Tales of the SPFP's EDF: Equestrian Defense Force
SPFP: A Briefing On Your Mission
SPFP: A Briefing On Your Mission
Tales of the SPFP's EDF: Equestrian Defense Force
The alarms were blaring. The sound of it called everyone to combat. The red lights flashed and the equines rushed to their arms and armor. It was a frightful day. A terrible day. Explosions could be heard in the far distance as the enemy forces advanced. Their war-cries echoed in the air and the sound of it was more terrifying than anything anyone could have ever dreamed of. The Solar Empire's forces rushed down Everfree Castle's main street to take place along the barricades and anti-aircraft weapons set on top of the roofs of homes and businesses. Civilians had been long evacuated to the upper sectors of the city. All that remained was war.
The Solar Kingdom–Celestia's realm–was at the ready. The Solar Infantry took position along the parapets with their siege crossbows at the ready. Solar Archer sergeants screamed at the top of their lungs to get their troops into position. Bowstrings were drawn, crossbows were taut, and the buzzing of wings echoed in the distance. The Changeling Swarm neared at a horrifying speed.
Black carapaces and deep blue insectoid eyes fixed on Everfree Castle threatened to annihilate every Equestrian they could find. Not only they, but the massive aircraft that clumsily drew closer and closer from the south carrying packs of Diamond Dogs with the only intent to reclaim their mines deep within the castle also. The Harpoon Boys inside the craft howled in eager battle-lust and readied their harpoons and knives.
The Solar Infantry was not ready for them. It never would, but they'd face them all the same.
The Solar Empire's Battle Engineers manned the war machines and everything stood still for a few minutes. All equines held their breaths and waited.
Then the bombardment commenced. The Changeling Swarm's Bombardiers–hideous insectoids with protruding sacks of venom under their stomachs–began to spit globs of poison against the city's walls. Screams rose high into the air as the liquid fell upon the Solar Infantry and set their flesh to boil beneath their armor. The nauseous gases that emanated from the poison then forced the nearby fighters to vomit and retreat as their eyes burned and their throats clenched.
Then the Swarm was upon them all.
The Swarm's Claws were the first to deploy. The size of a small carriage, these arthropods were similar to a centipede, but shorter in length and with prominent mandibles and legs that ended in claws specialized for cutting. The Claws were dropped from the Swarm's fleet of Beetles–fat, bulbous creatures the size of an airship with hangar-like compartments in their abdomen–into the fields outside Everfree Castle, where the equine's artillery still had no reach.
The Claws rushed the walls. The Diamond Dog's aircraft loomed closer and closer until the first of the Solar Empire's mangonels fired explosive shot at them. Fire burst all around the Dog's aircraft and consumed several of their ships. The screams of dying dogs and the smell of burning hair infested the fleet and drove them to madness. The Harpoon Boys, the Cleaver Boys and the Sawer Boys rushed the cockpits of their ships and forced the pilots to go faster and faster. The engines of several ships caught fire and exploded. The mangonel fire destroyed several more.
When the Diamond Dogs finally reached the walls, they found only Swarm Claws advancing over the corpses of hundreds of Solar Infantry. With an enraged howl, the Harpoon Boys shot at the insects and the Cleaver Boys and Sawer Boys leaped onto the walls and buildings and set their task to slaughtering the Swarm's forces. Green, black, red, and white blood stained the outer walls of Everfree Castle as Diamond Dogs rushed the city, slaughtering everything on their path, while their airships lent support in the form of grenades, handcannons, and small artillery pieces.
The Solar Infantry was retreating and losing ground fast. The battle at the walls had been short-lived, they had expected that. The walls were new and not designed to resist a Changeling Swarm. The city, however was designed to resist much more.
Rising in a constant slope upwards to the castle, every block of homes and businesses was guarded by a barricade and trenches. On them were several Magic Autoguns–fully automatic machines that fired magical blasts at the enemy–fixed unto the ground. The massive pieces of heavy weaponry were akin to turrets. The moment the Claws rounded a corner, the autoguns tore them to shreds. Every meter of the way up the slope costed the Swarm hundreds. All the while their advance was peppered by the arrows of the Solar Archers that exploded upon impact, and the crossbow fire of the Solar Infantry that was strong enough to tear through the thick carapace of the Claws.
The forces of the Solar Empire held hundreds of strategical positions within the city that the Swarm could not best. It was not until the Diamond Dogs tore through the last Claws the Swarm had sent up one street that they came into contact with the barricades. The Diamond Dog Harpoon Boys howled and shot at the barricades; their projectiles covered in flames and detonated as they met their targets. Sawer Boys and Cleaver Boys rushed the barricade as their airship launched grenades and cannonfire at it from a distance. The Solar autogun mowed down the approaching dogs even as the Solar Infantry and archers around it were blown to pieces by the sustained fire from the Harpoon Boys and the airship, but alone and without unicorns to feed it, the autogun powered down and died.
The Diamond Dogs pressed onward, howling and barking with delight.
The battle grew worse by the minute for the equines. The Claws had overrun a few of the barricades and were moving towards the next ring of defenses, but the Diamond Dogs had already pierced through them and were clawing at the second wall of Everfree Castle.
In the far distance, the sound of carriers could be heard.
Tales of the SPFP's EDF: Equestrian Defense Force
SPFP: Operation 'Help Our Cousins' Is A Go!
SPFP: Operation 'Help Our Cousins' Is A Go!
Tales of the SPFP's EDF: Equestrian Defense Force
You sigh and clutch your Anti Personnel Dart Blaster, the standard issue weapon for all SPFP: EDF ground forces. The sound of the carrier is deafening as it soars through the sky with you and your squad inside it. Thirteen AP-DBs inside the carrier. Twelve Fluffy Ponies. One you. Being the one of the few non-fluffy ponies in the SPFP Armed Forces was odd, but being assigned to the EDF? Not as much. The SPFP needed to be trusted in its operations, and having native equines in their ground forces was a good way to start.
You run a hoof through your mane and look around. The carrier is small, just big enough to fit thirteen Fluffy Ponies inside, but it does its job well. Highly maneuverable and swift as they get, the SPFP Carrier V is a fly amid eagles. You are thankful for it to a certain degree, but you still wish the bloody thing could land in an urban area without getting wrecked by crossbow fire.
"Pfft?" The Fluffle next to you asks. You shake your head and smile. It's been a long trip, and while you appreciate the gesture, candy just isn't going to sit well in your stomach at the moment. You decide to just sit tight and wait for the signal to-
PFFFT! PFFFT! PFFFT!
Oh. Well, let's go then! You grimace and stand up, levitating your Blaster beside you. The carrier's alarm continues to blare in your ear for the next few seconds until the teleportation system kicks to life and you're surrounded by a light blue aura. You gulp and shoot a quick prayer to whatever deity is willing to listen to a pony surrounded by Fluffy Ponies about to be sent into battle with dart blasters, then the carrier fades from existence.
Your eyes open once again to stare at a very, very angry Diamond Dog Cleaver Boy barking madly just a meter in front of you. You shriek and raise your Blaster to fire, but a stream of darts hits the Cleaver Boy long before your magic can reach the trigger. The darts clash against the dog's head and chest and bounce away, but not harmlessly. Each dart causes a very powerful, if small detonation upon impact, akin to dropping a 200 lbs weight on the target's body from four stories high. Long story short, the Diamond Dog fell to the floor without posing much more of a threat.
You turn to look at your savior and see the Fluffle that offered you candy in the carrier smiling happily as he mows down a few more Cleaver Boys. His Blaster is spilling out darts as fast as he can pull the pump to reload the weapon. The rest of your squad swiftly incorporate themselves and join the battle, firing rounds of their own into the converging Boys that seem to pop out from the buildings themselves. The entire block you are in is swarming with Boys. They're climbing down from the buildings and rushing out of the spaces between homes to charge your squad. You level your blaster to one of them; a massive, muscular grey and shabby dog with more scars than hair. He's holding a gigantic cleaver, electrified and triple sharpened from the look of it. One cut and you're down.
"EDF!" You shout and fire once, twice, thrice. "EDF! EDF!" The darts impact the dog in the shoulder first, and he howls so loud it hurts you. The second and third hit his throat and he goes silent, then his head and he falls down. Your heart is racing madly, but the battle has just begun. Down the block, a dozen or so Harpoon Boys have lined up and are readying themselves to fire a volley of highly explosive harpoons right at you.
You remember what the Sarge told you these things would do if they hit anywhere near you, and you're not eager to experience it.
"Guys, watch out! Down the block!" You shout and run for cover while firing madly at the Boys. It is at moments like these that you wish the SPFP had placed more funding into training you and less into feeding you pies and cold lemonade. Still, the lemonade was delicious.
The Fluffle that saved you looks at the Harpoon Boys and nods at you, then he turns back and waves at the squad's Muffle.
"Pfft! Pff pff pfffft!" The Fluffle says and points at the Boys. The Muffle's eyes look in distant directions, then he smiles. You watch as the Muffle rolls away from the combat, putting his Blaster away inside his Fluff. The Fluffle that saved you and the other members of the squad take cover as the first volley of harpoons starts falling all around. Explosions cover the entire area, but the Fluff is strong with the Fluffy Ponies, and they manage to get behind cover before anyone is hurt. Meanwhile, the Muffle disappears from your sight for a while, only to reappear behind enemy lines, swinging his foam blades masterfully and rolling away from enemy assaults with great skill.
Your squadmates react rapidly and roll out of cover, aim their Blasters and fire away with great precision at the dogs. Their darts take out the immediate threats to the Muffle first, and then focus on bringing down the Boys reloading their harpoons. The Muffle makes short work of those few that your squad doesn't hit, and the demoralized dogs that remain afterwards flee soon after their numbers fall below half their original force.
You level your Blaster with those of your squadmates and help pick off any stragglers and extra-brave dog. Then, SPFP: EDF moves on to its next target. Your squad leader, a large, tough, brown Puffle with a Prototype Heavy Blaster–a semiautomatic Blaster with twice the potency of a regular one–leads the way while the rest of you–seven Fluffles, three other Puffles, a Truffle and yourself–follow. The way is full of destruction.
You see buildings torn to pieces, crumbling homes, burning edifices and dead equines, dogs, and Claws everywhere. You keep a hold of your Blaster and keep close to your squad. You're advancing in a spread formation to help counter a possible harpoon ambush, but the close spaces mean that if you're assaulted by Cleaver Boys or Sawer Boys, the lack of sustained and concentrated fire may prove to be your undoing.
Still, the squad leader insists that you stay at a distance from one another, and you obey. The air is buzzing with the sound of Armor Piercing Darts being fired from the sturdier SPFP Hunters that fly over the city. It would seem the sky is now SPFP-controlled.
You round the corner of the block and immediately fall to the ground as a harpoon sails over your head and explodes in the house behind you. You curse and fire your Blaster in the general direction the shot came from, while your squad takes cover and thanks the foresight of the brown Puffle you've taken to calling Kevin.
You're not very good with names.
Kevin, the squad leader, frowns and pouts his lips, then fires at the building the Harpoon Boys have holed up inside of. His shots punch holes in the walls, but they don't reach the Boys inside. The Harpoon boys become trapped however. Every time one of them tries to fire a shot, Kevin lands a dart near or on him and sends him back into the house. The Muffle, whom you've named Moe, rushes through the space between Kevin and the house, taking the chance he's been given.
The rest of the squad concentrates their shots on the windows and force the Harpoon Boys back every time they try to shoot down Moe. Eventually the sneaky Fluffy Pony reaches the base of the building and pulls out a large caramel apple from inside his Fluff. He nods once and then hurls the caramel apple inside a window of the second floor.
The Harpoon Boys bark and howl as they realize Moe is just outside, but they don't have time to do anything more. An explosion makes the entire building shake to its very foundations and dust flies out of every window. Moe walks briskly back to the rest of the squad and scrunches his snout.
Kevin smiles and hugs him, and then you're moving once more.
Leaving the block behind, you and the rest of the squad clear out the next two streets clean before reaching the meeting point. Four more squads of SPFP: EDF are waiting for you there, while raining down suppressive fire on a new foe altogether. Swarm Claws are rushing the SPFP forces with hundreds of numbers to back them. Darts, caramel apples, anti-vehicle pillows, and the odd crossbow bolt from Solar Infantry survivors are being thrown at the enemy. It's complete chaos.
You and yours check your ammunition and then rush in to help. You are panting by now. Your heart is pumping faster and faster with every second that passes, and you climb up a heap of rubble beside the Fluffle that saved you, now forever known as Bob.
You and Bob look over an alien landscape. Claws and Changelings have overrun it all. The buildings are destroyed, the ground is covered in blood and slime, and the advancing swarm grows nearer every second. You look at Bob and he looks at you. His fluffy snout scrunches and you nod.
Darts fly.
Carapaces are crushed under the strength of your darts; legs snap; screeching and roaring fills the air as the enemy drowns in their own blood and agony. SPFP advances. Fearlessly into the enemy ranks. A line of fluff and bravery. Courage and valiant hearts, darts and caramel apples. The line moves onward with utter determination. Not one step back as they push the onslaught of arthropods back into the pits from whence they came.
You shout and press one, firing two darts for every step you take. Kevin and Bob are not one centimeter behind you. They pepper the enemy with death and destruction the same as you; the same as every soul in that line. Equines and Fluffy Ponies move onward through the destruction left behind the invader force. Your Blaster feeds destruction to the enemy until the darts run out, and another Fluffy Pony takes your place on the line while you reload. Bob and Kevin fall behind as well until you're all at the back of the line. You are then given cheese tarts by an angry-looking Truffle with a serious face and pink Fluff. You hurl the tarts at the enemy line, and watch as flames consume them.
The line advances.
The enemy dies.
SPFP forces reclaim the block and then the next one in an intense hour filled with combat. Casualties rise, but the sacrifice is well-rewarded. You stand before the carnage at the end of the battle with your blaster raised at the ready. Bob and Kevin are moving back and forth from one end of the street to the other, shooting any surviving Claws while the rest of the squad searches the buildings for stragglers. A few are found, and they are shot.
You wipe your forehead and smile. Tough day, but a good day.
Kevin assembles your squad and Pfffts new orders to you all. Command has reassessed the threat level on the city, and they deemed the Claws and Diamond Dogs as a minor threat and fully under control by the Solar Empire. According to Kevin, the Solar Infantry and Solar Archers would be able to secure the rest of the south and west of Everfree Castle without further assistance from the SPFP: EDF.
Your new mission? Fall back to the city's grand courtyard to be picked up by the SPFP's Assault Carriers and redeployed to the front lines of Eastern Equestria. Humans and Minotaurs had been seen disembarking on the shores near Manehatten.
Why not?
SPFP: EDF on the move.
