Operation Harvest

Chapter 12: End of Part 1 - Reinforcements

‘This is OFC, come in base over.’

‘We read you OFC, go ahead over.’

‘Reinforcements are on the way, eta 14 hours over.’

‘Roger that.  Housing has been completed and the construction units are moving onto military installations, over.’

‘Good to hear.  Also, regarding the indigenous population, we have orders to stay away from them.  Limit movement to established defensive perimeter unless ordered otherwise.  Scouts are to continue as normal, over.’

‘Affirmative.’

‘Over and out.’

‘Over and out.’

Banna was angry, very angry.  They had been betrayed, and now those very same peopl- ponies were walking into a trap with the Anteeists, and were probably going to be enslaved, maybe even killed.  If they would just side with the Gleyans, they could bring them under their protection, then the operation would become a high priority they could bring their armies to bear and protect the planet properly.  They wouldn’t enslave them... at least he thought they wouldn’t.  That wasn’t what Gleya was like, right?  It’s the Anteeists that were evil and the Gleyans that were good, that was it.

Well whatever it was, it would be a hell of a lot better if they were the ones in charge rather than the Anteeists.  He pulled out a beef stick from his ration pouch, ripped off the wrapper and started eating.  Tasted like crap.  He chewed on, observing the bare wall of his room intensely.  As he did so, he noticed that it wasn’t actually grey, but a sort of light creamy-brown.  Not that it mattered.  The corridor echoed with footsteps and voices, some of which he could actually hear.  They all seemed to be rumours of the skirmish in the mountains and the aliens being more than met the eye, but he ignored it.  This was supposed to be his time to rest but the events of the previous day kept playing out in his head.  The APC, Anteeists in the capital, and his favourite, getting hooved in the balls, still sore...  It wasn’t going how he had hoped.  Well, he’d just have to bear it and pray that high command didn’t suddenly set their sights on the planet like they had done to others so many times in the past.  That wouldn’t be good for anyone.

The Captain clutched at his cup of... whatever the private had filled his cup with.  The planet below glistened like a pearl... or was that just his lack of sleep?  Whatever it was, it looked good, jaw droppingly good.  He sighed, wondering what the army would be doing on the planet.  Probably something more interesting than they were.  The nearest threat was hidden on the other side of the planet, so naturally things were a little slow.  He walked to the other side of the observation deck to where an analyst was standing at a console, pressing buttons every now and then.

‘Anything to report?’  Please have something to report.

‘Nothing sir.  Just a few solar flares, but nothing special.’

‘Right.’  He looked at his cup and sighed again.  Walking to his old spot, he resumed staring out the windows.  There wasn’t any change from before, aside a few clouds moving rather erratically, but that didn’t matter to him.  After scrutinising every bit of the planet, he looked away from it and out to space.  The moon seemed to have an extra flair about it, and while staring at it, he got the feeling that he was being watched.  Peering further, he thought he saw a figure on it, something moving on the surface...

‘Captain.’  He roused himself.

‘Yes, corporal?’

‘We’ve got a reading on the scanners.  The reinforcements are inbound.’

‘Oh good.’  He walked back again to the console.  As was expected, there was a beeping and a few readings on the screen.  He took a sip.  ‘They’d better bring something better to drink...’  Apparently they were going to appear on the port side, so he positioned himself for a good view.  The ship would be there soon... and there!  A lone cruiser appeared, as though out of nothingness, its many giant spotlights on to showcase its position.  Well that was interesting, now to go find-

Another one appeared.  He furrowed his brow.  Two ships?  They had only been expecting one.  Well, that was probably the most surprising thing he would see for the next few-

Another one.  That was-  Another ship emerged.  It was followed by many more until the very last ship arrived, a large flag ship.  Not just any flagship, he knew that one.  That was the ship of Field Marshal Brummel.  But that could only mean...

‘FINALLY!’  He called out, fist pumping, spilling the contents of the cup onto the private next to him.  There was going to be something interesting after all.

Field Marshall Ven stood on the frontal observation deck in his new uniform, complete with an ornate golden ceremonial breastplate and a cape in tow to make him look bigger than he was, staring at the planet.  It looked like paradise, seemingly untouched forests and oceans, with a lone moon circling it.  That would be perfect for OFC headquarters.

‘Hey Jerry, give the engineers orders to set up HQ on that moon.  They can set it up anywhere they like, just as long as it faces the planet.’

‘Will that be all?’ He asked.  Ven looked over his reports again.

‘Oh yes, and please confirm the reports of, “Colourful talking ponies” with the commanding officers.  I’m not sure whether it was a typo, or if they’ve all gone mad.’

Jerry gave a slight bow.

‘Yes... Field Marshall,’ he said with a smile, leaving as he did so.

The sun was setting, and ponies were retiring to their rooms.  As the sun dropped lower and lower, lights started coming on in many houses and shutters were closed.

‘Hey Sidus, what’re you doing!’  Called out Stella, as she trotted up the hill towards the park bench he was sitting on.  He looked down to her, inadvertently gazing into her eyes, before snapping his head away.

‘Oh, hey Stella.  I’m just waiting for the... stars to come out.  They’re... very, uh, beautiful.’   She rolled her eyes.

‘Yeah right.  I know you better than that, and I don’t ever remember you staying up to watch the stars.’  She smiled, causing him to smile a little as well.  ‘You just want to see the, what are they called...’

‘Gleyans,’ he said automatically.

‘There we are.  So you’re going to be sitting out here the whole night then?’  He shrugged.

‘Maybe.  I suppose it depends.’

‘On what?’

‘If something interesting happens.’  She sighed.

‘Well move over then.’  His mind reeled.

‘Y-you want to sit with me and watch?’  She nodded.

‘Of course.  No friend of mine is sitting alone in the cold.’  They sat together watching the sky.  There were flashing streaks across the sky, and they weren’t shooting stars.

‘It’s amazing really,’ said Stella.

‘What is?’

‘That they came here.  So many stars in the sky to choose from and they chose us.’  He had to admit, she had a point.

‘We’ll see if that’s actually a good thing.’

‘What, you think they’re going to hurt us or something?’  He shuddered at the thought of her injured, going so far as to bury that thought in the darkest hole of his brain.

‘Are you cold?’ She asked next, looking slightly concerned.  ‘You were shaking there.’

‘No, no I’m fine.  Just thinking of something.  Uh, yeah I don’t think they’re going to... do anything unpleasant, but say if they did, there’s not a lot we could do.’

‘Come on, the princess would protect us.  Her magic is extremely powerful, I doubt even they could do anything to her.’  He conceded.

‘I suppose you’re right.’  They turned their attention back to the stars.

Sidus awoke suddenly, a low rumbling noise causing him to panic and fall off the bench.  He rubbed his head and sat back up, wondering what exactly had caused the noise.  Stella was somehow still sleeping.  Looking up at the sun he could see it was just after sunrise, or so it seemed to be.  He looked about in front of him to see what could have possibly made the noise.  Nothing.

‘Eh, probably just me,’ he muttered to himself, turning round...

...to see four very large ships not that far off in the distance with hundreds of smaller ships flying past them in V-formations.  His jaw dropped.  What was going on?

‘OFC come in, over.’

‘Roger that, this is OFC.  Who is this?’

‘I am Field Marshall Ven.  Who’s in charge here?’

‘That would be the Major, sir.’

‘Put him on.’

‘Yes sir...’

‘...’

‘...’

‘...’

‘This is Major Penn, reporting sir.’

‘Greetings Major Penn, I am Field Marshall Ven.  I will be taking over operations from here on out.’

‘Of course sir.’

‘I expect to be planetside in 30 minutes.  Do you have accommodations sufficient for a Field Army?’

‘A f-f-field army?’

‘Of course you don’t, you’re just a colony.  Don’t worry Major.  The ships will provide us with somewhere to sleep.  That and the moon.  Over and out Major.’

‘Over and out, sir.’

Penn was very confused.  They had been expecting a few regiments at most.  This was a whole damn invasion force.  What exactly were they going to do here?  The Anteeist outpost sure as hell didn’t warrant a force of millions to be called up to fight.  He paused, stopping his brisk walk to the landing pad abruptly.  What if the planet had become part of a planned offensive?  He shook his head without realising, a few of the surrounding soldiers giving him weird looks.  That would be bad, they weren’t ready for a fight, or to be more precise, he wasn’t ready for a fight.  He’d just finished those psychiatric sessions a month ago, and already he was going to be thrown into the thick of it again.  Assuming that it was part of the planned offensive of course.  He started walking again, faster this time as his mind raced with thoughts.

What if the Anteeists sent more men? What would the natives do?  How many men would die before either side would budge?  He cut himself short when he noticed that the Marshall had already arrived.

‘Field Marshall sir!  I apologize for my tardiness sir, it won’t happen ag-’  Ven waved a hand at him.

‘Don’t worry about it Major, it happens.  You weren’t expecting an army were you?’  Penn nodded.  ‘I thought as much.’

‘Sir, what would you like to do first?  We have a few supply dumps you may want to survey, and the men might want to meet you...’  Once again Ven waved a hand to stop him.

‘All in good time Major, but first, where are these, uh, ponies I've heard so much about?’

(Sorry about the complete and utter lack of punctuality with this chapter, but hey, sometimes life gets in the way.  I know this isn't as long as the other chapters, and barely anything happens in it, but I figured something would be better than nothing, just to let you know I'm not dead.  As you can see this is the start of something big, and I may have a large time jump (A few months) later on.  Then again I might not.  We shall see...  I hope you enjoyed this chapter and continue to enjoy the rest of them assuming i get round to writing them!  I ask that you forgive any grammatical mistakes I may have made.)