October 2nd
C-Day plus 213
New Liberty, Onorus
08:037:08
‘Sinner Soldiers’

Altair quietly sighed as he lay on the couch by himself, he had redressed in his fatigue pants and t-shirt for bed. Of course, Altair hadn’t gotten much sleep, but he’d gotten enough. When he heard the knock on the front door he wasn’t sure it was real or if he was dreaming, but another firm knock told him it was in fact real. The man sat up and then walked to the door, Wolfy following him slowly. He pulled the door open and grimaced as bright morning light assaulted his eyes, after he blinked them a couple times things became far clearer.

“Uncle Putin?” Altair asked in a surprised voice, sure enough Putin was standing there with a briefcase in hand. “What’re you doing here? I would’ve gotten better dressed if I’d known…”

“I’m afraid this isn’t a social call, nephew.” Putin replied as Altair stepped aside to let him in. “I’ve been tasked with evaluating you for a new mission, Lieutenant. Concerns about your mental health have been spreading through Canterlot, you know?” Altair nodded as he lead his ‘Uncle’ to the kitchen and started making a pot of coffee, meanwhile Putin set the briefcase on the table and began going through his papers. “Cream, no sugar please.”

“Yes, sir.” Altair replied in a professional tone as the coffee brewed. “I was worried I was out of the war, you’re saying I may have a new assignment?”

“You may, though I’m not sure how much you’ll like it. It would require you to go back into the heart of Equestria.” Altair turned to face Putin and walked to the table, he then took a seat across from him, the light shining through the window next to the table and onto his face. “The High Command has put forward a plan to enlist certain soldiers, soldiers who have certain feelings towards the Equestrians…”

“People who’ve been captured and interrogated.” Altair said flatly, Putin nodded. “What do they want with us?”

“They think you’ll bring a certain… Flare. Your operations would be more political than tactical, breaking morale on top of the usual tactical objectives.” Putin explained as he laid out a couple photographs on the table depicting dams, bridges, skyscrapers. “They’re clinging to anything now that their castle is in ruins, so we’re going to give them nothing to cling to. Put simply, we need attack dogs, and your name was at the top of the list.”

“Heh, Head Mutt, I like the sound of that.” Altair replied with a grin. “Plus they know my name already, they know I’ve got an axe to grind, that’s why I’m at the top of the list.” Putin nodded. “And what, they’re worried I’ll be to aggressive?”

“No, the opposite… They were worried that your incarceration might’ve made you softer…” The older man said, Altair began giggling to himself, the laugh actually made Putin uncomfortable with how genuine it was.

“Soft?” Altair asked rhetorically. “I want nothing more than to mount everyone of their soldier’s heads on pikes, I want that bitch Major Shimmer locked in the deepest hole we have, and I want them to know they fucked with the wrong damn guy!” Altair pounded the table and gritted his teeth, slowly he saw a grin form on his Uncle’s face. Putin simply extended his hand for a handshake.

“Welcome to the First Berserker Battalion, Lieutenant.” The Russian said, Altair grinned widely as he shook his Uncle’s hand firmly. “You’re former CO, Lieutenant Colonel Adler, will be running your unit. You’ll be his XO, running most of the ops with the rest of the men.”

“Adler’s a good man, I look forward to serving with him again.” Altair replied simply, he paused and looked at Putin. “Will I get to wear my Fallschirmjager fatigues again?” Putin nodded with a grin.

“We’re going for a dirty dozen look, this unit is going to be public knowledge, the meaner you look the better.” Putin said, Altair grinned even wider and leaned back in his seat, he steepled his fingers and looked at the table. “Let’s finish our coffee, afterwards we will need to head on over to Fort Victoria, we’re going to need your help weeding out some of the recruits.” Altair nodded as he stood up and went to the coffee maker, he poured two cups of coffee and added the fixings before bringing them back to the table. The two men continued talking details while they sipped their coffee, eventually they were on their way out the door, with Altair leaving a note for Cassidy telling her where he had gone.

[♠]

October 2nd
C-Day plus 213
Clip Clop Meadows, Twenty Miles South of Ponyville, Equestria
09:30:07
‘Crash of Thunder’

Clip Clop Meadows was quiet as the sun rose in the sky to the East, the meadow sat between two areas of land, the rural fields that surrounded Ponyville and the more arid lands to the south that eventually became the desert. The land was devoid of snow, the air was warm, it was almost like summer time… The Equestrians had forgone winter as long as they could to be sure to grow as much food as possible. Rabbits frolicked through the meadow, deer and elk bugled in the distance as they did every morning, and birds chirped their cheery songs of hope and happiness.

A rumble like thunder echoed in the distance, a constant rumbling noise that put the animals of this pristine habitat on edge. It was one of the few places that hadn’t been touched during the war, as most of the time there was no tactical objective. No factories, no roads, no houses, just peaceful meadowlands and pristine nature. The rumbling noise grew louder, and was now punctuated by the squeak of metal. The animals began to flee, birds stopped their song and took to the air while the deer and elk fled for the trees. Rabbits and other ground animals hunkered down in their burrows as deep as they could, the meadow became as quiet as the dead.

Steven stood on a mountain overlooking the meadow with a pair of binoculars, several of his generals standing with him. This would be the most important battle of the war so far, if the Onorussians won even the slightest victory they would be able to push all the way north and finally take Ponyville. The man felt his heart beating heavily in his chest as he saw a cloud of dust and sand on the horizon. Hundreds of grey tanks, some flying Onorussian flags. His binoculars were so strong he could see the faces of dozens of tank commanders, all of them seemed rather young, but each looked ready to fight.

The ground began to tremble as the Equestrian tanks appeared on the horizon, they were only half as strong in numbers as the Onorussians, but they could still win the day if they could out maneuver the enemy. Overhead the sound of jet engines caught Steven’s ears, he looked up and watched as jets from both armies began to circle one another, as if waiting for their forces to meet on the ground. There was some sort of sick beauty to all this, a ballet of destruction was unfolding before Steven’s eyes. Carefully coordinated movements, technology and flesh and blood soldiers, all being put to the purpose of killing one another…

The Equestrian tanks were painted yellow in honor of the old Royal Guard, while the Onorussians had painted theirs grey, Steven had learned it was in honor of the fallen nation of Thestra. The more about the Onorussians Steven learned, the more he saw them less as his enemy, which was dangerous for someone of his position. Minutes felt like hours as the tanks drove closer and closer towards one another, towards destiny. The first puff of smoke escaped an Onorussian tank, seconds later there was an explosion in the meadow below. The peace had been shattered.

Steven didn’t move from the spot he stood, he lowered his binoculars and watched the scene below. His generals rushed around him, fighter planes were shot down and crashed in the fields, tanks were blown apart, trees splintered, bodies burned, and all the while Steven stood there with an expression of deranged wonderment in his eyes. Black smoke billowed into the air, cannon fire became the only thing for miles, droning on and on like a funeral dirge.

Steven couldn’t bring himself to move as he watched his tanks become encircled by a pincer maneuver, rather than surrender their crews went out fighting and took some twenty enemy tanks with them before they had been completely wiped out. Overhead the Onorussian air force had overwhelmed the Equestrians with sheer numbers alone, they dominated the skies. It wasn’t long before a convoy of tanks and APCs began driving towards Ponyville, meanwhile many of the tanks began to fire at the mountain. This was when Steven’s feet finally gained the will to move once again, he and his generals were evacuating the mountain, Ponyville had been lost. His goal now was to bring the rest of his allies into the war before the Onorussians choked Equestria into submission. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with any more tremendous disasters along the way.

[♠]

October 2nd
C-Day plus 213
Fort Victoria, Thirty Miles East of New Liberty, Onorus
13:43:46
‘The Bastard Battalion’

Fort Victoria was known as the Special Forces capital of Onorus, located precisely in the hottest part of the desert, surrounded for miles by sand and unexploded ordnance, and full of angry alpha male types that all had it in for the Equestrian regime Eight hundred of these angry fellows happened to be wearing different uniforms, covered in scars, tattooed, or some mixture of all those above. However, there were some that hated the Equestrians more than others, and those that were suspected of not being aggressive enough had been called together in a special unit that would be working with the Battalion’s Executive Officer.

He was none other than the Nova Imperator himself, he wore Fallschirmjager fatigues, and he looked like one mean son of a bitch. All in all there were fifteen men that needed to be weeded through, and Altair Occisor was going to be the one to do it. The fifteen men stood at attention, each one of them puffing their chests out to try and look as tough as possible. For Altair, this was a big responsibility, so for the good of the unit he was going to put the fear of both himself and god into these fifteen men. They stood in the courtyard while the Lieutenant walked in front of them, he had been issued a new side arm which now glistened menacingly in its holster.

“Some of you may be wondering why you’re here!” Altair shouted as he continued to pace along in front of the soldiers. “Put simply, we’re not sure you have what it takes to serve in this unit!” He looked over the soldiers each time, some of them were strong, some were getting strong, all of them looked like they’d been bulking up for some sort of revenge plot.. “Now, it is my job to make sure each and every one of you is man enough for this mission. You're going to get bruised, you’re going to break bones, blood will be shed, hearts tested!” Altair stopped his pacing and stood still in front of the men. “Anyone not want to go?!”

“No, sir.” The soldiers replied firmly.

“What!? I couldn’t hear you ladies!” Altair shouted.

“No, sir!” The soldiers shouted even louder, Altair put his hands on his hips.

“Then let’s start simple! Three mile hike! Full pack! Meet me at the gates in ten minutes!” Altair ordered. “If you’re late, five days of KP duty! We do not leave any of ours behind, if you slow us down you put the entire unit at risk! Now move out, ladies!” The soldiers ran off towards their barracks, Lieutenant Colonel Adler approached from across the courtyard with a grin a mile wide on his face. “Sir!” Altair snapped into a salute, Adler returned it.

“At ease, Lieutenant.” The man replied, Altair nodded and stood at ease. “So far you’re off to a nice start, in about three weeks we’ll have them whipped into shape.” Altair raised an eyebrow at that time table. “We deploy at the end of the month, Lieutenant. We need to strike while the iron is hot, a month is the longest we can afford to wait.”

“Understood, sir.” Altair replied as he looked around the courtyard. “I’ll make sure you get the meanest hombres this side of the Changeling-Dixon line.” Adler smirked at that and patted the lieutenant on the shoulder. “If you’ll excuse me, sir. I promised the men a hike.”

“Dismissed, Lieutenant. Give ‘em an extra mile for me.” Adler said with a grin, Altair nodded and saluted once more, then turned and started walking to the gate. From that point on the soldiers under Altair’s command wished that they had never been born, some of them thought about quitting right then and there, just when they thought they were done the lieutenant would tack on another mile to the hike. Hours passed until finally the beleagered men walked back through the gates of Fort Victoria. Their uniforms had white salt stains, their heads ached from dehydration, and their feet felt like they’d been left inside ovens all afternoon.

“Hit the showers, boys!” Altair ordered, the soldiers groaned in response before they began walking towards the barracks again. Altair meanwhile walked to a secluded corner where he proceeded to start cursing under his breath as he rubbed his temples. He was just as tired, sweaty, and dehydrated as the men, the only difference was he wasn’t allowed to show it. His bones ached just like the rest of them, his muscles were sore, and he wanted nothing more than to collapse.

”Lieutenant Occisor, please report to the visitor center. Lieutenant Occisor to the visitor center.” The PA announced, Altair let out a sigh of relief as he stood up and began walking towards the building that visitors came to when they wanted to see one of their loved ones. It was a large building, inside there were couches and tables and a little cafe for family members, but that was nothing compared to the building’s best known feature. It had working Air Conditioning. Altair reached the center within a couple minutes, once he was inside the refreshing cool air washed over him and made all the aches and pains start to fade. He only revelled in it for a moment before he continued walking forward.

Eventually he caught sight of Cassidy sitting in the waiting area with a glass of iced tea, she looked up when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Altair walked over to her and sat on the couch next to her, awkwardly smiling and rubbing the back of his neck as he did so.

“Hey, Cassidy…” He said quietly.

“Hey.” She replied, smiling softly. That was a good sign. “I get you’re probably worried about last night, huh? I know you tend to think the worst when something goes wrong.” Altair paused, but it was the truth, so he nodded. “Don’t worry, I’m not really upset… Just got a little worried in the moment, you know?” Once again Altair nodded. “I wanted to talk to you about what happened last night, what could happen from it…” Cassidy trailed off. “I love you, Altair. Whatever happens, I know that we’ll work through it together…”

“Marry me.” Altair blurted out, Cassidy paused in surprise, as did Altair. He hadn’t meant to say that, he’d wanted to get an entire thing together… Well, now he had to roll with it. “Not just because of might happen, I’ve wanted to ask you since before my first deployment.” He reached out and took hold of her hand as he saw her start tearing up. “When I was locked up, the only thing that kept me from breaking was thinking about you… I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Cassidy.”

“Oh… Altair…” Cassidy said as she teared up. “Of course! Yes! Yes!” She smiled and watched as Altair mimicked putting a ring on her finger. “What was that for?”

“I wanted to let you pick the ring, y’know? Since you’re the one who has to wear it… But, it felt like the right thing to do.” Altair replied, Cassidy smacked him, that was the slightly goofy fellow she’d fallen in love with all those years ago. She started to pull Altair into a passionate kiss, at first it was the most romantic moment of her life… Then she heard someone blasting ‘Take my breath away’ from Top Gun. She looked around and saw the pudgy black woman behind the counter at the cafe had held her phone up in the air so the song could be heard, Altair and Cassidy chuckled slightly… Then looked back at one another and kissed again, far more romantic and loving than their earlier embrace.

Author's Note

Yay! Inglorious Bastards AND Top Gun references all in the same chapter? Who could ask for more? Well, I could, but I won't. The last part was kinda spontaneous, but I thought it fit well enough. Who knows, maybe there will be even more babies, I love writing about family stuff almost as I love war stuff. Anyway, I'll let you get back to your day. Here's your clip!

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