemy forces from a different direction, forcing the enemy to focus on more than one front, spreading their forces thin! It also means we can cut off the enemy from behind and slowly fight our way towards the Russians, preventing enemy reinforcement while at the same time taking out the attack forces! It creates a little more work for us but it'll give the Russians some breathing space!” The chopper soon hit the ground. “Touch down! Hit it marines!” yelled the pilot as the chopper bobbed very faintly on the ground for a moment. I jumped out the side of the Luna camo chopper and onto the road. Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow soon jumped out with me. A second infantry transport had landed right behind ours and Fluttershy and Russell were already dismounting it to join us. The choppers took off and two much larger chopper transports flew above the ground with huge tanks magnetically hooked to the bottom. These tanks were huge, a lot like those huge Russian tanks we attacked the Russian reactor with during the Human-Discord war. They were quad tread-ed like Halo scorpion tanks with a dual barreled slim turret and large caliber coaxial machine gun beside the right barrel. It had a pointed front on the main hull which was exactly level with similarly pointed fronts on the front two sets of treads. This was designed for plowing through all kinds of vegetation, barriers, weather and was also good for deflecting bullets and with a special shock absorbing structure for ramming into buildings or resisting RPG’s and other explosions. These were more powerful and better designed compared to ANY human tank. The tanks were dropped four feet from the ground and they landed on the road with force. Ponies soon dropped ropes out the side doors of the large choppers and soon the pony marines slid down them to join our strike force. It had been a few days since Exodia contacted us. Luna was still injured in bed but I and the rest were in, acceptable condition to fight. Liam was off site with a team of old UN soldiers that we found in a small militia settlement, preparing to fly in with them to back us up if we needed it. It turns out, most of the non-American UN forces were not part of Jettison’s little plan for world domination, however so few remained and were so disbanded without the UN leadership, that they never managed to rally together in time to overrule Jettison’s actions. We were now all walking down the streets, walking on the sides as the tanks slowly rolled down the middle as we made our way through the deserted streets. The main warzone was in the centre while the civilians were evacuated to the subway tunnels of the east side of Moscow. The Americans controlled most of the west which is why we landed in the south west area of the city. We were on our way to cut the west off from the warzone. Once we secured a closer landing zone, Luna would have more ships and choppers fly in reinforcements. After a while of moving through the ruins of Moscow, we moved out onto a large opening by a bridge that crossed over a river. We didn’t see anything hostile in the area so we started to move our little task force towards the bridge. We got close to crossing but soon from many of the streets on the opposite side came Abrams tanks. We all took cover behind cars and rubble as out tanks took position at the river left of the bridge, returning fire straight away as the Abrams tanks started to fire on our position. Twilight dived for cover next to me and held her head, looking to me after. “I think they know we are here” she pointed out obviously. “Noooo!! You don’t say!!” I replied sarcastically. Our tanks came under heavy fire but soon the shells started to ease off as our tanks annihilated the enemy tanks one by one, taking minimal damage. The tanks were now taken out but we could only assume they had snipers or garrisoned troops ready to take out our infantry. I looked to Russell and waved my hand forward. Me and him stood up and started to walk towards the bridge. Some pony marines got up and aimed across the river to cover us if needed. We reached the bridge but to cross it would mean we would be crossing without any cover. “We should send the tanks up” suggested Russell. I shook my head then looked over the car we were now using for cover. “We can’t. We need to draw the enemy out of hiding. No doubt, they will have more defenses waiting for us. We need to make sure it is safe” “This is going to go horribly wrong” he sighed. “Why should today be any different?” I responded casually. I looked around in thought, trying to come up with a cunning plan. I then smiled at the burnt out car door. I got up and grabbed the inside of the broken window from, before pressing a foot against the husk as I pulled on it. Eventually I pulled it off, falling onto my back with it. I then took my knife and stabbed a hole through the cup holder in the car and forced my arm through it. The broken plastic scratched my arm up a bit but the pointy bits held my arm in place tight. I now had a car door shield. “Bullet shield!” I cheered happily. Everyone looked over to me curiously, Russell looking a bit skeptical of my plan. “What?... At least it’s some form of cover, right?” I said defensively. I turned back to look over the car again, still seeing it was clear across the bridge. “Alright Russell, lets move” I ordered quietly. We moved around the car and towards the bridge. I crouched down and started to advance like a swat officer would with a riot shield, Russell staying right behind me to use me and the shield for cover, scanning the area across the bridge. The bridge wasn’t very long so we got across in about forty seconds at our slow speed. However just as we were about to set foot on the other side, I heard a loud rifle shot, followed by a nasty tear of flesh and a thud behind me. I looked back in shock as Russell laid on the ground behind me, gasping for air as half his neck was blown off. He was bleeding out fast and I couldn’t help him. I looked back forward to try and see the sniper. I already saw that the pony marines were doing the same. Suddenly we heard another rifle sound off and a bullet blasted through the door and barely missed my hip, taking a chunk out the bridge behind me. My eyes widened as I realized now that the door was nothing to the weapon firing at me. I dropped it and ran for the nearest dumpster. The sniper fired again as I slide across the ground and behind the green waste bin, the shot barely missing me. I looked back over to Russell who was no longer moving. I wanted to help him but the sniper was watching over him. “Shit!! Where is he?!” I yelled. I soon heard Twilight’s voice down the earpiece. “Courage, we need to locate the sniper so the tanks can take him out” “Great... So we need to draw him out by getting him to fire?” I sighed in despair. “If you would, please” asked Twilight. “You are crazy Twilight! I’m going to get killed!” I complained in return. “Just do it. All the marines are watching separate sectors. We just need him to shoot another couple of rounds” “What about Russell? He is bleeding out?!” I pointed out with concern. “We will recover him as soon as we can but that sniper will shoot anyone who goes near him! So stop wasting time and jump around for the sniper!” Ordered Twilight in frustration. She was not quite the same mare anymore. It was stupid to get the ponies involved in this war. Now she prioritizes some lives over others instead of trying to save them all. I think the old Twilight would have done everything to get to that downed soldier or to find a safer way to get the sniper. “Luna damn it!” I cursed as I moved out of cover and ran towards the next piece of cover. The sniper fired as I dived for the Abrams husk, the bullet bouncing off the tank armour only inches from hitting me. I quickly got up and slammed my back against the husk, panting softly, more with fear than exhaustion. “Did ya see him?!” I asked quickly, feeling heavy suspense almost literally weighing on my shoulders.. “No! Try again!” she replied. “I'm lucky he missed the first two times! What makes you think he will miss the third!” “Just do it Courage! I promise to get you out of this alive!” “Fuck!” I curse in pissed tone as I jumped out of cover again. I run across the open road another shot going off and hitting my shoulder. I yell out in pain as I spin from the force and fall down behind a taxi. Twilight then yells her commands and both the tanks fire at a large apartment building down the road. The shells rip two whole floors apart but it was impossible to confirm the kill. I crawled and lent against the car for cover and held my shoulder. “Did ya get him?!” I yelled, wincing and grunting from the pain. “We can’t tell” Twilight replied. “Get to Russell now! Get marines over here now! Ah fuck!” I put my free hand on the ground beside me and slowly go down, holding my shoulder tight as it bleeds out slowly. I lay on my side, still wincing hard from the stiffness and pain in my joint. I saw some marines quickly moving across the bridge, holding their weapons in their hooves. A couple approached Russell and started to pull his body behind the nearest car for cover. The few others keep moving towards me, aiming towards the building where the sniper was. “Is he okay?!” was the first question to blurt out of my mouth. I waited for a little while as the two marines worked on Russell, but soon one of them stood up and shook his head sadly. Wow. He was just dead. In one clean shot. It was only me and Liam left of the original team. Everyone else we had were militia or ponies. The other three pony marines approached me to patch me up. As soon as one lent down to patch me up, the one furthest from was hit in the chest by a sniper shot. The son of a bitch was still alive. The angle of the blood splatter came from a different angle which meant he had moved. The ponies jumped down next to me, the wounded one getting dragged in too. Everypony else got down also and covered their heads. “Tanks, move up!” ordered Twilight angrily. She was definitely not the same. The tanks soon started to roll across the bridge and started to scan the area with their main guns, searching for the sniper. “He’s trying to take us all out one by one! Tanks, start wiping out all the buildings at medium range!” I ordered quickly. The tanks do so and start to turn their guns around, firing at all the apartments and shops around us. The idea was to play extreme minesweeper with the sniper: Keep hitting random spots until we got him. We could have tried drawing him out again but I didn’t want him taking anyone else down. After a little while the tanks stopped and started to look around at the wreckage they had caused. We all got up and started to look around as well, hoping to see a dead sniper somewhere. After a few seconds, we all started to move out to conduct a proper search of the area. I got up and walked towards the first tank. I sat down on one of the tread housings, holding my shoulder as Fluttershy ran over to tend to my wound. “Oh dear! Are you okay?” she asked with caring concern, taking out a small shot of fluid. “I’ll be fine...” I responded. Before she could start tending my wound, I froze and looked to a laser which was aiming beside the tank at Fluttershy’s hooves. I looked to the source and it was being aimed from a pile of rubble. I saw an all so distinctive, unforgettable green visor behind a sniper scope, but why was he aiming for the ground I thought. It became clear when we all heard the whistling and whooshing of incoming artillery fire.. “Laser designator!!” I yelled before tackling Fluttershy away from the tank and staying on top of her as shells started to rain down around us, exploding all around us. I picked us up and started to run towards a half intact shop, trying to avoid getting blown up. Everyone else did the same, running for cover quickly. We were getting so close to the shop now but the artillery was not letting up. I kept running with Fluttershy for our lives an- Boom! Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 00:32:19 Diagnosis: Host Stopped Transmitting Reconnecting... Attempt One... Failed... Attempt Two... Failed... Attempt Three... Failed... Three attempts Failed... Would you like to try again (Y/N)
Quit StalinY_ Attempt four… Success… Connection Restored... Initializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: Breakthrough Location: Moscow Outskirts Mission Time: 00:33:54 Transmission Begin… I slowly began to open my eyes. My body was hurting a little bit all over. All I could see was dust and smoke all around me. My body was wrapped around Fluttershy as I must have dived to cover her. Fortunately I had no serious injuries from the bombing, but my shoulder was still seeping out blood from the sniper shot. I could hear Fluttershy whimpering as she shook in fear, but she seemed to be unharmed. I slowly started to push myself up as the smoke started to clear, the soldiers around us doing the same. I looked to the tanks and they were covered in scratches, burns and dents, but the were actually in perfect fighting condition. “Wow, those tanks are fucking invincible” I stated in a bit of shock. I looked back down to Fluttershy and helped her up. I brushed her off then looked around at everyone. “Everyone sound off!” shouted a pony marine. Twilight then trotted beside me and patted me on the back. “Everyone seems to be okay. The wounded are getting treated and the tanks are still in working order” I sighed softly and looked to Russell as soldiers picked up his body. “Not everyone…” I said in despair. “I'm sorry about your friend Courage, but the Russians still need us” she said sadly, trying to get me to keep going. Yeah, you’re right” I replied, pulling myself together. “I still have you ponies, and Liam” “Its about time I got some fucking appreciation faggot!” yelled Liam down my ear piece. Me and Twilight just stared at each other blankly. After a short while, we were moving again. I was sitting on the tread of the tank while Fluttershy sat with me, stitching up my shoulder. Liam was in the area now and standing by at a safe distance with the UN survivors to provide air support and back up if they are ever needed. We only had a few more miles to go and we met no more resistance. Obviously these new tanks have given the Americans something to think about. To be honest with you, these tanks even scared me. “I am getting really tired of having to patch you up Courage. You need to be more careful in the field” she said with concern, focusing on my wound. “It wasn’t my fault this time! Twilight was the one who told me to run around for the sniper!” I replied defensively. “Oooo one of these days you are going to get yourself killed!” pouted Fluttershy. “I’ll be fine Fluttershy. The war is almost over now. Once Russia is safe we ca-” I was suddenly interrupted by a loud thud on the tank’s turret. Me and the others turned our heads to see another one of those bloody super soldiers standing on our tank. He had a large Barret sniper on his back which would suggest he was the soldier I saw with the sniper earlier. I stood up on the tank’s treads and aimed at the soldier. The tanks started to slow down and all the soldiers aimed at him as well but ahead a few Abrams tanks and a bunch of soldiers were setting up to fight us. Choppers started to close in on us and a few jets flew overhead. The Americans were focusing all their forces on our convoy. “Well shit, what do we do now?” I asked helplessly. Twilight stood beside me on the road, facing the hostile tanks with a frown. “Surrender Ponies” said the Super soldier who was marked ‘Echo’, speaking in his deep dark tone. “Twilight, get the infantry out of here!” I ordered as I climbed up onto the main hull of the tank, getting close to the super soldier. “Tankers! Move it and take the enemy head on!!” “Quick ponies! This way!” Twilight yelled as she ran towards the nearby apartment building. Everyone else quickly followed, firing at the hostiles as they quickly followed Twilight to cover and away from the battle. Fluttershy grabbed my shoulders and hid behind me as the super soldier drew his sniper and looked at me. The tanks began to fire their machine guns at the enemy as they drove down another road to get away from the hostile tanks and use the tall buildings for cover from the aircraft. The tanks were now rolling down this tight street, firing at both sides of the street with their machine guns to keep the enemy soldiers suppressed. Me and the super soldier side stepped around in a circle on the tank turret as we prepared to face each other. He had his sniper and I had my assault rifle. Fluttershy stayed cowering behind me for cover as she didn’t want to get hurt again. “Fluttershy, why didn’t you go with the others?” I said with a frown. “I-I dunno… Please don’t let him hurt me!” she whimpered. “Get inside the tank now!” I yelled as I jumped at the soldier. He jumped back to dodge but it got him away from the hatch. Fluttershy jumped in and I fired on the soldier. The bullets bounced off his armour but to prevent me getting a good shot, he raised his sniper and blasted my gun in two. I threw the pieces at him quickly before he could blow my head off. He raised his arm to block the pieces and I moved in quickly, grabbing the weapon and aiming it down at the tank. The soldier fired and the bullet bounced off the armour of the tank. I try to pull it away from him but he had a strong grip. He then kicked me back and lifted his weapon up at me. Before he could fire, the hatch flung opened under him, causing him to fall back. A pony soldier popped out and aimed a pistol at the soldier but the soldier kicked the hatch closed again, the door slamming the pony back inside. The soldier started to get up but the hatch flew open again. The pony popped out once more and glared at the soldier. “Hay, that wasn’t very nice” he said. … I pulled out my grenade while they stared each other down and armed it. I threw it at the Echo but he just calmly smacked it aside. “Ah, well…” The soldier pulled out two small SMGs and aimed at me and the pony. “Die…” he said. Suddenly, just as the soldier squeezed the triggers, the nose of a chopper smacked him off the tank and into the building beside us. The chopper blades started ripping the building apart as it tried to pull back. “Oops! Sorry mate!” called out Liam as the chopper started to make the lorry reverse beeping. “Um… Nice save Liam” Suddenly the side cabin opened and a large net of bottles opened, raining down all over the street and smashing all over the road. I was confused on what he was trying to achieve at this point. “Liam, what are you doing?” “RECYCLING!!” A few Abrams tanks ahead blocked the road and aimed towards our tanks and Liam's chopper. I turned to look at them and then back up to Liam's chopper. Liam straightened up and aimed at the tanks. Our tanks got side by side and stopped under him, taking aim as well. The Abrams started to fire, but their first shots missed. Liam returned fire and took the first two out with a small missile barrage. The Echo then slammed back down on my tank and started to walk towards me. The pony gasped and hid back inside. I didn’t quite know what to do now since Liam was distracted by the hostile tanks. I took a few steps back as the soldier got closer. The tank beside us fired, which gave me an idea. I jumped forward and rolled between his legs, getting right in front of the tank’s gun. The soldier turned quickly and pulled out his knife. He obviously lost his SMGs when Liam crashed into him. He jumped down in front of me and tried to slash at me. I just stepped back before pushing him with both hands. He stumbled back very slightly and grunted softly. Before he could react, I jumped off the tank and the gunner yelled into our earpieces. “Firing!!” Suddenly the main gun fired, the Echo being right in front of it. The poor soul was blasted in half and his top half was hurled across the road and slammed into an hostile tank, along with the high explosive shell. “Shieeeeeeeeett!!” said Liam through the choppers megaphone. The last hostile tank started to reverse. After having their most powerful soldier’s torso being blowing against their armour had the scared. Our tanks rolled out of the street but enemy choppers were still in the air. “Liam!! Take out the choppers!” I requested as I watched three Comanches approach from across the nearby river. “Actually Courage, I was just gonna let them fire. I thought that might be a fun thing to do… Your move Courage” “....” The Comanches started to slow down and began to lock onto Liam, not focusing on us at all. “Aw hell naw” cursed Liam. “Is this a bad time to ask for a raise?” “Liam, you don’t get paid anymore” I replied blankly as I watched the choppers prepare to blow him out the sky. “What do you mean I don’t get paid?!” shouted Liam in shock. A few jeeps started to drive down the road behind us, but the shattered glass bottles Liam dropped all over the road began to burst their tires. The first spun out and flipped over, rolling down the road, the two behind crashing into the back and causing the front one to explode. The two remaining jeeps skidded off and crashed into the rubble at the end, but the soldiers inside survived. Despite Liam’s success against the jeeps, the choppers were about to fire. “So much for military strength tire” I said as I stared at the crashed Jeeps. I returned my attention to Liam and the hostile choppers. “Liam, you might wanna fight back! Like now!” Our tanks took aim into the air and prepared to fire. The Comanches then all fired two rockets each at Liam. The choppers were close and the rockets closed in fast but Liam acted fast and fired his own rockets, taking out the enemy rockets just as they got close. The Comanches didn’t wait to admire his skill and began to fire their chain gun nose cannons at him, the explosive rounds quickly damaging Liam’s rotor and nose hull. Liam locked on to them with the last of his rockets as my tanks fired, two of the Comanches being taken out by the shells. Liam finished his lock on the final chopper. “You’re fired…” Liam then fired some rockets on the last and blasted it’s front end into pieces. Echo was slowly using his arms to crawl his severed body away from the fight. However, unfortunately for him, the tail rotor of the chopper Liam blew up impaled him through the back, finishing him off. “Hay Echo! Do you get pa- oh he’s dead now…” “Liam…” I said with disappointment. “Why are you such a bean?” “Excuse me?! Im the one not getting paid! This is slavery! That’s illegal! I want my lawyer!” demanded Liam. “Your Lawyer is dead…” I replied. “Echo wasn’t my Lawyer!” “No, I didn’t mean…” “No! No no no! I think I deserve to get paid! I have to put up with Exodia! I mean she is just so shit!” “She doesn’t get paid either” “Yeah, but she’s shit! She doesn’t deserve it. I fly around saving your life and she… She just, flies around not saving your life! I’m not kidding you Courage, I’VE SEEN WOODEN SPOONS WITH MORE TALENT THAN HER! At the start, she was late! Everyone got injured because of her! I mean, look at what I did! I hit Echo and disarmed him! I-I-I set up my little roadblock with my bottles and I even impaled Echo after! I think- I think I did a way better job than her, she just, she is shit” “You know what, fine, I’ll pay you, can we just go?!” “Lets not forget! She needs a head start of the enemy! I just sat there and waited! I waited for them to fire, and I still won. I’m just way better” I just glared at his chopper as the tanks started to roll out. Liam was being a real pain in the ass but I didn’t let it get to me. I had bigger things to worry about anyway. I jumped onto a tank as it drove past and we started to cross another bridge, almost to the Russian front line now. Our tanks were lightly damaged but still functional. Liam flew above us, spinning his chopper in circles round and round as he went, blurting out load music into the megaphone. “You spin me right round baby right round, like a record baby...” I just face-palmed as I listened, just thinking of what the enemies in the next city block other were thinking. “Oh my god Liam, why?” After another couple of minutes, we were approaching the Kremlin from the south. Since we were forced to detour the tanks, we were going to hit from the south across the Moskva river, instead of the west. Liam was at a higher altitude now and giving me a report of the battle ahead. The Americans had gone with our plan and cut off the Russian forces, just like we are doing to them now. This meant the Americans had the south, west and north sides covered. We were still a few blocks away and it seemed the Americans were unaware of our approach. “Okay, deadly srs mode, You go ahead with the tanks to distract them, then I fly in from the east like pew pew pew and do a strafing run on them, then they be like oh man we totes didn’t see dat coming, and then you roll across the bridge when they die and kill the west peeps. Then bobs your uncle, sounds fun” “Liam, despite the horrible terminology, that is actually a good plan” I replied with slight concern. “Cheeky git, I used to do this for a living!” he replied smugly. “Alright alright, we’ll do it your way” Liam flew away from us to get in position and we continued rolling towards the American front-lines. The Kremlin was surrounded on three sides and the Russians were doing their best to hold their position. The Kremlin had large brick walls all around so the Russians had a good defendable position. In front of the walls were the Large ZC62 Russian super tanks, keeping the enemy armour and air units at bay with their turret rocket launchers, dual cannons and many machine guns. A few of these tanks were just burning husks by now, but the rest were still functional and bombing the enemy positions. My two tanks drove out from the street. from the south, approaching the bridge. The Americans didn’t notice us coming behind them so we lined up on the side of the road and took aim at the closest Abrams tanks. The Americans and Russians were firing over the river at each other, completely focus on each other. My tanks double checked their aim before firing away and destroying the first two enemy tanks. At that moment, multiple American soldiers turned their heads to look what happened. All their rocket troopers panicked and aimed at us, no longer watching the skies. Liam then flew overhead from the opposite direction and began bombard the entire riverside with rockets, machinegun fire and glass bottles. The rocket troopers tried to turn back to him but as each one turned, they would get shot down by Liam’s dual barreled nose cannon. Liam finished off the south river side quickly but we were not out of the woods yet. A few jets flew in low and began to lock onto Liam and our tanks. My tanks were already starting to fire across the river on the west side enemies. I saw the jets coming and quickly jumped on top of the tank. “Enemy airstrike inbound!” I yelled after opening the hatch. “Bail now!!” The tank crews quickly climbed out and got away from the tanks. The jets fired most of their rockets on both the tanks and Liam. Liam acted fast and fired some rockets back, taking out the rockets that were coming for him. I don’t know how someone can be so good as to shot rockets down like that. The tanks however just got blown to pieces by the special anti-armour missiles. Me and the pony soldiers moved towards the bridge checkpoint and took cover, holding position and firing across the river at the enemy soldiers who tried to advance on the Kremlin entrance. Liam decided to take out the jets so they couldn't take out any more tanks. The jets flew past him and started to circle around to try taking him out again. Liam didn’t hesitate to lock on and release the last of his missiles on them, saving one. They popped their flares as they started to curve around, the missiles missing them completely. Liam then started to bomb the first with his nose cannon. Instantly taking out the pilot. The second jet lined up on him and started to fire it’s machine guns. Liam fired another rocket as he pulled away to dodge the fire, the jet quickly pulling to the side to dodge it. The jet passed over Liam and passed over the Kremlin, trying to circle around again for a third pass. Liam quickly spun his chopper around and started to spray the nose cannon, getting some good hits inside the jets thruster, causing its engine to explode. The jet jolted back and fell with its nose pointed up, smashing into an enemy garrisoned building and collapsing it from the base, destroying the position entirely. We were behind the sandbags that protected the bridge checkpoint, firing at the enemy across the river, taking little fire as they were focused on taking the Kremlin. I didn’t know why both sides were so focused on an obsolete government building. I suppose it would be good for one side’s morale if they took such an iconic building but to me, it seemed like a real waste of valuable resources. Both sides of this war had very little to fight with. The Russians didn’t even have any aircraft in the air. “Alright, we need to get across that bridge and get a situation report!” I commanded. I took point and started to cross the bridge, using the railing and supports as cover. My small group of pony soldiers followed behind, moving from cover to cover as we made our way across. The Americans still didn’t turn much focus on us and were getting close to the Kremlin gate. “Quickly!” I shouted as we stepped onto the other side of the bridge, moving towards a few tank husks by the wall. We took cover behind the husks and started to suppress the enemy by the gate who were behind a few jeep and tank husks for cover. The Russians on the wall above us kept firing down on the enemy, taking most of the focus away from us so I figured we should move for the gate and get inside quickly. “We need to get to the gate everypony!” “There isn’t much cover to work with sir!” called back one of the pony soldiers. I nodded in agreement and held fire, getting down behind the husk as I held my ear. “Liam, we need a good distraction. We need to get inside the walls so we can regroup with the others” “Why don’t I just pick you up and land you inside hurr durr!” questioned Liam. “Just do as I say!” I snapped back harshly. “Okay Okay! Moody! What do you want me to do with Kellion and his team?” asked Liam. “Drop them inside once you distract the enemy” Liam’s chopper flew over our heads and began to spray the enemy positions with his heavy nose cannon. He started to take some small arms fire but it was nothing to worry about. We quickly moved for the main gate while the enemy were distracted, some Russian soldiers rushing out to cover us as well as we got inside the safety of the Kremlin walls. The American assault was calming down since Liam and the pony tanks took out most of the enemy tanks and heavy weapons. I wanted to take this short amount of time we had to find Gavriil and the ponies we sent with him. A Russian soldier was kind enough to take me straight up to the main HQ on the other side of the fort. I slammed the doors open and walked into the makeshift HQ the Russians had set up, computers and laptops everywhere on stacks of boxes and ammo crates, a large view screen and lots of communication equipment. They had set up a few servers as well for their battle net. A few soldiers were working and doing their thing, I didn’t pay attention, I was drawn to Rarity and Pinkie who were standing by the main table set up, having a drink and talking calmly. Gavriil, Exodia and Blades were not in the room so I figured they were off doing something important. I approached the two ponies to talk to them and see if they were okay. “Pinkie! Rarity!” I called out to them in joy. “Courage! Hay!” Replied Rarity as she approached me and hugged me softly. “Hay Courage! That was such a fun adventure!” cheered Pinkie as she bounced around. “Fun Fun Fun!” Me and Rarity looked at her for a few seconds before turning back to each other. “So how is everypony? Are they okay?” she asked. “They are okay. Luna is getting better and Fluttershy is downstairs. Twilight and the rest are in the city somewhere but I am sure they are fine” I assured her. “I am glad to hear that” she sighed with relief. “What about Gavriil and that lot?” I asked. “They are out gathering equipment for their next mission. I think they want you to come along” she explained. “I’m up for that. When will they return?” “Comrade!!” yelled a friendly Russian bloke from behind me. I turned to see Gavriil’s smiling friendly face as he approached me. “Gavriil! It’s good to see you again in person!” I greeted with a smile. “I heard you were going on a new mission?” “The American’s are bringing in a new toy. Apparently it’s a weapon that is going to clear the whole city without damaging our equipment” “Chemical Blue!” I thought out loud. “They must have weaponized it already!” “You mean that chemical you told us about, Courage?” Rarity asked as she stepped beside us. “We need to stop that bomb!” I implied stressfully. “Whatever it is, They are dropping it off at the Swissotel south of here” I looked to the ponies and then to Gavriil, looking very on edge. “You have HAZMAT suits, right?” I asked desperately. Gavriil nodded at me and waved for us to follow. “This way Comrades, we must not waste time” The Kremlin had it’s own research lab built under it’s foundations, built during world war three to help with testing chemical weapons and advanced firearms. This meant it had a lot of protective gear and most importantly, HAZMAT suits. It had been an hour since I met up with Gavriil and we were all armed up in HAZMAT suits, all covered with protective Kevlar over the top. We put on some modernized metal chest plates and shoulder pads as well as an extra precaution. We didn’t want to chance any bullets piecing the suit. The plates were heavier, didn’t cover much and were not completely bullet proof, but at least it was something. The ponies however were all suited up in their super suits which were based on my own designs back in the old Human-Discord war. They were the same, but with Luna’s colour scheme and a few extra upgrades. At least they were safe. Gavriil gave a few other Russian soldiers and the UN soldiers HAZMAT suits so they could join us on the mission. If the weapon leaked, or worse, exploded, we would all be protected. Twilight and her team still hadn’t reported in, not even Luna could contact them. I hoped they were okay, but if this weapon went off, they would not have the suits needed to protect them. It was the same with everyone in the city: The Civilians, the Russian troops, all of them would die if the weapon went off. I had to prioritize and focus on the weapon. We were getting loaded up onto the Kamaz Dozor trucks, all loaded with 50.Cal machine gun turrets on the top. Blades, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy loaded up into the back of mine while I manned the gun, Gavriil being the driver and Kellion in the passenger seat. Kellion’s team was in the truck behind while a Russian team lead in the front one. Why was everyone important in one truck you ask? I like to keep my friends close. That’s all. “Alright marines! Hustle up and get ready to move!” ordered Kellion as he chewed on his Cigar, getting into the truck. The UN soldiers all boarded their truck and loaded the gun “Ooh-rah! Lets do this thing!” shouted one of the marines. One of them quickly used some blue paint to write the letters ‘UN’ down both sides before jumping in the back. The Russians in front loaded up in their truck in a more disciplined manner. Kellion chuckled and grinned as he watched his men in the side view mirror. Gavriil frowned at him before facing forward and starting the engine. I then jumped onto the front of the truck and climbed up to the top. I turned around and dropped into the gunner position. It was easier than having to push past the ponies in bulky armour sitting in the back. We were all armed and in our HAZMAT suits, ready to go now. A soldier quickly ran past the jeeps and approached the garage door before opening it up for us. “The Americans are securing the area around the bomb site! We’ll be driving through heavy enemy resistance so be ready for anything!” informed Gavriil. “Liam! You ready to provide air support? We’ll be moving fast” I said as I held my earpiece. “Bitch please, you know I’m ready!” he replied confidently. “Exodia! You ready?!” The jeeps started to pull away and began to drive through the inside of the fort, making way for the west gate we entered from. “Im ready Courage!” Exodia responded. “Aw no! Not her again!!” complained Liam. “Shut the fuck up Liam. I am going to prove I am better than you” Liam was silent for a moment. We all waited suspensefully for his witty and cunning comeback that he would no doubt say. Liam then started to laugh loudly, after a short while, he took a deep breath and laughed a bit harder. We all remained silent and he soon prematurely stopped and went quiet again. “You’re Serious?” he asked like as if he thought it was a joke. We were now driving through the fort. Artillery shells exploded beside the road and many soldiers ran around looking for cover or trying to sort themselves out. We started to gain speed quickly as the Americans went all out on the fort. The gates opened up for us but we were met with a large force of hostiles that were attacking the west wall. A few tanks turned our way as we pulled out of the fort and fired. They missed us, barely, and we turned left to head south, back across the bridge I came from earlier with the ponies. The tanks tried to hit us again but missed once more. We quickly sped away, moving across the bridge quickly to get away. The other side was clear but in the distance were many hostile choppers. Two hinds flew in behind us and followed us across. The Russians gave Exodia and Liam their own choppers for them to use for this mission. “Liam, I want you to remember, these are regular hinds. Just normal, Russian hinds. I don't want you trying to ram it into anything” “I know what I am flying Courage!” he replied forcefully. “...and I will ram whatever the fuck I like with it!” I growled but I remained focused on the mission. I grabbed hold of the 50. Cal as we got to the other side of the bridge. A few choppers were moving in on our position. Liam and Exodia went ahead to take them out. We drove straight ahead into the streets of Moscow, hoping to get close to the objective before anyone noticed what we were up to. I could hear the choppers above attacking each other but I focused on the road ahead. The streets were tight and we had to make a turn every few seconds, so if we were attacked, we would get no warning. Me and the other gunners searched around, keeping our guard up high. “It’s quiet…” “Exactly, Too quiet…” replied one of the gunners. “My radar is acting up” stated one of the passengers in concern. “It’s this terrain!” His voice seemed to echo. “rain rain rain rain!” We turned the next corner and a rocket flew from the roof of a building ahead, hitting in front of our patrol and causing the truck ahead to skid and crash into a burnt out car. We sped past, as did the truck behind us. started to fire on the roof but the soldier already got down. I snapped my head back to check on the Russian truck. They had reversed and followed behind the UN boys. I looked back forward as we turned the corner, soldiers taking cover ahead and firing on us. “Open fire!!” I commanded as I started to fire my weapon at the enemy. The other gunners joined me, suppressing the enemy soldiers. They were no small threat to us but I knew they had more cunning threats ahead of us. “Tank!!!!” I lifted my head up to see what they were yelling about. A tank took position ahead of us, blocking our path and aiming down the road with its main gun. “I think it is safe to say they are on to us!” I pointed out. The tank fired and Gavriil swerved out the way. The others did the same and the shell flew past us and blasted the road far behind us. We made a quick turn by the tank, moving down another road. The tank tried to fire at the last passing truck and only just missed, the shell hitting the building beside it instead. We were speeding down the new street now, the tank pulling forward to get another shot at us. It fired a shot and hit the ground right beside the truck behind. It swerved a little but it was not heavily damaged by the blast. “We need to get off this street!” I shouted. We slowed down and turned another sharp corner. The tank fired again and missed once again, but only just, hitting the ground by the turning. We were not clear yet. A few humvees were up ahead waiting for us. They started to fire on us with their own 50. Cal turrets. We all got down as we passed, since we didn’t have huge cover plates on our guns like the Humvees did. We bolted past them and they started to accelerate, making chase to stop us from getting to our target. We were set of course and we were now going to make a huge detour. We got up and turned our turrets behind us. We couldn’t all shoot if we were in a straight line so the Russian truck over took us so the UN one could get beside us. We started to fire back on the humvees, their gunners firing back. I started to aim for the drivers, since the gunners were well protected. The UN gunner tried his best to keep the gunners distracted. After a few seconds of firing, I managed to take out the driver of the first Humvee, causing it to swerve out and drive over a pile of rubble. It took into the air as the next Humvee passed, flipping over and crashing into the next one. Both the Humvees crashed into the other side of the road and exploded, the last Humvee driving straight past them and keeping pursuit of us, it’s gunner firing back and forth between me and the UN gunner. We took cover for a little bit so we didn’t get our heads blown off. We started to turned the corner so I took this chance to pop my head back up and take aim once more. I grabbed the gun as we turned and stood up again, moving my aim for the driver while the gunner lost his aim from the turn. As I was about to fire, another one of those damn super soldiers landed right front of me and kicked the gun. I let go just in time so he didn’t break my hands. The gun started to spin around and around from the forceful kick. I quickly reached down for my pistol but it was too late for that. The soldier already had his gun aimed down at me. Pew Pew Pew! The soldier started to take fire from the truck in front, lifting his arms to cover his visor. The UN gunner started to fire on the enemy Humvee, keeping him distracted. The super soldier took a few steps back as he got sprayed, his armour taking some damage from the constant heavy fire. I looked back at the Russian truck, only to notice that another tank had blocked the road ahead. “Watch out!!” I yelled as the tank fired. The truck tried to swerve out the way, but the shell was way too fast and the street too narrow. The truck exploded violently and smashed into a near by flower shop, crashing through the glass and exploding inside the shop. We drove past and quickly turned to head down an alley to get away. Without air support, this was hopeless. “We need to get onto a main road!!” I looked back to the super soldier who started to walk towards me again. I got down inside so he couldn’t shoot me. I waited for him to get closer before popping back up and grabbing the gun. He aimed down and I flung the gun round to trip him up. I then quickly pulled myself out and took out my pistol, firing at him as he started to get up. The small rounds were useless against his armour and I failed to hit his visor, since the vehicle was moving and made it difficult to aim. He stood and smack the pistol from me. I noticed this soldier was marked ‘Bravo’. “How many of you are there?!” I complained. “Twenty Six” he replied as he lifted his weapon. “Too bad you won't be around to meet them all” “Son of a bit-” I was then interrupted by a sharp turn, the sudden change in direction causing us to fall from our feet. I quickly grabbed the gun and slammed down on my stomach. The soldier grabbed onto the edge of the truck, losing his assault rifle to the road behind us. More Humvees were getting closer, firing and forcing the other gunner down inside the truck. They didn’t dare shoot at my truck though, obviously so they didn’t hit their super soldier. Gavriil continued to swerve side to side to shake him off but it wasn’t working, the soldier had a tight grip. We were driving beside a highway now and approaching a junction we could use to get on it. The soldier slowly started to climb back up. He pulled out his knife and stabbed into the hull. He then took out his next knife and did the same. He was going to use his knives to climb towards me. He pulled out his first knife and pulled himself closer, planting it into the hull again. The UN truck then swooped in and rammed us in the side just as the soldier pulled out his second knife, causing him to lose his grip and drop it. I swear I heard him growl as he looked back at the other truck. He grabbed the pistol from his leg and started to aim for the other truck, firing a bullet every few seconds to try and hit the driver, but Gavriil was still swerving a little to put him off. I pulled myself closer and climb up the gun. Fluttershy, held up a shotgun for me and I grabbed it with one hand. I pulled myself as close as I could with one hand and lifted the shotgun closer to the soldier. As he fired his last bullet, he looked back to me and suddenly froze as he saw my shotgun barrel in his face. “This is your stop, asshole” I then pulled the trigger and the pellets blasted out my gun, smashing into his visor and tearing his head and helmet to pieces, his brain matter blasting out the back. He then fell off the side of the truck and onto the road. Two down, twenty four to go. The Humvees started to fire on my truck again, bullets bouncing off the hull. I was still on top and completely exposed. The UN gunner tried to suppress them but it wasn’t enough. A Humvee got closer and rammed the back of our truck, the gunner lifting his weapon and getting a good aim on me. One bullet was all it would take to piece my suit. He pushed the button and it started to fire away, but just as he did, a garage door exploded open and hit the Humvee, causing it to be knocked out of the way and the gunner missed me completely. It was a pony jeep. It came out from the garage and followed in behind the Humvees. It was modified to have a huge chaingun on the passenger seat to fire forward and a large rotatable railgun on the back. Two large suited ponies manned the guns while Luna, in her own modified suit, was driving. The rail gun charged for a few seconds and fired, ripping through two Humvees in one shot. The Last Humvee pulled out of the way and went down the side of the UN truck, but the pony chaingunner took out the gunner so it could no longer fight. “Courage, I see you need some help” “Great timing! The enemy don’t want us reaching that bomb site!” We started to head up the ramp to the highway so we could get air support and a straight path to the objective. We saw Humvees moving up the other ramp to try and cut us off. We flew up onto the highway and began to speed down it, the Humvees coming in from behind. “I’ve seen this before, have we done this before?” I asked myself. “Liam! Exodia! We are moving along the highway to the objective and need cover fire!” I requested. “Aw naw! You don’t want Exodia! She is doing a terrible job!” “Shut the fuck up!” “Would you two shut up and get here! We have hostiles on our six and many more on the way!” I turned around and aimed my gun back at the enemy who were getting closer and closer. A few large black hawks flew in from the side. I looked up as the side door flew open, revealing another two of those super soldiers, Charlie and Delta. Charlie had a sniper and was aiming directly at me. Charlie stood behind him with his shotgun and watched. I gasped and quickly got down as Delta fired, the shot bouncing off my gun. I stayed down and held my ear again. “Where are you Liam?!” “Hue Hue Hue! Bye bye birdy!” I started to hear rocket fire and a few explosions, followed by a lot of machine gun fire. I stood back up in the gunner seat and saw the black hawk lurching around and barely keeping flight. The two soldiers were fallen over in the back and trying to get up. Liam flew over them and started to spin back around. More rockets started to hit the Humvees and blew them all to pieces. Another hind flew from above and joined us as well. Liam fired another rocket into the cockpit of the black hawk and blew its entire front end up. The two super soldiers leaped from the back cabin as the entire thing exploded and crashed down on our trucks. I was faced with Charlie and his shotgun. I had to get the one with the shotgun didn’t I. He stood up and aimed it at me. I just ducked as he blasted a shell into my gun, ripping apart the main casing causing some of the ammo to explode, making the turret useless. I popped my head back up and lifted my own shotgun. I fired a shot but the pellets bounced off his armour, causing little damage. I just sighed and dropped my shotgun. “You guys are the worst” I saw more Humvees and attack trucks coming in from behind. The trucks were fast, heavily armoured with two mounted turrets on the front and a large anti-air cannon on the back. Charlie pumped his shotgun and aimed again with an evil chuckle. I thought this was it, until I saw a pony soldier climb up from the back door and grab Charlie’s leg. Charlie looked back and the pony pulled him down onto his stomach. The Charlie acted fast and stabbed his knife into the roof to secure himself, but like Bravo, his weapon went flying back onto the road. Charlie pulled his leg free and kicked the pony in the head. The pony’s helmet protected him so he wasn’t hurt. I quickly got up and jumped forward to grab the handle of the knife, thumping the wrist if Charlie to try and get him to let go. It was futile though as his armour protected him. We all struggled and we got no where. All we had to do was buy us some time. After a short struggle, the enemy vehicles caught up and engaged Luna’s jeep, Liam and Exodia engaging them back aswell. I looked back to see tanks setting up further ahead along with some more choppers moving in. I didn’t know how close we were to the objective but I just hoped it wasn’t far. Suddenly a sniper shot ricochet right beside me on the trucks hull, barely missing my head. I looked to the side to see Delta standing on the UN truck with his sniper, the UN gunner laying on the gun, dead. Kellion quickly climbed out of the passenger seat as we got closer to the UN truck, jumping off and grabbing onto the side of it. The Delta got distracted by him, two UN soldiers climbing out the back as well. The three quickly moved to attack the Delta, Kellion grabbed the weapon while another soldier jumped on his back. The last soldier moved around to start hitting but my attention was drawn back to Charlie who reached for his pistol and tried to aim it at me. I grabbed it and held it away from me. He continued to kick back into the pony’s helmet, slowly starting to crack it. I needed to end this so I let go of the knife and grabbed the pistol with both hands, trying to pull it away. He let go of his knife as well and slowly started to stand, pulling the pistol from me. I stood up with him, fighting for the pistol. He overpowered me and ripped the pistol from my grasp. He then kicked me back and aimed forward. I acted fast as he aimed and pulled out my knife, throwing it at him. As he pulled the trigger, my knife deflected the bullet and bounced off his shoulder. I took this moment to run in at him and kick him in the chest. He was forced to step back as a result but took aim again. I punched the pistol up as he shot and kicked his side. He was barely affected and tried to shoot me again. I managed to knock the pistol to the side as he fired again, but he punched me down with his other hand. He then kicked me back as I tried to get back up, slamming me down on my back by the turret. “Hay!” Pinkie called out as she stood behind the soldier. The soldier turned and fired his pistol at her. He then felt a tap on his shoulder and turned back to see pinkie standing behind him, smiling through her visor. He try to elbow back into her but she appeared in front of him and giggled. “Missed me!” He swung back forward, only to find her gone again. She stood beside him and booped the side of his head. “Oops! Missed me again!” “Stand still!!” yelled the soldier as he turned and fired a few shots at her. She then tapped his shoulder and frowned. “You are not very good at this are you?” “How are you doing that?!” he complained loudly as he turned around and pointed his weapon in her face. “Oh silly you! I am the master of tag!” she said cheerfully. He then turned his head and I smacked him with the butt of my weapon. He stumbled back and raised his weapon but Rarity ripped it from his grip with her magic and then threw an ammo box at him, causing him to fall off and land on an Enemy Humvee. “Courage! We have taken a lot of damage and my main gunner is hurt, I have to pull out” informed Luna through my earpiece. I looked up to see Exodia and Liam firing rockets ahead at the hostile choppers, popping flares as rockets flew towards them. The rockets missed and rushed past, the enemy choppers exploding. “Roger that Luna, you saved us back there” I responded calmly. She pulled away but a truck and two Humvees were still on us. I then looked to the UN truck, three soldiers laid dead on top while the Delta held Kellion by the neck. “I have him right where I want him!” cheered Kellion. Me, Pinkie and Rarity raised our weapons and aimed for the Delta. He noticed us and dropped Kellion, jumping off the truck and onto the other Humvee as we fired on him. We then all fell down onto our sides as a Humvee rammed us from behind. We were about to pass the tanks and they fired on us. Gavriil swerved the truck to the side, the tank shell blasting past us and hitting the Humvee, blowing it up. Charlie was blown off the front and he crashed into the road. He was now out the fight so it was just a Humvee and truck, along with Delta. We sped past the tanks and they started to rotate their guns to shoot us as we drove away. Liam and Exodia turned to lock onto the tanks but a few jets flew in and fired rockets at their choppers. Liam reacted in time and pulled back, firing at the rockets to defend himself. Exodia tried the same but her tail was hit and she pulled back away from the fight as the jets passed. “I'm hit! I'm hit!” “Lawl! I told you she was shit!!” laughed Liam. The jets circled around and came to target us. The tanks fired, drawing my attention. They missed us but Humvees flew past them at high speed. Three more came up on our right with two choppers following. Exodia was forced to pull away and Liam flew above us as we sped up more, firing at the two choppers and popping flares as they unloaded with their rockets. Liam did the same but they popped their flares too. The jets flew above the road bombing it with heavy machine gun fire. Me and the ponies got back inside as the Humvees joined in on the fire. I stayed in the gunner seat, firing my assault rifle back at the gunners. I got my head down as the jets flew over me, bombing both trucks with bullets. I got up as they passed and Two Humvees came either side. ramming us over and over. The UN truck having the same trouble. Liam flew in front of us and started to fire into the drivers seat, killing the driver and causing it to swerve out of control. He the refocused on the attacking choppers as they sprayed the road with chainguns. The Delta and two soldiers jumped onto the back of the truck from the Humvee. The enemy attack truck was coming in beside us as well, firing it’s anti-air cannon at Liam, slowly ripping his hull to pieces. He flew up and went above the hostile chopper, the auto aiming cannon taking it out in an attempt to take out Liam. Liam then spun around as the enemy chopper fell onto an enemy Humvee and crushed it. His tail then smacked into the enemy chopper, causing it to lose control and fall onto the back of the truck, smashing the AA gun and slowing the truck down greatly. The jets came back around so Liam pulled up and turned to face them, firing the last of his rockets and his chain guns at them, his chopper barely holding together. The Delta and the marines approached me and raised their weapons. Soon a large dragon drop ship flew up from behind the highway and flew over to me, dropping the two blood red elite warriors onto the front of my trucks hull. “Get the Delta!” ordered one of them. This was getting really intense now. I fired on one of the soldiers and killed him as the dragon warriors charged at the Delta and the other. The Delta ducked under the first swish of the blood red blade and kicked the dragon back, strafing to the side to kick and punch the other one to the side and moving to punch the first again. The first caught his fist and punched him back, swishing around with his sword to cut him. The Delta acted fast and jumped back quickly. The soldier tackled the second warrior and started to spray his SMG into his armour. The small bullets bounced off the elites armour and I blasted the soldier off with my shotgun. I was then distracted as two Humvees from the side started to spray at me. I got down and reloaded my weapon, slipping in new shells as Gavriil tried to pull away. The truck was coming at us from behind so I moved forward and kicked the back door open. Me and the ponies all aimed out and sprayed the shit out of the truck, causing it to burst into flames in seconds and fly off the road. A Humvee drove up behind us and started to spray, a few bullets bounced off the truck and pony armour but I had to act fast. I jumped out the back and grabbed onto the grill of the Humvee. The driver looked at me in surprise and sped up to try and crush me against the truck. I quickly pulled myself up and lifted my shotgun. The gunner quickly jumped down and kicked the gun from me. I then grabbed his other leg and pulled him down, taking out my knife and smashing it into the center cavity of his chest, killing him. He fell off and I looked back at the truck. I saw nothing that was going to help me so I looked back forward and climbed for the driver seat. The driver opened his door to try and throw me off but I held onto the roof tightly with my foot on the handle. A soldier tried to lean out the window with his assault rifle but the back was then sprayed by Liam’s nose cannon, killing everyone except the driver and front passenger. I pulled myself up and ripped a grenade off its belt, arming it and throwing it into the gunner seat. I quickly stood up and jumped for the truck again, a dragon warrior catching my hand as I slammed against the back door. He pulled me up and then moved in behind the Delta to take him down. The first dragon and the Delta were fighting hand to claw, punching and blocking over and over. The second came up behind Delta with his sword and tried to stab. The Delta jumped to the side and turned, grabbing the dragon’s wrist. The first dragon warrior then punched for the Delta’s back, a sudden energy claw, appeared on his wrist, stabbing right into the Delta’s back. The Delta elbowed back and then punched them both back. I then came in while he was weak, jumped up, planting both my feet onto his chest as I blasted a shell into his visor. He started to go down with my body weight and I blasted him again with a second shell. He was dead now. I jumped off him and the first dragon warrior kicked him off. The Humvees were still on us and began firing again. The UN truck had no gunner and we had no gun. The dragon warriors crouched down and activated their energy shields. They were like riot shields so I got down behind them for cover, the bullets bouncing off the shields. “Gavriil!!!” I yelled as loudly as I could. “Less than a mile to go!!” he yelled back to me. The Humvees started to ram us from behind and both sides, out truck starting to give out. I then looked back as I saw the huge hotel towering above a lot of the smaller buildings and highway. Liam flew in behind us and started to spray his chaingun at the enemy Humvees, forcing them to pull away from us. The dragon warriors quickly switched to their laser rifles and fired on the gunners while they turned back to focus on Liam, hitting them in the back. “Punch it Gavriil!! No time to waste!!” We all started to hear Jettisons voice in our earpieces. “You are too late ponies. I can not be stopped” I looked back at the warriors then forward again to the hotel. We then saw something explode near the top floor. “You are so stupid! I count some humans, some dragons, a shit pilot called Exodia, ooooohhhh!! Ooooooohhh!!” yelled Liam. “This isn’t like one of those movies where you stop it a second before detonation. Oh no, this is reality, this is the real world” Suddenly a huge blue cloud came rushing towards us with force. My eyes widened and I held my breath as it came closer incredibly fast. We were too late. The cloud then flew at us like a powerful Blizzard, making it impossible to see with enough force to cause our vehicles to lose control. The truck started to swerve around and then hit an old burnt out car husk, causing us to be thrown ahead and the truck to tumble around and roll over. I was thrown towards another burnt out husk. I was going in head first and couldn’t stop myself. This was going to hurt. Splat! Transmission Cut... Mission Time: 02:26:33 Diagnosis: Host No Longer Transmitting... Attempting To Reconnect… Attempt One… Failed… Attempt Two… ...
Chapter One - Still Alive*You may want to read the first story first before reading this Sequel* Initializing... Target Host: Courage Tyler Identification: Cobra Alpha Two Niner Operation: Unknown Location: Unknown Mission Time: Unknown Transmission Begin... “Move Move Move! Surround the vault! Don’t let them escape!” Lots of soldiers surrounded the vault door, taking cover behind all the crates and vehicles in the warehouse. The commander stood in the open with a squad around him ready to fire. The commander had a cracked open head and it was bleeding pretty bad. “Attention intruders! I’m giving you one minute for you fuck-tards to put down your weapons and exit the vault with your hands up!! You’re completely surrounded!!” “Hay guys!” I shouted to the others as I peered round the side of the vault door. “The commander is back and he’s brought some friends” “He’s probably still mad about you kicking his head in...” stated Liam. “Hurry up and grab the objective!” I ordered, before looking back around the vault door to the enemies. My back to the wall, wielding my assault rifle, heart racing. “Thirty seconds assholes!” yelled the commander. “Can we have some more time?” I asked hopefully. “What?! I’m not fooling around jack ass!” “Calm down Betty! Don’t get you knickers in a twist!” I replied recessively. “You have fifteen seconds to get out here so I can kick your ass!!” Liam and Russell then approached me. “We have it” informed Liam. “Alright... Now we just need to get through all them” I said tilting my head back to show I was talking about the enemy soldiers. “How do we do that then?” asked Russell. “Without our suits, we are helpless against that kind of force” “Well we would still have our suits if SOMEONE...” I looked at Liam with an evil glare. “...had been more careful back in Italy” “What?! I thought that canister of highly concentrated hydrochloric acid was lemonade?!?” argued Liam. “It said ‘Warning!! Highly Dangerous!! Corrosive Acid!! Do Not Touch!!’! I mean come on!!” I shouted. “Time’s up ass holes!” shouted the commander. “Can we not do this now!” complained Russell. Me and Liam continued anyway. “What?!? I thought the signs were talking about the lemonade! Have you ever drunk a whole bottle of lemonade at once?!? It feels corrosive! I just thought the Americans were being smart for once!” “Why would the Americans keep a large tank of lemonade in a science lab?!?” I argued with reason. “For when they get thirsty! Duh!” replied Liam. I just face-palmed and shook my head. “You’re an idiot Liam” I said with disappointment. “Guys! They’re coming in!” warned Russell. I peered round the door to see a team of marines slowly moving in on the vault. I lifted my rifle and prepared to open fire. Liam and Russell got ready also. “Alright, we have the cover of the vault so we should be fine. We soften them up then while they recover, we charge through their lines and make for the pad” The enemy marines started to advance up the ramp toward the vault door, the other marines covering them from behind the crates and humvees. Some of the soldiers mounted the turrets on the top of the humvees and a few marines took positions on the cat walks above. “Fuck it... Now!” I ordered as I pulled my weapon around the corner and aimed for the marines. The marines reacted quickly and dived for the side for cover as we opened fire from the vault door. The enemies returned fire and I returned to cover. Liam had jumped across to the other side of the vault door to gain extra cover. Russell was still with me, arming his rocket launcher. “Cover me! I’m going to take care of those humvees!” informed Russell. “Alright! Liam!” Liam nodded at me and reloaded his rifle. We reloaded and we all looked at each other. I nodded for us to go. Liam and I pulled around the corners and sprayed the enemy with bullets, Russell moving out of cover to fire a rocket at the closest humvee. The humvee exploded and the blast knocked down some of the marines. Me and Liam reloaded and returned fire again. Russell reloaded and fired another rocket at the next humvee. Russell began to take fire and jumped to the side for cover. “Shit!” he yelled! “I’m hit!” I looked back at him. He was holding his leg with both hands as he sat on the floor. I tuned back to the enemy and aimed down my sights. Left, Bang! Right, bang! Up, Bang! Three perfect head-shots, but they were followed by me being bombed with weapon fire. I took cover again. “Hostiles on the cat walk!” I shouted. “Here!” said Russell, tossing me his rocket launcher. I caught the rocket launcher and turned the corner to fire. I aimed up for the cat walk and fired. The explosion caused it to collapse and fall. The soldiers and explosive barrels that were on it came tumbling down. Liam then took a shot at one of the barrels and set the whole warehouse a-light. We ducked our heads inside the vault to take cover from the explosion.We looked round the corner to find the whole warehouse floor covered with debris, wreckage and flames. The marines were either dead, wounded or just too stunned to get up. “Lets go!!” I shouted as I moved to pick up Russell. We walked out of the warehouse and immediately took cover behind some cover as we got sprayed with more bullets. “Fuck! They’re everywhere!” I complained. Enemy marines covered the roof tops and door ways as they fired on us. A few humvees had set up a blockade around the warehouse entrance. “What now?!” asked Liam. “Take Russell!” I ordered as I let go of Russell and drew a rocket from his rocket pack. I loaded the rocket, Liam supported Russell back onto his feet. “Follow me!” I then jumped out of cover and fired a rocket at the humvees and blew them up. We then began to run down the base for the helipad, taking cover behind all the crates as we did. Bullets came from everywhere and I hopelessly tried to return fire. “Exodia One! We need extraction! Now!” I yelled into my earpiece desperately. I didn’t get a response but I continued for the pad anyway. We made it to the base’s runway, the helipad was at the bottom end. “There’s no cover!” Russell pointed out with concern. “Fuck it! Make a run for it!” We began to run down the runway. Liam helped Russell limp as fast as he could but it still wasn’t very quick. I looked back to find a whole firing squad of marines taking position at the end of the runway, opening fire at us. We continued to run hopelessly towards the pad as bullets came at us like a blizzard. We made it half way down without getting hit, which must have been a miracle, but then some humvees began to drive down the side of the runway firing bullets at us, Cobras and Comanches coming in from above and firing even more bullets at us. We were getting close to the pad but all the extra fire from the humvees and choppers caught up with us. Russell took another hit to the back followed by Liam getting hit in the hip and arm. I stopped and turned to fire at a chopper with my assault rifle, Liam and Russell continuing to struggle to the pad. My adrenaline kicked in and everything slowed down. I focused my aim down the sight as the chopper approached me. I moved my aim for the pilot, aiming for his left shoulder, the adrenaline helping me focus my aim. I then pulled the trigger and I watched as my bullet seemed to slowly hurl for the pilot. His shoulder was hit and his arm twitched to hit the flight stick. Everything seemed to speed up again as the chopper spun out, taking out another chopper with it’s tail. I smiled with glee as they came crashing towards me. I then returned to continue my run for the pad. Liam and Russell had made it and were taking cover behind some crates. I ran towards them to join them in the wait for extraction. I got pretty close to them but I was confused to see them panicking and pointing behind me. In confusion, I looked behind me. At that moment I saw a flash come from the control tower. Everything once again slowed down as I became overwhelmed by the horror of my imminent fate. Bam! I was hit by a sniper bullet in the chest. My only thought was “Not again!” I hit the floor like a brick and everything became darkened. I could barely see but the adrenaline kept me conscious. I bit down hard on my bottom lip as I tried to fight the pain. I opened my eyes again and looked up to Liam and Russell fighting for their lives behind the crates. They needed me. I wasn’t about to give up now. This was too important. I rolled over onto my stomach and looked to my assault rifle that laid on the floor in front of me. I crawled to it and gripped the handle. Suddenly a massive chunk of concrete was ripped from the runway beside my weapon as a sniper bullet ricochet of the surface. My eyes widened with horror. I fought to get up quickly and made my way for cover. The humvees came round for another run and sprayed bullets at me. I just jumped for the boxes and landed behind them. “Courage! You’re hit!” shouted Liam. “No shit!” I said, wincing at the pain. I pulled off my body armour and began to wrap my wounds with my field kit. Liam returned to firing at the enemy. “Fuck! Where’s our ride?!” I finished wrapping myself and grabbed my weapon to return fire. “Exodia One! We have wounded! Where the fuck are you?!” I asked demandingly into the earpiece. “Look up!” Replied a young female voice. I looked up to find an advanced transport approaching the base. “Fucking hurry up!!” “I’m on it” she replied. We waited for the transport to land on the pad. We were still under heavy fire: Enemy soldiers advancing towards us, humvees driving around us and a chopper spraying the area with it’s nose cannon. We only had a few crates for cover. We tried to return fire with the best of our ability but it wasn’t very effective. We were taking too much fire and we had taken too many hits. Russell was trying to patch himself up and Liam was ducked down behind a crate, taking heavy fire from the humvees. The humvees stopped just a few metres from us and acted as cover for the marines who had made it close to us. We were now completely suppressed by bullet fire. The chopper then passed over head and started to aim it’s nose cannon at us. “Rocket now!” I yelled as I picked up the rocket launcher. “We’re out!!” shouted Russell in despair. The chopper had finished aiming at us and started to fire. Suddenly the transport flew over us and blocked it’s shots. The transport lowered itself to hover close to the ground. The back door opened and Gavriil began to open fire on the humvees with the heavy turret. “Lets move it!” I commanded. We all got up and limped for the transport. Under heavy fire, we climbed in and we began to take off. Gavriil took a shot to the leg and fell to the floor. I slammed on the door control panel and the door began to close. We began to take off quickly, the heavy bullet fire bouncing off our hull. I quickly moved to the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilot seat. “About time Exodia!” I groaned angrily. “Ah well, better late than never...” she said calmly. We were now flying quite high, towards the ruins of a city that was destroyed by Discord’s forces. The base we had left behind was located on the mountains that overlooked the city. “Did you get the package?” asked the young pilot. “Yeah. Liam has it... Now get us back quickly. Most of us need medical attention ASAP” “Already on it” she replied. Suddenly a rocket flew right past the cockpit from behind us. “What the fuck was that?!?!” I panicked. “Erm... I don’t know... My radar is clean” replied the pilot in confusion. “Liam! Check our six!” I ordered. We waited a few seconds for Liam to reply. “American Stealth fighters! And lots of ‘em!” “Shit! really?!?” “Hang on!” warned the pilot. “I’m taking us down!” she informed. Our transport then began to change course towards the city, the stealth fighters following behind. The city buildings would provide great cover from the rockets and machine gun fire. Despite what Discord did, many of the city’s skyscrapers still stood tall, though they were heavily damaged and very unstable. Regardless of their condition, they could still stop a rocket. The stealth fighters began to fire machines guns at us, our transport swerving side to side to dodge as much of it as possible. We approached the city fast and low but no matter how fast we went, the American fighters would go faster. It didn’t help that we couldn’t see them on our radar because of their stealth systems. The dashboard began to flash red rapidly. “They have missile lock!” I warned the pilot. “I know...” she replied. “Do something!” “I’m trying...” she said with an agitated tone. The stealth fighters released their missiles that were locked onto us. Exodia pulled violently on the stick and launched the ship towards the city and down a narrow street between many tall buildings. All the rockets followed suit, closing in fast. The first two hit the first building entering the street, the other three remaining airborne. The three rockets got close but Exodia began to take evasive maneuvers. She flipped the ship sideways as the first rocket flew past and missed. She then flipped us in the opposite direction to bring us upside-down to fly under a foot bridge, barely missing the burnt out vehicles that filled the road, the second rocket hitting the foot bridge. She then immediately flipped us back up and flew over another foot bridge, barely missing it, the third rocket hitting the foot bridge as it tried to hit us. We left the street and we began flying over a large park in the middle of the city. Stealth fighters came down from the sky and pursued us. They fired their machine guns and locked on with their missiles. “Another missile lock! Launching counter-measures!” I deployed flares as the stealth fighters fired their missiles. The missiles missed us but the stealth fighters were locking on again. “Hold on!” shouted Exodia. She then flew the ship down another tight street as missiles and stealth fighters came soaring in behind us. The first few missiles hit the buildings to the side, the rest closing in fast and the stealth fighters firing their machine guns. Exodia flew side to side to dodge the first two incoming missiles, barrel rolled to dodge the next and then boosted forward to try and get away. “Building ahead!” I shouted, pointing to the large shopping centre at the end of the street. Exodia continued to fly forward. I thought she was crazy! There was barely enough room to fit a car, let alone a fucking transport ship. Even the stealth fighters agreed with me as they pulled up to fly over it. We crashed through the glass entrance and began to fly through the large halls of the shopping centre! The missiles were still hot on our tail. Exodia flipped sideways and flew between two large pillars, a missile hitting one of them as it tried to hit us. She then dropped us down, nearly hitting the ground, and flew under a walk way. One missile hit the walk way but another flew right under it in pursuit. Exodia flew up and over another walk way, two missiles hitting it but the last one still on us. Exodia then pulled up and barrel rolled as we crashed through the glass roof. We crashed through the roof and came out right between two stealth fighters, we flew between them and the missile hit one that was in it’s path. “Sweet piloting Exodia!” I said with surprise. “Ready to admit I’m better yet Liam?” asked the pilot smugly. “Fuck you I’m better!” retorted Liam aggressively. We took more machine gun fire as the fighters continued to pursue us. Exodia barrel rolled again then did a back flip so we could get behind the enemy. Exodia then tried to lock on to the enemy fighters with her own missiles. “I can’t lock on!!” “It’s because they have stealth systems! The missiles can’t pick them up!” I explained. “Shit!” she cursed. We took more machine gun fire from behind as more fighters joined the pursuit. Exodia then brought us back down into the city to use more buildings for cover. Two stealth fighters followed us in, spraying bullets everywhere in our direction. “What are you doing Exodia?” I asked sceptically. “These missiles are not completely useless...” The enemy fired more missiles at us. Exodia dodged the first two then barrel rolled to dodge the third. She then locked onto something and fired four missiles. The missiles flew ahead and hit the base of a large skyscraper. The missiles caused the unstable tower to begin collapsing. The angle Exodia hit it from caused it to fall side ways onto the road. It was falling fast like a freshly cut tree and we were still far from passing it. “Exodia!” I panicked. She continued to flew down the street really low, the stealth fighters closing in and firing their machine guns. We were getting close to the falling tower now but it was going to be close. The gap between the tower and the road was slowly closing, becoming tighter and tighter. “Exodia!!” I shouted again. We were approaching the gap now, the space was very small now, I thought it was already too late. “We’re not gonna make it!!” I yelled with overwhelming panic. “We’ll make it...” she said calmly. I winced as we approached the gap, preparing myself of the impact. We then flew through the gap, our ship scraping and sparking against the building and the road below as we passed through the tight gap. It only took a second to get through the gap. The stealth fighters tried to follow. The first made it through but lost his top half and couldn’t take flight again and the second almost made it through but the building collapsed on his back end and flipped him out, causing him to crash with the first. “I told you we’d make it...” “You’re fucking nuts!” I said, almost having a heart attack. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Ready to admit I’m better yet Liam?” “Pfft! I could do that easy!” he replied. We were now flying away from the city, stealth fighters still hot on our tail. We were now flying through a mountainous region, covered in an half burnt out forest. We got another missile lock warning from the flashing red lights. “Deploying counter-measures!” I informed. The enemy fired their missiles and I deployed flares. Exodia then pulled sideways and flew between two mountains. Most of the missiles went for the flares and crashed into the mounting. The last of them that didn’t flew round for us but Exodia just flew to the side to let them past. The stealth fighters followed us and locked on again. “Counter-measures depleted!” We took more machine gun fire, damage warning lights began to flash as our hull slowly began to give in. “You’ve got to lose them Exodia!” “I’m trying!” The enemy fighters released a large number of rockets at us. There were way to many to dodge at once. Exodia began to take evasive maneuvers. She tried to barrel roll and flip, the first few rockets did miss but we were hit by the rest. Our transport jolted violently and began to lurch side to side as we began to crash towards the ground. I looked at my screen our thrusters had been hit and we had lost our stabilisers. Exodia was fighting with the flight stick, trying to get us to stop. I pushed a few buttons on my screen then looked back up. “Pull up! Pull up!” I shouted. Exodia pulled up and we were flying again. The stealth fighters were coming in from behind, getting one last missile lock on us. We were over a flat forest land now, with no cover to protect us. “Hull is damaged. We’ve lost stabilisers! Exodia! If you have a plan I suggest you do it now!” “I’m doing my best!” she replied, pushing many buttons on the dashboard. The stealth fighters were getting close now, their missiles were fully locked on. Suddenly a massive blue laser came from above and obliterated two of the fighters! “Woah!” jumped me and Exodia. More smaller lasers came raining down from the sky into the last of the American fighters as they tried to retreat. A massive spaceship appeared from the cloud layer in the sky, firing it’s lasers at the enemy. A holo screen then appeared on my dashboard. It was Luna! “Good day commander” she greeted with a smile. “Damn Luna, aren't you a beautiful sight for sore eyes...” I replied gratefully with a sigh of relief. “Why thank you Courage” she said with a giggle. “Our hangers are open to you. I have some ponies that want to see you” “Have a medical team ready. We have heavy wounded on board...” I looked to my chest slowly then looked back at the screen. “...Including me” “I’ll notify Fluttershy’s team” she said with another smile. “Roger that Luna. Courage out” Liam then limped into the cockpit silently. Me and Exodia also remained Silent as we prepared to board Luna’s ship. Liam then looked at us and tried to stand up straight. “We wouldn’t need Luna if I had flown instead...” Exodia just shook her head and made her approach to Luna’s ship. We flew into the hanger and landed down on the floor. Twilight and Luna stood in front of the ship waiting for us. “Well this thing wont be flying for a while...” stated the young Pilot as she switched off the dashboard. “I’m sure Luna wont mind fixing her up for us” “Well she better because this thing can’t leave until it has some work done” “C’mon, lets go see Luna” I said as I got up from my seat. “Alright, I’m coming” sighed the pilot. “Welcome aboard Courage” greeted Luna. A medical team of Ponies, Fluttershy included, rushed past us and tended to the other three. “It’s good to see you again Luna. And you Twilight. That was great timing by the way” “Glad to be of help to you but I must ask... What was all that about then? Human fighters trying to destroy a Human transport...” asked Luna with confusion and concern. “This...” said Liam as he limped beside me, holding a round metal cylinder. “What exactly is that?” asked Twilight. I took hold of the object and lifted it over my shoulder with one hand... “It’s the Americans new toy...”