Operation Harvest

Ven twiddled his thumbs as he waited outside the relay room.  He had given the speech to them (over the comms), about why they should consider reinforcing his campaign and now they were conversing with various officers and adjutants including his over the matter.  They hadn’t stated whether he was going to be the Field Marshall or not, but he didn’t really care.  It was all pointless anyway.  He had tried listening through the doors, but they had been soundproofed for this exact reason.  The hall he was sitting in was completely deserted, all of the men enjoying their hard fought rest somewhere else.  His men had been pulled back from the front to recover from their losses and some reserves were moved up to hold back the onslaught.  There was the sound of footsteps from down the hall, though no one appeared.  Looking back down to the ground he examined the cracks, bored of waiting.  He really hoped they’d be finished soon, there were things he had to do.

He had seriously messed up this time.  Sure sometimes he got things wrong but this, this was ridiculous.  He had picked a colonial campaign for General Ven to oversee as Field Marshall instead of the seventh offensive on Amrioc by accident, and now the council was lecturing him over the comms on why they thought it was ridiculous.  Why had he gotten it wrong?  Simple.  A single digit.  Amrioc was CL - 68/15000.  The colony was CL - 78/15000.  Confound those tiny buttons, they’ve messed everything up.

‘...which is why we don’t send them on recon anymore!  So why exactly do you think we should do that, because this isn’t a game, no, this is a real war where people are killed and land lost and money wasted.  Why should we waste men on this tiny little backwater planet?  He looked about desperately and grabbed the nearest data pad.

‘Because sir...’  He started scrolling through the data base.  ‘...because...’

‘Yes?’  He found the planet and clicked on it.

‘Because of the carberrium sir.’  He smiled triumphantly staring at the figures on the screen.

‘What is so special about that?’

‘Well there’s a lot of it sir.’  He looked again at the figures.  Holy crap that was a lot in one place, and so easily accessible.

‘Just a second, we’re taking a look.’  There was ruffling and some loud pangs over the speakers.  ‘That is, woah, that IS a lot of carberrium.’  Mumbling and some shouts commenced, Jerry listening all the while.  After a few minutes he received an answer.  ‘The council and I have discussed it and we have come to the conclusion that Field Marshall Ven is to secure and commence industrialisation of the planet as soon as possible.’  He couldn’t believe it.  He had expected them just to dismiss it as an unimportant but not unreasonable claim and not have him executed by firing squad for wasting time and in turn lives.

‘Thank you sir.’

‘Don’t thank us, you just brought an important strategic position to light.’  Without any warning they signed off.  He wiped some sweat off his brow and left the room.  As soon he got outside Ven got up.

‘Well?’

‘There’s good news and bad news sir.’

‘Of course there is...’

‘The good news is that you are a Field Marshall now.’  He threw his hands up half heartedly.

‘Hooray for me,’ he said flatly.

‘The bad news is that it’s not on Amrioc, it’s on a colony.’  Ven blinked.

‘Bad news?  That’s great news!’

‘I’m afraid I don’t follow sir.’  He gave him one of those ‘really?’ looks.

‘The fighting will be minimal, there’ll be less to worry about.’  He walked off towards his quarters, seemingly care free.  ‘Brief the lads and pack your bags Jerry, we’re going on holiday.’

}------------{

Everyone had been pretty quiet on the trip back to Canterlot and Banna was glad for it, though he would have preferred it if the reasons had been different.  Pinkie Pie’s hair had gone back to normal but she just stared out the window.  Amax was sitting up front with Thate (who it turned out had fallen asleep in the dropship during their little skirmish) while the girls all sat around him, Twilight and Rarity to his sides.  Rainbow Dash was keeping her distance from Banna who still hadn’t fully gotten over the hoof in the balls and was scared that he might just do something stupid, like hit her.  He checked his tablet for messages, and strangely enough there was one.  It said that the reinforcements would be arriving tomorrow and to ensure that the compound had been finished by then.  he put it away and looked out the window.  Down below he saw a star studded caravan sitting under a tree which held his gaze for a little bit but not that long.  He refocused on the landscape and looked out to the horizon.

‘Mr. Banna?’ Asked Fluttershy, tugging at his armour.

‘Hm?’ He turned his head.

‘Are you going to live here?’  he nodded.

‘Yeah, this is my home now.’

‘Well in that case, where are you going to live?  Will it be in the Everfree Forest?’

‘Probably, yes.’

‘Oh I see...’  He looked around at the other mares who shrugged.

‘Is something wrong?’

'Well... it's not that there's anything wrong with living in the forest... but isn't it very dangerous there?’

‘I’m pretty sure I can handle danger, besides there’s good chance they’ve already ki-  I mean suppressed the bigger predators in the area,’ he said quickly.   Flutterhsy looked away for a moment, then looked back with a worried expression.

‘Y-your not going to...do what you did to the diamond dogs... are you?’

‘Probably not, though I can’t say for sure.  Most of them will be taken for study then probably released back into the wild.’

‘I suppose that’s alright then.’  She stood looking at the flooring of the ship.  ‘What about about your accommodations, are they alright?’

‘Yeah they’re good enough, besides the construction workers have been busy, I’m sure they’ve built a whole new section while I was away.’

‘Already?’ Asked Twilight.

‘Yeah, ‘course.’

‘Why would they need to make another section?’

‘We’re expecting a regiment if I remember correctly, though I may be a little off.’

‘Why are there more coming?’ Rainbow Dash yawned, the jet lag taking its toll.

‘Precautions and we need more than just a few platoons to defend a whole colony.’

‘But I thought you weren’t going to fight, apart from what just happened now of course.’

‘True, but it’s all about the illusion.’

‘What do ya mean?’ Applejack joined in.  He stretched and sat back in his seat.

‘You sure do have a lot of questions...  Well I mean if we look tough they’ll think we are tough and leave us alone.  If we look weak they’ll attack, and we can’t have that.’

‘Makes sense,’ agreed the cyan pegasus who was now falling asleep.  Come to think of it he was tired too.  Closing his eyes, he focused on home and all that was dear to him.  It was the only way to keep the nightmares out.

‘I’m not sure about the Gleyans Luna,’ said Celestia, taking a sip of tea.  Luna gave her a questioning look.

‘What do you mean?’  Celestia placed the tea back in its tray.

‘I just can’t shake this feeling that they want the Equinitium for... war.’  She dropped her cup abruptly.

‘War!?  What makes you think that?’  One of the Pegasi servants came and swept the mess up.

‘Well they are fighting, and it only makes sense that they would use such a precious metal to carry it out.’  Luna admitted she was right.

‘But they don’t seem bad, Amax is a very nice Gleyan.’

‘Just because someone seems nice, doesn’t mean they are nice, although they do seem rather sincere.  It’s not them I’m worried about, rather it’s their superiors.  If they’re the “hot-headed” kind of rulers, we might have a problem.’  She nodded.

‘I agree, though with any luck we should be fine.’

‘Yes, with any luck...’

Amax roused Banna from his sleep, shaking him on the arm.

‘We’re here sir.’  He got up slowly.

‘Right, where are the ponies,’ he replyed drowsily.

‘ They've gone on ahead sir, to see the princesses, though Pinkie Pie is still trying to figure out the controls.’  She was sitting up front pressing every button there was until Thate picked her up again and set her down outside.  He stared at her, though not aggressively or curiously, just stared.  She seemed to get the message and bounced to Amax.

‘Ah.’  He dismounted the ship which had been parked on the great halls balcony and walked inside.  All signs of the party were completely gone, despite it only have been on the previous night.  ‘They clean up fast here don’t they.’

‘Yep.’

‘Reminds me of that song.’

‘Which song sir?’

‘You know, the one that Jeray came up with?’  Amax’s face lit up.

‘Oh yeah, that was a good one.’  Pinkie Pie jumped onto his head.

‘Which song?  You know a song?  Why don’t you sing it!’  They looked about the room.  There were a few guards and servants idling about, though beyond that nothing.

‘I dunno...’

‘Come on, there’s barely anyone around, and I feel booored, just one song.’  The two soldiers looked at eachother and smiled.

‘Well maybe just one song.  Amax, if you’ll do the honours...’

‘Yes sir,’ he coughed a bit and readied his voice.  ‘Ooooooooh!’

Who fights battles day and night,

Who routed the men of the 3-5-9th,

Who took the tops of hill 7-7?

The lads of camp Pak-Ot-Derven.

Finer men, you’ll never see,

Those brave lads who fought ‘side me,

Not a single inch was giv-en way,

We fought like hell all through the day,

‘Surrender!’ Did we hear them cry,

‘Never!’ Did we respond,

With a kick ‘n a clap and a rat-a-tat-tat,

We fought them back to sod,

Who drinks heav’ly day and night,

Who ne-ver gives up without a fight,

Whose made up of convicted felons?

The lads of camp Pak-Ot-Derven.

The two of them laughed and Pinkie Pie joined in for the sake of it.

‘Of course he’s dead now,’ stated Amax.  Banna adopted a nostalgic demeanour.

‘Yeah...’  Clearing his throat Amax continued to sing in a sadder tone of voice.

And while never an-y dull nights,

I’d prefer if ‘twas my last fight,

Many a friend did I see, lose,

In my gut I feel so chewed,

Forever shall I feel like this,

My heart so hea’y, my brains like piss,

From when I lay my weary head,

Till the moment I am dead.

All the ponies in the room were staring including the mane six and the two princesses who had just entered halfway through the song were staring, tears in a few of their eyes.  I keep forgetting just how sensitive this topic is, he thought.

‘You’re friend, how did he die?’  Asked Celestia quite dolefully.

‘Electrostatic bomb,’ answered Amax automatically.  ‘It breaks the bonds of your-’  Banna nudged him very hard and shot him a glare.

‘I am sorry for your loss, now what is this “battle” they have been telling me about?’ She was very serious now.

‘We ran into a little trouble, but we took care of it.’

‘By taken care you mean murdered.’  His mind reeled.  Murdered?

‘I didn’t murder anyone!’

‘You killed them did you not?’

‘In self defence.’

‘Did they kill any of your soldiers or civillians?’

‘No they ignored them-’

‘Then it was murder.  You could have left them alone, but you didn’t.’

‘Excuse me princess, but they were trying to destroy our drill.  If that went off everything,’ he circled his finger about, ‘in a few miles would have been destroyed in the blast.’  There were murmurs and whispers about the matter.  Who of them could imagine such a weapon? She nodded.

‘In that case I apologise for my beration, however it still remains that beings were killed in my kingdom on purpose.  You must cease all activity in the mines at once.’  He was silent.

‘I will relay this message to my CO.  It’s unfortunate that we have reached a misunderstanding but I am sure we can resolve the issue,’ he said in his most formal and apologetic tone possible.  ‘I hope this does not impede on our other agreements.’

‘But of course, you are still welcome, just stay away from the mines.’

‘Right.  I trust you have spoken with the Anteeists about the matter?’

‘Not yet but I’m sure they will be understanding about matter.’  Understanding, that was a good one.  Even if they did agree they would probably be lying to her.

‘If you really want to place you trust in them, so be it, though I suggest a degree of vigilance around them, they can be somewhat... dubious in these circumstances.’  A voice suddenly rang out.

‘That isn’t a very nice to thing to say, skyrgi.’  From behind Celestia emerged three Anteeists, two bodyguards and what seemed to be a Major.  Banna pulled his pistol out of its holster and Amax aimed his rifle up.  Thate materialised behind the Anteeists, giving a light cough to let them know that he had his rifle aimed to their heads.

‘What exactly are you doing here?’  He asked, scanning the room for any other threats.  The guard ponies had readied themselves to pounce, though they weren’t sure who to attack, and the fact that both princesses were standing directly in the middle made it even worse.

‘Diplomacy, just like you skyrgi.’

‘Don’t call me that, neptur.’  Celestia interrupted.

‘There’s no need to resort to-’

‘Says the weakling.  I doubt you could stop me.’

‘Please, can we not be civil-’

‘Oh and that’s another thing neptur, fuck you!’

‘Why don’t you-’

‘That reminds me, I think it was your sister that I-’

Celestia seemed to grow and grow until she was larger than the lot of them yet somehow exactly the same.

‘You WILL stop this RIGHT now!’  She demanded, stamping her hoof angrily on the marble, sending out a shock wave.  They complied, whether they had wanted to or not, falling to the floor and dropping their weapons.  The lot of them looked about in shock, not entirely sure of what had happened.  She started to shrink, speaking as she did.  ‘I don’t understand what is wrong with you all, incapable to look past your prejudices for one second.’  They didn’t look at all guilty, in fact one of the Anteeists was reaching for his sword.  She clasped his hand shut, confusing him a lot.  While he tried to pry his hand open, Banna and the Anteeist major got up.

‘I suppose the princess is right, maybe we should out it aside.  At least until we get out onto the field.’  Banna nodded at the Major’s proposition.  The other men got up and grumbled, while Thate picked his rifle up and got behind Banna.

‘That’s better, now, Second Lieutenant Banna we simply want to discuss an alliance with them.’

‘An alliance?  With them!?  You’d be better off killing yourselves now.’  He folded his arms.  The Anteeists were sneaky bastards, and he had no doubt there would be some fine print in their stating something wholly unexpected.

‘At least give them a chance.’

‘A chance?  You’re kidding me right?  We’ve given them enough chances.’  Banna motioned to Amax and Thate to get back to the ship.

‘That’s a shame Gleyan, I was hoping you could sit in on the conversation,’ said the Anteeist Major quite flatly.

‘I’d rather not waste my time, besides I have a report long overdue that I have to give.’  The Anteeist for once had a look of understanding on his face.  Banna left for the ship, Thate having already made it there switching its systems on.  They’d be back soon.

Jimothy and the sniper stood at the back of the group trying to get a good view.  In the centre there was a map, and an officer was addressing the crowd.

‘As you can see, the Anteeist base is here.’ The stick pointed at a cluster of buildings on the side of a large hill.  ‘The line of defence is around here from the trenches visible and they seemed to have made a direct route to this town here, whom our associate Amax over at the castle had managed to identify as “Appleoosa”.  Apparently should it some to fighting we’re not allowed to shell it, though I doubt anyone will be remembering that when we fight them.’ The men started grumbling as they often would, and the officer made no move to silence them.

‘The regiment should be arriving soon, so I suggest you all get ready for them.  They aren’t combat tested, much like half of you,’ he pointed at one person, ‘So you’re going to have to show them the ropes.  Dismissed.’  The rabble dispersed, and Jimothy and the sniper left for the mess hall.

‘When do you think the lieutenant is coming back?’  Jimothy asked.  The sniper shrugged.

‘Dunno.  Perhaps today.  I heard that they ran into some trouble up in the mines.’

‘How?’

‘Sometimes I overhear things when I’m in the tower.’  Jimothy rolled his eyes.

‘Right.’  They walked on a bit more, coming out of the building into the open air, birds chirping and monsters howling.  ‘Do you think we’re going to fight them?’

‘Who, the ponies?’

‘No, the Anteeists.’

‘We’re already fighting them.’

‘I mean do you think we’ll be fighting them any time soon.’  They entered the mess hall, the smell of burnt food violating their senses.

‘Probably.’

‘And there I was thinking it’d be a holiday...’