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!