A War On Two Fronts

Sam,

Looks like we’re going into the breach again. I’ve written at four or five of these letters, Tom said he’d send them along if something happens… Thank him for me. I’ll keep this one short, since time is short. I love you, I always will.

Paige

Turner was still thinking about what he’d written as he gripped the steering wheel, the morning light in the East had forced him to put on his aviators. Not only did they shield his eyes from the bright rays, they made him look damn good while doing it. The trucks ahead of him were far less numerous now, as they had broken off to take different routes to their objectives, soon that would be the case for him as well. He could hear radio chatter from the main assault force hitting Harlobask, so far it sounded like things were going well. Turner noted a sign on the side of the road, signalling an upcoming turn.

“Renzo, get locked and loaded.” Turner ordered before picking up the radio mic and clearing his throat, he could make out their surroundings pretty well. They hadn’t been kidding, as expected the land was far more arid than on the coast. It honestly reminded him a bit of the footage of Iraq and Afghanistan he’d seen on the news growing up. Bright tan sand dotted by numerous darkly colored shrubs. The loud heavy ‘Click-clack’ of the bolt in the Machine Gun echoed through the cab. “Ghost Rider One-One, Ghost Rider One Actual.”

“One-Actual, send traffic!” One of Gorka’s soldiers replied rapidly, almost too fast for Turner to understand what had been said. From the sound of the voice it was Private Avid. Avid was a decent soldier, but he had a tendency to get excited.

“Turn’s coming up, be ready to turn right. Start waking your guys up, we’re in badguy country now.” Turner put the mic down on the dashboard, keeping his left hand on the wheel. He looked over at Guillermo, who was sleeping at a bit of an odd angle in the passenger seat. “Guillermo, wake up.” He shook the minotaur a few times, prompting him to bolt upright and smack his head against the roof.

“Fuck!” The minotaur cursed as he pushed his helmet back to rub the injured spot on his head, Turner could hear Renzo laughing in the turret. Guillermo’s sudden outburst roused Agusti and Carmelo from their sleep in the backseat, both looked around for a few moments. Turner quietly picked up the radio mic as the turn came into view.

“Crossroads, Ghost Rider One-Actual.” Turner announced, narrowing his eyes behind his sunglasses as he started to turn down the road.

“Send it, One-Actual.” Thomas’ voice replied over the radio, Turner’s Marshal was the first to finish the turn. It was followed by Gorka’s, just two vehicles on their own from that point on. The convoy that remained on the main road was down to just four.

“Have just made our designated turn at Point Dixie, ETA to dismount point is fifteen minutes.” Turner announced as the truck went over a bump, he nearly rose up out of his seat it was so big, but despite that he kept going. This was nothing compared to the roads back in Evergreen County. The man adjusted his helmet once again, as it was now a bit crooked.

“Understood, One-Actual. Be advised, you’re to maintain radio silence until your objective has been completed. Crossroads, out.” Thomas stated firmly, Turner nodded quietly and set his mic back down on the dashboard.

“Alright, boys. Ready up and pull three sixty. I want all eyes open.” Turner ordered, the fireteam in the truck nodded. Except Renzo, though that was mainly because he was already looking around them for signs of the enemy. The road here was heavily covered in dust, and large plumes of it began to rise behind the vehicles as they drove along… It’d be hard not to notice.

Guillermo, Agusti, and Carmelo rolled down their windows and rested their weapons on them for more accuracy. The soldiers remained quiet, for all of them this would be their first taste of real combat. After fifteen minutes Turner could see the target, a massive pipeline painted tan to help it blend in with the sand. As they drew closer Turner could also make out several buildings and tents that had been set up near a large building beside the pipeline, the building bore the old markings of the Minotaur Republic. Likely a pumping station or a maintenance building of some kind. Turner rolled down his window and held out his hand, which he clenched into a fist before slowing the truck to a stop. Thanks to that signal, the vehicle behind him knew to stop as well.

“Dismount.” Turner ordered as he shut off the engine, the others piled out with their weapons ready, Turner soon joined them. He looked behind him at Gorka’s vehicle, his men were getting out of their vehicle as well. Turner readied his SMG and walked over to Gorka, meanwhile the squad began to set up a perimeter. “Alright, looks like we have company.” The man gestured to the tents in the distance.

“How do you wanna play this?” Gorka asked with a raised eyebrow.

“We’ll move in from the north while you move in from the south, catch them between our two forces. Go on red smoke.” Turner explained, briefly he looked at the clear blue sky before looking back at Gorka. “We’ll leave two men back here to man the HMGs, they can take out any stragglers that try to get airborne.” Gorka nodded quietly. “Now, on the off chance that these aren’t Griffons, stick to ROE. Identify targets before you engage.” With that the two of them split off to relay the plan to their fireteams.

“Carmelo, get on the HMG. Any griffons get airborne, drop ‘em.” Turner said, gesturing to the truck. Carmelo nodded and quickly moved into the vehicle, climbing up through the cab and getting onto the weapon as ordered. “Alright, let’s move. Remember the ROE.” Turner began moving to the north east while Gorka began moving south east. They moved in silence, sticking to a diamond formation until they reached the pipeline, which was absolutely massive. It was about as tall as the pumping station itself… It could probably move enough fuel for a whole fleet of airships, no wonder command wanted it razed to the ground. At that point they turned south and began moving towards the camp.

Stealth likely wasn’t an option, as their trucks had left large dust clouds when they had driven up, but it didn’t hurt to try. After fifteen minutes or so they were able to see the camp up close, Guillermo and Renzo rolled up their sleeves as the heat began to settle in. Turner stopped at the edge of the camp which was bordered by some of the dense dark arid shrubs, the tents were definitely Griffon in nature. Surprisingly the griffons didn’t seem on alert, some were shaving, others were eating breakfast.

“They had to of seen us when we pulled up, those dust clouds were huge.” Turner said quietly, looking over his shoulder at the troops behind him. “Keep your head on a swivel… I don’t like this.” The man reached to his belt and removed a red smoke grenade, he pulled the pin, prompting it to start hissing loudly. The man shook it a few times as the red smoke began to filter out, then he tossed it out into the open. Both to signal the attack and to conceal their approach. “Move out.”

If the Griffon’s didn’t know what was coming before, they certainly knew now. Turner could hear them all scrambling as he ran through the smoke with his SMG in hand. Gorka’s troops began to engage, the staccato back and forth of Griffon rifles and Equestrian SMGs began to fill the air. When Turner exited the smoke he saw several Griffons had tried to take cover from Gorka’s forces behind an overturned crate, they hadn’t accounted for Turner’s fireteam coming up behind them.

Agusti took aim, this was his first chance to score a kill, his blood was pumping faster and faster. The Griffons became aware that the other Equestrians were there, starting to turn with their weapons raised. Guillermo and Turner raised their weapons, Guillermo’s being a rifle. Together, between three rifle shots and a burst of SMG fire, they dropped the pair of Griffons. Agusti hadn’t fired a shot, standing their frozen in place, weapon still raised.

“Keep moving!” Turner ordered, pointing forward through the camp before jogging over to Agusti and shaking him out of his stupor. “Next time you have the shot you take it, damn it! Otherwise good men die!” With that he continued moving through the camp, there always seemed to be one reluctant trooper in every batch… Turner understood why, but the battlefield was no place for philosophical debates on the merits of killing. That could come later...

Gradually they cleared each tent, then their attention was turned to the Pumping station. Gorka and Turner’s fireteams met up midway through the camp, once it was cleared they moved into position beside the metal door that lead into the two story structure. Turner held up his hand and began to count down from three, at which point he booted the door open. The fireteams moved in, checking corners and angles for any sign of enemy soldiers.

“What the fuck?” Gorka muttered as they looked around, the building was indeed a pumping station. Metal pipes and rumbling machinery made that clear, there was a metal staircase that lead up to a catwalk around the second story, as well as a balcony that gave access to the massive pipeline. That wasn’t what got the attention of the Sergeant, however. No, that came in the form of three dead Griffons laying on the floor in the middle of the room. As Turner scanned the catwalk he caught sight of the likely cause.

“Show me your hands!” Turner yelled, drawing the attention of the entire squad to a pair of minotaurs in grease stained blue coveralls. They quickly put their hands in the air, one of them dropped a wrench while the other dropped a screwdriver… They clattered down off the catwalk and hit the ground, Turner could see they had been coated in blood. “You speak Equestrian?” The minotaurs nodded. “Come down here.” As the minotaurs started making their way down, Turner looked over at Renzo. “Renzo, go tell the others to bring the trucks in and secure the area.”

“You got it, boss.” Renzo said with a dutiful nod before he left the building, the minotaurs approached the rest of the squad with their hands still up. A member of Gorka’s fireteam, a grey minotaur by the name of Corporal Cavis, walked up and patted them both down for weapons before nodding to the Staff Sergeant.

“They’re clean.” He said simply, Turner lowered his weapon as did the others. His eyes went from the minotaurs to the dead Griffon’s laying on the floor.

“You kill those guys?” Turner asked, one of the minotaurs lowered his arms slowly and nodded. He was the older of the two, and he bore a striking resemblance to the second minotaur who seemed younger… Likely a duo of father and son.

“Yes, when they spotted your vehicles approaching they were going to raise the alarm.” He said, gesturing to the dead Griffons on the floor. “I am not a violent bull, but… I couldn’t let them do that.” He looked at the door as the engines of the two trucks got louder and louder, eventually they stopped and turned off again. “I am Delos, this is my son, Ekal.”

“Gorka, take your team and start searching the camp for intel. Grab anything of value, food, water, etcetera.” Turner ordered, Gorka nodded quietly and gestured for his fireteam to move outside, leaving just Agusti, Turner, and the two minotaur’s in the pumping station. “Agusti, you debrief his son. I’ll debrief Mister Delos.” Agusti nodded quietly, taking the younger minotaur off to the side to talk to him. “So, was that everyone here, or are there more out on patrol?”

“No patrols, not this early in the day. We were so far out of the way their commander didn’t want to use the extra water… At least, from what I overheard.” Delos said with a shrug, Turner nodded and made a mental note of it. “There was something though, something that would occasionally come out here to inspect the Griffon troops… On those days there were patrols.”

“Something?” Turner asked, Delos nodded.

“Bipedal. Not tall like Minotaurs, around your height.” Delos said, pointing at Turner. He paused, looking somewhat thoughtful. “Come to think of it, it looked a lot like you… Blonde hair... Wider hips… Female, I think.” That certainly got Turner’s attention, he waited in suspense as Delos rubbed his chin. “Wore a big long black coat, had to be crazy to wear that out here in such heat… Even Griffon foot soldiers wore tan or light green…”

“Any pictures of this female biped that you can think of? Did you snap any in secret perhaps?” Turner asked, Delos shook his head. “Overhear any names? Things like that?”

“ReBeak... Rebeck… Something like that.” Delos said, Turner quietly paused for a second. He took a deep breath as he prepared his next question, so far what he was hearing did not sit well with him.

“Rebecca?” Turner asked, Delos nodded quickly. “Fuck…” The Staff Sergeant cursed under his breath, it had always nagged at him that there only seemed to be Humans in Equestria. This seemed to confirm his theory that they were all over, and what was worse, it seemed at least some were fighting for the Griffons. “Alright, you’ve been a big help. Once we’re done debriefing your son we’ll see about getting you some wheels out of here.” Delos nodded simply and quietly looked around. “Excuse me.”

With that Turner moved to the dead Griffons and looked them over, he removed his sunglasses and tucked them into his pocket before kneeling down and picking up a leather case off one of the bodies. Inside he found a pair of binoculars, a bit of equipment Turner had lacked up until that point. After a few minutes Agusti finished his talk with Ekal, the minotaur walked over to his Staff Sergeant while father and son stepped outside.

“Staff Sergeant… I won’t let what happened out there happen again.” He said quietly, Turner nodded as he stood up and slipped the leather case onto his belt. “The kid said he heard some chatter about an officer that would do spot inspections every now and then, didn’t give much of a description.”

“Well, I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.” Turner said as he checked the corpses for intelligence. Documents, letters, pictures, and so on. The first two came up with little more than ID cards and wallets with about twenty bits worth of Griffon Pay Script between them. The last one, however, was an officer… Or at least an NCO. He had written down several numbers, what looked like frequencies, and tucked it in his breast pocket… It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. “Let’s clear out of here, we need to get to work.”

As he was saying that he heard several alarms go off from a control panel near the wall, as he looked over he saw that there were blinking lights all along what he suspected was the pipeline. The machinery began to whine and groan as the lights started to move down the line, Turner grabbed Agusti and carried him out of the building. Once outside they looked in both directions. Massive plumes of smoke were erupting in the sky as an explosive chain reaction moved down the pipeline towards them.

“Fuck! Fucking fuck!” Turner shouted in surprise, Gorka and the others were already moving towards the trucks. They had maybe two minutes before the reactions hit them. Turner looked at Molotov, the only dragon who had yet to mount up. “Torch that building, then we can go!”

Immediately the dragon ran over and took several deep breaths, Turner and Agusti ran for the trucks as the Dragon Fire filled the air with its usual blowtorch wail. The pumping station was set ablaze, its metal structure starting to melt almost immediately. Molotov didn’t stop to admire his work, he too booked it for the trucks. Ekal and Delos climbed into Turner’s truck, forcing the Staff Sergeant to grab on to the side.

“Floor it! Floor it! Go go go!” Turner yelled, watching as the explosions began to move closer and closer from North and South. In thirty seconds that part of the desert would be getting a whole lot hotter.

The truck’s engine roared as Guillermo put the pedal to the metal, Turner nearly lost his grip but managed to cling on as both Marshals tore down the service road away from the pumping station. Any chance of going to collect more intel was lost when the two cascading explosions met at the flaming pumping station. Massive massive chunks of flaming debris fell all around them while black smoke began to fill the sky. After five minutes at high speed they were nearing the main road Guillermo signaled the other Marshal to stop, then he stopped before reaching arriving at the turn they had taken before.

Turner let go of the truck, his nerves trembling as he did so. Everyone dismounted the vehicles, looking back towards the pipeline. It wasn’t just Turner’s squad, vehicles that had been on the main road also came to a complete halt. All watching as massive black clouds filled the air, the Arcane Fuel Pipeline had been severed… It had been far from the main road and still several large pieces of metal shrapnel landed nearby, flames belching out black smoke all the while.

“This is Crossroads to all Ghost Rider Victors! Status report! I say again, what is your status!” Turner heard Thomas’ voice from inside, he reached through the now open door and grabbed the radio mic.

“Crossroads, Ghost Rider One-Actual. All accounted for, liberated two civilians. Out.” Turner replied, afterwards other units began radioing in. Some had last a man or two in combat, but thankfully all of them had managed to get away from the pipeline before they could be wiped out. “Uh… Crossroads, Ghost Rider One-Actual. Interrogative… What the fuck just happened? Over.”

“Wait one, One-Actual. We’re working on that ourselves.” Thomas replied over the radio, Turner sighed and leaned against the truck. “All Ghost Rider Victors, advise you hold current position. If in harm's way, move towards the MSR. Crossroad’s out.”

“Crossroads, Ghost Rider One-Actual. Holding at Point Dixie. Recovered intelligence, possibly substantial. Advise, over.” Turner said, looking in the back of the Marshal and noting that his men had grabbed several files and maps.

“Copy, One-Actual. Currently enroute to Point Echo, will arrive at Point Dixie in approx fifteen minutes for debrief. Crossroads, out.” With that, Turner lowered the mic and looked at his troops, all of them were watching the flames in the distance. The man sighed, looking at the truck. It was beginning to heat up as it sat parked in the sun, he found it cooler to stand outside. Finally he rolled up the sleeves on his jacket up to his his Staff Sergeant stripes, relenting to the heat.

“Alright, guys. Sit tight, keep your heads on a swivel. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.” Turner announced. “Gorka.” He said, walking over to the Sergeant who was leaning against the front of the truck while traffic on the main road began to resume. “When we get a chance, we need to strip these things down. They’re rolling ovens.” Gorka nodded, looking at his own Marshal. “We need a welding set up and some extra steel bars to make up for the structural deficiencies, but I think we’ll be able to chop top the roofs on these things.”

“It’s a good idea, considering they aren’t armored worth a damn anyway.” Gorka replied, the two of them looked out at the flaming wreckage. For the first time since the war had started Turner didn’t feel like they were inches from armageddon, they were on the offensive this time. “I heard you had some trouble with Agusti.”

“He’s not the first kid I’ve seen lock up under pressure, I doubt he’ll be the last.” Turner replied, reaching to his pocket and withdrawing his pack of cigarettes. Wordlessly he offered one to Gorka who took it quietly. Turner lit his cigarette first, then took care of Gorka’s. “You know something? I’m not sure how I feel about calling Agusti a kid. Makes me feel old, I’m just about twenty nine now I think? I feel at least ten years older.” Gorka shrugged, taking a drag on his cigarette.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Gorka said, taking a drag on his cigarette as the massive black smoke clouds began to rise so high in the air that they began to blot out the sun in the east. “Whoa… I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Neither was I.” Turner replied, both of them took another drag of their cigarettes as the massive three hundred mile long fire continued to burn. “Kinda makes you wonder, don’t it?” Gorka looked at the Staff Sergeant. “In fifty years or so, when they look back at this, are we gonna be the good guys or the bad guys?”

“Depends who wins, I suppose.” Gorka replied, he finished his cigarette quickly and crushed it under his boot. Turner followed soon after, a few minutes later the two of them heard some of the approaching vehicles on the road begin to slow down. The two of them walked around the Marshal towards the source of the noise, which turned out to be Thomas’ command vehicle.

“Hey, Lieutenant Colonel.” Turner said, briefly stopping by his Marshal to grab the intel they had gathered. Thomas opened his door and stepped out, pausing briefly to look at the looming black cloud. “Got that intel for you, sir.” He handed the documents to Thomas, as well as the sheet of paper with numbers on it he'd found. Thomas quietly put them in the truck. “Also need to have a talk with you, we got to Minotaur Civilians that gave us a fair bit of intel.”

“Alright, take me to ‘em.” Thomas said, Turner looked at Gorka and gestured for him to make sure the others were still keeping their eyes open. Thomas and Turner began walking towards Delos and Ekal, the two minotaurs were staring transfixed at the flames and smoke until they heard the two soldiers approaching. Delos turned around, raising an eyebrow as he saw Thomas.

“Tell him what you told me, please.” Turner said, Delos nodded.

Quietly he relayed what he had told Turner. The spot inspections, the odd blonde female, the name ‘Rebecca’. The mention of a long black coat seemed of particular interest to Thomas, who took a pad of paper from his pocket and quickly wrote what he was hearing down. At the end of the story, Ekal added something about the mysterious Officer appearing to be involved with the now dead Griffon Commander on some sort of personal level… Though, that was just speculation. When it was over, Thomas quietly thanked the two minotaurs and flagged down a truck heading back from the front. They were allowed to climb aboard, and soon were on their way west to Acksyuk.

“Man, if today don’t beat all…” Thomas muttered, watching the truck gradually driving away before turning his attention back to the massive clouds of smoke. “It reminds me of them fires the Iraqis lit during the Gulf War, you know what I’m talking about? The oil well fires?” Turner nodded quietly, resting his hands on his belt. “Well, come on, say something… We just found out we might not be the only humans in this war.”

“Doesn’t surprise me, don’t make me happy neither.” Turner replied as he rubbed his forehead, his hand coming away somewhat damp with sweat. “Always figured we’d find more around the world, just wish it didn’t take this damn war to make it happen.” The man sighed, watching as the smoke continued to belch up into the sky. “So, what caused all those explosions?”

“Partisan forces on either end of the pipeline. They caught wind of what we were doing, wanted to save us the trouble.” Thomas replied simply, crossing his arms. “Kind of defeated the purpose of our operation, which has command thinking that maybe we still need some time to lick our wounds.” The Lieutenant Colonel rubbed the back of his neck, the cloud of smoke was wafting higher and higher. “They’re holding us in reserve in case the assault on Harlobask fails.”

“I’ll pass it along.” Turner said with a nod, he looked around for a moment as he thought about the other units that had been involved. “Any word on what happened to our company commander? The other squads? I heard they mostly got out okay.”

“Captain Expo is among the dead, until we can get you a new CO I’ll be managing your unit directly.” Thomas explained. “Truth of it is, I hate being at battalion HQ, bunch of stuffy Canterlot Colts who don’t know their arm from an entrenching tool.” The man withdrew a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and took one, Turner bummed one as well. “They need some experience holding the reins while I’m out here. Much rather be with Baker Company anyway.”

“Glad to have you back, sir.” Turner said as he lit his cigarette, then lit Thoma's. “Aside from waiting in reserve, we have any other assignments?” Thomas paused, then nodded after looking around for a few seconds.

“The Griffs and Princesses have agreed to a ban on chemical weapons, now, the ban goes into effect in about five hours.” Thomas explained, prompting Turner to nod in agreement. It would be nice to go into battle without worrying about gas all the time. “We figure they’ll get as much use of those weapons in as possible, normally I’d order you to be part of the clean up teams…”

“I sense a but?” Turner asked, Thomas nodded quietly and rubbed his chin.

“The locals have been raising hell about some town that recently came to rest behind our lines, took me forever to find it on the map. Doesn’t have a name, just a dot.” Thomas explained, he reached into his belt and withdrew his map, then laid it out on the hood of a nearby Marshal to give Turner a better view. “Hasn’t been heard from in months, the weird part is the Griff intel we’ve intercepted has all indicated that this place is abandoned. Even weirder is the explicit orders not to approach the town, despite its abandoned status.”

“And given my experience investigating abandoned locations, you want my squad on this?” Turner asked, Thomas nodded quietly before taking a drag on his cigarette. “Well, alright. If it’s something, it’ll be interesting. If it’s nothing, it’ll be a milk run. When do you want us to head out to ‘Justadot’?”

“It’ll be a night op, in case they have something out there I don’t want you rolling in on these tin plated toys in open daylight.” Thomas replied, gesturing to the lightly armored Marshal. Turner nodded and took a long drag on his cigarette. “Something else about this place, something that didn’t seem right.” Thomas finished off his cigarette and tossed it on the ground, crushing it under his boot. “The locals have been referring to something called ‘El Ladrón De Voz’, some sort of legend. They insist that ‘Justadot’, as you’ve eloquently named it, is its own private hunting ground.”

“Any idea what the name translates to?” Turner asked, Thomas nodded.

“The Voice Thief.” The Lieutenant Colonel explained, Turner let out a slight sigh as he rubbed his forehead. “Look, it’s not like you’ll be running into Discord dressed as a Squatch again.” The Staff Sergeant shook his head firmly.

“Don’t care if it’s a legend or not, I’ve seen too much here to treat it as just a story.” Turner stated. “I’d like to request a mage escort on the trip, and I’d like some time to speak to locals about this legend before I go ahead.” Thomas was about to tell him that he was crazy, but realistically who was to say the myth wasn’t true. Nightmare Moon had been ‘Just a story’, so had King Sombra and Tirek. Something that sounded as nasty as ‘The Voice Stealer’ probably warranted some degree of caution.

“I’ll see what I can do about a mage escort, as for talking to the locals, that’s something you’ll have to do on your own.” Thomas said with a nod, Turner seemed to relax at the mention of that. The more Thomas thought about it, the more he began to worry that maybe he had just laid plans that would get one of his best friends killed. “There’s a refugee center being set up about thirty miles down the road towards Acksyuk, you should be able to get some local insight there…” Thomas sighed and briefly glanced to a watch on his wrist. “I need to head out.”

“Alright, Sir. Appreciate the heads up.” Turner said with a nod, Thomas patted him on the shoulder before walking away. Turner briefly looked back at the thick black smoke that by now was at least five hundred feet tall, then began walking back towards where his men had gathered. “Alright, Troopers! Mount up!”