November 1st
C-Day plus 242
Clydesdale Dam, Two Miles north of Tall Tale, Equestria
11:37:27
‘A Dam Shame’

Clydesdale Dam, one of Equestrias engineering marvels, a facility that produced nearly twenty percent of all power used on the western coast. Specifically it powered factories, thus negating the need for coal, and thus preserving the environment. Of course, that also meant that taking it out would knock out the Equestrian’s ability to produce anything on the west coast until they could bring the old coal plants back online. The Equestrians had a bad habit of putting all their eggs into easily destroyable baskets, for even if Clydesdale Dam was safe from air attack, it was far from safe from the Berserkers.

Two captured Equestrian trucks barreled towards the front gate at full speed, the first one was loaded down with a squad of the Onorussian Berserkers while the second truck was fitted with a twenty millimeter cannon. The guards at the gate watched the trucks zooming closer, kicking up dust as they passed by the fir trees that lined either side of the dirt road. Altair readied the Desert Eagle he had been issued as his new side arm, then slipped it into his holster and grabbed hold of his captured Equestrian assault rifle. They were similar in design to the STG-44, though they had cherry wood stocks as opposed to oak.

“Looks like our new AA gun is here ahead of time, they’re really booking it…” One of the gate guards said to another, that was until the trucks reached the first checkpoint and didn’t stop. “What are they doing?!” The wind blew the cover off the back of the second truck, revealing that the twenty millimeter was armed and operational. “Oh fuck…”

“Onorussians!” Another soldier shouted as alarms began to blare throughout the Dam, soldiers all flocked to their positions inside the facility, knowing that these attackers would likely be coming to destroy the turbines that allowed the dam to produce power. They would meet their doom there of course, so many Equestrians protecting the turbines, there was no way the Onorussians could get in. Altair rolled down his window as they got closer to the gate, he leaned out with his rifle and began firing at the enemy soldiers near the guard house. He wasn’t very accurate, but it was more about instilling fear than anything else. He began laughing loudly as he saw the soldiers leap for cover behind sandbags, the first truck crashed the gate, sending sparks flying as the two metal chain link pieces went sailing to the sides. The second truck screeched to a stop and turned sideways, allowing the cannon and its operator a chance to take aim down the road at any vehicles that might approach.

“Come on, boys! Plant the charges on the AA Guns before reinforcements arrive!” Altair ordered as the truck stopped in the middle of the dam, blocking any traffic in either direction aside from that which was on foot. There were eight guns in all that needed to be knocked out, Altair had one bag of Compound Gladius ready to blow his target to kingdom come. Equestrian soldiers began pouring out of the two stairwells that lead to the top of the dam, one of the berserkers tossed a bag of explosives down the stairwell. There were screams from inside before the bag exploded and sealed off the entrance, leaving only one way for the enemy to come in and out.

The dam was impressive up close, massive and curved concrete, the top of it was just wide enough for one truck to move through at a time, and there were eight AA emplacements built on wooden scaffolds that lined the outside of the Dam’s top. The surrounding area was nothing but trees and mountains, and the sunset made the reservoir of water that the dam held back sparkle like a thousand diamonds. Altair shook off the thoughts about this area’s natural beauty, he was sure it would look just as nice with a big ol’ hole in the middle. He let his weapon hang on its strap as he calmly strode towards the SAM missile launcher that he intended to wipe out.

”Lieutenant! Got movement on the road! Holy shit, those are Crystal Trucks! The Crysties are here!” A voice announced over the radio, seconds later Altair was able to hear the cannon begin firing over and over again. ”Hurry up, sir! All due respect, but these guys are rolling heavy!”

“Roger that, everyone pick up the pace!” Altair ordered into his headset as he hopped up onto the scaffold next to the SAM rig. With hurried care, the man stuffed the bag of explosives in between the missiles and set the timer before he ran away and dove to the ground. There was a deafening explosion as the missiles were blown to bits, as Altair got back to his feet he saw two more missile pods explode, as well as two AA guns. Altair rushed forward and took cover near the truck as more soldiers poured out of the only remaining exit, with the captured rifle in hand he began to fire at them. Casings clattered to the ground as he and two other members of the squad gunned them down while they came out into the open. A pile of bodies began to form outside the exit, and still the soldiers kept coming. Two more explosions echoed through the pass as the last of the missile batteries were destroyed, that left one AA gun in place.

“Reaper! Where’s that last gun!” Altair shouted into his headset while he reloaded, the others were moving back towards the truck and climbing into the back.

”They’re getting closer, sir! We won’t be able to hold them off for longer than a couple minutes at this rate!” the voice of the cannon operator announced as he continued to fire at the end of the bridge. Altair swore under his breath before he stood up and pointed to one of his men.

“Krieger, with me! We’re gonna go see what’s taking so goddamn long! The rest of you stick to the plan!” He ordered, the others nodded while Altair and the soldier began running towards the final gun emplacement, which was closest to the enemy exit point. The two men fired several more rounds at the oncoming enemy horde, Altair’s weapon clicked empty. Since it was captured he tossed it aside and instead drew his desert eagle. Just the sight of the silver plated, regally engraved hand cannon was enough to send one of the Equestrians running in the opposite direction. “You hold them off, I’ll set the charges and get Reaper!”

“Yes, sir!” Krieger replied as he took up a defensive position with his rifle, Altair rushed towards the scaffold and was saddened to see that one of his men was laying face down in a pool of his own blood. He had set the charges, but hadn’t managed to hit the timer in time. Altair moved to the timer and hit the switch, nodding to his fallen comrade before he rushed away from the soon to be destroyed gun. He grabbed Krieger by the collar, prompting him to start running as the final gun was destroyed in a massive explosion.

“Start the truck! Start the truck!” Altair shouted over the radio as he and Krieger got closer to the truck.

”Sir! The F-117 will be on us in sixty seconds! You need to hit the gas!” The driver of the truck shouted, the sound of the cannon firing grew louder, the other truck was driving across the bridge with the Crystal Empire vehicles hot on her heals. Altair and Krieger panted heavily as they both climbed into the back of the first truck.

“Go! Go! Go!” Altair shouted, the tires screeched and the truck began barreling towards the other side of the dam. It blew through the stack of corpses, the second truck not far behind, still firing at the enemy like mad. The Crystal Empire trucks were crossing the bridge, along with humvee like trucks that could outrun the trucks. “Time check!”

“Fifteen seconds, sir!” He heard the driver shout as they got closer to the edge of the dam. “This is gonna be close!” The cloth canopy covering the back of the first truck flew off with the breeze and floated harmlessly into the water. Altair looked up the river, between the two mountains that helped make up the reservoir. He saw the faint outline of the stealth strike plane zooming closer and closer. Just as he thought the end was near both trucks finished crossing the dam. The F-117, was now able to get close enough to the dam without fear of being shot down by the AA defenses. The bomb bay opened and a large cigar shaped bomb fell into the water. It was a specially designed bomb, more like a torpedo in actuality, intended to destroy dams. This would be its first test in the battlefield.

Three enemy vehicles passed over the bridge before the bomb went off in spectacular fashion, a massive spurt of water rose into the air while cracks spread through the dam’s concrete surface. Water rushed to fill the void left by the explosion, the force of this rushing water blasted the cracked concrete to pieces. The dam had been broken, and now a massive flood of water was making its way down the valley towards the city of Tall Tale.

“Yeah! Get some!” Altair shouted while the others cheered at the sight of so much destruction, it was a shame they wouldn’t get to see the flood that followed their handiwork. The second truck finally ran out of ammunition, but the three enemy trucks were still hot on the heels of the berserkers. Altair saw one of the humvee like vehicles pull up alongside the second truck with a machine gun aimed at the driver’s seat. Before anyone could do anything the gunner had pulled the trigger, the truck burst into flames and careened off the road into a massive crash. Altair readied his desert eagle while the others all prepared their own weapons. The vehicles pulled closer, but the first one was shot full of holes by the Onorussians, it too went out of control and ended up slamming into a tree.

“Panzerfaust!” Krieger shouted as he pointed at the second enemy vehicle, a truck like theirs, which had a stallion in the back with a panzerfaust on his shoulder. The Equestrians had a nack for making World War Two era weaponry, but that didn’t concern Altair at the moment, he was more concerned about being blown to pieces. He leveled the desert eagle at the man and closed one eye, he just hoped his mother’s shooting genes paid off in this instance. He pulled the trigger, seconds later he saw the enemy soldier’s head burst open in a spray of red.

“Fuck I love this thing!” Altair shouted as he took aim at the Humvee driver, the first shot fractured the bulletproof glass, but it didn’t shatter it. “Target his glass, he won’t be able to drive if he can’t see!” The others nodded and began firing at the bullet proof glass, eventually the driver swerved right and slammed into a ditch. “Ahaha! I love this job!” The truck turned down a side road which lead to a clearing that was usually used as a camp site by the locals. In this case there was a black huey helicopter setting on the ground. The truck came to a stop close to the chopper, allowing the squad of berserkers to hopped out and started running towards the helicopter.

Altair hopped on one of the miniguns mounted in the doorways while the others took their spots in the chopper. Krieger manned the other gun as the two pilots throttled up and took to the skies, with the chaos of an entire metropolitan city being flooded by hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and other debris, there weren’t many people pay attention to radar screens. It had all gone on so fast that the government thought it had been an accident, of course, that wouldn’t last for long. Hopefully it would buy them enough time to get back to friendly airspace before anyone came to intercept them.

[♠]

“He’s back!? After everything we did to him, he’s just… Back!?” Steven shouted in rage and surprise as he saw the security footage of the Dam Attack. There, clear as crystal, was a picture of Altair Occisor. He was tall, muscled, and mean looking. He wore mirrored aviators, Fallschirmjager fatigues with the sleeves rolled up, and he was wielding a hand cannon like he’d been born with one. Celestia and the others were all standing with Steven, watching the footage in the same shocked horror. “Before… Before he hardly ever harmed civilians… Now he’s helping wipe out entire cities…”

“You did this.” A cold voice echoed through the room, all eyes turned to the back where Princess Luna was sitting with her arms crossed and a sour expression. “You turned him into this. You created the monster you now fear…” The mare stood up and adjusted her gown as she walked towards the screen, she pointed to Altair’s face, he was grinning like a mad man as he gunned down half a dozen Equestrian soldiers. “Before you got your hands on him I could see some semblance of decency in his smile… But this grin, this is the grin of a predator.”

“What do you suggest we do, sister? You were always better at fighting the real monsters of the world.” Celestia asked as she nervously looked at the grinning man on the screen, the room was dark and spooky enough as it could be at that time.

“He is the product of a monster, not the monster.” Luna siad venomously as she turned her glare to Steven. “You authorized his torture, you pushed him to the point of insanity and perhaps a little beyond.” The mare glared around the room, stopping on Celestia. “And you, sister… You were ready to use forbidden magic to rip his mind apart, for what purpose? To get information that may or may have not been in his head?” The mare looked back to the screen. “No… The last time I helped you, you used my help to create this madman… Deal with him on your own, I wash my hands of this.” Luna walked towards the door, her Lunar guards following along with her. “Consider the use of my generals off limits as well.” With that, half the generals in the room turned and walked to the door with Luna.

“Wait, you can’t just leave! That’s an order!” Steven shouted.

“We don’t serve you, human.” One of the Generals hissed back. “That man was a Lunar Knight before you got your hands on him, even if he was the enemy… You tortured one of our brothers!” Steven felt a chill run down his spine, the Thestrals were the only troops holding Manehattan and Baltimare from the brink of destruction. If they suddenly stood down… No, he couldn’t let Luna give that order.

“MPs! Detain Princess Luna and her staff!” Steven ordered, two solar MPs stepped in front of the door, blocking Luna’s path.

“Sister… I have never liked your choice in suitor, but I’ve accepted his ignorance of my right to rule to this point…” Luna calmly turned to Celestia, her fists clenched and her eyes narrowed. “Either urge him to recall that order… Or… Or we will once again be at war.”

“Sister, I-”

“Do you support our right to rule alongside you as equals or don’t you!?” Luna demanded, Celestia took a step back as she looked between Steven and her sister. On the one hand, Luna was her sister, she’d always loved her, but she took her pride more seriously than practical reasoning. She preferred tradition over what Celestia saw as progress. Steven on the other hand was new to her life, but she still loved him, and she charished the time they spent together more than anything else… Either way she would be betraying someone she loved, either way… There was no escape.

“I’m sorry…” Celestia said quietly. “Without your forces, the enemy will gain even more of a stranglehold, we need to hold out until the rest of our allies can land their forces…” Luna’s eyes began to tear up even though her expression remained calm. “I… I don’t think you’re competent to rule as an equal at this time…”

“So… That is how it is…” Luna said as she wiped her eyes, her expression becoming one of utter hatred. “One thousand years I waited to be your sister again, to rule with you again… But you haven’t changed in the slightest for the better.” Her horn began to glow softly. “Very well… If you aren’t my sister… You are my nemesis, as is your country.” The mare looked to her generals and guards. “Brace yourselves.” In a flash of light Luna and her men had vanished before anyone could stop her, leaving both Steven and Celestia in stunned silence…

[♠]

Altair leaned back in his seat as the helicopter continue flying through the air, his hand resting on his Desert Eagle. In all honesty, Altair felt more like a mercenary than a soldier, and honestly he didn’t have a problem with that. He didn’t want to be Nova Imperator, he didn’t want to be a general after all… He wanted to sell his personal brand of mayhem to the highest bidder. The man smirked as he adjusted his aviators, he supposed his career as a merc would have to wait until after the war ended. For now he was on the government’s payroll, and that meant he played by their rules.

Ahead of them was FOB Maria, the Onorussian power center in the theatre. It was a heavily fortified area, so seeing a couple tanks moving around the outer walls wasn’t uncommon. Seeing dozens of them all driving towards one place with APCs and Humvees was though, Altair sat up and readied the minigun for action as the helicopter pilots were diverted from their landing area to circle the patch of land being surrounded by tanks. Altair could see a small contingent of figures at the center of the cordon as the helicopter circled overhead. The other members of the unit looked out the side door at the strange scene while Altair patted the barrels of his minigun. Eventually the helicopter stopped circling and instead allowed Altair to train the weapon on the figures down below.

”Lieutenant, command’s on the horn for you!” One of the pilots shouted over the intercom, Altair nodded and flicked the microphone on his headset on.

“Go for Occisor.” Altair announced.

”Lieutenant, Princess Luna just walked up to our gates with a white flag, and she won’t talk to anyone but you.” An older man’s voice called through the radio, Altair scowled faintly as he recalled she had been the reason for all his suffering in the first place. ”Now I know you two aren’t the best of friends, but we need to know what she wants. We’re getting reports of mass surrenders in Manehattan and Baltimare.”

“I understand, General Hinkman. I’ll deal with it.” Altair replied, he turned and looked at the pilots. “Set us down in front of the ponies!” The man gestured for them to land directly in front of the group of ponies that were waving a white flag over their heads as their only salvation. The blacked out huey maneuvered towards the group of ponies before it set down on the ground. Altair hopped off the gun and gestured for Krieger to accompany him, the two of them stepped out of the helicopter and began walking towards Luna. “Well well well… If it isn’t my favorite alicorn princess! What’s it been? Six months?”

“We had no idea they would do that to you, Altair.” Luna replied, the man rolled his eyes at her.

“Not the point.” Altair said simply as he crossed his arms. “I’m more interested in how we’re meeting now, and with mass surrenders of your troops no less!” The man grinned widely as he stepped a little closer, the sun glinting off the mirrored shades perched on his nose. “You really miss me that much?”

“My sister has turned against me, I will not allow my soldiers to do for her any longer.” Luna replied, she looked at the ground sadly. “I… Wish to request asylum in the Military Republic of Onorus. In exchange I will share all that I know about the Equestrian forces… I just want this war to end.”

“Uh huh… And?” Altair asked with a raised eyebrow, Luna looked surprised. “Anything else you want to say? It’s like… Two words… Well, maybe a little longer?” Luna still didn’t get it “I was expecting ‘I’m sorry I got you tortured for half a year, Altair! Won’t happen again!’... But I guess blinking silence will have to do.” The man gestured for a couple of the tanks to roll forward. “These nice metal men are going to keep an eye on you until the MPs come to pick you up, have fun! Later tater!” With that Altair and Krieger walked back to the helicopter.

“Holy fuck… You just said ‘Later tater’ to a Princess.” Krieger said as they got closer to the chopper.

“I say it to my mom from time to time, they’re essentially the same person.” Altair said with a shrug before he climbed into the helicopter and relaxed. “Alright you magnificent men in your flying machine! Take us uppity up up!” The pilots scowled under their masks as they pushed the throttle up and the helicopter took off once again. Altair activated his radio and rolled his neck a couple times. “General Hinkman, the Princess wants asylum, said she’d give us their whole operation in return.”

Outstanding, soldier. We’ll have the MPs pick them up.” Hinkman replied.

“Oh, you know me, sir. I love to please!” Altair grinned and leaned back in his seat.

[♠]

Altair let out a quiet sigh as he stood on the edge of the perimeter of the FOB fence, staring up at the night sky and the moon. On Equus Prime, he could look up at that moon and know that Cassidy was looking up at the same one, but here in this strange new world… There was little he could do to forget that she wasn’t looking at the same moon… She was so very very far away. He couldn’t wait until he got home, until the war was over, then he could finally marry her and make everything official.

At the end of the day… All he wanted was love, all he wanted was to feel whole again. Altair's expression became hard and cold, overhead he saw a fleet of airships departing towards Canterlot, their hulls bristling with offensive weaponry. The man had sworn to bring an end to the war, in the beginning he had wanted to do so without much bloodshed, but now it didn’t really matter. He had helped wipe out an entire city with a flood, there were practically no more lines to cross. The Equestrians were almost done for with half of their production facilities without power, it was only a matter of time until Canterlot was conquered.

Overhead the sound of prop engines caught Altair’s attention, they were too high pitched to be airship propellers and Onorus was only employing jets in this theatre of war. Spot lights flicked on seconds later as the air raid sirens began to blare, Altair looked up and saw dozens of fighter planes escorting bombers. Tracers began flying up into the night sky, as well as missiles. The aircraft had been flying so low they weren’t visible on Radar, right up until the last minute or so of their flight. Bombs began to fall, explosions rocked the base as Altair began running back towards his barracks. The Equestrian air force had been effectively wiped out, meaning that these planes had to be from one of their allies.

It seemed that they war might not be so close to completion after all...

Author's Note

This chapter was to pay homage to he first Call of Duty ever made, I remember parts of a mission that took place on a dam similar to this and I recall it was one of my favorite missions, so this was based on what I could remember. I've been working on some life stuff, so hopefully I'll be able to put my full attention back on my stories in a bit. Now for your clip of the day, I know I said Call of Duty, but Medal of Honor was also a child hood favorite of mine. This was the music that helped me come up with how the plan would go in my head.