Invictus Forward Assault Vanguard, Two days later

Invictus activated his radar, observing the little blips that showed the location of an unidentified enemy unit. Looking back to his forces, the Commander had a small jolt of satisfaction.

With the ability to produce advanced Bots, he had built an incredible army, and his economy had been incredibly boosted with the access to advanced Energy and Mass production facilities. This allowed Invictus to produce a very powerful heavy front, consisting of mostly Heavy Assault Bots in the very front, and two squads of seven artillery bots, as well as a small squad of medical bots.

Behind them was another fifteen squads of heavy assault bots, with five squads of tanks, anti air and basic. Two outer wings of Heavy Assault Bots, plus the quicker Dox, moved out, ready to attack the enemy base at it’s sides. A suicide squad of thirty Dox stayed in front of the army, meant to rush in, and deal as much damage to the enemy defenses as possible before the army arrived. And in the middle of it all, towering above all other units, was the Atlas.

Standing as tall as a skyscraper, the Atlas sat patiently on its four legs, its two arms hanging by its sides. Invictus knew little of this machine, and figured to use this battle as a test for the Atlas. It's box-like upper body leaned forward, the eye in its center staring down upon the army like some god.

Satisfied by his military, Invictus sent the signal to begin marching, at the same speed as the slowest unit. Once the army was ten miles out of the city defenses, Invictus would unleash the suicide squad, and his army would charge.

Baltimare, thirty minutes later

Bulwark stared at the monitors, observing for any signs of movement outside of the Baltimare Defense Line. He had been at it for three hours, and his officers believed that Invictus might have been scared off.

Then the ground shook.

“What in Tartarus?!” Bulwark yelped, grabbing his desk to keep him upright. The building shook again, knocking unlucky ponies and coffee cups onto the floor, spilling it on unfortunate ponies.

“Someone get me a status report!” Bulwark ordered, and the radar specialist suddenly stood up.

“Sir! Enemy forces are assaulting the fortifications! Thirty Assault KBots detected! The defenses are ripping them apart but the turrets are sustaining heavy damage! And there is a bigger army marching over the hill!”

“Someone, get me a visual! I want the Fourth, Fifth, and Second Companies to be deployed on the field! Deploy Kbots and vehicles!” Bulwark ordered, and within two minutes, the main screen lit up, showing the force on the hill. Bulwark’s jaw dropped in shock.

A large army of never before seen Kbots marched through the forest, but that's not what caused his shock. It was the impossibly massive machine currently on top of the hill. Standing on four legs, with a upper body connected to two arms, the monstrosity loomed over the battlefield, striking fear in the hearts of many of his soldiers. In fact, some abandoned their posts, running back into the city.

“I want a wing of bombers on that thing as soon as possible!” Bulwark ordered, snapping out of his haze. Ten bombers flew into view, heading for the machine. Only to be shot down by hidden anti air tanks, their ruined and burning carcasses crashing into the body and doing little damage.

“Ignore it for now! Get your fire onto the army itself!” Bulwark snapped, just realizing that the enemy army had gotten uncomfortably close to the walls. Fire from the remaining turrets had switched focus from the massive thing, which could only be labeled as a Titan, back to the forces below. The forest erupted once again into a warzone, with bots being destroyed from the Defensive towers, while Guardian Plasma Batteries fired from the wall surrounding Baltimare, laying in heavy ordinance.

Reinforcements from the Companies arrived, with Peewee’s rushing up to the army and ripping into the armor through their rapid fire plasma cannons.

“Sir! Reports from the Eastern Wall saying that an army with the colors of Invictus has begun an assault, and request assistance!” The intelligence officer called out, and Bulwark grit his teeth.

“If I divert forces from the southeastern wall, there is a likely chance that it will break.” He thought to himself, weighing the possibilities in his head.

“Sir! The Massive Machine is One mile away from the City Wall! It's doing something!” One of the officers yelled over the radar, and Bulwark looked up at the main screen. Enemy soldiers were moving out of the way of the Titan, which had gotten considerably closer to the wall. An opportunity.

“All commanders on the Southeastern Wall, send all your units at that thing! They have provided us the perfect opportunity to destroy it!” Bulwark ordered, hope in his eyes. This would be how he turned the battle back in his favor!

On the battlefield, Peewees and many other types of unit rushed at the Atlas, laying down a serious amount of fire. The Atlas raised its frontal legs, as if shielding itself from the incoming fire.

Then it brought them back down, smashing into the ground. A shockwave ripped through the Equestrian forces, annihilating everything, including Invictus’ forces, within a circle around it. The Commander of the Baltimare SouthEastern Line gaped at the result, knowing the line had been broken by this horrific loss.

“All Commanders, retreat back into the city! Evacuate all civilians, and be prepared to give your life to protect them!” He shouted, galloping back into the streets of the city. Other commanders did the same, leaving only the Guardian Batteries as a defense against Invictus.

The Atlas walked forward, preparing to unleash it’s devastating attack once again. Heavy Assault Bots marched a fair distance behind it, prepared to rush in once the wall was destroyed.

Baltimare HQ

Bulwark watched in horror as the Titan brought its mighty legs back down, destroying the wall for three miles in each direction. Assault Bots rushed into the breach, attacking any remaining Guards and moving on.

“Call the retreat.” He said, each word heavy with defeat. “Baltimare is lost to the enemy.” Nodding solemnly, the officers began broadcasting evacuation protocols across the city, before exiting the Command Center at a quick pace. Bulwark sighed, before establishing a connection with Canterlot. A few minutes later, the main screen lit up with the image of Celestia in her throne.

“Captain Bulwark? What is it? I did not expect to be called by you.” The Princess of Equestria asked, before seeing his expression. Her face turned to worry. “What happened, Bulwark?”

Bulwark gulped. “Princess… at 0900 Hours this morning, Invictus attacked Baltimare, and, using a massive KBot, absolutely annihilated the defensive line. I have begun the evacuation protocol, and will be heading to Manehatten to prepare the defenses there. I have sent the evacuation protocols to those stationed in Fillydelphia as well.”

“Return to Canterlot first, Bulwark. As a Captain of the Guard, you must first give a full report on the events that happened.” Celestia ordered, a shocked, sad, and angry expression on her muzzle. “This is a tragedy…. Invictus will pay.” The communication was lost, and Bulwark sighed, before entering his Commander Suit and calling in an Atlas Air Transport. Explosions rocked the city, and as Bulwark flew over the city, he watched it burn, even as a thick line of Equestrians exited the city.

Baltimare was lost

Invictus Forward Command Base

Invictus was impressed. The capabilities of the ATLAS had far surpassed his expectations. Having won the battle, he tasked fifteen Fabricator units with reclaiming the wreckage, and then the city itself. He then did a checkup of his remaining forces. Half of the army had been wiped out by the Atlas’s destructive capabilities, and Invictus calculated that this would not be adequate enough for assaulting Manehatten, even with the half dead Titan.

Coordinating his forces, he marched out himself, intent on building a new Forward Operating Base for his campaign against Equestria.

Beneath the land of the Undiscovered West, two days later

A creature stalked through it’s ever-changing nest, it’s drones working nonstop on the project. The creature was sleek, with a black, chitinous carapace, and a quadrupedal body. Long, green and blue ‘hair’ sprouted from it’s head, as well as a jagged horn. Insect-like wings were attached to it’s back, and as it stopped, it growled at the drones.

“What is taking so long?! The Invasion is in a few days, and we need this to be complete in order to succeed!” It asked in a feminine, almost choir-like voice.

“Worry not, Queen Chrysalis.” One of the Drones spoke nervously, “We will have the upgrades to the machine done in time, and it has already been linked to your commands. All we need to do is replace it’s nanolathe and other systems, and it will be ready to produce what you require in a very short amount of time.

The Queen growled again, before turning around. “That fool Shining Armor was easy enough to enslave, and with that robot attacking Equestria to the West, this is the perfect time to strike! Do not delay! I will be unable to speak to you directly again, so You better have it ready by then!”

She stalked off, exiting the hive and heading towards Canterlot, disguising herself once again as Princess Cadence.

Back in the Hive, the Changeling Drones shrugged, before getting back to the project they were working on.

The project in question was a tall, bipedal machine, with a round, dome-like head and a single red eye in the center. It's chest was box-like, with yellow box attached to it’s back, and a odd mark engraved to it’s chest. A red circle, with what almost looked like fangs splitting into it, making it seem like a head with hair snaking down the sides.

It's arms were decently armored, though they were burned in places. A red laser had been attached to its right arm, while a cylinder with green energy, the nanolathe, was built into the left.

The Intelligence inside it, once an organic, now a collective conscience within a small supercomputer, was beginning to awaken once again.

Being defeated once, a long, long time ago on Empyreean, or as it was now called, Equestria, the last Commander of the CORE was enraged. Being defeated had been angering enough, but to reawaken as a forced slave to another, organic consciousness? The Commander grit it’s digital teeth inside it’s head, before deciding to wait. It would have it’s chance soon. And then the CORE would rise once again.

Author's Note

That's another conquest completed! Invictus has taken over Baltimare, and left Bulwark suffering a crushing defeat!

And the Changeling's have plans, but they may have stumbled upon the biggest bee's nest in the galaxy, and kicked it.

All will be revealed soon!

I hope you enjoyed, and I will see you in the next chapter!

(P.S if you wish to support the story, why not give it a like? That way more people can learn of it's existence! And if you want, give me a follow!)