Code 5: A New Nation

Chapter 2: Light Some Lead Part 1

The sun rose over the horizon, making silhouettes of the structures of the eastern ruling mass that had been raiders. A bit west of them, hidden within the trees, was a mass of an opposing team, about equal size of the former. One of the commanding officers of the latter looked towards the enemy through binoculars.

“Crack of dawn, there’ll be guards on watch but the majority should be either asleep or just waking up. They’ll be a bit tired, so we should hopefully have an advantage.” He looked back at the other behind him. “Are we all ready?”

“The tank and gundozer crews are armed and ready, sir.” One pony replied.

“Troops on hoof are ready as well, sir.” He nodded and grabbed a radio of his belt.

“Are you ready, Phantom crew?”

“All checks have passed, sir.” Bucky’s voice came back through.

“Ready for combat.” Epsilon’s voice came through.

“Excellent.” He said. “All troops begin your advance.” He was given a collection of affirmatives and everyone advanced. Tanks and gundozers; bulldozers that had been armored and armed to make up for the smaller amount of actual tanks, began to move forward, followed by soldiers walking behind the protection of the mobile artillery. It was still dark over where they were, being the sun hadn’t fully risen yet, keeping the troops hidden from the guards.

“Do not turn on your lights.” The pony reminded. “We want to get as close as we can before they notice.”

**************

Two guards sat in a watchtower, keeping a lookout on their surroundings despite the fact nothing major had happened for years. One of them had dozed off. He soon felt a hoof smack him gently.

“Wake up, would you? I can’t monitor everything by myself.” A mare said.

“Oh come on, it’s early, I’m still tired. Not like anything is gonna happen.”

“You can seep after we get of watch duty. And hey, you never know. Remember how that zombie police went down? Just a normal day and then all of a sudden and entire army of undead went at it full force.”

“I think you’re taking this too seriously.”

“Bet me?”

“I bet you a few sodas.”

“Deal.” She looked through her binoculars into the distance. The landscape was still dark, but she took notice of a reflection. It was gone after a second but she still peered towards it. As the sun rose the landscape gradually got lighter until she was greeted with a terrifying sight.

“Holy shit!” She dropped her binoculars and grabbed her radio. After a few words from her a loud siren went off within the city. Her partner looked at the mass making their way towards them.

“Dear lord…” He said in astonishment.

“You owe me a few sodas…” The mare remarked. She grabbed a sniper rifle and chambered a round. Many people rushed out of buildings with their weapons, ready for battle.

**************

“We’ve been spotted.” The commanding officer said into the radio. “Hold your fire unless I command otherwise.” The platoons of armor and soldiers kept a steady advance towards the opponents. Gunshots suddenly rand out as the opposite side opened fire towards the troops with large machine guns.

“Return fire!” He commanded. The soldiers manning the machine guns on the normal tanks returned fire towards the enemy weaponry, and the soldiers on foot returned fire from the cover of the armor. The artillery refrained, being overkill if used on the opposing machine guns. Suddenly a few rockets were launched, heavily damaging some of the tanks. The main guns on the tanks and gundozers took aim at the enemy artillery and opened fire, bringing the battle into a full-fledged fight of deadly levels.

“They’re stronger than I thought.” The commanding officer said, observing the battle from his position hidden behind the tree line.

“Sir these people infiltrated the ZPTF bases when the HQ went down. It’s likely they obtained some rather large weaponry.”

“How large and how much?”

The griffon with him thought a moment. “This will be an interesting battle, sir.”

A Sherman tank pressed forward towards the city. The turret rotated in the direction of opposing artillery. “Fire!” The cannon boomed and the artillery was destroyed. “Nice shot.” Suddenly the vehicle shook as another cannon fired on them, damaging the turret. The pony manning the machine gun on top screamed in pain. Another crew member pulled them down into the protection of the armor.

“The main gun has been damaged. We can’t turn or fire.”

“Keep advancing, provide cover for the soldiers.”

“Affirmative.” The tank continued its course. The crew member pulled the hatch shut to cover them. She turned to the wounded machine gunner. There were no visible wounds. “You okay?”

“No.” She replied. “The jolt from impact broke a few ribs, got my foreleg too.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you out of here.” The mare radioed back. “Mare down, we’re sending her back.” She then opened the hatch of the Sherman and helped the wounded mare out of the tank, climbing out after her. She helped her down the back of the vehicle to a few soldiers. “Get her out of here.” Two soldiers helped her down and began escorting her back from the battlefield. The other mare climbed back into the tank.

“How close are we?”

“Closing the distance more slowly, these guys are packing some heat.” The tank jolted again and stopped, refusing to move forward.

“Shit, our track’s been hit. We gotta abandon this thing.” The mare nodded and opened the hatch. She climbed back out, followed by the driver. The jumped down off the back of the vehicle, joining the group of soldiers. A lone enemy galloped down the field towards them. The driver saw him jump up in front of the barrel and toss something down it.

“Take cover!” The driver shouted. Suddenly the tank blew up on the inside, scattering shrapnel in all directions.

“Tank 5 has been taken out.” The griffon reported to the commanding officer, viewing the battle from a tree. “It took two hits before being immobilized.”

“The second was aimed at a weaker point; the rest of the vehicle can resist some hits.” The stallion responded. “The enemy’s artillery seems to consist of trailer cannons, our odds seems rather good.”

**************

“Who the hell are these people?!” The mare exclaimed. She sniped another soldier just out of cover of a tank. Suddenly a cannon next to their tower was blown to bits, the shrapnel splintering the wood supports.

“Whoa!” She and her partner went tumbling down as the tower crumbled beneath them. She cried out in pain as a part of a support landed on top of one of her rear legs. The stallion quickly pushed it up enough so she could slide out. He grabbed her forelegs and dragged her behind cover of a building.

“Shit, my leg’s broken.” She winced. The stallion looked out towards the tank that had caused their tower to fall. First he saw the turret get hit. A few moments later he saw a wounded mare getting helped out of the tank. He was way too far out of range for his shotgun to be effective, and he wasn’t very good at aiming with a sniper rifle. He went back behind cover of the building.

“The weapons on that tank have been disabled.” He said to her. He looked out again just as the left track was destroyed. “It’s been stopped.” He looked down at a few grenades he had on his belt. “I’m gonna deliver a final blow.” He racked his shotgun and galloped out into the field towards the damaged vehicle. He grabbed a grenade as he went, pulling the pin a few feet short of the cannon. He leaped up and tossed the explosive down the barrel. He quickly galloped back as the vehicle exploded, diving back behind the building.

“I did it in.” He said, grinning. The mare gave him an approving nod. She looked down at him.

“You’ve been shot.” The stallion looked down to see blood starting to soak his shirt.

“Oh hell… We’d better get to the medic, fast.” He got up and helped his partner up, limping away from the front lines towards the med bay. Behind them the remaining tanks made it to the city. The soldiers ran out from behind the vehicles and began their attack. She looked back behind her.

“Oh no…” A soldier took aim at them with their M1 Garand and fired. The stallion was hit in the back and went down, and with her broken leg, so did she.

“This is it, we won’t make it.” He said quietly.

“Aw, I won’t get my sodas.” She said, a sad grin on her face. Three soldiers surrounded them.

“Back off, they’re down.” One of them ordered. “Disarm them and get them to cover, let medics get to them.” The other two nodded and took their weapons, dragging them up against a building. The three then ran back into the battle.

“Wasn’t expecting that.” The stallion said. He ripped a part of his shirt off and pressed it against his wounds, putting pressure on them.

“They’re wearing kilts.” The mare replied. “Englishmen are respectful, right?”

“I guess. So what sodas do you want?”

“Coca-Cola.”

***************

“Some of the tanks have made it to the city perimeter.” The griffon reported. “We’re losing quite a few of them though.”

“How many?”

“We’ve lost 12, and that’s not the end of the enemy’s barrage. That artillery is knocking us out cold.”

“How many troops have made it into the city?”

“Not enough to take it over. We need to take out those cannons to have any hope in succeeding.”

“Alright, I’m calling in reinforcements.” He picked up his radio. “Phantom crew engage the enemy.”