World War Equus: Troubled Skies

Chapters

Prologue: War on the Horizion
Chapter 1: The 10th Airborne
Chapter 2: Baptism By Fire
Chapter 3: Mesa Showdown
Downtime
Operation: Sickle Strike

Prologue: War on the Horizion

"Your Highness, these are all the reports that you requested." The diplomat dropped a stack of papers on the desk in Canterlot Castle's conference room. Celestia sat at the head of the table, caressing her chin in thought as she quickly scanned over each one. 'Zebras massing weapons and tanks!' 'Griffons building fleets of armored vehicles near our borders!' 'Civil War still going on in Barklin!' One caught her eye that made her smile. 'Crystal Empire, Caneighdia, Braytish Isles, and Sydneigh pledge their support!'

"Good news is welcome in these dire times..." Celestia looked over the group of diplomats, spies and high ranking officers of the Royal Guard that she entrusted to help her in this complex time. "So let me get this straight..." She gestured to the reports in front of her. "The newly crowned Griffon King is looking to expand his domain in the neighboring Diamond Dog kingdom due to the war of succession taking place, and Zebraca are likely to do the same, except they wish to place a king that will sign a treaty for the Diamond Dog kingdom to become a protectorate of the Zebras." Celestia once more turned to her advisers. "What should we do in this hour of crisis?"

One Officer of the Guard cleared his throat. "Well Princess, we are stuck in between all three of these problems, and we believe that to aid their respective allies in Barklin, the Zebras and Griffons might invade us. So we of the Guard believe that we should reinstate the Royal army."

As soon as the words left the officer's mouth, the diplomats let a clamor about how they would be invaded sooner if Griffonia and Zebraca see them building up arms as well. Celestia held up a hand to silence all the bickering. "I agree with the Guard on this one, if we don't grow our standing army, the Zebras and the Griffons will steamroll our entire nation. I'm not letting that happen to my little ponies." She stood up and walked through the conference room. "Captain Armor, do we have the facilities to train a sufficient army in a couple of years?"

Shining Armor thought about it for a second. "We should have enough training facilities to train approximately 250,000 soldiers in 3 years if we stretch our resources." Celestia nodded

"That will have to be enough. How fast can we develop our own armored forces and get those ponies trained?" More discussion throughout the room before another officer answered.

"Around the same amount of time, we can use some of our tanks to help train recruits till we get some more produced."

Celestia nodded. "Now, who here believes we can win a war on two fronts?" Not a single one spoke up. "So, we need a plan to knock out one faction quickly so that we don't get overwhelmed in months of a war starting."

Shining stood up. "Your Highness, with all due respect, we could hold back the Griffons and Zebras for a year or two before we potentially lose, so we have plenty of time to think of such a plan."

Celestia gave a small nod. "Good thing I already have a plan to take out the Zebras quickly." She walked up to a chalkboard set up on one wall as the the Guard and diplomats expressed their confusion. Celestia started drawing a diagram on the chalkboard. It showed a large winged flying device that had ponies jumping out of it, mainly pegasi, but a few unicorn and earth ponies were with them, dangling from large pieces of...something. The ponies on the ground were brandishing weapons and firing into the distance. Everypony in attendance looked at the diagram confused at what they were looking at.

Shining Armor was the first to speak up. "What, may I ask, is that?"

Celestia smirked. "Why Shining Armor, this is how we'll beat back the Zebras and the Griffons. The ability to drop soldiers behind enemy lines, soldiers with training in demolitions, stealth, with the ability and will to cause mischief and disorder, to weaken enemy defenses so that the main force can move up easier, and with less loss of life." She looked back to the gathering before her. "Fillies and Gentlecolts, I present to you," She gestured to the ponies leaping out and gliding to the ground. "The Airborne."

There was silence before one pony raised his hand. "But Princess, what is that device they are leaping out of, and those things the unicorns and earth ponies are dangling from?"

Celestia paused and looked back to the diagram. "Technically that information is classified, but seeing as they will be made public after their first mission..." She gestured to the flying device. "This is a C47 Transport plane, and these," She gestured to the dangling ponies. "These are parachutes for earth pony and unicorn pilots of the C47s. I've had this plan in mind for years in case of such a dangerous time. These ponies will spell out victory or defeat in so many battles, they will aid in this war more than any tank or gun. These are the new heroes of Equestria. Now all we need are faces to fill these roles..."

2 years later...

It was a nice sunny day out. Ponies walked up and down the street, trucks and cars made their way along the roads as I stepped out of my modest house.

I breathed in the small town air as I turned back to the front door. "Bye Mom! I'll be back with stuff for supper! Anything you need me to get?"

My mother, Hazy Night, poked her head out the door. "Just the paper, maybe something for your sister if you see anything nice!" As if summoned, my younger sister, Eclipse, peered around our mother at me, adding "And don't be late! Mommy hates it when you're late!"

That got her shushed while I just laughed it off. I made my way down the street of Vanhoover, watching and listening to anything I could. You can always hear something that can make you laugh or just start wondering about other unrelated topic as you walk.

"Well... not that you heard this from me..."

"So I say 'What do you mean there's no cheese?'..."

"I haven't gotten my weekly letter from Cross Beam yet, hope he's ok..."

"Where is he posted again?"

"On the Border, he said it's been quiet recently but I don't understand why it seemed he was nervous about it.."

That made me freeze. I had done a few years In the Guard Reserves after high school and the only time my mother didn't get my letters was when we moved bases or we went on exercises, and we were told that mail would be slowed or even halted if we ever volunteered to serve overseas as volunteer troops in foreign wars, a few of my buds served in Olenia during a coup to overthrow a corrupt monarchy. Letters were always a few weeks late, mostly because they had been on the move often and other supplies were prioritized.

So Border Patrol mail would only be delayed or stopped if...

I began to run. News Print, my block's local Newscolt wasn't too far away. As I approached him, I heard the colt yell a phrase I never wanted to hear.

"EXTRA, EXTRA!! READ ALL ABOUT IT! GRIFFON SOLDIERS CROSS EQUESTRIA'S BORDER!! QUEBUCK SURRENDERED WITHOUT A FIGHT!! ARMY MOBILIZED TO FROM A QUICK RESPONSE!!"

He was surrounded by dozens of others, all muttering about the news. Almost on cue, an army truck pulled up and a handful of Reservists began to move boxes and office supplies into a hotel across the street. A pair of Reservists held rifles and made sure ponies kept a short distance away from the working troops. Very little force was needed but everypony knew it was best to keep back. I quickly hurried back home, frightened for what the next few weeks and months would be like..

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"CRESCENT!! BE A DEAR AND GET THE DOOR!!"

I put down the dish I was washing and made my way toward the front. I had no idea who it could be but due to yesterday's news I had a bad feeling.

I opened the door to reveal a Royal Guard Lieutenant with two Guards standing at attention behind him. "Mister Half Crescent?"

"Yes sir, how can I help you?"

He pulled a fairly thick envelope from a satchel, "Due to your service in the Guard Reserve, you have been conscripted to serve in the new Equestrian Royal Army. You must visit your local recruitment center to receive your deployment orders." As I took the envelope from him, my eyes wide, the Lieutenant smartly saluted before turning on his heel and continuing down the street, likely on his way to deliver the next pony's draft orders.

I slowly closed the door as he left, staring at the orders in my hand. I had wanted to join the Royal Guard when I was younger, using the Reserve as a stepping stone to serve in Canterlot but left after my dad died. I had never thought those years would rear their head like this again. I looked back into the house to see my mother staring at me. She glanced from the envelope back to me. She read my face like a book. Shock and horror quickly overtook her as she realized what I held. I quickly dashed over and hugged her tight. We stood there, me hugging my mother like I would never see her again all while she held me quietly mumbling "Not my poor baby... no no no.."

Slowly I broke the hug, my mother 's eyes full of tears. As I opened my mouth, she quickly shushed me. "I understand, you have to go. Your Father and Grandfather were the same way, and this is a Royal Order." She began to cry softly again. "I just wished it never happened to you." She looked back, a hard look in her eyes. "You better come home after all this or I'll go to Tartarus itself just to tan your hide!"

We shared a soft laugh at that. "I'll head over tomorrow, the war will be over before you know it, I'll make sure of that!"

The Vanhoover recruitment center was filled with ponies. Young mares and stallions stood in four lines, Earth, Unicorn, Pegasus and Other. A few grumbling Thestrals, Griffons and even a Zebra stood in the 'Other' line. I made my way into the Pegasus line, watching the world and listening again.

"Service should get me into the Wonderbolts in no time!"

"Navy? No. Air Force? Nah.. Maybe Armoured?"

"My father was so excited to see my draft orders, He always said that the Military life was the way to go, but I just want to come back and play Jazz again.."

"THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T SIGN UP!!"

That commotion drew the attention of almost everyone in the crowd. A rainbow haired pegasus mare stood at the front of the line, yelling at the recruitment officer. "For the last time Miss Dash, Celestia let a decree out that the Elements and their families cannot join up. You and your friends are important to the morale of Equestria, we can't have any of you dying in a foxhole in the middle of nowhere. Now please move along so i can deal with this gentlecolt."

'Miss Dash' left out a huff of anger as I moved up to the officer. He looked at me and pulled up a paper and started moving down the list of questions. "Name?"

"Half-Crescent."

"Age?"

"23."

"Any relation to the elements? None of this second cousin crap, direct relation only."

"No sir."

The officer looked through an attached paper, looking through my official record. His eyes focused on what I can only assume is my Reserve Service. He lowered the paper before he looked back up into my eyes. "You have any interest in joining Equestria's elite corps?"

I nodded. "Yes sir, I wanted to join the Royal Guard since high school. Tried using the Reserve to springboard my career to Canterlot but left when my father died to help my mother raise my younger sister."

The officer let a small smile cross his lips. "Well son I got some good news, enter the door to the right and speak with Colonel Golden Oak."

I nodded and walked towards the door the officer indicated as he called out "Next!"

I opened the door slowly and saw a middle aged stallion sitting back in a chair. His desk was covered in papers and photos of his family. He turned around after I stepped into the room, his golden eyes and deep yellow coat caught my eye, along with the silver eagle on his shoulders. "So son," He started. "Since you're here and you appear to be a pegasus." I gave my wings a tiny flap in affirmative. "How would you like to join the Airborne? The closest thing you can get to the Royal Guard nowadays..."

I smiled. "What would the Airborne entail?"

The Colonel grinned. "Jumping out of an airplane, behind enemy lines, no confirmation of assistance, besides your fellow Airborne, flying at night and destroying enemy hard points to let ground forces punch through easier. So, what do you say?" I gave one last smile before proudly saying.

"Count me In!"

Author's Note

Ok, so after my first story kinda ran amok in terms of plot, this idea came to mind and it decided, 'Why not?'. Also it was slightly inspired by a comment i had on the first story about Luna and a Thompson SMG.

Anyway, same thing as the last story, if you have an OC you want to put in, send me a message and i'll plonk them in somewhere. (No alicorns or other such nonsense.) And any criticisms leave them in the comments! (Please keep it positive, or at least pleasant)

-Canadian Pony OUT!

Edit: 16th March 2016

Chapter 1: The 10th Airborne

I stood on the train station platform, other recruits with me as we awaited the train to bring us to the training camps in Canterlot and Baltimare. We would have been training in Stalliongrad and Manehatten, but they were too close to the front to risk potential personnel and equipment to the Griffons. But because I'm Airborne, I'm being sent to the colony of Caneighdia, specifically Haliflanks, to learn how to effectively leap out of a plane, then cause panic and hysteria behind enemy lines with no hope of reinforcements. I let a smile cross my lips. This was going to be enjoyable.

The train pulled up to the station, the recruits and I climbed aboard the train. When inside, I took a seat near the back of my car, knowing I would be one of the last soldiers off the train. As ponies filed onto the train, bound for different destination, one mare stood out to me. She was dark purple with a dark green mane and green eyes. She noticed me, smiled and walked over and sat next to me. "Hi!" She said as she plopped down next to me. "I'm Grapevine. What's your name?"

I looked at the mare and responded. "Half-Crescent, what unit are you a part of?" I thought over the question in my head, if she was in the same place as me, she would say '10th Rifles out of Sydneigh, what about you?' I looked back over to her, seeing that she was waiting for me expectantly. I realized that that was her actual answer. Surprised I looked over to her. "But, you're an earth pony, why are you being sent to join the 10th?"

She shrugged. "Went to the recruiting office, looking to become a field medic, then they ask me to join something called 'the Airborne' and I replied 'Why not?." I let a chuckle escape my lips from the similarities of our circumstances. She looked back to me. "So, how did you join the airborne?"

"I was offered when I joined up. Same as you." She gave me a look. "What? It's true! They saw I served in the Royal Guard Reserves and must have figured that I had some semblance of training, so I could help during training, a sort of mini drill Sergeant I guess. Anyway, we got a lot of time to kill, what did you do before you joined up?"

Grapevine smiled. "Well, I was a nursing student and I was about to get some actual practice in a hospital out in Fillydelphia, when I heard about the invasion I signed up the next day. So I figured I could use my knowledge as a nurse to become a field medic, you know the rest. How about you?"

I also gave a smile before i started my story. "Ever since I was younger, I wanted to join the Royal Guard and serve Equestria, but my father was killed when he went overseas during the early years of the Diamond Civil War, he was part of the famous Lost Battalion but was killed during their breakout. I was in the Reserves at the time but my parents didn't want me to head be deployed, losing both me and my father would have broken my mother so I stayed and helped my mother with my younger sister. When the war began, I was drafted and they offered me a spot in the Airborne."

The train started with a jolt and began to chug towards Baltimare, so that the ground troopers could train while we went overseas to train in secret. It was a little exciting, turning to my new friend, I said. "We got a long way to go before we reach our destination. Let's get some sleep. Trust me, you'll want to be well rested during boot camp!"

I was shaken awake by Grapevine. "Wake up, the train stopped, and the officers are ushering everpony out." We stood up and gathered our bags before being pushed out into the evening sun. We stood in a field in the middle of nowhere. Three planes sat in front of us, parked in the field with three officers standing in front of them. As we moved closer, I noticed the officers were a Colonel and two Captains. The Colonel was Golden Oak, which surprised me at first, but it made sense when I really thought about it.

"Attention!" Golden Oak yelled, shutting up everypony in attendance. "You are the first members of the 10th Airborne. You are going to turn this war around, or I'll have failed in my job given by Celestia herself. No pressure." There where a few chuckles at that. "These Planes," The Colonel continued. "Are C47 transport planes, they have been designed for the purpose of carrying your sorry asses from base to battlefields, to drop you down and to raise hell. The first test of the airborne..." He flashed a grin at all of us. "Is to jump out of these planes."

The Earth ponies and Unicorns looked nervous at this concept, but us Pegasi fluffed our wings in anticipation. "Alright Airborne! Load up!" We all dashed forward towards the planes, being herded by the Captains into three equal portions. I was in a group of around 30 ponies as we climbed aboard the plane.

As we all took seats inside, one of the Captains closed the door behind us. He turned to look at us. "I am Captain Spearhead and I will be your commanding officer for the next few months. The Colonel and Captain Girder will take another handful of recruits and train them. You are now 3rd platoon of Alpha Company. The other two planes are 1st and 2nd platoon. From here on out, the ponies you see next to you are the ones you'll be fighting and bleeding beside for the next few months. I suggest you get to know each other." The plane's engine started up and we are all slightly jostled as we started to move across the field. Captain Spearhead started to walk to all the earth ponies and unicorns, handing them large backpacks. "These." He motioned to the bag. "Are parachutes for all you non-winged members. When the altimeter hits the green zone, pull the cord and pray to Celestia you'll land alright."

We spent the next few hours talking among ourselves and having the Captain explain what exactly we would be learning in the next few months over winter to prepare ourselves for our first mission and handing us helmets with a single lightning bolt on the side. I sat there in silence till I felt somepony tapping my helmet. I looked over to see a Tan Pegasus stallion with bright blue eyes. "Hi!" he cheerily said. "I'm Scotch, who are you?"

I smiled back at him. "Half-Crescent, and this is Grapevine." I motioned over to her, she gave a wave. "Do you know anypony else in the Platoon?"

Scotch nodded. "That's Sparky." He gestured to a blue pegasus stallion with gold eyes. "That's Hazel." True to her name, Hazel was a hazel mare with hazel eyes, unfortunate genetics. "And last but not least, Amber, she's a Royal guard sent to, as she says, babysit us." Amber, unlike Haze's fortunate name, was a green mare with a light brown mane sticking out slightly from her helmet, I noticed the three chevrons on her upper arm.

"Wait... She's a Sergeant?" I finally took time to notice the other Chevrons on ponies arms. Sparky, Hazel, Scotch, and Grapevine all had the single chevron of a Private, while I had the dual chevrons of a Corporal. There was an earth pony in front of us who had the single bar of a Lieutenant painted on his helmet.

"Excuse me," I said to the Lieutenant, he looked over to me. "Are you the LT in charge of our platoon?"

The stallion smiled, "I sure am! Lieutenant Railspike at your service, spent a few months on the Griffon front, but after my Division was nearly wiped out, we got sent to other units instead of reinforced, a couple of other ponies in my Company are stationed on the Zebra front, but most were placed back up north. But here's to hoping I can keep all you rookies in one piece!"

I was about to respond, but the inside of the plane was bathed in a red light. Captain Spearhead started to call out again. "RED LIGHT! EVERYPONY UP!" We all stood up, one long alternating row of thirty ponies. "Now, the red light means that we are nearing the landing zone, and you all need to stand up and make sure your kit is secure, we'll run drills on doing that so when we head for the real deal, you'll be up and out in seconds." Suddenly the red was replaced with green. "Now when the green light is on." The Captain continued. "You are to charge forward and leap out of the plane and glide, or in case of Unicorns and Earth ponies, use your parachute, to reach the ground safely. Officers are the first out, followed by each individual soldier. There are no set squads, as early tests showed that Airborne forces would be spread farther and farther apart depending on the size of the operation. So when you land, find your most senior ranking officer and regroup before attempting to take your objectives." Spearhead stood next to the open door of the plane. "OK WE'RE OVER THE DROP ZONE! MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

The line started to move forward as the platoon leapt out of the plane, myself being around the middle. When I reached the door, I looked down, seeing around eight other pegasi, with three cloth circles indicating the others. We were over a large field, so when we landed, I assumed at least, we could easily find each other. "HESITATE AND THE FLIGHT OFFICER WILL SHOVE YOU OUT!" I had little time to react as i was shoved out of the plane, hurtling toward the ground at a fast pace. I let my wings flare open, starting to glide towards the ground. I could see the others waiting on the ground, one Unicorn fiddling with his parachute harness. I got closer and closer to the ground before I finally touched down with enough force to send myself tumbling to the ground.

I heard a few ponies laughing as I saw a pair of boots made their presence known in front of my face. "Hear let me help you up." Said a fairly familiar voice. I looked up to see Scotch standing above me, his hand outstretched. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up to my feet. I glanced around the field, seeing Hazel and Amber land, before Grapevine hit the ground with an 'Eep' and knocked the other two mares off their feet. We sat around, picking up those who had a harder landing and waiting for the Captain to give us further orders. At one point, a mare landed in the clearing, looking around confused.

I walked up to her. "Hey there! Don't recognize you from our plane... Did you have Captain Spearhead explain everything to you?"

She shook her head. "No, Captain Girder was on my plane..."

With that, Captain Spearhead landed next to us, looking at the mare and giving a small smile. "You're off course little missy." She blushed in embarrassment. "No shame, this is an important lesson to learn. NEVER will the whole unit land where intended. But, whoever you meet, no matter what Division, Company, Platoon or Rank, you need to complete your objectives. Everyone in the Airborne is your squad. Your greatest strength, is also your greatest weakness. Over the Winter, we will turn each and everyone of you into an elite and terrifying force, before we move onto our first mission. Alright Airborne, let's move OUT!" Spearhead Started to jog in a seemingly random direction, we all started to follow and we made our way through a forest into what we assumed was our basecamp. Wooden barracks and hangers for equipment, along with guard towers to keep unwanted ponies out. Captain Spearhead turned to look at us. "Alright rookies, this is Camp Haliflanks, about 30 minutes by Halftrack to the city itself. Here we'll turn you from a bunch of good for nothing ponies, into the finest fighting force Equestria has ever seen. Get to the Barracks and find a bunk, training starts tomorrow."

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long but, i have no excuse as to why it took so long, but hopefully this will start gathering steam as time goes on. Till next time.

CanadianPony OUT!

Chapter 2: Baptism By Fire

"Alright Airborne, listen up!" I sat up in my chair. We were inside a command tent in our base, preparing for the details of our first mission. We had finished our training a couple weeks ago, I was confident we would pass our first real test with flying colors.

I focused my attention on Railspike who was standing in front of us, next to a projected image of a town in the Zebra lands. "Attention Airborne! This is our first mission, to capture and hold the town of Mesa until we are relieved by the 5th Armored. Mesa is a strategic target due to it's high rise elevation and the fact it's the center of Zebra command on this front." The slide changed, it showed the surrounding terrain and had three zones outside the town itself highlighted in green. "These are the drop zones, Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie." The first green zone was close to the town itself, the second was farther to the left, and the last one was closer to a crossroad than the town itself. "We, Alpha company, will land closer to the town, our objective is to capture the town along with as many prisoners as possible and to capture Zebra munitions to aid in holding the town from enemy counterattacks. 1st Platoon will take the Zebra munitions dump to the north, 2nd Platoon will take the barracks to the south, while 3rd Platoon will take the Command post set up in Town hall. 2nd and 3rd Platoons are likely to meet the most resistance. Bravo is to hold the outside of the town and aid us in defending the town proper. Charlie will be holding a crossroads to stop enemy reinforcements from reaching Mesa. If they think that they'll be overrun, they are to retreat to Mesa, where we'll funnel the enemy and beat them with superior numbers. Any questions?" Nopony responded. "Good, suit up, we leave in 15 minutes."

I stood up and started towards the Armory with the rest of the Platoon. When we got there, everypony started to grab their kit. Me? I only had the standard issue equipment, I was just a riflepony, not a gunner, engineer, sniper or any other specialty like that. I had a M1 Carbine and a M1911 Pistol, or Colt, as the others were fond on calling it. I also grabbed a pair of grenades and clipped them to a harness on the front of my uniform.

As I walked out of the Armory I was pulled aside by Amber. Scotch, with the same equipment as me, was standing of to the side as well, Amber stood there and grabbed Hazel, with her BAR and bags of ammo, Sparky, with a Grease gun and a bazooka hanging from his back, and lastly Grapevine, decked out similarly to me and Scotch with a red cross drawn on her helmet and a bag with a similar cross on the side. Amber turned towards us, her Thompson dangling from a strap. "From now on, we're a squad, we find each other after each drop and we stick together throughout the operation. I am taking you under my wing, and I will make sure as many of us get out of this as we can." We all nodded, personally I felt better knowing a veteran Sergeant would be taking care of us especially.

We quickly ran to the airfield on the base and piled into the plane that held the rest of the platoon. As we sat nearby to each other, Railspike sat next to the door as the plane lifted into the sky towards our destination. As we settled in the pilot's voice came on over a radio situated in the main cabin we were in. "Fillies and Gentlecolts, thank you for flying Air Equestria, in bound for the surroundings of Mesa, we are looking at a three hour flight and having you be on the ground at around 2:00 AM local. Try and get some sleep before we hit, it'll give you an advantage when we get there." Taking the pilot's recommendation, I found myself slowly drifting off to the drone of the engines outside.

I was shaken awake by Scotch. "Pilot just finished saying we're getting close, wake up and double check your gear." I nodded, pulling the strap of my Carbine, and tugging on my grenades, pistol holster and my small pack that held some MREs and other personal effects. Everything was good as I glanced over to the rest of the platoon doing the same.

Suddenly the cabin was filled with a red light, someone called out around the same time it turned on. We all stood up and the unicorn and earth pony troopers clasped hooks attached to their parachutes to a rail in the ceiling, we were all preparing to leap out into the cold night and help aid Equestria in the only way we knew how, by causing havoc in areas the enemy controlled.

The red light bathing the cabin switched to green, along with a shout of, "GREEN LIGHT! GO GO GO!" We charged out of the plane, leaping out into the night air. As I glided towards the ground, I could see members of the other two platoons landing in the same area we where, along with the members of Bravo and Charlie farther away. I hit the ground in a tiny flourish, whipping out my M1 carbine and scanning the trees around us. I kept scanning, even as other Airborne landed around me. I heard a low whistle and turned around, the 90 pony company was gathered into a large circle as Captain Spearhead checked who we had. The final tally was 92 Airborne, two ponies from Bravo were stuck with us, but the rest of the company had made it, not to shabby for our first jump, at night even!

"Ok Airborne, stay low and keep quiet till we get into the town of Mesa proper, than let hell loose." We followed the Captain as we moved through the trees. We were walking for around five minutes when we first saw the town. A makeshift tower stood over the town with a bridge over a small river directly in front of us. Looking farther in, I noticed makeshift walls made of sandbags and debris. The town was in ok shape, despite a few buildings laying in ruins.

The company sniper pushed past me and closer to the Captain, "The sentry in the tower is asleep, as long as we keep quiet, we can sneak into town and take the Zebras completely by surprise." The Captain nodded and made a few hand gestures, telling us to pick up and move. With a few whispered orders, we slowly made our way across the bridge. We made it about halfway when the yelling started. The voice was obviously an officer and might have spooked the sentry. I looked up, the sentry had just woken up and moved a searchlight onto the bridge.

Fuck.

He let out a yell of alarm but was silenced by a shot from one of ours. More yelling, that of orders and panic, wafted from the town. We started to move to the closest thing resembling cover when a Machine gun opened fire on the bridge. I watched as it tore into a few unlucky troopers before the rest either dropped to the floor, or were out of the kill-zone. "SOMEONE KILL THAT FUCKING MACHINE GUN!" One soldier yelled from the bridge. I let loose a few shots, as another soldier ran up and threw a grenade inside the building the MG was hiding in. A yell followed by a muffled explosion spelled the fate of the guns crew.

"Alpha Company! Move in on your objectives! 1st Platoon, take the barracks, 2nd the ammo dump, and 3rd take town hall! You two go with 1st platoon, they're down a few. MOVE OUT NOW!" The Captain yelled as he got 1st Platoon to follow him towards the barracks. We made our way to the town hall. In the chaos, I had lost Amber and the rest of my 'Squad', but I quickly found them, letting loose a sigh of relief that all of them were alright.

We quickly moved through the town, occasionally stopping to have a small firefight with Zebra troops. Most of the time the firefight started with a shot from a house, followed by a pair of troopers barging in and reporting a prisoner or clear after a few shots. I was sticking close to Amber and Hazel, with Scotch and Sparky behind me and Grapevine following up the rear. We eventually cleared into a courtyard in front of town hall and were immediately set upon by MG and rifle fire. Grapevine, Scotch and I, along with two other soldiers ducked into an alleyway, while the rest of the platoon jumped into craters, behind sandbag walls, and other assorted cover. It saddened me to see three members lying on the ground bleeding out. I looked back to the group around me, the two other troopers being privates, I decided to take control of the situation.

"Ok, we're going to flank the town hall, try to get inside and clear the MG nests so the rest of the platoon can advance. Scotch, you're with me." I checked the name patches on the other troopers. "Grapevine, you take Posthaste and Krieg and watch our flank. got it?" They nodded. "Good, let's go!"

We moved farther into the alleyway and got closer to the side of the Town hall. I turned the corner of the alleyway and discovered a side door into the Town hall, I opened it slowly and took a look around. I was in a side hall to the hall's atrium, a lounge on my right where i heard one of the machine guns letting loose hell. I glanced into the lounge and saw the crew loading another belt into their Maxim machine gun. I trained my gun on the loader, but I hesitated. These zebra probably had families, people to miss them when they passed. I shook that feeling, the three dead outside and the ones on the bridge had families too, and they were no different. My shot struck the loader in the upper back and made him drop to the floor. The gunner turned around and got a shot in the heart as a reward. I ducked into the room as I heard more yelling from throughout the hall. A zebra turned the corner, but luckily Scotch was watching my back the whole time and shot the zebra down as soon as he came into view. I watched as Grapevine and the others opened a stair way and moved to the upper levels. Me and Scotch took cover in the lounge and returned fire at zebras in the main atrium. It was two floored with a grand staircase to the second floor. A Maxim was watching the main door, so we would need to flank it. As the firefight dragged on, the zebra's numbers started to dwindle, until I watched a rocket soar through the front door and annihilate the Maxim position. I heard a voice outside yelling "DAMMIT SPARKY! WATCH WHERE YOUR FIRING THAT DAMNED BAZOOKA!" With that I watched Hazel and Amber charge into the atrium and spray the last few zebras with their BAR and Thompson respectively.

After the short firefight a majority of the platoon gathered in the atrium. Railspike looked us over. "Crescent, take Krieg and Scotch and clear out the rest of the building, we have reason to believe that their primary comm center is somewhere in here. Grapevine, see what you can do about our wounded, the rest of you, form a perimeter and secure all exits. Don't want any Zebras sneaking past us." We saluted and moved to complete our assignments.

Krieg, Scotch and I made our way throughout the building, calling clear to the rest of the platoon who moved in and secured the rooms. The lower floors didn't hold anything as we made our way through the upper floor where we found two small groups of zebras. Wounded and scared we told them to go to the atrium with their hands up and without their weapons. We made our way to the final room, apparently the mayor's office with the amount of decoration, that is to say, little. We formed up on the door. I looked to the two under my command and care. "Krieg, you and me will take either side of the door while Scotch," I motioned to him. "You bust down the door and we'll take whoever inside by surprise." They nodded as we got into position. Scotch reared up and busted the door down as a long burst of fire tore through the opening. I watched in horror as rounds struck Scotch in his chest, he jerked as the rounds hit him, finally falling over with the shots stopped.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!" Was all I heard as Krieg and I moved in the room and gunned down the officer looking Zebra standing behind the mayor's desk. Just like Scotch, he jerked with each shot that struck him until we stopped firing. When everything stopped, I looked to Krieg and let loose a sigh. "Krieg, bring Scotch's body down to Grapevine, I'll stay here and see what I can scrounge up." He nodded, clearly unhappy about the deed one of us had to carry out. As Krieg carried Scotch's body back to the atrium I searched through the desk the Officer was behind. I mainly found documents about the town, and a single report with a stamp that I recognized as the symbol of the Zebra military. Grabbing that I looked at the radio sat behind the desk, noting it had a few holes from when me and Krieg gunned down the officer. I let loose another sigh, seeing as Scotch could have died for next to nothing, unless this paper flat out said the next 3 weeks of zebra attack plans.

I made my way back to the atrium to see Captain Spearhead talking to Railspike. "We lost Privates Muffin Top and Clear Skies on approach, and we lost Private Scotch when we secured the hall itself. Corporal Morning Fog is wounded, but our medics have him stabilized. They say he won't be in fighting shape until he's fully healed."

The Captain nodded at this news. "Good, we see you got some prisoners and your platoon secured some good equipment. Those Maxims will come in handy when we have to hold the town against a possible counter attack. Speaking of, 3rd platoon will watch the bridge approach we came through on. Engineers are already working on some trench systems and foxholes in crucial positions. You'll be given a Maxim and plenty of ammo for it. Make sure all your men get ammo or take a Zebra weapon if there isn't enough to go around. We have plenty of ammo for the Zebra's Nagants and PPSH's."

Railspike nodded as the Captain left. "Alright 3rd platoon, gather your equipment and let's MOVE OUT!" With that, we began to move to where we were ordered and where we would experience one of the most harrowing mornings we ever experienced.

Author's Note

I am so sorry it took so long to get this done, between school and games and shiny things and lack of creativity and shiny thin- OOH SHINY!

*ahem* Anyways, I'm sorry it took so long to make but, it's done. Hopefully I can get the next chapter done sooner.

Comment on what you liked and/or didn't like and until next time!

-CanadianPony OUT!

Chapter 3: Mesa Showdown

I watched the bridge that we crossed earlier tonight carefully. The Engineers had created a small system of trenches and foxholes facing the bridge and we shoved around 26 ponies inside the fortifications and waited. Hazel was screwing with the Maxim, along with the two others we set as the gun crew, Amber and Sparky were set up in a foxhole on the other side of the trench line, while me and Grapevine were stuck with watch duty while everypony else was eating, sleeping or preparing. I slid down into the hole with a sigh, Grape calmly spooning soup in her mouth, looked to me and said, "Still thinking about Scotch?"

I looked back at her. "Yeah, It just, happened, you know? Couldn't even react until it was all said and done." She nodded and looked out towards the trees again. "I wish I could've saved him, done something different, maybe he'd still be here If-"

A explosion caused me to shoot straight up. Yelling almost immediately followed along with gunfire. I glanced out of the foxhole to see a pair of Zebra T-34s, along with loads of Zebra soldiers, unleashing hell on our defensive line. I raised my rifle and fired shots into the mass of Zebra infantry, watching as they went down one by one. Grapevine yanked me down when a T-34 started to move it's turret towards us. "WE NEED TO GET TO THE TRENCHES!" She yelled. I nodded and checking that the T-34's cannon was pointed elsewhere, we dashed into the relatively safe trench.

We moved along the trench as other Airborne pelted the enemy with bullets and came across Railspike and Sparky. Railspike was yelling into the radio on the back of poor Shortwave, the radio pony. "WE GOT T-34s! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF THE TERTIARY DEFENSES ARE UP OR NOT, WE ARE NOT STAYING HERE!" He paused before continuing. "TELL THE COLONEL TO GET THOSE DAMN A.T. GUNS SET UP OR WE'RE FUCKED!" He placed the radio back on Shortwave's back and looked to us. "Sparky set some explosives in front of the bridge. When I give the order, set the explosives off and we'll fall back to the secondary defenses." I nodded as Railspike started to spread the order around the line. I poked out of the trench once more to fire at the oncoming Zebras. I ducked down as the position was strafed by MG fire from the lead T-34, an airborne trooper clutching his eye and screaming in agony got my attention. Grapevine rushed over to him and started to apply gauze over his wound, trying to calm the poor soldier down. I checked the bridge to see the T-34s approaching where the explosives were planted. I gave an evil grin as pushed the plunger on the detonator and completely destroy the tanks. A cheer rang out through our ranks as the Zebra infantry began to retreat.

Railspike's voice raised over the cheer. "Alright everypony, fall back to the secondary defensive line! This position can't hold if they bring more tanks into the mix! Gather all the weapons and ammo you can and fall back!" We didn't need to be told twice, Hazel started to wheel the Maxim back as the other troopers with her brought the ammo belts, Grapevine helped the wounded pony onto her shoulders and motioned me to help. I got on the other side and we half-lifted half-dragged him to the town hall so he could get treated better.

As we moved through the town, I saw the engineers and other Airborne setting up rubble and sandbag barricades in the road to slow down the enemy advance. When we got to the Town Hall, I saw both of our salvaged AT guns facing the main road on elevated positions. Three Maxim MGs were set up in windows watching the center road. 'Those Zebras are gonna have a hell of a time trying to take this position' I thought. Inside the town hall, members of Bravo company were moving about, transporting supplies, ammo, weapons and even radio equipment through out the atrium. One soldier, noticing the poor bastard we were carrying motioned to a side room that was marked with a large red cross. We dragged the soldier inside and placed him on a bed while another medic saw to his wounds. He looked at us, nodded, and went back to his new patient. We left and started to head back to where our platoon was when Krieg ran into me.

"Krieg, the hell are you doing back here?" He started to say something before being cut off by another T-34 turning onto the street we were on. We immediately started to head back to town hall as the AT guns punched holes into the tanks turret and side armor. The tank started to belch flame and smoke from any opening as we hid behind a wall of sandbags in the courtyard.

Krieg looked back at us. "The Zebras beat back 1st platoon and 2nd platoon is starting to fall back, the company is going to hold our ground here and wait for them to fall back, or until reinforcements arrive."

I nodded. Hopefully Charlie Company made contact with command. If they didn't, we would be overrun eventually. I pushed that thought away and focused instead on the street in front of us. A handful of Zebra soldiers had made their way down the road, but other Airborne and the MGs had pinned them down. A second T-34 was attempting to push it's comrade out of it's way, but the occasional shot from our AT guns forced it to duck back. I raised my rifle and joined the cacophony of shots, keeping the zebras pinned down. As I ducked down to reload, another rumbling made itself known. A glance down the road me and Grapevine came from confirmed my fears, another T-34 was making it's way towards us! One AT gun turned to face the opposing tank, but MG and rifle fire strafed the crew. Two soldiers dropping down while the other two were able to dive into cover. A bazooka shot flew from an upper story of the Town Hall and struck the turret, the gun slumped forward and fire began to spew from the new hole in it's side. We began to cheer until a massive horde of Zebras charged forward, yelling out a mighty war cry. We responded with massive volumes of fire, cutting down a good amount of them before they launched into our front lines.
It was something out of battles of ages passed. Men striking at each other with the butts of guns and their bayonets. Knives and wood met flesh and bone. Men cried out in agony as they were stabbed or beaten down. The Zebra charge crushed what few Airborne they encountered, but our lines were jagged, and most of our fighting force were inside the Town Hall. As the zebras struck the last trooper down, the Maxims tore them apart, bodies falling left and right as the rest of the 10th tore into them with rifle fire. The zebras began to retreat, when a sixth T-34 turned the corner. It promptly destroyed one of our gun nests with a blast of it's main gun. The tanks turret began to rotate to a new target when it exploded. At first we were confused. Who the hell took out the T-34? When we witnessed more zebra soldiers beginning to either run towards us with weapons on the ground and hands in the air did we see what caused the tank to detonate. An Equestrian Sherman tank pushed the blackend corpse of tank aside making its way to the other street still full of zebras. After that tank came more. After the Third tank passed, we saw halftracks filled with infantry drive pass, one with a red cross on the side broke off and parked in the square as a Sherman with more antennae then the others parked next to the halftrack. An older looking stallion poked his head out and locked eyes with me. "Colonel Tough Treads of the 5th Equestrian Armored Division, were may I find your commanding officer?"

I pointed inside the Town Hall. "Colonel Golden Oak is inside the CP Sir!" The Colonel nodded and climbed down from his tank, making his way inside the battered building. As we watched him pass a wave of relief passed over me. We had been reinforced and our first mission was a complete success. I smiled, wondering what other missions awaited us in the future. I had no idea what was in store for us, but at this point, I knew we would come through in the end.

Author's Note

The 10th is successful in their mission! Once again I have to apologize with how long this is taking but life and my own mind like to plot against me when it comes to writing this story. The next chapter will be on it's way soon... hopefully...

As always I would appreciate any and all comments, but please be polite. Until next time!

Downtime

I sat on top of a pile of sandbags just in front of the Town Hall with Grapevine and Amber on my left, and Sparky and Hazel on my right. We had just went over the total casualty figures with the Colonels and Golden Oak said he was proud that we got through with so few lost. I shook my head at that. So few? Including the counter attack, we lost over 30 soldiers from across both companies! We had even gotten word that Charlie Company was completely wiped out. Seems they got surrounded and held off the Zebras long enough so we could finish our defenses. The only reason we held out for as long as we did, was because 90 of Equestria's finest lay down their lives. It hurt knowing that nearly one half of our fighting force lay six feet under, but I took a small amount of pride in the news that due to our success, we were receiving another 3 companies in addition to the replacement of Charlie. The 10th Airborne were getting new additions to our little family. Alongside these reinforcement companies, two new Airborne Divisions were being formed. We were known as 'Lightning', a name given to us by the Colonel, due to our decisive and effective attack on Mesa. The 14th Airborne had decided to call themselves, 'Discord's Own' as they saw they were going to be causing chaos behind enemy lines, the 20th, on the other hand, decided to call themselves 'Hellfire' as they had quite a few more pyrotechnics and demolitions experts than the other two divisions.

I had overheard from the Colonel that we would all be part of some massive operation the higher-ups were planning but nothing was set in stone yet. But a plan to use over 1000 Airborne had got to be one hell of a plan.

As we were lounging around, Captain Spearhead marched outside. "ATTENSHUN!" We all stood up, arms plastered to our sides. Even Members of the 5th Armored shot up at his call. "10th fall in! 5th dismissed!" With that, all us Airborne formed rank in front of the Captain as the tankers moved back to whatever they were doing. "Alright 10th Division!" The Captain focused on us again. "Orders from Command. We are to remain here in Mesa as a garrison force until either the arrival of the 3rd Equestrian Infantry or when the 5th create a large enough buffer zone between here and the front. I'm telling you now Fillies and Gentlecolts, sitting on your asses for a week is going to be a lot harder than what we faced last night-" A few chuckles rose from our ranks. "But I have the utmost faith that you will carry out your orders with the same effectiveness that you had when taking this very town. Form up into your platoons to receive orders from your COs. DISMISSED!" With that, our ranks broke apart and reformed into our respective platoons. Lieutenant Railspike gathered us around him.

"Alright 3rd Platoon, our job is inner security detail. Crescent, you, Hazel and Krieg are on prisoner watch, Grapevine, Amber and Gearbox will relieve you in a few hours." With that, the six of us broke from the huddle and made our way towards the impromptu prison camp. Grapevine, Amber and Gearbox, a tan unicorn mare who was part of our engineer section, separated from our little group and headed for the barracks/mess hall, mentioning resting up before they relieve us of our duties. The three of us continued to the prison camp, really just a dead end road we fenced off with some barbed wire and a half-assed guard tower. Inside the block, around 40 zebra prisoners milled about, most of them looked quite young, or old. As we approached, a few tankers from the 5th got our attention. "OI! You three taking over watching these striped bastards? We gotta get back to our rust bucket and make sure she's in working order before we move out!"

"Yeah, you grease monkeys can go. We got this area on lockdown." I responded. With that, the tankers went back the way we came. I turned to Hazel and Krieg. "Hazel, take your BAR and head up into the tower, Krieg you're with me in front of the gate. Hazel, you see anything fishy don't hesitate to call out to either me or Krieg." Two nods of acknowledgement and we moved into our positions. A small gatehouse had been constructed across the road from the tower. Calling it a Gatehouse would be giving it too much credit. It was just a small crescent of sandbags with a pair of crates set up as seats. Krieg and I sat upon these crates, angling our rifles to lean away from us. We sat there, watching either the prisoners or the other members of either the 5th or 10th walk by.

A few hours had passed before I heard some scuffling from just behind the wire. Grabbing my rifle and turning around, I saw a zebra soldier looking at me. He looked a little scruffy, I likely wasn't looking better myself, and was staring at me with bright blue eyes. In his hand he grasped a small piece of paper. Taking notice that my attention fell on him, he cleared his throat and spoke in a accented voice. "Excuse me, soldier?" He clearly didn't know our ranking system or what exactly my unit classification was, so I just nodded. He brightened up a little. "Mr. Soldier? Could you get this letter sent back to Cane? My family lives there and I want to make sure they know I and my brothers in arms that are also from Cane are alright."

I nodded. "I can't make any promises that this'll get sent or that half of it will make it through the censors, but I'll try."

The zebra nodded. "I understand sir. Even the chance of my family knowing I'm alive brings me some peace. Few of us actually wanted war, but our great leader deemed it so, so the least we can do is take up arms to protect our country and families. You and I, we are nor so different. Just two soldiers fighting for their countries." That got me thinking. All during training and since the war broke out, we were being fed propaganda about ' The Striped Menace' and the 'Talons of Evil', when in the end, many of them were likely just like us. Being fed lies about each other or just signing up to defend and support our country. I gave the zebra a smile. He gave me a smile back as he went back into the small camp keeping him safe from this crazy war. I went back to my guard post, with more on my mind, but somehow more at peace.

The week passed without much consequence. The letter the Zebra gave me went through, whether he got a response or it even getting there was still down to luck but it brought the soldier some peace. On the final day of our post in Mesa, Hazel, Krieg and I were just returning from the prison camp when a Halftrack passed down the road and the soldier in the gunner position waved us over. "You three form the 10th Airborne?"

"Yes, I'm Corporal Half Crescent of the 10th Airborne, what do you need." I replied.

The gunner smiled. "Got good news then, we're under orders to bring you boys to HQ for redeployment, apparently you're getting some leave days and extra training."

Hazel and Krieg perked up at the word 'leave' but groaned at 'training'. I shot them a look. I was technically in command so they both shut up pretty quick. "Alright, we got to pick up our platoon mates from the prison camp before we can head out." With that i motioned for the two to climb in, I did afterwards.

The Gunner nodded. "Right, we had our orders to gather up whoever we could fit in then direct the others to the square to load up and head out." We started to move through the town, gathering any and all Airborne troopers we passed. When we picked up the three in at the camp, we made our way back to the square, which was filled with halftracks and transport trucks, all set up in a long convoy line. The Colonel stood in a jeep, watching as the Division loaded up our supplies and troops. After we were all loaded up, the Colonel went through roll call, making sure we were all accounted for. After roll call, our convoy sprang forth making our way to the HQ and we made our way to our next mission.

Author's Note

Apologies on this chapter, kept sitting on it wanting to add more but not knowing what to add, so I finally decided to say 'screw it' and continue on. I know I haven't updated in months but I did promise I'll finish this!

Operation: Sickle Strike

It had been months since we took Mesa. We had been shipped back to Braytain in order to prepare for an invasion of the Zebra coast to end the stalemate across the southern border. We had encountered the replacements and unit shake-ups almost as soon as we landed, adding hundreds to our ranks and forming more companies for this massive endeavor. The 10th Airborne went from 3 companies of 300 troops to 6 companies, along with a command company of 200 leaving the Division at 2000 troops. Along that, the addition of the 14th "Discord's Own" and 20th "Hellfire" Divisions left us at 6000 airborne. And every single one of us would be landing behind enemy lines to secure vital towns, bridges and crossroads to assist in the landing of thousands more along a portion of the Zebra coast. To say I was nervous was an understatement. The plane buffeted in the wind as we passed over the gathered fleet of Equestrian and Commonwealth naval vessels. In mere hours we would be sent into the darkness to engage with Zebra forces far from help. No miracle like back at Mesa, we were on our own.

The Rookie, Duster, sat next to me chewing on a oat bar, he along with Blitz and Hazel had been placed under me into a 'fireteam' to add a degree of command structure to what was seen as a bunch of disorganized militia that had better equipment. Amber had Krieg, Grapevine and Sparky, so I wasn't feeling too sorry for her, I had the BAR on my side. Duster looked over to me with his brown eyes. "So, sir, what do you expect we'll see when we make landfall?"

I glanced over to the Private. He was a pegasus with the most boring scheme ever. Brown. Helpful in war, boring in civilian life. "Well Duster, command says that resistance will be light and we'll be facing nothing but conscripts with maybe one or two competent infantry divisions sprinkled about the place. However, be prepared for anything, we'll have no support until the beaches are secured." He seemed satisfied with that and went back to his bar. I kept my mind on the mission ahead as the plane continued into the night.

I was startled awake by a red glow filling the cabin. The plane was being buffeted in the wind and Railspike was peering out of the plane door. "I can't see the drop point! Are you sure this is where we should be?" The pilots seemed to respond but I couldn't hear as a few bullets tore clean through the plane. One soldier grasping at their throat as blood pooled beneath him. "MOVE NOW! OUT! GO GO GO!" Soon the whole platoon was in a panic as we made our way to the exit.

As I glided out into the night, I tried to gather what I could from my surroundings but thick rain and the lack of light made it nearly impossible. All I could see was a few Machine guns firing up into the air trying to keep more troops from landing, I doubted they would succeed in that endeavor because even I couldn't see the other aircraft, didn't help that branches and leaves were getting in my way-

Oh....Shit....

I awoke with a sharp pain in my chest, but luckily that meant I was alive. I sat up and checked myself over. My chest was tender so I likely struck a tree on my way down. I checked over my kit and breathed a sigh of relief as nothing seemed missing. Quickly I brought my carbine to bear as I gathered more info on my surroundings. I stopped as I heard voices nearby, and they sure weren't Equestrain. Ducking behind a bush I watched where the voices were coming from. A pair of Zebra conscripts were joking about some poor bastard who had his parachute stuck in a tree. The trooper looked terrified as the conscripts aimed their rifles just to lower them again, toying with him. I wasn't going to let that happen.

Rising from the bush I let loose two shots, dropping the closest Zebra and quickly striking the second before he could call out for his comrade. I made my way to the trapped solider and began to check him over. "I'm Corporal Half Crescent, 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 10th Airborne. Who are you?"

The soldier let loose a sigh of relief. "Private Starry Night, 3rd Platoon, Echo Company, 20th Airborne. Thanks for the assist sir, looks like the landings been botched a bit." I chuckled before finally cutting Starry down. He gathered his kit and slung his Garand and looked at me. "Well, you're in charge, what now?" I thought for a second, before remembering what I'd seen earlier.

"There's an MG post nearby, we should see if anypony else dropped nearby and take that position." Starry nodded and we made our way through the forest. We stiffened every time we heard gunshots or yelling, It was just as likely Zebra forces as it was ours so we played cautious. As we neared a road I saw movement directly in front of us. I raised my carbine and called out, in a whisper, the Airborne identifier. "Thunder!" The group stiffened before a call returned "Lightning!"

I gestured to Starry and we met up with the other soldiers. Three dirty and nervous colts looked back at me. "Privates Clay, Seafoam and Flicker, 2nd Platoon, Fox Company, 10th Airborne. Who are you?" We introduced ourselves and the Privates seemed to brighten up when they heard my Company. "Sir, were you at Mesa?" One asked, Clay I assumed as he was a brownish-red earth pony. When I nodded he looked to the other two and said "See guys? We got a vet leading us now! We'll be fine."

I shushed them. "Quiet down dammit. Now, we are going to attack a nearby MG nest and use it as a rally point for local Airborne so we can move on to other Objectives. Starry is with me while Clay, Seafoam and Flicker will provide support fire. Now, let's go!" With that, my little squad continued to our makeshift objective. We finally spotted the farm where the gun was located. The farm was two buildings, a barn and a farmhouse, with stone fences ringing the property, crates of supplies were set up around the house. We watched as the nearby Conscripts milled around as the Machine gun sprayed rounds in the sky shooting at aircraft the twitchy gunners thought they saw. I quickly began to form a plan.

"Alright, Clay, Seafoam and Flicker, I want you three to find cover along the outer fence and open up on the enemy outside the main house that myself and Starry will sneak into and clear out that Maxim, wait for the Maxim to fire on the Zebras to reveal yourselves." I got nods all around. Starry and I made our way towards the house as the other three made their way to the rock wall.

We approached the door and I slowly and quietly pushed it open with my carbine. The door opened to a hallway with the staircase facing us. Staying low and checking the adjoining rooms, we made our way upstairs as the Maxim fired again. We flinched and waited if it continued, hoping that the others weren't spotted. When the fire didn't continue and there was no yelling we continued to move up onto the second floor. Another hall greeted us with three doors we could see, one behind us, closed, one in the hall proper and one farther down, opened and flowing with zebra voices and another burst of fire. We continued down the hall and passed the first door when I heard a startling sound.

Bwooosh

The door next to me opened to reveal a bathroom and a zebra wiping his hands on his pants. We made eye contact. As he opened his mouth and reached for his pistol, I swung my rifle butt into his stomach, knocking on the floor. I wasted no time in pulling out my survival knife and stabbing it into his throat while covering his mouth with my free hand. The zebra gurgled on his own blood, his eyes wide with the fear of death as I held him down. Eventually he stopped struggling as death embraced him. I wiped my knife on his tunic before sheathing the knife and retrieving my rifle. Turning around I was face to face with Starry. His face full of shock. I simply looked away and carried on. I didn't enjoy it but his death saved the five of us.

When we came upon the MG nest, I had a short flashback to Mesa, but this time, no hesitation. I quickly ran into the room, shooting both gunners in the back before manning the Maxim myself. "Starry! Watch my back!" With that order I began to fire on the Zebra's below. They began to panic as the others popped up and fired alongside the capture of their MG. In mere seconds the firefight was over as the six Conscripts lay dead at not one of us were harmed. I waited for a few more moments, waiting for potential reinforcements. When none came I signaled the others to come up. Turning around, Starry was staring at the corpses around my feet. He looked back to me. "You didn't even blink..."

"If you blink or hesitate, someone you care about might be killed because of it. I regret each kill, but it is necessary to protect our own. We didn't start this war, but were sure as hell are going to end it." With that I pushed past him and met with the others. We gathered up in the house's kitchen.

"Alright, this is the plan, Clay and Flicker will scout out the barn and see if there is anything we can use. Seafoam and Starry will watch the road for movement, if you see anything, make sure they aren't airborne before firing, we don't want freindly fire tonight, I'll see about any maps or radios to make sure of our location and make contact with the rest of the division." Seeing no arguments, the plan was put forth.

A few hours had passed before we met again. Clay and Flicker had found a truck in the barn that had a Zis-3 field gun attached to it's rear mount along with 50 shells. As well as additional ammo for Nagants and the Maxim we found and other supplies. The three of us loaded as much Maxim ammo and supplies we could and still kept room for the rest of us for when we left the farm. Seafoam and Starry had a quieter time than Clay and Flicker and we made contact with a few other Airborne, unfortunately, they were all privates so I was now in command of 8 soldiers. Not a good spot for my limited command experience, but such was the duty of the commander of a unit of any size. Luckily, I did find a map of the surrounding area, and with what I remembered from the maps we studied before the invasion, discovered we were on the main path of the advancing forces when the landings began. Likely, when troops were sent to reinforce the beaches, we'd be right in their path. With that my planning began.

"Alright gentlestallions.." A cough from our newest addition interrupted me. "And mares, from what I've gathered, we are right in the way of any reinforcements making their way to the beaches when the invasion begins. By the time any force that could overwhelm us arrives, the invasion force will either be on top of us or beyond our position, therefore, our job will be to slow or stop any Zebra troops from reaching the beach. High Velocity," The mare straightened up. "Your team will crew the Zis in the barn and knock out any tanks or armored vehicles that attempt to pass us while Starry and Whisk will man the Maxim. The rest of you are with me in and around the field facing the road, our job will be to make sure that no one enters the farmhouse or the barn. Clay, take Flicker and set yourselves up farther to the east of the road and let us know when a convoy is on approach, keep your distance and do not engage the enemy. Let's move out!"

We got lucky with Velocity. She dropped with a trio of soldiers trained in using Artillery pieces, everything from mortars to full on long range artillery. The Zis would give our little troop the firepower we needed to become an actual threat to nearby Zebra units. Velocity and her crew began to set up their gun, we had to move the truck to conceal a majority of it's barrel inside the barn so enemy tankers wouldn't spot it. I heard Starry and Whisk do their checks on the Maxim while Seafoam and my other riflepony, Birchbark, set themselves up watching our flanks until we received word from our scouts.

It was 6:00 when the shelling began. We were lucky that the naval guns were only striking the beach proper and the surrounding area behind them to soften up defenses when the landings began. "Hear that airborne? Help is on the way! Just give them anywhere to 4 hours to next week!" This got a laugh out of the gathered soldiers which was quickly interrupted by Clay bursting in.

"Sir! We got a convoy moving up the road! About three trucks of Infantry with a T-34 in front and maybe a second farther back!" The troops looked to me and nodded, didn't have to order them to get into positions.

"Clay and Flicker are with me, the rest of you, get into positions!" Swiftly we made our way to our pre-set locations. As we set up along the outer rock wall, I glanced at the rest of the defense. We set up a second wall of sandbags and crates if a tank began providing too much fire support, the new position would force the tank into range of our field gun. After that, we would be forced into the farmhouse. If we began to lose that position, I would signal a retreat with a flare and we would run into the nearby forest and head towards the beaches and set off grenades in the truck to destroy as many supplies as we can. Hopefully it didn't come to that.

The farm was quiet as we waited. Clay, Flicker, Seafoam and Birch were all a little nervous as I kept watch on the road. Suddenly I saw it. The T-34 rumbled forward on the road with a trio of trucks behind as a second tank covered the rear of the convoy. I looked back to our Maxim and mouthed Trucks before looking at the rifleponies next to me. "The MG will open fire on the trucks while we fire on any that make it into cover positions, our goal is to pin them down. On my order, we fall back to let the Zis take care of the last tank." A round of nods met me before I refocused on the incoming convoy. The tank was coming dangerously close to us now, the convoy was so close, I could hear the singing and talking of the Zebra's going into battle. Too bad the battle was coming to them.

As the T-34 was about to pass the house, it erupted with a gout of flame pouting out of the commander's hatch. "OPEN FIRE!" I yelled as the Maxim and my small squad began to fire into the panicked Zebra conscripts. We shot down any who ducked into the gaps along the side of the road while a few returned fire taking cover behind their trucks. The lead truck must've taken too much fire because it ignited and threw a pair of Zebra to the ground. "Keep them pinned! Don't let them move!" The trucks began to pull onto either side of the road as the rear tank made it's way forward. "T-34 inbound! Fall back!" We ducked back down and ran towards our second line.

I heard the tank fire and watched as the second floor room next to our MG exploded outwards. The Maxim paused in it's fire before returning to suppressing the advancing troops. The T-34, however, pulled a surprise move. The damned thing broke through our outer wall and began to strafe our new position with MG fire. I heard a scream and watched as Flicker fell to the ground clutching his shoulder. "FLICKER'S DOWN! CLAY, SEE TO HIM, THE REST, STAY LOW!" The tank inched closer before a round from our Zis caused it to rapidly turn left before coming to a stop. A hole in it's side spewed smoke from it's engine block. When the crew attempted to bail, Seafoam, Birch, and I opened fire, killing them before they could crawl out of the knocked out tank.

"Move to the house! That tank gives them too much cover! VELOCITY! SET UP A FLANKING FIRING LINE ON THAT T-34!" Clay and Seafoam dragged a screaming Flicker into the farmhouse as Birch and I fired upon the advancing Zebra. As Birch began to run for the door, a lucky round struck him in the head. I swore as his body hit the ground. When Clay began firing from the door, I made my own dash inside. I moved down the hall and into a living room. Seafoam was wrapping a bandage around Flicker's wound when he glanced at me. "We lost Birch, once his stable, join me and cover the windows." Seafoam nodded and continued his work. I moved to the window and began firing on the approaching enemy troops. They lost a few more before a majority were behind the tank or our own outer defense.

The firefight continued for a few minutes. Our Maxim kept a group pinned down before moving to pin the next. The rifle fire from the rest of us kept them from making an assault on our position but we couldn't pry them out of theirs. That all changed when Velocity and her crew began to fire on the Zebra's flank. Soon they began to retreat when they realized they had been outflanked. Our fire followed them, greatly reducing the number that had retreated. Soon it was over. A collective sigh rose from my troops as the last few enemy troopers got back to their trucks and turned around and fell back. Now we definitely couldn't stay here.

I gathered my 'squad' and gave them a simple order. "Scavenge what you can from the fallen and those tanks, we are leaving this place and destroying as much that we can't take."

In total, two T-34's had been destroyed along with a single truck. 13 Zebra corpses lay about the field where 5 had escaped. In total, we killed 23 and lost only Birch. Flicker had his arm in a sling to make sure he didn't reopen the wound. We had been lucky, even more lucky was what we had found in the second T-34. A radio. Now the controls and instructions were in Zebraican and none of us could read it, so we had to figure it out compared to our own.

I sat in the kitchen of the house, fiddling with the radio as the others filled our truck with whatever it could carry along with the field gun, never know when you're going to need on of those. As I scanned through frequencies I heard quite a few panicking Zebra voices yelling about something. I could only assume they were reports on the actions of the Airborne along with the troops who should be landing on the beachheads.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came over the air, but his info was not as happy. "This is Lieutenant Railspike of the 10th Airborne on an open channel! We are under heavy attack in the village of Saint Mare's Eglise! Counting at least three T-34's converging on our position! Captain Spearhead is down and we are taking heavy casualties! We need reinforcements!" With that, I checked my map. We were only a few minutes away and there didn't seem to be any choke-points to slow us down to aid Railspike.

I transmitted back a message. "This is Corporal Half-Crescent, I hear you sir, I'm inbound with everypony I've gathered along with a captured field gun. We are 15 minutes away, hold firm!" With that I stood up and shot the radio. Leaving the kitchen, I threw a grenade to destroy anything the Zebra could use against us. As the kitchen erupted in smoke and splinters and ran too my gathered troops. "Alright pack up and destroy the rest, we are moving out to help our friends in Saint Mare's Eglise!"

With that final order, we clambered into the truck, myself driving, and left the battlefield behind. Hoping that what we did that morning would keep just a few more alive.

Author's Note

And thus the great crusade begins.

I am so sorry this took so long to make but I hope the length made it worth it. I'll try to get the next one out sooner. Though my promises mean jack shit on here....

Any comments and criticism is welcome!