Where the moon becomes brighter

Chapter 8: Stallinox

Charon ran through the snowy streets located almost in the outskirts of Stallinox while explosions echoed in the city, Chaser's attack had begun. He kicked open a door of an apartment complex and ran towards the stairs that led to the depths below, the sound of the artillery muffled by the walls as he desperately ran downstairs. Once he reached the point where he couldn't go any deeper he kept a steady march towards a reinforcered metallic door, he then knocked on it three times with his metallic gauntlet, looking behind him every once in a while as he waited. The doors opened and several soldiers waited inside, riflemen checking their supplies and officers arguing about what would the next course of action be, but they all stopped as they saw the Emperor walking towards the main table at the center of the underground bunker.

"A radio, give me a radio!" He asked with irritation. After a soldier gave him a radio as fast as he could he began speaking to his second-in-command which was located several kilometres away from him inside the castle. "Report the situation!"

"Every division in the city reports being under artillery fire as we speak, we've lost contact with three of the thirty-two divisions present. The earliest report has occurred two hours and forty-seven minutes ago."

"Only artillery?"

"No divisions have reported hostiles in sight nor being engaged by anything else than artillery shells."

"Copy that, out." Charon placed the radio over the giant table, took out his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. An officer, after looking at him, walked towards the table and asked him a question.

"What's going on?"

"They're planning to carpet bomb the entire city before advancing." He said as he put his sunglasses back and walked over to a bunch of rifles in a rack. "They want to take this city even if they remove it from the face of Cabalderio in the process." He picked up a rifle, even though he had his shotgun strapped to his back, and grabbed a pair of ammo pouches which held the bullets the mosin nagant required; he strapped it to his belt and began inspecting the rifle, only to be thrown out of his hands by a sudden shake caused by an artillery shell that almost impacted the building above them, startling the ponies and the Terran in the bunker for a second.

"What do we do now?" Asked the officer while Charon picked up the rifle he accidentally let go.

"We sit, and we wait. Going out and engaging the artillery ourselves in the open field would be suicidal."

The bunker kept silent, the only thing heard for minutes were the artillery shells that kept falling without end, until a soldier walked towards Charon who was eating out of a can and asked him a question. "Is this what it was like in Terra?" Everypony in the room began looking at both the soldier and the Terran once they heard the question, Charon placed the can of food on top of the table and laid back on the chair as he answered.

"I don't know, to be honest. I was just a civilian, not a soldier, but I learned many things about war in Terra, the one which is still stuck in my head in this situation is the battle of Stalingrad..."

"What happened in Stalingrad?"

"Nothing pretty in the slightest." The room kept silent for a few seconds before the sound of a bomber flying over the city was heard, with several explosions caused by the bombs that it dropped followed. After a while the anti-aircraft guns could be heard echoing, then the whistle of a plane falling and finally crashing silenced everypony inside the bunker once again.

A week had passed since the forces of Kaiserreich began bombing the city, trying to soften up the defenders for the imminent attack but at the same time turning most of it into rubble. Charon stood inside the bunker he had been for the entire week next to the giant table with a map of Stallinox and several officers next to him.

"7th and 4th divisions are reporting heavy casualties due to the bombings and are asking to be relieved." Said an officer, ponting at the map on the northern part of Stallinox.

"Fine, 13th and 15th will take their place." Charon ordered, the officer walked off towards the radio while the others kept discussing on the table. "How's the artillery going?"

"Intensity had decreased since two days ago but still constant, we sus--" The other officer's talking was interrupted by an explosion above that shook the room. "We suspect Kaiserreich is getting ready to attack."

"Are all the weak spots covered?"

"Yes sir, we've--" Once again he was interrupted, not by an explosion but by the officer that was in the radio seconds ago.

"Sir, 2nd and 3rd divisions are reporting hostiles in sight and are engaging as we speak."

"Already? Then--" Charon was interrupted by the radio generating static and several soldiers talking through it reporting about hostiles in sight, after the reports finished every single division in the frontline was engaging enemies already, it was a full-scale assault. The sound of a door opening and closing was heard, a soldier got inside the bunker and began speaking towards Charon after taking off his helmet.

"They're here, sir, will you participate in the defence?"

"I will, lead the way. Somepony radio my lieutenant in the castle and tell him to take over." He said as he walked towards the staircase that led to the surface, following the soldier.

Upon arriving to the snowy streets above, several tanks and soldiers were already mobilizing, moving towards the frontier that requested their assistance. Charon climbed the tank and sat next to other three soldiers, then it began moving and caught enough speed to catch up with the rest of the brigade. The scenery wasn't pretty, everything that could be seen was rubble, smoke, fog and snow falling from the skies, this was the result of no less than seven days of continuous bombing.

Gunshots began to be heard in the distance, and after a while the armored brigade began to spread out, the machine which Charon was riding stopped, aimed its turret and fired towards the soldiers in the distance sporting the distinctive uniform of Kaiserreich's army. Charon jumped down of the tank, ran towards a line of rubble and threw himself behind it taking cover with several other ponies, thus joining the firefight, the gunshots could deafen anyone as thousands and thousands of soldiers fought for this sector. Charon, who was firing his mosin nagant at the other side of the battlefield, stopped as he felt a tiny earthquake near him, only to be surprised by a Tiger I that broke through the wall of rubble in front of him and fired towards the Imperial tanks, destroying one in the process. He strapped his rifle to his belt and unsheathed his rapier, he jumped over the debris he took cover in and drove the rapier into the tank's tracks, immobilizing it; being unable to do anything else he hid behind the Tiger I from the storm of bullets sent his way until half a dozen of shells fired from the anti-tank emplacements impacted the machine, disabling it from combat and allowing the Terran to take out his rapier from the steel coffin. The fighting continued, a T-34 positioned itself next to the Tiger's carcass, and the squad that followed behind it taking cover suggested that they were trying to break through. Charon seized the opportunity and placed himself behind the Imperial T-34, but before it could move several more tanks drove full speed towards the enemy formation, utterly destroying everything in their path. The tank Charon and several ponies stood behind started moving forward, they weren't the only ones trying to push through either, after a while more and more machines advanced with soldiers behind them. The tanks at the front reached the enemy lines, drove through the rubble and pierced through their defences firing at anything that moved, then the vehicles covering the soldiers that pushed through arrived, positioned their turrets and began firing as the infantry scattered and rushed forward; bullets, artillery shells, tank and anti-tank munitions flew in Stallinox's frontline, but both sides fought fiercely for every single inch of this city. Once the infantry reached the enemy lines and began engaging them Kaiserreich's forces began a mass rout; Imperial reinforcements had also arrived from the backline ready to push forward, but Charon's orders were others.

"Do not pursue!! Reinforce this area, set up the anti-tanks ASAP!!"

Just as he finished a Tiger I fired towards him, missing but the resulting explosion threw him a few meters away, Kaiserreich had sent another wave to engage them. Charon stood up enduring the pain and bleeding and ran towards a pile of debris on the street while the anti-tank guns engaged the machine, bullets began flying once again without end as hostile infantry reached the battlefield; the Machine guns of the Red Army were already bright red as they continued firing to the endless masses that stormed the streets, but as time passed more Panzers showed up for the fight, slowly pushing forward towards the Imperial forces with their steel armor, the T-34s and anti-tank guns weren't enough to push them back. The Terran stopped firing his rifle at the incoming hordes and grabbed the shoulder of the soldier he had next to him, once the pony turned his head to listen to him he spoke.

"You got a radio?!"

"Yeah, sure!" The pony said as he took one out and handed it to Charon, then he resumed firing the Machine-gun he held; it was also of Terran design, a DP Machine-Gun used by the Soviet Union in WW2.

"Requesting artillery barrage at position CF-741 immediately!!" He screamed through the radio as the Panzers got closer and closer to them.

"Copy that, spotter rounds sent."

Charon impatiently waited for the artillery shells to impact, beginning to lose his composure once the Panzers were no less than a hundred meter in front of him, but once hope was being lost an artillery round luckily landed on top of the tank that was charging towards him, utterly disabling it. Once he returned to his senses he desperately took out the radio again and screamed at it.

"Fire for effect!!"

"You got it, firing for effect!"

The nightmarish sound of several rounds whistling through the skies was caught by everypony in the city, the mortar barrage that was fired both inspired the Red Army, and caused fear in the Kaiserreich's ranks. The ground shook as no less than twenty shells impacted upon the advancing forces, the explosions deafened the Terran and the ponies next to him for a few seconds but it was a better fate than being at the mercy of the Grey Army; the battle wasn't over, though, once the smoke cleared they could all see that the enemy forces kept on coming without end.

"Air bombardment requested at location CF-741 AT ONCE!!" He screamed once again at his radio, the sound almost drowned by the hell that broke loose again. He put the radio down and reloaded his rifle, then took aim and began firing at the forces at the other end of the street taking cover behind their Panzers and debris caused by the artillery barrage. The gunfight between several thousand ponies on the sector continued with the Imperial forces being pushed back at every corner, but Charon's forces stood their ground no matter how many casualties they sustained; as he shot his rifle he received a bullet between his eyes, making him fall backward and losing grip of his rifle, but picked up his rifle again and kept on fighting despite the incredible pain.

"Fenix-5 initiating bomb run, keep your heads down." A voice spoke through the radio Charon had strapped to his belt, then the deafening sound of a bomber flying above struck was heard, shaking the earth by its presence.

"Take cover!!" Charon screamed as he braced behind the debris for the fire that'd rain from above, everypony stopped firing for a few seconds to seek cover and the tanks backed off a considerable distance. A great amount of bombs shook the city as they struck the advancing Grey Army, devastating its tanks and infantry enough to make them change their strategy to fight defensively instead of pushing forward with the blitzkrieg. Charon rearranged his hat and peeked over his cover only to see that the fight wasn't over yet, he then turned to his forces and saw that they were almost depleted, but before he could order the retreat several T-34s were seen in the fog behind them.

"26th Armored division reporting, heard you could use some help!" The commander spoke. The reinforcements united forces with the exhausted soldiers in the frontline, their tanks positioned over the rubble in the streets and fired at the enemy formation, infantry began moving covered by machine-guns and anti-tank guns, but before they could reach them they had begun routing, the fight in this sector had finished with their side victorious. The cheering of a thousand soldiers echoed through the destroyed buildings and streets, raising their guns in the air while yelling out of joy.

The battle of Stallinox didn't progress as happily, though. In the two months that followed the Imperial forces were being defeated, pushed back from every inch of the city despite the sacrifice they made. Outiside, Charon, soldiers and tanks prepared for an assault near a factory taken by the enemy.

"A platoon will help me retake the factory, the rest will move with the tanks and press forward through the streets eliminating any opposition. Understood?"

"Got it." Answered the commander of the platoon that'd follow him.

"Alright, move." Charon ordered. The group divided, a part following the tanks that began moving and the other stuck with Charon as he kicked the side door of the factory open. They stormed inside but found no soldiers to engage, so they kept on moving through the corridor with doors the sides until the saw a drunk soldier moving from the corned in front of them, Charon held his shotgun with one hand, walked forward and knocked him out with a solid punch to the side of the head, but once he fell they all heard voices coming from a door they had passed. They all regrouped around the door, Charon kicked it open and stormed inside with the rest neutralizing the soldiers that rested behind, at the same time the fight outside began with the T-34 firing at the other end of the street, they also heard several machine-guns and anti-tanks above them, the main concentration of soldiers were in the windows on the main factory area.

"Move!" He ordered, running towards the door at the end of the corridor, shooting its hinges with his shotgun and kicking it open only to be greeted by several soldiers ready to fire at him. The gunshots pushed him back as they impacted on his chest, making him fall backwards in the corridor but the platoon that followed him opened fire neutralizing them and storming into the main area; once Charon's wounds healed and stood up he caught up with the rest.

The Imperial forces took over the giant machines spread over the giant room, being showered by a rain of bullets coming from the soldiers positioned on the catwalk above that were just firing at the forces outside through the window. They were outnumbered and outgunned by the garrison inside the factory, they began losing just as the fighting began, but before hope was lost a T-34 broke through the factory's wall from outside and began shooting at those that were without cover, breaking the enemy's concentration and drawing their fire for enough time to allow the ponies behind the machinery to slowly but steadily take care of the hostile occupation. Once they were done, the T-34 quickly turned around and drove outside to continue fighting in the streets, Charon ordered his platoon to get to the windows and support the assault.

As he ran to a broken window on the catwalk above he picked up an MG-42 and several ammo belts resting next to a corpse, and once he reached the window he positioned the bipod of the gun and began raining hell to the soldiers that the tanks and infantry were engaging below in the snowy streets. He received a shot, making him lose grip of his gun and back off, almost falling off the catwalk if it wasn't for the railing, he placed his metallic hand over his eye where he took the bullet, waited for it to regenerated and shook off the pain before manning the machine-gun again, but as he looked outside the window through the gun's ironsights he saw a Tiger I turning its turret towards him and his platoon; his eyes widened as he screamed the order to back off from the windows but before he could finish the window in front of him exploded, sending him flying through the metallic railing breaking his spine and landing on the floor below, the rest of the infantry on the catwalk scattered and began leaving the factory seeing as it was already done for.

"Charon, you ok? You and you, help me carry him!!" Screamed a soldier as he, with the help of the other two ponies carried him back outside through the corridor they came in.

"What's going on...?!" He asked, almost unconscious due to the concussion caused by falling head first to the ground.

"We are leaving, the factory has been compromised!" The soldier spoke as he placed him resting on the factory's wall outside, next to the door Charon broke.

The Terran shook his head and stood up, his spine fully healed, and began ordering. "You see that building on the other side of the plaza? I want that fully garrisoned yesterday! I'll stay with the tanks and a group of infantry to cover the soldiers as they get there! Move it!" He ran to the corner of the factory and took out his shotgun, seeing as he lost the mosin nagant and the MG-42 inside, then he began firing blindly at the incoming forces with the help of the T-34s on his side.

Minutes passed as the Imperial forces garrisoned the building, Charon, two remaining tanks and several squads stood their ground on the factory's street, but after a while the T-34 Charon took cover next to exploded after taking enough damage, sending Charon flying a few meters and burning half his clothes but regenerated quickly, he took out the radio and screamed at it.

"When's the garrisoning finished, dammit?! We're being slaughtered here!!"

"We're done, we'll cover you, get here ASAP!" Answered an officer.

Charon lowered his radio and yelled at those in the streets while bullets from the garrisoned department covered them. "We're leaving! Move it move it!!" The only T-34 that remained turned around and began accelerating while the rest of the infantry moved through the plaza, Charon with them, but before they even got halfway a Panzer VI broke through and began chasing them, they had nothing to counter it as the anti-tanks were still being set up in the department. At this sight Charon became more and more desperate as he ran and dodged a round shot at him, impacting the earth and sending dust, mud and snow flying while he screamed again through the radio. "Get this damned thing off us, dammit!"

"We can't, we have nothing yet! You can't do anything else but run!!"

"No shit sherlock!" He yelled before throwing away his radio, only for it to be crushed by the tracks of the Tiger I as it got closer and closer, but as hope seemed lost the last T-34 drove full speed ahead and rammed the tank that pursued them, immobilizing it. In a quick succession the four crewmen of the tank got out of the hatch and caught up with the rest before the tank was finally destroyed by the other Panzers that began chasing, but once they reached the carcass they were shot with several anti-tank rounds that were finally available once the guns were deployed. The infantry, once the department was reached, jumped through the windows landing safely inside, but before Charon could catch his breath the commanding officer of the garrisoning force ran towards him with a scoped Mosin nagant.

"Our sniper is dead, get to it!!" He yelled while giving him the gun before running off to another position where his soldiers required him.

Charon ran upstairs to the second floor, only to notice that it looked more like a roof than a common floor, the roof was shelled to oblivion and the walls destroyed; he met up with a group of ponies with RPG-7s and DP machine-guns firing without rest and saw a spot free; he threw himself to the ground and began aiming his rifle to see the chaos of the battlefield all around him. Having no idea of what was going on, he kept looking at the battlefield looking for targets, until he saw a group of officers discussing as one of the held a map; he steadied his aim and fired, neutralizing one of them but losing track of the rest due to the recoil shaking his aim.

"Charon, I've been sent to be your spotter." A voice spoke behind him, then a pony laid night to him with a pair of binoculars looking at him.

"Good timing, anything worth sniping?"

"Let's see..." Said the pony while staring through the binoculars. "Mortar emplacement, 12:30, Hundred and fifty meters away behind some trees."

"Gotcha." Charon began aiming through his rifle once again and spotted the crew manning the mortar. He fired, neutralizing one and making the others rout due to fear.

"Kill confirmed. New target spotted, high-ranking officer 10 o' clock, two hundred fifty meters away behind fountain."

"Gottam." He found the objective, an officer in a distinctive outfit yelling orders to a group of soldiers and a tank. He fired, making his hat fly off and the others scramble due to the shock.

"Kill comfirmed, good shot, even the hat flew off. New target..."

The battle of Stallinox continued, but Kaiserreich's efforts reached a halt at the garrisoned department that was nicknamed Zero's House, named after the commanding officer that garrisoned it by order of Charon. The fact that it overlooked an entire sector and the plaza meant that this position was of incredible strategic importance and defence, but it also meant that the Grey Army would do whatever it takes to capture it. Another two months passed at Zero's House, pushing back any attacker that dared set feet in the plaza, wave after wave they endured the hostilities, resting once the soldier retreated.

Charon opened a wooden crate of canned food with the help of his clawed gauntlet, and after throwing the piece of wood that covered the box he took a can of food, opened it with his metallic finger and ate it quickly. Then he walked off to another of the crates while a group of ponies emptied the crate of canned food and distributed them through the garrison, he prepared his gauntlet again and opened the crate that had 'Ammo' written on it. He took out several bullets and refilled his pair of ammo pouches strapped to his belt, then he grabbed the ammo belts and RPG-7 grenades and gave it to a group of soldiers. "Get them upstairs. Everypony else, get your ammo." He said as he backed off and sat down resting on a wall; a soldier arrived from outside and upon seeing him he walked closer.

"The minefield has been planted, any other orders, sir?"

"No more, get your ammo and rest for a whi--" He was cut short by a sudden explosion heard in the distance that also startled everypony in the building.

"Incoming!! They stepped on the minefield!!" A soldier screamed from above before the machine-guns began raining hell towards the other side of the white plaza.

"Positions!!" Charon yelled at the soldiers while he picked up his sniper rifle and ran to the third floor, stepping on the snow, dirt and rubble once reaching the destination. He threw himself to the ground due to the machine-guns firing at him and began sniping the officers that accompanied the German-looking forces from the other side of the plaza as the minefields went off every time they tried to advance. "Someone call an artillery strike, I'm too damn busy over here!!"

"Artillery barrage requested on position FD-784, over!" Called a soldier that heard Charon's request.

"Copy that, spotter rounds sent, out." The radio answered. The garrison stood their ground at Zero's House waiting for the rounds to arrive, only to see them land several hundred meters away from their objective.

"Spotter rounds missed, recalibrate 350 meters north-west!!" The soldier yelled.

"Copy that, spotter rounds launched, out." This time a bunch of artillery shells landed a few meters off, but it was enough, for the main barrage would contain an entire arsenal.

"Rounds accurate enough, fire for effect!"

"Understood, firing for effect!!" The artillery captain answered, once time passed, bullets flew and tanks moved through the minefield the whistle of several dozen rounds were heard in the skies until the earth shook once they struck the advancing forces, leaving a great cloud of smoke and craters on its place, until it dissipated revealing a new wave slowly advancing.

"Charon, it's for you." A soldier with a radio told the Terran that was sniping seconds ago.

"Speak." Said Charon while holding the radio.

"Order your soldiers to back off from Zero's House at once. Our scouts spotted a machine several times bigger than a tank with a cannon setting up facing your coordinates, you must retreat now!"

"What? What does the machine look like?!"

"Think you have time?! Scouts reported it setting up minutes ago and saw the words 'Landkreuzer P 1500 Monster' on its chasis, hell knows what that means, get out now!"

"...Understood. Out." Charon knew exactly what those words meant, and the fact that not only it walked these lands but that it was also used against him filled him with terror for a moment. "Everypony, we're leaving! Pack up ASAP!" He yelled as he ran downstairs.

"What? Why? We're defending this place just fine!" Asked a soldier that saw how he ran to the destroyed window on the bottom floor and picked up an MG.

"There's something they'll throw at us and I don't want to know anything else about it, we leave or we die!" He yelled, trying to avoid an explanation so as not to waste time.

"Gotcha, what's the plan?"

"A group will stay here and lay down suppressive fire while the other runs down the street." He explained as more and more soldiers arrived to the room he was in. "Then the group that ran off will lay down suppressive fire for us, all clear?"

"All clear." The voice of the hundred ponies echoed.

"Alright chums, let's do this, everypony go, let's go!" He said as he and a group of forty soldiers armed with machine-guns and rifles ran outside and began firing to the enemy formation, only to stop in defeat seeing a Terran-sized shell travel at a great speed towards him and his forces through the skies. That was the last thing he saw before losing consciousness in the resulting explosion.

"What the Hell happened in Zero's house?" Asked one of the two soldiers carrying the crippled Terran through the snowy streets of Stallinox, both oblivious that he barely regained consciousness.

"I dont know nor do I care, but that thing managed to kill everypony in that building. The only reason the Emperor's alive is because he's immortal, I mean, just look at him, he would be dead by now!!"

Charon slowly lowered his sight and looked at his stomach, only to see a piece of cloth drenched in blood covering it. He raised his gauntlet and placed it over the cloth, but it sunk a bit as if something was missing; he now realized that his stomach was blown open. He lowered his sight even further to his legs, but could see only one, the other had been ripped appart and blood was being spilled on the street, but as he stared to the trail of blood he noticed that there was another one, he followed it to the source only to find out that it originated from his left arm, that was ripped clean off; not only that, he could feel how his head weighted significantly less, but not because of the light-headedness caused by the innumerable concussion, it was because his jaw was missing, his chest was drenched in blood to confirm the painful event.

"Fine, where are we carrying him?"

"Our platoon leader, what else can we do? Oh there he is!" The soldier spoke before yelling and raising his hoof towards a group of ponies next to an officer in a distinctive outfit.

Once the officer and the ponies in the distance saw them and the crippled Terran they ran full speed towards them with shock on their faces and surrounded them, staring at Charon who could not die despite the wounds he received.

"Holy mother of...What in the name of the Emperor happened?!"

"We don't know, sir, we found him like this after Zero's house was struck by that thing, he's the only survivor of the several hundred that were garrisoned there!!"

"Dammit...You, a radio, now!!" The officer ordered a soldier. "Answer, for the love of the Great Ones, answer!! This is 7th platoon of the 25th Infantry division, my men have found the Emperor crippled beyond imagination, he's the only survivor of Zero's House!"

"What?! Get transport and send him to the field hospital at once, then report to me with the details!"

"Understood, out." He turned off the radio and turned to two of his soldiers. "Both of you, there's a truck at the other side of the street, get the Emperor to the field hospital ASAP!"

"You got it!" They answered as they ran towards Charon and carefully picked him up.

"You gonna be ok, partner...Just hang in there..." One of the ponies carrying him spoke, his words echoed inside Charon's mind before he passed out once again.

20 days later, Charon began to woke up in a white bed, holding his head while grunting to himself. He began raising from the pillow and slowly opened his eyes, seeing that he was inside a tent with several other injured ponies, all that could be heard were coughs, grunts of pain and the talking of the doctors.

"You woke up, that's good." A voice was heard near him. Charon turned his head and saw an officer sitting right next to his bed. "Hold up a second, don't move yet." The officer raised his hoof and waved it in the air in the direction of a few doctors that stood idle on the other side of the giant tent, once they noticed him and the Terran that sat on the bed they walked over to them.

Before the doctors arrived, he realized he had bandages all over his body and a medical brace on both his left arm and his right leg which regenerated with his jaw; strangely enough they were over his clothes, but could be justified since the regenerative ability of Charon's immortality also affected his current outfit. Once the doctors reached Charon's bed and began taking off the bandages and braces the officer started explaining to him what happened, seeing as he was oblivious of everything ever since he was struck by the shell fired by the great machine outside the city. "A pair of soldiers found you lying on the floor, your right leg, left arm and jaw were missing and half your clothes were burned. You were the only survivor of Zero's House, the building was blown out of existence, had you been a few steps behind where you were and we'd have had to pick you up with spoons."

"...That's nightmarish...Changing topics a bit, why the bandages and everything? I could regenerate just fine alone, even though it'd take time."

"You answered your own question, we don't have time for luxuries, you laid in that bed like a log and even with our help it took about 3 weeks for you to fully regenerate; in that time, Kaiserreich's force advanced without rest, and since you weren't in the frontline they did so with much more force. After the first week we had to transfer you from the field hospital to the north to this one, the one on the north is already enemy's land."

"What? Dammit, I must get out there then--"

"Woah there buddy, not so fast, at least let the doctors finish patching you up. Also, the lieutenant general has some plans already set in motion, you should get to him first instead of blindly rushing to the frontline."

"True, true...Is he in the castle?"

"Yes, he's with the other officers setting up the defence. If you have more questions save it for him instead. Also, sorry about your shotgun and bandolier, they were destroyed back in Zero's House"

"Gotch-AGHH!" Charon screamed as he was injected a serum in his arm. Once the injection was over and everything removed from him he stood up with the help of the doctors and began to walk towards the tent's entrace to the snowy streets outside. He kept walking towards the castle that could be seen in the distance no less than half a kilometre away, noticing that every soldier he saw on the way was either setting up defences or staring at him with a smile. Once he reached the castle and passed through the giant doors leading to the throne room he walked upstairs to the floor above, seeing the lieutenant general discussing with his officers as he reached the war room.

"Ahh, welcome back, Emperor." Charon's lieutenant greeted as he saw him walking into the room. "Come closer, I'll explain everything in due time." After saying that he lowered his vision to the map placed in the giant table and continued giving orders. "5th division is granted permission to retreat, 28th armored will take its place with 54th artillery division acting as support. 7th armored will deploy west of 34th infantry behind the frontline; once in place 34th will retreat, leading the enemy towards the main line and 7th armored will flank them." He cleaned the sweat on his forehead and looked up to Charon again. "As you could see, we're losing this fight. We've been pushed back in the central area, the right flank stood its ground successfully but the left flank was massacred, this army group will fight two fronts now. Good news and bad news, the good news are that Luna's and Concord's divisions were called and will arrive any minute now, also that machine that destroyed Zero's House is stuck out of the city, having no means to enter. The bad news, this castle and its surrounding are the frontline now, we expect an attack any minute now, there's also the matter that another great machine has been sighted by our scouts entering the city by just crushing the buildings in its path. Your condition right now isn't the best, so you'll be a sniper positioned in this castle with several other snipers and MGs instead of being in the frontline, we'll leave that job for the infantry and for the two immortals that'll arrive in due time." Once he finished, he rolled the map and walked towards the staircase with the other officers, they were going to a bunker far behind the frontline to keep commanding the defending forces and leave the castle to the ones who were going to fight, but as he passed next to Charon he took out a rapier in a sheath, it was Luna's Rapier who Charon had lost. "The soldiers found it encrusted to a wall, guess that artillery round packed enough power to rip it out your belt and send it flying." He gave it to the Terran who thanked him once he received it and left the room through the staircase.

Charon stood in the war-room alone, but just as he lost sight of the officers a rather large group of soldiers arrived with sniper rifles and MGs, a sniper who carried two scoped mosin-nagants gave one to Charon, then he gave him a pair of pouches containing the bullets he'd need. "Your place is the window overlooking the main street." He said as he pointed towards the window behind Charon.

"Got it."

The radio that was left there suddenly generated static as a soldier talked through it. "This is 4th scouts group, we see enemy movement, attack is imminent, out."

Both Charon and the sniper that gave him the rifle stood silent for a few seconds staring at the radio until they began running to a window nearby. "The window's big enough for 2, I'll be next to you, sir." The sniper informed as he calibrated his scope. Charon nodded, took out a pair of binoculars and began staring at the horizon, nothing more than rubble, smoke and destroyed buildings could be seen for a while until he spotted a few soldiers moving behind the skeleton of a department, a tank and more infantry came to sight after a few seconds, marching through the street. "Orders are not to engage until they step into the minefield. Even though nopony has authority over you, I'd advise you to follow it." He explained.

Charon lowered his binoculars and calibrated the rifle's scope to the distance he'd be firing at, he then pointed it at the incoming forces and stared through it, the scope's reticle hovering over a tank and several soldiers that led the formation until an explosion destroyed the tank's track and sent the squad flying, at this moment the entire Imperial arsenal was thrown at the advancing forces; Charon kept looking over Kaiserreich's infantry sniping the officers on the frontline while the one next to him took care of the high-ranking ones behind them. By chance he spotted three tanks modified with flails on the front pushing through the minefield; seeing as they passed with impunity he desperately left his position and ran to the radio equipment, grabbed the radio and contacted the forces below.

"Three flail tanks spotted in sector KV-571 advancing through the minefield, I need those things destroyed now!!"

"Acknowledged, refocusing fire, out."

He left the radio and ran to the same window taking out his binoculars, once the firestorm outside could be seen he stared through them and looked at the three tanks that still advanced into the exploding minefield in front of them, but with nothing done to stop them. "Come on...Come on!" He began despairing, seeing as they were two thirds through, a barrage of artillery and anti-tank rockets started raining on top of them destroying one tank, disabling another's tracks but not damaging the third enough, letting it pierce through the minefield entirely; even worse, the artillery barrage activated several mines, thus leaving a huge gap for an entire force to push through. "Dammit all to Hell!" He threw his binoculars and ran towards the radio, planning to ask where were Luna's and Concord's division that took so long to arrive, but before he reached the equipment a static could be heard, followed by a familiar voice.

"Greetings gentlecolts! Concord's division has come to save the day! We're entering the battlefield through the right flank, keep your hats on!"

"Hah!!" Charon yelled of excitement, everything wasn't as hopeless as he imagined.

"The princess of the night has arrived, fasten your seatbelts, we're about to enter the engagement!"

Charon smiled behind his scarf, the only thing to do now was to hold the castle enough for their divisions to come, but his smile was erased as the castle shook tremendously, enough to make him fall to the floor. "What the hell was--"

"Charon, get over here quick, you might not like what you're about to see..." Said the sniper that was with him minutes ago, helping him up and urging him to get to the window while giving him his binoculars. Once there he pointed at a strange object in the horizon, which Charon acknowledged and began to observe through his binoculars. The sight was enough to turn his skin pale and widen his eyes, what he was seeing was nothing else than a tank which size overshadowed the buildings next to it, the trail of destruction that left on its road was also nightmarish, everything was crushed into oblivion under the tank's weight and size; this tank was known in his world at the almost-demonic Landkreuzer P 1000 Ratte. Charon's words couldn't get out of his mouth, and they didn't need to, for Chaser began speaking through the radio at that instant.

"I assume you've already seen the power of Kaiserreich by now."

Charon walked over to the radio and picked it up with his shaking hands. "How...How did you manage to get this frequency?" His voice showed despair and fear.

"There are more pressing matters at hand, I can assure you."

"F-fine, that thing is physically impossible to be able to work, yet you not only managed to construct it but to send it through an entire ocean and half a continent here, how?!"

"I'm surprised, Charon. Knowing you, you'd have used everything you had to your advantage, yet there's something in Equestria that you have forgotten about. Remember Cloudsdale? How it's a city floating in the sky? It was constructed with pegasi engineering, I have used it to modify the Landkreuzer and make it considerably lighter. It is a shame that time has run out, I'd like to talk with you more but desperate situations call for desperate means, this war took too long and now I plan to end it with both this machine and the other Landkreuzer. Goodbye for now, Charon, I'll be sure to give you a nice room once I recover your body from the destroyed castle."

Charon stood in silence, admitting defeat already and slowly walked to the window, staring at the silhouette of the Landkreuzer that'd soon enough end this war.

"Charon, this is Concord, we see the castle, any orders?" Concord spoke through the radio, but Charon didn't even had the strength to answer. "Charon, do you copy? Charon!"

Outside, Concord kept trying to get through to Charon with his radio, taking cover behind a pile of rubble from incoming fire. "Charon, what was that explosion from before?! Charon, answer me, dammit!!" His desperate tries were cut short as another explosion destroyed most of the castle, the Landkreuzer had fired once again. Concord covered his face with his arm due to being startlet, but after realizing that the explosion also reached Charon he stood up and began ordering his division. "Change of plans, we'll get to the castle ASAP!! Everything else is secondary, do you hear me?!"

"URA!!" The division yelled in unison as they started pushing forwards, tanks leading the charge towards the destroyed castle.

"Concord, can you hear me?!" Luna talked through the radio. "I can't get through to Charon, what's going on?!"

"I don't know, listen, tell your division to push to the castle, then we'll find out!"

"Got it!"

Concord lowered his radio and changed the shape of his AK-54r into an RPG-7, he peeked out of cover and fired towards a tank in the distance, then he changed his gun back to the rifle he had seconds ago; he ran towards the front and threw himself into cover, firing at those in front of him with help of his infantry while the tanks pushed through and dealt with the armor deployed against them. After minutes of fighting part of the small force sent against them began routing, the rest soon following; Concord ordered not to pursue them, instead to keep pushing into the castle and meet up with the rest. He climbed on top of a tank and gave the order to drive full speed towards the destroyed structure in the distance.

Once Concord and his division arrived, he got off and ordered his lieutenant to help the soldiers push Kaiserreich back while he checked up on Charon. He began running through the streets, gunshots and artillery could drown his steps and heavy breathing, ponies could be seen everywhere running with equipment and supplies to the frontline, but a small group of soldiers stood outside the destroyed door of the castle as he saw it in the distance. Losing his composure he ran even faster towards the door until he stepped into the group, he began walking among the ponies outside towards the castle but once he reached the door he became petrified by the sight: The Lieutenant General stood near the entrance while another group of ten ponies desperately removed the pile of rocks that covered the entire throne reaching above the ceiling that was cracked open, Charon was buried there.

"Concord, I came as fast as I could, what's--" Luna asked as she entered, only to drop her gun and bring her hands to her mouth with a gasp by the scenery, she arrived at the time a rock was removed from the pile revealing Charon's metallic gauntlet utterly crushed, the gauntlet that was enchanted to be indestructible.

"Why did the enchantment...wear off?" Concord asked to himself, still petrified and his voice filled with worry.

As more and more rocks were removed, Charon's other destroyed hand was revealed firmly grasping Luna's rapier, as if his last action was just to hold it and give a silent prayer. By this moment, Concord realized that Charon, an immortal, might have not been entirely so. Luna had the same thought in her head, the tear that fell down her cheek showed her sorrow at such possibility.

The soldiers suddenly backed off from the pile of stone as part of Charon's gauntlet became ash and disintegrated in the air, at a steady pace his entire body was disappearing. Luna started crying and desperately ran to Charon's tomb, she climbed the stones and held what was left of his gauntlet as it turned to ashes.

"No...This isn't happening...You're immortal, you can't die!! You...You can't leave us...You can't leave me like this...Charon, I...I don't want you to leave now, I still have something to tell you!!" She desperately spoke as tears fell from her eyes. Charon's gauntlet turned entirely into ash and disintegrated, leaving Luna's hand empty; she placed her hands over the pile of stone as she whispered a few words to herself. "I...I couldn't even tell you...That I loved you...Charon, why must you leave now..." She broke down into tears, her cries echoed in the now silent castle for Kaiserreich had backed off moments ago; nothing could be heard, no bullets, no explosions, no screams of pain nor orders, only Luna's sorrowful cries.

A lone soldier slowly walked over to Luna and handed her a ripped grey cloth, it was what remained of Charon's scarf that was lying in one of the destroyed parts of the castle a few steps away. Luna held it dearly, the soldier helped her up and accompanied her to the castle's entrace.

"How could...Charon..." Concord questioned to himself, still stunned by the event, staring at the pile of rocks from the entrace.

"We're leaving Stallinox, everypony sound the retreat, we'll meet up in Canterlot." The lieutenant general spoke as he rounded up his soldiers.

"What...You're leaving this city to Kaiserreich?" Asked Concord.

"This place is done for, the castle's destroyed, the entire city is in ruins."

"And you're leaving like that? We can still defend this place."

"We can't, we're leaving."

"Charon died defending this place, the least you could do is continue what he couldn't finish!!" He became more and more angry, yelling at the general.

"Listen here." The general spoke while violently grabbing Concord's trench coat with his metallic gauntlet and placing the draconequus' face in front of his. "Charon died, that's a fact, and you want me to keep defending this place!? Sure, I'll send more ponies to their death in this wasteland instead of doing what Charon would want me to do, back off and at least have a chance of NOT DYING WITHOUT A FUCKING REASON!!" He let go of his trench coat and walked out of the castle, Concord stared at him irritated but realized he was losing his mind.