The Conversion Bureau: The Palladium Wings

The Conversion Bureau: The Palladium Wings

Chapter 23

Werewolf Gambit

“This is a joint operation between the American Federation, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Western Russian Federation and various foreign warships and privateer vessels that have volunteered for this task. Ladies and gentlemen, our task is to retake the Russian Far East from the Equestrian Colonists. From there, we shall move to Central Asia and into Mongolia.”

Ever man and woman inside the ships were getting their guns ready.

Pilots prepared their aircraft for the take off.

Privateers got ready for boarding.

Several Defectors were chanting mantras quietly, the pegasi giving their wings a stretch. Their headset communicators tested and approved, ready for the attack.

As the fleet approached the skies of Eastern Russia, a few patrolling zeppelins were found. The echo of shells firing was all that they heard. The shells detonated on the two small aircraft. As one detonated into a blue fireball, the remaining craft fired two black flares into the skies.

The Defense Fleet would be ready to engage them.

The ships on the rear began to open fire on the ground. A hail of shells of various calibers began to impact whatever colonial town there was.  Birds began to escape the area in fear, not wishing to witness the horrors of war.

“Sir! Enemy presence at 12’O Clock! Defense Fleet vessels heading at us at full speed!”

“Launch all fighters! Tell the privateers once we get close, the ships are theirs for the taking.”

“ 18 Canterlot-class Carriers along with 9 Luna-Class Cruisers, 8 Windigo-class Frigates, and 20 Old Equestrian Battleships along with 5 dozen Typhoon-class Zeppelins.”

“All ships are to fire at will once we get close to them. Relay the message to the rest.”

The opposing fleets got closer.

Aircraft and pegasi exited the ships and began their attack runs.

The privateers had their eyes on the carriers. The carriers were worth a lot of money due to their size and the fact they are large enough to accommodate a dozen aircraft or so.  In the Equestrian air navy tactic, carriers are the dominant force since they can house up to 12,000 pegasi for attack and defense purposes, and the fact in the Equestrian War of Aggression, it was the use of carriers which got the world ponified by majority.

Two privateer ships, flying the flag of Serbia fired their grappling hooks at their targeted carrier. The two began to reel themselves in to allow their raiding crews to board the prize. Unicorns began to use their Gatling Spell, rapidly firing beams of magic but the armor plating denied them the hit.  The raiding crews appeared , attaching karabiners into the steel rope, they descended into the ship.

The Serbian privateers fired their weapons at any incoming ponies. The Unicorns returned fire.

A Serbian pulled out his machete. Running towards a attacker, he thrusted the blade into the head of the unfortunate enemy attacker. The blade came out from the other side, blood decorated the blade. Pulling it out, pieces of brain dropped on the runway. The others looked at the human and began to get a buck out of him.  Seeing the mares getting ready, he instantly stabbed his machete into a mare.

One Serbian released a cone of buckshot. The blast killed a unicorn. Pumping the slide, he switched the custom selector on the Fort-500 shotgun from Single Fire to Double Blast. Pulling the trigger once, the weapon roared twice. One unicorn fell, the other was gasping for air, blood seeping out from her neck. Kicking the mare, the man flipped the selector to Fire and aimed down the sights. One last shot ended the unicorn’s life. A spent shotgun shell was ejected, rolling next to the corpses.

From the attached airships, several of the crews were raining 8mm Mauser shots. A Serb pulled open the bolt, loaded a fresh bullet into the chamber, closed the bolt and looked through the sights. Seeing an earth pony mare, he grinned. The rifle cracked once, the spent casing falling into the world below.

The earth pony mare’s back exploded into a red mist.

“Has anyone noticed how most of the Equestrians are females!” A Serb totting a Gew.98 fired a shot.

“Yeah! Makes me wonder if the Conversion Bureaus was something more than salvation! I heard from a stallion friend of mine, a Native Equestrian that Equestria has a high female population, I feel sorry for them when the mares get into heat!”

A Serb totting a M76 chambered in .30-06 looked through the scope of his rifle. Zooming on an attacking Unicorn, he held his breath as the reticule locked on the enemy’s head.  Pulling the trigger once, the enemy was down.  Pulling the trigger again, another went down with a well placed shot to the head. The process was repeated until the magazine clicked empty.

The doors granting access to the rest of the ship were destroyed.

The raiders entered.

“ENEMY RAID!” A Guardspony yelled.

Automatic fire rattled across the insides of the ship.

“FIRE IN THE HOLE!” A Serbian raider lobbed a anti-tank grenade towards three unicorns taking cover behind makeshift cover. The explosive landed behind them. The blast shook the area, the ponies were dead. “Hehehehe.”

Three Earth Pony mares began to kowtow to a Serbian raider. They all pleaded to be spared. The man looked at them with anger.  Pulling out his pistol, he racked the slide and pulled the trigger several times.

“PLEASE! WE SURRENDER! WE SURRENDER!” A Pegasus kowtowed. “NO MORE VIOLENCE! PLEASE! TAKE THE SHIP! WE WANT OUT!”

“Die pony, you are not of this world.” The Serb raider fired his pistol at the surrendering foe. “They are trying to surrender, do not let them, they’ve done it before.”

Down at the engineering section, the unicorns in charge of the Star Swirl Unit began to fire at the incoming raiders. A beam of magic pushed one away, the raiders began to return fire from cover.  A scream in Serb was heard, telling them to not hit the Unit.  The unicorns did not understand the alien language, what where they saying?  One of them fell to a lost bullet. They continued to return fire, ignoring the death of their fellow.

“Hey! Pass me the SKS!” A raider yelled.

A scoped SKS was thrown. Catching it, he aimed down the aperture tube scope. Setting the chevron on the enemy’s center of mass, the rifle cracked once.  Red mist exploded out of the wound. “Armor piercing? Nice.” Locking on the next unicorn, the gun cracked again.  The last unicorn began to charge towards them, the horn glowing a threatening blue aura.  A bullet impacted her eye and exited out of the back of its head. “The Unit is ours!”

The Serbs cheered.

“BLAST DOORS! NOW!” The pegasus captain yelled.

Several metallic doors sealed off the main bridge doors.

Gunfire erupted. The bullets only punctured small holes in the metal.

A raider planted demolition charges on the doors. Everyone retreated to safety as the explosion occurred.

The doors were blown off.

The bridge crew gasped, seeing the ornamental wooden doors collapse.

The Serbs entered. “DEATH TO THE EQUESTRIAN USTACHE! DEATH TO CELESITA! LEADER OF THE EQUESTRIAN USTACHE! AVENGE MOTHER SERBIA!” They chanted as they drew their curved machetes, they split and began to attack any pony in range.

The captain of the carrier was restrained, several men and women delivered crippling blows to her face. One of the crew members hacked off the wings, making her scream in agony. Being dropped on the floor, she saw the humans kicking, beating, spitting, and stabbing their machetes into her, blood flying out like crazy. With a groan, everything went black and red.

Black, red, and blue smoke arose from the carrier. The capture was confirmed.

A pusher airplane bearing the flag of Poland-Lithuania began to head down towards a zeppelin. Magic blasts rapidly flew past them. The gunner cocked the plane’s weapon of choice, the General Dynamics Lightweight Medium Machine Gun. Aiming down the sights, he pulled the trigger once. Heavy caliber bullets impacted the gondola of the zeppelin.  The ponies around it began to move, hoping to avoid one of the incoming bullets. The pilot pulled on the control stick, doing another pass. The machine gun roared again, the tracer shots flying towards the target.

The unicorns returned fire, hoping to pluck this annoying bird out of the sky.

“Get me to the wings! I have an idea!” The gunner reloaded the machine gun.

“What is this idea of yours?”

“Just do it!”

The craft performed another pass.  The gunner began to calculate how close they were to the wings. Approaching the wing, the gunner pulled the trigger. The rotor began to cough black smoke as the engine was on fire.  Firing another burst, the engine exploded violently, detaching the wing from the gondola. The zeppelin began to lose its coordination. The Earth Pony helmsman struggled to control the craft, but it refused to response.

The zeppelin rammed against another, the explosion destroyed the two craft, sending scrap metal down to the world.

Shells began to fly towards the Equestrian fleet. Plumes of black smoke dotted the skies. “No quarter! Show these horses we mean business!”

The Russian flagged vessels formed up into Battle Formation V. Their engines began to build up energy, speeding up towards the center of the Equestrian ships. “Admiral! We have detected pegasi exiting from the carriers!”

“Then it’s time to test our new weapons.” The Russian Admiral smirked. “All ships, prepare anti-pegasi rockets!”

Hatches opened up across the ship, revealing small launchers. The pegasi were getting close. With the order being relayed, the launchers hissed, releasing salvos of rockets into the aerial battlefield. The Admiral pulled out his Pocketwatch, looking at it, recording how useful the anti-pegasus weapons are.

A rocket detonated, sending a pegasus down to the world below.

The launchers were reloaded, hisses were heard followed by trails of white smoke.

A privateer vessel flying the flag of the Defectors aimed its 30mm Autocannons at a zeppelin firing towards the human fleet.  The Unicorn gunners confirmed the lock, and let them rip. The projectiles impacted various parts of the craft. “Multiple hits on enemy zeppelin!” A Earth Pony Observer said via the ship’s phone. “Zeppelin has lost wings and losing altitude.”

“Finish it off. Send the Celestianites to Tartarus.” The pegasus captain replied.

The Autocannons finished off the Zeppelin.

The gunnery crews cheered as the zeppelin detonated into a blue fireball, the flaming remains plunged down into Eastern Russia.

A flying wing fighter of American origin performed a roll, displaying its maneuverability. Heading for the Old Equestrian Battleships, the pilot dodged every single blast the unicorns threw at him.  Spotting the rotating air panels, the only weak point of this type of airship, the aircraft released two missiles. The warheads entered the insides of the ship and detonated on the Star Swirl Unit.

The ship began to blow up on the inside. The crews screamed as fires began to force their way out of the ship.  The bridge exploded. Without anyone to steer the ship, it headed towards the rest. The crew of a unfortunate ship panicked, the helmspony looking at the incoming ship, the fires of Hell burning through it. The captain yelled, demanding to steer out of the way. It was too later, the ship began to shake. Damage reports came in.

The burning ship rammed against another and began to another one into submission. The impaled ship’s Star Swirl Unit began to act crazy, pipes and dials exploding.

There was a blinding flash followed by one big explosion.

“Reports are coming in! The enemy has lost 60% of their offensive firepower.” The Communications Officer said.

The Russian Admiral gave a lighthearted laugh.

The American vessels began to fire on the enemy frigates.

Icelandic privateers landed on the next carrier.  Reading their guns, they entered the ship and began to gun down every pony that they saw.  One Icelandic woman took cover behind a corner as several blasts of magic flew in her direction. Reloading her G3 rifle, she began to fire blindly at the defenders. A scream of pain was heard.

They continued to slaughter the crews of the carrier.

The conflict ended with a victory for the Allied Fleet. The Equestrian Colonial Defense Fleet was defeated and Siberia was reclaimed. Occupational forces have been set on the mainland to patrol and mop up any resistance met by the Colonists.  The Russian Far East District is still under pony occupation, a small task force will intercept the Colonial Defense Fleet there.

The carriers were taken to Switzerland to be repaired and auctioned off to the highest bidder. 50% of the sales money will go to the Russian government.

“Ah…so what do we have here?” A French privateer entered the local Palace of Justice, inside the cells, scared Newfoals with signs of abuse looked at the man. “Oh look, traitors and deserters…those who abandoned their humanity for the sake of an earthly paradise…do you know what we do to you My Little Newfoals?” He said in a faux Celestia voice.

They all looked nervously at him.

The man cocked his SAR-21 aiming down through the custom iron sights.

“No! NO NO!” A Newfoal stallion pleaded. “PLEASE! DON’T KILL US! WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!”

“PLEASE!” A Newfoal mare sobbed. “WE DON’T DO ANYTHING!”

Bursts of automatic rifle fire echoed through the halls.

An Albanian walked up to the torture chamber, noticing many Newfoals in pain. Feeling no remorse, he loaded a 75 drum magazine into his SKS rifle and cocked it.  Raising the weapon, he used the Newfoals as target practice. The released their last sound, but the bullets still impacted their bodies.  The rifle fired its last bullet; he left with a satisfied smile.

The days became hell as all surviving ponies, Colonists and Newfoals were rounded up. They wondered why and then it came. That dreaded flag came into view. They all panicked but gunfire made them stop. The ponies whispered and murmured, they knew the Swedish flag meant a fate worse than death… slavery of all kinds…

They were loaded into the airship, their bodies in chains.

The airship took off into the skies, heading towards its destination. They would reach Sweden in 3 days at current speed.

The cargo hold was loaded with ponies from previous captures. The whole placed smelled of urine, feces, and fear. Many of the newcomers looked scared, their virgin minds unable to comprehend the severity of the situation.  A Colonist began to pray to Celestia, hoping for her intervention, hoping her pleas will reach her divine ears.  A crewman heard the prayer and laughed, cocking his Saritch 308 rifle.  Locking on the praying mare’s head, the rifle cracked several times, a body plopped. They screamed in fear.

The Swede fired on the floor, they stopped. “Listen here you fucking ponies! You are heading towards a new and better life in Sweden. You may end up working in some farms, or factories, or even in the many pleasure service industry establishments around the country.” He lowered the rifle.  “Praying to your so-called Sun Goddess has no effect, she abandoned you and can’t do ANYTHING to save you.”

Many ears drooped.

The Swede grinned.  “Awww poor little ponies…they are depressed? Good. Our customers will pay good money for you. So relax and enjoy the trip AND don’t get any ideas.” Going for the wall, he slid a portion of it, revealing a keypad. Typing a code, the portions of the roof releasing steam. M1895 machine guns connected to a mechanical housing were revealed.  A blinking light turned red.  “These machine guns are programmed to monitor your movements, they won’t shoot anyone but all of you. A long belt of 900 7x57mm bullets await you.  Would you kindly try to not do anything funny?”

Saddle Arabia

“Princess!” Gold Scroll bursted in. “We have distressing news! The Siberian Colonies have fallen! They are heading to the Far East.”

The Princess calmly sipped her tea. “It is of no consequence; we will regain the colonies and do away with the humans.”

“There is more, we have received a report that the Equestrian Foreign Legion has joined the Nationalists.”

Celestia dropped the tea cup. “WHAT!? The Foreign Legion has switched sides!? Are you saying our Gryphon and Diamond Dog legionnaires have defected to that group of pathetic patriots?”

“Yes Milady.” The auburn pony answered submissively.

The white alicorn’s nostrils flared. “What about the Nazis or the Communists?”

“The Nazis and Communists are still trying to obtain territory. The Crystal Empire is now under Nationalist control, along with Ponyville and a few townships around the country. We are discovering more and more Newfoals are joining these two groups for many reasons. The one thing in common that they have is that both groups are composed of Newfoals who feel that they don’t belong in our society as a whole, they feel alienated.”

“So the serum’s effects expired...and embrace the ideals of two dangerous human minds.”

“So what shall we do about this My Princess?”

“We need to build up our forces; we need more Saddle Arabian recruits.” The Princess said thinking. “And more Gryphons… we need to compensate for the loss of the Equestrian Foreign Legion.”

“There are other news relating to the Gryphons and Diamond Dogs. We have spotted several human ships in their lands, humans are training them in their ranks and there is a contest for weapon designs. I also hear they are refitting their ships to new technologies.”

Celestia became silent. Angry thoughts flowed through her head.  Taking a deep breath, she gave a wicked smile. “Then…I want 3 units recalled everyday for every nation.  Until their airships are grounded.” She laughed evilly. “I have long felt my benevolence has expired to those dirty dogs and those disgusting hybrids, let them remember that this world is mine and it belongs to me.”

“As you wish Your Highness.” Gold Scroll took off.

Skies of Macintosh Hills

“WHAT DO WE SAY TO THE NAZIS AND THE NEWFOAL IDEA OF RACIAL HYGINE!?”

“NO!”

“WHAT DO WE SAY TO THEIR COMMUNISTS AND THEIR SICK WORKER’S PARASIDE!?”

“NO!”

“WHAT DO WE SAY TO CELESTIA AND HER LITTLE SLAVES!?”

“NO!”

“WHAT DO WE SAY TO PRINCESS LUNA AND HER COWARDICE!?”

“NO!”

A large Nazi Zeppelin began to fly north to attack their enemies. The Newfoals on observation reported a flotilla of Nationalist zeppelins and gunship escorts protecting them. The voices of the Nationalists echoed across the sky as the gunships made their way across the clouds. The Nazi battle droids entered combat mode and scanned the skies. The Newfoals began to hide, to let their machines do all the work.

The gunships got close. The Nationalists began to disembark.

The droids began to open fire on them.

The Gryphons and Diamond Dogs took cover as the bullets flew in all directions. A Gryphon pulled out a stick grenade, removed the pin, and lobbed it towards a pair of attacking droids. The robots reacted in panic, screaming as the blast destroyed them.  Coming out of cover, they continued to fire on the enemies.

Gas operated machine guns in their tripods rained fire across the massive zeppelin. The supply never ran out as they used the same ammunition that the Nazis used.  A Unicorn spotter called out an escaping Nazi officer, the machine gunner swiveled his weapon to his direction, releasing a storm of lead.

Several Nationalist Pegasi and Gryphons took off from the pursuing zeppelins and began to circle the massive craft. The winged ponies began to pull clouds and release bolts of electricity towards the decks.

A Nazi robot locked on a Gryphon and sprayed automatic fire. Spotting the automaton, the gryphon dived towards it and delivered a punch. The machine screamed as it plunged into the world below. More war screams were heard.

A Nazi droid began to fire his semi-automatic rifle at one of the incoming gunships. A Diamond Dog took cover and revealed a new weapon: The Nationalist Dragongun.  The Dragongun is a copy of the gas-operated Nazi Rifle Model Gamma, a semi-automatic design with a 25 round magazine. Gryphon-Equestrian Gunsmiths who acquired the blueprints for the Gamma made their own improvements, such as giving it a heavier barrel which was shrouded in a cooling jacket, improved iron sights, and a primitive reflex sight consisting of a round piece of glass with a German-style reticule mounted on the side rail of the rifle for fast target acquisition. Unlike the Nazi rifle, it had a 42 round magazine and fired in “slow” full automatic fire.

The Diamond Dog pulled the trigger; the barrel began to heat up as the magazine was emptied. The Nazi droid plopped to the metallic floor.

“Got ammo!” A baby dragon tossed a spare magazine to a Gryphon.

“Much obliged!” The Gryphon reloaded his submachine gun and fired it at the incoming battle droids.

The PA of a Nationalist Zeppelin chirped. “NEWFOALS!  THE HOUR OF JUDGMENT HAS ARRIVED! THE VEREDICT IS THAT ALL OF YOU ARE GUILTY OF CRIMES AGAINST EQUESTRIA! YOUR KIND HAS GAINED THE FAVOR OF OUR COWARDLY PRINCESSES WHO LOOKED UP TO YOU AS MODEL CITIZENS OF EQUESTRIA! YOU AS A WHOLE HAVE DESTROYED OUR COUNTRY, SEGREGATED OUR SOCIETY, DISRESPECTED OUR VALUES,  TRAMPLED UPON OUR TRADITIONS AND FORCESD YOURS  INTO US! YOU HAVE BROUGHT CRIME, VICE, AND OTHER UNSPEAKABLE MACHINATIONS! YOU HAVE EMPTIED THE FRESH WATERS OF PROSPERITY AND REPLACED THEM WITH THE FILTH OF YOUR OWN PERVERTEDNESS! BUT WE WILL NOT STAND BY AND LET THIS HAPPEN! WE WILL RECLAIM OUR COUNTRY! WE WILL EXPEL YOUR KIND BACK TO THE PIT OF TARTARUS WHERE ALL OF YOU BELONG!”

Another Nationalist Zeppelin PA came to life. “THE NEWFOAL HAS BROUGHT SUCH DANGEROUS IDEAS TO OUR NATION SUCH AS COMMUNISM AND NAZISM! THESE IDEAS WERE WRITTEN BY THE TWO OF THE MOST DANGEROUS HUMAN MINDS! LET US REMIND THE NEWFOALS WHO FOLLOW THESE IDEAS SHOULD BE REMINDED THAT THEIR IDEAS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CREATION OF TYRANTS AND MASS MURDERS! HOW DARE YOU BRING THESE IDEAS INTO OUR NATION? HOW DARE YOU COME IN AND TRY TO CHANGE OUR SYSTEM! HOW DARE YOU BRING THE IDEAS OF MASS MURDER FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR SICK IDEAS!? KARL MARX AND HITLER WERE BOTH TYRANTS! HOW CAN THEY EXPLAIN THE BLOOD SPILLED BY THEIR FOLLOWERS? HOW CAN THESE TWO DEAD HUMANS JUSTIFY THEIR INSANITY!? HERE WE HAVE THE INSANE FOLLOWERS OF THESE TWO! THESE AFRICANS, ASIANS, HISPANICS, WHITES, ALL OF YOU WHO COMPOSE THE NAZI AND COMMUNIST MOVEMENTS SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES! BUT CELESTIA STRIPPED YOU OF THOSE HUMAN FEELINGS AND WE SHALL DESTROY YOU ALL! DOWN WITH CELESTIA! DOWN WITH LUNA! DOWN WITH THE ELEMENTS FOR THEY HAVE TORE EQUESTRIA TO PIECES!”

A Diamond Dog was tossed a submachine gun. Pulling on the lever, he gripped it by the left-side mounted magazine and began to check his corners. Two gryphons called, he approached their position. The gryphons kicked the door open, finding a flight of stairs. They went up.

The gunships began to circle the massive zeppelin, spreading machine gun fire at every deck.

The insides of the airship were set ablaze. The battle droids began to counter by returning fire and flanking them. They managed to get a few kills but the situation was getting desperate. A droid removed the pins of his grenades and lobbed them at the Nationalists taking cover behind crates and pods. The blasts killed them, but more began to attack. Kill one and you have five more taking their place.

On the middle deck, a Nazi robot fired against a circling Pegasus. The winged pony dived and hoof-punched the machine, decapitating it with a single blow.

The gunships retreated, allowing the next group to take them out.

Gunships carrying rocket pods came into view.

“ROCKETS!” The Newfoal at the helm cried out. “SHOOT THEM DOWN! NOW!”

The rocket pods hissed out their salvos at the zeppelin. The aircraft began to shake violently as the blasts tore through the armor plating.  A gunship flew towards the multiple biplane style wings. The Earth Pony managing the launcher swiveled a large wheel. “YEEEEEEEEEEEEHAW! FIRE’EM UP BOYS AND GIRLS!”

Lights turned from red to green.

The rocket pods hissed.

An engine began to cough out black smoke, fires coming out of the ruined engine.  A Unicorn gave an insane smile, lifted a Dragongun with her magic and fired the magazine towards the engine. The wing detached, a loud shriek heard all over.

“WE LOST ENGINE 9!” The Newfoal steering the Zeppelin cried as he looked at the various television screens showing readouts and status reports of the craft.  “LUNASTIUM LEVELS ARE DROPPING!”

A Gryphon delivered a quick series of slashes towards a droid.

On the upper decks, several Newfoals boarded their Quailships, taking off to intercept their attackers on the rest of the ship and their craft.

“QUAILSHIP!” A baby dragon yelled as the bird craft approached the zeppelin.

“GUNNERS! SHOOT THE BIRD DOWN NOW!”

Several Gryphons, Diamond Dogs, and Unicorns began to fire on the path of the mechanical avian. The craft veered to the left, circling the zeppelin while avoiding the crossfire.  The Unicorn had an idea, as the craft circled, her horn was enveloped in a green aura, charging up energy. Releasing it, the Quailship was immobile. “HIT IT! HIT IT NOW!” She called.

The machine gun turrets focused on floating craft. Streams of lead made large holes across its armor plating. The Unicorn released it, the craft went down.

A Baby Dragon took cover from the incoming bullets. Taking a deep breath, he popped out of cover, spraying submachine gun fire towards the battle droids. The floor began to shake, the walls exploded violently, revealing a quailship. The dragon began to move backwards, scared of the machine. The machine gun ports revealed themselves, aiming down at him. Closing his eyes, he got ready to take the bursts.

A gryphon screamed and grabbed the quailship from the head with his left talon. The right talon shoved a Dragongun on the back of the craft, a single trigger pull released 42 rounds of rifle fury into the craft. The machine released hot gasses from its body, dropping dead.

A teenage dragon ordered his gunship to move up. The Earth Pony agreed, the craft moved up. Seeing the rails which held the many Quailships, the fire breathing lizard inhaled enough air and fired several blue comets at them. The rails began to soften, moans were heard followed by the satisfying sound of metal snapping in pieces. He looked as the birds plunged to somewhere below.

The Zeppelins got closer to the massive airship, releasing rocket salvos.

A Nazi droid with an assault rifle fired at the many Gryphons, Diamond Dogs, and Ponies that were heading towards the next deck.

A team of pegasi brought several clouds towards the helm. Bucking the clouds, the glass shattered violently. The Newfoal panicked, the battle droid began to fire his submachine gun towards the pegasi. A bolt of lightning disabled it, dropping its weapon. A gryphon entered and began to beat the Newfoal to death. Placing his talons in the control wheel, he began to steer the Zeppelin southwards.

In the cargo hold, several Nazi droids began to fire at the attackers that were hiding across the wooden crates. One droid began to hip fire the entire snail drum of his weapon, spreading high velocity rounds everywhere. A teenage dragon took a hit to the chest, and began to struggle for his life. A Gryphon began to pull him to safety. “MEDIC! DOCTOR! WE GOT A WOUNDED ONE HERE!”

The entire fireteam ran out of ammo.

A gryphon smashed a crate open, revealing a new model of submachine gun. Picking two up, he tossed them to his comrades and repeated. Grabbing one for himself, he returned fire to the humanoid machines.

A Nazi battle droid went down.

The other one picked up the assault rifle and fired whatever remaining bullets to them.

A group spray got it.

The Newfoals began to cower as they forced they way through. Submachine fire pelted their bodies instantly. The lone survivor was put out of his misery by trauma to his skull.

The Zeppelin was theirs for the taking. All opposition was eliminated completely.

The cargo bay revealed weapons and ammunition along with pods containing the Nazi battle droids. The weapons, bullets, along with spare parts, instruction manuals, and blueprints were taken. The battle droids were destroyed, to prevent the Nazis from obtaining more infantry troops.

Northern Ponysphere

The Chimera was moored into the soil of the Northern Ponysphere, remaining vigilant of threats that could come from any direction.

Down below the airship, the campground bustled with activity. Businesses bought, sold, and traded and the ship’s Treasurer, a Unicorn began to cash checks, give loans, and pawned whatever object of value they had.

Music from every region in the Balkans to Southern Europe to the Middle East to the Caucasus began to fill the air, displaying the mixed crew of the privateer vessel.  Kitchen stands began to cook and sell food to the passersby for a good price.

Nikolaos entered his private study and locked the door. Heading over to the table, he removed a book which revealed a keyboard. Pressing a code, the desk revealed a red orb. It began to glow, scattering rays of light into the air. A figure of large table with 11 persons of various ethnicities sitting, each one giving a cold but firm look, the Greek could see it and relived that sole memory.

The day when they hijacked the Royal Yacht which was rammed against a migration capsule that was ready to take off for the Corridor, killing about a estimated one million Newfoals that were ready to leave for Equestria. To them, that day was the biggest insult to the Solar Tyrant and the Lunar Deputy.

“Report.” A Irani said.

“Friends, it is a victorious day for us. I have the Elements of Harmony in blood and flesh.”

The Board clapped, congratulating the Greek for his move.

“Now…” An Italian-accented voice hissed. “We request that you hand them over to us.”

“Not so fast Giovanni.” Nikolaos gestured. “I am not turning them so that they can be ransomed to Celestia just yet. I plan to use them to wipe the Colonists out of the Balkans and Southern Europe, turning them to you now will only make it worse.  We cannot spare resources to wipe every single Newfoal out; the Elements will be used for that purpose.”

“Refusing to hand those to us will result in us taking them by force.” A Pakistani said.

“You want to play war of attrition?” A Romanian asked.

“This is a war of attrition at its fullest.” Niko spat. “But I am willing to fight a war within a war. Your 11 flagships and your subsidy fleets against my sole Chimera and her crew.  You may have the best of the best captured airships on your side, the best armaments,  the best human and Defector crews offered, but the one thing you don’t have is the power to gamble them against one measly Luna-Class Cruiser.  Let me remind you friends, that I took on the Colonial Defense Fleets like nothing, you? I could sink all of you with my eyes blindfolded.”

“We’ll see about that.” Giovanni shot.  “This could have been avoided if you simply agreed if you handed the Elements over to us.”

“Then come and get them. We’ll be waiting.” Nikolaos smiled.

The Hologram vanished.

Nikolaos exited his room

In the Dragon’s Maw Island Archipelago, Zeppelins flying the Nationalist flag surrounded a large chateau. Many ground forces began to surround the residence, their weapons ready to fire.  Pegasi began to look at the windows; they saw humans wearing various uniforms getting their firearms ready for the attack.  Furniture was moved, providing makeshift cover.

The leader of the attack was informed of the humans. The Unicorn mare blinked. “Humans? What are they doing here!?” She shook her head. “Never mind then, if they belong to the Royalist Foreign Legion, we’ll take them down with Luna.” Her nostrils flared. “Form up on me! We’re taking the Lunar Coward down once and for all!”

Gryphons, Diamond Dogs, and Unicorns got ready.

The lead mare bucked the door open.

A Circassian woman totting a custom built M1887 shotgun popped out from the table that was flipped.  Pulling the trigger once, the buckshot impacted the mare’s center of mass, pushing her away. Aiming again, the action was worked, the bead sight on the next target. With a smile, she pulled it again.

There was a blast of thunder.